[RPG] Creating A Character For Maelstrom Domesday...

Part of my "spring cleaning" drive at the moment is to also find the time to read a number of new(ish) RPGs I've acquired in recent months, but have just sat in the gamesroom gathering dust.

I started with Maelstrom Domesday, which I got through a Kickstarter last year. It has definite  Dark Age Cthulhu flavouring (this edition being set in 1086, although the original - one of the first British RPGs - was set in the Tudor era) but what really hooked me in was its "life path" character generation method, which has shades of Traveller character creation in its methodology (but without the chance of being killed... although you can contract leprosy!).

So I thought I'd take you through the character creation process, creating a random character as we go, to show you how cool chargen is in Maelstrom Domesday.

Our nameless character starts off at age 13 with 40 points in all of his statistics (as all new characters do), which are then modified by random die rolls (four increase and two decrease).

So here's our hero when he starts off:

• Attack Skill 41
• Missile Skill 40
• Defence Skill 46
• Knowledge 38
• Will 40
• Endurance 46
• Persuasion 35
• Perception 40
• Speed 40
• Agility 45

Then we roll for race and social class and get: Anglo-Saxon (two on a d6) and peasant (six on 2d6). Social class affects what table you roll on for your first career path (or 'living' as they are termed here).

For the sake of this article I shall leap ahead for a moment and rather than try to come up with an authentic name, I shall roll on the random name table: 84, Brand.

But before we find out what job this 13-year-old peasant is going to be taking up, we roll 1d100 three times to see what "special characteristics" he has (these are mental, magical or physical quirks that can be either boons or banes to the character).

The three rolls are:

• 18, Wise (has great common sense, Referee may give him appropriate hints on the right course of action - if it's based on something he already knows).
• 68, Charmer (ladies man, gets bonus on rolls to persuade the opposite sex, but a small penalty when trying to persuade men)
• 75. Huge (this means he is very, very large - but is an extra special characteristic that requires two of the character's slots. so I shall drop "charmer" and make our young lad huge (he'll grow to be over 6'4" and 18 s, do +2 damage in hand-to-hand combat and gets a bonus to intimidation checks).

I also roll 1d10 for Brand's starting coin: one whole silver penny (d).

Now, I roll 1d100 to determine Brand's starting career:

• 55, Wiseman.

Unexpected, but kind of makes sense: he is "wise" after all! He gets bonus rolls to his Will, Knowledge and Perception and then another roll to spread between other statistics (he chooses Attack and Agility).

• Attack Skill 44
• Missile Skill 40
• Defence Skill 46
• Knowledge 46
• Will 42
• Endurance 46
• Persuasion 35
• Perception 43
• Speed 40
• Agility 48

This career lasts five years (taking him to age 18) and he gains two abilities. He chooses Survival I and Supernatural Lore I.

He also picks up another single silver penny (bringing his wealth to 2d) and checks to see if he has acquired any other resources. Yes, he has acquired a "village relic", but nothing else.

The random career event table for Wiseman is "sedentary", so I roll 1d100 again and get:

• 39, he made a good impression on his employer (he was clearly an apprentice or protege to a village wiseman) and if he sticks at this career he'll get a 2d20 penny bonus!

Checking his career exit, he rolls 46 which means he stays a wiseman (and gets a pay bonus of nine silver pennies, bringing his personal wealth to 11d).

Brand is now 23 and his statistics are:

• Attack Skill 44
• Missile Skill 40
• Defence Skill 46
• Knowledge 52
• Will 45
• Endurance 46
• Persuasion 44
• Perception 44
• Speed 40
• Agility 48

He earns another 2d (total: 13d)  and acquires his own herb preparation equipment. He also picks up Herbalism I and Medicine I abilities.

His random event (78) was the opportunity to travel by ship, probably to Normandy in the retinue of a a powerful noble (I suspect Brand's master was treating him for an ailment), and along the way he learned a smattering of Norman French.

His career exit roll was 95 - outlaw! Clearly Brand discovered something about the noble he wasn't supposed to and escaped punishment by slipping away into the woods and taking up the life of an outlaw.

Outlaw is a three year career block, taking Brand to 26, increasing his Endurance, Speed and Attack Skill (plus a small bonus to be spread among other statistics of his choice).

