STEP 0 - Think about your Character concept.
Scott wants to play in Steven's campaign, based in the terrible Black Country of the Western Middle-lands This is a Heroic campaign with characters created using the Heroic Points method or the Random method as the player's choose. The people of the Black Country are the dark races, Werewolves, Trolls, Orcs and Goblins, ruled by the mysterious High Patriarch of Set. Scott talks to Steven about the nature of the Black Country and its inhabitants and decides that he wants his character to be an Orc, or maybe a Goblin, and that he is going to try and make the character a Necromancer. The first thing Scott does is print off the Orc/Goblin errata from the BGD website.
STEP 1 -Choose your race
Since Scott wants to run a mage, and Orcs have limits on their how high their intelligence can be, Scott decides that his character will be a Goblin. Scott decides to call him "No-name" for the moment.
STEP 2 -Decide which method to use in creating your character (pg 1-1 to 1-2)
Scott decides to use the Random method to create his character.
STEP 3 - Birth Omens (pg 1-2)
Scott decides to make "No-name" Poorly Aspected. This is because Poorly Aspected characters have some benefits when it comes to magick and Necromancers tend to become Poorly Aspected anyway (pg 2-4).
STEP 4 - Determining Personal Attributes (pgs 1-2 to 1-4)
As "No-name" is to be a Necomancer, Scott checks the details of the Necromancer Vocation on page 2-4. The Primary and Secondary Attributes are Intelligence and Wisdom so they should be high. Looking at the skills of Materia Magica on pgs 2-10 to 2-13 and the Methods of Magick on pg 2-14 he decides that Bardic Voice and Discipline should also be favoured and that a high Agility might be useful . Scott rolls 2D10 11 times and gets these results. 13, 15, 14, 16, 6, 11, 14, 16, 3, 11, 8. Scott discards the 6 and the 3 and assigns the numbers to the attributes. Characteristic Level AR AGIL 15 76% STR 13 70% CON 11 62% INT 16 79% WIS 16 79% DISC 14 73% BV 14 73% APP 8 50% PTY 11 63%
STEP 5 - STEP 5 - Determine Player Character's background (pgs 1-4 to 1-11)
Scott opens up book 3 at pg 3-34 and rolls against Goblinoid social class. He rolls 79% and finds out that "no-name's" sponsor was a Warrior. He then checks for his sponsor's vocation, rolling 81%. This means that his sponsor was a low ranking officer, an Urtan Asgh. Scott notes the character's background skills. As well as Brawling and his own Language (at -2DF)he gains the two Combat skills and the Wear Light Armour skills that all Warrior raised Goblins have, plus Animal Riding, Mounted Combat, Wear Heavy Armour, Intimidation and 1 other Combat skill. Scott desides that he will choose the Combat skills later.
STEP 6 - Sibling Rank (pg 1-11)
Sibling Rank doesn't mean much to Goblins
STEP 7 -Status in the Family (pgs 1-11 to 1-12)
Scott rolls "43" and "No-name" is a "Credit to the Family"
STEP 8 - The Curse (pgs 1-12 to 1-13)
As "No-name" is "Poorly Aspected", Scott rolls for a curse. He gets 37% and finds out that Poisonous Snakes seek him out and want to be his friend, although they do not seem to want to attack him.
STEP 9 - Special Talents and Abilities (pg 1-14)
Scott decides to see if the "No-name" is unusual in any way and rolls a 16%. Checking the first table on 1-14 that means that "No-name" gains one special ability or talent. A roll on that table gives him 08% "Aptitude for a Skill". "No-name" will gain 3 levels in a background or vocational skill. Of course this means that "No-name" will also have to roll on the "Deficiencies and Defects table"
STEP 10 - Deficiencies and Defects (PGs 9/10)
Scott rolls 57%, as this is more than 40% then "No-name" doesn't have a flaw.
STEP 11 -Personal Fears (pgs 1-11 to 1-12)
Scott decides that "No-name" doesn't have any personal fears, yet. Time enough to develop them in play later.
