This is an example of the CharGen setup for an actual character. This character was a young knight at the court of King’s Landing who was killed during the Dornish rebellion and turned into an example character following his death.
The process starts with the selection of assets and flaws. As a Tier IV, Ondryn needs to use a maxiumum of four and a minimum of two points each on assets and flaws. Furthermore, he must use the same number of points on assets as on flaws. We strongly recommend using all the alloted points to make for a well-rounded concept.
The next step is the stat setup. As a IV, Ondryn’s base pool of points is 45. This is multiplied by 3 to give 135, which is the pool of points that can be distributed over the three statgroups.
The points placed in each statgroup are then multiplied by 3 as well, which gives the pools of points that can be spread over the stats within each statgroup. The points placed in each statgroup also limit how much above or below that sum individual stats in that statgroup can be set.
The next step is the skill setup. As a IV, Ondryn’s base pool of points is 300. Given his age at the time of CharGen, he receives the full 300 points.
Addtionally, as he has had a noble upbringing, he selects this option, and receives 50 additional points. This gives him a total of 350 points to spend on skills. He needs at least 12 skills, and at least 10 from the list of noble skills (since he took noble upbringing).
Since he has the Knight asset, he does not take individual combat skills in the regular Skills room. Instead, he puts points into the Combat skillgroup. The points put into the Combat skillgroup will be multiplied with the number of Combat skills selected in the Skillgroup room, with a percentage reduction applied.
But first, he sets his other skills up. His Combat skillgroup does not count towards the 12 skills he needs.
Then he proceeds to the Skillgroup setup in the next room. He selects 6 Combat skills and the 40 points he had put into the Combat skillgroup are multiplied by 8 and then reduced to 84% of that result. The reduction depends on the number of Combat skills selected, though please note that knights are expected to have a fair number of Combat skills if their training has not been atypical.
The next step is writing a background and a justify. Please make sure to format these as shown in the example to make them easy to read for the Admin as well as potential future players of the character.
Furthermore, keep the potential future players in mind when you write rather than assuming that something is self-explanatory. What do you need to include to make sure someone else could understand the character, not to mention play it properly?
Flatly, plainly put, Ondryn is the son of a bastard, a fact that could blunt any man’s ambitions and something many would call a misfortune. Ondryn, however, has always shown a fierce, if quiet, pride in his birthright, perhaps owing to the identity of his famed father, Gueren Waters. Proud, too, is he of his mother Jeyna: he has called her and his sister Ryssa “the ladies first in my heart”. He also speaks fondly and with pride of his younger brother Jonlon, now an oarsmaster. His parentage and family, therefore, are nothing that Ondryn considers a detriment; he is determined to prove his worth and believes, wholly, that he is responsible for doing so. “A name is not a destiny,” he is fond of saying.
Eldest of the three Waters children and subject to the typical weight of responsibility rested on the first-born, Ondryn has always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as a knight of renown. His interest in reputation is, however, less egocentric than one might imagine, for he feels strongly a need to establish the Waters family’s legitimacy past the misfortune of his father’s birth. He is, he would reason, the heir to a man of noble blood (if born on the wrong side of the sheets) and a woman of pristine, noble breeding, and as such, he is the one who must ensure that the family henceforth has a name no one can sully.
From his early years, as one might expect, Ondryn associated himself with his father, settling into his household as both son and squire. While a student of history and a young man with a passing interest in faith, his interest and goals have always been in the world of arms. Ondryn watched men at arms and knights alike and the use of weapons of all sorts, read of battles and studied strategies, all to ensure that, when the time came, he would know how best to carry himself in combat. Why? To do things at least twice as well as any other to ensure that he, the son of a bastard, would prove his worth beyond question. And proving his own worth means proving the worth of his knight and father, one of the founding purposes of Ondryn’s existence. He accompanied his father to tourney after tourney, always watchful, always learning…and always modestly ensuring that any accolade fell near him but not on him. His goal remained to be so worthy of knighthood that he would have proven his merit long before winning his spurs.
