Denzil's proposal

You asked for it
You know what I'm like when I get the bit between my teeth
Here are some characters I made up a few years ago, for a game that never happened. They became The Young Bucks Adventuring Company, now in a series of books by the same name. They serve as ten examples of character generation. If you wanted you could take any of these characters or the basic life history under a different name or substitute something similar of your own. There are two approaches, you could
1/ think of the skills you wanted your character to have and generate a childhood occupation in which you could justify their developing those skills or...
2/ You could think of a life path and take whatever shills it would be logical for one following that path to develop. Either way children are generally put to work on Spem at about ten years of age, either in menial tasks or as apprentices, say in the family business. They generally, officially come of age and most leave the home in the year in which they turn fifteen years of age, although for those whose birthday is near the end of the year they may stay at home a little later. The children of the rich and powerful are not necessarily cast off so early, some stay at home until they are seventeen or eighteen and, instead of being put to work are classically educated. The first sons of nobles learn to take up the reins in their father's stead and are not likely to become adventurers, unless they are completely rebellious. Daughters, of course, are early betrothed and find it difficult not to get married when they come of age and are stuck in the role of wife and mother. Adventurers, however, are those rare exceptions. Third fourth and subsequent sons (and maybe daughters) have less expectations and the general practice is to educate them to a profession, such as doctor, lawyer, cleric and so on. It is often counted as good to have at least one cleric in the family. But that's rich families. Die roll goes like:

Range Result

1-30 orphan, no known family

31-70 child of poor family, farmer if in country regions, common labourer in city or towns. Prefer most come from Floren City and those from the country are destined to at least pass through there.

71-90 child of middle class parentage, small merchants, artisans skilled labourers, soldiers, minor bureaucrats etc.

91-100 child of rich parents (Probably not the firstborn son), Rich Merchants, Major Bureaucrats, Professionals, Gentlemen of independent means, Army or Navy Officers, Clerics, Minor Noblemen. (Nobody will be the child of a Royal or Regal family)

Range	Result

1-30	orphan, no known family
31-70	child of poor family, farmer if in country regions, common labourer in city or towns. Prefer most come from Floren City and those from the country are destined to at least pass through there.
71-90	child of middle class parentage, small merchants, artisans skilled labourers, soldiers, minor bureaucrats etc.
91-100	child of rich parents (Probably not the firstborn son), Rich Merchants, Major Bureaucrats, Professionals, Gentlemen of independent means, Army or Navy Officers, Clerics, Minor Noblemen. (Nobody will be the child of a Royal or Regal family)

Examples

Pre-rolled characters...start below.

Feodoric was the child of urban poor parents before becoming orphaned at the age of 11 years and eight months . That was two and a half years ago . Since then he has been forced to earn his keep by being a boat hand on a small fishing boat . He has some abilities in rowing , swimming , sailing , fishing (with nets ) , and is handy at gutting fish with a fish-knife . He is also adept with a boat-hook and has the ability to use ropes , tying and untying knots , mending nets and even splicing large ropes together . His fascination for working with ropes lead him to explore the use of the lasso and , most recently , he has practised with a whip . Since his bereavement the things left over from his life with his family have worn out , been lost or spent and he has lost contact with any relatives that he many have had and has no longer much memory of them or care to remember . His age is 14 years 3 months and 21 days as our chronicle begins . He has painstakingly saved as much of his earnings as he could and has 6 Sovereigns (Nickel) and 1 Crown (Iron) . He also owns his own whip and fish-knife . He has a tunic , loincloth , sandals , belt and large belt-pouch . He does not own a rope or a boat-hook of his own . He is deeply dissatisfied with the slow rate of progress in his savings as a boatman and is looking for some way to make a better wage . If only he could save enough to be trained as a town guard he would earn a whole lot more .

Chelnya was the fifth child of a rural knight (Sir Diren and Lady Malan ). In her leaveling year she was 14 years and four months old . As is the tradition she was turned out along with her share of the family fortune , so that she has no further claim on the lands or titles of subsequent knights . Most girls of her age are already betrothed and leave the family home to take up their marriage bed . Chelnya is beauteous and charismatic and was much sought after but she refused to marry . She had ambitions of her own that she could not achieve as a nobleman's wife . As a child she enjoyed the privilege of being trained along with her older brothers . She showed no interest nor aptitude in the orthodox training of a young lady in the gentle-womanly arts . She wants to be a warrior or perhaps a ranger . However her inheritance of 75 Sovereigns (Nickel) was not enough to get her adequate training and equipment . She could not even afford to buy a descent horse . She rents a horse , for one mark (bronze ) a day , to run hunting excursions out to the countryside , typically for five or six people in a group , charging a shilling (zinc) each per day . Half of what she makes is taken up in tax and , after expenses and days between jobs , makes very little . In four years she has saved only 10 Sovereigns . She is now 18 years and 4 months old . At this rate it will take her another six years to save for either a horse or equipment or proper training but only one of these when she needs all three . This is just not acceptable to her . She believes that she could make a faster fortune in escorting people north to beyond The Wall . Her education included Etiquette , Diplomacy , Leadership , Heraldry , Equestrianism , Hunting and Tracking , as well as basic skills in the use of a Longbow , Longsword , Dagger and Lance . She currently owns and gets about in a pair of jodhpurs and a riding jacket , high boots , belt and large beltpouch . She has her own dagger and longbow and a quiver of arrows which contains 12 arrows (capacity 20) . She has no other arms or armour , hiring a training sword when she visits the warriors' guild . She was born into the nobility and still considers herself a lady , though she is forced to lodge as a commoner . She hopes one day to build her fortunes so that she can return to the standard of living to which her childhood accustomed her .

