Twisted Kingdoms -- Player's Guide

Appendix A: Character Building

I: Specials

Specials are the first thing you take during character generation. They, in a major way, define the core of your character. Everything else about generation revolves around the special you take. Specials give you a benefit of one sort or another, and also give a disadvantage. Anyone will be able to see your special. If your special requires roleplaying, you are expected to roleplay it. You are also expected to roleplay other character's specials, exactly as you would like others to roleplay yours.

The specials you may take are listed below, roughly categorized into what they benefit: Physical (the physicality of the character, or affecting the physical world), Mental (the mentality of the character, or affecting the mental world) and Social (the social outlook of the character, or affecting their interactions). It is recommended that you read all of them before choosing one. You will have a hell of a time changing it later.

Physical

Attractive: You are unusually attractive in some way. Whether it is due to physical beauty, charisma, or charm, there is a light around you that people, mistlings, gods, and even the mists themselves are attracted to. Unfortunately not all people, mist born, or gods are good people.
Brute: The less sophisticated counterpart to the Finesse special. Your punch is devastating, your magic is a flurry of raw power, and you can tear trees up by the roots by glancing at them. Keep in mind that said punch has a good chance of missing and hitting your friend in the face, that your stone spell is probably going to work resoundingly against both your target and the surrounding countryside, and that the tree you just uprooted fell the wrong way and crushed a house full of orphans.
Darwin Baby: You adapt to your environment, amazingly so. If you spend too much time in the mists your body accommodates itself to exist in them. If you float in a pond long enough you might find yourself with gills. If you perch in a tree eventually you'll start growing claws on your feet and hands to help you climb better. The change takes a little while, so don't expect it to save you from being chased by monsters unless that's a constant in your environment. Developing nightvision in the span of a few minutes is damn useful, though, and makes you really popular at parties! Massive changes might affect you permanently though, and you are usually drained for a time. Growing a layer of warm fur takes a lot out of you, after all!
Ethereal: You have no physical body. You can pick up and handle objects by force of will so you are not disadvantaged in the physical realm. However, you can not be affected by purely physical attacks. Nor can anyone grapple with you. However, you can never receive any resistance to magical or psionic abilities -- they will always affect you.
Finesse: You're better at the little things when good old, stubborn brute force isn't the answer. Your hand coordination is ideally suited for electronics, lock picking, and fine artistic detail. Your magic is renowned for its subtle manipulation. Or perhaps your psionic abilities are finely tuned for minute manipulations. But forget about ever laying someone out by brute strength, dazzling crowds with the sheer power of your magic, or throwing a rock with your mind. It's not going to happen.
Gardener: You have a green thumb; two of them. And green fingers and toes, to boot. Plants seem to stand at attention around you and wilt when you get angry, but it really must just be a skill, though. Nothing ... strange.
Gymnast: You either emerged from the mists with a gymnast's physique, or (if you were born) your parents had a dream--a dream that they never let you forget. You gain a significant automatic boost to your flexibility, but you didn't have much time to study the finer arts of magic, the powers of the mind, or academics.
LAS: You are a lesbian, Asian schoolgirl. You are skinny and have big breasts, but everyone knows that you're really a sweaty old man.
MacGyver: MacGyver! Due to an ability to think on your feet and a good working knowledge of physics, chemistry, and engineering, you are capable of coming up with some of the most amazing gadgets in minutes. You carry duct tape and a Swiss Army knife at all times. You will never use a gun as a weapon (but may use it for parts). While no one calls you by it, your first name is either Angus or Agnus--no exceptions.
