3. Class
Classes determine the nature of your character's profession, his place in society, and his general fighting ability. The Classes available are Fighter, Cleric, Rogue, and Magic-User.
It may be helpful to think of these Classes as corresponding to the "Three Estates" of medieval society:
Fighters (Those Who Fight): In the feudal system, combat has traditionally been the responsibility and the right of the nobility; this was reinforced by the fact that only the nobility possessed the means with which to afford arms and armor. The sons of nobles trained through childhood to become knights. While this is generally the case for Fighters, with the rise of mercenary armies have also come those common-born warriors who have seen enough battles (and loot) that they can hold their own against the noble-born knights. Fighters are those who have formal combat training and/or experience.
Rogues (Those Who Toil): On the bottom rung of society are the peasants, those who support the upper classes with their labor and their obedience. In return for these things, they are (ideally) guaranteed a great measure of safety and provision. I've changed the original name of this class from "Thief" to reflect the fact that Rogues are not necessarily criminally-minded, though they can be, and this reflects the view most noblemen have of the peasant class, anyway. Rogues have no formal combat training - when levies must be called up in times of war, peasants are expected to respond to a muster and are armed with little more than farm implements or what they can loot from the enemy. Though the Border Companies are composed of mercenaries, many in the Companies (especially the scout regiments) are of the Rogue class.
Magic-Users (Those Who Are Outside the Order of Things): Possessors of esoteric lore and mystic powers, Magic-Users are iconoclasts and educated men and women who don't quite fit into the neatly regimented order of feudal society. As such, they are as often feared and hated as they are respected and admired. Magic-Users come from all walks of life, and may be anything from a rustic hedgewizard or backwoods witch to an educated alchemist or student of a University of Wizardry. The only real unifying theme is, obviously, the use of magic.
As you can see, Classes are fairly broad generalizations. Concept is the means by which you describe precisely what your character is, what he is capable of, and what he's familiar with. Your character's Concept is what you imagine him to be, specifically: a Peasant Woodsman; a Noble Knight; a Devoted Paladin; a Barbarian Warrior; a Former University Student; a Guild-Taught Pickpocket, and so on.
This concept is a lot like the "Secondary Skills" of 1st Edition AD&D - by defining what your character is, we can both get a good idea of what the character knows how to do, how familiar he would be with certain concepts or lore, and so on.
4. Humours and Temperaments
Medieval medicine held that the body held four different substances, or Humours, which would dictate a person's health. When one of these Humours was out of balance - there was either too much or too little - it would negatively affect a person, usually by exaggerating a physical, mental, or emotional trait. These exaggerated traits are known as Temperaments.
The Humours are rated from 0 (well-balanced) to 3 (dangerously excessive levels). The four Humours come in pairs: Melancholy [M] and Sanguine [S] are opposites; so are Phlegm [P] and Choler [C]. Because of this, you cannot have an excess of both Melancholy and Sanguine, as the excesses would cancel each other out.
Every character begins the game with 3 points of imbalance in their Humours; you'll need to allocate those points however you like - 2 points in one and 1 point in another, or all 3 in one.
Note that you will only choose one Temperament per imbalance, either Physical, Mental, or Emotional. A good way of deciding which type of Temperament to have is to look at your CON, INT, and CHA Ability Scores: if your CON is lowest, choose a Physical Temperament; if INT is lowest, choose Mental, and if CHA is lowest, choose Emotional.
Melancholy
Sanguine
Phlegm
Choler
Lack of Energy; Depression
Lack of Self-Control; Activity
Lack of Will; Illness
Lack of Nerves; Anger
Rating Temperament Temperament Temperament
S3 Joyful Guillible Lecherous
S2 Cheerful Susceptible Lusty
S1 Lively Generous Amorous
M1 Fatigued Needy Sentimental
M2 Lazy Gluttonous Gloomy
M3 Slothful Avaricious Hopeless
C3 Frayed Pressured Wrathful
C2 Nervous Fazed Violent
C1 Jumpy Unfocused Confident
P1 Dull Indifferent Fearful
P2 Weak Jaded Cowardly
P3 Sickly Apathetic Panicked
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