======================== = CHARACTER GENERATION = ======================== -- {R} Race -- {C} Class -- {A} Attributes -- {ST}   Strength -- {DE}   Dexterity -- {CO}   Constitution -- {IN}   Intelligence -- {WI}   Wisdom -- {CH}   Charisma -- {LU}   Luck -- {F} Feats -- {P} Personality Architype -- {E} Starting Equipment -- {CT} Calculated Traits -- {CS} The Character Sheet -- {MM} Return to Main Help Menu   Characters in Incursion are generated in five steps. RACE {R} ====   Every character in Incursion belongs to one of nine species of intelligent humanoids that populate Therya. These races each offer unique advantages and disadvantages in gameplay. A character's race alters four types of traits:   Attribute Modifiers: Each race has a set of modifiers to their attribute scores. For example, dwarves are more hardy then humans, orcs stronger and elves more charismatic. These modifiers stack with all other bonus types, and are permanent and always in effect.   Racial Skills: Each race has certain skills that they have a particular aptitude for. These skills are treated as if they were class skills for every class the character has. Some races also grant racial bonuses to certain skills.   Favored Classes: Each race (except humans) have two classes as their favored classes. If a multiclass character's highest class (or one of his equally high classes) is not a racial favored class, then she receives a 20% penalty to all experience points earned.   Humans treat all classes as favored classes, and thus never receive an experience penalty for multiclassing.   Special Abilities: Each race offers a few unique powers or abilities; examples include a gnome's innate illusion magic, an elf's ability to meditate instead of sleeping, or an orc's ability to take an enemy's power by devouring his corpse. Some of these can be actively used in the game by pressing 'u' and choosing the relevant ability from the menu, while others are always active and simply alter the way the game operates at different times. See Also: -- {RD} Race Descriptions CLASS {C} =====   A character enters play at level one and gains more levels throughout the game. These levels can be distributed among any 3 of Incursion's classes in any amounts the player desires. For example, a level 7 character -- the highest that can be achieved in the current version of the game -- could be a Fighter 7, a Fighter 3 / Mage 4 or even a Monk 1 / Paladin 2 / Fighter 4. The class you choose at the beginning of the game is the class that your first level will be invested into, as well as the class that all other levels will by default be invested into if you do not choose the 'M'ulticlass option on the character sheet screen.   Classes grant a wide variety of different abilities as the character advances in level, including bonus feats, skill points and class features. These are described in more detail under each individual class's description.   Experience: You gain experience points for killing monsters and overcoming other challenges; the amount of experience that overcoming a challenge grants is determined by the toughness of the challenge in relation to your own power. When you have achieved enough experience to gain a new level, the game will notify you of this with a special message. Your character is not yet changed in any way. When you want to level up, you can do so from the character sheet screen. If you have more than one class, the game will ask you which of your classes you want to invest the level into.   Note that when two classes offer the same ability, that ability stacks between them. For example, both the rogue and the barbarian gain the Uncanny Dodge class feature, and so levels of that feature gained from each class add together. In Incursion, the same is true of spellcasting chart levels. For example, a mage gains one arcane casting chart level for every class level, while a bard gains one arcane casting chart level for every second class level. Thus, a Mage 3 / Bard 4 casts arcane spells identically to a 5th level pure mage. See Also: -- {CD} Class Descriptions ATTRIBUTES {A} ==========   Attributes determine the basic capabilities of your character in Incursion. They are rolled at the beginning of the game by a method of your choice, and then adjustments are applied to them based on the race you choose. Attributes can be raised in several different manners during the game -- every four character levels, you gain a +1 inherant bonus to increase a single attribute as you wish. Your god might increase attributes related to his portfolio if you've been a loyal follower, and in the full-release version of Incursion, you can train attributes in places in the city, such as the gymnasium or library. Powerful magic-users can amplify their attributes with the wish spell, activities which train an attribute will increase it over time and many uncommon magical items and effects can amplify your character's attributes. However, all these methods are considered to be inherent bonuses, and any given attribute can have a maximum inherent bonus of +5. This makes the attributes you start the game with, along with your racial bonuses and the bonuses granted by attribute feats and divine blessings (none of which are inherent bonuses) very important in the later stages of the game, when you will likely have maxed out your inherents.   