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| source: RPGGeek.com |
The next five characters will be a party of adventurers for Original Dungeons and Dragons, using the White Box edition of the rules without supplements.* I don't usually go for random character generation, but this promises to be quick and quick is what I need right now. For dice I'll be using the online roller from my D&D Beyond account, with the "Old School" dice skins applied for verisimilitude.
OD&D was originally published with three human character classes (fighting man, magic user, cleric), plus "racial" classes for dwarves (fighter), elves (fighter and magic user, switching off between adventures as desired), and halflings (fighter). (Thieves were introduced in the first supplement Greyhawk, and so will be out of consideration here.) In addition, there was a vague blessing pronounced upon getting creative with character ideas so long as it didn't upset the balance of the game.** But I'm going to stick with what the book provides for the purpose of the exercise.
A strict application of the rules as written would have our Dungeon Master rolling the characters' ability scores, but I'm effectively my own DM here, so here I go. 3d6 straight up, six times, always in the order Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, Charisma.
Our first set of scores is Strength 6, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 7, Constitution 7, Dexterity 13, Charisma 14. That doesn't promise very quick advancement in any of the main three classes; fighters depend on Strength, magic-users on Intelligence, and clerics on Wisdom. On the plus side, the high Dexterity makes this character a little better at ranged combat (+1 to hit), and the high Charisma promises more followers (up to 5) with a greater degree of loyalty (+1) to their employer. For prime requisites, Intelligence is the best of a bad set, so we set this character on the path to a mediocre career as a magic-user and possibly a position as party leader or at least face. Another 3d6 roll multiplied by 10 determines starting funds (110 gold pieces) for gear. Under these rules all hit dice are d6, with fighters getting a +1 bonus to their initial roll. Our magic-user will begin play with 5 hit points.
Wizards don't need a lot of equipment; they can't wear armor and their weapon choice is limited to daggers (from a list that is itself quite limited and does not include, for instance, the quarterstaff). In addition, spellbooks and wizards' supplies aren't on the list, so we don't have a lot of personal needs to spend money on. A few daggers cost 9 gp altogether, leaving 101 gold pieces for general adventuring supplies such as torches, rope, mirrors, etc. We'll put that into the party's general fund. Now our magic-user needs some identity apart from ability scores, so let's give them a gender (masculine) and a name (something a bit fancy to go with that Charisma score, such as Porfirio). Oh, and an alignment. OD&D alignment is single-axis, with characters siding with Law or Chaos or between them in Neutrality. This party is motivated primarily by gain, so I think I'll make evryone Neutral unless otherwise noted.
Before we leave Porfirio for the rest of the party, let's get him some spells. Well, a spell, anyhow. A first-level magic user can cast one spell, once per day; the rulebook isn't clear how that spell is determined, or whether they might know more than one spell and only be able to memorize and cast one of their spells each day (as AD&D later clarified). The spells on the table are numbered, however, which suggests that random determination is considered of not mandated. There are eight first-level spells; a roll of 8 indicates Sleep, which is pretty darned useful.
The next batch of rolls comes up Str 7, Int 14, Wis 9, Con 14, Dex 5, Cha 12. Another magic user, by the looks of it, but a very clumsy one. The 14 Intelligence score grants a 5% bonus on earned experience, the poor Dexterity imposes a -1 penalty on ranged attacks, and the 14 Constitution means no rolls to survive shocks to the system such as petrification. A starting gold roll of 130 gives this wizard plenty of spare cash to subsidize the party's purchases or help less fortunate adventurers buy their gear. With that 5 Dex I'm not going to bother with throwing daggers, so one should suit, leaving 127 gp for the party fund. A roll of 4 for starting hit points.
I feel as though these two magic-users have a relationship that predates the formation of the party, and perhaps they are the founding core who recruited the rest for expeditions to recover treasure from the deep places. I'll name this one Vivienne, and a roll on the spell table results in a 7: Charm Person, so she also gets a very useful spell.
Our third character starts with Str 12, Int 13, Wis 7, Con 9, Dex 7, Cha 6. Three magic-users in one party seems kind of ridiculous, but fortunately this character has enough Strength to be a passable fighter. With that Int score, though, I think we've got a good candidate for an elf, albeit kind of a rude and clumsy one. 110 gold pieces for kit won't go nearly as far when we need weapons and armor; we'll invest in a suit of chainmail (30), a sword (10), a shield (10) and helmet (10), a short bow (despite that Dex penalty, 25 gp), and a quiver of 20 arrows (10). That leaves 5 gp for the party fund. Since we're starting out as a fighter for this first adventure, I'll roll d6+1 for hit points and forgo giving the character a spell. 3 on the die +1 for fighter means 4 hp, kind of low but what can you do, it's old school D&D. Apart from the dual-class thing, player-character elves don't get any particular special abilities, so we can wrap it upn here. I've decided it would be entertaining if our two Neutral employers had to deal with a Lawful staff of employees, so the other three characters will be Lawful. Our fragile elf is male and named Melandil.
