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I created this site and the House Rules pages in particular so that all the players in my world would have equal access to all the various variations I use. My goal is for this site to function as a supplement to the published TSR rules. Many of the rules we have were fashioned in the "early days" of the game (prior to the 2nd Edition), so there was no "official ruling". In other cases, the issue has never been addressed or the solution is not as nice as the one we use. Whatever the case, please, when the TSR rules are in conflict with something found here, please use what you find here (debate welcome during non-play time). I find the basic Dnd game system a good starting point (since the rules are very simple and 90% of all gamers are familiar with it), but I also think the rules need alot of work. Were we living in an ideal world, I'd recreate the game from scratch. Since, however, I work for a living and have no means to universally disseminate rules and familiarize potential players, I'll stick to "patched" Dnd.
Roll 3d6, re-rolling 1s. Repeat seven times. If there is no number greater than or equal to 15, re-roll the entire set. If you REALLY don't like the set you rolled, you may roll a second set, but you must keep one of the two.
Once you've selected your set of raw stats, you may apply them to your attributes in any order you want. Unlike traditional Dnd, we use SEVEN attributes: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma and Perception. Once you've set your stats, you are allowed to use seven discretionary points (attributal points) to adjust your stats or any other aspect of your character (see below).
Attributal points can be used on a one-for-one basis to raise a characteristic. So if a character has a 12 strength, for two points this can be raised to 14. There are, however, two caveats to the use of attributal points. First, attributal points can NEVER be used to raise an attribute above racial maximums. Second, if attributal points are used to raise an attribute to 18, the cost is two-for-one (two attributal points to bring a 17 to an 18). In those rare cases where attributes greater than 18 are allowed, the cost is three-for-one to bring an attribute from 18 to 19, four-for-one to bring an attribute from 19 to 20, etc.
After any or all attributal points are used, the character's attributes are adjusted for age and race. These bonuses are NOT reduced regardless of how high they boost a character's scores (subject to racial maximums, of course). So, for example, an elven character can have her dexterity adjusted from 16 to 18 (cost is 3 attributal points -- 1 pt for 16 to 17 and 2 pts for 17 to 18) and then tack on the elven bonus of +1 dexterity for a total of 19 dex.
Regarding Strength: 18 strength is the maximum
value a non-warrior may have. Any member of the warrior class
may roll for percentile strength (subject to racial maximums).
This roll may be "spiked" by using bonuses due to age
and/or attributal points, with a maximum of two points being added
to the roll. Bonuses for race apply in addition and can be used
to "spike" a roll further. Each additional point is
equal to an additional category to the strength roll. The actual
percentage is figured by adding the width of the next highest
category, with the strength score being raised at least to the
minimum value for the desired new strength range.
For instance, Fred the fighter rolls
18/66 strength, which falls into the 18/51 to 18/75 range. Fred
adds one attributal point to his strength to spike it further.
The next strength category is 18/76 to 18/90 which is a 15 percentage-point
spread, so Fred's new strength is 18/81 (66+15).
Another example is Betty the Barbarian.
She rolls 18/02 strength, which falls into the 18/01 to 18/50
range. Betty also adds one to her strength. She too adds 25 percentage-points
to her strength (18/27), but as this is less than the minimum
for the next range, her strength is simply set to the new minimum,
which is 18/51.
A similar example is Pete the Paladin.
He rolls 18/94 strength and spikes it by one point. Since Pete's
strength is currently in the 18/91 to 18/99 range, it would automatically
go to the minimum value for the next category, that is 18/00.
Strength also helps determine how fast a character moves with regard
to other members of the same race. While this movement rate doesn't
make a huge difference, it allows different PCs to differentiate
their speeds relative to one another.
Regarding Intelligence: humans may use language slots as non-weapon skills, although only half (round down) of these slots may be so rededicated. Non-humans do not have this option, although instead they may purchase "racial languages" (those normally known by a given race, see PH) at half cost.
