What Background Charts Say About Your World

One of my favorite quirks in that lovable mess of a book adorned with a scarlet butt-ugly hollering efreeti on its cover is the sudden, inexplicable lurching into polemic.

Take this section on Social Class in the DMG:

“There is no random table for determination of a character's social status to be found here. That is because the inclusion of such a factor will either tell you little or nothing of useful nature, or it will abridge your freedom with respect to development of your campaign milieu. That is, if such a table tells you only a little so as not to force a social structure upon your campaign, the table can contain nothing of use...There are dozens of possible government forms, each of which will have varying social classes, ranks, or castes. Which sort you choose for your milieu is strictly your own prerogative. While this game is loosely based on Feudal European technology, history and myth, it also contains elements from the Ancient Period, parts of more modern myth, and the mythos of many authors as well. Within its boundaries all sorts of societies and cultures can exist, and there is nothing to dictate that their needs be Feudal European.”

On the surface that's a totally bizarre way to begin a passage in a rulebook, “let me tell you all the things that aren't in here and why in detail.” Gygax was obviously responding to the trend of second-generation fantasy game competitors to tout background charts as providing a deeper social context.

Leaving aside the obvious self-interest, I love this passage as it reveals two things: 1. a profound insight into the imaginative big-tent reach of classic D&D and it's latitude for personalizing worlds (“why do any more imagining for you”); and 2. it's a concession in a way to the fact that such tables are a powerful way to subtly hardwire setting logic into character generation.

A quick paging through a few of the contenders of that era seems to validate this. Chivalry and Sorcery's starting background chart is a laser-focused on a long list of professions and classes--from serfs up to the lesser nobility--that clearly reflect a very narrow implied campaign world based in Northwestern Europe around the end of the 12^th century. It's random distributions while slightly weighted “unrealistically” toward not playing the bottom part of the pyramid. (Harnmaster would go full hog later giving you a 65 percent chance of playing a wide range of dirt-rooting peasants).

On a radically different note, let's take Stormbringer first edition, a game whose more flatly-distributed and divergent class background table typically generates a weird, wonderful, unbalanced grab bag of a party. It's not unusual to have a strange chaotic blend of PC backgrounds. A Melnibonean sorcerer-warrior-assassin tooling around with a pygmy hunter from Oin and a leprous beggar from Nadaskor. It's a set-up for campaigns even weirder than the books really.

Point is that each of these tables alone said as much and more about the setting and how the players fit in as the many pages of text yakking on about medieval society or the twisted words of Michael Moorcock. It's an elegant way to get around info-dump.

Winding up for my second point. What I take away from that DMG rant is not so much that such tables will break your D&D campaign, but that you have a choice as a DM to either run a “background is wholly what happens in the first three levels” approach (banking on bottom-up development) or custom fit a background table or subsystem to fit the contours of your own world.

Either works well I can attest from years running and playing—players in the HC are free to choose either road--but long-time readers will know that I have loved me some campaign-specific background generators over the years.

The background subsystem in the Hill Cantons Compendium says a good deal about the implied HC campaign world. There is both the obvious flavor elements—the landsknechts, dwarven indentured servants, mountebanks—and the somewhat deeper bits in the campaign logic itself.

The Weird touching the borderlands amplifies the chaos of human society. To be in that rootless group of crazies willingly exploring it something must have broken in your head. So the system tends to generate a background that is really tumultuous and zig-zaggy, a childhood and adolescence spent running from a crime to pushing a pike to having a mystic experience and the like.

I'm throwing a wall of text at you—and forgive me if it all sounds like a big stinking pile of pretentious poo—but it's a topic that I come back to a lot in my homebrewing. And I notice more than a few of my friends out there in the ether custom fitting their own tables and it makes me just want to play in their own worlds all the more.

And you? Have you made—or want to make—your own custom fits? Did it work?

Zero-Level Play

Each cycle of hype and release of new old-styled, commercially-produced rpgs elicits a (mostly) silent groan from me. Seems like one can not toss the proverbial stone into the OSR blogosphere without hitting a post about LotFP Grindhouse or Dungeon Crawl Classics. Cranky contrarian thoughts aside though, its undeniable especially in DCC's case there are some intriguing ideas percolating in the minds of Goodman Games.

