Characters

Characters in Distorted Domains are called Travelers, as they are people who travel through the many domains in search of something. They have 3 stats. Strong, Skilled, and Smart. These can represent what you are doing or how you are approaching a task.

Strong is using brute strength or a very direct approach
Skilled is using manual dexterity or a specialized skillset
Smart is using a thoughtful, careful, or knowledgeable approach

Each stat will have a die rating, ranging from d4 to d12, but probably somewhere in the middle. d4 represents a below average ability. d6 is average, d8 is good, d10 is excellent, and d12 is astonishingly good. Each stat also has a harm track associated with it that starts at a d4. When you roll and get a failure or success with consequences, one of your harm tracks will be stepped up. Which harm track gets advanced depends on what is happening within the fiction. Harm tracks represent the fatigue, stress, and injuries that your traveler accumulates as they go on their adventure. The die in your harm track is also used in the oppositions dice pool. If you use strong, the opposition pool gets your Strong harm die.

Aside from stats, travelers also have aspects and assets. Aspects are background details, personality traits, beliefs, and goals. Your traveler will likely have positive and negative aspects. Assets are physical things that your traveler carries with them. All aspects and assets have a die rating, just like stats. Negative aspects will add a die to the opposition pool, while positive aspects and assets will add dice to the players dice pool when they make a roll.

Character Creation

The tables below are used to help you create your traveler. With the stat table, you must choose or roll for a column 1-10, the other tables are there to serve as inspiration and you can come up with your own ideas if you so choose. All tables will have the dice you have to roll listed on them, a d10 means roll a 10 sided die, and a d12 means roll a 12 sided die. Some tables will say something like D44 or D46, this means to roll 2 4 sided dice, or a 4 sided die and a 6 sided die to determine the outcome. This is done in two ways, one is to have one die represent the 10s digit and the other to represent the 1s digit. The other is that one die will be used for the column and the other will be used for the row. Tables that work this way will be the tables that have numbers across both the top and left side.

Stats

Each Column 1-10 represents a potential set of stats that you can have. Select or roll a d10 for your stats from the table below. Note that you are rolling or selecting the set of stats below each number.

D10	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Strong	d4	d4	d10	d8	d8	d6	d4	d6	d4	d6
Skilled	d4	d10	d4	d6	d4	d8	d8	d4	d6	d6
Smart	d10	d4	d4	d4	d6	d4	d6	d8	d8	d6

Aspects

You start with 3 positive aspects. Roll or select from the tables below, you can also create your own if you wish.

For a D44 table, roll 2d4 where one represents the first digit and the second represents the second digit.

D44	I’m a(n)	From
11	Cyborg	A high-tech city
12	Shapeshifter	An enchanted forest
13	Elf	A bubble
14	Crustacean	The streets
21	Undead Being	A humble farming town
22	Goblin	The darkness
23	Cephalopod	A space station
24	Human	A plane of fire
31	Sentient Mannequin	The deep sea
32	Alien	A magnificent Kingdom
33	Duck	A complex cave system
34	Mermaid	A foggy marsh
41	Cryptid	A sleept seaside village
42	Demon	A floating island
43	Centaur	The eternal road
44	Shaved Bear	Twisting catacombs

D44	I’m Known as a(n)	Job
11	Brutish	Chef
12	Cautious	Cartographer
13	Determined	Inventor
14	Mystical	Mechanic
21	Inventive	Hunter
22	Charismatic	Pirate
23	Resourceful	Scientist
24	Focused	Mage
31	Reckless	Student
32	Cheerful	Mercenary
33	Mad	Healer
34	Boastful	Performer
41	Stoic	Naturalist
42	Mysterious	Rancher
43	Jovial	Pilot
44	Cynical	Writer

D12	I’m looking for
1	Riches
2	Power
3	Knowledge
4	Glory
5	Revenge
6	Home
7	Purpose
8	Destiny
9	Love
10	Peace
11	Connection
12	Experience

You can set all your aspects to d6, or lower one of them to d4 in order to raise another to d8.

