Advantages

Academic Training (Magician) (*)

Your hero spent his youth at a magicians’ academy, where he received comprehensive training in the art of magic and related fields. This means that during hero creation, he can advance all Lore Talents at half price (up to and including TP 10) and must pay only half the activation costs. This discount does not apply to advancement after the game has begun. Upon graduating from the academy, the hero has a magician’s seal tattooed onto the palm of his hand. This seal increases the hero’s SO by 1 (after hero creation is finished). Only heroes who have already taken the Spellcaster Advantage may take this Advantage. The advancement bonuses for Academic Training and Aptitude are not cumulative; thus, a hero may use the benefits of Academic Training in a certain Talent area prior to the beginning of game play, while he can draw on the benefits of an Aptitude afterwards. The 1-point bonus for a single Talent as described in the entry on Aptitude still applies.

Academic Training (Warrior) (*)

Your hero spent his youth at a warriors’ academy where he received comprehensive training in the arts of war. This means that during hero creation, he can advance all Combat Talents at half price (up to and including TP 10) and must pay only half the activation costs. This discount does not apply to advancement after the game has begun. Upon graduating from the academy, the hero is presented with a warrior’s diploma that allows him to use any weapon, to participate in all tournaments, and to embark on an officer’s career in many armies and guard units. This warrior’s diploma increases the hero’s SO by 1 (after hero creation is finished). The advancement bonuses for Academic Training and Aptitude are not cumulative; thus, a hero may use the benefits of Academic Training in a certain Talent area prior to the beginning of game play, while he can draw on the benefits of an Aptitude afterwards. The 1-point bonus for a single Talent as described in the entry on Aptitude still applies.

Aptitude for [Talent of Choice]

Your hero receives an additional point of TP for his chosen Talent prior to the beginning of play. In addition, the selected Talent may be advanced more easily in the future: it always uses the next easier (i.e., left) column on the Advancement Cost Table. GP cost depends on the selected Talent: Aptitude for a Social, Nature, Lore, or Artisan Talent: 6 GP Aptitude for a Physical Talent: 12 GP Aptitude for a Combat Talent of Advancement Category C: 9 GP Aptitude for a Combat Talent of Advancement Category D: 12 GP Aptitude for a Combat Talent of Advancement Category E: 15 GP This Advantage can be taken only once by a hero. It cannot be combined with Aptitude for [Talent Group of Choice] in the same category, nor can it be used in conjunction with an Inaptitude for the same Talent Group. Aptitude for a single language or script is not possible. The advancement bonuses for Academic Training and Aptitude are not cumulative; thus, a hero may use the benefits of Academic Training in a certain Talent area prior to the beginning of game play, while he can draw on the benefits of an Aptitude afterward. The 1-point bonus for a single Talent as described still applies.

Aptitude for [Talent Group of Choice]

Your hero shows special aptitude for an entire Talent Group, such as all Combat Talents, Physical Talents, or Lore talents. When advancing a Talent from his chosen Talent Group, the hero always uses the next easiest (i.e., left) column on the Advancement Cost Table. GP cost depends on the selected Talent Group: Aptitude for Social, Nature, Lore, or Artisan Talents: 20 GP Aptitude for Physical Talents: 40 GP Aptitude for Combat Talents: 50 GP This Advantage can be taken only once by a hero. It cannot be combined with Aptitude for [Talent of Choice] in the same category, nor can it be used in conjunction with Inaptitude for the same Talent Group. For Aptitude with languages and scripts, see Language Instinct. The advancement bonuses for Academic Training and Aptitude are not cumulative; thus, a hero may use the benefits of Academic Training in a certain Talent area prior to the beginning of game play, while he can draw on the benefits of an Aptitude afterward.

Astral Power

For each 2 GP spent, your hero receives 1 additional Astral Point; you cannot gain more than 5 ASPs in this way. Only heroes who have already taken the Spellcaster Advantage may take this Advantage.

Astral Regeneration

Your hero regenerates 1d6+2 ASP per phase of rest; Intuition Rolls to retrieve lost Astral Points and for rituals to increase your ASP total receive a Difficulty Decrease of 2 points. Only heroes who have already taken the Spellcaster Advantage may take this Advantage. It cannot be taken together with the Astral Block Disadvantage.

