Joining a game of Realmspire requires players to create their own character. A character acts as an in-game avatar and is a combination of your imagination and game statistics, that you create in mind with goals and motivations for roleplaying.


You track your character's notes on a character sheet, which you can download below.

Step 1: Choose Origin

The first step in creating your own character is to choose their origin. Origins capture a character's ancestry, home realm, and any languages they know. It sets the biological and cultural framework for your own character.

Warrior Features

Fighter's Physique


An ancestry is the species of your character. Every character belongs to one of the many ancestries that explore the realms. Your chosen ancestry determines your size, base attributes (more on that in Step 4), and can grant you special abilities, such as being able to see in the dark. They also provide you with a cultural framework, based on their history and behavioral tendencies.

The most common ancestries are humans (Baldrian, Nordling, and Sahani), Elves (Light and Dark Elves), and dwarves. You can find an overview of all ancestries here.

Record your ancestry's features on your character sheet. 

Native Realm

The world of Realmspire is made up of 4 different realms: Gaia, Talamh, Pandora, and Nidavellir. These realms are self-contained worlds, with wildly different flora, fauna, struggles and realities. Each ancestry calls one of these realms their home. It is up for you to decide whether or not your character hails from their native realm or has lived their life up to this point in a different world. If this is the case, work out with your Gamemaster why and when they moved.

Most Realmspire games take place on Gaia. This realm is made up of medieval kingdoms, where humans fight trolls, orks, and goblins. Remember to consult your Gamemaster which realm your game features. Record your character's home realm on your character sheet.

Languages

A list of languages catered to your ancestry is presented at the end of each ancestry description. You can learn a number of these languages equal to your INT, though one of them must be Common. You are able to speak, read, and write in these languages. See more on languages here.

Record your character's languages on your character sheet.

Step 2: Generate Luck

The next step involves generating a special attribute called Luck. You can use Luck to alter your character's fate during both character creation and the game.

The Luck Roll

The roll of 2D4 determines your Luck score. Over the course of character creation, you will be offered opportunities to burn your luck, permanently reducing this attribute. It is recommended not to burn all of your Luck during character creation, as it might come in handy doing play.

Step 3: Roll Constellation

Great constellations of the night sky depict the metaphysical planes of celestial gods and fiends. Over the course of each month, a single constellation shines brightest, influencing the realms with their power. The stars during your character's birth have influenced their personality and motives. Each constellation grants a you a special blessing, as well as suggested personality details for your character.

Choose Season

The three major season of Realmspire are First Seed, Hearthfire, and Frostfall. Choose which season your character was born under, roll a D4, and consult which constellation influenced their birth.


Lucky Stars

At the cost of burning 1 Luck, you can freely choose which guiding constellation your character was born under. You cannot choose the Coin in this way.

First Seed

The Jester

This constellation appears strongly during the month of March and depicts Khyber's domain, the plane of Styx. Those born under the Jester are natural performers, and the center of every party.


Blessing. When you fail a test, you can give yourself a bonus to that test equal to the number of allies within 10m of you (maximum of +5), possibly changing the outcome. Once you use this blessing, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.

The Shadow

In April, the Shadow constellation stalks the sky. The shadowborn are a tricky people with unpredictable motives, that revel in chaos. The Shadow depicts Oghma's plane of Apocrypha.


Blessing. Your Charisma score increases by 2.

The Coin

During the month of May, the plane of Nirvana, Fortuna's plane, shines strongest. The goddess of luck blesses her children with good fortune. Those born under her constellation are natural explorers and risk takers.


Blessing. Your Luck score is raised to 10, though whenever you burn your Luck, burn twice the amount.

The Travellers

In June, the Travellers dance in the sky. They depict Viatus' plane of splendor, Elysium. Those born under this sign are curious adventurers.


Blessing. You gain a +2m bonus to your striding speed and learn two additional languages of your choice.

Hearthfire

The Knight

The Knight represents Gladius' plane, Ludus and shines strongest during the month of July. Those born under this sign are blessed with vigor.


Blessing. Your Endurance score is raised by 2.

The Tyrant

This constellation dominates the month of August, and depicts Azazel's plane of Oblivion. Tyrant-born are ambitious and strong, but often lack consideration for others.


Blessing. Your Strength and Willpower scores are raised by 1, but your Charisma suffers a -1 penalty.

The Beast

The Beast prowls in September, depicting Gorgoth's plane of Pandemonia. Gorgoth's savagery has a strong influence on his children.


Blessing. You maximum Health is increases by 5, and you have a natural AR of 3.

The Forge

October ends the season of Hearthfire with the Forge. This constellation depicts Artifex's plane of creativity, Genesis. Those born under his sign are great craftsmen. 


Blessing. You can treat all Crafting tests as one difficulty easier.

Frostfall

The Crone

In November, Frostfall starts as the Crone enters the skies. She depicts the Haera's plane of death, called the Abyss. Those born under her sign have a strong affinity for mana, but are also more susceptible to it.


Blessing. Your maximum Mana increases by 15, but you also gain Magic Vulnerability (3).

The Scroll

In December, the Scroll illuminates its children. It depicts Minerva's plane Arcadia. She is goddess of wisdom and magic, and grants those under her guidance cunning and insight.


