TRAITS AND PASSIONS
For the most part, Crowns of Blood follows the designated method of trait assignment found in Pendragon (third edition). Random determination of traits is not recommended. Just follow the steps below:
1. All traits start at 10, and the pair together must add to 20. If one side of the pair gets raised, the other must be reduced an equal amount. A trait has a minimum score of 1.
2. Make a note of your religious virtues. Your religion has five virtues, each of which corresponds to one trait. On your character sheet, underline your virtuous traits; each of these are raised by +3 (to 13 at this point). Remember, this reduces the other side to 7.
Faith of Seven: Chaste, Just, Merciful, Prudent, Valorous
Old Gods: Generous, Honest, Just, Lustful, Proud
Drowned God: Cruel, Lustful, Proud, Selfish, Valorous
R'hllor*: Cruel, Energetic, Honest, Proud, Reckless
*R'hllor, the Lord of Light, is not available as a starting religion.
3. Modify traits for home culture and father's social class:
Andal (Crownlands): Deceitful +1, Forgiving +1, Lazy +2, Selfish +2
Andal (Dorne): Energetic +2, Generous +1, Proud +2, Valorous +1
Andal (Iron Islands): Deceitful +2, Prudent +1, Selfish +1, Suspicious +2
Andal (North): Energetic +2, Forgiving +1, Proud +2, Prudent +1
Andal (Reach): Energetic +1, Generous +2, Pious +2, Valorous +1
Andal (Riverlands): Modest +2, Pious +1, Temperate +2, Vengeful +1
Andal (Stormlands): Honest +2, Indulgent +1, Proud +2, Valorous +1
Andal (Vale): Honest +1, Just +2, Proud +1, Suspicious +2
Andal (Westerlands): Proud +1, Trusting +1, Vengeful +2, Worldly +2
Crannogman: Cowardly +2, Pious +2, Prudent +1, Temperate +1
Dornishman: Deceitful +2, Lustful +2, Indulgent +1, Proud +1, Vengeful +1
Ironborn: Pious +1, Reckless +2, Suspicious +2, Vengeful +1
Mountain Clan: Cowardly +1, Cruel +1, Reckless +2, Vengeful +2
Targaryen: Energetic +1, Lustful +2, Proud +2, Vengeful +2
Sellsword: Selfish +1, Worldly +2
Footsoldier: Valorous +D3
Squire: Valorous +D6
Sergeant: Valorous +D3
Clan Warrior: Proud +1, Reckless +D3
Clan Chieftain: Valorous +D3
Officer: Valorous +1
Hedge Knight: Valorous +D3
Sworn Sword: Valorous +1
Landed Knight: Valorous +2
Minor House Lord: Valorous +3
Great House Lord: Proud +D3, Valorous +D3
When multiple modifications apply the same trait (for example, the valorous bonus of a hedge knight and the valorous bonus of one who follows the Faith of Seven), add all bonus together. If two bonuses are in conflict with each other (like bonuses to both chaste and lustful), you may choose one of the following options:
- Subtract the lesser bonus from the greater and apply the difference to the bonus that was greater to begin with (a cumulative effect of competing values), OR
- Choose one of the paired traits; only apply bonuses to that trait and ignore the others (one side of competing values won out in the character's psyche).
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| Famous for indulgence...amongst other things. |
5. Check for Bonuses:
If all underlined traits are 16+:
Faith of Seven: add +6 to character's total hit points.
Old Gods: add +2 to character's healing rate.
Drowned God: add +1D6 to damage.
R'hllor: character may learn sorcery.
A character is considered a True Knight if the sum of the following six traits add to 87+:
Honest, Just, Merciful, Modest, Pious, and Valorous
A True Knight receives a +3 bonus to their armor, and receives +100 bonus Glory at the end of every year. A character does not need to be an actual knight to receive the True Knight bonus.
6. Find the character's Passions. All Passions (if possessed) have a starting minimum of 3, and a maximum of 18.
A. Standard Passions
Loyalty (lord) = 2D6+3
Love (family) = 2D6+6*
Hospitality = 3D6 (but never less than 10 to start)
Honor = 2D6+3
* Legitimate sons subtract their birth order from passion, unless they are the eldest son. For example, a third-born son would have only 2D6+3 for their passion.
