And now for the exciting conclusion of our series on Chargen for Beyonder!  So far we have delved into the Make Your Character with an Adventure (MYCA) method and the Custom-make Your Character (CYC) and Quick Choices methods. We’re going to finish this series off with the two fastest, most hands-off methods available on our online system, including Master Builder, our most gritty, ultimate-control, mega-versatile method.  Let’s dive in!

First, we’ve got the Off-The-Rack method.  This has pregenerated characters, either made by one of the members of the FNB Games team or by one of you lovely folks out there exploring the Beyonderverse.  Pick any one and make a copy for yourself. Login to the Beyonder Builder page and choose the “Off the Rack” method under Create A New Character.  it will bring up a list of characters available to you, each with a name and a description.  If you click on it you can edit the name and description for your version. Then click “Create My New PC” and you’re done.  It’s that easy.

You also have the option of creating what is called a “Pre-Generated” character (“PreGen”).  A PreGen is a copy of an existing PC; it can be made from any one of your existing PCs. Once created, that PreGen PC will appear on the list of “Off the Rack” choices, along with any other PreGens. Here’s how you do it:  Open up one of your character sheets on your My Characters tab and you will see several icons across the top.  The one furthest to the right says “Make a PreGen Character from this PC,” and it does just that.  Now others can make a copy of that character for themselves. It doesn’t get much quicker or easier than that now, does it?

On the flip side, we are in the process of developing the most complete character creator Beyonder has to offer.  We call it the Master Builder.  

What is the Master Builder and who should use it?  For the most part it’s intended to be used by the Moderator, but advanced players may find it useful too.  It is designed not just to make starting characters, but also to make stronger, more seasoned veterans. When we create more powerful characters, our Moderator will often allot us a certain amount of Essence to build our PCs.  The Master Builder keeps track of the Essence you spend as you build your character, making this process much easier. It is also helpful for Moderators who want to create an NPC and match its strength to a certain level. Instead of creating a baseline character, giving them Essence, and leveling them up, you can jump right to the final product!

In terms of interface, the Master Builder looks and feels very similar to Quick Choices or CYC.  There are tabs for various aspects of your character (Race, Barriers, Talents, etc.); you select an option or enter a value.  What makes Master Builder different is that it allows you to bend or break some of the rules. For example, if you want to create a character that has a higher or lower baseline control of the Six Energies, you can give them more or fewer points to spend on their Affinity Scores and even give them Affinities higher or lower than the usual range.  

Along the left side of the screen there are a number of “Validation Flags” to let you know if you are outside the normal range of things.  Green means that your character is totally kosher and ready to go. Yellow means that you haven’t broken any rules, but your character is not as fleshed out as a standard character.  For example, you will get a yellow flag if your character has not yet been given a Barrier in at least one Energy. You will get a red flag if you have bent the rules beyond normal range (such as making a Wellyn with Size(7), or having Mentarch Powers without having Barriers in Mental).  You will still be able to create the character; the flag is just a warning that you have bent or broken the rules. If you hover over the flag, it will tell you what triggered it.

You now have at your disposal all of the options for CharGen in the Beyonderverse (so far).  We hope you each find the method that works best for you! We would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions – or just tell us what your favorite method is and why.

Coming soon to a blog near you: Essence and Character Advancement!

Welcome back to another edition of “The Many Ways to Make A Character in Beyonder” (that’s not really what it’s called.)  If you haven’t seen our overview of chargen options or the details about our choose-your-own-adventure style chargen, start there and then come back to this.  So, now that we have that out of the way, let’s look at two more ways to create a starting PC in Beyonder.

What brings you here?  Maybe you are the kind of player who knows exactly what she wants and doesn’t want to leave it to chance.  Maybe you’ve already created a few characters using MYCA, have come to know the options available to you, and want to try something new.  Or maybe you just don’t like choose-your-own-adventure games. Whatever your reason, there may come a time when you feel like trying something new.  

