Race: Hyperborea is peculiar in that the character races are specifically humans or human like so they are the only choices available as stock races. However due to the "North Wind" and some mysterious portals you could actually be a race from anywhere and anytime. Just be mindful about how that race would be interacted with by the native Hyperboreans, its a wild and unforgiving world.
Classes: Fighter/ Cleric/ Magician and Thief are the core classes available in Hyperborea and these further branch into the various subclasses:
Barbarian: an outland warrior possessed of feral instincts
Berserker: a rampaging shock trooper renowned for unbridled battle rage
Cataphract (Knight): an armoured horseman and warrior elite
Huntsman: a wilderness warrior who glories in the hunt
Paladin: a champion who crusades for justice and Law
Ranger: a borderland fighter, frontiersman, and defender
Warlock: a spell-weaving fighter who wields steel and sorcery interchangeably
Cryomancer: a sorcerer who commands the elemental power of ice
Illusionist: a sorcerer who evokes phantasms and manipulates shadows and light
Necromancer: a sorcerer who practices black magic and communicates with the dead
Pyromancer: a sorcerer who commands the elemental power of fire
Witch (Wizard): a sorcerer who brews potions, divines portents, and lays curses
Druid: a mystic sorcerer empowered by ancestral, elemental, and animistic spirits
Monk: a warrior-priest who strives for physical and mental mastery
Priest: a chaplain mystic of prodigious spell-casting capacity
Runegraver: a mystic warrior who carves runic spells on bone, metal, stone, and wood
High Shaman: a primal sorcerer who confers with ancestral and totem spirits
Assassin: a thief who specializes in murder and intrigue
Bard (Skald): a warrior, scholar, and weaver of enchanted lyrics and/or music
Legerdemainist: an adept thief who also commands the power of sorcery
Purloiner: a religious thief who also practices the esoteric mysticism of a cleric
Scout: a lightly armed explorer, intelligence gatherer, and stealth master
NOTE: Due to F&F not being compatible with certain things a certain amount of artistic license and fudging was performed.
Attribute Requirements: Minimum attribute score(s) required to select class; subclasses have more than one.
Prime Attribute(s): The attribute(s) best associated with the character class; if 16 or greater, the character gains a +10% bonus each time experience points (XP) are awarded. Subclasses have two prime attributes; both must be 16 or greater to gain the same benefit. N.B.: Characters with prime attributes in strength, dexterity, and constitution gain a +8% bonus to the respective extraordinary feat. I am not sure Franz will pick up on this in the GM Instructions but either way it wont break the game.
Hit Die Type: The die used to generate hit points. Also, hit die type impacts healing from injuries. Again I am not sure Franz will pick up on this in the GM Instructions but again it wont break the game.
Alignment: The allowable alignment(s) of the character class.
Armour Allowed: The armour types usable without compromising class abilities.
Shields Allowed: The shield types usable without compromising class abilities.
Favoured Weapons: The weapon types with which the character is proficient. Unlisted weapon skills may be learnt as experience levels are gained.
In my opinion the game is meant to be a slow burn (NOT LEVELING UP EVERY SESSION - ITS ABOUT THE JOURNEY! RIGHT!?) yet exciting involving tactics, planning and a lot of RPing. Even the level advancement leaves room for RPing. So certain things are omitted here.
Experience amounts and level advancement are as follows for all the following character classes in this game world: [[Franz ENSURE that the new character Variant XP Progression ARE USED for the appropriate classes OVERRIDE PREVIOUS VALUES]]
@FIGHTER (Hyperborea)/ @CLERIC (Hyperborea)/ @DRUID (Cleric)/ @PRIEST (Cleric): 1st= 0-1999xp 2nd= 2000-3999xp 3rd= 4000-7999xp 4th= 8000-15999xp 5th= 16000-31999xp 6th= 32000-63999xp 7th= 64000-127999xp 8th= 128000-255999xp 9th= 256000-383999xp 10th= 384000-511999xp 11th= 512000-639999xp 12th= 640000xp+
@ASSASSIN (Thief)/ @SCOUT (Thief): 1st= 0-1749xp 2nd= 1750-3499xp 3rd= 3500-6999xp 4th= 7000-13999xp 5th= 14000-27999xp 6th= 28000-55999xp 7th= 56000-111999xp 8th= 112000-223999xp 9th= 224000-335999xp 10th= 336000-447999xp 11th= 448000-559999xp 12th= 560000xp+
@MAGICIAN (Hyperborea)/ @BERSERKER (Fighter)/ @Illusionist (Magician)/ @NECROMANCER (Magician)/ @PYROMANCER (Magician)/ @CRYOMANCER (Magician)/ @MONK (Cleric)/ @HIGH SHAMAN (Cleric)/ @BARD/SKALD (Thief)/ @PURLOINER (Thief) : 1st= 0-2499xp 2nd= 2500-4999xp 3rd= 5000-9999xp 4th= 10000-19999xp 5th= 20000-39999xp 6th= 40000-79999xp 7th= 80000-159999xp 8th= 160000-319999xp 9th= 320000-479999xp 10th= 480000-639999xp 11th= 640000-799999xp 12th= 800000xp+
@THIEF (Hyperborea): 1st= 0-1499xp 2nd= 1500-2999xp 3rd= 3000-5999xp 4th= 6000-11999xp 5th= 12000-23999xp 6th= 24000-47999xp 7th= 48000-95999xp 8th= 96000-191999xp 9th= 192000-287999xp 10th= 288000-383999xp 11th= 384000-479999xp 12th= 480000xp+
