Wealth is different in the high fantasy world. People with established jobs can maintain the wealth appropriate to their archetype, but itinerants and adventurers have fortunes that fluctuate. In general, use the appropriate wealth stat for the archetype to outfit characters, but this is not a universe with credit cards, and it has very few banks. Once in play, characters will need to keep rough track of their own wealth; depending of flavor, the GM may wish to specify actual amounts of gold and silver and copper, or simply specify that quantities of money will permit living for a particular time at a particular lifestyle.
For more archetypes, check out Bryant Durrell’s page.
based on Sorcerer
“Monsters and malcontents cannot contend with one who commands the fundamental energies of the universe.”
Years of study have afforded you power over magic. You may hail from a land where wizards are respected members of society, the builders of roads and cities, or you may have lived your apprenticeship with your name as a curse upon the lips of the nearby townsfolk. Wizards vary with their choice of a source of power and choice of spheres; they range from elementalist constructor-mages to valiant battlemages, tricksy illusionists to horrific necromancers.
Attributes: Bod 5, Chi 0 (Mag=8), Mnd 5, Ref 5
Add 2 points each to three different primary attributes, and 2 points to a secondary attribute.
| Skills: | Thaumaturgy +7 (=15) |
|---|---|
| Info/History +4 (9) | |
| Info/(your choice) +4 (9) | |
| Info/(your choice) +2 (7) |
Spheres: 5
Quick Schtick Picks:
Battlemage: Blast, Blast II, Movement, Chi, Divination
Elementalist: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Summoning
Necromancer: Summoning, Summoning II, Blast, Influence, Divination
Illusionist: Illusion, Illusion II, Chi, Influence, Divination
Wealth Level: rich
based on Sorcerer
“If you do not mend your evil ways, you shall bear the brunt of divine wrath!”
You are a representative of your god in the world, going forth to represent their principles. Depending on your deity, you may receive regular inspiration or be an eternal seeker after truth. All priests channel energy directly from their deity as a source of power; druids channel the forces of Nature directly, trading the relationship with a deity for communion with life itself.
Thus far we have descriptions of several pantheons: The Children of the Dragon, the Pyramid pantheon, a group of Dwarven gods, and the mysterious pantheon of Argsal.
Attributes: Bod 5, Chi 0 (Att = 8), Mnd 5, Ref 5
Add 2 points each to three different primary attributes, and 2 points to a secondary attribute.
| Skills: | Theurgy +7 (=15) |
|---|---|
| Leadership +2 (7) | |
| Info/Own Religion +7 (12) | |
| Info/(your choice) +2 (7) |
Add no skill bonuses. Priests of a god of healing may substitute Healing or Chirurgy for Leadership.
Spheres: 5 spheres appropriate to your deity.
Quick Schtick Pick: Heal, Blessing, Divination, Life (Plants, pick a mammal), Summoning
Wealth Level: varies with religion, from poor mendicants to rich hierarchs.
based on Magic Cop
“Taste my holy steel, corrupted one!”
You are a holy warrior, battling for the principles of your deity, a knight in shining armor. You have a strong concentration on mounted combat and the use of weapons.
Attributes: Bod 5, Chi 2 (Att = 5), Mnd 5, Ref 5
Add six points to primary attributes, no more than three at a time.
| Skills: | Melee +8 (=13) |
|---|---|
| Theurgy +5 (=10) | |
| Riding +7 (12) | |
| Info/Own Religion +6 (11) | |
| Leadership +3 (8) |
Add 8 skill bonuses.
Spheres: Blessing, plus your choice of Divination, Life, or Heal.
Schticks: Pick 2 weapon schticks.
Quick Schtick Picks: Blessing, Heal, Symphony of Slaughter (×2)
Wealth: varies with religion, but your temple has probably outfitted you with the best class of armor and weapons you can handle without a penalty.
based on Magic Cop
“Back off slowly and calmly and maybe that snufflegruff won’t take your face off.”
The majority of humankind lives in cities and farms, but you have heard the call of the wilderness. Dangerous magical beasts have their place in the wilds, but many lack the sense to avoid civilized areas; in addition, chaos is always giving rise to new creatures who can upset a mature ecology. You are a walker of the borderlands, a ranger.
Attributes: Bod 5, Chi 2 (Att = 5), Mnd 5, Ref 5
Add six points to primary attributes, no more than three at a time.
| Skills: | Martial Arts +8 (=13) |
|---|---|
| Bows +7 (=12) | |
| Theurgy +5 (=10) | |
| Ranging +5 (10) | |
| Info / Ecology +7 (12) |
Add 8 skill bonuses.
Spheres: Life, plus your choice of Divination, Weather, or Heal.
Schticks: Pick 2 weapon or 2 Fu schticks. If you choose weapon schticks, you may take Melee in place of martial arts, in which case you can have leather armor for free.
Quick Schtick Picks: Life, Divination.
