Edding's Belgariad/Mallorean as a setting (Forked Thread: Literary settings wishlist)

Forked from: Literary (and other) settings wishlist

Midnight Dawns said:

Orius said:

I did come up with some ideas for doing the Belgariad and Mallorean under the 3e rules, though. Nothing really deep, just a bunch of notes I scribbled on a piece of paper (didn't develop it because I probably wouldn't ever play it anyway), and a partial write up of the Alorns as a PC race. If anyone's really interested, I could fork a new thread. Even though the stuff was 3e, there's probably stuff that an be worked into 4e, or the people sticking with 3.x might find it interesting too.

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Could you please fork it? I would be interested in attaining this information.

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Ok, here it is:

First off, I got the idea for this during a reread I was doing of the books about 2 years ago. So everything I came up with was largely built around 3e rules, particularly pre-3.5 stuff from the books I have. The references will be to pre-3.5 splats; if the applicable PrC was updated in 3.5, then someone can just point it out. If anyone wants to present a 4e angle on the stuff, go ahead; however this thread is not an excuse for an edition war.

My idea was to make it as D&D-friendly as possible, which wasn't too hard, because there were a few prestige classes out there that really seemed to fit some of the characters. Some classes I didn't use because they just don't fit the setting, pretty much the monk and the minor magic using classes. More on that below. Race of course is restricted to human, since the setting has very few humanoid creatures that could serve as a viable PC race. I instead went with the approach Oriental Adventures used for the clans to set up the 7 races.

I envisioned a typical campaign being largely set in the Kingdoms of the West with a PC party composed of characters from those kingdoms -- much like the "iconic" party in the Belgariad. Typical characters would be Alorns, Arends, Tolnedrans, and/or Sendars, possibly with Nyissans or Ulgos. Naturally, the DM can allow any character he feels like in a campaign. A campaign is more likely to involve something like political intrigue than lots of combat or dungeon crawling. Naturally campaigns based on ideas like, "Let's kill Belgarath!" should be discouraged (it's cheesy in a FR kind of way, but the DM can always rule that the Destinies don't want the PCs to futz with their struggle anyway, also Belgarath is one of the only two epic-level characters in this campaign so it's a bad idea to begin with).

Races

The seven races of man are fully represented here. Sendars make up an 8th race. In addition, Alorns, Angaraks, and Dals are further broken into "subraces". The races are presented like the clans from OA, except that I don't have class skills or favored classes for all of them. I also have typical alignments listed for some of the races.

Alorns

Cherek

• Profession (sailor) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Barbarian.
• Alignment: Often chaotic good.

Drasnian

• Gather Information is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Rogue.
• Alignment: Often neutral good.

Algar

• Ride is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Fighter
• Alignment: Often chaotic good

Rivan

• Perform (any) OR Craft (any) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Fighter
• Alignment: Often lawful good

This is how I picked the alignments. First off, I decided that each of the 3 good alignments should be represented among the Alorns. Chereks naturally got CG. I gave CG to the Algars as well, because of their semi-nomadic lifestyle and the sort of individualistc personality they're given as a whole. I gave NG not CG to the Drasnians because I didn't feel that they're full-blown chaotic; I doubt they'd be able to run that whole spy network of theirs if they were (Silk of course is CG though, he's too outrageous to be anything BUT chaotic). I gave LG to the Rivans to round things out, and besides the books describe then as taking their role as the guardians of the Orb of Aldur seriously and being the most responsible of the Alorns, so I felt it fit them anyway.

I gave a pick of one of two class skills (chosen at creation and can't be changed) for the Rivans since most of the ordinary Rivans we see either are skilled craftsmen or musicians. And I think most players would find Profession (shepard) to be pretty dull.

For primitive Alorns, treat them as Chereks but with Survival instead of Profession (sailor) as the class skill.

Arend

• Knowledge (Nobility and royalty) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Fighter.
• Alignment: Often lawful good.

This applies to both Asturians and Mimbrates. If playing a historical campaign before the fall of Vo Wacune, the Wacites also follow this. Arendish PCs are likely to be nobles, if playing a serf then the character should have Profession (farmer) or possibly a Craft as the class skill instead. There's no distinction between the Asturians and Mimbrates because the differences between the Arends isn't as great as the races that have subraces. Asturians will tend to take archery feats while Mimbrates focus on mounted combat. In 4e however, Asturians can just go with ranger since the class now doesn't have any spellcasting capabilities. Alignment is given as LG since Arends tend to obsess about stuff like duty and honor (probably the alignment should be played as Lawful Stupid to the hilt. ).

