User blog:Dragokar62/New Methods for Character Creation

New Rules for Rolling Up Characters in Grendoth

In the Grendoth Player’s Sourcebook, I laid out the method for rolling up characters for each type of fantasy setting in Grendoth, from Low Fantasy to High Fantasy. Although those have worked reasonably well, they tend to push the upper end of attribute scores. To be honest, I developed those methods years ago when I was running 2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and for that particular edition, things worked well. With the changes made in 5th Edition, those old methods aren’t working quite as expected. The attributes for starting characters tend to be too high and it doesn’t give the players any real weaknesses to overcome. I’m not saying there should be a lot of weaknesses, I’m saying that their scores are too high to present much of a challenge. That being said, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before, but it is something I feel will add flavor to the game.

Beginning immediately, all characters created for one of my campaigns, regardless of fantasy setting, will use the follow method. On Page 13 of the Player’s Handbook, they mention using an attribute point array (It’s at the bottom of the second paragraph). This is where you have a set number for each attribute and you assign the number to the attribute you want to place it on. Depending on the fantasy setting you are in, there will be a set point array you will use. This will level the playing field for all players and it will make the Ability Score Improvements you receive starting at 4th level that much more important.

Low Fantasy settings will use the following point array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. You can place these wherever you want, but these are your base scores. Adding your racial attribute bonuses and you will have your character’s attributes.

Medium Fantasy setting will get a bit of a boost to their point array with: 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9.

High Fantasy settings will get an even bigger boost to their point array with: 17, 16, 15, 14, 12, and 10.

Hit Points for Characters

Like the point array above, there will be some changes to the way hit points are generated for player characters (and yes, for the monsters, too). Lately, we’ve gotten into the habit of using the maximum number of hit points available for the characters and for the monsters. I want to change this so that we make the game a bit less predictable. Depending on the fantasy setting, there will be a different way to generate the hit points for the characters.

Low and Medium fantasy settings will you the Average or Better hit point generation, meaning, you will roll for your hit points, but should the roll be less than the average number for that hit dice, you can take the average instead. For example, as a Fighter, you roll a d10. Average for a d10 is 6. If you roll a 5 or less, you take 6 instead. If you roll above a 6, you get what you rolled. Add in your Constitution modifier and that is the number of hit points your character gets at that level.

High fantasy settings will grant you maximum hit points just as we have been doing. The only high fantasy setting I currently run is Whitefeather, so if you play in any other land I DM, you must follow the above method of determining hit points.

To help with the average score of hit dice, the following is the average score for each hit dice.

D6 = 4; D8 = 5; D10 = 6; D12 = 7

Choosing Your Proficient Saving Throws

This is an area of 5E that I’ve struggled with from the beginning. When you choose a class, the Player’s Handbook tells you what Saving Throws that class is proficient in. What happens if you want to build a Dexterity style Fighter, but your not proficient in Dex saves? What if you want to have your Rogue be more mindful, able to hold up until incredible mental strain, yet their saving throws are Dexterity and Intelligence, when you would like Dexterity and Wisdom? Well, I believe I might have an idea to help people “build” their characters to be more unique.

During character creation, the player can take one of the attributes that the Player’s Handbook says is a proficient saving throw, but the second one can be what the player chooses. Keep in mind, if you choose something that is outside the standard in the book, you’ll need to ensure the character is actually working toward the new goal. For example. You decide to play a Cleric of the Tempest Domain, which is more of a combat cleric. You might choose Wisdom, since your spell casting is based on Wisdom, but you might choose Strength as your other saving throw proficiency, which is fine, but you don’t add points to Strength or show that you’re working toward Strength being a primary stat, I reserve the right to remove that as a proficient saving throw and change to what you are actually leaning toward, or revert back to what the book says. In other words, you can say you want to focus on Strength, but if you don’t, I’ll change it for you.

I feel this new change will help you create more unique characters in the long run.

How Did We Become A Party?

In the past, well, in the past 40 years, this has been something I’ve taken upon myself to figure out. Bringing the party together to form a cohesive unit isn’t an easy task and frankly, I think this should be the player’s decision, not mine. I’ve heard a few ideas online and with other DM’s I’ve known who say that they let the players decide how they became a party. Sometimes, it’s as simple as them being siblings or friends from the same hometown. Of course, not all races mingle this way, so that might be a stretch, but there are ways for you to come up with an idea on how you became a party.

What I propose is simple. During Session Zero, talk about ways you all became a party. Sometimes the player’s idea is far more interesting than the DM’s idea. It could be a common NPC (and yes, you get to create an NPC for me), it could be that you are all from the same village, town, city, or it could be family ties. It could even be as convoluted as one player’s father used to work for another player’s father, who was married to the aunt of another player’s character, who in turn, used to babysit the other player’s character. Be creative and talk it out. Not only does this give you more control over the situation, it can also be used later in the campaign as a side quest or a story hook.

In Closing

I understand that I tend to add quite a few changes to how I do things at the table and how I want things done there as well, but each time I sit down and run a campaign, new ideas and rulings on some of the things that happen spawn some of these changes and I put them into play. Like every single edition before it, 5th Edition has many good things about it that I like, but there is always room for improvement and changes to make it more of my vision. As all of the books say, they are guidelines, not rules and it is the creative mind of the DM that makes the actual rules. And as with all changes I make in the game, these are subject to play testing and can be removed or altered to meet the needs of the game. I’m always open to discussion about anything I implement, so feel free to ask me questions about my rules or rulings.

Christopher Hood - DM