When his father left with King Daeron for Dorne, Ondryn, just 20 and yet to win his spurs, dutifully - even eagerly - accompanied Gueren and the others to battle. His own first taste of combat is some three months after arrival during a raid on a supply train in the Boneway. The skirmish, although alongside Daeron himself, was nothing memorable in Ondryn’s estimation, but it was the first of many military efforts he would see that year. When the king’s forces divided, leaving only a token force with Daeron, Gueren was one of the knights that remained behind to guard, and once their location was discovered by Lord Yronwood, battles followed. Alongside Gueren in the small force accompanying the King, Ondryn was forced to learn quickly how to defend himself and his knight. Blood was drawn from the enemy and shed, though, through skill and fortune, nothing serious in the early days of the Conquest.
One event that did influence Ondryn early in the Conquest was the arrival of Ser Almer Connington, a contemporary and familiar figure to Ondryn from tourneys in which Gueren had competed. Almer’s skill and reputation gave Ondryn good cause to accompany and study the young lord and knight, and in time the two became friendly. It was in Almer’s company, in fact, and not Gueren’s that Ondryn found himself during the Battle of the Carrion Woods, the first conflict in which Ondryn showed his true skills. With experience came confidence, and soon he was the source of gossip as to why he had not yet enjoyed the accolade of knighthood. Did he not defeat single-handedly a trio of Lady Allyrion’s men that sought to catch Ser Gueren unawares and take his life? He could only presume, however, that his father and knight understood his reluctance in attaining knighthood before receiving such an honor was beyond reproach, and as such he continued to labor quietly and humbly as a squire and man at arms. He knew that one day he would earn his spurs and was content to wait.
Almost a year into the Conquest, Ondryn’s deeds became too known and the quality of his skills and deportment too keen for him to avoid notice. Most noteworthy was in the aftermath of an assassination attempt on Daeron that nearly cost the life of Prince Aemon. Several were dispatched to search for the assailant, a hedge knight named Ser Walden of Shandystone, and Ondryn joined the search that brought Ser Walden to justice. When the man’s life was forfeit, Ondryn requested - in the strongest terms propriety and humility would allow - to assist in Ser Walden’s execution, a grisley affair but one, to Ondryn’s thinking, nothing more than proper justice after such a base deed. Three days later, once Aemon’s recovery seems certain, Daeron himself approached Gueren and noted that the day for knighting Ondryn was long past.
Gueren himself bestowed the honor of knighthood on his squire and heir.
A few months after receiving his spurs, Ondryn helped lead a detachment of five hundred down the Torentine in pursuit of Lord Blackmont, whose deeds - in the idealistic young man’s thinking - reeked of dishonor and cowardice. His eager pursuit and aggressive scouting uncovered a company of Blackmont’s men preparing another ambush, and he and three of his men scaled a cliff wall to try to surprise the Dornish forces. His plan worked and might have succeeded had not Ondryn spotted Lord Blackmont himself and, for once rash, went after Daeron’s enemy. A brief, violent skirmish ensued as the Dornish men withdrew, the ambush thwarted but at great cost: the other three knights were slain, and Ondryn himself took an arrow wound to his shoulder, between the breastplate and rerebrace. Intending to leave a message to others, Blackmont’s men pushed the four men off the edge of the rock wall, and by the grace of the Seven, Ondryn survived, although only timely intervention by a skilled maester saved both his life and his sword arm.
Too grievously wounded to remain with the King’s forces, Ondryn was sent by ship to Sunspear and, once further travel was safely effected, took another ship to King’s Landing to complete his recovery in the comfort of an apartment with his uncle, Lord Kaeron. Already he knows that assuming again his duties as a knight may require him to learn to use his left hand more adroitly in combat, but like all challenges of arms, this particular obstacle to recouperation is one he is determined to overcome.