His statistics are now:

• Attack Skill 46
• Missile Skill 40
• Defence Skill 46
• Knowledge 54
• Will 45
• Endurance 56
• Persuasion 44
• Perception 47
• Speed 44
• Agility 48

His personal wealth goes up to 16d, and he acquires a spear. His Survival ability goes up II and he gains Stealth I

His random event is on the Physical table: 02, no event! Boo!

But his career exit roll (05) indicates he stays an outlaw for another three years, taking him to 29. Every time he completes a career block (to a maximum of six) I roll percentile dice and if I score under his current age, then his career paths end.

• Attack Skill 47
• Missile Skill 40
• Defence Skill 46
• Knowledge 54
• Will 45
• Endurance 64
• Persuasion 44
• Perception 47
• Speed 55
• Agility 50

His Stealth and Survival abilities both rise (to II and III, respectively), his cash pot goes up 17d and his random event (82) sees him suffer a recurrent muscle injury which will penalise him if he overexerts himself!

Brand's life takes another weird turn with career exit roll of 68 - monk. Clearly when he injured himself he decided his outlawing days were over and he decided to take up holy orders.

Monk is five year block, which takes his age to 34 - which means at the end of his time, he will need to make an Age Check to see if old age has caught up with him. He also has to give up all his previous possessions (including his cash!)

Living as a Monk increases his Knowledge and Will primarily, but as ever gives him a small amount of discretionary points to spread between his other statistics.

His statistics are now:

• Attack Skill 48
• Missile Skill 40
• Defence Skill 47
• Knowledge 58
• Will 51
• Endurance 64
• Persuasion 44
• Perception 47
• Speed 55
• Agility 50

For abilities, he gains Religion I and increases his Herbalism to II (for his first term he is a Choir Monk).

His random event, on the Sedentary table, is: 84, he is claimed as a peasant by a rural lord and the sheriff agrees. His next (and final) career option can only be: peasant! What a strange and circular career trajectory Brand has taken. I sense the hand of the noble he crossed all those years ago, seeking some regress on our hero.

Aged 34, he rolls on the Ageing table with a +2 modifier. Six plus two equals eight, which means no attribute loss.

Let's see how he fares after four years as a Peasant (taking him up to the ripe old age of 38).

Working the land gives him a boost to Endurance and Perception, with a small discretionary bonus for his remaining statistics as usual.

His statistics are now:

• Attack Skill 51
• Missile Skill 40
• Defence Skill 47
• Knowledge 60
• Will 51
• Endurance 68
• Persuasion 44
• Perception 52
• Speed 55
• Agility 50

He gains Farming I and Barter I abilities, three silver pennies, and the clothes on his back.

His random event (Physical) came up: 92: he (legally) acquires an expensive object (jewellery/weapon/horse etc)

I roll again on the Ageing table (with a +4 bonus now) for a total of 12, which equates to 1d3 points off of two Physical Attributes. Again, all randomly decided, this results in two points off his perception and two points off Missile Skill (clearly his eyesight is going)

This means his final statistics look like this:

• Attack Skill 51
• Missile Skill 38
• Defence Skill 47
• Knowledge 60
• Will 51
• Endurance 68
• Persuasion 44
• Perception 50
• Speed 55
• Agility 50

Now we have to discover what supernatural event touched Brand The Huge's life and then who his patron will be.

While peasanting, Brand encountered an area where gravity was temporarily reversed on a hill (58) and this strange occurrence drew him to the attention of Roger de Lacy (a headstrong ally of the King, who frequently rides out from Ludlow castle to quell the Welsh).

Brand's abilities are: Survival III, Stealth II, Herbalism II, Farming I, Barter I, Religion I, Medicine I, Supernatural Lore I.

For a big, hulking guy, 38-year-old Brand is surprisingly knowledgeable about a great many things. Just a shame about his muscle injury (and the fact that, by Medieval standards) he's getting on a bit.

The idea now is to work out a Timeline for Brand's bizarre rags-to-rags life (from peasant wiseman back to peasant, via a spell as both an outlaw and a monk) - seeing if we can weave in historical events from the gazetteer in the Maelstrom Domesday core rules book - and then he will be ready for Roger de Lacy to send him out to investigate strange goings on...

And that's how you create a character for Maelstrom Domesday!