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Table of Contents
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Spheres of Origin
$4.99
In fiction, it is common for characters or communities to possess unique traits that do not necessarily tie into their capacity to adventure but nonetheless form an integral part of their culture or personal journey. The eternal life of Tolkien’s elves does not grant Legolas any special combat abilities, nor does Mass Effect’s genophage have any effect on Wrex’s viability in gameplay, but these issues are nonetheless important to understanding an elf or krogan character and their perspective on the world.
Generation traditions serve as a method of codifying the grand-scale issues that a character or culture faces. These traditions are made up of drawbacks or boons, suggesting specific burdens or advantages that the character possesses.
These effects are unlikely to come into play at the table (unless a campaign plays over the course of many in-world years), but can serve as roleplaying tools, worldbuilding guidelines, and plot points for a campaign. Generation traditions cannot be changed once selected, but their effects may be altered by major paradigm shifts or new discoveries at GM discretion.
A generation tradition can be made up of any number of drawbacks and may contain a single boon for every drawback selected. Certain games may grant all characters additional generation boons for free or impose additional generation drawbacks for all characters.
Age Tables
| Age Group | Middle Age | Old | Venerable | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleeting | 20 | 30 | 40 | 40+1d20 years |
| Normal | 35 | 53 | 70 | 70+2d20 years |
| Long-Lived | 100 | 150 | 200 | 200+3d% years |
| Extremely Long-Lived | 175 | 263 | 350 | 350+4d% years |
| Maturation Group | Adulthood | Intuitive | Self-Taught | Trained |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fast | 12 years | +1d4 | +1d6 | +2d6 |
| Normal | 15 years | +1d4 | +1d6 | +2d6 |
| Slow | 40 years | +4d6 | +6d6 | +9d6 |
| Very Slow | 80 years | +4d6 | +6d6 | +10d6 |
Generation Tradition Drawbacks
End Of The Line
You are among the last of a dying species, culture, or family. Through natural or unnatural means, procreation is incredibly difficult if not impossible. If you are an artificial race, the secrets to your creation may have been lost.
Fleeting
You age at an abnormally fast rate. Rather than the normal age group, you use the fast age group for the purpose of determining when you reach Middle Age, Old, and Venerable ages in addition to determining your maximum lifespan.
Lost To Oblivion
Once you leave this mortal coil, you are gone forever. Although resurrection magic works normally for you, you do not travel to any sort of afterlife and cannot be contacted or controlled by methods such as Summon Spirit. No undead form you take lasts beyond your normal lifespan, decaying into nothingness when you would die of old age.
Outcast
You have never fit neatly into any community or environment which you have yet found, always remaining at a certain distance from the norm. This may be because you come from a cultural background that is not shared by others or just have not had the opportunity to acclimate. This may cause you to seem out of touch or to lack knowledge on certain social or historical elements.
Shattered Memories
Your past is blurry, a product of extended hibernation, magically-imposed amnesia, or perhaps a mind that was not prepared for your tremendous lifespan. You may struggle to recall information about yourself or your past, although your history may be assembled over time.
Slow Maturation
You are supernaturally slow to reach physical and mental maturity. Your age of adulthood (designated here as the point where the character is ready to begin adventuring) and your starting ages for intuitive, self-taught, and trained classes come from the slow maturation group rather than the normal maturation group. You may take this drawback a second time, in which case these numbers come from the very slow maturation group.
Spiritual Ravaging
Being deprived of certain experiences or joys can wear on you in a supernatural manner. Over time, if you do not experience powerful feelings, your emotion and passion begins to leech from your body, potentially accelerating your aging or causing premature desiccation and death. Even if a character finds new reasons to go on, they may be permanently marked by their spiritual ravaging.
State Of Collapse
Your family, community, or entire culture may have been cursed by some great power to only know decline, never again achieving the wonders they once knew. Though you individually might reach great success, destiny will conspire against you to ensure that your kin will not reap the benefits.
Stigmatized
A fundamental aspect of your identity is enough to rouse suspicion or contempt from a portion of the population. Perhaps you hail from a family with an unsavory reputation or reside within a culture which has been scandalized or antagonized by a powerful figure. Although this does not impose any sort of penalty in social interactions, this drawback may serve as an impetus for unexpected social obstacles.
