Choose Your Class, Ancestry & Background

Core Rules v2 pp. 19, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29

Your hero is how you will make your mark on the world. Here’s how you can make your own hero:

Step 1: Choose Your Class

This will have the largest impact on the other character choices you make and how you interact with the world. The core hero classes are:

  • BERSERKER. An unstoppable force of wrath and ruin.
  • THE CHEAT. Sneaky, backstabbing, dirty-fighting rogue.
  • COMMANDER. A battlefield tactician, leader, and weapon master.
  • HUNTER. Resourceful survivalist, bow master, and skilled tracker.
  • MAGE. Wield and shape the elements of fire, ice, and lightning.
  • OATHSWORN. Faithful guardian and avenger of the weak.
  • SHADOWMANCER. Summon hordes of expendable minions.
  • SHEPHERD. Master life and death. Lead a faithful companion.
  • SONGWEAVER. Inspiring presence, sharp wit, sharper tongue.
  • STORMSHIFTER. Master of weather, beast, and nature.
  • ZEPHYR. A disciplined martial artist with swift hands and swift feet.

Step 2: Choose Your Ancestry & Background

Ancestry

Your kin, lineage, heritage, or race—this is how your character was born and how others see you at first glance. You may be a dwarf raised in the mines under the mountain with countless other dwarves, or you may be an elf raised by goblins! It’s up to you to choose how your character began. Choose 1 ancestry and add its bonus to your character sheet.

Flavor Is Free Want to play a Stout Halfling instead of an Elusive one? An Optimistic Human instead of Tenacious? As long as it makes sense and the GM is on board, go for it!

Flavor Is Free Want to be a leaping Frogfolk instead of a Bunbun? A Flameborn Kobold? A winged Fairy instead of a Birdfolk? A Badgerfolk instead of a Stoatling? As long as it makes sense and your GM is game, go for it!

Your setting may or may not support Uncommon or Exotic ancestry choices—check with your GM first before selecting one.

Background

Backgrounds provide a glimpse into your character’s past—how they were raised, the skills they honed before becoming an adventurer, or even their defining personality traits. Feel free to adapt or reimagine these backgrounds to suit your character’s story. Choose 1 background.

Make It Your Own! Remember, backgrounds are just a starting point—you’re free to adjust, reimagine, or completely rewrite them to suit your character’s story. If you want to know a Utility Spell but don’t like the Academy Dropout flavor, come up with a different reason why your character might know it. Maybe they learned it from a traveling bard or discovered it etched into an ancient relic.

Feel free to swap traits, change the flavor text, or blend backgrounds together. Haunted Past might become Blessed by Spirits if your character views their other-worldly voices as guardians rather than tormentors.

Work with your GM to ensure any changes align with your game’s setting and are balanced with other backgrounds. These are here to inspire creativity—what you build with them is entirely up to you!

Optionally, choose your adventuring motivation. What made your hero want to start adventuring? How do you know the other heroes?

Step 3: Fill in Your Character Sheet

This handy sheet of paper helps you track your stats, abilities, loot, and other important game info.

Official Variants

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Complex Characters

Variant

Core Rules v2 p. 54

Heroes can pick 2 backgrounds and/or ancestry bonuses.

Level 0 Funnels

Variant

Core Rules v2 p. 54

For an old school “funnel” adventure each player gets 4 commoners to play as. Whoever survives long enough gets to become a real level 1 adventurer! Treat each as a d6 minion: no HP, no Wounds, no stats, no skills, or special abilities. On a player’s turn they can move and attack with all of their commoners, and each player can Defend for 1d6 damage with a single commoner each round. If a player loses all of their commoners, you might allow them to play as a ghost which can do 1 creative thing per round (e.g., Frighten, distract, trip or possess an enemy).

Simpler Characters

Variant

Core Rules v2 p. 54

New players can be overwhelmed by the number of options and abilities in TTRPGs—consider skipping background and even ancestry (or make it cosmetic only). Any who pick a spellcasting class like Mage, give them a smaller subset of spells to work with initially.

FAQs

1

What about half-elves and other mixed ancestries?

Official

Core Rules v2 pp. 19, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29

Mix the ancestries however makes sense in your world. You can pick one ancestral bonus and use it instead of both, or use both half as effectively or half as often.

Related Rules

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The Character SheetCharacters & Equipment / Creating & Advancing a Hero