Götterdämmerung Character Creation

Basically the same rules as in Bossmuff's FSN Clock Tower for simplicity's sake, and also because it offers a lot of narrative flexibility. Again, if you've played any White Wolf game, you’ll have no trouble with this. Everything is rules light as hell.

Starting CP: 70

CP Costs:

Attributes: Current Rating + 1
Specialites: Current Rating + 1
Legend: [Current Rating + 1] X3. You get one dot free because you're not dead.
Clarity/Purity/Willpower: [Current Rating + 1] X4. You get one dot in any of them for free because you need a story hook.
Magic Knowledge: [Current Rating + 1] X3
Merits: As noted in descriptions.

Attribute costs per level

1: 1 CP
2: 3 CP
3: 6 CP
4: 10 CP
5: 15 CP

Legend costs per level

1: Free
2: 9 CP
3: 18 CP
4: 30 CP
5: 45 CP

Clarity/Enlightenment/Willpower costs per level

Note: You may choose one path that has a free dot in this; if you do so, it effectively reduces the total cost of the path by 6 CP (representing the first dot's cost).

1: 6 CP
2: 12 CP
3: 24 CP
4: 40 CP
5: 60 CP

Discipline costs per level

1: 3 CP
2: 9 CP
3: 18 CP

Traits

Attributes

This is pretty simple: it’s largely taken from the common system used in Expanse or FRW, for the sake of ease. Attributes represent general capacities the person may have. They may be anywhere between 1 and 5, with higher meaning better.

Physical: Your capacities for physical action, such as strength and agility.

Endurance: Your ability to resist physical pain and to perform strenuous activity.

Intelligence: Your focus on cerebral action and your general skill at using your mind.

Integrity: Your ability to keep your cool and your wits about you.

Charisma: Your personal magnitude and ability to affect people.

Perception: Your ability to notice things, and your general awareness.

Specialties

These represent areas in which you possess specific knowledge or training in a particular field. These are associated with the most relevant Attribute (though may be used with others in specific circumstances and with GM approval). Specialties cannot be higher than 5 dots total.

Common examples include Physical (Melee), Physical (Archery), Intelligence (Lore), Endurance (Rowing), Integrity (Courage), Perception (Body Language) and Charisma (Intimidation). Specialties are capped at half your Attribute, rounded up.

Legend

All PCs begin play with a single point of Legend, as anyone who's managed to prosper, let alone survive in the current era, is a figure of note. Among them are kings, sorcerers and crusading knights.

Legend is never rolled as a stat - rather, it represents a reserve of points that can be used to modify actions. Perhaps by sheer luck or divine intervention, your character is able to defeat the fatal commonalities of the era and push themselves to defeat the odds.

Spending a dot of Legend allows you to:

• Add an automatic success to a roll, preventing a botch and ensuring at least minimal success. On a botch roll, you merely fail.
• Reroll a bad roll, allowing you to potentially get a much better result. You take the outcome of the reroll, even if it's worse (or a botch).
• Force a roll against mental influence, such as mind magic, supernatural fear, drugs, agony, mystic repulsion, or illusion. This may be used to resist the effects of personal Flaws (or Merits, if necessary). Success usually means the person gets a degree of control, or breaks free entirely. The roll is decided based on the nature of the influence, but is usually Endurance, Integrity, or Perception.
• Spending TWO willpower against mental influence instantly counters the effect as if you rolled all successes on your full dice pool, and makes you immune to the effects until you next sleep (or 24 hours have past, whichever comes first).
• Instantly replenish 5 mana as you force ambient energy from the surrounding area to bend to your will. This is enough for a last moderate spell, or a bit of energy for that big ritual that you're just short of while the horrible demon is looking at you like he's flensing you with his eyes. Note that this tends to drain the surrounding area, making it difficult to use rituals or Willpower to regain mana in the same place. You may even damage some very minor enchantments. Because of how easy it is to gain mana, this is mostly done in pitched battle or other situations where you can't stop and meditate/ritually-drain something.

You start with one Legend dot automatically, which grants 1 use per dot. You may buy up to five dots worth of it. Legend is reclaimed at a rate of one dot per day when resting, by boasting successfully or by accomplishing something notable. In addition, Legend may only be purchase if the character accomplishes something great, that justifies the increase to their already great fame. For reference, most Kings have Legend 3 and the Pope of the Heilig Allgemeinhin Church has Legend 4.

The Elohim and some nature spirits also have a similar statistic known as Gnosis, which enables them to overcome reality by understanding the lies (as they perceive them) perpetuated by Monad. It grants them 1 use per dot and can also be used to force a PC to reroll.

Path

Path represents the character's driving reasons for entering the cosmic war with the Elohim and their self-identified purpose in life.

