SAWN-OFF: Character Creation

I spent most of late July and early August writing a short new GLOGhack for an upcoming zine. I had a lot of fun writing and formatting it, and it gave me an impetus to use and streamline all of the design plans I made in my previous posts about a vague new hack. It'll be the game I run for the forseeable future - it's called Sawn-Off (due to its short length; 4 pages including classes and spell lists), and I'll be releasing a slightly expanded version of it on this blog over the next few days. Here's the core rules and character creation, which should be usable in any GLOG game regardless of the other rules. These posts will also include some of my thoughts around each component of the rules; I like putting my process out there so everyone can check my work.

This is a short GLOGhack that isn't quite minimalist. I want to slip in implications about the setting, leave gaps to expand upon, create obvious places for GMs to insert their own content and replace my own. It's compatible with the vast majority of GLOG content, and ripe for quick and dirty modification.

CORE RULES
Six scores. Strength. Dexterity. Constitution. Intelligence. Wisdom. Charisma. To try something (a test) or survive (a save), roll 1d20 and add the relevant score. Succeed on 20+.
Roll 2d20 and take the better result if it’s easy (advantage), or worse if it’s hard (disadvantage).
When making a competing test against someone else, high roller wins. Ties go to the player.

CREATE A CHARACTER
1. Roll 3d6 for each score, down the line. Modify or reallocate them if your GM lets you.
2. Pick a class. Get its hit die, items, and first-level abilities. Start with health equal to the max value on its hit die.
3. Take 2 backgrounds, 3 items from starting item tables of your choice, and 3d6 silver.

Scores are 3d6 down the line. There's a few ways to get more control over your array, detailed below. Let your players do one or two of these if you're feeling merciful (I often am). Inverting a stat (subtract it from 21) makes it equally as good as it was bad (or as bad as it was good) - a 3 becomes an 18, a 7 becomes a 14, a 10 becomes an 11.
- Swap two scores
- Invert a score
- Invert all your scores
- Average two scores (round down, averaging a 10 and a 3 gets you 13 divided by 2 into two 6.5s, round each down to 6)
- Replace your scores with a decent array of 15, 12, 11, 10, 9, 6. Assign to scores at random.
- Take 3 of each value on a d6 (3 1s, 3 2s, 3 3s, etc) and build your own array, 3 values summed per stat. Assign randomly.

Here's a generator that automates (most) of the oh-so-arduous process of character creation! Doesn't include potential score swapping or inversion, or the items you get from your class. The class list is the 10 I've included in the zine.

BACKGROUNDS
Backgrounds let you take some actions you’d be experienced in from that background without rolling, know information you learned in that period of your life, and get advantage on rolls that you’d be familiar with from your experiences. You can make new setting-specific background lists with ease.

This is my replacement for skills, rolled together with backstory and origins and even "race". I've split backgrounds into several categories to act as a life-path system; sorted by age category (young/adventuring/failed/old) and then by sample paths an adventurer may take through life. You don't get all the backgrounds from a path, as you don't learn lessons from every part of your life equally, and you can mix and match paths from different backgrounds or the same age category as you wish - they're just thematic descriptors, not hard lines. Most adventurers end up in that position through either foolhardiness or desperation; the backgrounds and life paths I've chosen reflect that. If there is less dangerous and more reliable work available, you'd better have a damned good reason not to take it - or at least a damned stubborn one.

Similarly, I've included race/folk/culture/ancestry as their own background tables. I don't see any reason to give them more mechanical definition. If you want more mechanics attached, make it a race-as-class, not a background. This also lets you take multiple backgrounds to play, say, a half-elf half-orc, or a human raised by dwarves.

