more Field Guide madness, part 1

I've talked about Judges Guild oddball Field Guide to Encounters before. One of my favorite crazy ass dice charts from that game is the random starting level chart for NPCs.

Level	Die Roll
1	00001-00011
2	00012-09101
3	09102-27281
4	27282-63642
5	63643-81822
6	81823-90912
7	90913-95457
8	95458-97729
9	97730-98865
10	98866-98922
11	98923-99206
12	99207-99616
13	99617-99821
14	99822-99923
15	99924-99974
16	99975-99991
17	99992-00000

I guess this chart explains how Gandalf ends up running around with novice halflings. If I ever run a higher level D&D game at a con I am totally going to make the players roll on this puppy. This same chart is also used to determine the levels of gods. Under the Field Guide all deities are maxxed-out adventurers who now earn levels in the god class. So most gods are 20th level in their original class and 4th level in the god class.

The random level chart and the too-big-to-retype random race charts got me thinking that one could rough out a pantheon using the suggested deific spheres of influence list and the other random deity charts on pages 92 and 93 of volume I of the Field Guide. The one piece of the puzzle missing is a random class chart. So I made one.

% Roll	Class	Stat Mins
01-03	Acupuncturist	Str 12 Dex 15 Psi 90
04-06	Amulet Maker	Str 16
07-09	Astrologer	Int 15 Wis 13
10-12	Bard	Dex 10 Cha 14 (Mag 95)
13-15	Cleric	Wis 12
16-18	Crimson Seeker	Str 14 Con 14 Psi 90
19-21	Demonist	Wis 18 Cun 15 Mag 90
22-24	Druid	Wis 12
25-27	Elemental Wizard	Wis 12 Mag 90
28-30	Fighter	Str 12 Dex 12
31-33	Frost Wizard	Wis 14 Con 14 Mag 90
34-36	Geo-Sage	Int 13 Mag 90 Psi 90
37-39	Healer	Str 14 Dex 14 Psi 90 Mag 90
40-42	Historian	Int 13 Dex 12
43-45	Houri	Int 10 Dex 13 Cha 15 Com 12
46-48	Kabbalist	Int 11 Con 11
49-51	Magus	Int 12
52-54	Martial Artist	Str 15 Dex 15 Con 15 Psi 75
55-57	Merchant	Int 11 Cha 11
58-60	Necromancer	Int 15 Dex 14
61-63	Ninja	Dex 15 Str 15 Con 15 Tra 75
64-66	Ronin	Dex 15 Str 15
67-69	Sailor	Dex 12 Tra 90
70-72	Shadow Walker	Dex 12 Str 12 Psi 90
73-75	Shifter	Str 12 Dex 12 Tra 90 Lyc 95
76-78	Smithie	Wis 13 Str 15 Con 15
79-81	Thief	Dex 12
82-84	Tracker	Dex 10 Tra 90
85-87	Trainer	Dex 14 Cha 16
88-90	Translator	Int 13 Cha 16 Mag 90
91-93	Venefic	Int 12 Dex 11
94-96	Warrior	Str 14 Con 14
97-99	White Wanderer	Int 14 Psi 90
00	Hell, I dunno. Roll again or something.

Character don't need a Magic percentage of 95 to qualify for the Bard class, but they get some additional magic abilities if they have Mag 95+. Crimson Seekers are basically psi-warrior types. "Cun 15" under Demonist is not a typo. That's a requirement of at least 15 in Cunning. I love that the game uses Ronin as a class. If you swear service to a lord you become a Samuri [sic]. Shadow Walkers are psi-thieves. Tra is your Tracking percentile, while Lyc is your Lycanthropy stat. Shifters are basically fighter/werewolves, but if you have a Lyc 95+ you can take a different class and still be a were-creature. Trainers train animals. Venefic is the assassin class. White Wanderers are psi-wizards. This game is an awesome mess.

The non-percentage stats are generated with straight 3d6 rolls, modified only by race selection. At the moment I can't find a rule to tell you what to do if your dice rolls don't qualify your proto-PC for anything. Multiclassing with two or three classes is allowed, but the stat mins for all classes go up. Add 2 to the mins for both classes or a whopping 4 to all mins if you want three classes. So a wicked awesome game-breaking Historian/Merchant/Sailor would require an Intelligence of17, a Dexterity of 16, a Charisma of 15 and a Tracking percentage of 94.

For part 2 of this post I'll use the charts above and some others in the Field Guide to Encounters to outline a random pantheon. Wish me luck!