1. Overview of Character Creation (read first - vERY IMPORTANT!!!)
2. Creating Descriptions
   1. Personality descriptions
   2. Physical descriptions
3. Creating a Biography
4. Determining Attributes
   1. Initial attribute levels
   2. Attributes and their reflection of skill levels
5. Determining Skills
   1. Skill list
   2. Skill notes
   3. Choosing "other" skills
6. Determining Gifts
   1. List of gifts
   2. A word of caution
7. Determining Faults
   1. Fault conversion table
   2. List of faults
   3. A word of warning
8. FUDGE Points
9. Equipment & Money
   1. Choosing belongings for new characters
   2. Money
   3. Poor characters
   4. Wealthy characters
10. A Character's Online Profile
11. A Final Note

*               *               *               *               *

Overview of Character Creation:

Creating a character is the most important part of the game.  The quality of game-play you experience (as well as your level of enjoyment) will be reflected by the level of thought and effort you put in to creating your character.  It is imperative that I know your character as well as you do.  Why?  Well, in certain situations, I will have to make lots of minor decisions on your character's behalf.  If I know your character well (motives, history, likes, dislikes, etc...), I can write your character into situations in a way that brings our their personality.

You may have noticed that the description of Darklands in the "Grim World" section is intentionally vague.  You should feel free to help me create this world through the creation of your character.  Is your character a member of the Knights Illuminas, a semi-religious order from the hidden monastery of Senbar, whose purpose is seeking out the minions of the demon lord Incubus?  If so, you need to tell me all about the Knights Illuminas, their code of secrecy and behaviour, who their deity is, what the monastery looks like, some key people in the character's life up to this point, who this Incubus demon is, etc...  These details will be compiled with whatever others send in to create the world in which we play.

In short, Darklands is character-centered.  That means that adventures will focus around, and be driven by the characters who play them.

Before proceeding, read the explanation of the Ranking System in the rules section.  Then return to this page and read the rest of the Creating a Darklander section

(1) the following limits apply to character creation.  Each character receives the following freebies:

• 4 attribute level advances

• 50 skill level advances

• 2 gifts

• 0 faults

(2) These limitations must be observed for new characters:

• when ranking attributes, a new character can have no more than 1 Superb and 2 Greats.

• when ranking and creating skills, a new character can have no more than 1 Superb and 4 Greats (Superb places a character high into the 99 percentile for that particular area.  Most Olympians would be Great.)

(3) A player may wish to trade a free gift in order to advance an attribute, or give-up an attribute advance to increase skill levels.  Use the following conversion when trading points around:

• 1 attribute level can be traded in for 3 skill levels and vice versa.

• 1 gift can be traded in for 6 skill levels and vice versa.

• 1 gift can be traded in for 2 attribute levels and vice versa.

(4) As described in the Faults section of the site, any number of faults may be taken.  A fault can be converted into any of the following advantages:

• 1 fault gives the character 1 gift or...

• 1 fault gives the character 2 attribute levels or...

• 1 fault gives the character 6 skill levels.

In other words, a beginning player could take 3 faults, and choose 6 skill levels and 4 attributes levels, or 2 gifts, or... you get the idea.

(5) At this stage of game development, all characters must be human.  I am still toying with races, and at this stage, am not sure what races will exist.  I've already decided that there will be no "elfy" type.

*               *               *               *               *

Creating Descriptions:

Each character has two descriptions: a personality description and a physical description.  Each of these should be a descriptive paragraph that summarizes the important points about your character.  These descriptions are not mere filler or flavour.  They will be used to determine how your character will be shaped, and during the game, they may often be referred back to by the GM when determining how NPC's react to you.  

Personality Description.
This paragraph describes your character's personality.  Be sure to include situational information (i.e. information that gives an indication of how a character might respond in certain situations.)  Let's use the personality description of Grog the Barbarian as an example.

Grog is loud and forward to say the least.  He has no problem speaking whatever is on his mind, no matter what the situation.  This tendency to speak out of line (and usually quite gruffly and rudely) has gotten him into all kinds of sticky situations.  Grog has no tolerance for those who are physically lacking, and has a streak of the bully syndrome.  These traits are often increased when Grog's uncontrollable drinking problem is taken into account.  Grog is the epitome of brashness, rudeness, and social ineptitude.  In his mind, if a problem can't be solved with his axe, it probably isn't worth solving.  On the other side, Grog is incredibly loyal once trust is given.  He is a powerful ally to those he considers as friends.

As we can see, the description is long enough to give a good indication of what drives Grog and how he would respond in lots or situations.  There aren't too many positive aspects, and it could have easily been written to be twice as long and descriptive.  However, be careful not to write a full essay on your character's personality.  Be succinct and detailed.

Physical Description.
The physical description can be as detailed or vague as you please.  If you want to describe clothing, hair colour, scars, build, items carried, facial features, etc. go bananas.  Including a picture of your character on the web page would definitely be a nice touch.  In fact, if you don't provide a picture, I will take the liberty of including one myself.  All pictures will be reduced to greyscale to maintain the black & white scheme of the site. 

Let's look at Grog's physical description.

Grog is a large muscle-bound brute.  He insists on wearing nothing but tanned, worn pants and thick fur-lined boots.  His upper torso is bare, and his muscle mass is of beastly proportions.  He looms well over six feet in height, and dwarves almost any man in a room.  This makes it almost impossible for Grog to blend in.  The hilt of a long knife sticks out of his left boot, and a humungous Battle Axe is usually strapped to his back.  The blade is shiny and well-kept, but is nicked and chinked from much use.  Grog sports a long mane of shaggy black hair and uses his knife to keep fairly well-shaven.  His eyes are set close together on either side of an imposing nose.  His upper lip is usually curled in a grimace, even when he is happy.

Again, this paragraph could be shorter or longer, depending on the ideas and wishes of the player.  You may be wondering why these descriptions (and the upcoming biography) are completed before the attributes and skills are chosen.  Keep reading.  The answer is en route.

*               *               *               *               *

Creating a Biography:

The Biography should be completed along with character descriptions.  It is good to at least write a draft copy of a character's biography before moving on to attributes and skills.  As with the descriptions, the biography of your character may give hints and clues as to what gifts, faults, attributes, and skills would be relevant.  

One more note before proceeding.  Unlike more traditional fantasy role-playing games, Darklanders do not have to start as young pups with little or no abilities.  There are enough points given for character creation (plus those gained by taking extra faults) to devise ex-outlaws, river pirates, mercenaries, bounty hunters, experienced footpads, renowned Loremasters, traveling bards, and so on.  It is actually desirable to create a character with some amount of previous experience with danger, combat, ancient mysteries, etc.  The dark and dangerous nature of Darklands does not lend itself to playing young ex-farmer characters.  Read Grog's biography as an example.

Grog was born the son of a slave woman, and was owned by a self-proclaimed lord named Draygor.  He lived most of his life in servitude, and as he grew, his massive size made him very useful for physical labour.  When Grog was 16 years old, he strangled one of the wardens with his shackles and gained his freedom.  He spent the next ten years running with various mercenary bands, and even fought in the battle which saw the overthrow of the infamous Castle Farstein.  

The paltry earnings of the mercenary life eventually took its toll on Grog.  After one too many outbreaks with his superiors, he decided to go solo and try to make it as an adventurer.  He spent the next few years raiding the barrows and tombs of the Lost South Kingdoms.  Grog was usually lucky enough to stumble into the ones that had something worth taking.  His stubbornness and overbearing ways makes it hard for him to hold on to companions, but he doesn't seem to mind this.  He does have one friend of sorts - the traveling bard and charlatan Bevier - who rescued Grog from being trapped in a collapsed tunnel.  The two became companions for a while, and Bevier introduced Grog to many of his roguish contacts.

Grog has seen much in the world that would chill the heart and cause men to go mad, but he is an adventurer, bold and fierce, always on the hunt for more treasure and a chance to swing his axe.  