Mechanist: Shunning both the primitive way of nature and the complex, fickle tenets of high technology, you'd prefer to rely on mechanical machines to make your life easier. Give your tools, a diesel engine, a steam turbine, or an electric motor and you're at your happiest. You are more likely than most to be constantly covered in grease.
Mist Engineer: You know a seeeecret. Few people give it much notice, but pockets of emotional energy condense and collect in the mist. Through gift of birth or careful schooling, you know how to tell when those soap bubbles floating through the mist are charged or not. You can collect these objects, mold them like clay, and infuse them with your own latent mist energy--effectively solidifying a feat of mist handling into a physical object that can be used at your leisure or bartered. Your mist objects can be used under duress without penalty, but they are harder to create. You also suffer a slight penalty to your mist navigation, as you're always on the lookout for raw materials in the deep mists.
Mist Walker: You have an uncanny ability to navigate the mist, finding things with an ease others envy. You have a major boost to your Mist skill, but can never have over a ten in Sanity.
Prop-Man: You're like the fighting version of the MacGyver. You make use of the objects in your environment with deadly efficiency, knowing which chair to balance on, which table to knock over, and which glass to kick over to knock down your opponent. You don't build things, but you have an almost instinctual knowledge of everything around you and how to use and navigate it with amazing results. You are also extremely agoraphobic and prefer rooms and cluttered areas as opposed to wide open plains of nothing. You also cannot fight empty handed or in empty spaces. You suddenly become clumsy and confused if you try.
Pug Ugly: Is that your face or did a wolverine die up your nose? You're the opposite of attractive. You're horrible, people run from you, babies cry in your presence. On the good side though, people think twice before messing with you, nobody ever assumes that you're anyone important (even though you might be) and most muggers get one look at you and run screaming. On the bad side, you might want to wear something with a hood.
Shaper: Why make a machine when you can create an organism that will multiply by itself and never needs tinkering? Though you do not shun technology, you prefer something with an organic origin whenever possible. So, while you might resort to using something as uncouth as a gun, you'd do better to spread genetically engineered plague spores. You have probably already altered your own body by scalpel or gene manipulation, to bring you closer to your personal image of perfection. Your mechanical aptitude is almost zero, and you are loathed by those of a Feral Heart.
Sympmorph: Your form, your abilities, and in extreme cases even your mind can be shaped and transmuted by the expectations and desires of those around you. Sympmorphs are often prostitutes, lawyers, or favorite pets.
Tank: You are virtually indestructible. Bullets may strike you, but you'll heal. Limbs might even grow back after getting chopped off. You can fall from great heights and survive. You are a brick. Unfortunately your resistance only falls into the physical world. Your great endurance has left your body extremely susceptible to the effects of mist and a skilled mist user can mess you up bad. So when you're rampaging and smashing buildings, you might want to avoid the mages' hall.
Technocrat: Computers, plasma, servos, nanites: these are the tools of a truly enlightened being. You dot your life and perhaps even your body with the trappings of high technology. Forget repairing a car or decoding the genome, but they'll call you when they want someone who can field-strip a plasma rifle or calculate pi out to three billion decimals.
Unremarkable: You are entirely average looking. There is nothing at all about you that is unique or different. Even your name is average. No one notices you in a crowd, the eye slides right off of you. It would be very difficult to find you based on a description. On the other hand, forget ever being a celebrity.