Wealth: poor.
based on Journalist
Based on the Archer from Thorns of the Lotus
Attributes: Bod 5, Chi 0, Mnd 5, Ref 6
Add 2 points to two different primary attributes, and 1 point to two different secondary attributes.
| Skills: | Bows +7 (=15) |
|---|---|
| Martial Arts +4 (10) [max 13] | |
| Info/(your choice) +2 (7) |
Add 5 skill bonuses.
Schticks: Signature Weapon plus 4 more Bow schticks.
Unique Schtick:
Flurry of Arrows: As long as your closest enemy is at least 5m away, you gain +2 to initiative.
Quick Schtick Pick: Signature Weapon: Bow, Carnival of Carnage, Eagle Eye, Fast Draw, Versatile Ammo
Wealth Level: working stiff
Based on the Guiding Hand Archer from Blood of the Valiant
Attributes: Bod 5, Chi 4 (Fu=6), Mnd 5, Ref 6
Add 2 to one primary attribute and 1 to another; add 2 one secondary attribute.
| Skills: | Bows +9 (=14) |
|---|---|
| Martial Arts +5 (10) [max 12] | |
| Info/Martial Arts Tradition +4 (9) | |
| Info/(your choice) +2 (7) |
Add 3 skill bonuses.
Schticks: Signature Weapon plus 4 more Bow schticks.
Unique Schtick:
Mystic Archery: You have learned how to project your chi energy through your arrows. Depending on the GM, you may use a certain set of fu schticks with your bow, using Bows instead of Martial Arts for all relevant checks. You must already know the relevant fu schtick, and chi is paid as normal. Suggested fu powers include: Bite of the Dragon, Breath of the Dragon, Claw of the Dragon, Dark’s Soft Whisper, Fire Strike, Shelter of Darkness, Strike from Darkness.
Quick Schtick Pick: Signature Weapon: Bow, Hair-Trigger Neck Hairs, Versatile Ammo, Bite of the Dragon, Fire Strike
Wealth Level: working stiff
“My Art is beyond your feeble understanding— and your pain threshold!”
Your rare gift not only attunes you to transcendent Power, but grants you the command of a wizard over the material world. To you there is no divide between wizardly and priestly arts, and so you can combine these powers freely.
You may be Chosen of the Gods, the Cursed One, or just spectacularly well attuned to the forces of Nature. Perhaps you were frustrated in your training as a priest or wizard, always seeking the truth your master never understood. Or maybe you were taught by the Spirits of the Forest in deep glens never seen by mortal man. Regardless, you still have much to learn. In the meantime, Wizards and priests may pester you for your “secrets”, declare you an abomination, or both at the same time....
Consider High Fantasy Schticks that can help flesh out your unusual background. In particular, Mentor can give you an archimage for a tutor, saving you both years and grief. Of course, such unusual Mentors come with plot hooks. Destiny is another good Schtick for an archimage.
Choose a transcendent source of power and optionally a spirit-plane source of power; the archimages of elder days mediated directly between people and transcendent power, some of them even sneering at the gods in their hubris, but the teachings that have survived seem applicable to connection to occasional personified gods as well as abstract forces. The wizardly source, if any, should be appropriate to your transcendent source. You can mix power from these sources and combine priestly and wizardly spheres. As with all channelers of transcendent power, you have a responsibility to the power that you serve, and can run into trouble if you follow a course antithetical to that power. It is likely that no matter what source you pick, there will be some reasonably significant sphere, special effect, use, or condition that is unwise to use. You take the average of the juncture modifiers for your power sources, rounding in your favor. As with Priests and Wizards, it is a life-changing event to modify your set of power sources.
Your Magic and Attunement scores are merged into a single Archimagic (Arc) statistic that costs as much as Magic and Attunement combined. Where you would normally use a Magic or Attunement score, you use Archimagic. Actions or effects that would normally reduce your temporary or permanent Magic or Attunement instead reduce your Archimagic. For example, an area of effect Blast costs one temporary Archimagic point. (You may draw on two sources of power, but you have only one personal power track— it reflects all power drawn from all sources, plus any personal power.)
Similarly, the Theurgy and Thaumaturgy skills combine into a single double-cost skill called Archimagery.
Attributes: Bod 5, Chi 0 (Arc=8), Mnd 5, Ref 5
Add 2 points each to two different primary attributes, and 2 points to a secondary attribute.
| Skills: | Archimagery +5 (=13) |
|---|---|
| Info/Realm of Power +4 (9) | |
| Info/(your choice) +4 (9) | |
| Info/(your choice) +2 (7) |
Spheres: 5 spheres not antithetical to your source of power
Quick Schtick Picks:
Battle Archimage: Blast, Movement, Healing, Earth, Weather
Chimerical Commander: Life, Life II, Summoning, Summoning II, Healing
Light Master: Illusion, Illusion II, Light, Chi, Blessing
Sky Master: Weather, Air, Movement, Divination, Blessing
Manipulator: Illusion, Illusion II, Influence, Influence II, Blessing
Diplomat: Blessing, Sound, Influence, Movement, Divination
Wealth Level: as priest