This is a thread where I build an Aelf trade Pioneer by the name of Yuviel Wayfinder. The perspective is to create a character that can complement the skills of Stormbark and Silverwillow, so she should have at least some amount of social skills and I have been eyeing a talent or two.

Anyway, work in progress.

I find this character somewhat harder to create. Not by much, but the other archetypes are a lot more restricted in skills for example, that it is a bit hard to think about what is needed. A trade pioneer in my opinion needs some social skills and when I checked on that, the list was actually almost disturbingly short: Guile & Intimidation, with a possibility of Intuition thrown into the mix. This seems to say something about the world if Guile is the only "positive" social attribute. Even the purer kind of characters who posses social skills are not above lying or falsely praising, if that is the way to the goal. I am not against the skill list, but it was just surprising, even if this game has cut a lot of the skill-bloat away, that might be evident in some other games.

Let us start:

1. ARCHETYPE
Trade Pioneer

2. ATTRIBUTES
She get Body 2, Mind 3, Soul 2.

I have to say I would have wanted higher numbers and considered swapping things in different ways. Still, if she needs to have social skills a.k.a Guile (she does), then I think this will serve. There is always the option to buy more points with xp.

3. SKILLS
Now here is the hard part. I have 12 xp to use, and there is also the Aelf racial bonus (Training 1 and Focus 1 to same skill) to consider. Also the core skill is Survival so there is a Training 1 and Focus 1 for that too. Now, the one specific way for an Aelf to milk some juicy xp out of the equation is to double up the racial bonus with the core skill. The reason is that those two systems are the only ones existing outside of the system where everything is calculated based on the xp cost. By combining racial ability with core skill, the character gets 6xp worth of goodies, while in any other situation it adds to 4xp.

Because I just noticed this, I want to use it. So Yuviel now gets Survival (Training 2, Focus 2). Should keep her alive in the wilderness at least. The other skills I am considering are:

Guile (of course)
Reflexes (gotta get that defense up)
either Weapon skill or Ballistic Skill (for some combat efficiency)
Intuition (to complement Guile)
Awareness (feels like there needs to be some)
Fortitude (for having explored the Mortal Realms)
Stealth (not every threat can be confronted)
Athletics (every explorer needs it!)
Entertain (it just SINGS to me, pun intended)

I keep feeling here the need to have diverse skills. It seems I just can't make a one dimensional character, relying on others to provide where Yuviel falls short. Even if in this game the characters are above mere common mortals from the get go. So this is what I choose:

Survival (Training 2, Focus 2)(from Racial ability and core skill)
Guile (Training 2, Focus 1)
Reflexes (Training 1)
Intuition (training 1)
Awareness (Training 1)
Fortitude (Training 1)
Athletics (Training 1)
Weapon skill (Training 1)
Stealth (Training 1)
Ballistic skill (Training 1)

I am not completely satisfied with it, but it has to do for now.

4. TALENTS
Now this feels a lot easier than the last one. Talents are very good for differentiating characters and making them feel distinct. Yuviel gets 4 talents plus the one from the archetype, here are my choices:

Trader's cache (from archetype)
A Warm Meal (soulfire regeneration is always welcome!)
Diplomat (very fitting for a social character)
Savvy (advantage in deal-making, gotta get that!)
Companion (Mustori)

I am not really interested in the Mustori as a pet, but both Forbidden Knowledge and Lore are based on skills I did not take a single level in. I do not want Witch Sight either, does not fit my vision. So Mustori it is!

very nice character a good social face for the team :)