Blessing. At the end of every game session, you gain bonus experience points equal to twice your Intelligence score.

The Bones

In January, the Bones are layed out in the cosmos. They depict Belial's plane of Tartaros, who is assoicated with souls and greed.


Blessing. Oncer per day, you can consult the bones over a 10 minute ritual. Roll two D20s and note their results. You can use these results in place of any other D20 that is rolled until you perform this ritual again. You can't use the same result twice.

The Dragon

Frostfall ends in February with the Dragon. This constellation depicts Dynastes, the god of life, and his plane of Numenoia. He blesses those born under his sign with potential for the arcane arts.


Blessing. You can treat all magic skills to be governed by your Charisma score.

Step 4: Determine Attributes

In this step, you'll generate your attribute scores and calculate resources.

Step 4: Spend Creation Points

Step 5: Buy Equipment

Step 3: Generate Attributes

It is now time to create your attribute values and choose your gifted attributes.


Generating Attribute Scores

You gain 15 Attribute Points, which you can assign to your ancestry's base attribute scores (note: Luck not included). Assigning a point to an attribute increases its score by 1. You can at most assign 4 points to a single attribute during character creation.

Optional Rule: Roll for Attribute

GM's can choose that players need to roll for their attributes. Roll a d4 seven times and freely assign each roll to your ancestry's base attributes.

Gifted Attributes

Gifted attributes are attributes a character is naturally talented with. The player decides which two attributes their character is gifted with. They must be two different attributes and it cannot be Luck. When gaining Skill Ranks and Perks governed by a gifted attribute, you only spend 75% of the usual XP cost.


Calculating Resources

Step 4: Spend Experience Points

In Realmspire, players use experience points (XP) to track and purchase advancements. A character gains XP by resolving quests, overcoming obstacles, and defeating foes. 


Gifted Attributes

Remember that the Attribute Boost, Improve Skill Rank, and Gain Perk advancements only cost 75% XP if they are governed by your character's gifted attributes. 


If an advancement has multiple governing attributes and at least one of those attributes is a gifted attribute, you are entitled to the cheaper XP cost as well.

Advancement Descriptions

Attribute Boost

XP Cost: 100 x Current Score

Choose an attribute that isn't Luck. You improve it's score by one. A score can be increased in this way an unlimited amount of times.

Improve Skill Rank

XP Cost: Vaires by rank (see Advancement table)

Your rank with a skill of your choice improves by one, to a maximum of Rank V. You must unlock each skill rank in order of progression.

Gain Perk

XP Cost: Varies by perk rank 

Choose a Perk from one of the six aspects: Might, Finesse, Mind, Eloquence, Leadership, or Magic. To gain it's benefits, you must meet its requirements. If you later fail to meet a Perk's requirement, its benefits are unavailable to you until you meet them again. 


Like skill ranks, the highest obtainable perk you can gain is equal to your power rank. Read more on perks in the Character Advancement.


Expand Fighting Style

XP Cost: 25 XP per piece of equipment

Your Fighting Style is a list of equipment your character is trained in. A Fighting Style can cover up to 10 pieces of equipment. Read more on Fighting Styles in the Combat chapter.


Learn Language

XP Cost: 200 XP

Downtime: 1 month

When you first create your character you learn a number of languages that you can speak, read, and write up to your INT. 

You can learn additional languages by spending a month of downtime, paying the XP cost at the end. Treat this Advancement as if governed by Intellect.


Learn Spell

XP Cost: 100 XP per rank of the spell 

Downtime: 1 day per rank of the spell

Learning magic requires time and experience. 

Every spell you learn after character creation requires you to spend 1 day of downtime per rank of the spell. At the end of the learning period, make an Arcana test. If you pass, pay the XP cost and learn the spell. On a failure, you must repeat this process.

XP Cost: 25 XP x current rank of spell 

Some spells can be empowered, furthering your mastery of that spell. 

A spell's description tells you if and how many times a spell can be empowered. An empowerment increases it's magnitude and rank by one. 

You must unlock each empowerment in order of progression.

XP Cost: 50 XP 

You can use morphs to change a spell your already know. Simply pay the XP cost to learn a morph.

Step 5: Buy Equipment

Now it's time to purchase your equipments. Equipment is sortiment of items that your character carries, ranging from weapons, armor, and other adventuring gear. 

The GM decides how many galleons you can spend on equipment. Remember that even if you have the necessary funds to purchase an item, it might not be reasonable for you to have it. 

Consult your GM before finalizing your equipment list. Some stories may start with the characters as prisoners, while others start as noble lord and ladies.

Step 6: Finishing Touches

One of the last steps to creating your character is calculating attribute bonuses and your resources. Consult the Resource/Formula table, or read up on resources in the Attributes & Skills chapter. Remember also to determine what languages your character speaks.


Thereafter you should work with your GM to come up with a backstory for your character. A good backstory frames a person's goals and motivations. In an RPG, these elements are used to write plot hooks and help to let your GM know what you want to achieve with your character


Thinking about your character in "wants" and "faults" can help shape their personality, preparing you to roleplay your character.

Character Advancement