Character Generation

Ability Scores: Player characters will use the 'Customizing Ability Scores' variant from pg. 13 of the Player's Handbook, a 27-point buy system which will grant a range of 8-15 in each ability BEFORE racial adjustments. PCs automatically begin with an 8 in each ability, and must pay the following to raise it: 1 pt (9), 2 pts (10), 3 pts (11), 4 pts (12), 5 pts (13), 7 pts (14), 9 pts (15). Then adjust or customize your scores further dependent on race.

Races: The following races are permitted from the Player's Handbook: hill dwarf, mountain dwarf, wood elf, human, lightfoot halfling, stout halfling, green dragonborn, forest gnome, half-elf, and half-orc. Certain core races, like the rock gnome, are thematically inappropriate for the campaign setting, while other omissions like the high elf, dark elf, and tiefling might become 'unlocked' in time, along with other optional races. When that happens, they will appear here.

Classes: The following classes and their respective specializations in parentheses are permitted from the Player's Handbook and Xanathar's Guide to Everything:

Barbarian (Primal Paths: Ancestral Guardian, Berserker, Storm Herald, Totem Warrior, Zealot)
Bard (Colleges: Glamour, Lore, Valor, Swords, Whispers)
Cleric (Domains: any except Forge)
Druid (Circles: Dreams, Land, Moon, Shepherd)
Fighter (Martial Archetypes: Battle Master, Cavalier, Champion)
Monk (Ways: Drunken Master, Four Elements, Kensei, Open Hand, Sun Soul)
Paladin (Oaths: Ancients, Conquest, Devotion, Redemption, Vengeance)
Ranger (Archetypes: Beast Master, Hunter, Monster Slayer)
Rogue (Archetypes: Assassin, Inquisitive, Mastermind, Scout, Thief)
Sorcerer (Origins: Divine Soul, Draconic Bloodline, Shadow Magic, Storm Sorcery, Wild Magic)
Warlock (Pacts: Archfey, Fiend, Hexblade)
Wizard (Traditions: Any)

Other specializations are simply not yet unlocked within this campaign, and may become available later, or don't fit the flavor and theme of this particular campaign. Please note that wizard's spell books have been replaced by tablets at the cost of a higher encumbrance, and that the weapons, armor and equipment for certain classes will be limited to that of setting-appropriate materials, to be explained in the House Rules section and below.

Spells: Any spells from the Player's Handbook or Xanathar's Guide to Everything are legal in the campaign.

Backgrounds: The following backgrounds from the Player's Handbook are permissible: acolyte, charlatan, criminal, entertainer, folk hero, guild artisan, hermit, outlander, sage, and soldier. The noble, sailor and urchin backgrounds are not appropriate for the campaign at this time, but might be 'unlocked' in the future, along with others from future sourcebooks and other materials.

Naming Conventions: Bear in mind the savage setting when deciding how to name your character. Most families of the Ten-Tribes do without surnames, but it is not common for an individual to be referred to by his line... 'Son of...' or 'Daughter of...', etc. Make sure names convey an appropriately primeval balance of vowels to consonants, in the great tradition of this pulp sword & sorcery style. Avoid medieval or Renaissance fantasy tropes. Good examples: Kull, Tarzan, Ka-Zar, Shanna, Zabu and Conan. Bad examples: Mephidius the Magnificent, Coppercloak Whistlewand.

Alignments: The Ten-Tribes represent small pockets of crude, developing civilization in a world of savagery. Slavery, subjugation, cannibalism, and genocide are not concepts foreign to the more ruthless peoples and creatures who populate the region. The Ten-Tribes are dim, flickering lights blowing in the breeze of a greater darkness. As such, only non-evil alignments are permitted, there will be enough problems to face without creating too many more of your own. 

Religion: Although anything resembling a proper clerical order is sparse and scattered at best, the people of Ten-Tribes worship a primitive pantheon in which concepts such as the Sun, Moon, Rivers, Earth and Nature are embodied as divinities. Learn more about them over on the Faiths post.

Equipment: Due to the primitive nature of the setting, certain weapons and equipment are barred for the simple reason that they haven't been invented yet, or are extremely uncommon and restricted to more advanced civilizations that the PCs have yet to come across.

