Table of Contents
Character Statistics
Player Characters are described by a set of statistics defining their capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses in the game world.
Ability Scores
The ratings of an adventurer’s defining physical and mental attributes. There are 6 Abilities: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. See Ability Scores. Ability Scores are recorded as numbers between 3–18, with 3 being the worst score possible and 18 the best.
Kindred
A character may be human or one of a number of types of fantastic intelligent creatures that live in Dolmenwood. Each Kindred has a number of special traits, from fairy magic to bonuses in combat. The Kindreds players may choose from are: breggle, elf, grimalkin, human, mossling, woodgrue.
Size: A character’s Kindred determines their size: either human-sized (Medium) or smaller than human-sized (Small).
Creature type: A character’s Kindred determines their creature type as demi-fey, fairy, or mortal.
Native languages: A character’s Kindred determines their native languages.
Class
A character’s role or profession as an adventurer. Each Class has a number of special traits, from combat talents to spell-casting. The Classes players may choose from are: bard, cleric, enchanter, fighter, friar, hunter, knight, magician, thief.
Weapons and armour: A character’s Class determines which kinds of weapons and armour they can use.
Level
A character’s expertise as an adventurer is denoted by their Level. Characters typically start play at Level 1 (the lowest Level of adventurer) and can increase in Level through successful adventuring. As a character goes up in Level, they gain more powerful capabilities, as defined by their Class. This book contains rules for characters up to Level 15.
Experience Points (XP)
A character’s advancement in the game is tracked by the accumulation of experience points. Experience Points are awarded by the Referee after a successful adventure. When a character has accumulated a certain number of Experience Points, their Level increases. Each Class specifies the number of Experience Points required to achieve each Level.
Prime Abilities
The Ability (or Abilities) most important to a character’s Class. A character with high scores in their Prime Abilities may gain a bonus to Experience Points awarded by the Referee. Conversely, a character with a low score in a Prime Ability may suffer a penalty to awarded Experience Points. See Prime Abilities.
Hit Points (HP)
A character’s ability to avoid dying. A character has a maximum Hit Point total and a current Hit Point total, which are tracked separately.
Rolling Hit Points: A character’s Hit Points are rolled with a die type determined by their Class (for example, fighters roll 1d8 and magicians roll 1d4). When play begins, current Hit Points and maximum Hit Points have the same value.
Damage: When a character is harmed, their current Hit Point total is reduced. If this number reaches 0, the character dies. See Damage Rolls.
Healing: Rest or healing can restore lost Hit Points up to the character’s maximum Hit Points. See Rest and Healing.
Gaining Levels: When a character gains a Level, a die is rolled and the result added to their maximum Hit Points. The type of die rolled is determined by the character’s Class. As Hit Points increase, characters are able to combat more dangerous foes and face greater adversity.
Armour Class (AC)
A character’s ability to avoid damage in combat. Armour Class is determined by the character’s armour and their Dexterity score.
Default Armour Class: An unarmoured character with average Dexterity has AC 10.
Combat Aptitude
A character’s aptitude in combat is classified as martial, semi-martial, or non-martial, determined by their Class. For example, fighter is a martial Class and magician a non-martial Class. Combat Aptitude determines how quickly a character’s Attack and Save Targets advance.
Attack
A character’s ability to hit foes in combat, determined by their Class and Level. A character’s Attack is a bonus added to Attack Rolls. See Attack Rolls.
Gaining Levels: As characters advance in Level, their Attack gets higher, increasing their chance of hitting opponents in combat.
Save Targets
A character’s ability to avoid certain dangerous or detrimental effects, determined by their Class and Level. Save Targets are the numbers to match or exceed for a successful Saving Throw. There are five Saving Throw categories, each representing a common type of effect: Doom, Ray, Hold, Blast, Spell. See Saving Throws.
Gaining Levels: As characters advance in Level, their Save Targets get lower, improving their chance of avoiding detrimental effects.
Magic Resistance
A modifier applied to Saving Throws against effects of magical origin, determined by a character’s Wisdom and Kindred. This may include saves against magical effects in any Saving Throw category, though does not normally apply to saves against breath attacks, such as wyrm breath.
Speed
The speed at which a character can move when exploring, travelling, or during combat. See Time and Movement.
Default Speed: The default Speed for characters is 40. This may be adjusted by the amount of gear and treasure a character is carrying. See Encumbrance.
Skills
Skills represent specific competencies useful in adventuring. As professional adventurers, all characters have basic competence with certain common activities—listening, searching, and wilderness survival. Some Classes grant the use of additional, specialised skills. See Skill Checks.
Alignment
Characters (and all other creatures) are classified as Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Alignment determines how certain magic influences a character and should be used by the player as a guideline for role-playing. See Alignment.
Background
A secondary profession or skill set gained due to a character’s upbringing or life prior to becoming a professional adventurer. Backgrounds play no mechanical role in the game rules, but the Referee may use them as an aid to judging which actions a character can perform. See Narrative Interaction.