Good evening! ...or afternoon, morning, whathaveyou...

Our second group is nearly ready to go, so this seemed like an appropriate time to talk about the module we'll be running: The Fall of Plaguestone. To help players get their characters ready, I thought I'd go over the game a little bit and talk about the "A, B, C"s of character creation.

To begin, the story of The Fall of Plaguestone begins very simply. The characters are a part of a merchant caravan on the road from Elidir to Almas. Lead by the accomplished trader, Bort the dwarf, the caravan has made quite the pretty penny. The journey is planning to stop for the night in the town of Etran's Folly when things go... awry. What exactly is it that happens? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned to find out!

For players, this is a very easy motivation to base your character around. You just need a rationale for why you would be traveling to one of the largest cities in the area: Almas. You might be a wizard looking to further her studies in the academies, a warrior planning to join the much vaunted Eagle Knights, or maybe you're a cleric of Cayden Caliean looking to spread good cheer and good drink to those on the road. Whatever the reason, you've joined up with Bort. You might even have a more personal connection with the town of Etran's Folly! We'll touch on that later...

But let's talk about character creation! For many people, this is their first introduction to Pathfinder Second Edition. Understandable as the game only came out a month ago. To make things very easy, making a character is as easy as A, B, C...

• A - Ancestry: This is the race of your character. Choose from one of the various ancestries in the Core Rulebook (dwarf, elf, gnome, goblin, halfling, or human). From there you pick your heritage. Maybe you're a cavern dwelling elf. Or a dwarf dedicated to stopping the undead.
• B - Background: What sort of a life do you lead? Are you a woodland hunter? An acrobat? Maybe you're a street urchin trying to turn your life around. The Fall of Plaguestone actually features some unique backgrounds if you're looking for more connection to the area. These backgrounds include a Lesson Scion, Missionary, or even one of Bort's Teamsters. These backgrounds aren't necessary for the game, however.
• C - Class: The real meat and potatoes of your character. Are you a stunning monk, leaping to battle with a flurry of fists? The sly rogue, slinking between shadows? Maybe you're a sorcerer with angelic blood flowing through you and granting you divine magic. Go wild!

Once you have the "A, B, C"s figured out for your character, the rest is mostly numbers. And that's something that I can help with. If you're interested in making a character on your own (in fact, I totally encourage this so that you can used to the system), print out a Character Sheet (found over in the Files section of the website) and refer to pages 21 - 29 of the Core Rulebook.

And as always, if you have any questions, let me know! Until then, get your traveling gear on and strap yourselves into the caravan. It's time for a trip... to the fall of Plaguestone!

-Dungeon Master