Reworking d20 Character Creation

[Pellanor]

One problem I've been having in the game I'm running is that Characters are defined at level one. Whatever happened to them for the first 15 to 170 years of their life has no impact on the actual character.

Also I've always felt that low level characters don't have much separating them from each other. A first level Cleric has a couple spells and a +2 will save when compared to a fighter that has +1 to hit, +2 HP and a bonus feat, assuming they have equal stats.

Thus I'm reworking the character creation system for my CS.

Before you ever pick your first class level there's three other things that you pick.
1. Species
2. Fate
3. Upbringing

Species is basically the same as the standard DnD Race. I am going to be making custom races for my CS, with more exaggerated differences, but that's beside the point.
Species will give some skill bonuses, attribute bonuses, maybe some racial HD or racial class levels that can be taken, and a few extra physical features like different senses, speed, etc...

Fate is what separates PCs and Major NPCs from mooks.
Fate will give some stat bonuses,, as well as determine a character's astrological alignment and might give a minor supernatural ability as well.

Upbringing is how the character was raised. A Wizard that grew up on the streets will have a different skill set from one that grew up in a wizard academy.
Upbringing will give the character extra class skills, skill points and possible a feat or two, in addition to some stat bonuses.


One side effect of this rework is that 1st level characters will be a bit more powerful, which I think is a good thing. It'll also be a lot easier to give characters some nice abilities right off the bat, without front loading classes.

As you may have noticed, I don't have the mechanics for the three options developed yet, I just wanted to run the idea passed you guys. I also realize that there's going to be a lot of work ahead of me to balance all of this.

[LordVreeg]

Reworking character creation so as to create a richer, more bigraphical result is always a good idea, no matter what system.

PLayers like to roll dice.  I swear, the more dice they roll to create a character, the happier they are.  (at least up to a point).
I have them roll race (as I have always seen it as a stat, just like the other rolled stats thet they ahve no control over).

Upbringing stuff is always very useful.  One sytem I have used dealt with rolling a social level of the character's family, with a few rolls from their giving more background.  Then a few rolls to determine what influences the character had growing up (met a warrior band, knew members of a thirves guild, uncle is a bard, etc).

I think that your basic premise is very sound, and you are starting wher you shoudld, with a good foundation.

[brainface]

Have you looked at the d20 Modern "occupations"? They seem to be following the same train of thought as your "upbringings". They're mostly skill bonuses, bonus class skills, and maybe a bonus feat. You might at least get an idea or two from them. (There were also some "fantasy" occupations from Urban Arcana, but you'd have to google them yourself.)

http://www.12tomidnight.com/d20modernsrd/StartingOut.php

[Ravenspath]

There used to be some books that I cannot remember the name of (but someone here will) that allowed you to randomly roll for loads of events, personality traits, wealth, etc for characters. There were three books I think, one for Fantasy, one for Modern and one for Sci-fi. I may still have them. I will have to go out the garage and check. They were great for making characters.

Okay, I think the books were called "Fantasy Legends Now", "Modern Legends Now" and "Future Legends Now".

Going mad trying to find reference to these books online!

[Pellanor]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Have you looked at the d20 Modern "occupations"? They seem to be following the same train of thought as your "upbringings". They're mostly skill bonuses, bonus class skills, and maybe a bonus feat. You might at least get an idea or two from them. (There were also some "fantasy" occupations from Urban Arcana, but you'd have to google them yourself.)

http://www.12tomidnight.com/d20modernsrd/StartingOut.php

Indeed I have looked at those occupations. I'm thinking that I'll try to put something a bit more detailed together, add some setting specific ones, and increase the bonuses a bit.

[Stargate525]

Have you looked at the d20 Modern "occupations"? They seem to be following the same train of thought as your "upbringings". They're mostly skill bonuses, bonus class skills, and maybe a bonus feat. You might at least get an idea or two from them. (There were also some "fantasy" occupations from Urban Arcana, but you'd have to google them yourself.)

http://www.12tomidnight.com/d20modernsrd/StartingOut.php

You beat me to it. I was going to say that.

If you want more of a dice roll, and don't mind pirating the occupations, you could make each one have a certain number of 'levels' that can be obtained. For instance, on the medical one, you could have 'apprentice,' 'practitioner,' 'doctor,' and 'surgeon' (I'm sure you can come up with better names, I'm just pulling them out of my head). Each level increases the bonus to skill points, gets you more class skills, or nets you a bonus feat. Each would have different age requirements, so no miracle working surgeons at age 18.

I'm trying to think of a way that you could roll for both the occupation and the level simultaneously with two similar dice, so you could place them in different orders; occupation 4 at level 2, or occupation 2 at level 4, for example. That would require you to make as many levels as you have occupations, and that could get ridiculous.