Tolnedran

• Appraise is a class skill.
• Favored Class:
• Alignment: Often lawful neutral

Ok, here's where I hit my first mental block. Not sure what to do with class skill and favored class here, since he see two stereotypical Tolnedrans in the books. The first is the greedy money grubbing merchant, the second is the profession soldier of the legions. I'm kind of leaning toward making Expert the favored class with Profession (merchant) as the class skill, though that doesn't exactly make for a great PC. It doesn't help that the token Tolnedran in the iconic party is an Aristocrat either.

Nyissan

• Profession (herbalist) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Rogue.
• Alignment: Often neutral.

Not really much to say here except that I don't really view the Nyissans as outright evil but more as morally indifferent, so N for alignment.

Marag

• is a class skill.
• Favored Class:
• Alignment: Often

Total blank here. Since the Marags for all intents and purposes were wiped about about 200 years after the recovery of the Orb, and they were isolationists before that, there's not a great deal of information on them.

Sendar

• Craft (any) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Any.
• Alignment: Often lawful good.

Kind of going with the idea of the typical Sendar being an everyman jack-of-all-trades here.

Now for the "bad guys".

Angaraks

Murgo

• Intimidate is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Fighter.
• Alignment: Usually lawful evil.

Nadrak

• Profession (trapper or miner) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Rogue.
• Alignment: Often chaotic neutral.

Thull

• Profession (farmer) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Commoner.
• Alignment: Often neutral.

Mallorean

• Diplomacy is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Fighter
• Alignment: Often lawful neutral

No surprises about Murgos here, I'm sure. They're the stereotypical evil empire anyway. Not really sure what to do for favored class for Nadraks. No one in their right mind should ever want to play a Thull; they're the gully dwarves of this setting. Not really sure how to classify Malloreans. Note: I see Grolims functioning as a class, not a seperate race.

For the most part, I'd say that Angaraks aren't a PC race in the setting, unless the DM wants to allow a Nadrak PC. Thulls are worthless as PCs, Murgos aren't going to associate with the other races, and Malloreans will mostly just stay in Mallorea. If the DM wants to run an Angarak campaign things could be different though.

Dals

Dal

• Knowledge (any) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Wizard.
• Alignment: Often neutral.

Melcene

• is a class skill.
• Favored Class:
• Alignment: Often neutral

Ulgo

• Knoledge (religion) is a class skill.
• Favored Class: Cleric.
• Alignment: Often lawful good.

Morind

• is a class skill.
• Favored Class:
• Alignment: Often

Karand

• is a class skill.
• Favored Class:
• Alignment: Often

First off, The Seeress of Kell and Belgarath the Sorcerer both seem to indicate Dal was the original name of the seventh race, so I'm going with it here. Second I on; really have a clear idea of what to do with the Dals and the Ulgos; I'm leaning partially towards favored class Barbarian for Karands and possibly Morinds as well. Of the offshoots of the seventh race, it's the Ulgos and Dals that we really get the clearest picture of in the books.

That's it for races, and I'm going to end things here for now. Material that I'll post later:

• Classes.
• Prestige classes. This includes standard PrCs, plus some setting specific ones like Sha-Dar and Dalasian Seer (just tossing those names out as a tease ).
• Domains for the gods, and alignments
• Artifacts.
• Monsters.
• Notes on magic.
• Important NPCs.

Anyway, don't jump the gun on me (at least too much anyway) here. I didn't write up hard stats for that stuff anyway, it's not a big deal.

Pulling from Belgarath the Sorceror and Polgara the Sorceress(the prequels):

The Marags were total hedonists, with the men sculpting their bodies more than their brains. They believed in physical attractiveness over all else, ignoring the gold in their streams. They had a barter economy and didn't trade with other nations, and didn't need money. The men tended towards athletic competition, races, that sort of thing. (BtS, p. 274-276)

The Nadrak were the merchant class, if I recall correctly, before Torak started meddling with the societies. Mostly in the "current" age of the books, they are shown mostly drinking.

