Pregenerated Characters, Level 1 Quickstart (Playtest Draft)¶
Blitz Eternal: Adventures Beyond the Mists — v0.3 Draft¶
The eight quickstart pregens, one per Class, built at Level 1, the Level a new table actually starts from. The Level 5 showcase versions of the same eight Characters live in pregen-characters-level5.md.
What Level 1 means here, and how it differs from the Level 5 set:
- One personal die, at the Class's own Hit Range. The second die arrives at Level 3 (Level 5 for the Errant; the Chancellor never gains a second die), so at Level 1 no Character has a bonded companion yet.
- Command Capacity is the starting value: Chancellor 6, Knight 3, Skirmisher 3, Witch 2, Ranger 2, Warden 1, Errant 0, Squire 0.
- Each Class reads its base signature; the Level 5 unlocks (Set, Pierce, Straight, Early Blitz, Deep Listening, Deep Focus, Guardian's Assist, the Chancellor's third Split Cap) are not yet online.
- Hit Points are the per-class baseline (character-creation, Axis One) plus each Character's chosen armor tier (None +0, Light +1, Medium +2, Heavy +3). Every entry states its armor, total Hit Points, and Speed.
Every pregen carries a different Kit, with only Sir Aelric on the classic Sword-and-Shield. Several draw on draft Kits (marked below); their perks are provisional. Every Character also carries an ordinary sidearm: a plain one-handed weapon, Range 1, 1 damage, no perk, drawn as a Free Interaction. It matters most for the Bow, Crossbow, and Pike Characters, who cannot fight at the ranges those Kits give up.
Retainers use the standard baseline (companies-and-command, Part One): 1 base Hit Point plus the default Light armor every Retainer is issued, for 2 Hit Points, so a standard Retainer is two Hits and down.
All numbers are provisional and are exactly what playtesting checks.
How the combat dice work¶
Read this before running a fight with these Characters. Two points below have been misread before; they are spelled out so they will not be again.
The Pool. On a Character's turn they roll one shared Pool: their own personal die (or dice), plus one die per Retainer in the acting Company. Each die is read against the Hit Range of the combatant it belongs to, not a single number for the whole Pool.
Reading a mixed Pool (assign dice to slots). A Pool usually mixes Hit Ranges, because a Character's range is wider than their Retainers'. Read it by assigning each rolled die to a combatant whose range it satisfies, taking whichever assignment produces the most Hits. Every combatant fills at most one die, because each contributes one die and activates once per action, so a rolled result that fits no unfilled combatant is a miss and is wasted. Example: a Character who Hits on 4 to 6 leads three Retainers who Hit only on 6, and the Pool rolls 2, 4, 5, 6. The 4 fills the Character's slot and the 6 fills one Retainer, for two Hits; the 5 and the 2 are wasted, because the two remaining Retainers each need a 6 and the Character is already spent.
Bank and push. Bank every Hit. With at least one Hit banked you may push, rerolling missed dice for more. A push that produces at least one new Hit adds to the banked total; a push that produces zero new Hits is a bust, and the entire turn's banked total is lost. If the very first roll produces no Hits at all, the turn simply ends, with nothing banked and nothing lost (not a bust).
Blitz. When every die in the Pool has Hit, across the full roll-and-push sequence, the Character scores a Blitz and gains one bonus Action, normally another roll of the full Pool, which can itself Blitz and continue the chain.
The Errant is the exception, and it matters at this Level. The Errant has no Retainers, so every die in her Pool is her own attack, read at her own Hit Range. She is the one Character who activates more than once per action: her dice are all her, not other combatants. Her Blitz Chain also grows the Pool. Each Blitz, she picks up her dice, adds one more, and rolls a Pool one die larger than before, so a chain climbs 1 die, then 2, then 3. Damage accumulates action by action into a running total for the turn. The bust is whole-turn: a push that produces zero Hits loses every Hit banked across the entire chain, not just the failed action, and the Pool resets to one die next turn. This all-or-nothing bust is the class's balancing mechanism, and at Level 1, where her Pool starts at a single die, it is the whole texture of her turn. (A Squire can secure her banked Hits against that bust; see Tomas, below, and classes/squire, Safeguard.)
