Customizing Heroes

SAGA Rules

by Eric Jwo

Are you tired of having just another Adventurous Warrior? Is that elf hero with the Trump bonus to his sword always kicking the butt of your Knight of the Rose? Well, now, you can customize your hero, giving him the Advantages and Disadvantages that you want him/her to have. To preserve balance, the system basically works like this: every type of Advantage and Disadvantage has is equal to a number of points. The number of points that a hero's Advantages equal must be the same as the number of points that hero's Disadvantages equal. Confused yet? Well, let's just provide an example:

John wants his Cavalier to be exceptional at Swordplay. Therefore, with the Narrator's approval of course, chooses to give his Cavalier an automatic Trump bonus whenever he attacks with swords. That Advantage costs 2 points, so now John has to pick a number of Disadvantages for his Cavalier that equal up to 2 points. John decides to make his Cavalier not get any Trump bonus to any attack with any type of bow or crossbow. Since this Disadvantage is also worth 2 points, John's Cavalier is successfully balanced.

Of course, players should work with their Narrator's in order to customize a hero. One should also take the hero's background into consideration. Perhaps, in the example above, John's Cavalier was taught by a mentor who was a master fencer. Therefore, his mentor taught him the art of swordplay, but neglected to teach him how to use missile weapons properly. Roles should also come into consideration. Why would a Knight of Solamnia get a Trump bonus to picking pockets? Players should also not go overboard with this system. I say 2 or 3 points is okay, but 4 is stretching it. 2 seems to work just fine.

Also, choose relevant Disadvantages. Many unscrupulous players might choose Disadvantages that don't make sense. A Knight of Solamnia who never gets a Trump for casting spells from the school of Pyromancy? That obviously doesn't make sense. Below is a table with as many things I could think of. Narrators, make up your own Advantages and Disadvantages if you like. Compare them to the ones listed below, and you decided how many points they should be worth.

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