Happy Friday all!
Regular readers can't have failed to notice the AetherCon banner that has flown up top of the blog lately. I'm about to tell you why!
AetherCon is an entirely online convention with everything you might expect from a con: games to join, panels to sign up for, merchants, and competitions. Best of all, you can take part in the con for free. And this year, Spilled Ale Studios has a couple of events!
If you'd like to play Fifth Edition Fallout with me, head over to ticket registration for "Roach Motel"! The game will take place on Saturday 10th November, 9am EST (That's 2pm GMT to those of you more local to my own time zone). Five tickets are available.
I'm also honoured to have been asked to join a panel on the topic of post-apocalyptic rpgs alongside Vincent Baker of Lumpley Games (Dogs in the Vineyard, Apocalypse World), and Scott Davis of Happy Monster Press (Children of the Apocalypse, a Savage World setting). I'm excited! I hope you are too. Visit ticket registration for "Four on the Floor and Six in the Chamber - Post Apocalyptic RPGs" to sign up for the panel.
Friday, 5 October 2018
Tuesday, 2 October 2018
5e: A Random Character Creation Walkthrough, Part II
It's time to continue working on our randomly generated character! You can find the first part of this series here. You can also find an article describing the various sources for random tables used here.
Before we get started, a reminder about how I'm generating dice rolls.
I'm using the dice rolling feature of DuckDuckGo's search engine. It can handle rolls of any standard die type, but it isn't able to roll a d100. Therefore, to get a d100 result I'll roll two d10s instead.
Take a look at the sample image below:
For most rolls, the big bold number at the top is the result. For example, if a random table required me to roll 2d10 and add the results together, then the result of this roll would be 5 + 8 = 13.
Whenever a table instructs me to roll d100, however, the two boxed numbers below are read left to right to get the result. 5 and 8 = 58. A 10 in a box is actually a 0. If I roll a 10 and a 9, for example, the result is 09. In the event that I roll two 10s, then the result is 100.
So, where were we? Last time, I'd rolled up the character's race and sex using @TheKindGM's Character Creation Tables, and started on the This is Your Life tables from Xanathar's Guide to Everything. I'd completed the first section, Origins, which means we're moving on to Personal Decisions.
For ease of reference, here's the summary of everything we've learned about this character so far.
Rather than choosing the background, I want to randomly determine that as well. We've used @TheKindGM's tables so far, but for this I actually prefer the tables in @giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons. The reason is the distribution of the odds. The Kind GM's table uses a d20, which means half of the results have a 5% chance, and others have a 10% chance. Because @giffyglyph's table uses a d100, allowing for a more incremental distribution, the results are more even. So I'll be using that table, and rolling d100. Since all the "I became a [background] because..." tables in XGtE require a d6, I'll go ahead and roll that now too.
As explained in the "Dice Rolls" sidebar, the result of the first of these two rolls is actually 68. This means that the character's background is as a Sage. Referring to the "I became a Sage because..." table in XGtE, a 6 means "One of my parents or a relative gave me a basic education that whetted my appetite, and I left home to build on what I had learned."
This result isn't too controversial, lining up quite nicely with the results we already have. We already know the character has come from a wealthy background, so it isn't too surprising that they would receive an education. However, since the character's father was a farmer, then it is likely that the character's initial education came from her mother, who was both aristocratic and a noted academic. The fact that the character chose to follow in her mother's footsteps despite the mother's abandonment might hint at complicated feelings.
Since we know the background now, we might as well roll on the background charts from the Player's Handbook.
An interesting result: "discredited academic"! Clearly she was exploring an avenue of research others found foolish, or forbidden. To further tie this character's destiny to that of her mysteriously disappeared mother, I'm inclined to say that she discovered her mother's controversial research and tried to continue it. Perhaps the academics who drove her out of the field know more than they've let on and were actually trying to do her a favour, stopping the research before she disappeared too (or something worse). Discredited academic is a perfect background for an adventurer in any case, since she needs a new way to bring in the bread and butter... and perhaps continue her research.
"There's nothing I like more than a good mystery." This is a fun result since it tells us something about the character's interests. In a world with printing presses, she might be a mystery novel enthusiast. It's a great hook for an adventurer, since it won't be difficult to tempt her to investigate goings on. Plus, when she finally learns that there was more to her mother's disappearance than mere abandonment, she'll be tireless in looking for the truth.
This result gives us: "No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence. (Chaotic)"
So what to make of this? We know literally her entire family have been Neutral, so this is unlikely an attitude the character has been taught during her upbringing. It might be that she has come to accept the randomness of events thanks to the events that have happened to her (birth as a sorcerer, violent death of her father, abandonment by her mother, betrayal by academic mentors). She believes she is justified in what she does and outcomes she seeks, because all things are possible, but is accepting when other results come to pass.
"I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question."
The obvious question here would be "why did my mother abandon me?"
This result is "I can’t keep a secret to save my life, or anyone else’s."
Well that'll certainly be interesting in light of of the character's dangerous research!
Okay! This is a fairly interesting result. Not as interesting as a Sage Barbarian, perhaps, since anyone from any walk of life could also be a Sorcerer, but still somewhat unusual. You'd normally associated a highly educated spellcaster with a Wizard, right? This character, in spite of her innate magic, was unwilling to simply rely on that natural talent.
The Sorcerer is one of the few classes that picks its archetype at 1st level, which makes sense because their Sorcerous Origin explains the bloodline that causes them to have their powers. We might as well figure that out now! I'll use @TheKindGM's table, but replace the 6 result ("reroll") with the Giant Soul bloodline that appeared in Unearthed Arcana.
