Character Creation

Here's how you create a character for Ragnarok. Any queries please drop us a mail at gm@ragnarok.chaosdeathfish.com

The most important decision to make is whether you want to play as one of the Aesir gods or as Human members of UNITED. The former are a little more straightforward and hardy, while the latter are more dependent on co-operation and available resources. Anyone is welcome to choose either but we would recommend that starting role-players consider playing as the Aesir.

The Aesir were the foremost race among all the worlds bound to Yggdrasil. They long ago vanquished their rival Vanir in war and repulsed all efforts by the Giants to crush them. Triumphant, they did as they pleased under the wise guidance of Odin, the All-father. Yet Odin was troubled by prophecies of Ragnarok - when the world would end and most of the Aesir would die - and chose to send the gods to sleep, so that none of it might come to pass.

The intrusion of humanity from Midgard has woken the Aesir from sleep once more.

The Aesir are very hardy and cannot easily be killed. Even the lowest of them command great powers within their sphere of influence, being able to achieve what the humans have often called Magic. You may chose to play as one of the minor Aesir gods - while you are not the headline act for Thunder and Lighting or Fertility, you are linked to one of the traditional Purviews and wield great power within it. Beyond even that, you are strong and hard and drinking, fighting and being merry usually comes naturally.

UNITED was formed for the purpose of discovering trans-dimensional travel and the general advancement of fringe science in the hopes of finding new solutions for mankind. This has not prevented it being tied up in politics, both internal and external, and the recent breakthrough and the discovery of what is surely mythical 'Asgard', has not abated this.

Humanity has advanced significantly since the Aesir last walked the Earth (or Midgard as they call it) and technological progress has outpaced what anyone has dreamt of. Yet human mortality has not gone away and though much technology would be indistinguishable from magic for the old Norse, it still not as wondrous as what the Aesir 'gods' are capable of doing.

You may choose to play as one of the members of UNITED, now charged with making sense of what the discovery of Asgard and maybe many more realms means for humanity. At your disposal is one of the most cutting-edge organizations in the world and arguably the pinnacle of human progress.

Human characters are (unsurprisingly) less personally powerful than the gods however they have a few advantages to balance the scales:

• Technology - UNITED members can develop and deploy new gadgets to deal with their problems.
• Teamwork - UNITED PCs are generally supported by a loyal team who will support your plans and throw themselves in harm's way for you.
• Second Chances - When the gods die they go to Hel (and become unplayable), however if a human can procure a divine sponsor then they can be marked for Valhalla, and in the event of their death will be re-embodied in Asgard.

Gods first choose a purview from a list of twelve, which gives them the broad definition of what their character is capable of. This represents the foundation of the god powers that they have and expected remit for their work. It is possible to take a second purview, but this requires also taking one as a Bane which will cause you problems and sometimes get in the way.

Next, you need to choose an aspect which gives a defining characteristic of your character - and adjective that describes a prominent attribute.

Finally, Gods select a deed to represent an accomplishment that has helped them rise in the estimation of others (or perhaps merely served to give them personal entertainment).

When taking actions when your Purview, Aspect and/or Deed are relevant then you will be at an advantage.

Note that the Purviews are selected from a defined list, but the Aspects and Deeds are up to you. We have provided examples, but if you have an idea for a character but not how to best represent this in deeds and aspects, feel free to ask the GMs for further suggestions when submitting your character.

Humans will have a level in all the skills available to them. They might be brilliant at some, but struggling with others. For the skills, human characters need to assign 2 skills they Excel at, 1 they are Good at, and 2 that they are Inept at. The rest of the skills are considered Trained, as all operatives of UNITED are both selected for their innate strengths and also trained in a variety of necessary disciplines.

Finally, each of the skills you Excel at, can gain 1 free specialisation. When operating within your specialised areas you are at the peak of human ability.

Both Gods and Humans can pick one free positive quirk when creating their character. You can also choose up to three negative quirks each of which allow an additional positive quirk. This gives a maximum of 4 positive and 3 negative quirks.

Gods and Humans pick from separate lists of quirks.

• We need a background for your character. This need not be long (though it can be if you want), but it would be good if you could cover some of the following:
  • Where does your character come from? (Countries on Earth or Holds in Asgard).
  • What is their job/role?
  • How do their Quirks fit into their life?
  • Do they subscribe to any ideology or faction?
  • What are their aspirations for the future.

• Human characters will generally also have a team/squad of 3 people reporting to them. Feel free to give us names and details for your supporters.

• Last up we need a Public Bio for your character- this is a single paragraph description of what is commonly known about them.

Once you're finished please mail your character to gm@ragnarok.chaosdeathfish.com