Negative Aspects

You get 2 negative aspects, both rated at a d6. Negative aspects add a die to the opponents pool. You can create your own, or roll a d6 and d4 on the table below.

What holds you back?

D46	1	2	3	4
1	Knee Injury	Fear of Water	You’re always angry	Your unnerving presence
2	Back Injury	Fear of Freezing	You always mumble	A family Curse that you can’t talk about
3	Shoulder Injury	Fear of Open Spaces	You talk too much	A creature that’s always taunting you
4	Hip Injury	Fear of Heights	Your snarky attitude	Your unpleasant Odor
5	Hand Injury	Fear of Darkness	Your need to prove yourself	Your peculiar toe/fingernails
6	Head Injury	Fear of Creepy Crawlies	You crack in the most vital moments	The disembodied voice of someone from your past

Every aspect is intended to be used as inspiration. You are encouraged to add more detail as you see fit. Maybe being from “the streets” means a favela in Rio De Janero, maybe it means the slums of Neo-Amsterdam, or that you’ve been on the road your entire life. A head injury could be chronic migraines, or a missing eye, or that you were decapitated and your head hasn’t been quite right since it grew back. Looking for love could be a loved one that was taken from you, or it could be a deep longing for a connection that you haven’t found yet.

Assets

You start with 2 assets. For each asset, roll a d4 and a d6 on the table below, using the d4 for the 10s place and the d6 for the 1s place. Roll once per column for each asset. You can also simply use the table for inspiration and create your own assets. Set both assets to d6 or one to d4 and one to d8.

D46	thingy	thing	of	stuff
11	Mechanical	Stopwatch	of	Shrinking
12	Silver	Dagger	of	Memory
13	Crystal	Helmet	of	Dinosaurs
14	Vapor	Canon	of	Nanobots
15	Aether	Gauntlet	of	Time
16	Frozen	Shield	of	Foresight
21	Miniature	Sword	of	Mutation
22	Flaming	Hammer	of	Tentacles
23	Feathered	Potion	of	Insects
24	Living	Ring	of	Spores
25	Particle	Boots	of	Lasers
26	Cursed	Axe	of	Speed
31	Shining	Scissors	of	Light
32	Spiked	Skillet	of	Song
33	Hairy	Trombone	of	Shadow
34	Bone	Chainsaw	of	the Void
35	Venomous	Spatula	of	Shrinking
36	Delicious	Chain	of	Meat
41	Floating	Teapot	of	Shedding
42	Bedazzled	Lantern	of	Regeneration
43	Glowing	Familar	of	Sound Manipulation
44	Rubber	Pen	of	Healing
45	Overgrown	Cape	of	Photosynthesis
46	Bloody	Tattoos	of	Binding

Asset names are meant to be evocative and open to interpretation, a Delicious Gauntlet of Insects could be used to lure in tasty edible insects, or it could be a gauntlet that controls insects and is also coincidentally very tasty. Or it could be delicious in the broader sense, like an insect themed glove that is delightful. For each asset, the traveler who receives it should define what it is and how it works the first time they use it. From then on, the asset must follow that definition.

Finishing Up

It’s not at all necessary, but it can be helpful to answer some of the following questions about your character.

Which fellow traveler do you trust the most?
Which fellow traveler makes you nervous?
What is your favorite food?
What incident led to you becoming a traveler?
Is there anyone you are trying to impress?
What is most peoples first impression of you?
What are some of your hobbies?
Who was your childhood best friend?
Do you have any family, either found or biological?
How do you move around?
What artistic medium do you consume the most? (comics, music, tv shows, dream powder, etc)

These questions, when combined with the aspects of your character can help you create a backstory and connections to other characters. The DM can use this information to give you more opportunities to explore who your character is and what they want. These also help you figure out your characters personality, outward appearance, and just overall vibe.