It's easy to use as long as a player has a firm idea of what they want their character to be like. They merely pick their race etc... and then check how many points they have to spend on what from the appropiate tables.
Some features of this system support Sandy Petersen's Sorcery System and/or my House Rules.
Players should award a value of 15 to any single statistic, a value of 13 to one other and a value of 12 to all others. They may then remove up to three points from any single characteristic and put those points into any other single characteristic. Once this is done, they may take one point off upto three other characteristics and place them in other characteristics, which must all be different. Non-human races must then adjust their statistics again as written in their individual write-ups, sometimes adding or minusing values from their statistics, other time reading them off the charts given on a separate page, for instance a SIZ of 14 corresponds to a SIZ of 22 for a Dark Troll and 30 for a centaur. In all cases, statistics must lie between the minimum and maximum ratings.
For both variations, a character then has more points to add depending upon their power level; they gain 0/2/8/15 points to spread anywhere to the normal limits.
A character must now determine their skills. All characters gain a set of pre-determined skills, then can spread points amongst skills as they desire.
All characters gain 20/30/40/60 in nine related skills chosen from those that follow. The points are gained in each skill, i.e. 20/30/40/60 points each in Climb, Jump, Ride etc... not 20/30/40/60 points to be spread amongst them.
Most characters get one skill package, but more powerful characters get more. They get 1/1/2/3 skill packages, although each package can only be selected once. The other packages are not as skillful, though, and characters with more than one package receive only NA/NA/20/35 points in their additional packages.
A character who consider themselves physical in nature gain the points in the following skills; Climb, Jump, Ride or Swim, Throw, Sneak, Listen, Scan and Fist Attack, plus any weapon attack except Fist.
Characters who consider themselves to be intellectually superior gain bonuses in the following skills; Any Craft, Any three Lores (including Ceremony), Evaluate, Ride, Speak Own and either Read/Write Own or Speak Other or Devise, plus any knowledge or magic skill not already selected.
If the player wants their character to be based on guile and cunning then they have gains in; Fast Talk, Orate, Conceal, Search, Evaluate, Hide, World Lore and Devise, plus any manipulation or agility skill not already selected.
If the character wants to be based on charisma and personality; Fast Talk, Orate, Sing or Play (Instrument), Speak Own, Speak Other, Read/Write Own, Human Lore and World Lore, plus any perception or agility skill.
Skill Points
All characters have a set amount of skill points to buy their skills with. These points can also be spent on other things (see below) but skills are what are normally used.
A lot of special cases occur in special cultures such as Brithini, Mostali etc.. so see below for details.
A character has 210/500/1100/2500 points to spend. A character can only increase their skills by a certain amount, so no initiate can being with 300% attack!! The maximum percentage by which a player can increase any skill to is 75/100/150/no limit. A GM may make concessions, i.e. allowing a character to increase a Lore to 90 to allow entrance into Lhankor Mhy's cult.
The cost of increase depends upon the current level of skill, so that at low levels skills are easy to increase, while it is more difficult at higher levels. The costs are as follows:
| Skill Level | Cost |
| <01% | 2 points |
| 01-50% | 1 point |
| 51-75% | 2 points |
| 76-100% | 4 points |
| >100% | 5 points |
Note: All sorcery spells are at half cost under my house rules.
A character can also buy additional statistics at the cost of 20 points per point of statistic increased, if the stat is raisable, and 50 points if not. The character is still limited by racial maximums.
A character may join any cult at the expense of 1 POW. No initiation tests need be made, but specific conditions must be met if they exist (such as 90% in any Lore or Evaluate for Lhankor Mhy, or being a Noble for Yelm, or the skill restrictions for Zorak Zoran).
Any member of a cult or an apprentice sorceror/shaman gain increases in POW equal to 4/8/35/80 points, to be spent on Rune Magic, Bindings or just to increase POW. No Beginning character may start off any higher than apprentice shaman, apprentice sorceror or initiate.
All players start with either sorcery, in which case they must purhcase spells as if they were skills, or spirit magic. All spirit magic users have 4/8/20/40 points, which must be selected from their cult spirit magic. Spirit magic from their associated cults may be selected, at double cost, and magic that does not belong to the cult may be selected at quadruple cost. The maximum pointage of spell a character can have is 4/6/10/20. So a beginning character cannot start with Bladesharp 6!! A character can buy additional spirit magic buy spending 15 skill points per point of spell.
A character may have a maximum of 6/10/15/no limit of sorcery spells if they are sorcery using characters. They may buy additional spells at 10 points a piece.
If a character has both spirit magic and sorcery, then they are limited to a combined total of sorcery spells and points of spirit magic totalling 6/12/15/50.
Players begin with one weapon of choice and two cultural weapons. They may begin with either Bezainted Armour, or 200L. A character receives POWx3/POWx6/POWx10/POWx200 pennies in cash, but these values may vary depending upon the Advantages and Disadvantages the character takes (see below).
They may also have around a dozen inexpensive personal effects such as a lute, or a teddy bear etc...
A character may be able to gain more equipment from their cult, so Rune Lords can get their suit of iron.
A character can buy a magic item at the cost of 25 skill points per point of POW needed to make the item, so a Power Spirit binding enchantment would be 25 skill points.
Crystals cost 35 skill points and should be randomly determined. A living crystal costs 100pts. A piece of truestone costs 200 pts per point of rune magic within it. Unloaded truestone cannot be bought.
What follows are a list of Human cultures and the modifications that must be made to use them properly underneath this system. The number in brackets after the culture name denotes the number of points that must be spent for a character to originate from that culture e.g. Brithini (150) means that to play a Brithini character, 150 skill points must be spent.
Brithini (150)
All Brithini are split into castes. Each caste has a set of skills, a character need only spend one point per percentile on caste skills, no matter what the skill level. Caste skills can be increased to 100/200/400/no limit, rather than the normal restrictions for skills. All non-Caste skills are double cost. A Brithini who has broken from their caste restirctions should be generated normally instead.
Dromal: Craft/Wood, Animal Lore, Plant Lore, World Lore, Devise and Search. Fist attack and dodge can be purchased as per the normal rules.
Horal: Any attack and parry, climb, jump, first aid and all perception skills.
Talor: Fast Talk, Orate, Speak Own, Evaluate, Human Lore, World Lore and Read/Write Own. Fist Attack can be purchased as per the normal rules.
Zzabur: Any Lore, Read/Write Own, any magical or sorcery skill.
Kingdom of War (100 for warriors, 0 for serfs (only mad players would want to be serfs anyhow))
All serfs are begineer characters and have half skill points and begin with -5 point of POW. Warrios may purchase any two weapon attacks and parries at the cost of one point per percentile with the maximum increase of 100/200/400/600.
Kralorela (5)
All orientals are the only people who can buy Martial Arts.
Pent (5)
Ride is half cost.
Prax (5)
Ride is half cost.
Ygg Islander (5)
Boat is half cost.
What follows are a list of all normal PC races and the modifications that must be made to use them properly underneath this system. The number in brackets after the culture name denotes the number of points that must be spent for a character to originate from that culture e.g. Baboon (165) means that to play a Baboon, 165 skill points must be spent. Also each race may have to take certain advantages or disadvantages, although the cost is already included in the given number. If you are using the non-random method to determine characteristics then click here for a list of tables and rules on how to accomplish this.
Aldryami (Brown 143; Green male 153; Green female 3; Yellow 178; Black 108; Blue 98)
All elves have the advantage of Night Vision and this is included in the cost. The skills of Plant Lore, Animal Lore, all Perception skills and all Stealth skills are half cost.
Baboon (235)
Climb skill can be purchased at one point per percentile. The maximum amount the skill can be increased is 100/200/400/600.
Broo (15)
All broo have the disadvantage of Chaos Tainted. It costs 20 pts for a chaos feature. Most broo are uneducated.
Centuar (210)
Bow Attack is half cost.
