Who am I?
Character Backgrounds
Hello dear reader, this week instead of spending time telling you simply what I think, I want to present to you something I use in my own games.
While some players show up at the gaming table with a 10 page back story, to some players coming up with a background for a new character can be real headache. Gary Gygax was wise enough to include in the DMG a secondary skills table. This can be used to give the players a background base for their character, keeping this in mind I have expanded on this table for use in my games.
I originally did this for assigning skills quickly to NPC’s, but I have since allowed players to roll on these charts. I do not force my players to use it, in fact I allow my players to choose their own background story as long as it is within reason, but sometimes the player just has nothing in mind and I allow them to roll if they wish.
I expanded on the list of skills presented in the DMG by adding a few new skills, and I also took many of the skills listed for sages and made them available. I then took each class and created a new skills table based on what I believe would be their most reasonable background. For instance scribe is a possible skill for a cleric, druid, paladin, or mage but not a fighter, while armorer is a possible skill for a fighter but no other class. On some of the skills, such as scholar, there is a further breakdown provided on a sub table.
I hope these tables are of some use to you, or at least give you ideas for your own.
Cleric Dice Roll Skill 01-20 Farmer/Gardener 21-26 Brewer 27-35 Carpenter 36-38 Miner 39-43 Husbandman 44-48 Limner/Painter 49-52 Trader/Barterer 53-59 Teamster/Freighter 60-69 Tailor/Weaver 69-74 Woodworker 75-80 Engineering 81-86 Scribe 86-90 Scholar* 91-94 Astrologist 95-97 Heraldry 98-100 Medicine
*Roll on the Cleric Scholar Chart below. Dice Roll Skill 01-20 History (Local) 21-35 History (Ancient) 36-42 Legends & Folklore 43-50 Law & Customs 50-70 Theology & Myth 71-80 Politics 81-85 Astronomy 86-89 Anatomy 90-94 Biology 95-98 Mathmatics 99-100 Topography & Cartography
Druid Dice Roll Skill 01-25 Farmer/gardener 26-38 Fisher 39-45 Forester 46-49 Mason 50-55 Carpenter 56-64 Husbandman 65-70 Woodworker 71-77 Tailor/weaver 78-83 Trapper/furrier 84-87 Scribe 88-91 Scholar* 92-94 Astrologist 95-97 Fauna expert** 98-100 Flora expert***
*Roll on the Druid Scholar table Below. Dice Roll Skill 01-30 History (Local) 31-49 Legends & Folklore 50-69 Theology & Myth 70-85 Astronomy 86-100 Biology
** Roll on the Druid Fauna table below. Dice Roll Skill 01-10 Amphibians 11-20 Arachnids 21-35 Avions 36-39 Cephalopods & Echinoderms 40-44 Crustaceans & Mollusks 45-50 lchthyoids 51-60 Insects 61-85 Mammals 86-90 Marsupials 91-100 Reptiles
***Roll on the Druid Flora table below. Dice Roll Skill 01-20 Bushes & Shrubs 21-35 Flowers 36-40 Fungi 41-59 Grasses & Grains 60-69 Herbs 70-80 Mosses & Ferns 80-94 Trees 95-100 Weeds
Fighters Dice Roll Skill 01-10 Armorer 11-20 Black Smith 21-25 Bowyer/fletcher 26-34 Brewer 35-45 Farmer/Gardener 46-50 Fisher 51-55 Forester 56-62 Gambler 63-66 Hunter 67-70 Husbandman 71-74 Leather worker 75-76 Limner/Painter 77-79 Mason 80-81 Carpenter 82-84 Miner 85-87 Navigator (fresh or salt water) 88-90 Sailor (fresh or salt) 91-92 Shipwright (boats or ships) 93-94 Trader/barterer 95-96 Woodworker 97-99 Weaponsmith 100 Musician
Paladin Dice Roll Skill 01-09 Blacksmith 10-25 Farmer/gardener 26-36 Fisher 37-50 Mason 51-62 Carpenter 63-69 Tailor/weaver 70-73 Scribe 74-78 Scholar* 79-82 Shipwright (boats or ships) 82-90 Heraldry 91-93 Medicine 94-97 Woodworker 98-100 Weaponsmith
*Roll on the Paladin Scholar Table below. Dice Roll Skill 01-15 Legends & Folklore 16-59 Law & Customs 60-87 Politics 88-100 Theology & Myth
Ranger Dice Roll Skill 01-19 Bowyer/fletcher 20-26 Brewer 27-33 Farmer/Gardener 33-39 Fisher 40-60 Forester 60-79 Hunter 80-89 Trapper/furrier 90-93 Woodworker 94-96 Tailor/Weaver 97-98 Fauna expert* 99-100 Flora expert**
*Roll on the Ranger Fauna table below. Dice Roll Skill 01-25 Avians 26-88 Mammals 89-100 Reptiles
** Roll on the Ranger Flora table below. Dice Roll Skill 01-30 Trees 31-60 Bushes & Shrubs 61-80 Flowers 81-100 Weeds
Thief Dice Roll Skill 01-10 Brewer 11-20 Farmer/gardener 21-30 Fisher 31-40 Gambler 41-48 Hunter 49-53 Jeweler 54-56 Leather worker 57-60 Limner/painter 61-64 Mason 65-69 carpenter 70-73 Woodworker 74-77 Juggler 78-80 Musician 81-83 Navigator (fresh or salt water) 84-89 Sailor (fresh or salt) 90-93 Shipwright (boats or ships) 94-97 Teamster/freighter 98-100 Trader/barterer
Assassin Dice Roll Skill 01-09 Brewer 10-20 Bowyer/fletcher 21-35 carpenter 36-45 Farmer/gardener 46-50 Fisher 51-63 Gambler 64-67 Hunter 68-75 Jeweler 76-79 Leather worker 80-86 Sailor 86-88 Juggler 89-93 Teamster/freighter 94-98 Trapper/furrier 99-100 Fauna expert*
*Roll on Assassin Fauna table below Dice Roll Skill 01-50 Arachnids 51-100 Reptiles
Magic-User Dice Roll Skill 01-11 Farmer/gardener 12-17 Fisher 18-21 Jeweler 22-29 Leather worker 30-40 Engineering 41-50 Limner/painter 51-58 Tailor/weaver 59-64 Trader/barterer 65-70 Woodworker 71-76 Mason 77-84 carpenter 85-90 scribe 91-94 scholar* 95-97 Astrology & Numerology 98-100 Heraldry, Signs & Sigils
*Roll on the Magic-User Scholar table below Dice Roll Skill 01-10 History (Local) 11-19 History (Ancient) 20-26 Legends & Folklore 27-30 Law & Customs 31-34 Politics 35-41 Psychology 42-46 Sociology 47-54 Astronomy 54-62 Chemistry 62-68 Geography 69-74 Geology & Mineralogy 75-79 Mathematics 80-88 Physics 89-92 Topography & Cartography 93-100 Alchemy
Illusionist Dice Roll Skill 01-10 Farmer/gardener 11-19 Actor 20-26 Gambler 27-31 Jeweler 32-40 Leather worker 41-49 Engineering 50-57 Limner/painter 58-66 Tailor/weaver 66-72 Trader/barterer 73-79 Woodworker 80-85 scribe 85-88 scholar* 88-90 Astrology & Numerology 91-94 Juggler 95-100 Heraldry, Signs & Sigils
*Roll on the Illusionist Scholar table below Dice Roll Skill 01-10 History (Local) 11-18 History (Ancient) 19-27 Legends & Folklore 28-37 Psychology 38-48 Sociology 49-57 Astronomy 58-68 Geography 69-79 Geology & Mineralogy 80-92 Mathematics 93-100 Physics
Monk Dice Roll Skill 01-11 Brewer 12-20 Farmer/gardener 21-30 Fisher 31-41 Leather worker 42-51 Limner/painter 52-60 Mason 61-70 carpenter 71-79 Miner 80-84 Woodworker 85-88 Scribe 89-92 Scholar* 93-96 Tailor/weaver 97-100 Flora expert**
*Roll on the Monk Scholar table below Dice Roll Skill 01-25 History (Local) 26-32 History (Ancient) 33-38 Legends & Folklore 39-46 Law & Customs 47-50 Psychology 51-56 Sociology 57-68 Theology & Myth 69-77 Astronomy 78-87 Mathematics 88-93 Physics 94-100 Topography & Cartography
**Roll on the Monk Flora table below. Dice Roll Skill 01-20 Bushes & Shrubs 21-35 Flowers 36-40 Fungi 41-59 Grasses & Grains 60-69 Herbs 70-80 Mosses & Ferns 80-94 Trees 95-100 Weeds
The Looking Glass
This week I want to list a magic item that I originally presented in my Chaos Halls of Belzir module that is available for download at dragonsfoot.
Belzir Disks: These ceramic disks are as big around as a saucer and 1 inch thick. They are as hard as steel until the command word is spoken. Once spoken the disks become brittle and light and breaks easily. Once a disk is broken it releases a dispel magic in a 10’ radius as if cast by a 12th level magic-user. Because the disk is so light it can only be thrown a maximum of 15 feet. Once broken and the dispel magic is released the disks become worthless. These disks normally show up in groups of 1-4 disks.