Savage Worlds Character Creation
Character Creation in Savage Worlds is explained on page 9 of the Core Rulebook.
Races
Races in Detail
Changelings are what is left when a person gazes into the abyss and cannot manage to look away. They are often found half-dead in the ice, stripped bare of their memories and cut off (or cut free) from their former lives. Their abilities are considered dark and extremely unnatural by just about everyone.
“Mouselings” are in fact not mice at all. They are creatures that look almost exactly like humans, who have always secretly lived among the larger races, hiding behind walls and under floorboards. It is the case that wherever Collectors are found, there is typically evidence of mice in some way - they often ride mice or train them as beasts of burden. Other times, they hunt them and use their pelts to craft disguises. Collectors have taken to masquerading as mice in order to avoid suspicion and persecution, believing that humans are actually far more cruel to tiny people living in their midst than they are even to mice. Thankfully, most Gahls consider the Collectors to be nothing more than storybook myth.
For millennia, dragons have maintained the practice of Legionization. Mortals train and prove themselves loyal champions, that they may be granted the chance to offer themselves in ritual sacrifice to a dragon. They are reborn as Drakkengard Legionnaires, hatching from man-sized eggs in new, stronger bodies. For a Saurian, there is no higher honor than to become a Drakkiri, and increasingly this has become the case for humans and splinter groups of other races. The Drakkengard Legion originally began as a military recruitment project during the Culling of Horns, when the dragons sought footsoldiers for their crusade to drive Thieflings to extinction. To this day, dragons still pay bounties for Thiefling horns, and negotiate free passage and diplomatic privileges for their Drakkengard demon-hunters.
Dwarves trace their lineage back through millennia to Erubia, the mercurial volcanic continent that is said to exist far to the north beyond the Veil. When The Scream raked open Gahla’s skies, people fled underground in order to survive. For eons they lived in cramped tunnels and pitch darkness, surviving on slime, fungi, and slithering beasts. But even as they adapted, the toxins of the ashen clouds above seeped down through the soil and inflicted a tremendous toll on their lineage. Dwarves in the Erubian underdark would eventually succumb to a curse that would cause them to lose their vision as they approached late adolescence. Though their culture invented hundreds of clever ways to adapt to life without sight, many of them are only effective in enclosed spaces where a dwarf’s heightened alternate senses are most effective. Dwarves today still lose their vision as they mature. They must often rely on their sighted children to guide them through the skies or noisy cities of other races.
Long ago, the Seraphs were exiled from the northern hemisphere by Arkadios, the Allfather Tree. Knowing that the Seraphs intended to foster humanity into prominence, Arkadios remained beyond the veil. Without the Seraphs to protect him, the rebellious dryad Hyphatia was able to steal from Arkadios the secret to bringing life forth from the clay of the earth. She shared the secret with her many sisters, who all in turn betrayed her by revealing her sin to Arkadios. Hyphatia was forever damned to bring forth only lifeless ghasts, while the other dryads who pledged themselves to Arkadios' service learned to refine the art of Bloodbraiding. Those that mastered the gift would go on to become Archdryads, and give rise to a new race that would protect the world from the tribulations to come. The children of the Archdryads were known as Elves, and the loyally they served their gods of the wilderness, until the Scream scattered the Elven tribes all across Gahla. Elves can live for hundreds of years thanks to their pact with the Arkwood Dryads. Each dryad coterie protects a sacred Arktree whose healing light nourishes a wondrous garden. Only elves born in these gardens are considered true elves, and no greater dishonor exists than exile from the court’s domain. For every generation born outside of one of these gardens, their lifespan is dramatically cut short, and their features grow more “half-elven”.
They are common anywhere that dwarves and elves intermingle.
Half-elves not only include offspring of humans and elves, but also the children of two full-blooded elves who have not returned to sanctify their marriage in an archdryad’s garden.
Half-Folk are common anywhere that dwarves and humans intermingle.