A result of 3 means she has the Shadow Magic Bloodline! "You are a creature of shadow, for your innate magic comes from the Shadowfell itself. You might trace your lineage to an entity from that place, or perhaps you were exposed to its fell energy and transformed by it." Interesting. I won't settle on the exact reason for this origin for now, but the idea that the character could have been transformed by contact with energy from the Shadowfell is intriguing. Could this be connected somehow with the reason for her mother's disappearance? Perhaps the mother, who was herself an academic, was researching the Shadowfell and may have been somehow responsible? Food for thought.
As an aside, the Shadow Magic Sorcerer result present another possible question for our character's bond: "what is the origin of my powers?" Hell, why not ask both?
The Shadow Magic archetype has a Quirks table, so let's roll on that now!
Her quirk is "When you are asleep, you don’t appear to breathe (though you must still breathe to survive)". Weeeeird.
Well, if you had any doubts about the authenticity of my rolls throughout this process, I hope this persuades you! I would not have chosen to have to do four of these. Ah well, all the more reason to get right to it!
The Life Events table is a d100 table which generates events such as personal tragedies, wartime experiences, love/marriage, and so on. Generally, they involve rolling on further supplementary tables. In the interest of efficiency I'm going to roll all four events at once.
In order, these results mean that the adventurer friend is a Neutral Evil Rogue Human who is Alive and Well.
An interesting friend! Still, we know that the character herself is Neutral and indeed, her own brother is a Rogue, so it's not that odd that she would befriend one. Obviously they have found common ground and the character is willing to look past their friend's selfishness, or they exclude their friend from any evil behaviour.
How did they become friends? Well, they're both adventurers, so the obvious thought is that they joined up as members of the same adventuring party in the past.
In any case, we need to figure out what the crime is, as well as the punishment, so there are two tables to roll on.
A 7 means the crime was extortion, and a 6 on the punishment table suggests that while the character did commit or help with the crime, she was found not guilty by the authorities.
Okay, so our character's not so innocent. Extortion is a fairly fitting crime, too, since we know that she and her brothers are desperately trying to recover the family fortunes. We might as well tie together the seeds we've already got, so let's say that the evil Rogue friend persuaded her into a "harmless" money-making scheme, perhaps by explaining that the target of the extortion is no saint themselves. Clearly it went wrong and they got caught, but just as clearly they got away free. I'm thinking that the Rogue friend was able to pay off an official. The character hasn't attempted criminal enterprise since.
There we have it: she's not lost her earlier friend! So this enemy is someone else... Let's see who they are.
Hm. This NPC is a Neutral Good Bard Elf who is Alive and Quite Successful. So, at some point our character managed to piss off a moderately famous adventuring entertainer! Who is to blame? That's a d6 roll, with an odd result meaning our character caused the rift, and an even result suggesting that the NPC is at fault.
Okay, so our character did something to cause this enmity... what could it be?
I like the idea that this NPC was a former friend. Perhaps the bard was part of the same party with our sorcerer player character and the rogue friend. A decision made during an adventure seems like it has the potential to cause a rift. Maybe the bard was left for dead? The adventurers could have gotten in over their heads, the bard seemingly cornered by a powerful monster, and was abandoned by our character who lacked the abilities or tools to save them. Maybe she went for help, but by the time she returned both the bard and the monster were gone. She had somehow survived by her own cunning, and would later escape the dungeon on her own and go on to be a famous adventurer after joining up with another party. She still blames our sorcerer for her near-death.
This result means "you saved a commoner who owes you a life debt". The commoner travels with our character as a servant. This holds up an interesting mirror to the story I just concocted about her enemy, and suddenly I'm wondering if the two events are linked.
Perhaps our character had a choice to save either a friend or an innocent, and chose the innocent. A fair and moral choice, but the person not chosen could certainly be justified in holding a grudge! A former friend was lost, but a loyal new friend was gained in turn.
We need to generate some details about this commoner. We can exclude Class, as well as Status (we know they're alive already). We'll want to roll on Alignment and Race. It would be possible to roll on the Occupation table too (though some of the occupations aren't suitable for a commoner, so rerolling might occur). However, I'm inclined to simply pick the commoner's occupation based on what has already been determined. If we assume that the choice the character made to save a commoner at the expense of her ally occurred when she and her adventuring party were on a quest to some dungeon or defeat a monsters, there are only limited occupations that might reasonably be in the area. I'm going to rule that they had taken on a mission to kill a monster which turned out to be too deadly for them, and the NPC was a hunter who happened to be in the woods nearby and stumbled onto the monster's path. In saving the hunter, our character left behind her friend in a seemingly impossible situation, perhaps trapped in a dead end. Miraculously she managed to get out herself, though perhaps not without injury, which is why she couldn't immediately rejoin with the group.
What kind of monster? Maybe something like an ogre would fit the bill: Novice adventurers might have thought that they could kill such a monster but be completely out of their depth. Yet it would also be possible to escape from it.
Right. Now that's sorted, let's roll for Alignment and Race.
An 8 for Alignment means Neutral Evil! It seems our hero has a bad habit of surrounding herself with bad influences. A result of 31 for Race means the NPC is a Human.
Dice Rolls
Before we get started, a reminder about how I'm generating dice rolls.
I'm using the dice rolling feature of DuckDuckGo's search engine. It can handle rolls of any standard die type, but it isn't able to roll a d100. Therefore, to get a d100 result I'll roll two d10s instead.
Take a look at the sample image below:
For most rolls, the big bold number at the top is the result. For example, if a random table required me to roll 2d10 and add the results together, then the result of this roll would be 5 + 8 = 13.
Whenever a table instructs me to roll d100, however, the two boxed numbers below are read left to right to get the result. 5 and 8 = 58. A 10 in a box is actually a 0. If I roll a 10 and a 9, for example, the result is 09. In the event that I roll two 10s, then the result is 100.
So, where were we? Last time, I'd rolled up the character's race and sex using @TheKindGM's Character Creation Tables, and started on the This is Your Life tables from Xanathar's Guide to Everything. I'd completed the first section, Origins, which means we're moving on to Personal Decisions.
