EDRulebook: 6 Creating A Character

4. DETERMINE CHARACTERISTICS

The character's Attributes also determine his or her characteristics, the abilities that allow the character to accomplish things in the game. These values determine how well a character defends against various kinds of attacks, how much damage he can take before falling unconscious or dying, and so on. Consult the Attribute Table, p. 52, to find the value of each characteristic.

Armor

The Physical Armor Rating represents the physical armor the character wears. It helps defend against physical attacks by immediately modifying the amount of physical damage a character takes from an attack. (see Combat) The Physical Armor Rating combines the protection provided by purchased and worn physical armor and any protection and combat advantages of purchased and worn shields. The Physical Armor Rating is based on the physical armor you purchase for your character. See Equip Your Character and Goods and Services.

Mystic Armor helps protect the character from magical attacks, such as spells, by immediately reducing the spell's damage. For example, 4 points of Mystic Armor reduce the damage from spells by 4 points. Certain equipment, such as crystal armor or shields, also modifies the Mystic Armor Rating. (See Goods and Services). A character's Willpower Attribute determines his Mystic Armor Rating.

Record your character's Mystic Armor Rating in the appropriate circle in the Characteristics box on the Character Record Sheet. You may decide instead to simply note this rating on your separate sheet until after you purchase equipment for your character, because the equipment may modify the Mystic Armor Rating. Record your character's Physical Armor Rating on the Character Record Sheet after you purchase armor and equipment for your character.

Damage

The damage characteristics determine how much damage a character can take before being knocked unconscious, taking a serious wound, or dying. The damage characteristics also determine how quickly a character heals.

The Death Rating represents the number of Damage Points required to kill a character. When the damage taken equals or exceeds the character's Death Rating, the character dies. (See Character Death in the Combat section.)

Any single attack that inflicts a number of points of damage equal to or exceeding the character's Wound Threshold gives that character a Wound. Wounds heal much more slowly than normal damage, and reduce a character's ability to perform actions and otherwise interact with his or her surroundings. (See Wounds, in the Combat section.)

The Unconsciousness Rating represents the amount of cumulative damage it takes to knock a character unconscious. When a character takes damage equal to or exceeding his Unconsciousness Rating, he falls unconscious. Because this number is lower than the character's Death Rating, a character often falls unconscious without dying. (See Unconsciousness, in the Combat section.)

Recovery Tests refers to the number of Recovery Tests a character may make in a day. Characters with high Toughness Attribute Values instinctively use the magic of the earth to heal themselves far faster than biologically possible. (See Effects of Injury, in the Combat section.)

The Recovery dice number indicates what Action dice the character rolls to make a Recovery Test. The result of the dice roll is the number of Damage Points regained, or the amount of damage healed. A character's Recovery dice equal the Action dice for that character's Toughness step. See the Step/Action Dice Table.

Some races receive special modifiers for damage and recovery. Consult the Racial Abilities Table.

Record the character's damage characteristics in the Damage box on the Character Record Sheet.

Defense

The Physical Defense Rating represents a character's ability to dodge a physical blow. Based on the character's Dexterity Attribute, the Physical Defense Rating serves as the Difficulty Number an attacker must overcome when making a Physical Attack Test against the character. For example, an attack against a character with a Physical Defense 6 is successful if the attacker rolls a 6 or higher on an Attack Test. (See Combat). The Spell Defense Rating represents a char-acter's innate ability to avoid a spell. Based on the Perception Attribute, the target's Spell Defense is the Difficulty Number an attacker must overcome when making a Spellcasting Test against that target. (See Spellcasting in the Spell Magic section.) The Social Defense Rating, based on the Charisma Attribute, represents a character's chance to know when he is being lied to or manipulated by other characters. In this sense, a lie is an intentional deception, as opposed to a falsehood told through ignorance. The dwarf to whom your character is talking may believe he is the best poleball player in Throal, even if he's not. Social Defense would not help your character detect that the dwarf's statement is false. (See Interaction Tests in Gamemaster Characters.)

Some races receive special modifiers to their Physical Defense. Consult the Racial Abilities Table.

Record the Physical Defense, Spell Defense, and Social Defense Ratings in their appropriate circles in the Characteristics box on the Character Record Sheet.

Initiative

A character's Initiative determines when in the Combat Round that character can act. (See Initiative in the Combat section.) The Initiative step is equal to the character's Dexterity step. The character must apply an encumbrance modifier only if he or she is wearing encumbering armor and/or shields. (See Initiative Penalties in the Goods and Services section.) The Initiative dice is based on the character's Dexterity step minus the modifier for encumbrance or armor.

Record the character's Dexterity step in the Characteristics box on the Character Record Sheet. Record any appropriate modifiers on the Armor Modifiers line. Calculate the character's modified Initiative step, then record the corresponding Action dice in the Initiative Dice circle.

