Character Generation

So I’ve talked a little bit about some of the aspects on Saivryth.  And I do intend to do future posts about more aspects, but I decided to go over some of the character generation dynamics for Saivryth this time.

As I have stated before, Saivryth was originally created as an RPG World, loosely based on the 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons system created by Wizards of the Coast. When I say loosely based, I mean that I used the 3.5 D&D system to generate character classes and basic world building. But everything else from the Gods to the Kingdoms and some of the Races are pretty much original in concept. Even the classic D&D Races that are on Saivryth have their own original twists to them to make them unique to Saivryth itself. My version of the Drow race comes to mind for this, as they are not an underground race or a matriarchal society. That is only one example of the differences between the 3.5 rules and the homebrew rules as gamers like to distinguish between them.

I have other differences too that I’ve created for Character Generation itself. Your standard D&D Character Sheet has six basic statistics that create a character, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. I added in two new statistics, or rather, one old statistic and one new one to balance things out. I never liked the idea of Charisma being the be all and end all of how a person looks or acts statistic wise. I much rather preferred the first edition rule of Comeliness for what a character looks like and leaving Charisma for their actions. So I included Comeliness as one of the basic statistics for character generation.

Over the years as a Game Master/Dungeon Master running a table top RPG game, I’ve learned that while players do pick up on the hints and plot lines you generate for them, sometimes a player or players don’t always follow those hints or plot lines.  So I was faced with three options.  The first option was to abandon all the work on a specific plot line.  This can be very stressful for either the player or the GM.  The second option was to force the player or players in the direction I, as the GM, wanted them to go in.  This tended to make cranky unhappy players.  The last option was to punt, and see if I could steer the game play back to the original plot line.   After many frustrating games where things just did not get done, I eventually came up with another option that made things a bit more balanced for game play.  I created an eighth statistic called Curiosity.  This way when players were presented with something that I as the GM wanted them to act on I would ask for a Curiosity check and let them decide what to do after they either pass or fail the check.  It has worked very well over the years.

So now we have our basic character generation statistics, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Comeliness and Curiosity.  The numbers that are generated to represent these particular statistics are created  in the standard D&D format.  A person rolls the standard 6 sided dice 4 times and takes the highest  3 numbers out of the 4 rolls to create their scores.  I usually give the player the option to re roll 1’s and 2’s to make the numbers a bit more reasonable for a character.

After that it’s just deciding what the player wants to make their character be class and race wise.  And of course what skills or feats the character  has to flesh out their abilities and potential background.  And that’s it, all that is needed to create a basic Saivryth Character.  There are plenty of pages on the Saivryth site with information about the various classes and races available to a player for game.  And I am slowly providing information on the various Kingdoms to give players a decent understanding to add to the background of their characters.

And there you have it, a simple breakdown of how to create a character for game in the World of Saivryth.

RGM

 

Advertisement

Half Gods….

I love Greek Myths and Legends.  I love how the legends and myths talk about Gods walking among men and the offspring that do heroic deeds.  So when I was creating Saivryth, I was inspired to create a similar epic grandness, and thus I incorporated Half Gods into the history of my world.  Like in the Greek Myths, the Saivryth Half Gods do run the gambit between their heritage and their service to the various Gods.

With the concept of Half Gods, I had to decide what made a Half God and how were they different from Demi Gods or even Gods.  I decided that their deeds, or in some cases misdeeds, and power were going to be a factor in how a Half God lived on Saivryth.  To the best of my knowledge, there is still only one Half God, truly trained and educated on how to use her power and abilities.  And that is due to the fact that her parents doted on her and saw to it that she was fully taught how to use her powers as a Half God.  This would be Kiasa Kislaran, the adoptive daughter of Saidryn Ornalithan, Gate Keeper of Saivryth and his Outlander Goddess wife, Elanya.

While Kiasa is well known as a Half Goddess, there have been other Half Gods, that are just as notable in the History of Saivryth.  Another such pair are the two eldest Half Gods, Daric Askeric and his twin brother, Phedrin Askeric.  They were born to a young Drow Queen and their father, Ninrath Dorain, God of Chaos and Lord of the Evil Gods.  While their mother did have their best interests at heart, she also saw Daric, as the elder of the two twins, as a means to keep her throne, and did manage his life and his brother Phedrin’s life, to her liking as they grew up.  When they came of age and into their inheritance, they both decided to stand against their mother, and Ninrath, their father, as he too tried to order their lives to his benefit.  Even though he was a King in his own right, Daric offered himself up in service to Solarin Dolshalla, Goddess of Justice as her champion.  Phedrin, also took service with a God, Adamus, God of War.  The two eventually passed their respective kingdoms to their heirs and continued in service to their chosen Gods.  It was many years before both either Daric or Phedrin, accepted or acknowledged their heritage from their father, Ninrath.  But they are still a force to be reckoned with almost 500,000 years after their birth.  Now, Daric is in service to Serin, Goddess of Despair, and Phedrin continues his service to Adamus, God of War.

Another notable Half God, is Nairyck Shalnar, son of Merdressa Maltrees, Queen of Cerdrinal, Leader of the Arch Mages, and Shallan Shalnar, Demi God of the Shadow Moon.  Nairyck has managed to establish his own kingdom, called Safe Haven, which is a refuge for other Half Gods, and Slaves, as well as being home base for the Mercenary Guild and their Merc Companies.  He has taken a stand against all those that would use or abuse those with Gods Blood in them.  His kingdom of Safe Haven is known far and wide as a shining example of law and service to the Gods of Light and Neutrality.

Not all Half Gods serve the Gods of Good or Neutrality, there are also those that stand out in their service to the Gods of Evil.  One such Half God is Jennis Prynni.  He is one of the many sons of Ghrannys Lithar, Demi God of Greed and Trisella Prynni, one of his many mortal concubines.  Ghrannys offered Jennis to Serin Dorrara, Goddess of Despair to serve her as she saw fit.  Jennis started out as a member of her personal guard, but eventually because her Champion and is often referred to as Serin’s Archer.  It is his job to chastise those that fail or offend her.  It is rumored that as an Archer, he has never missed his target.  He has been known to brag that what he aims at, he hits.  There are few willing to risk his wrath as he is very ruthless in his service to his Goddess.  He is married to one of the daughters of Ninrath Dorain, Veia Chaleen, High Priestess of Serin Dorrara.

RGM

 

Hordelings

Crysda Prynni

Perys Venator, Champion of Stahren Toskari, Demi Omega Balance

One of the more fun things about a Fantasy world setting is making believable races for that world.  Saivryth has the standard fantasy races, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Human, Dragon,  Gnome, each with their own heritage and social norms.  But Saivryth has other races too, I have Skinchangers, which are variations of Werebeasts, Satyrs, Snow Leopards, yes snow leopards are actually a race on Saivryth, Half Gods, and my absolute favorite, Hordelings.

I had a lot of fun creating Hordelings, or as they are sometimes called The Horde.  When I was first toying with the idea in a game I was running, I had no idea at the time just what fun this group of individuals was going to be, or that they would actually expand into a Race on the World of Saivryth.  They literally started out as a running joke about the numerous Half God offspring of Ninrath Dorain, God of Chaos and Lord of the Evil Gods and his various wives or lovers over the years.  But eventually I was getting into generations of characters that could trace their lineage back to Ninrath Dorain in some fashion or another, thus The Horde as a Race was born.

Your typical Hordeling could be described as a blend of Human and Elven or Human and Drow features, with large fluffy wings on their back, colored either dove grey or black.  They usually have some sort of minor Healing talent, with a major Magic ability attached as well.  They have a natural porting or gating ability.  The wings on a Hordeling are mostly ornamental.  They are not functional flying wings.  They do have to be groomed fairly regularly or they molt all over the place.  The wings also can be camouflaged with an invisibility shield to hide them.  And as an added bonus they are very sensitive to the touch in an erogenous manner.  Thankfully,  a typical Hordeling also tends to bond with their significant other, so that the erogenous manner of the wings is tied to the touch of their chosen partner.  Of course a Hordeling has to bond with said chosen partner first for that ability to kick in.  Another typical aspect of a Hordeling is the reproduction of twins as offspring, which is why the Race was called The Horde in the first place, they are truly prolific.

RGM