This page is a flowchart designed to help you create characters in Chivalry & Sorcery The Rebirth. There will be a few examples eventually, but the first one will be a Fighter and the second a Mage.

When a page reference is given, e.g. 3-33, the first number is the volume and the second number is the actual page.

1. Core Rules
2. Magicks and Miracles
3. Gamesmaster's Companion

STEP 0- Think about your Character concept.
The first thing to do when designing your character is to talk to the Gamesmaster. Find out the following What kind of campaign is it? Particularly is it "Heroic" or "Historic". Heroic campaigns give more points to characters created that way and Heroic characters are bigger than Historic ones. What kind of time period is it? What are permitted Character Races? The standard in the three book ruleset is Human Dwarves (pg 3-29) Elves (pg 3-31) Orcs and Goblins (pg 3-33) Trolls (pg 3-37) Werecreatures (pg 3-41) Vampire (pg 3-43) Elves and Dwarves are expanded upon in their own book. For Dwarves, Orcs, Goblin and Trollish characters check the Errata What Vocation does you want your character to follow. A Vocation is the initial "job" that the character has been following, whether Knight, Priest or itinerant peddler. Each vocation has a Primary and Secondary Attribute. These are things like your innate Strength or Intelligence, the higher you have these then you will get certain bonuses in your chosen profession. Are any Vocations not allowed? This may usually be certain kinds of Mage or perhaps the G.M. is running a low level campaign where Knights are not permitted as all the characters must be lower class/ Does the GM see any holes in the expertise of the party? What Character Generation method is being used? i.e. Totally Random or Points method. If Points method, then which version. See Page 1-3 for details
STEP 1 - Choose your race (pg 1-1)
If Human then you will only need Book 1 and maybe Book 2 if a Cleric or Mage, otherwise you will need book 3.
STEP 2 -Decide which method to use in creating your character (pg 1-1 to 1-2)
Chivalry & Sorcery is set up to allow players to let the dice fall where they may or, if they prefer, use points. These points are used to purchase Attributes, Social Status, Special abilities etc. Some things, such as character deficiencies give the player more points to spend elsewhere. C&S: The Rebirth has three starting levels for points built characters Historic 125 points Heroic 150 points Super-Heroic 175 points
STEP 3 - Birth Omens (pg 1-2)
Next see if the Stars favour or condemn your character. If the Character's race allows a choice then a character can Choose neutral or poorly aspected Roll Randomly If using a points based method, buy "Well Aspected" or gain points for choosing "Poorly Aspected" Poor or Well Aspected characters have magical influences in their lives and the best magicians usually come from these people.
STEP 4 - Determining Personal Attributes (pgs 1-2 to 1-4)
Attributes are the raw numbers that show the innate talent of characters in physical and mental tasks. When assigning Attributes players should have in mind what Vocation he wishes the character to follow, bearing in mind that each Vocation will have attributes that it favours. If playing a totally Random character, roll a pair of 10 sided dice (adding one die to the other [0=ten]) eleven times, getting 10 numbers between 2 and 20. Discard the lowest two results and distribute the highest nine amongst the Attributes as you wish. If using a points method, spend points on Attribute in line with your character's Vocation. It might be worthwhile checking pages 1-37 to 1-41 for the attributes best suited for the Vocation you have chosen for that character. e.g. a thief with low Agility is going to have problems as is an Actor with a low Bardic Voice. Also other Attributes may be important to a character, e.g. a Warrior will always do well with a high DISC and AGIL and it is worth looking at the Attributes for bonuses in the skills a character in that Vocation is likely to use. For Mage and Cleric characters check 2-3 to 2-8 for Vocational information. Non-human characters have some extra, species specific, vocations to choose from. For Humans each point up to (and including) 15 costs one point and the last five points up to and including the maximum 20 cost 2 points each. Humans must purchase at least 2 points of any Attribute. Non-Humans will have some attributes that they have special rules for. For all other attributes they do the same as Humans. And find their "Attribute Roll" value (pg 1-4) Don't forget you can come back and change the figures if you have more points to spend or require more points to buy something else.
STEP 5 - Determine Player Character's background (pgs 1-4 to 1-11)
Social Class in a Feudal society determines your character's initial skills and, to a certain extent, his/her chances in life, how the law affects him/her and their status in that society. 5a Determine the general social class. A player can Choose Rural Freeman or Townsman as a default. Roll Randomly If using a points based method the character can buy their status. Note that being a serf actually gives the player points back. Note that each general social class has specific effects in generating the character. For example someone from the Guildsman class will increase seven skills in which they have basic training by 1 skill level. Some of these are bonuses for the player character being superior to the ordinary, run of the mill, person. All character have Brawling as a default skill (although female characters can swap that for one of the "gentle" crafts) and, if their Intelligence is over 11, they have Counting as a skill. There are some other skills that everyone has, see pg 1-36 and, if Book 2 is used, everone also has the Faith Skill, see pgs 2-20 and 2-84 to 2-85. 5b Everyone rolls for their father's (or Grandfather if they are illegitimate) vocation randomly within the general social class. This gives the character his/her basic social status and their initial skills. E.g. someone who's father was a Castle-Armourer (Liveried Freeman)gains Blacksmithing, Weaponsmithing and 2 Combat Skills.