Dragonewts (variable)
It costs -20 points to play a Scout Dragonewt, 375 points to play a Warrior Dragonewt, 465 points for Noble Dragonewts and 920 points for Ruler Dragonewts. To play a Newt higher than Scout, you must purchase the skills needed to the appropiate levels from a base chance of 25%, as well as purchase all the Dragon Magic of the previous caste. A Dragon Magic spell costs 50 points.
Ducks/Keets (18)
Swim skill can be purchased at a cost of 1 point per percentile to a maximum increase of 150/250/no limit/no limit. Boat can be purcahsed at the cost of 1 percentile up to a maximum of 100/200/400/no limit.
Fachan (530)
Giant (130 for the first 2m of height, 535 for every 2m thereafter)
Grotaron (885)
Jelmere (200)
Gain any craft skill and Devise at half cost.
Krarshtkid (230)
All Merpeople (Gnydron 750; Ludoch 80; Malasp 155; Ouori 245; Ysabbau 215; Zabdamar males 375; Zabdamar female 190)
Minotaur (245)
Morocanth (95)
Mostali (250 for non-apostate, 150 for apostate)
All non-apostate Mostali use the following rules. A Mostali may buy skills within their Caste at the cost of one point per percentile to a maximum increase of 100/200/400/600. Unless otherwise stated, all other non-caste skills cost triple normal cost. The skills of Earthsense/Scan, Earthsense/Search, all sorcery skills, Dwarf Lore and Conceal can always be bought at normal cost.
Brass: Smithing, Dwarf Lore, Evaluate, Metal Lore, Mineral Lore, Read/Write Mostali, Devise.
Copper: Smithing, Evaluate, Metal Lore, Mineral Lore, Devise.
Gold: Orate, Speak Mostali, Smithing, Craft/Gold, Dwarf Lore, Evaluate, Mineral Lore, Read/Write Mostali, World Lore and Ceremony.
Iron: Craft/armour, Craft/weapon, Temper Iron, Forge Iron, any weapon attack, any weapon parry, Military Lore, Battle. First Aid and Visual Scan may be bought as normal.
Lead: Craft/glass, Plumbing, Metal Lore, Mineral Lore, Devise, Earthsense/Scan, Earthsense/search, Listen. The skills of Speak Mostali, Evaluate and Swim can be bought as normal. Alchemy can be bought at 5 points/level.
Quicksilver: Orate, Read/Write Mostali, Craft/potion, First Aid, Mineral Lore, Devise, Earthsense/scan, Earthsense/search. Speak Mostali, Dwarf Lore, Evaluate and Listen can be bought normally. All Quicksilver Mostali gain 8 free levels of alchemy and may buy further levels at 5 points per level.
Rock: Earthsense/scan, Earthsense/search, Masonary, Architecture, Mineral Lore, Devise. The skills of Climb, Jump, Speak Mostali, Evaluate, Read/Write Mostali, Visual Scan and Visual Search can be bought as normal.
Silver: Craft/silver, craft/magic item, all sorcery skills, mineral lore, world lore.
Tin: Craft/tin, stonecarving, evaluate, mineral lore, devise. Fast talk can be purchased as normal.
All Mostali gain equipment appropiate to their Caste.
Apostate Mostali receive the normal benefits of being a Mostali, such as earthsense and their stats etc..., but do not receive any modifications to skills and should select their skills just as if they were a normal character.
Newtling (10)
Also a newtling may buy Draconic Lore and Martial Arts, and at the cost of 25 points can buy a one use Dragon Magic Spell.
Ogre (155)
All ogres are chaos tainted. It costs 20 pts. to buy a chaos feature.
Orc (Lesser -90; Medium -5; Greater 110)
All Orcs have Night Vision, included in the cost.
Tusk Rider (35)
Gain Ride for one point per percentile with a maximum increase of 100/200/400/600.
Uz (Uzuz 485; Great Troll 325; Dark Troll 155; Lesser Trollkin -165; Superior Trollkin -60)
Trollkin are generated as normal except have precious little equipment. A Value Trollkin can have a single skill at the cost of 1 point per percentile to a maximum increase of 100/200/400/600. It costs 15 points to be a Value trollkin. Uzuz have the advantages and disadvantages of light blindness and enhanced darksense.
Wind Children (210)
Buy Fly at half cost. They immediatley begin with five levels of Storm Spirit Affinity as an advantage.
What follows are a list of advantages that a character may buy with skill points to bolster their character and develop their background. The number in brackets denotes how many skill points must be spent to buy the advantage.
Absolute Direction (8)
The character has a mental compass, they always know which direction they are travelling. If they are disorientated (such as having received a knock to the head, or under the effects of drugs) then an INT x3 Concentration roll is required to use this ability, but it may be used once/round until it suceeds.
Absolute Timing (8)
No matter what, no matter where the character is or how long they have spent unconsious, they are able to accurately tell the time to within about half an hour, but in normal conditions have an accuracy of about 2 minutes.
Accelerated Healing (15)
The character recovers twice as fast from all wounds, and regains 1 hit point per day naturally if they rest.
Alcoholic Consumption (5/lvl)
Each level doubles maximum alcohol intake. Maximum level is CON/5.
Allies (varies)
A character has allies that are willing to risk themselves in some manner to aid the character. Once called upon, they will do their best to help. They may also call favours in from the character, which gives ample possibility for a gamemaster to create storylines.
The cost varies, 40 points buys a weak ally, 80 points buys an average powered ally whereas 150 points buys a strong ally. This advantage may even cover a group of individuals rather than a single ally. A weak ally may be a group of local city beggars willing to hide the character from time to time. An average ally may be another NPC of power level comprable to the PC, or may include a powerful Rune Lord who will only lend his support under unusual circumstances (such as an Uroxi Beserker who only helps a character in their fight against chaos). A powerful ally may be a wyter, or a powerful member of local politics.
Allied Spirit (100)
This advantage can only be used by characters who are in a cult with access to allied spirits. It can only be purchased by initiates and acolytes. The initiate has suceeded in a HeroQuest to gain an allied spirit as per the normal rules. They may not gain another at Rune Level.
Ambidexterity (25)
A character may use both their hands to equal proficiency. In the case of a creature with more than one hand, this advantage cost an extra 10 point per set of arms.
Animal Empathy (20/level)
The character gains a bonus of +5% on all rolls involving animals, plus an additional 10% for every level i.e. a character with level 1 Animal Empathy gains a bonus of +15%, a character with level 4 gains +45%.
Art Mastery (160)
This can only be selected if you use an alternative sorcery system. It can be selected by sorceror's whose maximum manipulation of a spell is limited by art/10 i.e. if you have intensity 90 then you can use 9 levels of manipulation. It can only be used by those who have 90%+ in the Art already. Once selected the character can use as many levels of Art manipulation that they wish, to the limit given by their chance to cast the spell. In other words they are no longer limited by art/10. The Art Mastery advantage must be purchased individually for each Art. It also acts as a Vow and increases Presence by 5 (already included in the cost).
Aristic Ability (20)
The character is a natural artist. Double all experience gained in association with any craft/art rolls such as craft/painting, craft/sculpture etc... It does not apply to dance, sing, play instrument, writing etc...
Blackmarket Contacts (25/45/70)
The character has contacts on the blackmarket that allow him/her to gain access to illegal substances and assets i.e. hazia, maertial components for chaotic spells, basilisks etc... as well as cheap weaponary etc... They will also have some local knowledge of the underground criminal organizations. At the lowest level (25 points) you gain access to simple illegal substances, and sometimes gain good deals on stolen goods. At the second level (45 points) you gain access to rare materials for spells, a general connection with the blackmarket (know who the kingpins are etc...) and usually can find the dealer of the material you need. At 70 points you probably have direct access to a blackmarket kingpin, can hire assassins, gain access to really illegal things (Bagogi mercenaries anyone?) and other such nefarious things.
Blessed (10/lvl)
The character is blessed by a particular god and has their divine favour. The character must select which god they are blessed by. They receive a bonus of +5%/lvl to their Test of Holiness, chance to gain an allied spirit etc... in addition to receiving whatever other benefits the GamesMaster sees fit.