For ease of reference, here's the summary of everything we've learned about this character so far.
The Character So Far!
- Our character was born female.
- She is a human (therefore so were both of her parents, and her siblings).
- She was born in the family home, which was a mansion.
- She is from an aristocratic lineage, but the family no longer has its wealth and properties.
- Her mother was the sole heir of said aristocratic line and a noted academic. She married for love, not politics. She has since seemingly abandoned the family, but unknown to the family there are mysterious reasons why she had to leave. She is or was neutrally-aligned.
- Her father was a simple farmer until marrying the character's mother. His being out of his depth after the mother left may have exarcebated the family's already waning fortunes. He was eaten by a monster around 3-4 years ago. He was neutrally aligned.
- She has an older brother, who now works as a major domo or butler. He is trying to shoulder the responsibility of regaining the family's lost fortunes alone. He is neutrally aligned.
- She has a younger brother, who is now an adventuring rogue. He is neutrally aligned.
- She and her younger brother are likely motivated by the desire to help rebuild their family fortunes, and because of the loss of their father to a monster.
- All three siblings are friendly with eachother.
- Other than her siblings, the character had few friends owing to the perception that she was somehow different or strange.
- At the time of the game start, the character is roughly 22 and a half years old.
Personal Decisions
This next section is to do with the character's background and class, fleshing out the decisions following their childhood.Background
First up, we're instructed to decide the character's background. Once we do, the guide presents additional tables pertaining to decision points related to the chosen background. However, it only provides these for backgrounds from the Player's Handbook, not any of the additional sources available. For the sake of this exercise, I'll stick to the Player's Handbook so we can make full use of these tables.Rather than choosing the background, I want to randomly determine that as well. We've used @TheKindGM's tables so far, but for this I actually prefer the tables in @giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons. The reason is the distribution of the odds. The Kind GM's table uses a d20, which means half of the results have a 5% chance, and others have a 10% chance. Because @giffyglyph's table uses a d100, allowing for a more incremental distribution, the results are more even. So I'll be using that table, and rolling d100. Since all the "I became a [background] because..." tables in XGtE require a d6, I'll go ahead and roll that now too.
As explained in the "Dice Rolls" sidebar, the result of the first of these two rolls is actually 68. This means that the character's background is as a Sage. Referring to the "I became a Sage because..." table in XGtE, a 6 means "One of my parents or a relative gave me a basic education that whetted my appetite, and I left home to build on what I had learned."
This result isn't too controversial, lining up quite nicely with the results we already have. We already know the character has come from a wealthy background, so it isn't too surprising that they would receive an education. However, since the character's father was a farmer, then it is likely that the character's initial education came from her mother, who was both aristocratic and a noted academic. The fact that the character chose to follow in her mother's footsteps despite the mother's abandonment might hint at complicated feelings.
Since we know the background now, we might as well roll on the background charts from the Player's Handbook.
Specialty
Here we have a d8 roll to determine what kind of Sage our character is.
An interesting result: "discredited academic"! Clearly she was exploring an avenue of research others found foolish, or forbidden. To further tie this character's destiny to that of her mysteriously disappeared mother, I'm inclined to say that she discovered her mother's controversial research and tried to continue it. Perhaps the academics who drove her out of the field know more than they've let on and were actually trying to do her a favour, stopping the research before she disappeared too (or something worse). Discredited academic is a perfect background for an adventurer in any case, since she needs a new way to bring in the bread and butter... and perhaps continue her research.
Personality Trait
Next up is another d8 to determine one of her defining traits:
"There's nothing I like more than a good mystery." This is a fun result since it tells us something about the character's interests. In a world with printing presses, she might be a mystery novel enthusiast. It's a great hook for an adventurer, since it won't be difficult to tempt her to investigate goings on. Plus, when she finally learns that there was more to her mother's disappearance than mere abandonment, she'll be tireless in looking for the truth.
Ideal
The character's ideal is a d6 roll.
This result gives us: "No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence. (Chaotic)"
So what to make of this? We know literally her entire family have been Neutral, so this is unlikely an attitude the character has been taught during her upbringing. It might be that she has come to accept the randomness of events thanks to the events that have happened to her (birth as a sorcerer, violent death of her father, abandonment by her mother, betrayal by academic mentors). She believes she is justified in what she does and outcomes she seeks, because all things are possible, but is accepting when other results come to pass.
Bond
Another d6 roll determines the character's bond:
"I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question."
The obvious question here would be "why did my mother abandon me?"
Flaw
A final d6 roll determines the character's chief flaw:
This result is "I can’t keep a secret to save my life, or anyone else’s."
Well that'll certainly be interesting in light of of the character's dangerous research!
Class Training
Next up, XGtE asks us to decide the character's class if we haven't already, then presents supplementary tables. Again, we want to decide the class at random. I'll use @TheKindGM's table again this time, since a d12 to choose between 12 classes seems simple.
Okay! This is a fairly interesting result. Not as interesting as a Sage Barbarian, perhaps, since anyone from any walk of life could also be a Sorcerer, but still somewhat unusual. You'd normally associated a highly educated spellcaster with a Wizard, right? This character, in spite of her innate magic, was unwilling to simply rely on that natural talent.
The Sorcerer is one of the few classes that picks its archetype at 1st level, which makes sense because their Sorcerous Origin explains the bloodline that causes them to have their powers. We might as well figure that out now! I'll use @TheKindGM's table, but replace the 6 result ("reroll") with the Giant Soul bloodline that appeared in Unearthed Arcana.
