Reign of dragons

Immersive roleplay sim

Character Creation

“What was done to me was monstrous, and they created a monster.” – V for Vendetta

Reign of Dragons is an immersive and narrative storytelling experience found in Second Life. To that end, the systems are simplistic to allow for players to cooperate to tell the best stories possible, while remaining fair. Nothing is certain. Everything contains a fearful sense of possibility. These are the steps to building your character so that your stories begin with a taste of your desired threads. Then you can add to that to weave a tapestry in conjunction with your fellow players.

A character sheet will consist of seven skills, the core attributes of what it means to exist in the world of Reign of Dragons, and a list of advantages and disadvantages. Alongside that, every character will be affiliated with a house and be able to contribute points to House Resources. Once a character enters play, Advancement Points will be awarded, which can be spent to improve your character’s skills, purchase advantages, buy off disadvantages, or contribute to the advancement of House Resources.

The First Step on the road is always the hardest.

Choosing an Archetype

In Reign of Dragons, all characters are free to advance in any direction that seems best for their story. But they will always begin with a single archetype that represents their core training, education, and upbringing. Archetypes don’t reflect standing or status at all. A Soldier that comes from the smallfolk may be a mercenary, brigand, or militia man pressed into service. A Soldier of the highborn might be a Knight most chivalrous or a monster most foul. But all these diverse concepts have martially at their forefront. Archetypes will guide you in your skill choices.

An Archetype begins with two skills that receive a +2 bonus to all rolls, representing the core training that comes with such an archetype’s life experience. Then you choose a third skill to give a +1 bonus to, representing an interest or less emphasized skill of your archetype.

  • Entertainer
    Some cannot live without a song, or a story. They are everyone’s best friend, sought out for drinking companionship and to ease the longest roads of weary burdens. Possible skill choices include Awareness, Stealth, Stewardship or Equestrian.
  • Noble
    The quintessential face of the highborn, the Nobles are devoted to accounting their houses’ costs and losses, gains and boons, and keeping their domain safe from harm. Possible skill choices include Awareness, Stewardship, Tactics or Fighting.
  • Schemer
    The towers of rulership are filled with people who will use any and every opportunity to climb. Schemers can be noble daughters looking to steer thrones from the shadows, plotting aristocrats prepared to make everyone else pay for their success, or the lower born playing a careful game to rise. Possible skill choices include Awareness, Stealth, Stewardship or Tactics.
  • Scout
    There are those who live freest in the wild, both a gift and a curse. They find themselves drawn to roles as messengers, forerunners, and the vigilant guardianship. Rangers and Northborn nobles, frequent messengers for lords, and the wilderness prone can all be found in the ranks of the Scout. Possible skill choices include Equestrian, Stealth, Awareness or Marksmanship.
  • Soldier
    Throughout Westeros, fighting men and women exist with proud traditions or just the will to pick up a blade and fight for their chosen cause. Mercenaries, Noble sons, or Wartime Lords are often found in the ranks of Soldiers. Possible skill choices include Fighting, Marksmanship, Equestrian, or Tactics.

Skills

Next, you should have a character sheet with 2 primary skills at +2, one secondary skill at +1, and four skills with no modifier.

Then you may allocate 4 points among your skills anyway you like provided no bonus goes above a +3. A perfectly balanced sheet would have two skills at +2, and all the rest at +1. But the world isn’t a balanced place.

  • Awareness
    This represents perception and intuitive grasp of spatial dynamics. You know how to read a room and how to recognize danger. This will be used to determine surprise.
  • Fighting
    All forms of melee combat, from unarmed brawls to long blades to maces and great swords.
  • Equestrian
    Horsemanship in riding and mounted combat.
  • Stealth
    Go unnoticed by either hiding and concealment or misdirection.
  • Stewardship
    The balancing of coffers and the mastery of logistics, feeding large houses and paying the upkeep of a manner, hall, or household.
  • Tactics
    Leadership in warfare, both large scale conflicts and small skirmishes. This is a special case in that others who acting under your orders will use their skills, but will be limited to your skill in tactics or their applicable skill, whichever is lower, representing the fog of war. I.E. You are going to fire a ballista from the deck of a ship, under orders from your lord. You have a +3 in marksmanship and your lord has +2 in tactics. You use the +2, because his orders will reflect what he doesn’t know and has mistaken as well as your skill in the shot.

Advantages

After skills have been determined, you may choose two advantages for your character, representing perks of association, specialized training, or the benefits of a noble upbringing.

Non-birthright advantages may be purchased after character creation with Staff approval at the cost of 10 improvement points. No advantage, other than Maester’s Education, may be taken twice.

Only one birthright advantage may be taken, and it must be taken at character creation. They are denoted with an (*) in their listing.