Sir Aelric of the Long Field — Knight¶
Lineage. Human, Adaptable. A landless knight, sworn more times than he can now count. The first roll of any Extended Check he attempts begins with 1 Success already banked.
Virtues. Might Skilled (4-6), Wits Trained (5-6), Presence Trained (5-6), Finesse Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Knight. Command Capacity 3. Personal die: 1 at Veteran (4-6). Signature: Straight (the base read; Set and its Charge unlock at Level 5), Rally, Oaths. Split Cap 2. Hit Points 5 base.
Kit. Sword-and-Shield. On a Hit, may bank it as a Guard token instead of dealing damage. The one classic loadout kept in the set.
Armor. Heavy: +3 Hit Points, Speed 3. Total Hit Points 8, Speed 3. The Knight's natural tier, and at 8 level with the Legendary-threat anchor.
Sidearm. A plain arming sword at the hip; his Kit already fights at melee, so it rarely leaves the sheath.
Oath. None sworn yet, open for the table to invoke one of the three forms in play: Oath of Protection (auto-redirect hits from a sworn charge), Oath of Vengeance (his die widens to Elite against a named enemy), or Oath of Success (a named technical Check one tier higher).
Advancement. 3 starting points. Held Breath (2), to bank a hit against a bad turn ahead, plus 1 point held. Stopgap from the universal menu; the Knight's own Starting Specialty menu is unbuilt.
Company (3 of 3, maxed). 1 Halberdier, 2 Shieldbearer, each 2 Hit Points. Pool this turn: 1 personal die + 3 Retainer dice = 4.
One line: the line holds because he says it holds, and so far it has.
Ysolt of No Fixed Road — Errant¶
Lineage. Part-Dwarven, Stone-Bound, claimed by neither side of the blood. Underground she is never lost and reads unstable ground, weak stonework, and difficult terrain on sight; +1d6 on Checks of stonework, structural integrity, or underground navigation.
Virtues. Finesse Skilled (4-6), Might Trained (5-6), Wits Trained (5-6), Presence Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Errant. Command Capacity 0, fixed, no Company ever. Personal die: 1 at Elite (3-6). Signature: Pair, Triple, Blitz Chain, Falling Alone. Early Blitz and her second die both arrive at Level 5, so at Level 1 her Pool is a single die.
How her turn runs (see How the combat dice work, above). She rolls 1 die at Elite. If it Hits, that is a Blitz (her whole Pool has Hit), so she grows the Pool to 2 and rolls again, then to 3, and so on. Each action's Hits accumulate. To keep chaining past a roll that is not all Hits, she pushes the misses, and a push that Hits nothing busts the whole turn to zero. She banks when she decides the climb is not worth the risk.
Hit Points. 6 base.
Kit. Twin Blades. Twinned Edge: a natural 6 on one of her dice deals 2 damage instead of 1. Because every die in her Pool is her own, every 6 she banks is worth 2.
Armor. Light: +1 Hit Point, Speed 5. Total Hit Points 7, Speed 5. The free tier; a mobility duelist keeps her Speed, and the base 6 already carries the personal Hit Points a Company-less Class would otherwise buy.
Sidearm. A boot knife; with two blades already in hand it is a spare, not a plan.
Starting Specialty. Never Alone. Once per adventure, if she would Fall with no one to catch her, a debt from the road is called in instead.
Advancement. 3 starting points. Parry (3), from the Errant Specialty Menu, a real class option and a better pick than raw Hit Points, giving her a counter that suits the duelist.
Company. None. Pool this turn: 1 die, Elite, growing on each Blitz.
One line: nobody follows her, nobody is owed to her, and when the die turns, that has never once stopped being enough.
The Hollow Reeve — Witch¶
Lineage. Elven, Elders' Memory. Once per session she may ask the GM one factual question about history or a long-past event, answered honestly if the memory plausibly survives somewhere in Hynafol; +1d6 on Wits Checks concerning history, lore, or long-past events.
Virtues. Wits Skilled (4-6), Finesse Trained (5-6), Presence Trained (5-6), Might Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Witch. Command Capacity 2. Personal die: 1 at Trained (5-6). Signature: Old Craft (bank 1s as Mana, they leave the Pool), Casting, curses, battlefield control. Deep Listening (banking 2s as well) unlocks at Level 5. Hit Points 4 base.