STEP 12 - Determine Character size (pgs 1-16 to 1-17)
Scott checks the errata sheet for the he height and build rolls for a Goblint. He rolls on the Goblin Male selection (2D10 + 48) for height and D10 for build and "No-name" gets 59" height and 6 for build. The build is reduced by 1 for his high Agility (pg 1-17) "No-name" is 4' 11" tall and weighs (10 + (19 * 7)) = 143lb. Obviously Goblins are squat and densely built creatures
STEP 13 - Body Levels (pg 1-17 to 1-18)
Checking the table on pg 1-17 "No-name" gains 18 Basic body points. Another 2lbs heaver and it would have been 29. To that is added his CON of 11 and half his STR of 13 (rnd down) and "No-name" has 18 + 11 + 6 = 35 Body Points Scott consults the table on page 1-18 With a CON of 11 he gains back 6% (2) of his total Body Points per day of rest, meaning that it would take him about 17 weeks to recover from being at Death's door to almost full health
STEP 14 - Fatigue Levels (pgs 1-17 to 1-18)
As "No-name" has a a higher DISC than STR, then Scott adds the DISC of 14 to the CON of 11 for a total of 25. Scott also takes a note of "No-name"'s recovery rates, 7 Fatigue Points per hour of Sleep or 4 in the first 10 minutes of resting after strain
STEP 15 - Carry Capacity and Lifting (PG 13)
With a STR of 13, "No-name"'s lifting Capacity is 105% of his own body weight plus 5 pounds. 5lbs + (143lbs x 1.05) = 150lbs. Fractions would be rounded up. "No-name"'s Carrying Capacity is half of his Lifting capacity (rounded up). 150lbs x 0.5 = 75lbs.
STEP 16 - Jumping (PG 13)
Next Scott calculates"No-name"'s jump JUMP = ( 0.25 x (15 + 13)) = 7 The base jump is 7 feet. If unencumbered then "No-name" has a Running Jump 7 + ½D10 Standing jump of three and a half feet.
STEP 17 - Movement (PGs 1-20)
as"No-Name"'s Intellect is higher than hisConstitution Scott adds "No-name"'s BAP = (15 + 16) ÷ 2 = 15 (Fractions are rounded down)
STEP 18 - Horoscope (pgs 1-20 to 1-21)
Scott decides to roll "No-name"'s Horoscope. 86% means that he is a Capricorn which means the Stars favour Charismatic and/or Materia Magica for his chosen Vocation. This gives him two skills to select later. As Materia Magicka skills exist within a Necromancer's Primary Vocation there is a chance of a free Mastery later.
STEP 19 - Age (pg1-21)
Rolling the dice Scott gets 87% so "No-Name" is 24 and will have 8,000 experience points to spend on starting skills.
STEP 20- Personalising your character's Looks (pg 1-20)
Scott decides "No-name" is going to called Uklùgh. Uklùgh will have a scalp-lock, shaven head, flat yellow skin, sharp, bright teeth and a smile.
