(I am travelling this weekend so posting ahead for Saturday and Sunday)
Dragonbane is a reworking of the original Swedish RPG called Drakar och Demoner from 1982, that was based on early Chasosim titles (Runequest I believe). Dragonbane is published by Free League publishing, and the artwork and production values are amazing. I have literally read nothing bad about Dragonbane. While I haven't played 5E D&D, I have the books and have studied it. From my study, in conjunction with what I've read, it has similarities with 5E but is very streamlined for faster play. It has more of an old school feel, with combat being fast and deadly and something to usually be avoided if at all possible. The key indicator being that MONSTERS ALAWYS HIT!
So let me roll up a character and see what we get. Everything in character generation can be selected or rolled for randomly, but I am going to select to build the character I want.
The process of character generation is as follows:
- Determine kin (race)
- Note innate ability (from the kin)
- Determine profession
- Determine age
- Choose name
- Roll attributes
- Calculate derived ratings
- Choose trained skills
- Note heroic ability
- Choose or roll weakness
- Choose gear
- Choose or roll a memento (optional)
- Choose appearance
1. Choose kin
There are six playable kin (races): human, halfling, dwarf, elf, wolfkin, and mallard. Yes, mallard, like the duck. It's in the heritage back to Drakar och Demoner, and part of the Mirth part of Dragonbane. Come on, man! You have to admit a Mallard thief dropping from above for a sneak attack is pretty cool:
2. Note innate ability
Most kin, like Wolfkin, only have a single innate ability. Mallards have two to choose from (Ill-tempered or Webbed Feet!). For Wolfkin it is Hunting Abilities. Through an expenditure of 3 Willpower Points (WP), you can designate a creature as prey and follow it's scent and track it for a full day. You can then spend a further 1 WP to gain a boon on an attack against your prey.
3. Determine profession
There are 10 professions to choose from. The chosen profession will constrain 6 of your trained starting skills, as well as your initial heroic ability. The options are: Artisan, Bard, Fighter, Hunter, Knight, Mage, Mariner, Merchant, Scholar, or Thief. I'm going with Hunter, which fits nicely with Wolfkin (ok, stereotypically. But I lean toward martial characters anyway.)
A Hunter's Key Attribute is Agility (AGL). Attributes give the Base Chance in a Skill, per a table, which is a 'free' skill level. Most of the trained skills available to Hunters have Agility as the associated Attribute. Trained Skills have a Base Chance (or initial skill level) of twice the table base Base Chance. Rolling under the Skill Level is the base chance of success using a skill. I will get to the trained skills in step 8.
The initial Heroic Ability is determined by the chosen profession (some professions have multiples to choose from). Heroic Abilities can be learned later following adventures (in place of experience points). Some Heroic Abilities have required skills and skill levels, and some require Willpower Points to activate. My assumption is a Heroic Ability based on the profession skips those requirements.
The Hunter profession has a single option for initial Heroic Ability: Companion. Companion normally requires Hunting & Fishing Skill at Level 12, and requires 3 WP to activate. This allows you to turn an animal (not a monster) into a companion, that can scout for you, or (for additional WP expenditure) attack an enemy.
4. Determine age.
Age is one attribute that is fun to roll for, especially as the character age will determine the number of Trained Skills (ie, skills with twice the starting skill level). This a D6 table roll. I roll a 5, which is Adult. I get no modifications to attributes (as Young or Old would), but I get a decent number of Trained Skills: 6+4. 6 must always be chosen from your profession, but the other 4 can be freely chosen.
5. Choose name.
The rulebook provides first name suggestions that can be rolled for each kin. Wolfkin suggested names are all wolf, bite, and nocturnal related ('wolfshadow', 'Lunariem', 'Frostbite'). Some of the Mirth of Dragonbane is in the fairy tale like naming conventions. I'm going to roll for this characters name: Frostbite :/ . Let's take it all the way, and add a last name. Wolfbite Lunariem.
6. Roll attributes.
Attributes (Strength - STR, Constitution - CON, Agility - AGL, Intelligence - INT, Willpower - WIL, and Charisma - CHA) are rolled with 4D6 drop the lowest, allocated as you wish as you roll them. Once done you may swap two scores.
I roll and assign:
1. 18 - AGL
2. 12 - Charisma
3. 16 - Willpower
4. 11 - Intelligence
5. 8 - Constitution
6. 11 - Strength
I will swap Charisma and Constitution, so my result is:
STR - 11
CON - 12
AGL - 18
INT - 11
WIL - 16
CHA - 8
I'm very happy with that. 18 Agility will help me tremendously in initial trained skills.
