STEP ONE: TYPE. You may choose any of the types below... but I only want 1 Giant (if any) and only 1 Wall Person (if any).

Everyone has four stats: Forceful, Agile, Insightful, and Charming

Humans (early homo sapiens):
--Starting stats are +1, 0, 0, -1, arranged however you want

Neanderthals (cavemen):
--Starting stats are:
----Forceful: +2
----Agile: 0
----Insightful: -1
----Charming: -1

Woodlings (elusive and stealthy little people of the trees):
--Starting stats are EITHER (you choose):
----Forceful: -1
----Agile: +1
----Insightful: -1
----Charming: +1

OR

----Forceful: -1
----Agile: +2
----Insightful: -1
----Charming: 0


Giants (big apemen. Omnivores, but they eat plants more often because it takes less energy):
--Starting stats are:
----Forceful: +3
----Agile: -1
----Insightful: -1
----Charming: -1


Wall People (strange magical people of the walled cities):
--Starting stats are:
----Forceful: -1
----Agile: 0
----Insightful: +3
----Charming: -2


Melee Combat: Usually involves a weapon. If you don't have a weapon:
--Humans: Do 1d2 damage.
--Woodlings and Wall People: Do 1 point of damage.
--Neanderthals: Do 1d3 damage.
--Giants: Do 1d4 damage.

--Humans are early Homo Sapiens Humans. Most tribes roam the plains hunting migrating herds of animals, but there are exceptions.

--Neanderthals are like Homo Sapiens Humans, but stronger and tougher and not as smart. They mostly live in caves, though there are exceptions.

--Woodlings are a smaller species of humans (about three and a half feet on average), smaller and more fragile than Homo Sapiens Humans, but much more shy and stealthy (and kind of charming, really). They live in the forests, the deeper the better... but there are exceptional individuals who venture outside the forests for reasons of their own.

--Giants are basically Bigfoots, Sasquatches. They stand 10 feet tall (when they choose to stand erect at all-- they're more comfortable walking and resting on all fours, using the knuckles of their front limbs). They live at the edge of the woods and forests, looking out over the plains. They're omnivores, but eating plants requires less energy than killing other animals, and they can't afford to waste energy, so they eat a lot of plants. They aren't smarter than Neanderthals-- but they're surprisingly smarter than they look, too.

--Wall People are called that because they live in villages with walls around them. Only they know what they call themselves. Wall People are weird. They only showed up less than 100 years ago. Wall people are all thin, tall, and pale. It's hard to tell if any individual is male or female. They have strange magical tools that let them do all sorts of things. Any player-characters who are Wall People (and I only want one, if any) will be outcasts from their own people for reasons they won't talk about. If you choose to play a Wall Person, the GM will fill you in on what their deal is, or might be.


STEP TWO: If you want to, choose a Background (see individual threads). If you don't, just choose a Weapon (see respective thread) and a trinket (see respective thread), and describe your clothing (if any).

STEP THREE: Choose a NEED and one or more MINOR TEMPTATION(S) and maybe a HOOK.

Need:
--justice
--revenge/vengeance
--to fix your problematic reputation
--respect from the person or persons you most want respect from
--to find someone you lost
--to find something you lost (or something similar that's just as good)
--to defeat someone or something that was threatening what you've vowed to protect
--great treasure
--to do something that will make you be remembered in song/story/legend forever

Minor Temptations:
--An exciting battle
--Brooding
--Rubbing your success in your enemies' faces
--Improving your home (whatever that may mean)
--Making the spirits pleased with you
--Hearing a story you've never heard before
--Winning any sort of contest or game (if it's a genuine challenge for you)
--Teaching someone else a lesson (of any kind)


Your NEED is more of a big long-term goal you're constantly pursuing.

Your Minor Temptation is more of a little thing you indulge in to relax or when you're stressed.

Indulging in your Minor Temptation (successfully) will get you 1 Token (at a time). You may also choose other Minor Temptations from the list (to a total maximum of having 3 Minor Temptations)!

