Character Creation in Covenant & Empire

06 Jan, 2026

Opening Thoughts

I'm back! I've been very busy of late, as I have returned to school and that has (rightfully) taken up a lot of my time. I just now have gotten my feet back beneath me and have had a little free time, so I decided to pick away at Covenant & Empire once again. This time, I'll be talking about the components that make up a player character. I have discussed previously that I had developed a distaste for class systems¹and I found that once I eliminated even the really simple, broad classes from Worlds Without Number that a few big issues with my design in my homebrew, The Cyclopedia of the Third Dynasty, disappeared like Aang clearing his chakras. I am generally pretty particular with the words I use² so I want to be clear: you create a character in CnE. There are ways to make this random, and elements that are somewhat random by their nature, but at some level the player has to think about what they want their character to be. I think that this creates a sort of attachment to the player character that will make sending them to their death in some forsaken dungeon more difficult, but also enforces the idea that this is your persona that you are adopting. I also decided to cut non-human player characters, as I think the stories of Covenant & Empire are fundamentally about humans; non-human kith represent very broad concepts such as imperialism, authoritarian religious beliefs, and neglected classes of society that have been convinced to work against their own interests. These would be very hard to get people to play well, barring some really crazy restrictions that go against the O/NSR sentiments I hold near and dear to my heart. Further, I still have yet to work out how I want to go about designing magic spells, so we'll talk about that some other time but for now I think I have the basic components of a player character figured out. Lastly, I am thinking about the tone I want to use when writing this, and because I am intending this to be played by my local friend/gaming group I am going to write it very informally. Of course, because this is the roughest of the rough drafts I'm still finding the exact tone and at this point I'm mostly wanting to assemble the game rules into a roughly coherent, complete design I'm not worried about flavor text too much. If you read this and you think it's incomprehensible, please let me know!

Generating Attributes

Initially I wanted to just give people attributes they could assign, which would work exactly like modifiers. The only thing is, people like rolling dice; more on that in a minute. I also like having attributes and modifiers because it gives me some other things to work with -- I might use an attribute as a gateway for magic items, or something in a background will key off it that would be more useful if it was a larger number, but I'm getting ahead of myself a little.

Of course there are the six attributes you know and love. I use the same basic modifier math from WWN, which I've put into a handy table below:

I like these ranges because, as I stated previously, with a pyramidal distribution that we get from using two dice the flatter math makes for a more meaningful bonus. WWN, of course, uses 2d6; I'm using 2d10, so the bonuses are slightly less impactful but because skills offer a larger possible bonus it kind of evens out. This was a serious problem when I was trying to stick to 2d6 and was a major reason I wanted to change to 2d10.

So how do we generate our attributes?

Something I spend a lot of free time doing is digging around in the primordial past of our hobby. Of course, you probably already know this because the chances you don't like old school games and are reading this are almost nonexistent. So suffice it to say that I was digging around the 2e AD&D PHB and found something fascinating: Method VI for generating attributes, For those who don't know, it goes as follows:

Player's Handbook:

Each ability starts with a score of 8. Then roll seven dice. These dice can be added to your character's abilities as you wish. All the points on a die must be added to the same ability score. For example, if a 6 is rolled on one die, all 6 points must be assigned to one ability. You can add as many dice as you want to any ability, but no ability score can exceed 18 points. If you cannot make an 18 by exact count on the dice, you cannot have an 18 score.

Dungeon Master's Guide:

This gives players more control over their characters than the other methods. A points system makes it quite likely that a player can get the character he wants--or at least the class and race. However, in doing so the player must make some serious compromises. It is unlikely that his dice are going to be good enough to make every score as high as he would like. In all likelihood, only one or two ability scores will be exceptional, and miserable dice rolling could lower this even further. The player must carefully weigh the pros and cons of his choices when creating the character.

This is almost exactly what I want! Point-buy is a totally intuitive system, but it scrambles some peoples' brains. Rolling 3d6 in order is random, and has the element of surprise, but can feel really lame if you roll poorly which leads to either rolling a ton of characters and letting them all die and other silliness I've read about from the earlier days of the hobby. Or...you do some other tomfoolery to get numbers you like such as everyone rolling then using an "array" you like, or some form of "round robin" rolling, or convoluted ways to ensure higher-than-average-but-not-too-high scores...This is nice, simple, and has that addicting gambling aspect of random number generation. Only, 8 seems much too high to me -- I want player characters to become legendary heroes, not start out that way. So I reduced the number to 3, and gave the players 10d6. With a little bit of testing and going off of the vibes this should mean you can have a high score, a slightly less high score, and then some average-below average scores. But if you want to make sacrifices, you can have an 18. This also kind of tracks with WWN's method of rolling 3d6, assigning them in order (or wherever), then raising one score to 14; it's still random, just in other ways.

Heritages

Once you've generated your character's attributes, you then get to pick your character's heritage. I had originally wanted to offer a variety of non-humans to play but as I said before I think limiting it to just humans makes for a more interesting setting overall. Not only is The Third Dynasty set in a human-run Empire, but it's unfair to ask players to think entirely outside of their paradigm as a human. I have a much better idea in my head about how elves behave in this setting than my players ever will. But in keeping with my wearing my TES inspiration on my sleeve, and removing Foci, I had to come up with a way to make each culture feel distinct. I'm still not entirely settled on how these turned out, but the heritages are the Ledes, who were first taken as slaves by the Sileadh in ancient days and first to rebel, the Amra, who brought many innovations with them and suffered particularly in the reprisals, the Kotus who were taken last but have the strongest bond with the land and are proud warriors, and the Namnil who arrived in search of a new home and are excellent sailors. The cultures of humans in Covenant & Empire are inspired by hypothetical prehistoric speakers of the Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Austroasiatic, Proto-Afroasiatic, and Penutian languages respectively – possible ancestors of many of the world’s languages today. I wanted a way to get a diverse cast of vaguely real-world feeling people in my setting without explicitly copying real world cultures and because the elves kidnapped a bunch of humans and took them as slaves while they were still in the early bronze age, I thought using upper Neolithic/early bronze age peoples as inspiration was fitting without stepping into stereotype territory.

Ledes provide a bonus to Speechcraft and drain some HP from a target in combat. Amra can reduce damage dealt to them by half once per day, recharge their arcana to half once per day, and speak Aghetian. Namnil can boost their AC by 2 until they attack, survive in hot environments easier, and speak the Loyoha language. Kotus can make an additional Move action for a limited number of rounds, gain a bonus to Athletics, Acrobatics, and melee skills, and identify poisons.

Backgrounds

Characters in Covenant & Empire are adventurers, a social class that is not quite an outlaw but also not a normal part of society. No one is born an adventurer, it's something you become for various reasons and offers a host of benefits but also hazards. Adventurers cannot be sued, for example. Some religious orders will not administer certain rites to them. Stuff like that. Backgrounds are much the same as WWN, just adjusted to fit the setting of the Third Dynasty a little better. Because I changed the skills system from WWN, I decided that a good way to differentiate backgrounds was through NPCs that connect the PC back to the world and also to give them different starting equipment. These kinds of things are hard to "balance" so I suspect these will change quite a lot as I work on the game and eventually run it.

Artisan

Did your character work with their hands to create fine goods before they became an adventurer? They could have been anything a pre-modern society would require -- smith, shipwright, sculptor, artist, potter, mason, tailor, cobbler, or similar. If they are from a rural area they may have survived on subsistence farming in addition to their trade but in a city they would have been fully supported by their work. Some artisans are members of complicated guilds. This background grants your character the following: a set of tools related to your trade (1 Enc.), a set of work clothes, and a letter of introduction from your master or a former patron.

Barbarian

As a barbarian, your character spurned traditional civilization, either by choice or circumstance. Their existence was one of struggle in the wilds, and that has made them strong. Whether of will or body, that is for you to say. They have a trophy from an important hunt -- either a right of passage, a harrowing close-call, a legendary kill, or something along those lines, a walking staff (1 enc., 1d6 damage), and a totem to remind them of home and/or appease the spirits as they travel that was given to them by their parents, tribe, or animal guide. They always know which direction is North.

Carter

Before becoming an Adventurer, was your character the kind of person who never stayed in a single place for very long? Moving goods from place to place can be dangerous, and doing so creates hardened people who are already a step away from becoming adventurers. Your character may have been a caravaneer, an independent teamster, a messenger, or other similar occupation. Your station in life was likely low, but you have probably seen more of the Empire than most. This background grants you the following: a cart and mule (30 Enc. capacity), a set of traveler's clothes (1 Enc.), and a gaming set or instrument (1 Enc.). Your character has a number of former customers equal to their charisma modifier.

