OpenQuest Character Generation

While I’ve written a lot of suspicious rules for D101 Games’s OpenQuest, I’ve never actually sat down and generated a character. Let’s do that now.

Determine Concept

Alaric is a shaman’s apprentice, sent to remote settlements too far for the old shaman to travel.

This premise should give Alaric an easy hook for adventures, particularly adventures with supernatural trouble. It also gives him a long-term goal: to become a great shaman like his master. (Whom we should name at some point.)

Generate Characteristics

As an apprentice shaman, his POW (magical power / willpower) is his most important characteristic, followed by INT and CHA. We shouldn’t neglect his physical characteristics, though, since he’ll probably end up in physical confrontations too.

Using the point allocation method of character generation, all characteristics start at 8, and the player has 30 points to spend. No characteristic may be raised higher than 18. (The rules also allow you to lower characteristics for more points, but I don’t think I’ll take that option.)

We’ll set Alaric’s characteristics thus:

Determine Attributes

Attributes are values calculated from base characteristics:

• Damage Modifier adds to all physical damge done. It’s a function of STR and SIZ. Looking at the table, Alaric’s DM is +0.
• Hit Points determine how much damage a character can take. They are the average of CON and SIZ, so 11.
• Magic Points power spells, and influence the odds in battles with spirits. They are equal to POW, so 16.
• Movement Rate determines how many meters a character can move on their turn. For humans it’s a flat 15m.

Calculate Skills

OpenQuest’s primary mechanic is the skill check, rolled on percentile dice. Thus each beginning character has a budget of points they can allocate to four categories of skills, with no skill raised more than 30 points.

Resistances

The three resistance skills represent the character’s avoidance of various dangers, by ducking out of the way (Dodge), toughing out mental conditions (Persistence), and toughing out physical conditions (Resilience).

Characters have 50 points to allocate among these skills.

Alaric is somewhat experienced at withstanding mental attacks or simply getting out of the way, but his physical toughness is somewhat lacking.

Combat

Combat skills cover the three types of combat in OpenQuest, Close combat with hand weapons, Ranged combat using thrown weapons, bows, and crossbows, and Unarmed combat using bare fists and feet.

Characters have 50 points to allocate among these skills.

Alaric has outstanding ranged combat skill for a beginning character, but is only slightly familiar with combat at close range.

Knowledge

Knowledge skills determine what a character knows: their own culture and language, other cultures and languages, and various forms of “lore”, including general knowledge of nature.

Characters have 50 points to allocate among these skills.

Alaric knows his own culture and language reasonably well, although he cannot read or write. (A language score of 80% or more indicates literacy.) His Nature Lore is very good, since he helps his mentor collect plants for potions and helps out with the hunting. He has never been outside of his people’s lands, however, so he knows very little about their culture, language, or other subjects besides flora and fauna.

Practical

These skills, as then name implies, govern what a character can do: physical feats, specialized know-how, and social and perceptive skills.

Characters have 75 points to allocate among these skills.

Alaric concentrates his practical skills in four areas:

• Athletics: running, jumping, climbing, etc.
• Craft: making things
• Healing: mundane means of making sick and wounded beings better
• Perception: noticing things, spotting ambushes, searching for things, etc.

Magical

Magical skills represent the knowledge and practice of magic. OpenQuest defines three magic systems:

• Personal Magic: small tactical spells that use the caster’s personal magical power.
• Divine Magic: borrowing the power of a god to work wonders.
• Sorcery: a more systematic form of magic that allows the caster to enhance and combine the effects of spells they know.

Characters can only increase these skills during play.

Choose Magic Spells

Beginning characters can choose six points worth of Personal Magic spells.

For Alaric, we choose Firearrow (2), Heal 2, and Spirit Shield 2.

Roll Cash and Buy Equipment

Rolling 4d6 &times 10, we determine that Alaric has 120 silver pieces to spend on equipment.

Alaric can carry up to his STR+SIZ in Encumbrance (ENC) without penalty. He is well within that limit.

Final Steps

Fortune Points

All player characters start with two Fortune Points. The Game Master awards Fortune Points at the end of every session. On average, players will receive two Fortune Points per session, but they may receive up to four for especially heroic play or as few as zero for especially poor play.

Player characters can use Fortune Points to reroll a failed die roll, flip the digits of a percentile roll (e.g. 72 becomes 27), or avert death when their Hit Points hit zero or less.

Growth Points

Player characters earn Growth Points for achieving objectives of a Quest, for advancing or fulfilling one of their Motives, or for rolling a fumble (critical failure) or critical success. They may spend Growth Points to increase their skills, increase their attributes, or learn magic.

Player characters start with zero growth points.

Backstory

The character’s backstory should indicate their place in the game world, and give them Motives for going on Quests (adventures) and taking action during the Saga (campaign). For example, Alaric’s backstory might be something like this:

Like all the People of the Plains, Alaric venerated the Earth Mother who gave the People the gift of bountiful crops and plentiful grazing land. Yet from a young age Alaric truly admired the old shaman Guinnein, who healed the sick, drove away evil spirits, and traveled the Spirit World. For young Alaric, who had never traveled beyond the borders set by ancient treaties, this last ability seemed the most wondrous of all.

Alaric was at first overjoyed that Guinnein accepted him as an apprentice, Yet he soon realized becoming a shaman was a long, grueling process. (Or so the old shaman told him.) Alaric had to walk across the length and breadth of the Plains, helping the sick and at least confronting evil spirits in the old shaman’s place.

One day strangers came to the village of Redhoof where the old shama lived. There was trouble on the barrow downs, they said. SOmething that should have been long dead had been stirred up, they saie. The old shaman declined to accompany them and, as usual, sent Alaric in his place.

Putting It All Together

Name: Alaric

Description: 20 yrs old, male, fair hair, tan skin

Culture/Religion: People of the Plains / Earth Mother

Concept: shaman’s apprentice

Motive (Saga): Become a full-fledged shaman of his people.

Motive (Quest): Resolve the haunting of the barrows.

Resistances

Combat

Knowlege

Magic

Practical

Armor

None

Weapons

Magic

Firearrow (2), Heal 2, Spirit Shield 2.

Equipment