B. Fosterlings (Loyalty and Honor remain standard)
Love (family) = 2D6+3 (adjusted as above for non-eldest sons).
Love (foster family) = 3D6
Hospitality = 2D6+6
C. Bastards (Loyalty remains standard)
Love (family) = 3D6 (+3 if legitimized)
Hospitality = 3D6
Honor = 3D6
D. Adjust passions for father's social class:
Clan Chieftain: Honor +D6, Love (family) +D3, Loyalty (clan) 2D6+6 (Vale only)
Clan Warrior: Honor +D6, Loyalty (clan) 2D6+3 (Vale only)
Footsoldier: Honor +D3, Loyalty (lord) +3
Great House Lord: Honor +3, Loyalty (lord) +6
Hedge Knight: Honor +1
Landed Knight: Honor +1, Loyalty (lord) +4
Minor House Lord: Honor +D3, Loyalty (lord) +5
Officer: Honor +D3, Loyalty (lord) +4
Sergeant: Honor +D6, Loyalty (lord) +D3
Squire: Honor +1, Loyalty (lord) +3
Sworn Sword: Honor +1, Loyalty (lord) +3
Sellsword: Loyalty (lord) -2
Characters with a Pious trait higher than both their Love (family) and Loyalty (lord) would probably consider becoming a septon or septa...but player characters are never obligated to take that road.
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| "This 'honor' thang can be a real bitch..." |
As an aside, Stafford has indicated that he originally intended for the Chivalry bonus to require 96 points instead of 80, but when others pointed out that would make a Chivalrous Pagan Knight nearly impossible he relented and started working on ways to make Chivalrous more difficult but still allow Pagan Knights to gain the status. I don't know where that went, though.
ReplyDelete@ Faol:
DeleteIt went nowhere, as far as I can tell. There are no other requirements for a chivalrous knight.
Your story makes a lot of sense...why should the religion bonuses require all traits to be famous (16+) and the chivalry bonus only require traits of 13-14 (not even notable or of an amount to force trait rolls?). Who cares if it's tough on the Pagan knights...shouldn't it be tough?
Or do you mean "tough to get both the chivalrous AND religious bonuses" compared to the Christian knights? Yeah, I see that (because the Pagan virtue of pride gets in the way of the chivalrous modesty).
Hmmm...that could be an additional justification for the lack of "knights" in the North (for my setting)...except that I want "True Knights" to be more of a philosophy thing than anything literally attached to the mystic power of "knighthood."
I guess I'll leave mine at 80+, too.
As I think about it, the Religious bonuses come from five traits at 16+, while the Chivalrous one has six traits to consider. Either way, that's a total of 80+. I think Stafford wanted Chivalry to be more significant than Religion in Pendragon. (Yeah, I was noting that the Pagan Pride got in the way of Chivalrous Modest. With 80+, the Knight can just pick up 16+ in the other traits of Chivalrous, less the 4 or less points from Modest. Maybe boost Chivalry to 84, or 85 to make Pagan Knights have to be just a little bit better at the other traits? Or yeah, just leave it at 80.)
Delete@ Faol:
DeleteActually I was thinking of adding a seventh trait to the mix (generosity), and requiring the whole batch to go to 94 or 96. Since knighthood (in Martin's setting) is a product of the Andal culture's Faith of Seven, I thought it'd be a nice bit of symmetry to require seven traits of "True Knighthood." Plus I don't dig on the idea of selfish True Knights.
Now that I consider it, 87 points (for 6 traits) and 100 points (for 7 traits), seems about right. I really want to require such a character to have more than one notable trait (since it's so easy to get that Valorous trait up to "famous" level).
I mean, should players be allowed to start with True Knights from the get go? If you don't increase the requirements, you run that possibility.
Actually, I can live with a penny-pinching True Knight...so long as the character holds to his/her vows to protect/defend the week, etc.
DeleteBut I'm changing the point value.
Glad I could help stimulate your thinking.
Delete@ Faol:
DeleteI do appreciate it.
: )