Equipping Forsetilafom (Fantasy Friday #13)

I think (I hope) traits for Forsetilafom will be relatively easy to choose. One will have to model their essentially orphaned/homeless origin story, of course, but first I fill the gap I left open by not choosing Unimpeachable Honor as a feat. Forsetilafom is a character able to indulge in all the excesses and fripperies of the court but not to become bogged down or corrupted by them ~ it’s basically their core character concept. Heroes of the High Court has a trait associated on Golarion with being a member of Grand Prince Stavian III’s court in the Imperial Palace of Oppara in Taldor called Debauchery Defier. Sidenote: I like the name Stavian, I should steal it. Debauchery Defier is a social trait that allows one to better resist addiction. It is abso perf for Forsetilafom! Yoink!

Surprisingly, the three books focused on social lalalas don’t provide any appropriate traits. Glancing through the social traits on the SRD reveals Bastard which, while not literally true, does kinda fit Forsetilafom’s childhood experiences of being an outsider and a noble without much power to back them up. Its benefit ~ +1 to Sense Motive and it’s always a class skill ~ works for Forsetilafom but is, truth be told, kinda blah. And their skill is already really fucking good, even without magic items: they succeed on a DC 20 (like for Sense Relationships) 70% of the time when dealing with people from Natsiyaasim. If they’re not humanoids and speaking a foreign language, that’s still a 20% success rate! Bastard is from Ultimate Campaign ~ mebbe I’ll take a look in there.  The aasimar racial traits on the SRD give us some maybe slightly better options, and if I take a drawback from Ultimate Campaign ~ like Dependent, which makes perfect sense for Forsetilafom’s background ~ I can take both! Wary and Adrift work together to portray their background well, I think, and contribute both to their primary weapon being Sense Motive and their role as High Reeve.

As for spending Forsetilafom’s 3000gp, Heroes of the High Court provides nothing useful beyond a price for ostentatious garments and the other two courtly books only a handful more of interest that they can afford. Searching for magic items that would supercharge Forsetilafom’s primary weapon results in a lot of things that are too expensive for them to purchase, but also ioun stones, two of which are affordable and appropriate (cracked blue rhomboid and cracked magenta prism). Costing a total of 1200 gp together, and 1700 with a wayfinder, their power is simply supercharging but the image is powerful. The crown jewels of Forsetilafom’s family riven by their betrayal, circling around their beautiful head. I wonder about searching for magic items that mention aasimar, noble, court, justice, sex, seduction, seduce, and prostitution? Aasimar only gives 6 results, prompting me to add Blood of Angels to my list for Forsetilafom’s shopping. Noble gives a couple, including a constant detect poison which would be super useful, but court refuses to turn up anything useful as do justice and every other keyword I try. Blood of Angels turns up all of nothing either.

OK, so let’s start looking at some packages of magic items: A cracked dark blue rhomboid ioun stone and a magenta prism ioun stone in a standard wayfinder (which would give Forsetilafom +1 to Perception, Sense Motive, and one save, and +2 to one other skill that isn’t related to the save that got the bonus) add up to 1700, as I said. A noble’s vigilant pillbox with only the white pearl (the constant detect poison 10 feet that I mentioned, plus a one-time delay poison effect) would bring that up to 2450 gp. There’s some flashy magic items that I was looking at ~ the Kitharodian pen, platter of exquisite feasting, and sleeves of many garments ~ but you know what? Fuck it. The family jewels that I just described are much more appropriate. Let’s go with them. 650 gp remain, from which an immediate 320 is removed to purchase a masterwork rapier, leaving 330 gp. Another single gp gives a reinforced tunic so Forsetilafom’s AC isn’t, like, the worst ever.

Ultimate Intrigue has a sidebar entitled “Tools of Intrigue” which lists good equipment choices for various intrigue-related professions. The paragraph on reconaissance is prolly a super-good place to start. A 50-page journal, book lariat to ensure it doesn’t get stolen, inkpen, and vial of regular ink would cost Forsetilafom a total of 18 gp 4 sp. Adding a signet ring and sealing wax to serve as their mark adds another 6 gp. An ear trumpet and a mirror to aid in covert surveillance through doors and around corners sets them back 15 gp more, leaving them with 289 gp 6 sp.

We should take a look at Forsetilafom’s wardrobe, too, I suppose. One outfit of 10 gp or less is free, which will be a courtesan’s outfit, I do believe. A courtier’s outfit, for more formal occasions, costs another 30 gp; Forsetilafom had to run from their home chateau in quite the rush and then rebuild their life and (somewhat) their standing afterwards, so we’ll spend only 25 gp on jewelry and accessories, halfway in cost between an out-of-place commoner wearing fancy clothes and an actual established noble. We’re down to 234 gp 6 sp.

Let’s put some antitoxin in that vigilant pillbox for 50 gp for a vial, and buy some clear ear for 15 gp beside. A perfume kit would seem to be a good spend for 40 gp, bringing Forsetilafom’s coffers down to 129 gp 6 sp. A Nosleborrean blue book, a book of puzzles, and some flash seeds cost another 90 gp, leaving us with 39 gp 6 sp. Let’s update Forsetilafom’s ink to ghost ink, further protecting their investigations. That takes another 17 gp. A courtesan’s kit might be a good 10 gp spent, and a grooming kit would be another gp. We’re down to 10 gp 6 sp. A Medium treasure chest to hold everything while the High Reeve Adventurant travels brings us to 3 gp 6 sp. Considering that’s the equivalent of $720-$1800, that’s good walking around money for a noble with no real power to back their station. Let’s leave it at that!

Well, this is just dandy, isn't it? (Fantasy Friday #12)

I wonder if there are any other archetypes that a dandy ranger could take? Let’s go look at the SRD . . . The answer is no, not at all ~ some variant 3rd party combat styles is all.

Rangers have d10 hit points, so rolling 2d10+16 (let’s make Forsetilafom the same level as Boanerges, y/n?) gives them 26 hp. A ranger’s 6 skill points per level results in Forsetilafom having 21 skill points to spend. Diplomacy, Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility), Sense Motive, and Perception all feel pretty core to Forsetlafom’s history and role as High Reeve. Conveniently, they’re also class skills, thanks to the dandy archetype; let’s max them out at 3 ranks each, leaving only 6 more points to spend. I find myself liking Craft (clothier), Heal, Intimidate, Spellcraft, and Stealth as secondary skills ~ that’s 5 skills, so we just decide that Intimidate is the most important, enough to get 2 ranks, and we’re all set.

Instead of a favored enemy, dandies have favored nations, gaining bonuses to a variety of social skills when used against them as well as to attack and damage. Normally, taking one’s own race as a favored enemy or one’s homeland as a favored nation might indicate either a murderer or an outcast. Forsetilafom is neither, but they also haven’t made their name protecting Nosleborre and Natsiyaasim from external threats. Quite the opposite: Forsetilafom has stood against corruption and rot that comes from within. We give Forsetilafom Natsiyaasim as a favored nation. In choosing Forsetilafom’s combat style, I’m tempted by Deceitful until I realize that, as the name implies, feinting requires Bluff and we didn’t give Forsetilafom a very high Bluff >.< So, I turn to Inner Sea Combat, which has a listing of divine combat styles for rangers. Obviously, Forsetilafom’s life doesn’t center around religion (though they, of course, honor Blessed Imye and the raskokabajhon who followed him as he wandered the world), but I’m hoping a nice, flavorful style can come out of the list. If not, I’ll just default to the bog-standard AD&D Driz’zt-made-it-trite two-weapon style. Looking through, Cayden Cailean’s style weirdly doesn’t include anything about drunken fighting, but is actually very much like fencing. The SRD even calls it “Fencing” since they can’t use IP content! At 3rd level, we can choose from Catch Off-Guard, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, and Weapon Finesse. Combat Reflexes and Weapon Finesse are both hella attractive, but Weapon Finesse is only so because it would mean an additional +3 to Forsetilafom’s attack rolls! Mebbe I’ll pick it up with some generic feat slots; I take Combat Reflexes for now, cuz it feels much more thematic.

A dandy’s other class features don’t require (or, in the case of favored terrain, allow) any other choices. Rumor empathy allows Forsetilafom to manipulate the rumors that fly through a community to make them better or worse for the people they’re about, while Endurance and Track give minor bonuses to Aragorny like activities that are easily guessable by their names. Favored terrain gives a bunch of bonuses in cities; because of the dandy archetype, these will increase but not spread to other terrains as time goes on. Next level, Forsetilafom starts gaining spells!

Next thing to choose is Forsetilafom’s two feats. This is always a bit of a slog, which makes choosing Weapon Finesse rather enticing, just to cut through all of that, but let’s give Heroes of the High Court and Ultimate Intrigue a chance. I am also thinking about Amateur Investigator ~ I’ll have to give that one a glance or two, as well. After doing that and looking through Heroes of the High Court, Ultimate Intrigue, Inner Sea Intrigue, Horror Adventures, and Horror Realms, I still don’t see anything featwise that jumps out and says “I’m perfect!”, but I get drawn more and more to the Street Smarts tree and the Unimpeachable Honor tree. Vacillating between the two for a little bit, I finally settle on Street Smarts + Sense Relationships. Sense Motive is a weapon for Forsetilafom, and those two feats really help to establish that.

My reluctance had been based on Sense Relationship’s benefits to Bluff, which I hadn’t given to Forsetilafom, but I also took good note of the Enchanting Courtesan prestige class in Inner Sea Intrigue. It DID jump out at me and beg to be added to Forsetilafom, though I resisted for a little bit because its emphasis on poison was a bit heavier than I would have liked. However, the prestige class wouldn’t leave me alone and I finally figured that the poison focus would add a little bit of George R. R. Martin into the Jacqueline Carey that is inspiring Forsetilafom. That recipe, if one is careful to not overdo the GRRM (he’s very much like cinnamon in that way ~ amazing as a background note in all kinds of dishes you wouldn’t expect, like macaroni and cheese, but just takes over the dish if you don’t use an absolutely miniscule amount), sounds wonderful. The requirements for Enchanting Courtesan include being able to cast 2nd level spells including at least 2 divinations and 2 enchantments somewhere in there, Spell Focus (divination OR enchantment), 2 ranks each in Knowledge (arcana) and Perform (act OR dance ~ and I’ll modify it a bit to accept erotic arts as an option, too. Cuz duh.), and 5 ranks in Sense Motive and . . . Bluff. Whatever are we to do!?

Well, aasimars don’t provide any specific favored class bonuses for rangers and, while we could co-opt the cavalier favored class bonus with some slight tweaks, doing more damage to people from Natsiyaasim doesn’t exactly fit Forsetilafom’s style. So let’s take 3 extra skill ranks and dump them into Bluff. Since they won’t meet the spellcasting requirement for the prestige class until 7th level, we have plenty of time to spend the 6 skill ranks we still need to qualify.

Introducing Forsetilafom (Fantasy Friday #11)

In time, even this character’s watchfulness couldn’t see every gradual corruption. As questionable magical activities came into vogue amongst this character’s peers, they almost fell to the same subtle spiritual disease as everyone else, almost found themself transformed into a wrathful brute. The nobility of their spirit wouldn’t allow them to trip over the line, however, and that drove them back into study. The loremaster’s smug grin as this character sheepishly came to the library after some years of frippery and social engineering was a bother, but a small price to pay as the pair’s research unearthed ancient secrets and a creeping spiritual rot. Strengthening all the spiritual purity they had, this character managed to throw off the effect and once more act as the Bulwark of Courtly Virtue to exorcise it, finally. The old Gold Dragon in Strength gives two tokens it doesn’t actually have to Intelligence.

This character’s incipient devotion to study was somewhat cut short as they were given an actual position, with power as well as honor, within the court. As High-Reeve, this character served to decide cases brought to the court in their host’s stead. Though young, they served well, with justice and supreme judgment as such until they decided to go adventuring. Despite some grumbling at their age, the sheer force and easy joy of their presence prevented anyone from moving against them. Nonetheless, they felt the need to prove themself and that was what brought them to travel the realm as High-Reeve Adventurer. The Silver Dragon in Intelligence gives one of its tokens to Charisma.

This character’s final ability score array thus comes out as:
Strength 8 [-2 points]
Dexterity 14 [5 points]
Constitution 15 [7 points]
Intelligence 13 [3 points]
Wisdom 15 [7 points]
Charisma 14 [5 points]
Constitution missed a 16 by one point, giving one point to Wisdom and one to Charisma. Similarly, Dexterity has one extra point, which trickles down to Intelligence.

We seem to have already determined a race and a homeland for this character ~ they are an asimar (yes, it’s spelt that way in my world) from Natsiyaasim. We should probably name them; I rather like the idea of naming them Forseti, after the most just of the Aesir. One’s noble house is important to most of Natisyaasim’s populace. Each raskokabajho who settled there with Blessed Imye gave rise to several such noble houses, each descended from that raskokabajho. Looking over my notes, I determine that Forseti is a scion of the raskokabajho Nosilebo, patron of Natsiyaasim’s various houses of carnal love. Taking a peek over at a Kushiel’s Legacy series wiki, I see that Namarrese houses include L’Envers, Fhirze, Le Blanc, Le Doux, and Lafons. (Namarre is the region of Terre d’Ange settled by Naamah, the equivalent to Nosilebo; the equivalent region of Natsiyaasim is called Nosleborre). Looking at the meanings of these names, I decide Lafons (http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Lafond) is the most appropriate for Forseti and remove the end to make the name work better with Natsiyaasim’s langauge.

In English/D’Angeline, their name would thus be “Forseti Lafo”, but in the language of Natsiyaasim, such a name would be constructed as a genitive phrase (Forseti of Lafo). I based the genitive construction in this language on that of Sumerian, so they are expressed as a single word constructed as follows: OWNED.OWNER.m. In this case, Forseti is the “owned” and Lafo the “owner”, so their name comes out as Forsetilafom, the asimar (a word that means “pertaining to that which is of the angel”, much like D’Angeline is an adjectival form of the prepositional phrase “d’Ange”).

As an aasimar descended from Nosilebo, Forsetilafonsom gains +2 Wisdom and +2 Charisma, some protection against negative energy, a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Perform (erotic arts), the ability to cast detect desires once per day, and darkvision. As to Forsetilafonsom’s class, well, that’s not nearly as obvious (this is an interesting inversion of Boanerges’s process!) I think looking through the book Heroes of the High Court might be a good place to start . . . . The biggest things that jump out at me from that book are a couple of spells (one far in the future, as its 6th or 7th level) that would seem to entice Forsetilafonsom into becoming a cleric, inquisitor, sorcerer, witch, or wizard. And the silksworn occultist. At first, I was ready to pass on the silksworn, as psychic powers are a Scarhasi thing, but the silksworn occultist’s spells are arcane! For the moment, that puts occultist in the front running.