The mysterious condition afflicting moonshifters is said to have originated as a curse brought into the world by the dryad huntress Morphithia. Her wild creations were shunned by her siblings, as well as the Allfather Tree. When Arkadios cast Hyphatia out of the cradle gardens for her treachery in stealing the secrets of creation, Morphithia and her adherents followed in solidarity. They rejected the teachings of the Allfather, and created life as it pleased them. Morphithia learned to bloodbraid on her own, studying the cycles of the manna tides, and using her network of vines to sample the chimeric blood of dragons. Some legends say that she was simply reckless in her experiments, and unleashed a plague upon the world that she could not contain. Others insist Morphithia remains fully in control of the Moonshifters, and uses them to this day to carry out her will upon the world. At times, the appearance of the condition is linked to alchemical experiments with unstable mutagens. In both cases, it can continue spreading through a bite. Moonshifters are found in many more variants than the common werewolf. For these characters, combine the Cannot Speak, Transformation, and Weakness (Silver) attributes from the werewolf, along with the attributes of any of the following racial templates: Aquarian, Avion, Half-Giant, Minotaur, Rakashan, Ratling, Saurian, or Serpentfolk. They may take edges from the Werewolf list on page 22 of the Horror Companion.
Only a few centuries before the Scream is said to have occurred, an infamous brigand prince named Desdramorn slew the first Centuriate, as well as the royal dragon Fulvinus. Through a dark ritual, he transformed his body into a chimeric abomination, and became the first Thiefling. The Children of Desdramorn would go on to resemble seraphs, but shimmered with Fulvinus' beautiful red scales, gazed through his golden serpentine eyes, and they sported his mighty horns and thorned tail. The Dragon courts were furious at the sacrilege, and cursed the entire corrupt lineage. They called for hunts and inquisitions to root out the Thieflings who hid among humankind, but the lineage survived against all odds. Like seraphs, a Thiefling's body is self-rejuvinating. Unlike seraphs, Thieflings can very much reproduce. And as Thieflings tap further into their powers, they may gain more dragonlike features, such as wings or fiery breath.
Saurians are one of Gahla’s oldest races, predating even Arkadios, the Allfather Tree. They lived in harmony with the Galatean Dryads, until the dryads turned their attention to Arkadios. Left to their own devices, Saurians began to breed and raise ever larger and more fearsome dragons. Dragons eventually surpassed and subdued their creators, and today the Saurians still serve their former pets with utmost loyalty. Serpentfolk were once distant regional cousins of the Saurians, though in more recent times the two have grown closer together, and hybrids are common.
The Seraphs were the first creatures brought into the world by Arkadios, the Allfather tree. Each a work of divine art, the seraphs tended to the cradle gardens of the Arkwood, and served loyally until they were tempted by a great serpent from the depths to uncover the truth about their past. The Seraphs ventured into the labyrinths beneath the cradle gardens, and discovered that they had been deceived by the great tree. They were not in fact the first people, but rather altered facsimiles of humanity, a race with no recorded history on Gahla. It became clear that seraphs had been created as tools, crafted only to fit Arkadios' needs. Incensed, Seraphs rebelled against Arkadios for the right to determine their own fate, and restore true humanity to life on Gahla. Though their own forms were never altered, they were granted true human children to look after, and raise south of the Veil. Today there remain a smaller, finite number of seraphs, for they cannot reproduce. Seraphs bodies are self-rejuvinating in the sunlight, but immortality comes with the price of eventual madness. To avoid this fate, seraphs must eventually pass on their body to the soul of a worthy successor. This is by no means an easy process, and seraphs often spend lifetimes searching among their apostles for the right apprentice to take over the corpus, so that the master can finally move on to the afterlife. Their memories, and the memories of those who inhabited the body prior, are accessible to new steward of the position after intense training.
The origin of vampires on Gahla is shrouded in mystery, with the most common theories involving the sting of a Thiefling’s tail or a fey curse. They are weak to sunlight, lumenous water, and a stake through the heart. They may take the following Vampire Edges: Charm, Claws, Gorge, Regeneration, Sire, and Thrall.
You gain all the bonuses of your race as well as the Ancestral Feature from one of the Ancestries. Additionally, you will get discounts for picking Edges and Hindrances that are included in your Ancestry's Hindrances/Edges lists.
Skill List
Step 1 – Race and Ancestry:
Your character may be one of the following races from the Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion:Races
- Celestial
- Dwarf
- Dragonfolk
- Elf
- Gnome
- Goblin
- Golem
- Graveborn
- Half-Elf
- Half-Folk
- Half-Orc
- Human
- Infernal
- Mouseling
- Orc
- Saurian
- Serpentfolk
- Shapeshifter
Races in Detail
Changelings
Changelings use the Shapeshifter template from the Fantasy Companion. They may take edges from the Demon list in the Horror Companion.Changelings are what is left when a person gazes into the abyss and cannot manage to look away. They are often found half-dead in the ice, stripped bare of their memories and cut off (or cut free) from their former lives. Their abilities are considered dark and extremely unnatural by just about everyone.
Collectors
Collectors use the Mouseling template from the Fantasy Companion.“Mouselings” are in fact not mice at all. They are creatures that look almost exactly like humans, who have always secretly lived among the larger races, hiding behind walls and under floorboards. It is the case that wherever Collectors are found, there is typically evidence of mice in some way - they often ride mice or train them as beasts of burden. Other times, they hunt them and use their pelts to craft disguises. Collectors have taken to masquerading as mice in order to avoid suspicion and persecution, believing that humans are actually far more cruel to tiny people living in their midst than they are even to mice. Thankfully, most Gahls consider the Collectors to be nothing more than storybook myth.
Drakkiri
Drakkiri use the Dragonfolk race from the Fantasy Companion. They can also take edges for the Drakin found in the Sundered Skies sourcebook.For millennia, dragons have maintained the practice of Legionization. Mortals train and prove themselves loyal champions, that they may be granted the chance to offer themselves in ritual sacrifice to a dragon. They are reborn as Drakkengard Legionnaires, hatching from man-sized eggs in new, stronger bodies. For a Saurian, there is no higher honor than to become a Drakkiri, and increasingly this has become the case for humans and splinter groups of other races. The Drakkengard Legion originally began as a military recruitment project during the Culling of Horns, when the dragons sought footsoldiers for their crusade to drive Thieflings to extinction. To this day, dragons still pay bounties for Thiefling horns, and negotiate free passage and diplomatic privileges for their Drakkengard demon-hunters.
Dwarves
Dwarves use the racial template from the Fantasy Companion. However, adult Dwarves begin with the Blind hindrance (gaining in return 3 points to spend on Edges at character creation). They also replace Darkvision with the Stonecunning or Brute edge.Dwarves trace their lineage back through millennia to Erubia, the mercurial volcanic continent that is said to exist far to the north beyond the Veil. When The Scream raked open Gahla’s skies, people fled underground in order to survive. For eons they lived in cramped tunnels and pitch darkness, surviving on slime, fungi, and slithering beasts. But even as they adapted, the toxins of the ashen clouds above seeped down through the soil and inflicted a tremendous toll on their lineage. Dwarves in the Erubian underdark would eventually succumb to a curse that would cause them to lose their vision as they approached late adolescence. Though their culture invented hundreds of clever ways to adapt to life without sight, many of them are only effective in enclosed spaces where a dwarf’s heightened alternate senses are most effective. Dwarves today still lose their vision as they mature. They must often rely on their sighted children to guide them through the skies or noisy cities of other races.
