Character Creation

Basics

All of the rules that govern the classes in NWN are the same way on Avlis. The point of the world is to be as all-inclusive as possible so that everyone will have an opportunity to play the kind of character they want. The general rule is that if you want to play it, you can probably manage it on Avlis. There are only a few exceptions to this rule – for example, drow and duergar do not exist on Avlis, and half-demon characters are not allowed.

Restrictions/Considerations for Planning

As many people like to plan out their builds, check this list out to make sure you don't get caught off guard. For anything that requires an unlock, we recommend you start RPing the training as soon as you think you might want the unlock rather than wait until you mechanically qualify. This has many benefits to it RP-wise, but also has system limitations as you cannot bank multiple character levels. See the Level Banking Policy for more information. We want to make sure you're able to plan accordingly, so have compiled a list of items that may greatly impact your ability to plan and progress.

Please note that on Avlis we have the following restrictions:

• Characters cannot save more than 1 skill point per level. (No banking Skill Points). See Skill Point Saving rule for additional info.
• ELC Considerations. Some races have padded levels. Please be sure to check the specific race below for additional info.
• ALL Prestige Classes Require Unlocking
  • This includes all Holy Warriors PrCs besides Paladin, which is a Base Class and may be taken during character creation/1st level.
• Dual PrC requires Event DM approval to unlock. This is rare so be cautious "planning" for it.
• Advanced Mage Specializations, are a soft-class but may have requirements to be eligible for the AMS. See About AMS forum discussion for more info.

Race

One the biggest decisions you will have in creating a character is choosing what race you want to play. Each race brings with it a distinct cultural attributes, abilities, advantages and disadvantages.

The Races of Avlis

As a player, you can shape whatever history or education you want into your character but choosing a race tends to bring certain permanent attributes to your character. If you play a Halfling for example, you will be of shorter stature to most of the races in NWN. You can be an unusually large Halfling but you still will be seen as a Halfling by the rest of the world. Also consider some races have an irrational dislike of other races. These are things to consider when picking a race.

The particulars of the culture of each race will not be dealt with as each can be subject to interpretation by the player when creating a character. The bonuses and penalties are described as they effect your character in the game. Please review the Cheesing Rules for more information.

Note: No PC can be one of the following:

• Vampire
• Lich
• Jedi
• Sith
• Furry
• etc.,
• etc.,
• Ad infinitum...

Please be aware that drow do not exist on Avlis. The only dark-skinned elves on Avlis are Sereg'wethrin. They are not currently available as a PC race. There are no half-Sereg.

As always the common sense rule is: If you have to ask if it's fine, then it probably isn't. If in doubt, refer to the Ask the Team section on the Avlis forums.

Classes

That having been said, there are a few general guidelines for some of the classes:

Fighter

Fighters are good at combat, experts with weapons and combat feats.

Barbarian

Barbarians are powerful and tough wild fighters. They can get themselves into a frenzy and cause massive damage to their opponents.

Rogue

Rogues are experts at many skills, including some stealthy and some mechanical. Rogues also study the body and are able to target critical points and cause great pain.

Bard

Bards are masters of ballads, comedy and tragedy. Through their entertainment they can inspire all manner of emotion.

Druid

Druids are essentially priests of nature. In the older editions of the D&D Player's Handbook (PHB), druids had a very hierarchical structure to their organization. This is possible on Avlis too, but it is not the only norm. Structure depends on alignment. Therefore druidic orders with neutral or lawful alignments will have more order than chaotic druidic orders. Not all gods on Avlis can produce druids. In fact relatively few can. They are: Balgar, Berryn, Cha'reth, Dagath, Dre'Ana, Dru'El, O'Ma, Pelar, Skern, Titania, Verossa, and Yeraiah.

Druidic orders are often not related organizationally to the church of the same god. However, sometimes they work together, like in the case of the Church of O'Ma and O'Ma's druidic order. Sometimes there is tension between the church and its druidic order because they do things a little differently ritualistically and they have concerns in different areas.

Monk

Monks on Avlis are varied. There are a few monk orders attached to gods, like O'Ma again for instance. About half of the monk orders are attached to some natural formation or area, such as a mountain or river, and the remaining quarter of monk orders are simply contemplative - i.e., not attached to anything except existence itself. The orders that follow a deity or a philosophy are the most likely ones to produce adventuring monks. Orders that attach themselves to a formation usually stay within the vicinity, although sometimes their members are sent on vision quests.

