Player characters are the lifeblood of the game, driving the economy, shaping the environment and turning the tides of war.

In this world, no one begins as a legend. Characters are not given power, role or position arbitrarily, nor defined by a rigid class at creation. Instead, they emerge—shaped by lineage, hardship, choice, and consequence. Who they become is not decided in the game menus, but lived through experience: the culture they’re born into, the skills they earn, the factions that trust or fear them, and the marks they leave on the world.

Right from character creation, every decision has an effect; the race selections determine far more than just appearance and generic starting lines—they anchor a character to a people, a history, and a place in society. Statistics influence opportunity, not just power: high intelligence may open the doors of an arcane academy; low agility might close the path of a rogue’s guild. Traits reflect innate strengths and formative flaws, while backstory weaves these elements into a coherent origin—one that determines where a character begins, what skills and knowledge they currently possess, and who will welcome or shun them.

The future of each character isn’t decided during the creation process however, but by the choices each player makes and how their character progresses in the world… Reputation grows with every action—earned among NPCs, nations, guilds, cities, and factions. That reputation opens doors… or bars them; it affects what training and development is offered, which merchants deal fairly (or even at all), and whether a village welcomes the character—or readies its militia. Players shape the economy through craft, trade and control of resources, their influence rippling from back-alley markets to regional supply lines.

When a character reaches the pinnacle of their development, rather than that being the end, it is simply another beginning… Through rebirth, characters return anew—carrying forward the weight of past lives, unlocking new origins, races and traits; stepping once more into a world that continues to change. A hero’s legacy may even become part of the evolving history around them.

The player characters in this game are not a generic entity, they are a part of the game world that develop along with it.

The first decision in character creation is the selection of race and sub-race. Each race and sub-race offers distinct advantages, disadvantages and visual characteristics, while also shaping the options and context for a character’s origin, their current state and influencing future development options.

Access to certain races and sub-races is governed by the Rebirth system. For example, the Barbarian human sub-race becomes available only after a character has undergone 10 or more Rebirths, whereas the Imperian human sub-race is accessible to any new character with no prior Rebirths.

This approach serves multiple design goals. First, it reinforces world authenticity—Imperians are the most widespread and dominant race within the game, while Barbarians are rare and culturally isolated, reflecting their limited availability. Second, it introduces a long-term progression incentive, giving players meaningful milestones to work toward across lifetimes. Finally, it ensures that advanced racial options—often tied to more complex and difficult starting environments, reputation mechanics or playstyles—are reserved for experienced players, preventing new players from being overwhelmed.

Unlike games that homogenize racial differences to ease entry, this system preserves meaningful diversity while using accessibility as a tool for pacing and depth. New players begin with balanced, broadly viable options, while veterans unlock rarer, more specialized, or diverse paths through continued engagement.

After choosing a race, players will need to allocate a small but meaningful number of starting statistic points—defining their character’s various attributes. These stats determine not only what a character can do in the world such as lift objects of certain weights or understand a magic spell well enough to learn it, but also which backstory and trait options are available: for example, higher intelligence may open a path of past acceptance and training in an arcane academy, while strong agility and perception could lead to a youth spent growing up in the shadows of a rogue’s guild and the experience and associations gained from doing so.

This isn’t a system where one point makes a character overpowered—or leaves them helpless. They won’t be locked out of roles or abilities for making slightly different choices. For a player that wants to play a warrior/tank type character, putting a point into strength and constitution so their character is stronger and more hardy than average makes sense—but how they spend the rest is up to them. There’s no single ‘correct’ build, and no easy or unobvious way to ‘gimp’ a character.

That said, some allocations are more effective for certain roles. Pouring points into charisma might not help the warrior/tank survive in that role on the battlefield—but it could provide for a number of other interesting options for that character that may appeal to the player. The basics are intuitive and simple to get started with; but the complexities are difficult to master and will require creativity and experience to do so.

