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Old 06-25-2018, 08:13 PM   #1
VIVIT
 
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Default Randomly-rolled adventurers

I get that sophisticated point buy and randomization don't always play well together, but randomly-rolled characters are very valuable to certain types of dungeon campaigns, and I'd like to find (or come up with) a method of random character generation for DFRPG. I like randomly-rolled characters because if there's no randomness in chargen, I tend to always make the exact same character.

Random character generation would probably work best for PCs of total point values a lot lower than the 250 or so the book gives you by default, since heavily-randomized character generation works best for stables of expendable characters -- indeed, random chargen allows for the quick creation of expendable characters. I remember reading some lower point value counterpart templates for the professions in... I think it was GURPS DF Henchmen?

D&D has never had a GURPS-esque system of taking disadvantages to give you points to spend on advantages (IIRC the closest it ever came was some build-your-own-class rules in one of those AD&D2e books nobody playtested) and its randomization mostly boiled down to randomized hit point totals and ability scores. Many randomization systems, including more detailed ones like life paths, involve using randomization for the broad strokes and leaving the interpretive details up to the players, but in GURPS and DFRPG, advantages and disadvantages are pretty detailed, and random selecting them wouldn't leave much room for interpretation.

IIRC GURPS 3E had rules for random character generation, but apparently they had the problem of making characters that were a little too random. Might those be adapted for use with DFRPG?

All in all, it's the character generation that is my biggest misgiving about DFRPG. It seems way too complicated to use for a hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. Any way to streamline it would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:51 AM   #2
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

Well, I can think of one way to randomly generate DFRPG characters, given a bit of modification. There is this system agnostic supplement called "The Creature Crafter" by Wordlmill Publishing. Now, it's meant to make monsters with but the underlying principles could really apply to any character.

What I would do is take a "Baseline" character to load into the crafter with 10s in every attribute and then take them through the generation process outlined in the PDF. This will produce random results. The downshot of this is, a character made this way would probably not have a definitive point allotment like normal characters. What you roll is what you get. But that's the way it works in games with random generation style games. Some characters end up being supermen and some end up being horribly feeble.

The supplement is paltry $5 over at DrivethruRPG. It should be noted that the author is actually working on a system agnostic character generator that works on some of the same principles to be packaged in with a adventure generator. The character generator would probably be more suited to this without modification but there's no estimated release date for said product yet.

Edit: I also just thought of something. If you want a more random feel to character generation. Why not roll for how many character points each player is allowed to build their character with? This will make each of them different and make the choices they make different depending on how many or how few points they are able to use. Just an idea.

Last edited by InfinitePudding; 06-26-2018 at 01:55 AM.
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Old 06-26-2018, 07:04 AM   #3
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

An idea would be to take a look at the Pyramid article Five Easy Pieces and use dice to select your modules.

EDIT: The advantage of this system is that it's still quick, and still results in players not getting a specific kind of character, but it's going to produce characters that don't have completely ridiculous numbers.
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Old 06-26-2018, 10:45 AM   #4
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

Quote:
Originally Posted by West_Winds View Post
Edit: I also just thought of something. If you want a more random feel to character generation. Why not roll for how many character points each player is allowed to build their character with? This will make each of them different and make the choices they make different depending on how many or how few points they are able to use. Just an idea.
Random character generation always produces a certain degree of variance in player character competence, but I've never been a fan of mechanics that directly randomize player character competence. Rolling ability scores for D&D is one thing, but rolling for a number of points to point-buy your ability scores with feels different. Rolling for ability scores creates a sense of organic naturalism to character generation: characters are not finely-sculpted models crafted to the players' exact specifications; they're people, with gifts, inclinations, quirks and foibles just like the rest of us, and neither they nor their players had much say in the particulars of those quirks and foibles. That said, control measures like assigning the rolled ability scores to taste, or rolling up a bunch of characters and selecting from that list gives them a bit of say in what kind of character they get in the end. A player who wants a musclebound fighter, a clever magic-user, a serene cleric, or a cunning thief will probably be able to generate such a character, and if the dice produce too feeble a character for taste no matter how the numbers are arranged, the DM may allow a reroll.

Rolling for points also defeats if the reason you're rolling characters randomly is to streamline the fiddly process of character generation. I wouldn't be opposed to a system of partially randomized characters, where the base is randomly rolled and then you have, say, 50 points to augment what you've rolled. This would also serve the purpose of a control option analogous to arranging your rolled ability scores to taste. I'd love to come up with a system for this myself, but I'm going to need someone more familiar with GURPS balance to look over whatever I come up with.
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Old 06-26-2018, 11:45 AM   #5
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

When talking about random character generation, one is usually talking about attributes, not classes or abilities. You could easily add a step one of character creation to be to roll a random number for each attribute, and force all attribute points to spent first, not allowing anyone to go over those values at creation.

For example, if you rolled 8, 12, 16, 10 put those in your desired scores for ST, DX, IQ, and HT and then pay those points (or get bonus points for their disad value). Then use you’re remaing budget for advantages and skills from your template.

If you rolled poorly it gives you more points to make up for it with skills or advantages, and if you rolled well, you may need to rely on your natural abilities to start.
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Old 06-26-2018, 11:51 AM   #6
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

Quote:
Originally Posted by VIVIT View Post
Random character generation always produces a certain degree of variance in player character competence, but I've never been a fan of mechanics that directly randomize player character competence. Rolling ability scores for D&D is one thing, but rolling for a number of points to point-buy your ability scores with feels different. Rolling for ability scores creates a sense of organic naturalism to character generation: characters are not finely-sculpted models crafted to the players' exact specifications; they're people, with gifts, inclinations, quirks and foibles just like the rest of us, and neither they nor their players had much say in the particulars of those quirks and foibles. That said, control measures like assigning the rolled ability scores to taste, or rolling up a bunch of characters and selecting from that list gives them a bit of say in what kind of character they get in the end. A player who wants a musclebound fighter, a clever magic-user, a serene cleric, or a cunning thief will probably be able to generate such a character, and if the dice produce too feeble a character for taste no matter how the numbers are arranged, the DM may allow a reroll.

Rolling for points also defeats if the reason you're rolling characters randomly is to streamline the fiddly process of character generation. I wouldn't be opposed to a system of partially randomized characters, where the base is randomly rolled and then you have, say, 50 points to augment what you've rolled. This would also serve the purpose of a control option analogous to arranging your rolled ability scores to taste. I'd love to come up with a system for this myself, but I'm going to need someone more familiar with GURPS balance to look over whatever I come up with.
It was just a suggestion. Feel free not to use it. I personally can't stand randomly generated characters and don't understand why anyone would want that. It was the best I could come up with :/ I don't think you're going to find many options for this.
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Old 06-26-2018, 12:52 PM   #7
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

Doesn't the GCA have a random character generator?
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:32 PM   #8
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
Doesn't the GCA have a random character generator?
Yes; to an extent. You pick a template, and it randomly fills it out.
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:36 PM   #9
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

The way I'd handle this would be to use a standard point build at the campaign budget (for DFRPG, 250 points), and then to add a budget of randomly rolled traits (possibly based on a lifepath track similar to that from the old Traveler games and used in a lot of other places as well). This may be less well-suited to DFRPG, though; 'lifepath' implies 'background' and 'background' implies 'setting details and social consequences'.
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:38 PM   #10
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Default Re: Randomly-rolled adventurers

Ah yes, traveller, where your character can die during creation.
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