Gifts

Gifts

Character Creation
Characters on Arelith:
Race - Alignment
Deity - Class
Gifts - Backgrounds
Mark of Destiny
Epic Sacrifice
Customization
Head List

The Gifts system allows characters to be empowered beyond the usual traits of their sub-race.

Introduction

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, most 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. The number and power of gifts each character may take will depend on their subrace's base ECL.

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?

The number of Gifts a character may take depends on its subrace's base ECL, with fewer allowed to those with higher ECL.

A Minor Gift may be taken in place of a Major Gift, if desired.

Subrace ECL

ECL	Race
+0	NWN common races and subraces, Deep Imaskari, Kobold, Forest Gnome, Goblin
+1	Duergar, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, Aasimar, Tiefling, Derro
+2	Drow, Ogre, Fey, Orog, Svirfneblin
+3	Imp, Vampire

Gifts Allowed by Subrace ECL

ECL	Major	Minor
+0	2	1
+1	1	1
+2	0	1
+3	0	0

Example:

• A Drow, having a base ECL of +2, may take only one Minor Gift.

• A Human, having a base ECL of +0, may take as many as two Major Gifts and one Minor Gift.

Note that lowering your ECL with any award will not allow you to take additional gifts than what you should. Neither you can take the same gifts twice.

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

Major Gifts are listed in bold text.

Gift	Effect	ECL
Gift of Might	STR +2	+1
Gift of Grace	DEX +2	+1
Gift of Endurance	CON +2	+1
Gift of Learning	INT +2	+1
Gift of Insight	WIS +2	+1
Gift of Confidence	CHA +2	+1
Gift of Wealth	+5,000 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% damage immunity to fire, cold, electric, acid	+0.5
Gift of Darkness	Darkness 1/day	+0.5
Gift of Hiding	Invisibility with 8 minute cooldown time between uses	+0.5
Gift of Light	Light 1/day	0
Gift of the Gab	Bluff +6	0
Gift of Lightfingers	Pickpocket +6	0
Gift of the Hunter	Spot +6	0
Gift of the Sneak	Hide +4, Move silently +4	0
Gift of Fortune	All saves +2	+1
Gift of Stardom	Perform +6	0
Gift of Craftsmanship	Daily Crafting Points +10, Tradeskills +10	+1
Gift of Humility	All abilities -2	-2
Gift of the (Un)Holy	Allows non-cleric to hold ceremonies and to consecrate/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 Melee-magthere	+2 CON, -2 CHA. Drow only	0
Gift of the Clergy	+2 WIS, -2 DEX. Drow only	0
Gift of the Magi	-2 STR, -2 DEX +4 CHA. Ogre only	0

The Gift of Subrace doesn't exist anymore. Racial properties are applied automatically to all characters. In the character sheet, the base racial feats may appear, but they have no effect and the actual stats are applied as permanent buffs and skill penalties.

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.