& Venture Forth, character creation

I’m really close to releasing the & VENTURE FORTH: Character Creation & Adventuring Booklet. So why don’t we go through the character creation process to see how it differs from World of Dungeons:

Generate your attributes

First of all, we have to choose how we’re going to generate our Attributes. Since I don’t have a character in mind, I think I’ll go with random.

Random generation carries the risk of giving you a weird array of results, but also it’s the only way you can start with a +3 bonus right away. I roll and get: STR +1, DEX +0, CON +1, INT +1, WIS +0 and CHA +2. Pretty good!

Pick your kin

Being a throwback to Baldur’s Gate and other classic fantasy games, I wanted to make sure to get the typical fantasy folk down: you can choose between dwarves, elves, humans, or mix and match between them or with creatures from the bestiary (in the upcoming Hosting and Random Generators Manual).

For now I think I’ll go with dwarf, because I meet the requirements (STR +1, CON +1) and because I like beards. I log the benefits on the character sheet: “low light vision while underground. Special 2 armor vs. poison and disease.”

Now, it’s time to choose my upbringing, which will give me some nifty additional benefits. I’m going to bank heavily on that +2 CHA score. Since in & VENTURE FORTH your friends and you don’t only control your own characters but can also recruit companions, leaning into your specialties is encouraged. So I go ahead and choose hills, logging “you were raised in the trading posts of the dwarven kingdom. You never lose initiative when fighting goblinoids, and you buy equipment at a 25% discount.” on my character sheet, for that sweet sweet 25% discount.

Pick your class

Remember when I said I was going to bank hard on that CHA bonus? Well, that sounds like bard to me, specially since I meet the requirements (CHA +1, INT +1).

I mark Leadership as my class skill and log the starting equipment on my inventory. Now I should choose my starting class feature:

I’m really torn between Improvised and Inspiring, but considering I settled on wringing that CHA bonus of all its worth, and it is kinda the classic bard feature, I go with Inspiring “add +2 to a party member's roll when you have time and means to play music (CHA number of times per rest).”

Pick a signature skill

The last step to round up your character is picking your signature skill. I already have a +2 CHA, a 25% discount to buy equipment, training in Leadership, and can Inspire my friends. If I go with the other social skill, Deception, I will become a Charisma powerhouse, plus securing both of the most important Dialog skill options! 

Now it’s time to see how well I’ll survive

I roll 1 Hit Die, plus another +1 HD thanks to my CON bonus and choose a number of dice equal to my level to determine my hit points, getting a 1 and a 3. Of course I choose the greater one and start with 3 HP!

It’s just a matter of jotting everything down, name them and you’re good to go!