Those, Cursed Few and Forlorn

[Malkavian Grin]

Create a Player Character (PC)

To create a character, follow these steps. Your doom awaits.

1. Roll starting silver, food, and equipment (below, all three columns).
2. (Optional) Roll Terrible Traits, Broken Body, and Bad Habit.
3. Roll Troubling Tale.
4. Choose a Class* (or don't; see Step 4) and refer to it for these details:
   1. Roll extra silver and Omens.
   2. Roll on weapon and armor tables (below), if allowed.
   3. Roll Class background details and Special Ability (some choose).
   4. Roll Abilities (3d6 default) and consult the chart.
   5. Roll Hit Points.
5. No Class? Typical. Choose an Unheroic Feat*.
   1. Gain 100 extra silver and roll d2 Omens.
   2. Roll d10 on the weapon table and d4 on the armor table (below).
   3. Choose 2 Abilities; roll 4d6 and drop the lowest die for each. The other 2 roll 3d6. Consult the chart.
   4. Roll Toughness+d8 for Hit Points.
6. Name your character; it will not save you.
7. Post all of this in a new thread, in a Shallow Grave.
8. Spend any cash you want, at the rates listed in Accouterments & Ministrations and keep track in your thread with an obvious paper trail.

"In this world there are those who seek riches or redemption.
Some say the apocalypse is escapable, that it might even be stopped!
And there you walk: in discord and despair."

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*You can never mix Classes and Unheroic Feats.

Starting Silver and Food

Type of Food (d6)
1 pickled turnips
2 dried rat meat
3 smoked fish
4 ash cakes
5 pemmican
6 stale bread

One hand holds 2d6 × 10s (silver), the other holds a full waterskin and d4 days worth of food (d6 for each type).

Starting Equipment

To Hold (d12), 1 hands and hiding spots 2 belt pouch for 1 normal-sized item 3 small bag for 3 normal-sized items 4 saddle bags, for 4 normal-size items (2 on each side), d4 dried meat 5 back basket for 5 normal-sized items 6 backpack for 7 normal-sized items 7 big sack for 10 normal-sized items 8 wheelbarrow, wreaking of corpses 9 small wagon or one item above of your choice 10 donkey, stubborn and sturdy 11 horse, old but reliable 12 strange horse, don't look it in the mouth

To Aid (d12), 1 rope 30 feet 2 Presence + 4 torches 3 lantern with oil for Presence + 6 hours 4 magnesium strip 5 random unclean scroll 6 sharp needle 7 medicine chest with Presence+4 uses (stops bleeding/infection and heals d6 HP) 8 metal file and lockpicks 9 bear trap (Presence DR14 to spot, d8 damage) 10 bomb (sealed bottle, d10 damage) 11 a bottle of red poison d4 doses (Toughness DR12 or d10 damage) 12 silver crucifix

and To Maintain (d12) 1 life elixir d4 doses (heals d6 HP and removes infection) 2 random sacred scroll 3 small but vicious dog (d6+2 HP, bite d4, only obeys you) 4 d4 monkeys that ignore but love you (d4+2 HP, punch/bite d4) 5 exquisite perfume worth 25s 6 toolbox with 10 nails, tongs, hammer, small saw and drill 7 heavy chain 15 feet 8 grappling hook 9 shield (-1 HP damage or have the shield break to ignore one attack) 10 crowbar (d4 damage) 11 lard (may function as 5 meals in a pinch) 12 tent

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Weapons* 1 Femur (d4) 2 Staff (d4) 3 Short sword (d4) 4 Knife (d4) 5 Warhammer (d6) 6 Sword (d6) 7 Bow (d6) ➤ Presence+10 arrows 8 Flail (d8) 9 Crossbow (d8) ➤ Presence+10 bolts 10 ZWEIHÄNDER (d10)

Armor* 1 No armor (tier 0) 2 Light armor (tier 1) ➤ layered fur, padded cloth, leather, wicker, chain shirt, dense robes, tool-filled apron, etc. ➤ (-d2) 3 Medium armor (tier 2) ➤ scale mail, breastplate, chain suit, bones, laminate, etc. ➤ (-d4) ➤ +2 DR on Agility tests ➤ +2 DR on Defense tests 4 Heavy armor (tier 3) ➤ splint mail, plate mail, half-plate, brigandine, chitin, etc. ➤ (-d6) ➤ +4 DR on Agility tests ➤ +2 DR on Defense tests

*Scrolls will never work when wielding zweihand weapons or medium/heavy armor.