Orders that are attached to a god will usually be closely associated with a church if that church is of lawful alignment, much like the Catholic orders of nuns and monks are today as opposed some Zen Buddhist orders.

See also: Monk Orders.

Psion

A psion is the master of mind. Unlike a warrior or thief, a priest or mage, he is not reliant on outside entities, energies or items to pursue his art. His power is from within, and it is his mind that focuses and directs that power. Introspection and mediation, delving into the varied, perhaps fragmented, perhaps dark, corners of his own mind, to discipline and control the subconscious, is the path of the psion. Deeper understanding, greater self discipline and stronger focus unlocks more and more of the power of the mind, allowing the psion to discover a greater range of mental powers. See also: Psionics on Avlis.

Ranger

This class is as described from the rules given for it in the Player’s Handbook, together with some 3.5E powers. However, Rangers on Avlis may not only take a specific race as a hated enemy, but also a specific organization or group, such as the Green Order or the Equalizers of Mikon.

Rangers may choose any god that fits their moral alignment. That is, for example, any good ranger may follow Cha’Reth, O’Ma, or Dru’El. Any neutral ranger may follow Skern, Dagath or Yeraiah, and any evil ranger may follow Verossa.

Unlike Druids, however, Rangers' abilities are not dependent on their faith but on nature at large.

Sorcerer and Wizard

Practitioners of Arcane magic are usually accepted or tolerated, whether they pay homage to the god of magic Andrinor and are part of his Trust, or faithful to his cunning rival Angadar.

The only place where this is not true is in orcish society.

Orc mages are hunted down and killed by the other orcs because long ago all of the orcish mages banded together to cast a spell against their enemies and it backfired as a great explosion, destroying almost every orc in the world. Only the intercession of Mikon saved the orcs from being wiped out completely by the other races.

Shortly after this time, the Dominators of Valok were founded as a deterrent against orc mages. Their mission was to finish the extermination of mages that began with the explosion they caused at the end of The Great War. Even today, the Dominators are not fond of arcane casters, though they are willing to accept their existence, unless they are an orc.

Also in present day, any non-orc mages entering into orcish society are also hunted down and killed. Generally, all orcs and half-orcs raised around orcs have a hatred for mages that borders on violence. Things like public spell casting and talk of magic are generally a no-no around orcs, but in other places they are only met with suspicion.

Paladin

Paladins are the holy warriors of Gorethar, one of the nine major gods of Avlis. Thus one who plays a paladin is automatically a follower of Gorethar.

Cleric

The following is a list of suggested domains in NWN for clerics to take based on the god/goddess they worship. Please note, this is not a list of required domains, only suggestions. No one will be asked to change their domains or remake their character. If a DM sees someone playing a Cleric of Gorethar (or any other Avlis deity) with domains not listed here, they will do nothing about it. The majority of this list was written by Spell Singer, and edited, approved by the Avlis staff. Consider these the officially suggested domains. Detailed information on the deities of Avlis can be found in Culture and Religion.

Note: If you wish to choose a deity please ensure it is from the Avlis pantheon.

• When casting divine spells on Avlis, you must have a valid Avlis deity in your deity field to cast spells above 3rd level. This applies for other divine casting classes, as well as cleric (druid, ranger, paladin and blackguard).

