Miyka – Miyka are confident and proud. This confidence is often misunderstood by other races as arrogance. Natural abilities: +1 Physical Strength, +2 Personality, +2 Physical Beauty, Auto Light (15’ Radius)
Akana – Intellectual cousins of the Miyka. Natural abilities: +6 Knowledge, +2 Learning, -2 Physical Beauty
Gabad – Often Brash, Gabad are winged cousins of the Miyka. Natural abilities: +2 Agility, Flying 10, Auto Light (15’ Radius)
Nepsah – Mischievous farie folk who function within their own quirky behavior. Natural abilities: 1d8 Physical Strength, Auto Invisibility, Flight 10, Detect Hidden
Kat-Ken – Independent and sometimes snobbish cat creatures. Natural abilities: 1d8 Physical Strength, +2 Agility, 9 Lives, Obsession: Shiny Object ‘Am Mayim – Humanoids who live under water. Natural abilities: Breathe Water, Swimming 10, Water Might (+1 all attributes when in water; -1 All attributes when on land), Create Air Bubble (2 hours of air), Detect Invisibility
Raphad – Giant humanoids. Natural abilities: 7d8 Physical Strength, -2 Agility, -2 Manual Dexterity, Detect Hidden (stealth)
Showrad – Simplistic humanoid creatures with a resemblance to cattle. Natural abilities: 5d8 Physical Strength, +2 Health, Access to Craft Weapon regardless of Craft, Sacrifice
Daqad – Small humanoids who were thought to be small cousins of the Adam. Daqad make their homes underground. Natural abilities: +2 Physical Strength, +8 Health, Stone Speak
Adam – Versatile folk with isolationist tendencies. Natural abilities: Additional Skill points per level
Kalat - +10 Physical Strength, +4 Health, -4 Physical Beauty, Radiate Darkness (15 ft), Receives 1 point of damage per hour in sunlight.
Once the player has chosen his/her race, the player needs to determine the character attributes. Example: John is creating a character. He has reviewed the history and has decided to play a Showrad. Showrad are simplistic humanoid creatures with a resemblance to cattle. Their natural abilities are: 5d8 Physical Strength, +2 to the character’s Health attribute, has access to Craft Weapon skills regardless of the Showrad’s guilding, and Sacrifice.
Step 2: Determining Attributes Attributes are the numerical representation of how a character functions within the game. They define how strong, agile, or smart the character is. All skills are tied directly to the character’s attribute. Soterion defines a character’s attributes as follows:
Physical Strength: How strong the character is. This attribute represents how much the character can lift, extra damage the character can deal in combat, and how much the character can carry on his/her person.
Agility: How agile the character is. This attribute affects actions that require some form of physical dexterity. Examples of physical dexterity include dance, archer, and acrobatics.
Manual Dexterity: The character’s ability to work with tools. Health: This attribute determines how healthy the character is and is the base determination for resisting disease and toxins.
Knowledge: How “book smart” the character is. This attribute affects actions that require some level of instructional knowledge.
Learning: How quickly the character picks up information. This attribute affects the character’s ability to learn skills, gather information, or acquire new knowledge.
Cognizance: The character’s level of external awareness. Sometimes called common sense, this is the character’s ability to see the big picture.
Personality: The character’s ability to interact with others. Those with a high personality find it easy to interact with other characters.
Physical Beauty: The character’s physical appearance as perceived by others.
Attributes are determined by rolling 3d8 for each attribute. Physical Strength, however, is an adjusted roll determined by the race/size of the character. Size matters when it comes to strength. The Nepsah, being six to eight inches tall, could not press the same weight as a twenty-foot-tall Raphad.
Determining Physical Strength
Tiny creatures roll 1d8 to determine strength. Tiny creatures with this strength are able to dead lift two pounds of weight per point of strength.
Small to Medium creatures roll 3d8 to determine strength. Small to Medium creatures with this strength are able to dead lift 20 points of weight per point of strength.
