Greating a Character
====================

Before you can play Hellband, you must create a character. This help file 
explains the creation of your character.

Making a choice
===============

You can look at the different choices by pressing either up/down or '8'/'2', you
can confirm your choice by pressing space or enter. The current selection is
always preceded with the '>' character.

Gender
======

The first choice you must make is the gender of your character. Unlike other 
roguelikes Hellband does take the gender of you character into account. Men make
easy targets for succubi and lilu. Some demons will hit harder on women. There 
is no 'better' gender.

Genus
=====

The second choice is your genus, your race. There are 4 main races you can play
with : human, fae, spawn and Elder. Each race has subraces with different 
powers. Only humans can choose a birth sign. You are advised to make
your fist few characters human without a special bloodstrain. This will allow
for a less complex game.

Subspecies
==========

The third choice is your subspecies, this will influence your initial strength, 
dexterity, constitution, wisdom, intelligence and charisma. ( Your stats )

It will also influence your 'Hit Dice'. The higher the Hit Dice, the more 
hitpoints you get when gaining a level. More hitpoints mean you can take more
damage without dying.

It will also influence your 'Experience Factor'. Subspecies with a higher 
Experience Factor need to put more effort in gaining levels.

Finally some subspecies have special powers that are described on the right hand
side of the screen.

Birthsign
==========

Humans alone can be affected by the star sign they were born under. Humans that
are afflicted ( Vampires, werewolves etc. ) no longer are under the influence
of their birthsign.

Birthsigns, like subspecies, can influence the initial stats, Hit Dice and 
Experience Factor. Some birthsigns have special powers and drawbacks that are 
described on the right hand side of the screen.

Choosing to be 'Free' means that your faith is not determined by the stars, it
is said that the Elder Gods are very concerned with those that are born Free.

Vocation
========

The next choice is your vocation or class, as with subspecies, the vocation
can influence the initial stats, Hit Dice and Experience Factor. Some vocations
have special powers and drawbacks that are described on the right hand side of
the screen.

Stats
=====

Your character has six primary stats: 
          Strength     (STR)
          Intelligence (INT)
          Wisdom       (WIS)
          Dexterity    (DEX)
          Constitution (CON)
          Charisma     (CHA)
	  
Each of these is normally measured on a 3-18 scale for a normal human. 
Exceptional humans (such as those with special bloodstrains) may have stat 
scores higher than 18. Stats higher than 29 are not possible without magical
enhancements.

Stats that are above average give you bonuses on certain actions. Stats 
below average give you penalties on the same actions.

*Strength*
Your strength score indicates how much raw strength your character has. Strength
bonuses apply to bashing down doors, the distance that items can be thrown, the
size of weapon that can be wielded, the amount of equipment that can be carried
without encumbering you, how easily your melee attacks hit, how much damage your
melee attacks do and how quickly you can dig.

*Intelligence*
Your intelligence score shows how smart your character is. It is a reflection of
their thinking power, not knowledge and common sense. Intelligence bonuses apply
to number of spell points (for some classes), number of spells known (for some
classes), failure chance of spells (for some classes), disarming traps and using
magical devices.

*Wisdom*
Your wisdom shows your knowledge and common sense. Wisdom bonuses apply to 
number of spell points (for some classes), number of spells known (for some
classes), failure chance of spells (for some classes) and resisting enemy magic,

*Dexterity*
Your dexterity is a measure of your speed and agility. Dexterity bonuses apply
to avoiding theft, avoiding damage when falling, avoiding being hit, how easily
your attacks hit and disarming traps

*Constitution*
Your constitution is a measure of how generally hardy you are. Constitution
bonuses apply to recovering from poison, recovering from bleeding, recovering
from stunning and number of hit points.

*Charisma*
Charisma is a measure of the impression your character makes on people. As such,
it reflects poise, looks and force of personality. Your charisma bonus affects
the prices that you are charged for various services in stores.

In addition, various corruptions or racial powers may be affected by the bonus 
of any of the six stats.

During character generation, starting stats are either bought with
points or rolled randomly (depending on which option you have selected).

Realm(s)
========

Once you have generated the stat scores for your character, you will be asked
to choose which realm or realms of magic they will use. Some classes give you a
free choice of realms, but others restrict your choice. In some cases, this
choice will be automatic and this stage of character creation will be skipped
completely.
                /-------------------------------------\
                |Press '?' to return to main help file|
                \-------------------------------------/