The next thing you may want to try is called Custom-make Your Character (CYC).  This will allow you to get your hands dirty, so to speak, as you make decisions about every part of the character creation process.  You can either do this manually using your copy of Science of the Six (page 86) or head over to our website here and have the whole thing automated for you. You’ll just need to click on your selections.

If you create a character using Science of the Six, there are 11 steps to the CYC process which I will outline below.  Keep in mind that this whole process is automated and streamlined if you create your character using our online system.

1. Choose one of The Ten Races to play.  This choice will affect your Move Score, give some Affinity and Talent bonuses or penalties, and provide some special Racial Abilities.  
2. Choose your Size, which will determine your Soak and Damage and give you a bonus or penalty to Combat Defense (CD). This will also give you some Talents when relevant.  Big characters cause and can withstand more damage, but they’re easier to hit. Smaller characters are the opposite. Each Race has a reasonable range of Sizes from which to choose.
3. Choose your character’s gender. While it will not change anything about the mechanics of your character, could have a significant effect on how you roleplay your character and how others interact with them.  Keep in mind, if you choose to play a Heolas, that they are all genderless. If you chose to play a Kamari there are three genders to choose from: male, female, and tree (the third option does not make for a very exciting PC as it is literally a tree – although there are a few stories we could tell you about a certain tree…)  
4. Choose your Energy Affinities.  The average person has Energy Affinities of 0 if they’re lucky, but because your character is a Channel, you have some exceptionally high scores (and possibly some lower ones to balance things out — the range is from -4 (quite poor) to +4 (very good).  Each of the six Energy Affinities is associated with one of the six Guilds on the Tamarran Continent.  So, it would be good to give yourself a really good Energy Affinity for whichever Guild you plan to join.  Keep in mind, though, that if you choose a really high Energy Affinity value, such as a +4, then you’ll have to to take some hits in your other Affinities to keep things balanced.
5. Choose your Organization.  This isn’t necessary, but it can add a lot of flavor to your character.  This comes with some bonuses in the MYCA version.  There are no system effects from this choice; much like gender, this will have a lot to do with how you play your character.
6. Choose your Talents and Wealth.  You will pick one at +3, two at +2, and three at +1.  You also get to choose a Proficiency for each of these Talents (you can find examples of Proficiencies on our website).  Instead of a Talent you can allocate one of these to your Wealth Rating, which will otherwise start at 1.
7. Choose your Guild.  As discussed in Energy Affinities above, this should probably match up with the Energy Affinity that you set to be the highest, although that is not required.  Along with that, you get 1 Barrier in your chosen Guild as well as one of three Barrier Abilities. The complete list of Barrier Abilities can be found in Science of the Six (page 99).
8. Choose your Powers.  You can do this in one of two ways: 1. Choose the quick and easy method by selecting one of the Schools of Study.  These each provide a thematic and balanced starting set of Powers. 2. Select each individual Power on your own. If selecting your own Powers, you can either choose from the 480 Powers provided in Science of the Six (page 166), or create your own Powers from scratch using our rules for Power creation (pages 163-165).  Keep in mind that higher level Powers require more time to activate and cause greater Fatigue ( see pages 160 and 161 for details).
9. Choose some equipment.  You can buy one item with a cost of up to 5, two additional items at a cost of up to 4 each, and three more items with a cost of up to 3 each.  Items can be found in Science of the Six ( Chapter 9, Items, page 144).  Important Note:  if you are not armed and armored, attackers will have a bonus to hit you –  so if you’re going to be getting yourself in trouble you’ll want to be prepared.  In addition to these six starting items, your Moderator may allow you to purchase additional gear based on your Wealth Rating.  
10. Choose your Defense Ratings (DRs).  The three DRs are Outer Defense (OD), Inner Defense (ID), and Ethereal Defense (ED).  One of these will get a +2 bonus, one will get a +1 bonus, and one will get a +0 bonus.  Remember that ED determines how much Fatigue you take from using Powers, OD along with your Size will determine your Combat Defense (CD), and ID will make you less susceptible to being influenced both by Energetic and Mundane means.
11. Choose your Homeland. As in Step 5 when you chose your Organization, this choice has no bearing on your character’s in-game stats, but could affect how you roleplay your character.  

