WIZARDRY V: HEART OF THE MAELSTROM Character Creation Guide 1.1 Written By: arch_8ngel Version Information: 1.0 - Original Release of Character Creation Guide. 1.1 - Added additional information to Section IV.B and Section V. ================================================================================ Contents: (I) - Introduction (II) - Baseline Attributes (III) - Class Requirements (IV) - Bonus Point Guide (IV.A) - Race/Class Combination Requirements (IV.B) - Bonus Point Statistics (V) - Observations and Notes ================================================================================ (I) - Introduction: This is a character creation guide for Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom for the SNES. The baseline attributes for each race are provided, as well as the requirements for all 8 classes. The unique feature of this guide is actually breaking down how many bonus points each race needs to start as a given class, along with providing some observations on the occurrence of extremely high bonus rolls. Hopefully this guide will provide a convenient resource for character creating and provide some reassurance that it is POSSIBLE (given enough time) to start ANY race as ANY class! Remember...patience is a virtue! ================================================================================ (II) - Baseline Attributes: | Strength | I.Q. | Devotion | Vitality | Agility | Luck -------+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Human | 8 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 -------+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Elf | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 6 -------+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Dwarf | 10 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 6 -------+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Gnome | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 7 -------+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Hobbit | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 15 ================================================================================ (III) - Class Requirements: | G | N | E | Strength | I.Q. | Devotion | Vitality | Agility | Luck --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Fighter | | | | 11 | | | | | --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Mage | | | | | 11 | | | | --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Cleric | | X | | | | 11 | | | --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Thief | X | | | | | | | 11 | --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Wizard | | X | | | 12 | 12 | | | --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Samurai | | | X | 15 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 10 | --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Lord | O | | | 15 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 15 --------+---+---+---+----------+------+----------+----------+---------+------ Ninja | | | O | 15 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 The first three columns denote Alignment Restrictions: "X" means the class CANNOT start with the marked alignment. "O" means the class MUST start with the marked alignment. ================================================================================ (IV) - Bonus Point Guide: Character creation in dungeon crawlers is exciting and horribly tedious at the same time. On one hand, the thrill of getting a tremendously high bonus roll and being able to start with any character you choose can be extremely satisfying. On the other hand, spending hours rolling characters before you actually play the game can sap your energy quickly. This guide should help you decide if it's worth the fuss to keep rerolling or if you want to start out with a more basic party and change classes later in the game after your attributes have developed. (IV.A) - Race/Class Combination Requirements | Fighter | Mage | Cleric | Thief | Wizard | Samurai | Lord | Ninja -------+---------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---------+------+------- Human | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 23 | 37 | 48 -------+---------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---------+------+------- Elf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 35 | 46 -------+---------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---------+------+------- Dwarf | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 35 | 46 -------+---------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---------+------+------- Gnome | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 34 | 45 -------+---------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---------+------+------- Hobbit | 6 | 4 | 4 | | 10 | 25 | 31 | 42 NOTE: Table lists minimum bonus points required to start with a certain class. Use section (III) to determine how to distribute the points correctly. (IV.B) - Bonus Point Statistics This morning I thought it would be a "fun" math experiment to record the odds of achieving certain bonus rolls. I will give this more time later, but for today I rolled 200 characters and here were the outcomes: Bonus | # Rolled | % Rolled (of 200) ======+==========+========= 7 | 53 | 26.5 ------+----------+--------- 8 | 51 | 25.5 ------+----------+--------- 9 | 40 | 20.0 ------+----------+--------- 10 | 48 | 24.0 ======+==========+========= 17 | 4 | 2.0 ------+----------+--------- *18 | 0 | 0.0 ------+----------+--------- *19 | 0 | 0.0 ------+----------+--------- 20 | 3 | 1.5 ======+==========+========= 47 | 1 | 0.5 *Now, the important thing to remember is that I haven't rolled enough times to get values of 18, 19 or anything between 20 and 47. I know from past experience that 18 and 19 should show up just as frequently as 17 and 20, so I'll try this again when I'm bored and go for 1000 trials to see if the distribution fills out a little bit better. I seem to recall that I rolled a 37 back in the old days with my SNES; I NEVER thought I'd get a whopping 47! This implies that, perhaps, a 48 could be rolled, in which case even a HUMAN could start as a NINJA!!! The 47 guarantees that any race could start as any class, with the previously noted exception. I probably spent half an hour rolling the values above, so it's certainly doable. EDIT (V 1.1): Over the last few months since this guide has been posted I've received multiple emails from people who have clobbered my 47 bonus point record. Here are the records: Name: Bonus: ----- ------ Jacob 59 Tony 60 (numerous times -- a real Wizardry addict) Matthew 60 (following a 47) Warren (Drunken Genie) 60 Clearly, it's possible to roll a 60, which would have to be the maximum limit, since you're restricted to a 10 point addition per category, over six possible stats. Still...60 points...WOW! ================================================================================ (V) - Observations and Notes: * Bonus rolls aren't altered by race or alignment * Hobbits are INATELY thieves as long as they are not good * Choose Elves, Dwarves or Gnomes, for the best odds of starting as a Samurai * Hobbits provide the best odds for Lords or Ninjas due to their VERY high Agility and Luck * It is only possible to add 10 bonus points to any attribute: IMPORTANT - This DOES NOT prevent any initial race/class combinations! EDIT (V 1.1): * It is possible to get 60 bonus points to start with! Tenacity pays off! ================================================================================ THANKS - Thank you for reading my first FAQ. Hopefully you found it helpful.