Friday 12 October 2012

B/X Character Backgrounds

For my upcoming dreamlands campaign, I've been vacillating over whether to run the game using the Labyrinth Lord AEC (that is, with the full range of AD&D races, classes and combinations thereof) or whether to keep it simple and just use basic Labyrinth Lord. I'm veering now towards the latter.

What I love about the basic 4 classes (plus demi-humans) is that each class encompasses so many sub-archetypes, without getting into the arms-race of making each of them a class of its own. So, to convey this idea to potential players (many of whom are more used to AD&D or D&D3, with their respective plethora of mechanical character options) I've been working on some tables of character background ideas. The intention is that players can either roll randomly, choose one from the list, or make up something similar. None of the backgrounds in these tables grant any specific mechanical abilities or bonuses, but are intended to be used in the same way a secondary skills in AD&D are -- as an aid to situational rulings on who can do what.

Here's what I've come up with.

Fighter
  1. Monster hunter
  2. Wildsman / scout
  3. Barbarian
  4. Mercenary
  5. Sailor / pirate
  6. Guard / soldier
  7. Gladiator
  8. Bandit
Cleric
  1. Cultist
  2. Monk
  3. Monster hunter / inquisitor
  4. Zealot / evangelist
  5. Mendicant
  6. Templar / paladin
  7. Prophet
  8. Chosen one
Thief
  1. Tomb robber
  2. Assassin
  3. Con artist
  4. Acrobat / performer
  5. Bandit / highwayman
  6. Gambler / hedonist
  7. Burglar
  8. Spy
Magic-user
  1. Astrologer
  2. Alchemist
  3. Mystic
  4. Herbalist
  5. Sage
  6. Witch / hedge wizard
  7. Warlock
  8. Cultist
Dwarf
  1. Monster hunter
  2. Smith / mechanist
  3. Miner
  4. Guard / soldier
  5. Stone mason / gem cutter
  6. Drunkard
  7. Berserker
  8. Outcast
Halfling
  1. Gourmand
  2. Scavenger
  3. Wanderer
  4. Tinker
  5. Burglar
  6. Bard
  7. Merchant
  8. Sheriff
Elf
  1. Noble
  2. Duelist
  3. Hedonist
  4. Aesthete
  5. Bard
  6. Fey warlock
  7. Fated
  8. Trickster
(Thanks to Alex for his inspirational tables!)

3 comments:

  1. You are welcome. :) I'd post the link to the English translation if I could. Something about Blogspot and the iPad is preventing me from doing it, however. Weird.

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  2. I like it Gavin, it's nice and simple. And Alex, here’s a link to the Google Translate version of your page - great stuff.

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  3. Thanks, David. The tables were originally in English. You should find them if you google for halberds helmets character generation.

    Man, I hate this anti-spam measure.

    ReplyDelete

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