Elves
Elves use the template found in the Sundered Skies sourcebook, and can take Elf-specific edges from it as well.Long ago, the Seraphs were exiled from the northern hemisphere by Arkadios, the Allfather Tree. Knowing that the Seraphs intended to foster humanity into prominence, Arkadios remained beyond the veil. Without the Seraphs to protect him, the rebellious dryad Hyphatia was able to steal from Arkadios the secret to bringing life forth from the clay of the earth. She shared the secret with her many sisters, who all in turn betrayed her by revealing her sin to Arkadios. Hyphatia was forever damned to bring forth only lifeless ghasts, while the other dryads who pledged themselves to Arkadios' service learned to refine the art of Bloodbraiding. Those that mastered the gift would go on to become Archdryads, and give rise to a new race that would protect the world from the tribulations to come. The children of the Archdryads were known as Elves, and the loyally they served their gods of the wilderness, until the Scream scattered the Elven tribes all across Gahla. Elves can live for hundreds of years thanks to their pact with the Arkwood Dryads. Each dryad coterie protects a sacred Arktree whose healing light nourishes a wondrous garden. Only elves born in these gardens are considered true elves, and no greater dishonor exists than exile from the court’s domain. For every generation born outside of one of these gardens, their lifespan is dramatically cut short, and their features grow more “half-elven”.
Goblins
Goblins use the Goblin template from the Fantasy Companion, and may take edges from the Demon list in the Horror Companion. Although goblins predate recorded history, theologists and biologists agree that they originate from somewhere beyond Gahla. They boast an innate talent for telekinesis and holographic illusion magic, abilities which have no close parallel anywhere on Gahla. Goblins never suffer the negative effects of Corruption when casting powers from Arcane Backgrounds that include Corruption as a Hindrance.Gnomes
Gnomes use the Gnome template from the Fantasy Companion.They are common anywhere that dwarves and elves intermingle.
Half-Elves
Half-Elves use the Half-Elf template from the Fantasy Companion.Half-elves not only include offspring of humans and elves, but also the children of two full-blooded elves who have not returned to sanctify their marriage in an archdryad’s garden.
Half-folk
Half-Folk use the Half-Folk template from the Fantasy Companion.Half-Folk are common anywhere that dwarves and humans intermingle.
Moonshifters
Moonshifters use the Werewolf template from the Horror Companion, or the Wildling template from the Sundered Skies sourcebook.The mysterious condition afflicting moonshifters is said to have originated as a curse brought into the world by the dryad huntress Morphithia. Her wild creations were shunned by her siblings, as well as the Allfather Tree. When Arkadios cast Hyphatia out of the cradle gardens for her treachery in stealing the secrets of creation, Morphithia and her adherents followed in solidarity. They rejected the teachings of the Allfather, and created life as it pleased them. Morphithia learned to bloodbraid on her own, studying the cycles of the manna tides, and using her network of vines to sample the chimeric blood of dragons. Some legends say that she was simply reckless in her experiments, and unleashed a plague upon the world that she could not contain. Others insist Morphithia remains fully in control of the Moonshifters, and uses them to this day to carry out her will upon the world. At times, the appearance of the condition is linked to alchemical experiments with unstable mutagens. In both cases, it can continue spreading through a bite. Moonshifters are found in many more variants than the common werewolf. For these characters, combine the Cannot Speak, Transformation, and Weakness (Silver) attributes from the werewolf, along with the attributes of any of the following racial templates: Aquarian, Avion, Half-Giant, Minotaur, Rakashan, Ratling, Saurian, or Serpentfolk. They may take edges from the Werewolf list on page 22 of the Horror Companion.
