In Arkelon Chronicles, a character is defined by more than their race and class. Their faith, personality and beliefs are also important traits that help refine a character concept. Different combinations make for very different characters, and may give them their own, unique flavor.
Creating a character also includes thinking about their personality. In Arkelon Chronicles, personality traits are not only a part of your character, but also give them ability boosts or flaws, directly affecting their gameplay. These may be bonuses to some skills, saves, additional skills or even new abilities.
Looking through the available options may also help you further refine your concept or give you an idea to start from. A character’s personality traits should be chosen regarding your roleplay, more so than the bonus and penalty they might give.
Each player chooses 2 major personality traits that represent their character well.
For instance, characters with the “Stubborn” trait are unable to accept failure. Every time a character with this trait fails an action that requires a d20 roll, any consecutive attempt gives them a +1 bonus, up to +5. Characters with this trait often put their allies in danger due to their overwhelming tenacity.
Unlike their class or race, a character’s personality traits are not set in stone, and particularly important events may change an individual’s personality. With the approval of the GM, you can switch some traits that are not fitting anymore. For example, a Patriotic character may end up betrayed by their kind and you might feel like another trait is more appropriate for them; such as Selfish.
In this scenario, a Patriotic character, which gains a bonus when surrounded by creatures of the same race as them, will become Selfish and instead gain a bonus when no allied creatures are within 20ft of them.
You feel like your character doesn’t have a complex personality and that’s just how you want it? Well there’s a trait for that: characters with the One-Sided trait have only one prominent trait. Say you play a bored human - so bored that nothing ever gets to him, so you decide to choose the “Jaded” trait. A character with this trait lacks enthusiasm and feels bored with everyone and everything around them, constantly. And so they gain a +2 bonus to willpower against Diplomacy, Intimidate and Flirt attempts from allies and enemies alike, but also gain a -1 penalty to their initiative. Simply add “One-Sided” as your second choice, and your Jaded trait’s bonuses and penalties are doubled! Which means you get a +4 bonus instead of +2 and a -2 penalty instead of -1.
Furthermore, virtues and vices are related to a character’s personality traits, and determine how others perceive them. Although they don’t give bonuses or penalties, vice and virtues are good guidelines to follow when roleplaying a character. When choosing vices and virtues, you cannot have two that directly contradict each other (for example, having both courage and cowardice).
From a vast list, a player is allowed to choose 4; which will also help determine if their character is more virtuous or sinful, good or evil, and so on.
Personality traits, vices and virtues are an evolving system, which allows players and their characters to grow alongside the story.