Building a Character

Decide what type of character you want to play

In Banished, if you can dream a character concept, you can probably build it.

  • Do you want to play a Melee fighter?
  • Are you all about the crafting?
  • Is it your dream to heal your friends?
  • Maybe you’d lead a party of stalwart companions into battle? 
  • Perhaps all of this “fighting” isn’t really your style and you’d rather engage in the politics.

All of these and more are possible.  Once you know what style of play fits you, you are ready to start building. If you aren’t sure, there are a few ways to start figuring it out.  

If you have ever played an MMO or a table top RPG, thinking about your favorite characters will help you get an idea for what you might enjoy in LARP.  Did you like to play the tank, protecting your friends from monsters?  Did you like dealing massive damage from a safe distance?  Was it all about the flash of the spells going off?  Were you all caught up in the role play of leveling your crafters? These experiences can give you some insight into your play style.  

If you are still not sure, or if this is your first time doing role playing games, you can also sign up to NPC (be a non-player character) for an event.  This is a great way to try several combat styles, sample the broad range of character types available, and get a feel for the game world and system, all at the same time and with very low costs.  When you NPC, Banished provides you with basic gear, like weapons and costumes.  Often, we’ll even give you specific monsters or characters to role play, but leave some of the costuming and personality of your NPC up to you so you can even play with creating back stories while you flesh out the NPCs you play.  

You can also hop into our Facebook or Discord chat and talk to other players about how they decided what type of character to build.  Most of our players are more than happy to make suggestions on how to build your dream character.  Banished is also setting up a Mentor system to help new players get started. You can email support@banishedlarp.org to be connected to a mentor.

Still unsure? Not to worry.   Every player gets one free character rewrite, so if you try something for an event or two and discover you’d rather do something else, that’s possible too. 

Think About Costume Ideas

The type of costuming that appeals to you most can also lend ideas to what type of character you’d like to play.  If you’d like to wear tons of armor and soak hits like a sponge, perhaps a character focused on damage mitigation is a good idea.  Maybe a frail but powerful battle mage in fancy robes is more your style?  Perhaps you want to be more of a traveling merchant, focusing your costume around comfortable, functional pieces.

That said, we recommend you do not go all out on the costuming for your first event.  What you think will work sitting on your couch, and what actually fits your play style and works at an event can often be very different things.  Most experienced LARPers will tell you that it’s fine, even encouraged, to build your costume and kit over time.  That way you only buy or make gear and costuming that will be worth packing when you are heading to an event.  Get your basics together, dark clothing, comfortable shoes, some kind of weapon, and perhaps something that shows your character’s “vibe” and build from there.

In general, if you will be participating in combat, you want clothing that is durable, allows you to move easily, and is resistant to snags and tears.  Layering is a great idea, as the LARP season in Texas may be very hot or very cold, even in the same weekend.  Being able to add and remove layers is essential to comfort and well-being.

Choose Archetypes and Skills

Archetypes are groups of skills.  Skills are things you can do within the game.  The most interesting characters use a combination of skills from more than one archetype.

New archetypes and skills are bought using Character Points, or CP.  CP is earned by attending events, completing a post event feedback form, or by converting SP (Service Points) into CP.  SP are earned by serving as an NPC (either for Banished or one of the other LARPs with which we have an NPC share arrangement), by helping with setup, cleanup, or other special projects as allowed by staff, or in exchange for donations of needed props and equipment. SP can also be gifted to other players, whereas CP is non-transferable.

Everyone in Banished gains access to skills in the Denizen Archetype.  Many skills in this group have no CP (Character Point) cost.  This Archetype contains basic game world skills like reading magic, using weapons and armor, the ability to diagnose and treat injuries, pick locks, gather plants, minerals, and more.  Many of these skills are also prerequisites to other skills within other Archetypes.  Taking all of the “free” skills in the Denizen archetype is a good start for a basic character.  

The Alchemist Archetype allows the creation and use of potions and poisons.

Assassins are able to close into the target and deliver debilitating precision blows with thrown or short melee weapons.

Evokers focus their skills on magical damage output and versatility.  These are the folks throwing magic around, blowing stuff up.

Exorcists are able to expel possessing influences, destroy Wards and Sanctified spaces, and removing negative status effects.

Fate Scribes create and use scrolls to create area of effects.  They can also create contracts allowing willing parties to trade skills for a short time.

Gladiators are all about the combat and massive damage output.  

Inquisitors identify and punish those deemed unworthy by their faith, trading devastating offensive capability for versatility.

Legionnaires are heavily armored defensive fighters.  They tend toward tactical prowess, rather than brute strength.

Martial Artists wear little to no armor while displaying versatile melee combat skills.

Mystics are spellcasters trading longer casting times to avoid stat costs.  They can be outright fortune tellers or just quirky people who occasionally get prophetic dreams.

Preachers deliver powerful vocal effects and offer benefits to those who join their Faith.

Priests are fast efficient healers and provide boons to those who are of their Faith.

Rangers study their enemies and avoid environmental hazards.  They are also students of archery and tracking.

Reavers excel at breaking into fortified or protected places.  When the opponent turns their back, the Reaver deals deadly blows.

Sha’ir use the power of the Djinn bound within their vessels.  These people focus on powerful ranged damage.

Smiths focus on creating and repairing items, both mundane and exotic. They are also adept at healing Effigy.

Choose a Species

Each player chooses a species.  Some species gain additional discounted or free skills.  If this applies to your selected race, take those as well.

You can get more detail on the playable speciesin Karn (the world in which Banished is set) on the Our World page.

Choose Faith (or not)

Within any civilization there is an element of religion. Belief is at the core of most moral structures as it is in Karn, but to understand the religions of the world, you must take a look at the full mythos.  Those who chose not to worship have the “Lost” Trait.

You can get lots of detail on religion in Karn (the world in which Banished is set) on the Our World page.

Review the Rules and be sure you understand your Traits, Skills, Racial abilities and makeup requirements, etc.

Banished uses the Accelerant rules system.  Here is our specific Rules.

Traits are granted by religion, race, archetypes, skills, and even where you live, in the game world.  These can be used to target effect, both positive and negative.  The Traits granted by your Skills, Race, Faith, and Archetypes should be something you know and can list, if asked.  For more information on Traits, see the Character Traits section in the Rules.

 

Submit Your Backstory

Once you who you will be, you can submit your backstory through this form for some extra SP.