Origin

Put some thought into your name even if you’re just picking one from a list. Don't be afraid to use online resources to find names that match your character. Many ancestries are based on real world cultures, so feel free to use real world influences when finding something for your character.

You can play a character of any gender without gaining any special benefits or hindrances.

You choose the details of your characte down to the the color of his or her eyes, hair, fur, feather, leaves, or skin. To add a touch of distinctiveness, you might want to give your character an unusual or memorable physical characteristic, such as a scar, a limp, or a tattoo.

Humans might be the most common people in the world, but they live and work alongside other fantastic people. Not every intelligent creature in the world is appropriate for a player-controlled adventurer.

Your character choice not only affects your traits but also provides the cues for building your character’s story. Each description includes information to help you roleplay a character, including personality, physical appearance, and features of society.

Many ancestries have lineages as well. These are shared traits among smaller groups within an ancestry. Unless stated, you can mix and match different ancestries and lineages to show a character with parents from different ancestries.

The age entry notes the age when a member of your ancestry is considered an adult, as well as your ancestry’s expected lifespan. This information can help you decide how old your character is at the start of the game. You can choose any age for your character, which could explain some of your ability scores. For example, if you play a young or very old character, your age could explain a particularly low Strength or Endurance, while advanced age could account for a high Intelligence or Will.

Most characters will be Medium, a size category including creatures that are roughly 4 to 8 feet tall. Members of a few ancestries are Small (between 2 and 4 feet tall), which means that certain rules of the game affect them differently. A few ancestries are large and have other specific rules that apply to them. Small sized characters have a +1 to dodge and passive defense, and large have a -1 to their dodge and passive defense.

You can decide your character’s height and weight, using the information provided in your Ancestry. Think about what your character’s attributes might say about his or her height and weight. A weak but agile character might be thin. A strong and tough character might be tall or just heavy.

Your Ancestry indicates the languages your character can speak by default, but your heritage or background might give you access to one or more additional languages of your choice, and you can speak additional languages equal to your Intelligence.. With your Narrator’s permission, you can instead choose a language from the Exotic Languages table, or a dialect of a more common language,  or some sort of other secret language.

Some of these languages are families of languages with many dialects. For example, the Primordial language includes the Auran, Aquan, Ignan, and Terran dialects, one for each of the four elemental planes. Creatures that speak different dialects of the same language can communicate with one another.

Large characters operate under another ruleset that takes precedence over other rules because of their size. These rules apply to all characters of large size unless altered in that specific ancestry. This ruleset is intended to mean that being large is more advantageous than being medium or small, and the traits are balanced accordingly. All large characters follow the following rules.

• You have advantage on Strength rolls and Body defenses. Your extra size allows better leverage in a medium-sized world.

• You take up 2 to 3 hexes.

• If you attempt to handle something very small, such as a vial of acid, you may need a Dexterity roll where a smaller-sized creature would automatically succeed.

• You require four times as much food as normal and your armor requires four times the materials to be made, and at least 4 times the cost. You also require larger shields, which are more common, but give no extra bonus to armor outside the norm.

• Large weapons cost at least twice that of a normal weapon. Your starting weapons can be Large-sized. Large weapons deal an extra 1d4 damage.

Some Ancestries have the ability to fly or can gain flight through talents and abilities. In addition to the rules listed in Combat for flying, the following rules apply to characters with flying.

• • To maintain flight in difficult circumstances, you can make a Movement (Strength) roll with a target number of (10 + 1 for each capacity over your carrying capacity) to maintain flight.

Based on your heritage, your character may be able to speak, read, and write certain languages or extra languages.

While your alignment will be unique to your character, the alignment listed here will show the general disposition for people of that Heritage. You are free to adopt this for your character, but many player character don't fit the norm, and often stray from the predisposition of the culture they are raised in.

Your alignment is broken up into two parts: Ethos and Principles. Consider each of those parts to be a sliding scale that your character relates to. Ethos is a measure of how much importance your character puts on themselves while Principles are a measure of how your character views and interacts with society.

For Ethos, one side of the axis is Altruistic while the opposite side is Selfish. These represent whether you would put other needs first or your own. Selfish characters are fairly easy to envision, but that doesn’t make them “evil”, rather it means that whatever they do they seek their own needs first. In thinking of good and evil, many evil characters are more along the selfish side, but an evil altruistic character might be doing what they see as best for their community, no matter the cost to themselves or the outside world. Other names you might want to use for Altruism might include Honor, Loyalty, or Community. Other names for Selfish might include Control, Dominance, or Authority.

For Principles, one side of the axis is Tradition while the other side is Dynamics. This represents how flexible you are when given choices. Tradition would be seen as more lawful in some areas, but should the law change, they would be the ones that would fight against that change. Dynamics would be more on the side of changing things around. They would be the first to join in the revolution while Tradition characters might be more likely to hire people to put down the revolution. Tradition characters might be big on family or the guild they are a part of while Dynamic characters will float from group to group to fit their needs.

Your character will likely shift in their alignment throughout the game as their perspective and experiences change them. These are designed to help build your character and have no mechanical effect. Feel free to ignore these ideas if they do not enhance the game you are playing in.