Orius said:

Forked from: Literary (and other) settings wishlist



Ok, here it is:

First off, I got the idea for this during a reread I was doing of the books about 2 years ago. So everything I came up with was largely built around 3e rules, particularly pre-3.5 stuff from the books I have. The references will be to pre-3.5 splats; if the applicable PrC was updated in 3.5, then someone can just point it out. If anyone wants to present a 4e angle on the stuff, go ahead; however this thread is not an excuse for an edition war.

My idea was to make it as D&D-friendly as possible, which wasn't too hard, . . .

I envisioned a typical campaign being largely set in the Kingdoms of the West with a PC party composed of characters from those kingdoms -- much like the "iconic" party in the Belgariad. Typical characters would be Alorns, Arends, Tolnedrans, and/or Sendars, possibly with Nyissans or Ulgos. . . .

Races

The seven races of man are fully represented here. Sendars make up an 8th race. In addition, Alorns, Angaraks, and Dals are further broken into "subraces". The races are presented like the clans from OA, except that I don't have class skills or favored classes for all of them. I also have typical alignments listed for some of the races.

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Some suggestions (based on D&D 3.5):

Algar: Favored Class: Ranger -- for Favored Enemy (Murgos!), and the Wild Empathy ability (at least among the Sha-Dar).

Tolnedran: Appraise is a class skill (think of Ce'Nedra coaxing the legions); but Diplomacy is also a class skill (think of the Emperor sending draft agreement after draft agreement to Riva for Belgarion's approval/dismissal). Your typical Tolnedran wants to be rich enough to be an Aristocrat, but they are all Merchants at heart.

Marag: Profession (Oldest) is a class skill. Favored Class: Bard (as they apparently spent most of their time entertaining each other). Alignment: Often Horizontal.

Sendar: Favored Class: Factotum (from Dungeonscape).
(It had to be said.)

Nadrak: Profession (Mining) and Profession (Trapping) are class skills.

Mallorean: Diplomacy is a class skill. (Position was everything to them.)
Favored Class: Fighter. (Everybody in Mal Zeth had a military rank, even the garbage-collectors.)

Melcene: Knowledge (any) is a class skill. (Having the best University in the world would do that for them.)
Favored Class: Pedant. (Oh, alright: Wizard. From all of that studying.)
Alignment: Often Neutral.

I disregard the Morindim and Karands; they should not be playable.

racoffin said:

Pulling from Belgarath the Sorceror and Polgara the Sorceress(the prequels):

The Marags were total hedonists, with the men sculpting their bodies more than their brains. They believed in physical attractiveness over all else, ignoring the gold in their streams. They had a barter economy and didn't trade with other nations, and didn't need money. The men tended towards athletic competition, races, that sort of thing. (BtS, p. 274-276)

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Yeah, I'm aware of Belgarath's description of their society. Basically, they were a bunch of dumb jocks vastly outnumbered by women. The token Marag in the series, Taiba, doesn't really add much because she was a slave.

The Nadrak were the merchant class, if I recall correctly, before Torak started meddling with the societies. Mostly in the "current" age of the books, they are shown mostly drinking.

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I know. Poledra characterizes them as "Tolnedrans without the polish".

tuxgeo said:

Some suggestions (based on D&D 3.5):

Algar: Favored Class: Ranger -- for Favored Enemy (Murgos!), and the Wild Empathy ability (at least among the Sha-Dar).

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Did not go with Ranger because of the spellcasting. I don't really see the spellcasting Ranger as fitting in the setting, and stuff like Woodland Stride and Hide in Plain Sight doesn't fit the Algars much either. As for Wild Empathy, that was going to be one of the class abilities of the Sha-Dar PrC.

Tolnedran: Appraise is a class skill (think of Ce'Nedra coaxing the legions); but Diplomacy is also a class skill (think of the Emperor sending draft agreement after draft agreement to Riva for Belgarion's approval/dismissal). Your typical Tolnedran wants to be rich enough to be an Aristocrat, but they are all Merchants at heart.

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Hah, think of Ce'Nedra counting the spending money. I plead brain fart. I MUST have thought of this how'd I overlook it?

Marag: Profession (Oldest) is a class skill. Favored Class: Bard (as they apparently spent most of their time entertaining each other). Alignment: Often Horizontal.

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Amusing, but useless for D&D games unless you want to crack out the BoEF.

