Birth Aspects
From Good v. Evil Encyclopedia
When your character is born, there are certain aspects that are set by the Gods. When creating a character, you can either choose to buy these aspects, or you can choose to have them rolled randomly. Buying them can be expensive, but gives you complete control of your character's background. Rolling them is usually cheaper, and gives you access to options you wouldn't normally be able to afford, but is risky: you might end up being a physically disabled serf.
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Birth Aspects
Race
Your race is the first birth aspect. If you are rolling, you may choose to be Human, if you do so before the roll. Once the dice have fallen, you must accept the result. See the Race table for the available races. If you are purchasing your character, each race has a point cost listed on the table.
Gender
All sentient, Tanariel races on the Thistledown are either of male or female gender. You may choose to be your own (real-life) gender if you do so before the roll. Once the dice have fallen, you must accept the result. There is no point cost associated with any particular gender.
Birthday and Birth Sign
Your date of birth is random and will be rolled from the Calendar with a pair of 1d20 rolls, one for the month, one for the day. If you wish to purchase a particular birth sign, the costs for them are on the Calendar, or you may choose a 0-point cost birth sign.
Birth Omen
Your birth can be one of neutral, good, or poor aspect. A good omen can signal a special destiny for your character or some sort of magical force surrounding your birth. A poor omen means that some dark force is actively opposed to your character or has taken an unhealthy interest in your character. You have a 15% chance of a good birth omen and a 15% chance of a poor omen. Most people are born with a neutral omen. Birth omens must always be rolled and are never purchased.
Social Status
Your initial position in society is set by a roll on the Social Status table, or the purchase of your father's occupation on that table. Most societies on the Thistledown allow both upward and downward motion in society over the course of a character's life.
Parent's Vocation
Once your social status is set, the occupation of your parents will then be determined. This will determine your initial skills and training, as most children on the Thistledown follow in their father's footsteps. If you are an orphan or an unacknowledged illegitimate child, this will be set based on the community that takes your character in.
Birth Order
In most Thistledown societies, your birth order -- first-born, second-born, et cetera -- is very important. You could also be an illegitimate child, either acknowledged or unacknowledged, or an orphan.
If you are purchasing your character, the only birth order that costs or returns points is first-born status. Purchasing first-born status costs double your standard social status cost (if positive). In exchange, you receive double starting money and in most countries, will inherit your father's title and lands (if any) as well as the family income and residences (if any). If the point cost for your social status is negative, purchasing first-born status is free, but there is no benefit associated with this status, even if your father's social status later changes.
Status in the Family
You could end up as a credit to the family, a particularly favored child, or the black sheep of the family. You have a 15% chance for either a favored child or a black sheep. This adjusts your initial starting income. Favored children receive double starting money and black sheep receive one half starting money. It also affects your ability to call on your family for aid later in life: black sheep will obviously have difficulties here.
Purchasing favored child costs an additional 10% over the cost of your social status. Purchasing black sheep will reduce the cost of your social status by 10%.
Fey Blood
Some characters, though not truly Fey, have Fey blood in their ancestry. This sometimes results in special fey characteristics or defects.
Curse
If your birth was poorly aspected, the particular curse on your character will then be rolled.
Age
Next, if you are rolling your character, the age in which we "meet" your character will be rolled. This adjusts your initial starting skill points. Younger characters do not have as much time to learn skills as older characters do. Purchased characters may start at any age that they wish.
Attributes
Finally, your Attributes will be either rolled or purchased, using either 12 rolls of 3d6, or 12 rolls of 5d3, player choice. A roll of a 3d6 has a minimum of 3, a maximum of 18, and has a very "wide" probability curve: chances are you will roll both very high and very low numbers. A roll of 5d3 has a minimum of 5, a maximum of 15, and has a very "narrow" probability curve: chances are excellent that most of your rolls will be 9s, 10s, or 11s.
If you choose to purchase your character, you will receive nine 10s and three 12s from which to start your character.