Balance

Your hero receives a Difficulty Decrease of 3 points on all acrobatics, athletics, and body control Tests, and a Difficulty Decrease of 2 points on all AG Tests as long as these Tests involve balancing, mid-air turns, or regaining one’s footing on trembling ground. Also, he can deduct 20% (round up) from the damage point total for all falling damage (after figuring in the body control Test).

Bardic Voice

Your hero has a beautiful voice and an innate feeling for music. All of his singing Tests receive a Difficulty Decrease of 5 points, while all other Tests on Social Talents that involve the active use of the voice receive a Difficulty Decrease of 2 points. This Advantage has no effect on Tests related to elfsongs.

Connections (SO of acquaintance in GP)

Your hero has a good friend whom he can ask for help if necessary. The type of help the hero can expect (and how often) depends on the character and profession of the connection and is subject to your Highlord’s discretion. Each acquaintance costs you a number of GP equal to her SO, and must remain within +/–5 points of your own SO, with a maximum SO of 15 for your connection. You may take this Advantage more than once.

Contortionist (25 GP)

Some people have flexible joints, enabling them to do amazing things with their bodies such as creeping into tight spaces or wriggling out of chains. Contortionists receive a bonus of 1 point on the following Talents: acrobatics, bind/escape (when used for escaping), body control, dance, hide, juggling, and sneak. They advance these Talents as if they were one Advancement Category easier. Combat actions that are concerned with evading or wriggling are also easier. Additionally, this Advantage gives your hero one bonus point on Wrestling Parries and allows him to advance Wrestling as if it were one category easier. To take the Contortionist Advantage, your hero needs an AG of at least 14; your hero’s ST maximum drops by 4 points when you take this Advantage. This Advantage may not be taken together with the Outstanding Attribute: Strength Advantage.

Danger Sense (15 GP, Gift)

This Gift can warn your hero of impending danger; he becomes very hard to surprise. This Advantage does not allow a hero to see the future. When your hero is in a situation of constant danger (such as combat), its usefulness is somewhat limited. Danger Sense may warn of an ambush, however, or may speed reaction time in a surprise situation. Tests against Danger Sense should always be rolled secretly by the Highlord. If the Test succeeds, she informs the player that he has some inkling of imminent doom but does not know details. This Gift’s starting value is 3; Tests are rolled against CL/IN/IN.

Direction Sense (3 GP)

All orientation Tests (and all survival Tests used for finding your way) receive a Difficulty Decrease of 5 points. Direction Sense is limited to the hero’s native terrain type—this may be a large but uniform area such as the Khôm Desert, the northern steppes, or the Rashtul Wall, but not a city (this would be better represented as Area Knowledge, an Advantage you will find in Swords and Heroes). Direction Sense may not be combined with the Mental Compass Advantage.

Dwarfnose (12 GP, Gift)

Your hero has developed a supernatural instinct for detecting hidden corridors, secret doors, or hidden cavities within stone structures (natural and man- or dwarf-made). As long as TP is below 7, the Highlord may roll Dwarfnose Tests in secret. If the Test succeeds, the player receives a hint to the location of the room or feature in question. The player is not given information about size or type, however, let alone ways of entering it. When a hero’s TP reaches 7 or above, Dwarfnose Tests can be rolled at the player’s request, but these cost him 1d6 EP. This Gift’s starting value is 3; Tests are rolled against DE/IN/IN.

Enduring (1 GP each)

For each GP spent, your hero receives 1 additional Endurance Point; you cannot gain more than 5 Endurance Points in this way. A hero who spends at least 3 GP on this Advantage tires more slowly, i.e., his Exhaustion Threshold is CN +1 points instead of CN points; a hero who spends at least 5 GP on this Advantage raises his Exhaustion Threshold to CN +2.

Equipment Advantage (1 GP per 10 ducats)

Each GP of Equipment Advantage provides your hero with additional ducats to spend on equipment (but not to keep beyond hero creation). A more advanced version of this Advantage is the Special Item Advantage; both Advantages can be combined. Good-Looking (5 GP): A good-looking hero is particularly attractive to others because of his face, body, or grace of movement. All Tests on Social Talents and all other Talent Tests that are rolled against Charisma receive a Difficulty Decrease of at least 1 point each. Cross-racial effects (even the best-looking dwarf might fail to get the attention of an elf) is at the discretion of the Highlord. This Advantage cannot be combined with the Unattractive or Ugly Disadvantages.