Courtesan

Did your character made their living by the arts of professional companionship? Courtesans can be found from the teahouses of the Imperial capital to institutions of a more prurient nature. Their talents may be within the more traditional bounds of carnal pleasure, or strictly conversational or artful. By picking this background your character gains a tea set with two kinds of tea (1 Enc. total) and either a musical instrument (1 Enc.), two suggestive costumes (1 Enc. total), a mirror, makeup, and perfume; or a set of fine clothing (1 Enc.), a calligraphy set (1 Enc.), a mirror, makeup, and perfume. Regardless of your choice you have a token of affection from a former patron.

Criminal

Was your character a cutpurse, cat burglar, swindler, spy, or otherwise engaged in illicit activity? They may have been caught, and for whatever reason been given the offer to live as an Adventurer instead of facing the gallows, or perhaps they never got caught and some other circumstance led to their decision to leave polite society. Regardless, they find themselves having to trudge through the wilderness and delve into dungeons now. By choosing this background, your character gains two flasks of oil, five small weights, ten feet of string, a small bell, and a long-knife (1 Enc.) or a short bow (1 Enc.) with 20 arrows (1 Enc.). Your character still has a connection with one of their contacts in the criminal world, and they owe them a favor.

Hunter

Was your character was a professional hunter, or a peasant poacher, or a noble's gamekeeper on their private land? Their experiences have made them into a rugged survivalist -- life in wilderness of [[Calennor]] is not easy. By choosing this background, your character gains a woolen blanket (1 Enc.), 50 feet of hempen rope (1 Enc.), cooking utensils (3 Enc.), and 1 week of rations (2 Enc.). Your character also has at least one minor noble with whom they are familiar and a number of commoners they sold their catches to equal to their charisma modifier.

Laborer

In your character's previous life were they a simple urban day-worker, or other similar member of the underclass? In a world without many of the creature comforts there is a huge demand for menial physical labor. Your character was one such laborer until some fateful event led to their becoming an Adventurer. By choosing this background your character gains a basic tool (your choice from the equipment list), an iron pot and wooden spoon, a set of traveling clothes, a staff, 5 candles, and a small knife.

Merchant

Was your character of the rising mercantile class, an owner of a small shop, or an itinerant peddler? Perhaps they made a bad deal with one of the large guilds, or took on too much debt, and thus became an adventurer -- either as penance or as a desperate measure to flee retribution. Whatever the case, if you select this background they gain a set of scales, a mule, saddlebags, traveler's clothes, a set of fine clothing, and a tent. They also possess a number of guild tokens equal to their charisma attribute, which grants access to the guildhall in any city and can be redeemed for favors. They have one contact in the guild who may still be willing to help them regardless of how many tokens they have.

Noble

In Almorin there is a long tradition of noble houses, and despite its origins in rebelling against their masters the forebears of Aetium transposed this practice both as a method of appeasing the Sileadh who had aided in their rebellion and also as a continuation of their ancient tradition of electing an elder to represent their community within the larger assembly of communities. Until your character became an Adventurer, they were a member of one such noble house. Though they have rejected their old way of life, some connections still remain. By choosing this background your character gains a signet ring or other marker of their house, a set of fine clothes, a letter of introduction from a member of your family you are still on speaking terms on, and an heirloom short sword. You personally have met lesser nobles (ranked baron or lower) equal to your charisma modifier.

Nomad

Ever since the War of Deliverance there has been a sizable portion of the Empire's population that have taken up a nomadic lifestyle as their ancestors in lost Astraios are said to have had. Being an Adventurer is not far off from living in these communities, though it does come with a kind of legal status that many who adopt the role find quite freeing. By choosing this background your character gains a mule and a wagon, a set of hardy traveling clothes, a tent, and a token of your specific tribe, clan, or community. You can easily find a group of people who, if they do not know you, are at least friendly with your group within 1-3 days of seeking. They make their reaction roll to you at +2.