Sendar: Favored Class: Factotum (from Dungeonscape).
(It had to be said.)

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Not familiar with the 3.5 classes. What does Factotum do?

I picked Any because Sendars don't have the cultural blind spots of other races and because they have the "be the best at what you do ethic".

Nadrak: Profession (Mining) and Profession (Trapping) are class skills.

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I suppose that could work. Maybe a choose one at creation thing like the Rivans.

Mallorean: Diplomacy is a class skill. (Position was everything to them.)
Favored Class: Fighter. (Everybody in Mal Zeth had a military rank, even the garbage-collectors.)

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You know, that sounds ok for Mallorean. I probably should have gone Fighter (all the Malloreans except for the Grolims descended from the Angarak military commanders in the War of the Gods) anyway, but I felt like I was repeating myself. That whole regimented mentality kind of points to a lawful neutral oriented society.

Melcene: Knowledge (any) is a class skill. (Having the best University in the world would do that for them.)
Favored Class: Pedant. (Oh, alright: Wizard. From all of that studying.)
Alignment: Often Neutral.

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Not all the Melcenes study at the university. Remember that some of those kingdoms on the east coast of Mallorea like Darshiva and Gandahar are Melcene as well.

I disregard the Morindim and Karands; they should not be playable.

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I agree on Morindim. Also on Karands a bit too, they're kind of demon-worshipping rednecks, but more viable than the Morindim. Still, a DM would still need rules for them.

-- Re: Algar as Rangers:

Orius said:

Did not go with Ranger because of the spellcasting. I don't really see the spellcasting Ranger as fitting in the setting, and stuff like Woodland Stride and Hide in Plain Sight doesn't fit the Algars much either. As for Wild Empathy, that was going to be one of the class abilities of the Sha-Dar PrC.

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-- Re: Tolnedrans:

Hah, think of Ce'Nedra counting the spending money. I plead brain fart. I MUST have thought of this how'd I overlook it?

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She's just that short, hence easy to . . . (Oh, nevermind!)

-- Re: Marags:

Amusing, but useless for D&D games unless you want to crack out the BoEF.

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Yeah, I didn't actually have anything for Marags, so I improvised. Sorry.

-- Re: Sendars:

Not familiar with the 3.5 classes. What does Factotum do?

I picked Any because Sendars don't have the cultural blind spots of other races and because they have the "be the best at what you do ethic".

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Not that I actually have Dungeonscape, but: Factotum is a Jack-of-all-trades class; ALL skills are class skills; they have a pool of Inspiration Points that recharges every combat; once per day, they can add their Factotum Class Level to one skill check; very limited spellcasting, cast using points but selected daily from the Sor/Wiz list; other stuff.

( . . . a bit of snippage going on . . . )

-- Re: Melcenes:

Not all the Melcenes study at the university. Remember that some of those kingdoms on the east coast of Mallorea like Darshiva and Gandahar are Melcene as well.

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True. I guess I got carried away there.

-- Re: Unplayability of Morindim and Karands:

I agree on Morindim. Also on Karands a bit too, they're kind of demon-worshipping rednecks, but more viable than the Morindim. Still, a DM would still need rules for them.

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Make them NPC-only races? A DM would still need rules, but it might be easier.

tuxgeo said:

-- Re: Sendars:
Not that I actually have Dungeonscape, but: Factotum is a Jack-of-all-trades class; ALL skills are class skills; they have a pool of Inspiration Points that recharges every combat; once per day, they can add their Factotum Class Level to one skill check; very limited spellcasting, cast using points but selected daily from the Sor/Wiz list; other stuff.

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Yeah, that seems a bit overpowered for Sendars. I'm seeing them as doing their best at what ever they do, but not the best at everything. We certainly don't see that from Durnik.

-- Re: Unplayability of Morindim and Karands:
Make them NPC-only races? A DM would still need rules, but it might be easier.

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Like I said, my concept was basically that the Angarak and Dal races weren't PC races with the possible exception of Ulgos. However, if a DM wants to run, say a campaign in Mallorea, that could change things.

Anyway, I was going to post more material, but ENWorld kept acting up so I just gave up. I didn't think out just races.

