I was reading Shannon Appelcline’s reviews of Small World, and was particularly intrigued by the combination of Adjective + Noun (Seafaring Dwarves, Alchemical Elves, etc.) in creating units for the game. That got me thinking about another possible way to do random character creation: having the player roll randomly for Race/Species, Background (an adjective, like urban or rural) and Profession. Additionally, to further customize, each character would roll randomly on a table of events. So, the character’s mechanical background would be Adjective(Race) + Adjective(Background) + Noun(Profession) + Events.

One thing about this system is that it does not reinforce cultural differences very much, since every race can go with every adjective and every template. This really would work best with a kitchen sink-type game in which every race more or less mingles together in the different cultures.

Each character gets a set total of 18 Customization Points (CP), which are pre-divided: Race/Species/Culture (4CP) + Background (2 CP) + Profession (Template of 6 CP), plus 6 CP “worth” of Events, each of which generally costs 1-2 CP, meaning each character would have 3-6 of them.

Due to the power of exponents, even with a short list of races, adjectives, profession templates, and Events, you still end up with a LOT of different options. 4 Races x 4 Adjectives x 4 Professions = 64 different combinations, and when you add multiple rolls on the Events table, that number mulitiplies quickly. And who wants only 4 Races, 4 Adjectives, and 4 Professions? I’d want at least 10 Professions, and several more Adjectives and Races. I’d also want a long list of Events.

For example

Races:
Human: +2 Events, +2 CP to spend as you want
Dwarf: +1 Strength, +3 Toughness, +2 Willpower
Elf: +2 Awareness, +1 Willpower, +1 Athletics
Orc: +2 Strength, +1 Athletics, +1 Prowess

Background:
Courtly: Etiquette 10, +1 Rogue
Rural: Survival (local type) 10, Trade (pick one, like herding or farming) 10, +1 Strength
Underclass: Subterfuge 10, +1 Awareness
Urban/Town: Profession 13, +1 Willpower
Seafaring: Seamanship 10, +1 Athletics
Barbarian: +1 Willpower, +1 Prowess
Mercantile: +1 Rogue, Profession 10, Etiquette (Choose one) 10

Profession:

Soldier:
Traits: Prowess 13, Athletics 12, Strength 11, Awareness 10, Willpower 10, Rogue 10,

Archer:
Traits: Prowess 11, Athletics 10, Strength 10, Awareness 10, Willpower 10, Rogue 10, Specializations: Awareness (Perception 13) Skills: Archery 13

Medic:
Traits: Prowess 10, Athletics 10, Strength 10, Awareness 11, Willpower 10, Rogue 10 Skills: Medicine 13, Herb Lore 10

Assassin:
Traits: Prowess 10, Athletics 11, Strength 10, Awareness 12, Willpower 10, Rogue 10 Specializations: Awareness(Sneak/Hide 14), Rogue (Fast Talk 12) Prowess (Throwing 12) Skills: Herb Lore 10

Events:

Events are things that happened to character after his or her professional training, and should be used and jumping-off points for the characters’ backstory. For the record, This is the same chart from Column 37: Roll the Bones.

For each time you roll, you may spend 1 CP on one or more of the things listed. For example, “Took up with criminals: Con Artist” could spend 1 CP to gain +1 Awareness OR +1 Rogue (your choice), or could spend 2 CP to gain +1 Awareness AND +1 Rogue.

1. On the Run: Awareness, Survival.

You’ve picked up an enemy, and gain +1 CP for your troubles (to spend as you choose)

2-3. Took up with Criminals:

1-3 Pickpocket or Petty Thief: Awareness, Subterfuge
4-5 Con Artist: Awareness, Rogue
6-7 Highwayman: Awareness, Prowess
8-9 Catburglar: Awareness, Athleticism
10 Organized Crime: Awareness, Willpower, Criminal Contacts

4. Drafted into a Fighting Force:

1-4 Infantry: Prowess, Strength
5-6 Archer: Prowess, Archery
7-8 Scout: Prowess, Awareness
9 Medic: Prowess, Medicine
10 Engineer: Prowess, Siege Engineering