Peasant

Although the Empire is more egalitarian than some places, inequality still exists in that there are aristocratic nobles, a burgeoning merchant class, the second estate of the Temple, and of course the peasantry. There are, however, no serfs -- peasants are not tied down to the land they work; there is also the expectation that a noble be able to supply for the basic needs of their subjects. Very few starve, but this does not mean the nobility are particularly charitable or generous. This means that a single bad harvest can make a dreary situation absolutely dire, and such frequent exposure to desperation can lead to many seeking a way out even if it is perilous. By choosing this background your character gains the tools of their family trade (1 Enc.), an iron pot or pan (1 Enc.) and a wooden spoon, a set of work clothes, a staff, 5 candles, and a work ax. Your character has at least one distant relation in the town or city nearest your hometown who would be willing and able to provide you with help or shelter if it does not put them at risk.

Performer

All human cultures greatly value storytelling, but the people who tell those stories are often outcast because they tend to challenge the status quo. Your character was one such person, with an emphasis in the performance aspect of the arts -- an actor, orator, dancer, singer, musician, or poet. By choosing this background your character gains either a costume (1 enc), a make-up kit (1 Enc.), and a loose-leaf folio of your work; or a musical instrument (1 Enc.), and a costume or fine clothing (1 enc.). You have a mentor, with whom you have stayed in contact, as well as a number of former patrons equal to your Charisma modifier that are still willing to speak with you.

Physician

Your character might have been a classically trained professional healer, a mercenary doctor, an herbalist specialized in balancing the humors, or some other similar practitioner of medicine. While magical healing does exist, it is rare or expensive and sometimes even considered untrustworthy. As such, some people must learn the healing arts to ensure society continues to function. On the other hand, medicine is taboo for several reasons, namely that the people of Agora do not believe in science; they have not fully invented it just yet. Your character must have had some reason to leave this life behind and become an adventurer. Whatever that may be, you still know another 1d6+Charisma modifier healers who are within your character's network of acquaintances that can help you if need arises. By selecting this background your character gains a writing kit (1 enc.), a healer's pouch (1 Enc.), a letter of introduction from your mentor, and a folio of your personal notes or anatomical sketches.

Priest

Whether of the Temple of the Eightfold Aspect, the Istilean Cult, or the Old Ways there are many kinds of holyperson within the Empire. Your character was, or maybe still is, a member of the cloth for one of these faiths -- for more details, read later on in this document or ask the GM for some information. Just be ready to get an earful if you do. Just as in real life, priests in Calennor, from across Almorin, and all over Agora range from truly pious individuals trying to appease, intercede, or understand the divine to indifferent seventh sons who could no longer be trusted to maintain an acceptable facade of good behavior and truly corrupt, twisted, or downright cruel individuals. Religion plays a large part in the lives of Imperial citizens and is inseparable from everyday interactions with the world. In the Empire, the dominant religion is the Temple, but in Calennor, particularly the south and east, most adhere to Istil. Where does your character fall? That is your choice. By selecting this background your character gains a symbol of their faith, two blocks of incense, a book of prayers or a sacred scroll or divinatory tool, and a set of vestments.

Refugee

The Empire is a safe haven for many people who have had to flee their homes. Whether escaped slaves, drawn by the strict illegality of slavery within its borders, survivors of disasters drawn by the promise of a better life, or the call of adventure that allows those outside of normal society to climb the ranks, many people come from all over the world to make a life and name for themselves. Your character was one such person. By selecting this background your character gains a bedroll, a makeshift knife or club, and a set of sturdy traveling clothes. In their travels your character has made contact with others in their circumstances equal to their Charisma score, these people are like your character's new family and will be willing to help if the need arises.

Sailor

Your character was a mariner, whether fairly employed or less scrupulous is only for you to say. Whether a river barge captain, a deckhand on the Ocean-going ships that brave the treacherous coast or sail the Eastern Sea, or a lake-skiff pilot, or some other kind of voyager. Now, though, they venture on land, perhaps looking wistfully to the West or sighing at the sound of rushing water over river stones. By choosing this background, your character gains a lucky charm from their time aboard their craft, a set of sturdy commoner clothes (1 Enc.), a token from their former crew, 3 flasks of oil (1 Enc.), and as long as they can see the sky they know which way is North. You have a number of old contacts equal to 1d6+Charisma modifier.

Soldier

Whether a mercenary, professional legionnaire, temple defender, or village militiafolk your character was a sellsword of a more honest variety in their previous life. Perhaps they wearied of endless violence against other [[Kith]], or in the face of some punishment decided to become an Adventurer exile instead. By choosing this background for your character they gain a weapon corresponding to your chosen combat skills, a breastplate, an insignia of rank and symbol of the army they served, and a gaming set of some kind. You have a number of old contacts equal to your Charisma or Strength modifier who will be willing to help you.

