Post by ritt on Nov 25, 2016 19:32:25 GMT -6
This is a very brief article I once wrote for a 'zine that sadly went under before this piece could be published. Friends of mine have been using these rules in their games and enjoying them, so I thought I'd share it.
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The Wretched of the Earth:
New options for Player-Characters with abysmal ability scores
What is a wretch? It's simple: A wretch is a “Hopeless”character, a PC in any version of the original fantasy role-playing game whose ability scores were generated randomly and all came up at nine or below. With all scores at low-average or worse, this tragic being has no bonuses to anything, and probably a few penalties. His or her career as an adventurer will almost certainly be quite short, and in fact it might end even before it begins: You might throw away the character sheet, or erase it and start over, or beg the referee for a second chance, or even fudge the dice results. If forced to play your wretch by a pitiless gamemaster, you might have the wretch rush into deadly situations, throwing the poor sad-sack's life away so that you can get the chance to roll up another, better PC to take it's place.
Or you could ask your referee to let you roll 1d12 on the table below. My personal recommendation is that the Wretched Background Table be used only for the most tragic of cases: PCs who have no abilities above nine and at least two abilities low enough to grant penalties. The final decision, however, is up to your referee.
Wretched Background Table (1d12)
1-2) Damaged Goods: You used to be a mighty hero, but some terrible event shattered you physically, mentally, and financially and left you a shadow the adventurer you used to be. Maybe it was long term alcoholism, the degenerating influence of some dreadful magical artifact (“My precioussssss...”), an imperfect resurrection, seeing the face of a dread alien god, being energy-drained by the Queen of the Vampires... use your imagination. Whatever the tragedy was, it left you so damaged that you are beyond the ability of any magic (Even wishes) to repair. You will never be quite the same again. All you can do is try to pick up the broken, jagged shards of your life and try to start anew.
While your glory days are over, your experiences still give you an edge over the typical novice adventurer and you begin play with 1d4 x 1000 free experience points. This may advance your level beyond first.
3-4) Kid:You are 10+1d6 years old. Your low ability scores are a result of your being young and not having yet reached your adult potential.
Every time you go up a level, roll 1d6 for each of your six abilities: If you roll a “6”, that ability goes up one point. If you roll a “1”, you have reached your maximum potential for that ability and it will never go any higher. Get in a lot of adventuring while you’re still young and spry, because you lose this advantage the second you turn 18.
5) Mule: Through rape, perversion, or a mad experiment, you are a crossbreed, a hybrid between a human or demi-human and.... something else. Something that humanoids don't usually breed with.
You are a genetic dead-end, sterile, weak, sickly, and ugly. You can pass for human or demi-human, but your appearance is still bizarre and hints at your monstrous heritage (Bulging eyes, faintly greenish skin, no body hair... whatever). However, your weird lineage makes you completely immune to sleep and charm effects. At the referee's discretion, you might be immune to all effects that specify that the target must be a humanoid.
6-7) Chinless Wonder: You are an aristocrat, and your low ability scores are the result of inbreeding and/or a pampered life of decadence that has never really challenged you.
You start play with a horse, a noble title, and three times the standard starting money.
8-9) Pathetic: Even the most hardened people pity you. You might be handicapped, disfigured, mentally challenged, or maybe you just have a really sad face.
If a sentient foe is trying to harm or harass you or a friend, and you have no visible weapons currently on your person, you can (once per session) try to appeal to their pity and beg for mercy. This has a base 50% chance of success, but the referee may grant you a bonus for a particularly theatrical display on your part (Wailing, crying, falling to your knees, grandiose flattery) or a penalty for a particularly hard-hearted foe (Demons, undead, etc.).
10-11) Degenerate Sub-Race: You aren't just a dwarf... you’re one of the filthy and diseased Gutter-Dwarves that infest the teeming slums of the infamous Machine-City of Rust-Lich. You’re not just an elf... you’re one of the vile Dust Elves, banished forever from the green places of the world and wallowing in incest, cannibalism, and demon-worship in your foreboding arctic cities. You aren't just a halfling... you’re one of the feral Warplings that live like rats in the bowels of the psi-marauders' miles-long astral fatherships.
You are a member of a degenerate offshoot of your character's race. This gives you one advantage (For example, a human from a race of subterranean albinos might have night-vision) and one disadvantage (Such a character would also logically suffer a slight penalty to all actions in sunlight). The “Gutter Dwarf” example above might be immune to disease (From centuries spent living in filth) but have a terrible stench that effectively makes it impossible for him to hide. This is your chance to take the lemon of rolling a crappy character and turn it into the lemonade of adding an entire new culture to the campaign. Go nuts!
12) Holy Idiot: You’re a loser, a schmuck, a fool, a buffoon... but somebody up there likes you. The Gods Themselves have chosen you to be a pawn in their schemes, for good or ill.