Heroes of the High Court also reminded me of Ultimate Intrigue, so I’ll check that out now. And the dandy archetype for rangers wins the day! It’s absolutely perfect! Forsetilafom is officially a ranger (dandy). 6d6 roll a dead average 21, making them 41 years old (significantly younger than Boanerges). I’ve been thinking about Forsetilafom’s gender, and I think I really like the idea of them being genderqueer. I often feel myself as an inside-outsider in a society so heavily binarily-gendered and have found that such a position can be both quite revealing and very powerful. Perfect for Forsetilafom. So I’ll average the heights and weights listed for male and female aasimar. Again, the dice come out right in the average; in this case, it’s 2d8 and that gives Forsetilafom 5’10” of height. They’re just a tiny bit skinny, at 140 pounds.

But does it always turn out the same? (Fantasy Friday #10)

Let’s create another character with the Three-Dragon Ante system. It’s a test of the reliability of the system: if this second character comes out significantly different from the first, it’s a sign that the system is a robust and a useful one. If every character comes out the same, then this system wouldn’t be very useful, would it?

This character’s card spread is:
Nature: Blue Dragon 2
Spirit: White Dragon 4
Body: Princess
Mind: Brass Dragon 2
Nurture: Silver Dragon 8
Strength: Gold Dragon 6
Dexterity: Blue Dragon 1
Constitution: Blue Dragon 7
Intelligence: Silver Dragon 2
Wisdom: Gold Dragon 13
Charisma: Brass Dragon 7

Much more heroic than Boanerges, with six metallic dragons! And yet at the same time, three blue dragons, which hits a threshold of significance. Maybe this character is from the desert (Not!Sahara? The Scarhasi deserts? Somewhere further afield?) . . . Or mebbe the character has some electrical association. Ironic, since the name I stole from the Bible for the last character (Boanerges) means “Sons of Thunder” in Aramaic bastardized by Hellenic authors. Also, because I’m already thinking about Africa cause of Boanerges, I’m reminded of Shango, the Yoruba orisha associated with lightning, and his wife Oya, who is the thunder, and their rather . . . tumultuous marriage (storms occur whenever they argue, which is often).

This character’s nature is almost as vain, resilient, and forceful as the last’s; I give six tokens from Nature to Body and three to Mind. Not a great sign when looking for differentiation between the two. Luck pushed them, however, towards the speed, ferocity, and agility of a white dragon. My first thought is that, while Boanerges is a preening barbarian dandy (when not the Unseen Heart of the Flame, of course), this character is more akin to the arrogant villain of a racing movie. They know they’re the best and they are overly assured that anyone who contests that will be eating their dust. They don’t show off to convince people to give them whatever they want, they just win always. Regardless, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma all get a token each.

The next card, somewhat sadly, inspires chuckles as I read it. The Princess denotes something very different from anything in Boanerges’s spread ~ that being diplomacy and influence ~ but has (at least for now) a very similar result. Constitution gets 4 tokens and Dexterity 2. I’m going to say that, however this turns out, that Princess in the Body position indicates that this character is devastatingly beautiful. Who knows if that will be in line with the rest of their occupation and reality or just a three-dimensionalizing extra quality? Although, a brass dragon’s wise and very perceptive mind lurks behind those good looks, so maybe they really are a social character who fights in courts rather than blood-mudded fields or the fantasy fucking Vietnam of a dungeon. Wisdom gets all three of Mind’s tokens, in a dramatic departure from Boanerges’s stats.

The adult Silver Dragon in Nurture continues the welcome distinction from Boanerges, as its judgment and justice give its token to Wisdom. I’m starting to get an image of this character ~ a noble of an evil realm forced by an uprising to flee as a child to another kingdom which, despite (or perhaps because of) its own goodness took them in and gave her a home. All that remains of their home culture is a vanity and an unrelenting drive for survival; all the rest of them is filled with the wisdom and the empathy and the justice of their rescuers. At the same time, their noble status among the houses of the realm and the friendship of their host has given them a solid place in their host’s court but their lack of any sort of realm or muster has left them without any sort of power amongst that court’s intrigues. Some years before they came of age, they learned to rely on a creative wit and judicious use of their good looks when those intrigues threatened the virtue of that court, maneuvering the host noble into uselessness and leaving the strong will of this character as the only advocate for justice. It was very Jacqueline Carey. Which, in turn, suggests that the character comes from Aoqina, my campaign world’s Europe-equivalent, specifically the realm of Natsiyaasim, which is based on Terre d’Ange (with influences from the Vikings and a religion tracing back to the grandchild of a Presterjho archangel who fought at a Troy-equivalent with Jedi expies).

Anyway, the adult Gold Dragon in the Wisdom slot gives two tokens to Charisma as the struggle for the soul of the court brings them much fame and skill at leading people with honor and nobility of spirit. That their host showered honors upon them as the Bulwark of Courtly Virtue only deepened the effect. Hilariously, the old Brass Dragon in Charisma just gives it right back. Where many would be tempted to just revel in the glory and the veneration of all the nobles around them ~ and this character was sorely tempted, considering their nature and early training ~ they resisted, and took the position of Bulwark quite seriously. Piercing eyes watched everyone, and discerned when and how to intervene without conflict to preserve the sanctity of the realm. Without conflict, to be sure, as this was a job of glittering laughter, not the dim and judgmental work of an inquisitor.

Of course, vanity could not be held at bay for long. It never hindered their work, but it is true that this character came to enjoy their position, the favor of their host, and the rewards of their good looks. Several relationships ended in tears and anger as this character’s incisive mind caught notice that they were founded upon the other’s desire for advancement, privilege, or ability to get away with some vice or crime, but for the most part, this character was free to indulge themselves in the gleaming giggles of play amongst the court. That old Blue Dragon in Constitution steals two tokens from Strength. The Blue Dragon in Dexterity isn’t so old, however, so it only steals one token from Intelligence, as these pleasures and this work call for time to be spent on them to succeed. Besides, studying with the castle’s loremaster was always yawn-inducing, so the distractions were quite welcome.

The other half of the equation: Traumas (Design Domingo #6)

In addition, your character has five Traumas, each of which has a Hardened score from 0-10 and a Failed score from 0-5. These measure how close you are to going crazy, freaking out, freezing like a frightened deer, falling on your sword, or running into the night howling like a wolf. These things happen when you start talking with demons, melting your face to win friends, and exorcising the supernatural resonance of a sex crime. It’s tough stuff, and the medieval world offers little to stand between you and going completely gonzo batshit. But why go crazy if you already live there? If you’ve had some heavy trauma in your life (which is depressingly common), you can go ahead and put up to three points, total, into any of your character’s Failed Traumas. For each one you add, you can also put a point in a Hardened Trauma as well. They don’t have to be in the same Traumas ~ if you’re going to be crazy, be your own special kind of crazy. And if you want more than three of each, talk to your GM. Remember to wear clothes.

You’re going to face a lot of threats and do a lot of things out there, and not all of them are physical. You’re going to be exposed to stresses that are beyond the normal, experiences that challenge your mind’s ability to fit them into your view of how the world works. These stresses are measured by the Traumas. As mentioned before, there are five scores that measure how resilient or susceptible you are to different mental stress: Violence, the Unnatural, Helplessness, Isolation, and Self. It’s quite possible to be very casual about, say, Violence, while being a basket case when it comes to the Unnatural.

Each Trauma has two scores. Hardened Traumas represent stresses you’ve endured, and they are scored 1–10. Failed Traumas represent stresses that have broken you even just a little bit, and they are numbered 1–5. It’s common to have nonzero scores in both versions of a single Trauma. Someone who’s deep in both directions on Isolation probably has a highly ambivalent attitude towards being alone, which is perfectly in character for people who have been repeatedly exposed to that mental stress. Someone with the same situation for Violence feels little or nothing when exposed to most forms of bloodshed, but when something is so shocking that it gets through the hardened barrier, the result is devastating.