Thug

While even the most bloodthirsty soldier serves a cause greater than themselves, a thug is nothing more than a bully, outlaw, raider, or criminal muscle. While your Adventurer may have been a less than honorable person, they did eventually leave the life of thuggery -- whether by circumstance or by choice. By choosing this background your character gains a ring stolen from a fresh corpse, a token indicating membership in some criminal enterprise, a weapon corresponding to your character's skills, and a set of loaded dice or marked cards. You know 1d6+Charisma modifier people from your former "family" or operation who might be willing to help you if you are in need.

Wanderer

Some unfortunate souls are exiled from their homes, or go it alone by choice, or even consider themselves to be intrepid explorers before assuming the role of Adventurer. For whatever reason your character was one such urchin. By choosing this background your character gains a tent, a mule, a set of cookware, and a treasure map or a small chest containing either ¤50 ducats or an item worth that amount of money at least. Your Adventurer also has one small animal as a pet, in addition to their mule.

Birthsigns

This is where it all really began. I've always really loved the concept of Birthsigns from TES. It adds a sense of cosmic importance, that the world is permeated with magic, that I really enjoy. This next section has its origins in the very first thing I homebrewed for 5e way back when. I definitely want to change these and make them more integrated with the celestial events in my world. One of the first things I did was simulate the planet, its orbit around its sun, and the moons to figure out how I could get months and seasons so I have a pretty good idea of what will happen and when. These signs should incorporate that but for now I wanted to get the basic ideas down.

The Hanged Man

The Oracle’s commentary: "Those born under the stars of the Hanged Man have a perspective that is often very different than their peers; you see the world as right or wrong. You are both freeman and slave, a paradox of the soul. Heed the truths uttered by the Hanged Man – you too, will see with eyes unclouded.”

Your character gains an Honor attribute score, which is generated by rolling 3d6 and may increase or decrease as determined by their actions every odd level. Once per lunar cycle, you may use their Honor in the place of a skill and add your character's level as a bonus. If you choose this Birthsign, they must succeed on a Mental saving throw to act contrary to their Passions. This save is made at -1 on New Moons, and +1 on Full Moons.

The Lord

The Oracle’s commentary: “Those born under the sign of the Lord can bear the burdens of those around them, but are scorned by flames. You are assertive and confident, burdened with potential for leadership by the Fates. As a goodly lord should be, you are compassionate -- often to a fault. Even a lord is subject to someone - whether their liege or the Supreme One. If you listen closely, the Lord will guide you on your path.”

As a Main Action, your character may touch a living creature with system strain and transfer as much as they wish to onto themselves so long as they do not reach or exceed their maximum. A creature cannot benefit from this effect more than once per day. Those under this sign are afflicted with the Troll-kin's Curse, and suffer an additional 1d4 damage from fire.

The Hermit

The Oracle’s Commentary: “Guide others as you can, but do not forget to see with your own guiding light. Those born under the Hermit often are a catalyst for change, but find themselves more balanced than others. They often find themselves longing for a time they did not know and act as a guide to bring others to happiness they will never know. Pay close attention, the words of the Hermit drip wisdom like honey.”

Your character is less likely to be bitten by wild animals - vermin and insects only bite 25% of the time, while larger animals must succeed on an Instinct Check. However, their senses are easily confused by the destruction wrought by order. They suffer a -1d4 penalty when making a check to navigate a civilized area. This curse is in effect even on roads.

Automata

The Oracle’s Commentary: “Those who fall under the tutelage of this sign are of an analytical mind, prone to being taciturn, and possess a keen talent for magic if they are given the right instruction. The Automata are tireless in their pursuits and communicate understanding to those with eyes to see.”

Your character's sidereal understanding of magic grants them a kind of resistance against it. When they would be affected by a spell, they always make a Mental save instead of whatever save is normally made; furthermore, their arcana reserves are doubled. If the check succeeds, your character absorbs the arcana used in the casting of the spell and renders it ineffectual. However, your character bears the Star-stone Curse, meaning their arcana does not otherwise replenish itself.

