Chapter 2: Character Creation

Your Player Character (PC) is your most important asset ATTRIBUTE POINTS
in the game. They are your avatar, your eyes, and ears in
the world. But they, in return, depend on you making the Age Category Attribute Points
right decisions for them. Young 15
To create your player character, you need a character Adult 14
sheet. You can find an example at the end of this
Old 13
document, but the GM may create more detailed or
simpler versions according to its gaming group playstyle.
Your character has four attributes that indicate your basic
CHARACTER CREATION STEPS physical and mental capabilities, each rated on a scale
The summary below is a helpful overview. There are 8 from 1 to 6. They are Potence, Competence, Intelligence and
steps to follow. Some of these steps are explained below, Presence.
while other steps need a full chapter to be explained
properly (they are Races, Archetypes, Skills, Talents, and
Equipment). • POTENCE: Your raw muscle power, endurance,
physical resistance, and strength.
1. Define your Age & Attributes.
2. Choose your Race (see chapter 3). • COMPETENCE: Your balance, agility, coordination,
3. Choose your Archetype (see chapter 4). reflexes, precision, and motor skill.
4. Spend points on your Skills (see chapter 5).
• INTELLIGENCE: Your reasoning, logic, knowledge
5. Choose your starting Talents (see chapter 6). and learning capability. Also indicates your sensory
6. Purchase your Equipment (see chapter 7). perception and awareness.
7. Define your Dark Secret & Motivations.
8. Decide your Name & Appearance. • PRESENCE: Your charisma, strength of character,
empathy, willpower, and your ability to understand
and influence other’s behaviour.

STEP 1: AGE & ATTRIBUTES

The first step in your Character Creation Process is to
choose your age and define your attributes. Both
processes are directly connected. As soon you choose
your age, you receive points to invest in your four
Attributes – the basic characteristics and capabilities of
your character.
There are three age categories: Young, Adult and Old. Your
chosen age category shows how many points you have to
distribute between your four attributes. If it is your first
time playing on Symbaroum Campaign Setting, we
recommend you start play as Human (Ambrian or
Barbarian) as it may drastically differ from the
mainstream fantasy setting. See the table Age Category.
Your attributes are used when you roll dice to perform
actions in the game, and also determine how much
damage of various kinds you can withstand before you
become Disabled. So, your attributes will function both as
a reference value for your dice rolling, as a resistance pool
against different attacks and harmful conditions.
You can assign no less than 2 and no more than 4 points
to any attribute. However, you can assign 5 points to the
attribute listed as the “favored attribute” for your race or
your archetype. If the same attribute is favored for both
your race and your archetype, you can assign up to 6
points to that attribute. Chapter 3 and 4 shows the
favored attributes for each race and archetype.