Mental

Accountant: Everything must be just so for you: all things in their place, everything in proper order and classification. Though the very idea of law offends some of the denizens of the mists, you believe in following it to the strictest letter. You are well-liked by the Mist Knights, but often considered a stickler or a bore to more colorful types.
Addict: You may not actually be addicted to any substance or pleasure right now, but your personality predisposes you to engage in and succumb to addictive activities. You're probably eventually going to degenerate to the point that you seek nothing but to gratify your addictions, but you are better able to function lucidly under the effects of mind-altering substances or psionics.
Cat's Intuition: Your peculiar connection to the mist gives you a heightened sense of danger and opportunity. This sense might tingle just before you step on a bear trap, or as you walk over a patch of earth where treasure is buried. Sometimes, however, the mist gets a kick out of screwing with you and sending false signals for its own entertainment. Get used to making up explanations for why you suddenly ran headlong out of the room for no apparent reason.
Charmed: You're a lucky little ducky. The week's lotto numbers came to you in a dream last night, you won a free breakfast, and your tailor had a suit that fit you perfectly that he decided to get rid of. Things just go your way most of the time. Lady Luck not only smiled upon you, she clung to your leg and wouldn't let go. People tend to think you're scheming though, or that you have some sort of angle. Folks around you tend to suffer bad luck as you swipe a little bit of their karma. Also, once every so often, your luck gives out and life throws you a hell of a curve.
Cipher: You don't give off body cues to your emotions, your vocal tone doesn't reflect your moods, and your body doesn't produce the smells associated with fear, arousal, or any other emotions. You probably aren't even aware of this fact and chalk it up to just not being good with people. Empaths and psychics cannot read you easily... But you also have a quiet need to experience intense emotions and sometimes deliberately put yourself in harm's way for a taste. Your mental resistance is quite strong.
Collector: You have an obsession. One thing that you're hunting for and some day will own. Maybe it's a set of faberge eggs. Maybe you want to own one of every species of butterfly, maybe you're hunting down components for an ultimate spell... but the thrill is in the hunt. So who cares if you tore apart someone's stereo to find three matching blue wires of the same length?
Conspiracy Nut: They're out to get you and you know it. The design on the waiter's shirt buttons, the type of glass he serves you, the way your chair doesn't sit right. It all adds up to a larger picture. Maybe aliens, or the Illuminati, or the FDA... But SOMEONE has a grand scheme for domination and control and you're one of the few enlightened ones who can see it. Don't believe what they say about you being crazy; yours are the only eyes that are open. The truth is out there, and you can see it in the pattern of the cream swirling around in your coffee.
Cynic: You consider yourself a realist, but not everyone around you sees it that way. You are never taken off-guard by unexpected tragedies or disasters, because you figured that something like that was going to happen sooner or later. On the other hand, people tire easily of your gloomy outlook.
Decadent: You know how you like things - first class - and you fully expect them to be given to you. And why shouldn't they? Food, love, shiny things, these are what you live for. One more taste, one last touch, one last gaze at that bauble. Regardless of the price.
Descrier: You can read signs and omens in the entrails of livestock, the roll of bones, or the swirls in a cinnamon muffin. The problem is that you're also a certifiable fruitcake. You come off more like a crazy whacko on the street than a legitimate oracle, so almost no one believes any of your prophecies.
Director: "I don't see seven tinkerbells. I see seven guys who don't know their moves and don't seem to care." You are something of a control freak. If there's something to be done, then you have to be the one to give the orders or it's surely going to go to hell. You may really be damned good at what you do, or you may be utterly deluded regarding your leadership abilities, but either way you step on a lot of toes.
Dreamer: Your essence is divided between the mists and some other reality. When you sleep in that other realm, your consciousness finds itself here. You have more power to manipulate the mists, but less conscious control over it. You will find that the reality of the mist often unexpectedly warps itself around you and your companions to fit your wildest dreams... and deepest nightmares. Dreamers are respected for their above-average abilities but distrusted for their tendency to wake up at inopportune moments.
Empath: You hold a delicate connection with the people around you. You understand others' emotions with an acuity that few possess. You can even feel the pain of those you commune with. Unfortunately, you might also take on the injuries of those you commune with.
Feral Heart: Nature is your nature. You are at home in the woods, the desert, the ocean, or another natural environment, easily calling upon your connection with and understanding of the surroundings to survive and flourish. You have an intrinsic ability to detect when something is amiss in your preferred habitat, are accomplished in expertly crafting the tools you need from the materials available, and may even be able to commune with animals that are otherwise mute. You shun technology in most of its forms, however, and may even be phobic of it. You will not abide encroachment on natural domains, nor anything you judge to be unnatural.
Jumper: You have this insatiable urge to kill yourself. You're constantly biting bullets, climbing tall buildings, and twisting rope. Alas, you just can't seem to succeed. You're immune to fear. On the other hand, someday, you're liable to get it right.
Klepto: You obsessively pick things up that are not yours and stuff them into your pockets. No pen, paperclip, money roll, or even toothpick is safe from you. On the other hand, since you do it unconsciously, you look entirely natural, and most people don't tend to notice, until later, that you stole something. You gain a bonus to luck, while your inability to control yourself makes wisdom harder to come by.
Nonsentient: You are not a particularly intelligent creature. You can't communicate on more than an extremely basic level, can't manipulate objects with much success, and can't reason worth a damn. However, your senses are probably heightened and people are more likely to let you get away with sniffing their privates.
Perfectionist: The downside is that, with everything you do, every little thing has to be just perfect. The upside is that every little thing you do usually is just perfect.
Spatial Awareness: Your connection to the mist is a subtle one. By tapping it, you may gain an intrinsic awareness of an object's makeup, internal workings, or even history. You can get a rough picture of spaces that lie beyond your normal senses, almost giving you the ability to see through walls and other solid objects. The mist looks back, however, and use of your special ability is risky. You might inadvertently break the object that you're examining, subtly and unknowingly alter its operation, alert others to your presence while attempting to see them through barriers, or even attract the attention of the kinds of creatures from beyond that haunt wizards' nightmares.
Wound Up: Lay off the coffee, man! You cannot sit still to save your life. You cannot pay attention to anything for more than a couple of minutes, people expect you to spontaneously combust at any moment, and you haven't slept in two weeks. Your recovery and endurance powers are amazing, but you need them to keep from having a heart attack. Sugar and caffeine are probably your best friends. Now if you could only do something about that ADD... What were we talking about again? Oooh, shiny!

