These steps are provided so that you can create a human character that is invested in the world and feels like a part of it. It can also help you learn the world.
Step 1: Determine Nation
Your nation will influence a lot about what your character is exposed to, their baseline beliefs, and their cultural norms so it's a good starting place.
A result of "Roll Twice: Take Both" means that your mother and father are from two different nations. Assign the results to both.
Once you roll it, head over to the nation's article under Nations > Humans in the World Codex to learn more.
While reading, make a note of anything that jumps out at you; things that interest you or adventures that spring to mind. Also note how that nation defines 'family' and what a strong person looks like.
This doesn't represent actual demographics: it is skewed towards adventurers. This means a PC is more likely to be from nations like Ingsdt, Vipling, and Freslorf because they're more likely to be travelers, wanderers, adventurers, and mercenaries.
Naming
This makes up the first part of the first part of your character's name, along with their homeland and hometown, which we'll get to in the next steps.
This part of the name is just your nation. So, if your character is from the nation of Lussk, the first part of their name would be "Lussk". For mixed heritage characters, you'll generally use the one you most identify with.
Step 2: Determine Homeland
Now we know what your character's nation is, it's time to learn where they grow up. Just because you were born in a specific nation, doesn't mean that you were born in that nation's home barony. Your family could be a group of expatiates who fled from the orcish invasion or they could be merchants or part of a missionary group.
If you're of mixed heritage, choose one to roll on but gain a +/-10 weighted towards your other parent's nation's home barony if it appears on that table. This modifier can only be applied if it actually gets you to your other parent's home barony - it's all or nothing.
If you're not from a state that normally belongs to your nation, you should consider where your family immigrated from. So, if you're Pfaets growing up in Ingsdt: where is your family from? Are they Entaufhi merchants? Welb missionaries? Part of the Freslorf Dispora? This answer can help shape your character. You can see which states are options by going to your nation's page and looking at the list under the table of contents on the right.
The Drangsdt have spies everywhere: you're family is probably pretending to be from another nation.
Free or Contested States Table
Congratulations: your character doesn't belong to one of the established Baronies but is from a smaller state which is either sovereign unto itself (like the Stronghold of Bancs) or wishes to be sovereign but isn't currently recognized as such by its mother Barony (like the County of Hugu) or is not even really a state anymore but is still not happy about it (like Upper Juwango).
The Drangsdt have spies everywhere: you're family is probably pretending to be from another nation.
Naming
This makes up the second part of the first part of your character's name.
This part of the name comes first and is given the suffix -a. So, if your character is from the nation of Knach and the Barony of Loch, their name would be "Knach Locha".
Finally, if they're from an independent or contested state, this part of their name can reflect their status. Let's say they're from the County of Hugu, a splinter state of the Barony of Loch. If they support the county's independence, they would probably refer to themselves as "Knach Huga", while, if they didn't, it would be "Knach Locha".
Step 3: Determine Hometown
Now it's time to figure out where your hometown is.
|
D.o. Drangdst |
B.o. Al |
B.o. Entaufhi |
B.o. Juwango |
B.o. Kiend |
B.o. Loch |
B.o. Meedt |
B.o. Plensch |
Stronghold |
1 - 15 |
1 - 33 |
1 - 40 |
1 - 20 |
1 - 15 |
1 - 10 |
1 - 15 |
1 - 25 |
Notable Village |
16 - 65 |
- |
41 - 65 |
21 - 40 |
16 - 45 |
11 - 30 |
16 - 30 |
26 - 30 |
Small Village |
66 - 90 |
34 - 66 |
66 - 85 |
41 - 70 |
46 - 85 |
31 - 80 |
31 - 90 |
31 - 35 |
Isolated Community |
91 - 100 |
67 - 100 |
86 - 100 |
71 - 100 |
86 - 100 |
81 - 100 |
91 - 100 |
36 - 100 |
|
B.o. Sern |
B.o.t. Rhone |
B.o.t. Vipling |
Gb.o. Heiwia |
B.o. Ingdst |
B.o. Welb |
W.o. Freslorf |
