*** JUNK MAIL ***Re: [Rq-rules] Character Creation Rules

[Simon Phipp]

MB (or Tigger):

> Now the thought is in my mind to design a setting that is very NON human. A world of lawlesness 
> where there are no or few humans on the great plains. A world of Elven Forests and Dwarven 
> mountains. A world that is less realistic than most others, and more fantastical. Because Dwarves always 
> seems to get the short stick in any campaign I have been in, I intend to start the characters in Dwarf 
> country. I want to give them a world of Giant Underground Mushroom Forests, Rivers of Lava, Giant 
> Worms, Glowing Crystals, all the super fantastical underground gaming enviornment that I can come up 
> with. Because I like the way Runequest allows for wonderfully descrptive combat and encounters, I 
> want to create this setting using the RQ/BRP rules.

Sounds good, especially the different underground settings. RQ is perfect for this kind of thing because it can be tweaked to give as flexible a background as you want.

> Which leads me to the CHARACTERS. I don't like to roll characters, as such. I like to think up ideas 
> and use some point system or non random method of charcter generation. So - What Non random 
> methods of Character Generation are people here using for non Humans? What suggestions might 
> people come up with for BRP character design?

RQ is a really good system for this as it can be very flexible.

RQM has a very easy to use character generation system, even if you don't like the other rules. But, assuming RQ3, you can tweak the character generation quite easily.

One way to do this is to allocate characteristics, so you start off with a number of points equal to the total average characetristics times a multiplier depending on how superior you want the PCs. I'll do an example for humans as I don;t have stats for non-humans with me. STR/CON/POW/DEX/APP have an average of 10.5, SIX/INT have an average of 13, so the total average is 78.5, or 79. If you want slightly superior PCs, multiply that by 1.10, if you want really superior PCs, multiply it by 1.5 but I wouldn't go any higher than that. Then they can allocate the characteristics however they want, no characteristic can go above species maximum (max rollabe + min rollable, 21 for the first group and 26 for the second) and any points above the normal maximam rollable (18) cost double. Obviously, you are going to get a lot of high INT and DEX characters as everyone will push those stats, but that's a disadvantage of a non-random character generation system.

Once you've allocated characteristics, allocate skills. An easy way to do this is to work out a background set of skills, with cultural skills and profession skills as in the standard RQ3 rulebook, but change the skills for your setting. Have the players decide how many years previous experience their PCs have, but be careful - dwarves and elves are long-lived and RQ3 does fall down a bit when dealing with many years of previous experience.

Alternatively, decide what level thePC should be at (Beginner, Standard, Experienced, Veteran, Master) and give them 5 skills at Top Level, 5 skills at Second Level, 10 skills at Third Level and the rest at Fourth Level where their levels depend on the experience level. Add the skills to the basic + Characteristic Bonus to take into account that some species/cultures arte better at some things. Skills are taken from cultural, cultic and profession lists, so a Master will not be at 40%+basci+bonus with every skill under the sun, only those to which he has been exposed.

Beginner:
Top Level: 20
Second Level: 10
Third Level: 5
Fourth Level: 0

Standard:
Top Level: 40
Second Level: 20
Third Level:  10
Fourth Level: 5

Experienced:
Top Level: 60
Second Level: 30
Third Level: 20
Fourth Level: 10

Veteran:
Top Level: 80
Second Level: 50
Third Level: 40
Fourth Level: 25

Master:
Top Level: 100
Second Level: 70
Third Level: 60
Fourth Level: 40

and so on.

That way, your players can build a character and tailor it to how they want the character. Veterans and Masters might start off at Rune Level under this method, which might suit your campaign or might not.

Assign magic similarly, with spells and magic skills known by level, depending on whether they use Sorcery or Divine Magic. I'd stick with divine cults and spirit cults, unless you specifically want sorcery-using dwarves. Divine Magic is easier to use and speeds the game up. If you use Sorcery, then give characters the same number of magic skills as normal skills, based on their experience level, but don't forget that sorcery spells are treated as skills.

Beginner:
Spirit Magic Spell Points: 2
Divine Magic Points: 0
Sorcery Spells: 1

Standard:
Spirit Magic Spell Points: 6
Divine Magic Points: 3
Sorcery Spells: 3
 
Experienced:
Spirit Magic Spell Points: 9
Divine Magic Points: 6
Sorcery Spells: 6
 
Veteran:
Spirit Magic Spell Points: 12
Divine Magic Points: 9
Sorcery Spells:  9
 
Master:
Spirit Magic Spell Points: 15
Divine Magic Points: 12
Sorcery Spells: 12

These are fairly arbitrary, but the principles can be used in any setting, just change the skill levels/spell points according to how you want the game to run. 

So, you want to play a Veteran Dwarf Crafstman. He has 5 skills at 80% + basic+bonus, 5 skills at 50% + basic+bonus, 10 skills at 40% + basic+bonus,and the rest at 25% + basic+bonus.
He could choose Craft (Metalworking), Mineral Lore, Mine Lore, Scout (Underground) and Evaluate as his 80%+basic+bonus skills, Speak (Dwarven), Speak (Gnomic), Bargain, Fast talk and Orate as his 50%+basic+bonus skills and so on. He gets 12 Spirit Magic Points and 9 Divine Magic Points, so chooses Repair 4, Detect Gold, Light and Improve (Metalworking) 6 as his Spirit Magic and Tireless Labour 2, Truecraft 3, Gnomic Friendship 2 and Stone Strength 2 as his Divine Magic. I made up the spell names, so don't ask me for descriptions of them :-)

You also want to play a Master Dwarf Sorcerer. He has 5 skills at 100% + basic+bonus, 5 skills at 70% + basic+bonus, 10 skills at 60% + basic+bonus,and the rest at 40% + basic+bonus.
He could choose Human Lore, Dwarf Lore, Elf Lore, Scout (Underground) and Magic Lore as his 100%+basic+bonus skills, Speak (Dwarven), Speak (Elven), Intimidate, Fast Talk and Orate as his 70%+basic+bonus skills and so on. He gets the same number of magic skills/spells, so chooses Intensity, Duration, Range, Ceremony and Dominate Human as his 100%+basic/bonus, Enchant, Multispell, Dominate Elf, Dominate Orc and Dominate Seven-Horned Demon From the Pits of Hell as his 70%+basic+bonus and so on, he chooses Dominate Human, Dominate Orc, Dominate Seven-Horned Demon From the Pits of Hell, Mystic Vision, Project Vision, Create (Crystal Ball), Create (Familiar) ...

So, it is relatively easy to generate a reasonably well-rounded character using something like this.

See Ya

Simon
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