Skip to content

Guided character creation

# Character Creation

Build a rules-valid ELDRA character step by step, save the result, and create an editable character sheet.

## Character Builder

Loading the newest character rules...

Blank editable sheets: A4 or US Letter.

## Character Creation Rules

Create a character by completing the following nine steps in order. The values below form the standard creation profile; the Game Master (GM) may change them for a campaign, but every change should be recorded during Setup and applied consistently to the whole group.

## Step 1: Setup

Record the campaign name, GM or facilitator, and play era. The default era is the reconstruction age; the twilight age, the great war, and a GM-defined custom era are also supported. Before anyone makes mechanical choices, record the campaign’s creation profile:

- Skills: 25 Skill Points (SP), a maximum trained skill rating of +3 at creation, and no requirement to spend every SP unless the GM enables full spending.

- Stunts: three general stunt slots. Custom stunts are allowed only with GM approval, and the standard profile enforces every skill, spell, and feature eligibility requirement.

- Starting resources: 0 Experience Points (EXP), 3 Action Points (AP), one Mild, one Moderate, and one Severe Consequence slot. A campaign may grant starting EXP; the character builder tracks any EXP spent on additional spells and exports the unspent balance. Characters begin at Weapon Mastery level 1, granting one total Weapon Technique use per long rest.

- Weapon techniques: at most one qualifying Basic Weapon Technique at creation. Advanced and Master Techniques are not starting options.

- Class progression: the standard profile uses earned Class Points (CLA) and the tier gates in the Classes section. A campaign may instead use concept-only class selection if the GM records that alternative.

- Equipment and spells: the standard starting loadout is GM-approved. Starting spell training is assumed for otherwise eligible spells; a GM may instead require a source, teacher, or narrative training for starting spells.

- Restricted options: Vampire Spawn are unavailable to player characters unless the GM explicitly permits them.

- Sheet format: choose A4 or US Letter; A4 is the default.

The online character builder at eldra.org/character_creation records these settings and any GM overrides. Separate editable blank sheets are available in A4 format and US Letter format.

## Step 2: Identity

Record the character’s name, player, pronouns, size, concept, appearance, background, goals, relationships, and any campaign notes. These details describe the character but grant no mechanical benefit unless a rule or the GM explicitly says otherwise.

## Step 3: People

Choose one playable people: Demon, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Human, Orc, or Vampire. Apply its traits and make every required choice in that entry. An Elf’s Memory of the World must name two distinct skills. A Gnome must choose exactly one lineage, Arcane Gnome or Spellblade Gnome. A Vampire must choose Surface Born-Vampire or Abyssal Vampire; Vampire Spawn require explicit GM permission.

People skill modifiers are free and separate from SP. Apply them after buying the trained rating to determine the character’s effective skill rating. They do not change SP cost, do not count against the trained-skill creation cap, and do not generate CLA. Class tier gates always use the trained rating, not the effective rating.

Some People grant free stunts. An Orc chooses a number of distinct free People stunts equal to effective Fortitude. A Vampire chooses a number of distinct free People stunts equal to effective Vampirism, selecting from both the Vampire Stunts on the Vampire page and the Vampirism skill-stunt list. These free People stunts do not use general stunt slots.

## Step 4: Skills

Spend SP to buy each skill’s trained rating. Under the standard profile, a new character receives 25 SP, need not spend all of it, and cannot buy a trained rating above +3 without GM permission. The total cost to set a trained skill at a given rating is cumulative:

Skill Level | Total SP Cost | Incremental Cost
--- | --- | ---
+1 | 1 | 1
+2 | 3 | 2
+3 | 6 | 3
+4 | 10 | 4
+5 | 15 | 5

To raise a trained skill that is already at a given rating, pay only the incremental cost of the next rating; for example, raising a skill from +2 to +3 costs 3 SP. Apply required specializations when a skill calls for one. People modifiers are applied only after SP spending and never create CLA.

All skills are available to any character, except:

- Vampirism — only available to Vampire characters.

- Demonism — only available to Demon characters.

