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2009-12-14 Character Generation Shortcuts

Today I ran a Labyrinth Lord one-shot and used the following short-cuts for character generation.

First, roll 3d6 in order for your abilities.

Then, pick your class – you get to choose between Fighter, Wizard, or Cleric.

Your basic equipment depends on the class you picked:

1d4 Fighter Wizard Cleric
1 you’re a bandit; you own leather armor and a club, a longbow, and twenty arrows you’re a half-naked shaman; your chest and arms are covered in tatoos, you wear twenty amulets and charms, you have several bone fetishes, a lizard familiar, and your spellbook is inscribed on conserved leaves and dried bark you’re a hermit; you own a thin blanket to wrap yourself into, a sling, and a staff with some bells on it acting as your holy symbol; your eyes glitter madly
2 you’re a runaway; you took your uncle’s militia equipment and ran away from home; you own leather armor, a shield, and a longsword you’re a student of the arcane arts; you wear a pointy hat and a black cloak, carry a staff, a large spellbook with an ancient leather binding, and you have a raven familiar you’re a priest; well dressed, fresh haircut, and you own a silver holy symbol, a shield and a mace, but no armor
3 you’re a guard; you own chain mail, an excellent helmet, a shield, and a longsword you’re a babylonian mystic; you have black, curly hair and if you’re male, you have a huge braided beard and walk around with a bare chest; if you’re female, your eyes have the longest eyelashes and a mesmerizing gaze; your spells are inscribed on clay tablets; your familiar is a hawk you’re an inquisitor; you wear chain mail, wield a crossbow in your left hand and a mace in your right hand, you have three bottles of holy water in your backpack and four wooden stakes in your shoulder belt, as well as garlic and a big silver holy symbol hanging around your neck
4 you’re a knight errant; you own a horse, a lance, a longsword, a battered shield, tarnished plate armor, and a dented helmet; your tabard and your shield bear your coat of arms you’re a rune caster; you own a set of magically imbued runes, dice, fortune telling cards, and a crystal ball; your familiar is a ferret you’re a paladin; you own a white horse, a longsword, a flail, a steel shield, shining armor, and a helmet with a fancy visor; you carry a holy banner of your church

You also get to roll for useful dungeoneering equipment:

1d4 Dungeoneering Equipment
1 rope, grappling hook, pole
2 hammer, spikes, extra blankets
3 six torches, chalk
4 a lantern and two oil flasks

Other useful stuff:

1d4 Useful Stuff
1 glutton, start with extra rations, apples, cooked eggs, and bacon
2 vain, start with a mirror, razor, soap, perfume, kohl, and lipstick
3 superstitious, start with an amulet or charm of dubious origin
4 drinker, start with two bottles of particularly strong booze

Your background:

1d4 Backstory
1 urban youth, you grew up in the streets of a big city
2 woodsman, you grew up in a remote forest hamlet
3 street urchin, you grew up on a graveyard and in the sewers
4 farmer, your parents worked the fields

Your recent past:

1d4 Event
1 an uncle just died and left you an inheritance; start with 100gp
2 you committed a shameful deed and had to leave town; start with 20gp
3 you just escaped a robbery; start with 0gp
4 you decided to be an explorer; start with a mule, a map, a shovel, and a 20gp debt

I think my players liked it.

Update: A PDF with an expanded table and a table for demihumans is now available.

#RPG #Old School #Keep It Short

Comments

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Excellent! The tables are perfect :D

greywulf 2009-12-15 11:11 UTC


Thanks. 😄

Alex Schroeder 2009-12-15 12:47 UTC


Superb !

– Anonymous 2009-12-15 18:05 UTC


Another bit I found online regarding character creation: “3.5 characters take forever to make because of the number of choices, in 1st Edition it takes forever because nothing makes any sense. You just have to memorize it all. I knew I should have used Labyrinth Lord instead.” – rmckee78, Circle of Dar Janix, Expedition to Stonehell: Session 1

Alex Schroeder 2010-02-06 10:14 UTC


Updated tables available as a PDF.

Alex Schroeder 2010-06-28 00:30 UTC