The Calling
Once you reach a certain point in your life (perhaps when you reach a certain age or achieve a certain level, or at some prophesied point in which your entire community receives the calling), you experience an overwhelming drive to travel somewhere that overrides all other ambitions or goals. Once this calling takes effect, the character is no longer considered appropriate for play. The purpose of this calling may be a powerful entity spiriting the character away to their realm, the character traveling to a sacred location for some sort of transformation or reproduction, or another process at GM discretion. A character may know about the calling in vague or specific terms, but will likely have some sort of awareness of its eventuality.
Generation Tradition Boons
Fast Maturation
You are incredibly quick to reach maturity. Your age of adulthood and your starting ages for intuitive, self-taught, and trained classes come from the fast maturation group rather than the normal maturation group. You cannot select this boon if you possess the Slow Maturation drawback.
Lauded Legacy
Your family, culture, or community is remembered for incredible achievements in the past. This can manifest as a preceding reputation in certain circles, but may also take the form of the character resonating with ancient magics or having some sort of special connection to forces or locations entwined with their legacy.
Long-Lived
You age at an abnormally slow rate. Rather than the normal age group, you use the Long-Lived age group for the purpose of determining when you reach middle age, old, and venerable ages in addition to determining your maximum lifespan. You may select this boon a second time, in which case the numbers come from the Extremely Long-Lived age group, or a third time, in which case the character does not age at all and does not accrue bonuses or penalties from aging. You cannot select this boon if you possess the Fleeting drawback.
Reincarnation
Rather than passing on as normal when you die, you are reborn into a new body somewhere. You do not possess any abilities or knowledge of your past life save for vague senses of what your past inclinations might have done or thought. This does not stop you from being resurrected as normal. You cannot select this boon if you possess the Lost To Oblivion drawback.
Tight-Knit
Your people often recognize and help their own. Those in your family, culture, or community may be trusted to display a certain degree of hospitality or at least amiability towards you. Though this will not stop them from opposing or fighting you if the situation demands it, many may have reservations against instigating conflict with their kin.
Sample Generation Traditions
Cyclical Hero
Legends tell of special individuals born and reborn over the generations, bearers of incredible power or insight known by a unique name in every culture. These heroes often deal with enemies or legacies which can span lifetimes, lifetimes which are often doomed to be short and glorious.
Boons: Lauded Legacy, Reincarnation
Drawbacks: Fleeting, Stigmatized
Fabricated Soldier
Some beings were designed for conflict, fashioned to engage in perpetual battle with little thought of their life once the dust settled. As they live forever, these beings can transcend their original purpose, although the scars of conflict may continue to haunt them.
Boons: Long-Lived x3
Drawbacks: End Of The Line, Outcast, Shattered Memories
Mortal
Most adventurers are not especially blessed nor cursed, their legacy or destiny bearing no particular advantages or disadvantages. They may experience community, hardship, prejudice, prestige, and infamy, but these elements are not omnipresent.
Boons: None
Drawbacks: None
Hidden Domain Citizen
Cultures steeped in magic, wealth, or hidden knowledge may isolate themselves from the rest of the world, fading into the realm of legend for most other creatures. These ancient resources can prove valuable to an adventurer, as might the long lifespans, but slowed aging may be viewed as a disadvantage in a rapidly-changing world.
Boons: Lauded Legacy, Long-Lived
Drawbacks: Slow Maturation, Stigmatized
Primordial Child
The immortals known as the primordial children predate most other creatures, although they know that their role within the world is slowly fading. No longer is it their place to serve as arbiters of existence, for that torch has been passed on to mortal beings. Every primordial child knows that a time will come when the last of them will evacuate the material realm together, although this event is looked on with dread as often as relief.
Boons: Lauded Legacy, Long-Lived x3
Drawbacks: End Of The Line, Lost To Oblivion, State Of Collapse, The Calling
Shunned
Shunned peoples are often pushed to the edges of the world, forced to make do with whatever resources can be obtained. Magical shunned may adapt to this harsh existence over time, accelerating their growth cycle at the cost of a shorter lifespan. The shunned often survive through strong community bonds in a world that is hostile to them.
Boons: Fast Maturation, Tight-Knit
Drawbacks: Fleeting, Stigmatized
Wanderer
The Wanderers are a unique type of magical being whose demise comes from boredom more often than age. They possess a remarkable ability to blend in with other cultures, although they tend to grow tired of each other’s presence somewhat quickly.
Boons: Long-Lived
Drawbacks: Spiritual Ravaging
U: Part of Ultimate Spheres of Power and does not need to be bought separately from that book