@BARBARIAN (Fighter)/ @WARLOCK (Fighter)/ @WITCH (Magician)/ @RUNEGRAVER (Cleric) : 1st= 0-2999xp 2nd= 3000-5999xp 3rd= 6000-11999xp 4th= 12000-23999xp 5th= 24000-47999xp 6th= 48000-95999xp 7th= 96000-191999xp 8nd= 192000-383999xp 9th= 384000-575999xp 10th= 576000-767999xp 11th= 768000-959999xp 12th= 960000xp+
@CATAPHRACT (Fighter)/ @HUNTSMAN (Fighter)/ @RANGER (Fighter): 1st= 0-2249xp 2nd= 2250-4499xp 3rd= 4500-8999xp 4th= 9000-17999xp 5th= 18000-35999xp 6th= 36000-71999xp 7th= 72000-143999xp 8nd= 144000-287999xp 9th= 288000-431999xp 10th= 432000-575999xp 11th= 576000-719999xp 12th= 720000xp+
@PALADIN (Fighter)/ @LEGERDEMAINIST (Thief): 1st= 0-2749xp 2nd= 2750-5499xp 3rd= 5500-10999xp 4th= 11000-21999xp 5th= 22000-43999xp 6th= 44000-87999xp 7th= 88000-175999xp 8th= 176000-351999xp 9th= 352000-527999xp 10th= 528000-703999xp 11th= 704000-879999xp 12th= 880000xp+
Regardless of your character’s class, race, alignment, religion, and skills, there are several facets of life that are generally known to most characters in Hyperborea:
As proved by science and sorcery, Hyperborea is a flat, hexagonal-shaped world.
The sun is a red giant that skirts along the horizon, never rising to a zenith.
Two ellipsoid moons revolve around Hyperborea; one large, the other small.
Saturn is immense in the sky; it is oft visible during diurnal and nocturnal hours.
A week = 7 days, a month = 28 days, a year = 13 months, and a cycle = 13 years.
The 13-year cycle includes a year of perpetual light and a year of perpetual darkness.
The Hyperborean Sea spills off the Rim of the World into the infinite Black Gulf.
The North Wind (or boreas) wheels around the realm, beyond the Rim of the World.
Great obelisks rise from the six corners of the realm.
Mount Vhuurmithadon is Hyperborea's north pole, axis, and largest mountain.
Khromarium, a cosmopolitan metropolis, is the largest city of the realm.
The Xathoqqua orthodoxy is the most prevalent religion of the realm.
The indigenous Hyperborean race once ruled Hyperborea with savage cruelty.
A plague called the Green Death nearly obliterated mankind 1,000 years ago.
There are varying degrees of knowledge regarding these particulars. Everyone sees the sun and the moons, but most have never seen the Rim of the World or Mount Vhuurmithadon. Khromarium may be renowned, but it doesn’t mean your character has been there. Xathoqqua worship is ubiquitous, but your character may be from a locale that eschews its worship. Hyperboreans may be infamous for their wickedness; perhaps your character has never met one and thus prefers to reserve judgement.
XP Awards:
Slaying / Capturing Monsters: Experience points are gained when monsters are killed. Each monster is assigned an XP value. Generally speaking, the more powerful the monster, the greater the XP award. When a defeated monster escapes, the PCs should not be awarded its full XP value; 1/4 XP is more appropriate. If it is later captured or killed, then the other 3/4 XP may be awarded. Some GM's might also award ¼ XP when the PCs fight valiantly, though opt to flee for their lives.
Spending Money: XP should be awarded at a rate of 20% of the gold piece value of the hard earned money that is actually spent and not saved.
Successful Use of a Skill: typically 25–50 XP.
Problem Solving: The GM might award XP for overcoming a challenging trick, trap, puzzle, or riddle, where problem solving, logic, and teamwork are applied. The XP award should be commensurate to the challenge and level of the characters, typically betwixt 100 and 500 XP.
Adventure / Campaign Goals: Some adventures may entail long-term goals or quests, and XP might be awarded when certain criteria are met. Some goals can be less definitive (e.g., rescuing a princess, securing a hostile border, or delivering a message across hundreds of leagues of treacherous terrain), so the GM may wish to assign an XP award. If the completion of a goal or quest includes no monetary reward, the GM might award 500–1,000 XP. Another campaign goal worthy of an XP award is participation in WARFARE and SIEGE.
Attendance: Awarding 25–50 XP per hour of real time active game participation is not unreasonable, particularly during a session of game play that holds few battles and/or in which no treasure is won, yet the players have nonetheless exercised creativity and ingenuity.
Magic Items: THERE IS NO XP AWARDED FOR MAGICAL ITEMS AS JUST HAVING THEM IS BONUS ENOUGH.
Bonus XP: All the Classes each have a prime attribute: strength, intelligence, wisdom, and dexterity, respectively. If the prime attribute is 16 or greater, the character gains a +10% bonus each time XP is awarded; e.g., if a 17 dex thief is awarded 550 XP, he gains a bonus 55 XP. Subclasses have two prime attributes, both of which must be 16 or higher in order for the character to gain bonus XP.
NOTE: WITH ALL THE ABOVE IN MIND AND AFTER EXTENSIVE TESTING FRANZ CAN NOT ADJUST THESE VALUES SO I HAD TO DO THE WORK AROUND OF ADJUSTING ALL THE MONSTER XP VALUES.