Good Memory

Your hero may roll additional CL Tests to get information if and when the situation warrants (Highlord’s decision). Also, languages and spells may be advanced at 75% of their standard costs (round up).

Hard to Enspell

A hero with this Advantage has an innate resistance against magic. This is not only a boon, but may also be a curse, for it affects harmful spells as well as beneficial ones. All Domination, Healing, and Transformation spells cast at the hero receive a Difficulty Increase of 3 points. This applies to all spells from other fields of magic that result in domination or transformation. This Difficulty Increase is cumulative with all other modifiers, for instance Resistance to Magic (if applicable). Only spells directly centered on the hero are affected by Hard to Enspell; area effect spells or the indirect effects of spells are not changed. This Advantage may be chosen only by heroes who are not able to cast spells themselves (i.e., have not taken the Spellcaster Advantage). Of the spells mentioned in the Core Rules, the following are affected by this Advantage: attributio, balm of healing, be my friend, clarum purum, horriphobus, move as the lightning, mutander salother, paralyze, see true and pure, sleep of a thousand sheep, spiritus armoricus, thunderbolt, unseen.

Heat Resistance (*)

Creatures who are resistant to heat do not suffer damage from high temperatures as long as the temperature does not exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit. They incur only increased Endurance loss in such conditions if they exert themselves. This Advantage does not protect against spells based on heat or fire.

High Resistance to Magic

Your hero is more resistant to harmful magic. Each point of RM improvement costs 3 GP; you may gain a maximum of 3 additional points by taking this Advantage several times.

Immunity to Poison

Your hero is extremely resilient against one particular type of poison (e.g., snake poison, mineral poison, plant-based poison, and so on). When rolling Resistance Tests against this type of poison, a hero’s CN is treated as if it were 15 points higher. This Advantage does not help against poisons from groups not specified. You cannot combine Immunity to Poison with Resistance to Poison. Your Highlord must approve the type of poison you select.

Inner Clock

A hero with this Advantage is able to ascertain the correct time of day within a span of 15 minutes, even without being able to see the sky, when just woken from sleep or unconsciousness, or when in dark dungeons for many days.

Language Instinct

Your hero treats all living languages as if they belonged to the language family of his mother tongue. “Living languages” in this context means that the hero must learn the language from a native speaker.

Left-Handed

Left-handed people have a few minor advantages in combat. During the first 5 Combat Rounds, their enemies receive a negative modifier of 1 point to their Parry. Left-handed persons may learn Special Abilities applying to left-handed or two-handed fighting at 75% of their original cost (round up). Some weapons and objects may be unusable for left-handed persons because they were designed with right-handed bearers in mind.

Low-Light Vision

In bad lighting conditions, your hero receives only half the negative modifiers to AT, PA, and Ranged Attack Values, as well as perception Tests (always rounded in his favor).

Luck (20 GP)

A hero with the proverbial lucky charm may repeat any single die roll (an AT, a PA, a damage roll, a Talent test, and so on) once, for a maximum of up to three different rerolls per day (the actual number is determined secretly by the Highlord by rolling 1d3-1 at the time the player requests his first reroll). The more advantageous of the two rolls (from the hero’s point of view) always counts. A hero may even force enemies to reroll in combat or call for a second damage roll.

Lucky Gambler

In any game of chance, an IN Test usually determines whether Phex is on your hero’s side (and whether the hero is able to interpret the god’s hints). If your hero has the Lucky Gambler Advantage, these rolls receive a Difficulty Decrease of 7 points. Success means that the hero has better chances of drawing a card, succeeding on a die roll, and so on.

Mental Compass

Your hero always knows where north is. He receives a Difficulty Decrease of 7 points on orientation Tests (and on survival Tests used for finding his way). At sea or in the desert, the Difficulty Decrease may be as much as 14 points (Highlord’s discretion). Mental Compass cannot be combined with the Direction Sense Advantage.

Noble Birth

Your hero is the offspring of a noble family. He is heir to an appropriate title and is exempt from standard judicial procedure in some situations. He does not stand to inherit his parents’ holdings, however, since he has older siblings in line before him or his family no longer has any claim to the fief. The title due him, for example, is noble or baron (or a regional equivalent). To be the offspring of a noble, you need Social Standing of at least 8; to be the offspring of a baron, you need Social Standing of at least 10. If you are of Noble Birth, the cost for the Special Item Advantage is reduced to 3 GP (originally 7).

Outstanding Attribute

Your hero may begin play with an Attribute Value of 15 (before bonuses resulting from race, culture, or profession are applied). You may choose this Advantage more than once; applying it to different Attributes costs 8 GP each time. If you apply it to the same Attribute several times, starting value and maximum value are increased by 1 point for the second and each subsequent Advantage taken. Each additional increase is accompanied by an increase in GP cost: to improve an Attribute from 15 to 16 costs 10 GP, from 16 to 17 costs 12 GP, and so on (i.e., GP cost goes up 2 points per each 1-point advancement). You may continue increasing Attributes as long as your GP account holds out. Consider a player who spends 14 GP to buy his hero ST 14. If he wants to begin play with ST 16, the cost is 18 GP (8 to raise his score from 14 to 15, and another 10 for the leap from 15 to 16). If our human were a Thorwalian, the racial bonus (ST +1) is applied after this Advantages is taken, thus giving the hero ST 17. You may not increase an Attribute that will be lowered due to race or culture.

Rapid Healing

A hero with this Advantage regenerates 1d6+2 VP per period of rest; CN rolls to regain lost VP receive a Difficulty Decrease of 2 points. This Advantage cannot be combined with the Slow Regeneration Disadvantage. Resistance to Age (*): Your hero is immune to the effects of old age (within his natural age span). This may either mean that from a certain point in time onwards, his aging process slows down remarkably, or that he does not have to suffer the usual frailties of old age (both physical and mental ones). This Advantage is usually reserved for only a few races, such as elves—a human who happens to be resistant to age should have a very good reason for this “miracle.” (Besides, the church of Praios might take interest in a hero who seems not to age, for something like this surely involves black magic.)

Resistance to Disease

Your hero has an extremely healthy immune system. When rolling Resistance Tests against diseases, his CN is treated as if it were 7 points higher. Resistance to Disease may not be combined with the Prone to Illness Disadvantage.

Resistance to Poison

Your hero is strangely immune to one particular type of poison (e.g., snake poison, mineral poison, plant-based poison, and so on). When rolling Resistance Tests against the chosen type of poison, his CN is treated as if it were 7 points higher. This Advantage does not help against poisons from groups not specified. You cannot combine Resistance to Poison with Immunity to Poison. Your Highlord must approve the type of poison you select.

Social Chameleon

A hero with this Advantage gets along astonishingly well in unfamiliar social environments and suffers only minor negative modifiers to his Social Talents if he moves within an unfamiliar culture or unfamiliar surroundings. When choosing the Connections Advantage (q.v.), he pays only 75% of the connections’ SO in GP and may choose from within a range of SO +/–7 (but still cannot transcend the maximum of SO 15).

Special Item

A Special Item is a piece of equipment or a special condition that would usually be too expensive or inaccessible for your hero at the beginning of his career. The nature of this item should fit the hero’s profession (e.g., a horse for a warrior). The profession description tells you which special item would be appropriate. If the profession description says, “none,” then your hero cannot take this Advantage. Magical items are out of the question; your hero must win these through adventuring.

Spellcaster (*)

Your hero has been trained in the ways of magic, enabling him to cast spells (varying by profession or culture). He gains (CO + IN + CH) /2 ASP (round up) plus 12 ASP (and perhaps more depending on culture and profession). More information on spellcasting heroes is found in the description of the magician profession (see p. 52), the lea-elf culture (see p. 49), and the chapter on magic (p. 130). Only heroes who take this Advantage can gain the Advantages of Academic Training (Magician), Astral Power, Astral Regeneration, and the Astral Block Disadvantage.

Toughness

Normally, a hero whose VI drops below 0 falls into a coma, with 1d6 x CN Combat Rounds separating him from death. Should his VI fall below zero until it equals his negative Constitution, the hero is irrevocably dead. A hero with the Toughness Advantage is allowed to multiply CN by 1.5 (round up) when making these calculations.

Vigor

For each 3 Generation Points spent, your hero receives 1 additional VP. Only 5 additional points are possible in this way.