For one, the game looks like it is expanding gameplay “downward” (much in the way that I have been thinking about rediscovering or unlocking gameplay upward in the Domain Game) to “zero-level play,” a concept I have been interested in ever since seeing Lenard Lakofka's overly-complex system in Dragon magazine way back when. 

I really like the idea of players going down even deeper into schlubiness; exploring their own origin story at the table. Rather than just talk about it, I reworked, trimmed down and synthesized some of my own chargen subsystems as a starting point for some simple guidelines for such play for older edition D&D.

The PDF for the full zero-level system can be downloaded here. Feel free to chime in about any suggestions.

Rules for Zero-Level Play

• All characters start at zero-level “normal men” with 1d6 hit points and Neutral alignment.
  
  
• Zero-level characters can be rolled using the alternate chargen and equipment tables below (see PDF).
  
  
• Human or elven characters with INT 13 or over start with one cantrip (0-level MU spell) OR human characters with WIS 13 or over start with one orison (0 level Cleric spell). Only one such type of spell can be chosen. See this BFRPG supplement for a list of spells (or use a comparable system).
  
  
• Any character with DEX 13 or over can attempt thief skills at -4%, all others at -10%. (Hear Noise is the same as first-level.)
  
  
• A zero-level character receives no extra AC benefits from armor heavier than chain mail due to unfamiliarity with its usage. Similarly use of weapons over 1d6 in damage convey a -1 to damage.
  
  
• At the completion of the party's first successful adventure (this can span multiple sessions at the GM's discretion) and a year of training the character levels up to 1^st level. In consultation with GM, player picks class and alignment based on performance and experience in the adventure. Fighter and other warrior types receive an extra hitpoint after training, magic-users lose one from making deals with various eldritch forces. All other class abilities for 1^st level characters are assumed as normal.

The Fantasy Game

You might have heard this question once or twice (or countless times): do we have too many sets of old school rules being produced? My own head swings indecisively back in forth between “yes, please by all that's unholy stop the madness” and “let a hundred flowers bloom” positions.

Sifting through the massed ranks of posts from the cutting room floor (discussed yesterday), it surprised me--given that ambivalence--to remember that six months back I was thinking of synthesizing a number of the subsystems I had been jacking around with on this blog into an unholy beast of my own.

Like the Domain Game, the Fantasy Game (yes, as Jim the Wampus noticed yesterday the tongue-in-cheek working title was based on the likely apocryphal story about D&D's own working title) was supposed to be less about being a complete system—that likely no one would ever play—but a collection of variant sections that could be plopped piece by piece into someone's campaign.

After yesterday's round of input, I had thought I would clean it up and post as something fully digestable. Memory, though, is a funny thing. Not only do I not remember where some of the ideas were going, truth be told, I didn't even remember typing this out when I rediscovered yesterday.

So instead of a bang-you-over-the-head complete vision, here's a gamble and experiment on my part that can be taken in two ways by a reader: 1. a window into how game design ideas can develop in different tracks over time on a blog (you'll see my bracketed comments from this morning interspersed); or 2. an “open source” outline of a project which you can feel free to add, subtract, modify, riff, comment, or (more likely) ignore completely.

Alternative character generation system

1. Quasi-Traveller, background and event-oriented though, not adult career. Childhood and young adulthood events determine dice pool for attributes. [This system was realized here]
2. Players have choice of background (urban, rural, barbarian, demi-human, exotic) [Brad of Skull Crushing for Justice has been developing something along these lines.]
3. Random equipment table option [modified from my LotFP one]
4. All characters with INT 15 or over start with one cantrip (0-level Magic-User spell)
5. All characters with WIS 15 or over start with one orison (0-level Cleric spell) [I had helped develop some old school-feeling 0-level spells for Basic Fantasy RPG around this time.]

Alternative class advancement

1. Characters start at 0-level. Neutral alignment, chain armor max, only weapons that do d6 max, d6 hit points.
2. First level obtained at 200 experience points. In consultation with GM (based on performance), player picks class and alignment.
3. First level characters can only be picked from the standard Basic or OD&D classes.
4. At 4^th level player can choose to continue in standard class or pick a new sub-class that the PC qualifies for [Thinking on split classes progressed here.]
5. At 5^th level the PC can choose to start a career in a “leader set” class.

