Remember this posting from back in April?
[yes, yes...I realize some folks took the month off from reading my blog due to the whole A-Z bandwagon thing...your loss]
Well, I took my own words to heart and worked up a list of starting gear based on character class and Social Status (that super-cool 7th ability score we used to call "starting gold"). Last week, I had the chance to try it out and it made chargen even faster and simpler than normal. And so I've got it up as a downloadable .pdf for anyone that wants to use it:
Get It Here
Here's how it works:
1. Roll 3D6 in order (or arranged to taste, I don't care!) for each of seven attributes:
- Strength
- Intelligence
- Wisdom
- Dexterity
- Constitution
- Charisma
- Social Status
2. Choose a class; adjust Prime Requisite to taste. As with Constitution and Charisma, Social Status cannot be adjusted upwards or down!
3. Cross-reference your character class with your Social Status to find your starting gear at 1st level. Demi-humans should use the fighter table, but elves add "spell book."
4. Pick a name and alignment, roll for hit points, and go!
How easy is that? Come on!
: )
Good idea - but why do clerics have better armour than fighters at some Social Statuses?
ReplyDelete@ anarchist:
ReplyDeleteUmm...church sponsorship?
[I'll have to check that out...I don't think that's supposed to be the case!]
The wealth differences between the different classes in your table aren't very great. I'd expect the top to be orders of magnitude more wealthy than the middle or lower classes rather than just have an extra 80 gp of starter equipment. The spread you have would be swamped by the successful hauls from one or two game sessions.
ReplyDeleteHigh status could start with a +1 magic item or favors owed by important people. Low status numbers could come with a price on your head, like "I owe Jabba the Hutt ten thousand space bucks" kinda stuff.
@ Fumers: I hear what you're saying and I agree...if I was really being inventive I would have given horses and servants to the higher class individuals and debts and manacles to the lower classes.
ReplyDelete; )
However, you have to understand what this is...all I did was create equipment lists based on the actual "gold figure" that would have been available to a 1st level character with this particular roll - for example, the "high class" characters have 180gps worth of equipment, the "low upper class" have 165gps (average of 16-17), the "upper middle have 140gps (average of 13-15), etc....all the way down to the lowest class @ 30gps.
I wasn't really trying to invent a new "ability score;" I was trying to cut out an extra step of the character generation process; namely, buying/choosing equipment.
Sure, a person who rolls 70gps can afford plate mail and a sword...and nothing else. But that's not really realistic (or safe!) to be the only thing the guy takes out into the world on his first adventure!
: )
Still think this is a great idea, but I also even more firmly think that this should just be CHA instead of a separate stat.
ReplyDelete@ Matthew: That's what Traveler did instead of Charisma. I suppose if "henchmen," "morale," or "reaction" aren't a big deal, you could do away with the whole CHA stat in favor of SOC.
ReplyDeleteHell, you could even have your SOC act as a modifier to Reaction and Morale..."some are just born to be leaders of men..."
; )
My Old School Players sheet from last summer had a similar deal, but with more barrel - see p. 3 of the document :) I also simplified the adventuring gear to a number of "kits" so that parties could get all the essentials between them.
ReplyDeleteRolling a 12 for social status and starting with leather armor would suck with a capital S-U-C-K for a first level fighter. Most players rolling 120g to start as a fighter are going plate, shield, sword and the rest from there. That difference alone makes the table a bit off.
ReplyDeleteI like the table a lot. It sets a different tone and set of expectations for the game. That might not be everyone's cup of tea, but its still a cool idea. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDelete@ Gregory: I understand what you mean. Most fighters that roll a 7 (lower class) are going to want to buy plate mail...even though that's not very realistic for the child of a poor baker. Consider it my contributin to the great debat over whether or not plate armor should be priced at 400gps.
ReplyDelete; )
ACTUALLY, I am totally open to allowing trading of gear for other gear...if you don't want a bow and prefer some sort of heavier armor, have at it! But it is a "starting point" for equipment lists, rather than having players agonize over "how to spend their money" when they could be getting on with the game. We used this last week and it worked great...the veteran PCs chipped in cash to allow the poorer newbies to "upgrade" their gear.
: )
That's what Traveler did instead of Charisma. I suppose if "henchmen," "morale," or "reaction" aren't a big deal, you could do away with the whole CHA stat in favor of SOC.
ReplyDeleteHell, you could even have your SOC act as a modifier to Reaction and Morale..."some are just born to be leaders of men..."
I'm saying that Social Standing is Charisma in the semi-medieval world of D&D. The reason that some men have higher morale retainers is becuase of their noble bearing.
Rolling a 12 for social status and starting with leather armor would suck with a capital S-U-C-K for a first level fighter. Most players rolling 120g to start as a fighter are going plate, shield, sword and the rest from there. That difference alone makes the table a bit off.
True enough, although I don't allow 50gp Plate anymore. I totally support LL's change in this regard and think that having Plate ought to be a big deal.
You could give poorer players appropriate skills to make up for their lack of equipment. For example perhaps fighters with 30gp are barbarians, and can't wear more than leather armor but get +2 to hit.
ReplyDeleteThat list is pure gold. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete