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Choosing a Race
Human
Humans are very similar to their real-life counterparts, and they make up the largest portion of the population of the world. While generally not as strong as the other races, humans make up the lack with better agility, uncanny luck that seems to get them out of the worst situations, and an attractiveness and leadership ability that affords them better reactions from the other inhabitants.
Centaur
Centaurs have the upper body of a Human and the torso of a horse. Centaurs are tribal creatures, preferring life in their own villages to the cities. They have considerable strength, but lack much of the coordination humans have. Many humans and other inhabitants consider centaurs to be little more than just another creature or monster in the world, and they therefore gain generally poorer reactions from others.
Giant
Giants are human-like in appearance, and although they are a smaller than those seen in the classical Hercules and Xena genre, they are still imposing figures at 7 to 9 feet in height. Giants are by far the strongest of the character races, but their large size also makes them poorly coordinated. Much like the centaurs, many consider giants to be just another creature or monster, and they are therefore looked upon poorly.
Choosing a Profession
The game designers have worked hard to balance the skills and abilities of the professions so that any one profession is not more or less powerful than all others. Each profession has strengths and weaknesses unique to that profession. The power that the Priest profession has by way of spell casting ability, the Warrior makes up for by having superior fighting ability, etc.
Similarly, no single profession is easier or harder to play than the others. Some players are interested in warfare and combat, so they find playing a Warrior easier. Others are interested in alchemy and magic, so they find Alchemist or Priest easier to play. It all depends on your own individual interests and desires.
Warrior
Warriors are the martial arts masters of the world. These men and women train and study every day of their life to be the best with all kinds of weapons -- including their own body! They specialize in warfare, and excel in both armed and unarmed combat. A combination of light armor and acrobatic moves are the Warriors best defense. Examples: Hercules, Xena, Iolaus, and Joxer the Mighty.
Rogue
Rogues are the survivalists of the streets. They are handy at getting out of sticky situations and are expert fighters (though not quite as good as a Warrior). Their skills in stealth and perception allow them to remain unseen and then ambush their enemies at the best possible moment. Rogues generally do better by avoiding any kind of armor and relying on their superb acrobatic and evasive skills for defense. Examples: Autolycus, King of Thieves.
Priest
Priests are holy servants, sworn to uphold and defend the dictates of their chosen deity. It is the Priests duty to offer atonement to fallen comrades aligned to same deity, and to convert unbelievers to their alignment. To aid the Priest in this challenging role, he or she may perform rituals of devotion to his or her deity to obtain temporary, special powers and magical effects.
Storyteller
Heroic deeds require heroic tales. The role of the Storyteller is to weave tales from the exploits of others. Storytellers are often referred to as the "Jack of all trades and master of none." As such they dabble in all skills, but rarely excel in any single skill.
Example: Gabrielle.
Alchemist
Alchemists manipulate the natural laws through the fabrication of potions and other magical devices. The process can be long and painstaking, but a well prepared Alchemist is a formidable foe, being able to direct the elements and even summon rare and awesome monsters from his or her alchemical bag of tricks.
Example: Daedalus the Inventor.
Aligning with the Gods
In many roleplaying games, alignment refers to being good or bad. In Hercules and Xena: Alliance of Heroes, all player characters are considered to be "the good guys" and the forces that threaten the world are considered to be "the bad guys".
Just like ancient Greece, gods and goddesses will play a huge part in the everyday life of your character. You can choose to align yourself with one of the 14 major gods and goddesses to gain certain favors and skills. This is most important for characters of the Priest profession, but it impacts characters of all professions in a variety of ways. The gods and goddesses that you may align yourself with are:
- Zeus - The strongest and wisest of the gods, Zeus favors training in the skill sets of Brawling, Weapons, and Rituals. He disfavors training in Mechanical Knowledge, and Arcane Knowledge.
- Apollo - A musician, doctor, and prophet, Apollo favors training in the skill sets of Alchemy and Mechanical Knowledge. He disfavors training in Acrobatics.