Sub-classes

Each sub-class would add a certain amount of exp to level advancement. Maybe same for all classes or each parent class. Each subclass would have new abilities and some restrictions.

Fighter

Hunter

Archer

Beserker

Champion/Noble Warrior

Beast Master

Cleric

Druid

Monk

Rune Caster

Mystic

Witch Hunter

Magic User

Elemental College (Fire, Earth, Water, or Air)

Witch

White mage 

Black mage

Necromancer

Illusionist

Sage

Alchemist

Psionicist

Thief

Assassin

Mountebank 

Scout

Bard/Skald

Delver/Dungeoneer

Leader Set Class

War Lord

Noble

Spy Master

High Priest

Merchant Prince

Guild Master

Court Mage

Optional game play mode in which campaign can be played between two different sets of PCs in alternating sessions.

Typical adventurer set. Played as normal D&D. Footloose characters who will occasionally work for the second set

Leader set. PCs start as leader level class: military, noble, religious, wizard, guildmaster, gang leader, merchant prince, barbarian leader etc. PCs create missions and design/build locales that the other set can play in. Gameplay more similar to Birthright, but with less abstraction [Domain Game grew up out of this germinal].

“Pendragon D&D” epic campaign time 

1. Adventures limited to one season per year.
2. Charts or mini-games for: Matters of the Heart, Wee Ones and Family Relations, Business Investments, Research and Training, Religious and Arcane Affairs.

Hill Cantons Compendium of Classic D&D/LL Rules Variants

I finally finished this morning the latest, supposedly-greatest compilation of half-baked house rules and variant systems that I've been tinkering with in our current Labyrinth Lord campaign over the last year or so. (Pictured above, courtesy of the public domain, is the cover illustration from the late, great Russian folk artist Ivan Bilibin). 

Things revised or added in this version (beyond copy edits and minor mechanical adjustments):

1. The revised Mountebank class.
2. The revised Lankhmarian White Wizard class.
3. A new appendix that includes the full version of my alternative character generation system including a new variant ability generator and a revised random starting equipment list .

If you are looking for 28 pages worth of tinkering madness you can download the PDF here. 

Random Starting Equipment: LotFP Weird Fantasy RPG

[Editor's Note: I corrected a minor error on the chart (an asterisk was omitted on the armor chart). Also the PDF of this chart can be downloaded here. ]

Ok gentle readers, one last chart for the hopper before you all begin to think of me as some kind of random table obsessive. (I rolled a “6” on a d6 before deciding to post by the way.) I promise that the next post will feature another Vancian creature write-up; off-the-wall variant class; throw-away rant about the inherent superiority of the Holmesian five-fold alignment or the like.

Here's a version of yesterday's tables modified to work with the economic-tweaks James Raggi slips into Lamentations of the Flame Princess. His price lists haven't received as much hooting and hollering as his heavily-flavored magic system and character classes (or hell even his encumbrance rules), but they should. With weapons, armor, and mounts (available to all classes) fetching some hefty prices and retainers and buildings conversely lower ones, the economics subtly steer players' choices in interesting directions at lower levels. The distinction between urban and rural costs seem to do the same. (“Rats, to get that suit of chain mail looks like we're going to have to hump all the way back to Carcosa.”)

There's definitely an implied feel in the text of the boxed set—and certainly a bit more explicit in Raggi's brilliantly-written adventures--that the lives of PCs in such a setting are destined to be short, spectacular affairs. All the more reason for my tweakage in anticipation of my own Skype mini-campaign.

Modifiers for Armor and Weapon rolls

-1 if starting in a rural area

+1 for each level character starts over 1^st

Class-based equipment

Fighter, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling: +1 on any weapon table

Cleric: Iron holy symbol

Magic User: Spellbook

Specialist: Specialist's tool

Chart A: Armor (Roll d6)

1,2,3,4,5	Leather
6,7,8	Chain*
9 or more	Plate

*-2 on all others rolls if 1^st level.

