Character Creation: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 09:08, 22 September 2025

Every player character in The Domains of Dread begins at character creation. The server is free to connect to and anyone may add more characters to their server vault as desired, but only 2 characters at a time may be designated as active and therefore able to leave the out of character experience. The Domains of Dread operates on an allowlist system, meaning every new character must be applied and approved for prior to leaving the out of character experience.

Choices made during specifically the character creation process are listed below, many linking out to more specific articles.

Pregame Creation

Pregame in this context means any choice selected before the player character has spawned into the out of character experience, after the player has selected “New” when viewing the server vault.

Phenotype

vanilla: Gender

There are three phenotype options which alter the character’s body model in The Domains of Dread: Masculine, Feminine and Androgynous. This can be reselected at any time in the out of character experience.

Race

No subrace options yet exist on The Domains of Dread—the options made available from this menu mirror what is available ingame.

Portrait

An official portrait pack is made available on the Steam Workshop and on the Forums. Those who are seeking to contribute their characters’ portraits to be included in this pack should see the Forums thread for submission guidelines and instructions.

Class

Certain class archetypes require their own application depending on source of power, such as Divine or Occult; these are noted when selecting a class archetype, otherwise the Normal application will be used.

Alignment

Alignment at character creation must observe any alignment requirements for their chosen ideoligion (if a Divine class archetype) or generally for their class archetype’s requirements.

Attributes

vanilla: Abilities

Attribute scores should reflect any rules found in Build Restrictions.

Packages

Skills may not be selected in pregame character creation, as they are banked to be spent ingame at the 2nd and 3rd level. Spells are likewise not chosen as they will be allocated all at once with class archetype selection ingame at the 3rd level.

Customize

Character model adjustments are disabled until ingame however name, age, voiceset and initial description may be changed. Anything entered at this screen may be altered in the out of character experience.

Ingame Creation

New characters are automatically moved to their instanced “shard” in the out of character experience, separate from the community lobby and where they will enter the world.

Presentation

Presentation controls how non-player characters address the player character in dialogue and other automatic interactions. Limitations within the conversation system permit only three options: Masculine (he/him), Feminine (she/her), and Neutral (they/them). A character’s outward presentation may be changed at will through Disguises and Personae. Their outward presentation will be likewise appended to the bottom of the window opened by examine for other players.

Origin

A player character may be native to the Core, or an Outlander. Should they be from a supported setting, region and/or domain of origin shall also be specified. Player characters receive the lingua franca of their chosen region and/or domain of origin as a free language regardless of starting INT.

Background

A player character’s background may provide minor skill or attribute adjustments, NR adjustments, additional features or complications. It should be relevant even in some minor way to the backstory submitted with their allowlist application.

Ideoligion

Ideoligion defines a player character’s belief system. If permitting, a deity shall also be chosen. Unsupported ideoligions such as those from homebrew or unsupported settings may be selected with “Other”, in addition to the supported ideoligion whose mechanical stats shall be used.

Newly or Established Misted

All player characters will have been Misted to their start location regardless of their status as a native or an Outlander. If no Mist Tokens have been spent on the applicable perk, then they are newly Misted—their arrival ingame correlates with their arrival fictionally. If the perk was taken, they will instead start in a different area in their domain of emergence at the 5th level, having been able to spend 90 days fictionally already inside the Realms of Terror as an Outlander.

Social Lineage

Social lineages of status such as domain nobility require the player character to be native with an application sent and approved by the Game Masters in addition to paying Mist Tokens for the applicable perk. Outlanders are free to be nobility from their setting without purchase of this perk, but their status will hold little sway in the Realms of Terror.

Perks

All other perks purchasable with Mist Tokens may be selected, conferring minor starting advantages to the player character.

Languages

Bonus languages are any languages which are not Common or not awarded from race or origin selection. A player character may forfeit their knowledge of Common at this step. Bonus language allocation will not need to have been done at character creation, but cannot be performed anywhere outside the out of character experience.

Equipment

Supporting equipment such as armor, tools and weapons are purchasable here, paid for with the player character’s starting silver stipend. It may be invoked at any time while in character creation using the !menu, short alias !m chat command.

Appearance

Details of the character’s appearance, including present armor sets or clothing may be altered from this menu for free. It may be invoked at any time during character creation or again in the out of character experience with the !customize, short alias !c chat command.

