Pseudo-Pseudohistorical Characters

 

 Pseudo-Pseudohistorical Violence: Character Creation

This is part of my ongoing project to flesh out Luke Gearing's Pseudohistorical Violence for a home game. I thought about doing completely random character generation, but I decided instead to let players pick a class and then roll a d4 for a random boon. Some of the classes are incomplete, so either stay tuned or make your own I guess :)

All characters start with some adventuring gear and 3d6 gold pieces. (I would use the quick equipment table from OSE Carcass Crawler #something or other).

Also I reference Dolmenwood a lot because I think I'm going to use this weird funky system in the Dolmenwood setting because I like it. Kill two birds with one stone you know? 

In addition to this, each player should get one non-adventuring skill related to a previous profession or something, mostly because I want to roll on the big d100 table from DCC.

Knight

You are some minor noble, whether by birth or by being knighted for service to your lord. You own some nice clothes and  begin with 3d6 additional gold pieces, but do not have the income to hold your current station without the profits of adventuring. 

 Obligation: You owe fealty to your lord. You are compelled to join them in battle if they go to war. You may not use ranged weapons, and must act chivalrously. 

You start with combat rank 1, and equipment befitting your station (I would use the quick starting equipment for OSE). You are trained in all the weapons you start with, all types of swords, and horse-riding.

Additional Features: 

1.  Experienced: +1 combat rank, a trophy worth 3d6*10gp.
2.  Tourney Knight: Start with a warhorse and lance. Venmo your dm $10 if you want the horse armour dlc.
3.  Landed Title: You own a large farm and have 1d6 tenants who owe you fealty.
4.  Honorable: You start with 1 resolve die, and you gain a new one every time you defeat a worthy opponent in single combat.

Fighter

All fighters are trained in the use of all armour and all weapons except swords and bows. All fighters start with combat rank 1 (Drilled/Bloodied)

1. Veteran: You were levied into a militia and lived. +1 combat rank, and the respect of people who might have served with you. You are also skilled with leadership, meaning that your followers have improved morale.
2. Archer: You were trained as an archer. You are trained in the use of bows and start with a shortbow or a longbow.
3. Woodsman: You are used to the outdoors. You are skilled at tracking, stalking in the wilderness, foraging, and hunting.
4.  Strong Resolve: You gain 1 resolve die, which refreshes every time you get a good night's rest. You can also use this die to ignore magical effects such as charms, hexes, or "hold person" (but not fireballs or lightning bolts).

Cleric/Priest: TBD

I think I'm going to use something similar to the "piety" systems from Advanced Fantasy Dungeons or Errant because I like when divine magic has a degree of fickleness. I also just don't really like it when their spellcasting is "magic users, but with a different spell list".

Magic-User

You are trained in the magical arts. You begin with training in no weapons other than daggers and staves (which you start with) and training in the usage of no armour. You begin with one spellbook and learn two extra languages (in order to read more spellbooks). 

1. Well-Studied: Learn one additional language and gain spell mastery in your starting spell.
2. Court Wizard: Your education was sponsored by a noble, who you now owe fealty to. In return for serving their interests and solving their problems you get: a permanent place to live (austere), a dedicated study (not very well equipped, more of a broom closet than anything else), and one additional random spell (yay!).
3. War-Wizard: You are more trained in warfare than the average magic-user. You are trained in the use of shields, shortswords, spears, and light crossbows.
4.  Collector: Start with a random potion and scroll with a single spell.

The magic-user's starting spellbook should have 2-3 spells like in Dolmenwood or Ten Starter Spellboks (Mazirian's Garden). I also quite like the optional table for different languages spellbooks can be written in from Dolmenwood, so I plan to have the MU's roll on that to see what language their starting spellbook is in.

Rogue

All rogues and thieves are skilled in things like lockpicking, sneaking, climbing, and pickpocketing. (Not that other classes cannot do those things, rogues are just the experts.)They begin with combat rank 0, but are trained in the use of leather armour, one-handed weapons, and light crossbows.

1. Assassin: Begin with 1d4 doses of a lethal poison (save or die). You also have a disguise kit, which you can use to hide your identity or to appear as a member of most professions, cultures, etc. (The world is your oyster hitman level.) You are skilled at blending in with crowds and seeming like you belong wherever you are (also like mr. hitman).
2. Ruffian: +1 combat rank, skilled at intimidation. A stolen gem worth 3d6*10gp
3. Dungeoneer: Gain an advantage when making a save against traps. Once per expedition, you can declare you were actually carrying something the whole time, as long as it is inexpensive and would fit in the palm of your hand.
4. Stole from a Wizard: You are skilled at detecting magic and start with an unidentified magic item that you stole. Reroll magic armour or weapons.

Witch-Initiate: TBD

I like the witches in Dolmenwood and I think you should be able to play as one. It is explicitly mentioned that witches also have a body of occult lore that they use to memorize spells, but they also are granted direct powers by the entities they are bonded with. Maybe something like Kill Clerics, Become Warlocks (Among Cats and Books), the spell system from Wolves Upon the Coast, or "a post about replacing all spellcasting with bespoke reaction rolls with supernatural entities" which I cannot seem to find.

Can you tell I just really like magic systems? I think my ideal world would just have all of these glued together, plus maybe even ultra-powerful Ars Magica magi or something like that.