B.o. Freslorf |
Stronghold |
1 - 25 |
1 - 5 |
1 - 40 |
1 - 40 |
1 - 60 |
1 - 25 |
- |
1 - 60 |
Notable Village |
26 - 35 |
6 - 10 |
41 - 65 |
41 - 50 |
61 - 70 |
26 - 55 |
- |
- |
Small Village |
36 - 65 |
11 - 80 |
66 - 90 |
51 - 80 |
71 - 80 |
56 - 70 |
- |
61 - 80 |
Isolated Community |
66 - 100 |
81 - 100 |
91 - 100 |
81 - 100 |
81 - 100 |
71 - 100 |
1 - 100 |
81 - 100 |
|
C.o. Hugu |
F.C.o. Ichall |
F. Dispora |
R. Exiles |
U. Juwango |
S.o. Bancs |
O.o.t. Dragon |
S.o. Niekernkinn |
Stronghold |
1 - 70 |
1 - 70 |
1 - 45 |
1 - 85 |
1 - 15 |
1 - 80 |
1 - 40 |
1 - 45 |
Notable Village |
- |
- |
- |
86 - 90 |
16 - 40 |
- |
- |
46 - 60 |
Small Village |
71 - 85 |
71 - 95 |
66 - 85 |
91 - 95 |
41 - 50 |
81 - 95 |
41 - 80 |
61 - 75 |
Isolated Community |
86 - 100 |
96 - 100 |
86 - 100 |
96 - 100 |
51 - 100 |
96 - 100 |
81 - 100 |
76 - 100 |
Definitions
Stronghold
Strongholds are centers of power. Even if they don't have a city surrounding them, they're usually the seat of the regional, if not baronial, if not duchal, power.
Once you know whether it's been destroyed, head to the world map and filter down to the Strongholds and find your home state (either the "Sovereign States" or the "Vassal States" layer). Once there, select a Stronghold that feels right (although, sometimes you'll only have one choice).
Notable Village
Notable villages are the large enough villages that most other people in the Middle Realm will know of it (even if they can't exactly point it out on the map). This could be because it's large and influential or because a notable event occurred in/near it). Sometimes both.
Once you know whether it's been destroyed, head to the world map and filter down to the Villages and find your home state (either the "Sovereign States" or the "Vassal States" layer). Once there, you'll probably have 2 or 3 choices. Pick whichever one feels right.
Small Village
Small villages are villages that don't meet the criteria to be notable.
Once you know whether it's been destroyed, head to the world map and find your home state (either the "Sovereign States" or the "Vassal States" layer). Once there, turn on the "Region Maps" layer.
If you don't see a region map, pick a notable village or Stronghold to be near.
Otherwise, go to the regional map and choose a village that appears on that map but not the world map.
Isolated Community
Isolated Communities are those communities way out in the sticks. It could be as small as a single family living in a fortified farmstead or even just a homesteader's cabin. Some of these communities are ancient, with their buildings built centuries ago.
Once you know whether it's been destroyed, head to the world map and find your home state (either the "Sovereign States" or the "Vassal States" layer). Once there, turn on the "Region Maps" layer.
If you don't see a region map, pick a notable village to be near.
Otherwise, go to the regional map and choose a village that appears on that map but not the world map to be near.
Lost Hometown
There's a chance your hometown was destroyed in the Orcish Wars; thus is the way of war. Just because your town hasn't been destroyed, doesn't mean that it hasn't seen the horrors of wars.
|
D.o. Drangdst |
B.o. Al |
B.o. Entaufhi |
B.o. Juwango |
B.o. Kiend |
B.o. Loch |
B.o. Meedt |
B.o. Plensch |
Stronghold |
0% |
0% |
10% |
10% |
25% |
0% |
0% |
33% |
Notable Village |
0% |
- |
10% |
25% |
25% |
10% |
10% |
10% |
Small Village |
10% |
10% |
25% |
25% |
33% |
15% |
15% |
90% |
Isolated Community |
50% |
10% |
25% |
33% |
10% |
15% |
15% |
50% |
|
B.o. Sern |
B.o.t. Rhone |
B.o.t. Vipling |
Gb.o. Heiwia |
B.o. Ingdst |
B.o. Welb |
W.o. Freslorf |
B.o. Freslorf |
Stronghold |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
100% |
50% |
Notable Village |
0% |
0% |
10% |
0% |
80% |
0% |
100% |
100% |
Small Village |
25% |
0% |
15% |
25% |
80% |
10% |
100% |
100% |
Isolated Community |
25% |
0% |
5% |
33% |
15% |
5% |
80% |
90% |
|
C.o. Hugu |
F.C.o. Ichall |
F. Dispora |
R. Exiles |
U. Juwango |
S.o. Bancs |
O.o.t. Dragon |
S.o. Niekernkinn |
Stronghold |
0% |
0% |
100% |
0% |
0% |
90% |
0% |
0% |
Notable Village |
- |
- |
100% |
0% |
5% |
- |
- |
5% |
Small Village |
15% |
0% |
100% |
0% |
5% |
100% |
15% |
5% |
Isolated Community |
10% |
25% |
100% |
0% |
5% |
80% |
15% |
10% |
Naming
This makes up the third part of your character's name.
