Effectively a special type of Companion, the Thane must be created by selecting a race, culture and profession as with other Companions. On top of the benefits provided by these factors, they come with the following:
- Bonus to Command checks (most snap and extended Actions) when they are present,
- Bonus to Acumen, Expertise, Guile, Presence or Strategy checks based on their profession,
- Starting reputation with a non-player faction based on their profession
Finally each Thane must have a reason for coming to the Borderlands; this is represented by selecting one choice from the set of Opportunities. Each of the Opportunities influences the available Goals your Faction may attain and will skew results thematically; they will also trigger a number of early-campaign quests in combination with the Ties chosen for your Skald.
Example: Delvin is a Warrior Thane so receives the Command bonus and a bonus to Strategy. As his player has chosen Seeks Glory for him, this opens up the the following Goals: Sought By Name, Decisive Challenge and Hears A Song Not Of Their Making. In the second month of the campaign the combination of Seeks Glory and Life Debt trigger an encounter where he has the choice of whether to permit Kari to take a permanent wound on his behalf, enabling him to successfully complete an otherwise only partially successful rescue.