Gifts

What are Gifts?

The Gift system is a replacement for the old sub-race mechanics. Rather than have each individual race come with its own character template of particular special abilities of statistic alterations, the gift system allows for a much greater level of character customisation.

Upon character creation after one has entered the world of Arelith, you will be presented with a list of optional 'Gifts' to select. Each chosen will effect your new character in a subtle fashion. However, many gifts will cause a modification to your ECL 'Effective Character Level' The more Gifts you have and the more powerful they are, the higher your ECL will be, altering the amount of XP you acquire and thus the amount of time your character takes to level up.

It is also recommended that you have a reason behind each of your choices. Players are discouraged from taking things for purely mechanical or power gaming reasons.

How many Gifts can I have?

You may take as many as three gifts.

Can I change my Gifts?

Once chosen, gifts may never be lost nor may further gifts be taken later in a characters life. Be very certain before finalising your choices!

Gifts

Gift	Effect	ECL
Gift of Might	STR +2	+1
Gift of Grace	DEX +2	+1
Gift of Endurance	CON +2	+0.5
Gift of Learning	INT +2	+1
Gift of Insight	WIS +2	+1
Gift of Confidence	CHA +2	+1
Gift of Wealth	+1,000 gold on start, and each in-game month the character is active	+0.5
Gift of Tongues	Able to learn 4 more languages, faster (as if natural intelligence was 8 points higher)	+1
Gift of Hardiness	5/- fire, cold, electric, acid	+1
Gift of Darkness	Darkness 1/day	+0.5
Gift of Hiding	Invisibility 1/day	+0.5
Gift of Light	Light 1/day	0
Gift of the Gab	Bluff +6	+0.5
Gift of the Hunter	Spot +6	+0.5
Gift of the Sneak	Hide +4, Move silently +4	+1
Gift of Fortune	All saves +1	+1
Gift of Stardom	Perform +6	+0.5
Gift of Craftsmanship	Crafting Points +10	+1
Gift of Humility	All abilities -2	-2
Gift of the (Un)Holy	Allows non-cleric to consecrate, but not desecrate altars	+0.5
Gift of Unique Favor	Allows character to ignore deity race restrictions	+0.5
Gift of Greenfingers	Allows non-nature character to tend plants	+0.5
Gift of Subrace	Grants the bonuses of your chosen subrace at the ECL of that subrace	Varies

ECL

Main article: ECL

ECL, or effective character level, is a mechanic that modifies the amount of experience that a character receives for killing NPCs. A character with ECL +1 is treated as having a level 1 higher than normal for the purposes of calculating XP received. This serves to balance out the benefits that a character receives for choosing gifts by causing them to level more slowly.

ECL does not influence the maximum level achievable on Arelith. All characters can reach level 30.