There are seven attributes in total. Note that there are no real 'prime requisites' in Incursion; while some attributes are of truly crucial importance to a given character class, every attribute impacts every character in a significant way. Each attribute has two modifiers - the first increases by one for every even point in the attribute, the second by one for every odd point. Each modifier is applied to roughly half the tasks that a given attribute impacts in the game. Strength {ST}   Strength is the most straightforward of the attributes, determining your raw physical power. It increases your ability to hit with melee weapons, and high strength improves the damage you inflict with all weapons (other than firearms, of course). Strength also determines the amount by which armor reduces damage from your blows -- higher Strength means greater penetration and more damage. Strength also determines the level of encumbrance you face from a given load, which can be very important in play, as encumbrance gives a wide variety of penalties and contributes to determining how quickly you get hungry. Finally, Strength impacts your chance of breaking down doors, your facility with mining and other feats of raw physical power. Primary:   Damage, Feats of Strength Secondary: +Hit, Encumbrance Dexterity {DE}   Dexterity describes your character's manual agility, precision, motor skill, reflexes and hand-eye coordination. It impacts your ability to hit with ranged weapons, and to a lesser extent with melee weapons. High-Dexterity combatant characters may decide to look at the Weapon Finesse feat, which increases Dexterity's impact on melee combat. Dexterity is the primary factor in determining a character's Defense. Dexterity also modifies a character's Reflex saving throw, which allows her to dodge a wide variety of attacks, beams and magical spells. Finally, Dexterity impacts the chance of being affected by most traps. Primary:   Attack rolls, Defense Secondary: Saving Throw, Traps, Skills Constitution {CO}   Constitution rates your character's overall toughness, resilience, ability to withstand damage, health and susceptibility to diseases. It figures in computing your character's hit points, and also modifies your Fortitude saving throw, which is rolled against such attacks as breath weapons, petrification, polymorph and paralysis. Constitution also helps in casting spells that carry a tremendous strain on the body, or using the blood magic abilities of a witch or druid. Primary:   Hit Points Secondary: Everything Else Intelligence {IN}   Intelligence governs a character's mental acuity, ability to learn, academic prowess and general reasoning ability. It comes into play in determining the number of skill points gained every level, and some combat Feats have intelligence prerequisites -- the highest forms of martial skill are as much mental as physical. Intelligence is also very valuable to spellcasters, as bonus spells are granted based on it, and it influences spell failure rates as well. Finally, Intelligence is a factor in the successful use of magical devices, and many non-physical skills are based on Intelligence. Obviously, a character with a high intelligence is very flexible, having more skills and spells to choose from then otherwise possible. Primary:   Skill Points, Spell Failure Secondary: Everything Else Wisdom {WI}   Wisdom is a combination of spiritual devotion, willpower, perceptual acuity, canniness and basic common sense. It governs a character's ability to search and spot, figures (along with Dexterity) into the avoidance of traps and the spotting of hidden beings. Wisdom is the basis for most skills relating to animals, such as Animal Empathy or Ride. Its integral to spellcasters as well, governing the sheer power (save DC) of their spells as much as Intelligence determines finesse. Wisdom is also a primary factor in the calculation of a character's Mana, and finally it forms the basis of the Will saving throw, aiding characters in resisting fear, confusion and mind control. Primary:   Mana, Will save Secondary: Everything Else Charisma {CH}   Charisma determines a character's social prowess, force of presence, leadership potential, comeliness and understanding of human relations. It influences the prices shopkeepers offer her for goods and services, and is used for calculating the save DC for mind-affecting spells and magic effects. More importantly, however, it is used in the calculation of the maximum amount of allies of any type a character may have -- whether they are a ranger's animal companions, a fighter's followers, a sorceror's summoned creatures or a necromancer's undead minions does not matter. Charisma also influences the chance that a party member will do what they are told when the protagonist gives them an order. Finally, it determines the chance that an ally -- whether summoned creature, pet or party member -- will betray the hero. Primary:   Allies & Reaction Secondary: Shopkeepers, Everything Else Luck {LU}   The least obvious of the characteristics, Luck describes the basic degree of serendipity an adventurer experiences throughout her career. High Luck increases the chance of good magical items and treasure being generated in the dungeon, and decreases the chance of 'out of depth' monsters being created. Obviously, these are slight skewings -- even the luckiest character will meet difficult monsters, and a very unlucky character will still find a reasonable share of magic. Luck also plays into the effects of chaotic magic, making it highly valuable to sorcerors -- their wild magic surges are strongly influenced by Luck. Primary:   Items Secondary: Monsters, Wild Magic FEATS {F} =====   By default, all characters receive two feats at first level, and one feat at every third character level (3rd, 6th, 9th, etc.) Certain races and classes also grant bonus feats at a given level, which are often chosen for a more limited list thematically tied to the class in question.   