Thieflings
Thieflings use the Infernal template from the Fantasy Companion and may take Edges from the Drakin list in the Sundered Skies sourcebook.Only a few centuries before the Scream is said to have occurred, an infamous brigand prince named Desdramorn slew the first Centuriate, as well as the royal dragon Fulvinus. Through a dark ritual, he transformed his body into a chimeric abomination, and became the first Thiefling. The Children of Desdramorn would go on to resemble seraphs, but shimmered with Fulvinus' beautiful red scales, gazed through his golden serpentine eyes, and they sported his mighty horns and thorned tail. The Dragon courts were furious at the sacrilege, and cursed the entire corrupt lineage. They called for hunts and inquisitions to root out the Thieflings who hid among humankind, but the lineage survived against all odds. Like seraphs, a Thiefling's body is self-rejuvinating. Unlike seraphs, Thieflings can very much reproduce. And as Thieflings tap further into their powers, they may gain more dragonlike features, such as wings or fiery breath.
Orcs & Half-Orcs
Orcs and Half-Orcs use their respective templates from the Fantasy Companion. Orcs, like Dwarves, hail from the Ash Continent, Erubia, far to the north beyond the Veil. When the Scream covered the world in cinders, the human tribes that would become dwarves fled underground, but those who stayed on the surface would instead become corrupted into the hardy and aggressive survivors known as orcs. Though they eventually grew adapted to life in the toxic smog aboveground, there came a time some centuries after the Scream when the great volcano at the center of Erubia erupted. This sundering sent both dwarves and orcs scrambling out to sea, and over time, some would eventually find their way south of the Veil. Orc tribes accept half-orcs into their number, though their ultimate goal is to transform half-orc foundlings into full orcs through a mysterious ritual.Revenants and Patchwork Monsters
There are many ways by which dead mortals might be brought back to life as a shell of their former selves. These characters use the templates found in the Horror Companion and may take their corresponding edges.Saurians and Serpentfolk
Saurians and Serpentfolk use the Templates from the Fantasy Companion. They may take edges from the Drakin list in the Sundered Skies sourcebook.Saurians are one of Gahla’s oldest races, predating even Arkadios, the Allfather Tree. They lived in harmony with the Galatean Dryads, until the dryads turned their attention to Arkadios. Left to their own devices, Saurians began to breed and raise ever larger and more fearsome dragons. Dragons eventually surpassed and subdued their creators, and today the Saurians still serve their former pets with utmost loyalty. Serpentfolk were once distant regional cousins of the Saurians, though in more recent times the two have grown closer together, and hybrids are common.
Seraphs
Seraphs use the Celestial race from the Fantasy Companion, and can take edges from the Angel list on page 12 of the Horror Companion.The Seraphs were the first creatures brought into the world by Arkadios, the Allfather tree. Each a work of divine art, the seraphs tended to the cradle gardens of the Arkwood, and served loyally until they were tempted by a great serpent from the depths to uncover the truth about their past. The Seraphs ventured into the labyrinths beneath the cradle gardens, and discovered that they had been deceived by the great tree. They were not in fact the first people, but rather altered facsimiles of humanity, a race with no recorded history on Gahla. It became clear that seraphs had been created as tools, crafted only to fit Arkadios' needs. Incensed, Seraphs rebelled against Arkadios for the right to determine their own fate, and restore true humanity to life on Gahla. Though their own forms were never altered, they were granted true human children to look after, and raise south of the Veil. Today there remain a smaller, finite number of seraphs, for they cannot reproduce. Seraphs bodies are self-rejuvinating in the sunlight, but immortality comes with the price of eventual madness. To avoid this fate, seraphs must eventually pass on their body to the soul of a worthy successor. This is by no means an easy process, and seraphs often spend lifetimes searching among their apostles for the right apprentice to take over the corpus, so that the master can finally move on to the afterlife. Their memories, and the memories of those who inhabited the body prior, are accessible to new steward of the position after intense training.
Vampires
Vampires use the template from the Horror Companion.The origin of vampires on Gahla is shrouded in mystery, with the most common theories involving the sting of a Thiefling’s tail or a fey curse. They are weak to sunlight, lumenous water, and a stake through the heart. They may take the following Vampire Edges: Charm, Claws, Gorge, Regeneration, Sire, and Thrall.