Remember that the following descriptions include examples of rolls that each Trauma is often used to make, but that these are suggestions and indicators of frequency. Once again, a character’s reasons and emotional realities determine which trait is used for any given roll; talent, ability, training, and more esoteric things in that category are described with skill ranks and feats.

Violence Trauma
You have an instinctive revulsion towards actual violence. It’s stressful to hurt others, to watch others get hurt, and to get hurt. This Trauma also covers the fear of death that everyone suffers from in varying degrees.

Though it is relatively easy to imagine situations for every Trauma to contribute to any given kind of roll, both Hardened and Failed Violence are probably the most common to use when making attack rolls. They are both often used to make Perception and Knowledge (dungeoneering) rolls and also Craft rolls that produce arms, armor, and the like. Like Valorous/Cowardly, both are also often used to make Climb, Swim, and Sense Motive rolls. Failed Violence is involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC) whereas Hardened Violence is involved in calculating hit points. Hardened Violence also adds to damage rolls, like Cruel and Vengeful and is also often used to make Appraise rolls to appraise arms, armor, and the like. It’s sometimes used to make Will, Heal, Survival, and Intimidate rolls.

The Effects of Various Levels of Failed Violence (FV) Trauma on Personality
1 ~ At this level, you’re superficially fine. Perhaps you’re a little edgy whenever a knife in the room happens to be pointing your direction.
2 ~ You are very aware of violence, both as it exists and as it is depicted. It strikes you as somewhat odd that so many people don’t realize that the violence in the stories and songs of troubadours is very different from real violence.
3 ~ You get alert or uneasy every time you see blood, even badly faked blood in a play (or even a puppet show) or when someone cuts a rare steak. Sometimes you have nightmares about violence you’ve witnessed.
4 ~ You instinctively take a defensive posture whenever there’s a loud noise or raised voice nearby. Your nightmares are frequent, and you have a hard time looking at anyone without imagining (if briefly) what you would do at that moment if they attacked you.

The Effects of Various Levels of Hardened Violence (HV) Trauma on Personality
1–3 ~ Superficially, you’re much like everyone else.
4–5 ~ Your attitude towards violence shows on your face when the subject comes up in conversation, unless you work to keep it hidden. It might be intensity, or nervousness, or just a grim silence, depending on how you cope.
6–7 ~ Violence is a common feature of your mental landscape. Unlike less-hardened people, you show little reaction at all when it is discussed or depicted in fiction.
8–9 ~ Your callousness shows in your every word and expression unless you make a continuous effort to suppress it. Again, the exact tone is up to you: it could be bitter and harsh, feverish and vehement, or icy cold.
10 ~ It’s not hard for people to realize that the deepest horrors of torture and brutality have become commonplace to you, unless you work very, very hard to keep it hidden—which means you come off as tense and guarded all the time. The death of others, or yourself, has no intrinsic significance. You might prefer to stay alive, but it’s only a matter of personal taste. Life, in the abstract, doesn’t mean anything.

Finally! The last of the Virtues! (Design Domingo #5)

MYSTICAL (My)/WORLDLY (Wo)
Mystical people look to the spiritual world for guidance; Worldly people concern themselves with the affairs of this world -- many religions measure piety by the Mystical trait, while others measure piety by the Worldly trait, for their religion is of this world.

A mystical character often dwells on spiritual matters, and is aware of them and their implications in the material world. (This is not the same as worship, which is an action rather than a belief.) A mystical person is a spiritual person. An extremely pious person is devout or zealous, perhaps even saintly. Worldly indicates profligacy, taking great pleasure in temporal things such as fine clothes, comfortable furnishings, good music and poetry, and the best company. Do not confuse Worldly with Indulgent; the two often go hand-in-hand, but they are not the same.

Mystical is often used to make Knowledge (arcana, planes, religion), Spellcraft, and Use Magical Device rolls. Worldly, on the other hand, is involved in determining the maximum amount of weight your character can carry and in calculating hit points and is often used to make Knowledge (engineering, geography, history, local, nature, nobility), Profession, and Sense Motive rolls. Sometimes, it’s used to make Climb, Swim, Fly, Ride, Fortitude, Appraise, Craft, Linguistics, Survival, and Handle Animal rolls, as well as rolls to perform feats of strength. Both Mystical and Worldly are often used with Perception rolls.
Paladins use Mystical to determine how many skill ranks they receive each level.
Mystical governs the spellcasting of clerics, while Worldly governs that of druids and rangers.

PRUDENT (Pru)/RECKLESS (Re)
Prudent people look before they leap and think things through before acting. Reckless people believe in deeds, not words and trust in their instincts and skills to preserve them.

The prudent character gives thought to what they do before they act. Such a character is called cautious, and excessively prudent people are called shrewd, circumspect, or discerning — or “slow to act.” The reckless character acts before they think things through, without concern for anything but the immediate consequences. An extremely reckless character is called careless, or a hothead.

Prudent is involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC) and is often used to make Reflex, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Appraise, Craft, Knowledge (engineering), Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, and Survival rolls. One of the common traits used to make attack rolls, Reckless is also used in Climb, Swim, and Acrobatics rolls, as well as rolls to perform feats of strength and Fly or Ride checks to charge or increase your mount’s speed beyond its wont. Both Prudent and Reckless are sometimes used to make Will and Intimidate rolls.
Barbarians use Reckless to determine how many skill ranks they receive each level.

TEMPERATE (Te)/INDULGENT (In)
Temperate people restrain their appetites and eat wisely and drink little. Indulgent people party the night away and eat and drink until they are fuller than full.

Temperance means that a character takes only what he needs of food, drink, and other temporal needs. They are frugal and abstain from excess. Extreme temperance indicates asceticism, perhaps even self-mortification. An indulgent character is a gourmand: they take pleasure in food and drink, both in quality and quantity. Extremes of this indicate gluttony and drunkenness.

Temperate is sometimes used with Fly or Ride rolls to reflect the careful treatment of the mount, as well as Survival rolls. Indulgent, on the other hand, is involved in calculating hit points; it’s also often used to make Appraise rolls and certain kind of Craft (like Craft (food)) and Knowledge (local, nobility) rolls. Temperate is more often used to make Fortitude rolls than Indulgent, but sometimes Indulgent can be used to reflect a body that’s used to handling new and strange excesses. Both Temperate and Indulgent are sometimes used to make Will and Heal rolls.
Monks use Temperate to determine how many skill ranks they receive each level, while sorcerers use Indulgent.

TRUSTING (Tr)/SUSPICIOUS (Su)
Trusting people assume the best of everyone until proven otherwise; Suspicious people fear the worst of everyone until proven otherwise.

One who is trusting tends to believe information without any inclination to suspect its falsity. An excessively trusting person is gullible and credulous, perhaps even a dupe. Suspicious indicates that a person is unlikely to believe what they hear unless proof is offered. An extremely suspicious person is called a skeptic or a doubter. A naturally suspicious person might still be extremely pious, however.

In some cases, jealousy is included under the Suspicious trait. Thus when someone acts jealous, they may start making rolls with Suspicious. Furthermore, Suspicious is one of the common traits used to make attack rolls, as well as being involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC), and is often used to make Reflex, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Appraise, Will, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, Bluff, and Disguise rolls. Trusting is sometimes used to make Handle Animal rolls. Both Trusting and Suspicious are often used to make Knowledge (local, nobility), Linguistics, and Diplomacy rolls.

VALOROUS (Va)/COWARDLY (Co)
Valorous people do not shrink from honest, fair battle. Extremely valorous people do not shrink from possibly suicidal battle. Cowardly people seize any chance to avoid combat.