*               *               *               *               *

Determining Attributes:

Darklanders are ranked in eight areas.  In short, these are:

• Agility: dexterity, balance and general coordination.

• Strength: brawn.  a character's Strength bonus gets added to their damage potential in combat (i.e. Great Strength = +2 to damage)

• Speed: how fast a character can move.  Used comparatively, this attribute will be used to determine if a character can catch or escape from another creature.

• Health: a character's Wounds score is derived from their health.  Each new character starts with a base of 5 Wounds and modifies this number with their Health attribute.  (i.e. Mediocre (-1) Health;  5 -1 = 4 Wounds)

• Reasoning: general intelligence, a character's ability to remember details, solve problems, crack codes, learn new information, etc...

• Willpower: just like real people, Darklanders don't always do what is in their best interest.  This attribute measures self-control, coolness, and courage.

• Perception: general level of alertness, attention to detail and reaction time to situations.

• Presence: kind of like charisma, but not necessarily.  More of a measure of how effective a person's personality is - a character with a high Presence could be charming, intimidating, have a heroic or noble carriage, etc...  Doesn't necessarily mean friendly

Initial attribute levels.
All new characters start with all of their attributes ranked as Fair (+0) and are given 4 free advances to do with what they like.  Furthermore, a character can choose to drop an attribute by one or more levels in order to raise others.  Let's have a look at Grog's attributes:

Agility: Great (+2)
Strength: Superb (+3)
Speed: Fair (+0)
Health: Good (+1)
Reasoning: Fair (+0)
Willpower: Mediocre (-1)
Perception: Fair (+0)
Presence: Good (+1)

As we can see, Grog took a total of 7 advances.  How?  4 were free . He also dropped his Willpower by 1, and he took an additional Fault and gained 2 more advances as described in the fault section below.

Notice that Grog's player based his choice of attribute scores on Grog's descriptions and biography.  Considering his hulking size, the player was adamant about taking Superb Strength.  He would have taken Superb Health as well, but considering the new character limitation (i.e. only 1 Superb) he decides to give Grog Great Health.  Grog's Willpower was dropped to Mediocre to reflect his lack of control, however, Willpower also determines courage.  The player decides that this means Grog puts on the act, but is as quick to run away (when he picks on someone bigger than himself) as the next guy.

Attributes and their reflection on skill levels.
There is no direct correlation in the Darklands rules between attribute levels and skill levels.  However, a character with Poor reasoning obviously can't excel to Great in certain types of Lore.  Neither can a character with Terrible Strength be very effective in combat skills.  As a general rule, a character with less than Fair in an attribute can not rank a related skill higher than the related attribute score. (i.e. A character with Fair (average) Agility can learn to become a Superb archer, but a character with Poor Agility can not exceed Poor in their Missile skill.  If the character's Agility rises to Fair, they can begin raising their Missile skill accordingly)

*               *               *               *               *

Determining Skills:

Whereas attributes measure the standard traits that all people share, skills are areas of specific knowledge or talent.  They are often reflected in a person's attributes, but not necessarily.  A merchant character might only have a Fair Presence, but through years of experience, become Great at Haggling. 

In Darklands, all characters share a common skill list.  This list is divided into two sections.  The first section contains skills that all Darklanders would have - riding, climbing, story-telling, and so on.  The second section, listed on the skill chart as "Other Skills," are skills that are learned, and usually have no inherent component - carpentry, acrobatics, healing wounds, and so on.  Most Darklanders would be considered ignorant (or ineffective) in these skill areas unless they have actively learned them.