Ready for War. You have skills boosts in one weapon of your choice and one armor of your choice.

Alignment. If you are a commoner, you will tend towards Altruism while the noble class will lean towards Selfish.

Resilient. You have advantage on rolls made to resist debilitating weather effects, such as those caused by extreme heat or cold. Additionally, when you complete a short rest, you can reduce your exhaustion level by one. Once used, you cannot reduce your exhaustion level in this way again until you complete a long rest.

Languages. You know one additional language of your choice.

Alignment. Nomads tend towards Dynamic as they must be adaptable to survive different cultures they meet.

Field Worker. Your long hours in the fields mean that you can keep working even when tired. You have advantage on any rolls made to resist exhaustion.

Alignment. Farmers tend towards Tradition and Altruism.

Haggle. You have advantage on Speechcraft (CUN) – Persuasion made to reduce the cost of items.

Languages. You know one additional language of your choice.

Alignment. Those that live in the large cities tend towards Tradition and Selfishness.

Forest Dweller. Difficult terrain doesn’t slow the pace of you or those you travel with.

Alert to Danger. Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.

Alignment. Those born to the forest lean slightly towards Dynamic as they must adapt to changes like the seasons.

Steady Foot. Used to walking where you can’t see, you have learned to move more carefully. You can move across difficult terrain made of earth or stone without expending extra movement.

Languages. You know one additional language of your choice.

Alignment. Darkness Dwellers tend towards Tradition, unchanging as the stone around them.

Know your Customer. When you are appraising an item to buy or sell, you can buy or sell it for 10% more or less.

Languages. You know two additional language of your choice.

Alignment. Merchants are generally Selfish, finding the best deals for themselves, often at the expense of others.

Practice Crafters. You have a skill boost in Light and Medium Armors.

Alignment. Mahiron are Traditional in nature, unmoving as the materials they work with.

Architect. You have advantage on rolls that deal with buildings or stonework.

Languages. You know one additional language of your choice.

Alignment. Cyclops tend towards Altruism and Tradition.

Tinker. Using tinker’s tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to construct a Tiny Clockwerk device (armor 5, 1 health). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use an action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time. When you create a device, choose one of the following options:

• Clockwork Toy. This toy is a clockwork animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or soldier. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each of your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents.

• • Fire Starter. The device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action.

  • Music Box. When opened, this music box plays a single song at a moderate volume. The box stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.

  • At your Narrator's discretion, you may make other objects with effects similar in power to these. Cantrips are a good baseline for such effects.

Languages. You know one additional language of your choice.

Alignment. Clockwerk are very rigid in their views and are Traditional.

Every story has a beginning. Your character’s background reveals where you came from, how you became an adventurer, and your place in the world.

Choosing a background provides you with important story cues about your character’s identity. The most important question to ask about your background is what changed? Why did you stop doing whatever your background describes and start adventuring? Where did you get the money to purchase your starting gear, or, if you come from a wealthy background, why don’t you have more money? How did you learn the skills of your class? What sets you apart from ordinary people who share your background?

The sample backgrounds here provide both concrete benefits (features, proficiencies, and languages) and roleplaying suggestions. Your Narrator might offer additional backgrounds or can work with you to craft a unique background to your character.

Give your character two personality traits. Personality traits are small, simple ways to help you set your character apart from every other character. Your personality traits should tell you something interesting and fun about your character. They should be self-descriptions that are specific about what makes your character stand out. “I’m smart” is not a good trait, because it describes a lot of characters. “I’ve read every book in the library” tells you something specific about your character’s interests and disposition.

Personality traits might describe the things your character likes, his or her past accomplishments, things your character dislikes or fears, your character’s self-attitude or mannerisms, or the influence of his or her attributes.

A useful place to start thinking about personality traits is to look at your highest and lowest attributes and define one trait related to each. Either one could be positive or negative: you might work hard to overcome a low attribute, for example, or be cocky about your high attribute.

Describe one ideal that drives your character. Your ideals are the things that you believe in most strongly, the fundamental moral and ethical principles that compel you to act as you do. Ideals encompass everything from your life goals to your core belief system.

Ideals might answer any of these questions: What are the principles that you will never betray? What would prompt you to make sacrifices? What drives you to act and guides your goals and ambitions? What is the single most important thing you strive for?

You can choose any ideal you like, but your character’s alignment is a good place to start defining them.

Create one bond for your character. Bonds represent a character’s connections to people, places, and events in the world. They tie you to things from your background. They might inspire you to heights of heroism, or lead you to act against your own best interests if they are threatened. They can work very much like ideals, driving a character’s motivations and goals.

Bonds might answer any of these questions: Whom do you care most about? To what place do you feel a special connection? What is your most treasured possession?

Your bonds might be tied to your class, your background, your ancestry, or some other aspect of your character’s history or personality. You might also gain new bonds throughout your adventures.

Finally, choose a flaw for your character. Your character’s flaw represents some vice, compulsion, fear, or weakness—in particular, anything that someone else could exploit to bring you to ruin or cause you to act against your best interests. More significant than negative personality traits, a flaw might answer any of these questions: What enrages you? What’s the one person, concept, or event that you are terrified of? What are your vices?