To be valorous means to be brave and courageous, willing to place oneself in danger for the sake of victory, friends, or the simple love of battle. Many PCs, by dint of being the protagonists in an action-adventure story, are valorous, and thus might be referred to as doughty, stalwart, or valiant. Extremely heroic individuals are often called fearless or intrepid. Valor may be exhibited not only in combat, but whenever risks to one’s health or wellbeing are involved. Cowardly means to be fearful of pain and of harm to one’s self. Someone who is extremely faint-hearted is labeled as a poltroon, dastard, craven, caitiff, or recreant.

As mentioned before, the types of stories told in fantasy RPGs tend to privilege Valorous characters, though Cowardly heroes can be a helluva lot of fun. Accordingly, these two Virtues are very often used to make a wide variety of rolls in Middens & Morals. To start with, Valorous is one of the common traits used to make attack rolls, and is sometimes used to make Fortitude and Will rolls, too. Battlefield medicine often uses Valorous to make Heal rolls, and Valorous can reveal information about your opponent when used with Perception. Cowardly is involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC) and often used with Stealth rolls and Perception rolls to detect ambushes and surprise attacks. Both Valorous and Cowardly (depending usually on the direction one is moving in relation to the enemy) are often used to make Climb, Swim, and Sense Motive rolls and feinting, ambushing, distracting, and other such tactics often use either Valorous or Cowardly to make Bluff rolls. Though swashbucklers and the like are probably using Proud or Reckless to make Acrobatics rolls, there are times when either Valorous or Cowardly will be more appropriate.
Fighters use Valorous to determine how many skill ranks they receive each level.

Virtues, continued (Design Domingo #4)

GENEROUS (Ge)/SELFISH (Se)
Generous people keep only what they need to maintain their station and reward their followers well; Selfish people are stingy and accumulate wealth all for themselves beyond their station.

Generous determines the impulse, learning, or desire to share with others. It includes the largesse of barbarian chieftains, and also the famed virtue of Charity. Extremely generous persons are called unselfish, magnanimous, and big-hearted. Selfish is the desire to possess, keep, and further accumulate things for oneself. Greed is usually a component of selfishness. This possessiveness usually regards material property and wealth, with the character being known as a miser or hoarder, but it might apply to glory, so that the character always wishes to keep the most glorious tasks and duties for themself. Very selfish persons are labeled both stingy and self-serving.

Generous is often used to make rolls to perform feats of strength or Heal rolls when your character is helping someone out, or with Handle Animal rolls in general. It’s sometimes also used with Fly and Ride checks involving overland travel, where endurance and being well-fed determine your mount’s performance more than anything else. In some cases, jealousy is included under the Selfish trait. Thus when someone acts jealous, he may begin rolling with Selfish. Beyond that, Selfish is sometimes used to make Reflex rolls, especially ones to protect a character’s stuff, as well as Bluff rolls. Both Generous and Selfish see common use with Disable Device, Craft, Knowledge (nobility), and Profession rolls and, depending on what you’re doing, with Sleight of Hand and Stealth rolls, too. Selfish is more often used to make Appraise and Will rolls, but there are situations in which Generous is used instead.

Rogues use Selfish to determine how many skill ranks they receive each level.

HONEST (Ho)/DECEITFUL (De)
Honest people are truthful and never lie under oath. Deceitful people use words as weapons to snare others with tricks.

To be honest is to deal truthfully with others, both in matters of import or triviality, no matter what the consequences. Persons of extreme honesty are said to have integrity and to be trustworthy, scrupulous, and reliable. A deceitful person is generally likely to distort truths, or to fabricate untruths, for their own ends (or perhaps on behalf of others) — or in some cases, simply for the sake of doing so. Chronically deceitful people are called liars, frauds, and false-hearted.

Honest is often used to make Diplomacy rolls, while Deceitful is often used with Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Sense Motive, Bluff, Disguise, and Use Magic Device rolls. It’s also involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC). Both Honest and Deceitful are often rolled to make Knowledge (all), Linguistics, Will, Profession, and Perform rolls and sometimes Intimidate rolls, too.

Clerics and druids use Honest to determine how many skill ranks they receive each level, to reflect the fervent nature of their faith.

MODEST (Mo)/PROUD (Pro)
Modest people play down their glory and do not ask for praise; Proud people sing their own praises and expect the accolades of others.

To be modest is to be quiet and reserved about one’s gifts and accomplishments, not seeking excessive attention in the recitation of one’s own deeds. A modest character is glad simply to perform deeds, rather than bask in the repeated glory of hearing about them. Very modest people are called humble and reserved, or perhaps even shy. The Proud trait indicates the degree to which one gets pleasure from hearing and/or boasting of their deeds. Many lifeways value Pride in a character. Excessive pride implies arrogance, and likely a boastful nature.

Proud is often used to make Acrobatics, Profession, Bluff, Intimidate, and Perform rolls, and sometimes used to make Climb and Swim rolls. Rolls to perform feats of strength, too. Modest people sometimes make interesting use of both Sleight of Hand and Stealth, so it’s sometimes used for those rolls, as well as for Knowledge (nature), Perception, Survival, and Handle Animal rolls. Meanwhile, both Proud and Modest are sometimes used to make Knowledge (local, nobility) and Diplomacy checks.

Proud governs the spellcasting of bards and also determines how many skill ranks they receive each level. They’re one of two classes which use the same trait for both (the other being wizards).

JUST (Ju)/ARBITRARY (Ar)
Just people adhere to the law. Arbitrary people do whatever they like.

A just character is capable of telling what is right and wrong (within the mores of their upbringing and their personal beliefs), and is desirous of passing due judgment based on that information. A very just person is called fair and impartial. Arbitrary means that the character has no concern for what is right or wrong, and uses other information and bases for his decision making. Very arbitrary people are labeled unjust, unfair, wrongful, and probably biased and partial.

Both Just and Arbitrary are one of the common traits used to make attack rolls and Knowledge (local, nobility) rolls. Arbitrary is sometimes used to make Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Will, Bluff, Intimidate, Perform, and Use Magic Device rolls. Fly, Ride, and Handle Animal rolls sometimes use Just, as the animal learns more easily what a just rider wants. It’s also often used to make Appraise, Knowledge (history), Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, and Diplomacy rolls.

Just governs the spellcasting of paladins.

MERCIFUL (Me)/CRUEL (Cr)
Merciful people accept surrenders and treat prisoners well. Cruel people find it better to kill those who surrender so they can't cause you future trouble, or else to break their will through torture.

Mercy indicates a tendency to extend sympathy, pity, and aid to others. This includes sparing an enemy, giving money to the poor, helping the weak, and any other act that is not expected of one’s rank and station. A very merciful person is called compassionate. Cruel indicates a disregard for the feelings and needs of others, or lack of sympathy. High values in Cruel indicate that the character actually enjoys the discomforts and troubles of others.

Cruel is one of the common traits used to make attack rolls (especially melee attack rolls). Perception and Intimidate checks, too. Another incredibly powerful trait for combat-oriented characters, it also adds to damage rolls. Merciful sometimes finds use with Escape Artist rolls and often with Heal rolls. Depending on how you treat your mount, both Merciful and Cruel are often used to make Fly or Ride checks and sometimes both can be used with Sleight of Hand rolls to set people up or help them avoid the eyes of the law (or in similar situations, obviously).