Large creatures roll 5d8 to determine strength. Large creatures with this strength are able to dead lift 30 points of weight per point of strength.
Huge creatures roll 7d8 to determine strength. Huge creatures with this strength are able to dead lift 50 points per point of strength. QUICK PLAY RULE: Either the GM has pre-determined the attribute numbers prior to meeting or the player may spend 96 points through eight of the attributes. No more than 24 points may be spent on any single attribute. Note that Physical Strength cannot be assigned and must be pre-determined or rolled.
Piety/Reputation
Piety/Reputation represents the last, and unseen, attribute a character has. Throughout the course of the game, characters will “create a name for themselves” depending on the ac- tions of the character. Sometimes those actions are good while other times actions can have negative effects. A name alone can inspire fear, dread, loyalty, or respect. This “attribute” is zero upon character creation. Points are awarded by the Narrator based on how the character behaves and what acts he performs. The more points the character has, the higher the character is regarded, and thus the opposite for bad behavior. This also is a gauge on how “evil” a character is. While Piety/Reputation determines how others react to the character, the attribute also determines if a character is playable. See as follows:
Piety/Reputation Rating
-36 or lower
-35 to -26
-25 to -16
-15 to -6
-5 to 5
6-15
16-25
26-35
36 or higher General Reaction to Others
Character is reviled Character is hated Character is scorned Character is distrusted Neutral/Ambivalent Character is seen as Favorable Character is seen as Honored Character is seen as Respected Character is seen as a hero Game Mechanics
Character is considered evil, no longer playable Character is considered evil, no longer playable Character is considered evil, no longer playable
The Narrator should keep the record of a character’s Piety/Reputation secret. Simply put, as in real life, a character does not have a barometer of how others perceive him or her. There is no specific path to being liked or respected. Most often, what we think of ourselves differs from what others think of us. We can have a low opinion of ourselves, considering ourselves worthless or without merit, while others may hold us in high regard for being loyal, trustworthy, or loving.
How Attributes Affect the Game
Attributes have two in game affects; actions and skills. Attribute effects for skills: All skills in Soterion are tied to a respective attribute. The player is given skill points to purchase new skills or increase current skills. This represents the “base skill” of a character. That base skill is further modified accordingly depending on the value of the attribute. There is a -1 to a base skill for every two attribute points below 9. The base skill is not affected with attribute scores between 9 and 14. There is a +1 to a base skill for every two attribute points above 14. So, if a character has an attribute of 24 then all “learned” skills (skills the player has been given through character creation or has spent points on) are performed at 5 skill points higher than the base skill (skill of 20 becomes 25).
Attribute Score Modifier
1-2 -4
3-4 -3
5-6 -2
7-8 -1
9-14 0
15-16 +1
17-18 +2
19-20 +3 And so on.
Health Pool
The character’s health pool (HP or sometimes referred to as hit points; all of which refer to the same number indicating how much damage a character can receive before character death) represents the physi
cal life a character has. Physical harm to the character is measured in “damage”, which is in turn reduced from the character’s health pool. A character becomes unconscious when the character’s health pool is reduced to zero. Like Physical Strength, the health pool is determined by the race/size of the character rather than a “class” the character plays. The beginning health pool a character has is determined as follows:
Tiny creatures begin with 1d8 + the character’s health attribute bonus for the character’s health pool. The character adds the character’s health attribute bonus to the character’s health pool for every level of experience after the first level.
Small to Medium creatures begin with 3d8 + the character’s health attribute bonus for the character’s health pool. The character adds 1d8 + the character’s health attribute bonus to the character’s health pool for every level of experience after the first level.
Large creatures begin with 5d8 + the character’s health attribute bonus for the character’s health pool. The character adds 2d8 + the character’s health attribute bonus to the character’s health pool for every level of experience after the first level.