Boon (varies)
The character has gained a boon from a local or influential member of society, such as a Count, Governor, Beggar King or local military member. This boon may be used once and once only, and the NPC may or may not be on friendly terms with the player. For instance, the Red Emperor may be in Boon to an Orlanthi for a previous act that helped the Empire. While the Emperor may not like it, he'll have to honour it. The cost of a boon is half the cost that it would be to have that person as an ally. Refer to Allies above.
Breath Underwater (6/lvl)
This advantage does not literally allow you to breath underwater, but means that your character can hold their breath for a longer amount of time than normal. For every level in this advantage, when the character is holding their breath they gain an extra multiplier on their CON roll. For instance, normally a character who holds their breath and dives under the water starts making asphyxiation rolls on CONx10, decreasing by one increment every round. A character with three levels in this advantage begins on CONx13, decreasing by one increment every round.
Climate Sense (9)
Obviously the character is blessed by Orlanth, or another Storm God, for they can tell when the weather or climate is about to change. They gain the ability to predict changes in weather about one hour in advance, giving them time to seek shelter.
Combat Reflexes (25)
The character is never suprised, and can withdraw a weapon stored at their side (the normal position for a weapon) in only 1 SR. This quick draw does not apply to weapons stored in difficult to reach and inaccessbile locations such as neck holsters or boot knives.
Common Sense (20)
An excellent advantage for a beginning roleplayer to select. This gives your character some modicum of "common sense". The GM should feel free to advise you when you are about to do something foolhardy or deadly. The player should also feel free to consult the GM on issues that they feel a more experienced gamer may be better able to gauge. In essence, it is a roleplaying aid for inexperienced gamers to use.
Companion (16/lvl)
The character has a spiritual companion. This may be a spirit from a cult, a captured spirit, a shamans gift, the dead soul of a relative or any of a number of things. It may only be used to intercept attacking spirits in spirit combat, if the character wishes to have it be able to randomly engage other disembodied spirits in spirit combat it costs double cost. If they wish it to have the ability to learn spirit magic/sorcery then it costs an additional 40 pts. The spirit has 1d6 POW and 1d3 INT per level.
Contrary (35)
The character is naturally linked to the Disorder Rune. They are irritable, impatient and whimsical. They gain the same resistance against magic as do Giants.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Add 4 to Disorder Rune.
Cult Friendship (25/45)
The character is related to a cult in a friendly manner. The cult will offer help, assitance, board and succor to the character. This may be due to owing debts, or a great act that aided the cult. It costs 25 points for a cult that wouldn't unnnaturally be related to the character e.g. an Orlanthi having relationships with Lhankor Mhy, and costs 45 points for an unnatural cult e.g. Orlanth and Kyger Litor. Impossible cult relations should be ruled out as the GM sees fit e.g. Orlanth and Primal Chaos, may not be appropiate.
Cult Skill Access (varies)
This advantage give the character access to a special cult skill of a cult he does not belong to! So a character may have Sense Assassin without having joined Humakt! This may be a gift, a random blessing, the result of an accident, or a HeroQuesting gift, or maybe the secrets were just plundered! Once the advantage has been bought, the skill must then be bought up normally from a base chance of zero. Mundane skills such as Bargain, Courtesan or Treat Disease cost 30 pts to gain access to. Magical skills such as Sense Rapist, Sense Chaos, Sense Assassin or understand Beast Speech cost 45 pts to gain access to.
Danger Sense (30)
The character has an innate danger sense, obviously someone touched by the Spider Woman. A GM should inform the character of dangerous situations, as well as the general severity. This skill does not locate or in any way hint at the source of danger. It does not work when asleep.
Daredevil (60)
The character is naturally heroic, and Fate seems to be on his side. Sometimes, the character is actually a coward who has not realised their own potential. Whenever the character commits an insanely stupid act (a starting character taking on a Lunar Hoplite with only their fists or leaping across a 10m chasm with lava flowing beneath you, for instance) recieves a re-roll and gets to choose the best score of the two.
Destiny (45)
The character has a destiny to fufil. The character will, at least, vaguely know of this destiny via visions and prophets etc... but may not, at the Gamesmaster's discretion, know the full extent of their path. The character will, in accordance to their destiny (which is always suitable powerful and epic) receive re-rolls on any dice roll that they make, choosing the best one, on any roll made that is related to their destiny.
Detect Illusions (8/lvl)
The character has an innate talent to detect illusions and other such chimeras. This is often seen as a blessing of Harmony.The character has a POWxlvl chance of detecting illusions/phantasms etc...
Divine Intervention (35)
This is an advantage peculiar to my House Rules. The character has done an act appropiate to their cult in the past and in doing so has gained a use of Divine Internvetion.
Double-jointed (5)
The character is particulary supple. They have a bonus of 10% to all rolls involving this ability i.e. controtion.
Driven (40 for a specific drive, 70 for a general drive)
The character has a specific motive in life, such as kill their parent's murderer, slay broo etc... When they are engaged with this Quest they gain an extra 1/5th of their skill extra. It costs 40 points if the drive is specific, for instance, find the fabled jewel of Dara Happa, or slay a broo shaman who raped your sister. For 70 points it can be a more general drive, find all great treasures of Dara Happa stolen from their rightful owners or slay all boo.
HeroQuest Adjustment: The character also has Lust (drive) of 5.
Elder Race Affinity (50 for a major elder race, 20 points for a minor)
The character has an unnatural link to one of the major elder races (Dragonewts, Uz, Mostali, Aldryami) or one of the minor races (Wind Children, Luatha etc....). The character has somehow earned a powerful boon or act of respect. The character has basic knowledge of their culture (in other words, immediatley gain respective Lore at base 5%; such as Troll Lore) but is also respected by them. They will not be attacked (eaten etc...) by any moral members of that race (so excluding bandits and rogues). This advantage can be used as an excuse to learn their language, increase certain skills etc...
Eidetic Memory (65)
The character can recall all minor details etc... with absolute clarity. It also halves training and research for all Knowledge skills.
Enhanced DarkSense (20)
Only available to characters with Darksense. It allows the characters to utilise their Darksense as a form of weapon, a sonar based weapon. Not particularly deadly, it can be used to get rid of bugs, zap trollkin into submission etc... It can only be used whilst the sonar receptors are uncovered. It is a ranged attack (range=10m), costs an action, and goes on DEX SR. It goes through all physical armour, hits a random missile location if a successful Darksense/Search roll is made, and can only be dodged by characters with Darksense. It inflicts 1d3 damage.
Endurance (25)
Suffers half fatigue loss and can stay awake for an extra CON in hours before requiring sleep.
Excellent Shot (40 for melee weapons, 45 for missile)
The character is an excellent shot. With this advantage they gain benefits either on attacks with melee weapons or missile weapons, but not both unless they select this advantage twice. The character, if they hit, gain the benefit of being able to modifier their hit location roll by +/- 1. So a roll of 15 could be taken to be either a 14, 15 or 16, as the player wishes.
Excellent Throw (15)
The character has an excellent throwing ability. They may throw objects upto three times the normal range.
Experience Bonus (25/lvl)
For every level in this advantage the character gains one extra experience point on all experience rolls to a maximum of 6. Recommended maximum level is three.
Fame (varies)
The character is famous, at least amongst a certain type of people. For 50 points they are quite well known, probabley within a 50 mile radius. For 100 points they are reasonably famous, and everyone in the area has at least heard of them, and may know some details. For 200 points they are very famous and are known throughout the land, and on most of the borders. Of course, what they are famous for is upto the character to decide. This cost can be further modified, if only a certain group of people know of the character, such as a specific cult (such as a Sage famous for mapmaking in the cult of Lhankor Mhy) then it is halved. If the group is very small (the exceedingly good assassin of the Black Fang only known to that cult) then the cost is at one quarter.
Fast (35)
Add 1 to Move.
Fast Draw (20)
Drawing any object in combat from anyplace takes only 1 SR. If taken as well as Combat Reflexes, this only costs 10 points.
