This app is designed to help you create a character for the tabletop RPG 7th Sea (Second Edition). I have attempted to streamline the process as much as possible, but some familiarity with the rules and details of abilities may be necessary.

Every Hero has five Traits defining what that Hero'score strengths are. The Traits are:

• Brawn is a Hero's strength and physical power.
• Finesse measures a Hero's coordination and agility.
• Resolve is a Hero's willpower and endurance.
• Wits measures how quickly a Hero thinks on his feet.
• Panache is a Hero's charm and personal magnetism.

Every Hero begins with all of her Traits at 2. You have 2 additional points you can spend to increase your Traits.

Your decision of Nation affects your Traits, and also grants you access to Nation-specific Backgrounds and Advantages. Apply these bonuses after you have spent points on Traits.

In the world of Théah, few ever pick their own life path. Often, a child's parents pick his career for him. Your Hero is probably no different. Your Backgrounds represent what your Hero did before the game begins. Were you trained to be an artist or a soldier? Did your parents send you to sea to learn the life of a sailor? Perhaps you were raised with a wandering troupe of actors, jugglers, and other performers. Or, maybe you were born into a life of luxury as one of Théah's many nobles. This isn't where your Hero ends up, but it is where he started.

Backgrounds represent your past. You were a sailor, you were a performer, you were an assassin. While these things had a strong influence on you, they are not necessarily whom you've become. Backgrounds give you a few things that make your Hero distinct from others.

• Restrictions: Some Backgrounds have restrictions. Make sure you follow these; they are a part of your Hero's story.
• Quirk: Backgrounds come with a Quirk, a personality trait that is common among people of that background. If you act in accordance with a Quirk from your background, you gain a Hero Point. You may only gain a Hero Point from a particular Quirk once per session.
• Advantages: Backgrounds give you Advantages. Advantages are abilities most Théans will never have. If your Background lists an Advantage, you may add that Advantage to your Hero Sheet at no cost.
• Skills: Each Background also gives you a set of Skills, which begin with 1 Rank. Skills are specific bonuses for specific tasks. Like Traits, Skills have Ranks that tell you how many dice they give you. A Skill's Rank can only go as high as 5.

You get all of your Backgrounds' Advantages. If you have duplicate Advantages, take another Advantage of the same point cost, your choice.

You get 1 Rank in all your Backgrounds' Skills. If you have duplicate Skills, add 1 more point (for a total of 2 points) to the duplicate Skill.

Skills are an integral part of a Hero. Skills determine her training, talents, education, and similar abilities. Any time you make a Risk, the GM tells you which Skill and Trait to use, and roll that many dice. Some Advantages might give you Bonus Dice when you use certain Skills under certain circumstances, or modify your dice in some way.

You gain 10 points to add to existing Skills from your Backgrounds or to add new Skills to your sheet. Each point buys you one more rank of a Skill, whether you already have any ranks in it from your Background or not. You cannot raise a Skill above Rank 3 when making your Hero.

Achieving certain Ranks in Skills grants your Hero additional bonuses beyond dice.

• At 3 Ranks, you gain the ability to reroll any single die when you take a Risk using that Skill.
• At 4 Ranks, you gain the ability to earn 2 Raises per set by creating sets of 15, rather than only 1 Raise per set for creating a set of 10.
• At 5 Ranks, all dice that roll a 10 explode, allowing you to roll an additional die and add it to your total.

Skills are meant to be somewhat open to interpretation. These are ways that your Hero chooses to solve a problem, rather than explicit requirements for success. The GM should not choose your Approach - "Roll Brawn+Athletics to punch these Brutes!" - he should be presenting you with a problem and asking you how you solve it. Based on what you choose to do, the GM would then tell you which Skill is applicable.

Although you already have some Advantages from your Backgrounds, you may now buy new Advantages. These are distinctions that set you apart from everyone else.

You have 5 points to buy new Advantages.

Advantages cost between 1 and 5 points and may cost different amounts depending on your Hero's Nation of origin. Some Advantages have restrictions.

All Advantages may only be purchased once unless explicitly stated otherwise.

An Advantage with the Knack tag requires a Hero Point to activate, but no Raises - meaning that it doesn't take an Action, even though it is probably activated on your turn.

An Advantage with the Innate tag can only be selected at Hero Creation.

Each Hero is touched by Fate: made greater for Her purposes. At least, that's what the Sorte Strega believe. They point at the aura each Hero has: a kind of energy that a Fate Witch can read. This is called a Hero's Arcana.

When a Fate Witch reads your Arcana, she reads two things: your Virtue and your Hubris. Your Virtue is the key element of your character that makes you a Hero. Your Hubris, on the other hand, is your greatest emotional challenge.

The Sorte deck is a pack of cards the Sorte Strega use to teach girls who are just discovering their gifts, and in that deck are 20 Arcana: special cards representing a heroic journey. Your Hero's Arcana represent her place on that journey.

For your Hero, you choose a Virtue and Hubris from the list below. They do not need to be from the same card.

You may only activate your Virtue once per Session. Activating your Virtue has no cost, but it may require specific circumstances: meeting a character, another Hero taking Wounds, etc.