Wow, that was a lot!  It seems as if there should be a way to have some control over the character creation process without going into quite as much detail.  Lucky for you, we created our Quick Choice method to do just that (it’s only available through our website here).  Using this, you can click through and make a character in under a minute.  This is great if you know what sort of thing you want, but you don’t want to get too far into the thicket of numbers.  It’s also really helpful if you’re a Moderator and need to quickly generate some NPCs. It’s really that easy – so go have a look!

That’s all for now, folks. Join us next time for our two final methods of character creation: Off-the-Rack and our newest, never-before-seen method, still in Beta testing, called Master Builder. Until then, go forth and make a bunch of PCs.

The Sutri

Coming to you from the Flying NightLab

Hello there! I didn’t see you come in. I’m doing quite well, thanks for asking – and you look terrific! Oh…what’s this nifty device I have here? Why, this is nothing less than the Beyonder Builder, a simplify-your-game application the Flying NightLab developed! The Builder helps you create and keep track of new PCs, advance them by spending Essence, and access other Beyonder information.

The Builder looks good, but we consider it in “beta” mode until we’ve had some smart people bang on it for a while.  That’s where you, our intrepid Beyonder followers, come in. We invite you to help perfect this capability to make it perfect for yourselves, and those to follow!

Try the Builder: it’s easy to do!

1. Go to the Flying NightBear Games website and follow the link to the Builder by clicking on the Builder button in the upper left-hand part of the page.  
2. If you have already registered, log in.  If you haven’t registered, sign up by clicking on “Register”
3. Make yourself a new character, or several, by going to “My Characters” > “Create a New Character”
4. Once you’re done, go to “My Characters” to see the list of all of your PCs — you can print them out, too!
5. Email us (info@fnbgames.com) that you’ve made some characters, and we’ll give them some Essence — that’s what you need to increase your character’s strength and capabilities.
6. Now, go to Character Advancement to spend your Essence, and make your Character even greater!

What’s in the Builder: funny you should ask!

The Builder contains some of our on-line functionality that we think you will find very helpful.  It’s easy to register yourself (or just login if you’ve already registered). You will see a menu that lists the things you can find, and do, including the following:

• All My Stuff: the things that you own and other things that are helpful
• My Characters: the Player Characters (PCs) that you have already made and links to all of our Character Creation capabilities
• For Moderators: helpful things if you want to be a Moderator
• Abilities: info on Talents and Powers and some other abilities
• The World: info on things in the world, such as the Ten Races, the Guilds, and more

You’ll need help from the Mystics Guild (look for this banner)

Most citizens of the Tamarran Continent work, eat, play, and interact with each other in ways very much like our own. Only a very small percentage of the population are born as Channels with the ability to directly control the Six Energies. Unless they live in or near a major city, an average person has little or no access to the technological advances brought about by the Guilds.  

However, even a normal person can gain access to great abilities by using what the Guilds call Energetic Items.  The use of these items can produce a Power similar to that used by a Channel. Since the Power is stored in the item it can be used by anyone, Channel or not.  This means that normal people can use Powers, and that Channels can use Powers that are either beyond their current skill level or are Powers for an Energy in which they have not overcome Barriers.  These Energetic Items are rare and expensive, because they are quite difficult to create and extremely powerful.

If you want to create Energetic Items you’ll need the help of a Mystic, since their control over Spirit Energy allows them to bind the other Energies together.  The Mystic must have specialized training in the crafting of these items. You will need to have someone who can use the Power you wish to imbue into the item. You will also need several expensive components. Be aware that you must expend some Essence in the making of these Items.

