Kiarrcats of Ryll

Make a Kiarrcat

First up: I don't believe in closed species, because it's silly to think you can just stop people making fancharacters of something they like. In other words, if you want to make your own kiarrcat character, I'll be honoured and I won't stop you. They're not that original anyway! You do not need to ask permission. Ideally I'd like to set up some sort of RP scenario with these guys, but I'm starting basic and I know how RPs tend to die off. But feel free to roleplay anyone you make.

Some notes. I can't stop you from doing whatever you want, of course. If you really want to make a laser wielding, dimension hopping kiarrcat who's a mix of all ten species and also the eleventh Archetype, I can't stop you. Hell, that might be fun. And fun's the name of the game! But if you want to make a character who is "canonical" within Ryll, here's the details.

Making your kiarrcat

You can choose all the different traits for yourself, or roll dice to make a random creation. If you don't have dice, random.org is great for generating random numbers. Remember, this is all just guidance for making a "canon" kiarr. You don't have to follow it if you just want to play about.

Name: pretty basic. I haven't devised a kiarrcat language but for most of the place and character names, I've gone for a sort of trilling, R-heavy sound, something like what I imagine cats would make if they could talk.

Age: Kiarrcats age like humans, but a bit slower. They're considered mature at about thirty and live for an average of 150 years. If you're randomly generating magical aptitude (see below) this may be constrained by your results - e.g a cub should not be any higher than Average, and even then that's exceptional.

Species: pick one of the ten, or a hybrid. Remember that hybrids are always sterile and cannot progress past average aptitude in their species magic. (They may, however, progress higher if they have a talent, as talents are not tied to species.)

If randomly generating, first check if your character is a hybrid. Hybrids are fairly uncommon, so roll 1d20. A score of 15 or above means you have a hybrid, anything else is a single species kiarr. From then on, roll 1d10 to determine your species (roll twice for hybrids to determine the combination):

  1. Forest
  2. Mountain
  3. Polar
  4. Water
  5. Grassland
  6. Savannah
  7. Desert
  8. Rainforest
  9. Air
  10. Cave

Magical aptitude: How good is your character at their innate species magic? If starting out (your character is young, you want to roleplay a basic adventure etc) you might want to make this Average or even Beginner (see the magic page for a rough aptitude scale), but there may be cases where you want to randomly determine this yourself. Roll 1d100:

For hybrids, roll again for any score above Average (remember that you have a wider range of magic to compensate).

Talent: Some kiarrcats have extra magical potential not tied to their species, known as a talent. Talents are uncommon and in some cases extremely rare. Roll 1d00:

Talents are innate and cannot be learnt, but your character still needs to practice and learn how to use it just like their species magic. If you want to determine your kiarr's aptitude with their talent, roll as before. Note that unlike species magic, hybrids can progress beyond Average for talent magic.

Appearance: This has no bearing on anything and your kiarr can be whatever colour you like, but if you'd like to randomly determine the main colour of your kiarr's coat, roll 1d12:

  1. Black
  2. White
  3. Brown
  4. Gold
  5. Grey/Silver
  6. Copper
  7. Red/Pink
  8. Orange
  9. Yellow
  10. Green
  11. Blue
  12. Purple

You can of course give them whatever combination of markings and other colours you want. You can also use the existing templates to work out your character's design.

History and Character: This can be whatever you like. There are no species-specific personalities for kiarrcats. You may have a backstory in mind already, or perhaps you've randomly generated a character that suggests a particular origin. For example, when testing the dice I generated a Polar/Desert hybrid. That suggests they're probably from a mountain region where the closeness of different habitats and temperatures allow those two species to mingle more than they would in their native ranges. From there on I would extrapolate that this character is probably familiar with mixed-species settlements and many different viewpoints. But that's just one interpretation of the dice - you may have other plans.

Some ideas for things to consider are any important events in your character's backstory, dominant personality traits, and long term goals. These will give you an idea of your character's personality and what they might do in a particular situation. You can make something up, or generate something from the lists below. They are split up into important events, traits, and goals.

Important event: something that happened in your character's past and would have set them on the path to who they are now. Make up your own or roll 1d6 for inspiration:

  1. I/my clan were attacked by predators or other kiarrs, and suffered losses for it.
  2. Met a courier, trader, or similar and thought that was the life for me.
  3. I fought off a dangerous predator or aggressive kiarr.
  4. My clan shunned me over something that wasn't my fault.
  5. My clan shunned me over something that was my fault.
  6. An encounter with the spirits, either via my own talent if I have one, or someone else who does.

Trait: Characters can be complicated, and their personalities can't always be split into strengths and flaws. Traits can be good or bad, depending on the situation! Bear this in mind if you want to create your own, or roll for your character's dominant personality trait:

  1. I feel bound to help out anyone in need.
  2. I can't resist pretty shiny trinkets!
  3. Everyone I meet is my friend! Everyone!
  4. If I have something that I feel needs doing, I won't stop until it's done.
  5. I'm curious about how things work - I just can't stop asking questions or poking my nose in!
  6. I can't stand to hurt anyone - I think everyone deserves a chance to be good.

Goal: what does your character want most out of life?

  1. A close knit family of my own.
  2. To feel that I am welcome among friends.
  3. A fancy den full of shiny trinkets or a grand artifact.
  4. To be recognised for some great deed or creation.
  5. To settle an old score.
  6. I don't want to stop exploring - every day is a new adventure!

Put them all together, and you've got a good picture of what your character is like that you can continue to flesh out as you wish.

Some example rolls

Here's some characters I came up with by rolling the dice, and the thought processes behind them:

Rainforest Thief

Features:

Personality and backstory:

Grassland/Forest Precognitive

Features:

Personality and backstory:

Polar/Mountain adventurer

Features:

Personality and backstory:

Water trader

Features:

Personality and backstory: