Editing Pendragon (section)

==Character Creation Guide==

In order to make things less overwhelming, here's a basic guide to character creation. This assumes 5.2 Edition, and hopefully some updates will be made for 6th when it comes out.

'''Culture'''

The main cultures are Cymric (Most of Britain), Irish (Ireland), Roman (Cities), Picts (Jagent and the North), Saxons (Surrey, Bennoc, and the Saxon Lands), and Aquitainian (Aquitaine). If you don't know what to play or just want the standard, play a Cymric knight. Irish are Cymric without Spear Expertise, Picts tend have interesting backstories and habits but are screwed over by dogshit Attributes, Romans are good healers and talkers, Aquitainians are every Frenchman stereotype in one, and Saxons are budget Vikings who about half of Logres gets to hate. In short, play Cymric.

Continental Cultures are interesting, but playing one is the equivalent of playing a Drow in D&D. That being said, try playing an Occitanian sometime. You literally get liking wine as your special ability.

Speaking of, a prime benefit of playing a non-Cymric culture is getting a special Racial skill, which effectively replaces several of your existing skills.  For example, the Roman Law skill can be used in place of almost all non-romantic social checks, while Saxons can use one skill for all their big, two-handed barbarian weapons.

'''Homeland'''

There are way too many homelands, so I'm just going to include broad categories.

Logres: The main kingdom, run by King Uther at the game start. It's a cool place, at least until (spoilers for a centuries old story) he dies.

Cornwall: The only place where you can start as Pict at game start. It's pretty cool, and also has some pagans. Brittany is also later included.

Cambria: Modern Wales (and notably a place where you can actually meet people who speak the language the Cymric people are speaking in modern times), it's actually pretty lit up here. Notable for some tribal Cymric.

Cumbria: Wanna get raided by the Picts? Start here.

The North: The North is only available later, but it's actually pretty cool. Lothian is basically the modern Scottish Lowlands, with the Picts living in the Highlands.

Other Places: There's some other places in Mainland Europe, as well as "Zazamanc Land" and "Hunland".

Traits and Passions:

This is pretty freeform. Be sure to bump up what you want, and remember that you get annual Glory bonuses for traits and passions of 16 or higher, which is really good.  Getting your religion bonus is nice but not necessarily a must-have if it conflicts with your character concept; remember that high traits and passions are also means for you to lose control of yourself.

Attributes:

The Attributes are Strength, Size, Constitution, Appearance, and Dexterity. Appearance's usefulness strongly depends on whether or not your GM will ever have you roll it. Dexterity is useful for moving fast and not falling down like an idiot. Constitution is useful for not dying. Size is good for derived statistics, and while it is almost never actually rolled it's the static defense for not being unhorsed and/or knocked the fuck down during a fight, both brutal disadvantages. Lastly, Strength is the most useful in general. If I were you, I'd invest in Size and Strength, but that's just me.

Skills:

Here's a list of some skills that will come in handy.

Flirting/Romance: This is how you're going to get a wife. Remember that having babies is an important part of the game.

Hunting: Remember that this is the main pastime of knights.

First Aid: This keeps you from dying, so you should learn it.

Battle: This is how you're going to win mass battles. Go for this one.

Horsemanship: The skill of not falling off a horse and dying. 

Lance: This is generally better than spear, because lance charges will kill almost anything if you can hit it right. Later editions combined them for this reason.

Racial Skills: Most of these are pretty useful. Of all of them, the Saxon Two-Handed Weapons, the Cymric Spear Expertise, and the Zazamanc Medicine are the most useful. Others are a little more situational, although Roman Law and Dane Seamanship can be godly for some games.