Character Creation Corner - OD&D (3LBB) - Percy Thornwhistle

 

The first set of characters I'll be making are for Original Dungeons & Dragons, using only the original '3 Little Brown Books,' though I have them in the form of last year's 'Big Red Book.' I'll get to characters using the supplements, and probably some magazine or third party content later.

Ability Scores

I rolled my characters using 3d6 in order, and ended up keeping 8 out of 12 sets of rolls. Today we're talking about roll #11. This roll had all 11s or above except for yet another 5. The scores could have gone several different ways, but for getting an even spread, I decided to make this a Halfling. For each character I determined gender by rolling 2d4, one pink and one blue, taking the higher die. Our Halfling came up as our third male character. Since we don't have setting details yet, I used the Name Generator at capitalizemytitle.com, and got 'Percy Thornwhistle.'


The unmodified rolls were: Strength 11, Intelligence 16, Wisdom 5, Constitution 11, Dexterity 12, Charisma 14. Starting Gold is also 3d6, multiplied by 10, and Percy got to start out with 160gp, tied for the highest in our party - perhaps the Thornwhistles are an equivalent in our world to the Bagginses, Tooks or Brandybucks?

The original rules contain a mechanic for adjusting scores, allowing one to subtract from the Prime Requisites of the unchosen classes to enhance the chosen Prime Requisites on a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 basis. While it's not stated in the original books, I've seen and heard it mentioned elsewhere that such methods cannot reduce the score being dropped below 9. Now, with a roll of 11 on Strength and 16 on Intelligence, at first glance, this character would make an ideal Magic-User, or Elf (Fighter/Magic-User).  However, I already one of each of those. I also have a Dwarf, and I like, especially in these older systems where one's not overwhelmed with class and ancestry choices, I really like to have at least one of each possible character type. So I decided to make this character a Halfling, and Halflings are limited to Fighter. Now, a Wisdom of 5 can't be used to pump Strength based on that earlier mentioned interpretation, but Intelligence can feed Strength on a 2-for-1 basis. With our Intelligence roll being 16, I could drop it 3 times to 10, increasing our Strength to 14.


Ability Scores in the original rules don't have a lot of different rolls and modifiers associated with them. Our Strength of 14 gives Percy a 5% bonus on Experience earned. Intelligence of 10 has no effect beyond not granting us a bonus language (if we hadn't dropped it, we would have gotten 6 additional languages!) Wisdom of 5 has no effect on us either positive or negative. Constitution of 11 does not positively or negatively affect our Hit Points, and gives us an '80% chance of survival,' something which is only lightly explained, but which I interpret as being what we would later call 'System Shock.' A Dexterity of 12 gives doesn't give us a bonus or penalty to missile attacks. Finally, 14 Charisma gives us a maximum # of Hirelings of 5, and a plus one bonus to Loyalty Base.

Other Character Choices and Rolls

I decided on the alignment of 'Lawful' for all 8 characters. Alignment is not well defined in this edition, but one interpretation I've seen more than once is that Alignment for OD&D is less about individual character morality and more about what side the character supports in a great cosmic struggle between the forces of order and chaos.

All (3) character classes in the original release have a Hit Die of D6, with 'Veterans' - level 1 Fighters - getting 1HD+1. For Percy, I rolled a 3, giving him 4 starting Hit Points, not great for a Fighter. For Languages, all characters get 'Common,' and their Alignment language. Having dropped our Intelligence to 10, Percy no longer qualifies for any bonus languages. For Saving Throws, Halflings (and Dwarves) get their saving throws by class, but as if they were 4 levels higher. Swashbucklers (level 5 Fighters) get 10 vs. Death Ray or Poison, 11 vs. Wands (including Polymorph or Paralyzation), 12 vs. Stone (Petrification), 13 vs. Dragon Breath, and 14 vs. Staves and Spells.

Equipment

Percy started with 160gp, and has 12gp left after shopping. As a Fighter with so much money, the only armor choice really is Plate Mail and a Shield, putting Percy's Armor Class at 2.  For weapons, though, I chose to keep with Halflings thematically, giving Percy a Dagger, a Short Bow, and a Quiver with 20 Arrows. The rest of Percy's equipment includes some Standard Rations, a Backpack, a Waterskin, a Large Sack, a Small Sack, some Wolvesbane, some Belladonna, a Garlic bud. All this equipment puts us at 1050GP Encumbrance, putting us just into Armored Foot movement at 60'.

Putting it All Together

We can expand on this when we start putting together our setting, but all these numbers and rolls can start to give us a picture of what Percy Thornwhistle is like. First, Ability Scores. Percy's Strength is 14, above average, and probably quite imposing for a Halfling. Since he seems to have come from wealth, I picture him having spent his days out of doors, climbing, swimming, maybe engaging in firendly wrestling matches with his peers. Intelligence of 10 is average. He learned what was expected of him as the scion of a wealthy family, but likely little more. Wisdom is 5 - Percy is by Halfling standards rather wild, running off on adventures and engaging in tomfoolery. Constitution is average at 11, so Percy's exuberance and outdoor pursuits kept him in good health, but he couldn't really be bothered with more serious conditioning. Dexterity is at the high end of average at 12, so while Percy doesn't actually get a modifier to it, he was probably quite eager in the Halfling sports of rock-throwing, rock-skipping and slinging. Charisma is our highest so far, at 14. Despite his antics, he really knows how to turn on the charm, making it impossible to stay mad at him for long, even for his staid and stoic family and neighbors.

I definitely see Percy as kind of the spark of the party, his eagerness for adventure and recklessness often leading the party into trouble and new adventures, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

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