Classes

Standard core classes for the campaign:

• Barbarian
• Cleric
• Druid
• Fighter
• Rogue
• Sorcerer
• Wizard

Ok, Fighter and Rogue really doesn't need much explaination; those two classes are the easiest to plunk into just about any setting. Barbarian also fits, in Belgarath the Sorcerer there's a brief description of an Alorn berserker who pretty much falls firmly into the Barbarian mode.

Classes that didn't make the cut: Bard, Monk, Paladin, Ranger. These got cut because none of the classes seem to be represented by anything in the setting. Monk's flavor gets it kicked out of yet another setting. The other three have partial spellcasting abilities, and for the most part, the spellcasters in this world seem to be fairly dedicated.

Now for a discussion on the spellcasting classes.

First up is the Sorcerer. In this setting we've got Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. And the Sorcerer class does seem to draw some of it inspiration from this setting. Sorcerers are in, easy choice.

Cleric is next. There's a few mentions throughout the books that the gods grant some powers to their priests, so cleric fits. We generally don't see most of the priests of the various gods using magic, particularly the annoying Alorn priests, but cleric spellcasting is implied in the setting. The biggest group of clerics would be the Grolims. Another prominent cleric is Salmissra. Both of those have been shown using magic.

Wizards are mostly Dals for the most part. All those arcane studies at Kell certainly seem to scream Wizard. This class IMO would be something the DM would have to approve for PC use before hand, particularly if the character is not a Dal.

Druid may seem like an odd choice, but this seems like a good choice for Vordai. This is another class that should be pretty rare, and subject to DM approval (especially if the DM would prefer something like Adept for Vordai).

I'm not familiar with most non-standard core classes, so I haven't listed them. Psions don't really fit in the setting. The core classes from OA don't really fit either. The only other one I can think of offhand is the Favored Soul, which the DM could choose to sub for the cleric.

Prestige Classes

Ok, first off, my 3e library is pretty small and it's entirely pre-3.5. Some of these classes might have been updated in 3.5 splats, but I'm not taking the time to look for them. Only 3.5 ref I'm using is the SRD.

DMG

• Archmage
• Duelist
• Loremaster
• Mystic Theurge

Sword and Fist

• Cavalier
• Devoted Defender
• Warmaster
• Weapon Master

Song and Silence

• Outlaw of the Crimson Road
• Spymaster
• Thief-Acrobat

Oriental Adventures

• Bear Warrior

For the most part, the PrCs I picked weren't partial spellcasting classes or made use of ki powers or the like. Or they just felt like they fit the setting.

Loremaster I see as largely being taken by Dals. There might be Grolim Mystic Theurges. Cavalier is the main Mimbrate PrC, Warmasters get trained in places like Tol Honeth and Mal Zeth, Spymaster is taken by Drasnians (no surprise there!), and I can see Chereks as Bear Warriors. The others seem pretty generic enough for any PC.

The setting also warrants a few unique PrCs.

• Asturian Sharpshooter. Order of the Bow Initiate in S&F seemed like a close fit for an Asturian PrC, but some of the ablities were magical in nature. My ideas for this PrC was to be something similar but without magic. If there's a PrC in Complete Warrior or something that does this, then that could be used.
• Dagashi Agent. These are the deadly Murgo spies and assassins trained at the mountain fortress of Kahsha deep in the Great Desert of Araga. They specialize in the use of the adder-sting and unarmed combat. I didn't go with the standard Assassin PrC because of the spellcasting (it could make a good basis for the class though).
• Dalasian Seer. These are the most mysterious and powerful spellcasters in the entire setting and they wield enormous power. They generally stay in Kell though, awating for the moment of the final CHOICE that will determine the fate of the enitre universe.
• Sha-Dar. Algar horsemen who can telepathically communicate with horses. They get Wild Empathy at level 1 of the PrC, however the Wild Empathy can only be used on equine beings (not just horses but Hrulgin as well). They can use the Wild Empathy to not only gain bonuses in mounted combat, but also to control any mounts of their opponents. (I'll bet this would be a popular PrC).
• Ulgo Diviner. Their affinity for subterranean places lets them navigate through caves with ease and even travel through solid rock. Maybe get stone shape as a class ability.

After this I was going to include Regional Feats as well. Well, I never got around to hammering out a list, and I'm not doing it right now. There's a handful that I know I was going to use. I was thinking of Luck of Heroes for Sendars, and Saddleback for Algars (naturally). Mercantile Background (or whatever its called) for Tolnedrans.