What do they call you, Stranger?

Some remember their original name. Many forge a new name, whether chosen for themselves or not. More than a few have forgotten their name, or choose not to accept one beyond a title.

These tables are optional. Make your own, roll, or pick your favorite.

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Let the dice name you d12 1 no name, responds to anything 2 class name and its derivatives 3 the incorrect name (but what's correct?) 4 degrading names 5 given name; create one, or choose from tables 6 given name, roll until happy (are you ever?) 7 military rank, whether earned or not 8 "Zaumuaz, the Revenger," a secretly shared persona by members of a secret cult 9 second coming of the patron saint of woe, grief, and lamentation "St. Luctus" 10 "Sir," "Ma'am/Madam," or "Mix/Mux" 11 "Father," "Mother," or "Creator/Birther" and roll one prefix and two suffixes to create one word 12 "The Creature"

Prefix d12 1 Ae 2 Bar 3 Dur 4 Eu 5 Fur 6 Hlo 7 Jol 8 Kre 9 Mor 10 Ol 11 Ulv 12 Vlaz

Suffix d12 1 as 2 de 3 doh 4 duf 5 e 6 g 7 gor 8 or 9 s 10 vir 11 za 12 zog

Or let these dice name you d68 (d6 and d8)
1		2		3		4		5		6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Aerg-Tval Agn Arvant Belsum Belum Brint Börda Daeru	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Eldar Felban Gotven Graft Grin Grittr Haerü Hargha	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Harmug Jotna Karg Karva Katla Keftar Klort Kratar	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Kutz Kvetin Lygan Margar Merkari Nagl Niduk Nifehl	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Prügl Qillnach Risten Svind Theras Therg Torvul Törn	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Urm Urvarg Vagal Vatan Von Vrakh Vresi Wemut

 

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The following rules for Terrible Traits, Broken Bodies, and Bad Habits are OPTIONAL.

I would still like you to roll for a Troubling Tale, though.

TRAUMA,
A BAD CHILDHOOD,
HIDDEN HISTORY,
OR A TWISTED FATE ATTENDING YOUR BIRTH
ALREADY SHAPED YOU.

Terrible Traits (Optional; roll or just choose)

2d20, because nobody's perfect.

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1 Endlessly aggravated 2 Inferiority complex 3 Problems with authority 4 Loud mouth 5 CRUEL 6 Egocentric 7 Nihilistic 8 Prone to substance abuse 9 Conflicted 10 Shrewd

11Vindictive 12 Cowardly 13 Lazy 14 Suspicious 15 Ruthless 16 Worried 17 Bitter 18 Deceitful 19 Wasteful 20 Arrogant

Broken Bodies (Optional; roll or just choose)

d20

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1 Staring, manic gaze. 2 Covered in "blasphemous" (to whom?) tattoos. 3 Rotting face; you wear a mask. 4 Lost three toes on a foot; you limp. 5 Starved; gaunt and pale. 6 One hand replaced with a hook (d6 damage). 7 Decaying teeth. 8 Hauntingly beautiful, unnervingly clean. 9 Hands caked with sores. 10 Cataract slowly but sure spreading in both eyes.

11 Badly tangled hair; at least one cockroach in residence. 12 Broken, crushed ears. 13 Juddering and stuttering from nerve damage or stress. 14 Corpulent, ravenous, and drooling. 15 One hand mutated, missing thumb and index finger; grip like a lobster. 16 Red, swollen, alcoholic's nose. 17 Resting maniac face; making friends is hard. 18 Chronic athletes foot; smells rancid. 19 Recently slashed and puss-filled eye covered with a patch. 20 Finger and toe nails all cracked and black; could fall off at any time.