5. Volunteered in a Fighting Force:

1-4 Infantry: Prowess, Strength
5-6 Archer: Prowess, Archery
7-8 Scout: Prowess, Awareness
9 Medic: Prowess, Medicine
10 Engineer: Prowess, Siege Engineering

6. Worked in Skilled Crafts or Commerce: Profession, Increase Wealth Level, Contacts

7. Lived in Court

1-3: Domestic Servant: Etiquette, Awareness, Rogue
4: Riding Instructor: Etiquette, Athletics, Horsemanship
5: Fencing Instructor: Etiquette, Prowess, Awareness
6: Tutor: Etiquette, Awareness, Knowledge Skills, Artistic and Music Skills
7: Perfumer (poison maker): Etiquette, Apothecary, Subterfuge
8-9: Courtier/Courtesan: Etiquette, Rogue, Wealth
10: Significant Noble: Etiquette, Wealth, Noble Title/Rank

8-9. Joined a Trade Caravan/Shipment

1-2 As a Guard: Survival/Seamanship, Prowess
3-4 As Basic Labor: Survival/Seamanship, Athletics
5 As a Merchant: Survival/Seamanship, Rogue, Wealth
6-7 As Merchandise: Survival/Seamanship, Willpower
8-9 As a Stowaway: Survival/Seamanship, Awareness
10 As a Cook or other Support Staff: May choose from any or all of the listed Caravan Traits, but can spend no more than 1 CP on each. (had a chance to learn from everybody, but just a little)

10. Studied Privately Under an Expert Mentor

1-2 Warrior: Prowess, Athletics
3-4 Healer: Medicine, Herb Lore
5-6 Thief: Awareness, Subterfuge
7-8 Mystic: Willpower, Secret Lore
9-10 Craftsman: Professional Skill/Craft, Science & Engineering

Sample Results:

Tyrel
Human Underclass Soldier

Traits: Prowess 16, Athletics 12, Strength 12, Awareness 13, Willpower 10, Rogue 10
Specializations: Rogue (Read People): 13
Skills: Subterfuge: 10, Etiquette: 10, Seamanship: 10, Survival: 10, First Aid: 13

Other: Has made an enemy (The mistress of a Duke, who he served. He rejected her advances solely out of loyalty to the Duke, earning her ire and severing any ties he had with the Duke).

Breakdown:
Human: +2 Events (8 CP total Events), +2 CP to spend as you want
Underclass: Subterfuge 10, +1 Awareness
Soldier: Traits: Prowess 13, Athletics 12, Strength 11, Awareness 10, Willpower 10, Rogue 10
Events: (6 CP to begin, +2 for being human)
Drafted into a Fighting Force as Infantry: +1 Prowess, +1 Strength (2 CP used)
Lived at Court as a Fencing Instructor: Etiquette 10, +1 Prowess, +1 Awareness (3 CP used)
Went on the run: Gained an enemy and an additional +1 CP to spend as the Player chooses.
Worked on a Merchant Ship as a Stowaway: Seamanship 10, Awareness +1 (2 CP used)
Worked on a Merchant Ship as a Guard: Prowess +1 (1 CP used) Additional Points: 2 CP for being human, +1 CP due to the enemy he picked up, so 3 CP total. These are spent on Survival: 10, Rogue (Read People) +3, and First Aid 13

Tyrel’s Story: Tyrel grew up in the worst parts of a port city, so he learned how to watch his own back, and how to fight, at a young age. His fierceness was noticed by a guardsman, who got him drafted into the home guard, where he stayed for several years until he distinguished himself enough for a local Duke to take him on as a guard. Unfortunately, his life took a bad turn when the mistress of his lord tried to seduce him. Tyrel rejected her advances solely out of loyalty to the Duke. That didn’t go well, and resulted in him running for his life and stowing away on a merchant ship. The ship’s captain eventually found Tyrel out and employed him as a guard, which is where we find him at the start of the campaign.

Final Thoughts

Like the other random character creation methods I’ve suggested, this maintains a nominally equal power level while giving a great deal of information about the character’s background (or at least hooks to hang that background upon). I think that’s the highest and best use of random character creation systems, and it’s quite the opposite of the way they have often been used in the past.