Social

Actor: You aren't necessarily an actual actor--and then again maybe you are--but you behave in the boisterous, flamboyant manner often associated with colorful stage stars. You love to be in the spotlight, to be the center of attention. Without an audience, you're spineless and nearly useless. With one, you're gallant and fearless.
Competitor: Life is a game and you're convinced that you can win. You look at every challenge as an exciting chance for victory. You quantify everything you can and hold it up as a point of pride if it beats out other people. You meet danger with a rakish disregard, never stepping back because of fear. However, you also take that competitive spirit into your everyday life, to the bane of most of the people around you.
Confident: Your resolve is unshakable even in the face of overwhelming odds. You exude a spirit of confidence that is very infectious. You will never have to back down from a challenge because of fear or uncertainty, and you can perform feats of mist handling under stress with lessened penalties. On the other hand, you're likely to get you and anyone around you killed one of these days.
Conventionalist: You are a conformer. You follow the crowd, never straying far from the most popular trends, beliefs, ethics, and morals. In extreme cases, you may even seek out others to lead you and then stick to them, taking their direction and being hard-pressed to take initiative. You are often looked up to by other conventionalists, appreciated by actors or directors, and loathed by deviants.
Deviant: In a subjective universe, you're just as right as everyone else. It's a shame for you that everyone else can't internalize that. Your morals, ethics, and faith fly in the face of most people. In the Kingdoms, where diversity is the rule rather than the exception, that's saying a lot. You aren't constrained by commonly accepted rules of behavior, but you're probably obnoxious and disliked by congress.
Entropic: You are the polar opposite of a mist parasite. Instead of draining the chaos from your surroundings, you spread it around like a highly contagious wasting disease. Statues crumble if you walk by them once too often, unlikely events occur spontaneously in your presence. You can direct this force for decay to a small extent, directing it against your enemies by physical touch. You are irredeemably insane, however.
Escape Artist: You have a special knack for getting out of tight spots. Your luck is lowered in all other situations, however, so you're that much more likely to get into those tight spots.
Gentleman: You are polite to a fault; overly so. You are the first to offer a handkerchief and a 'gezundheit' when someone sneezes, you drape your cloak over puddles for the ladies, and you always compliment and thank people graciously. Everyone loves your manners. On the down side, you find yourself suffering a great deal, like complimenting the bouquet of your stew when you can see a rat floating in it.
Hitchhiker: You're a free spirit, used to relying on your wits to get you through life. You have less money than most, but then, you'll always know where your towel is, and almost anything else that would fit in a backpack.
Intimidating: You come off as just naturally intimidating. Your voice alone has been known to break charges. But forget ever trying to be sly, sneaky, or charming. You just don't do it well.
Jinxed: The mists giveth, and the mists taketh away. In your case, they just keep on taking. Your luck is perpetually reduced to almost nothing, and so is the luck trait of everyone around you. Jinxed characters are often employed by daring or overwhelmed military commanders, either sent in to spread chaos through the enemy ranks or employed as a means of comic relief for the troops.
Maker: Your entire sense of purpose centers on making something more out of the world around you. You want to create something--a monument, a society, a kingdom--that will still be around long after you're gone. Where this project is concerned, your drive and spirit are unstoppable, but your life outside of it suffers as a consequence.
Newshound: The more topical counterpart to the scholars, you are hard to match when it comes to digging up the dirt on current events. You have the uncanny ability to sneak in where you're not welcome and wring information from the most unlikely sources. On the other hand, you're well known to the Knights of the Mists, and not particularly well-liked by them.
Nurturer: Your greatest joy is found in caring for the helpless or unfortunate. Your friends always seem to go to you when they need a shoulder to cry on or someone who knows how to set a broken bone. Your life is stable and centered, but you tend to miss out on most of the excitement.
Pacifist: You are devoted to peace and would never raise a hand against any living animal. A strict vegan, you are unwilling to think about eating something that came from a living creature. In addition, you are always at peace with your surroundings. It is almost impossible to distract or annoy you, and you can find a spot to meditate even in the noisiest environments.
Parasite: Perhaps through accident of creation or the design of the gods, you feed off of the ambient energy of the mist. Your psionic ability and magical aptitude are increased by virtue of the additional raw energy that you can draw from, but at a heavy cost. Like poorly planned agriculture, you drain the chaos out of the world around you. Repeated use of your abilities -and in extreme cases your repeated presence-in an area will cause it to stagnate and grow rigidly ordered. Mist parasites, once discovered for what they are, are distrusted and not welcome almost anywhere.
Punker: Down with the system! Who even cares what the system is! Oi! Rock out, party hard, live life as hard and fast as possible cuz really who cares?! You recover fast, after so many cheap bar fights, but wisdom has never known your name.
Rage-aholic: You're addicted to rage-ahol. You would have made a top-notch berserker for a Viking warlord, or maybe even a professional wrestler. Most people are going to think that you're overreacting a tad, however, when you punch a hole through the wall after spilling soup on your trousers.
Realist: You are tied to reality. You are less likely to notice or see things that do not fit your definition of reality. You will never see a god, and can not be directly affected by them. Transient mistlings can not touch you. Your sanity is less likely to shift. You also can never have over a 1 in mist handling.
Royalty: Because of the fact that you held a position of high authority (Emperor, Regnant, Pharaoh, Da Man, etc.) where you come from, you have fabulous tactical and planning skills. On the minus, you tend to get called 'Mister Fancy Pants' and are made fun of a lot. You receive a bonus to learning and reason, while you are hampered in faith and imagination.
Samurai: You might not be a literal samurai, but you live by a strict moral code and have dedicated your life to the protection of those weaker than you. Perhaps you've naturally trained your body to the height of warrior protection, or perhaps you've been granted superpowers or supernatural abilities to aid you. Either way, your speed and fighting abilities are the stuff of legends. Maybe you're just a joe with a sword and a dream, or maybe you're a superhero with a secret identity. As a downside to this power, you must stick to your code of ethics at all costs, and suffer greatly when you do not. Some folks look up to you, and others find you to be a hell of a downer.
Savage: Due to your creation or upbringing, you are not capable of wrapping your mind around advanced tools, written language, or weaponry, but you still understand the value of society. You live apart from nature, preferring well-honed agriculture to foraging or hunting. Many will blithely write you off as unintelligent, but behind your rough exterior lies a mind that is keen and adaptable. You'll never be completely at home in a big city or the deep woods, but you'd survive in either -- something that those Feral Hearts or Technocrats certainly couldn't boast.
Scholar: When it comes to researching arcane knowledge, you're at the top of your field. You swallow and regurgitate facts with an aptitude that some envy and others simply make fun of. You have suffered from your long hours locked away with nothing but books to keep you company, however, and are never in very good health.
Scoundrel: You've got a place in the family business, or maybe you've started your own. Whether dashing, coldly calculating, or simply sinister, you hide on the underbelly of the Kingdoms and make them your own. You have connections that run like a network through the streets, but you are not trusted by honest denizens.
Sidekick: You live to serve. You make a great henchman and latch onto the most charismatic person nearby. If you work for a corporation you're the guy in the big suit following the CEO around with a microphone in your ear. If you work for the mob you stand behind your boss and look intimidating, or you reflexively whisper in their ears and help come up with all the brilliant plans. You don't do well on your own, however. If you're not following orders or in the proximity of your boss you tend to lose confidence in yourself and your thoughts start to muddle.
Silver Tongue: People have the strangest habit of divulging sensitive information around you. It might be your rugged good looks, your innocent charm, or the bulge of the revolver in your jacket pocket, but everyone seems more likely to give up the goods when you're asking questions. You come off as either naive or slippery at other times, however, and therefore take a hit to your presence rating.
Symbiote: You require another person to live. Perhaps financially, or something more insidious, but if you do not have a partner of some sort (or multiple ones) you will wither and die. Maybe you need a host body, or you're an invalid, or require daily ingestions of bodily humors. Or maybe you just won't get a job. You usually find ways of paying your host back, though (perhaps your parasitic properties are euphoric or beneficial in some way). You have to -- or they might dump you out into the street to fend for yourself.
Talker: You talk to things, inanimate things. Rocks, tables, doors, silverware. And you know what? They talk back to you. Maybe you're the only one that can hear the voices, but you can hear them. They tell you really interesting things sometimes, although other times.. well, you ever hear the phrase, "dumb as a rock"? You'd make a great forensic investigator except for the fact that everyone thinks you're barking mad. This ability only works on inanimate objects. Corpses and other formerly alive things don't count except for wood and other plant matter used for building.
Terrifying: The advantage is that you naturally scare the ever-living hell out of most normal people. The disadvantage is that you naturally scare the ever-living hell out of most normal people.
Trainwreck: Very unfortunate things just seem to happen to the people around you. You are a magnet for bad karma, but somehow the indelible balancing mechanisms of the mists always seem to just barely miss the target, causing your friends (or enemies) to suffer in your stead. You have no long-term social connections, nor close family, and were probably orphaned at a young age.
Unlucky: Anytime there is a random chance of someone in your group being affected, it's going to be you. On the other hand, you have two more points to spend how you like on your abilities. Might we suggest endurance or recovery?
Victim: You have this uncanny ability to appeal to people as needing to be saved. Knights in shining armor fight for the chance to defend your honor. On the other hand, so do bad guys.

Restricted

Mist Born: A Mist Born is a mistling whose creation was permanent for some reason. They have (almost) total control over mist, and are not affected by Sanity (or lack thereof). On the other hand, mist-born are more affected by faith and the whim of the gods. Mist-born are so rare as to be considered mythical. There are only a handful in existence at any particular time.
Avatar: Sometimes, over time, people put so much faith into an abstract concept or idea that a physical manifestation of the concept emerges from the mist. Avatars are like a more specialized form of mistborn, created from the mist by people's faith in the abstract. They are not as subject to the whims of general faith as mistborn are, but they are limited in that their entire scope is the concept out of which they were spawned.
Phoenix: Maybe it's a blessing, maybe it's a curse, maybe you've just got unfinished business. Whatever the case, the mists just won't let you die. You will rise from the dead stronger than before, as long as your body remains intact. Unfortunately, this tendency to grow through bad situations also makes you more liable to get into them. Don't take this gift too casually, though. Each return brings you one step closer to a permanent trip to the abyss.

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