A result of 3 means she has the Shadow Magic Bloodline! "You are a creature of shadow, for your innate magic comes from the Shadowfell itself. You might trace your lineage to an entity from that place, or perhaps you were exposed to its fell energy and transformed by it." Interesting. I won't settle on the exact reason for this origin for now, but the idea that the character could have been transformed by contact with energy from the Shadowfell is intriguing. Could this be connected somehow with the reason for her mother's disappearance? Perhaps the mother, who was herself an academic, was researching the Shadowfell and may have been somehow responsible? Food for thought.
As an aside, the Shadow Magic Sorcerer result present another possible question for our character's bond: "what is the origin of my powers?" Hell, why not ask both?
The Shadow Magic archetype has a Quirks table, so let's roll on that now!
Her quirk is "When you are asleep, you don’t appear to breathe (though you must still breathe to survive)". Weeeeird.
Life Events
At this point, I move onto the Life Events section of XGtE. The first table is Life Events by Age, which lets us determine both a character's age bracket and the amount of significant events that have occurred in their past. For this character we can skip rolling age, since the events from her past already led us to discovering her approximate age last time: 20-25. I decided to split the difference and say she's 22. According to the table, characters aged 21-30 can have 1d4 life events, so let's roll that now.
Well, if you had any doubts about the authenticity of my rolls throughout this process, I hope this persuades you! I would not have chosen to have to do four of these. Ah well, all the more reason to get right to it!
The Life Events table is a d100 table which generates events such as personal tragedies, wartime experiences, love/marriage, and so on. Generally, they involve rolling on further supplementary tables. In the interest of efficiency I'm going to roll all four events at once.
Event 1 (48): Made a Friend of an Adventurer
The first major event generated is the friendship of an adventurer. This means rolling on a number of supplementary tables to establish a bit more about this NPC (as we did for the character's parents and siblings last time). I'll be rolling on the following supplemental tables: Alignment (3d6), Class (d100), Race (d100), and Status (3d6).
In order, these results mean that the adventurer friend is a Neutral Evil Rogue Human who is Alive and Well.
An interesting friend! Still, we know that the character herself is Neutral and indeed, her own brother is a Rogue, so it's not that odd that she would befriend one. Obviously they have found common ground and the character is willing to look past their friend's selfishness, or they exclude their friend from any evil behaviour.
How did they become friends? Well, they're both adventurers, so the obvious thought is that they joined up as members of the same adventuring party in the past.
Event 2 (92): Committed or Was Wrongly Accused of a Crime
This is a rather interesting event. My feeling is that the character and her family are largely hard-working and law-abiding. Even her Rogue brother is likely the dungeon-delving kind rather than explicitly criminal. That said, we know that the character has chaotic leanings from her Ideal. Could she have genuinely committed the crime, though? Well, she has an evil-aligned Rogue friend. They could have roped the character into something. Or she could have been caught up in one of the friend's schemes and scooped up as an accomplice by the guard.In any case, we need to figure out what the crime is, as well as the punishment, so there are two tables to roll on.
A 7 means the crime was extortion, and a 6 on the punishment table suggests that while the character did commit or help with the crime, she was found not guilty by the authorities.
Okay, so our character's not so innocent. Extortion is a fairly fitting crime, too, since we know that she and her brothers are desperately trying to recover the family fortunes. We might as well tie together the seeds we've already got, so let's say that the evil Rogue friend persuaded her into a "harmless" money-making scheme, perhaps by explaining that the target of the extortion is no saint themselves. Clearly it went wrong and they got caught, but just as clearly they got away free. I'm thinking that the Rogue friend was able to pay off an official. The character hasn't attempted criminal enterprise since.
Event 3 (42): Made an Enemy of an Adventurer
A very interesting result considering the opposite has happened in the first event. Potentially, this could be the same person. If they are different people, I'd be tempted to combine the two into a single event where our character made a choice that gained the friendship of one adventurer and the enmity of another. So the first thing I want to do here is roll a d3, as I'm going to weight it slightly towards being a different NPC. On a 3, it's the same person.
There we have it: she's not lost her earlier friend! So this enemy is someone else... Let's see who they are.
Hm. This NPC is a Neutral Good Bard Elf who is Alive and Quite Successful. So, at some point our character managed to piss off a moderately famous adventuring entertainer! Who is to blame? That's a d6 roll, with an odd result meaning our character caused the rift, and an even result suggesting that the NPC is at fault.
Okay, so our character did something to cause this enmity... what could it be?
I like the idea that this NPC was a former friend. Perhaps the bard was part of the same party with our sorcerer player character and the rogue friend. A decision made during an adventure seems like it has the potential to cause a rift. Maybe the bard was left for dead? The adventurers could have gotten in over their heads, the bard seemingly cornered by a powerful monster, and was abandoned by our character who lacked the abilities or tools to save them. Maybe she went for help, but by the time she returned both the bard and the monster were gone. She had somehow survived by her own cunning, and would later escape the dungeon on her own and go on to be a famous adventurer after joining up with another party. She still blames our sorcerer for her near-death.
Event 4 (18): Good Fortune
A good fortune event means rolling on the d10 Boons table. Boons range from the fairly mundane (a little extra gold or a weapon) to something slightly magical (a spell scroll or healing potion), to an animal like a riding horse or even a servant.
This result means "you saved a commoner who owes you a life debt". The commoner travels with our character as a servant. This holds up an interesting mirror to the story I just concocted about her enemy, and suddenly I'm wondering if the two events are linked.
Perhaps our character had a choice to save either a friend or an innocent, and chose the innocent. A fair and moral choice, but the person not chosen could certainly be justified in holding a grudge! A former friend was lost, but a loyal new friend was gained in turn.
We need to generate some details about this commoner. We can exclude Class, as well as Status (we know they're alive already). We'll want to roll on Alignment and Race. It would be possible to roll on the Occupation table too (though some of the occupations aren't suitable for a commoner, so rerolling might occur). However, I'm inclined to simply pick the commoner's occupation based on what has already been determined. If we assume that the choice the character made to save a commoner at the expense of her ally occurred when she and her adventuring party were on a quest to some dungeon or defeat a monsters, there are only limited occupations that might reasonably be in the area. I'm going to rule that they had taken on a mission to kill a monster which turned out to be too deadly for them, and the NPC was a hunter who happened to be in the woods nearby and stumbled onto the monster's path. In saving the hunter, our character left behind her friend in a seemingly impossible situation, perhaps trapped in a dead end. Miraculously she managed to get out herself, though perhaps not without injury, which is why she couldn't immediately rejoin with the group.
What kind of monster? Maybe something like an ogre would fit the bill: Novice adventurers might have thought that they could kill such a monster but be completely out of their depth. Yet it would also be possible to escape from it.
Right. Now that's sorted, let's roll for Alignment and Race.
An 8 for Alignment means Neutral Evil! It seems our hero has a bad habit of surrounding herself with bad influences. A result of 31 for Race means the NPC is a Human.
And we're done!
That's it! An entire character with their background has been generated. There are still a few things left to do, such as describing the character physically and further fleshing out of specifics: the names of the character, their family and friends; deciding where in the setting she was born, where she studied; and so on. But the tables have given us almost everything necessary to begin playing this character and for the player and DM to be able to craft amazing stories with them.What We Now Know
- Our character was born female.
- She is a human (therefore so were both of her parents, and her siblings).
- She was born in the family home, which was a mansion.
- She is from an aristocratic lineage, but the family no longer has its wealth and properties.
- Her mother was the sole heir of said aristocratic line and a noted academic. She married for love, not politics. She has since seemingly abandoned the family, but unknown to the family there are mysterious reasons why she had to leave. She is or was neutrally-aligned.
- Her father was a simple farmer until marrying the character's mother. His being out of his depth after the mother left may have exacerbated the family's already waning fortunes. He was eaten by a monster around 3-4 years ago. He was neutrally aligned.
- She has an older brother, who now works as a major domo or butler. He is trying to shoulder the responsibility of regaining the family's lost fortunes alone. He is neutrally aligned.
- She has a younger brother, who is now an adventuring rogue. He is neutrally aligned.
- She and her younger brother are likely motivated by the desire to help rebuild their family fortunes, and because of the loss of their father to a monster.
- All three siblings are friendly with each other.
- Other than her siblings, the character had few friends owing the perception that she was somehow different or strange.
- She is a Shadow Magic Sorcerer.
- When she sleeps, she doesn't appear to breathe (though she does still need to breathe).
- At the time of the game start, the character is roughly 22 and a half years old.
- She became a Sage because her academic mother gave her a basic education that whetted her appetite, causing her to leave home to build on what she had learned. She was unwilling to rely on her magical talent alone
- Background Specialty: "Discredited academic". She found her mother's research and tried to continue it, then was driven out of the academic field by people she thought had been friends and mentors. Unbeknownst to her they know more about her mother's disappearance than they have said, and are trying to prevent her from making the same mistake.
- Background Personality Trait: "There's nothing I like more than a good mystery."
- Background Ideal: "No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence. (Chaotic)"
- Background Bond: "I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question." - In this case, we've come up with two questions: "What are the origins of my sorcerous power?" and "Why did my mother abandon me?"
- Background Flaw: "I can’t keep a secret to save my life, or anyone else’s."
- She became an adventurer and joined a party which included a Neutral Evil Human Rogue and a Neutral Good Elf Bard, whom she befriended.
- Her Rogue friend once persuaded her to extort an unsavoury type, but it fell through. They managed to wiggle free of the consequences thanks to greasing palms in a corrupt system.
- On an adventure to slay an ogre which turned out to be too powerful she was forced to choose who to save: her friend the bard or a hunter who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She chose the hunter, earning a loyal comrade. The elf miraculously survived despite being cornered, but was injured in the escape and was delayed in returning to town, and assumed to be dead. They went on to become a successful adventurer, but still bear a grudge for the perceived betrayal.
- Her loyal servant is a Neutral Evil Human hunter (of the mundane animal variety).
Conclusions
I can't recommend this method of generating a character enough, as it sparks imagination and channels your creativity in new directions, while giving you the opportunity to experiment with types of characters you may never have considered before. I'm not really into playing arcane casters, but I must admit I'd be very tempted to explore my newly generated shadow sorcerer's story next time I have the opportunity to join a game!Wednesday, 19 September 2018
5e Fallout: Enigmatic Enclave, Foul Floaters, Horrible Mutant Hounds, Savage Spore Plants and Carriers, and Terrible Trogs!
Following on from the recent Aliens update, a significant amount of new content has been added to the Fifth Edition Fallout wiki.
This update includes:
New Weapons
This update includes:
Enclave
- Scientist (CR 1/2)
- Enclave Trainee (CR 5)
- Enclave Officer (CR 9)
- Enclave Soldier (CR 11)
- Enclave Veteran (CR 13)
- Sidebar: Flame Troopers (two variant statblocks)
- Sidebar: Pulse Troopers (two variant statblocks)
- Sidebar: Tesla Soldiers (one variant statblock)
- Sidebar: Hellfire Troopers (one variant statblock)
- Sidebar: Control Company (four variant statblocks)
- Sidebar: Squad Sigma (six variant statblocks)
Floaters
- Floater (CR 1/2)
- Bloody Floater (CR 2)
- Nasty Floater (CR 5)
Mutant Hounds
- Mutant Hound (CR 1)
- Glowing Mutant Hound (CR 3)
Robots
- Liberty Prime (CR 27)
Spore Plants
- Spore Plant (CR 1/2)
- Giant Spore Plant (CR 5)
- Dionaea Muscipula (CR 8)
Spore Carriers
- Spore Carrier Runt (CR 1/2)
- Spore Carrier (CR 1)
- Spore Carrier Brute (CR 2)
- Spore Carrier Savage (CR 3)
- Spore Carrier Savenger (CR 5)
- Spore Carrier Beast (CR 8)
Trogs
- Trog Fledgling (CR 1/8)
- Trog (CR 1/2)
- Trog Brute (CR 1)
- Trog Savage (CR 4)
New Weapons
- Incinerator
- Pulse Pistol
- Pulse Rifle
Saturday, 15 September 2018
Announcing a new 5e Fallout Stream: The Burning Winds
Fantastic news! I've just learned of another stream you Fallout fans will be able to watch very soon! And guess what? It's not the game @ZerthSpirit has recently teased us with. Nope, it's another new game!