Regarding Wisdom: very important for successful proficiency checks (most skills based on wisdom). Also, wisdom is the primary characteristic for psionic combat.
Regarding Dexterity: dexterity will help determine if a character is ambi-dexterous. Characters with 19 dexterity gain a +1" move and are automatically ambidexterous. Also, most poisons will cause loss of dexterity (coordination).
Regarding Constitution: all character classes gain the hit point bonus for fighter, so long as this does not raise the roll above the maximum roll on the hit die plus two. Fighter's have no such limits. Thus, a mage with 17 CON who rolls a 1 for hit points would gain a total of 4 (1+3) but if the same mage rolled a 4 he would only gain a total of 6 (4+2, since 4 is maximum on a d4).
Regarding Charisma: more than just looks, this stat also includes personality and leadership potential. Can be a major factor in interactions with NCPs. This stat also combines with WISDOM and level to determine if a magic sword or artifact overrides/takes control of a PC's personality.
Regarding Perception: Perception reflects the keenness of a character's senses. A character with high perception tends to notice sounds, smells, motion out of the corner of his eye, unusual flavors in food, etc. Characters with lower perception miss these subtle details, making them more vulnerable to surprise. Instead of the traditional roll for surprise, characters are allowed to make a saving throw against their perception (with modifiers for the situation). A successful roll means the character's senses tipped him off and he is therefore not surprised. A roll of 20 always fails (the character was surprised) and a roll of 1 always makes (the character somehow was ready for the event). Certain skills and classes boost rolls against surprise. Even though one sense may be lost (a character is blind or deaf), the character could still have a very high perception. Such a character would take a -4 penalty to his surprise check if the missing sense is relevant, otherwise the character may roll normally.
In general, humans have an average attribute score of 10 or 11. Characters (being more distinct heroes) usually range from 13 to 15, with only one attribute 18 or higher. While violations are allowed, they are subject to DM approval. Not getting this ahead of time could result in Orcus as the character's first wandering monster...
As a general rule, players usually try to play "minors"; characters whose highest stat is under 18.
Once the basic attributes are rolled and assigned, the player chooses a race and class for his character. While there is a wide selection to choose from, not all are appropriate for all regions and campaigns. Check with the DM if you're at all uncertain. In general, any race or class listed as Common or Uncommon is fine. Characters with Rare classes and/or races, or which are not normally found in a given region should always be cleared by the DM.
Once the character's race and class are decided, most other aspects of the character can be determined, including psionics, ambidexterity, social level, hit points, languages, weapons of proficiency and non-weapon skills. Usually the DM will tell you what setting you'll be playing in -- for an idea of some of the options, takke a look at the campaign primer and information on the campaign cultures. Once all this is set, roll up the character's starting gold, equip him and you're ready to play.
First check for psionics. Humans, dwarves, gnomes, hobbits, centaur and merfolk may roll normally for psionics. Half-elves, half-orcs and half-ogres have only half the normal chance for psionics. Elves, orcs, ogres, al karak elam, crats, minotaur, lizard men and most other races may not have psionics. Even though not all races may have psychic ability, all characters should roll none-the-less (see below)
The basic chance to have psionics is 1% (00 on percentile dice). For every point of intelligence above 16, this chance increases by 2.5%. For every point of wisdom above 16, this chance increases by 1.5% And for every point of charisma above 16, this chance increases by .5%. Characters from certain human-hybrid species must then halve this resulting percentage. Attributal points can be used to spike the roll with +5% for one point, +10% MORE (+15% total) for two points, +15% MORE (+30% total) for three points, etc. Any character who misses his roll for psionics by a fraction of a percentage point is still psionic, but his abilities are latent (talk to the DM). All rolls for psionics MUST be rolled in front of the DM. There is a far more detailed and definitive explanation of psionics also available online.
If a character has psionics, or if a character of a non-psionic race rolls 00, the character may instead gain a magical special ability at the discretion on the DM and with the cooperation of the player. There are no hard and fast rules, so consult the DM, but examples have included shapeshifting, healing, draconic parentage, faerie upbringing, etc.
