Character creation

Navigation: Main Page Getting started, step 3: Character creation




This page is intended for players looking to create a Player Character (PC).


Party size considerations

It is possible to play MazeWorld with as little as two people, with one person being the GM and the other playing a PC. In fact, for most of the years this game has existed, and for reasons largely related to time zone constraints between the author and his players, it has been called a "one-GM, one-player game". Although it lends itself to greater flexibility and a customized and tailored adventure, in the style and vein of single-player roleplaying video games, this is not typical of tabletop RPGs, which typically have parties of two to four players.

As such, one of the first questions you need to ask yourselves is this: "How many PCs will there be in the party? One? Two? Three? Four?"

GMs intending to run sessions with a party size larger than 2 must be careful not to be too generous with equipment and rewards, and to adjust the difficulty of their campaigns accordingly. There is strength in numbers, and it is at its truest with a group of player characters. One or two highly skilled PCs with good gear and weapons are a force to be reckoned with. Three or four such characters may be close to unstoppable.

For all of the reasons cited above, party sizes over 4 are not recommended, out of practicality concerns.


Character concept

Although ultimately, GMs and players should work together to build characters that are suitable for the campaign you're going to play, what kind of character you wish to play as is entirely up to you. If you already have a solid idea of what kind of character you want to play, then that's great! You can probably skip to the next section. But if you're not sure where to begin, keep reading.

When thinking about creating a character you intend to play, it helps to already have an idea of what that character will be like. Their appearance, their personality, their likes and dislikes, fighting style, background... All of these details are things you can think about to help you find out who you wish to play as.

Although it's not against the rules to play a character that is based on yourself (a self-insert), it is generally frowned upon, as it is considered to be unimaginative and against the spirit of roleplaying.

As explained in the previous Getting started pages, MazeWorld is combat-centered, so it lends itself more easily to characters that would have combat experience or weapon knowledge of some kind, and though it is entirely possible to play pacifists or weapon-shy characters, it is considered to be much harder than not, as you may need to spend time and resources during your sessions to improve your combat skills, and you may need to work with an accomodating GM to build a campaign that can be played by characters with little to no combat experience.

The sections that follow will give you pointers on how to build and adapt your initial ideas into a proper character, and how to go from having an idea to being ready to play.


Native or otherworlder?

Your character may be native to the Mazes, or what the locals call an otherworlder; a non-native of the Mazes who found themselves transported to the Mazes through means unknown. Otherworlders are uncommon, but not unheard of, and generally appear in the confines of the Uncivilized Area. Generally, they appear without any belongings, clothing, or equipment, and as a result, end up killed as they were defenseless to the dangers of the UA. Those that survive may eke a living out like any other native, finding shelter and employment in one of the dozens of towns and communities of the Mazes, virtually impossible to distinguish from Mazes-born people.

It is recommended that newcomers play as otherworlders, as they will be able to learn and discover more about the world of the Mazes at a natural pace - at the same time as you, for the simple reason that natives are assumed to have knowledge of the world in general that you may not have.


Stats and species

If your GM doesn't offer to build your sheet for you as you create your character, arm yourself with the Blank character sheet template. Click on File > Make a copy and start editing your sheet from your copy. Don't forget to give edit access to the GM when you're finished. The template sheet features many useful features, such as auto-filling and auto-calculating many types of stats.

A player character may either be a human, a halfling (8 different species) or a youkai (12 different species). In total, there are 21 different playable species. The species you select will determine your starting natural statistics. You will later get a chance to fine-tune your character's stats, so that you may stand out from regular humans, halflings, and youkai.

This page will not go into too much detail about each species and each statistic (visit the relevant wiki links here for more in-depth information) but will provide enough information for the purposes of character creation.

Limb health

Limb health represents the maximum amount of damage each limb can take before being disabled. If a limb falls to under half maximum value, it is damaged. If it falls to zero, it is disabled. If it falls to negative half maximum (e.g. negative half maximum of 40 is -20), the limb is completely destroyed and may not be recovered or replaced, except under exceptional circumstances.
The effects caused by damaged, disabled, and destroyed limbs may vary, but do note that if your torso or your head is disabled, you will instantly die!

Every playable species has what is called a base limb health value. To calculate the base limb health value of a playable species, check that species' page and add together the Upper body HP + Lower body HP.