Step 2 – Hindrances:
- Use Hindrances from the Core Rulebook, the Fantasy Companion, or the Horror Companion. Hindrances from the Sundered Skies ruleboook might be allowed.
- Select up to four points of Hindrances (Major Hindrances are worth 2, Minor are worth 1).
- For 2 Hindrance points you can raise an attribute one die type, or choose an Edge.
- For 1 Hindrance point you can gain another skill point, or gain additional starting funds equal to twice your setting’s starting amount.
- When taking a Hindrance included in your Ancestral Hindrance list, gain 1 additional point of value (so 2 points for a minor ancestral hindrance, and 3 for a major ancestral hindrance).
House Rule: Major vs Minor?
There may be cases where we can negotiate whether a hindrance should be classified as Major/Minor. For example, the core rulebook classifies Illiterate as a minor hindrance, but its description feels quite major in its impact. It just depends on how often we think it will come up for your character.Step 3 – Traits:
Attributes
- Attributes start at d4. You have 5 points to distribute among them. Each step costs 1 point.
- Attributes may not be raised beyond d12 unless your hero’s racial template states otherwise.
Skills
- *Athletics, Common Knowledge, Notice, Persuasion, and Stealth are core skills and start at d4 for free.
- All other untrained skills roll at d4-2.
- You have 12 points to put into these or any other skills.
- Each die type upgrade costs 1 point until it equals the die type of the linked attribute; then 2 points per upgrade as you exceed the attribute score.
Skill List
The following skills will be used:
- Academics (Smarts)
- Alchemy (Smarts) [Fantasy Companion]
- *Athletics (Agility)
- Battle (Smarts)
- Boating (Agility)
- *Common Knowledge (Smarts)
- Driving (Agility)
- Faith (Spirit)
- Fighting (Agility)
- Focus (Spirit)
- Gambling (Smarts)
- Healing (Smarts)
- Intimidation (Spirit)
- Language (Smarts)
- *Notice (Smarts)
- Occult (Smarts)
- Performance (Spirit)
- *Persuasion (Spirit)
- Piloting (Agility)
- Repair (Smarts)
- Research (Smarts)
- Riding (Agility)
- Science (Smarts)
- Shooting (Agility)
- Spellcasting (Smarts)
- *Stealth (Agility)
- Survival (Smarts)
- Taunt (Smarts)
- Thievery (Agility)
- Weird Science (Smarts)
Unused Skills:
- Electronics (Smarts)
- Hacking (Smarts)
- Psionics (Smarts)
Step 4 – Edges
- We will use edges from the Core Rulebook, the fantasy Companion, and the Horror Companion. Edges from the Sundered Skies rulebook may be allowed.
- Each edge costs 2 Hindrance points to purchase at character creation.
- When purchasing an Edge with Hindrance Points at Character Creation, Ancestral Edges cost 1 point instead of two.
- Mount-related edges may substitute flying creatures.
House Rule: Arcane Backgrounds
Arcane Background edges function a little differently than in core Savage Worlds. The spell lists have been altered, and characters are given more freedom to use their beginner spell slots on whatever spells they like among their list. For more details, see SW - Arcane Backgrounds. The latest draft of the revised power lists does not include powers from the Sundered Skies sourcebook, but those may be allowed by the GM or introduced in play.Step 5 – Gear
- Ignore the gear available in the Core Rulebook, and use only the item list from the Fantasy Companion.
- You will begin with 500G.
- Dogs, horses, and elephants are far more rare in Galeblazers than the Fantasy Companion would suggest. For the Animals section, we will replace these creatures with other equivalent animals and mounts more suited to a skyfaring campaign.
- Travel prices will vary wildly from the prices listed in the book.
Setting Rules
This section refers to the available Setting Rules found in Fantasy Companion pg 75.- Betrayal – Active
- Difficult Healing – Active
- Downtime – Active
- Giant Foes – Active