This is a solo actual play write up from in-play notes. As I commented in Monday’s post, I am very much in the mode of exploring a new game’s possibilities but because I enjoy making characters, that’s where I began. This is unedited and may contain minor typos.

I sense the world of the game is very magical, highly infused with spirit, and alive with strangeness. Because of this, I turned from Mythras Imperative to Mythras Core Rules over the past day and invested time in reading four chapters: Magic, Folk Magic, Animism, plus Cults and Brotherhoods.

Little Fox has been imagined. I would like to run this as a game with companions and two seems a good starting point: it’s easy to add characters but less satisfying to remove them if things prove unwieldy.

As I am seeking to introduce so-called Animism – what I would prefer to term Spirit Magic, as it was back in the origins of RuneQuest – then it seems appropriate to create a character through whom we can explore this aspect of the Primal World.

This gives me a simple concept: the Shaman’s apprentice, perhaps, but one whose defining quality is the ability to perceive and potentially learn to interact with Spirits. My intuition wishes to make this a female character, which I am happy to honour. As we have already transferred into the realm of Mythras Core, will will build them using the Core Rules.

Let’s take the approach of prioritising certain Characteristics from those rolled based on the Trance (POW+CON) and Binding (POW+CHA) skills they will need. Thus, I am going to use the “Dice Roll, Assign” method for this character.

Rolling 3d6 for:
STR 8
CON 8
DEX 12
POW 15
CHA 11

Rolling 2d6+6 for:
INT 13
SIZ 14

I am going to swap INT and SIZ because it seems fitting that she be smarter rather than bulky, although she is still a Sizable person at SIZ 13. As rolled, I think I am going to substitute DEX and CON which is not great but makes her tougher and better suited to the Trance skill at the cost of combat prowess generally. STR 8 and DEX are poor rolls but such is Fate.

Time to work through the Derived Attributes:

• Action Points are 2. I take a moment to re-check Little Fox’s AP and discover he is entitled to 3, so I make that modification.
• Damage Modifier is +0… just.
• Experience Modifier is +0.
• Healing Rate is 2.
• Hit Points based on CON+SIZ make her a little above average.
• Initiative Bonus is DEX+INT averaged = 13, a little slower than Little Fox.
• Luck Points are 3.
• Magic Points are 15.
• Movement Rate is 6 metres.

Here we meet an additional consideration: the Height and Weight of the character, something overlooked in Imperative. These are assigned based on SIZ and a choice of three body frames – Lithe, Medium, and Heavy. As these are Primitive culture characters who are not overly athletic, I am going to assume Lithe frame.

This gives the new character a range of 176-180cm in height – I decide to roll 1d5 (d10 divided by 2, rounded up) to get an exact figure… a 4 = 179cm. They have weight in the range 61-65 kilos, so I roll 1d5 again… 5 = 65kg. Catching up Little Fox, we discover he is… 9 and … 4 = height 174cm and weight 57kg. “Aren’t you a little short for a hunter?”

It’s time to total the basic Standard Skill values, which I’ll do off-screen.

Cultural Skill Points time. Of course, we are selecting the Primitive Culture to fit the concept and world of The People.

Standard Skills are Brawn, Endurance, Evade, Locale, Perception, Stealth; and one of either Athletics, Boating or Swim. Again, I’ll take Athletics for this character.

Professional Skills offered are Craft (any), Healing, Lore (any), Musicianship, Navigate, Survival, Track. I will choose Lore (Spirits), Healing, and Track.

I’m going to apply them thus: four 15% bonuses, three 10%, and two 5% across the eleven skills.

I prefer the openness of the Imperative Passions, so I am going to apply a Loyalty (Shaman), Seek (Spirits), and Protect (The People).

Next the Core Rules offer Background and Community ties but I am going to skip over this and perhaps return to it later. I feel that working out the familial links is something I want to take my time over for both characters and not rush with die rolls done now.

Career Skill Points are next. We have decided on Shaman so let’s apply the 100 points:

Standard Skills are Customs, Dance, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Willpower.

Professional Skills offers us Binding (Cult, Totem or Tradition), Folk Magic, Healing, Lore (any), Oratory, Sleight, Trance. I need to choose Trance and Binding (Wolf Friend) – the name of the “Cult” – so that only really leaves one choice.

The question is do we want to include Folk Magic? I think we do but I am going to invoke a few options within Mythras to create the feel I want. That said, I am not going to lay all that out here. She gains Folk Magic as the third skill. Straight up +10% bonuses to all skills seems simple – except I am not fussed about Customs, so I will give Trance and Binding +15% each.

The Bonus Skill Points are based on Age, which I will continue to run as Young characters – her age is 1d6+10… 16. Perhaps her two summers of extra age explain her larger size and weight over Little Fox. We can distribute 100 points at no more than +10% each, so that’s ten skills.

We haven’t assigned a Combat Style so we had better give her one, invoking the Core Rules option to choose one final new skill by way of hobby or interest. She will be a Wolf Hunter too, I think, but very much less experienced at just 26%. This is probably due to her spending time learning of the Spirits and some Folk Magic. I’ll boost all six of her Professional Skills and also Stealth, Evade, and Perception.

Here I stop to roll both character’s Social Status. They are both Tribesmen, essentially free people. I think we’ll assign her a Dagger – again, big knife – and a spear. I like the idea of her having a spear as a kind of walking stick too. She’ll have basic furs too, at AP1 over all the body. For a trinket, I give her a Wolf’s Tooth Necklace – the tooth threaded on a thin sinew around her neck.

She may begin with Folk Magic spells equal to 1/10th of her Folk Magic skill, rounding up gives her 5 spells. This will need some thought, methinks: Ignite is a good first choice, fitting for setting fires and emphasising the mystic nature of fire; Pathway seems fitting; Light seems suitably spiritual too; Find Arrows makes her useful to the hunters; Spiritshield seems suitable too.

Name: White Rabbit? Here’s her character sheet.
And that’s her done.

Game on!