Finalization

Once their application is seen and approved by the Game Masters, a player may choose their character’s starting location, pay out any Mist Token cost incurred from their account balance and finally enter the world.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Every character begins at character creation in ''[[The Domains of Dread]].'' Anyone may freely add more characters to their server vault, though only two may be ever be designated as active and able to leave the [[out of character experience]] by the Game Masters at a time. For more information about this process, please see the [[Applications and the Allowlist|allowlist]] article. The following is a step by step summary of the choices available during character creation, with many linked to their own, more detailed articles.
+Every player character in ''[[The Domains of Dread]]'' begins at character creation. The server is free to connect to and anyone may add more characters to their server vault as desired, but only <code>2</code> characters at a time may be designated as active and therefore able to leave the [[Out of Character Experience|out of character experience]]. ''The Domains of Dread'' operates on an [[Applications and the Allowlist|allowlist]] system, meaning every new character must be applied and approved for prior to leaving the out of character experience.
-== Pre-Game Creation ==
+Choices made during specifically the character creation process are listed below, many linking out to more specific articles.
-Pre-game in this context means before a character has spawned into the out of character experience and after the player has selected "New" in their server vault.
+== Pregame Creation ==
+Pregame in this context means any choice selected before the player character has spawned into the out of character experience, after the player has selected “New” when viewing the server vault.
 === Phenotype ===
   ''vanilla: Gender''
-There are three phenotype options which will alter the initial appearance of a character's model: Masculine, Feminine and Androgynous.
+There are three phenotype options which alter the character’s body model in ''The Domains of Dread'': Masculine, Feminine and Androgynous. This can be reselected at any time in the out of character experience.
 === [[Races|Race]] ===
-There are no subrace options available at this time in ''The Domains of Dread -'' what is available from this menu is what is available in-game.
+No subrace options yet exist on ''The Domains of Dread''—the options made available from this menu mirror what is available ingame.
 === Portrait ===
-A community portrait pack is available on the Steam Workshop. Those seeking to contribute their characters' portraits to this pack should see that page for submission guidelines and instructions.
+An official portrait pack is made available on the Steam Workshop and on the Forums. Those who are seeking to contribute their characters’ portraits to be included in this pack should see the Forums thread for submission guidelines and instructions.
 === [[Classes and Archetypes|Class]] ===
-Do be advised that [[Cleric]] and [[Paladin]] incur a [[Mist Tokens|Mist Token]] cost to finalize in-game. Other classes, such as [[Necromancer]], have their own application process. Please see their linked articles for more details.
+Certain class archetypes require their own application depending on source of power, such as Divine or Occult; these are noted when selecting a class archetype, otherwise the Normal application will be used.
 === [[Alignment]] ===
-The character's starting alignment may change in-game during play but, at character creation, should observe any alignment requirement from intended ideoligion or archetype selection.
+Alignment at character creation must observe any alignment requirements for their chosen ideoligion (if a Divine class archetype) or generally for their class archetype’s requirements.
 === [[Attributes]] ===
   ''vanilla: Abilities''
-Unchanged except for label to bring in line with ''The Domains of Dread's'' chosen verbiage for these values.
+Attribute scores should reflect any rules found in [[Build Restrictions]].
 === Packages ===
-[[Skills]] are not selectable in the pre-game character creator. They are automatically banked to be spent on the 2nd and 3rd level once in the out of character experience. [[Spells]] are also not chosen in this phase; they are allocated all at once after archetype selection at the 3rd level.
+[[Skills]] may not be selected in pregame character creation, as they are banked to be spent ingame at the <code>2nd</code> and <code>3rd level</code>. [[Spells]] are likewise not chosen as they will be allocated all at once with class archetype selection ingame at the <code>3rd level</code>.
 === Customize ===
-Character model adjustment is disabled however other features of this menu such as name, age, voiceset and initial description are available. Everything in this menu may also be altered in the out of character experience.
+Character model adjustments are disabled until ingame however name, age, voiceset and initial description may be changed. Anything entered at this screen may be altered in the out of character experience.
-== In-Game Creation ==
+== Ingame Creation ==
-New characters are moved to their own area in the out of character experience inaccessible by characters who have already entered the world.
+New characters are automatically moved to their instanced “shard” in the out of character experience, separate from the community lobby and where they will enter the world.
 === Presentation ===
-This option controls how non-player characters are expected to address the player character in their dialogues and any other interaction. Limitations of a varied design permit only three options at this time: Masculine (he/him), Feminine (she/her), and Neutral (they/them). This may be changed at-will after character creation by summoning the [[Disguises and Personae|Personae]] menu with the ''<code>!m personae</code>'' [[Commands|command]], short alias ''<code>!m p</code>.'' A character's chosen presentation is appended to the bottom of their Examine window for view by other players.
+Presentation controls how non-player characters address the player character in dialogue and other automatic interactions. Limitations within the conversation system permit only three options: Masculine (he/him), Feminine (she/her), and Neutral (they/them). A character’s outward presentation may be changed at will through [[Disguises and Personae]]. Their outward presentation will be likewise appended to the bottom of the window opened by examine for other players.
