The Call to Adventure: Character creation

His Majesty the Worm · pp.20–22

Open source p.20

Creating an adventurer means heeding the call to adventure. When you create an adventurer, you answer questions and make a series of decisions. This will result in a character with a background, a history, equipment, and connections to other adventurers.

Track the choices of the Call to Adventure and subsequent play on your adventurer sheet. A full version of the adventurer sheet can be printed at hismajestytheworm.games .

1. Origin

Your home, your hearth, and your heart are your adventurer’s biggest influences.

  • Choose a kith and kin from chapter 4. Write down your kin talent.
  • Your kin talent begins as mastered. A mastered talent can be used without spending XP. See page 33 for details about talents.
  • Choose a path from chapter 5. Put a 4 in the corresponding attribute.
  • Write down all of your path’s talents.
  • Choose one of your path talents to be mastered.
  • The rest of your path talents are in-training.
  • Choose a name from the list on your kith’s page or make one up.
  • All adventurers have a maximum of 4 Resolve (p. 32). Note that you start with a full 4 Resolve.

2. Fitting in

Puberty is a hard time. There are so many weird changes, and you have to make decisions about your future career way earlier than you want to.

  • Tell a story to the table about something your adventurer struggled with while young. Based on the story, put a 1 in one attribute.
  • Choose a motif based on your origin story. This might be related to your parents’ professions or an apprenticeship. See page 24 for details about motifs.

3. Failed career

You had a shot at a normal life and you blew it. What was your previous job?

  • Tell a story to the table about your failed career. Based on your story, put a 2 in one attribute.
  • Choose a motif related to your failed career.

4. Querent

Adventure calls to you.

  • Tell a story to the table about why you’re willing to brave the Underworld. What is your quest? Note it down.
  • If it’s important to your group, choose two languages (p. 29).

5. Full-blown weirdo

You set out to become that dreadful, ugly, and unwelcome thing: an adventurer. Your first foray into the Underworld was…what?

  • Tell a story about your first adventure into the Underworld. Based on your story, put a 3 in the last attribute.
  • Choose a motif based on this adventure. This is your last motif, so think carefully.
  • What does your adventurer look like? Briefly describe them to the rest of the guild.

6. Guild bonding

Who is in your guild and why are you traveling together?

  • Each player declares a Bond with every other player at the table (p. 25–26). Bonds are very important for the meta-

economy of the game.

  • Get out the guild roster. Note down the members of the guild.
  • Collectively give your guild a name and have someone draw the guild’s sigil.
  • Collectively determine your looting rights in the terms section of the roster.
  • Each player chooses their marching order (first, second, third, etc.) and guild role.

More information about guilds, marching order, and so on, is covered in chapter 3.

7. Treats from Ma

Look at the Omphalic Market on page 162.

  • Choose 1 luxurious item, 5 common items, and as many impoverished items as you want. Keep choosing items until your belt and your backpack are full.
  • If any of your talents require specific items (an archwood wand, a bow, heavy armor, poultices, hermetic bottles, etc.), these items count as impoverished items for you during the Call to Adventure. You can have as many as you want.

“Tell me a story.

Make it a story of great distances, and starlight.

The name of the story will be Time, But you must not pronounce its name.

Tell me a story of deep delight.”

– “Tell Me a Story,” Robert Penn Warren

Putting it all together

In summation, your adventurer has:

  • Attributes set at 4, 3, 2, and 1
  • A path
  • 1 mastered path talent, 1 mastered kin talent, and 6 path talents in training
  • A quest
  • 3 motifs
  • 4 Resolve
  • A full backpack and belt containing 1 luxurious item, 5 common items, and as many impoverished items and items used by your talents as you want
  • Bonds with the rest of the guild
  • An appearance
  • A name

You’re now ready to heed the call to adventure and delve into the Underworld.

The adventurer sheet

Each section of the adventurer sheet is described in detail on the following pages!

Adventurer Sheet

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2

3

4

1 2 3

5

1

7

6