The Burning Winds is GMed by @CaptainR3boot. The game starts airing tomorrow at 1pm PST/4pm EST. The first session will be live character creation, so be sure to check that out to get a good feel for the player characters.
This brings the total of concurrent streams up to three, with four expected once @ZerthSpirit's begins. Just amazing!
In related news, because Fifth Edition Fallout live plays seem to be growing in popularity (and I love it!) I figured it was high time that I kept a record of the games somewhere for the convenience of the fans.
You can now keep track of what games are happening and where you can find them over on the wiki's stream log!
The Burning Winds is GMed by @CaptainR3boot. The game starts airing tomorrow at 1pm PST/4pm EST. The first session will be live character creation, so be sure to check that out to get a good feel for the player characters.
This brings the total of concurrent streams up to three, with four expected once @ZerthSpirit's begins. Just amazing!
In related news, because Fifth Edition Fallout live plays seem to be growing in popularity (and I love it!) I figured it was high time that I kept a record of the games somewhere for the convenience of the fans.
You can now keep track of what games are happening and where you can find them over on the wiki's stream log!
Thursday, 13 September 2018
5e Fallout: Antagonistic Aliens!
More Fifth Edition Fallout news already? Yup. I hope you appreciate all these nice things I'm making for you!
As the title suggests, I've finally gotten round to adding aliens to the game! Now your wastelanders can run across lone pilots of crashed saucers or get beamed up to the mothership for a zany offworld adventure! In addition to statblocks, the addition of aliens also means access to some new alien weaponry!
This update includes:
As the title suggests, I've finally gotten round to adding aliens to the game! Now your wastelanders can run across lone pilots of crashed saucers or get beamed up to the mothership for a zany offworld adventure! In addition to statblocks, the addition of aliens also means access to some new alien weaponry!
This update includes:
Aliens
- Alien Worker (CR 0)
- Alien Crewman (CR 2)
- Alien Ensign (CR 4)
- Alien Lieutenant (CR 6)
- Alien Lieutenant Commander (CR 9)
- Alien Commander (CR 12)
- Alien Captain (CR 15)
Alien Robots
- Support Drone (CR 1)
- Guardian Drone (CR 6)
- Experimental Weapons Drone (CR 7)
- Alien Turret (CR 2)
Alien Weapons
- Alien Atomizer
- Alien Disintegrator
- Alien Shock Baton
- Drone Cannon
- Drone Cannon Ex-B
Tuesday, 11 September 2018
5e: Legendary Magic Items - The Suit of the Spider
I've been playing a lot of the new Spider-Man game since its release. This isn't a review, so I'll just say I think it's excellent, and I'm having great fun swinging around the game's version of New York!
Since Spider-Man is currently occupying much of my thoughts and free time, I should at least channel that towards some content, right? So here's a set of magic items inspired by Spider-Man! Why not disperse these through your game's world as the mythical treasures of a renowned rogue from antiquity?
When you are attuned to and wearing the complete suit, you gain the following additional powers.
You have increased manual dexterity and agility, gaining advantage on all Dexterity ability checks.
If you have more than 0 hit points at the start of your turn, you regain 10 hit points. When you are knocked unconscious, the time required for you to regain consciousness is halved.
Since Spider-Man is currently occupying much of my thoughts and free time, I should at least channel that towards some content, right? So here's a set of magic items inspired by Spider-Man! Why not disperse these through your game's world as the mythical treasures of a renowned rogue from antiquity?
| Spider-Man from Spider-Man by Insomniac Games. Character © Marvel. |
Boots of the Spider
Wondrous item, Legendary | requires attunement
These boots grant you enhanced speed and the ability to traverse walls and ceilings. You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, and both your walking and climbing speeds are increased by 20 feet. You have the ability to move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free.
In addition, you ignore the stickiness of a tightrope web created by the bracers of the spider.
If you also wear and are attuned with the gloves of the spider, you can use your hands to "wall crawl". You may only move at half your normal movement speed, but you have advantage on saving throws and opposed ability checks to resist any attempt to physically remove you from the surface you are crawling on.
In addition, you ignore the stickiness of a tightrope web created by the bracers of the spider.
If you also wear and are attuned with the gloves of the spider, you can use your hands to "wall crawl". You may only move at half your normal movement speed, but you have advantage on saving throws and opposed ability checks to resist any attempt to physically remove you from the surface you are crawling on.
Bracers of the Spider
Wondrous item, Legendary | requires attunement
These bracers grant the wearer the ability to fire webbing at a distance. You can use the following webs:
You can use the Attack action to make a special ranged attack with a free hand, a web grapple. You choose whether you want to grapple a creature within 30 feet and create a line to you, with which you can control them, or else fire a web which grapples a creature within 60 feet, sticking them to a surface within 5 feet of them. If you're able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, your web grapple attack replaces one of them.
The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you and must be within your reach. You make a Dexterity-based ranged attack roll, for which you are proficient, contested by the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you succeed, you subject the target to the grappled condition. At the end of the grappled target's subsequent turns, it may make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to break free of the web.
If you also wear and are attuned with the gloves of the spider, your target can be up to three sizes larger than you.
As a bonus action using a free hand, you fire a web that sticks to a wall or ceiling within a range of 60 feet, allowing you to swing or pull yourself across a great distance.
If you target the web at an anchor point above and roughly in the middle of the distance you're jumping, you may make a standing long jump with a maximum distance of 1 foot times the distance to the anchor, or to make a running long jump with a maximum distance equal to 2 feet times the distance to the anchor.
If you target the web at an anchor point opposite you across the distance you wish to traverse, you may add +10 feet to the maximum distance of your standing long jump, or +20 feet to the maximum distance of your running long jump. When you use your traversal web, each foot of distance crossed costs 1 foot of your movement speed, up to a maximum of your total movement speed.
Finally, you can also fire a traversal web at two points within 60 feet of each other, creating either a climbing rope or a tightrope. However, anyone who is not equipped with gloves of the spider must make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check when they first touch a web rope and at the beginning of each subsequent turn for which they are still on the rope. Similarly a creature not equipped with boots of the spider must make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check when they first touch a web tightrope and at the beginning of each subsequent turn for which they are still on the rope. On a failed save, the creature is grappled.
Grappling Web
You can use the Attack action to make a special ranged attack with a free hand, a web grapple. You choose whether you want to grapple a creature within 30 feet and create a line to you, with which you can control them, or else fire a web which grapples a creature within 60 feet, sticking them to a surface within 5 feet of them. If you're able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, your web grapple attack replaces one of them.
The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you and must be within your reach. You make a Dexterity-based ranged attack roll, for which you are proficient, contested by the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you succeed, you subject the target to the grappled condition. At the end of the grappled target's subsequent turns, it may make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to break free of the web.
If you also wear and are attuned with the gloves of the spider, your target can be up to three sizes larger than you.
Traversal Web
As a bonus action using a free hand, you fire a web that sticks to a wall or ceiling within a range of 60 feet, allowing you to swing or pull yourself across a great distance.
If you target the web at an anchor point above and roughly in the middle of the distance you're jumping, you may make a standing long jump with a maximum distance of 1 foot times the distance to the anchor, or to make a running long jump with a maximum distance equal to 2 feet times the distance to the anchor.
If you target the web at an anchor point opposite you across the distance you wish to traverse, you may add +10 feet to the maximum distance of your standing long jump, or +20 feet to the maximum distance of your running long jump. When you use your traversal web, each foot of distance crossed costs 1 foot of your movement speed, up to a maximum of your total movement speed.
Finally, you can also fire a traversal web at two points within 60 feet of each other, creating either a climbing rope or a tightrope. However, anyone who is not equipped with gloves of the spider must make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check when they first touch a web rope and at the beginning of each subsequent turn for which they are still on the rope. Similarly a creature not equipped with boots of the spider must make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check when they first touch a web tightrope and at the beginning of each subsequent turn for which they are still on the rope. On a failed save, the creature is grappled.
| Spider-Man from Spider-Man by Insomniac Games. Character © Marvel. |
Gloves of the Spider
Wondrous item, Legendary | requires attunement
These gloves grant you great strength comparative to your physical size. Your Strength is 23 while you wear these gloves. They have no effect on you if your Strength is 22 or higher without them. You count as two sizes larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
In addition, you ignore the stickiness of a climbing web created by the bracers of the spider.
In addition, you ignore the stickiness of a climbing web created by the bracers of the spider.
Mask of the Spider
Wondrous item, Legendary | requires attunement
While wearing this mask, you gain a powerful danger sense, a tingling sensation that warns you of impending danger. You have a +2 bonus to armour class, as well as advantage on Initiative checks and Dexterity saving throws you make.
Completing the Set
Together, the four legendary items comprising the suit of the spider, are easily powerful enough to be considered to be an artefact, though they must be attuned as separate items. However, you may attune to all four items in the suit of the spider at once in exemption to the normal limit of three attuned magic items.When you are attuned to and wearing the complete suit, you gain the following additional powers.
You have increased manual dexterity and agility, gaining advantage on all Dexterity ability checks.
If you have more than 0 hit points at the start of your turn, you regain 10 hit points. When you are knocked unconscious, the time required for you to regain consciousness is halved.
Friday, 7 September 2018
5e Fallout: PDF Updates, New Feats III, New Streams, and Other News
Okay, folks. I've a fair amount of Fifth Edition Fallout news to update you on today! Let's get right to it.
So what's new? Well, technically, nothing. If you've been following my progress for a while, you'll know that ever since I created the wiki, it's been the source for the most up to date content. That's because it's a lot less hassle to keep the wiki up to date than it is to make the same updates to the PDF. Rather than make constant small updates to the PDF, I like to save up until I can make a larger update all at once.
If you like to refer to the PDF when you're away from an internet connection, as a printed copy, or for any other reason, you'll want to get hold of the new version simply because it updates the PDF to have all the content currently on the wiki, with the single exception of Knowledge Checks for monsters (which are far from complete on the wiki in any case). The update includes:
Version 1-0-7 sits at a page count of 223! Every time I update the PDF, it hits me all over again just how much effort has gone onto Fifth Edition Fallout. It's always an incredible feeling.
Enough has been improved that I would certainly recommend downloading the latest version. Alongside the corrections and a few rewrites, there are a small handful of mechanical changes throughout the document.
@gCrusher has also informed me he'll be providing similar notes for Wasteland Wares in the near future, so expect an update to it soonish.
Excluding feats from other sources including the Player's Handbook, there are now 43 feats in the game. Which is a lot! There are plenty more perks from Fallout 3 and New Vegas that could be mined for inspiration, but I'm tempted to leave it be for now, and maybe come back to it later. Or perhaps I should allow submissions for homebrew feats and other content, the same way I've opened up the possibility for monsters? If you've got any thoughts on the subject, let me know.