Your low ability scores do not effect your saving throws. In fact, you get a +1 bonus to all saves.
__________________________________________________________________
The Wretched of the Earth:
New options for Player-Characters with abysmal ability scores
What is a wretch? It's simple: A wretch is a “Hopeless”character, a PC in any version of the original fantasy role-playing game whose ability scores were generated randomly and all came up at nine or below. With all scores at low-average or worse, this tragic being has no bonuses to anything, and probably a few penalties. His or her career as an adventurer will almost certainly be quite short, and in fact it might end even before it begins: You might throw away the character sheet, or erase it and start over, or beg the referee for a second chance, or even fudge the dice results. If forced to play your wretch by a pitiless gamemaster, you might have the wretch rush into deadly situations, throwing the poor sad-sack's life away so that you can get the chance to roll up another, better PC to take it's place.
Or you could ask your referee to let you roll 1d12 on the table below. My personal recommendation is that the Wretched Background Table be used only for the most tragic of cases: PCs who have no abilities above nine and at least two abilities low enough to grant penalties. The final decision, however, is up to your referee.
Wretched Background Table (1d12)
1-2) Damaged Goods: You used to be a mighty hero, but some terrible event shattered you physically, mentally, and financially and left you a shadow the adventurer you used to be. Maybe it was long term alcoholism, the degenerating influence of some dreadful magical artifact (“My precioussssss...”), an imperfect resurrection, seeing the face of a dread alien god, being energy-drained by the Queen of the Vampires... use your imagination. Whatever the tragedy was, it left you so damaged that you are beyond the ability of any magic (Even wishes) to repair. You will never be quite the same again. All you can do is try to pick up the broken, jagged shards of your life and try to start anew.
While your glory days are over, your experiences still give you an edge over the typical novice adventurer and you begin play with 1d4 x 1000 free experience points. This may advance your level beyond first.
3-4) Kid:You are 10+1d6 years old. Your low ability scores are a result of your being young and not having yet reached your adult potential.
Every time you go up a level, roll 1d6 for each of your six abilities: If you roll a “6”, that ability goes up one point. If you roll a “1”, you have reached your maximum potential for that ability and it will never go any higher. Get in a lot of adventuring while you’re still young and spry, because you lose this advantage the second you turn 18.
5) Mule: Through rape, perversion, or a mad experiment, you are a crossbreed, a hybrid between a human or demi-human and.... something else. Something that humanoids don't usually breed with.
You are a genetic dead-end, sterile, weak, sickly, and ugly. You can pass for human or demi-human, but your appearance is still bizarre and hints at your monstrous heritage (Bulging eyes, faintly greenish skin, no body hair... whatever). However, your weird lineage makes you completely immune to sleep and charm effects. At the referee's discretion, you might be immune to all effects that specify that the target must be a humanoid.
6-7) Chinless Wonder: You are an aristocrat, and your low ability scores are the result of inbreeding and/or a pampered life of decadence that has never really challenged you.
You start play with a horse, a noble title, and three times the standard starting money.
8-9) Pathetic: Even the most hardened people pity you. You might be handicapped, disfigured, mentally challenged, or maybe you just have a really sad face.
If a sentient foe is trying to harm or harass you or a friend, and you have no visible weapons currently on your person, you can (once per session) try to appeal to their pity and beg for mercy. This has a base 50% chance of success, but the referee may grant you a bonus for a particularly theatrical display on your part (Wailing, crying, falling to your knees, grandiose flattery) or a penalty for a particularly hard-hearted foe (Demons, undead, etc.).
10-11) Degenerate Sub-Race: You aren't just a dwarf... you’re one of the filthy and diseased Gutter-Dwarves that infest the teeming slums of the infamous Machine-City of Rust-Lich. You’re not just an elf... you’re one of the vile Dust Elves, banished forever from the green places of the world and wallowing in incest, cannibalism, and demon-worship in your foreboding arctic cities. You aren't just a halfling... you’re one of the feral Warplings that live like rats in the bowels of the psi-marauders' miles-long astral fatherships.
You are a member of a degenerate offshoot of your character's race. This gives you one advantage (For example, a human from a race of subterranean albinos might have night-vision) and one disadvantage (Such a character would also logically suffer a slight penalty to all actions in sunlight). The “Gutter Dwarf” example above might be immune to disease (From centuries spent living in filth) but have a terrible stench that effectively makes it impossible for him to hide. This is your chance to take the lemon of rolling a crappy character and turn it into the lemonade of adding an entire new culture to the campaign. Go nuts!
12) Holy Idiot: You’re a loser, a schmuck, a fool, a buffoon... but somebody up there likes you. The Gods Themselves have chosen you to be a pawn in their schemes, for good or ill.
Your low ability scores do not effect your saving throws. In fact, you get a +1 bonus to all saves.
