My original plan was to post on Friday after the next session, but the party have had to slide back a week due to previous commitments ..... drat that "real world" thing!
However to keep the posts coming I thought I would blog up some information around how we did character creation. The reasons we played it as we did and how it deviates from the base.
I'll start with the way characters are normally created in BFRPG (or my understanding of it!)
In BFRPG you have 6 basic character abilities (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma). For each ability the players roll 3d6, add up the results, and assign the number to that ability; you do each ability in turn and assign whatever value you roll to it.
Once you have a value for each ability you then write down the bonus/penalty for each ability. This is based on the number assigned to that ability with the penalties/bonuses ranging from -3 to +3.
Your next step is to choose a race and class for your character. Races and classes may have minimum and maximum levels you can have in specific abilities, so for example to be a dwarf you have to have a minimum constitution of 9.
At this point you are probably thinking ... hang on my stats really limit what I can play, and with BFRPG having a load of supplements for classes and races this will stop me playing what I want! Don't worry the rules cover options to help with this ... I'm just following the basic flow for the moment so bare with me!
So you select your race and class, and you write down the special abilities on your character sheet. If you're a magic user the GM can select your starting spell or let you choose.
Your next step is to roll the relevant hit die for your class (different classes have different hit die) and add your constitution modifier (+ or -), noting it can't be below 1.
That is a lot of the character done and you probably only took about 10 - 15 minutes so far!
We now get to the good old starting money stage! You roll 3d6 and multiple the result by 10 or as I like to say stick a 0 on the end :)
Now you purchase your equipment, remembering to check what armour and weapons you're allowed to use (all covered in the one book available in soft back for a very reasonable price!).
You now note your armour class (you get to add your dexterity modifier to this).
You're now on the home straight to having your character complete!
Your next step is to look up your attack bonus which is based on your level and class, and note down your save throws.
Your last stage is naming your character .. and your done!
Ok so what did we follow and when did we break from the norm?
I'll start with rolling for the abilities. I appreciate the simplicity and speed of the system as presented, and in a way it does reflect the fact that in life we have to work with what we have. However for me I find it a little restrictive. The game does offer options to work around this including swapping some scores or assigning them where the players want.
These are excellent options but I still wanted a little more flexibility. After all we wanted adventurers! So we went with the following method.
Each player rolled 3d6 6 times, totalling up their scores after each roll and noting them down. They then did this a second time giving them two separate sets of figures. They then selected one pool of stats and threw away the other. Then finally assigned them to the abilities as they wanted them.
So for example Player 1 wanted to be a Human Wizard. They rolled:
13,13,12,15,6,12
and
15,10,7,10,14,10
They decided they preferred the first set of scores so selected those and assigned them as follows:
Strength: 6
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 13
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Charisma: 12
One of the players wasn't sure between the two sets of stats they rolled. Their rolls were:
8,14,13,13,5,9
and
13,5,12,12,11,8
I noted down the modifiers these would translate to to help with the decision. The above stats translated to the following modifiers:
-1,+1,+1,+1,-2,0
and
+1,-2,0,0,0,-1
This helped them to decide to dump the second set of stats and to retain the first set.
In the end this gave us fairly balanced characters and by using the optional rule of the full shuffle they assigned them to ensure they met the minimum requirements of the race and class they wanted.
Interestingly of the 3 players 2 of them didn't drop their lowest score on Charisma. One put their lowest on strength and the other constitution. I genuinely feel that all the players placed their stats in a way that reflected the personalities of their characters, so the only one with their lowest score on Charisma really is the grumpy character of the party as that was how the player wanted to play them.
The only other deviation we did on character creation was as GM I allowed them each to select the max hit points value they could get, so if their hit dice was a d4 I gave them 4+constitution modifier.
Now you may wonder why we did this. All I can say is that after 3 Kobolds and a few wolves the party is looking pretty ragged and they may be close to a TPK!
Finally before starting the adventure we agreed the ground rules on player death. Everyone agreed that player death had to be a possibility. However we have gone for a modified version. So at 0 HP the character becomes unconscious. Each turn thereafter they will lose 1 HP till they hit -10 at which stage they have died. If the other players can finish the fight and stabilise them before this happens they can be saved.
So that's my more detailed information on player creation. This was the first time we ever did this and it was all done in about 30 minutes. It really is very simple .. oh and to help we also had 2 copies of the softback book so 2 players could consult tables of equipment etc. at the same time!
If you made it this far thank you for reading and I'll be back soon with an update on our first adventure!
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