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Character Creation

Character creation determines your character's attributes and possessions and sketches the path of their life that brings them to the Salamandar.

Abilities

Roll your Might, Agility, and Wits in order. For each ability, roll 2d6+3.

Life Path

Your life path is a sketch of the choices and chance happenings that led you to the Salamandar. Events here may cause you to:

• learn a Skill;
• learn a spell (note that spell names are italicized while Skills are not);
• adjust an Attribute or other stat; or
• gain equipment.

Your life path should also shape your personality. Each time you roll, take a moment to consider how the result fits into your life and flesh it out with a detail or two.

Early Years

Roll a Life Event, then choose how you spend your early years.

• Assist a tradesperson. Go to Trade.
• Agriculture. Go to Agriculture.
• Illicit activity. Go to Vice.

Trade

Roll for the tradesperson that you assist.

1. Butcher. Learn Butchery and gain a cleaver and a meathook.
2. Baker. Learn Baking and gain a rolling pin and a cloth apron.
3. Chandler. Learn Candlemaking and gain d4 brass candlesticks, a jar of tallow, and a bundle of candles.
4. Blacksmith. Learn Smithing and gain a hammer and a pair of heavy leather gloves.
5. Barber. Learn Barbering and gain a razor and shears.
6. Circus performer. Learn Juggling and gain a 10ft pole and 3 wooden dice.
7. Woodworker. Learn Carpentry and gain a handsaw and a sanding block.
8. Tanner. Learn Skinning and gain a skinning knife and a bottle of limewater.
9. Chef. Learn Cooking and gain a paring knife and a vial of salt.
10. Tailor. Learn Tailoring and gain a needle and thread.

Go to Class.

Agriculture

Roll for the labor that you undertake.

1. Fish the rivers. Learn Fishing and gain a net.
2. Fish the oceans. Learn Boating and gain fishing tackle.
3. Farm the grasslands. Learn Farming and gain a spade and a packet of seeds.
4. Shepherding. Learn Herding and gain a shepherd's crook.
5. Logging. Learn Felling and gain a handsaw.
6. Ranching. Learn Ranching and gain 30ft of rope.
7. Farm aquatic plants. Learn Swimming and gain a swim bladder.
8. Farm the rocky highlands. Learn Climbing and gain a pickaxe.
9. Cultivate the fleshy eggworms of the karst. Learn Spelunking and gain a jointed bamboo pole.
10. Dive for oysters and crustaceans. Learn Diving and gain a lobster trap.

Go to Class.

Vice

Roll for your job as an abettor.

1. Transport contraband. Learn Concealment and gain a jacket with 6 hidden pockets.
2. Shill for a con artist. Learn Deception and gain 2d8 fake gold coins.
3. Sabotage a rival for a tradesperson or guild. Learn Machinery and gain a coil of wire and a hand drill.
4. Surveil aristocrats to gather blackmail for rival families. Learn Blending In and gain an ear trumpet.
5. Rob graves. Learn Tolerating the Disgusting and gain a crowbar and d4 loose gold fillings.
6. Procure for a brothel. Learn Persuasion and gain an embroidered handkerchief and a bag of tea leaves.
7. Ambush traders. Learn Riding and gain a bag of caltrops.
8. Intimidate heretics for the Church. Learn Intimidation and gain an iron star.
9. Harvest the Forbidden Spice. Learn Drug Identification and gain a pair of tweezers.
10. Conduct reconnaissance for an assassin. Learn Pursuit and gain a vial of invisible ink.

Go to Class.

Class

Roll a Life Event, then choose your class.

• Fighter. Those who specialize in physical combat. Go to Fighter.
• Thief. Those who specialize in stealth and subterfuge. Go to Thief.
• Mage. Those who wield magic through research of the arcane. Go to Mage.
• Mystic. Those who liaise between mortals and gods. Go to Mystic.

Fighter

Fighters use blade and bow to dominate in physical combat.

Your Hit Die is d10. Your max Flesh is 10; roll d10 for your max Grit. At level 1 you have 1 Fighting Style slot.

Choose how you learn to fight.

• An organized fighting force. Go to Organized Force.
• Combat sports. Go to Combat Sports.
• Disorganized scraps. Go to Scraps.

Organized Force

Roll for the force you join.