Force of will, therefore, and a work ethic beyond reproach play significant roles in Ondryn’s personality, and as such he has a reputation as a serious fellow committed to ensuring his behavior and honor are unblemished. He takes particular care in his dealings with others and, to the knowledge of even those close to him, his intimate encounters with women have been rare at best: the token he has carried since his knighting is that of his sister, Ryssa. Preferring to eschew anything beyond moderation, particularly drink and the company of women, he is known for his valor, fierce loyalty, dependability, bravery and dignity. But with the rare companion, most particularly Ser Almer, he has been known to smile, even at length, especally when he hears a fetching tune or well-turned tale. No ladies have been associated with him, although his desire and need for a favorable marriage are plain. As with all things, Ondryn wants his family’s name wiped free of any blemishes for generations to come. He has no use or patience for anything that stands in the way of that goal.
ASSETS
Famous Mentor: Ondryn’s father, Ser Gueren Waters, was also his knight, a man of considerable repute across the kingdom. The mere fact that he is Gueren’s son and received his training under Gueren ensures that many a nobleman and noblewoman will know the name and react accordingly.
Knight: Ondryn’s father Gueren, on encouragement from King Daeron himself, bestowed the accolade of knighthood on his elder son early in 157 following a series of exemplary shows of bravery and loyalty during the Conquest leading to Sunspear. Ondryn had just reached the age of 22.
Reputable: Beyond almost all other things, honor and reputation of a sterling nature are essential to Ondryn. Since he was old enough to know of such a thing as one’s word, he has labored tirelessly to honor every vow and make good on every promise. A man to whom honor and reputation are paramount is a man who can easily be referenced as reputable, and that is a term he wants to ensure he carries throughout his life.
FLAWS
Defect: Fastidious: Reputation is of such great importance to Ondryn - how he is known for carrying himself, how his honor and his word are regarded - that he can take to extremes the steps he makes to ensure that his deeds are beyond reproach. He embraces so thoroughly the notions of chivalry and honor that he will do almost anything to avoid errors in behavior and correct any slights given. To this end, he can be hesitant and painstaking in decisions and actions, proving that the opposite of rash behavior is not especially good, either.
Rival: Minor: Ser Orell Bar Emmon is a man rumored to be a rival of his half-brother, Gueren Waters: each is considered a stellar tourney knight, but which is better? Ondryn believes he knows the answer to that - no one who knows the young man would doubt his loyalty to his father Gueren - and, having watched the two men in tourneys and combat, he is quietly certain that Orell’s reputation is stronger (with some) than Gueren’s because of Gueren’s status as a bastard. Ondryn, only eight years Orell’s junior, has limited interest in glory found in tourneys, preferring to achieve on the battlefield under the King’s banner, but he has a solid goal of defeating Orell in a tourney. If the son is better, most assuredly so, too, is the father.
Tainted Heritage: Although the son of a legitimate marriage between Gueren Waters and Jeyna Sutherland, Ondryn’s father is a bastard, and the taint of that birth carries through his own children, like it or not. Ondryn is acutely aware of the need to prove himself more than those whose families are unblemished, and while a patient and dignified man, his temper can quickly be riled by someone casting dispersions on Ser Gueren because of his illegtimacy. He has accepted that he will always be considered the son of a bastard but refuses to suffer insults to his father who, he thinks, has proven his worth time and again on the field of combat.
Vow: Minor: The Waters family has an ignoble beginning thanks to Gueren’s illegitimacy, but Ondryn believes wholeheartedly that his family has now established legitimacy thanks in part to his mother’s nobility. To that end, Ondryn has vowed to his father and to himself that by his death, the Waters family will bear a reputation that is pristine, enviable and seated highly and without question in the minds of the rest of the kingdom. He will not suffer deeds that threaten to sully the Waters reputation, starting with unswerving loyalty for Daeron as a knight. When circumstances allow, he also intends to make certain that his siblings behave (even if he is not entirely convinced either would misbehave) and wants to secure an advantageous marriage that will help establish the Waters for generations to come. If Ondryn has any ambition, truly, it lies in making good on this vow.
