Anwyn
Fantasy Express
Novus 2nd Edition
Novus 1st Edition
You start off receiving 30 Character Points (CPs) to use in creating a first level character. For each level beyond first level that your character reaches, he receives 15 additional Character Points.
These Character Points may be spent on a variety of things. It is up to you, the player, to decide what you want to spend them on. Here is a short list of the types of things that you can spend Character Points on when developing your character.
Learning Skills (p. 20) – Skills are a big part of the game. They are used for casting spells, and swinging a sword, as well as many other types of activities or actions. Skills have different CP costs based on whether they are Favored or Standard, and on how many ranks you have in them when purchasing them. This is explained in the Learning Skills section in the next column.
Talents (p. 26) – Talents are special abilities that the character possesses. They can come from a variety of sources, such as a racial ability, a magically acquired ability or even something that is simply learned once, and then no longer needs improvement. Your character actually already has a number of abilities from you Race and Class selections. These are considered Talents for the purpose of determining which ones you are allowed to purchase. All Talents are available for purchase when you first create a character. However, once play begins, you are limited to those listed as being Trainable.
Combat Moves (p. 47) – Combat Moves are special moves that can be performed while fighting. Their cost varies and is dependent upon whether or not you have one of the Combat Training Talents, and which one. There are a few Combat Moves that are free to all. These are the most basic that anybody with any sort of weapon training will know. The others require special training, but once learned, may be used with any appropriate Combat Skill.
Spells (p. 57) – Spells are codified methods of manipulating magical energy to produce specific effects. Spells are much like Talents in that they must be learned individually and once acquired, they don’t have to be purchased again.
Characters may only know a number of spells equal to the number of ranks they have in Magecraft + 3. Characters may normally only learn spells from the group known as Universal Spells or from their School of Magic. Characters normally gain access to a School of Magic through one of three Talents (Major Adept, Minor Adept, or Extra School of Magic). However, a character may learn spells from other Schools by paying double their normal Non-Adept Cost.
Now it is time to develop your character. You do this by spending Character Points on Skills, Talents and other things such as Combat Moves and Spells.
Every character will start the game being able to speak 2 languages and write 1 language (one of the two that he can speak). If your character is a Half-Elf or Half-Orc (p. 11), he will start with a third spoken language. The spoken languages should be based on the race and/or background of the character, with at least one of them being a common trade language for the area. The written language will be that of the character’s native language.
Characters may learn additional languages by purchasing the appropriate Talents.
Sample Languages
- Common
- This is also usually the trade tongue for a large majority of the campaign setting.
- Dwarvish
- Dwarves usually have two distinct dialects, Low Dwarvish and High Dwarvish. High Dwarvish is rarely taught to outsiders, and spoken only when alone with other Dwarves. Low Dwarvish is more of a trade tongue for the Dwarves and they are more willing to teach this to outsiders.
- Elvish
- This is the language of the Elves. This is sometimes broken down into various dialects based on the region where the Elves live. For example, Jungle Elves might speak a different dialect of Elvish than the elves living high in the northern mountains. High Elvish is the dialect spoken in the royal Elvish courts, it is a formal, stilted language and quite different from common Elvish.
- Halfling
- This language is rarely heard because Halflings rarely speak it when outsiders are around. They speak it only amongst themselves, preferring to use the language of neighboring races or cultures to interact with others.
- Goblinoid
- This is the language of Goblins and Hobgoblins.
- Orcish
- This is the language that Orcs speak. It is guttural and savage sounding.
- Sleesh
- This is the language of reptilian humanoids such as Kobolds and Lizardmen. It is a soft and sibilant language.
- Thieves’ Cant
- This is a specialized language, a sort of linguistic shorthand that can convey a lot of information in short order. The written form of this language is actually a series of codes and markers that allow those who know this language to spot such underworld locations as places to sell stolen goods, or where the local guild can be found. This language is never taught to anybody who is not part of the thieves’ guild, and they take precautions to make sure that it is not learned by outsiders.
Once a caster has used his Spell Points in casting a spell, it takes time for him to recover them and be able to use them again. How quickly he recovers them is based on how active he is.
- If the caster is active, moving about and doing things, he will recover 1 Spell Point every 30 minutes.
- If the caster is resting, laying still and not exerting any energy, he will recover 1 Spell Point every 10 minutes.
- If the caster is sleeping or meditating, he will recover 1 Spell Point every 5 minutes.
Spell Points are basically a measure of how much magical energy, often referred to as mana, a character is able to manipulate before they are required to rest. How a character accesses and manipulates that mana is based upon their primary School of Magic, but how many Spell Points a character manipulate before requiring rest is based on the type of Magical Adept they are and how skilled they are in casting spells (i.e. the Spellcasting skill).
Major Adepts begin with a base of 15 Spell Points while Minor Adepts have a base of 10 Spell Points and non-Adepts have no base Spell Points at all. All characters also receive 1 additional Spell Point for each skill rank (not total bonus) they have in their Spellcasting skill. If the character has more than one Spellcasting skill, then only the skill with the highest number of ranks is used.
Spell Points are used to cast spells, with each spell having its own unique Spell Point cost. Once a character is out of Spell Points, he has to rest to regain them. Refer to Recovering Spell Points on p. 57 for more information on how quickly Spell Points can be regained.