Campaign & Character Creation

Character Creation

“The old forefathers lived in their posterity, filled them out with their will, and wrought their achievements through them anew.”
— Vilhelm Grønbech

Prerequisite: the Storyteller has finished Campaign Setup. The campaign frame, community, and system constraints already exist.

Character creation has two phases:

1. Private prep

You and the Storyteller only. Concept, Foundations, Skills. Numbers stay secret until The Weighing.

2. The Weighing

The whole table. Four steps in order: Birth Omen → Guiding Hand → Who do we see? → The Wanting.

Private prep

The character record is opened as a draft (automation when available): Foundation and Skill budgets are granted so spends can be checked as you go. See Automation — Weighing.

Concept

Write or speak a short concept. Two to five sentences. Longer is usually worse.

It must include a concrete tie to the community — blood, debt, marriage, sponsorship, shared loss, forced service, or something equally solid. A foreigner may arrive; they cannot stay an outsider. Weak or abstract ties are rejected.

Also tell the Storyteller what you want from play: kinds of story, what you fear for this person, what you will risk. That helps them work with you.

The Storyteller may reject a concept that does not fit the frame or is offered in bad faith. That call is final.

Foundations

All nine Foundations start at 1.

You get 4 free points.

Step	Cost
1 → 2	1
2 → 3	2

Maximum 3. A 0 or 4 needs Storyteller approval and a matching Trait.

Skills

You get 12 points for Skills.

Costs stack:

Step	Cost
0 → 1	1
1 → 2	2
2 → 3	3

Rank 3 in one Skill therefore costs 6. Possible; expensive.

Keep all of these numbers private until The Weighing. Do not discuss them with the other players.

The Weighing

Four steps. Walk them in order. Private rolls first; then the table speaks; then you spend what you earned — or lose it.

Step	What happens	Who sees it
1. Birth Omen	d20 → Foundation points	You + Storyteller only
2. Guiding Hand	d20 → Skill points	You + Storyteller only
3. Who do we see?	You speak; others may claim; marks and Words	Whole table
4. The Wanting	Spend Words on your sheet	Whole table

The Weighing

Private points first. Then claims. Then Words spent on yourself — or lost.

What: Roll a d20 (Omen). Only you and the Storyteller see it.

Points: result halved and rounded up → 1–10 Foundation points. Spend them on Foundations at the normal costs (1→2 costs 1; 2→3 costs 2).

Why: private luck for the character’s inborn range. Not a public prophecy. Do not discuss the number at the table.

ExampleDie shows 11 → 6 Foundation points. Mara spends 2 to raise Resolve 1→2, 2 for Guile 1→2, 2 for Intellect 1→2. No one else hears the roll.

Best practiceSpend toward the concept you already wrote. Do not re-roll for flavour. The table will define the person by speech in step 3, not by this die.

After the Weighing

Lock these before the character enters the campaign record:

Item	Rule
Echoes	From the concept and accepted claims. Community tie required. Capacity = max(Strength, Dexterity) + Intellect + Authority. Zero Echoes = Decadence.
Hierarchy	Position if any; default Outcast. Standing is claimed in play, not invented as a full ladder at creation.
Traits	Locked.
Inventory	Only named items that already fit the concept. No free packs. The rest is found or bought in play.

Then write the character into the record (automation when available).