Discovery of a Tale

In other words ; Character Creation. I’ve used this system since the beginning of my DM-career and have
been improving upon the system ever since. I think I can confidently say now, that’s it’s nearing it’s
complete and final stage. Thus far I’ve had little to no complaints about it, but if it’s not your cup of tea,
hey, no hard feelings, feel free to leave anytime before Session 0. Without further a due ; the system.

- –
During Session 0 you’re going to pitch us, me and the party, 3 character ideas. Everybody will do the
same and we’ll pick ‘our favorite’-composition. Ultimately you hold power over which character concept
you’re going to play (it’s your character after all =’) ), but it gives a chance for you and other players to
say “Hey, that seems like an interesting character to party with”.

During your pitch, make sure you include : 1) a charataristic, 2) an occupation and 3) a mission
statement. Also ; try to keep it in one sentence. For example :

“An abrasive gravedigger who wants to see his deceased mother once more”
“A foul-mouthed sailor who wants to map the world”
“A seclusive raven-keeper who wants to soar the skies”

- –
Let’s say the party voted for and you decided on playing the gravedigger from previous example.
According to the PHB, there is no such background. But through the pitch, we can conclude a few things.
“Abrasive” probably will give you proficiency in “Intimidation” or “Persuasion” and being somebody who
tends to do business with the dead; “Medicine” or “Survival” from digging those graves. Digging tools, a
shovel and dark (dirty) clothes with a rain cloak are also part of your starting equipment and
proficiencies.

- –
“We even haven’t picked a race yet, Steve!” Correct, because you don’t get to pick. You get to select, but
you don’t get to pick. You pick a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 races you’d be interested in playing.
From here on out, you roll either a D4 or a D6. Whatever number is whatever family you’re character
was born into. You may think it’s strange, but trust me, it creates for a more interesting story (especially)
within my homebrew world.
 - –
At this point you’re going to choose the starting-location of your character (unless you’ve picked one of
the regional-exclusive races). This will determine things like : Faith, Culture and Values. If you were born
in the North, it wouldn’t make much sense if you value things like dancing and politics, unless you have
some damn good reasons and probably shunned / looked down upon by the community.

If all players are from different nations, you’ll all have to pick a location in which your starting-adventure
will take place.

- –
During this step we move back in time a bit. We’re going to roll for childhood events. Events like “A
Man’s Best Friend” can pop up, meaning, you had a dog as a child, ( +1 Animal Handling) . Or what to
think of “Bullied by Seniors”, pretty self-explanatory, (disadv. when talking to the elderly) . Some things
are just plain bad, like “Demon Possession”, a demon possessed you as a child. (-2 Religion and roll a
WIS-check when fighting Demons).

Each nation / race has their own tables. You can pick any die to roll, up to a D10. From there we branch
out, you can do this up to a maximum of 5 times. Generally speaking the more you roll, the more
story-potential and high-risk-high-reward shenanigans unfold.

Before you roll these events, you’ll roll a D20. Depending on which nation you hail from, it will determine
the financial situation of your parents / grand parents / care takers.

- –
Each character will roll a D10 to determine his/her relationship with the person next in line. That way, all
party-members know at least 2 others and have a reason to ‘stick together’. Maybe you were
Gambling-buddies and loaned a sum of money at the local card-shark, whom you have no way of
repaying. Or simply family, well simple, the family is divided in two over something and the two of you
are either at odds or agree on the matter. You and the player you’re rolling the relationship with will
determine what the actual bond entails. I will just give you the results of the table like “Gambling
buddies” , “Far family” or “Rivals”.

- –
During Session 0, you are still a peasant, a nobody. All your scores on the scoreboard will roughly be
around 10. Don’t fret, this will change soon, as in : now.

Here is also a moment in which I allow you people to decide on how the rolling of stats will occur. I have
2 systems at play, and I can’t really decide on which system I like better, so here it is :
System 1 : Fixed Stats.

Roll 4D6 and drop your lowest number. The values you roll are set for the corresponding stat. So for
example : 5,3,2,1 I drop my 1, wish means I got 10 remaining. If this was my first roll, that would mean I
got a 10 in Strength + whatever modifiers my race / childhood events would give me.

You need at least 2 stats above 14 to have a legal character. This includes racial bonusses.

In case you have a stat-array which you really do not like, but IS legal, the lowest number on your set is
transferred to your new array. You may choose where you want to ‘dump’ this number, but it sticks with
you. If you’re unhappy with the new array, the new + older number stick with you. Till a maximum of 3.
Choose carefully.

System 2 : Freeform.

Before we’re going to start the first small adventure, you’ll roll 1x 4d6 and drop the lowest number. You
decide where you place it. We continue on playing until I call for another roll. And this continues until the
end of session 0. Everybody starts out with 12 Hitpoints and this won’t change until you create your
character and the number you get is higher.

The same principle applies : you need at least 2 14’s. We continue playing until all characters are legal.

Can I choose to dump my stat-array and restart? – Nope. You shape your character according to what
you do and see fit. I’ll take notes on the action you take.

We’re still level 0, I can’t use class-abilities….. Yes and no. Let’s say you’re in a bar-brawl and you’re
playing the gravedigger from earlier example. “I reach for my shovel and attempt to smack the nearest
patron in the face”. Even though RAW-wise it should function as an improvised weapon, you’re clearly
going the melee-route, so the damage you roll will be that of a melee-combatant. If at that point your
STR is not a 14, you can either choose to make it a 14 or roll for it. Same thing applies for the following “I
grab the nearest lantern, inhale the flame and shoot it towards the one attacking Jimmy”. That’s a fancy
way of saying I cast Firebolt. The benefit of using these creative descriptions is simply the fact that I can
give you a “cantrip”, but change it slightly. In the example of above, I might give you a “Firebreather”
cantrip (can cast Firebolt, max range 20ft and as long as there is a flame-source within 5ft), even if you
decide to go Barbarian because you rolled extremely well for your last two rolls and considered them
dumping-stats.

Be creative, even though you don’t have spells or anything, you can do just about everything.

At the end of this session you might had an idea halfway that you were going Wizard, but it turned out
you rolled an 18 and put it in DEX, now you have a tough choice to make.

Steve,

DM of “A Tale of Gods and Men” on Roll20.