Brief Note
This game will be as much your game as it will mine, so I want to open up as many options as possible. This game will be an open sandbox. I have plans for what will happen in the world. If you choose to engage with those events, then great. If not, they will still occur in the background and this may affect your character in some way - and it may not.

Initial Level
Level 3. This means you're experienced and far better than most commoners or fresh adventurers. But it also means that you're not invulnerable and still have to be careful how you go. I hope to be levelling quite quickly, but that will of course depend entirely on what the characters choose to do.
I will accept ECL for races as well.

Classes and Feats
I have access to a wide range of the DnD 3.5e books. My only caveat for classes is that it makes sense within the game's narrative. So I will be more reluctant to have Ninjas and Oriental-style classes unless they come with a decent backstory. You can ask, I will consider - just don't be offended if I say no.

Same goes for Feats. You can ask, I will read and double check how the feat works, see whether it fits in with the narrative of the game, and make a decision on a case by case basis.

Multi-class characters will suffer XP penalties depending on race, class and level.

Attributes
36 point buy for each character. Yes I want characters to be heroes, even at level 3.
Maximum hit points for level 1. Roll or take half a standard dice for your chosen character class at each new level (player's choice at each level).

Bonus Skill Points at Level 1
Often at the start of games I have found that characters can be a little 2-dimensional and flat, and without any skills that would have allowed them to survive long enough to become an adventurer.

For this purpose, each character starts with +3 skill points at level 1. These can ONLY be spent on skills to create the character's background and should be spent in discussion with the GM. These skill points ignore the Cross-Class rules but can only be spent at level 1. Note this does not allow a skill to be raised above the normal level limit (rank 4 for a level 1 character or level 6 for a level 3 character). These skills should be spent to support the character's background.

The suggested primary skills will be Craft and Profession, however other skills can be applied as well.

Mercenary - Craft (Armoursmith) 1, Craft (Weaponsmith) 1, Profession (Mercenary) 1
Herbalist - Profession (Herbalism) 1, Craft (Healing) 1, Healing 1
Historian - Profession (Historian) 1, Knowledge (History) 1 and Speak Language (Classical) 1
Merchant - Speak Language (Common) 1, Profession (Trader) 1, Appraise 1
Horse Trainer - Animal Handling 2, Ride 1
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:23, Mon 19 July 2021.

Race
Race will affect how NPCs perceive and react to you. Racial stereotypes do exist, and most commoners or those who live outside of large cities, are more likely to believe such stereotypes. Bare this in mind when you pick a race other than human or halfling (who are always welcomed in human society). They are similar to the races as describe in the PHB, and are as such:

Human
The predominant race will of course be human. The other demi-human races are fewer in number, but do still possess their own territories and kingdoms. They are as varied as the wind, and just as numerous.

Halflings
Where humans build settlements halflings will soon follow. They do have their own territories, governed by halfling councils and, on occasion, a self-proclaimed king or duke. But most halfling settlements are in fact suburbs of human cities.
Halflings are often seen as the weaker cousins of humans, but they have courageous hearts and a natural curiosity that drives them as a race. They are naturally dexterous and light of foot and touch, with warm personalities that more than makes up for their small stature. Their natural, racial curiosity and determination makes them effective wizards, though there are few sorcerers amongst their numbers.

Dwarf
Next numerous are the dwarves. Underground Dwarf holds are scattered across the mountains and hills, with numerous mining communities established across most of the Old World. There are few dwarven surface settlements larger than small towns, though they have created a number of surface forts strategically placed to guard access points to their underground holds and cities.
Dwarves are stubborn, loyal and stoic. They have a sense of family honour, and are proud of their lineage and ancestry. As a race, most dwarves have little patience to learn magic, and have a healthy distrust of sorcerers. Those that do seek to learn how to manipulate the magics of the world find their stubborn, direct nature is often at odds with the whimsical flow of magic through the world.