## Step 5: Classes

Record a class concept, then purchase class nodes if the campaign uses earned CLA. CLA comes from trained skill ratings, as explained in the Classes section; People modifiers neither produce CLA nor satisfy a gate. For each class, the GM approves one trained skill relevant to that class. That trained skill must be at least +3 for the Root and T1 nodes, +4 for T2 nodes, and +5 for T3 nodes. Node prerequisites, branch order, and CLA costs still apply. In a campaign using concept-only classes, record the concept and follow the GM’s replacement progression rule.

Whenever a purchased class node requires a lasting choice, record it with the node when it is acquired. Examples include an Elementalist’s chosen element, a Mage’s Attuned Formula, a Ranger’s terrain, a Summoner’s Bound Eidolon skills, and each pact-bound spell granted by a Warlock’s Pact Magic. Optional class nodes follow their own dashed prerequisite chain as shown in the class tree. Apply passive class modifiers when calculating the final sheet, but do not use those modifiers to satisfy trained-skill gates or generate CLA.

## Step 6: Spells

If the character uses spells, buy the appropriate skills and record each known spell permitted by the spell rules and the campaign’s starting-training policy. When a character first gains Magic, declare one permanent School of Affinity.

First fill the base known-spell quota at each level: at spell level L, the quota is Magic minus L plus 1, to a minimum of 0. A character may then learn a number of additional spells up to their effective Focus rating, paying EXP equal to each additional spell’s level. Record each such spell separately from the base quota and subtract its cost from starting EXP. Spell Theory, when acquired, grants its own separate catalogue spell and does not spend EXP or count against the Focus limit. All known spells remain subject to the source and training requirements in the spell rules unless the GM records that those requirements are assumed for creation.

For each known spell whose listed schools include that affinity, choose one free stunt from that spell’s own Spell Stunts. A multi-school spell qualifies when any listed school matches. Each choice is linked to its spell and does not use a general stunt slot. Record normal Mana, the separate Affinity Mana Pool, spell costs, ranges, and any required source or teacher if the GM enabled that policy.

## Step 7: Stunts

Fill the standard profile’s three general stunt slots, adjusted only by an explicit setup override or a rule that grants an additional stunt. A skill stunt requires its linked skill or other stated eligibility; a spell stunt requires its linked known spell or other stated eligibility. Free People stunts and affinity-granted spell stunts are recorded separately and never consume general stunt slots. A custom stunt uses a general slot unless its granting rule says otherwise and always requires GM approval.

## Step 8: Equipment

Choose a GM-approved starting loadout that fits the character, campaign, and era. The standard profile has no fixed starting currency or item-count budget; an open or custom equipment policy exists only if the GM records it during Setup. Check every weapon, armor, shield, and other item’s requirements and record its damage, defenses, tags, ammunition, and special rules.

If the character meets all requirements, they may begin with at most one Basic Weapon Technique. Record it in Weapon Techniques and Mastery, not as part of the weapon itself. Advanced and Master Techniques must be earned later.

## Step 9: Review and Export

Before play, verify SP totals, the trained-skill cap, and full spending if the campaign requires it; all People choices and distinct free People stunts; CLA, class gates, and node prerequisites; base, Spell Theory, and EXP-purchased known spells, the Focus limit, remaining EXP, affinity, and spell-linked free stunts; general stunt slots and eligibility; equipment requirements; the starting technique limit; and every GM permission or override.

Then calculate effective skill ratings, Physical and Mental Stress Pools, Mana and Affinity Mana, People-specific resources, class-granted resources, defenses, movement, Weapon Mastery and its uses, 3 starting AP, and the starting Mild, Moderate, and Severe Consequence slots. The online character builder can save or export the character as JSON and generate an editable character-sheet PDF in the selected paper format. The generated sheet keeps the play summary compact and adds editable Rules Appendix continuation pages when needed so that the full text of selected People features, class nodes, spells, stunts, Weapon Techniques, extra weapons, and long character notes remains printable and searchable. The separate editable A4 and US Letter blank sheets linked in Step 1 remain available for characters created without the character builder.