3.2. Builder Box

The leftmost column of Page 1 of the Character Sheet contains everything you will need to build and improve your character as you play.

At the top of the page you will find a checklist to complete when making a new character. Below that you will find a tracker for your Experience Points. Below that will be a place to track your Adventurer Level and your Archetype Levels. Each of the level trackers also shows which benefits you gain at each level and which Perks you have chosen from as you have Leveled Up.

This chapter will go over each section of the Builder Box in more detail.

Builder Checklist

The Builder Checklist contains a list to complete as you build a brand new character. Those items are:

• Generate Social Stats using one of the following methods. (Ask your GM if they have a preferred method):
  • Roll:
    • Make sure your GM is present.
    • Start all your Social Stats at -1.
    • Roll 5d6, with each individual die determining which stat gains a point as follows:
      [1..2] +1 Deception [3..4] +1 Insight [5..6] +1 Sincerity.
    • Repeat the above steps a second time. Pick which of the two sets of results you like more.
  • Point Buy:
    • Start all your Social Stats at -1.
    • Assign 5 points across any of your Social Stats as you see fit.
• Generate Exploration Stats using one of the following methods. (Again, ask your GM if they have a preferred method):
  • Roll:
    • Make sure your GM is present.
    • Start all your Social Stats at +1.
    • Roll 4d6, with each individual die determining which stat gains a point as follows:
      [1..2] +1 Might [3..4] +1 Artifice [5..6] +1 Tuning.
    • Repeat the above steps a second time. Pick which of the two sets of results you like more.
  • Point Buy:
    • Start all your Social Stats at +1.
    • Assign 4 points across any of your Exploration Stats as you see fit.
• Choose an gain an Improvement in 2 of your Social Skills (fill in the bubble next to those Social Skills.) Those Social Skills won't suffer from a Disadvantage when you have to perform a Test involving those Social Skills. When choosing 2 Social Skills, you will not choose Language or Performance. Those come next.
• Choose 1 Language Skill from the Language List. The GM may also provide a list of Languages common to the area you find yourselves in.
• Make up a Performance Skill and write it down. It can be anything, provided you choose a niche skill that others would enjoy watching or appreciating in some way. For example, you could choose dancing, juggling, painting, giving sermons, doing finger guns, cooking souffles, etc.
• Gain Improvements in Exploration Skills as follows. (Each Improvement in an Exploration Skill removes one of the -1 penalties that you have when rolling a Test involving that Skill):
  • Gain an Improvement in 3 Perception Skills (Recon, Analysis, or Sensing.)
  • Gain an Improvement in 2 Covert Skills (Sneaking, Subtlety, or Hiding.)
  • Gain an Improvement in 4 Knowledge Skills (Athletics, History, Rumor, Tinkering, Conjuring, and Enchanting.)
• Choose a starting Constitution and Class. If your choice has Flavors, make your choices for those Flavors now. You can note these choices at the bottom of the Builder Box. Your starting Constitution will often affect your starting max Health and Vitality. Your starting Constitution and Class will also grant you Abilities that you can note in the Abilities Box on Page 2 of your Character Sheet.
• Choose a Primary and Secondary Archetype from the following: Fighter, Rogue, and Mage. Your Primary Archetype starts at Level 4 and your Secondary Archetype starts at Level 2. Mark those Levels on their respective trackers.
• For the Level you gained on that tracker and gain its benefit. Benefits include things like gaining Abilities, Ability Upgrades, Perks, and other benefits.
• Gain 2 General, 2 Grey, and 2 Obscure Goods. You can then, optionally, use the Item Search Ability, spending your Goods to gain starting gear. It's recommended that you at least get a Melee Weapon, Ranged Weapon, and/or Magic Weapon, unless you have Abilities that give you a weapon passively.

Experience

For each Experience Point you gain, you will mark one bubble on the Experience track found on Page 2 of your Character Sheet.

The GM will award Experience Points at key points in the story or at the end of each Encounter that you involve yourself in. Your GM may also grant you Experience Points for completing hidden, Secondary Objectives.

The most common Secondary Objectives involve staying engaged with the story by:

• Learning important information.
• Uncovering new, hidden details about the current story.
• Finding or interacting with important objects.
• Achieving goals in an optional, more difficult way.
• Protecting people or objects that need protecting.
• Avoiding bloodshed where it was not needed.

Leveling Up

Once the Experience track reaches 6, you gain an Adventurer Level, adding it to your Experience, you gain an Archetype Level. When you do, choose one of the three Archetypes and adding a Level to its tracker. After gaining an Archetype Level, reset your Experience to 0.

Whenever you add a Level to a tracker, gain the benefits associated with that Level. You can also choose 1 Perk to gain from the Perk List for that tracker. After gaining 5 Levels in a tracker, you can choose from the Advanced Perks or the regular Perks.