STEP 6 - Sibling Rank (pg 1-11)
This determines the legitimacy of the character's birth, the order in which they are born and, consequently, how much a character will inherit. A player can Default to being the youngest legitimate child Roll Randomly If using a points based character, buy their status. Note that being illegitimate actually gives the player points back, being unacknowledged gives back even more) Illegitimate children suffer socially, gaining only a fraction of the father's social status (or, if unacknowledged, their grandfather's [see notes on tables 1.5b to 1.5i on pg 1-5]).
STEP 7 -Status in the Family (pgs 1-11 to 1-12)
How your character is regarded in his/her family. The status affects how much the character starts off with in goods and funds. A player can choose to be a "Credit" as a default. Roll Randomly (gaining a bonus if the character is the heir) If using a points based method, buy their status. Note that being a "Black Sheep" actually gives the player points back.
STEP 8 - The Curse (pgs 1-12 to 1-13)
Only Poorly Aspected characters have to roll for a curse, or those who are directed to the curse table by the Deficiency/Defect table (pg 1-15). Characters using the points system can gain 5 points and roll on the curse table to take the consequences. Or you can roll on the table for fun if you so desire.
STEP 9 - Special Talents and Abilities (pg 1-14)
A character can chose to gamble on having a special ability or talent, the downside to this is that they must also risk rolling on the deficiency and defect table on 1-15. Some abilities (marked in bold) are limited to those whom magical forces have taken an interest in by making them Well or Poorly aspected. Someone designed by the points method may buy a Special Talent at the cost shown up to a maximum of three Special Talents or Abilities. Explanations of all the Talents and Abilities can be found on pgs 1-22 to 1-25
STEP 10 - Deficiencies and Defects (pg 1-15)
If your character has rolled for a chance of (or purchased) a Special Talents then s/he must also roll for the chance of a flaw. Roll D100. On a 40% or lower you have a defect. Roll on the Deficiency and Defect table and follow the instructions. Characters designed by a points method who do not have a special ability or talent may also take flaws for the extra points they will get to spend on other things, e.g. Taking (Heavy Sleeper) to get the 5 points to spend raising, for example, strength. A maximum of 25 points may be taken in this way. Explanations of all the Talents and Abilities can be found on pgs 1-25 to 1-27
STEP 11 - Personal Fears (pgs 1-11 to 1-12)
Unless due to a curse (step 8) or character flaw (step 10), this section is purely voluntary. A character does not need to have a phobia and there are no points to be gained from taking one. A player can roll randomly or select from the table as they see fit.
STEP 12 - Determine Character size (pgs 1-16 to 1-17)
If not defaulting to the average height (for a Historic male 5'8") and Build (Average) characters can either spend points to influence height and weight or roll. To determine height and weight, two sets of die rolls are required, one for the height and the other for the build. The build is used to adjust the weight depending on whether the character is skinny or stocky.. Which die rolls you make depends on your gender, race and (if human) whether or not your GM is using "Historic" or "Heroic" sizes. Players rolling should roll the indicated amount for height. Roll for build If using the points method then you can spend 5 points to increase/decrease height by 1 to 6 inches (e.g. a height of 5'8" can become 6'2") 5 points to increase/decrease build by 1 to 3 points (e.g. a build of 8 can become 6) Adjust the build roll if AGIL or CON require it, and read the results off the Universal Table. The basic weight of a character is 10lbs plus 5lbs per inch over 40 inches, so an average Historic male character 5'8", having 28 inches over 40, would weigh 10 + (28 x 5) = 150lbs. If they were on the heavy side of average (+5% in weight) then the character would weigh 157.5 lbs Remember to check the errata for the amended details for Orcs, Goblins and Trolls, oh my!
STEP 13 - Body Levels (pg 1-17 to 1-18)
The calculation for Body Levels (in effect, hit points) is based on the character's weight. Take the reading from the table on page 1-17, so our character in step 12 would have a base Body Points of 19. To that is added the value of your Constitution and half your Strength (rounded down) Consult the chart against CON (on pg 1-18) to see how quickly the character resists disease or recovers from injury.
