Quick Character Generation for the Majestic Realms
Aug 31, 2016 11:26:08 GMT -5
Admin Pete, tetramorph, and 1 more like this
Post by robertsconley on Aug 31, 2016 11:26:08 GMT -5
I do have something fairly complete and that I would like feedback on a system for quickly generating complete characters. I am trying to get people to create fully equipped characters from 1st to 6th level within 30 to 20 minutes
Quick Character Generation
There are several types of reference in this system.
First are cards, I print them out on letter size cardstock. some of the cards are meant to be printed double sided.
They are
Quick General Character Generation. I have a symbol of rolling up starting character higher than 1st level. I use this mainly at convention games and game store sessions to have parties of mixed level to playtest my adventures. It was adapted from a chart made by Jeff Rients.
The Various class cards found in Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, and Rogue PDFs. Some of the cards are double sided some are not. For those of you who are not into my Majestic Wilderlands classes, the traditional three, Cleric, Fighter, Magic-user are in there pretty as they are in Swords & Wizardry. The thief however is not because it been replaced by the rogue classes.
The character race card which has a singled sided traditional race card and a double side non-traditional race card. Note that humans get a +15% XP bonus to reflect the fact that my campaigns are dominated by human cultures. This pretty much eliminate people trying to min max racial abilities. Why 15%, because +5% does nothing, and +50% is way too generous. I playtested various numbers and found +15% to work out the best.
The summary of character abilities. For those who don't have my MW supplement, abilities are like skills in other RPGs except any character can do any ability just some are better at certain abilities. Notably the Rogue classes are centered around being better at certain abilities.
The price list, note I allow purchase of magic item which I know at least half of you will ignore which is OK.
The summary of how I run combat.
Finally the Character sheet which is designed print out on one side, fold in half, and the inside used for notes.
The Booklets
There is a folder with PDFs for reference books. They are basically some of the full rules formatted as a reference.
The booklets are:
The full explanation of character abilities.
The full explanation of the combat rules.
The full explanation of equipment. Note that some equipment have options that are useful in combat.
A two part arcane spell reference for the magic-user classes.
A divine spell reference for the cleric classes.
General Notes
The foundation of the way I handle combat is that character a can do a half-move and attack and you only get one attack action. Everything else is designed around this idea.
I use individual initiative. I added a wrinkle in that the fighter classes get to add their class to-hit bonus to their initiative roll. Actually makes a big difference in how players perceived fighters without making combat too easy by boosting number of attacks and the to hit bonus.
I have eliminated nearly all the bonuses that Swords & Wizardry uses in favor of D&D 5th edition advantage and disadvantage. Prior to that I used only four bonuses +4, +2, -2, and -4. The foundation of that system was the idea that nothing could be tougher than hitting an invisible opponent which is traditionally -4 to hit. However advantage and disadvantages has such a positive reception and nearly every player I referee gets it in a way that I never see with bonuses in any RPG. The downside is that it is basically one positive modifier and one negative modifier.
Some abilities are resolved by getting a certain number successes on X dice. Again I am trying to get rid of bonuses. However this is very much subject to change because it lacks the playtesting that Advantage and Disadvantage got. If it doesn't work out I will figure something else out.
Enjoy and hope you find this stuff useful.
Quick Character Generation
There are several types of reference in this system.
First are cards, I print them out on letter size cardstock. some of the cards are meant to be printed double sided.
They are
Quick General Character Generation. I have a symbol of rolling up starting character higher than 1st level. I use this mainly at convention games and game store sessions to have parties of mixed level to playtest my adventures. It was adapted from a chart made by Jeff Rients.
The Various class cards found in Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, and Rogue PDFs. Some of the cards are double sided some are not. For those of you who are not into my Majestic Wilderlands classes, the traditional three, Cleric, Fighter, Magic-user are in there pretty as they are in Swords & Wizardry. The thief however is not because it been replaced by the rogue classes.
The character race card which has a singled sided traditional race card and a double side non-traditional race card. Note that humans get a +15% XP bonus to reflect the fact that my campaigns are dominated by human cultures. This pretty much eliminate people trying to min max racial abilities. Why 15%, because +5% does nothing, and +50% is way too generous. I playtested various numbers and found +15% to work out the best.
The summary of character abilities. For those who don't have my MW supplement, abilities are like skills in other RPGs except any character can do any ability just some are better at certain abilities. Notably the Rogue classes are centered around being better at certain abilities.
The price list, note I allow purchase of magic item which I know at least half of you will ignore which is OK.
The summary of how I run combat.
Finally the Character sheet which is designed print out on one side, fold in half, and the inside used for notes.
The Booklets
There is a folder with PDFs for reference books. They are basically some of the full rules formatted as a reference.
The booklets are:
The full explanation of character abilities.
The full explanation of the combat rules.
The full explanation of equipment. Note that some equipment have options that are useful in combat.
A two part arcane spell reference for the magic-user classes.
A divine spell reference for the cleric classes.
General Notes
The foundation of the way I handle combat is that character a can do a half-move and attack and you only get one attack action. Everything else is designed around this idea.
I use individual initiative. I added a wrinkle in that the fighter classes get to add their class to-hit bonus to their initiative roll. Actually makes a big difference in how players perceived fighters without making combat too easy by boosting number of attacks and the to hit bonus.
I have eliminated nearly all the bonuses that Swords & Wizardry uses in favor of D&D 5th edition advantage and disadvantage. Prior to that I used only four bonuses +4, +2, -2, and -4. The foundation of that system was the idea that nothing could be tougher than hitting an invisible opponent which is traditionally -4 to hit. However advantage and disadvantages has such a positive reception and nearly every player I referee gets it in a way that I never see with bonuses in any RPG. The downside is that it is basically one positive modifier and one negative modifier.
Some abilities are resolved by getting a certain number successes on X dice. Again I am trying to get rid of bonuses. However this is very much subject to change because it lacks the playtesting that Advantage and Disadvantage got. If it doesn't work out I will figure something else out.
Enjoy and hope you find this stuff useful.