Building Bhakashal - Character Creation - PCs
Art By Erikas Perl - https://www.artstation.com/perl
For the final entry in the January Character Creation Challenge I present the Bhakashal warrior known as the scarred man. The scarred man is an NPC warrior who fights in the Bhakashal arena. Most of those who fight in the arena are paying off an honor debt, so once they have proven their honor through combat they are free to go. The scarred man has been fighting in the arena for several years now.
He is tall, bald and his body is covered in scars from his time in the arena. He is extremely strong and rarely speaks for fear of his voice being recognized before he is ready to reveal himself. He wears a mask that covers his face and incidentally protects his head from injury.
"The Scarred Man" was a former Noble of House Jin who was disgraced after the discovery that he had been wagering on arena fights and poisoning opponents to ensure the results. He lives in the Raosk and fights concealed in the arena.
His goal is to fight in the arena for long enough for the public to either forget his transgression or to become a favourite of the crowds and forgive it, before revealing himself and regaining his place at House Jin. He associates with thieves and mercenaries in the Raosks and has a reputation for being vicious to all who cross him. He is very interested in anything to do with House Jin, and he has been known to go on the hunt if a noble from house Jin is involved, and he will take any opportunity to kill a member of his former House if it presents itself. The blacksmith who made his mask (Berril Latham) is the only person in the city who knows his true identity, he has been promised great wealth when he returns to his former house, so Latham keeps quiet.
Process
A. Choose a character class
B. Choose a Playable Group and Faction
C. Generate Stats
D. Calculate Saving Throw Bonuses and HP
E. Add Skills and Playable Group Abilities
F. Choose Deity and Languages
G. Choose Equipment and Clothing
H. Pick Armor and Weapons and Assign Attack Bonuses
I. Calculate Wealth
J. Calculate Encumbrance
K. Assign Spells/Class Abilities
M. Assign Personality Traits (optional)
N. Customize Playable Group Lore (optional)
O. Name Character
P. Assign magic items (for creating NPCs and PCs above level 1)
A. Choose Class and Faction (d100)
Mercenary - 7th level
Faction/Title: None - currently unaffiliated - formerly House Jin
B. Choose Playable Group (3d12)
Emberi
C. Generate Stats
For each stat roll 3d6
4 4 1 / 3 3 3 / 6 6 5 / 4 2 6 / 1 5 3 / 3 2 5
S 9 / I 9 / W 17 / D 12 / C 9 / C 10
Apply stat minimums
STR 10 DEX 10 CON 10
S 10 / I 9 / W 17 / D 12 / C 10 / C 10
Switch any two stats (you cannot produce a result less than a minimum)
STR and WIS
S 17 / I 9 / W 10 / D 12 / C 10 / C 10
Apply playable group bonuses
+1 CON +1 WIS
S 17 / I 9 / W 11 / D 12 / C 11 / C 10
Apply Ability Modifiers
S - 17 [+3]
I - 9 [+0]
W - 11 [+1]
D - 12 [+1]
C - 11 [+1]
C - C 10 [+1]/+5%
D. Calculate Saving Throw Bonuses and HP
All classes get a +1 bonus per level of experience
Paralyzation STR and CON [+11]
Poison CON and DEX [+9]
Death Magic WIS and CON [+9]
Petrification CON and CHR [+9]
Polymorph WIS and CHR [+9]
Breath Weapon DEX and INT [+8]
Spell WIS and INT [+8]
Hit Points
Class based, roll or take the average (1/2 HD) - Roll d8 for level’s 1-5: 1,6,4,5,8 = 24 HP, then reroll the “1” for 6th level, now a 3, so 26 hp, and reroll the three again, roll a 2, nothing changes. 26 hp final
Bhakashal - Hit Points
Table 1 - Hit Point Progression by Class
E. Add Skills and Playable Group Abilities
PCs get a skill(s) related to their playable group
Rolled: Weaponsmith
All PCs then get a roll on the Bhakashal Skill table once for every point of INT bonus
No rolls
Playable groups also have abilities
- move: 12”- land, 9” - trees
- vision: infravision 120’, +4 on saving throws against brightness related blindness.
- hearing: action - enhance hearing, reducing surprise to 1 in 6, on saves against sonic damage
Bhakashal Skills
F. Choose Deity and Languages
Chosen - Aeskaros – Anger, Vengeance, Fear
Characters get the language of their playable group and one other language of their choice, and then one roll on the table for every point of their INT bonus. If a duplicate is rolled, roll on Special Table 1 instead
Languages: Emberi, Saan
G. Choose Equipment and Clothing
Backpack, 50’ rope, (3) iron spikes, flint and steel, (3) torches, waterskin, iron rations, blanket - 200gp encumbrance, 10gp cost
H. Pick Armor and Weapons and Assign Attack Bonuses
Attack Bonus
+1 to hit for every 2 levels of experience for martial characters, e.g. +1 at 1st, 3rd, 5th
+4 Attack bonus
7th level = 3/2 attacks per round
Armor: Plate (Conquistador armor) - segmented metal plates over chain** - weight 450gp, cost 300 gp, initiative penalty - 1, AC:2, DEX lowers this to 1.