Kit. Chain-Dancer [draft]. A whip or light flail at Range 2; on a Hit she may deal 1 damage, or apply Slowed instead, or deal 1 and Slow. Control first, damage second, with a hand free for the warding charm. Draft Kit; perk provisional.
Armor. Light: +1 Hit Point, Speed 5. Total Hit Points 5, Speed 5. The fragile caster stays deliberately thin; the Mana and the whip's control, not a big Card, keep her out of trouble.
Sidearm. A plain iron knife; the Mana is the real weapon, and the knife is for when it runs dry.
Advancement. 3 starting points. Empty Hand (2), so an opening whiff still banks a small consolation, plus 1 point held. Stopgap from the universal menu; the Witch's own Starting Specialty menu is unbuilt.
Company (2 of 2, maxed). 2 apprentices (Blade line, quick enough not to be underfoot), each 2 Hit Points. Pool this turn: 1 personal die + 2 apprentice dice = 3. Every die can still bank a 1 as Mana.
One line: the misses nobody else would bother to notice are exactly what she was listening for.
Corin Half-Light — Skirmisher¶
Lineage. Half-Fae, Night Court, Glimmer. He can put the fae signs away and pass as an ordinary member of whichever people he resembles; +1d6 on any Check to avoid being identified as fae. Night touch: sees in darkness without penalty.
Virtues. Wits Skilled (4-6), Finesse Trained (5-6), Might Trained (5-6), Presence Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Skirmisher. Command Capacity 3. Personal die: 1 at Veteran (4-6). Signature: Triple (the base read; Pierce unlocks in full at Level 5), Shared Targeting, Free Movement, the permanent Detachment exemption, so his scattered Company always rolls as one Blitz-eligible Pool. Hit Points 4 base.
Kit. Bow and Arrow. Range 8, no adjacency needed; does not function at melee range, so positioning matters every round.
Armor. Light: +1 Hit Point, Speed 5. Total Hit Points 5, Speed 5. Distance is his armor; he keeps his Speed to hold the range that keeps him alive.
Sidearm. A long knife. When something closes to melee, where the bow is useless, he drops to the knife (a Free Interaction) and gives ground.
Advancement. 3 starting points. Shadow's Favor (1), his Night Court Specialty, +1d6 on Stealth-related Checks after dark, plus Held Breath (2). The Court pick is a real gated option; Held Breath is a universal stopgap.
Company (3 of 3, maxed). 2 Blade, 1 Archer, each 2 Hit Points, scattered across the field. Pool this turn: 1 personal die + 3 Retainer dice = 4.
One line: scattered is not the same as weak; it just means there is nothing to hold still and hit.
Brynn Stonehollow — Warden¶
Lineage. Dwarven, Stone-Bound. Keeps old promises the way stone keeps a shape. Never lost underground and reads terrain features on sight; +1d6 on Checks of stonework, structural integrity, or underground navigation.
Virtues. Might Skilled (4-6), Presence Trained (5-6), Wits Trained (5-6), Finesse Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Warden. Command Capacity 1. Personal die: 1 at Trained (5-6). Signature: Pair (the base read; the Straight that extends protection to an outside ally unlocks at Level 5), Borrowed Strength. Split Cap 2. Hit Points 5 base.
Kit. Pike. Set Against the Charge: once per turn, an enemy moving into her 3-square reach draws a free 1d6 reaction attack at her Hit Range. Range 3, and she cannot strike an adjacent target at all. A dwarven wall who punishes the approach and holds the line.
Armor. Heavy: +3 Hit Points, Speed 3. Total Hit Points 8, Speed 3. She reaches 8, but the wall comes from Borrowed Strength and Guard layered on the Card, not from the number alone.
Sidearm. A short axe. When a foe closes inside the pike's point, where the pike is helpless, she drops it (a Free Interaction) and fights at Range 1 with the axe.
Advancement. 3 starting points. Empty Hand (2), worth the most to her small Pool of 2, so a dead opening roll still banks something, plus 1 point held. Stopgap from the universal menu; the Warden's own Starting Specialty menu is unbuilt.