Level Tracker

The Level Tracker is where you will track your Adventurer Level. When gaining an Adventurer Level, you may also gain Social, Class, or Trait Abilities and Upgrades. For each Adventurer Level that you gain, you will also gain a Perk of your choosing, though you cannot choose Advanced Perks until you have gained 5 Basic Perks.

Level

Your Level generally starts at 1 and cannot exceed 15, though your GM may begin your character at a Level higher than 1.

When choosing Abilities, make sure to look at the Requirements for each Ability, as your Level may limit which Abilities you can learn. If you cannot meet the Requirement, then the Ability will always Fail outright.

At Adventurer Level 1, you can learn 1 Social Ability and 1 Trait or Class Ability, as seen in the first column of the Abilities are in addition to the Abilities you gain from choosing a starting Constitution and Class.

Whenever you gain a Level's column in the Abilities or Upgrades you gain at that Level. You can find all the available Abilities in the Ability List in the Appendix.

At Adventurer Level 1 you can also choose 1 Perk from the Perk List at the bottom of the Adventurer Level you will also gain a Perk of your choice.

Level Perks

At each Level, including Level 1, you can also choose a Perk from the Perk list at the bottom of the [[#Level Tracker]].

The left column of Perks are Basic Perks while the right column are Advanced Perks. When choosing a Perk, you can always chooses from the Basic Perks, though you will need to wait until you have taken 5 Basic Perks before you can choose from the Advanced Perks.

If you need a more detailed description of what each Level Perk does, see the Perk List.

Archetype Trackers

The three Archetype Trackers match the three Archetypes are: Fighter, Rogue, and Mage. Each Archetype Tracker grants unique Abilities, Upgrades and Perks.

You will need to balance your Archetypes to best represent your character. When choosing where to assign your Archetype Levels, consider which benefits you hope to gain first. Generally speaking, you will probably want to choose the Archetype that matches your highest Exploration Stat, as the Abilities you gain will generally have higher rates of success if you do. That said, the choice is yours.

Archetype Level

When you gain an Archetype Level, you will need to choose which of the three Archetypes Trackers to assign it to.

When building a new Adventurer, you will choose a Primary Archetype and a Secondary Archetype, with your Primary Archetype gaining 4 Levels and your Secondary Archetype gaining 2 Levels. You will also gain the benefits of each of those levels. The Archetype you did not choose as Primary or Secondary is your "Tertiary Archetype".

Each Level tracker has a max of 15. Since your Primary Archetype starts at Level 4, that means you can max it out and still have 4 Levels to go before you hit your max Adventurer Level. You may want to spend those 4 on your Secondary Archetype at some point, as you'll have a better chance at the Advanced Perks for that Archetype, but you are, of course, not required to do so.

Archetype Perks

Your Archetype Perks are divided into Basic Perks and Advanced Perks, in the same manner as your Adventurer Perks. Before you can choose from the Advanced Perks of an Archetype, you must first have taken 5 Basic Perks for that Archetype.

Fighter Tracker

Every even Fighter Level grants you an Ability from the Fighter Ability List.

For a detailed description of what each Fighter Perk does, see the Perk List.

Rogue Tracker

Every even Rogue Levels grants you an Ability from the Rogue Ability List.

For a detailed description of what each Rogue Perk does, see the Perk List.

Mage Tracker

Every third Mage Levels grants you an Ability from the Mage Ability List. At all other Mage Levels you will instead gain a Spell Ability from the Spell Ability List.

For a detailed description of what each Mage Perk does, see the Perk List.

Constitution

Your Constitution represents the key physical makeup of your character and grants you starting Abilities that express those features. Your Constitution defines how much Health and Vitality you have and may also start you off with Defenses. Some Constitutions may give you a choice of Trait Abilities or suggestions of Trait Abilities that you should take.

If you wish to play a simple, human-like character, the "Mortal Constitution" serves as a good starting place and will start you off with more capabilities from your chosen Class. For other fantasy archetypes, like elves, the Non-Mortal, Chaos Touched, and Void Touched Constitutions are a great place to start and will grant you a nice mixture of Trait Abilities and Class Abilities.

The Constitution List in the Appendix divides the Constitutions up by rarity level. Speak with your GM to see what world they are hoping to create. If the setting is more grounded, they may prefer you pick a "Common" Constitution to start, possibly switching out your Constitution when events change your physical form.

Class

You will also need to choose a starting Class from the Class Ability List. You may want to work with other Adventurers to ensure that you are not picking the same Classes (though there is often enough variation in how you can build your character that it can be fine to overlap.)

Classes represent the focus, training, and background for your character. Your Class will specify which Class Abilities are the best to start with, but also which other Classes complement your starting Class the most. You are not required stick to your chosen Class's Abilities. That said, if you venture into other Classes, check with other Adventurers to ensure that you are not stepping on their toes.

Next Up: 3.3. Social Box