A new player receives 50 free levels to spend on a characters skills.  These can be used to raise skills on the common list, or to choose/invent more specialized skills for their character.  Furthermore, a character can choose to drop the level of any skills on the standard list in order to raise other skills.  (Note: there is no obligation to take any specialized skills.  A character can be completely built on the common skill list).  Starting characters can have no more than 1 Superbs and 4 Greats in their skill list.  Here is the starting skill list (with starting levels) for new characters:

Combat Skills: Disarm - Poor (-2) 1 Dodge - Poor (-2) 2 Strike to Stun - Poor (-2) 3 WS: Unarmed - Poor (-2) 4 WS: 1- Handed Edge - Poor (-2) WS: 1- Handed Concussion - Poor (-2) WS: 2-Handed - Poor (-2) 5 WS: Staff - Poor (-2) WS: Shield - Poor (-2) 6 WS: Missile - Poor (-2) WS: Thrown - Poor (-2) Transport Skills: Drive Cart - Poor (-2) Ride Horse - Poor (-2) Row Boat - Poor (-2) Physical Skills: Climb - Poor (-2) Survival - Poor (-2) 7 Swim - Poor (-2) Track - Poor (-2) Subterfuge Skills: Hide & Sneak - Poor (-2) Pick Lock - Poor (-2) Set & Disarm Trap - Poor (-2)

Social Skills: Bribe - Poor (-2) Evaluate - Poor (-2) 8 Fast Talk - Poor (-2) Haggle - Poor (-2) Public Speaking - Poor (-2) Seduce - Poor (-2) Story Telling - Poor (-2) 9 Lore Skills: Lore: Ballads & Songs - Poor (-2) Lore: Beasts & Monsters - Poor (-2) Lore: Demonic Creatures - Terrible (-3) Lore: History & Legend - Poor (-2) Lore: Plants & Herbs - Poor (-2) Lore: Religion & Belief - Poor (-2) Lore: Runes & Inscriptions - Terrible (-3) 10 Lore: Undead Creatures - Terrible (-3) Other Skills: Acrobatics (T), Acting (P), Animal Care (M), Animal Training (P),  Art (P), Boat-building (P), Brewing (P), Carpentry (P), Cooking (M), Dancing (P), Disguise (P), Fire-eating (P), Fishing (P), Healing (T), Hunting (P), Juggling (P), Other Lore ( -), Other Weapon (P), Pick Pocket (P), Sleight of Hand (P), Smithing (P), Stoneworking (P), any other chosen in consultation with the GM

Skill notes.
¹ The Disarm skill can be used during a combat.  The character's combat result is at -1.  If the character wins, their opponent is disarmed.

² The Dodge skill can not be taken in degrees or levels.  It must be bought for 3 skill points and be taken at Good level.  It adds +1 to a character's combat result and gives a -1 modifer to an enemies missile result.

³ The Stun skill allows a character to attempt to stun an enemy.  The character's combat result is at -1.  Not all creatures are susceptible from a human stun attempt.

⁴ The WS: Unarmed skill indicates that the player is good at street-fighting, wrestling, etc.  It can not be raised beyond Great.  Unarmed characters receive -1 to their combat result when fighting armed enemies.  Some creatures may be immune to damage from unarmed humans.

⁵ Characters fighting with 2-handed weapons receive a -1 from their combat result but a +1 damage modifier.

⁶ Characters must have the WS: Shield skill in order to use a shield in combat.  The skill can only be taken at Fair by spending two points.  It can not be taken in degrees.

⁷ The Survival skill indicates that the character is knowledgeable in all areas of outdoor survival: basic gathering of edible roots and berries, building shelters, deterring wild animals from camp sites, starting camp fires, finding dry wood and fresh water, etc...

⁸ The Evaluate skill measures a character's ability to tell an object's monetary value.

⁹ The Storytelling skill measures a character's ability to tell stories in an entertaining fashion.  Note: this doesn't presume that characters can fabricate or write stories.  Stories can only be based on the character's knowledge and experience unless they take a skill in Poetry or Epic-Writing.

¹⁰ The Lore: Runes & Inscriptions skill measures a character's ability to read and write in the arcane runic language of Darklands.  Any literate people in this time use this language as a standard for writing.  There is no written equivalent for the language that is spoken in Darklands.  A Good skill level is required to read and write fluently in most cases.  Only characters who have received some direct training (as reflected in their biography) have access to raising this skill.