You may only activate your Hero's Hubris once per Session. Activating your Hubris gives you a Hero Point. The GM can offer a Hero Point to activate a Hero's Hubris, but the player may refuse. If he accepts, he gains the Hero Point and must act in accordance with his Hubris.

While Heroes work together to tell a larger story, every Hero has her own story to tell. Your Hero is no different. The promise you made to your father on his deathbed. The man whose wrongful testimony sent you to prison for all those years. The woman whose love you've sworn to recapture. Stories are more than the things you tell everyone you'll accomplish one day. Stories are also the road you'll walk to get there.

Choosing a Story

When you decide to start a new Story, think about what kinds of themes you want to explore with your character. Do you want her to be a brave warrior, fighting for the people she loves? Or would you rather see her have to solve difficult problems without resorting to "easy" solutions like violence?

You can change Stories later, but try to pick something you'll find fun and interesting. Talk to your GM as well; he might have some ideas for a Story that would be a perfect fit.

Starting a Story

Each Hero can have only one Hero Story at a time, beginning with the Story you create when making your Hero. Upon resolution or abandonment of a Story, Heroes are free to move on to their next tale. Players may feel free to keep notes about future Stories they may want to tackle, but their Heroes should each remain focused on the Story at hand.

To start writing a Story the player should create a short name that acts as a conceptual reminder of what your Hero wishes to accomplish. This is the mantra the Hero repeats to keep her mind on track:

• Absolution: My negligence led to the destruction of my home; I'll never let that happen again.
• Revenge: I'm gonna make 'em all pay for what they did to me.
• Cleanse: Monsters have plagued my life. I cannot rest until they are destroyed.

Once you've written the concept down you can move on to writing the ending, or Goal.

Reaching a Goal

There are two aspects to the Goal of a Story. First is the ending, a specific action that your Hero must take to finish the Story. You should know, without a doubt, when your Story has been completed.

Endings do not contain suspense for the players and while they should telegraph the player's desired outcome, the Hero might not know them. As such, it's often best to write the ending in third person:

• The plague that wiped out Samuel's people returns, but this time he takes action.
• Hector lies dead at Leannán's feet.
• Elias uncovers the connection between Ingrid and Helmuth.

Write an actionable sentence about what your Hero needs to do. You don't need to determine every tiny detail right now, just a broad scope of what your Hero wants to accomplish.

Endings should be flexible, capable of changing enough to ensure they never become unattainable. If a Hero discovers her ending is unattainable, she should be able to change it. A player should work with the Game Master to determine a related ending.

The second part of Goals is the reward. Hero Stories award new Advantages, increase a Trait or Skill, or change a Quirk. When you write your Goal, be sure to include what you want for your Hero from the Story and then make sure to work towards that Goal during the Story. A Story's reward can be a bonus point in a Skill, a Trait, or a new Advantage. Much like writing an ending, the reward should be explicit:

• This is a four Step Story that will earn Samuel the 4 point Miracle Worker Advantage.
• This is a three Step Story that will earn Leannán Rank 3 Aim.
• This is a three Step Story that will earn Elias a chance to drop his Farmkid Quirk.

Taking the Next Step

Knowing the Goal helps you know the ending, but sometimes the road to getting there isn't as clear. That's where the Steps come in. This is the action that puts you on the road to your Goal. Like the Goal, every Step should be an achievable item. However, unlike Goals, they can be as detailed as you like.

During Hero Creation, and whenever you create a new Story, you only need to know the next immediate Step. This is the action that puts you on the road to your Goal. Don't worry about outlining the entire progression of your Story, as you'll often find what you need to do next is determined by what you just accomplished. Instead, just focus on what's directly ahead of your Hero.

When writing a Step, write a short sentence that declares what the next thing your Hero needs to accomplish in order to progress his Story:

• "Treat my first patient in the Áki Klinikka."
• "Question Degarmo."
• "Substantiate a rumor to Ingrid's whereabouts."

Once that Step is completed, the player may write her next Step at any time. She could do it immediately following the completion of a Step or she can wait a bit. Until she writes her next Step, she cannot advance towards her Goal. If her next Step becomes unattainable for some reason, then she can strike it from her list and write a new Step replacing the lost one.

If during the course of a Story a Hero realizes she must accomplish something before securing her next Step, that action cannot become a Step. A Hero needs to remain focused on her Story and avoid the temptation to meander.

Rewarding the Journey

Your Story gives you rewards when you reach your ending and accomplish your Goal. The number of Steps in a Story determines the kind of Advancement your Hero earns.

• Skills require a number of Steps equal to the new Skill Rank. A new Rank 1 Skill only requires a single Step while improving a Rank 4 Skill requires a five Step story.
• Advantages require a number of Steps equal to their cost. A 1 point Advantage only requires a single Step while a 5 point Advantage requires a five Step story.
• Quirks require three Steps to change, allowing a Hero to change any existing Quirk to a different, or wholly new, Quirk. You cannot have the same Quirk twice.
• Arcana, both Hubris and Virtue, require four Steps in order to change. Heroes may only have one Hubris and one Virtue each at any time.
• Traits require four Steps to shift a single Rank from one Trait to another Trait—so one Trait rises, and the other falls.
• Traits require five Steps to increase by 1 Rank, but this can only be done twice. See the sidebar for more details.
• Corruption requires five Steps to remove. Redemption is never easy or quick.