User:Paleomancer/Emerald Sun (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Character Creation

=Character Options= Emerald Sun is intended to be a (relatively) lighthearted cross between Call of Cthulhu and traditional Dungeons and Dragons. Players are either mortals or mortal/eldritch abomination hybrids who are somewhat more powerful than most others they encounter, but still considerably weaker than the nightmarish entities and archaic civilizations who dominate this setting. To achieve great power in any adventuring discipline is to attract the attention of such beings, who may seek to employ, exploit, or destroy the characters.

Ability Scores
The 4d6/select three highest results roll system is recommended here, since characters are expected to possess higher than average scores for many abilities. The average ability scores for most NPCs will be the 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 distribution that is normally allotted to elite NPCs in other settings. It is recommended that players are automatically assigned one 18 to any one ability score of their choosing, and that no player have more than one starting ability score at or below 11. This reflects the rather competitive nature of the setting, and the fact that the players cannot hope to dominate others through sheer power.

Alignment
Alignment is, in Emerald Sun, more of a guideline than a strict categorization for a character. The Emerald Sun universe does not inherently favor any single living or undead species above any others; the default state of both the Material Plane and the Dreamlands is true unalignment, unconcerned with good and evil, law and chaos, or even the "balance" between these extremes. For moral and ethical concepts to have any meaning, individuals must believe them to be important. Players may be forced to balance their moral and ethical concerns, be it good or evil, order or chaos, with the need to survive. Spirit beings, such as undead, outsiders, or elementals, epitomize the Cartesian ideal "I think, therefore I am" to its extreme, and a spirit who truly questions its most deeply held beliefs can think itself into oblivion.

Character Stats
Some rules and guidelines for creating characters are based partially on material from Grimoire of the Balanced Wheel, Tome of Prowess, and Races of War. Unless indicated, the given rules apply to characters (and to monsters, for that matter).

Hit Points
Characters and elite NPCS/boss monsters receive maximum hit points per hit die. NPCs also receive full max HP for their first HD, regardless of their status in life.

Base Defense Bonus
All characters receive a base defense bonus equal to 3/4 * their base attack bonus. If they have multiple classes, calculate the base defense bonus for their total base attack bonus. This helps offset the lack of protective items until higher levels, especially for classes which have no access to defensive spells, and to compensate for altered armor items. Creatures without class levels receive no base defense bonus (usually such beings have alternate defenses, such as natural armor or deflection bonuses), while those with class levels and racial hit dice count only the base attack bonuses from class levels for the purpose of base defense bonuses.

Base Attack Bonus
For any character which has a base attack bonus high enough to grant more than two attacks (base attack +15) for a full-round attack action, there is only the -5 penalty for the second attack, and then the third and fourth attacks share the same base attack as the second attack. So a fighter with a +17 base attack bonus has the following: +17/+12/+12/+12.
 * Optional: You may use the Edge options as described on Advanced Combat if you desire. Note that this devalues feats like Improved Trip, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but may complicate the game more than desired.

Feats
Characters, NPCs, and monsters all receive a feat at 1st level, 3rd level, and every two levels after third (5th, 7th, 9th, and so on). Since feats are a huge part of how each character is customized, and since many high-end feats require less than optimal prerequisites, this allows players to improve their focus or branch off more easily.