Character Creation Corner - OD&D (3LBB) - Ormund Lightbringer

 


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 up all the characters using 3d6 in order, and ended up keeping 8 out of 12 sets of rolls. This time we're looking at our final one, roll #12. For most of the characters, I determined gender by rolling 2d4, one pink and one blue, taking the higher die. However, I decided to make this roll a Cleric, and since we already have a Cleric who is female, I determined this character would be male. Since we don't have setting details yet, I used the Name Generator at capitalizemytitle.com, and got 'Ormund Lightbringer.'


The unmodified rolls were: Strength 13, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 13, Constitution 16, Dexterity 8, Charisma 9. Starting Gold is also 3d6, multiplied by 10, and Ormund starts with 60gp, not very high.

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. Going by this, our Intelligence of 10 would be insufficient to Sacrifice for more Wisdom. However, Clerics (only) can sacrifice strength on a 3-for-1 basis, so we are able to drop our Strength from 13 to 10 to bring our Wisdom to 14.


Ability Scores in the original rules don't have a lot of different rolls and modifiers associated with them. Our Strength of 10 has no benefit or drawback. Intelligence of 10 has no effect beyond not granting us a bonus language. Wisdom of 14 gives us a 5% bonus to Experience earned. Our Constitution of 16 gives us a bonus of 1HP per Hit Die, and 'Will withstand adversity.' This appears for Constitution 13-14, and below that 9-12 gives a 60-90% 'chance of survival' - something which is only lightly explained, but which I interpret as being what we would later call 'System Shock.' I interpret this to mean Constitution 13 and up have a 100% chance on 'system shock' rolls. A Dexterity of 8 gives us a minus one penalty to missile attacks. Finally, 9 Charisma gives us a maximum # of Hirelings of 3, and no penalty or 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 'Acolytes' - level 1 Clerics - getting 1HD. For Ormund, I rolled a 3 - not very good, but at least his Constitution bonus brings that to a 4. For Languages, all characters get 'Common,' and their Alignment language. For Saving Throws, an Acolyte (level 1 Cleric) gets 11 vs. Death Ray or Poison, 12 vs. Wands (including Polymorph or Paralyzation), 14 vs. Stone (Petrification), 16 vs. Dragon Breath, and 15 vs. Staves and Spells.

Equipment

Ormund started with only 60gp, and has 13gp left after shopping. I went with Leather Armor and a Shield, putting Ormund's Armor Class at 6, not great with his low HP.  For weapons, I chose the standard Cleric Mace. The rest of Ormund's equipment includes some Standard Rations, a Backpack, a Waterskin, a Large Sack, a Small Sack, 6 Torches and a Wooden Cross. All this equipment puts us at 530GP Encumbrance, leaving us at base Movement of (I believe) 90'.

Spells

OD&D appears to assume that both Magic-Users and Clerics use Spell Books, and that when you gain a Spell Level, you gain a Spell Book with all the Spells in that Level. Another major difference between this and most later editions, is that level 1 Clerics do not get any spells! We do, however, have the signature ability to Turn Undead.

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 Ormund Lightbringer is like. First, Ability Scores. Ormund's Strength is 10, just average. With his low starting gold, he probably came from a poorer family, and trained at a modest temple, and probably didn't have much training in heavy armor and weapons. Intelligence of 10 is average. He learned what he could at the temple, but found it more fulfilling to focus on the religious aspects than the book learning. With a Wisdom is 14, he took to the moral and philosophical questions at the temple quite naturally. Constitution is well above average at 16 - the temple had a focus on asceticism and Ormund showed himself quite able to inure himself to it. Dexterity is below average - few temples have any kind of ranged training, and the modest place he trained didn't have the tradition of producing religious arts and crafts that some more prominent temples produce for the well-to-do faithful. Charisma is 9, the low end of average. Our young Acolyte had few opportunities to interact with the faithful, especially those of means, so he is still possessed of his simple, peasant manners.

I see Ormund as the moral heart of the party, or at least striving to be, but he doesn't always have the presence to steer others. Still, the rest of the party knows when things get arduous, they can always count on Ormund.

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