BIRTH – Creating Characters The most important thing a player must know about his character is his initial Social Level. This depends on the parents to whom he is born, their wealth and their titles (if any). The Birth Tables provide all the family background necessary to play the game. Generate a character’s Strength, Constitution and Endurance (see page 18). Then roll one die each for the Class, Sibling Rank and Father’s Position on Birth Tables A, B and C respectively. If a player rolls a five or six on the Class table (A), he should also roll on the Father’s Title Table (Birth Table D). Birth Table A: Class

Die roll	Class
1	Commoner
2	Commoner
3	Gentleman
4	Gentleman
5	Nobleman
6	Nobleman

Die roll	Sibling Rank
1	First son1
2	Second son
3	Second son
4	Second son
5	Bastard2
6	Bastard2

1 Increase Initial Funds and Allowance by 10% and Initial Social Level by 1. Then roll one die again. On a roll of 1, you are an orphan: you do not get an Allowance and receive the Inheritance instead of Initial Funds; if noble, you receive your Father’s Title and increase your Initial Social Level by another 3. 2 Decrease Initial Funds and Allowance by 10% and subtract 1 from Initial Social Level. Birth Table D: Father’s Title (if Noble)

Die roll	Class
1	Knight
2	Baron
3	Marquis
4	Earl
5	Viscount
6	Count

Initial Social Level

Son of:	Social Level
Peasant	2
Merchant	3
Gentleman	4
Very Wealthy Gentleman	5
Knight	6
Baron	7
Marquis	8
Earl	9
Viscount	10
Count	11

After doing all this, all players compare their results to the Initial Social Level Table, making sure to implement any applicable modifiers. All of the above data should be recorded (you can use copies of the sample character sheet provided at the end of these rules or use index cards or just pen and paper) and, if desired, the character may be given a name. EXAMPLE: The Bergerac family is blessed with a son. A five is rolled on Birth Table A, a 1 on Birth Table B: we discover that the character is the first son of a nobleman. Rolling again as instructed in the notes to table B, we find he is not yet an orphan. Rolling a three on the nobles section of Table C shows that the character’s father is welltodo, and the character has an init­ial fortune of (250 + 10%) 275 Crowns (coming of age money, so to speak). In addition he will receive a monthly allowance of (50 + 10%) 55 Crowns. A four rolled on Table D shows that the senior Bergerac is an Earl. The character, Rodney Bergerac, has an initial Social Level of 9, plus one for being a first son, or 10 total.