Bad Habit (Optional; roll or just choose)

d30

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1 Obsessively collect sharp stones. 2 Won't use a blade without testing it on your own flesh first; arms knitted in scars. 3 Can't stop drinking once you start. 4 Gambling addict. Must bet every day. If you lose, raise and bet again. 5 Cannot tolerate criticism of any kind. Results in rage and weeping. 6 Unable to get to the point. You've never actually finished a story. 7 Best friend is a skull. You carry it with you everywhere, tell it everything, and trust no one else more. 8 You pick your nose so deep it bleeds. 9 Laugh hysterically at your own jokes, which you then explain in detail. 10 You insist on explaining to people that you are a nihilist, and why, whether you really are or not; an unwanted philosopher. 11 Inveterate bug eater. 12 Stress response is aesthetic display; the worse things gets, the fancier you need to be. 13 Permanent phlegm deposit in throat; continuously cough, snort, spit, and swallow. 14 Pyromaniac. 15 Consistently lose important items and forget vital facts.

16 INSECURE SHIT-STIRRER; WILL TALK ABOUT WHOEVER JUST LEFT THE ROOM. 17 You stutter when lying. 18 You giggle insanely at the worst possible times. 19 You whistle when trying to hide. You absolutely deny this. Whistle when 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 is rolled on a d20. 20 You must make jewelry from the teeth of the dead. Can you really consider this a bad habit? 21 You take credit for the actions of others. 22 You lick things to claim ownership. 23 You always mispronounce other people's names, on purpose or not. 24 You are convinced you are a skin walker. 25 You have an uncontrollable urge to kick all doors open. When another character opens a door roll d4, on a 1 you run over and interrupt somehow, kicking the door open anyways. 26 This one only refers to itself in the third person. 27 The adventurer narrated themselves walking into the room, drawing deep sighs from close-by companions yet again... 28 You are clearly the leader of this group, some people may not realize it yet. 29 You take all gossip as gospel and spread it around like wildfire, as if people's very lives depended on it. 30 You trash talk fallen enemies after the battle is over, even if you did nothing.

Troubling Tale (not optional)

d20

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When combined with your class' origin roll, this will tell the story of your recent past. Anything before that doesn't really matter. Did it ever?

You may optionally put record your Troubling Tale in a private tag for me.

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1 Pursued for manslaughter. There is a bounty. 2 In massive debt. The debt is being traded to successively more ruthless groups. 3 Have a rare, sought after item. 4 Have a cursed, never-healing wound. You should get that looked at. 5 Had an illegal, immoral, and secret affair with a member of the royal family. You have proof. 6 Escaped cult member. Terrified and paranoid that other cultists are everywhere. YOU SEE THE SIGNS! 7 Identity thief that recently killed and replaced this person. 8 Banished and disowned for unspecified deeds. You can never go home. 9 Deserted the military after witnessing a massacre. There's a bounty on your head, looking to be claimed by your former friends. 10 Very recently murdered a close relative. Very recently.

11 A puzzle cube has been calibrated incorrectly (or has it?), awakening a slumbering abomination. 12 Evil creatures love the scent of your spoor and are drawn to it, bringing disaster in your wake. 13 A battle wound left a shard of metal slowly inching closer to your heart. Every day there is a 2% chance it reaches it. 14 Violence forced you into the wilderness and you snapped. You think waving trees are whispering. You talk to, scream at, and attack trees. 15 Cursed to share the nightmare of others nearby. You sleep far, far away from people. 16 At permanent war with corvids. There is no contact with one without violence. You carry a sling just in case. 17 After dreaming of an underground temple to a forgotten god you understand the song of insects and worms. 18 Being tracked and observed by a golem after an agreement which you know has been wiped from your mind. 19 "Burn or be burned" is the fate you accept. 20 Your flesh heals twice as fast, but your companions twice as slow. The many-eyed "guardian angel" protects and travels with you.