Player Characters in the Fair Isles

    Merian examined the posted notice, scratching at a bothersome itch where her crossbow hung between her shoulderblades. A noble had posted a call for scouts and trappers and homesteaders willing to travel into the archipelago, to learn the lay of the land, and perhaps to reclaim his ancestral castle. She shrugged; she had little experience in the wilds, having spent her learning in Meatha's guards, but surely it would be simple enough. What danger were trees and stones; what danger from bears and wolves for a party of ready folk?

    She knocked upon the doors of the manse, stating her purpose to the servant, and was ushered into a large sitting room where others had already gathered. A priest of the Faith, silver circle pendant at his neck, garbed in white and honey-gold, reading a leatherbound copy of the Good Book. A trapper, in buckskin and furs, stone axe at his side, a bow at his back. In the corner, a figure in a dark robe, raven-feathers braided in her hair, a necklace of amber and bones and jet; fingers in knit gloves peeked from her sleeves. Merian rested a hand on her flint knife and leaned against the wall to await the lord's arrival...


Character creation in the Fair Isles works more or less like it does in whatever OSR game you favor (I use BX), though with some adjustments to the classes available. Nonhuman player characters will be nonexistent, or at the least very rare; they will be covered more later. The most changed is the Magic-User.

The isles have a great deal of coal, but no iron or steel save that left from the early missionaries, so wood, bone, and stone are the primary materials; unless your character is lucky enough to have a well-kept family sword from Belerion of old, or a blade of meteoric iron. Crossbows exist, as does the compound bow; spears, axes, and clubs are also common weapons. Shields are wooden, and armor is leather, treated hides, brigandine, and the like. 

Hit Points

Don’t roll your starting hit points; you start at the maximum for first level (hit die + constitution modifier).

Starting Gold

Your starting gold is tracked separately from any funds gained through adventure. It can be used to purchase gear just-in-time, pretty much whenever – ‘oh, I just remembered, I grabbed this rope at the last settlement’ – but never replenishes.

Languages

All humans in the Fair Isles speak the same language. Gaining an extra language in character creation will instead allow you to speak to a specific type of animal – foxes, dogs, puffins, dolphins, salmon, etcetera. Or, if you like, you can spend two extra languages to let you talk to trees, old stones, the wind, or the like, though in practice this usually requires more than just walking up and saying hello.

Classes

There is no Thief class. Thief skills are available to anyone.

Fighters are the most common class - town guards, trappers, outlaws, highwaymen, and so on.

Clerics are available, priests of the primary religion, the monotheistic worship of the Goddess.

Magic-users are called Witches and are, in effect, the remnants of the priestesses and priests of the Old Religion. Their prime requisite is Charisma, they may wear padded or leather armor (but no shields), and they may use staffs and holy water in addition to daggers. Their ability to research spells and create magic items is replaced by Wyrd Transport. A witch may enchant a normal item for mobility in one fashion or another. If said item is human-sized or smaller, it can fly; otherwise, it must walk or otherwise remain earthbound. The traditional use is a flying broom, but carpets, laundry baskets, chairs that walk, houses on chicken legs, and so on work just as well. A witch may have one such item enchanted at a time.

Spells are not researched, but learned from other witches, or clues in old stories, or the unseen in plain sight – after all, where better to learn fire magic than by watching the spirits in the heart of a bonfire?

Modified Witch Level Progression

Level

AC0

D

W

P

B

S

1-5

19

13

14

13

16

15

6-10

17

11

12

11

14

13

11-14

15

8

9

8

11

10

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