Chart B: Melee Weapon (Roll d6)

1	Garrote, Cestus
2	Minor weapons, Spear, Staff
3, 4	Small weapons, Rapier, Whip
5	Medium weapons, Mancatcher
6	Great weapons, Polearm
7 or more	Roll twice or pick minor silver weapon

Chart C: Missile Weapons (Roll d6)

1	None
2,3	Sling, Dart (x3), Blowgun
4,5	Short Bow
6	Long Bow, Light Crossbow
7 or more	Heavy Crossbow

(one free batch of ammo assumed)

Adventure Packs (Pick one)

All packs come with backpack, two small sacks, bedroll, water skin, tinderbox, and one week of iron rations

Pack A (10 oil flasks, lantern, shovel, two caltrops, whistle)

Pack B (10 torches, 10 pieces of chalk/charcoal, blank scroll, mirror, crowbar)

Pack C (five torches, five oil flasks, 60 ft. rope, grappling hook, wooden pole)

Extra cash (Roll d6)

1	5 gold pieces
2,3	10 gp
4	15 gp
5	20 gp
6	30 gp
7	60 gp
8	120 gp
9	250 gp

Random Starting Equipment Charts

Buying gear for a starting character in old school D&D is often the most time-consuming step. For some players this is a favorite ritual. Should I go for that silver dagger this time or a mining pick and a bag of caltrops? Do I really need that lantern?

For others it's just a pain in the rear. The following random gear charts (revised from a year ago) are geared to the latter--or to the former who are crunched for time.

Note that I have integrated these charts with the chargen charts from the other day for a nice full package. You'll notice that the longer version, for instance, allows extra goodies and rolls dependent on your character's family background. The PDF of this version can be downloaded here.

Chart B: Equipment

Armor (Roll d8)

Cleric, +1 to roll

Fighter +2

Thief, Druid: leather automatically

Magic User, Illusionist, Monk: no roll

1,2,3	Leather armor **
4	Studded leather *
5, 6	Scale mail
7,8,9	Chain mail
10	Splint or banded mail
11	Plate mail

* 1 extra roll on weapon or shield chart

** 2 extra rolls on weapon or shield chart

Basic Game Armor Chart (Rolld6)

1,2	Leather
3,4,5,6	Chain mail

Shield (Roll 1d6 only if extra roll indicated)

1,2,3	Small Shield
4,5,6	Large Shield

Melee Weapon (Roll 1d6)

Clerics, Magic Users, Illusionists hand weapon only

1,2	Hand weapon (dagger, hand axe, short sword, mace, morningstar, staff, spear)
3,4	Medium weapon (long sword, battle axe, rapier, scimitar)
5	Polearm (polearm, pike)
6	Two-handed weapon (two-handed axe, two-handed sword, bastard sword)
7	Quality weapon of choice (+1 damage)

Missile Weapon (Roll 1d6)

Magic Users and Clerics sling only

1	Sling/Darts
2	Thrown (Hand axe, spear, javelin)
3	Light Crossbow
4	Short Bow
5	Heavy Crossbow
6	Long Bow
7	Pick any two

(one free batch of ammo assumed)

Adventure Packs (Pick one)

All packs come with backpack, two small sacks, bedroll, water skin, tinderbox, and one week of iron rations

Pack A (10 oil flasks, lantern, shovel, two caltrops, whistle)

Pack B (10 torches, 10 pieces of chalk/charcoal, blank scroll, mirror, crowbar)

Pack C (five torches, five oil flasks, 60 ft. rope, grappling hook, wooden pole)

Mount (Roll 1d6)

1,2	None
3	Mule
4	Pony
5,6	Light riding horse
7	Light warhorse

(saddles and other riding gear assumed)

Class-based equipment

Fighter, Ranger, Paladin: extra weapon roll, 10 gp starting

Cleric, Druid: holy symbol, 10 gp

Thief: Thieves tools, 5 gp

Magic-User, Illusionist, spellbook, 5 gp

Monk, 2 gp

Extra cash (Roll d6)

1	10 gold pieces
2,3	15 gp
4	20 gp
5	30 gp
6	40 gp
7	80 gp

Adding a Little Yummy Crunch to Your Old School D&D Character Generation

A little over a year ago I experimented with several versions of a character generator that would allow a player to get up and running with in about 10-15 minutes with a fully statted-out, equipped character with a kooky backstory. Two versions of the generator (which was based off of a heavily-modified version from a Paul Jaquays article in the The Dungeoneer.)were ultimately published: one for Basic Fantasy RPG and another for Castles and Crusades.