God and Domains

Here's the list of gods and domains I chose for them. Domain are from not just the core rules, but FRCS and OA as well. Issa gets a domain from the OA web enhancement.

Belar, Bear God of the Alorns
Alignment: Chaotic Good.
Domains: Chaos, Good, Strength, Hero, War.

Torak, Dragon God of the Angaraks
Alignment: Lawful Evil.
Favored Weapon: Longsword (Cthrek Goru).
Domains: Evil, Law, Tyranny, War.

Chaldan, Bull God of the Arends
Alignment: Lawful Good.
Domains: Good, Law, Nobility, Retribution, War.

Nedra, Lion God of the Tolnedrans
Alignment: Lawful Neutral.
Domains: Law, Planning, Trade.

Issa, Serpent God of the Nyissans
Alignment: Neutral.
Domains: Knowledge, Serpent, Trickery.

Mara, the Weeping God
No idea. Most of the time we see Mara, he's crying over his dead children, so no idea what domains to give him. Maybe Charm, and probably a domain related to fertility. If there's a domain related to beauty, he gets that. Possibly neutral good or chaotic good for alignment.

Aldur, the God Who Dwells Alone
Aldur's alignment is NG. He has no priests, so he has no domains.

UL, the Father of the Gods
Alignment: Lawful Good.
Domains: Cavern, Creation, Good, Law.

Eriond
Alignment: Neutral Good.
No idea about domains.

Monsters

• Algroth
• Dragon
• Dryad
• Eldrak
• Fenling
• Hrulga
• Ravener
• Rock Wolf

No stats, but this is the list of monsters for the campaign. Other entries would be that flesh-eating tree from Nyissa, and demons.

Magic

There was to be some notes on magic use, stuff like the Will and the Word and so on. There's also the ability to sense magic be used, I figure a spell can be felt a certain distance away based on level, the distance increases for each level of the spell. A caster can reduce the radius by casting the spell more slowly, with 1 round reducing the effective spell level for sensing by 1 level.

Raise dead cannot be cast in this setting, period. This also applies to resurrection and true resurrection

Sorcerers in the campaign are effectively immortal WRT aging. They can be killed, however. The disciples of Torak are also immortal.

Demon summoning: I was originally thinking of making the Morind and Karand magicians a seperate class because of the demon summoning powers, but I decided to just let that be a normal spell. That's because in Belgarath the Sorcerer, we see Belgarath summoning up a Demon Lord when confronted by the Morindim horde. Doing magician as a seperate class would have made that a bit more difficult to handle rules wise (though Belgarath states that as the Child of Light at the time, the Purpose may have allowed him to control a demon he otherwise wouldn't be able to).

The campaign world does not have ordinary magic items, and Item Creation feats are unavailable. There are a small number of artifacts though:

• Cthrag Sardius
• Mrin Codex
• Orb of Aldur/Cthrag Yaska
• Sword of the Rivan King

Character List

Here's most of the main characters from the books. I have classes listed, but not to many hard and fast level. Just a starting point for DMs.

The disciples of Aldur: They get Knowledge (any) as a class skill (since they all spend their time in study). They should all have the polymorph spell, or shapechange if their level is high enough (the focus being the silver amulets, not the standard jade circlets). The telepathic communication should be represented by a variant of Rary's telepathic bond.

There are only 2 characters in the campaign over level 20, Belgarath and Zedar.

Belgarath the Sorcerer
human sorcerer 25, N.

This is the highest level anyone in the campaign has, period. Nobody should be more powerful than Belgarath anyway. He should have a variety of Knowledge skills, as well as Perform.

Zedar the Apostate
human sorcerer 24, NE.

Even though Zedar is Torak's third disciple, he follows the rules listed above for the disciples of Aldur.

Polgara the Sorceress
human sorcerer 20, LG.

Polgara is the highest level non-epic character in the setting. She should also have a 23 Charisma. Skills should include Profession (physician) and/or Knowledge (medicine), Profession (cook), Diplomacy, and Knowledge (nobility and royalty). Perhaps Spell Focus (Enchantment) as a feat (and even Greater Spell Focus).