Huge creatures begin with 7d8 + the character’s health attribute bonus for the character’s health pool. The character adds 3d8 + the character’s health attribute bonus to the character’s health pool for every level of experience after the first level.
Character Weight Character weight is determined by multiplying the average of the character’s physical strength and health attributes by 20. That number is then adjusted for character size (divided by 62 if tiny, divided by 4 if small and medium, multiplied by 4 if large, multiplied by 8 if huge). The resulting number is the character’s weight in pounds. A Showrad with the Physical Strength of 25 and Health of 20 would weigh 1800 pounds. (Average of 25 and 20 is 22.5. That number multiplied by 20 equals 450. Showrad are large creatures, so 450 is multiplied by 4 for a result of 1800 pounds). A Raphad, using the same Physical Strength and Health, would weigh 3600 pounds.
Example: John rolls 3d8 eight times to determine the base attributes for his Showrad. He rolls a 14, 14, 12, 11, 9, 12, and 15. Because a Showrad is a large creature, John rolls 5d8 to determine the character’s Physical Strength. John rolls a sum total of 29. John may choose to keep these rolls or reroll a new “set”.
John chooses to keep this set. He places the numbers as follows: Physical Strength 29, Agility 14, Manual Dexterity 14, Health 17, Knowledge 12, Learning 11, Cognizance 15, Personality 12, and Physical Beauty 9. A Showrad receives a +2 to the Health attribute. This will adjust the character’s Health attribute from 17 to 19. John’s Showrad’s attributes and “physi- cal make up” are as follows:
Attribute Modifier Physical Strength: 29 +8
Agility: 14 +0
Manual Dexterity: 14 +0
Health: 17 +2 Knowledge: 12 +0 Learning: 11 +0 Cognizance: 15 +1 Personality: 12 +0 Physical Beauty: 9 +0
John’s rolls 5d8 to determine the character’s initial Health Pool. He rolls a 5, 7, 3, 8, 6 for a combined total of 29. The character’s Health modifier is +2. This makes the character’s starting Health Pool 31.
John’s Showrad weighs 1,840 pounds (29 + 17 = 46, 46 / 2 = 23, 23 x 20 = 460, 460 x 4 = 1840).
Step 3: Character Background
A character is more than just numbers on a page. Get to know the character. Give a reason for someone to care about that character like a writer would want to give a reason for the reader to like the character. The game is, ultimately, a way to tell a story. What’s the character’s story? Know the character’s birth order, family, what they like, what they don’t like, their favorite food, how they think, what they wear, how they handle stress, if they are brave or not, and any other factors that would make the character memorable.
Soterion begins character development at the age of adolescence as defined in Chapter 1. This is age 14 for Adam but 1 year of age for Showrad. Each character is born into one of two classes; Commoner or Aristocrat. This classification is separate from the guilds of the same name as detailed later. This designation for character background sets the character’s socio-economic background along with giving a character base skills to function with.
The Game Narrator may allow the character’s to choose the designation between Aristocrat and Commoner or may randomly decide it. To determine the sub-class, roll 1d8. A roll of 1 or two means that the character came from an Aristocrat background. All others are Commoners.
At this point, the character is “growing up”. The character is given 6 skill points (with the exception of Adam which receive 12 points and the Showrad which receives 4) to spend on skills defined below.
Spending Skill Points
Greater detail will be spent on skills later on in this manual. Skill points represent the time it takes to learn new skills or improve skills the character already knows. During game play, the Narrator will assign a target number for an action the character wishes to perform. The first question is “do you have that skill?” Did the character spend skill points to obtain that skill? If so, then the target number needed to succeed is reduced by the skill level the character has. So if the target number is 9 and the character has a skill of 2, then the skill is successfully performed if the player rolls a 7 or higher on 3d8 (9 – 2 = 7).
