How to create a new Character
Last updated
Last updated
To make a new character go to the Actors tab and click the Create actor button. Choose Character at the prompt that appears, and then confirm. You should then see a blank sheet similar to the following. Each of the magic sections of the sheet have been annotated, and we'll go into more detail on each of them below.
Each of these fields are at the top of your character sheet and are freeform text fields where you can enter any values you want. For races and classes, the system includes special logic to recognize the races and classes available in the SRD. For example, if you enter "Fighter" as your class, you'll have the base stats of a Fighter and will be able to import powers from the Fighter compendium. Similarly, if you enter "Paladin / Commander" or "Rogue Wizard", you'll receive base stats based on the multiclass rules, and you'll be able to import powers for either class. The system will strip out all special characters, so you can use any convention you want to separate your class names when multiclassing, such as commas, slashes, or just empty spaces.
Several of the statistics for your character can be controlled either automatically by the system, or semi-automatically via a default value that you can change later. When making a character, your first step to assign these values is to first set your Race, Class, and Level. Once you pick your class, your base HP, defenses, and damage die will be set for you, but you can adjust them if needed.
Calculating out stats based on class is a setting in the system under Settings > System settings > Automatically compute base stats. If you would prefer to control this manually, the GM can disable this setting.
If you would like to tweak these values, such as disabling automatic HP calculation for your character, you can go to the Settings tab of your character sheet to see the current values and make adjustments. This is also where you can find a number of Special Traits such Quick to Fight for humans or the Strong Recovery general feat.
In the screenshot above, the Settings tab of the character sheet's left sidebar can be seen, along with all of the various tweaks to the sheet that you can make. Let's review the first several of those which all relate to your HP, defenses, recoveries, and initiative.
Any time you change your character class to one recognized by the system (any class from the SRD), the stats in this section will be replaced with the value associated with that class or multiclass combination.
Special Traits - As seen in the screenshot, the "Special Traits" text next to the gear icon is a link that will open a dialog with additional tweaks that you can make. These tweaks are all special "flags" that let your character behave one way or the other, such as rolling twice for initiative with the Quick to Fight flag enabled.
Group by Power Type - We'll discuss this dropdown more in the power section, but it lets you choose the order in which your class powers are grouped together.
Base AC - Your base armor class before applying ability score modifiers or magic item bonuses. If you're wielding a shield, it should be included in this number.
Base PD - Your base physical defense before applying ability score modifiers or magic item bonuses.
Base MD - Your base mental defense before applying ability score modifiers or magic item bonuses.
Base HP - Your base hit points before adding your Constitution modifier or multiplying based on your level multiplier. This field is only used if the Calculate Max HP? box directly below it is enabled.
Base Recoveries - Your base number of recoveries per full heal up. This field is only used if the Calculate Max Recoveries? box immediately below it is enabled.
Initiative - Additional modifiers to increase your initiative modifier by. Initiative is always calculated as Dexterity modifier + Level, but it can be adjusted further by using the Quick to Fight or Improved Initiative flags, along with this field to adjust the final number.
Once all of those settings are in place, you can view your stats at the top of your character sheet:
In addition to the settings related to base HP and defenses, the settings tab includes options to change the following values related to your basic attacks. These values aren't directly visible on your character sheet, but they are often factored into powers related to your class in the compendiums included with the system. As with the previous section, these values will be updated if you change your class.
Melee Weapon Dice - The die size that your melee attacks should use without your level included, such as a d8 or d10. This will later be available in your powers in versions that automatically give you the correct number per level.
Ranged Weapon Dice - The die size that your ranged attacks should use without your level included, such as a d6 or d8. As with melee attacks, this will be available in your powers as versions both with and without your level.
The following four settings are all legacy settings that are not actively in use, but some characters from older versions of the system may still have powers that reference them.
Melee Ability - The ability score associated with your basic melee attacks.
Ranged Ability - The ability score associated with your basic ranged attacks.
Melee Miss Dmg. - Whether or not your basic melee attacks should apply miss damage.
Ranged Miss Dmg. - Whether or not your basic ranged attacks should apply miss damage.
Finally, there three sections towards the bottom of your sheet settings where you can toggle the number of backgrounds and icon relationships that you have, along with enabling custom resources that your character may need to track.
bg1 - bg8 - These checkboxes will enable additional rows on the Backgrounds section of your character sheet. By default, the first three are enabled, but you can enable up to 8 separate backgrounds.
i1 - i5 - These checkboxes will enable additional rows on the Icon Relationships section of your character sheet. By default, the first three are enabled, but you can enable up to 5 separate icon relationships.
Custom Resource 1 - 3: These checkboxes will enable additional custom resources, which have a current value, a maximum value, and a customizable label. They will appear directly below the saving throws and disengage section of your character sheet.
The ability scores for your character are in the first section of the character sheet's left sidebar, under the Abilities tab.
Ability Name - Each score has a clickable name that can be used to make ability check rolls, including an option to select a relevant background and apply modifiers.
Ability Score - Your ability scores are the center column of numbers, which are editable. These default to 10 until you change them.
