Character Creation Part 1

So tonight I am rolling up my Character for Rob Conley's Swords & Wizardry campaign. First off the dice selection is vital. Since our group has mainly played GURPS d6s are all you need. BUT, you want to roll different groups of d6s because in GURPS you want to roll low to hit and high on damage. It's bad voodoo to use the same set of dice for both tasks. So you need damage dice and to hit dice. Since I am rolling stats for my character then I am rolling the damage dice. So I got 4d6 rolling for stats taking out the lowest. Here goes!

Strength: 13
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 13
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 15
Charisma: 12

Wow, killer rolls. This was done straight through no adjustments of any kind. That 17 dexterity is looking shiny for a thief class, but I am going to pursue Supplement VI to check out my possibilities. With stats like this I can make almost anything. I think I'll pick my class before my race. Then I can use the racial attribute boosts to enhance the class I want.

Yesterday I wrote about being a Monteblank or a magic wielding thief and I think my guy is set up pretty good for it so Monteblank it is. Now I have to select a race. I am usually just a vanilla human, but I definitely want to mix it up a bit this time. Being an elf is an obvious choice because with the +2 dexterity, +1 constitution and +1 charisma it's hard not to love all those bonuses and racial perks. Hmm a halfling...still can't bring myself to play a furry foot. A half-elves is a definite possibility. I'm not seeing playing a dwarf or gnome. I know Rob's campaigns and playing a serpent man, orc, goblin, reptile or lizard man will just complicate the party dynamics. But playing a Viridian, a half demon that gets extra spells per day, is tempting as hell. No pun intended. Well looking at all the benefits of being an elf I can't pass up. Elf it is. I'll have to contact to see if my dexterity can go to 19.

I have my stats, class, and race figured out. I'll roll for starting gold. Getting those damage dice out again. I get 3d6 multiply by 10 starting gold. Excellent, 140gp. Time to shop. Now the thing I have to remember that Rob plans to do in this campaign is use components for his ritual system, where it costs the level of the spell squared and ten in components. So a 3rd level spell would cost me 90gp in components to cast. But since I can't cast any at first level I'm going to worry about it, but keep a stash as I go for when I can. Time to go shopping.

First thing I buy is armor and weapons. Since I can wear leather armor I'm getting a suit and a shield. I'll have to ask Rob about when I cast if I will need both hands free or just one. But since I am only going to have one spell in the beginning that shield will come in handy. That's 20gp for the two. For weapons I am getting a light crossbow for distant enemies and for melee I'm going for the short sword. And I am going to pick up a dagger just because it seems like any adventurer should not leave home without one. That's 22gp for weapons.

Time for regular equipment. Getting a backpack, 50ft of rope, grappling hook, 8 iron spikes and a mallet, two water skins, flint & steel, bedroll, piece of chalk (to mark those pesky dungeon walls), two 15lb capacity sacks and one 30lb capacity sack then finish it out with a four torches. I am skipping the flasks of oil right now which I am sure I will regret, but I would rather not make myself more flammable than normal. Crap forgot food. I'll go for a week's worth of trail rations for now. Total bill rings up as 23gp, 2 sp and 9cp. That leaves me with a total of 94gp, 3sp and 41cp. I like to have extra copper so I am not flaunting my wealth when I go places.

For now my equipment is done. It's always good to keep a stash because those damn GMs always decide to start playing a rule they never did before so you need to be prepared. Plus I may be able to go to a few shops before adventuring and pick up some nice items that will be useful.

The last two things I need to select now are an alignment and a name. Rob usually doesn't play with alignments, but I believe he is using them for this campaign. Being an on the run magic-user who is associated with thieves and being an elf I am thinking of being Lawful Neutral it seems to make the most sense. And now for the name. I went to the Irish name and Ashling stood out. And I always like to add a secondary name. Anubus, a play on the Irish word for death and the Egyptian god of the dead.

Say hello to Ashling Anubus.