- Aphrodite - The goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite favors training in the skill set of Physical Development, but disfavors training in Brawling and Mechanical Knowledge.
- Hermes - The god of safe travel, good fortune, trickery, and truth, Hermes favors training in the skill sets of Acrobatics and Physical Development, but disfavors training in Alchemy and Arcane Knowledge.
- Poseidon - The lord of the oceans, Poseidon favors training in the skill sets of Weapons, Brawling, and physical development. He disfavors training in Acrobatics.
- Demeter - Goddess of harvest and agriculture, Demeter favors training in the skill sets of Alchemy, Rituals, and Arcane Knowledge, but disfavors Brawling, Weapons, and Acrobatics.
- Persephone - Both the Goddess of the Spring and the Queen of the Dead, Persephone favors training in the skill sets of Alchemy and Arcane Knowledge, but disfavors training in Mechanical Knowledge.
- Iris - Goddess of the rainbow, Iris favors training in Rituals and Arcane Knowledge, and disfavors training in Mechanical Knowledge.
- Pan - God of all things wild and untamed, Pan favors training in Acrobatics, but disfavors training in Mechanical Knowledge.
- Artemis - The goddess of the moon, hunting, and childbirth, Artemis favors training in the skill sets of Weapons, Acrobatics, Rituals, and Arcane knowledge, but disfavors Mechanical Knowledge.
- Athena - Goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, and justice, Athena favors training in the skill sets of Brawling and Weapons, but disfavors Acrobatics and Alchemy.
- Hestia - As the third of the virgin goddesses of Olympus and patron of domesticity and the hearth, Hestia favors training in Ritual Magic and Arcane Knowledge.
- Hephaestus - The god of fire and blacksmithing, Hephaestus favors training in Weapons, Physical Development, Mechanical Knowledge, and Arcane Knowledge, but disfavors Acrobatics and Alchemy.
- Hebe - The goddess of youth, Hebe favors Acrobatics and Physical Training, but disfavors Arcane Knowledge.
Character Statistics
Statistics are the basic building blocks of your character, providing you with the basic potentials for a character.
Strength
This is a direct measure of the character's ability to lift heavy objects and to withstand physical damage. Strength also affects the amount of damage a character inflicts in combat. This statistic is most important for Warriors.
Intelligence
This is a measure of the character's mental capacity. Priests and Alchemists require good intelligence to be able to perform the complex spells and rituals of their professions.
Coordination
This is a measure of the character's manual dexterity and reflexes. A character with high Coordination is more likely to avoid being hit during combat, and is more innately capable of performing agile tasks such as picking locks. This statistic is most important for Rogues.
Luck
This statistic represents the intrinsic good (or bad) fortune of the character. A character with high Luck naturally tends to avoid the worst effects of a bad situation, and tends to elicit the best effects of a good situation. For example, a character with High luck may escape from a collapsing building with nothing more than some minor scrapes, while a character with very low Luck may trip over their own feet while trying to escape. Luck tends to be unreliable, and the character that relies on Luck may learn that even the most fortunate person will have runs of bad luck.
Piety
This statistic is a measure of how the character's deity views him or her. Characters with high Piety are more likely to have prayers answered in times of need, while those with low Piety may quickly learn the wrath of the gods and goddesses. The Piety statistic constantly changes, being raised or lowered depending on how the deity the character is aligned with reacts to the character's actions. For example, making the proper offerings at a temple or shrine may raise Piety, while attacking a defenseless opponent may lower it. Of course it all depends on the personality of the god or goddess the character is aligned with.
Appearance
This is an overall rating of the character's physical beauty and presence. Characters with high Appearance are generally more attractive and more commanding. They usually gain more favorable reactions from non-player characters. Monsters and creatures are often intimidated by characters who have high Appearance.
Character statistics are rated on a scale from Very Poor to Titan-Like. The initial values for each of the statistics is determined when you create your character. The starting values are based on the race and profession of your character, with some random variance so that all starting characters are not exactly the same. There is little you can do other than select a different race, to directly affect the initial values of your character statistics.
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