7. Calculate derived ratings.
The derived ratings are such things as movement rate and hit points.
Movement rate (meters per combat turn) is based on kin modified by Agility. Wolfkin base movement is the highest at 12, and my 18 AGL gives a +4 bonus, so my base movement rate is 16.
Damage Bonus is based on STR for STR-based weapons (swords, axes, etc) and AGL for AGL-based weapons (bows, knives, staves). If you attribute is over 13-16, you roll a D4 for the bonus, or a D6 for 17-18. My 11 STR does not give a STR damage bonus. I roll a 3 for my AGL damage bonus.
Hit points are equal to your CON (unless you have the Robust heroic ability), so I get 12.
Willpower Points are equal to your WIL, so I get 16.
8. Choose trained skills.
I have a Base Chance (of success) in every skill listed based on the core attribute of that skill. I entered all those on the character sheet. I then choose 10 trained skills, in which I'll get twice the base chance. Of those 10 trained skills, 6 have to be chosen from my profession (Hunter). The available Hunter profession skills are Acrobatics, Awareness, Bows, Bushcraft, Hunting&Fishing, Knives, Slings, and Sneaking (8 skills). I will take everything except Acrobatics and Slings. I also select Axes, Evade, Spot Hidden, and Beast Lore.
9. Note heroic ability.
Already got that from my profession: Companion.
10. Choose gear.
Each profession lists three sets of starting gear you can either select or roll for. I'm selecting package 1, which is: Shortbow, dagger, quiver, leather armor, sleeping pelt, torch, flint & tinder, rope, snare, D8 (6) rations, and D6 (5) silver.
Here's a peculiarity. Bows is an Agility skill for BCS, but Bows still have a minimum STR or you have a bane on all attacks. WTF? So I took gear package 1 with the shortbow, since my 11 STR didn't meet the minimum (13) for the longbow. So that's an average 1 damage point drop, and range decrease by 70. Hopefully my sneaking will make up for that!
11. Choose or roll a weakness.
This and the Conditions (exhausted, sickly, dazed, angry, scared, disheartened - one associated with each attribute) are some fun elements of Dragonbane that I really like. They inject some 'reality' into the roleplay to help humble the heroics. Mirth & Mayhem!
I roll on the D20 table for my weakness: Fainthearted - I always stay at the back of the pack. This fits my plan for the character and his attributes (he's not a tank that should be upfront), but also counter to his kin stereotype, so that will be fun. He could be played with a false bravado as he shoots arrows from the rear rank, or stealthily sneaking for a flank shot rather than a flank charging melee blow!
12. Choose or roll a memento.
A memento is something small and useless but of great sentimental value. Once per gaming session, you can use it to recover an additional condition during a stretch (15 minutes) rest, so they are handy. And could be of roleplaying value if it was lost or threatened, like a 3 year old with his woobie.
I roll on the D20 table and get a 20! A beautifully carved pipe. I think this would be of extreme sentimental value, and critical to Wolfbite's stress management practices. Like after a tough fight, sitting around dry smoking the pipe as he sharpens his weapons or tends to wounds.
13. Choose appearance.
A D20 table is provided to assist in defining your characters appear, on which you can make 'one or more rolls'. I'll roll twice just to use it. I get Abnormal amounts of body hair (depending on kin). What would that mean for a Wolfkin? I guess less hair. I'll go with thin, patchy hair rather than a glorious fur coat. This will play into the weakness of Fainthearted and always hanging back, not wanting to be front and center. My second roll gives abnormally pale and pasty. So basically the tough Wolfkin Hunter I wanted is a pale, pasty, mangy-furred wall flower. Oh well, such is character generation for an RPG - go for it!
So here's Wolfbite Lunariem, Wolfkin Hunter.
STR 11
CON 12
AGL 18
INT 11
WIL 16
CHA 8
He wears leather armor and carries a shortbow and a dagger, along with a quiver for his arrows and a small sling bag for his other items.
He was an outcast in his tribe, with his pale, pasty skin and thin patchy fur. Thus he spent many hours alone in the woods, honing his hunting skills. Alone, he is confident in his hunting skills, but in a group the torment of his upbringing comes back and he fades to the back, never wishing to be front and center. He's brave and capable, but you probably wouldn't know that by looking at him.
#CharacterCreationChallenge
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