Like homeland, this part of the name comes first and is given the suffix -a. So, if your character is from the nation of Knach, the Barony of Meedt, and the Stronghold of Meedt, the first part of their name would just be "Knach Meedta", however, if they're from the Barony of Meedt and the Stronghold of Echts, their name would be "Knach Meedta Echtsa".
As mentioned, if two people are from the same areas, they'll drop whatever parts of the name they share in common; so the first guy introduces himself as "Knach" while the other "Glepscha" - meaning he's a Knach from the Barony of Loch but from the village of "Glepsch". If the second was also from Stronghold of Loch, he would drop to the next level down (which we'll hash out in the next few steps).
Step 4: Determine Social Class
Now you need to determine where you fall in the social order.
If your home town was destroyed, you get an additional -5.
If you're a foreigner, you get an additional +2
Modifiers |
|
Stronghold |
+1 |
Notable Village |
+0 |
Small Village |
+0 |
Isolated Community |
-3 |
Hometown Destroyed |
-5* |
Foreigner |
+2* |
Roll (d20) |
Social Class |
Abbreviation |
<=1 |
Lower Lower Class |
LLC |
2 - 3 |
Middle Lower Class |
MLC |
4 - 7 |
Upper Lower Class |
ULC |
8 - 12 |
Lower Middle Class |
LMC |
13 - 17 |
Middle Middle Class |
MMC |
18 - 19 |
Upper Middle Class |
UMC |
>=20 |
Lower Upper Class |
LUC |
Lower Lower Class (LLC)
Slaves, drifters, leppers, outlaws
Middle Lower Class (MLC)
Tinkers, beggars, petty thieves, actors
Upper Lower Class (ULC)
Laborers, mercenaries, soldiers
Lower Middle Class (LMC)
Parish priests, craftsmen, petty merchants
Middle Middle Class (MMC)
Guild merchants, artisans
Upper Middle Class (UMC)
Guild officers, priests, doctors
Lower Upper Class (LUC)
Non-landed nobles, knights, bishops, lawyers
Middle Upper Class (MUC)
Heads of guilds, abbots, counts
Upper Upper Class (UUC)
Dukes, barons, powerful cardinals
Step 5: Determine Childhood Religion
Other Modifiers
Other things might play a part in your family's religion:
If your family works/-ed at a university +25 to Cult of the Father
If >=LUC & Kiend, +70 to Cult of the Cat, -70 to Ancestor Cult
If >=LUC & Hiewia, +50 to Ancestor Cult although it is always a familial sect
If >=LUC & Welb, +70 to Cult of the Bird, -70 to Brotherhood
Step 6: Clan Name
The next part of your character's name is their clan, which links them back to some hero. For prestigious families, these link back to great, world-shaking heroes in ages now past while most families will have a local ancestor who might have done a great service to the local community or faith.
Older clan names are Germanic in origin, giving them an archaic feeling, while newer names will have clans will have normal german names.
If your social class is lower than Lower Upper Class, you can generate a German name in the next step when you generator your own.
Otherwise, you can use one of the name generated
here
You're going to regionalized it, as per the set up in the next step and then add -er to the end.
So, if you're Zwek and you got the name "Seigfreid", regionalize it, you would get "Siygfriyd" so your clan name would be "Siygfriyd".
Step 7: Personal Name
Now is the final step of getting to know your character, which is their given name. These are based on German names with one change, which represents variant spelling based on the dialects spoken in the Middle Realm.
You can generate German names here:
Male
Female
I don't care
So, if you generate the name "Sabine" but your character is Lussk, your name would be "Sebuno".
Your final name will look something like:
Pfaets Entaufha Drechdta Iriser Layra
Monikers
Monikers are very common in the Middle Realm but they're only given out to people who are widely accepted to be deserving of them - village Masters, high-ranking priests, adventurers.
This is something that others give you. It is
extremely distasteful to refer to yourself by your moniker and even more so to try to give yourself one.
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