Difference between revisions of "MLP Character Creation"

Revision as of 21:23, 14 January 2012

CHARACTER CREATION

Make sure you review Chapters 1 through 9 before using this overview when creating a My Little Pony character. Make a copy of the character sheet from the back of this book to use as a record of your character. Characters generally begin play at 1st level and attain additional levels as they complete adventures.

1. GENERATE ABILITY SCORES

Every character has six abilities that represent the character's basic strengths and weaknesses. These abilities-Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma-affect everything a hero does, from fighting to using skills. A score of 10 or 11 in an ability is average. Higher scores grant bonuses, and lower scores give penalties. When you create your character, you'll want to put your higher scores into the abilities most closely associated with your character's class. Use one of the methods described in Chapter 1: Abilities to generate your six ability scores. Record the scores on a piece of scrap paper and put them aside for the moment.

2. SELECT YOUR SPECIES

As a My Little Pony character, you can choose from different species of ponies or other creatures in later publications. In this book there are three basic species available, Earth Pony, Pegasus Pony and Unicorn Pony. Select the species you want to play from those presented in MLP Ponies. Each species has its own set of special abilities and modifiers. Record these traits on your character sheet.

3. CHOOSE YOUR CLASS

A class provides you with a starting point for your character, a frame upon which you can hang skills, feats, and various story elements. Choose a class from those presented in MLP Classes and write it on your character sheet.

4. ASSIGN ABILITY SCORES

Now that you know what species and class you want your character to be, take the scores you generated earlier and assign each to one of the six abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Then make any adjustments to these scores according to the species you selected. For guidance, each class description indicates which abilities are most important for that class. You might want to put your highest scores in the abilities that accentuate the natural benefits of the class. Record your ability scores on your character sheet. Record your ability modifiers as well.

6. DETERMINE DRAMATIC STATISTICS

In dramatic scenes, you need to know your character's fatigue, defenses, damage threshold, attack bonuses, and speed, as well as how many Harmony Points he has to spend.

Fatigue

Each character can withstand a certain amount of physical, social, or mental stress before becoming unable to act in a matter that makes sense in that context. This ability to take "damage" and keep on functioning is represented by the character's fatigue. Your class determines how many hit points you have. Your hit points increase as you gain levels. Every class uses the following formula:

Fatigue = character level x (class-dependent dice + Constitution modifier)

Defenses

Determine your character's defenses as follows:

Reflex Defense = 10 + half your heroic level + class bonus + Dexterity modifier + natural bonus + size modifier
Fortitude Defense = 10 + half your heroic level + class bonus + Constitution modifier + natural bonus (+ equipment bonus)
Will Defense = 10 + half your heroic level + class bonus + Wisdom modifier + natural bonus (+ equipment bonus)

If you wear armor, you must substitute your armor bonus for half your heroic level and class bonus when calculating your Reflex Defense. For example, a 1st-level guard with a Dexterity of 12 wearing a XXX (+4 armor bonus) has a Reflex Defense of 15 (10 + 4 armor + 1 Dex) instead of 14 (10 + 0 level + 3 class + 1 Dex). Some types of armor also provide an equipment bonus to your Fortitude Defense in addition to an armor bonus to your Reflex Defense.

Social Rating

Social Rating = half your heroic level + reputation bonus + Charisma modifier (+ equipment bonus)

Damage Threshold

Attacks that deal massive amounts of damage can impair or incapacitate you regardless of how many hit points you have remaining. Your damage threshold determines how much damage a single attack must deal to reduce your combat effectiveness or, in some cases, kill you. A Small or Medium character's damage threshold is equal to his or her Fortitude Defense. Record this number on your character sheet.

Speed

Your character's species determines her speed. Most ponies of Filly/Colt or older age and other medium creatures have a speed of 6 squares. Foals and Weanlings have a speed of 4 squares because they are Small.

Harmony Points

Your character begins play with 5 Harmony Points. Indicate this in the space provided on the character sheet.

6. SELECT SKILLS

Skills represent how well a character accomplishes dramatic tasks other than combat, such as disabling a tractor beam generator or climbing a sheer surface. Each class comes with a list of class skills. From this list, you get to pick a number of skills in which your character is considered trained. The number of trained skills your character gets depends on the class you've selected and your character's Intelligence modifier. Once you've selected your character's trained skills, determine the skill check modifier for each skill. The skill check modifier for trained skills is one-half your character level (rounded down) + the relevant ability modifier + 5. If you are untrained in a skill, the skill check modifier is one-half your character level (rounded down) + the relevant ability modifier. (In other words, you get a +5 bonus on skill checks made using trained skills.) Some skills cannot be used untrained. See MLP Skills for more information .

7. SELECT FEATS

Feats are special features that provide a character with new capabilities or improvements. Your character begins play with at least one feat. If you are playing a pony, you get a bonus feat. In addition, your class also gives you several starting feats that you get for free. Select your feats from MLP Feats and record them on the character sheet. Some feats may affect the information you've already recorded, so make adjustments as necessary.

8. SELECT A TALENT

At 1st level, your character gets a talent (a special class feature). Choose a talent from any of the talent trees presented in your character's class description. Some talents have prerequisites that must be met before they can be selected.

9. DETERMINE STARTING WEALTH AND BUY GEAR

Your character's class determines with how much wealth you start play with. Use your wealth check modifier to purchase equipment for your character. MLP Equipment describes gear you can select from.

10. FINISH YOUR CHARACTER

The last details you need to add to your character sheet help you visualize and roleplay your character. You need a name, of course-something that fits your class, species, and the world of Equestria. You should also determine your character's age, gender, height, weight, eye-, fur- and mane color, and any relevant background information you want to provide. (Make sure to run your ideas past your Stablemaster so that he or she can fit them into the campaign.)