Deities and Recommended Cleric Domains

Deity	Divine Level	Domains
Aarilax	Greater Avlissian	Death, Evil, Protection, Trickery, Water
Andrinor	Intermediate	Air, Knowledge, Magic, Water
Angadar	Intermediate	Evil, Knowledge, Magic, Trickery
Aryeh Gidol	Demigoddess	Animal, Protection
Balgar	Lesser	Animal, Strength, Travel
Berryn	Lesser	Good, Healing, Protection, Sun
Blibdoolpoolp	Greater	Death, Destruction, Evil, Trickery, Water
Bobil	Demigod	Animal, Earth, Strength
Cha'reth	Demigod	Healing, Protection
Clangeddin Silverbeard	Greater	Earth, Good, Protection, Strength, War
Corellon Larethian	Greater	Air, Good, Protection, Sun, War
Dagath	Intermediate	Order of Life: Good, Healing, Protection, Sun
		Order of Death: Death, Destruction, Evil, Strength
		Order of Rebirth: Select one from each of "Order of Life" and "Order of Death"
Dead Dreamer	Pseudo-Deity	Animal, Death, Evil, Knowledge, Magic
Dra'Nar	Lesser	Good, Protection, Strength
Dre'Ana	Lesser	Good, Protection, War
Dru'El	Greater Avlissian	Animal, Good, Plant, Protection, Sun
Evrak	Demigod	Death, Evil
Fegall	Lesser	Earth, Knowledge, Magic, Protection
Forian	Greater Avlissian	Animal, Destruction, Magic, Protection, Trickery
Gorethar	Greater Avlissian	Earth, Good, Magic, Protection, War
Gruumsh	Greater	Death, Destruction, Evil, Strength, War
Hurine	Lesser	Knowledge, Protection, Travel
Ingoren	Intermediate	Air, Protection, Travel, Water
Kelvos	Demigod	Healing, Protection
Keros	Demigod	Animal, Plant, Strength, Travel
Kimonictinus	Demon Lord	Death, Earth
Kuthos	Demon Lord	War
Maleki	Greater Avlissian	Death, Evil, Protection, Strength, War
Mikon	Greater Avlissian	Evil, Good, Healing, Protection, War
Mishlekh	Intermediate	Animal, Earth, Plant
O'Ma	Greater Avlissian	Air, Good, Healing, Plant, Protection
Paragus	Demigod	Evil, Protection
Pelar	Demigod	Animal, Travel
Ptah	Greater	Air, Earth, Knowledge, Travel, Water
Ra-Ghul	Demigod	Strength, War
Senath	Lesser	Knowledge, Trickery, War
Skern	Lesser	Animal, Plant, Protection
Stephanus	Demigod	Darkness, Evil
The Harpinger	Demigod	Death, Evil
The'ton	Demigod	Evil, Trickery
Ti'si'faan	Lesser	Good, Strength, Sun
Titania	Greater	Animal, Fire, Magic, Plant, Protection
Tobin	Greater	Evil, Fire, Good, Protection, Water
Toran	Greater Avlissian	Evil, Good, Protection, Strength, War
Valok	Greater Avlissian	Destruction, Evil, Knowledge, Protection, Trickery
Verossa	Lesser	Air, Destruction, Earth, Fire
Vorin	Lesser	Healing, Knowledge, Magic
Wilsash	Lesser	Death, Evil, Trickery
Xenon	Demigod	Animal, Evil
Yeraiah	Lesser	Earth, Healing, Strength
Zhitaril	Demigod	Death, Evil

Backgrounds

Rules regarding PC background can be found here:

Note: Any bizarre background, or any background which does ~not~ fit in with Avlis lore/norms ~must~ be cleared with the team.

Naming Conventions

Rules regarding naming conventions can be found here: PC Names

Note: A common sense rule is that if you have to ask if the name is fine then it probably isn't.

Regarding Elven skintones:

Skintones

Note: The rule about skintones is a common sense rule. This applies not only to elves but also to most races. If you are unsure of what the acceptable skintones are for your PC race please consult the Avlis wikipedia or follow one of the links above.

If you have a PC with a bizarre colouring, please contact the team and we will arrange to do a rebuild.

New Character Staging

Following Player Character creation, on exiting the Start Area of each Avlis server, the PC will enter a New Character Staging area.

The area features merchants offering weapons, ammunition, armor, shields, helms, hoods, cloaks, various accessories at base prices.

• You can only enter the area once for each new PC.
• All new PCs will have 200 GP on entering the area.
• Free alterations (0 GP) are available for all items.
• You can change your PC height, head model, hair, skin and tattoo colors.
• All new PCs are given 100 XP on exiting the area.

Accidental leave of the area (eg. clicking on the door exit) is prevented by a scripted text warning. Click a second time to exit.

Note: The staging area is an OOC area. The history of your gear from an IC perspective is up to your imagination. Recall Rule 0.

Other Creation Guides

Join our Official Discord Server and head over to #character-builds for community input, bouncing around concepts, or if you have any questions!

BioWare Character Creation Guide - Internet Archive link.

IGN Walkthrough - Character Creation

FatherMatt's Musings on Character Creation - Internet Archive link.

Character Creation FAQ (BioWare) - Internet Archive link.

To make a new character, I start with: (Avlis Forum Poll and Discussion)