Choosing "Other" Skills.
The player is given quite a bit of free license when choosing skills other than those on the standard list.  The majority of these skills will probably fall into the "Most" category, meaning that by spending 1 skill level advance, the character would get the skill at Mediocre (i.e. "Most" skills start at Poor).  However, some skills might start at Terrible, and a few easy skills might start at Mediocre.  A player who chooses "Other" Skills should email the GM so the GM can determine how many points these skills will cost.  As stated before, a character is not obligated to take any skills other than those on the standard table.

Let's take a look at our friend Grog's skill table.  If you do the math, you will notice that Grog has spent a total of 56 skill points.  Grog received an additional 6 skill levels by taking a fault.

 

Combat Skills: Disarm - Good (+1) Dodge - Good (+1) Strike to Stun - Poor (-2) WS: Unarmed - Good (+1) WS: 1- Handed Edge - Fair (+0) WS: 1- Handed Concussion - Fair (+0) WS: 2-Handed - Superb (+3) WS: Staff - Poor (-2) WS: Shield - Poor (-2) WS: Missile - Poor (-2) WS: Thrown - Fair (+0) Transport Skills: Drive Cart - Fair (+0) Ride Horse - Fair (+0) Row Boat - Poor (-2) Physical Skills: Climb - Fair (+0) Survival - Good (+1) Swim - Good (+1) Track - Poor (-2) Subterfuge Skills: Hide & Sneak - Poor (-1) Pick Lock - Poor (-2) Set & Disarm Trap - Poor (-2)

Social Skills: Bribe - Fair (+0) Evaluate - Poor (-2) Fast Talk - Poor (-2) Haggle - Great (+2) Public Speaking - Poor (-2) Seduce - Poor (-2) Story Telling - Good (+1) Lore Skills: Lore: Ballads & Songs - Mediocre (-1) Lore: Beasts & Monsters - Fair (+0) Lore: Demonic Creatures - Terrible (-3) Lore: History & Legend - Poor (-2) Lore: Plants & Herbs - Poor (-2) Lore: Religion & Belief - Poor (-2) Lore: Runes & Inscriptions - Terrible (-3) Lore: Undead Creatures - Good (+1) Other Skills: Gamble - Fair (+0)

*               *               *               *               *

Determining Gifts:

Doesn't it just make you sick that some people seem to have all the luck?  Dogs just love them?  They can read something and remember it for a lifetime?  Or maybe they have that infamous uncle who is always there to give them a job or a loan just when they need it?

Darklanders are pretty much like other people in this way.  Each new character starts with two free gifts to give them an edge during game-play.  Others may be purchased by trading in free attribute and skill levels (as described on the character creation page) or by taking extra faults.  Let's take a look at Grog the Barbarian again.

Grog is extremely tough and his player decides to follow it through by taking the Tough gift.  The player can't decide between Luck and Danger Sense, so decides to take a fault so he can take both.  Therefore, Grog ends up with 3 gifts - Tough, Luck, and Danger Sense.

List of Gifts.
The list below is a tailored list of that found on Anthony W. Robertson's Dungeon Fantasy Site.  This is by no means a definitive list.  Players should feel free (and are encouraged) to come up with gifts if there is something specific they have in mind for their character.

• Absolute Direction: You never get lost.

• Acute Hearing: The amount of detail, as well as the distance you can hear, is double that of the average person.

• Alertness: You notice things that others seem to miss.

• Ally: (counts as 2 gifts) You have a trusted and competent friend who accompanies you on your adventurous journeys.

• Animal Empathy: You can make friends with almost any normal creature.

• Ambidexterity: You perform actions equally well with either hand.

• Appearance (good): You are very physically attractive.

• Charisma: You have a personality that almost everyone likes.

• Common Sense: You rarely do anything too stupid. Your GM should give you fair warning before you try anything that he considers particularly ignorant.

• Contacts: You know someone in a position of power or someone that can provide you with valuable information.

• Danger Sense: You have a 'sixth sense' when it comings to danger. You get the feeling that 'something is wrong' on a Good or better result.

• Excellent Vision: You can see twice as far and with twice the accuracy as the average person.

• Favors owed: Someone or some group owes you a favor.

