You are upstart merchant princes or members of a major merchant house. For you, family and business is everything — and when family and friends get threatened by personal or political enemies, you turn to heroics to get your own back. This style of game deals with family politics and social pressure as much as external threats; you may have just slipped into a rival’s office to poison their wine, but is that going to make your mother proud of you?

There is a fantastic character generator located here: http://monstar.co.nz/matt/sotsgen/

Example I built:
Name: Kryll of Klathia
Heroic, Stoic, Cunning, Kingly, Brutal
Drives: To rule with an iron fist; To restore the honor of one's bloodline; To defeat your enemies and make them allies
Allies and Enemies: Ally: Outlanders 1; Ally: Thieves' Guilds 1; Enemy: Sorcerous Cabals 1
Defenses - Health: Health Threshold 4, Armor 1, Health 12
Defenses - Morale: Morale Threshold 3, Grit 1, Morale 6
Investigative Abilities: Command 1, Intimidation 2, Liar's Tell 1, Nobility 1, Ridiculous Luck 1, Skulduggery 1, Know Monstrosities 1, Spot Frailty 2, Tactics of Death 1, Wilderness Mastery 1
General Abilities: Athletics 4, Bind Wounds 3, Burglary 5, Preparedness 3, Stealth 4, Sway 4, Warfare 7
Gear: A kingly crown carved from mamolith bone; A serrated steel broadsword; A cloak that blends in with both desert and city; A necklace of skulls belonging to dead kings; The eye of a sorcerer, still bloody and twitching


Manual steps for making a character (will need the book or PDF):

1. Choose a character Profession (p. 13).
a. Sentinel: likely trained in law and the subtleties of detecting crime, you’re adept at knowing how
crimes are committed... which may well make you an expert in committing them yourself.
b. Sorcerer: whether you’re possessed by a demon or you’re the heir to ancient Serpentine secrets,
you manipulate fell and forbidden magic.
c. Thief: you may be a lowly street thief or a charming con artist, but you’re skilled in taking what
other people possess — secrets, influence or wealth.
d. Warrior: you focus on dealing death through warfare, whether you’re a mercenary, an outlander
barbarian, or a suave duelist.
e. Mixture: mix and match Investigative Profession abilities to create your own combination.

2. Note a few Adjectives to describe your Hero and write down your Drives, which are your three favorite things in life (p. 17).

3. Assign 12 Investigative Build Points and choose Investigative Abilities (p. 19).

4. Decide your Allegiances (p. 288) – assign 2 Build Points to Allies (both to the same Ally, or one each to two Allies) and 1 Build Point to an enemy. Your Ally and Enemy can be the same faction!

5. Assign 30 General Build Points (p. 35) to your General abilities.

1. 6. Assign Health and Morale (p. 77), splitting 18 Build Points between the two, with a minimum of 3 in each.

7. Give yourself Health and Morale Thresholds of 3; if your Health or Morale is 10 or higher, that threshold will be a 4.

8. If you have any ranks of Corruption, decide whether your Sorcery targets your enemies’ Health or Morale. Pick one Sorcerous Sphere (the theme and appearance of your spells) for every rank of Corruption you possess.  Remember that sorcery is reviled, persecuted, and outlawed in much of the world of Arth. See p. 103.

9. Write down 5 or more pieces of minor, iconic gear that help define who you are (p. 42).

10. Give yourself 1 point of Grit (p. 75). Grit helps reduce Morale damage.

11. You start with no Wealth (p. 125) and you’ll start with No Repute (see p. 128) for the first adventure.

12. Name yourself. There are various cultures in the world of Arth. Much of the names and cultures are fantastical appropriations from Arabia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Sumer, among others. Tyr has Babylonian influences. The world itself is very Dune inspire as well. But any name or culture will do.

Then you're ready to go!
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:25, Thu 02 Feb 2023.

Welcome to everyone! If you haven't already built a character, take a look at the rules above and the link to the pretty good character generator. I think 12 investigative points is sufficient. Feel free to talk about character concepts with each other so it all jives. I'm thinking a separate thread to piece together the Merchant House everyone belongs to will do nicely.

Thanks for playing!

Name:  Cassilda
Articulate, Captivating, Elegant, Glamorous, Sensual
Drives: Luxury Over Vulgarity; Living Well Is The Best Revenge; Elegance Is The Only Beauty That Never Fades
 Allies and Enemies: Ally: Ancient Nobility 2; Enemy: Ancient Nobility 1
Defenses - Health: Health Threshold 3, Health 6
Defenses - Morale: Morale Threshold 4, Morale 12
Investigative Abilities: Charm 1, Liar's Tell 1, Nobility 1, Trustworthy 2, Spirit Sight 1, Corruption 1, Prophecy 1, Scurrilous Rumors 1, Skulduggery 2, Spot Frailty (Morale) 1
General Abilities: Athletics 3, Bind Wounds 8 (Plenty Of Leeches), Preparedness 8 (Flashback), Stealth 3, Sway 8 (Play To The Crowd)
Sorcerous Spheres: (Affects Health) Aging
This message was last edited by the player at 18:55, Sat 04 Feb 2023.

Name: Tova Dan Yarblek

Gregarious, ?Drunken?, Dishonest, Opportunistic, Sly

Drives:

Raising a Cup with Friends or Soon-to-be Friends.; Making coin from a risky situation.; Fooling the powerful or arrogant without getting caught.