Second, the character rolls to determine if he is ambi-dexterous. Roll 2d6, doubles add and roll over. 13+ means ambidexterity. Attributal points applied here are one point for plus two on the roll. For each +1 to defense adjustment due to dexterity, a character also gets a +1 to this roll. Unless otherwise indicated on the character sheet, all characters are assumed to be right handed.
Third, roll for social level. Again, roll 3d6 re-rolling 1s. Attributal points applied here are one point for two bonus social levels, with each "plus" level being treated as one full level. The break down of social classes is:
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Game Examples (although widely varying by culture) |
Modern Earth |
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few or no rights, property |
American slaves |
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tied to the land, nearly property |
Russian peasant |
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poor and/or unskilled laborer, freed slave,
beggar, mentally disabled |
German peasant |
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poor farmer, herdsman or hunter, simple servant,
peddler, thief |
maid, gardener |
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men-at-arms, sailor, farmer, animal handler,
hunter, fisherman, cook, butler, tailor, fletcher, tanner, miner,
poor artist, assassin, druid |
coal miner |
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bureaucrat, baker, scribe, carpenter, blacksmith,
mason, bowyer, money-changer, navigator, some officers |
engineer, mechanic |
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sheriff, town elder, merchant, banker, miller,
weapon smith, shipwright, jeweler, talented artist, some officers,
wizard, master thief |
lawyer, stock-broker |
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overseer, mayor, barister, doctor, important
military officers -- major, lieutenant commander, powerful &
wealthy merchant, high priest, mage, master bard |
doctor, civic leader |
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overlord, mayor (major town), judge, knight,
senior military officer -- colonel, major, bishop, celebrity |
mayor, judge, bishop |
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warlord, mayor (major city), magistrate,
military commander -- general, admiral, arch-bishop, famous celebrity |
film star, |
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landed nobility (but does not rule over inhabitants),
baronet, lord, lady, laird, dame, peer, seigneur, shiekh |
super star, |
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family rules small area (up to 2 hexes),
thane, viscount, plar, senator, freiherr, emir, pasha |
representative |
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family rules 1 to 8 hexes, earl, jarl, margrave,
marquis, graf, markgraf, boyar, bashaw, bey |
senator |
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family rules 7+ hexes, prince, arch-duke,
grand-duke, herzog, fürst, dey |
governor |
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family rules of a nation, könig, roi,
sultan, rajah, shah, pope, caliph |
president, PM |
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a cultural icon, immortalized & venerated,
often but not always nobility |
Elvis, Mother Teresa |
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ruler of an empire, kaiser, tsar, majarajah,
padishah, saint, divine avatar |
Japanese Emperor |
Unless part of the character concept, characters are NOT in line for the position of rulership (and it can be a real headache). As characters advance in level, their social level may raise due to deeds or grants, but the original score should also be recorded (you just can't escape your roots)! Attaining level title automatically raises a character's social level by one. Furthermore, when created, cavaliers get a +2 to social level, paladins a +1, assassins, bards, and witches a -1 and thieves, barbarians, and gypsies a -2. Half-orcs and half-ogres also beegin with a -2 penalty to social level. Characters from "less civilized" backgrounds (anything tribal or pre-feudal) likewise have a -1 penalty to social level with respect to their "more civilized" fellows. Please note that all of these bonuses/penalties ARE cumulative, so a half-ogress witch/thief raised by Amerinds would suffer a -6. Furthermore, lycanthropes suffer a -2 penalty to social level when discovered while practioners of necromancy suffer a -1 to -3, depending on which kinds of spells they use. If a character's social level rises due to investiture of knighthood or lands, marriage into a noble house, etc, there are additional consideration and finer details of social level which may apply.
Fourth, roll for hit points. Attributal points used to spike this roll are one-for-two (2 hit points per AP). In no event can the roll exceed the maximum allowed on the die, although left over points may be saved for future levels/rolls. In general a character can actually take physical punishment equal to his Constitution score plus his level. Hit points in excess of this reflect combat ability and rolling with a blow (they don't apply when helpless). For further information, see taking and healing damage, under rule clarifications.