The Fool

The Oracle’s Commentary: "You were born under the sign of the Fool. Never let the dour countenances of those around you extinguish your joy for life. You are set to become an agent of change, but you will need help along the way. Look for a mentor, a guide. Change without direction only leads to destruction. Listen to your heart, let it guide you among the Many Paths.”

The stars have granted your character an exceptional ability to reach out to other creatures with their words. Reaction rolls made in response to their presence have a +2 bonus by default when they can speak a creature's native language. However, their soul is prone to forgetting its accumulated knowledge when pressured, any malus they have is worse by -1. This does not apply to them if there is a full moon.

The Serpent

The Oracle’s Commentary: “Those born under the sign of the Serpent are often caught in cycles of their own creation. They will destroy themselves, only to be reborn, and the sidereal charm of their birth only fuels this constant refrain. Just as the Serpent once encircled the world and its destruction signaled both freedom and an end of the status quo, those born under this sign seek control and will ultimately have it come back to hurt them in the end.”

Whenever your character makes a saving throw, skill check, or an attack, you may grant them a 1d6 bonus, taking note of how many times you do this and alerting the GM. At any time within the next lunar cycle the GM can do the same for an NPC - including allies or enemies.

The Lover

The Oracle’s Commentary: “Those born under the sign of the Lover are well aware that they do not know their fate, and so burn brightly. Listen to the whispers of the Lover, and know that she possesses great wisdom.”

As a Main Action, your character may reach out and touch one kith; they must succeed on a Mental saving throw or be charmed by your character for a number of rounds equal to your level. They will behave as if they are infatuated with you, and are willing to obey commands that do not run directly contrary to their wellbeing. The charm is broken if you attack. You may do this a number of times per lunar cycle equal to your character level + 1. The sidereal connection you share with the Lover causes you to succumb to an intense need for festivities. You have -1 on saves against the effects of intoxication, and must succeed on a Mental saving throw to avoid joining revelry.

The Sword

The Oracle’s Commentary: “Your words are sharper than most, and only in the light of the Moons can their truth be fully understood by all. Those born under this sign are often prone to a quick temper, but have great insight. Some may think the Sword a lowborn sign, but they need only find some direction to strike true.”

Your character knows the most effective way to cut down their foes - by learning about them before weapons are even drawn. If they spend at least one minute speaking with a creature, or one turn observing it, they may learn one fact about its statistics or abilities. However, they are less likely to be trusted when speaking the truth. Your character receives a -2 malus when making any skill check using the social skills while speaking the truth unless the Moons are full.

Death

The Oracle’s Commentary: “Those born under the sign of Death are often thought of as being cold or distant. They are prone to despair, often falling into melancholy and sadness. Their lot in life is to remind those around them that death comes for us all. Listen to your heart, for Death speaks wisdom between each beat."

Being born under the sign of Death, your character intuitively understand shadows and things unseen. They can attempt to sneak when only under the cover of darkness, and gain +1 to any Stealth check during New Moons. Unfortunately, they are not long for this world. When a creature directly damages attribute Scores or Hit Dice, they take additional damage equal to your character level.

The Tower

The Oracle’s Commentary: “The stars are often cruel to those born under this sign, causing them to have a disorderly and self-destructive bent. Kith born under this sign should seek balance in any way they can.”

Your character gains a Sanity score generated by rolling 3d6, which may increase or decrease every even level. They may use their Sanity in place of a skill check once per lunar cycle, using their character level as a bonus. When you select this Birthsign, you must select a mania or phobia for your character, and if it comes up during gameplay they must make a Mental saving throw to act normally. This saving throw is at -1 when the Moons are full. This trait cannot be removed except by divine intervention.

An Update on Skills

Some things have changed since my last post on C&E, mostly names. I went back and forth for a long time, but for various reasons I decided to change Mysticism -- the school of magic related to altering physical reality -- to Esoterics. I had previously been using esoterics as a term that the Magician's Guild used to describe Magic but I think it fits better as a school of magic instead.

Equipment

Something I really enjoy from WWN, especially when making pregenerated characters for conventions, are the Equipment Packages. However, I think that they're a bit off according to my tastes. And, with the changes I've made for C&E as well as my own setting nonsense, it just made sense to make my own. I haven't fully detailed an equipment list but when I eventually do I'd like to incorporate more items that are tied to social class and norms -- here you can see a little preview of that with my inclusion of long-knife. I know the historicity of such things is not well attested, but this is a fantasy world and it seems logical enough to me especially because in our real world there is a big to-do about "assault style" weapons versus "sporting" weapons, for instance.

