Your group needs these items to play:

· The Core Handbook. (All players might want to have their own copies of this book.)

· A copy of the character sheet at the back of this book for each player.

· A battle grid map with 1” squares.

· Miniatures to represent each character, animals, and enemies that challenge them.

· A set of dice for each player. A set of dice includes at least one four-sided die (D4), four six-sided dice (D6), one eight-sided die (D8), two ten-sided dice (D10), one twelve-sided die (D12), and one twenty-sided die (D20).

· Pencils, and scrap paper to keep notes.

Follow these steps to make a first-level character, but before that you should check with your GM as they may have house rules or campaign standards that vary from these rules. You should also find out what the other players have created, that way your character fits into the group.

Rolling Ability Scores

The basic abilities are numbers that represent the Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma of a character. You get these scores by rolling four six-sided dice, ignoring the lowest die roll, and totaling the other three. Record your six results on scrap paper, then determine where you want to put the best results on the attributes that best suit your character concept.

Species, Nationality, and Occupation

Choose your species, nationality background, and occupation. Some occupations will be better suited for certain species, so it would be a good idea to compare things. This is not to say that you cannot mix, and match as the game can be played as you like which is half the fun, but some bonuses might be left out.

Review, and write down your species starting features as well as your occupation. Your character’s species and occupation provide certain features. Most of these are automatic, but some involve making choices and thinking ahead about upcoming character creation steps. Feel free to look ahead or to backtrack and do something over if you need to.

Pick your Skills

Your occupation and intelligence modifier determine how many skill points you have to spend at character creation, skills points are measured in ranks with each rank adding +1 to skill checks using that skill. At 1st level, you can buy as many as 4 ranks in an occupation skill (a skill in your occupation’s list of skills) for 4 skill points, or as many as 2 ranks in a non-occupation skill (a skill from another occupation’s list of skills) for the same cost.

You get more out of purchasing occupation skills, but this would be the time to purchase any skills you believe you might want as if you wish to add a skill later it will cost you 4 points to get 1 rank in the skill.

Pick your Feats

Your Occupation will offer a couple of starting feats, as well your Nationality offers the option to select one or two more feats from the list. Review the chapter on feats which offers a list of them all, their prerequisites (if any), and a brief description of what they do.

Pick your Gear

To get your gear, roll a D20 and add in your Intelligence modifier then times this by two (for example the die has a 12, INT is 4 getting 16x2 = 32). This new number is how many starting gold eagle coins you have; these coins are worth ten dollars. That would mean the roll of 32 gives you $320.00 to spend on your gear.

A character can try to do anything you can think of, just if it fits within the scene the GM describes. Depending on the situation, your character might want to listen at a door, search an area, bargain with a shopkeeper, talk to an ally, jump across a pit, move, use an item, or attack an opponent. Characters accomplish these tasks by making skill checks, ability checks, or attack rolls, using the core mechanic mentioned before.

Skill Checks

To make a skill check, roll a D20 and add your character’s skill modifier. The GM then compares the result to the Difficulty Check (DC) of the task at hand. An unopposed skill check’s success depends on your result compared to a DC set by the GM or the skill’s description. An opposed skill check’s success depends on your result compared to the result of the character opposing your action. The opponent’s check might be made using the same skill or a different skill, as set forth in the skill’s description.

Ability Checks

Ability checks are used when a character does not have any ranks in a skill and tries to use that skill untrained. Ability checks are also used to determine success when no skill applies. To make an ability check, roll a D20 and add your character’s modifier for the appropriate ability.

Attack Rolls

To attack an opponent, roll a D20 and add your character’s attack bonus total for what you are attacking with, be it Ranged, Melee or Unarmed. If the result equals or exceeds the opponent’s Armor Points (AP), the attack succeeds. On a successful attack, roll the dice indicated for the weapon you used to determine how much damage your attack deals. Damage adds Wounds). When all a character’s wounds match their hit points (HP), the character falls unconscious and is dying. A critical hit deals more damage, you get this when you roll a natural 20 on an attack roll.

THE COMBAT ROUND

Combat is played in rounds. Each round represents 6 seconds in the game world, regardless of how long it takes to play out the round. Combat starts with initiative checks to determine the order of play for the entire battle.

There are three types of actions:

· Standard actions.

· Move actions.

· Full-round actions.

In a round, you can do one of these four things: Take a standard action and then a move action; take a move action and then a standard action; take two move actions; or perform a full-round action.