Characters

Character Points

Character points, or CP, measured how far a character had grown.

Characters held 4 CP at Event I. Every character earned more after each event, whether or not the player attended, and the campaign closed at 20 CP. Early events were meant to be low level: a character could afford only a couple of skills and was highly specialized. The intended story for each character was one of growth from the bottom upward.

Basic Archetypes

Every character had a basic archetype, which stood for a background and set the first skills and goods. Commonfolk served as the catch-all. An archetype also listed what a patron gained from retaining the character and what that patron paid.

• Courtier could be granted only by a Noble and could replace any other archetype. Courtiers paid 10% less for rank increases while retained by a Noble.
• Gentry paid 25% less for all rank increases.
• Artificers, Blacksmiths, and Merchants could be retained by the Cirque only. Bowyers could be retained by the Cirque or by Innis Nobles with the applicable skill.
• Gunsmiths could be retained only by Richter Nobles with the Pact of Old skill.
• A Scholar's retainer benefit could be redrawn if it duplicated a lore the retainer already owned.

Advanced Archetypes

An advanced archetype marked membership in a guild, faction, or order, and it opened a set of skill trees. A character added one on top of a basic archetype. The Veteran archetype covered everyone outside those bodies.

Retained characters with an advanced archetype also drew a higher salary. It rose above the basic salary by 2 silver dragons at Rank 1, 4 at Rank 2, and 6 at Rank 3.

• Aurons with a 1 CP basic archetype paid 15% less for rank advancement.
• Cirque with the Merchant, Blacksmith, Artificer, Bowyer, or Urchin archetype paid 15% less.
• Veterans with a 1 CP or 2 CP basic archetype paid 10% less.

Ranks

Advanced archetypes had ranks, and a character's rank set which archetype skills could be bought. Rank advancement cost Influence, which the player turned in to staff. A character could rise one rank per event. Discounts used true rounding.

Retainers

Some advanced archetypes had skills that granted retainer slots. Retainers were the entourage of a character, and both sides gained from the arrangement. A retainer handed over an archetype card, and the patron kept it for as long as the employment lasted. Either side could end the arrangement, and the card then went back to its owner.

Each card listed a Salary and a Benefit. The patron was responsible for paying the salary each event and presented the cards to staff at check-in to collect the benefit.

Some Veteran skills could use an unretained archetype card for check-in bonuses, after which the card went back to its owner.

Standard of Dress

Eldritch held its players to set standards of costume, which were part of the production itself. The following were not allowed as part of a costume.

• T-shirts, jeans, khakis, and other obviously anachronistic clothing.
• Uncovered modern footwear.
• Any visible anachronistic device, such as a watch.
• Real weapons, and anything else that could do real harm to another player.

Staff also encouraged a scabbard for any weapon that suited one, in place of a belt or frog.

General Interactions

Any character could perform these actions without a skill. All of them fell under the check-in system and the rules for conflict between players on the Conduct and Safety page.

Theft

Characters could steal coin and the tags that represented items. Physical props were never stolen, and nothing was taken from out-of-play spaces such as shared bathrooms. A container in a character's lodging could be marked out of play with a note or an orange band.

These items could not be stolen or looted:

• Influence and Espionage.
• Lockpicking Decks, although Lockpicking Kits could be taken.
• Lock tags on or beside the thing they locked.
• Signed lores and signed schematics.
• Construction Blueprints.

Searching

A character could search a dead or incapacitated character or NPC by miming a search on a three count. Physical contact needed permission beforehand. Weapons, armor, and equipment on an NPC could be looted only if an item tag represented them, and most NPCs carried none.

Sneaking

Any player could attempt to sneak to the best of their ability. No skill or mechanic governed it.

Carrying Other Characters

A character was carried by wrapping the character's arm over the carrier's shoulder and walking slowly. Players who did not want physical roleplay walked slowly side by side instead. Only one character could be carried at a time.

Binding and Restraints

Binding needed out-of-character permission, or the players could use the Fade to Black. Rope had to be loose enough for the bound player to remove it. A character left bound and unattended for more than an hour could escape. Plastic manacles sold as Halloween props were the recommended restraint, because they looked right and came off easily.