Young
11. Fortune-Seeking Peasant
12. Street Orphan
13. Charlatan
14. Raised by Wolves
15. Witch’s Apprentice
16. Second-Generation Adventurer 

Adventuring
21. Bodyguard
22. Bounty Hunter
23. Zealous Preacher
24. Escaped Test Subject
25. Curious Undergrad
26. Noble Heir 

Failed
31. Attempted Artist
32. Deserter
33. Lost Pilgrim
34. Crushed Rebel
35. Indebted Merchant
36. Disowned Scion

Old
41. Storied Veteran
42. Ex-Convict
43. Disproven Philosopher
44. Wilderness Hermit
45. Restless Spinster
46. Town Drunk

Fantasy Folk
51. Human
52. Dwarf
53. Elf
54. Orc
55. Kobold
56. Goblin

Strange Folk
61. Bugfolk
62. Crustaceanfolk
63. Molluscfolk
64. Fungusfolk
65. Starfolk
66. Reconstructed

EQUIPMENT
You can carry up to Strength slots of items (or the average of Strength, Constitution, and Intelligence, for raw strength plus endurance plus skill at playing inventory-tetris). Items each take 1 slot unless stated. If you’re overburdened, you can’t run and have disadvantage on all rolls.

These items are all appropriate for characters to start with. Longer item lists will exist, as well as rules to stat up new weapons as is convenient. 10 copper is 1 silver, 10 silver is 1 gold, as is tradition. Part of this system, which I'll post tomorrow, involves everyone having access to spellcasting and divine prayer, so characters starting with magic items is normal - if dangerous.

Prices are included if you want to buy them with your starting silver. Shop rules will come in a later post, as will extended lists of items.

Common Weapons
1. Sword (5 silver)
2. Hatchet (2 silver)
3. Mace (5 silver)
4. Spear (1 silver)
5. Bow & arrows (1 gold)
6. Daggers, 3 (3/slot, 1 silver each)

Camping
1. Torches, 6 (3/slot, 1 copper each)
2. Rations, 6 (3/slot, 1 copper each)
3. Shovel (1 silver)
4. Tinderbox (5 silver)
5. Saw (1 silver)
6. Spyglass (10 gold)

Crawling
1. Candles, 10 (5/slot, 1 copper each)
2. 50’ of rope (5 silver) & grapple (1 silver)
3. Bag of chalk (1 copper)
4. Crowbar (1 silver)
5. 10’ pole (5 copper)
6. Lockpicks, 10 (1 copper each)

Survival
1. Gambeson, 2 Armor (2 slots, 2 gold)
2. Helm, 1 Armor (5 silver)
3. Shield, 1 Armor (5 silver)
4. Mail shirt, 3 Armor (3 slots, 10 gold)
5. Bandages, 3, use 1 to make a Hit Die roll its maximum value (1 copper each)
6. Gloves, fireproof and acidproof (1 gold)

Flasks
1. Liquor, 6 shots (1 gold)
2. Leeches, 3, use 1 to cure illness or poison (5 gold)
3. Holy water, 2d6 damage to unholy (5 gold)
4. Lantern (1 silver) & 2 slots of oil (5 copper each)
5. Poison, 3 doses, 1d6 damage (1 gold)
6. Alchemist’s fire, 1 bottle, explodes (1 gold)

Magic
1. Arcane tattoo. 1 spell, 1 Magic Die (10 gold, 0 slots, full-arm sleeve or equivalent size, can't use if covered)
2. Spellbook. d4 spells (1 slot/spell, 10 gold/spell)
3. Wizard teeth, 3. Crush and snort to gain 1 Magic Die until end of day (30 gold)
4. Power’s contract. 1 Magic Die, 1 spell. Don’t break the contract.
5. Familiar. 1 spell, 1 Magic Die. Feed it, care for it, love it. It has the spell and dice, not you.
6. Magic weapon. 1 spell, when it takes a life in battle gain 1 Magic Die until the battle ends. Yours will be the last it takes.

Tomorrow, perhaps (for those of you who've made it to the bottom of this post): spells, prayers, and perchance some more magic items!