In order to play Milhamah RPG, players will need to go through the character generation process to brainstorm and create their agents, or their own avatars who live in the “Milhamah” world of Avgad. The best way to do this is to fill out a character sheet from start to finish.
Name your character
In the Milhamah universe, names are very important since they reflect a deeper truth about who a person is.
The ideal way to come up with a name set in the Milhamah universe is to consult the Shoresh Index or a real dictionary for a Semitic language for inspiration on an authentic name based on Hebrew, Aramaic, Akkadian, Arabic, etc. The naming guide in this rulebook will offer detailed instructions for how to make a Hebrew name.
However, it’s natural that many beginning players will want to just get started on an adventure without having to research a character in depth. If the Narrator wishes to play casually, a player may name themselves anything, such as Bob or Suzie, and then pick out a main shoresh that they want to specialize in.
A more middle-of-the-road approach could have the player and the Narrator may work together to come up with an appropriate shoresh for a desired name. For instance, a player who wants a character named Flame could be linked to a shoresh like להט, or a character named Rocky could be linked to אבן. Again, the Shoresh Index could be a major help here.
Roll for attributes
Playable agents in “Milhamah” have seven primary attributes, each given a color of the rainbow. Those attributes are DOM (Dominance), VIG (Vigor), GRA (Grace), CRE (Creativity), WIS (Wisdom), PEA (Peace) and BLE (Blessing).
Roll the standard 8D (using two colors) three times for a normal human-level character, or four times for a more heroic character. Match the corresponding letters to their attribute, and count a point toward that stat each time a letter shows up as follows. Count Wild faces in their own WIL category. A wild face means the player may pick which attribute the point goes.
DOM: ה ע פ
VIG: כ ש י
GRA: ט ת ז
CRE: ד ל ח
WIS: ב ו מ
PEA: א ס ר
BLE: ג צ נ ק
Example: Jon rolls
DOM: 1 3 1
VIG: 1 3 5
GRA: 2 1 1
CRE: 2 0 0
WIS: 3 0 2
PEA: 0 3 2
BLE: 3 1 0
WIL: 0 1 1
Final point totals: DOM: 5 VIG: 9 GRA: 4 CRE: 2 WIS: 5 PEA: 5 BLE: 4 WIL: 2
You can buy stats in the following way:
1 point: 1D
3 points: 2D
6 points: 3D
10 points: 4D
15 points: 5D
21 points: 6D
28 points: 7D
36 points: 8D
45 points: 9D
55 points: 10D
66 points: 11D
78 points: 12D
Under this system, Jon uses his two wild points and adds 1 point toward VIG and the other toward CRE. As a result, his final stats are:
DOM: 6 (3R) VIG: 9 (3R) GRA: 4 (2R) CRE: 3 (2R) WIS: 5 (2R) PEA: 5 (2R) BLE: 4 (2R)
Rolling four times produces the following:
DOM: 10 (4R) VIG: 10 (4R) GRA: 6 (3R) CRE: 3 (2R) WIS: 7 (3R) PEA: 6 (3R) BLE: 6 (3R)
Pick your Kind
Next it’s turn to play which species, or kind, your agent is. Humans, known as the sons of Adam (ben Adam), are not alone in the work of Avgad. They share their domains with an assortment of wondrous sentient creatures, such as Anaq giants, golems, Bat Qol sound spirits, Nefil demigods, Malakh angels and more. At the Narrator’s discretion, an agent may even be a miscellaneous animal or monster!
Playing a character with a different kind opens up new possibilities, since each kind tends to live in its own civilization and culture. The kind’s shoresh will give you an extra speech act, and player attributes usually get adjusted too.
Consider your appearance
Describe what your character looks like. Any features that makes him stand out, like birthmarks, scars or tattoos, would be worth mentioning. Fashion styles or jewelry; height and weight (within game size constraints); as well as eye, hair and skin color should be kept in mind.
Pick your Part
There are 12 different main Parts of Speech that you can choose from in the base game of Milhamah RPG. You modify your stats and also flavor your character by picking one of these parts, which act as classes in other RPGs.
Pick out skills and abilities
Your character may get 4DN skill points to buy skills (remove die number of your choice). Skill proficiencies are added to relevant attributes when it’s time to reroll, up to a maximum of 12R.
Skill scaling system
1 point: +1R
2 points: +2R
4 points: +3R
6 points: +4R
9 points: +5R
12 points: +6R
16 points: +7R
20 points: +8R
25 points: +9R
30 points: +10R
36 points: +11R
Get paid, buy starting gear
Agents often start with a few sample starting items base don their Part. But they also get starting pay in sheqalim (₪) based on 10* X+1DN after removing a die result of your choice, where X = the agent’s BLE number. All dice should be the same color unless you must roll more than four. Then make the rest a second color unless you go beyond 8. Use the full gematria on each die toward your number, but Wilds = 0.
Example: Leah rolls the wealth of her character, Soreq Qisshur. Qisshur’s BLE is 2R, so Leah gets ready to roll 3D and disregard whichever die she wants. She rolls a ש-ב-ט, or a 300, 2 and 9. She drops the 2 and multiplies the total by 10, giving her ₪390.
Civilians may buy starting equipment from the civilian shop. ‘Ivrit or Ḥeleq characters may buy from the civilian market, the military suppliers or, lastly at the Narrator’s discretion, the black market. Feel free to spend it and add items to your inventory. Or just pocket the sheqalim for a rainy day.
The most famous restaurant chain in Avgad is Qafeh Teh, a cafe famous for its cafe, tea and light meals. There usually is at least one in every city, town and outpost.