Damn Elf Press

Using the Mydwandr Rules-Light Fantasy Roleplay Game.

Session Zero ~ Initial Character Generation

Today I begin a new adventure in the campaign world of Reuel. I’ll be creating one character to start and hope to have a party of at least four adventurers and a few henchmen. This is a solo play using the Mywandr rules but I will make some house rule additions to fine tune the game to my preference. The beauty of Mywandr is in its simplicity. I consider the base stock in which the chef adds their own seasonings and vegetables. Can’t make a good pot of soup without a decent base.

The first thing I want to do is consider the social standing of my character. I came up with this table to aid in this. It does not reflect the distribution of people in historical social levels, but in my mind, I feel it is a good distribution of folks that take up the adventurer’s call.

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Social Class (roll 2d6)
2-4 criminal, escaped slave (16.67%) no starting silver
5-7 commoner (41.67%) 1/2 starting silver
8-10 upper class (wealthy, landowners, clergy) (33.33%) standard starting silver
11-12 noble born (titled persons) (8.33%) double starting silver
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The starting wealth (in silver pieces) is 100sp, adjusted by social class roll

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Where is the PC from?
Roll 1d6…
1-3…local born
4-5…distant, another county or neighboring kingdom
6…foreign lands, very far from home

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Initial character creation.
Roll social class…[6] my first PC will be a commoner with 50sp starting wealth.
Roll location…[1] my PC is a hometown hero from the town of Bree.
I want the first character to be a human from Bree.
His name is Beck. He is an unruly youth from the town with a reputation for trouble. Beck is not a mean or unkind lad. His father is away in service of his king and has been gone for three years. Beck has grown into a strong youth in body and will. He wants to make his own path in the world and not serve in the army for little action and little pay.
Since the lad is known in the town, I will roll a few contacts that Beck can go to for help.

[6 and 1] Sheriff John Briarfoot and Mother Patience are both fond of the lad and have taken him under their wings. Sheriff John has taught Beck how to wield a blade, and Mother Patience has done her best to give the lad a moral compass. Beck’s mother is employed by Agnes Gum as a weaver. She is skilled in making woolen garments.

Having spent much of his youth with the hobbit sheriff and the reverend mother of the church, Beck learned to not only wield a blade, but use his wits to find other ways to deal with conflict. He will choose footman and oratory as his abilities.

Starting gear…Beck has 50sp to start with. GM Note…to better align my solo play with my campaign world of Reuel, I am using the silver standard (instead of gold pieces, silver is the most common currency). Also, I’ll be using the price list from my homebrew of Whitebox:FMAG and B/X Basic Dnd.

Beck has a battered shield and rusty longsword which he has cleaned up. These items came from his grandfather, acquired many years ago from a battle. [Cost is 10sp each for these items]. Next, Beck wants a decent hatchet for woodcraft and throwing. [Cost 3sp]. Other items are backpack, waterskin, rations (3 days), torches (3), flint & steel, 50′ cordage (snares, traps, securing items), a sling with 20 stones. [Cost about 16sp]
Beck has spent 39sp so far. 11sp remain.
In addition to Beck’s normal attire, he was given a fine woolen cloak (dark green) made by his mother. [Deducting 6sp for this, twice the normal cost due to its quality.]
Beck will begin his adventuring career with the above gear and 5sp remaining.

I’ll spend the last 5 silver pieces to purchase some used padded armor. I’ll consider this another relic his grandfather brought back from an old war.

GM notes ~ I still want to incorporate lighter armor into the game. Mydwandr rules as written offers armor for 30sp. I want to make a houserule regarding armor. Characters (not monsters) must have a minimum of padded armor or attacks on them do +1 damage. I know that this will impact the spellcasters more than other PCs, but I’m willing to live with this to include lighter forms of armor. Perhaps on the other end of this, PCs choosing to wear plate armor (added cost and weight) will have attacks they receive be -1 damage (with a 1 point minimum). I’ll play this out and see how it works in game.

Other game notes ~ on rolling double 1’s, the quality of an item worsens. Quality is measured in fine…standard…poor…broken. Most items are standard quality and can survive two bad attack rolls before breaking. Poor weapons are broken in one poor attack. Same applies to armor, but when the PC receives a double 6’s attack on them. So, a standard set of chainmail can take two heavy blows (double 6’s) before failing and needing repair.

Ofttimes these kind of rules may mean too much bookkeeping, but I’ll give a go and see how it plays out.

Binding wounds…if PCs have bandages or some suitable cloth, they may try to bind wounds after a battle. Each bind wounds attempt takes 10 minutes and requires a successful doubles roll. Characters with healing backgrounds roll triples. Success heals 1d3 hit points.

Healing herbs and natural remedies may be available. Healing herbs restore 1d3 hp, no roll needed. Usable once per day.

NPCs…

1. Mother Patience
2. Myra Stormcrow
3. Otis Bramble
4. Agnes Gum
5. Cornwall the Odd
6. Sheriff John Briarfoot
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