Those unsure where to start will have guided suggestions which will help shape their build into their desired archetype, while experienced players will be able to customize freely, with each rebirth bringing a new chance to refine their approach, or change it completely—so no decision is ever final.

Finally, statistics grow very slowly over time—never exploding into meaningless numbers as with most other games. In this world, an item that increases a primary stat by just one point is valuable and will demand thought and consideration before being utilized depending on how a player wants to play their character.

Traits are the next component of character creation—passive attributes that reflect unique aspects of a character’s physiology or psychology. Each trait carries a point cost, either positive or negative, and contributes to a balanced customization system where benefits are offset by drawbacks.

The number of trait points available at creation is generally determined by the character’s rebirth count. A newly created character with no rebirths receives one trait point, while characters who have undergone multiple rebirths gain additional points, enabling greater customization depth over successive lives.

Positive traits cost varying amounts of trait points and provide beneficial effects. For example, the Venom-Booned trait reflects a childhood snakebite that resulted in heightened resistance to poisons—a rare adaptation born of survival.

Negative traits refund trait points when selected, which can then be invested in positive traits. These traits introduce meaningful weaknesses or vulnerabilities. The Venom-Baned trait, for instance, stems from a similar snakebite—but resulted in increased susceptibility to poison instead.

Mutually exclusive traits, such as Venom-Booned and Venom-Baned, cannot coexist on the same character, preserving narrative and mechanical consistency. Certain traits are only available to specific races or sub-races, and certain traits will provide for unique backstory options connected to those traits.

Traits typically influence skills and abilities, resistances and defenses, or affect actions or capabilities in some way—such as improved accuracy with bows or reduced stamina consumption during running and sprinting. They generally won’t alter statistics directly or grant new skills and abilities to the character. Instead, they refine and personalize a character’s advantages and flaws in subtle yet meaningful ways; not overpowering or severely hindering the character, but giving them a subtle yet distinct set of strengths and weaknesses to adapt too.

Of course some traits will be more conducive to certain playstyles and archetypes, but as with most other aspects of the game, creativity and ingenuity combined with exploration and experimentation are going to be how a player discovers what works best for them and their playstyles for each of their characters. There will be no ‘ultimate’ trait every mage archetype character will gravitate towards for example, but rather a multitude of great options for any mage archetype (and any other archetype) that suits different characters and player’s in various ways.

Some traits are more involved with combat, some with magic, others with professions and crafting, and still others are more utility and adventure oriented. Either way, whatever playstyle or goal, there will be plenty of options for all.

Finally, the player proceeds to define their character’s backstory—a series of formative life events that shape identity, capability, and place in the world.

A character’s backstory defines their past: where they were born, who raised them, and what experiences forged their abilities and associations. Far more than narrative flavor, the backstory has direct and significant affects—it determines starting location, initial skills, cultural affiliations, access to training, and relationships with nations, guilds, and factions.

The process is structured as a sequence of interconnected choices—upbringing, family background, education, and pivotal trials—each contributing to a cohesive origin path. However, not all options are available to every character. Backstory paths are gated by multiple factors:

• Race and Sub-Race: Cultural authenticity restricts plausible upbringings. For example, a Shadow-Elven character cannot claim a childhood among the Dunarii realm—such an option is culturally inaccessible.
• Allocated Statistics: Natural aptitude determines opportunity; admission to an arcane academy requires a minimum intelligence score; characters below this threshold would never be offered enrollment, reflecting institutional standards.
• Locational Availability: Some skills and affiliations do not exist everywhere. A Dwarf raised in the mountain fortresses of the Eastern Clans may begin with expertise in mining and smithing—but cannot select options for arcane training if no academies exist in that area.
• Rebirth Count: The more rare and profound origins are only available after multiple lifetimes. For instance:
  • A character must have at least 3 rebirths to choose a backstory option of being born into a family of the upper-class Imperian castes.
  • Only characters with 7 or more rebirths may claim the backstory arc of being taken in by the Barbarian clans after your parents met an untimely demise while escorting a trade caravan to The Highlands.
  • Characters with 10 or more rebirths may choose lineage options from the ruling High-Elven houses.
  • Etc.