You may remember @ZerthSpirit from part 1 of my own one-shot game, The Hunt For Spring-Heeled Jack (as an aside, I swear I'll find the time and arrange to finish that one day, players willing). She played Tenoka, the prototype synth. Joining her as one of the players will be @DSC_Nick, who himself is GM for DumpStatCharisma's Fallout: King's Ransom. It's very exciting to see these superfans get together, I'm looking forward to the game and you should too! More news on this game when I get it.
By the time it starts airing, the as yet untitled game will join two others: King's Ransom, which you can watch every other Tuesday at 5.30 pm (Pacific) at twitch.tv/dumpstatcharisma, and @saevrick's Fallout: 304, which begins in two days! It first airs on Sunday the 9th September at 8.30 pm (Eastern) over at twitch.tv/saevrick.
It's utterly incredible to think my work on Fifth Edition Fallout has inspired so many games, and that fellow fans will be spoiled for choice. If you're into streamed games at all, try to support these games!
The Fifth Edition Fallout PDF Rulebook has received a major update.
The new version of the rules is already online, and can be downloaded from the Fifth Edition Fallout hub as usual.So what's new? Well, technically, nothing. If you've been following my progress for a while, you'll know that ever since I created the wiki, it's been the source for the most up to date content. That's because it's a lot less hassle to keep the wiki up to date than it is to make the same updates to the PDF. Rather than make constant small updates to the PDF, I like to save up until I can make a larger update all at once.
If you like to refer to the PDF when you're away from an internet connection, as a printed copy, or for any other reason, you'll want to get hold of the new version simply because it updates the PDF to have all the content currently on the wiki, with the single exception of Knowledge Checks for monsters (which are far from complete on the wiki in any case). The update includes:
- A Mister Gutsy subspecies.
- Dozens of feats.
- Statblocks for Synths, Soldiers, and Wanamingos.
- Numerous typographical/formatting corrections as well as some rewriting for improved sense. A large portion of this is thanks to the efforts of twitter user @gCrusher, who very kindly sent me documents proofreading both Fifth Edition Fallout and Wasteland Wanderers, with another one for Wasteland Wares on the way. Naturally, the same corrections have also been made to content on the wiki.
Version 1-0-7 sits at a page count of 223! Every time I update the PDF, it hits me all over again just how much effort has gone onto Fifth Edition Fallout. It's always an incredible feeling.
Wasteland Wanderers updated, with Wasteland Wares to follow (hopefully soon).
As mentioned above, the awesome @gCrusher also sent me notes on Wasteland Wanderers which has been updated accordingly. If you allow DriveThruRPG to send you emails when your purchases are updated, you should already have received an email, but I know plenty of people don't.Enough has been improved that I would certainly recommend downloading the latest version. Alongside the corrections and a few rewrites, there are a small handful of mechanical changes throughout the document.
@gCrusher has also informed me he'll be providing similar notes for Wasteland Wares in the near future, so expect an update to it soonish.
New Feats
Some of those feats mentioned above? You won't have seen them before. They've been added to both the PDF and the wiki as of last night. These 11 new feats are inspired by perks from Fallout 2.Feats
As of today, feats include:- Action Boy/Girl.
- Adrenaline Rush. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Animal Friend.
- Bloody Mess.
- Chem Resistant.
- Cult of Personality.
- Demolition Expert. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Devastating Allure.
- Dodger.
- Educated.
- Empathy. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Faster Healing. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Gambler. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Ghoulish.
- Gun Fu.
- Harmless. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Heave Ho!
- Inspirational Presence.
- Lead Belly.
- Light Step. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Lone Wanderer.
- Master Trader.
- Miss Fortune.
- Miss/Mister Fixit.
- Moving Target.
- Mutate.
- Mysterious Stranger.
- Night Vision.
- Pack Alpha.
- Pathfinder.
- Pickpocket.
- Pyromaniac.
- Quick Pockets. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout/Fallout 2 perk.
- Rad Resistant.
- Salesman. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Scrounger.
- Silent Running.
- Slayer.
- Smooth Talker. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Snake Eater.
- Sniper.
- Stonewall. NEW. Inspired by the Fallout 2 perk.
- Strong Back.
Excluding feats from other sources including the Player's Handbook, there are now 43 feats in the game. Which is a lot! There are plenty more perks from Fallout 3 and New Vegas that could be mined for inspiration, but I'm tempted to leave it be for now, and maybe come back to it later. Or perhaps I should allow submissions for homebrew feats and other content, the same way I've opened up the possibility for monsters? If you've got any thoughts on the subject, let me know.
Google Doc Character Sheet
Fifth Edition Fallout already has a character sheet, but that's really most useful for games played in person with printed sheets. I recently created a character sheet on Google Docs that I intend to use when running online games. You can view the sheet here. To use or customise it for your own cames, simply make a copy to your personal google drive (click "File", then "Make a copy" from the menu).Another Fifth Edition Fallout stream!?
You read that right. @ZerthSpirit has recently teased a streamed game to start sometime in October.You may remember @ZerthSpirit from part 1 of my own one-shot game, The Hunt For Spring-Heeled Jack (as an aside, I swear I'll find the time and arrange to finish that one day, players willing). She played Tenoka, the prototype synth. Joining her as one of the players will be @DSC_Nick, who himself is GM for DumpStatCharisma's Fallout: King's Ransom. It's very exciting to see these superfans get together, I'm looking forward to the game and you should too! More news on this game when I get it.
By the time it starts airing, the as yet untitled game will join two others: King's Ransom, which you can watch every other Tuesday at 5.30 pm (Pacific) at twitch.tv/dumpstatcharisma, and @saevrick's Fallout: 304, which begins in two days! It first airs on Sunday the 9th September at 8.30 pm (Eastern) over at twitch.tv/saevrick.
It's utterly incredible to think my work on Fifth Edition Fallout has inspired so many games, and that fellow fans will be spoiled for choice. If you're into streamed games at all, try to support these games!
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