Classic Fantasy: Creating Characters (Part 1)

Having got the buzz from reading the new Classic Fantasy supplement for Mythras, my aim is to run some solo sessions to test-drive the game in more detail.

First step, of course, is to create some characters.

Before plunging in, it’s worth outlining my plan. In short, I am going to create two characters for Classic Fantasy and run them through the classic First Adventure from the Dungeons & Dragons Red Box.

As I’ve just been playing this with the original rules, my thought is that (by the end) I’ll be well-placed to evaluate whether Classic Fantasy really can emulate the Old School style.

Character Concepts

To begin, I’ve long wanted to run a Dwarf Thief. That’s a no-brainer for starters. In addition, I think that we’ll need some punch; as I love Clerics, I’m going to see whether the Classic Fantasy god-botherer can pack the same punch as the Red Box equivalent.

Say hello to Itomas Lightfoot and Sven Thorensson. These two have seen the bounty notice for the renegade wizard called Bargle and have set out to Castle Mistamere to apprehend him.

Itomas is going to be a fairly selfish street thief, hot off the streets of Wolfsbane Hollow and out to make a fortune. His companion is Sven, an acquaintance from the Temple who is attracted by the opportunity to capture a renegade while keeping a weather-eye on his less-than-honest friend.

Creating Itomas

Being a Dwarf means that Itomas rolls slightly different dice for his characteristics.

Here’s how I rolled:

• Strength (2d6+9) at 18
• Constitution (2d6+9) at 13
• Size (1d3+9) at 12
• Dexterity (3d6) at 7
• Intelligence (2d6+6) at 11
• Power (3d6) at 13
• Charisma (3d6) at 13

Given my house rule of being able to swap any two characteristics rolled on the same dice type (so as to better fit the concept), I’m going to swap Itomas’ Dexterity and Power.

Next step is to calculate Itomas’ attributes – the derived values – which begins with age. Rolling 40+5d6 lands him at age 55. From here, I need to reference the main rulebook for the rest of the attributes – a five-minute task that’s no problem. Most notable here is that Itomas is 5’ 0” tall and picks up a small 1d2 damage modifier from his high Strength. Cool!

Itomas’ characteristics and attributes.

Skills ‘n’ That

Itomas’ basic skills.

Skills are calculated in Mythras by referencing one or two of the characteristics as a base value.

For example, the first standard skill (that all characters have) is Athletics; this is calculated by adding Strength and Dexterity, which gives Itomas a 31% base chance (Str 18 + Dex 13 = 31).

My next step is to total up the rest of the standard skills for this character, including the base Combat Styles value.

You can see the results in the image to the right.

Race / Culture

Once the basic values for the Standard Skills are worked out, we can next apply Itomas’ Racial Cultural bonuses.

In short, he gets to choose three Professional Skills that relate to his Dwarven heritage, plus applying 100 points of bonuses to all the skills he knows from the Dwarf Culture. Each skill, if given a bonus, can have any value from +5% to +15% added.

I chose Mechanisms, Survival, and Commerce as his professional skills. From here, I distributed the 100 skills points as follows:

• 15% to Mechanisms
• 15% to Survival
• 15% to Commerce
• 15% to Perception
• 10% to Endurance
• 10% to Evade
• 10% to Willpower
• 10% to Athletics

Next come the Racial Passions – those ties and bonds that help to define a character. For Itomas, I chose the Moral Philosophy of “Neutral”, adding the traits “Greedy” and “Self-centred”. To be quite stereotypical, I gave him “Loves Gold” too – what the heck!

Class = Thief

Having already decided that Itomas would be a Thief, it was time to apply the Class details to his sheet.

In short, he gets to choose three more Professional Skills, distribute 100 further skill points, and takes the class Combat Style. In this case, I also chose to make Itomas a member of the Thieves’ Guild in Wolfsbane Hollow, gaining him the “Guild Oath” as a new Passion.

For Professional Skills I chose Sleight, Lockpicking, and Disguise.

I spent the 100 skills points as follows:

• 15% to Sleight
• 15% to Lockpicking
• 15% to Disguise
• 15% to Mechanisms
• 15% to Deceit
• 15% to Combat Style (Thief)
• 5% to Stealth

Rounding Him Out

The last step in creation (other than buying gear) is to allocate a free pool of 100 Skill Points across any skills that you desire. You can also select one final Professional Skill as a hobby – so I chose Streetwise. My skill points, limited to a maximum of +10% per skill, were allocated evenly to 10 skills.

Equipment is nicely handled, as each class gets some basic gear and weapons. I grabbed a Broadsword and Shortbow; then I rolled for starting Silver, scoring 40 silver pieces.

I decided to invest in some Sheaf Arrows (more damage against unarmoured targets) as well as five Barbed Arrows (full damage when yanked free), in addition to some regular arrows. Adding a lantern, two pints of oil, a reinforced backpack, flint and tinder, waterskin, and a large sack… well, it left him skint.

Next up, it’s time to create Sven.

Game on!