SenZar
This is version two of part one of my SenZar guide. I intend to run a campaign, and this guide is intended to give the players the basic information necessary without being so complete as to violate copyright. Not that I am really super worried about that.
Welcome to SenZar, the only fantasy adventure world whose dial goes to 11!
Lesson 1: Creating A Character
Every character starts with 100 Fate Points. Fate Points are used to buy stats and special powers. They're also spent during play to make your life easier in various ways, so you'll probably want to save some. Fortunately, you can get a pile of extra points during the process of creation. This doesn't quite go in order; read through before you start making your character.
Attributes
Each character has seven attributes. Most of them will be familiar to gamers. Attributes (except Power) are on the 1-20 scale during character creation, although I'm pretty sure no race can have a 20 at this point.
Strength (STR) is, uh, physical strength. It determines how hard you hit things. It also determines your carrying capacity, but frankly I never pay attention to that and don't have the relevant table anyway.
Speed (SPD) is how fast you are. It doesn't affect your movement rate, but it does determine your initiative in combat. No rolls - higher Speed just goes first.
Dexterity (DEX) is your coordination, agility, blah blah. You want a lot of it if you're going to be fighting physically, because it directly affects both your dodging and your accuracy.
Constitution (CON) is your toughness and endurance. It determines your hit points, so if you expect people to be hitting you (they will probably at least try), more is better.
Willpower (WILL) is what it sounds like. Not only is it useful for resisting mind control, it's also valuable to martial artists.
Intelligence (INT) is also pretty self-explanatory. If you think about your character concept it'll probably be pretty obvious whether or not you need this. Oh, and it's also useful against some mental magic and stuff.
Presence (PRE) is charisma, appearance, and general coolness. Surprisingly, this is not a dump stat even for warriors; you can make "Presence Attacks" which are basically intimidation attempts. These are also resisted with Presence, so if you dump PRE too hard, you will be intimidated by goblins and everyone will laugh at you.
Perception (PER) is how well you spot things. Useful if you don't like being ambushed, and who does? Also, above 16 this may start giving you some kind of ESP type thing. Particularly valuable against illusionists.
Power (POW) is kind of an odd duck. It doesn't scale quite like the others, for one thing. It essentially reflects magical power. Magic-types will need plenty of this for obvious reasons. It's also used to resist some magic, so it might be wise for even warriors to increase it. Fortunately, it's cheap. Oh, and if you want to ascend to divinity, it'll need to be at 100 sometime around level 20.
Attributes are bought with Fate Points at a 1:1 ratio up to 11. After that, each further point is one Fate Point more expensive, so that going from 11 to 12 costs 2, going from 12 to 13 costs 3, and so on to the mortal maximum of 20. The exception is, again, Power, which is bought at 1:1 all the way to 100, where it caps.
For each attribute except Power, mark down its "save", which is equal to (21 - X) where X is your score. A basic attribute check will require rolling above this on a d20. Also mark down its bonus, which is the attribute - 10. For Power, mark down a save equal to (100 - X). You will need to roll above this on a percentile die to make a Power check. Fortunately, there are few Power checks you'll have to make. Unfortunately, most of them involve defending yourself against attack spells, so when you have to make them you'll really want to succeed.
Karma & Code
This is how you get more Fate Points to work with during character creation. Basically, you have eight Karmic Attributes, which are mostly character traits, although there's a few that aren't quite. Increasing these Karmic Attributes will increase your Fate Points at a 1:1 ratio. You will have a "karma save" in each Karmic Attribute equal to that attribute, which may be tested by extraordinary emotional circumstances. From 1-9, you've got "good karma" in that regard; for example, good Confidence karma probably means that you're self-assured without being cocky. At 0, you're a perfect paragon who doesn't need to worry about that attribute. In the case of Confidence, it would probably mean you perfectly know your own abilities and limitations. At 10, you're average for an adventurer in that regard.
At 11 and higher, you have a Karmic Manifestation. In layman's terms, this is a specific Problem. For Confidence, obvious examples would be overconfidence or low self-esteem. At 11 it's a minor problem, but things get steadily worse from there. Not only do you have to pick a specific manifestation, but situations likely to trigger a karma save get broader and broader. At 20 you will never pass a karma save in regard to your problem without some kind of assistance, so don't get too karma-happy unless you can live with the consequences.
The Karmic Attributes are as follows.
Attitude reflects your mindset and ability to work with others. Sample manifestations: Antisocial, Snob, Smartass
Confidence is.. well, your confidence in yourself and others. Sample manifestations: Overconfident, Alpha Behavior, Natural Follower
Discipline is your self-control and, well, discipline. Sample manifestations: Addiction, Bloodlust, Curious
Fear is just what it sounds like. A manifestation is a particular phobia.
Greed is how badly you want things you can't have. There's some crossover with Discipline. Sample manifestations: Avarice, Lechery
Harmony is inner peace and emotional stability. Sample manifestations: Nightmares, Liar, Irrational Hatred
Luck applies specifically to everyday life and not rolls doing adventury things. Usually it manifests just as all-around bad luck, although you might have particular problems with, say, money or the opposite sex.
Sanity is the health of your psyche. Manifestations can include depression, bipolar disorder, paranoia, or almost anything that ends in -mania.
Codes are mechanically similar to karma and increase your starting Fate Points identically. They reflect your dedication to a particular ethos or worldview. You can have two codes if they don't conflict. 1-10 mostly means a sort o increasing general inclination towards that code, while 11 and up goes on through dedication and into fanaticism. On the up side, some codes have patrons that look out for their followers. On the down side, breaking those codes may have worse consequences for dedicants than emotional turmoil. The two "generic" codes for heroic types are "The Cause", which is a code of defending the innocent, destroying evil, and all that good paladinly stuff, and "The Good Earth", which is devotion to The Dragon, an elemental force that preserves life on SenZar. Other codes may be created to represent particular belief systems or deities, but I'm not looking for evil PCs, so don't get too vicious with your codes.
Race & Class
I'm not going into details of the races and classes just yet; those pretty much deserve their own SenZar Lesson. The key stuff to know here is that each race has "GenMax" for each stat representing the maximum possible for that race at character creation, and each class has "GenMin" for at least a few and possibly all stats, which you'll need to meet to qualify for that class. Put your stats between the GenMin for your class and the GenMax for your race and you'll be fine.
Special Powers
Again, the list here will be coming later. However, I should point out that a lot of the purchaseable special powers are identical to powers possessed by races and classes. You only have to pay for a power if you don't get it from your race or class; racial/class powers are freebies.
Skills
Bizarrely, you cannot acquire non-class/race skills during character creation. I may give you some presumed training time before the game starts, though.
Other Stuff To Note
Aside from age, physical appearance, and all the usual stuff you use to flavor your character, you should know your birth sign. While they each have associated stereotypical personality traits, you don't have to follow them. However, you'll need to know in case of certain magical effects. The signs are: The Dragon (leadership and valor), The Dolphin (love and freedom), The Light Giver (compassion and good will), The Witch (mysticism), The Balance (firm will and strong character), The Demon (anger and belligerence), The Black Wyrm (malice and grimness), The Wolf (strong-willed loner), The Eagle (wildness with nobility), The Thunderer (strong passion and vigor), The Phoenix (martial and fiery), The Tree Of Life (compassionate and nurturing), and The Zone Of Destruction ("born unto doom, destruction, and despair"). While your character is not obliged to match his sign's personality traits, many people are likely to expect him to.
Also, every character starts with two Connections. These are people who know you and will give you assistance. They could be mentors, old friends, or relatives, just for a few examples. They should preferably be in some position to help you. You don't need to use a Connection to have a brother-in-law, but you do if you want him to be a master weaponsmith who gives you a family discount. A childhood friend who's now in position to leak sensitive information or a beloved teacher who still has useful training he could give you are also good examples of useful Connections. Connections can be a powerful advantage, but the more help you get, the more you'll probably have to give when the time comes, and bear in mind that people who are too powerful may have bigger responsibilities than your desire to be helped out. With those in mind, go nuts; the only limiter on what your Connections could be is how likely I am to say as GM "this is ridiculous".
Feel free to ask for clarification if you need it about anything.
Edit: Added Connections under "other stuff" because I'm a dumbass.
Welcome to SenZar, the only fantasy adventure world whose dial goes to 11!
Lesson 1: Creating A Character
Every character starts with 100 Fate Points. Fate Points are used to buy stats and special powers. They're also spent during play to make your life easier in various ways, so you'll probably want to save some. Fortunately, you can get a pile of extra points during the process of creation. This doesn't quite go in order; read through before you start making your character.
Attributes
Each character has seven attributes. Most of them will be familiar to gamers. Attributes (except Power) are on the 1-20 scale during character creation, although I'm pretty sure no race can have a 20 at this point.
Strength (STR) is, uh, physical strength. It determines how hard you hit things. It also determines your carrying capacity, but frankly I never pay attention to that and don't have the relevant table anyway.
Speed (SPD) is how fast you are. It doesn't affect your movement rate, but it does determine your initiative in combat. No rolls - higher Speed just goes first.
Dexterity (DEX) is your coordination, agility, blah blah. You want a lot of it if you're going to be fighting physically, because it directly affects both your dodging and your accuracy.
Constitution (CON) is your toughness and endurance. It determines your hit points, so if you expect people to be hitting you (they will probably at least try), more is better.
Willpower (WILL) is what it sounds like. Not only is it useful for resisting mind control, it's also valuable to martial artists.
Intelligence (INT) is also pretty self-explanatory. If you think about your character concept it'll probably be pretty obvious whether or not you need this. Oh, and it's also useful against some mental magic and stuff.
Presence (PRE) is charisma, appearance, and general coolness. Surprisingly, this is not a dump stat even for warriors; you can make "Presence Attacks" which are basically intimidation attempts. These are also resisted with Presence, so if you dump PRE too hard, you will be intimidated by goblins and everyone will laugh at you.
Perception (PER) is how well you spot things. Useful if you don't like being ambushed, and who does? Also, above 16 this may start giving you some kind of ESP type thing. Particularly valuable against illusionists.
Power (POW) is kind of an odd duck. It doesn't scale quite like the others, for one thing. It essentially reflects magical power. Magic-types will need plenty of this for obvious reasons. It's also used to resist some magic, so it might be wise for even warriors to increase it. Fortunately, it's cheap. Oh, and if you want to ascend to divinity, it'll need to be at 100 sometime around level 20.
Attributes are bought with Fate Points at a 1:1 ratio up to 11. After that, each further point is one Fate Point more expensive, so that going from 11 to 12 costs 2, going from 12 to 13 costs 3, and so on to the mortal maximum of 20. The exception is, again, Power, which is bought at 1:1 all the way to 100, where it caps.
For each attribute except Power, mark down its "save", which is equal to (21 - X) where X is your score. A basic attribute check will require rolling above this on a d20. Also mark down its bonus, which is the attribute - 10. For Power, mark down a save equal to (100 - X). You will need to roll above this on a percentile die to make a Power check. Fortunately, there are few Power checks you'll have to make. Unfortunately, most of them involve defending yourself against attack spells, so when you have to make them you'll really want to succeed.
Karma & Code
This is how you get more Fate Points to work with during character creation. Basically, you have eight Karmic Attributes, which are mostly character traits, although there's a few that aren't quite. Increasing these Karmic Attributes will increase your Fate Points at a 1:1 ratio. You will have a "karma save" in each Karmic Attribute equal to that attribute, which may be tested by extraordinary emotional circumstances. From 1-9, you've got "good karma" in that regard; for example, good Confidence karma probably means that you're self-assured without being cocky. At 0, you're a perfect paragon who doesn't need to worry about that attribute. In the case of Confidence, it would probably mean you perfectly know your own abilities and limitations. At 10, you're average for an adventurer in that regard.
At 11 and higher, you have a Karmic Manifestation. In layman's terms, this is a specific Problem. For Confidence, obvious examples would be overconfidence or low self-esteem. At 11 it's a minor problem, but things get steadily worse from there. Not only do you have to pick a specific manifestation, but situations likely to trigger a karma save get broader and broader. At 20 you will never pass a karma save in regard to your problem without some kind of assistance, so don't get too karma-happy unless you can live with the consequences.
The Karmic Attributes are as follows.
Attitude reflects your mindset and ability to work with others. Sample manifestations: Antisocial, Snob, Smartass
Confidence is.. well, your confidence in yourself and others. Sample manifestations: Overconfident, Alpha Behavior, Natural Follower
Discipline is your self-control and, well, discipline. Sample manifestations: Addiction, Bloodlust, Curious
Fear is just what it sounds like. A manifestation is a particular phobia.
Greed is how badly you want things you can't have. There's some crossover with Discipline. Sample manifestations: Avarice, Lechery
Harmony is inner peace and emotional stability. Sample manifestations: Nightmares, Liar, Irrational Hatred
Luck applies specifically to everyday life and not rolls doing adventury things. Usually it manifests just as all-around bad luck, although you might have particular problems with, say, money or the opposite sex.
Sanity is the health of your psyche. Manifestations can include depression, bipolar disorder, paranoia, or almost anything that ends in -mania.
Codes are mechanically similar to karma and increase your starting Fate Points identically. They reflect your dedication to a particular ethos or worldview. You can have two codes if they don't conflict. 1-10 mostly means a sort o increasing general inclination towards that code, while 11 and up goes on through dedication and into fanaticism. On the up side, some codes have patrons that look out for their followers. On the down side, breaking those codes may have worse consequences for dedicants than emotional turmoil. The two "generic" codes for heroic types are "The Cause", which is a code of defending the innocent, destroying evil, and all that good paladinly stuff, and "The Good Earth", which is devotion to The Dragon, an elemental force that preserves life on SenZar. Other codes may be created to represent particular belief systems or deities, but I'm not looking for evil PCs, so don't get too vicious with your codes.
Race & Class
I'm not going into details of the races and classes just yet; those pretty much deserve their own SenZar Lesson. The key stuff to know here is that each race has "GenMax" for each stat representing the maximum possible for that race at character creation, and each class has "GenMin" for at least a few and possibly all stats, which you'll need to meet to qualify for that class. Put your stats between the GenMin for your class and the GenMax for your race and you'll be fine.
Special Powers
Again, the list here will be coming later. However, I should point out that a lot of the purchaseable special powers are identical to powers possessed by races and classes. You only have to pay for a power if you don't get it from your race or class; racial/class powers are freebies.
Skills
Bizarrely, you cannot acquire non-class/race skills during character creation. I may give you some presumed training time before the game starts, though.
Other Stuff To Note
Aside from age, physical appearance, and all the usual stuff you use to flavor your character, you should know your birth sign. While they each have associated stereotypical personality traits, you don't have to follow them. However, you'll need to know in case of certain magical effects. The signs are: The Dragon (leadership and valor), The Dolphin (love and freedom), The Light Giver (compassion and good will), The Witch (mysticism), The Balance (firm will and strong character), The Demon (anger and belligerence), The Black Wyrm (malice and grimness), The Wolf (strong-willed loner), The Eagle (wildness with nobility), The Thunderer (strong passion and vigor), The Phoenix (martial and fiery), The Tree Of Life (compassionate and nurturing), and The Zone Of Destruction ("born unto doom, destruction, and despair"). While your character is not obliged to match his sign's personality traits, many people are likely to expect him to.
Also, every character starts with two Connections. These are people who know you and will give you assistance. They could be mentors, old friends, or relatives, just for a few examples. They should preferably be in some position to help you. You don't need to use a Connection to have a brother-in-law, but you do if you want him to be a master weaponsmith who gives you a family discount. A childhood friend who's now in position to leak sensitive information or a beloved teacher who still has useful training he could give you are also good examples of useful Connections. Connections can be a powerful advantage, but the more help you get, the more you'll probably have to give when the time comes, and bear in mind that people who are too powerful may have bigger responsibilities than your desire to be helped out. With those in mind, go nuts; the only limiter on what your Connections could be is how likely I am to say as GM "this is ridiculous".
Feel free to ask for clarification if you need it about anything.
Edit: Added Connections under "other stuff" because I'm a dumbass.