This part of the #DungeonsOfDoria features series will concentrate on the characters and things related to that.

In #DoD, you have two possibilities to create a character. Either choose an existing archetype (ranging from the heavily built barbarian to the magical powerful mage and anything in between) or create your own character.

Even if you choose to create your own character, you can start playing in 5 minutes – pick an empty character sheet, draw a few loot cards and distribute 50 points onto 6 attributes (see below, add 1 minute to calculate the derived values HitPoints HP, Initiative points IP and Psi points PP). This is when you recognize that the standard archetypes are pretty much the same as a pre-generated character – these also simply have 50 character-points. There is no difference in these archetypes besides a nice picture on the character sheet.

The 6 attributes

The attributes Strength (STR), Constitution (CON), Agility (AGI), Perception (PER), Wisdom (WIS), Psi (PSI) are the building blocks of every character and can range from 1 to 20.

So, why do you need these 50 points? Every equipment card in the game uses 2 of the 6 attributes as minimum requirements. A sword might have the requirements of STR 12 and AGI 10 and a fireball spell requires WIS 11 and PSI 11. Any character fulfilling these requirements can use the equipment.

This means, even the barbarian can use magic and the wizard can use swords. There is nothing prohibiting the character to use any equipment – besides his attributes. Even if a character cannot wield a sword yet – it might be possible later, if the player improves the necessary attributes. It might be hard for a barbarian starting with PSI 1 to be able to also wield a magic spell that requires PSI 6, but it is possible.

While every character builds up the same amount of experience at the same time, each player chooses which attributes he will improve. So every character will go into exactly the direction each player wants – depending only on the loot the group has acquired.

After some time (after every second scenario in campaigns or at specific rounds in single scenarios), each character will also gain a “talent” or bonus. Each of these 9 possible bonuses will improve the character in some way (see below). The possibilities are exactly the same for all characters, there are no specials for barbarians or wizards or any other archetype. This means, characters will specialize more depending on their current weapons, but at the same time, the balancing of the whole game stays intact. No players will argue that one character is better than another one – as they are all exactly the same, based on the choices each player has made.

The 9 bonuses

+1 dice for melee attacks, +1 dice for ranged attacks, +1 dice for magic attacks,
+1 damage point on all attacks, +1 dice on each parry, regenerate 1 point each round,
+1 dice on initiative, -3 action points on any action, range x2

Other articles on the Dungeons of Doria feature-series (planned or published):
Part 1: The modular dungeon
Part 2: Time is precious: The initiative-system
Part 3: Random Monsters
Part 4: Characters – Unique and still the same