Thank you for your interest in the game. Send me a short (maybe a paragraph?) description of your character concept.

Tips:

• You are playing a (relatively) mundane character from 2024 Earth.
• Your character got into this mess by means of playing a tabletop RPG, but it's up to you how big a hobby that is. Maybe it's your obsession. Maybe it was your first time.
• I'm not looking for characters who were prepared or exceptionally suited to what's happened to them, like an olympic fencer, SCA champion, modern day blacksmith, etc.
• That said, come up with a character who is willing to do the kind of things you want to do in the game. Want to play a wizard? Go smart. Want to play a mighty warrior? Go fit and with a propensity for violence. Or play against type for a character who will grow into those things.
• Going with someone extremely competent (an ex army ranger survivalist, golden gloves boxing champ, man-mountain pro wrestler) is fine, but you will have fewer points for stuff like magic later on. Going with someone less suited (a trained CPA, out of shape nerd, cosplay king) is also fine - you will have more points for stuff like magic or weapon mastery later on.
• See the Conceptual Pitfalls post below for things to avoid.
• Play a character who, when put into the situation we're describing here, rises to the challenge as part of a group.

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:29, Tue 20 Feb.

Things to keep in mind and potential traps to avoid:

• Mad Inventors: This game will involve lots of downtime. If you want to play a character who re-invents modern technology, keep in mind that building the tools to build the tools can take months or years even if you spend a ton of points on IQ, scientific skills, and traits that help with that. It can be fun, but even getting to - say - something steampunk would require you to invent clockpunk first, and that most modern engineers don't have the skills to work with tools from a hundred years ago, let alone a thousand - and those that do, seldom have both. Scientific and engineering skills are *very* granluar in this system. That said if you want to have a weird inventing hobby that's totally fine - just remember that it's not the focus of this campaign, and I'm uninterested in spending too much time arguing about it.
• Martial Arts are cool! You can plan a karate champ or boxing pro. Just keep in mind its limitations; training beyond what you have going in will be VERY hard to come by, so you've possibly plateaued... and trying to parry a sword barehanded risks losing some fingers every time if you fail. Unarmed combat skills are most useful against single opponents who also don't have a weapon... maybe two guys if they're both unskilled. Maybe.
• Don't play yourself. Just don't. This is only fun if it's with a group of friends who know you well enough to care. These are internet strangers. We won't even know. If you must: Don't tell us.
• Don't expect this to play like DnD. It's GURPS. Characters are fragile. A single sword strike can be lethal, but infection can be worse. This is not to discourage combat focused characters, but to help you set your expectations and encourage tactics that are less about going toe to toe with equal opponents.

Characters in GURPS are made up of character points; you will have 125 of these with which to build your character. You won't be spending them all at once, or before the game begins... instead, as we play, we'll decide if you have a skill or trait when the situation arises. This choice is based on who you were before you came to Greyhawk, things that make sense for who you were.

Some of these traits will be selected right off the bat - the things that are fundemental or immediately apparent, like basic attributes, appearance modifiers, missing limbs, that kind of thing. We'll go over that once your character has been selected.

Special Abilities:

It's entirely possible that you had a special talent you just never knew you had because you'd never been in a world with magic before, or had never been in a fight. You can elect to take stuff like:

* Magery: You have a talent for Magic, and can cast spells. You cannot cast spells if you do not have the talent for it.
* Weapon Mastery: You have an unusual affinity for a given type of weapon. Your default use is enhanced if you lack actual skill, and you'll do more damage with it.
* Magic Resistance: Magic - good or bad - has a more difficult time affecting you.

Got a different idea? Let me know. Maybe we can work something out.

As stated above, your initial character points will be spent on who you were before you came to Greyhawk, maybe along with some special abilities. Further earned character points cannot be spent on this, but they can be spent on further improvement.

* Improving a skill you used significantly during the adventure, by 1 level.
* Succeed an IQ roll and you can put 1 point into a skill you used by default during the adventure
* Save your points and spend them on increased attributes - assumes you've been working out or whatever
* If you can make it happen in-game, pick up new advantages or buy off disadvantages. You can "get over" mental disadvantages, but something like buying off nearsightedness or picking up double-jointedness would require some kind of powerful magic.

Training is another option, and a safer if slower way of gaining new skills. It doesn't spend character points, it spends time. Time spent immersed in a foreign culture can passively pick up language skills and cultural familiarity; time spent working can slowly improve the skill used to do the job.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:08, Wed 10 Apr.

By default you're all Status 0 with Average Wealth.

If or when you hit 500 silver/20 gold worth of property, you will be Comfortable wealth. I will charge you 10 points and you will also get a free level of Status. This can be avoided by divesting yourself of wealth or goods before hitting this level; it is otherwise automatic and you can go negative.

You will hit Wealthy at 50 gold worth of property. Same deal applies.

You can reach Status 1 by accruing wealth. Status 2+ can only be achieved by being granted noble titles. A knighthood is status 2, for example.