• Luck: You have a horseshoe stuck up your you-know-what.

• Magically Gifted: Unbeknownst to you, your veins run with a touch of the blood of the ancients.

• Memory (good): You remember details that most forget.

• Pain Tolerance: You take a -1 to your actions when you are down to 1/4 of your total Wounds, instead of when you reach 1/2 of your total wounds.

• Patron: You have a friend or friends in high places.

• Rapid Healing: You heal twice at twice the normal rate.

• Reputation (good): You are well known and well liked.

• Resistance to Disease: You are unusually resistant to normal diseases. You are at +1 Health when making rolls to resist disease.

• Resistance to Magic: You make Willpower rolls to resist hostile magic at +1.

• Resistance to Poison: You are unusually resistant to poisons. You are at +1 Health when making rolls to resist disease.

• Social Status (high): You are a member of an important social class (i.e. a clan cheiftain, the nephew of a highly-esteemed Loremaster, etc...)

• Tough: Your skin is so tough it acts like armor. Subtract -1 to any wound that you take. 

• Wealth: You start with twice the regular amount of money and equipment.

A word of caution.
Characters may never take gifts after they have been created.  Make sure you choose wisely.  There is no "going back" in this regard.

*               *               *               *               *

Determining Faults:

Why take faults?  Nobody is perfect, not even (especially?) bold adventurers.  Also, taking faults allows the character to gain extra points to put towards skills, gifts, and attributes.  Make sure to choose faults that suit the description and biography of your character.  Let's look at Grog for an example:

Grog's description made choosing faults very easy.  Right off the bat, the player chooses Addiction: Alcohol and Intolerance of physically disadvantaged people.  After some thought, the player also gives Grog Tactlessness.  As described earlier, the player used these three  faults to give Grog 2 bonus attribute levels, 6 bonus skill levels and an extra gift.

Fault conversion table.
To reiterate, faults can be cashed in as follows:

• 1 fault gives the character 1 gift or...

• 1 fault gives the character 2 attribute levels or...

• 1 fault gives the character 6 skill levels.

List of faults.
The list below is a tailored list of that found on Anthony W. Robertson's Dungeon Fantasy Site.  This is by no means a definitive list.  Players should feel free (and are encouraged) to come up with faults if there is something specific they have in mind for their character.

• Absent-Mindedness: You are always forgetting things.

• Addiction: You are addicted to some substance like alcohol.

• Age (old/young): You are very old or young.

• Appearance (bad): You are extremely unattractive.

• Code of Honor: You are bound by some personal code. The code must be detailed and restrictive enough to meet your GM's approval.

• Compulsion: You have some compulsion that is hard to resist. You are at -3 Willpower to resist this compulsion. Sample compulsions include hand washing, gambling, lying, etc.

• Cowardice: You are very reluctant to put yourself in a dangerous situation.

• Duty: You have a duty that you must perform for a certain amount of time. Examples of duties include serving as a lay priest in a temple one day a week or having a dependent(s) in your life.

• Fanatic Patriotism: You are extremely loyal to your country or cause.

• Gluttony: You never miss a meal.

• Greed: You cannot pass up the chance to earn an extra shilling.

• Grouchiness: You are always in a bad mood and ready to let everyone else know it.

• Gullibility: You usually believe what others tell you. You are at -3 Reasoning to resist Lies or Persuasion.

• Hearing (bad): You are very hard of hearing. You are at -1 to your Perception rolls in situations such as when someone is sneaking up behind you.

• Honesty: You really hate to break the law.

• Impulsiveness: You are always acting without thinking about it first.

• Intolerance: You cultivate an extreme dislike for some group. Examples include gypsies, rich people, beggars, etc.

• Lame: You have a bad limp. You cannot run.

• Laziness: You avoid work at all cost.

• Lechery: You spend far too much of your time pursuing the opposite sex.

• Memory (bad): You are always forgetting things

• Miserliness: You hate to part with even a single copper. You would get along quite well with Mr. Scrooge.

• Mute: You cannot speak.