Base Limb Health Value Species
150 Oni
90 Guhin
Tengu
88 Kirin
77 Equine halfling
75 Hakutaku
70 Human
Canine halfling
Feline halfling
Lagomorph halfling
Salientia halfling
Tanuki
63 Murid halfling
60 Kasha
56 Squamata halfling
Kitsune
Satori
46 Jorougumo
42 Kappa
35 Yousei

This value is used to calculate the limb health (amount of hit points, or HP) for each limb. This base value can be looked at as a general indicator of how tough this creature is. Decimal values are rounded to the nearest integer, half up.

  • Head HP = (1/7) x (Base value)
  • Torso HP = (4/7) x (Base value)
  • Hips HP = (3/7) x (Base value)
    • Some creatures do not have a separate torso and hips but instead have a generic "body"; the HP of the body is equal to the base limb health value.
  • LIMB group (arms, legs) HP = (2/7) x (Base value)
  • EXTREMITY group (hands, feet) HP = (1.5/7) x (Base value)
  • Certain creatures may also have limbs in the WEAK POINT group (most commonly, eyes and genitals). They do not have HP; instead hitting a WEAK POINT transfers extra damage to the closest limb (Usually: eyes -> head, genitals -> hips).

Pain sensitivity

Most attacks cause two types of damage; Limb Damage (which affects limb health, as mentioned above), and Pain. Pain represents trauma and shock inflicted. Most creatures pass out upon reaching 100% Pain, and die at 150%. Unless "Pain damage" or "Limb damage" is specifically mentioned, "Damage" means both Pain and Limb.

Pain sensitivity is one of the ways to affect incoming damage. It is a percentage value, which serves as a multiplier to ALL Pain received. By default, it is 100% (1.0x multiplier). If Pain sensitivity is under 100%, you will receive less damage than normal, and if over 100%, you'll receive more than normal.

  • Example: Pain sensitivity 75% means all incoming Pain damage is multiplied by 0.75x. 115% = 1.15x, etc.

Max Blood

If it bleeds, you can kill it. Most living creatures have Blood and depend on it to survive. You don't want to run out of blood.

Max Blood represents, well, the maximum amount of Blood that creatures can have inside of their bodies. Naturally, the higher, the better. The more Blood you have, the longer you can survive having open Wounds (which drain Blood continuously), and the better you can resist the effects of Venom and Alcohol.

Armor Class

Armor Class, or AC for short, represents the general toughness level of a creature's body. There are seven different ratings, in order from lowest to highest: C1, C2, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5.

The AC ratings with a C-prefix (Cx) indicates a protection rating that is on par with layers of Clothing, whereas the A-prefix (Ax) means a protection rating on par with Armor.

Weapons may have a damage chart that shows how much damage they deal against each Armor Class; the amount of damage dealt against C1 (the lowest AC) is often considered to be the "base damage".

All Ax ratings also affect limb damage, reducing all incoming damage by a number corresponding to their level. So for instance, A3 means -3 to all received limb damage.

Humans and halflings have an AC of C1 and are special in that they can use clothing and armor to modify their Armor Class on specific body parts. For instance, the same human character can wear a body armor vest that improves their torso's AC to A3, a helmet that improves their head's AC to A2.

Youkai may have various natural Armor Class ratings, and they may only wear youkai-only outfits. Certain, rare outfits can affect their AC, and unlike human clothing and armor, the outfits affect their entire body's AC rating, not just certain body parts.

Other statistics

Without going into too much detail, a number of other stats can be affected by the starting species:

  • Strength: A measure of the character's physical strength and capability, it is a percentage value, which serves as a straight multiplier to the amount of damage this character will deal when using melee weapons or attacks. Naturally, higher is better.
  • Agility: A measure of the character's ability to move quickly. Agility is a numerical value ranging between -4 and +4, by default +0. It is applied as a modifier to certain checks. Higher is better.


Playable species

The species recommended for play characters are as follows:

Human icon.png Humans

Halfling icon.png Halflings

Youkai icon.png Youkai

Choose carefully which species you wish to play as. Many occupations, factions, and groups impose restrictions on the species allowed to join; your choice of background and occupation should make sense for your species.

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Introduction Basic concepts Character creation Character customization
Last modified on 15 February 2022, at 21:22