Welcome to Tolcairn - READ ME!
"Ah, shit, here we go again."First and foremost of all, welcome aboard. Odds are you've either A) joined up for a campaign of mine and are preparing to put together a character or two, or B) you've stumbled into this part of the Internet by accident. Regardless, this article will lay out the barebone basics of what this particular world is about. Tolcairn is a world that is, put as simply as possible, a world that uses the world of Dishonored as a base template, but then layers a coat of gritty-fantasy-styled paint over it. For those who have no idea what that looks like, picture Victorian-era Britain, then add in some era-inappropriate advanced technology (matter-disintegrating power pylons, for example) powered by the oil of whales. However, unlike Dishonored, a few more fantastical elements have either been expanded upon or outright added. For instance, while Dishonored features an ominous trickster god who goes by the name of the Outsider, Tolcairn has a larger mythos surrounding the Void, complete with an array of otherworldly beings referred to as the Others - courtesy of another game, Othercide. How the Others operate is, in turn, greatly inspired by yet another game - Grim Dawn. And the list keeps going.
Sounds like fun! How do I start?
The world of Tolcairn operates under Pathfinder 1E rules, and, unlike Dishonored, allows for a variety of playable races in addition to humans. Examples of such races, complete with snippets about their biology and culture, are available under the "Playable Races" category, here in the Player's Handbook. Each one also comes with a bonus trait - these are optional and can be swapped out for any other trait. If you find a race in Pathfinder that you really want to play that isn't on this list, please let me know as soon as possible and I'll try to find a way to make them work within this world for you. As far as backgrounds are concerned, that's mostly up to you. Is your character a mercenary, a thug-for-hire? Are they a member of the nobility, or have they been ousted by their archrivals? Do they faithfully follow the teachings of the Abbey of the Everyman, or are they secretly a member of one of the Cults of the Others? The choice is yours, but the primary caveat is that your character cannot be, and cannot be related to, any named characters in the Dishonored universe. As much fun as it would be to have 5 or 6 people arguing over who gets to be Corvo Attano or Empress Emily Kaldwin I, it's simply a headache that I would prefer to avoid. Another limitation is that your character cannot be Voidkin, as that'd be akin to having the rest of the party start at level 1 while you're starting at level 5-6.How should I roll for stats?
In the interest of fairness, don't roll for stats. Instead, use this stat array: 18, 16, 15, 14, 12, 12. You can assign each number to a single stat, and then apply racial modifiers, but bear in mind that no stat can go over a score of 20 at level 1.I still have questions!
I can't answer everything here, but I can at least point you in the direction of potential answers. This is just the player's handbook, and the rest of the world is available from the other two books:- The World Atlas contains information on the actual world of Tolcairn - the individual Isles that make up the Empire, and their major cities.
- The Encyclopedia has more information about specific aspects of the world - myths, powerful organizations, the Void, and more.
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