STEP 14 - Fatigue Levels (pgs 1-17 to 1-18)
Fatigue is the Stamina of the character, light wounds and any exertion will temporarily reduce Fatigue. To find the Fatigue Level find the higher of Discipline or Strength . Add that number to your Constitution. Consult the table to find out how quickly you recover your fatigue if sleeping or resting
STEP 15 - Carry Capacity and Lifting (pg 1-19)
Fairly obviously, the Stronger your character, the more your character can lift. C&S abstracts this as a sliding scale of a percentage of your body mass compared to your strength, plus 5Lbs. You normal carrying capacity is half your lifting ability. Consult the table on pg 1-19 to find the percentage, e.g. for a character whose weight is 150lbs and has a strength of 10 the lifting ability (LCAP) of your character is LCAP = 5lbs + (150lbs x 0.8) = 125lbs and the carrying capacity (CCAP) CCAP = LCAP x 0.5 rounded up In the example above CCAP = 125lbs x 0.5 = 62.5. Rounded up that is 63lbs.
STEP 16 - Jumping (pg 1-20)
The figure given for Jumping is a base figure for various types of jump. It is calculated by taking JUMP = 0.25 x (STR + AGIL) Humans get an extra two feet to add, Elves an extra three feet on their base jump. The Jump is reduced by weight carried or if jumping from a stand, but it is increased if a run is taken or the Jump Skill studied.
STEP 17 - Movement (PGs 1-20)
Movement, in this case, means how much a character can perform in a certain amount of time. This is particularly used in combat. Movement is measured by Action Points, to find out the Base number of Action Points (BAP) that a character has find the higher of Constitution or Intellect . Add that number to your Agility. Divide by two and round down If Intellect or Constitution is over 20 then use the figure 20. e.g. The Dwarf Boggis has Con 22, Int 12 and Agility 14. So Boggis uses CON 20 and AGIL 14 to calculate the BAP, in this case (34/2) = 17. The higher the BAP, the better chance that that character will have the initiative in combat.
STEP 18 - Horoscope (pgs 1-20 to 1-21)
Although optional, the Horoscope has always been an interesting feature of C & S, giving bonuses to characters who follow the Vocation that the Stars have charted for them. The Horoscope may be rolled for, or paid for by spending 10 points. In C & S: The Rebirth, this bonus is shown by the gift of extra skills. If these skills are ones that are important to the Character's Vocation (Primary Vocational Skill see pg 1-36) then they may become Masteries. (See Step 22 for a discussion of Masteries, Masteries are Skills that suits his/her Vocation that the character will learn much more easily than skills not of his/her Vocation. Briefly, these are areas whose skills the character may learn more easily. As the Stars show that certain areas are more suited to the character, the character chooses two bonus skills. If the skills chosen are Vocational skills then the character can gain extra experience points from use of that skill. A well-aspected character can gain a +5% bonus for a skill which the stars favour.
STEP 19 - Age (pg 1-21)
The older a character is, the more experience s/he has, and the more experience points to spend on skills before the character joins the game. To determine the starting age of a character do one of the following Take a basic 18 year old character, at no point cost Or, roll D100 and accept the result. Or pay points to take an older character e.g. pay 6 pts for a 21 year old Human character Or receive points by taking a younger character., E.g. take a 15 year old Human and receive 6 points NoteThis is one area where a GM might easily tinker to affect his/her campaign by adjusting the level of Starting experience points. E.g. Terry sticks to the book and uses 5,000 as the base level of experience points. Nigel uses 25,000 as the base level so that characters can start off at higher levels or with better developed skills. ed does the same as Nigel but at the lower figure of 15,000 points.
STEP 20- Personalising your character's Looks (pg 1-20)
If you have no particular ideas as to how your character looks, you can look through the tables at the bottom of page 1-21 to help you determine eye colour, skin texture etc.