Fifth, choose the languages the character speaks. Write these languages in order of ability on the character sheet, starting with the character's native language. Normally, linguistic ability is limited to everyday conversations (see below). Nearly all characters are assumed to likewise be somewhat literate, as appropriate to the language and the character's intelligence. When dealing with related languages, if a character knows two, he gets another related language for free. Likewise, if the character knows three, he gets a fourth and fifth related language for free. If a character speaks a given language, he automatically has some understanding of the dialects of that language -- from half fluency rating, round-down to -1 fluency rating, see the DM for details.
Fluency ratings for languages vary from 4 to 1. A rating of 4 is reserved for native speakers (absolutely no accent), 3 indicates functional fluency and full command of grammar and culture, 2 allows for conversations (can handle most situations) and 1 means only a basic understanding of the language. Unless otherwise specified, characters are assumed to be level 2. If a character wants an especially good command of a given language, he may lower one language to 1 and raise another 3, or otherwise move around fluency levels. In addition, for each point of intelligence above 10, characters gain an additional fluency point. The character does, however, take a -1 penalty to this fluency point bonus for each language slot redirected as a skill.
Example: Raitan Drake is something of a world traveler. He's also quite bright (16 Int). As a result of his early life and voyages he speaks: Arabic (4, native tongue), Archipelican (4, actually 2, but since it is merely a dialect of Arabic it's at +2), Common (4, no accent), Japanese (4, too much time around Tetsuko), Merman (3, for diplomacy with the 'humans of the deep'), Medegian (2, he just picked it up), Koalinth (2, he doesn't often have long discussions with these guys). Now, the way this all works out is: for 16 Int, Raitan gets +5 languages, for a total of 6. As a Mariner, Raitan also gains two more languages for being 6+ level, for a total of 8. He only has seven languages, so one was used as a non-weapon skill. Each language has a initial fluency level of 2, except for his native language which is always 4. Raitan has 5 additional fluency points to spend (16 [Int] - 10 - 1 [for a redeployed language slot] = 5). So, he added two to Common, two to Japanese and one to Merman. The net result is that he could easily use his verbal skills to pass himself off as a Bedouin, an Islander, a Westerner or a Nihon'jin. Likewise, Raitan speaks excellent Merman and can carry on decent conversations in Medegian and Koalinth.
Regional languages are very common on Oerth.
In the West, most everyone speaks Common, but other tongues include modern Baklunish (Scots), ancient Baklunish (dead), Seuloise (dead), Oerdian (dying, like Latin), Medegian (Greek), Ahlissan (Italian-like dialect of Medegian), Tuskar (Arabic dialect), Perrenlander (Swiss German/French), Olman (Aztec), plus various tribal dialects of the Amerinds and Hepmonalanders.
In Zakhara, most everyone speaks either Arabic (land-based dialect) or Archipelican (insland-based dialect), although these two langauges are understood at only a -1 penalty by speakers of the other tongue. Other languages in this region include Medegian (Greek), Amazonian (dialect of Medegian spoke by inhabitants of Themyscria), Nereganti (Egyptian), Morganti (ancient, dead), Gujarati (Hindu) and various Hepmonaland dialects.
In the East, most everyone speaks Shou Lung (Mandarin Chinese aka Court Language) or Nihon'go (Japanese aka Trade Language), but other languages include Li Lung (Cantonese), Tabotian (Tibetian), Kor'yo (Korean), Thai and Gujarati (Hindu).
Then, in various other campaign settings you can find languages such as Koiné (Imperial language), Altanean (barbarian tongue), Neshfalese, Queenslander, Mannish, Under-Common, Cidrian and Zhendi. Check out the campaign primer for additional information.
Next, select your character's weapons of proficiency. This is pretty straight forward, except that a member of any class (except those with religious prohibitions, such as clerics and druids) may take proficiency in a "forbidden" weapon for the expense of one additional weapon slot. For example, a mage could choose to be proficient with a battle axe by spending two weapon proficiencies.
Also, Asian characters are not limited to the "slot" system described in the OA; there is one universal proficiency system which applies to all PCs and NPCs. To convert from the OA rules, check out the Asian proficiency table.
Finally, select your character's non-weapon skills. I think the concept of class-based skill lists is pathetically limiting; anyone can learn anything. Please try to make reasonable characters with complete pasts and lives, not just dungeon-seeking, monster-slaying machines. Non-weapon skills are a great place to start.
Note that weapon skills and non-weapon skills are interchangeable. Two non-weapons is one weapon. Both weapon and non-weapon skills can be used to acquire a wide variety of skills, including the ability to cast spell, turn undead, pick locks, gain special advantages in combat, etc. These options are dealt with more thoroughly under Proficiencies. A final note on weapon and non-weapon proficiencies: a character may have no more levels invested in a given skill than the character has levels.
Before you try to move your character forward, whether in terms of level, abilities or even personality, I suggest you develop him backward, in terms of his previous life experiences and family environment. Some of the best character development can come from really having a firm grasp on your character's parents, siblings, family, childhood, early friendships, early experiences, mentors, etc. Likewise, finding another player with a shared past provides a tremendous opportunity for role-play and development (although I suggest you work out some of the basics first).
Although some might disagree, I've found answering questions about your character an extremely useful tool in development. It gives the player a chance to explore facets of a characters life which do not often come up in game play AND it provides an opportunity for the DM to see the character's inner working. In fact, I encourage sending me a copy -- I keep these on hand for certain scenarios, including Wishes. I've also found this an excellent tool in justifying character behavior ("well, we hadn't been role-playing it openly, but Anara and I were having an affair" or "Zandra isn't acting out of alignment because she has a life-long burning hatred for all things orcish since they killed her sister..."). Here are a list of some basic questions. In addtion, I STRONGLY suggest players answers at least one or more of these questions before playing their character, adding one or more additional questions each level (and of course editing older answers that no longer apply).
Now, sometimes when you really develop a character, you may find that the character should have certain minor special abilites. For instance, say you are playing the granddaughter of a cambian devil. Well, it would make sense that you might have a stronger resistance to fire than normal or that you possess infravision. Likewise, you may inherit an aversion to silver or a particular vulnerability to pentagrams. Another scenario is the child of a human and a half-elf; which traits does the kid inherit? How do you deal with half-drow or with children of adventurers (with more gold and training available).
PCs are allowed to use some of their attributal points to gain minor abilites. These minor abilities are not meant to give the character too strong an advantage; instead they are a means to fairly represent the player's vision of the PC. In all cases, they should be checked with the DM prior to play.
One Point:
Two points:
Three points:
Four points:
Five points:
Six points:
Characters may also take "defects" to reflect their heritage or character concept (blind, deaf, horribly scarred, bound by pentagrams, naturally radiates magic, etc). The book, Skills and Powers, has some ideas to jog your thought process (although some are too tough and others wimpy). Please discuss such ideas with the DM.
As far as developing a character due to experience points and level, please refer to the character's class, as well as gaining non-weapons, learning proficiencies and learning extra proficiencies. One other aspect noteworth for your character is deciding upon your character's totem; while at first this may seem trivial, especially to the post-Modern, Western player, a large number of cultures do have some sort of concept of spirit guide. As my campaign world attempts to allow access to a wide variety of traditions and such totems are seen in cultures as varied as the Amerind, the Norse, and the Shona (of Zimbabwe), it is important to define a character's totem animal (or have the DM choose it for you!).
For those who are interested, now available: standard character sheet (or as RTF file), extended character sheet (or as RTF file), some questions to help you define who your character is and what he's like (the 12 questions), some character-development questions (the 24 questions), and even more character-defining questions (the 48 questions).
Questions? Comments? Funny stories? Lemme know...
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