ATTRIBUTE TABLE

Attribute Value	Physical/ Spell/ Social Defense Rating	Movement Full/Combat (yds/round)	Carrying Capacity/ Lifting (lbs)	Death Rating	Wound Threshold	Uncon. Rating	Recovery Tests (per day)	Mystic Armor
1	2	25/13	10/20	19	3	10	1/2 days	0
2	3	28/14	15/30	20	4	11	1/2 days	0
3	3	30/15	20/40	22	4	13	1	0
4	4	32/16	25/50	23	5	14	1	0
5	4	35/18	30/65	24	5	15	1	0
6	4	38/19	35/75	26	6	17	1	0
7	5	40/20	40/85	27	6	18	1	0
8	5	43/22	50/100	28	7	19	2	0
9	6	48/24	60/115	30	7	21	2	0
10	6	50/25	70/135	31	8	22	2	0
11	7	54/27	80/160	32	8	24	2	1
12	7	57/29	90/185	34	9	26	2	1
13	7	60/30	105/210	35	9	27	2	1
14	8	65/33	125/250	36	10	28	3	2
15	8	70/35	145/290	38	10	29	3	2
16	9	75/38	165/310	39	11	31	3	2
17	9	80/40	200/400	40	11	32	3	3
18	10	85/42	230/460	42	12	34	3	3
19	10	90/45	270/540	43	12	35	3	3
20	10	100/50	315/630	44	13	36	4	4
21	11	110/55	360/735	46	13	39	4	4
22	11	120/60	430/860	47	13	40	4	4
23	12	130/65	500/1,000	48	14	41	4	5
24	12	140/70	580/1,160	50	14	43	4	5
25	13	150/75	675/1,350	51	15	44	4	5
26	13	160/80	790/1,580	52	15	45	5	6
27	13	170/85	920/1,840	54	15	47	5	6
28	14	180/90	1,075/2,150	55	16	48	5	6
29	14	200/100	1,200/2,500	56	16	49	5	7
30	15	220/110	1,450/2,900	58	17	51	5	7

Karma

Each of the races acquires and uses Karma differently. The Karma Table lists all the relevant information regarding Karma for each race. Record your character's Karma information on your Character Record Sheet in the Karma section.

Karma Action Die indicates which type of dice characters of each race use for Karma.

Legend Point Cost per Point of Karma is the number of Legend Points it costs the character to buy a point of Karma (see Building Your Legend).

Starting Karma provides the number of Karma Points characters of each race receive when created. If you generated your character's Attributes using the purchasing system, any Purchase Points left over from purchasing your character's Attributes convert into additional Karma Points on a one-to-one ratio.

Maximum Karma Points refers to the maximum number of Karma Points characters of each race can have at any one time.

KARMA TABLE

Race	Karma Action dice	Legend Point Cost per Point of Karma	Starting Karma	Maximum Karma Points
Dwarf	D6	10	6	25
Elf	D6	10	5	25
Human	D8	6	10	40
Obsidiman	D4	10	5	20
Ork	D8	7	10	40
Troll	D4	10	6	20
T’skrang	D6	8	5	25
Windling	D10	5	15	60

Movement

Within the Combat Round, characters can move a number of yards equal to their Full or Combat Movement Rates (based on Dexterity), both measured in yards per Combat Round. The Full Movement Rate indicates the number of yards your character can run in a turn if not attempting to take any other actions simultaneously. The Combat Movement Rate is the number of yards a character can move in a turn while attacking, casting a spell, or performing another action. See Movement in the Combat section and the Attribute Table.

Some races receive special movement adjustments. Consult the Racial Movement Table, below, for these modifiers. Record the character's Combat Movement and Full Movement Rate in the appropriate spaces in the Characteristics box on the Character Record Sheet.

RACIAL MOVEMENT TABLE

Race	Movement Modifier
Dwarf	Movement as Dexterity -2
Elf	Movement as Dexterity + 1
Human	Movement as Dexterity
Obsidiman	Movement as Dexterity -3
Ork	Movement as Dexterity + 2
Troll	Movement as Dexterity
T’skrang	Movement as Dexterity
Windling	Land Movement as Dexterity -8, Air as Dexterity + 2

Strength

A character's Strength limits his ability to carry or lift weight. Carrying Capacity is the number of pounds a character may carry without suffering a penalty to Dexterity for carrying too much weight. (See Encumbrance in Adventuring in Earthdawn.) Lifting Limit is the maximum number of pounds a character can lift from the ground. He cannot lift this weight and move at the same time.

Record the character's Carrying Capacity and Lifting Limit in the appropriate places in the Characteristics box on the Character Record Sheet.

Starting at the beginning of the characteristic list, Jill notes the purpose and use for Physical Armor, but skips filling in that rating until she has a chance to decide what armor, if any, her character will wear. Based on the Willpower Attribute Value of 11, the windling has a Mystic Armor Rating of 1.
The damage characteristic gives Jill the information she is most interested in: how much damage her character can withstand before dying. Jill checks the Attribute Table. Based on a Toughness Attribute Value of 15, the windling has a Death Rating of 38, a Wound Threshold of 10, an Unconsciousness Rating of 29, and can make 3 Recovery Tests each day using 1D10.
Based on the Dexterity Attribute, the windling has a Physical Defense of 7, modified by +2 for race, for a Physical Defense Rating of 9. Based on the Perception Attribute, the character has a Spell Defense Rating of 7. Based on the Charisma Attribute, the windling has a Social Defense Rating of 10. Jill's character will use an Initiative dice of 1D8. Unless the windling uses a talent or weapon that increases its Initiative step, Jill's character will probably act relatively late in the Combat Round.
The windling uses 1D10 Karma dice and begins the game with 15 Karma Points. Because she looked at the Talent and Discipline sections before generating her character, Jill knows that these high numbers give her character a definite advantage in combat and other types of actions. She decides that her character will have a reputation for taking the most effective action.
To determine her character's movement rates, Jill goes back to the Attribute Table, modifying the values there for the windling's race. Using the base Dexterity Attribute Value of 11, Jill subtracts 8 for race, for a modified Dexterity of 3. This gives the winding a Full Movement of 30 yards per round and a Combat Movement of 15 yards per round, but only if the character is on the ground. Right away Jill sees the reason for the windling's wings: she adds +2 to the base Dexterity Attribute when the character is flying, for a modified Dexterity of 13. Now the windling can move 60 yards per round when "running," and 30 yards per round in combat.
Finally, Jill reads the Attribute Table and sees that the Strength Attribute Value of 7 allows the windling to carry only 40 pounds and lift up to 85 pounds.