O holy Virtue! (Design Domingo #3)

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OK, maybe not from Prester . . . (Fantasy Friday #3)

Thinking about the charau-ka as a possible race for Boanerges brings the jungliest region of this continent to mind. It occurs to me that an elemental theme could work well there, drawing on images of the rainforest as a place of nature at its most intense and individual (as opposed to the, like, unitary image of powerful nature that comes with places like mountains, the arctic, and oceans). That as-yet-unnamed region, analogous to Central Africa in geohistorical placement, shares a border with Prester in the middle of the continent. If I place Boanerges just on one side or the other of that border, they can be a member of a swashbuckly force of evil ifrit, perhaps based on something like Boko Haram or God’s Army. I like that idea! OK, Boanerges is now officially an ifrit.

Looking at the race description, I note already that there’s a base trait I wanna replace with an alternate trait ~ as a vigilante, even if Boanerges is a zealot and a divine spellcaster, the fire affinity trait helps him out all of not at all. Fire in the blood (which gives him a morsel of access to fast healing when he takes fire damage) would replace fire affinity not only ably, but in line with some of Boanerges’s themes, I daresay. Hypnotic (which boosts an ifrit’s ability to fascinate) is a little tempting, as a reference to the swashbuckling element. But Boanerges, again, would probably gain spellcasting through the zealot archetype, and I dunno how many inquisitor spells cause fascination. Nor do I actually know yet if Boanerges will take the zealot archetype. And the same arguments apply to the boons given by his Celestial Obedience to his yet-unchosen archangel. Fire in the blood it is!

As for their gender, making them female would seem to play into old Victorian ideas of the woman as the civilizing force (an idea that pops up unfortunately in too many Second Wave feminisms). Similarly, making them trans or nonbinary in any way would seem to underscore too much the dual nature of Boanerges ~ another trope that can lead to icky things. An agender Boanerges is more tempting, gives them more texture to their psyche, but in the end has, I think, the same problems. I guess cismale is the best option for Boanerges.

Choosing his race also lets us determine Boanerges’s age, height, and weight. I’m gonna call vigilante a self-taught class so we roll 60+6d6 for his age, getting 76 as his age. That makes him a little young for an ifrit vigilante (average age would be 81), which I think is appropriate for his character. He’s tall, though, living up to his personality, as a 2d8 roll of 14 tells us that he’s 6’4” and a 2d8x5 roll of 40 gives us a weight of 150 pounds. I think he’s actually come out pretty skinny, though his charisma makes him seem larger than he actually is.

I also note that there are several racial feats available to ifrits. Blistering Feint, which makes the ifrit better at feinting when using a fiery weapon and does damage with the feint as well, is especially noteworthy ~ although we’ve already chosen Boanerges’s 1st-level feat (Celestial Obedience, recall), I’d wanna pick up Combat Expertise at 3rd level, Improved Feint at 5th, and Blistering Feint itself at 7th (assuming the redeemer theme in Boanerges doesn’t cause me to grab any feats in between all these). Firesight (which improves visibility in smoky conditions) and the Scorching Weapons feat tree (which lets you make your weapon fiery) are tempting; maybe if there’s ever a chance for Boanerges to pick up a bonus feat.

Oh, wait. Celestial Obedience requires Knowledge (planes) 3; it can’t be taken until 3rd level. OK, I’ll create Boanerges at level 3, then, and have him take Combat Expertise at level 1. Except he’s obviously not smart enough >.<

Vigilantes have a Hit Die of d8, so rolling 2d8+8+9 gives Boanerges 28 hit points. 6 skill points per level gives us 21 skill points. Knowing that we want Boanerges to have Celestial Obedience, we immediately spend 3 of those on Knowledge (planes), which is a cross-class skill. Cross-referencing the vigilante skill list with the barbarian list (in order to reflect Bonerges’s evil horde origin), we find that Acrobatics, Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Perception, Ride, Survival, and Swim are on both lists. Let’s drop Craft and Swim out of that list out of hand as being inappropriate for Boanerges’s cultural origins, leaving a total of 6 skills. Intimidate definitely gets the full 3 skill ranks and Acrobatics, too, as both are central to the tactics of the ifrit horde that birthed Boanerges. That’s 12 points left. If we give Perception, Ride, and Survival 2 points each (all of them are basic, universal skills in the region and the horde), we’re left with 6 more skill points. I’m thinking that I want Boanerges to qualify for the mystery cultist prestige class at 8th level, so I need to make sure that Knowledge (religion) (another cross-class skill) gets the full 3 ranks. And we’ll use the last 3 skill points to give Boanerges the ability to protect his secret goodytwoshoes identity, with a rank each in Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth. Yeah, that’s pretty low ~ Boanerges was raised to be flashy and big and eye-catching, not subtle and quiet and unseen!

Gawds! I’m making so many mistakes with Boanerges >.< Zealot, which I think I am in fact taking along with splintersoul, swaps out a few class skills for Knowledge (religion) and Spellcraft. More importantly, it reduces the skill points per level to 4! My 21 points get reduced a full 6 points to 15 ~ I’ll take a point out of the various general-ed skills I gave Boanerges (Perception, Ride, Survival, Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth).

Character Creation Outline (Design Domingo #2)

To make things easier on myself, I'm gonna try to rip elements of other systems from their original context and chassis and weld them to each other as much as possible. The core such things, I think, are Pendragon, Unknown Armies, Legend of the Five Rings, and Exalted (though that last, at least, might better be called an inspiration rather than a direct contributor). Oh, and D&D itself, of course, primarily of the 3.x editions (particularly Pathfinder), as I am of the age wherein I was graduating high school when 3.0 came out, causing me to totally imprint on it as the height of D&D design. Now that we’re two whole editions beyond that point, I think I can safely call myself a grognard now? I also have no idea what this GURPS 4th edition nonsense is, and am wary of Savage Worlds “fixing” the gloriously broken and baroque Deadlands system. But back to Middens & Morals . . .

Interestingly, the famous Monty Python scene actually serves as an almost spot-on inspiration for this Heartbreaker game. We know from our meta-knowledge that King Arthur is, in fact, the glorious sub-Messiah of Britain, paragon (and advocate) of chivalry, chock-full of virtue, second only to Galahad and the foolish Percival in these respects. But different meta-knowledges tell us that the man working in the shit is absolutely 100% right. The system of Heavenly virtue King Arthur represents, while striving for and achieving the best of what humanity can be, is based on “outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic an' social differences in our society!” and on “violence inherent in the system.” Other media inspirations can include A Song of Ice and Fire (though with less rape, thank you), particularly storylines like Sansa’s and the Hounds and Jaime’s, and Paul Verhoeven’s first English-language movie Flesh+Blood from 1985 (when I was three!). There’s only one rape in that last inspiration, but that can easily be too many for many people, so trigger warning. I’ven’t seen Robert Bresson’s 1974 Lancelot du Lac or Aleksei German’s 2013 Hard to Be a God, but they sound like they could help inspire the kind of mood I’m looking for. Bookwise, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are perhaps the paradigmatic encapsulation of Middens & Morals’s intended blend of things, perhaps especially when read alongside one of my all-time favorite books (and one of two books that I’ve ever intentionally stolen from a library) Excrement in the Late Middle Ages: Sacred Filth and Chaucer’s Fecopoetics, by Susan Signe Morrison. I also rather enjoy, and will likely be baking into this Heartbreaker project, John Boswell’s Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe and Silvia Federici’s Caliban and the Witch. Like Lancelot du Lac and Hard to Be a God, Steve Silberman’s Neurotribes seems like it will also be of use to me once I read it. Finally, I would also like to direct you to what is now a vast literature by pagan/polytheist/occultist anti-capitalists concerning the spell of disenchantment capitalism cast over the world and the resultant activist praxis of re-enchanting it.