More ‘standard’ upbringings and backstory options require no rebirths, ensuring accessibility for new characters while still providing a plethora of interesting and engaging options and customizations. No player should ever be able to legitimately make the claim that they ‘lack’ numerous and good backstory choices even if their character has no rebirths yet.

As a result, each selection carries weight. Choosing a merchant father grants early exposure to trade and bonuses to bartering skills. A noble mother may unlock leadership roles or special quest lines within certain factions. Attendance at a magical academy establishes affiliation with a powerful order and grants foundational spellcasting training…

These choices do not lock a character into a fixed role—but they do lay the foundation for their initial capabilities and social standing. Because the world reacts to who a character is, not just what they can do, these early associations influence which groups will welcome them, which mentors might train them, and where they feel at home—or are treated as outsiders.

Ultimately, the backstory is not a checklist, but a cohesive origin shaped by lineage, ability, and experiences—a prelude already written into the character’s story before the player begins their journey with them to write the following chapters.

Reputation represents a character’s current standing with a specific NPC, faction, organization, settlement, nation, or other group. It develops through direct and indirect interaction and reflects how that individual or entity presently regards the character based on their actions, known history, and effect they have had elsewhere.

At the individual NPC level, repeatedly helping someone, fulfilling agreements, supporting their faction, protecting their family or community, or acting in accordance with their priorities may improve Reputation. Failure, betrayal, harm, broken promises, or actions against their interests may reduce it. Multiple NPCs may evaluate the same event differently according to their identity, loyalties, responsibilities, personality, and personal experiences with the character.

Reputation is divided into a series of positive and negative tiers, similar to the progression tiers used by the Skills systems. Each tier corresponds to a numerical range:

• Despised / -701 to -1000
• Hostile / -451 to -700
• Resented / -251 to -450
• Disliked / -101 to -250
• Wary / -26 to -100
• Neutral / -25 to +25
• Friendly / +26 to +100
• Liked / +101 to +250
• Favored / +251 to +450
• Trusted / +451 to +700
• Revered / +701 to +1000

These tiers provide developers and creators with clear stages against which access, reactions, prices, dialogue, quests, and other outcomes can be mapped without requiring a specific Reputation value for every interaction. They also give players an understandable indication of where they currently stand with an NPC or group at any given time.

Renown represents the permanent positive or negative legacy a character establishes across their lives. Unlike Reputation, which reflects current standing with a specific entity, Renown persists through Rebirth and grows slowly through significant actions whose consequences extend beyond an individual interaction.

Renown is tracked at Local, Factional, and National scales. Local Renown reflects the character’s lasting legacy within a settlement, Zone, or closely connected community. Factional Renown represents how they are remembered within a specific group, organization or faction. National Renown reflects the legacy they have established within a nation and its major institutions, authorities, and populations.

Renown does not directly determine whether an NPC, nation, or faction currently likes or dislikes the character. Instead, it influences how strongly Reputation from previous lives carries forward after rebirth and how readily former positive or negative standing begins to re-emerge. A character that was a highly Renowned former ally of a faction will find that they can regain positive Reputation more quickly with that faction, while if they had an infamous level of Renown with a different faction, they will be hard pressed to gain a positive reputation with them. Previously neutral groups remain largely unaffected, even when the character possesses substantial Renown elsewhere.

The direction of Renown reflects whether the character’s enduring legacy is regarded positively or negatively within that scope. A character may therefore hold positive Renown in one faction or nation while possessing negative Renown in another, depending on how their deeds affected each population.