STATS
Ondryn’s stats are within the range that does not need to be justified. He is quite average for Mobility and Mental, with Physique being his strongest area.
SKILLS
Ondryn’s skills reflect his noble upbringing and his focus on being a chivalrous knight dedicated to improving the reputation of his family. In particular, his Chivalry score reflects this desire. Six combat skills are somewhat few for a Knight, but shows his focus on these particular weapons.
The final step of CharGen consists of filling out the remaining CDB Info, creating a Desc and filling out the player-related attributes of Prefs and Finger. Prefs and Finger have their own helpfiles and will not be covered here.
The Long Info fields History and Persona should be formatted with linebreaks (%R) and tabs (%T). Events, Notes and Relations are generally shorter and do not need this. History and Persona are always mandatory, and if you have Secret: Minor or Secret: Major you need to set a private Note for each secret. You are also encouraged to set an Event that relates to your character’s first IC appearance so that the date of this is preserved for future reference.
History is a public version of your Background and Persona is a description of your character’s personality. To see examples of History and Persona, use +CDB/VIEW <NAME>/HISTORY and +CDB/VIEW <NAME>/PERSONA on any CGed character. Ondryn’s History ends with his entry into the game, but players are encouraged to update their Histories as they play on the game.
Events are diary-like entries for important occasions in your character’s past. It is recommended that you set Events for important events in your background and at least one Event is required: an entry that deals with your character’s entry into play. This is Ondryn’s Public Event for his arrival in King’s Landing:
Ondryn arrives in King’s Landing, after being sent home from Dorne due to a grievious injury sustained in the fighting against the rebels.
To see more examples of Events, use +CDB/ELIST <NAME> to see a list of Events for a character and +CDB/EVIEW <NAME>/<DATE> or +CDB/EVIEW <NAME>/ALL to view them.
Notes are used to record both IC and OOC information about a character. Notes are occasionally used by Staff to leave information for a future player. Players need to set a private Note with their character’s goals and a Note is also required for characters with the Secret: Minor or Secret: Major Flaw. This is a Public Note for Ondryn’s Rumors:
Owing to his age, his lack of a bride and his reputation for treating women with a distant courtesy (and avoiding wenching no matter his company), a few whispers exist - unfounded - that Ondryn prefers the company of men.
To see more examples of Notes, use +CDB/NLIST <NAME> to see a list of Notes for a character and +CDB/NVIEW <NAME>/<TITLE> or +CDB/NVIEW <NAME>/ALL to view them.
Relations describe how your character views another character. Relations should not simply say ‘so and so is my brother’; they should describe the nature of your characters relationship to the other character. This is Ondryns’s Public Relation to his uncle Orell Bar Emmon whom he sees as something of a Rival, though the relation is listed as Neutral:
Ondryn isn’t certain how his father’s half-brother Orell feels about him, but he has always sensed a rivalry between Orell and Gueren. As such, Ondryn has never really fancied his uncle and wants some day to outstrip him in knightly endeavors.
To see more examples of Relations, use +CDB/RLIST <NAME> to see a list of Relations for a character and +CDB/RVIEW <NAME>/<NAME> or +CDB/RVIEW <NAME>/ALL to view them.
The Short Info fields (Eyes, Hair, Height, ShortDesc and Weight) need no special formatting. Since all of these can be viewed on any GGed character, examples of these are not provided here. On the game, use +CDB <NAME> to view them.
To see all information about a character, use the shortcut +CDB/ALL <NAME>.
Descs should be formatted with linebreaks (%R) and tabs (%T). Since Descs can be viewed on any character currently in play, examples of these are not provided here. On the game, use +DISPLAY <NAME>/DESCRIBE to view them on PCs or +CDB/VIEW <NAME>/DESC to view them on NPCs.