Bhakashal Armor
Weapons: 4 to start plus one at 4th and one at 7th level
Forfeiting a weapon proficiency slot allows a +1/+1 bonus with an existing weapon, he will apply +1/+1 to his sword and his hand axes
Weapons
Broadsword [+8/+4] 2-8/2-7, WS: 4*, WvrsAC: +2L/+3N, Critical: Cleave - weight 75/ cost 10
Bardiche [+7/+3] 2-8/3-12, WS: 6*, WvrsAC: -1M/+2L/+3N, Criticals: Cleave/Dismount / Sweep/Remain - weight 125, cost 7
Battle Chain [+7/+3]2-5/1-4, WS:4*, WvrsAC: None, Criticals: Entangle (ChainAC3/HP8) - 80gp/5gp
Weapon entangles target, 2 rounds to disentangle, additional critical hit against AC10 to maintain the entangle for additional rounds or to dismount, drag or pull over.
(2) Hand Axes [+8/+4], 1-6/1-4, WS: 3*, WvrsAC: -2M/+1N, Criticals: Dual Wield/Remain - 50gp/2gp
*Weapon speeds adjusted to reflect initiative penalty
I. Assign Wealth
All PCs start with 50 gp, a 50 gp gem and 50 gp piece of jewelry, plus 10gp per ability score bonus point in whatever form they want. For PCs and NPCs above 1st level, add [100 gp + 100 gp gem + 100 gp jewelry]/level plus 50gp per ability score “+” to wealth.
So: 70gp + 350gp + 650gp + 650gp gems + 650gp jewelry
Deduct cost of equipment, armor and weapons - 10gp + 300gp + 24gp = 334gp, so final total =
34gp, 300gp emerald, 400gp diamond, 600gp sapphire, 50gp pearl, 600gp necklace, 50gp ring
J. Calculate Encumbrance
Weapon Weights are found in the weapon listings. - 380
Armor Weights are found on the Armor Table - 450
Equipment weight is precalculated for equipment packs, otherwise consult the Equipment Weights table - 200
Deduct 50gp per point of CON and STR bonus - 200
Total all weight and consult the Weight/Movement table - 830gp, so -3” movement penalty, and drop all of his weapons or armor to speed up
Weight/Movement Table
K. Assign Spells/Class Abilities
- Multiple Attacks: Mercenaries get 3/2 attacks per round against all opponents as of 7th level
- Critical Saves: mercenaries get saves versus breath weapon for all combat and weapon criticals
- Henchmen: Mercenaries get personal henchmen at various levels, these are henchmen that throw in with the mercenary due to their reputation, they seek out the mercenary, not the other way around, so their loyalty is generally very high. They tend to be with them at all times. Mercenaries attract 2-4 0-level mercenary followers at 5th level, one of those who survive a season will become a 1st level mercenary in their service. At 7th level mercenaries attract 4-8 new 0-level mercenaries. 1-2 of them who survive a season will become 1st level mercenaries. So by 8th three of those mercenaries survived their 0-level “apprenticeship” and began to level. So to stat them out I will randomize their levels and equipment and such, and assign bonuses based on proficiency slots and ability scores. Rather than generate complete ability scores for the PCs, I will assign small bonuses to reflect them and if needed later will create the scores. The level of detail here need not be too significant, if they become important to the PCs in some way due to events you can fully stat them out.
3 personal henchmen (2,3,4th level)
Borgam Ruk (LV:3 Saan mercenary, MV: 12/16, HP: 9, AC 8 (leather), Weapons: Broadsword (+4/+2), Crossbow, Mace (+3/+1), Ranseur (+3/+1), personality: jovial, skill: trader, Magic: (4) +1 crossbow bolts, +1 sword
Layam Chama (LV:2 Emberi mercenary, MV: 12/9, HP: 7, AC: 7 (breastplate/greaves), Weapons: Longsword (+2/+1), War Hammer (+2/+1), Dagger (+2/+1), Shortbow (+3/+1) , personality: stoic, skill: animal handler, Magic: Potion of water breathing
Cuthross Kima (Lv:4 Saan mercenary, MV: 12/16, HP: 16, AC: 7 (breastplate/greaves), Weapons: Bastard Sword (+6/+4), Crossbow (+4/+2), personality: curious, skill: gemologist, Magic Items: +1 sword, potion of stone giant strength
- Critical Stacking: As of 7th level mercenaries can stack weapon and combat criticals on the same roll
L. Assign Personality Traits (Optional)
Up to four, rolled on DMG tables. Note that players should always get to:
Refuse or re-roll a personality trait
Interpret a personality trait
Patient, righteous, determined
M. Customize Playable Group Lore (Optional)
None
N. Name
Toru Quarn
O. Magic Items
level/3 permanent - Rolled: +1 sword +3 against magic-using creatures, +2 armor
level/2 temporary - Potion of Heroism, Potion of healing, Scroll of Protection from Lycanthropes
