Friday, October 4, 2013

Ideas about Alternative Zero-level Character Generation for DCC

So, I was was thinking about something +Adam Muszkiewicz and I were discussing a while back: The character creation process for the original Traveler system. Stuff happened to your prior to your life as an adventurer. I'd like to do something similar for DCC. Here are the bones of it.
  • Start with 3 character attributes at 10 and three at 11, distributed however you want them.
  • You begin at an age of 13.
  • You may be of either sex.
  • Roll on the Occupation Table of your choice, or use Purple Sorcerer's excellent character generator. This roll represents your parent's (pick one) profession. 
After that, you're going to go through a process of determining what has happened so far in your life, before you decided to become an adventurer. Along the way, you will have a change to change your attributes (by rolling for them according to the circumstances you encounter) and using the following results. Note: This is also the table you'll use later, when you are told to make a roll against one or more attributes. None of your attributes can go below 3 or above 18. Ignore any rolls that would achieve either of those results.

3 (-3)
4-5 (-2)
6-8 (-1)
9-12 (+0)
13-15 (+1)
16-17 (+2)
18 (+3)

Then, roll on the following tables, using the results as inspiration for your life's story prior to becoming an adventurer:

Where are you from? (d16)

  • 1-5 A farm
  • 6-8 A village
  • 9-10 A town
  • 11-12 A city
  • 13-14 A wilderness area
  • 15 A war zone
  • 16 Nomadic

What did you do for the first part of your life? (roll a d24)

  • 1-8 You carry on the family tradition, following in the footsteps of your mother/father (roll once against each attribute). Hereafter, ignore any result that makes you change your occupation. Add 1d10 years to your age.
  • 9-10 You are press-ganged by a high noble for a war. Change your occupation to "person-at-arms." Make rolls against Strength, Agility, Stamina. Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 11-12 You run away from your home to pursue a personal ambition (pick an occupation associated with that ambition). Make rolls against Stamina, Personality, and Luck. Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 13-14 You are driven in shame from your home because of something terrible that you did (or are reputed to have done). Make rolls against Stamina and Intelligence. Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 15-16 You become a juvenile delinquent. Make rolls against Agility and Luck. Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 17-18 You receive formal schooling. Make rolls against Intelligence and Luck.Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 19-20 You get religion. Make rolls against Intelligence and Personality. Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 21-22 Apprenticeship. Make rolls against either Intelligence and Personality/Strength and Agility/Stamina and Luck. Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 23 You are blessed or corrupted in some manner. Roll against all attributes, modifying each as warranted.  Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 24 Roll twice on this table.

What happened next? (roll a d24)

  • 1-12 You decided to become an adventurer. Make a roll against one Attribute (as determined by 1d6) Enter zero-level funnel.
  • 13-16 You carry on what you were doing last time. Make the same rolls as before and add 1d10 to your age, and enter zero-level funnel.
  • 17-18 You encounter a crisis event. Make rolls against Luck and one other attribute (as determined by 1d6).  Add 1d5 years to your age.
  • 19-20 You change the course of your life. Roll on the previous table, ignoring repeated results, and add 1d10 to your age.
  • 21 You marry. Make rolls against two of Personality, Intelligence, or Luck. Add 1d10 to your age.
  • 22 You study with a master. Roll twice against two attributes of your choice. Take the higher result of each roll. Add 1d20 to your age.
  • 23 You become an addict. Roll twice against two attributes (as determined by 1d6). Take the less lower result of each roll. Add 1d20 to your age.
  • 24 Roll d12+12 twice on this table.

What caused you to become an adventurer? (roll a d10)

  • 1 Famine: Make a roll against either Intelligence or Stamina. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 2 War: Make a roll against either Strength or Agility. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 3 Pestilence: Make a roll against either Stamina or Luck. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 4 Death: Make a roll against either Strength or Luck. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 5 Epiphany: Make a roll against either Intelligence or Personality. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 6 Dream: Make a roll against either Stamina or Personality. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 7 Avarice: Make a roll against either Personality or Agility. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 8  Boredom: Make a roll against either Intelligence or Luck. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 9 Serendipity: Make a roll against two attributes of your choice. Add 1d5 to your age.
  • 10 Roll twice on this table.


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