  • Alert
    You have a keen sense of when something is not right. You gain a +1 to initiative rolls and a +1 to Awareness tests to sense an ambush.
  • Blood of Andals (*)
    This birthright advantage comes from a proud heritage of the Andal Invasion. You receive a +1 bonus to both Equestrian and Tactics.
  • Blood of First Men (*)
    This birthright advantage comes from a proud heritage of the Northern bloodlines that first settled Westeros. You receive one extra health level, a +1 to a skill of your choice, and you do not take environmental damage from cold until 3 full rounds of exposure.
  • Blood of Iron (*)
    This birthright advantage comes from a proud heritage of the Ironborn Reavers. You receive a +1 bonus to Fighting. Ships are a familiar environment to you. You receive a +1 bonus to any skill roll on the sea, or aboard a ship, inspired by your need to live and die gloriously in the eyes of the Drowned God.
  • Blood of Old Valyria (*)
    This birthright advantage comes from a proud heritage of the Valyrian Empire. You do not take environmental damage from fire or heat until 3 full rounds of exposure. Even then, you are resistant to any flame less hot than dragonfire, taking one less level of damage than the exposure would warrant. You receive a +1 bonus to a skill of your choice.
  • Blood of the Rhoyne (*)
    This birthright advantage comes from a proud heritage of the people of Nymeria. You receive a +1 to Fighting and gain a +1 bonus to any roll made in combat defense. 
  • Born Castellan
    Running a domain comes naturally to you. Add +2 to Stewardship.
  • Born Rider
    You feel at home in the saddle and have a natural talent for riding. Add +2 to Equestrian.
  • Dragon Bond
    Requires Blood of Old Valyria. You may, with storyteller permission, roleplay the bond to a dragon. If the Dragon is full grown, it counts as a siege weapon and vehicle, utilized in warfare battles. If it is young, it grants a +1 to any roll in which the dragon can aid you, including defense, but it can also be targeted by physical attacks and killed if it loses 3 health. Due to your bond, the young dragon uses your fighting skill for defense gaining the +1 bonus for this advantage.
  • Dragon Dreams
    Requires Blood of Old Valyria. Once per week, you may make an awareness test to gain prophetic visions of what is to come. Alternatively, you may use it to grant a +2 to any roll, yours or anothers with whom you’ve told your prophetic visions, no more than once per week, representing visions of foretelling. Optionally, you may use it to inflict a -1 penalty to any roll you witness, and this can be done after the result is announced to retroactively force a failure.
  • Dragon Rider
    Requires Dragon Bond. You have bonded with a fully adult dragon, capable of holding a rider. Your dragon gives you a +2 bonus on any checks in which it can aid you, and has 6 health levels. It is used in warfare scale battles as both siege weapon and vehicle.
  • Golden Touch
    You have such a gift with money that it benefits your house. Any improvements made to your House Wealth are doubled. The house can benefit from only one member having this advantage at a time, even if more than one member has it. It never hurts to have a spare. The perils of noble life are deadly.
  • Green Dreams
    Requires Blood of the First Men. Once per week, you may make an awareness test to gain prophetic visions of what is to come. Alternatively, you may use it to grant a +2 to any roll, yours or anothers with whom you’ve told your prophetic visions, no more than once per week, representing visions of foretelling. Optionally, you may use it to inflict a -1 penalty to any roll you witness, and this can be done after the result is announced to retroactively force a failure.
  • Lowborn Sympathies
    Once per week, you may roll an awareness test to see what the rumors among the Smallfolk are.
  • Maester’s Education
    Whether you’re trained by a Maester or a comparative source of learning, you have significant expertise in one area of expertise and a broad, general education. You may utilize an Awareness roll to recognize heraldry. You may also utilize Awareness to answer questions in your chosen field of expertise. Examples include – Andal History, Legends of the First Men, Astronomy, Dragons, Metallurgy, Lore of Magic, Herbalism. This is the only advantage that may be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, it gives a +1 bonus to all areas of expertise learned, and adds another area of focus to the knowledge gained.
  • Maester’s Healing
    Requires Maester’s Education. You count as a Maester, Wisewoman, or Healer for medical care. An Awareness roll will allow you to identify poisons and to diagnose illnesses. Your treatment doubles the natural healing of a character under your care, provided they stay in your care for 8 hours a day while they convalesce.
  • Natural Leader
    Those you lead into battle trust you implicitly. Your followers do not suffer the pains of the Fog of War and are not restricted by your Tactics level when they make their rolls.  
  • Seven Skins
    Requires Skinchanger. You have improved your mastery of skinchanging to the point that you may have up to 7 animals bound to you. If any one or more of them are able to aid you, you get a single bonus of +2 to your rolls.  Each of them have 3 health levels and use your skills to defend. You may only control one animal by possession at a time. Rumors persist of slain Skinchangers living on in their bonded beasts, but that… that couldn’t be true. Could it?
  • Shadowborn
    You have such a knack for stealth that you gain a +1 to the skill, and a +1 to attacks made from ambush.
  • Skinchanger
    Requires Blood of the First Men. You have an animal companion that you’ve bonded with in the ways of the Greenseers of old. This animal is up to you to describe in form and behaviour, and gives you a +1 to any roll in which it may be of assistance. However, it may be attacked and killed, using your statistics for defense, including the +1 from this advantage, if it takes more than 3 health in damage. You can use it to spy on others as appropriate but you become nearly helpless while controlling the animal in your possession trance.
  • Underworld Connections
    Once per week, you may roll an awareness test to see what the rumors among the criminal underworld are.
  • Unyielding
    You have two extra health levels. This does stack with Blood of the First Men.

