AC Armor class (AC) is a type of difficulty class that shows how tough it is to injure you, whether because you're agile or you wear armor. Your class determines the type of armor you can wear. ATTACKS The weapons you wield and how you use them to fight an enemy (see Combat on pg. 88 for details). You can wield the weapons listed for your class. TALENTS Your special abilities. Your class, ancestry, and talent rolls grant you these. The benefits of talents combine (even the same talent rolled multiple times). SPELLS Some classes can learn and cast magic spells. GEAR Your equipment. You can carry a number of items equal to 10 or your Strength stat, whichever is higher (see the Gear section on pg. 34 for more details).

12 To make a Shadowdark RPG character (also called a player character, or PC), grab your dice, a blank character sheet, and go through the next few pages. You can also view a walkthrough at youtube.com/thearcanelibrary. NAME Choose a worthy name for your adventurer. ANCESTRY Your character’s cultural and ancestral heritage. CLASS Your character’s job. LEVEL You start at either 0 or 1st level. You gain levels by earning XP. XP You start with 0 experience points (XP). You gain XP based on the treasure and boons you earn from adventuring. ALIGNMENT & DEITY Your character’s cosmic link to the opposing forces of Law and Chaos, or balanced Neutrality. TITLE As you gain levels, your prestige grows. Your title is based on your level, class, and alignment. BACKGROUND Your history and past experience. You are adept at tasks related to your background. STATS The six scores that determine your physical and mental characteristics. HP Hit points (HP) represent the amount of injury you can sustain before you die. Taking damage from weapons, traps, spells, or other sources temporarily reduces your HP. You can regain HP by resting. Overview