Company (1 of 1, maxed). 1 Shieldbearer, 2 Hit Points, standing exactly where Brynn stands. Pool this turn: 1 personal die + 1 Retainer die = 2.
One line: the wall the household hides behind does not need to be tall, only to still be standing tomorrow.
Tomas Wren — Squire¶
Lineage. Human, Adaptable. Ordinary, and knows it, and has made peace with what that means. The first roll of any Extended Check begins with 1 Success already banked.
Virtues. Presence Skilled (4-6), Wits Trained (5-6), Might Trained (5-6), Finesse Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Squire. Command Capacity 0, fixed. Assist die: 1 at Trained (5-6), rolled as a side pool that never joins the host's Pool; each hit is an Assist. A second Assist die arrives at Level 3, and the die widens to Veteran at Level 7. Signature: Join and Leave; Empty Hand (banks 1 Assist on an opening whiff, native to the Class); Bump (spend 1 Assist to nudge a host die up one face); Lend a Hit (spend 1 Assist for a flat +1 hit); Safeguard; the Blitz-eligibility grant; Assists on Checks. Guardian's Assist unlocks at Level 5. Hit Points 4 base.
Safeguard. Spend 1 Assist to lock in an ally's banked hits before they push their luck. A later bust cannot take the secured hits, only those the ally banks afterward. It matters to anyone pushing a large Pool and matters most beside an Errant, whose whole-turn bust it turns into secured gains. This is why a Squire beside Ysolt is worth so much: he decides which of her winnings are locked before her next roll, at the cost of the Assist that could instead Bump or Guard. [PLAYTEST]
Kit. Tower Shield [draft]. Braced Wall: banks Guard tokens like a shield, and once per turn may Intercept a Hit meant for an ally within 1 square, taking the full Hit on his own Card. The bodyguard's Kit, working through defense rather than the combat hits a Squire never makes. Draft Kit; perk provisional.
Armor. Medium: +2 Hit Points, Speed 4. Total Hit Points 6, Speed 4. With no Company of his own to hide behind he buys durability with armor a supporter can afford to slow for. Whether a host's Retainers screen him is still unresolved (open-questions, Core Rules and Combat).
Sidearm. A short sword behind the tower shield; he is not here to swing it, but it is there.
Advancement. 3 starting points. Fluid Footwork (3), so he can split his Move around his Action and reach whoever needs the shield this turn. Stopgap from the universal menu; the Squire's own Starting Specialty menu is unbuilt.
Company. None of his own. His help flows through a Company he joins; not yet attached to anyone at the start of this scenario. Assist pool this turn: 1 die.
One line: he attaches to others and gives; whatever he's carrying, it was never really his to begin with.
Rowan Fenwick — Ranger¶
Lineage. Elven, Elders' Memory. Once per session may ask the GM one factual question about a long-past event; +1d6 on Wits Checks concerning history, lore, or long-past events.
Virtues. Finesse Skilled (4-6), Wits Trained (5-6), Might Trained (5-6), Presence Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Ranger. Command Capacity 2. Personal die: 1 at Trained (5-6). Signature: Focus (convert the Pool's low dice to hits); Deep Focus (2 Focus per untouched round) unlocks at Level 5. Hit Points 4 base.
Kit. Crossbow [draft]. Loaded and Waiting: once per turn, if he did not attack on his previous turn, this turn's first Hit deals 2 damage. One hand free, and a payoff for patience that fits a marksman who waits. Draft Kit; perk provisional.
Armor. Light: +1 Hit Point, Speed 5. Total Hit Points 5, Speed 5. He wins by going unhit, so he pays nothing in Speed for armor he does not plan to need.
Sidearm. A hunting knife; if something reaches him, the plan has already failed, but the knife is there for it.
Advancement. 3 starting points. Steady Draw (2), +1d6 on his ranged attack, from the Ranger and wilderness Specialty list, plus 1 point held. A real class-adjacent option rather than a pure stopgap.
Company (2 of 2, maxed). 1 Archer, 1 Blade, each 2 Hit Points. Pool this turn: 1 personal die + 2 Retainer dice = 3. Focus converts the 1s and 2s anywhere in it.
One line: certainty earned by going unhit is still certainty, and it is the only kind he trusts.
Lord Osric Vane — Chancellor¶
Lineage. Human, Adaptable. Commanded armies before the mists ever called him. The first roll of any Extended Check begins with 1 Success already banked.
Virtues. Presence Skilled (4-6), Wits Trained (5-6), Might Trained (5-6), Finesse Untrained (6).
Class (Level 1). Chancellor. Fielded Command Capacity 6 (fixed). Personal die: 1 at Rabble (6 only), fixed, never becomes 2. Signature: Grand Muster (Set, a full second Pool action), Straight (a free command effect while fighting), the five command effects (Redirect, Anchor, Pacify, Mark, Field Command), and Fight-or-Command each turn. Hit Points 3 base.
Kit. Commander's Mace [draft]. Commands: once per turn, when he scores a Hit, he may redirect it so a Retainer or ally within reach delivers that Hit's Wound instead, at no cost to them. A badge of office that fights by pointing. Draft Kit; perk provisional, and no confirmed rules depend on it. If you would rather not build on a draft, Osric takes Sword-and-Shield, a confirmed Kit, with no change to the rest of the sheet.
Armor. Medium: +2 Hit Points, Speed 4. Total Hit Points 5, Speed 4. The lowest baseline in the party, and the point of it: behind six Retainers his own Card is almost never reached, and if that line breaks he is frailer than his own sergeants, below the Mature Retainer line before armor.
Sidearm. A dagger of office; he does not expect to use it, which is the whole idea of the Class.
Starting Specialties (3 Advancement Points). Extended Command, a Tier 3 pick that costs the whole starting budget. It raises Split Cap from 2 to 3, so three Detachments act at once, and because the lieutenant count tracks Split Cap it also adds a third automatic Bond-2 lieutenant (see classes/chancellor, Lieutenants). Under the unified Level 1 rule this is his entire starting spend; there is no separate free Starting Specialty on top of the 3 points (see character-creation, Starting Specialties).
Later points. The Chancellor earns the fewest Advancement Points in the game. At higher Levels they go to Guild standing, a Named Weapon, pushing a lieutenant past Bond 2, and class Specialties such as To the Rescue.
Company (6 of 6, maxed). 2 Halberdier, 2 Shieldbearer, 2 Archer, each 2 Hit Points. Two of them are named lieutenants at automatic Bond 2 (the Chancellor's Level 1 grant; lieutenant count equals Split Cap); the other four are Bond 0. Pool this turn: fighting, 1 personal die + 6 Retainer dice = 7; withholding for a command effect, 6.
Reserve (2). Two more Retainers held off the fielded line, a field-scale asset rather than part of the fielded Pool. It exists in open battle and can be brought into combat only through To the Rescue; in a sealed dungeon there is no one to send. Osric's Reserve here assumes an open-field engagement.
One line: the general who barely fights is still the reason the whole line moves at once.
Notes for the Table¶
Four things worth watching at Level 1 specifically.
The Pools are small, several smaller than the combos were tuned for. Brynn rolls 2 dice, Ysolt and Tomas roll 1, the Witch and Ranger roll 3. The push-and-bust loop and the Blitz do most of their interesting work at these sizes, but a signature read like the Warden's Pair or the Skirmisher's Triple will rarely appear on so few dice. This is expected; Level 1 is where the Pools are leanest.
The Errant is a lone die that grows. Read the How the combat dice work section before running Ysolt. Her single Elite die that Blitzes into a 2, then 3, then busts to nothing is the whole shape of her Level 1, and it is the mechanic that has been misread before. A Squire beside her, spending Safeguard, is the intended answer to her all-or-nothing bust.
The starting Advancement spend is a stopgap, not a finished system. Six Classes have no real Starting Specialty menu yet, so the picks above lean on universal Specialties. Building those six menus is the work that makes a true Level 1 quickstart feel complete.
Survivability lives in the Company, not the Card. Damage lands on Retainers first, and every Retainer here is 2 Hits and down. Aelric, Corin, Rowan, and Osric spend incoming Hits down the Company before their own Card is touched; Brynn has a single Shieldbearer; Ysolt and Tomas have no Company, so every Hit lands on them directly. That contrast is the point of the Hit Point gradient, sharpest at Level 1 where the Companies are smallest.