It then continued, “Due to circumstances out of your control, you have been forcibly summoned to a new realm known only as The Land. Perhaps you have heard of it, but do not concern yourself with your previous existence. It is your time to make your mark upon the The Land, and you will be placed in an ancient realm known as the Red Venom Plains.”
“And never forget – Either you will shape your new reality, or you will be absorbed by it.” As the words fade, you are violently shunted out of the Chaos into a new world, one somehow familiar but still very different from your past. You are a shadow of what you once were – your gear is very basic, and you have lost much of what you once knew. But you are here now, and it would seem you lack the time to regret your losses, as a new and dangerous world awaits you.
When you arrive in The Land, you do not remember your life before it. Your past is supressed from you present. Names, faces, places, regrets, and triumphs were all stripped away when crossing into this new world. What remains are instincts, habits, and fragments of knowledge that refuse to fade. From those fragments, a new life begins.
Character creation in The Land RPG is about discovering who you are becoming, not defining who you already were. Follow these steps to form yourself from the Chaos. You can go to our Google Sheets:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N9sM8JjLZT6uzUyr40n7R5bfhvj3xaFjz5G-BWz4cYs/edit?usp=sharing
and use our Character Creation Wizard to cook one up right away. Just “Make a Copy” of the sheet and start your editing!
Here are some helpful tips when making a character:
Step 1: Choose a Name. Your name is the first thing that will define you. It may not be the name you once had — but it is a new name that anchors you to this world. In The Land, names carry weight. They are spoken by allies, whispered by enemies, written into records, and sometimes remembered by forces older than history. Choose carefully. This name will follow you through triumph, failure, and whatever Chaos decides to throw your way. You cannot change your name once it has been chosen.
Step 2: Decide what shape your body will take. There are many species in The Land, and you will have to determine which Race you will become. Most Races have a subrace, so you’ll want to determine which Race defines how you manifested physically in The Land and how the environment reacts to you. Each Race comes with natural tendencies, instincts, and affinities that shape how easily you learn certain skills and how others perceive you. You may not remember growing up as this race – and sometimes, you will lack the natural habits of that race – but your body will find ease of what feels natural. Movement, senses, endurance, and intuition all reflect this choice, as do your Attributes, such as Strength or Charisma. You can learn about the different Races to choose from in the Races inthe Red Venom Plains section.
Step 3: Adjust your Starting Attributes. There are nine Attributes: Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Constitution, Endurance, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Luck. You’ll start with 10 points in each Attribute, and the Race you have chosen will modify based on your experience. Here is a breakdown of the Attributes:
- Strength measures your physical ability to move things. This includes lifting objects, pushing against resistance, or making your body work against gravity by jumping. Strength determines how much damage you deal with Melee and Thrown weapons, as well as how much you can carry. Some of the skills associated with Strength are Athletics, Climbing, Grappling, Jumping, Running, Swimming, Construction, and Instill Fear.
- Agility measures your ability to anticipate movement and react to it. High Agility affects many things, including your ability to dodge attacks, maintain balance, and move without being detected. It also increases your movement speed. Agility modifies your accuracy with Ranged and Thrown weapons. Some of the skills associated with Agility are Balance, Escape, Tumbling, Wind Instruments, Riding, and Stealth.
- Dexterity measures your finesse and ability to perform intricate actions. Having high Dexterity allows you to be precise in your movements, increasing your celerity in combat and making you adept at certain crafting skills. Dexterity affects the damage of your Ranged attacks and the accuracy of your Melee attacks. Some of the skills associated with Dexterity are Carpentry, String Instruments, Poison Making, Herb Lore, Leatherworking, Driving, Sailing, and Thievery.
- Constitution determines how physically healthy you are and how resistant you are to the effects of poison, disease, and other unnatural forces that attempt to harm you. Constitution’s primary purpose is to determine the amount of Health you have.
- Endurance determines your ability to endure pain, both physical and mental. It allows you to perform physical exertions at peak proficiency, such as holding your breath for an extended period of time, or ignoring the effects of pain to focus on a skill or spell being cast. Endurance determines the amount of Stamina you have. Some of the skills associated with Endurance are Concentration, Fortitude, Percussion, and Dunewalking.
- Intelligence determines your clarity of mind and the sharpness of your wit. Your ability to perform mental tasks—such as solving crimes or creating credible documents—is governed by your Intelligence. Intelligence also determines your Mana, as maintaining a pool of magical energy requires mental control. That same control provides resistance to certain mental and magical attacks. Some of the skills associated with Intelligence are Alchemy, Appraisal, Forgery, Investigation, Research, and Trade.
- Wisdom determines your mental fortitude and your ability to accurately process information received through your other attributes. Wisdom affects what you notice when you are not actively looking, and how well you understand the proper way to assemble or approach certain problems—because sometimes, things simply need to make sense. Your Mana Regeneration rate is based on your Wisdom. Some of the skills associated with Wisdom are Animal Husbandry, Healing, Combat Medic, Listening, Sense Motive, Survival, Forestry, and Tracking.
- Charisma determines how likely others are to like you or want to interact with you. A higher score may open quests that would otherwise be unavailable or allow you to achieve feats of glory that inspire your allies beyond their physical limits. Charisma directly affects many aspects of daily life within The Land and can be either a bane or a boon to how you are perceived by its natives. Some common skills associated with Charisma are Animal Empathy, Deception, Disguise, Entertain, Gather Information, Instill Fear, Streetwise, and Trade.
- Luck affects you in a million different ways… or not. It provides small, measurable bonuses to many of your abilities, including your chance to hit a target or dodge an incoming spell. It also grants subtle benefits, such as influencing whether a monster chooses to bite you—or the heavily armored ally standing next to you. Sometimes, Luck is simply about gambling. Luck is also tied to your previous life before The Land. Your mind may retain knowledge that should be unknowable, such as the internal conflicts of a noble house, the secret history of a magical beast, or even the intentions of banished gods. With a high Luck score, you may remember fragments of information learned before you were brought to The Land. We believe the term for this phenomenon is “Metagaming.”
The description of each Race tells you what bonuses you gain to the Attributes, and how many points you can spend freely on Attributes. Your racial bonuses to Attributes apply to you immediately, so if your race gives “+1 Constitution, +1 Wisdom, and three additional points”, your Constitution and Wisdom become 11 as you start, and you can spend the remaining three Attribute points in any stat, including increasing your Constitution to 14. or your Luck to 13, or three others to 11, and so on.
Step 4: Choose “Martial” and “Armor” skills. An important aspect of being a survivor in the Red Venom Plains is the ability to defend onself. Unlike other traditional RPGs, The Land does not restrict those that wish to use weapons, armor, or spells; as a Chaos Seed, you are entitled to use all skills. Choosing skills can be difficult; there are many choices, each with an alternate path to walk. But you have the ability to learn as you go along, and many skills are complimentary of each other. Your starting gear will also be determined by which “Martial” and “Armor” skills you take.
Martial refers to weapon skills. The first of which is the weapon in your primary hand (right or left, your choice). There are many types of weapons, all of which can be found on the Weapons by Type page. Additionally, starting Chaos Seeds have the ability to choose “Weapon Style” skills – specifically Dual Wielding, which allows you to make an attack with a smaller melee weapon in your other hand; or Two-Handed Strike, which gives you a bonus to fighting with a large melee weapon using both hands. Additionally you can learn to use a Bow or Crossbow.
Armor skills are generally defensive skills. There are five types of Armor skills: Light Armor, which is generally leather or light metal armors, which give bonuses to your ability to dodge; Medium Armor which is a balance of both Light and Medium, and is often enchanted to protect your mind; Heavy Armor, which is the most dense, and often both increases your defensive values and reduces damage; Unarmored Defense, which is the complete lack of armor but gives great bonuses to avoiding damage; and Shields, which counts as both a Martial and an Armor skill, as Shields can be used both defensively and offensively.
Each Martial or Armor skill you take will adjust many things for you, from Movement Speed to Skill Penalties. However, each choice you make will give you additional equipment when you form in the Red Venom Plains. Each Martial or Armor skill you choose will also reduce the number of non-combat skills you get to choose.
Step 5: Choose a Basic Magic Type. Magic in The Land is primal – it is not granted by gods or practiced over time. It is extremely rare for those born in The Land to have even a chance to learn it, yet all Chos Seeds have pure magic in their blood, which can be focused in nine different ways. This choice represents the type of energy that feels natural to you, the way your mind shapes power without conscious thought. Whether it manifests as raw Fire, flowing Water, unyielding Earth, rejuvinating Life, consuming Dark, or a focus on inward power, your basic magic defines how you interact with the unseen forces of the world. You may one day learn other forms of magic, but this first expression is the foundation upon which all your magical growth is built. Here are your options as a new Chaos Seed:
- Air Magic: This Basic Element is the magic of speed, lightning and travel. A master of this magic can control the sky itself.
- Dark Magic: Darkness is the basic magic of concealment, secrets and hidden power. Mastery of this power allows you to steal from the gods and demons alike.
- Death Magic: This basic magic completes the circle of existence, allowing its practitioners to escape the mortal coil and let their journey continue beyond death.
- Earth Magic: You can utilize the magic of the very rocks. With Earth magic you can poison your enemies, summon powerful creatures and greatly increase your defense.
- Fire Magic: Users of this basic magic are able to bathe their enemies in flame, purging their problems with clean, pure, and true fire.
- Life Magic: The basic element, Life, is in every blade of grass and every beast of the forest. Master this basic element and you can move even more beyond the reach of death.