Belgarion the Godslayer and Overlord of the West
?, LG

Ok, here's where the D&D rules get in the way. Garion of course should be a fighter/sorcerer build....except that the whole fighter mage build always sucks in D&D. I was going to get around this little predicament with the Orb of Aldur and the Sword of the Rivan King (sort of like the Orb gives him +10 caster levels, negates arcane spell failure and so on). Since the PCs will likely never be using the Orb of Aldur, insane overpower is ok.

The Companions:
No levels for Garion's friends but most of them I'd put at levels 10-15.


Barak
Cherek barbarian/bear warrior, CG

Using the Bear Warrior PrC for the whole "Dreadful Bear" stuff.

Silk, aka Ambar of Kotu, aka Radek of Boktor, aka Prince Kheldar of Drasnia
Drasnian rogue/spymaster, CG

Yeah, this shouldn't be too hard to guess. When I read the Spymaster PrC in Song and Silence, Silk immeditately came to mind. Silk should have at least 4 levels in the PrC by the time of the Belgariad, his two cover identities being Ambar of Kotu and Radek of Boktor. Normally as a DM, I wouldn't allow both identities to be the same profession, but whatever. During the Mallorean, he has at least 7 levels in the class, giving him his 3rd identity, Prince Kheldar. Now using his own identity as a cover identity really bends the rules, but it's one of Silk's usual over-convoluted Drasnian games. He should have Appraise, Gather Information, Profession (merchant), and Disguise among his skills.

Durnik
Sendar expert/sorcerer?, LG.

Durnik'll be a little tricky to stat out with his two lives. Start him out as an Expert for his smithing skill, moving him over to sorcerer after the Belgariad.

Lelldorin
Arend fighter/Asturian sharpshooter, CG.

Lelldorin's just a fighter with a big focus on ranged attacks. He should have Point Blank Shot and at least some if not all of the related feats. Weapon Focus and Specialization (longbow). Perhaps Improved Critical (longbow). He should have Craft (fletcher) on his skill list.

Mandorallen
Arend fighter/cavalier, LG.

Really, can anyone NOT picture Mandorallen with the Cavalier PrC? Naturally, he gets the Ride skill, along with Mounted Combat and its related feats (except Mounted Archery). Weapon Focus and Specialization (lance).

Hettar
Algar fighter/Sha-Dar, CG.

Of course Hettar's Ride skill should be completely maxed. He also should have Handle Animal. He gets a full set of Mounted Combat feats like Mandorallen. Weapon Focus and Specialization (scimitar) (closest equivalent to the saber).

Ce'Nedra
Half-dryad/Tolnedran Aristocrat LN.

Ce'Nedra doesn't qualify for a PC class. Aristocrat fits, I'd say about level 10.

Relg
Ulgo cleric/Ulgo mystic, LG.

Sadi
Nyissan expert/aristocrat, LN.

Sadi should have Profession (herbalist), and any other skill that'll help him use poisons and stuff. Maybe even Craft (alchemy). Also Diplomacy.

Velvet
Drasnian rogue, NG.

Toth
Dal fighter, N.

Toth should have Weapon Focus and Specialization (quarterstaff). He might even have the Devoted Defender PrC as Cyradis' guide.

Zakath
Mallorean aristocrat 15, LN.

Beldin
human sorcercer 18, N.

Poledra
awakened wolf druid/shifter, NG.

Yeah, you read that right.

Now for the bad guys:

Ctuchik
Murgo cleric or sorcerer, LE.

Urvon
Mallorean cleric or sorcerer, LE.

Zandramas
Melcene sorcerer, NE.

Taur Urgas
Murgo fighter 10, LE.

Chamdar, aka Asharak the Murgo
Murgo sorcerer 16/17, LE.

Other characters:

Salmissra
Nyissan/awakened huge viper snake cleric 15+, LN.

Cyradis
Dal wizard 10/Dalasian seer 10, N.

I think you limit yourself just a little too much by removing the Bard and the Ranger from the setting.

Use the Martial Ranger alternate features out of the Complete Warrior to cover people like the Algar.

Bards are appropriate to the setting world as well. Minstrels are very appropriate for the Arendish culture and the jack-of-all-trades adventurer type of bard with Perform: Oratory to inspire his allies with shouts of encouragement can be found just about anywhere. Heck, even his limited selection of charm and illusion magic falls under the Hedge Mage category quite nicely.

- Marty Lund