Part 2: Player Characters

Character Abilities

Rolling stats

Either:

3d6 and arrange freely, or
roll 4d6h3 in order down the list, or
roll 3d6 in order down the list, but for one ability score you may roll 6d6h3.

The first lets you roll and customize; the second lets you roll and have slightly above the fold on average. The last makes someone who is likely to excel in one particular ability of your choice.

Unplayable characters

Your new character will be considered unplayable if the total ability score bonus is less than zero. If this is the case, reroll your character.

Of course, if your stats get lowered during play you may not reroll your character.

Character Races

Certain nonhuman races are allowed, with limitations (to keep them exceptionally rare):

Elves, or Alfar: an elvish character must have at least a 14 in intelligence, dexterity and charisma, exclusive of any requirements for their character class. They may only play fighter, magic-user (with a restricted spell list) or thief classes. Otherwise, alfar are as per elves in the Basic Fantasy RPG rules.

Dwarves, or Dvergar: a dwarven character must have at least a 14 in strength, wisdom and constitution, exclusive of any requirements for their character class. They may only play cleric (with a restricted spell list), fighter, or thief classes. Otherwise, dvergar are as per dwarves in the Basic Fantasy RPG rules.

Jotunnborn (hill-giant kin): a people who are slightly larger than most humans and possessed of great strength at the expense of grace. See here for information regarding jotunnborn.

Character Classes

Since this campaign is set in a fantastic analogue of our own world, the vast majority of characters are human.

Character classes of Midgard

This setting has a few Viking-inspired character classes.

Hamramr: individuals gifted, or perhaps cursed, with the innate ability to shed their human form and take on the guise of animals.
Runesmith: a keeper of ancient secrets, a scholar of forgotten symbols, and a craftsman of mystical power.
Seer: a powerful mystic who stands between the mortal world and the realms of spirits and fate.
Shield Maiden: a formidable warrior, known for her courage, martial prowess, and unwavering loyalty.
Skald: a vibrant master of word and deed, a charismatic performer, lorekeeper, and warrior.
Viking Warrior: a fierce and relentless combatant, a master of axe and shield, and a survivor of the harshest lands.
Volva: a powerful mystic and seeress, revered and sometimes feared, who channels the ancient magic of the land, spirits, and the threads of fate.

A Viking can also be a member of the traditional character classes, but with the following considerations:

A Northman Cleric would be godi for the whole Norse pantheon, but may have a particular patron. As well, Viking clerics may use the axe and spear as weapons, and have a limited spell list.
A Northman Fighter would be a freeman who decides to plumb the depths of The Onyx City rather than go summer raiding.
A Northman Magic-User has likely traveled to another land to learn the ways of the Forbidden Arts. They would likely be largely distrusted by other members of Viking society.
A Northman Thief may want to hide the fact they are a thief, as honor is very important to Northmen.

Beyond Midgard

Other characters are possible, especially from England, Frankia, Araby, Saxons, etc. Most will be members of the normal character classes, but there are other classes as well. Here are some ideas for each:

Clerics: pilgrims and missionaries for The Great Church coming to Midgard to proselytize and search for relics that may have ended up in the hoards of Norsemen.
Fighters: adventurers or veterans of wars who seek their own way to build their own future.
Magic-Users: scholars or apprentices who have heard of great magic and mysteries in the ruins of a city of an unknown people and have come to see for themselves.
Thieves: cutpurses or burglars in trouble with the law, or overheard rumors of a great pile of treasure that someone sneaky enough could make off with.

There are also these additional classes:

Archer: a warrior specialized with the bow (or some other ranged weapon).
Bard: those who have learned history, oral tradition, music, and performance.
Druid: nature priests, revering the gods of the natural world.
Inquisitor: a warrior that works to suppress the practice of the Forbidden Arts and retrieve or destroy magical artifacts.
Paladin: warriors consecrated to the cause of The Great Church.
Ranger: specialized warriors who roam the borderlands, keeping the beasts and monsters of the untamed lands at bay.
Warlock: a spellcaster similar to a magic-user, but they get their spells through a pact with a patron entity.