STEP 21 - Completing your basic character(PGs 1-3 to 1-20)
If you have points left over or need points to balance the character by taking disadvantages or reduce the expenditure on something then now's the time to do it. Also a good time to name your character if you haven't done so already. By now you should have an idea of the Vocation of that you want for your character. If you don't then now's the time to pick one. Look through the pages 1-37 to 1-41, 2-3 to 2-8 and/or the non-Human sections in Book 3 and you will see which Attributes best suit the various vocations. e.g a character with high INT and WIS would make a good Necromancer where INT and AGIL should be high for a Physician. Note that each character gets 10 free skills at level 1 (See second column pg 1-37), the only restriction being that at least six of these are used for Primary Vocational Skills. These may be used for skills later chosen as Masteries so that the Mastery takes the skill up to level 2. The number of Masteries (the skills a character finds easiest to learn of all) a character has is 5. But they may add another every so often, in game mechanics this is abstracted by saying that the character may gain a new Mastery every N levels. To find out what number N is check the first table on page 1-37 . e.g. A Thief with AGIL 16 and Int 12, but DISC 14, adds AGIL to DISC to get 30, he consults the chart and finds he can gain a new Mastery every 7 levels. Each vocation lists skills that are best suited to that Vocation. Primary Vocational Skills are more easily learned than any others, Secondary skills have the option of being more easily learned, see Step 22
STEP 22 -Buying those Skills and choosing the Masteries (PGs 20/21 and 29 to 74)
At this stage the character should buy skills using experience points gained in section 18 depending how old you are. Masteries are skills that the character specialises in or has a talent for, perhaps from their horoscope (see Step 18). Each skill has a Difficulty Factor (DF). The higher the DF the more Difficult to learn. Primary Vocational Skills are always easier to learn but may be made even easier to learn by being Mastered. In both cases that reduces the DF of a skill. Reducing the DF and make the skill not only easier to learn, but give the character a higher starting chance to succeed. There are three catagories of skills which may be Mastered Primary Vocational Skills. The DF of the Skill is reduced by 2 Secondary Skills. If Mastered, a Secondary skill has its DF reduced by 1 and it is now a Primary Vocational Skill. This means that a SECOND Mastery can be used to reduce the DF to -2, Favoured Skills. If a skill gained because of the characters horoscope is one of the character's Primary Vocational skills then it is automatically mastered. Mastered skills have their skill levels raised by one. EG if a skill gained from the character's background is Mastered, then that skill has level 1. If the Skill is not known then basic knowledge (level 0) is gained. Skills are purchased using experience points and are bought in levels, each skill level adding 3% to your chance to succeed at that skill. The Base Chance is based on the DF. To that are added any bonuses from his Attributes(Each skill has a pair of associated Attributes. These are totaled and compared with table 3.4 on pg 1.29 to find the bonus) plus 3% per the level of skill. Remember Skill Chance = (Base Chance + Attribute Bonus +[3% per level]) The cost of the skill level is determined by consulting the chart 3.3 on Page 1-29. Eg for a DF 4 skill each level costs 600 exp to go up a level, as opposed to 300 exp/level for a DF 1 skill. Any Primary vocational Skill bought when the character is generated automatically gains 1 free level in the skill. If you try and raise a skill by more than the character's experience level, then mulitply the cost by the difference between Skill level and experience level. e.g. a level 1 character trying to buy a DF 1 skill to level 2 pays (2 - 1) x 300 = 300 points. To raise it to level 3 would cost (3 - 1) x 300 = 600 points. (see pg 1-34 second column "Improving a known Skill beyond one's experience level") Mages should check their "Personal Magic Factor" and "Magick Level" (see pg 2-23). These are measures of the Mages power and is used in calculations of the effects of spells and how long it takes to learn spells and enchant things. Starting Mages get the total number of levels in Methods of Magic x their ML in Spell MRs (see pg 2-27) Spell MR's are like skill DFs, the higher the number the harder the spells are to learn. All mages have two common spells they can learn, Enchant Materials and Transfer, see pgs 2-25 to 2-26. Clerics should check their Personal Faith Factor on table 7.1 on pg 2-84 There are some skills that everyone has as part of their background, Brawling has been mentioned already but there is a list on page 1-36 under Background Skills. Remember that these can have a Mastery Spent on them and this reduces the DF by 1 and puts the skill to level 1. In addition everyone posseses the Faith skill, see pgs 2-20 and 2-84 to 2-85. Finally the character can choose a few Hobby or Tertiary skills. These are skills that characters have picked up but not yet, fully, developed. For the number of Tertiary Skills a character can have check the table on pg 1-36
STEP 23 - Inheritance and Possessions (pgs 1-95 to 1-96)
Finally we come to what the character owns and how much money they start off with. This depends on their Father's Social Class. Obviously the higher up the social tree, the more money the character might be given, Status in the family. A well beloved child wil be given more than a "merely" loved child, and a "Black Sheep" will be thrown out of the house or castle and told never to darken their doorsteps again. If a fighter vocation, then the character will receive the tools of his/her bloody trade. Consult the list chart on page 1-95 find out how much your character receives in money, eg the child of a Petit Sergeant receives 400 pennies in cash, a weapon for each of the Mastered weapons skills, some armour and a light warhorse. If a Good Son/Daughter that character would get double the purse, if a Credit s/he would add a percentage equal to D10 x 5% as a bonus. Black Sheep get the base money and no more. All characters receive clothes. As stated earlier Fighters get possessions to start off with, an average quality weapon for each of their weapon Mastery and, if of the appropriate class, a horse and gear. The last thing before your character is ready for play is to spend your starting funds on any other gear from the lists on pages 1-96 to 1-100.

Proofreaders - Tim J W Simth, Guy Robinson.

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