1. Conscripted by the Empress for one of the endless wars. Gain a leather chestpiece, a spear, and a dagger. Learn Navigation.
2. Join a local militia that protects several small towns from bandits. Gain a d4 shield and an axe. Learn Intimidation.
3. Join the city guard and patrol atop the outer walls. Gain a dagger, a shortbow, a quiver with 2 bundles of arrows, and a lantern & flask of oil.
4. Join the city guard, mostly dealing with drunks and pickpockets. Gain a sap and a sword.
5. Work as private security for a wealthy aristocrat. Gain a padded chestpiece and a mace.
6. Join the Church's defense force. Gain a staff, a dagger, and a jar of incense.
7. Patrol a well-traveled trade route. Gain a spear and a crossbow with 2 bundles of bolts. Learn Riding.
8. Conscripted to clear out bandits, beasts, and outcasts from the city sewers. Gain wading boots, a dagger, and a crossbow with 2 bundles of bolts.

Go to Outcast.

Combat Sports

Roll for your sport of choice.

1. Jousting. Gain a pike, a plumed helm, and riding tackle. Learn Riding.
2. Boxing. Gain a pair of cestuses.
3. Wrestling. Learn Grappling and gain a flask of oil.
4. Fencing. Gain a rapier.
5. Chariot racing. Gain a padded chestpiece and greaves, a light helm, and a spear.
6. Gladiatorial combat. Learn Combat Performance. Gain an axe and a cape.
7. Archery. Gain a longbow with 2 bundles of arrows.
8. Stick-fighting. Gain a staff.

Go to Outcast.

Scraps

Roll for the biggest test of your mettle.

1. Get in brawls at the tavern. Learn Improvised Weaponry and gain a flask of whisky.
2. Rout a den of goblins that threatened the local livestock. Gain a bundle of torches and an axe.
3. Hunt big game. Learn Hunting. Gain a dagger, a shortbow, and a quiver with 2 bundles of arrows.
4. Fight a never-ending turf war between hostile clans or factions. Gain a padded chestpiece, a cestus, a dagger, and a small token of your affiliation.
5. Defend a small caravan from bandits. Gain a hide chestpiece and greaves, a crossbow, and a quiver with 2 bundles of bolts.
6. Work security for a seedy establishment. Learn Intimidation and gain a cestus and a dagger.
7. Work as muscle for hire for anyone with the coin. Gain a sap and a garrotte.
8. Fight for fun at Witch's Rock. Learn Wrestling and gain a staff.

Go to Outcast.

Thief

Thieves misdirect and deceive until the time is right to strike.

Your Hit Die is d8. Your max Flesh is 8; roll d8 for your max Grit. At level 1 you have 1 Stolen Aspect slot.

Learn Stealth. Choose how you prefer to earn your coin.

• Nonviolent theft. Go to Nonviolence.
• Violent theft. Go to Violence.
• Con artistry. Go to Con Artistry.

Nonviolence

Learn Lockpicking and gain a set of lockpicks. Roll for a memorable heist.

1. Pickpocket the upper crust. Learn Pickpocketing and gain a sap and d4 random trinkets.
2. Specialize in cat burglary. Learn Climbing and gain a crowbar and 30ft of rope.
3. Rob someone well-connected, who puts out a bounty for your capture or your life. Learn Disguise and gain a disguise and a dagger.
4. Jailed for a job gone bad, until you break out. Learn Improvised Weaponry and gain a shiv fashioned from scrap.
5. Score a big job. Gain an extravagant fur coat and a blowgun with 2 bundles of darts.
6. Sneak into an aristocratic party. Gain a flagon of fine wine and learn Etiquette.
7. Rustle livestock. Gain a branding iron and 30ft of rope.
8. Forge coins. Gain d100 fake zed and learn Metalworking.

Go to Outcast.

Violence

Learn Intimidation. Roll for a memorable job.

1. Specialize in well-defended targets. Gain a padded chestpiece and greaves and a sword.
2. Set up an ambush on a well-traveled road. Learn Appraisal. Gain a crossbow and a quiver with 2 bundles of bolts.
3. Waylay a merchant caravan. Learn Riding and gain a sword and a pound of tobacco.
4. Kidnap someone of means for ransom. Learn the skills of Knots and Persuasion, and gain a dagger.
5. Accost targets traveling by river. Learn Riverboating and gain a spear.
6. Assassinate a target. Gain a vial of poison and a garrote.
7. Hold up a goldsmith. Gain a dagger and a piece of jewelry.
8. Join a pirate crew. Learn Sailing and gain a crossbow and a quiver with 2 bundles of bolts.

Go to Outcast.

Con Artistry

Learn Deception and gain a set of cards. Roll for a memorable hustle.

