Aristocrat
Born to wealth and command and never asked to lift anything heavier than a goblet.
| Role | Difficulty | Key stats | Hit points | Mana | Spells given |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everyday folk | Joke | Presence | 1 | 7 | none |
Plays like: Soft and unfit for this, but money and finds from home wait in town at every level.
Starts with: a rapier (wielded, perhaps magic); a gold ring (on left hand, magic or rare); a fur cloak (being worn); one of a doublet, a gown, or a houppelande (being worn); a pair of leather boots (being worn); one of a ruby, a sapphire, or an emerald; 250 gold coins; 2 apples (see Starting kit).
See also: People and talk and Shops.
How to play
You were never meant for this: few hit points, weak arms, and a rapier you barely know. What you have is money: plenty of gold at the start, a magic ring, a gem, and a stipend from home that waits for you in Cēaptūn at every level. Talk to your servant at the Gæsthūs to collect it, and spend it on the best arms, armour, and potions the shops sell.
Levels
A bonus talent at levels 10, 20, 30, 45, 55, from Weaponcraft or Delver.
| Level | Ability | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Family wealth | at creation, gold coins: 900 % of those you start with more, at least 180 and at most 450; at creation, 2 to 3 loose gems, as found at item level 2 |
| 1 | Stipend | each level you reach puts by 150 plus 10d10 gold, and (85 % of the time) one loot roll at that level with the odds of a magic or rare item +100 %, kept if magic, rare, a potion, a scroll, or a gem; your servant hands it all over when you talk to them (see Stipend) |
| 6 | Fencing | benefits as 1 rank higher (at most 10) with Duelist |
| 18 | Riposte | free blow: a blow that misses you by your Parry gives one back |
| 50 | Peerless | the roll confirming your criticals +2 |
Abilities
The aristocrat’s stipend (Stipend, from level
- is money from home. Every time the aristocrat gains a level, their family puts by 150 + 10d10 gold (about 200). With an 85 % chance it also adds one loot roll at that level, with magic and rare items twice as likely as usual. The find is kept if it is magic or rare, a potion, a scroll, or a gem, and thrown away otherwise. About 38 % of level-ups bring a find. Every level counts, a prestige class’s too, and levels gained far from town count as well.
It all waits with the aristocrat’s own servant at the Gæsthūs in Cēaptūn: a squire for a man, a chambermaid for a woman, a servant for anyone else, of the aristocrat’s own race and speaking as their people speak. Only an aristocrat’s run has them. Talk to them and they hand over everything: the gold and the finds go into your pack, and whatever would leave you overloaded is set down at your feet. With nothing waiting, they tell you how splendid you are. If the servant dies, no one else brings the stipend.
Landed noble, a talent only an aristocrat can take, and only as a new character, doubles the gold, makes the loot roll every time, and makes magic and rare items four times as likely as usual: about 47 % of level-ups then bring a find.