Ability Modifier - Your raw ability modifier, such as +4 on a score of 18, is in the left column of numbers. This number is calculated.
Ability Modifier + Level - Your ability modifier plus your current level, such as +6 on a score of 18 for a level 2 character, is in the right column of numbers. This number is calculated.
You can choose how many backgrounds your character has in the Settings tab of the character sheet, up to a total of 8 backgrounds. Each background has two parts:
Bonus - The number of points in the background that will apply as a bonus to relevant ability checks.
Name - The name of the background, which can be any text that you want.
You can choose how many icon relationships your character has in the Settings tab of the character sheet, up to a total of 5 icon relationships. Each icon relationship has 4 parts.
Dice Icon - The dice icon for each relationship can be clicked to roll the relationship.
Relationship Type - The relationship type dropdown lets you choose between positive, conflicted, and negative relationships.
Relationship Points - The total number of points you have in an icon relationship.
Icon Name - The icon this relationship applies to.
Your character's One Unique Thing is in the bottom left corner of the sheet, and is a freeform text area where you can place any content you need to describe it.
As mentioned in Character Statistics and settings above, you can tweak your base stats that are displayed at the top of your character sheet in the Settings tab of the character sheet.
Saving Throws - To roll a saving throw, click any of the three save dice icons.
Disengage - To roll a disengage check, click the dice icon next to your disengage target number (usually 11+). You can also adjust that target with the Disengage Adjustment field directly below to it, such as reducing the difficult by -5 if you're a rogue using Tumbling Strike, or increasing it by +2 if you have additional enemies you need to disengage from.
Initiative - Your total initiative number can be seen in the top right of the character sheet. This isn't currently rollable, but if your character is added to a combat (GMs: right click the token and click the sword and shield icon), this is the bonus your initiative rolls will use in the combat tracker.
If your class has a resource type it needs to track (or if you have custom resources enabled) they'll show up in the top section of your character. For example, here's an (impossible) character with the commander, monk and rogue classes:
Momentum, Command Points, and Ki Points will show up automatically based on your class. We don't yet currently have support built in for other resources like Focus for the Occultist, but you can still add those by using the custom resource section of the Settings tab. You can also use custom resources to track other things, such as icon 5s and 6s, but you're only able to have a total of 3 custom resources on character sheets at this time.
There are three ways to add powers to your characters.
You can click the +Add button to the right of any powers category/group to add a new power with no pre-filled data. This option gives you the most control, but you'll need to be familiar with the syntax for filling out inline rolls to do that.
The Toolkit13 system includes all of the content included in the Archmage Engine SRD for character classes, so the easiest way to build characters is often to open both your character sheet and the compendium for your character class, and then drag and drop the relevant powers, features, and talents from the compendium onto your character sheet. Whenever you drop them, they'll automatically be sorted and placed into the appropriate group based on the grouping type you're using.
In addition to using compendiums to add class powers, you can use the Import button to the right of any power category to open a dialog that lets you import powers from your class compendium. It will open separate dialogs for every class you have currently (stacked on top of each other) and you can select any powers you want and click "Submit" to add them to your sheet.
To edit your character's biography, go to the Biography tab, hover over the content area for the biography, and then click the pencil icon to open the text editor and make changes.
Once you're in the text editor, you can either paste in your content or edit the text directly. The editor has a number of useful controls along the top row.
The Equipment tab of your character sheet collects your characters currency and any items currently equipped. There isn't currently a way to mark whether an item is equipped or just stored, but that will likely be added in a future release.
To add an item to your character, you can either create an item in the Items tab of Foundry's right sidebar and then drag/drop it onto your character sheet, or you can create a new item directly on the character sheet. In either case, the form for editing the item's properties is the same, as listed in the screenshot below:
Magic items have several special properties that will affect your power rolls if you're using the powers included in the SRD compendiums.
Items have 4 categories of attack bonuses:
Melee Attack Bonus - Your bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls via the @atk.m.bonus attribute in inline rolls.
Ranged Attack Bonus - Your bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls via the @atk.r.bonus attribute in inline rolls.
Divine Attack Bonus - Your bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls via the @atk.d.bonus attribute in inline rolls. Typically applies to spells on the Cleric and Druid spell lists.
Arcane Attack Bonus - Your bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls via the @atk.a.bonus attribute in inline rolls. Typically applies to spells on the Bard, Chaos Mage, Occultist, Sorcerer, and Wizard spell lists.
Items have 7 categories of defense bonuses:
AC Bonus - Your bonus to AC.
PD Bonus - Your bonus to PD.
MD Bonus - Your bonus to MD.
HP Bonus - Your bonus to maximum hit points if using the Calculate Max HP? setting on your character sheet.
Recoveries Bonus - Your bonus to maximum recoveries if using the Calculate Max Recoveries? setting on your character sheet.
Save Bonus - Your bonus to saving throws (reduces the target number).
Disengage Bonus - Your bonus to disengage checks (reduces the target number).
You can choose the chakra slot associate with the item. The system does not currently enforce only one item per chakra.
