Let’s Play Riftbreakers 2nd Edition! Part 0: Character creation
Welcome to Riftbreakers 2nd Edition! This is a TTRPG inspired by the structure and feel of MMOs. If you want to learn more about it, I’ve written an extensive overview.
Commentary is in normal text, narrative in italic, and mechanics in code blocks.
Let’s start!
Character creation
Riftbreakers uses a guided narrative for character creation. We learn how our Stranger arrived in Kaethor while building their attributes and details. I’ll copy parts of the narrative here!
As you open your eyes, the bright light of what appears to be twin suns high above you blinds you momentarily.
I wake up in a small roofless room, with a mirror in a corner.
As you approach it, you take a better look at yourself.
There are no races or species in Riftbreaker 2e. We can choose any appearance we wish—a draconic humanoid, a dark elf with multiple eyes and horns, whatever comes to mind. All choices are purely cosmetic and have no practical effects.
I like being human, I guess. My Stranger will be a tall woman with a lean build. Her raven-black hair is tied in a loose ponytail.
You stop to think for a moment, and quickly realize that not only do you have no idea of how you got here: you have no recollection of who you are, nor can you remember any details about yourself beyond your name.
Write down your Ability Pool: 20
Write down your Aether: 10
Roll 2D6+15 and write down the result as your Health
Write down your Luck: +0
Write down your name
2d6: 4+2 = 21 HP
Name: Daena Blackpearl
The Ability Pool shows how many abilities I can have from Hearts. Aether is spent in combat to act, and replenishes every round. Luck affects loot drops.
You take a quick look at yourself and suddenly realize that you're completely naked.
I turn around and notice a pillar with a few items. I obtain a plain tunic (d3 defense), a weapon of my choice, and 2 Potions of Minor Healing (heal d6 HP).
Let’s go with a two-handed maul!
A massive weapon of war flashed in Daena’s mind. It felt like an extension of her arms and will. A statement of her determination to succeed in this strange new world. It materialized in the pillar as if she summoned it. She picked it up, and the cold steel brought comfort and confidence.
I walk down a corridor into another room, where I meet a ghostly woman.
She wears a tunic similar to yours, and brandishes your same weapon. She appears to be completely made out of misty light, and you can even see the wall behind her when you look directly at her.
She bids Daena to follow her movements and makes her remember the ways of the hammer.
Increase a weapon Skill by +60.
Increase a different weapon Skill by +40.
The maul requires Bludgeoning, so that’s an obvious choice. Now for the other. I’m thinking either Ranged, to give me a wider range of battle options, or Bladed Weapons, to maybe dual wield swords or daggers at some point.
I’m going with Ranged.
A minute later, you find yourself in a larger room. Aside from its size and the fact that this one seems to be covered in bookshelves, it is identical to the previous one, and a door once again bars you from walking down the next corridor.
Daena gets bored and picks some books to read.
Increase two non-weapon Skills by +40.
Increase three non-weapon Skills by +30.
Increase four non-weapon Skills by +15.
Increase four non-weapon Skills by +10.
These modifiers cannot be applied to the same Skills.
You gain Proficiency with a weapon and an armor of your choice.
Choices, choices.
I’m going with:
+40 = Gathering and Cooking
+30 = Agility (10), Tenacity (10), and Literacy
+15 = Athletics (10), Endurance (10), Perception (20), and Survival
+10 = Medicine, Reason (10), Weaponsmithing, and Nature
Some skills have a value in parenthesis. That’s their starting number for all characters, so I simply add the points to that value.
Proficiency allows me to use equipment without disadvantage in skill checks. I’ll go with Mauls and Mails.
Daena walks into another room with four prisms on top of pillars.
Somehow, you know that they contain power, a power that is being offered to you. Even more surprisingly, you know what they are: Crystallized Hearts.
Choose 2x Crystallized Hearts, from the following options:
Crystallized Heart (Arcane)
Crystallized Heart (Might)
Crystallized Heart (Restoration)
Crystallized Heart (Shadow)
Big choices! Finding different Hearts depends on loot rolls, so these can be the only ones I have for a while. I think Daena will assimilate Arcane and Might.
We only need one Heart of a type to unlock all its abilities. Heart Essences allow us to learn them.
Next, Daena finds a black box with 6 Heart Essences!
Spend these to unlock Heart Abilities from the two Hearts you chose on the previous step.
Nice! Let’s pick some abilities for Daena.
Arcane Heart
- Shield (Prime) - +10 parry during combat.
- Portal (non-combat ability) - Once every 24h, I can open linked portals to places I’ve visited or within line of sight. They stay open for 1 minute.
Might Heart
- Desperate Attack - double damage attack, but I lose parry and agility checks until my next turn.
- Cleave - attack up to 2 targets in range.
- Two-Handed Weapon Master (Prime) - +d4 damage with two-handed weapons.
- Unyielding (Prime) - 3d4 +1 extra health during combat.
Prime abilities can only be used once per combat. After using one, all its copies in our loadout become Weapon Strike, the default ability of every weapon.
Now I’ll pick an Achievement Path and an achievement to track. We can only track one at a time. My pick:
Path of Slaughter
Weapon Master: Deal 400 damage with a single weapon type.
Reward: +10 to the corresponding weapon skill (can push the skill over 80).
It’s gonna take a while, but +10 to a weapon skill is huge.
We can only increase a skill through rolling doubles on checks or reading skill books to a maximum of 80. A few things can push over this limit, and Weapon Master is one of them!
New knowledge floods your mind, and you are aware of your new abilities, their purpose, and their function. You feel as if something that was once yours has been returned to you, and it feels fantastic.
Daena now understands concepts like Skills and Aether. Great, cause they’ll come in handy.
She walks a seemingly endless hallway and reaches an open gate leading to a large courtyard. The twin suns shine over her head.
Character creation is done and we’ve reached the tutorial area! I’ll wrap it up here so it doesn’t get too long.
The guided narrative is a clever way to make creating characters more interesting. You already start playing as you distribute skills, getting introduced to the world and your Stranger. I really like it.
Riftbreakers 2e is available on Itch, DTRPG, and as POD on Amazon.