I’m having some trouble identifying any sources beyond these, however. Do any of my (possibly imaginary) readers have any ideas?

In order to ensure that I got my ideas out, I copypasta’d the text from a number of my source RPGs and then blended them together and modified them to fit my vision or Middens & Morals. That’s (mostly) what will follow for several posts. Please don’t hate (or sue) me!

When generating a character, start with your character’s concept. Do you want a character who goes toe-to-toe with terrible monsters, matching sword, shield, and sanity against claws and fangs? Or do you want a mystical seer who draws his powers from the great beyond to further his own ends? Nearly anything is possible. Once you have a general concept worked out, use the following steps to bring your idea to life, recording the resulting information and statistics on your Middens and Morals character sheet (we often like to call it a “midden sheet”), which I will create . . . at some point >.<

Step 1—Determine Traits: We start by ditching the traditional six ability scores of D&D. We're not concerned here with where someone's talents lie or what muscles are best developed in their body. Power in this system comes from madness and virtue. Here I hit the first possible Heartbreaker moment (hey, it keeps me honest about what this is): I'm replacing the faux-simplicity of six attributes with a total of 36 >.< Lemme explain. I’m thinking I’ll rip the Virtue system out of Pendragon, giving us 13 pairs of traits (we'll call them Virtues, no matter what we may think of them). That covers the quest for holiness half of Middens & Morals, so I’ll turn to Unknown Armies for the other 10 traits. In that game, the madness meters are a way of describing how traumatized a character is by the events around them, and they come in two varieties: hardened and failed, measuring five types of trauma (5x2=10, obvi). These thirteen opposed pairs of Virtues and five pairs of Traumas determine your character’s most basic personality and are used to decide a wide variety of details and statistics. Some class selections benefit greatly if you have better than average scores for some of your traits.

Step 2—Pick Your Race: Next, pick your character’s race, noting any effects your choice has on rolling with your traits and any other racial qualities. There are seven basic races in Galatia to choose from, although your GM might have others to add to the list.

Step 3—Pick Your Class: A character’s class represents a profession, such as fighter or wizard. If this is a new character, they start at 1st level in his chosen class. As they gain experience points (XP) for defeating monsters, they go up in level, granting them new powers and abilities.

Step 4—Pick Skills and Select Feats: Determine the number of skill ranks possessed by your character, based on their class, each of which utilizes a different trait to determine that number (and any other bonuses, such as the bonus received by humans). Then spend these ranks on skills, but remember that you cannot have more ranks than your level in any one skill (for a starting character, this is usually one). After skills, determine how many feats your character receives, based on their class and level, and select them.

Step 5—Buy Equipment: Each new character begins the game with an amount of money, based on their class, that can be spent on a wide range of equipment and gear, from chainmail armor to leather backpacks. This gear helps your character survive while adventuring. Generally speaking, you cannot use this starting money to buy magic items without the consent of your GM.

Step 6—Finishing Details: Finally, you need to determine all of a character’s details, including their starting hit points (hp), Armor Class (AC), saving throws, initiative number, and attack values. All of these numbers are determined by the decisions made in previous steps. A level 1 character begins with maximum hit points for their Hit Die roll. Aside from these, you need to decide on your character’s name, physical appearance, chivalric domain (the battlefield, the home, or the heart), and religion. The former two don’t have any game-mechanical effects but can certainly affect the narrative of the game! The latter two, however, identify the goals your character strives for in terms of their traits, and what the benefits in game mechanics of achieving those goals are. It is best to jot down a few qualities of their personality beyond those which have a mechanical effect in the game as well, to help you play the character during the game. Determine where your character grew up and their resulting native tongue. A character knows a number of additional languages equal to five less than one-sixth the sum of their Lustful, Energetic, Deceitful, Worldly, Trusting, and Failed Isolation (if the result of the calculation is negative, that character only speaks their cribtongue). Some characters may want to take otherworldly or magical languages; they may only take one such per point of Hardened Unnatural they possess.

Boanerges of Prester is born (Fantasy Friday #2)

Nurture is the first area the character received training or which they put effort into improving. The adult (cuz it’s strength 5) black dragon here picks up the themes of the Spirit card ~ cunning, sneakiness, and lies. It appears that it was one of those random things which exert so much force on our lives that led this character to their class. They didn’t set out to become a vigilante; chance pushed them down this path. Nurture gives its token to Dexterity.

I think I’ll name the character Boanerges, or something like that; they remind me of those two somehow. They have all the force of a lightning bolt, funneled into a subtle fight for minds and souls in order to save their own infected one.

The Red Dragon 10 in Dexterity steals Strength’s two tokens, furthering the theme of constrained force, I suppose. I think Boanerges was raised to be a soldier, a vain and venereal bravo filled with a dark panache, but a chance encounter in a military raid brought them to the side of the angels. Literally. But one soldier against an army, let alone the nation that sent them, is a losing proposition. So Boanerges turned to shadier methods to spread the word.

Strength, in its turn, steals two tokens from Intelligence as it is also an adult Red Dragon. Panache was glorified and fostered in the army’s ranks, but questions weren’t. Venal tastes were catered to, pointless pleasures and decadent diversons employed to keep the bravos from rebelling. A third adult Red Dragon lurks in Intelligence’s land, stealing two tokens from Wisdom. Armies like this one present a paradox: it does everything it can to restrict the exercise of intelligence, which means that a piercing mind is the only thing that allows promotion.

An old bronze dragon in Wisdom gives its token to Dexterity. Constraining the thunderous force of Boanerges’s personality into clandestine activities breeds skill, but discernment has a tendency to disappear into discomfort. Planning is replaced by quick wits. As Boanerges’s angelic master pushed them away from their chaotic life into one of discipline and honor, their heuristic, social, and behavioral skills prove less and less useful, more and more foolish, even when drawn upon in the appropriate situations. But it also pushes them to become damn good at what they do.

The old Gold Dragon in Charisma passes two of its four tokens to Constitution. Recently, Boanerges had to take a severe beating in order to cover for a fellow bravo they had managed to convert to the way of good after months of work. This act of self-sacrificing nobility left them humbled but even more resilient than before. Significantly more resilient, as the Dracolich in Constitution (the last card in the reading) steals a token from all the evil dragons in the spread: Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence.

Constitution ends up with a freakin’ 14 tokens! That’s one more than the 13 needed for a 17 Constitution. According to the article, I take that token and apply it to the next highest score. But Dexterity would be in the situation, as it has exactly enough for a high Dex. I should skip the tie between Intelligence and Charisma and apply the token to Strength. However, it makes more sense for this character to give it to Charisma, I think, so I’ma do that. Boanerges’s ability scores come out to
Strength 11 [1 point]
Dexterity 15 [7 points]
Constitution 17 [13 points]
Intelligence 12 [2 points]
Wisdom 9 [-1 point]
Charisma 13 [3 points]

OK, I seem to have chosen a class and even an initial feat for Boanerges, so lemme backtack a bit and consider a class. The region of my campaign world in which celestials are the biggest deal religiously is roughly equivalent (in geographical and geohistorical relation to other regions, at least) to Eastern Africa. Ethiopia and the like. While I always try to do all the research and include actual elements from a variety of real-world and literary sources, I am by no means an Africa scholar, and this region is in no ways intended to actually represent East Africa. As a nod to the ancient, questionable European legends that inspired me to make this region the angelic one, I’ve named it Prester.

