Choose Your Ancestry and Background

Your ancestry determines your character's species. It provides HP, size, speed, ability boosts, and heritage feats:

• Base Hit Points: a flat number added to your HP at level 1 (Ex. Humans get 8 HP, Dwarves get 10 HP).
• Size: most are Medium; Halflings and Gnomes are Small.
• Speed: your base movement in feet (typically 25-30 ft).
• Ability boosts & flaws: see the Ability Scores section below.
• Languages: common plus one or two ancestry languages
• Special senses: Ex. Dwarves get darkvision.
• Ancestry feat: one feat chosen from your ancestry's list at level 1.

Each ancestry has several heritages: sub-types that further customize your character. You pick one heritage at level 1. For example, a Human can choose Skilled Heritage (an extra skill) or Versatile Heritage (an extra general feat). Heritages are different from ancestry feats.

Your background represents your character's life before adventuring. It grants ability boosts, skill proficiencies, and a background feat. For example, the Scholar background gives you boosts to Intelligence and Wisdom, proficiency in Arcana and Society, and the Researcher feat.

Suggested: Choosing Your Ancestry and Background

Select Your Class

Your class is your role in the party. It helps to determine your key ability, HP per level, proficiencies, and class feats:

• Key ability score: the primary stat your class is built around.
• HP per level: added each time you level up, plus your CON modifier
• Proficiencies: skills, equipment, and tools you are proficient in.
• Class DC : a difficulty class used for many class abilities.
• Class feats: chosen at specific levels to customize your abilities.

Suggested: Choosing Your Class

Allocate Your Ability Scores

There are six different ability scores that define your character's physical and mental capabilities.

• Strength (STR): Melee attacks, Athletics.
• Dexterity (DEX): Ranged attacks, Armor Class (AC), Reflex saves.
• Constitution (CON): Hit points, Fortitude.
• Intelligence (INT): Arcane spells, Skills.
• Wisdom (WIS): Perception, Will, Divine.
• Charisma (CHA): Diplomacy, Intimidation, Occult

When creating your character, you will allocate points to boost these attributes based on your choice of ancestry, background, and class. Each boost raises a score by +2, unless it is already 18 or higher, in which case it only increases by +1. Each class has a key attribute that is particularly important for its abilities and performance, so you will want to prioritize boosting that attribute early on. Your boosts come from your:

• Ancestry: two fixed boosts, one flaw, one free boost.
• Background: two boosts (often one fixed, one free).
• Class: one boost to your key ability (the stat your class uses most)
• Free boosts: four free boosts to any four different abilities.

Suggested: Understanding Attributes

Choose Your Skills and Proficiencies

Proficiency ranks replace modifiers from ability scores alone and scale with level. Your proficiency bonus is equal to the rank bonus plus your current level. A level 5 Trained character adds +2+5 = +7. This means level matters a lot; a high-level Untrained character still has +0+5 = +5.

• Untrained: +0 + level bonus
• Trained: +2 + level bonus
• Expert: +4 + level bonus
• Master: +6 + level bonus
• Legendary: +8 + level bonus

Your class gives you a set number of trained skills at level 1. Your INT modifier adds bonus trained skills (minimum 0). There are 17 different skills:

• Acrobatics
• Arcana
• Athletics
• Crafting
• Deception
• Diplomacy
• Intimidation
• Medicine
• Nature
• Occultism
• Performance
• Religion
• Society
• Stealth
• Survival
• Thievery

Skill checks determine success in tasks by rolling a d20 and adding your skill modifier, which includes your ability score modifier, proficiency bonus, and other bonuses. If the result meets or exceeds the difficulty class (DC), you succeed. Class skills grant a +3 bonus when you invest ranks in them.

• Critical success: beat DC by 10 or more (exceptional result).
• Success: meet or beat the DC.
• Failure: miss the DC.
• Critical failure: fail the DC by 10 or more (bad result).

Suggested: Understanding Attributes

Equip Your Character

New characters typically start with class-granted equipment or a starting gold amount (usually 15 gp) to purchase gear. Your class determines your starting armor and weapon proficiencies, which limits what you can effectively use. For example, a Fighter starts with proficiency in all armor and simple and martial weapons, while a Wizard is limited to simple weapons and no armor. Choosing the right equipment is crucial for your character's performance in combat and other situations.

Armor Basics

• Unarmored: AC = 10 + DEX mod + proficiency.
• Light Armor: low check penalty, good DEX cap (Ex. leather).
• Medium Armor: balanced, moderate DEX cap (Ex. chain mail).
• Heavy Armor: highest base AC, low DEX cap (Ex. plate mail).

Weapon Traits

• Finesse: can use DEX instead of STR for attack rolls.
• Agile: reduces multiple attack penalty to -4/-8.
• Reach: extends your melee range by 5 ft.
• Two-hand: requires two hands to wield, providing a bonus to damage.
• Thrown: can be thrown as a ranged attack.
• Deadly: adds extra dice on a critical hit.

Currency and Bulk

Most classes start with 15 gp to spend on equipment. 1 gp is equal to 10 sp or 100 cp. You can use your gold to purchase weapons, armor, and other gear. Your character can carry a certain amount of weight based on their Strength score, measured in Bulk. Light items are L Bulk (10 L = 1 Bulk), while heavy items are 1 Bulk. You can carry up to 5 + STR modifier Bulk before becoming encumbered and suffer penalties to your speed and actions (and over-encumbered at 10 + STR modifier).

Suggested: Equipment & Gear