Gareth's parents were poor farmers (father's name Klastros) . He took his leaveling year a year early to make way for the new mouth to feed in the family . Since then he has served in the city militia . He is sort of half trained as a part-time soldier . The minuscule pay for this irregular work barely keeps him fed . He has saved money by squatting in a derelict building and now has 11 sovereigns to his name . He had hoped one day to become good enough to be accepted into the regular town guard but his patience is wearing thin . He is currently 17 years 4 months and 28 days old . Apart from shirt , trousers , belt , belt pouch , boots , dagger and scabbard he owns nothing else . He is issued borrowed armour and pike when on duty and rents a training short sword from the warriors' guild when he can afford such luxury . If he could somehow make enough money for adequate training and equipment he could become a guard in the city watch and earn a much better living . He is semi-skilled in Pike , shortsword and dagger , still retains his memories of farm labouring and has learned the skills of Guarding/Patrolling , Crowd Control and Signalling .

Larina was lost at age 11 years 5 months while her family was moving north , seeking better fortune . They were rural poor . She has since spent most of her time working as a shepherdess , for animals brought to pastures near the city awaiting slaughter . She alternates between night watches and herding the animals to the city's markets . She has picked up snippets of Flora Lore and Fauna Lore as well as Herding , Animal Handling and Weather Sense . She is adept with a Sling and can also use a Crook and a Dagger , she owns one of each . She wears a coarse fabric , all purpose smock , currently cinched at the waist with a short piece of rope . In over two years she has saved 5 Sovereigns (Nickel) and 1 Crown (Iron) coin , which she holds tied in a piece of waste cloth , the remains of a former dress , in her pocket . It is her whole life . She doesn't know what to do with it , except not to spend it save on some way to improve her situation . She is now 13 years 7 months and 13 days old .

Tarquin was the youngest son of an urban Earl (Earl Charaken and Dame Charaken nee Pasqui)and proved to be the black sheep of the family . He seemed to do everything possible to win his parents' disapproval . They were happy to send him off on his leaveling day with his share of the family's disposable fortune . He chose , instead of carrying 225 Sovereigns (Nickel) to convert it to a single gemstone which he carries in a secret pocket on the inside of his robe , close to his heart . It is his security blanket and hedge from starvation . In the two years since his departure from home he has not only not spent any of his inheritance , he has saved 5 Sovereigns and 1 Mark (Bronze) besides . He has put his aristocratic speech and bearing , as well as the fact that he was well dressed , to good use . Though now his robe is a little the worse for wear and grown a little snug . He became a messenger boy and became known as one who's discretion could be relied upon . He is now a runabout for all sorts of folks who's business is better off not to be publicly known . He was sort of adopted by the mob . The classical education of his youth was supposed to fit him for a trade as a scribe or a lawyer etc. He has esoteric knowledge in such things as basic maths , local geography , local history and , unlike most common folk , can actually read and write . He was also familiarised with the use of a shortsword , preparatory to learning a real sword and perhaps becoming a knight (some hope !). Since leaving home he has learned the dastardly art and habit of wielding a dagger (cheaper to buy , easier to carry and conceal ) and a Sap . He has become Streetwise and has built up a number of contacts , indeed learned how to Contact people . He still figures his payment for courier work inadequate and has a notion to try to get himself training in the secret arts of the well healed rouge . However it is a lot of hard work and expense and he looks for an easier way around the problem and without spending his inheritance to get there . He is currently 16 years 7 months and 28 days old . He owns a robe , belt , belt pouch and a pair of sot shoes , all now well worn , as well as the aforementioned Dagger and Sap .

Pati was orphaned before she was eleven , her whole family burned in a fire . She has repressed the memory of the event and remembers nothing of her childhood . For four years she has been a merchant's assistant , a barker at the markets and a wagon driver . Her tasks include loading and unloading the wagon of goods . She has skills in Crowd-working , Public Speaking , all aspects of Wagon Use , Animal Handling as regards to Horses , though she is never allowed to ride them , Basic Maths , especially as related to the value of coinage , Appraisal of general market goods other than foods , jewellery or arms and has had some little practice in Trading . In her work she is also expected to help guard the wares and has several times had to beat off thieves with her hand baton (Sort of truncheon) with which she has some rudimentary skill . