The Imaginarium of Doctor Mitch

First of all, After the Final War has had a change of name; it’s now known as Out of the Ashes.

I’m funding Out of the Ashes through a Kickstarter. The Kickstarter launches at 12:00 GMT on Monday 11th of January. You can sign up for notifications when the Kickstarter goes live:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/9257403/out-of-the-ashes-2

So this post has a little content, rather than just being an advertisement, let me talk for a moment about characters in Out of the Ashes. A character has a culture, a name appropriate to that culture, and a concept. Some of the character concepts available in the setting are.

Delver
You’re an explorer of deep places, the tunnels under the earth where treasures and horrors lurk, the empty homes of the Mountain Clans, the barrows of ages far in the past. Few other than those of the Mountain Clans have the urge to follow this path.

Liberator
There are many in the world enslaved by the Desecrators and Tainted. Some have been corrupted, and cannot be freed, though they can be given a clean death. But others, maybe even most, can be rescued, and that is what you fight to do, by fair means or foul. It’s worth it, and slavers do not deserve mercy or a fair fight.

Most liberators are Kethians who are moved by their people’s plight, but a hero from any culture can be a liberator. Some liberators are themselves escaped slaves.

Lore Master
Your magic comes from your dedicated learning, and you know some of the words of power, which existed before the gods. These words are the building blocks of creation, and are powerful and perilous. Use them wisely.

Monster Hunter
Among the Ekeli battle is not glorious. But there is glory in the hunt against a dangerous foe, outwitting it and striking from the shadows to kill. You have such glory for you hunt monsters, and your pursuits sometimes take you far from home.

Singer
There is power and wisdom in songs and poems, and you’re wise in such ways. Your songs preserve ancient lore that is otherwise forgotten, and exert a subtle power. You can make sure news and stories are spread, and know how to make your words ring with truth.

Storm Rider
You’re a warrior and acrobat capable of remarkable feats because the wind is your ally. You’re no magician; your magic is implicit, expressed with every movement, by your relationship with the air around you.

Your character concept guides you but does not constrain you as you choose character options. To see how they come together, here’s an example character from the book.

Olwen of Gwyn Onnen
Culture: Ekeli
Concept: Seeker
Focus: Determined

Drives and Keys
Duty: To hunt the tainted and subjugators
Passion: A sense of adventure and gratuitous danger
Keys: Storm, Darkness, Secrecy

Characteristics
Endurance 16, Spirit 10
Protection 3, Despair 0
Damage: Spear d10, Bow d10
Wealth d4

Skills
Physical Skills: Athletics 8, Fight 4, Shoot 6, Sneak 7, Survival 3
Mental Skills: Investigate 3, Lore 4, Notice 3
Social Skills: Deceive 3, Song 4

Talents
Always Prepared: At the cost of a point of Spirit, you can have any item you want ready to hand. The item must be something inexpensive, so you could obtain it with a minor or no Wealth spend.

Further, when you embark on an expedition, increase your group’s Supplies resource by a dice step.

Lightfoot Run: For a cost of a point of Spirit, for as long as you are running and jumping, you’re almost weightless. You can perform remarkable feats of acrobatics, and any surface can support you, even the ends of branches of trees or the surface of water.

You have a +2 bonus to Athletics for the purposes of acrobatics. When you use this Talent to charge into battle you have a bonus d10. You can only use this talent in light or no armour.

Sense the Unseen: You can sense the presence of magic or a magically enchanted item, tell when a creation is a magical illusion, sense openings to otherworlds, and see spirits before they manifest. With a successful Notice test, you can say something about the form of magic, otherworld, or what lies behind an illusion.

Precision Shot: When you roll 9 to 10 for either die when you make a Shoot roll, you score a critical success if it succeeds.

Connections
Prince Madoc, the ruler of Gwyn Twmpath in the far off Silver Forest: d4
3 others

Background
Olwen was in Gwyn Onnen when it was somehow betrayed from within, and slaughter filled the halls of the Hollow Hill. She somehow made it out alive. Many did not. The world would never be the same again. It would never be safe again. And she just fled – she did not deserve to survive, when so many did not.

The young Ekel did not join the other survivors from Gwyn Onnen, but decided to use her skills to hunt that tainted and monstrosities, alone. One hunt took her deep into the Caledor forest, and she fell to the club of a troll. Then a party of hunters found her and took her to their home, Dassos, where a group of Ekeli from Gwyn Onnen now lived, and where she was healed. Olwen no longer has a death wish, and has decided finally that Dassos is her home. She still hunts monsters, but is no longer alone.