Allies and Enemies: Ally: Mercenaries 1; Ally: Thieves' Guilds 1; Enemy: Church of Nergal 1

Defenses - Health: Health Threshold 3, Health 7

Defenses - Morale: Morale Threshold 4, Grit 1, Morale 11

Investigative Abilities: Charm 1, Intimidation 1, Liar's Tell 2, Servility 1, Taunt 1, Trustworthy 1, City's Secrets 1, Ridiculous Luck 1, Scurrilous Rumors 2, Skulduggery 1

General Abilities: Athletics 2, Bind Wounds 2, Burglary 8, Preparedness 5, Stealth 5, Sway 8

Gear: A reinforced leather coin belt to hide coin in.; A lucky tankard, mostly pewter, with odd engraving.; A boot knife that was stolen from a military officer (+0 Damage Bonus); A heavy black cloak with steel rings sewn into the lining to provide a limited protection (+1 armor); A ledger written in personal cypher which carries the one honest reckoning of Tova's actual monetary accumulations
This message was last edited by the player at 14:48, Wed 15 Feb 2023.

Hey y'all, I am leaning towards either playing the family muscle or a powerful sorcerer. If I go for the muscle I will probably get plenty of abilities that help for investigstion etc so I'm not just a dumb grunt. As for Sorcerer I believe I would go mostly with offensive powers. Thoughts? What would y'all prefer?

We're going to need some offense.  Tova's got plenty of mouth, but no real backbone.  When threatened he goes friendly and placating.

Would you go Sentinel or Warrior as muscle?  The steely eyed suspicious type or full combat monster?

I'm hoping to have a strong Sorcerer in the crew, just to really freak people out.

For Muscle I would probably go Warrior and maybe mix some Sentinel stuff in there. As for Sorcerer I would probably go with things like Blood, Demonology, Fire etc for Sorcerous Spheres.

Hey, you be you.  Maybe you're the scary SOB we haul out when something pushes too hard.  That could work for Warrior or it could work for the cursed Pyrohaemodaemonologist.

My preference is for a rogue-type. He'll be an acknowledged/accepted bastard of the young brother of the current Head of House and a far-foreign caravanserai owner. He's been with family trading/exploration expeditions.

So I'll be a Face/Mouth with some sneaky tricks, I think. I just bought the rules and am trying to figure a good mix of Abilities.

Everyone's character sheet has been unlocked for editing.

Hello everyone. Roland will be a servant of the family, trying to climb his way out of servitude by proving himself in any way possible. Still working on the sheet, but to give you an idea right now it's looking like he will have a mix of phisical abilities.

In reply to Tova Dan Yarblek (msg # 4):

Just a minor quibble with your sheet here Tova, there are no organized churches per se in Arth. There are sorcerer-king temples run by the Templarates, elementalist sects, and sorcerous cults, but no Church of Denari from the Serpentine setting. Feel free to put that enemy point towards the Templarate or the Elementalists or some other organized religious group of your own making.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:36, Fri 03 Feb 2023.

My concept for Cassilda is that of your traditional swords-and-sorcery temptress. Her personal beauty regimen happens to be sorcerous in nature. Perhaps we should market our secret oasis as the fountain of youth. She could certainly distill its waters into an elixir which restores youth. Ought to fetch quite a handsome price, don't you think? ~_^

Tova is not a face, but he *is* a negotiator.  He's more of a middleman and fixer, who cuts deals and makes agreements.  And lies.  Oh he lies.  Half the time he seems drunk he is dead sober.  And he's always working angles.  He's got aliases and he's got friends everywhere.  At least that's how he acts.

"You can trust Tova.  Tova has only your best interests at heart.  Specifically your carried interests.  Appropriate investment yields dramatic returns, you know.  And your returns can be optimized with some diverse investment.  Tova has it all written down in a ledger here.  Let Tova show you.  Has anyone explained to you the benefits of limited run currency minting for consolidating asset values?"

Yes, as much as I hate it, Tova speaks in third person.

"Tova is only one person!  Tova is not paid enough to be three people."

I think I'll go with a Warrior with one exception: if no one else plays full fledged Sorcerer I will, 'cause come on, we need one ;D

In reply to timpantallroth's char (msg # 15):

Define 'full-fledged'. I prefer my sorcery subtle.

When I say full-fledged I mean more overt Sorcery. Someone who is really corrupted, I think it would be fun if someone was the family black sheep, the dark secret.

Is Cassilda member of the family, sister or daughter or granddaughter to the head of the House?

How about the others?

Renzo is an (illegitimate) nephew.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Sat 04 Feb 2023.

I am debating whether my character is an uncle of some sort to the current head of House or to the heir, or if he is more closely related to the head of House or heir.

If I go with the Warrior character, which I am currently doing, I think my character would be the guy in charge of the limited soldiers and muscle of the House. A prestigious position but not neccesarily a powerful one in a merchant House. Still, everyone needs combatants.

In reply to timpantallroth's char (msg # 19):

We definitely should have more family members. Renzo’s dad, Orlando was the current head’s, Ser Orsini let’s say, youngest brother, I think, and would have been mid-forties if he was alive.

Whatever I decide, whether younger or older, I will have my character be a member of the core family of the House.