New characters start at first level

All new (or replacement) characters start at first level, no exceptions. Consider running a stable of characters.

Maintaining a stable of characters

Players are encouraged to keep a stable of characters and play often so that they aren’t dropped all the way back to the beginning on a character’s death. It’s also possible you could take over one of your retainers on a successful post-death morale check, but if the retainer doesn’t have levels they are still going to start at first level.

Please note the following:

Even if you have a stable of characters to choose from, you may still only play one character at a time.
No one else may play one of your stable of characters.
None of your characters may will any items to other characters in your stable or any other character they have not adventured with.
- If another character has taken possession of items that are willed, well, that’s a civil matter, if you catch my drift…
Your highest level character may only be twice the level of your lowest level character (round down).
- If your highest level character needs to level up, you will have to play a lower-level character to allow for it.
- For instance, if you have a fifth level character, your lowest level character may only be second level (5 ÷ 2 = 2.5).
- As a corollary, if you have a character that is fourth level or higher, you may not start new characters in your stable until you retire that higher level character, so make choices about a stable of characters early. (4 ÷ 2 = 2, sorry.)

Accruing experience

You get 100 XP per HD for killing monsters, plus an extra HD of XP for special abilities. It’s a lot at first, but not a whole lot once you pass third or fourth level.

You get 1 XP per 1 SP that you spend that was earned by adventuring. If you get a bunch of treasure and hoard it you don’t get any experience for it until it’s spent. If you decide to shuffle cargo between towns for money, you don’t get XP for it no matter when or how you spend it.

Also, you get XP for exploration. Being the first one to find a legendary place or thing can confer experience, and some things are so awesome and inspiring that everyone who sees them will get some XP to reflect how it shapes their view of the world or their sense of accomplishment or personal growth.

Finally, if you spend loot on carousing sometimes you get bonus XP. Note that if things don’t go your way, you can also get consequences for carousing!

“Good at” skills

Players may choose a skill they are “good at” at first level, and choose another every three levels thereafter (4, 7, 10, …). The skill may be almost anything (climbing, tracking, haggling, military history of the The Old Empire, etc). When they player is trying to do something related to this skill their ability check is one step easier than it normally would be.

Players may choose an additional “good at” skill if they also accept a “bad at” skill chosen by the DM. A “bad at” skill makes your character one step worse on skill checks for related actions.

When players choose new skills on level advancement, the “good at” skill must be something they used previously at the table or during active play downtime.

Character upkeep

Living in Trade Town is expensive! Each character must spend 3d6x10 SP per month of the adventuring season for upkeep to afford food in camp, fuel for fires, maintenance of equipment, encampment and longboat, etc. This is exclusive of outfitting one’s character, retainer pay and carousing expenses, but assumes routine repairs to armor, weapons, etc.

Any character that runs out of funds but is not present to adventure (earn funds) will be presumed to have returned home for the season and be ineligible to be played until the next raiding season. If it was your only character, roll up a new first-level character. Please note that this means you probably need to play characters in your stable regularly!

This expenditure does count towards gaining XP.

Weapons and Equipment

Money and treasure

In (loosely) keeping with the source material, the game is on the silver standard and is typically hacksilver. All prices and treasures are denominated in silver pieces, and experience points are gained such that 1 XP = 1 SP.

The exception is armor and steel weapons, which are still denominated in gold pieces, again to loosely keep with the source material. Of course, this means that armor and weapons are worth quite a bit!

There are 100 coins per pound, regardless of type.

Armor and Shields

There are three classifications of armor: light, medium and heavy.

Armor Type	Classification	Weight	AC
No armor	—	0	11
Leather Armor	Light	15	13
Studded Armor	Light	25	14
Ring Mail	Medium	30	14
Chain Mail	Medium	40	15
Banded Mail	Medium	35	16
Scale Mail	Heavy	55	16
Splint Mail	Heavy	45	16
Plate Mail	Heavy	50	17
Shield	Medium	5	+1
Heavy shield	Heavy	12	+2
Helm	Medium	4	+1

AC and weights have not changed, only the addition of classifications. Italicized rows representing post-dark ages armor are not available in The Onyx City campaign.