- Light Magic: This basic magic will allow you to control the pulse of the Universe. A true master of this spell school can see the future itself and lay waste to cities.
- Water Magic: This magic lets you use ice to kill and water to drown your enemies. A master of this Power can drown cities or create frozen castles.
- Inner Power: While not technically a magic type, a Chaos Seed can forgo outward expressions of magic and create inward magical bonuses that provide a mixture of personal benefits.
Each magic type will give you two spells to start, which are listed on their descripton page.
Step 6: Choose your Common and Uncommon Skills. Skills define who you are in The Land. They represent knowledge, instincts, and capabilities that make what you are, both statistically and personally. Some skills come naturally (Common skills), others require effort, or are a specialization of a Common skill. In The Land, you are not restricted by a class or role. If you invest in a skill, your character becomes better at it through practice, experience, and survival. Over time, skills deepen, specialize, and evolve, shaping your reputation and the way the world responds to you. There are two typs of skills you can choose from. As a new Chaos Seed, you will have several Common Skills to choose from, and one or two Uncommon skills. The specific amount of skills you can learn at start is dependant on your other choices.
You begin with 8 starting Common Skills. Each Martial or Armor skill you have acquired costs one starting Common Skill. As an example, if you choose to learn to use Swords, Shields, and Medium Armor, you are down to 5 starting Common Skills from the below list. Your magic usage does not count against this. Those that have chosen Human as their form in The Land recieve two additional Common Skills and one additional Uncommon Skill, as they are not blessed with the abilities granted to other races, such as the ability to see in the dark or breathe underwater.
Common Skills are skills that can be learned without training, such as after a successful adventure. As a new Chaos Seed, you will be able to choose from any of the following:
- Agriculture: Knowledge of Farming and Plant Creatures.
- Alchemy: Crafting. Increases effectiveness of Alchemical Items.
- Animal Empathy: Understanding how wild animals think.
- Athletics: Physical exertions, such as jumping and running.
- Balance: Your ability to resist falling however gravity pulls you.
- Concentration: Maintain a spell or consciousness while sustaining damage.
- Construction: Crafting. Proper techniques associted with building things.
- Conversation: The ability to get others to do what you want.
- Cooking: Crafting. The ability to turn mundane into sustenance.
- Deception: The ability to make others to believe what you want.
- Enchanting: Crafting. You can make magical items.
- Entertain: Allows you to sway or distract a crowd.
- Fishing: Crafting. Knowledge of aquatic creatures, ropes, catching fish.
- Fletching: Crafting. You can make bows and arrows..
- Fortitude: Increases your ability to resist poisons and exertions.
- Gambling: Increases your skill at games of chance.
- Gather Information: Understand the best ways to get the information you need.
- Healing: Increases effectiveness of medicines you use.
- Herb Lore: Allows you to harvest ingredients from natural sources.
- Instill Fear: The ability to get others to do what you want through fear.
- Intuition: Your natural ability to understand situations.
- Investigation: Your ability to find and analyze clues about a situation.
- Metagaming: You recall small amounts of knowledge from your past life.
- Perception: Determines you ability to observe details near and far.
- Research: You can discern the fundamentals of knowledge.
- Riding: Increased movement and technique with vehicles and creatures.
- Sailing: Knowledge of boats, wind patterns, and ease on water.
- Scavenging: You know what is worth collecting for later.
- Scribing: Crafting. You can create scrolls, maps, and wands.
- Smithing: Crafting. You can turn metal into war implements.
- Stealth: Determines your ability to hide and move quietly.
- Survival: The ability to survive in natural surroundings.
- Tailoring: Crafting. You can combine fabric and string to make things.
- Thievery: Allows you to manipulate delicate objects, such as locks.
- Trade: Gives you a price reduction on certain items.
- Traps: Crafting. Allows you to set Traps, and increase effectiveness
Additionally, you will have access to two Uncommon Skills. These skills are often Subskills, meaning they are a focus or specialization of another skill. For example, the Climbing Subskill is a specialization of the Athletics skill. Any bonuses you have to Athletics will also apply to your Climbing Subskill, but bonuses to Climbing will not help you with Athletics checks to Swim, for example. You cannot choose a Subskill if you do not have its parent skill, so you would need to choose Athletics as one of your Common Skills if you wanted to choose Climbing as one of your Uncommon Skills. Here is a list of available Uncommon Skills that you may select from, with their “parent” skill after their name:
- Aggression (Instill Fear): You strike harder through brute intimidation.
- Ancient History (Research): You recall the truths of long-lost civilizations.
- Appraisal (Trade): You judge an object’s worth at a glance.
- Astronomy (Research): You understand the stars and draw power from them.
- Bog Hopping (Survival): You travel marshes and wetlands without being stuck.
- Celerity (Concentration): You act with supernatural speed in moments of crisis.
- Climbing (Athletics): You can scale natural and artificial surfaces with ease.
- Combat Medic (Healing): You provide emergency healing in the heat of battle.
- Confidence (Trade): You resist charm and lead negotiations with poise.
- Detoxification (Herb Lore): You resist poison and cleanse toxins.
- Disguise (Deception): You can alter your appearance to conceal your identity.
- Driving (Riding): You command wagons and land-bound vehicles with precision.
- Dunewalking (Survival): You traverse deserts and resist searing heat.
- Dungeoneering (Survival): You handle underground threats and hazards.
- Energy Arc (Fortitude): You can shrug off lightning-based powers and shocks.
- Engineering (Research): You comprehend mechanical devices and how to use them.
- Escape (Balance): You can slip out of restraints and enemy holds with precision.
- Focus (Concentration): You channel your willpower to enhance metamagic control.
- Folklore (Agriculture): You know the signs, stories, and symbols of fairies and fey creatures.
- Forestry (Survival): You navigate forests and use their bounty wisely.
- Geography (Research): You are versed in terrain, regions, and their effects.
- Hiding (Stealth): You remain completely unseen when still.
- Higher Powers (Research): You know the workings of spirits, demons, and celestials.
- Hygiene (Healing): You avoid disease and understand ooze-like creatures.
- Ice Bounding (Survival): You survive bitter cold and icy terrain.
- Jumping (Athletics): You leap further and with greater control than most.
- Listening (Perception): You catch quiet sounds and whispered threats.
- Local Politics (Research): You understand the people, powers, and factions around you.
- Masonry (Construction): You are familiar with constructs and the strengths of stone.
- Naturalist (Agriculture): You recognize plant monsters and their habits before they strike.
- Necromancy (Healing): You know how undead work and how to resist them.
- Percussion (Entertain): You channel power through rhythm and thunderous beats.
- Pierce The Veil (Traps): You sense hidden dangers like traps or illusions.
- Running (Athletics): You move faster and dodge more effectively on the battlefield.
- Seafaring (Survival): You adapt to coastal and aquatic survival.
- Search (Investigation): You excel at finding things others overlook.
- Self Awareness (Intuition): You know your limits and can protect your mind.
- Shake it Off (Fortitude): You quickly recover from lingering negative effects.
- Singing (Entertain): You inspire or compel with the strength of your voice.
- Sneaking (Stealth): You stay silent even while moving.
- Streetwise (Survival): You survive and thrive in urban environments.
- String Instrument (Entertain): You weave illusion into every vibrating string.
- Swimming (Athletics): You are at home moving swiftly through water.
- Taunt (Instill Fear): You draw enemy focus through insults and bravado.
- Tracking (Survival): You follow signs left by prey or foe.
- Trap Disarm (Traps): You safely disable mechanical threats and snares.
- Wind Instrument (Entertain): You play haunting notes that invoke fear and awe.
Each choice in a starting Common or Uncommon skill will give you one Rank in that skill, and 100% Affinity in that skill. Both of these concepts will be explained when you are done with your first adventure session.
Step 7: Choose your Starting Trait. Traits are small bonuses or abilities earned for numerous reasons, including experiences in your past life that simply refuse to be forgotten. As a new Chaos Seed, you will have a Starting Trait – something that gives you an edge in The Land, or an ability to advance in a skill easier than most. More about Starting Traits can be found on its page. You only get to choose one Starting Trait, and certain experiences will give you access to stronger ones.
Step 8: Customize Your Description. Your character’s description helps bring them to life in The Land and gives others a clear sense of who they are. Please include your character’s age, height, weight, hair color and style, and eye color, along with their preferred gender or presentation. As you may not be playing a Human, be certain to check the page associated with your Race to gauge what the average non-Human looks like or how long they live. You should also note any distinctive physical features such as tattoos, scars, unusual markings, missing limbs, or other traits that make your character visually unique. This description does not need to be overly long, but it should be detailed enough that you can make a memorable impression on those playing with you.
It is important that you do not create a background story – remember, your past is lost to you.
Step 9: Fill Out a Character Sheet. You have been given a lot of options, all of which have math. Lots of math. But do not fear! We have an automated character generator, usable as a Google Sheet, that you can make a copy of and customize. Details and the link will be posted here when it is ready for the public.
Step 10: Look at your Character Sheet in all its awesomeness. And welcome to the Red Venom Plains.
Follow-up Steps, before your first online game:
Create a Free Roll20 Account. You are going to want to create a Roll20.net account if you don’t already have one. Choose the free option, we have our account already paid for. Certain special events may try other virtual tabletops, but Roll20 seems to be the most common VTT for our gaming.
Join Discord. Follow the conversation! https://tinyurl.com/thelandrpg Join the Red Venom Plains campaign.