Tuesday May 04, 2004

Six d% That Could Make Your PC Stand Apart:

Special Race:

A d% roll of 01-80 means that you get to play one of the good ol' standard races: human, elf, half-elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, or half-orc.  An 81-100 grants you the privilege of playing something else...if you wish.  There are four sub-groups of special races, categorized with consideration as to rarity and/or potency.

On an 81+, the first level of special races is available, and these are Aasimar, Aradan, Bael, Drallok, Feytouched, Lahryk, Lizardman, Makall and Tiefling.

On an 89+, the second level becomes available, and these special races are Axani, Cansin, Chaond, Draconic, Drow, Duergar, Ghost Elf, Mechanatrix, Satyr, Uldrath, Yuan-ti and Zenythri..

On a 95+, the third level is available, and these are Adu'ja, Ashemi, Genasi (Air, Earth, Fire, or Water), Githyanki, Githzerai, Magirn, Quinametin, Shyft and Taranuhl.

On a 99-100 on the percentile, the fourth and most exciting level of special races becomes available.  Only on a "double-aught" do you get to play these races: Centaur, Doppelganger, Half-Celestial, Half-Dragon, Half-Jann, Half-Nymph, Hill Giant, and Pixie.

For details on the special races, click here.  Each of these races is contained in the fully-automated character sheet.  Appropriate credit is given in the summary write-up for each entry.  I have not made up any of these, nor do I intend to invent new races.  However, I am on the search for other interesting "special races" to include.

Special Class:

A d% roll of 01-80 means that you get to play one of the good ol' standard classes: barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, or wizard.  An 81-100 grants you the privilege of playing something else...if you wish.  Like the standard classes, your rolled social status will determine which of these special classes you qualify for.

These special classes--roughly in ascending order of social status--are Nomad, Totemist, Witch, Beastmaster, Acrobat, Chaos Mage, Awakened Eye, Guerilla, Brawler, Scout, Flesh Mage, Warlock, Archer, Hunter, Maverick, Tinker, Tattoo Mage, Merchant, Guardian, Legionnaire, Shadow Mage, Myrmidon, Alchemist, Chronomancer, Elementalist, Runesmith, Arcane Monk, Thaumaturge, Number Mage, Cavalier, Noble, Prophet, and Darknight.

For details on the special classes, click here.  Each of these classes is contained in the fully-automated character sheet.  Appropriate credit is given where credit is due.  I made up about one-third of these (with little or much inspiration and/or help), but don't yet consider this list complete.

Handedness:

A d% roll of 1-20 indicates that the character is left-handed.  Left-handed characters are trained to battle in a predominantly right-handed world and so do not suffer any penalties when facing off against right-handed opponents.  However, the reverse is not true, so the left-handed character receives a bonus of +1 to attack with a melee weapon.  For ease of game mechanics, this bonus is assumed to apply regardless of the handedness of the character’s foe, or even his lack of hands.  (And so, it creates a small advantage to being a lefty.)  A d% roll of 91-100 indicates that the character was born ambidextrous, and thus not only receives the +1 attack bonus given to lefties, but also receives a +2 bonus to attack with each hand when using the Two-weapon Fighting technique.  (Thus, if wielding a light weapon in at least one hand and possessing the Two-weapon Fighting feat, an ambidextrous character effectively has NO penalties to attack rolls with either hand.)

Social Status:

Natural Psionics:

The Psionics Handbook does a wonderful job of interweaving the long-debated issue of psionics into a campaign.  But some simply do not want to deal with either a third form of magic (which I say psionics is not) or a mental power that cannot be checked by magic.  In the Lorenvale campaign, psionics is the latter, and it is rare, but not exceedingly so.  A d% roll of 92-95 reveals the presence of at least one psionic "wild talent" in the character, and on a roll of 96-98 reveals two psionic "wild talents," and with a roll of 99-100, the character is fully psionic.  This last option makes available the two classes from the Psionics Handbook, the Psion and the Psychic Warrior.  If wild talents are revealed, they are chosen completely at random from the full list of available powers in the Psionics Handbook, and power points are given to the character at the rate of 2 per level.  This necessarily means that the player might randomly roll a 9^th level power (which carries a 17 power point cost), and thus not be able to use it until he has reached 9^th character level.  Incidentally, only wild talents may be “discovered” immediately when the PC has enough power points to use it.  PCs with wild talents are susceptible to psionic attacks just as fully psionic creatures are; however, they have only one randomly determined psionic defense mode (and one randomly determined psionic attack mode) at their disposal.  These modes come available when the PC has enough power points to spend for their activation.

On the other end of the scale, if the d% roll is a 1-5, the character has a natural psionic resistance.  His PR score is equal to 10 if a 5 is rolled, 14 if a 4 is rolled, 18 if a 3 is rolled, 22 if a 2 is rolled, and 26 if a 1 is rolled.  This psionic resistance also overrides the normal non-psionic buffer.

The player who does not want to play a psionic or psionic resistant character is not forced to.  Finally, a player may play a fully psionic character by request and with the DM’s permission.

Miscellaneous:

This final d% roll indicates whether the PC is or has anything beyond the ordinary...as if the above rolls weren't enough.  The scale for this percentile roll is active at both “extremes” and is weighted slightly toward the higher end.  The miscellaneous things that might be generated come in ten categories: physical qualities, mental qualities, character traits, skills, items, wealth, relationships, past experiences, heredity, and religious influences.  A roll of 1-2 indicates something is “horrible” about one of these ten things; a roll of 3-5 indicates something is “bad”; and a roll of 6-10 indicates something “disadvantageous.”  On the other end of the scale, a roll of 86-93 indicates something is “advantageous” about one of these ten categories; a roll of 94-97 indicates something is “good”; a roll of 98-99 indicates something “wonderful”; and a roll of 100 indicates something “amazing.”  Rolls of 11-85 indicate “normalcy.”  If a roll in either of the extremes turns up, follow this by rolling a d10 to determine which of the ten categories is affected, and then roll a d6 to choose from the six selections.  For the full table and associated list of explanations for game mechanics and role-playing possibilities click here.

Yes, I did make all that up, and thanks again to my wife for her help with it…and her patience.