Favoured Cultist (40)
The character is favoured by either their own cult. This will mean they will be given board and succor at their temples, usually access to equipment on short term loan, training and a moderate amount of respect.
Gift/Geas (40)
This can only be taken if the PC is a member of a cult that accepts gift/geas pairs (Humakt, Yelmalio, Vinga, Thanatar etc....). The character has done some great service, or participated in a particular ritual, or been gifted by the god, to have another gift, and it's appropiate geas. This should be chosen or randomly determined as is normal for the cult.
Heroic Skill Access (70/140)
This skill gives a character access to Heroic Skills. The character buys this advantage to give him access to just one heroic skill, and then pays the normal points to increase the skill. It costs 70 points to buy a not-so powerful Heroic Skill like The Sword Trick or Water Running, and 140 points to buy better skills like Gae Bolga or Mighty Blow. GM discretion advised.
High Pain Threshold (12 for the first level, 30 for second level, 50 for third level)
All CON rolls that are made to do with pain have an additional multiplier per level i.e. a CON x3 becomes a CON x4 for level 1, or CONx6 for level 3.
Hit Points Bonus (15/lvl)
The character's stamina is unusually high. For every level, add 1 hit point to the character. The maximum level is CON/3, although hit points may be raised above normal racial maximum.
Honourable (65)
The character does not necessarily act honourably, but does have a sense of honour. Whether he likes it or not, he gets a feel-good feeling when he acts honourably (i.e. does not attack an unarmed foe, refuses to use poison, does not attack a foe when they are down etc...) and draws internal power from it. When acting honourably the character gains an extra 20% on all skills.
Horseman (20/lvl)
The character is an excellent horse rider. For every level, the character has one ability from the following:
Not limited by Ride skill to maximum weapon chance to strike while riding
Character gains double experience, and requires only one quarter the amount of training and research, in Ride Skill
May add 25% to their experience roll with Ride skill
Illumination (various)
The character can spend points to buy Illumination if they so wish. Of course, Illumination being the complicated thing it is should have a cost assigned by the GM varying on the degree of Illumination, so anywhere from 0 points to 210!! The GM should only allow certain players to buy Illumination, this is not an easy road to power! As a guideline, a 20 pts base plus 10 pts for the 1st power (understands the chaos/law relationship), 30 pts. for Sense Illumination, 50 pts. each for protection from excommuncation, immunity from geases and the ability to teach riddles/
Immunity to Disease and Poison(10/level)
The character has an extra 4 CON to resist all diseases and poisons per level possessed.
Immunity to Heat/Cold (15/level)
The character is resistant to heat/cold. They gain an extra 3 celsius tolerance of temperature than normal members of their race for every level that they have. They also reduce any damage inflicted by heat/cold by one point per level to a minimum of one point of damage. Recommended maximum level is four.
Immunity to Tap (6/lvl)
The character gains 5 extra magic points per level for resisting the effect of the Tap spell, or related spells or effects (such as Vadeli Diminish). If struck by a Tap-like effect that drains permanent statistic points it is up to the GM whether or not this advantage is useful.
Inner Force(30)
This is an advantage only commonly seen in Oriental masters. With a successful Martial Arts roll they can increase a stat by one point per magic point expended for one round. Maximum increase is to double normal stat level.
Iron Grip (27)
The character has an iron grip. This gives them an advantage in wrestling, arm wrestling, grappling, holding onto people dangling precariously over a chasmn etc... In all such contests, the character uses STRx1.5 rather than normal STR.
Journeyed (18/lvl)
The character has completed various Journeys as a sorceror. Add 1 presence/lvl. Maximum level is 5/10/20/40.
Ki Powers (25)
This advantage can only be purchased by those who come from lands where Ki powers are available. It can only be bought if the character has more than 90% in that skill, and each time this advantage is bought one ki skill can be awakened at a base chance of 5%. So to awaken three skills will mean taking the advantage three times. To increase the Ki skill costs 5 points per percentile it is increased. Details of Ki Powers can be found in Land of the Ninja.
Language Talent (17)
The character can learn the basic 1d6% of a language skill in a mere 10 hours. All experience is doubled, all training and research time is at one quarter it's normal time.
Last Chance Salvation (60/lvl)
The character is obviously blessed, or just plain lucky for the atheists among you. The character has amazing abilities to survive life and death situations. In any situation where a character may have any chance whatsoever of surviving, roll a 1d100. If it is under their POWxlevel then they will survive. They may end up on one hit point, unconscious, naked, at the bottom of a chasm, but they will not die, and will not be in any particularly immediate danger of dying. In cases where there is no chance of survival, or where they are tempting fate, the Gm can choose to dispense with the roll.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Add two to the Luck Rune.
Legal Enforcement Powers (60/120/300)
The first level of this advantage is simple legal enforcement, such as that awarded to police in modern day society. They can arrest people and call upon punishments to be awarded. The second level is available to members of secret socities and secret policing organisations, such as the Spoken Word of the Lunar Empire, they can avoid most legal entanglements such as theft, disturbance of the peace and carrying illegal substances. The last level is total power, such as those followers of the Great Sister, or members of the Inquisition. They cannot be touched by anybody other than the highest members of society. This advantage only applies to a particular area of land, i.e. Seshnela, the Lunar Empire, Sartar etc...
Library of Import (75)
The character has access to an extensive library of mystical, important or secretive information. It allows training of upto ten pre-selected related skills to 90%. For instance, a sorceror with this advantage could choose Intensity, Multispell, Range and seven other spells. Or a Library excavated from an ancient Temple of Errissa may contain First Aid, Treat Disease, Treat Poison, Ceremony (Errissa), Illumination and other such skills. The library can also be used for general research, for instance if one had a Dara Happan Library of religious lore it could be used to research into Dara Happan History and Mythology.
Lightning Caculator (5)
The character can perform complex mathematical problems in an astoundingly short amount of time.
Light Sleeper (5)
The character is a light sleeper. At the first sign of danger they instantly awake with no penalty. They also receive Listen rolls to hear anything about them whilst asleep at no modifier.
Lock Picker (20/lvl)
The character is an excellent Lock Picker. Can add 25%/level to their devise skill when picking locks.
Lunar Influence (50/level)
The character is heavily influence by the Red Moon. This is not only possessed by holy and pious Lunars, but also by Hsunchen and Kralorelans. It appears randomly in other cultures, receiving different receptions, sometimes fear, sometimes reverence. The GM may allow a reverse type of this merit in which the bonuses are gained in the Black Moon instead of the Full Moon.
Each level the character has means that one of three things are affected by the phase of the moon; hit points, magic points, spells. For spells, all Spirit Magic spells are affected as per Rune Magic p.67 GoG. For hit points and magic points they are affected as below:
| Dark Moon | Reduced to 10% of normal value!!! |
| Dying Moon | Reduced to 75% normal value. |
| Crescent Moon | Normal. |
| Half Moon | Increased by 25%. |
| Full Moon | All values doubled. |
Longevity (15pts plus 20 pts/level i.e. level 1 costs 35 pts.)
This advantage only applies to all further aging rolls made (i.e. those made after character generation). It allows the character to through an additional set of dice per level of Longevity and out of the results choose the best one.
Lore Mastery (8/lvl)
For every level selected one selected skill will provide 1 Presence when mastered if the character has taken the Lore Mastery Vow. If the skill selected is a Lore already, then 2 Presence is gained. Can be selected twice for one skill (though not more) for another bonus of 1 Presence (i.e. a character with Lore Mastery twice in Sword Attack gains 2 Presence when Sword Attack is mastered, but if it were selected twice with Animal Lore they would gain 3).
Luck (60)
The character is unusually lucky. The GM secretly rolls 1d6 before play begins. The character may make a re-roll upto the number rolled on the dice per session. However, they only find out when they have run out of re-rolls after asking for one and being refused, which can have potentially terminal results...
Lycanthropy (Werewolf 200; Bearwalker 220; Tigerson 240; Tusk Brother 170)
The character is a lycanthrope, type determined by the points paid. This should, except in exceptional circumstances, only be allowed to Hsunchen characters. Even then, it is GM optional.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Adds 4 to Beast Rune.
Magical Resistance (40)
Always resists spells cast at POW rather than current Magic points unless MP's are higher.
Mechanical Aptitude (100)
Only available to characters of Civilized and Mostali backgrounds. The character is very proficent in all uses of mechanical objects. Effectively they have the constant effects of Precsion Devise.
Military Ranking (varies)
The character holds rank in an army of the area. They have commision, and therefore obligations, a salary and the ability to order others about. It costs 30 points to be a grunt, 60 points to be a seargent and 120 points to be an officer. You will have to tailor the cost of the advantage and the specific powers gained thereof to the army that the character joins.
Money (varies)
The character has a greater amount of money than normal. The character can buy additional money, that is added from the money they already have. For 10 points a character has an extra 150L. For 30 points they have an extra 500L, for 60 points they have an extra 2000L and for 100 points they have an extra 5000L. If they pay double this amount they have this amount/year as an annual income. This comes from investments, relatives etc.. and need not be worked for. Also for double points cost the character can have land, buildings etc.. equal to five times the above values.
Musical Talent (15/level)
For every level they may select one ability;
the character gains double the amount of experience for the Play (Instrument), Dance and Sing skills.
they need only train or research for one quarter the amount of necessary time
may add 10% to their category modifier when rolling to see if an increase is made via experience in connection with all musical skills.
Mysticism (varies)
If your Gm allows access to Mysticism then use this advantage to purchase it. It costs 20 points to buy access to Mysticism and one point for every percentile in the range 1-10, two points for every percentile in the 11-20 range, four points for every percentile in the 21-30 range, eight points for every percentile in the 31-40 range etc... So to have mysticism 45 would cost an overall of 250 points. For a detailed description of mysticism you should refer to Sandy Petersen's Mysticism rules.
Natural Marksman (40 plus 20 for every extra level)
For every level, you may choose one ability;
All experience gained with missile weapons are doubled.
All missile weapons start with a base 25% weapon chance, except in the case of truly exotic weapons
Need only train or research for one half the amount of necessary time
May add 10% to their category modifier when rolling to see if an increase is made via experience with all missile weapon attack skills.
Night Vision (20)
The character has no reduction to scan, search or weapon skills due to lighting skills, unless in absolte darkness.
No Foci (30)
The character requires no foci to cast magic, either because they are blessed by thr gods, in contact with the Magic Rune, can visualize the foci in their heads or (in the case of orientals) their body is the focus.
Odd Internal Arrangement (40)
The character's internal organs are arranged in a bizarre manner. This renders them immune to impales, have 50% immunity to critical impales, but results higher than this (i.e. supercrits etc...) have normal effect. Immune means that the character suffers normal damage, not double the normal amount.
Orlanthi Armour Ritual (25/40)
The charatcer knows the Orlanthi Armour Ritual. This costs 25 points to buy if you are an Orlanthi, and 40 points if you are not. Note that cults like Shargash have their own equivalent of this ritual, and therefore their own equivalent advantage. The effects of the rutual are that the effects of all protection spells are doubled if the character is naked and wearing no armour. Woad and Shield does not count as armour.
Passion (4/lvl)
This advantage can only be selected if you are using my HeroQuest Rules. For every level selected the character gains one point in any Passion other than Piety. Piety costs 6 points per level.
Pitiable (40)
The character has a very pitiable face, this creates senses of protectivness towards the character by most other people (the Gamesmaster should use common sense here, a broo won't show mercy). This will mean that those affected act very tenderly and softly towards the character and may be more willing to show mercy. This suceeds if the charatcer rolls an APPx3.
Rune Spell Access (15/lvl)
The character has access to any rune spell, not normally one available to them. For instance, an Orlanthi may have access to Seal Wound for 30 points. It is only ever one-use access, and the GM should feel free to disallow access to any spell they feel like, or even the entire advantage. This advantage may have come around as the result of HeroQuesting, plundering cult secrets, a gift from the gods, a blessing from their father, or it may be capaign based. For example, the Uz who live in an area of land where Hachrat Blowhard made his home all have Rune Spell Access Thunderbolt.
Runic Affinity (5/lvl)
Only applies if you are utilizing my HeroQuest Rules. For every level the character adds one to a Rune.
Scale Sheer Surface (15)
The character suffers no climb penalties as long as the surface could conceivably be climbed.
Shaman (40)
This advantage can only be taken by those who already qualify for shamanhood. It means that the character has already undergone the rituals required to Summon the fetch and fight the Bad Man, and has survived the ordeal.
Skill Affinity (varies)
The character has an affinity to a certain skill. For every level, the character gains a bonus of +5% when rolling for an increase via experience in that skill. The costs depend upon the category of the skill. Agility skills cost 4 point/lvl, Communication costs 3 pts/lvl, Knowledge costs 3 pts/lvl, Manipulation costs 3 pts/lvl, Magic costs 6 pts/lvl, Perception costs 5 pts/lvl, Stealth skills cost 4 pts/lvl and Weapon skills cost 6 pts/lvl.
This advantage has a maximum level of four in most circumstances.
Skill Aptitude (varies)
The character has a certain aptitude with a certain skill. For the skill affected by the advantage, the character needs only research or train for half the amount of time. Agility skills cost 8 point, Communication costs 6 pts, Knowledge costs 6 pts, Manipulation costs 6 pts, Magic costs 12 pts, Perception costs 10 pts, Stealth skills cost 8 pts and Weapon skills cost 12 pts.
Skilled Magician (35)
The character is an excellent magician. Both spirit magic and rune magic have double their normal duration. This is ineffective if used with Extension.
Speciality Sorcery Spell (20/lvl)
For every level selected, one sorcery spell counts as a speciality sorcery spell (in other words, the character has a maximum amount of manipulation equal to skill/5). If the character is a specialist sorceror, this cannot be selected (unless you are building a custom sorceror with the disadvantage of Speciality Sorcery).
Smell Death (18)
The character has an intrinsic link to Death and/or Fate. They can smell when someone nearby is in imminent danger of dying, aswell as being aware if a certain place has suffered great carnage. This is not as good as danger sense, for instance, if someone was about to drink poisoned wine then the character would only realise they were going to die once they had drank it, probably taking the best part of a minute to realise.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Add two to Fate Rune.
Speciality Sorcery Spell (20/lvl)
For every level selected, one sorcery spell counts as a speciality sorcery spell (in other words, the character has a maximum amount of manipulation equal to skill/5). If the character is a specialist sorceror, this cannot be selected (unless you are building a custom sorceror with the disadvantage of Speciality Sorcery).
Spell Resistance (25/lvl)
The character has resistance to a certain school of magic (such as spirit magic, rune magic, dragon magic etc...) for whatever reasonable reason the player can come up with. They resist this magic with an extra 5mp's per level. If the magic does not directly effect them, but their surrondings (such as Evoke [substance] or Thunderbolt) and does not require mps vs. mps then this is useless.
Spirit Affinity (30/level)
For every level in this a character has an affinity to one type of spirit associated to a specific rune. For instance, the charcter may have Darkness Spirit Affinity, or Illusion Spirit Infinity. For every level, when a character deals with a spirit connected to that rune receive a bonus of 10% on the spirit reaction table, and when they try to control such spirits they have a 10% increase in their chance of success. Wind Children already have the maximum level in this skill. Maximum level is five.
Spiritually Powerful (20/lvl)
Inflicts 1 point of damage extra per level in Spirit Combat.
Spirit Sense (35)
The character is a natural mystic. They immediatley sense the presence of spirits, even if they are possessing another being. They also gain some measure of feeling as to the nature of the spirit (i.e. malign, chaotic, darkness etc..) If the character becomes a shaman, then they immediatley receive two extra levels of Second Sight free of charge.
Status
The character has some form of status in society that demands respect. It only applies to one particular type of society, someone with a High Status in the Lunar Empire will be treated well there whereas they would be treated with contempt by an Orlanthi. Low Status, such as a minor noble, costs 30 points, medium status, such as Lord, would be 80 points and High Status, such as that of Morthander Deville, would be 150 points. This does not confer any of the benefits of Legal Enforcement, Fame or Military Ranking, which must all be bought seperately.
Strong Punch (20/35)
The character has an unusually strong punch, possibly picked up from learning boxing or martial arts, but normally from just being naturally tougher and meaner than those around him/her. At the lower level, this advantage increases punch damage to 1d4 rather than 1d3. At the higher level, it increases it to 1d6.
Trap Detection (15/lvl)
The character has an innate ability to detect mechanical traps (from pit traps to pressure plates). Their chance equals POWx level of advantage, although in the case of really devious traps the GM should impose a penalty.
True Love (25)
The character has one, true love. They may or may not actually know them or what they look like, but they will know for sure when they meet. This love is always reciprocated and their counterpart also possesses this merit. This is seen as a blessing of Uleria. The character will be almost impossible to defeat when defending their one, true love. The character receives a re-roll on any task involving his love and may choose the best of the two.
HeroQuest Adjustment: The character gains Love (true love) of 10.
Willpower (55)
The character has an amazing will or iron. They are immune to all forms of dominate, command and control and only spirits that use covert possession (such as Disease Spirits) can possess him, making him immune to ghosts.
Violent Temper (60)
Whether the character is timid or naturally violent, when threatened the character turns into a killing machine. When a specific trigger condition is met, such as close friends being attatcked, close family being attacked, being insulted, fighting chaos etc... the character goes Fanatical. This is not magical, of course, and is stackable with Beserk and Fanaticism.
Vows (15)
Character has an extra Vow.
A character may choose disadvantages, these actually disable the character but increase the amount of points available to spend on skills etc....
As a recommendation, a charatcer should only be able to gain a maximum of 100 points via buying disadvantages.
A GM should disallow any disadvantages that they feel will inhibit the flow of play, or reduce the fun factor of a game. They should also watch out for power gamers, or people selecting conflicting advantages and disadvantages i.e. absent mindedness and eidetic memory.
Absent Mindedness (10)
The character is naturally absent minded. They forget things and details etc... This has no game effect, but should be accurately roleplayed.
Addiction (10/30)
The character has an addiction to a certain dangerous, and often illicit, substance. They must partake of this substance between 1-3 times a day, and if they do not then they will suffer physical and mental effects. In the case of a minor addiction (10 points) the substance will eventually kill the character in the region of 30 or 40 years, and may be socially unacceptable. Examples may be tobacco, cannabis equivalents and mind expanding drugs for religious purposes. The substance is normally reasonably cheap and easy to get hold of. In the case of major addiction (30 points) the substance is dangerous, probably illegal and almost certainly costly. It may be something like cocaine or hazia. In all cases the user will experience the effects of the drug (frex, using cocaine increases the characters perceptions and abilties for a short period before dropping them into a low depression). For every day that a character does not use the drug, they will suffer a cumulative reduction of 1 point on every statistic and 5% to every skill per day until they go into rehab. A GM should improvise this method, but should make it suitably difficult to get away from the lure of the drug.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Gives a Lust for the substance equal to 5/10.
Age (20/roll)
The character is old for his race. For every aging roll the charatcer has had to make, they gain 20 points, even if it causes no reduction in statistics. I advise a maximum of 5 aging rolls for any one character.
Amnesia (10)
The character has amnesia. He/she cannot remember any of the events of their life except for the last year or so. This has a few drawbacks. The character may consider buying "ghost" advantages and disadvantages for the GM to buy without the players knowledge and that the character doesn't know about due to their amnesia. Imagine your Humakti finding out that he's the son of the Red Emperor, wanted by the Lunar Empire for treason and a member of Primal Chaos....
Animosity (20)
The character has an exceedingly great hatred against a certain species, relgion or culture. The character cannot tolerate their presence, and usually explodes into a fury when they are met if at all possible. For instance, a character with an animosity against trolls meets an Uz in Gimpys and attacks them. If that same character met a Mistress Race or was captured in the bowels of a troll stronghold, they will not commit suicide runs, but will not be too happy about it.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Has a Hate level of 5 against the being.
Bad Tempered (8)
The character is naturally gruff, irritable and bad tempered. They may well form friendships, but even then they will be bad tempered and irritable towards them, although perhaps not as cruel, aggressive or spiteful.
Beer Puff (5)
Beer is exceedingly potent to this character. It is very easy to get drunk. Treat alcohol as being four times as potent.
Beserk Nature (50)
When in a dangerous or nervous situation, the character must make a POWx1 or else fly into a maddened fenzy, perhaps out of blind fear or perhaps out of pure anger. They attack as if under the effects of Fanatic, but will attack randomly and may also attack friends and allies. If the character is attacked, these targets will be preferred to random others. It takes them a POWx1 to get out of the frenzy, and they will continue to go beserk until everyone, including allies, are dead.
Blind (60/45)
The character cannot use their eyes. They suffer all penalties thereof (must attack as if in darkness, cannot read/write etc...). If the character is an Elder Race they may choose to select a lesser version of this whereby their elder sense is blind, but that they themselves can still see. This only costs 45 points, whereas visual blindness is 60.
Bloodlust (10/level)
When a character has finished attacking something or someone, their innate bloodlust takes over and they proceed to carry on hacking, biting, kicking etc... even when it's obvious the person is dead. They must make a POW-based roll to stop doing this. The roll is based upon the level of bloodlust, at level 1 the roll is POWx4, at level 2 it is POWx3, at level 3 it is POWx2 etc... If attacked, they stop, but will not have a chance to properly defend themselves that round as their attention is engaged with disembowelling the piece of meat in front of them.
Broke (25)
The character is broke and has no money or equipment beyond a poor set of clothing. Magic items may be purchased by the character, but other forms of money or equipment are prohibited.
Chaos Tainted (40)
The character has a chaos taint!! They will be revealed by all forms magic and the sense chaos skill. The character may have gained this taint in various ways, as a curse, an ex-member of Primal Chaos, a failed result of a HeroQuest or many, many ways. The character will be hated by all civilized society. Chaos creatures already have this disadvantage subsumed into their generation.
Clumsy (18)
The character is naturally clumsy and has difficulty stopping themselves from bumping into things, falling over on things etc... etc... The character cannot increase their Balance skill, if you use it in your game. More importantly, whenever any roll involving balance is required, it is made at one less multiplier than normal i.e. a DEXx3 roll to navigate a small bridge without falling off, is reduced to a DEXx2. Cannot be selected by those with a DEX higher than 14.
Colour Blind (5)
Rather than normal colour blindness, the character's vision is so impaired they can only see in murky, monochrome shades of grey.
Combat Paralysis (20/level)
The character, due to no fault of their own, cracks under pressure. They may know everything about fighting, but when it comes down to it they have immense difficulty coming to terms with actually using it. This is not the same as cowardice, someone with combat paralysis may overcome it, and go on to launch into a frenzied, heroic attack on the enemy. In a combat situation, the character must make a POW based roll each round, otherwise they cannot do anything except run and hide and dodge at full. The POW roll is determined via the level of combat paralysis, it is POWx3 for the first level, POWx2 for the second level and POWx3 for the third. Once the roll is made, they may act normally.
Compulsive Behaviour (5/10)
The character has an unfortunate, but non-deadly, behaviour. This might be compulsive cleanliness or saying the word "Penguin" after every sentence, anything is possible. For the 10 point version, the character has a more lethal compulsion, such as knife throwing blind folded, drinking troll drinks, arm wrestling Uroxi or refusing to bow down from a challenge.
Compulsive Lying (20)
The character has a tendency to lie, exageratte and tell untruths when uncalled for ("I slew the Crimson Bat four times!!!"). The character does not lie ALL of the time, and if they make trustworthy friends they might stop it with them. The character, however, will lie much of the time. The character will also fall apart and escape any situation in which they are confronted with an out and out truth that they lied. They may quiver in a corner, flee, break into tears or collapse.
Compulsive Honesty (30)
The character is unable to lie, period. Unless dominated or otherwise controlled they will not partake in any form of lie or deception, including disguising themselves or pretending to be someone else -- they will not even allow their allies to do it when they are in their presence.
Cowardice (20/level)
The character is a coward. If confronted with a dangerous situation, they must roll POW based roll or flee for their lives. The level of cowardice determines what multiplier the POW roll is made on, at level 1 it is POWx3, at level 2 it is POWx2 and at level 3 it is POWx1. If the roll is failed they will never turn back except under the most exceptional of circumstances. They will even flee if they knew they were invunerable or impossible to be killed or harmed!!! They may dodge at full but nothing else until they escape from danger. Tortue is almost certain to work on such a character.
Crippled (50)
The character is physically disabled. This means that many people will ridicule or be afraid of the character by others ("Die Chaos Tainted scum!!" sad, but true). In game terms the character has their Move reduced by one point and all agility skills halved. All experience gained in Agility skills is reduced by one. If you use RQIV training rules, then all Agility skills are now Hard.
Cursed (10-50)
The character has received a magical curse from some higher being, evil witch, Trickster etc... 10 points may be a minor curse, such as the inability to enter a household without asking for permission first. 30 points may be a Spirit of Reprisal and 50 points may be Fated to Die In Some Horrible Yet Heroic Manner like Elric of Melnibone.
Deafness (40)
The character is deaf. They have no listen skill, and all skills involving listening, such as all communication skills and Play [instrument], are at 1/4 of their normal percentage.
Deep Sleeper (15)
The character is an extremley deep sleeper. They can only be roused from slumber by a good shake, virtually no amount of noise will awaken them (with a few exceptions).
Disfavoured (15/lvl)
This disadvantage applies to an entire pantheon of gods. The character has, either through hereditary curse, general mishap or bad luck, been deemed unfit. For every level the character suffers 5% penalty to Tests of Holiness and Allied Spirit tests etc..... when in connection with gods of that pantheon. The GM should only allow in certain pantheons. If the game is set in Seshnela, then the disfavour of Eastern Pantheon or Chaos Pantheon shouldn't really be allowed....
Effeminate (10
Can be selected by males only. The character is exceedingly camp and effeminate (not neccessarily homosexual) and should roleplay this continually. This should not pose any problem to the characters skills or abilties, even a camp swashbuckler can fight valiantly.
Enemies (varies)
The character has some powerful enemies. Refer to allies above in the advantages section, except apply the results in reverse!!!
Epilepsy (55)
The character suffers from fits and epilepsy. In many societies this would be seen as a gift from the gods as it allows the person to suffer from visions and mystical omens. When the character is in a stressful situation (and otherwise, as the GM sees fit) they must make a CONx3 or fall into a fit for 1d6 minutes during which they can do nothing. Note: I know this is not even remotely close to real epilepsy.
Eunuch (8)
Ever sung soprano?
Experience Penalty (35/lvl)
The maximum experience a character can get from experience rolls is reduced by one for every level. So a character with level 2 in this can only ever gain 4 experience.
Greed (15/lvl)
The character has a great desire for treasure and money. This is simulated by the fact that whenever a character encounters any amount of treasure equal to 10% or more of the amount of cash that a character owns, they must make a Greed Roll. This is a roll of POWx5-(15xlevel of disadvantage) on 1d100. If they fail then they are forced to try and get hold of the treasure. If the treasure is in possession of someone else, the roll is POWx7 instead. The character need not make suicidal or violent attempts to get hold of the treasure, merely spend all of their time trying to obtain it (unless it becomes unobtainable). The only thing that can stop this is if the character encounters a larger treasure...
HeroQuest Adjustment: The character has Lust (Money) 3 for every level of the disadvantage.
Hemophiliac (40)
The character's blood does not clot properly which causes extensive and dangerous bleeding problems. When any wound is suffered that causes bleeding, the bleeding will not stop until a Special First Aid is made (during which time they will bleed to death) or a Heal 4 or better (or it's equivalent) is used upon them!!!
Hit Point Penalty (15/lvl)
The character is less hardy than they appear. For every level they have one less general hit point.
Honour (40)
The character has a rigid sense of virtue and honour. They will not allow any wrong doing to go unnoticed, they will never imply any form of illegality or evil action and abide by the Gentleman's Code of Honour (such as never attack an unarmed foe, never attack a foe who is down, never ambush, never use poison etc...) The GM should determine whose social virtues the character abides to, so a character with this flaw who is in the Tunnelled Hills will have no problem killig chaos, even though the local legal system prohibits it.
Imperceptive (20)
The character is remarkably imperceptive. Perhaps they are self-absorbed, easily distracted, or just plainly have bad eyesight. All perception skills start at base 5% except skills that their race does not have (i.e. darksense, elfsense etc... for humans) and Track, which all start at 00%.
Infertile (4)
The character is unable to bear children of any form, whether due to birth defects, disease, curses, war magics or being the sole member of a dying race.
Law Tainted (8)
The character is tainted by Law. It cannot be selected if the character is already in a cult that detects as Lawful. The character will register on all Law detecting senses and spells, such as those available from the cult of Krarsht.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Add one point to the Law Rune.
Lazy (6)
The character is naturally lethargic, lazy and should be roleplayed accordingly.
Light Blindness (20)
This can only be selected by trolls. The troll is unusually bad at detecting light, relying more on their darksense. All experience rolls made on Visual Scan and Visual Search are halved.
Limited Armour Use (6/lvl)
The character has taken a vow, or an oath, or has been cursed, not to wear certain armours. For every level in this disadvantage the character cannot wear armour with more base armour points equal to or higher than 9-level. So, a character with level 3 in this could wear no armour with base armour points equal to or higher than 6, meaning they could only wear ringmail. Base armour points means the armour points of the armour before magic, enchantments or modifiers for being iron or another different metal are applied. This disadvantage cannot be used if the character already has geases precluding armour use such as those used by Humakti.
Low Pain Threshold (12/level)
The character is unusually open to pain and it's effects. When required to make a CON roll to counter the effects of pain, the multiplier is at one less than normal per level of disadvantage i.e. CONx3 is CONx2 for level 1, CONx1 for level 2 and no roll at all at level 3. Torture is also particulary effective on such people. Maximum level is three.
Magically Impaired (15/lvl)
The character has limited magical potential. For every level they suffer -10% to casting a spell, although in the case of sorcery this does not limit maximum manipulation, just the actual chance to cast the spell.
Magical Item Deficiency (20/lvl)
The character has been cursed, or has vowed, never to use certain magical items. The choices are; magic point matrices, armouring enchantments, strengthening enchantments, spirit bindings, spell matrices, minor magical items, enchantments without user conditions that specify only the character as able to use them.
Magically Suceptible (40)
The character has no resistance to magic. Whenever an mp's versus mp's is called for, they immediatley fail!! This means that a Sever Spirit will immediatley slay them. However, a charascter can use magic to overcome this disadvantage, so a character with this who casts Spell Resistance Intensity 20 will resist at 20 mp's.
Mute (35)
For whatever reason, previous injury, family curse, disease, the character is unable to speak. Orate and Sing are both at 0% and never rise.
Nightmares (10/level)
The character has horrid nightmares whenever they go to sleep. The reasons for this may be many, perhaps a terrible occurrence happened when they were younger, or perhaps their character has only recently received these dreams of impending doom.... The result of this is that the character has very restless nights, and awakes very tired. Whenever the character wakes up, roll 1d20 per level and minus the character's POW. This is the amount that is penalised to all of the character's skills during that day. The character may or may not be able to find a cure, but it should never be easy.
No Status (15)
The character is the lowest of the low, the summiest person that you're ever likely to meet. Below the peasants, below lepers and below dungshovellers, the character garners no respect from anyone. The reason for this may be many, perhaps they are associated with a noble family guilty of treason, or are criminals, or of a religion that is admonished throughout the region.
No Taste/Smell (7)
The character has no sense of taste or smell. They have no skill percentage in scent/taste skill and never can. They fail all attempts at taste tests to detect poison. They cannot smell or taste at all. On the upside they are immune to Illusory Taste spells and their ilk, and the chaos feature of Overpowering Stench.
One Arm (30)
The character has only one arm. Not only can the character only use a single one handed weapon, but they skills requiring two arms (Swim, Devise etc...) are at a base of 00%.
One Eye (30)
The character only has one eye. All visual related skill rolls are made are halved, as well as all missle weapon attacks.
One Hand (20)
The same as One Arm, except the arm is actually still present.
One Leg (25)
The character has only one leg. All agility skills that would involve two legs (such as jump or swim) start at a base chance of 00%. Move is equal to one.
Phobia (10/level)
The character has a phobia against a certain type of occurrence, person or thing. Refer to Call of Cthulhu for a list of examples. Whenever the character encounters the cause of the phobia, they must make roll equal to (5xPOW)-(10xlevel of phobia) or run away in fear. A fumble means the character goes into a semi comatose state where they cannot do anything except gibber silently, but may make a POWx1 every minute to escape this state and then run away. The phobia must be of something sensible, undead, open spaces, fire and chaos are all acceptable while Dragons, the Red Emperor's Second Manservant or Peanut Butter are not.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Has Fear Passion equal to 3/lvl.
Secret (10)
The character has a dark secret that, if discovered, could spell doom in some way for the character. The secret should not be fatally awful, but should constitute reason to be kept quiet. For instance, perhaps one of your parents was a member of the Guild of Chaos Monks, or an Orlanthi has Dara Happan blood, or the character is infertile, any number of things.
Skill Ineptitude (varies)
The character is inept at a range of skills. This affects an entire skill category. For every level, all skills in that category suffer a minus 5% to experience rolls involving skills within that category, and the category modifier is reduced by 1%. For Agility it is worth 9pts/lvl, for Communication it is worth 7pts/lvl, for Knowledge it is worth 6pts/lvl, for Manipulation it is worth 7 pts/lvl, for Magic it is worth 7pts/lvl, Perception is worth 10 pts/lvl, Stealth is worth 8 pts/lvl and weapon skills are worth 13 pts/lvl.
Slow (25)
-1 from Move Rate.
Speciality Sorceror (200)
This can only be selected if the character has spent at least 150 pts on sorcerous skills. They must then spend another 60 on the Advantage "Speciality Spells". Characters who have this are counted as speciality sorcerors, their spells are divided by 20 for purposes of manipulation. They can select "speciality spells" from the advantage list as above. This allows the creation of custom made sorcerors, as opposed to the premade speciality models. This can only be selected if the Gm is using Sandy Petersen's Sorcery Rules.
Speech Impediment (5)
The character has a speech impediment that must be properly roleplayed out at all times. Perhaps they have a stutter, or a lisp, or cannot prononce their "r's", in the case of Elder Races they are unable to communicate properly in their native speech, so a trolls whirrblings may be two keys below what they're supposed to be.
Spirit Magnet (25/level)
The character is exceedingly visible on the Spirit Plane. The character suffers the same problems as a shaman and have a chance of being attacked every night by a random spirit, this chance is a POW based roll. The roll is POWx1 at first level, POWx2 at second level, POWx3 at third level and so on. If the character ever becomes a shaman then the multiplier increases by one, i.e. POWx4 becomes POWx5. Maximum level for this disadvantage is four.
Spiritually Susceptible (15/lvl)
For each level in this disadvantage, the character either inflicts 1 less damage in spirit combat, or resists spirit combat with effectively 3 less magic points.
Susceptible to Disease and Poison (15/lvl)
Resists Disease and Posion with 4 less CON per level.
Telmori Curse (20)
The character is a Telmori, cursed to change shape every Full Moon.
Touch of Death (25/50/70)
The character is marked by the Death Rune. This is an appropiate disadvantage for Humatki. At the lower cost, the charatcer is unable to naturally heal. At the higher cost this applies in addition to the fact that all healing magic is half effective. At the maximum cost they are also unable to be ressurected.
HeroQuest Adjustment: Character us unable to go above 20 in Fertility Rune.
Unable to Make an Oath (3)
The character is unable to partake in an Oath spell and will refuse to ever put his word to a bond or deal. If an Oath spell is cast with him in it, then it fails, the caster does not cast (and therefore lose) the spell and the caster also realises that it will not work on the character.
Uneducated (15)
The character received precious little education, even by his own societies conditions. The character has a base of 00% in all Knowledge skills.
Unskilled (15)
The character is completley non-proficient in all skills, either due to lack of cultural training, or just because they are useless. All Manipulation and Stealth skills begin at a base of 00%.
Untrained (30)
In the violent world of Glorantha, all characters begin with a certain amount of weapons experience. This character, however, had none of this. The character cannot buy weapon skills and weapon related skills during character generation, and has no cultural weapon bonuses. They do, however, have normal Dodge, but may not increase it during character generation.
Unluckiness (50)
The character has been cursed, born under a bad auspice or else is just a loser. They suffer from the worst luck in the world. Every game session, the GM should roll a d6, this is the number of re-rolls that a character should be forced to make per session. The GM can make these rolls on any dice thrown by the player and tells the player about the reroll once the result is seen. The GM should time these at appropiately bad times. The result of the reroll is kept, even if it is better than the one before.
Vengeance (10)
The character has a vengeance against one particular person who has committed some travesty against them. A character will go through any means neccessary to commit revenge upon this person for such sins. The nature of this revenge is not always fatal, not always illegal and in some cases it does not require the character to explode into a beserk frenzy everytime the character is seen; someone with a vengeance against another member of court might spend years carefully plotting and scheming before finally getting their revenge....
HeroQuest Adjustment: Has a Hate level of 4 towards the person to be revenged upon.
Ward (10-30)
The character has, for some reason, either via promise,debt or mere pity, chosen or been forced to protect an individual. This individual may be a son, someone else's child, a young noble, an elderly aunt etc.... The individual always needs protecting, a Ward cannot be someone like Garundyer!! At 10 points the individual needs protecting, but doesn't need any special help, at 20 points the Ward actually needs special protection and starts to eat into the characters free time (about 35% of their time and income is dedicated to whatever need the ward requires). At 30 ponts the Ward has overt enemies, such as a nobles son may be wanted by an enemy family if the son is the only surviving successor to the throne.
Players should be encouraged to create their own advantages and disadvantages to personalise their characters. On additional note is to increase the costs of advantages and disadvantages for more powerful characters, after all for a measly few points a Heroic character will not bother buying any disadvantages. Multiply the cost of advantages and the points gained from disadvantages by 1/1/2/5 if you wish to use this optional rule.
In the case of a long campaign, as opposed to one-off scenarios, the GM may allow players to buy campaign contributions. Each session, the player contributes something to the running of the campaign. Each of the contributions is worth 25 points. It is advised that players take only one contribution. Players should not buy contributions that they cannot live up to, only an artist should agree to make Portraits of the characters. In all cases, the contribution should be well presented (and accurate), a diary should be well written, and not handed in in half legible faded pencil on a few pieces of note paper.
Player Diary
The player must create a diary for their character, written form the perspective of the character, with all their opinions and views of events. This should also help the player get a "feel" for their character. The player should also keep in mind that they can only keep a diary of events that have occured. The diary should cover all of the sessions events.
Game Log
The player should keep a log of events from the viewpoint of an omnipotent writer. This should be an account of all major events, as opposed to room by room explanations of the adventure.
Blue Booking
The player should write a small passage about some non-game event, either their character's or someone else's. For instance, they may cover their character's seeking a wife, or their initiation into a cult, giving details of the ordination, or the player might write about their character's pub conversations! One "blue book" should be constructed per session.
Fictional Stories
In some cases, the GM may allow characters to write stories set in their campaign, although the GM should consider carefully when giving players this control over their creation! One short story should be given per session.
Portraits
The player creates one sketch/drawing of the other characters every session.