Elf
Fewer in numbers than the dwarves, the most dominant elves are the wood elves as their settlements have always remained hidden deep in the dark forests of the Old World, mostly untouched and unspoiled by the expansion of humans. A number of tall, glittering High Elf cities still exist in the Old World, though most have now been surrounded and partially consumed by human settlements eager to access the culture and magic of the elves.
Where elves and humans meet, half-elven children are but a natural consequence, and half-bloods walk the strange shadows between the passionate, short-lived human world and the beautiful, graceful, patient and long-lived elven world. They are seen by other races as fragile, flighty and distracted, though the truth is that their long lives grant them a unique perspective on life that is impossible to share with non-elves.
Most elves have some talent with magic, even if it is but a few minor cantrips, and their warriors while often lacking the raw power of other races make up for it in grace and style.

Gnomes
Like halfling, gnomes are often viewed as weaker cousins of dwarves, and at some point in history they might have shared a common ancestry. However, while dwarves are quick to use their physical strength gnomes have keen minds and are more curious than halflings. And what dwarves lack as a race in magical ability, the gnomes more than make up for it. They are a naturally magically race, with all gnomes having a knack for illusory tricks.
Gnomes are split almost equally between hill gnomes and their smaller kin, the forest gnomes.

Half-orcs
To the east lie the Great Steppes, where nomadic tribes of humans and orc compete for resources. Some tribes are savage and ferocious, but others have learned more tolerance and are willing to trade with the human nomads or even the forts and cities that line the mountain passes. Half-orcs are viewed with fear and suspicion by others, as their savage ways are not fully understood or recognised as being civilised. This raw ferocity leads most to be impulsive with little time or patience to learn magic. However, descendants of orc tribal shaman often have magic in their blood, and half-orc sorcerers are viewed with even more fear and intolerance than their others of their race. There are few with the patience to become wizards, and even fewer magical institutes that would consider taking a half-orc within their halls.
This message was last updated by the GM at 10:26, Mon 19 July 2021.

Languages
There will be some slight changes to languages for this game. In your character's background decide where in the Old World they grew up, and where (if anywhere) they have travelled. This is so that you can give them a regional dialect. Characters from the Isles of Mist will speak Gaelic, but will have a different accent to those from central Old World. This is just to add flavour, not to complicate matters.

All characters will start by knowing their primary language (see below for humans) as well as "common" - the language of trade. This is in ADDITION to the languages that a character knows at the start of the game due to having a high INT attribute.

If a character starts with a negative attribute modifier in INT (suggesting that they start with -1 languages) then they can only speak their primary, native tongue and not Common. It is also possible to choose to start the game knowing only the character's native language despite having a positive INT attribute modifier. In this instance the character does NOT gain an additional skill point to spend.

It is also possible that the character speaks a different language to Common - discuss this with the GM.

Common - the language of trade. A vulgar, quick and easy to learn language based on the Imperial tongue.
Imperial - the language of the Empire of Man, still the dominant human language of the city states to the south and south east of the Old World
Classical - the language of the Fallen Empire, also known as "Greco" or "Classical Grecian"
Gaelic - the language of the human tribes, once conquered by the Empire of Man
Norsk - the language of the Northmen, the tribes of man that live in the frozen wastes to the far north of the Old World
Rusk - the language of the eastern human states, beyond the
Suthron - the language of the human tribes of the southern continent
Arabik / Arabian - the language of the nomadic tribes of Araby

Starting gold: 2700gp.

Could you also describe what you have been doing the part few months. Thus could be mundane (working as a steward or bodyguard for a noble, researching an elusive spell, reading up on "Strange Beasts and Where to Find Them" and it's sequel "How to kill the beasts you find."), crafty (setting up a smithy or Inn ready for a well deserved early retirement, learning a skill) or more adventurous (being a part of military detachment just returned from yet another retaliatory war or war of territory acquisition, exploring rumour of ruin and treasure in the mountains of Azzuria, Iberia or even Caledonia, or being a member of a punitive force hunting and bringing to justice rogue tribes, raiders or insurrectionists).

This will give us a reason why you are where you are, and fluid transition from your narrated background to roleplayed cataclysm.

I've relented and allowed limited use of traits and flaws.

As always,if the trait or flaw doesn't fit then it will be refused. Use common sense as to how you do this...