Characters may take as many paths as they like, mixing and matching understanding, purity of the soul and the will to fight as they please. Upon reaching the 5th rank of any Path, however, they may no longer increase their other paths without permanently reducing the maximum possible in their highest path by 1. Once one reaches the peak of a mountain and beheld all the sights it offers, they must forsake it in order to see others.

Path functions similarly to Legend in that any Path attribute grants a number of 'uses' per session (or based on GM discretion) for every Path dot a character has.

When using 'Path Channels', characters add their Path value to any relevant roll as long as they make direct use of a Path's central theme when taking that action.

Path Channels allow characters to also character to force rolls against normally impossible or unbeatable scenarios, such as the absolute mind control of some Archons or wielding a soul-stealing sword without being slain, and applies the Path value. A character can use as many Path Channels as they have available per session, but may not use more than one on any single roll.

In addition, there are other, undisclosed effects to unlocking the 5th ranking in each category, and a special reward for passing through all three absolutes of Path.

Recovering Paths

For all intents and purposes, a character regains all of their path and the end of a story arc. They also recharge a path completely when it is increased with experience points, representing the renewed vigor unleashed by accomplishment.

A character may also roll to refill Path Channels whenever they refill Legend, or automatically fill their first channels in all paths by spending a Legend. A character cannot refill beyond the first channel by spending Legend, because Path is an internal force and Legend is an external one.

Clarity

Clarity is understanding. The understanding one's self, of the universe and of the cosmic underpinnings behind the Elohim's birth and entrance into the world. A character with Clarity has set themselves to learn why? Why the world is full of suffering, why some men and women answer the call of the Archons and sacrifice their fetters to the world in their darkest hours and become Elohim.

In game terms, Clarity is the measure of a character's knowledge of the cosmos, the Elohim, Archons and their ultimate goals. Characters with high Clarity allow a group to actively fight in the war with the Elohim, providing them with direction

The thematic of Clarity is understanding. Characters who use Clarity Channels must do so in a manner that reflects their higher understanding of the world and the fundamentally different perceptions of reality it grants. The world may be fragile and on the cusp of undoing, but the burden of that knowledge is made your strength.

Characters who pursue Clarity are sages, alchemists and occultists, as well as spies and explorers.

0: Oblivious. You believe in things like free will and divine infallibility.
1: Questioning. You know very much about the spiritual world and the machinations of the Gods.
2: Aware. The world is less fantastic and most pursuits seem banal in the grand scheme of things.
3: Awakened. The scope of your understanding is painful, but a burden you must bear, alone.
4: Enlightened. You begin to question whether or not the question or the answer are the flawed elements of the equation.
5: Transcendant. The truth is the statement.

Purity

Purity is a lost quality that has been bled thin by the predacious and bloody nature of life in Fluchwelt. Some people might not believe in the power of goodness, but it's central to how and why you're able to survive. With faith in goodness and compassion alone, you carve a path through the world, protecting others with your martial prowess or guiding them as a spiritual luminary.

In game terms, Purity is a human being's ability to overcome the evils of the world through virtue. Characters with high Purity are pillars of emotional stability who can hold a group of world-weary and battle-scarred adventurers together with their strength of character and kind natures.

The thematic of purity is virtue. A character using Purity Channels acts in a selfless or self-sacrificing manner, while rejecting earthly vices and otherworldly temptations. Love and experiencing earthly pleasure do not deny virtue so much as the mind which covets these things above all others.

Characters who pursue Purity are questing knights, wandering priests and spiritualists.

0: Sinful. Like the majority of human beings, you have flaws.
1: Compassionate. You try to overcome your basic failings and help others.
2: Virtuous. People recognize your good character and the great pains to which you try to better yourself.
3: Faithful. You radiate goodness that pierces through the darkness. Elohim are disgusted by your presence.
4: Saintly. There are few people in the world who are closer to divinity than you.
5: Messianic. You have transcended virtue and become the very best a human being can ever hope to become, and perhaps more.

Willpower

Willpower is the Path of freedom, survival and self-determination. Willpower does not confer any sort of spiritual awakening, and is a path that represents the character simply struggling along the path of a normal, mortal human and moving forward through sheer force of will.

In game terms, Willpower is the human being's desires exerting themselves or being exerted by that person. Characters with high Willpower do not falter in the face of danger and will struggle to overcome all odds, making them some of most reliable members of a party.

The thematic of willpower is struggle. A character using Willpower Channels simply does the best that they can and does not stop until they've succeeded, no matter the cost.

Characters who pursue Willpower are freebooters, sorcerers and conquering warlords.

0: Meek. You prefer to sit by and let others take risks.
1: Stoic. You get into trouble on occasion, but nothing really phases you.
2: Stalwart. You stand firm at the sights that have caused grown men to turn and flee.
3: Fearless. You know no fear and can only walk even deeper into Hell.
4: Unbreakable. Death is all around you, but you will fight. All you can do is fight.
5: Eternal. Not even death will stop you.