1) Most weapons are made of bone, wood and/or stone material by default, and will break on a natural roll (or disadvantage roll) of 1, but never on a 1 during a roll with advantage, unless both dice come up with a natural 1. Otherwise, they function normally as described in the Player's Handbook.
2) Stone weapons weigh an additional 50% of their normal encumbrance. 
3) The following weapons are banned entirely at this time: hand, heavy and light crossbows, rapier, glaive and halberd.
4) The following armors are banned entirely at this time: chain shirt, breastplate, half plate, chain mail and plate. Wooden shields are in ready supply. Suits of scale mail, ring mail and splint mail substitute bone, wood and bronze strips and fasteners in place of metals, and each suit weights 5 lbs less than its listing in the Players Handbook, at the cost of 1 point of Armor Class. Thus, scale and ring mail suits grant a 13 AC, and split mail grants a 16 AC. Other materials may become available with time. Dexterity allowances remain normal.
5) The following adventuring gear is banned at this time: acid (vial), alchemist's fire (flask), crossbow bolts and case, ball bearings, barrel, bell, book, bottle (glass), case (map or scroll), chain (10 feet), chest, fine clothes, flask or tankard, hourglass, ink, ink pen, lamp, lantern (hooded or bullseye), lock, magnifying glass, steel mirror, paper, parchment, silk robes, merchant's scale, signet ring, spyglass, vial.
6) The following gear has its physical properties altered: caltrops (wood, bone or stone), crowbar (stone), grappling hook (wood, bone or stone), manacles (wood or bone), miner's pick (stone), piton (stone), shovel (bone or stone), iron spikes (stone spikes). Any rolls regarding these tools are rolled at a -1 penalty, and on any natural roll (or disadvantage roll) of 1, they break.
7) Spells are inscribed on tablets of wood and stone, the former of which weigh 6 lbs and can hold up to 20 spells (as opposed to 100), the latter weighing 1/2 lb per spell tablet.
8) The following musical Tool kits are banned at this time: alchemist's supplies, calligrapher's supplies, cartographer's tools, glassblower's tools, jeweler's tools, navigator's tools, tinker's tools, painter's supplies. The remaining, available Tool kits have properties reflecting the primitive materials in the setting.
9) The following musical instruments are banned at this time: bagpipes, dulcimer, flute, shawm, lute, and viol. Drums, pan flutes, bone horns and primitive lutes are the available options.
10) The mounts and other animals from the Player's Handbook are currently unavailable, though other pack beasts will be presented in the setting. Thus, most tack, harness and drawn vehicles are likewise unavailable, with the exception of drawn sleds. No waterborne vehicles larger than a row boat or canoe are available either.

Feats: Most of the feats from the Player's Handbook are in fact available should a character wish to take one in place of an Ability Score Improvement. The one exception is the Crossbow Expert. You can also take the Racial Feats available in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, provided the races are available in the setting.

Starting Level: At the beginning of the campaign, PCs will begin at 1st level. Thereafter, they will begin at 1 level below the party average (the 'Inhabitants' sidebar on the blog will keep a record of this). We will be returning to an XP reward system, rather than an attendance system, so try not to fall behind too far. If such a thing happens due to unforeseen and emergency circumstances, the DM will offer a slight XP adjustment in future games so that you can partially catch up.

Multiclassing: You may multiclass, provided you meet the prerequisites, have exposure to someone of the new class from whom you could have learned, and follow the other instructions in the Player's Handbook.

Wealth: The people of the Ten-Tribes do not possess a system for currency beyond that of barter. For starting Equipment, roll by you starting class (PHB pg. 143), and then spend all the starting cash as a 'proxy' on permissible goods from the Player's Handbook. Discard any spare coins you have left over. From here on out, until such a time as you encounter a civilization with actual currency, you will acquire goods and items through trade, exploration and other means of acquisition. Characters who start at a higher level will receive an adjusted package proportionate to the table on page 38 of the Dungeon Master's Guide, though currency must be spent on goods, equipment and magical items.

Renown: We will be using a system for Renown like the one implied in the Dungeon Master's Guide. By performing tasks and adventures for various institutions and cultures within the setting, PCs will gain various perks over time, dependent on their rank. But be warned, gaining Renown in some areas might gain one a negative reaction elsewhere. The Ten-Tribes culture is the sole starting source of Renown, and the ranks and benefits are listed over on the Renown post.