Renown uses the following tiers in a format mirroring the Reputation ones:

• Reviled / -701 to -1000
• Infamous / -451 to -700
• Condemned / -251 to -450
• Notorious / -101 to -250
• Disreputable / -26 to -100
• Neutral / -25 to +25
• Recognized / +26 to +100
• Established / +101 to +250
• Prominent / +251 to +450
• Famous / +451 to +700
• Legendary / +701 to +1000

Learning a skill or ability requires more than finding it on a menu or reaching an arbitrary level. A player character must possess the aptitude, knowledge, and previous experience needed to begin developing it.

Requirements may include statistics, proficiency in related skills, reputation, acquired knowledge, discoveries, possessions, completed quests, or other relevant accomplishments. The Chain Lightning spell, for example, may require a minimum score for Intelligence and Spirit, as well as development of the Lightning Bolt spell to the expert tier, before the character is able to learn it.

These requirements belong to the skill itself and remain consistent regardless of where it is found. Chain Lightning does not become easier to learn because it is taught by a Norse Stormcaller in Journey’s End rather than at an Imperian magic academy. The path to gaining access to that instruction may differ, but each character must still meet the requirements to learn the ability.

Eligibility does not grant the skill automatically either; once prepared and capable, the character must still find a legitimate means of acquiring it, such as a trainer, skill tome, quest reward, magical endowment, or another source within the game world.

The same principle applies to advancement; developing a skill to the end of the novice tier makes the player character eligible to pursue the adept level of it, but the next tier must still be acquired. Advanced tiers may require higher statistic requirements, more experienced trainers, specialized facilities, stronger relationships, or access to organizations that do not teach outsiders freely.

Requirements shared across related skills may be organized into reusable, cascading groups so that developers and creators only need to define what is distinctive about each skill. General elemental magic requirements, for example, may be applied across a range of elemental skills at each tier, while Chain Lightning specifically adds only the prerequisites relevant to that spell. This allows abilities to maintain deliberate and meaningful progression requirements without needing every requirement and condition to be authored repeatedly on the development side.

Trainers and other learning sources provide the legitimate means through which eligible characters acquire new skills or advance existing ones. Access & Requirements determines whether a particular source can presently provide its training capabilities to the character.

A trainer must first be capable of teaching the relevant subject. Their skills, knowledge, profession, experience, authority, and current responsibilities determine what forms and levels of instruction they can provide. A trainer may be willing to teach a character anything they are able, but lack the capability to teach the desired skill, or they may possess the necessary knowledge while being unwilling, unauthorized, or presently unable to provide it.

Training may be organized into reusable curricula rather than requiring every skill to be individually assigned to every trainer. A curriculum represents a curated body of instruction associated with a particular culture, faction, institution, profession, or discipline. Possible examples might include something like: Norse Martial Combat I, Norse Martial Combat II, or Imperian Elemental I. Each curriculum would identify a body of skills and advancement opportunities that form a coherent stage or level of training.

An instructor assigned to an appropriate role may inherit access to the curricula associated with their faction, academy, military order, guild, or other institution. A Norse martial instructor assigned to provide Norse Martial Combat II might therefore teach the foundational and intermediate skills included within that package without needing every skill to be assigned to that NPC individually. Should the trainer be removed, displaced, replaced or otherwise unavailable, another qualified NPC assigned to the same instructor role could continue providing the same training options without needing to be manually configured.

Individual trainers may also impose personal requirements beyond those established by the skill or institution. A mentor might require sufficient personal reputation, payment, completion of a task, or a formal agreement of apprenticeship. Another may refuse to teach characters belonging to a opposing faction regardless of their eligibility or capability.

Trainer availability is also contextual. A qualified and willing trainer may be injured, travelling, participating in a campaign, occupied with other responsibilities, or separated from the facilities needed to provide instruction. The character may retain access to that trainer in principle while the training itself remains temporarily unavailable.

Other learning sources operate through the same general structure. A skill tome must contain the relevant knowledge and be usable by the character. A quest reward must have been legitimately earned. A magical endowment may require an appropriate event, location, item, or prior accomplishment. Each source provides a different route to acquisition, but none bypasses the intrinsic requirements of the skill.