In the midst of all that tinkering the mini-game nature of the backstory charts made be hanker for mixing some Traveller-flavored chocolate in my D&D peanut butter. The rub being that I didn't want to go full hog and dump the marvelously simple D&D way, so I agonized a bit over how to make a hybrid that kept the core while added a little more fun crunch.

Long story short it took me over a year (hey, I do have a real life), but here is my first stab. The PDF version can be downloaded here. I will likely be adding something like the Traveller mustering out tables to help speed up starting money and equipment.

As always any and all feedback or criticism is greatly welcomed.

[Editor's Note: due to the ridiculous amount of space the tables were taking up, I have cut them from the blog page. If you'd like to take a gander, mosey over to that download link above and get you a copy of the PDF file.]

The Feral Dwarf: New LL or B/X Class

Feral Dwarf

Requirements: CON 9

Prime Requisite: STR

Hit Dice: 1d8

Maximum Level: 12

A new class from my compendium. Special thanks to Scott Moberly as co-creator.

Feral dwarves are the deep-dwelling, untamed, neanderthal-like cousins of the more common dwarf. Their skin ranges from deep tan to light brown, and bright eyes which are almost never blue, with brown, black, or gray hair and ruddy cheeks. They are slightly taller and more wiry than their more domesticated cousins (ranging up to 4'6 and 140 pounds on the average).

Feral dwarves speak dwarvish, gnome, goblin, kobold, orcish, common, and their alignment language, but cannot learn more than two additional languages regardless of their intelligence.

Because of their background as miners and underground dwellers, they can detect by concentration within 10' any grade or slope or new construction (1-4 on a d6), sliding or shifting walls or rooms (1-4), and large stonework-type traps such as pits and dead falls (1-3). They can also detect with concentration depth under ground (1-3). They also have 60 foot infravision.

Because they are unfamiliar with new-fangled civilized weaponry and armor, feral dwarves tend to choose simple weapons such as spears, hammers, axes, clubs, and javelins (though once in civilized environs they can employ any weapon they choose). Because of their unfamiliarity and lack of comfort with heavy armor they can only wear leather, padded, studded leather, hide/fur, scale, or chain armor.

Feral dwarves also receive a +1 to hit orcs, half-orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins, due to an extended racial animosity.

Coming from a living in the remote hills and being somewhat crude in nature, feral dwarves have the ability to throw small boulders effectively in combat . They gain a +1 to hit on this and damage is 1d4 plus any STR modifiers. If they have an advantage in terrain latitude over 20 feet (i.e they are on a hill) they gain +2 to hit and +2 to damage on top of their STR modifier if applicable.

Some feral dwarves specialize in a primitive polished flint mallet. This wicked hammer inflicts 1d4+1 damage and on a roll of a natural 20 can knock its opponent unconscious/stun for 1d6 rounds.

Living on the primitive edge is a hard life, thus feral dwarves gain the ability to forage for food and water in hilly and mountainous environments. At 1st level this ability they can do so successfully is at 30 percent. This improves at 3% per each additional level. They also have the ability to start a fire in any environment without the use of flint and steel at the same levels of success as their foraging skills.

Example: Craggo Uthuk is a third-level feral dwarf. Craggo can successfully scavenge for food and start fires in the Big Rock Candy Mountains at a chance of 36%.

Despite these differences, feral dwarves fight and save on the same tables as the Dwarf race/class.

When a feral dwarf reaches 9th level he becomes a clan chieftain and can attract followers once he has found a suitable cavern.

Optional rule: Feral dwarves do not receive starting money as other characters. Instead they start with a flint mallet, hide/fur armor, and 10-40 gp of simple equipment (food, torches, bedrolls, etc). In addition they start with a small horde of raw gemstones, 1d6 gems worth 10 gp a piece and 1d4 worth 20 gp.

