A bit over a year ago I wrote my first draft of the Character Generation Shortcuts fold old school D&D with four backgrounds each for fighters, wizards and clerics. In a way I wanted to show that I didn’t need thieves, rangers and paladins – I wanted to model these classes using a base class with some appropriate background and equipment – and I wanted to speed up character creation by avoiding rolling for starting gold and shopping for equipment. Half a year later I increased the number of backgrounds to eight and used it in a convention game I ran, but I still missed backgrounds for demihumans. The following is a list of four backgrounds each.
Character Generation Shortcuts
increased the number of backgrounds to eight
+-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | 1d4 | Elf | Dwarf | Halfling | +-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | 1 | you are a *woodland hunter*; | you are a *miner* but it was | you are a *shepherd*; you own | | | you own an elven longbow with | dangerous work for little | a sling, a dagger, a woolen | | | twenty arrows and a curved | gain; you own a canary bird | cloak, and a ferocious dog | | | dagger decorated with silver | in a wooden cage, a small pony | that will defend you in combat | | | runes; the lore masters have | to carry your load, a lantern, | | | | taught you the spell *sleep* | studded leather armor and a | | | | to keep you safe while alone | heavy pick | | | | in the wilderness | | | | 2 | you are a *student of ancient | you are a *gem cutter* by | you are a *gardener*; you own | | | lore*; you own a ceremonial | trade but decided to go | a hammer and a sling and some | | | elven longsword in the old | looking for the real thing; | ill-fitting goblin leather | | | tradition and a set of chain | you own gleaming chain mail, | armor | | | mail; the lore masters have | a beautiful two-handed sword | | | | taught you the spell *read | and a jewel encrusted girdle | | | | languages* to help your | handed to you from your father | | | | studies | | | | 3 | you are a *spell singer*; | you are *berserker* with | you are a *scout* and have | | | you own an elegant elven | warding tattoos covering every | travelled the wilderness; you | | | longsword, a dagger, leather | inch of your skin; you own | own leather armor, a shield, a | | | armor, a wooden shield, a | a two-handed dwarven battle | short sword and a sling | | | lyre and a silver flute; you | axe inscribed with old runes | | | | have learned the spell *charm | of death and destruction and | | | | person* to keep you safe in | battered scale armor | | | | human lands | | | | 4 | you are a *fae knight*; you | you are *rune warrior* and | you are a bored *landowner* | | | own a white horse, a white | a defender of the realm; you | but left your siblings in | | | steel plate armor, a shield, | own the finest dwarven plate | charge of it all; you own a | | | a lance, a long sword, a mace; | armor, a heavy shield engraved | short sword, a shield, light | | | your master taught you the | with runes of protection and | dwarven chain mail and a sling | | | spell *protection from evil* | an axe. | | | | before sending out into the | | | | | world | | | +-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
We’ll see about adding more entries and revising the PDF when I have some extra time. 😄
#RPG #Old School
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Typical – if you are elf, you can be awesome things like a hunter, spell singer, or fae knight, and if you are dwarf, you could be a rune warrior or berserker. But if you are a halfling, you probably used to be a gardener 😄
– Adrian 2011-03-08 18:00 UTC
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Looks like Alex got a whiff of “implicit setting” here …
– Harald 2011-03-08 19:54 UTC
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Absolutely. One roll life-path, baby! 😄
Actually, I’d love to brainstorm some more:
– Alex Schroeder
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Dwarf - beardless outcast, apprentice brewmaster, grizzled campaigner (fought against orcs and goblins) Halfing - deputy shiriff
– Adrian 2011-03-08 23:46 UTC
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Nice! There’s also the Thief to think of... Cutpurse, burglar, harlequin or clown, dancer, rat catcher, assassin, contortionist (too much circus?), spy.
+-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | 1d4 | Elf | Dwarf | Halfling | +-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | 5 | you are a *sea elf*; you own a | you are a *surface merchant*; | you are a *crazy naked | | | trident, a net, a longbow and | you own a suit of chain mail | halfling cannibal*; you own a | | | a longsword; the captain of | armor, a shield, a hammer, | dagger, a femur bone usable as | | | your first ship has taught you | a donkey, a cart, 200 gp in | a club and a lot of blue body | | | the *sleep* spell | trade goods, and three gems | paint | | | | worth 50 gp each | | | 6 | you are a *moon elf* and | ... | you are *an escaped slave*, | | | belong to the wild hunt; | | broken by years spent in the | | | you own a horse, a horn, a | | darkness deep in a kobold | | | longbow, a scimitar, a silver | | mine; you own a pick axe, | | | dagger and a wolf hound | | ill-fitting goblin armor, a | | | companion that will attack | | serrated goblin dagger and a | | | anything that flees; the lore | | wooden shield | | | masters have taught you the | | | | | spell *detect magic* to aid | | | | | you in your raids | | | | 7 | you are a *shadow elf* from | you are a *brewmaster* | ... | | | a far realm with a fist-sized | | | | | spider companion; you own | | | | | a billowing shadow cloak, | | | | | studded leather armor, a | | | | | black shield, a scimitar | | | | | and a curved dagger; you | | | | | have studied the spell *hold | | | | | portal* | | | | 8 | you are a *dark elf* from | you are a *grizzled | ... | | | under the mountain and a | campaigner* from the goblin | | | | member of the winter court, | wars, you own plate mail, a | | | | you own elegant flowing robes, | polearm (halberd), a hand axe, | | | | a silver diadem worth 100 | and a dagger | | | | gp, a scimitar engraved with | | | | | silver runes of banishment; | | | | | you have studied the *light* | | | | | spell | | | +-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
– Alex Schroeder 2011-03-09 17:51 UTC
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Gaah, need some dwarven background inspiration. Perhaps I should look at some Warhammer careers. 😄
– Alex Schroeder 2011-03-14 17:21 UTC
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A dwarf criminal, his beard shaved off and his face branded, fled to the surface and surviving as a ruffian. Leather armor, club or axe, dagger.
What about an apprentice smith? Seems like an obvious one. Nice hammer or axe, decent armor, some gold.
– Adrian 2011-03-14 18:36 UTC
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This will do. Thanks!
– Alex Schroeder 2011-03-14 23:01 UTC