Skills are purchased as follows:
1 point to increase the skill by 1 for skill ranks 0 through 4
2 points to increase the skill by 1 for skill ranks 5 through 9
3 points to increase the skill by 1 for skill ranks 10 through 14
4 points to increase the skill by 1 for skill ranks 15 through 19
5 points to increase the skill by 1 for skill ranks 20 through 24
And so on…
By spending 1 skill point, a character can “learn” a skill at “skill rank” 1. Skill rank is the level of skill the character has. This skill rank can be modified by the character’s attribute that is specifically linked to that skill.
The Aristocrat Subclass
Skills for the Aristocrat subclass are chosen from the listed general skills and those from the family background. Family background skills are listed within the specific Aristocrat profes- sion. The player determines which skill is primary and which skill is secondary within the Aristocrat profession. The primary skill begins game play at skill rank 4 and the secondary skill begins at skill rank 2.
Also, the character gains a simple understanding of that profession. For game terms, each character can use that specific profession he/she came from as one would use a general skill (see general skills for more detail).
General Aristocrat skills are: Appraise, Animal Handling, Bluff, Defense, First Aid, Fishing, Gather Information, Intimidate, Hunting, Language-Speak (per language learned), LanguageRead/Write (per language learned), Listen, Memory Recall, Ride, Running-Distance, Running-Speed, Search, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Weapon Group: General (specific type of weapon).
These skills are defined in greater detail in Chapter 4. Note that Language-Speak, Language Read/Write, and Weapon Group are general listings for the skill. There are several languages and several different weapon groups the character can choose from. Types of weapons the character may become proficient with are identified as One-Handed Sword, Two-Handed Sword, Short blade, Axe, Two-Handed Axe, One-Handed Blunt, Two-Handed Blunt, Pole weapons, Whips and Segmented Weapons, and Small Weapons. There are many weapons that fall within these categories. However, each type of weapon is considered a separate skill. It would not be uncommon to find a character extremely proficient with Two-Handed Blunt weapons but have no skill in Single-Handed Blunt weapons.
Aristocrat Professions and related skills are: Chancellor: A Chancellor is an assistant to a noble or royal. Primary duties include being an agent or representative of the noble or royal, ensuing day-to-day functions are completed, and watching over the noble or royal’s area of control. Depending on the function of the noble or royal, it isn’t uncommon to have multiple Chancellors for diffe
rent functions that would report to a Prime Chancellor.
Related Skills are: Memory Recall; Gather Information
Constable: A Constable is an agent of the Sheriff for enforcing laws and keeping the peace. Related Skills are: Gather Information; Spot Diplomat: A Diplomat is a negotiator/agent of the ruling authority to other nations or governments.
Related Skills are: Bluff; Intimidate
Herald: A herald makes official proclama-
tions or announcements on behalf of the
noble or royal either to other royals and
nobles or to the general public. One main
task of a herald is to identify crests or other
insignia representing other nobles or royalty.
Related Skills are: Memory Recall; Spot
Judge: A Judge decides a matter between
individual people or determines guilt for
criminals. There can be many judges within
an area, each concerning himself with his
own specific area of control. This could
be a regional appointment in general terms
or may be a specific appointment to handle
specific areas of law.
Related Skills are: Sense Motive; Gather
Information
Nobleman: A Nobleman rules his area of
control. Areas of land are broken up by the
ruling government and assigned Noblemen
to act on the ruler’s behalf. The Nobleman
sets taxes, maintains the regional military,
keeps the peace, and sees that the laws of
the government are fulfilled. In return, the
Nobleman is given lands to call his own.
Related Skills are: Bluff; Intimidate
Sheriff: The Sheriff is the head law enforcement agent for the nobility, royalty, or community in a specified area.
Related Skills are: Gather Information; Spot
Tax Collector: The Tax Collector is the official agent for the ruling authority for tax collec - tion. He keeps a role of who has paid taxes, requests the Sheriff to pay visits to those who have not, counts tax payments received, appraises land values, and other such revenue-collecting activities by order of the ruling authority.
Bridge Worlds: Soterion Page 10