Factions, guilds, academies, temples, military orders, and other organizations can shape a character’s development as much as their individual skills.

Joining or earning the trust of an guild or group may provide access to its trainers, facilities, libraries, work opportunities, quests, services, quartermasters, and restricted areas. These opportunities reflect what the organization actually possesses or is capable of offering, and what they may share or provide to the player character—not a generic collection of rewards provided for filling a reputation bar.

Membership alone will rarely open everything; access can depend on any number of factors, including reputation, skills, affiliations, history, quests, statistics, race, and more… Introductory or more basic opportunities and services may be available to outsiders or newly accepted individuals, while advanced training and sensitive responsibilities could remain reserved for established and proven members.

A Norse martial order might maintain several training halls and offer successive stages of martial weapon and combat instruction, not only to it’s members but to anyone willing to pay for the training. Whereas, a temple order may require acceptance as an official member to provide access to its grounds, instructors, study activities, introductory curricula, and related quests; with further advancement within the order opening more advanced and specialized training, restricted areas and services, more difficult and rewarding quest lines, and leadership responsibilities.

Faction policies and personal relationships may sometimes differ. An organization may accept and permit a player character to receive training while an individual instructor within the faction may refuse to work with them due to their personal reputation with that NPC.

These opportunities can also change with the world. Alliances and conflicts may make foreign institutions more or less accessible. War may cause factions to restrict their facilities or distrust opposing affiliations. Access reflects not only what the character has earned, but the circumstances in which they attempt to use it. A faction that ordinarily excludes outsiders may accept assistance during an invasion, while a character associated with an opposing nation or group may lose access to facilities and services they previously had until the conflict is resolved.

Being qualified and/or accepted does not guarantee that an opportunity or service can be used anywhere or at any time.

Many activities depend on reaching a suitable or specific location, and having access to the necessary facilities. To train at an advanced magical academy, the player character needs to be at or able to get to the location of the organization. Martial training may require access to a practice ground. Crafting may depend on a functioning workshop, forge, or other appropriate station. Certain studies, quests, training, etc. may only be possible at particular sites.

A trainer might be willing and qualified to teach a character, yet unable to do so because the academy has been occupied, the training hall destroyed, or the required equipment is unavailable. The character has not necessarily lost the relationship or access—the opportunity is simply not available under the current world conditions.

Entry into settlements, temples, guild halls, military camps, restricted districts, dungeons, raids, and similar areas may also depend on keys, permits, invitations, reputation, membership, discovered routes, active quests, or the states of the surrounding territory.

The changing world continually influences these opportunities. Conflict may close roads or establish checkpoints. Occupation may replace friendly guards with hostile ones. Damaged infrastructure may disable services. Weather, tides, seasons, flooding, collapse, or corruption may reveal some routes while closing others.

Dungeons and The Beneath may have several entrances, only some of which are currently reachable. A known doorway could be guarded or flooded, while a hidden route remains available to characters who possess the necessary knowledge. Within them, particular stages, paths, and encounters may require keys, discoveries, world changes, or active quests.

Raid access often develops through larger conflicts. Surrounding territory may need to be secured, defenses breached, supply lines established, or Campaign objectives completed before an assault becomes possible. Dynamic Raids may only emerge after an enemy force or corruption has gained enough power to establish a major threat.

Physical access and access to content within a location are not always the same. A character or party may be physically capable of entering a dungeon, but lack access to a quest-specific encounter within it. Conversely, a character may possess the appropriate quest while being unable to reach the location because the surrounding Region has fallen under enemy control.

Quests are not universally offered tasks waiting for every passing character. They arise from people, factions, locations, and events—and the options presented within them reflect who the character is, their capabilities, and what they have experienced.

An NPC may only entrust a sensitive matter to someone with sufficient personal reputation. A faction may reserve military tasks for members or proven allies. A character possessing unusual knowledge may recognize an opportunity that others do not even understand, while another may discover a quest because of their profession, race, backstory, possessions, or previous actions.

Requirements may shape individual stages and choices as well as initial availability. A high-charisma character might gain a diplomatic approach, while membership in an appropriate faction reveals an infiltration option. A developed crafting profession may provide a practical solution, and knowledge or objects found during another adventure may uncover a hidden objective within a different quest.

This allows two characters to experience the same underlying quest differently. Neither is necessarily receiving a better version; they are being presented with options that are affected by their abilities, relationships, and histories.

Quest progression is not always limited to one fixed sequence. A later chapter may become available because the character has gained the necessary reputation, knowledge, skill, or item elsewhere in the world. Players may therefore discover alternate ways to reach an opportunity rather than being required to complete a single, specific chain of preceding tasks.

Events operate on a broader and often more temporary scale. A festival, settlement crisis, battleground, faction campaign, or raid may be active within the world, but not every character participates in the same way. Some activities may be open to everyone, while command responsibilities, restricted objectives, special rewards, or sensitive information are reserved for characters with the appropriate capability, contribution, rank, or affiliation.

A character present during a campaign might begin with more basic scouting, support, or combat tasks, while an established faction member receives more strategic objectives and access to command areas. Either character will have avenues to contribute through crafting, sabotage, or diplomacy avenues rather than direct combat as well.

Dungeons, Raids, and The Beneath also contain quest and event specific opportunities. A group may enter a location freely, while requiring an active quest to reveal a special encounter or route. Players may support a Raid through reconnaissance, logistics, preparation, sabotage, or defense even if they never join the central assault.

NPCs and organizations do not all provide the same services, information, and opportunities to everyone they meet.

A merchant may offer better prices to a trusted customer, refuse to trade with a member of an opposing faction, or possess little stock because local supply routes have been disrupted. A healer may offer basic treatments to anyone during a crisis but normally reserve limited medicines for their own community. A craftsman may accept special commissions only from established clients or faction members but provide general services to all others.

Access to services may therefore affect availability, price, quality, priority, or the range of options being offered. Reputation, faction standing, local demand, available resources, settlement function, and the NPC’s personal circumstances can all shape the interaction.

Dialogue follows the same principles. NPCs can discuss subjects they know about, but what they are willing to reveal depends on trust, shared experiences, prior conversations, current events, and the sensitivity of the information.

An unfamiliar character may receive general directions or public information, while a trusted ally is told about private concerns, political tensions, hidden dangers, or restricted opportunities. Knowledge can matter as well—a character who demonstrates understanding of a subject may gain access to a deeper conversation that would not otherwise occur.

Recruiting companions and hirelings similarly requires more than locating them and selecting an option. The NPC must be willing and available, and the character may need sufficient reputation, leadership capability, payment, faction standing, shared purpose, or a history that gives the association a believable foundation.

A mercenary may agree to temporary service for suitable payment. A faction-appointed companion may require membership and rank. A more enduring companion may only join after trust has developed through shared experiences and significant quests.

Employment, commissions, sponsorships, civic duties, military service, and offline development opportunities are opened in the same way. Characters gain access by discovering the opportunity, possessing the necessary capability, establishing the right relationships, and remaining in circumstances where the activity can reasonably occur.

Through these interactions, access becomes part of the character’s journey rather than an invisible collection of locks. Opportunities are found, earned, negotiated, lost, and regained as the character develops and the world changes around them.

Player character development and progression is based on a character’s skills, capabilities, reputation and renown. Each of these areas grows and advances through two complimentary methods: Experience and Practice.

Experience is gained while a player is online and their character actively adventuring within the world: engaging in combat, quests, exploration, gathering, crafting and similar such activities. Their skills, capabilities, reputation and renown are all built and advanced through this active experience based on what they are doing in the game world.