My world-creation has been focused on Aoqina (roughly, Europe) and Scarhas (roughly, the Middle East) so far, so I’m not yet certain what the racial makeup of the area is like. Elfs exist all across the surface of the world, and dwarfs can easily pop up anywhere. Halflings are an Aoqinan race, but they’ve been around a helluva long time, so they’ve spread. Gnomes came into existence on the border between Aoqina and Scarhas, as dwarfin sailors bred with merbunnies (descendants of outcast anthropomorphic rabbits from the moon) in the Hemaya Sea, but that was also a long time ago. Now, gnomes range far and wide. Gnomes gave rise to gnolls in Aoqina a decent time ago by breeding with trolls OD&D style, so they’ve had time to spread, but they’re prolly pretty exotic by the time you hit the equivalent of, say, western China or of the Congo Basin (though more headed south from Aoqina than any other direction). Humans are the leavings of a uselessly successful gnollish magickal experiment. They sought to remove all that was obedient from them to ensure their everlasting freedom, but that left only an unintelligent animal: the hyena. The intelligent humans were the obedient bits they discarded, and are pretty young as a race, so are unlikely to be found in significant numbers outside of the three regions bordering the Voda Sea (Aoqina, Scarhas, and my equivalent of the Maghreb/North Africa).

So, Prester’s population of standard races, to summarize:
Dwarfs: Possible, but somewhat unlikely
Elfs: As common as elfs ever get
Gnomes: Uncommon
Halflings: Common, but a minority
Humans: Rare
Orcs: Absent

I also note that a full quarter of the Three-Dragon Ante spread is red dragons ~ this suggests maybe a direction to start looking beyond the standard seven races. Red dragons live in warm mountains, I wonder what comes up on www.pfsrd.com with that ecology . . . . Naw, nothing useful comes from that search. I consider ifrit (I don’t think I want an elemental theme to races in Presterjho), kobold (possible, draconic, but a little small for the sheer force of personality I’m imagining), tiefling (currently the front-runner, but a little on-the-nose), kuru (tied with tiefling, currently), I keep coming back to the goblinoids but their homes are on an entirely different continent. The charau-ka are interesting, with tactics based on intimidation and exuberance which could blend in the swashbuckly elements I’m imagining.

Dragon Magazine's Cartomantic Character Creation (Fantasy Friday #1)

Way long ago in an earlier age, an eighth of a century ago, in the inexplicably ancient time of 2005, Wizards of the Coast released a card game that could function as a game prop, much like White Wolf’s series of vampiric, werewolf (including the bad ones), hunter, demon, and mage scriptures (published long before Zak's name was associated with the company ~ like at least two decades before), or Pathfinder’s Harrow Deck. The game was called Three-Dragon Ante; I own it but I’ve never played it.

It’s a betting game designed by Rob Heinsoo in which you compile flights of cards of various strengths, many of which have various triggered abilities whose activation is dependent on its strength compared to those played previously. After each “gambit” (kinda like a trick, I guess), the stakes go to the player with the most strength and a new gambit begins. Collecting matching sets of same-color or same-strength dragons triggers extra gold-earning effects. The idea is that this is a game that exists within Greyhawk (the default setting for D&D 3.x) so you can play while your characters play. 

I’m most interested in it not for this, however. No, far more interesting is that the August ‘06 issue of Dragon included a Tarot-like character generation method using the deck. The only thing better than a cartomantic spread for 2nd-generation RPG character creation is a good lifepath system. I’m a sucker for those, as Traveller Tuesdays will no doubt eventually show. I thought I’d create an adventuring party by this method (using Pathfinder rules, however, cuz duh) and see how it does at providing me with story seeds and interesting character details. Join me in this adventure? 

First thing I do, obvi, is shuffle the deck. Fun fact: I always shuffle decks 7 times because I picked up somewhere that a standard 52-card playing deck achieves pure, unpredictable randomness at seven riffle shuffles, combinatorily speaking. So I do that. The spread involves three cards (Body, Spirit, and Mind) surrounded by 4 others, laid horizontally, in the cardinal directions (Nature, Nurture, Dexterity, and Wisdom) and four more bursting diagonal at the corners (Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma). The orientation of the cards plays a role in the reading, so you should know that Strength is in the upper left, followed in clockwise order by Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Constitution, and Dexterity. Thus, there’s a physical side (the left) and a mental (the right). 

I draw the following cards for my first character: 

Nature: Blue Dragon 4 

Spirit: Black Dragon 1 

Body: Green Dragon 6 

Mind: Silver Dragon 8 

{Oooh! An evil body, with evil instincts and urges, but a good mind stronger than it. It’s Driz’zt, sure, but the idea that I’m not even done drawing and already seeing interpretations suggests that this will be a useful creation method!} 

Nurture: Black Dragon 5 

Strength: Red Dragon 12 

Dexterity: Red Dragon 10 

Constitution: Dracolich 10 

Intelligence: Red Dragon 8 

Wisdom: Bronze Dragon 11 

Charisma: Gold Dragon 11 

Hmmm, there’s just so much evil in this spread ~ maybe the good mind, despite its being stronger than the evil body, is losing the battle, just outnumbered by instincts and culture. I have to be careful, though, cuz while I like the idea of deconstructing Driz’zt, these themes edge a little closer than I’d like to some truly disgusting ideas. 

Let’s see, we then put 9 tokens on Nature, 3 on Spirit, 1 on Nurture, and 2 on each ability card. These will eventually become points in standard point buy that will determine the character’s actual ability scores. 

The character’s nature, represented by a blue dragon, is resilient, vain, and forceful. I give six tokens to Body and three to Mind off the Nurture card as a result. Spirit, perhaps oddly-named, represents chance. We all have things that are central to who we are that just kind of bumbled their way into our path, whether it’s the career we discovered after a friend forwarded us a funny job posting or our love of Fleetwood Mac because the diner we ate lunch at everyday while homeless played a lot of it over the stereo. In this character’s case, these things involve the stealth, cunning, and deceit of the Black Dragon. Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence each receive a token as a result. 

More doubling themes! I’m seeing a character inclined toward vanity and forcefulness, but pushed by circumstance into acting secretly, maybe even from the shadows. Perhaps I’ll make them a vigilante . . . . I think it might be fun to play up the discomfort of the character, the strain of trying to stifle their usual habits and bearing in order to be most effective. These are much safer themes than the ones I mentioned earlier, thankfully, though they could be combined by creating a sneaky character from a member of a typically brutish race like ogres. Side note: Golarion’s ogres might exist as part of a long line of classist depictions of rural folk (as ogres usually are), but damn if their sheer, utter, going-for-it monstrosity is much more fun than standard D&D uses of the ogre! 

The Green Dragon in the Body position tells us that the character can handle most anything, accepting what would be maiming blows with nothing but a snarling belligerence. I kind of envision this more as the really annoying kind of person who is never down for very long, no matter what’s thrown at them, but always brings things to account. Many have tried to take them down, only to fall to the character’s retaliations. All six of these tokens go to Constitution. 

We finally get a glint of something pleasant and hopeful in this character ~ who seems very much like a Mean Girl, to be honest, vain, cunning, tricksy, and vengeful ~ as their Mind is filled with the judgment and justice of the Silver Dragon. I kind of want to make them a paladin, but it seems like that would fail to capture the duality of the character, the tidal wave forced into the trickle that rots your walls. Maybe there’s an archetype of vigilante that would be appropriate . . . not really (at least not one listed on www.pfsrd.com), though I did briefly consider a zealot. It didn’t quite fit what I wanted, however. I think I could model what I want with the Celestial Obedience feat, perhaps, as I’m getting an image of a character in an evil society who has turned to devious methods to promote a good religion. Sort of a Frank Miller villain by day, sneaky Superman by night kind of situation. More on that later. For now, that Silver Dragon gives two tokens to Charisma and one to Wisdom.