AGE CATEGORIES

Age Category Ambrians Barbarians Goblins Changelings Ogres Elves Dwarves

Young 16 – 25 12 – 18 5 – 10 21 – 50 31 – 60 50–120 33 – 133

Adult 26 – 50 19 – 40 11 – 30 51 – 150 61 – 180 121 – 200 134 – 233

Old 51+ 41+ 31+ 151+ 181+ 200+ 234 – 333

 Chapter 2: Character Creation
STEP 2: RACE
There are seven different races you can choose for your
player character: humans (Ambrians or barbarians),
goblins, changelings, ogres, elves, and dwarves. You can
choose freely, although non-humans in human lands
usually suffer from racial prejudice.
Humans are by far the most common race found in
Ambrian Lands. While barbarians (also humans) usually
live in the wilderness. Together, both human ethnicities
form the most common race in a Symbaroum campaign.
Currently, Goblins and Ogres do not have goblinoid
kingdom and live in small tribes or bands throughout
Ambrian lands. They frequently work as slaves or almost
slaves in human cities, doing heavy labor.
Changelings, or half-elves, are shunned and feared by
both humans and elves. They are considered cursed and
outcasts, living alone or in small groups far away from
civilized lands.
Elves and Dwarves are culturally advanced societies of
long-lived humanoids that battle for sovereign against
each other for millennia. Eventually, the elves pushed
dwarves to their current underground realms below the
mountains, leaving the faerie people with a powerful
magical empire called Symbaroum.
Your race gives you a Favored Attribute where you can
invest more points than normal. Also, every race provides
Racial Traits without cost, giving your character unique
racial features. They are better explained in chapter 3.
STEP 3: ARCHETYPE
The archetype determines what kind of profession you
perform in the world – but also your role in the group.
Your archetype will influence your attributes, skills,
talents, your starting gear and what you can learn during
character creation.
Archetype can feel stereotypical, and they are meant to
be. Picking an archetype is a quick way for you and other
players to get an immediate feel of your character and
how he or she will contribute for the story. The archetype
is just a starting point to help you to create a unique
player character.
This document presents four archetypes in chapter 4:
Warriors, Hunters, Mystics and Rogues. Inside each
archetype there are several professions – or variations of
the same archetype. You can choose the archetype and
profession that better portrays your character race and
background. However, you always need your GM
approval, as some professions may be restricted to
specific races and cultures.
Your archetype gives you a Favored Attribute and
Favored Skills where you can invest more points than
normal. Also, each archetype provides a Professional
Talent without cost. They are better explained in chapter
4 - Archetypes.
4
STEP 4: SKILLS
Your skills are the knowledges and abilities you have
acquired and trained during your early life. They are
important, as they determine, along with your attributes,
how effectively you can perform certain actions in the
game. There are twenty skills, and they are all described
in detail in Chapter 5 – Skills.
Skills are measured by Skill Rank on a scale of 0 to 5. The
higher the number, the better. When you create your
player character, you distribute a number of points to
your skills. How many points is determined by your age
category – see the Table Skill Points.
You can assign up to three points to each Favored Skills
listed for your profession. You can assign up to a single
point to any other skill. You can increase your skill levels
during the game.
SKILL POINTS
Age Category Skill Points
Young 10
Adult 12
Old 14
STEP 5: TALENTS
Talents are tricks, feats, moves and special abilities that
give you a small edge on a variety of situations. They are
more specialized than skills and give you a way to fine-
tune your character. All Talents are listed and further
explained in Chapter 6 – Talents.
Your character starts the game with two Talent Points.
Each point can purchase one Talent or improve a Rank 1
Talent to a Rank 2 Talent. The Archetype Talent on your
archetype/profession description is free and have Rank 1.
With your remaining two Talent points you may:
• Purchase a new Talent at Rank 2.
• Purchase two new Talents at Rank 1.
• Increase two Talents from Rank 1 to Rank 2.
• Increase one Talent from Rank 1 to Rank 3.
If you want to purchase a Talent from an archetype
different than yours, you must pay double the normal
cost. This is the main modular aspect of this system,
allowing extensive character customizations. Your
character can acquire more Talent Points during play
with experience points.
 Chapter 2: Character Creation

STEP 6: EQUIPMENT STEP 8: NAME & APPEARANCE

One of the main pillars of Symbaroum Campaign Setting, Your character deserves a memorable name to be
(and consequently emphasized in FLS), is exploration. reckonable all over Ambria, do not mess with that. Give
So, having the right gear surely will help you to survive him or her a distinctive physical feature to be
the horrors of Davokar. recognizable between the mob and you are ready to go!

You must write down all the items you are carrying. Write
down one item per row in the Gear section on your
character sheet. If it’s not listed on your sheet, you don’t
have it with you.

• STARTING MONEY: Each Archetype shows how much

money you have to purchase your equipment at the
beginning of the game. The player can use these
money to purchase any gear with Everywhere,
Common and Uncommon Availability. Only characters
with a high social standing or criminal contacts/allies
could purchase gear marked as Limited. See Chapter 7
for more details on gear availability.

• ENCUMBRANCE: You can carry a limited weight in

kilograms. To avoid becoming slow and gain fatigue
damage points keep track of your total carried weight.
Chapter 7: Equipment has more details on how
encumbrance works in this system.

• CONSUMABLES: A distinctive feature of YZE is the use

of Consumable Dice to track, of course, consumables
like food, water, torches and ammunition. Chapter 7:
Equipment shows how these dices work.

STEP 7: DARK SECRET & MOTIVATIONS

Your PC has a Dark Secret – something that you have
experienced before the game begins that has left its mark
on you or still threatens you in some way. You are free to
make up your own according with your background and
archetype.

Your Dark Secrets is primarily a tool for the GM to create

stories and conflicts, but also helps to make your
background story important and meaningful. Should
your Dark Secret be resolved, or if you are getting bored
with it, you should replace it with other Dark Secret.

You must describe two motivations for your character.

One is your Personal Motivation. The reason you risk
your life on dangerous expeditions into Davokar, or why
you fight against the Elves of Iron Pact, for example.

The second is your Fellowship Motivation. The reason

you have band together with all other PCs in your group.
This motivation may or may not be the same for all group
members, but it should be enough to give every member
the same purpose, at least for now. Sometimes your
personal motivations conflict with your fellowship
motivation creating memorable stories.