Practice is gained through deliberate training, study, work, or other relevant activity performed while the player is offline. Practice is defined and controlled by the player as to what they want their character ‘doing’ while they are offline.

A player can develop their character’s Parry skill as an example through the experience of defending against real attacks in combat while they are adventuring; they may also practice the Parry skill through drills and training with a martial instructor they have access to when they are not actively adventuring.

Likewise, a player can advance their character’s Apothecary skills by actively producing and experimenting with items while online, but may also continue refining and developing their character’s Apothecary skills while working as an apprentice under a master apothecary while offline. 

Either form can contribute to development independently, but the most effective progression occurs (by design) when experience and practice reinforce one another. A character relying almost entirely upon only one form of development may still improve, but will do so with significantly less efficiency than one whose active and offline activities support each other.

Extended periods of offline development are subject to diminishing efficiency as well; time away should always provide value, but long absences will not generate substantial advancement, wealth, or influence. Likewise, repeatedly performing the same action during active play will not remain the most efficient means of development in any area.

The system instead rewards a sustainable rhythm: adventure and use skills while active, then allow the character time to train, work, and build upon those experiences while offline.

This allows players with different schedules to develop meaningfully without creating an advantage for those able to spend excessive amounts of time repeating the same activity. Long active sessions can remain valuable because of the adventures, discoveries, relationships, resources, and experience they provide, while time away from the game serves as an effective component of advancement rather than equating to a lack of progression.

Before logging off, the player may assign one or more offline activities to their character, and determine how this available development time should be divided between them if there are multiple.

A player may direct their character to spend part of their time practicing a combat skill, part studying magic, and the remainder working within a profession. Another might devote all available time to a faction or guild duty such as serving as a settlement guard, or fulfilling crafting commissions. The player determines their character’s priorities, and the system will be highly customizable and support condition based logic and parameters. If nothing is selected or available, the system will automatically choose what they develop based on activity from the last several online sessions.

For example, a character’s time might be divided between:

• Practicing Chain Lightning under an magic trainer.

• Training specific or general combat skills at a war academy.

• Working as an apprentice Blacksmith in a forge.

Each activity produces outcomes appropriate to what the character is actually doing. Training a skill primarily contributes toward that skill’s development. Profession work may develop the associated profession while also providing currency, resources, products, and/or Reputation. Civic, factional, or military service may develop relevant capabilities while contributing to a settlement, organization, Battleground, Incursion, or Campaign.

Offline time is therefore not converted into a generic pool of experience that can be spent anywhere. Development remains connected to specific activities, relationships, locations, and opportunities within the world.

Offline activities must first be discovered, earned, or made available through active interaction. A character cannot select to train at an academy they are not in the same region as and been accepted by, practice under a mentor who has not agreed to teach them, perform work for a faction that does not trust them, or practice a skill they have not learned. These parameters are all determined and controlled by the Access & Requirements framework.

Each available activity is tied to a legitimate source within the world, such as:

• A trainer, mentor, faction, academy, guild, temple, or order.

• A workshop, profession master, crafting station, or business.

• A settlement authority, employer, faction, or individual NPC.

• A battleground command post, army camp, supply network, or military entity

Eligibility is determined by the systems associated with that activity. Relevant factors may include the character’s statistics, known skills, profession, reputation, faction membership, completed quests, available resources, and access to the required location or facilities.

A martial order may require sufficient strength, weapon proficiency, and reputation before permitting a character to train with its instructors. An arcane academy may require intelligence, prerequisite spells, and formal acceptance or enrollment. A master craftsperson may accept only established apprentices with the necessary profession skill. A military force may offer guard duty or supply work to trusted supporters while refusing access to others.

Offline development does not bypass these requirements. It allows characters to make productive use of opportunities they have already earned; it does not grant those opportunities automatically.

Skill tiers remain governed by the Skills & Abilities systems. Offline training may develop a known skill toward its next tier, but it cannot teach an unknown ability, replace a required mentor or tome, satisfy unrelated prerequisites, or advance a character beyond a tier they have not legitimately unlocked.

