A New Beginning

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!