• Night Blindness: You have a hard time seeing at night or in darkened areas. Your Perception and many skills are at -3 in any low-light situations.

• Obesity: You are extremely overweight.

• Obsession: You are obsessed with some person or thing.

• Odious Personal Habits: You have some trait or habit that most find offensive.

• Offensive Odor: You smell really bad. You are at -3 to your Reaction rolls in most situations.

• One Arm: You are missing an arm. This makes it kind of hard to use a bow or polearm.

• One Eye: You have very poor depth perception. You are at -3 to your attack rolls with missile weapons.

• Outlaw: You are a wanted man (or woman).

• Overconfidence: You have a high opinion of your abilities.

• Owes favors: You owe someone favors that they will eventually call in.

• Pacifism: You are against violence. You will only fight to defend yourself if you are in fear for your life.

• Phobia: You have a phobia of some thing or situation. You must make a Willpower roll at -3 to avoid fleeing or breaking down when you are faced with your phobia.

• Poverty: You start with half the normal amount of money and items

• Primitiveness: You come from an area or culture that is technologically inferior. You are uncomfortable with technologically superior items.

• Pride: You find that most things and people are beneath your dignity.

• Quick-Temper: You get mad very easily.

• Recklessness: You rush in where others fear to tread.

• Reputation (bad): You are very well known and very disliked.

• Social Status (low): Your racial or ethnic group has an extremely poor reputation in the world at large.

• Stubbornness: You hate to admit that you are wrong or that there is a better position than the one you have taken.

• Susceptibility to Disease: You are at -1 to your Health rolls to resist disease.

• Susceptibility to Magic: You are at -1 to your Willpower rolls to resist hostile magic.

• Susceptibility to Poison: You are at -1 to your Health rolls to resist poison.

• Tactlessness: You are always blurting out exactly what you think.

• Truthfulness: You cannot tell a lie.

• Unlucky: Something will go wrong at least a couple of times a week.  Just your rotten luck!

• Vanity: You are extremely proud of your appearance. You get offended if anyone makes a disparaging remark about your obvious good looks.

• Vow: You have a commitment to some person, group or thing.

• Wimp: You are fairly fragile and always take one more wound than damage results indicate.

A word of warning.
Faults are used during the game.  Period.  Don't be fooled into thinking that they are just a neat little way to flesh a character's personality.  You can be sure that any faults you choose will come back to bite you in the butt, so choose carefully.

*               *               *               *               *

FUDGE Points:

FUDGE Points are used during game-play to "fudge" the outcome of a bad dice roll.  Each new character starts with 2 FUDGE points.  There are two ways these points are used.  First of all, the player can notify the GM before an action is completed that they will use a FUDGE point if the action doesn't meet a certain level of success. (i.e. "If Rangor doesn't make a Great impression while seducing the Countess, use one of my fudge points").  In most cases, using a fudge point will ensure that the character succeeds in a remarkable way. (i.e. "not only does the Countess seem impressed by your stories of personal courage, you can't seem to stop her from following you everywhere").

The other way that FUDGE points can be used is in near death circumstances.  In these cases, the GM will use one of your FUDGE points without consulting you.  If a combat result indicated that your character was crushed beyond recognition by a giant, the GM would ignore the result and "fudge" the outcome to keep your character from dying.  The player has no say in this.  

One final note.  FUDGE points don't make a character invulnerable.  There are situations where no amount of luck can change the outcome.  (i.e. a character who gets cornered by a demon is not "charming" their way out, no matter how many FUDGE points they have saved)

FUDGE points can be bought with Adventure Points, as described in the Rules section under "Character Advancement."

*               *               *               *               *

Equipping & Money:

Darklands, as the name suggests, is a dark, dangerous, and incredibly lethal place to live, especially when traveling the wild in search of adventure.  The setting is low fantasy, and most adventurer types will be clad in drab, functional clothing, hooded cloaks, leather boots, and will ride sturdy mounts with saddlebags filled with adventuring gear.  

