Herald (An Example Character)
We will look at a player creating an elohim named Herald, whom we will use as an example of the topics being discussed.
Step 1: Choose Order
Herald's creator has had a little trouble choosing, and so has decided to be a combination of all the Orders. Herald will be a Warrior/Messenger/Ministering Spirit/Minstrel. (The use of Herald as a combination of all four Orders is intended to make an easy to use example for almost any game situation. This kind of elohim is not recommended for new players.)
Step 2: Honor, Rank, Tier, & Magnitude
Herald is a new character and as such will have 0 Honor, be Rank:0, Tier:1, and have 1 Magnitude.
Step 3: Choose Primary & Secondary Basic Attributes
Herald's creator considers the mental image they have for Herald. They decide they want Herald to have a lot of Control for taking on multiple tasks at once as a Quad-Order elohim. They also decide that Herald will be very passionate. They choose Control as Herald's Primary Attribute and Passion as the Secondary Attribute. Then they notate the Attribute Perks that come with these choices.
Step 4: Determine Basic Attribute Values
Next Herald's creator totals each of Herald's Basic Attribute Base Values by adding the Universal Base of 12 to the Bonuses from Herald's Order and their choices for Primary and Secondary Attribute. They write down 12 in every Attribute. Then they add 3 to every one but Passion after consulting the appropriate column in Table:1 (W/Me/MS/Mi). Finally, they add 12 to Herald's Primary Attribute, Control, and 7 to the Secondary Attribute, Passion.
Herald's Basic Attribute Base Values are now:
Might - 15, Control - 27, Swiftness - 15, Endurance - 15, Resolve - 15, Passion - 19.
Herald's creator decides to finish determining his Basic Attributes by rolling rather than the Point Adjust option. They grab 2 six-sided dice and rolls for Herald's Might ability.....6-5. Not bad. They decide to keep this roll and add the Base Value of 15 for a starting Might of 26. Now they roll Swiftness.....6-1. They keep the 6 and reroll the 1.....4. They are stuck with this result, but a total Swiftness of 25 (after adding the Base Value of 15) is just fine. Now they roll for Herald's Control.....6-3. Keeping the 6, they reroll the 3....6! Herald's starting Control is 36. Next is Endurance.....5-1. They reroll the 1.....5. Herald's Endurance is 25. Next is Resolve.....3-3. This roll was not all that good so they reroll them both.....3-2. That's even worse, but they are stuck with this result. Herald's Resolve is 20. Last but not least is Passion.....4-1. They reroll the 1.....3. Herald's Passion is 26.
Herald's final starting Basic Attribute values are:
Might - 26, Control - 36, Swiftness - 25, Endurance - 25, Resolve - 20, Passion - 26.
If Herald's creator had gone with the Point Adjust option, it may have looked like this:
They add 7 to each of Herald's Attributes for the following totals:
Might - 22, Control - 34, Swiftness - 22, Endurance - 22, Resolve - 22, Passion - 26.
Herald's creator want Herald to have as much Resolve and Passion as possible to be prepared to invest in Spiritual Effects and Songs. They want to increase each of these by the maximum of 3, but that means they will have to reduce other things by a total of 6. They decide to pull 2 each from Might, Swiftness, and Control.
Using this method, Herald's final starting Basic Attribute values are:
Might - 20, Control- 32, Swiftness - 20, Endurance - 22, Resolve - 25, Passion - 29.
In this example, Herald's final Attributes are overall lower, but his creator had total control over which points went where. No chance was involved.
Step 5: Roll & Assign Seeds of Growth
Herald's creator assigns 1 Seed to both Control and Passion, Herald's Primary and Secondary Attributes. Next, they roll 5 six-sided dice and get one 1, one 2, two 3s, and one 6. They accordingly mark down 1 Seed in Might, 1 in Control, 2 in Swiftness, and 1 in Passion. The remaining 5 Seeds they assign as 2 to Endurance and 3 to Resolve.
Step 6: Calculate War Attributes
Force
3 + (Might ÷ 14) = Force
Ex. Herald, with a Might of 26 would have a Force of 4.
3 + (26 ÷ 14) = 4 (after rounding down)
Guard
[2(Might) + Control] ÷ 40 = Guard
Ex. Twice Herald’s Might is 52 added to Control of 36 totals 88, giving Herald a Guard of 2.
[2(26) + 36] ÷ 40 = 2
Precision
Control ÷ 14 = Precision
Ex. Herald, with a Control of 36, would have a Precision of 2.
36 ÷ 14 = 2
Speed
Ex. Herald's Swiftness is 25.
Consulting the table, this is equal to or greater than 22 but not 30, giving Herald a Speed of 10.
Stamina
3 + (Endurance/10) = Stamina
Ex. Herald, with an Endurance of 25 would have Stamina of 5.
3 + (25 ÷ 10) = 5
Song Potency Points (SPP)
Passion ÷ 20 = SPP
Ex. Herald has 21 Passion and so Herald's SPP is 1.
21 ÷ 20 = 1 (after rounding down)
Step 7: Choose Social Attributes
Ex. Herald's creator rolls 3d6 for Herald's Composure weaknesses and gets a 1 and two 2s. It seems Herald will be rather excitable with 3 negative value to Excite.
|
Motives |
(Skill) |
(Comp) |
| Excite | 0 | -3 |
| Soothe/Subdue | 0 | 0 |
| Affirm/Aim | 0 | 0 |
Ex. Herald's creator decides that along with being excitable, Herald will also be exceptional at exciting others. They spend 2 Points to put Herald's Excite Skill up to the maximum starting value of 2. They also don’t want Herald to be quite as excitable, so they spend another 2 Points to decrease the -3 in Excite to a -2. With the last 2 Points, they increase both Herald's Soothe/Subdue and Affirm/Aim Skills up to 1.
|
Motives |
(Skill) |
(Comp) |
| Excite | 2 | -2 |
| Soothe/Subdue | 1 | 0 |
| Affirm/Aim | 1 | 0 |
Step 8: Choose Weapons
Herald's creator looks over their options for weapons. Even though Herald's Quad-Order mix does include Warrior, so they can choose 2 weapons from the entire list of options. They decide that the Axe’s symbolism best suits Herald. Second, they also choose the Bow for the benefit of having a Ranged Strike in addition to its similarities to the Axe’s strategic symbolism.
Step 9: Choose Maneuvers
Because Herald is a Quad-Order that includes Warrior and/or Messenger, he may choose one starting Maneuver. He plans manifest his Axe as having one in each hand, so he does not consider Two-Handed or With Shield Maneuvers. He decides that he wants to be prepared in the event that he is Faltering, so he chooses to learn Recovery at Mastery Level 1.
Step 10: Choose Spiritual Effects
Because Herald is a Quad-Order Ministering Spirit, he may choose only one starting Spiritual Effect. He wants to be able to restore others, so he chooses Refresh from the Heal Family.
Step 11: Choose Songs
Because Herald is a Quad-Order Minstrel, he may choose only one starting Song. He chooses Battle Cry in the Cry Family to help boost his and his allies’ Passion.