Feats play a very significant role in personalizing your character, and in you overall tactics in the game. Buying certain feats opens the path to buy others that have higher prerequisites. Remember that whenever you are choosing a feat from the feat menu, you can press '?' to view the help information on feat trees to help you choose intelligently. See Also: -- {FD} Feat Descriptions PERSONALITY ARCHETYPE {P} =====================   Finally, you are prompted to choose a personality archetype from a list of 16 options. Currently, this is purely a color choice; in future versions of Incursion, it will impact which NPCs are willing to join your group, which quests and guilds are available and how different plotlines conclude for your character. STARTING EQUIPMENT {E} ==================   A character's starting equipment is defined by her race, class and perks. Characters proficient with armor begin with armor suitable to their character build -- a Dexterity-based finesse warrior will recieve light armor despite being proficient with all armor. Characters that take two-weapon fighting feats will recieve an offhand weapon, and those with shield-related feats will start with a kite shield. If a character's perks grant her a powerful weapon, that may subsume some of the abilities of her class-based initial weapons -- for example, a paladin starting with the Perk: +3 scimitar of accuracy will start with a +3 holy scimitar of accuracy rather than a seperate additional holy sword. The game tends to be fairly intelligent about assigning sensible starting equipment to new characters based on character-design choices. CALCULATED TRAITS {CT} =================   Your character has a number of values that are calculated based upon the choices you have made, as follows:   Hit Points: In Incursion, all player characters and pre-named NPCs start off with a base of 20 hit points, just for the virtue of being hardy, skilled, daring and lucky. To this is added the result of a single die roll, plus your primary Constitution modifier, for every level you possess. The size of the die rolled is determined by the class you invested the given level in -- barbarians receive a 1d12 hit die, for example, while bards receive only 1d6. Options on the options panel allow a player to set maximum hit points, always average hit points or reroll if below average for hit points.   Mana Points: Mana is determined in exactly the same manner as hit points, but the base value is 10, not 20, and the mana die types for every class are different from the hit die types. All mana gained from the dice alone is then multiplied by a fixed multiplier based on total character level. These multipliers are listed on the level table under Experience and Advancement in the Adventuring chapter.   Fatigue Points: A character's total number of fatigue points is equal to 3 plus her Constitution bonus, plus a bonus for each class level she has of +1 for every 12 accumulated 'sides' of hit dice; thus, a barbarian 3 with 3d12 HD would have (3 x 12 / 12 =) +3 FP, and a mage 3 with 3d4 HD would have (3 x 4 / 12 =) +1 FP.   Encumbrance: The amount of equipment and treasure a character can carry is determined by her Strength; the higher a character's strength, the lower her encumbrance level will be when carrying a certain mass of equipment. There are four levels of encumbrance in Incursion. Light encumbrance makes your movement rate 90% of normal. Moderate encumbrance makes your movement 80% of normal, lowers your maximum fatigue by one and gives you a -1 penalty to defense class. Heavy encumbrance gives you 70% normal movement, 90% normal speed and a -2 encumbrance penalty to defense class, Reflex saves, and maximum fatigue points. Extreme encumbrance gives you 50% movement, 75% speed, a -4 encumbrance penalty to defense class and Reflex saves and a -3 encumbrance penalty to maximum fatigue. THE CHARACTER SHEET {CS} ===================   You can bring up your character sheet at any time during play by pressing 'c'. This displays all of your characters' primary and figured characteristics, as well as breaking the total numbers down to show you how they were calculated. The character sheet screen also displays a list of commands on the bottom row, allowing you to level up ('G'), learn new spells ('L'), add a new class to your repertoire ('M') or bring up the skill manager to advance your skills ('S').   Bonus Types: All bonuses in Incursion have a type assigned to them, even if that type is 'base' -- i.e., a class give you your base bonus to attack rolls, saving throws and so forth. For example, the clerical spell bless gives you a +1 sacred bonus to hit, a +2 sword gives you a +2 magic bonus to hit and damage, and a Cloak of Resistance +3 gives you a +3 resistance bonus to all your saving throws. Bonuses of different types almost never stack, the only exception being bonuses of the types 'base', 'dodge' or 'circumstance'. Thus, for example, you can't cast bless four times in a row to get a +4 sacred bonus to hit, but the +1 dodge bonus from the Dodge feat stacks with a +4 dodge bonus dwarves get when fighting giants. More significantly, since base bonuses all stack, a Paladin 3 / Mage 2 has a base bonus to his Reflex saving throw equal to the base bonus of a 3rd-level Paladin plus the base bonus of a 2nd-level Mage.   For reference, the following bonus and penalty types exist in Incursion: base, attribute, magic (a.k.a. enhancement), sacred, morale, insight, artifact, feat, weapon, negative (i.e., negative levels), competence, size, deflection, damage (i.e., attribute damage penalty), rage, status, inherent, grace, dodge, armor, natural, skill, dual, fatigue, template, circumstance, shield, luck, encumbrance and resistance.