Û²±° Powers & Perils °±²Û

   *  Game Background:
     
          Powers and Perils (herein P&P) is a fantasy medieval role playing
      game.  If you have ever played AD&D or D&D it is very similar.  But
      I prefer it slightly over those systems because of its style, and
      in depth background information.  The world that you play in called
      the Perilous Lands is the True World.  The True World is subdivided
      up into three fragments.  The fragments were created during the
      Convocation of the Gods (a great battle of the aligned gods).  The
      middle world is basically earth.  As a matter of fact the given map
      for the game is similar to a primitive Pangea formation.  The Middle
      World is where most of the Human action takes place.  This is the
      domain of the Humans (the gods left this plane and left the humand
      to deal with the problems they (the gods) left).  The Lower World
      is the home of the Elf, Alfar, Faerry and Dwarf mainly.  Though
      other Elder oriented creatures exist there.  The Upper World is the
      domain of the gods and supernatural forces.  The Upper World can be
      a dangerous place because you could be walking in one area and enter
      a new plane of existance like walking along a road then suddenly
      you enter the Chaos Lands or something. 

   *  Character Races:
      Humans: Your basic human more emphasis is placed on the physical
        attributes racially.  With the humans many types of characters
        are possible to play.
      Elf: These can be anywhere from 4-6 feet tall humanoids.  They have
        sharp pointed ears.  Elfs are known for their archery and
        artistic abilities.  
      Faerry: These are winged humanoids 2-5 feet tall.  They can fly 
        and the closest thing would be Tinker Bell though she was a Fairy.
        (Notice the spelling).  They are mischevieous to enemies and friendly
        to allies.
      Dwarfs: These are tiny, stout humanoids with usually long beards.  
        They are known for mining and as good fighters.  

     That's the basic 4 types.  I really feel that its sufficient to
     say 22 races like Half-orcs or something.  It creates less confusion
     for players.

     However, as of Version 2 of the pnp rules there are more races
     to play including half-breeds.  

   *  Character Types:
      Well I've divided up the game character types into three areas.  
      1.  Skilled Professionals;  These place emphasis on skills like:
          A.  Armorer/Blacksmith: Make & Repair weapons, armor, shields.
          B.  Assassin: Kills people for hire but hes a professional.
          C.  Executioner: Kills for a living or tortures people.
          D.  Hunter: Hunts in the wild for game as his living.
          E.  Husbandry Expert: Deals with training of wild animals.
          F.  Healer: Deals in the medical skills of healing.
          G.  Scholar: Deals in the intellectual knowledge of things.
          H.  Merchant: Deals in trading, banking or any type of business
      side oriented skills.  Might if lucky and rich enough have a shop.
          I.  Thief: Professional thief of quality items.
          J.  Sailor: This is a basic crewman of a ship.
          K.  Bounty Hunter: Tracks people down for money.
          L.  Artist: Basic artist professional
          M.  Basic laborperson (good in carrying, etc.)
          N.  Climbing Expert
          O.  Entertainer: Dancer, Singer, Music, or acting.
          P.  Herbalist: Person skilled in herb use and drugs.
          Q.  Jewler: Deals in Jewels, Gems and such.
          R.  Locksmith: Designs and makes locks.
          S.  Moneylender: Like a banker. But could be used in various ways
      from a nice banker to a mob boss (G)
          
               There could be as many as you can come up with in terms
      of imagination but should relate to medieval style of the character
      and will be mainly a skilled prefssional than the other types.

      2.  Fighters/Warriors:
          A.  Knight: This is your hard core warrior of a feudal society,
      who knows heavy weapons like lance, horses and combat.
          B.  Warrior/Medic: Combination.
          C.  Warrior (Heavy): I tend to create fighters who know mainly 
      the heavy weapons like Great Sword.
          D.  Warrior (Light): Its counterpart but in light weapons.
          E.  Archer: Missile Fire expert with bows, crossbows, etc.
          F.  Martial Artist
          G.  Pirate: If rich enough he might have his own ship but doubtful.
          H.  Shield Master: Skilled mainly in the use of the shield.
          I.  Pikeman: Skilled mainly in polearm combat.
          J.  Calvary: Skilled in horse combat use (could also be a horse
      archer if good enough).
          K.  Warrior/Mage: Rare combation of fighter and magic user.  But
      generally balanced to the two and not very good fighter or Magic user.
       
            While some of skilled professions and warriors could be seen
      to work with either part (like the Assassin could be 'warrior' type
      I consider it mainly a skill use and not a combat oriented person.
      A starting warrior tends to be level 4-6 in experience.

      3.  Magic Users:    
       There are more limited choices here.  A starting character tends
      to be 2-5 in magic experience level (MEL) which is an apprentice.
       1.  Wizardardy:  This is subdivided into alignment orientations.
           A.  Law Wizard
           B.  Balance Wizard      See alignment section for info
           C.  Chaos Wizard
       2.  Shamanism: These types are like druids in some terms in that
           they preserve nature and protect the life in nature.  They can be
           very powerful though people tend to understimate them.
       3.  Sidh Magician:  This is the way of the Sidh.  Generally this
           is the magics of the Elf, Faerry and sometimes Dwarf.  

       As of Version 2 of the rules there are more classes to play
       including Witches, Bards, Priests, Druids among a few others.

   *  Alignments:
      The gods created the alignments which creatures of nature use and
      those who are religious.  Magic users tend to be aligned to a 
      particular alignement.  They are:

      1.  Law: These are mainly interested in keeping the order to the world.
          They are against chaos and will try to wipe them out.
          They are MAINLY good oriented people but could be evil as long as
          it still maintains the principles of Law (order, anti-chaos) but
          those types are very rare.
      2.  Balance: Those of this alignemnt will tend to make sure the status
          quo is maintained.  They will hinder the strong and help the weak
          if it creates balance.  They can be either friendly or hostile.
          Balance could be evil or good it depends on which is needed at the
          time something needs to be done.
      3.  Chaos: This is interested in disorder and any way to create chaos
          in the world at usually any cost.  They will attack Law at any
          cost usually to a fight to the death.  Chaos aligned creatures
          or people tend to be evil but could have honor as long as it
          maintains the principles of Chaos.  

       So basically there is no 'set' way to act on those alignments.

      4.  Elder:  The God Kototh waged war with other gods and thus 
          he subdivided the alignment into fragments when he tried to create
          his own races to rule the Middle World.
          A.  The Elder: These are the oldest of the races usually and will
       tend to be anti-Kototh.  They tend to be concerned with only
       themselves and will ignore most other races usually.
          B.  Sidh:  This is mainly the Faerry, Elf and Dwarf alignments 
       and is similar to Elder in many regards.  
          C.  Kototh: This is the fragement of creatures created by Kototh.
          D.  Shamanism: The Shamanistic way.

       A-C are mainly nocturnal aligned creatures.
       A will tend to fight B and B will fight C and A.  D will fight
       A and D.  C will fight anyone.  hehe.  confused?