I want to really quickly talk about character creation in Hammercalled, since I'm trying to move into playtesting and also dusting off the system. There's a character creation example in the Rules Reference, but it doesn't hurt to have a second (and I'm going for slightly different things this time).

I've got two upcoming test campaigns, neither of which are in a setting that I'm planning to publish (one of which is not mine, the other of which is but is strictly just a campaign framework). I don't like running games in my settings until they're more mature than any of the ones I'm currently tying to Hammercalled are.

The character I'm making is sort of half Roman legionary and half magical assassin (which I settled on mid-character creation, so don't blame me).

Attributes

First, you decide on attributes for the character. There's an array-based system, or a roll-based system (these should not be used simultaneously for optimal balance).

The Attributes system is designed to give a common ground for comparing characters against each other.

Living dangerously, I roll attributes (15+2d10 for each):

24, 19, 28, 23, 24, 30, 28

These are then distributed between the seven attributes: Combat Skill, Brawn, Grace, Toughness, Awareness, Intellect, Charm

I want to make a rough-and-ready soldier in a fantasy setting, so I distribute:

CS 30, BR 28, GR 24, TO 28, AW 24, IN 23, CH 19

Once that's done, I calculate Stamina: 13 (10+best attribute's tens place), Wounds: 6 (5+worst attribute's tens place), and Initiative: 36 (GR+half AW, or AW+half GR, whichever is greater). Characters also get Destiny points, but that's for a later day (this guy starts with 2).

Specializations

The soldier will have two Specializations, which are the way that Hammercalled handles skills. Insted of going on a pre-made list, he's going to choose a Career (a fluffy in-universe lifepath that he's followed a great distance), and a Position (think of this like a starting position in a job, or a hobby).

In this case, the soldier is a Vanguard of the Halori Empire (Career) and a Cultist of the Unspoken God (position).

The Vanguards of the Halori Empire are an elite force inspired by Roman legionaries. They are elite special forces, however, relying on magic as a force multiplier to allow them to fight behind enemy lines.

The character gets six IAATs from their career:

• IAAT engage opponents in melee combat
• IAAT use stealth and surprise to gain an advantage against enemies
• IAAT survive in the wilderness even when I am unprepared
• IAAT use spells to mask my presence and assail my enemies
• IAAT use my authority and respected position among the Halori to get my way
• IAAT impersonate members of other societies and cultures

Each of the Vanguard IAATs provides a +15 bonus.

As a Cultist of the Unspoken God, the character specializes in hunting down the forbidden deities of the setting and identifying their followers.

• IAAT identify cultists of forbidden gods and their sites of worship
• IAAT follow the teachings Church of the Unspoken God

Each of the Cultist IAATs provides a +5 bonus

Talents

Next, the character's player chooses talents. I have five points to spend in any way I choose.

Combat Reflexes (1) for +5 Initiative and Critical Strike (1) for bonus damage are both appealing, especially given the character's martial background (and iffy Initiative score).

I take Quick Reaction (2) for an extra Reaction to defend with, and Unfazed (1) for a bonus when trying to remove status effects. This my soldier a good balance of increased damage output and defensive abilities.

Gear

Now it's time to choose the character's gear. We get three choices: one is higher tier than the others (getting a Greater Advance worth 3 points), and two are lower tier (getting a Standard Advance worth 2 points) but still fairly effective.

I'm going to choose a Broadsword from the rules reference (it's a low-tier melee weapon, giving 4 base damage, and it has the Parrying Quality for 1 point and +1 damage from the base with the other point), and Full Plate-Mail (this is high-tier starting gear, but provides 9 Protection–a tremendous amount for a starting character–at the cost of reducing defenses, which is fine because Reactions can negate this penalty).

Because the Full Plate-Mail is a little bit more complex I want to talk about the math that goes into it. Basic armor starts with 2 Protection, which is directly reduced from incoming damage. Put 3 points from a Greater Advance (the more points you put in at once, the better; three points gives 6 Protection) and that goes up to 8. Encumbering gives one more point to spend on Protection (only worth 1 because I can't add it to the previous three points spent), but gives a -10 penalty to defense rolls. This guy isn't planning on getting hurt regardless of how much he gets hit, so it's a good trade-off.

Finally, he'll take a stealth incantation. This will be a tool, which by default gives a +5 bonus to certain skill rolls. We'll spend two points (he's already chosen high-tier starting gear, so this last piece has to be low-tier starting gear) to increase that to +10. He wants to be able to use his stealth in plate-mail, which typically requires magic of some sort per fantasy conventions.

Finishing Touches

Characters get 40 XP to spend per the character advancement rules. Putting 1 point into Charm is obvious since tens places are very important in Hammercalled, so we do that to get Charm to 20, giving our guy an instant extra Wound in the process, so he'll stay alive just a bit longer (and be miserable while doing so). That costs a mere 2 XP (twice the current tens-place), so it's a very logical expenditure.

We buy the Defender talent for twice its point cost (16 XP) to make those two Reactions a little more useful, since they now provide +15 instead of +10 to defense rolls (going beyond the Encumbering penalty from the armor).

We'll spend an additional 10 points of XP to increase the Stealth Incantation's Standard Advance to a Greater Advance (and take the bonus from +10 to +15), and a Lesser Advance for 4 XP to give the stealth incantation the Lend Aid ability, reflecting the magic's ability to help the Vanguard's allies.

With 8 XP left, why not put a Lesser Advance on each of the other pieces of gear?

The Broadsword gains the Incendiary (1) quality, becoming a Flaming Broadsword and now posing a much greater threat to enemies, and that Full Plate-Mail becomes Feathered Plate Mail, using that Lesser Advance to buy off the Encumbering quality.

Breakdown

The Vanguard has the following game stats when he's done:
Combat Skill: 30
Brawn: 28
Grace: 24
Toughness: 28
Awareness: 24
Intellect: 23
Charm: 20
Stamina: 13
Wounds: 7
Initiative: 36
Destiny: 2

Career: Vanguard of the Halori Empire (+15)

• IAAT engage opponents in melee combat
• IAAT use stealth and surprise to gain an advantage against enemies
• IAAT survive in the wilderness even when I am unprepared
• IAAT use spells to mask my presence and assail my enemies
• IAAT use my authority and respected position among the Halori to get my way
• IAAT impersonate members of other societies and cultures

Position: Cultist of the Unspoken God (+5)

• IAAT identify cultists of forbidden gods and their sites of worship
• IAAT follow the teachings Church of the Unspoken God

Gear: Flaming Broadsword (Melee Weapon)

Damage 5, Parrying (1), Incendiary (1)

Gear: Feathered Plate-Mail (Armor)

Protection 9

Gear: Stealth Incantation

+15 to Stealth, Lend Aid (1)

Talents:

Combat Reflexes, Critical Strike, Quick Reaction, Unfazed, Defender

I haven't yet made a character sheet, but I think that Hammercalled does just about as well as you can get with just jotting notes down for a tabletop roleplaying game. There is an old character sheet that I made, but it needs serious updates to the current style.

One thing I'm feeling as I go through character creation in Hammercalled is how many little levers you can pull to achieve big shifts in how a character feels and works. Those gear changes at the end go from having a character who is very generic and could fit in most settings to a character who is explicitly a fantasy character and has some really interesting combat and party roles.

Side-note; I'm picturing the character looking a little like this (image courtesy Etrusia via Wikimedia Commons), so full-plate isn't fully matching the vision, but you can justify it as armor plus shield if you want).