Well, the
unfortunate has happened. The folder containing my oracles and character sheet
for Scarlet Heroes has vanished. Fearing it to be a victim of the Great Tidying
Up of Wednesday, I’ve printed a new set of Oracles, and have opted, since this
is the unfortunate season of new beginnings, to roll a new character!
First and
foremost, we’ll generate his attributes. I’ll take the time honored method of
going straight down the line and just seeing how the dice fall.
STR 13
+1
INT 15
+1
DEX 17
+2
WIS 08 - 1
CON 14
+1
CHA 09 --
Strong,
agile, healthy as an ox and with all the sense that nature gave a stump! Unable
to really decide on a race or class, I turn to the Quick Character Creation
section of the book and grab my faithful D20…
11! A Human
he shall be! With a Dex like that, I think I’ll make him a thief. Compulsive, a
bit gullible, he’s able to get the job done but falls victim to his own
shortcomings more often than not! I note down starting Hit Points, Fray Dice and
Attack Bonus. For his initial trait we’ll go with the tried and true “Stealthy
Burglar”. A Baggins he is! On that note, let’s work up a name. For this I’ll be
using Zenopus Archives’ “Holmesian Random Names” chart. A toss of the dice
gives me two syllables to work with, while further rolling produces “Zell” and “Sa”.
Zellsa the thief is born!
Next comes his
three free trait points. Stymied, I turn once more to the quick character
creation chart, and trust to fate!
30:
Charlatan
92: Tireless
Endurance
52: Knows
Many Harlots
Who-boy! I’m
starting to get a better picture of Zellsa now. A thief, a paramour, and an oft-unsuccessful
charlatan. How he’s stayed out of prison this long is anyone’s guess. All I’m
left with is gear. Once again we go to the dice, and I get… 110GP. Zellsa is
not a poor man, but he could do better.
A bit of
shopping and scratchwork, and Zellsa is done!
Zellsa,
Thief 1 (0/2XP)
HP: 4/4
AC: 7
AB: +1
STR 13
+1
INT 15
+1
DEX 17
+2
WIS 08 - 1
CON 14
+1
CHA 09 --
Traits:
Stealthy
Burglar 3
Charlatan 2
Timeless
Endurance 2
Knows Many
Harlots 1
Gear:
GP—45 SP—4
CP—
Enc— 28/100
Short Sword
(+3 [1d6+2])
Dagger
(+3[1d4+2] 15’/30’ (-2))
Backpack
Leather
Armor (AC 7)
Silk Rope
(50’)
Iron Spike
(3)
Lantern
Flask of Oil
Armed and
educated, now Zellsa’s adventure can begin!
In the mood
to cover that classic trope of Dungeons and Dragons, the Dungeon, I flip back
to the solo play dungeon section of the rulebook, and determine its type. Tossing a D10 and D12 for type gives me…
08: Temple
11: Sacred
Tomb
Next up, we
roll a D12 to determine dungeon size…
5: 1D10+5
for a grand total of 9 locations!
Zellsa, fool
that he is, has decided sneaking into the necropolis and looting the resting
place of some religious order sounds far superior to honest work! But what sort
of things might one find in the tomb? Luckily, we have a chart for that! Nine
tosses of the faithful giant D20 renders…
03: Bathing
Room
19: Vestry
10: Minor
Shrine
07: Kitchen
11: Pilgrim
Quarters
01: Acolyte’s
Cells
05: Garden
10: Minor
Shrine
02: Altar
Hall
Not exactly
what I think when I picture a sacred tomb.
Obviously, this is a place within the necropolis that’s important to its
religion, so much so that pilgrims sojourn here. Hm… What sort of religious order am I dealing
with? First off, let’s see what color hat they wear! For this, I’ll roll a D6,
with 1-2 being Lawful, 3-4 being Neutral and 5-6 being Chaotic. A quick roll
and I get…
1, A lawful
order!
But what
manner of lawful order, gentle reader? A lawful order whose tomb is a site of
pilgrimage. We’ll go with the tomb being attached to a small chapel, then! But
to which god is the tomb sanctified?
Chaotic Shiny to the rescue!
Navra,
the Goddess of Victory, Archery and Creation, is surprisingly plain, with
tanned skin, waist length, rippling black hair, and eyes the color of jade. She
is average height and slender, and almost never frowns. She usually wears armor
and a helmet dyed grey-blue and pale orange. She is also associated with
solstices and sacrifice. She is often worshipped by commoners. Her surprisingly
numerous followers can be primarily distinguished by their daily prayers. There
are a small number of temples to her at crossroads. There are many myths
involving her unhealthy relationship with certain mortals. She is the sister of
Ineandon. She is known to sometimes place obstacles in the way of virtuous
mortals.
And why,
gentle readers, is this tomb so special? Well, considering that Navra’s
portfolios are Victory, Archery, and Creation, we’ll say that this is the
resting place of a great hero of Navra, a woodsman bearing a bow crafted by
Navra herself.
It’s this bow that’s
caught Zellsa’s eye. Why? For that I’ll turn to the
Diablo II supplement forAD&D. We’ll call the item level 3 of 20, and a roll to
determine its powers gives… 21! A Prefix and Suffix!
Normally, I’d
roll for base item type, but since it’s a bow, we’ll just roll to find out what
kind of bow it is. Rollin’ the bones!
19:
Composite Bow.
Next I roll
Prefix and Suffix. Each is a D60+30. A quick pair of rolls and I get…
Prefix: 85— Fine
(+1 to Hit; Doubles damage on a natural roll of 19-20)
Suffix: 78—
of Lightning (+2d6 Electrical Damage)
Fitting for
a weapon crafted by a divine bowyer.
So! We’ve
got ourselves a new character, a dungeon and loot for the end, should Zellsa be
brave and lucky enough to claim it!
Will he be
that lucky? Tune in later this evening to find out!
More goodies for Scarlet Heroes! Will one show up in my solo game? Only time will tell!