Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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.

LevelDie Roll
100001-00011
200012-09101
309102-27281
427282-63642
563643-81822
681823-90912
790913-95457
895458-97729
997730-98865
1098866-98922
1198923-99206
1299207-99616
1399617-99821
1499822-99923
1599924-99974
1699975-99991
1799992-00000

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.

% RollClassStat Mins
01-03AcupuncturistStr 12 Dex 15 Psi 90
04-06Amulet MakerStr 16
07-09AstrologerInt 15 Wis 13
10-12BardDex 10 Cha 14 (Mag 95)
13-15ClericWis 12
16-18Crimson SeekerStr 14 Con 14 Psi 90
19-21DemonistWis 18 Cun 15 Mag 90
22-24DruidWis 12
25-27Elemental WizardWis 12 Mag 90
28-30FighterStr 12 Dex 12
31-33Frost WizardWis 14 Con 14 Mag 90
34-36Geo-SageInt 13 Mag 90 Psi 90
37-39HealerStr 14 Dex 14 Psi 90 Mag 90
40-42HistorianInt 13 Dex 12
43-45HouriInt 10 Dex 13 Cha 15 Com 12
46-48KabbalistInt 11 Con 11
49-51MagusInt 12
52-54Martial ArtistStr 15 Dex 15 Con 15 Psi 75
55-57MerchantInt 11 Cha 11
58-60NecromancerInt 15 Dex 14
61-63NinjaDex 15 Str 15 Con 15 Tra 75
64-66RoninDex 15 Str 15
67-69SailorDex 12 Tra 90
70-72Shadow WalkerDex 12 Str 12 Psi 90
73-75ShifterStr 12 Dex 12 Tra 90 Lyc 95
76-78SmithieWis 13 Str 15 Con 15
79-81ThiefDex 12
82-84TrackerDex 10 Tra 90
85-87TrainerDex 14 Cha 16
88-90TranslatorInt 13 Cha 16 Mag 90
91-93VeneficInt 12 Dex 11
94-96WarriorStr 14 Con 14
97-99White WandererInt 14 Psi 90
00Hell, 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!

4 comments:

  1. How 'bout
    die roll 00: dual class -- roll twice (option: increase stat minimums for having two classes only 1 point.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jeff, have you ever played Dwarf Fortress? The world generator included with the game generates random names, pantheons, artifacts, etc. I think you'd get a kick out of it; the name generator makes some goofily atmospheric stuff happen...sometimes I generate worlds without playing a game just to see what comes out.

    It's at www.bay12games.com

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  3. What the heck were they smoking when they came up with that cover image?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mmmmmm... one part Field Guide to Encounters, two parts Rients. Mix well, serve chillin'.

    Yummy!

    ReplyDelete