 === Origin ===
-A character may be native to Ravenloft, or an Outlander. If they are from a supported setting (including Ravenloft), region/domain of origin will also be specified. Characters receive the ''lingua franca'' of a supported domain or region as a bonus [[Languages|language]] regardless of their permanent Intelligence score.
+A player character may be native to the Core, or an Outlander. Should they be from a supported setting, region and/or domain of origin shall also be specified. Player characters receive the ''lingua franca'' of their chosen region and/or domain of origin as a free language regardless of starting <code>INT</code>.
 === [[Backgrounds|Background]] ===
-The chosen background provides minor skill adjustments, [[Notoriety|NR]] adjustments, features or complications. Every character must choose a background relevant to their backstory. For more information, please see the linked article.
+A player character’s background may provide minor skill or attribute adjustments, [[Notoriety|NR]] adjustments, additional features or complications. It should be relevant even in some minor way to the backstory submitted with their allowlist application.
 === [[Ideoligions|Ideoligion]] ===
-The character's belief system. If it permits, a deity will also be chosen. Unsupported ideoligions, such as those from [[homebrew or unsupported settings]], may be selected with "Other". It should be noted that a ticket to declare this choice must be created with the Game Masters to collaborate on acceptable alignments, domains and portfolio(s). In the interest of equitability, most unsupported ideoligions will borrow these statistics from a supported ideoligion wherever possible. See the linked article for a full list of supported ideoligions.
+Ideoligion defines a player character’s belief system. If permitting, a deity shall also be chosen. Unsupported ideoligions such as those from [[Homebrew or Unsupported Settings|homebrew or unsupported settings]] may be selected with “Other”, in addition to the supported ideoligion whose mechanical stats shall be used.
 === Newly or Established Misted ===
-All player characters will have been Misted to their start location regardless if they are a native or an Outlander. If there are no Mist Tokens to spend, they are newly Misted - their arrival in-game correlating with their arrival [[Glossary|fictionally]]. If the player decides to spend Mist Tokens, they start instead in a different area at <code>4th level</code>. They may have spent up to four months already inside the Realms of Terror if they are an Outlander if and only if they choose this Mist Token-backed option.
+All player characters will have been Misted to their start location regardless of their status as a native or an Outlander. If no [[Mist Tokens]] have been spent on the applicable perk, then they are newly Misted—their arrival ingame correlates with their arrival [[Glossary|fictionally]]. If the perk was taken, they will instead start in a different area in their domain of emergence at the <code>5th level</code>, having been able to spend 90 days fictionally already inside the Realms of Terror as an Outlander.
 === Social Lineage ===
-Certain social lineages such as nobility require the character to be native with an application made and approved by the Game Masters plus a payment of Mist Tokens. Outlanders are free to be nobility from their setting however such titles will hold little sway in the Realms of Terror without significant play to legitimize themselves and, even then, most domains refuse to recognize Outlander nobility except for circumstances such as intermarriage with an existing native noble house.
+Social lineages of status such as domain nobility require the player character to be native with an application sent and approved by the Game Masters in addition to paying Mist Tokens for the applicable perk. Outlanders are free to be nobility from their setting without purchase of this perk, but their status will hold little sway in the Realms of Terror.
 === Perks ===
-Perks are minor and do not confer permanent benefit except for [[Professions|profession]] related perks. All cost an amount of Mist Tokens to select and are therefore listed in that article.
+All other perks purchasable with Mist Tokens may be selected, conferring minor starting advantages to the player character.
 === Languages ===
-These bonus languages are in addition to Common and any language awarded with origin choice. A character may also choose to forfeit their knowledge of Common at this step. Bonus language allocation does not need to happen during character creation, but it must be performed in the out of character experience.
+Bonus languages are any languages which are not Common or not awarded from race or origin selection. A player character may forfeit their knowledge of Common at this step. Bonus language allocation will not need to have been done at character creation, but cannot be performed anywhere outside the out of character experience.
 === [[Armor|Equipment]] ===
-Supporting equipment, clothing, tools and [[weapons]] may be purchased from this store interface, paid from the character's starting silver stipend. It may be summoned at any time during character creation with the ''<code>!m equip</code>'' command.
+Supporting equipment such as armor, tools and weapons are purchasable here, paid for with the player character’s starting silver stipend. It may be invoked at any time while in character creation using the ''<code>!menu</code>'', short alias <code>''!m''</code> [[Chat Commands|chat command]].
 === Appearance ===
-All details of a character's appearance beside base phenotype may be altered in this menu, for free. It may be summoned again at any time during character creation with the ''<code>!m appearance</code>'' command, short alias <code>''!m a''</code>, and by returning characters in the out of character experience.
+Details of the character’s appearance, including present armor sets or clothing may be altered from this menu for free. It may be invoked at any time during character creation or again in the out of character experience with the ''<code>!customize</code>'', short alias ''<code>!c</code>'' chat command.
 === Finalization ===
-Once approved by the Game Masters, a player may choose their character's starting location, pay out any Mist Token costs from their account balance and enter the world.
+Once their application is seen and approved by the Game Masters, a player may choose their character’s starting location, pay out any Mist Token cost incurred from their account balance and finally enter the world.