Feral Dwarf Level Progression

Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d8)
0	1	1
2187	2	2
4375	3	3
8751	4	4
17501	5	5
35001	6	6
70001	7	7
140001	8	8
280001	9	9
400001	10	+3 hp only
540001	11	+6 hp only
660001	12	+9 hp only

LL/AEC Compendium of New Player Classes, Variant Rules, and other Fantasy Heartbreaker Garbage

Rules tinkering seems as common as an affliction amongst old school D&D game masters as was the clap amongst the ranks of Napoleon's grumblers. As a ref I have been no stranger myself to this curious urge. Recent exposure to such inspired re-workings as James Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess WFRPG (a mouthful) and JB's B/X Companion has left me with a bad inflamed case of the itchies for sure.
Inappropriate metaphors aside, I have been slowly accumulating a small horde of house rules, player options, variant classes and other crunchy bits from the last two years of play in the Hill Cantons in two cities (and a few countries if you count in my co-conspirators Skype games from Dragonsfoot). In a fit of pro-taskination (slough-off work to avoid the work of finishing an article for a real-world publication) last week I compiled these various bits into a working document called the Hill Cantons Compendium.
Although a good chunk of the main section is likely only of interest to players in the campaign, the appendixes--most notably the three new variant classes for Labyrinth Lord and it's Advanced Edition book-- may be of greater interest to you the faceless hordes of the Internet. The current draft version of the Compendium is available for download here.

Fantasy Traveller, Part Two

Ok, so, the title might be a little misleading (it got you here at least). As I wrote a couple weeks ago, I'm not so much interested in building out a full-fledged fantasy-variant Traveller, as I am in adopting some of its principal character generation elements into a fun, simple, and loose mini-game compatible with old school D&D.

With that in mind, I came up with a few design methods and goals to help guide the project:

1.Take my background and chargen charts as a baseline for the character's previous career. Think of this as the equivalent of rolling the terms of service in Traveller. 

2.Tie-in some of its results with a simple background skills system such as  BFRPG's Backgrounds and Specialties Supplement.  To keep it more on the D&D feel side of things I believe it must be somewhat vague and simple on the skills provided. 

3.Provide both risks and rewards from background rolls: ability hikes/losses, more/less starting gear, more/less starting cash, and the like. Think the mustering-out, survival and promotion charts of Traveller merged. 

4.Orient it to low and mid-level starting characters (levels 1-5). 

Below you can see my first two draft efforts. I'm currently working on other tables for “positive” and "neutral" background events, military service, religious or magical experiences along the same general lines of the traumatic events table. 

I'm already running into all kinds of dilemmas. Does this over or under balance starting characters?  What level of detail should I provide on results?  How do you categorize “traumatic” or “positive” outcomes? How do you make it class-specific? Etc. etc. 

Background Skills

1. If you were apprenticed and rolled on Chart 2A: Craft, you get the “Tradesman” background skill set.

2. If you learned (or were apprenticed in) an occupation by rolling on Chart 2: Occupation, and rolled:

...Craftsman/Skilled worker or Merchant, you get the “Tradesman” background. 

...Peasant/Farmworker or Farmer, you get the “Farmer” background.

...Miner/Forester, you get the “Outdoorsman” background.

...Fisherman or Sailor, you get the “Seafarer” background. 

...Soldier/Mercenary, you get the “Soldier” background. 

...Slaver, you get the “Barbarian” background.

...Government Official, Gentleman, or Noble, you get the “Aristocrat” background. 

....Sage/Scholar/Alchemist or Scribe, you get the “Scholar” background. 

Traumatic Events

1. For each traumatic event (being orphaned, having family killed, killing someone, having a comrade killed, etc.) rolled on Chart 3: Childhood or Chart 4: Young Adulthood, you must roll once the Trauma Chart. 

2. If you roll a  traumatic event on a sub-table of Chart 3 or 4 (military service, religious experience, magical occurrence, etc.) you must roll ONE TIME ONLY on the Trauma Chart. 

Trauma  Chart (Roll d20)

1 “Folded, spindled, and/or mutilated”, -1 to ability of your choice

2-4 “I blame society”, roll once on Chart 4D: Vice

5-10 “It left a mark”, physical/emotional scar but otherwise no effect 

11-16 “Got lucky”, no effect 

17-19 “I rise to the occasion”, roll once on Chart 4C: Virtue

20 “Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger”, +1 to ability of your choice.