Tne next applicant for our salvage company enters with Str 13, Int 10, Wis 11, Con 8, Dex 12, and Cha 6. Could be a cleric, but we've got one more opening and another pair of hands in the front line will be welcome. We'll risk the dice and make this one a fighter as well. 13 Strength is good enough for that 5% experience bonus, the 8 Constitution score will prove troublesome when the character faces some kind of system shock (40-50% chance of surviving, as opposed to 60-90% for those in the 9-12 range), and the 6 Charisma means no more than 2 followers who will have a -1 penalty to loyalty checks. Since we've got an elf, we might as well add a dwarf to the party. The money roll nets 100 gold pieces, which we'll spend on a suit of chainmail (30), a shield (10), a helmet (10), a battle axe (7), a pair of hand axes (6), a light crossbow (15), and 30 quarrels in a case (10). The remaining 12 gp goes into the party fund. Hit point roll is 4, which bumps to 5 with the fighter bonus. Our dwarven warrior is a woman, and her name is Grimhild.
Dwarves get a few special abilities, offset by a level cap of 6th level:
- some resistance to magic (roll saving throws as if four levels higher) ;
- a variety of advantages when operating in underground environments:
- the ability to detect slanting passages, new construction, and moveable walls;
- a 1/3 chance to detect secret doors or hard-to-hear sounds
- a 1/3 chance to force open stuck doors);
- and some ability to dodge the attacks of ogres, giants and other large, cumsy foes (half damage)
Our final applicant brings Str 8, Int 12, Wis 13, Con 13, Dex 13, and Cha 8 to the table, and justifies our risk in waiting for a better potential cleric. There'll be a 5% experience bonus for a 13 Wisdom, a +1 bonus to ranged attacks for 13 Dex (which we can't take advantage of because clerics can't use sharp weapons and slingstones don't exist in this rule set), automatic shock survival for Con 13, and a three-follower cap for the low-average 8 Charisma. Her hit point roll is an unmodified 1, so we'll need to keep her out of the line of fire as much as possible until she hits second level. First-level clerics don't get spells yet, but can turn lower-level undead (skeletons, zombies, and if lucky ghouls), so we'll want a holy symbol for use as well as for branding. Starting gold is only 80, which may necessitate some hard choices. Fortunately, she doesn't need that much personal gear, and weapons all do the same d6 damage at this point in the game's evolution. I buy chainmail for 30, a shield for 10, a mace for 5, and a wooden cross for 2***, leaving 33 gp for the party fund. I'll call our small, nimble party chaplain Sister Bertril.
Now we should start spending that general fund to get our expedition supplies. The company has 278 gold pieces for these purposes, mostly from money that Porfirio and Vivienne didn't spend. That'll cover a cart (100), a couple of mules (40) to pull it, and a whole lot of adventuring supplies: rations, torches, rope, iron spikes, ten-foot poles, flasks of oil, flint and steel, a mirror or two, sacks and satchels for carrying treasure. And since OD&D is in no small part a game about logistics, let's itemize this budget and see how much we're spending.
Lighting: 6 torches (1 gp), 1 lantern (10 gp), 3 flasks of oil (6 gp): 17 gp
General supplies: 100' of rope (2), ten-foot pole (1), 10 iron spikes (1): 4 gp
Transport: cart (100), 2 mules (40), 3 large sacks (6), 6 small sacks (6), 5 waterskins (5), 2 backpacks (10): 167 gp
Provisions: one week's iron rations per person (75), 2 quarts wine (2): 77 gp
Total: 265 gp, leaving 13 gp for emergencies.
And finally it's time for a little branding. All the coolest adventuring bands have a name, though we don't really know enough about our heroes to give them something spot-on appropriate. They're still pretty generic. But we do have names, and we know the mages are the organizers, and that's something we can work with. P&V Recovery Operations, LLC is a bit fancy, but our heroes have high ambitions (jury's still out on the impulse control).
STR 6 INT 10 WIS 7 CON 7 DEX 13 CHA 14
STR 7 INT 14 WIS 9 CON 14 DEX 5 CHA 12
STR 12, INT 13, WIS 7, CON 9, DEX 7, CHA 6
STR 13, INT 10, WIS 11, CON 8, DEX 12, CHA 6
Personal Gear: chainmail, helmet, shield, battle axe, 2 hand axes, light crossbow, case of 30 quarrels
STR 8, INT 12, WIS 13, CON 13, DEX 13, CHA 8
Personal Gear: chainmail, shield, mace, silver cross
AC: 4 HP: 1 AL: L
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