Choosing belongings for new characters.
Darklander adventurers are an experienced bunch for the most part, and are usually equipped (at least at the beginning of a game) to deal with most situations.  Each character starts the game with any (or all) of the following pieces of equipment:

• a suit of functional clothing, including sturdy boots, warm tunic or robes, a thick hooded cloak, gloves, moneypurse, hankies, hat, etc..

• a dagger or small knife. (-1 to combat result when fighting an enemy with a larger weapon, a large creature, etc..  Good for backup, shaving, etc...)

• a sturdy mount, including saddle, bit, saddlebags.

• on their mount: a bedroll, waterskin, cooking pot, knife & utensils, flint & tinder, 4 or 5 torches, a coil of strong rope, enough preserved rations to last about a week in the wild.

• two weapons (i.e. a sword and a bow, a staff and an extra dagger, 2 hand axes, etc...)

• a suit of armour (if desired).  The player must specify heavy or light armour.

  • Light Armour gives -1 dmg protection and decreases a character's Speed by 1 . (includes a light helm, skull cap if so desired)
  • Heavy Armour gives -2 dmg protection and decreases a characters Speed by 2 (includes a helmet with mask if so desired)
  • Shield gives -1 dmg protection.  Can only be used by character's with the WS: Shield skill.

• Any objects that tie in with specific skills or the character's description. (i.e Lockpicks, Fishing Gear, Herb Pouch with herbs, etc...)

• 50 gold crowns (broken down in any coinage)

(Note: The character's equipment list will not be shown on the character web page.  If a certain piece of equipment is central to the character's "look" or story, bring it out in the appropriate description)

Money.
The currency of Darklands is based on a three-coin system - the gold crown, the silver shilling, and the copper pence.  The conversion rate is as follows:

• 1 gold crown = 20 silver shillings = 10 copper pence (i.e. 1 crown = 200 pence)

Life on the adventure trail is considerably more expensive than the normal life.  Adventurers are forced to camp out, live off rations, and whenever possible, purchase food & lodging at Way Stations and Inn Houses.  The average establishment charges 1 crown for one night in a private room and 10 shillings for enough food for an adventurer to not feel hungry (not including ale - an average of one shilling).  Therefore, the average character could survive in an Inn for about a month on the money they start the game with.

Poor characters.
Some players choose to give their character the fault of being poor.  These players will have to consult with the GM and be assigned equipment accordingly.  Poor characters would have less than the bare necessities for travel and survival.

Wealthy characters.
The starting possessions of wealthy characters (i.e those who take the "Wealth" gift) will vary, depending upon the circumstances of the character.  It is not unheard of for wealthy characters to have a small entourage of servants, a private tower, small holding of land, hidden (and secured) stash of 500+ gold crowns, a stallion of the highest level of breeding and battle-training, their own river barge or horse-drawn coach, etc...)  Like poor characters, consultation with the GM is in order.

*               *               *               *               *

A Character's Online Profile:

When submit your character, I will be posting the character in The Characters section of the site.  Only the following information will be posted for lurkers and other players to see:

1. The character's name

2. The character's biography

3. The character's descriptions

4. A picture of the character

5. The character's personal belongings.
   Personal belongings are those things that, for the most part, the character carries on their person - this would not include a 50 ft coil of rope, 10 torches, etc..  As a general rule, imagine the character sitting in the common room of an Inn.  The items worn/carried in that environment would be the character's personal belongings.

6. The player's first name and email address.
   This is included so that lurkers can contact players with comments, questions about a player's character.  If you don't want to use your "real" email address (I wouldn't), then go to some free email provider (hotmail, yahoo) and create an anonymous email address for this purpose.

*               *               *               *               *

A Final Note:

When creating your character, constantly scrutinize the "big picture"  Players are expected to create characters who "make sense" as a complete package.  For example

• Don't choose the Danger Sense Gift for a character with Poor Perception.  

• Don't cloth a wild barbarian in full plate armour.  

• Don't create a Bard with Great a Play Lute skill and Poor Lore: Ballads & Songs.

• Be certain that all attributes, skills, gifts, faults, and equipment match each other, and that they match the description and biography that the character is based on.