What Kind of Character Should I Make?
Players should create characters who, like those in a sword-and-sorcery novel, live a life of bold adventure, traveling the land and breaking into ancient crypts, fighting monsters, discovering great treasures (and losing them again).
A common archetype for sword-and-sorcery heroes is the muscle-bound barbarian from a rough and rugged land, like the "Frozen Wastes" or the "Northern Mountains."
These heroes often leave their wild homes to seek their fortune in more civilized lands, where their rugged looks earn them admiration from scantily-clad women and their mighty blade earns them a few coins – and possibly more than a few enemies. Sword-and-sorcery protagonists are often more concerned with practical matters of survival than questions of good and evil. In fact, many famous sword-and-sorcery characters, like Elric and Kane, are anti-heroes who struggle with corrupting supernatural forces and suffer the tragic consequences of their desire for power.
The heroes are tough gladiators who fight for the thrill of the crowds, bawdy pirates with a thirst for treasure and adventure, or bold tomb raiders risking their lives in dusty old crypts full of traps and monstrous guardians. The women, typically, are voluptuous and barely dressed beauties waiting to be rescued from evil priests, or lithe adventuresses just as skilled in a fight as most ordinary men, and just as ready to crack a barbarian's skull as bed him.
The main characters are rarely out to save the world from the minions of evil – they just look out for themselves (although this usually means, in their own down-to-earth way, they "do the right thing" in the end). They are not heartless – they tend to stand up for the weak and put down those who bully others. They are never inherently evil – that is the role of the villains.
Heroes are always hungry for adventure, and they often find it, particularly if there is a fortune to be had. Fortunes may come their way, but they are quickly squandered through gambling, drinking, carousing, theft, foolishness, or any number of other ways. Heroes don't wallow in their misfortunes for long, though. As long as they have a good sword in hand, food in their belly, and a few coins in their pouch, they are generally content and ready for action.
Heroes are wanderers at heart, and when times are tough, they will seek work as soldiers, mercenaries, sailors, or caravan guards to get by, often rising quickly to higher positions due to their skill. When no other options are available, they will often turn to less honest work, such as thievery or piracy, to make a few coins. However, they do prefer honest work when they can find it. Still, heroes can only hold a job for so long before the wanderlust takes over and they crave adventure once more. Luckily, adventure is never far away for heroes.
Sexism in Sword and Sorcery
Sword and sorcery traditionally has a strongly masculine bias, although some more recent forms of the genre include warrior women who are every bit as capable as the men, like Red Sonja and Jirel of Joiry.
Avantis leans heavily into this trend, attempting to avoid the more sexist (and often racist) tropes of the traditional genre and characters may be of any gender or sexual orientation and have any gender-presentation they wish in Avantir and the "scantily clad maidens" they rescue will just as often by male as female. Impractical armor and clothing is a mainstay of the genre, but players who are uncomfortable with this don't need to follow the trope if they don't wish to and desciptions of these elements will avoid the lurid and lean toward brief "color" for the setting.
Players who have concerns about these issues, either before or during play are encouraged to discuss how they will be handled with the DM and with the rest of the table.
The intent is always for everyone at the table to be comfortable and to feel like they are in a safe space.
For mroe on how this is handled in an Avantis game, see the Fate Codex SRD article repoduced in the article titled "Sexy, Not Sexist."
About the Villains
When considering what types of characters players might create, it may be helpful to contrast them with the kinds of antagonists they will face...
The heroes will face off against the bad guys – evil necromancers, mad sorcerers, and deranged priests are common antagonists in sword and sorcery stories. Sometimes the antagonist may be a cowardly noble or a sly assassin, but even they often have a magician pulling the strings of their nefarious plans. These powerful individuals have been corrupted by supernatural forces and are thoroughly evil. They are also still human (usually), and are vulnerable to a good sword strike. Their magic is often powerful, but it is limited by the intricate rituals required to use it.