1. Marry someone for their money and disappear. Gain a fine trinket inscribed with their name and a reason to stay out of the public eye.
2. Gain an authority's confidence and betray them. Gain a fine cloak and a piece of blackmail that keeps you safe from them.
3. Embezzle for or from the Church. Gain a staff and an iron star.
4. Scheme your way into mayorship of a small town. Gain an iron letter opener and a small cache of the town's main export.
5. Set up a fake business venture. Learn Merchantry and gain a cane with a weighted head.
6. Sell snake oil. Gain a lancet, a jar of leeches, and d6 tinctures and ointments of dubious origin.
7. Divert a shipment into your own control. Learn Forgery and gain a small cache of the goods (roll d6).
   1. Hard, shiny green beetle shells.
   2. Lantern oil.
   3. Multicolored feathers.
   4. Rubbery fish bladders.
   5. Parchment.
   6. Albatross jerky.
8. Swindle a diplomat. Gain a quill, ink, and parchment.

Go to Outcast.

Mage

Mages poke and prod the arcane, risking its wrath in order to shape it to their will.

Your Hit Die is d6. Your max Flesh is 6; roll d6 for your max Grit. At level 1:

• your spell damage bonus is 0, and
• you have 12 Mana.

Choose how you learn your magic.

• Self-taught. Go to Self-Taught.
• Study as an apprentice. Go to Apprentice.
• Study at a school or other institution. Go to School.

Self-Taught

Learn Bleed Light. Roll for a formative event during your self-education.

1. Destroy your home with an errant spell. Develop a fear of the effect responsible for the accident, and gain materials to counteract that effect (perhaps a bag of sand to smother fire). Learn Sculptor of The Elements.
2. Find an abandoned cache of arcane materials. Gain a vial of powdered mushrooms, a small glass lens, and a human fingerbone. Learn Homunculus.
3. Magic comes to you in a dreamed epiphany. Learn Displace and the skill of Dream Interpretation.
4. Attempt to resurrect a beloved animal and end up with a ghostly familiar instead. Learn Marionette.
5. Magic spills out of you unexpectedly in a charged argument. Learn Flame. Gain a feared reputation in your hometown and a stocking full of rocks for when anyone decides to test the witch.
6. Discover your absent parent was a supernatural creature. Learn Umbra and gain a small trinket to remember them by.

Go to Spell.

Apprentice

Learn Semblance. Roll for the master under whom you study.

1. The crazy old conjurer at the edge of town. Learn Spiritual Residue and the skill of Foraging.
2. A beast of legend in the forest, feared by the locals. Learn Leech and gain the ability to see by heat.
3. A relative passing down familial rites of exorcism. Learn Manifest. Gain an heirloom, and either adopt or reject a prejudice held by them.
4. A tavern owner who practices magic in secret. Learn The Sugar and the Blood and the skill of Cooking. Gain a stewpot and a flask of liquor.
5. A wizard who was long ago transformed into a lowly animal. Learn Mien of Stone and the skill of Tracking.
6. A seer who serves as a distinguished advisor to an authority. Gain fine robes and a set of eyeglasses. Learn Rapport.

Go to Spell.

School

Learn Ectropy. Roll for the outcome of your schooling.

1. Fail out. Learn Repair and gain a bottle of strong liquor.
2. Kicked out for accessing forbidden knowledge. Learn The Abyss Stares and gain a pen knife, a lantern & flask of oil, and a book on a topic of your choice.
3. The school is disbanded due to disaster or unfriendly authorities. Learn Rotting Arrows and take a minor magical item from the wreckage.
4. Inducted into a secret society. Learn Pact and gain a silver mirror and a set of ceremonial robes.
5. Form a close relationship with an instructor who is learned in healing. Learn Suture and gain a vial of smelling salts.
6. Graduate with honors. Gain blank scrolls, a silverpoint stylus, and a bundle of candles. Learn Nullify.

Go to Spell.

Spell

Learn a random Mage spell. Keep rolling until you get a spell you don't already know.

Go to Outcast.

Mystic

Mystics are conduits for the magic of the wild gods.

Your Hit Die is d6. Your max Flesh is 6; roll d6 for your max Grit. At level 1:

• your spell damage bonus is 0, and
• you have 9 Mana.

Choose the wild god you serve and record any features granted by your god.

• The Corpulent One, reveler in the pleasures of the flesh. Once per day you may consume an extra day's rations to regain d6 Mana.
• The Flayed Lord, merciless punisher. Once per day you may make a burnt offering to harness his malice in your favor. The next time you cast a spell, spend 3 Mana and choose the spell's Intensity, Duration, and Expanse freely instead of rolling.
• The Lady of Many Fingers, trickster and infiltrator. Once per day you may consume a many-legged creature and gain the ability to scurry along vertical surfaces and overhangs for 1 hour.
• Red Velvet, patron of all sweet things. Once per day you may turn a fresh corpse into a delicious treat. The food molders if it is not eaten within a day.

Vilified by the Church, Mystics must make their way in the fringes. Choose how you practice your worship.

• On the outskirts of civilization. Go to Outskirts.
• Concealed from the Church but under its nose. Go to Concealed.
• Always traveling. Go to Nomadic.

Outskirts

Learn Xenoglossy. Roll for where you practice your faith.

1. Worship in a temple deep in the briar forest. Learn Field of Hatchlings and the skill of Foraging.
2. Plumb the depths of a mountain cave system with a clan of miners. Learn Deep Sight and gain a pickaxe and a caged songbird.
3. Commune with the spirits of a cursed, blood drenched battlefield. Learn Foe's Visage and gain a rusty dagger.
4. Craft a temple from living flora. Learn Stranglehold and gain an herbal salve.
5. Proselytize to a clan of wary giantfolk or smallfolk. Learn Magnitude and gain either a knife the size of a sword or a sword the size of a knife.
6. Make your home in contested lands, the site of frequent warfare. Learn Reflect and gain a crossbow and a quiver with 2 bundles of bolts.

Go to Spell.

Concealed

Learn Slip the Mind. Roll for where you practice your faith.

1. Minister to the participants in the city's underground bloodsports. Learn Ever-Filling Cup and gain a tourniquet.
2. Advise an authority in secret. Learn Arcane Eye and gain a small silver basin and a tarot deck.
3. Make an arrangement with an undertaker for mutual benefit. Learn Purgatorium and gain a goat hair wig.
4. Commandeer a long-forgotten crypt filled with ancient tomes for your worship. Learn Dessicate and gain a book on a topic of your choice.
5. Keep company with crooks and knaves. Learn Whisperings and gain a vial of chloroform.
6. Lead a double life, with a public identity as a respected member of society. Learn Unreason and gain a powdered wig.

Go to Spell.

Nomadic

Learn Way of Crimson. Roll for what guides your wandering.

1. Roam between small villages as a healer. Learn Exorcise and gain a packet of pungent incense and a small brass brazier.
2. Move with trade caravans, either as a welcome companion, a hanger-on, or a stowaway. Learn Take Shape and the skill of Bartering.
3. Chase regional festivals and revelries, taking advantage of attendees' receptivity. Learn Pocket Star and gain a flamboyant cape.
4. Follow the flight of migratory birds. Learn Skinwalker and the skill of Birding. Gain a bird whistle.
5. Travel the waterways. Learn Invisible Waves and the skill of Swimming. Gain a vial of hallucinogenic mushrooms harvested from a riverbank.
6. Cross the lands bringing pestilence to those that displease your god. Learn Murrain and gain a jar of plague sores.

Go to Spell.

Spell

Learn a random Mystic spell. Keep rolling until you get a spell you don't already know.

Go to Outcast.

Outcast

Roll a Life Event, then choose or roll for what brings you past the edge of civilization to the Salamandar.

1. Escape a debt.
2. Run from the law.
3. Run from the Church.
4. Seek an exotic plant, animal, or material.
5. Chase a loved one.
6. Chase tales of vast riches.
7. Follow a vision.
8. Others call it a death wish; you can't possibly explain.
9. Accident.
10. Seek vengeance.
11. Beckoned by a wild god.
12. Seek an arcane secret.

You bring along a backpack, knife, waterskin, 1 day of rations, and a flintstone. In addition, roll for 2 essential, 1 useful, and 1 surplus item.

d6 Essential items:

1. 3 bundles of candles
2. 2 bundles of torches
3. Lantern & flask of oil
4. 30ft rope
5. Crowbar
6. 1 day of rations

d10 Useful items:

1. Mallet & 12 wooden stakes
2. Spade
3. Bedroll
4. Bear trap
5. Hand drill
6. 10ft pole
7. Hammer & 6 iron spikes
8. Block & tackle with 30ft rope
9. 4ft of chain
10. Grappling hook & 30ft rope

d20 Surplus items:

1. Cooking pots
2. Tent
3. Fishing tackle
4. Heavy blanket
5. Bear skin
6. Clay pipe & tobacco
7. 2 dozen caltrops
8. Crampons
9. Sheet of canvas
10. Lock & key
11. Brass whistle
12. 2 bars of strong lye soap
13. Small hunk of fool’s gold
14. 2d4 empty vials
15. Crock of lard
16. 2d4 small bells
17. Clay jug
18. Pan flute
19. Wooden cup
20. Thread & d6 bone needles

Finally, choose your name and pronouns. Sketch yourself, or consider how you might appear to other adventurers.

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