Disadvantages

After you’ve determined your Archtype, your skills, and your advantages, you must take one disadvantage, without gaining any advantage as a benefit. After that, you may take as many additional disadvantages as you feel fits the character, gaining one advantage per additional disadvantage you take.

  • Callous
    Your general disposition is such that people describe your face as “punchable.” All rolls in defense are at a -1. 
  • Clumsy
     In matters of life and death circumstance, you find it impossible to keep yourself coordinated. Panic takes your hands and feet from you. You take a -1 to Fighting and Marksmanship.
  • Coin-cursed
    You’ve never met a coin that wasn’t in a hurry to leave you. You take a -1 to Stewardship, and your poor choices with coin cost your house double to improve their wealth, no matter who makes the improvement. If someone in your house has the Golden Touch this cancels that out. If two have it, Golden Touch counts normally, and vice versa. Sadly, it is often the case that where a house has a gifted financier, they often have someone unable to understand the worth of coin.
  • Craven
    You flee from battle when given the slightest provocation. You take -2 to all combat attacks, but gain a +1 to all combat defenses. You have +2 to combat defense when actively fleeing without attacking.
  • Distracted
    You find it hard to focus sometimes, and as a result, take a -2 to initiative rolls.
  • Terror
    You have a focused fear of a single thing. You have a -2 to all rolls while around that triggering element. Common fears include specific fears of animals – such as spiders or snakes, environmental fears – such as a fear of heights, the ocean, or thunder and lightning, and situational fears – such as public speaking, crowds, being alone, enclosed places.
  • Horseshy
    You take a -1 to Equestrian out of fear of the four legged animals. A fear they can sense and act upon. This may also provoke dragons. Be careful.
  • III Studied
    You did not pay attention in your formative years, and cannot tell one house sigil from another. You cannot take any advantage about education without buying off this disadvantage.
  • Large
    You are unusually large, and uncoordinated. You take a -1 to combat defense rolls because of the awkwardness of your body in fighting conditions, and the ease of targeting you. This disadvantage could be taken by someone over 7 feet tall, someone whose weight is very high, or a combination of both. If your size makes your character awkward, it can apply.
  • Small
    Either by being frail or unusually short due to existing conditions of birth, you receive 1 less health level to a minimum of one. Someone with a severely underdeveloped frame might have this disadvantage. Someone with dwarfism might also take this disadvantage.
  • Spiritbound
    A love of spirits has become a fixation. You are nearly always drunk or planning to be so, and the liquid courage has so addled your mind that you take a -1 to Awareness and Tactics.

Health

Your health score is a rating of your survivability. Loss of health levels doesn’t just represent a hit by a weapon, a fall into a pit, or the kiss of flame. Sometimes, it represents the exertion to avoid such things. As such, your highest attribute is used to determine your Health score. As all Archtypes begin with two skills at a +2, your starting health will be at least a 2. Advantages and disadvantages are applied afterwards. Health can never be modified by advantages or disadvantages to less than 1. But those modifiers are still considered when positives are added.

Status and The Chain of Power

In the world of Reign of Dragons, the Royal Family rules by dint of recent conquest.  Royalty holds complete control over the Kingdoms, and in turn, they invest power in the Great Houses that have sworn them fealty.

The Great Houses are served by Major Houses, who are served by Minor Houses, who may be served by Banner Houses and Knightly Houses beneath them, all of which are served by the smallfolk and protect them from the machinations of others.

Because of the possibility of increase or decrease in standing, the ranking of status is not a purchased or improved attribute. Your house will afford you a standing by the virtue of its rank in the chain. Afterwards, the character moves up or down by the game of thrones alone.

Status is a guideline for roleplay alone, and has no mechanical benefit, but is no less deadly for that fact. An insult taken by one of higher standing can result in crushing hardships. While favor gained by the same can be a boon to savor.

Status Tier

10 – King or Queen
9 – Heir to the Throne
8 – Other Royal Children
7 – Lord / Lady of a Great House
6 – Heir to a Great House
5 – Lord / Lady of a Major House
4 – Heir to a Major House
3 – Lord / Lady of Minor or Knightly House
2 – Heir to a Minor or Knightly House
1 – Smallfolk
0 – Slave

Please note that slavery is not legally practiced in Westeros, but could be the standing of foreign characters and placed here for reference only.

Example Character Sheet

Please use the following Example for your reference when filling out your character sheet.