Systems & Characters
How to Make a Character for Dragonbane
A Dragonbane character takes about twenty minutes: pick a kin, pick a profession, get your six attributes (roll them or take an array), mark the skills your profession trains, and draw a memento and a weakness. The no-levels design means there's no build to plan and nothing to optimize toward; you're making a person, pointing them at a dungeon, and finding out. Here's the walk-through, plus where the choices actually matter.
Kin: pick your people (consider the duck)
Six kins in the core box: human, halfling, dwarf, elf, wolfkin, and mallard. Each comes with an innate ability (wolfkin sprint on all fours; dwarves are unmovably stubborn in useful ways) and, more importantly, a silhouette for the character in your head.
Humans get the flexible bonus, per genre law. But we'd be lying if we said the wolfkin and the mallard weren't the box's stars; a duck barbarian has carried more than one store table into legend. Pick with your heart. The math forgives everything.
Profession: your starting shape, not your destiny
Ten-ish professions (fighter, hunter, mage, thief, bard, scholar, and company) decide which skills you can train cheaply at creation and which heroic ability you can start with. Mages pick a school of magic here, which is the one profession with real homework attached; first-timers who want spells should budget ten extra minutes for the grimoire browse.
The important reframe: profession is a starting point, because advancement is use-based. The thief who keeps swinging a sword becomes a swordsthief. Nothing locks; the campaign shapes the character, which is half the fun of skill-based systems.
Attributes and skills: fast, slightly random, fine
Six attributes (Strength through Charisma) arrive by dice or by array, table's choice. Rolling is on-genre here (a lopsided adventurer is a Dragonbane adventurer), and the attribute mostly just sets each skill's base chance, so nothing catastrophic hides in a bad roll.
Then mark trained skills: your profession offers a list, you pick a handful, and trained skills start at double the base chance. Grab your gear kit, note your movement and hit points, and the sheet is done. No derived-stat archaeology, no XP budgeting. The whole mechanical character fits on one friendly page.
Memento and weakness: the twenty percent that's a person
Dragonbane ends creation with two draws (or picks) that do outsized work. A memento: a small object with a story, like a locket, a tarnished medal, a key to a door you haven't found. And a weakness: a flaw with teeth, like "can't resist a wager" or "terrified of the dark."
Write these with intent, because a good weakness is a gift to the table (it hands the GM your personal-episode button) and a good memento is a plot seed with sentimental value. The mechanics are light; the characterization is the payload. Skip them and you've built a stat sheet in a duck costume. Then take the finished person somewhere dangerous; the first-session kit applies, dice included in the box.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Dragonbane character creation take?
Twenty minutes, thirty if you're a mage browsing spells or a person deciding between ducks. The boxed set also includes ready-made characters for instant starts, tutorial adventure attached.
Should I roll attributes or use the array?
Rolling is the house flavor and produces charmingly lopsided adventurers; the array suits players who want control. Because attributes only set skill base chances (no modifier stacking), a rough roll stings far less than it would in D&D.
What's the best profession for a beginner?
Fighter, hunter, or thief: clear jobs, strong skill lists, no spell homework. Mage is the one profession with real reading attached and rewards a player who enjoys that kind of thing. All of them grow sideways through play anyway.
Do Dragonbane characters level up?
No levels; skills improve through use (roll a skill in a session and it may tick up after), and heroic abilities add the flashy moves over time. Growth is steady, visible, and never requires an evening of bookkeeping.
What are mementos and weaknesses?
Creation's finishing touches: a small storied object and a personal flaw, drawn or chosen. They're light mechanically and heavy narratively; GMs build personal moments from them, and they're the fastest route from "stat sheet" to "character."