**Character Creation & Game Info - Read First!**

Welcome to Delver of Dungeons. I first want to say thank you to sexybjgal69, whose game on this site, Attaining Tenure, served as a model for this setup system.

Goal:

The goal of our adventurer is to acquire 1,000 gold marks so they can retire and live a life of luxury. In classic adventure fantasy fashion, that will happen largely by delving into dangerous dungeons, fighting monsters, and completing quests for ordinary people who are too sane to risk their life and limb.

Core Mechanics:

Stats

Your character has five stats: Brawn, Cunning, Finesse, Insight, and Presence. You'll be asked during character creation to choose a class - each class has different starting statistics. Fighters specialize in Brawn, Mages in Cunning, Thieves in Finesse, Healers in Insight, and Bards in Presence.

Though choosing your class sets your initial stats, the two mechanics actually function separately. For example, there may be branches of the story that are open only to characters with 14 or more Brawn (regardless of class), and there may be branches open only to Mages (regardless of stats). In part, this is because you may be able to increase or alter your stats later in the game, customizing your character slightly.

Boons & Flaws

These are positive and negative traits your character has; you'll pick one of each on the next few pages. Some Boons give you permanent or one-time boosts, while others open up specific storylines. Flaws tend to limit your character's options, occasionally forcing you down particular paths. Some Boons and Flaws are specific to a character's sex.

Trackers

Gold

Pretty simple - this tracks how much money you have. The goal is to get to 1,000, but you may also want or need to spend it along the way to get better equipment, healing, or a variety of other things.

HP

This stands for High- Potentiality. No, kidding, it stands for Hit Points. Hit Points represent your ability to dodge or absorb blows - if they hit 0, you'll be defeated (and possibly dead). If you have companions with you, you'll notice that they also have HP trackers. Companions' trackers are much more abstract than yours because they only tick when something major happens.

Reputation

This tracks both how well known you are and what you're known for. It starts at 0; positive values indicate that people see you as a hero. Negative values indicate that they see you as...something else.

Inspiration

This is a sharply limited mechanic that allows you to get yourself out of sticky situations. It represents your metaphysical luck, your attachment to life, your will to keep going. It can fundamentally alter the course of events. But it will be doled out rarely, so consider its use carefully.

Relationships

When you meet a significant character and interact with them in such a way as to start a relationship, you'll see a tracker appear for that relationship. Different options will become available as you get to know that character better.

Inventory

I am hoping/think I can execute an Inventory system, which you'll be able to check before you set out on adventures. Let me know if it seems to be working...

Downtime

The basic cycle of your adventures will be: Adventure Setup -> Adventure -> Downtime. Downtime represents what you do in "normal life" after the adventure. You'll have a variety of options - carousing, resting to recover, working a side job if you have a Boon or Flaw that gives you that option, etc. But you'll only get two opportunities for Downtime activities (possibly less), so choose wisely!

Now, take a look in the mirror and let's see who your adventurer is...