Offline activities extend beyond direct skill practice. Characters are inhabitants of the world and may use their time to occupy meaningful social, economic, and military roles.

Profession-focused characters may work as apprentices, employees, independent craftspeople, or business owners. A Blacksmith may assist at a settlement forge, an Apothecary may prepare routine supplies, and a Tailor may fulfil ordinary commissions. This work can develop the associated profession and may provide income, materials, reputation, or contributions toward local demand.

Offline profession work does not replace the active gathering and crafting experience. Discovering resources, acquiring rare materials, learning designs, choosing components, experimenting with production, and creating custom items remain active player-driven activities. Offline work represents the routine practice, labour, and production that would otherwise require repetitive actions with little meaningful decision-making.

Characters may also serve within settlements and organizations. Depending on their capabilities and standing, they may work as guards, caravan escorts, trainers, shopkeepers, labourers, scouts, administrators, or other world-integrated occupations. These activities provide different combinations of development and reward according to the duties performed.

During Battlegrounds, Incursions, and Campaigns, offline activities can also contribute to the war effort. Blacksmiths, Apothecaries, Woodcrafters, Leatherworkers, camp guards, supply escorts, enlisted soldiers, and other supporting roles may strengthen armies and maintain the infrastructure surrounding active conflicts. Simple commissions may continue while the player is away, allowing routine production and support work to contribute alongside the active efforts of adventurers on the front lines.

These contributions are cumulative rather than individually decisive. A single character working at a forge will not determine the outcome of an entire war, but the combined efforts of many characters may improve supply levels, support fortifications, maintain services, or strengthen a faction’s broader position in the conflict and result in a tangible advantage that could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Offline development remains subject to the changing state of the world. A character does not enter a separate progression space where settlements, factions, wars, and economies cease to matter.

The availability and results of an activity depend upon the location, people, facilities, and conditions supporting it. A functioning workshop in a prosperous settlement offers different opportunities than one suffering shortages or damaged infrastructure. A business operating in a stable Region may function normally, while the same business may struggle if trade routes are severed or the settlement enters a deteriorating or devastated condition. Military work may become available when a Battleground activates and disappear when the conflict resolves or moves elsewhere.

Control states also matter. If a settlement is occupied, reclaimed, abandoned, or transferred to another faction, its trainers, employers, services, and authorities may change. A character accepted by the previous occupants may no longer have access, while another character may gain new opportunities through allegiance to the incoming power.

Offline activities therefore use the same world information as their associated systems rather than producing fixed results regardless of circumstance. The system considers what activity was assigned, who or what provides it, whether its requirements remain satisfied, how long the activity remained available, and what conditions affected its operation during the player’s absence.

If circumstances change significantly, an activity may become less productive, be interrupted, or end before all allocated time is completed. This prevents offline development from becoming disconnected passive income and gives players a reason to remain aware of the places, factions, and institutions upon which their characters depend.

Likewise, if a settlement is destroyed or occupied by an invading force that the character was working or training in, the game systems will relocate that character to the nearest appropriate settlement and they will continue offline development within the capabilities of that location as they are able. This will prevent characters from being ‘stranded’ in hostile locations and having offline progression time completely lost or stopped due to changing world conditions when the player is away.

When the player returns to the game, the system will provide a clear account of what their character accomplished while they were away. This may include:

• Skills or professions developed.

• Work or training completed.

• Currency, resources, or products earned.

• Reputation gained or lost.

• Commissions or duties fulfilled.

• Contributions made to settlements, factions, businesses, or conflicts.

• Activities interrupted or altered by changing world conditions.

The report is intended to explain outcomes rather than simply present a collection of unexplained rewards. If a workshop’s productivity was reduced by a material shortage, a commission ended when a Battleground resolved, or a training activity stopped because the character reached a locked Skill Tier, the player should understand why.