STEP 21 - Completing your basic character (PGs 1-3 to 1-20)
Scott already knows that he wants Uklùgh to be a Necromancer for whom INT and WIS (unless DISC is higher) are the two most important Attributes. With a INT and WIS both 16 Uklùgh will gain an additional mastery every 7 levels (table 4.2 on pg 1-37) but like every one else he has 5 Mastery skills, plus the two skills from either CHARISMATIC and/or MATERIA MAGICA that he gains thanks to his Horoscope (Step 18) which he may be able to use for extra Primary Vocational Mastery skills. Uklùgh will have the choice of the following Primary and Secondary Skills. Scott notes that some skills are in both Primary and Secondary and realises that he can have 2 Materia Magica Skills as Primary Skills but if he choses a third, apart from the ones specified like Lore of the Dead, then unless he takes it as a Mastery he will not get the -1DF bonus to learn it more easily. Necromancer's Primary Skills (-1 DF to learn, -2 DF if mastered) Necromancer's Secondary Skills (-1DF if Mastered) Necromancy Mode (-3DF) Lore of the Dead Lore of Correspondences Laws of Magick Any 2 Materia Magicka Any 2 Languages (Spoken) Any 2 Languages (Written) Any 2 Lore Historical Command Method Summoning Method Divination Method Arcane Method Illusion Method Wards Method Spell Research Any Materia Magicka Any Languages (Spoken) Any Languages (Written) Any 3 Lore Historical Transcendental Method Transmutation Method
STEP 22 -Buying those Skills and choosing the Masteries (PGs 20/21 and 29 to 74)
Uklùgh has 8000 points to spend on Skills plus the two skills from his Horoscope. Scott knows that any skill he purchases from the Primary Vocational list when designing his character he will not only get a -1DF but also a free level taking it to level 1 (note on Primary Skills page 1-36). He also knows that he gets 10 free skills at level 1 which, if suitable, can be Mastered to level 2(see pg 1-37). Scott he first decides to assign 10 free skills, is Masteries and to see what happens there. For his 10 free skills he chooses Necromantic Mode, Illusion Method, Summoning Method, Divination Method, Arcane Method, Illusion Method, Wards method, Trancendental Method, Transmutation Method and Knife and Dagger. He picks Necromantic Mode, Lore of the Dead, Laws of Magick, Command Method and Spell Research as his five Vocational Masteries. For the first he gets -3 to the Difficulty factor, for the next three he gets -2 to the DF because they are Primary Skills but for the third he only gets -1 to the DF as it is a secondary skill. In addition he picks Spell Enhancement and Word of Guard to be his two skills from his Horoscope. Since he can have any 2 Materia Magicka skills in his Primary Vocational list (the two he has picked before are named separately and he has taken Spell Research from his Secondary list) he gains them as free Vocational Masteries with DF-1 and an extra free level to Level 1. Remember, his chance in a skill equals Base Chance (based on the DF) plus any bonuses from his Attributes plus 3% per the level of skill. Each skill has a pair of associated Attributes. These are totaled and compared with table 3.4 on pg 1.29 to find the bonus. Remember Skill Chance = (Base Chance + Attribute Bonus +[3% per level]) Uklùgh also has his background skills (for which he gets a free level of zero). He has three combat skills to choose and decides to chose, Dodge, Fighting Staves and Knife/Dagger. This gives Uklùgh has the following skills so far. Skills marked in the M? column are either P for Primary, S for Secondary or H for Horoscope which reduces the DF from the skill list .Thus Uklùgh starts off with Level 1 and either DF-2 or DF -1 in those skills (except Necromancy at DF-3). Skills marked with a + in the M? column are one of the 10 free skills. Remember that free skills that are Primary Vocational skills have -1 DF Skill name M? DF BC ATT SL PSF TSC Brawling 3 40 4 0 4 44 Accurate Counting (INT greater than 11) NS Riding 3 40 6 0 6 46 Mounted Combat 4 30 6 0 6 36 Wear Light Armour NS Wear Heavy Armour NS Intimidation 4 30 4 0 4 34 Dodge 3 40 8 0 8 48 Fighting Staves 4 30 4 0 4 34 Knife and Dagger + 3 40 8 1 11 51 Necromantic Mode P+ 3 40 8 2 14 54 Lore of the Dead P 1 60 8 1 11 71 Laws of Magick P 1 60 8 1 11 71 Command Method P 3 40 6 1 9 49 Spell Research S 3 40 8 1 11 51 Spell Enhancement H 2 50 4 1 7 57 Word of Guard H 2 50 4 1 7 57 Illusion Method + 3 40 8 1 11 51 Summoning Method + 4 30 4 1 7 37 Divination Method + 4 30 8 1 11 41 Arcane Method + 5 20 4 1 7 27 Wards Method + 3 30 4 1 7 37 Transcendental Method + 4 30 6 1 9 39 Transmutation Method + 4 30 4 1 7 37 DF - Difficulty Factor, BC = Base chance, ATT = Attribute Bonus, SL = Skill level PSF = ATT + 3*SL, TSC = Total Skill Chance (BC + PSF) Now Scott gets to spend Uklùgh's 8,000 experience points. Since the amount of points spent buying skills determines the character's overall level and an amount over 5,000 equals level 2 it is likely that Uklùgh will start the game at level 2. By now Scott has decided he wants Uklùgh to be as competent a practitioner of the dark arts as he can manage, and spends his experience as below. As he will end up as Level 2 Steven says that in spending experience Dave can buy skills over level 2 as if he was level 2, rather than do the bookkeeping for spending experience as level 1 until he reaches level 2. Remember that any Primary skill bought at character creation gets a free level so is level 1 rather than level 0. Skill name V? Levels bought cost total cost DF BC ATT Final Level PSF TSC Necromantic Mode Y 1 500 500 3 40% 8 3 17 57 Spell Enhancement 1 400 900 2 40 8 2 14 54 Command Mode Y 2 1000 1900 3 40% 6 3 15 55 Summoning Mode Y 2 1200 3100 4 30% 2 2 8 38 Write Own Language Y 2 900 4000 1 60% 8 2 14 74 Knife and Dagger 2 1000 5000 3 40% 8 2 17 57 Lore of the Dead Y 1 300 5300 1 60% 8 2 14 74 Laws of Magick Y 1 300 5600 1 60% 8 2 14 74 Divination Method Y 2 1200 6800 4 30% 8 3 17 47 Write Mage Speech Y 1 500 7300 3 40% 8 1 11 51 Arcane Method Y 1 700 8000 5 30% 2 2 8 38 He has spent 8,000 points and has none left to spend. Finally, if Scott remembers that in Step 9 Uklùgh gained the special ability "Aptitude for a Skill" which gives him 3 free levels in a background or vocational skill. Scott decides to apply that ability to Uklùgh's Necromantic Mode,raising it to level 6, PSF 26 and Total Skill Chance of 66. Also each mage has Methods of Magic which he finds easier to cast spells in and some which are harder. For example Necromancers get a +15% bonus with the Command Method of magick. Being a Mage Uklùgh has to find his PMF, his ML and buy initial spells. His PMF equals PSF of his Mode of Magick (Necromantic) + 10% for being Poorly Aspected Since Uklùgh's PSF is 26 his PMF is (26 + 10) 36 for a Magick Level of 4. For starting spells Scott counts Uklùgh's total level of levels in Methods of Magick and comes up with 12. He multiplies that by the Magick Level of 4 for 48. Since this is a Heroic Campaign he also gets to add half his Attribute Bonus of 8 so Uklùgh has a grand total of 54 points to spend on spells. Each spell has listed with it a Magic Resistance (MR) which is an indication of how hard the spell is to learn. Some spells are easier for some Mages to learn than for others, and are shown with Scott spends them as below. Spell MR Total MR points spent Notes Necromantic Bindings 3 3 Having this ritual allows a Necromancer to learn Hold and Command Undead at -2 MR. Hold Lesser Undead 2 5 Hold Greater Undead 5 10 Command Lesser Undead 4 14 Command Greater Undead 7 21 Lesser Fright 1 22 Animate Dead 3 25 Awaken Dead 4 29 Call Familiar 1 30 Speak with the Dead 3 33 Detect Magick 1 34 Shadow Arrows 2 36 Enchant material 2 38 Transfer 3 41 Summon Ghoul 5 46 Summon Least Spirit 6 52 Trance 2 54
STEP 23 - Inheritance and Possessions (pgs 1-95 to 1-96)
Uklùgh's Sponsor belongs to the Warrior Caste and has Status 17. Checking the Errata Scott finds out that this means that he gets 20x Social Status in pennies. To his 340 pennies is added an extra 5% * d10 for being a credit to the family. Scott rolls 2 and Uklùgh's extra 10% gives him a total of 378 pennies. Uklùgh gets one weapon for a background combat skill, so he chooses a Dirk for his Knife Skill, a piece of Light Armour,so he chooses and Arming Doublet and a 34% chance of a Riding Pony. He rolls 33% so Uklùgh has a Riding Beast. All Scott has to do is spend the rest of Uklùgh's money and the character is finished.

Proofreaders - Tim J W Simth, Guy Robinson.