An example may help. Let’s say you want to create an Energetic item that gives you the ability to shoot lightning bolts at your adversaries.  First, find yourself a Mystic with the proper Talents and training. If you’re not an Evoker, a Channel of Physic Energy, then find one who has Lightning Bolt (a level 15 Evoker Power).  Once these helping hands are engaged, you’ll need to buy some components parts and spend some of your Essence. Then choose the frequency at which the Energetic Item can be used (either a certain number of times per day or the total number of times it can ever be used) and calculate the level of the item. Be aware that the power of an Energetic Item you create is determined by your “Item Imbuing Total.”  (For further details on the creation process, see p. 149 of Beyonder: The Science of the Six.)

Rumors abound about ways to obtain these costly Energetic Items. Some say that the GERC is doing research on ways to make them cheaper, but stories hint at the need for extremely uncommon materials found only in the most dangerous of places.  Perhaps some powerful Channels could acquire the necessary parts for making Energetic Items at a reasonable price. Although it is quite dangerous to speak of this, it is said that sects of Sorcerers who are able to create their own versions of Energetic Items still survive in hiding, and that the Items they create are far beyond those made by the GERC.  Though some have searched for these sorcerers, especially on Shawmancer Island (in the northern parts of Ferren’s Ice Islands Sea), there is nothing concrete to go on. Rumors aside, if you can get your hands on some Energetic Items you will achieve great things that would otherwise be beyond the normal scope of your abilities.

What’s in your Travel Sack? Getting New Stuff!

Let’s continue our exploration of Beyonder gear by looking at how to purchase some standard supplies. This is done using the Wealth system.  Once you understand this system, buying basic gear is easy. When creating the Beyonder system, we aimed to avoid monotonous tracking of every coin and gem you amass. Instead, we use a more qualitative system of Wealth.  

Each character has a Wealth Rating (WR) that represents how much money and resources they have access to at any time.  For example, a WR of 2 might represent an average farmer living in a hut with a couple of animals and a small plot of land to farm.  A WR of 7 might be a wealthy merchant in a large city (like Naldrin or Tarnath) living in a nice, big house, with access to a number of luxuries.  This system continues all the way up through kings (WR 13), large city governments (WR 15), or even entire kingdoms (WR 17). See page 110 of our rulebook, Beyonder: The Science of the Six for more examples of Wealth Ratings.  Each entry includes a sample occupation of an individual or group with their given rating, where they might live, and what might constitute a indulgent purchase for them.  

So how do you change your Wealth Rating?  The same way you might change your wealth in the real world: you get a job that provides you with regular funds – working for a rich merchant, for example.  Generally your WR is a few steps below your employer. You could also get a big, one-time chunk of change, maybe as a reward for some heroic act or a big haul from a devious heist.  In this case you could either blow it all on something nice or spread it out to increase your overall value. In a similar manner, your WR could decrease if you fall into poor favor with your patron or lose a large sum of money on a bad bet.  Generally speaking, Guild members start with a stipend from the organization, which grants them a WR of 3. (See The Science of the Six, p. 109  for more on how to change your Wealth Rating.)

Now that you understand Wealth Rating, buying mundane items is simple.  Check out The Science of the Six for some examples of basic gear as well as specialized tool kits, potions, and poisons (p. 147). . You can buy any one item with a value equal to your WR in one sitting without breaking the bank, or two items with a value 1 less than your WR, 4 items with a value 2 less than your WR, 8 items with a value 3 less than your WR, etc.  You can buy above your pay grade, but that will bring your WR down, showing that you may be digging too deeply into your coffers.

Generally this system is designed to be flexible and approximate.  The steps between consecutive Wealth Ratings are big enough that a difference of 2 WR implies a totally different pay grade, and it should be pretty clear, within +/- 1 WR where something falls.  Be creative! Make your own gear based on our guidelines and let us know what you come up with.

So now we have discussed Gear and Supplies; Weapons; and Armor (Part 1) and Armor (Part 2).  We will finish up this series by talking about everyone’s favorite topic: Energetic Items.