Achieving your NEED successfully will get you five Tokens. (Tokens are how you level up!)

Each time you fulfill your Need successfully, you may erase it and choose a new Need if you want.


Hooks:

Once a game day (dawn to dawn) if you do post something that references your Hook, you get a Token.

If it involves another player's character (as some of them do), clear it with your fellow player first, though.

If you make up your own, clear it with the GM first.


Examples:

1. My tribe’s elder gave everything to me, even their life. They still visit me from time to time in visions.

2. [Name] is so competent, they make me unsure of my place in the group. I go to great lengths to prove I offer skills that they do not.

3. [Name] and I were the only survivors of a great catastrophe that consumed our tribe. Our bond is strengthened by our sorrow.

4. [Name] fascinates me. While around them, I feel compelled to sing great songs of their deeds.

5. [Name] and I often find ourselves wandering in one another’s dreams.

More examples: Dreams, Ambitions, and Inspirations

6. I hope to make an incredible discovery that will forever improve the way my tribe interacts with the spirits.

7. Conflict with members of other tribes is as unavoidable as the dangers of beasts. I want an ancient weapon to protect me, when the next great battle comes.

8. I must rediscover the fabled hunting grounds of my ancestors, lost generations ago to the implacable march of ice.

9. The legends speak of an artefact somewhere on this Earth that will heal not just wounds, but the sick and dying in my tribe. I am sure it is out there somewhere-- I must locate it.

10. Somewhere out there is a place I belong. Someday I will meet a People who will accept and understand me as kin, even though I feel different from all in my own tribe.

11. Many speak of power and alliances, but I shall forge an alliance so strong with a people so important that our sway over the Earth will be unbreakable.

12. I will heal the hatred that tore my tribe asunder generations ago.

13. Somebody once wronged my tribe in a way that can never be forgiven. I will find them and bring them to justice.

14. This world is but a dancing shadow of what is out there. Someday I shall find a way to walk amongst the dreaming spirits as easily as I pass through this world (without actually dying, I mean).

15. Some say there is truth in every ancient story. There is one for which I desperately hope this holds true. Someday I will know.



STEP FOUR: Choose an Alignment (see below) IF you want.

OPTIONAL: Alignments
You may roll for or choose an alignment from below if you wish. Alignment is a broad-strokes description of how your character sees their place in the world. It is up to you to decide whether this is a personal philosophy, an unquestioned doctrine, or perhaps even an element of your character’s culture that they chafe against.

Alignments Table (d6):

1-2.
Black. (SURVIVAL.)
You endure like ancient stone. Nothing is more important than the survival of your kith and kin. In a cruel, harsh, and increasingly strange world, such a luxury is far from guaranteed. It takes solidarity, strength, and clinging tight to the wisdom of those who came before you. Indulgence, radical change, and the allure of the unknown are rarely risks that you can afford to take.

3-4.
White. (BALANCE.)
You ebb like the melting river. Compared to the constant vigil of the stars, your people will be gone in the blink of an eye. You give yourself over to a cycle of death and rebirth far larger and more ancient than anything you will ever know. You don’t always understand why the Earth and spirits ask what they do of you. Sometimes you are called on to make seemingly impossible sacrifices. But in the end, it is every creature’s responsibility to help maintain the balance of all things.

5-6.
Red. (CARPE DIEM.)
You spread like the dancing flame. You were put on this Earth to discover or create something wondrous. It could be immortal art, a new paradigm, or simply the majestic beauty of distant horizons. Whether you intend to explore the deepest secrets of this Earth, or leave it a different place from the one you entered, one thing is certain- you are not content to simply exist in it.



STEP FIVE: Describe your appearance. If you like, choose from or roll on the table in the APPEARANCE thread.

STEP SIX: Choose a name-- there are examples in the THREE TRIBES thread. You may pick one of those three tribe cultures, or not. Also, choose a gender--any sort of gender will do. ("Genderless" also counts as a valid choice.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:34, Sun 29 May 2022.