Kevin Crawford and I clearly have different areas of interest because while I can appreciate the minimalist approach I have spent a lot of time outdoors and I think he glosses over a lot of things that would be necessary. And, while this is a fantasy setting, the nonexistence of lightweight materials makes trudging through the wilderness seem like a miserable experience³. Players must choose one of any item in bold or italics.

Disgraced Gentry

Mage, Scholar, or Scribe

Markless Adventurer

Mercenary

Encumbrance

Gear has Encumbrance, which is measured in points. The more awkward or bulky an object, the more Encumbrance it has. The table below explains the general guidelines for Encumbrance scores. Characters can carry Encumbrance equal to their Strength

Dispositions

The last thing I'm going to cover in this post is Dispositions, followed by a brief discussion of Renown and other ways I want to tie roleplaying into mechanics.

I like the idea of alignment, but I think that alignment is a problem because there's so many wildly different ideas of what it is. To some, it is the COSMIC STRUGGLE BETWEEN LAW AND CHAOS and to others it means their character likes to shoplift or makes ill-advised jokes. Just before I ran my final 5e campaign, I made a realization that alignment as presented in 5e is an aspect of personality that has a minor effect on the world and, really, it could be described thus:

Law is adherence to hierarchy. Chaos is distrust in authority. Good is altruism. Evil is selfishness. I opened up a thesaurus and got the following. The only thing that was somewhat of a problem was Neutrality, but I think I handled that pretty well too. I didn't really like how it looked all laid out on a grid like is tradition, so I laid it out in a list because the other major influence on how I think about reputation and personality comes from Josh Sawyer of Obsidian; specifically, Pillars of Eternity. The complicated system of measuring points and whatever of Dispositions in PoE isn't really necessary in pen-and-paper games but I think the premise, when shifted to a more vibes-based paradigm, works pretty well. Theoretically.

Players choose two Dispositions. Each Disposition has an opposite -- you cannot choose two Dispositions that oppose each other.

• Hierarchy: Your character believes that a system of organized ranks, whether social, economic, or political is the best. They respond positively to authority, or at least defer to it more often than not. This Disposition is opposed by Anarchy, and is sure to gain you Renown among members of certain faiths, the nobility, and similar groups.
• Anarchy: Your character believes that each person should determine their status for themselves. You respond negatively to authority, and may even actively seek to overturn it. This Disposition is opposed by Hierarchy, and is likely to gain you Renown with criminals, dissidents, and certain groups of commoners.
• Altruism: Your character behaves benevolently towards people, even those they do not know, sometimes at great cost to their own wellbeing. This Disposition is opposed by Opportunism, and is likely to gain Renown among laity of certain faiths, more heroic Adventurer NPCs, and other individuals based on their outlook.
• Opportunism: Your character looks out for themselves above all else, only going out of their way if they feel like it's worth it to them. This Disposition is opposed by Altruism and is likely to gain Renown with more mercenary types, and other similar ruthless NPCs.
• Ambivalent: If your character strongly aligns with one of the other dispositions, but not so much with another, then this is for you. They highly emphasize their other chosen Disposition at the cost of not gaining much more with other types of NPCs other than those who are, maybe more charitably, believers in temperance or balance.

Renown

In WWN, if the PCs want to do something big, on a factional or domain level, but don't outright have the capabilities to do it themselves⁴ they must build and spend Renown. It's advised to give this out as a quest reward, but I think that instead it should be in addition to other rewards if the PCs do deeds that are in line with their dispositions. And, furthermore, I think it'd be trivial to give factions dispositions they favor and disfavor. The PC with dispositions aligned with a faction, who does quests for that faction, can get more renown with that faction. It's pretty simple!

Conclusion

So, that your character in my fantasy heartbreaker game. Attributes, heritage, background, birthsign, skills, equipment, and disposition. I'm currently debating over feats, perks, foci, talents, or whatever you want to call them. I like the idea, but it seems weird that every level or other level your character just learns some new thing suddenly. I think they should be quests in and of themselves. But that's for another time. If you liked this post feel free to pierce the veil of Strages and find me on Discord[^5] or comment/DM me on Bluesky! Or forward it to your grandma.

Until next time - keep your eyes on the skies.

Footnotes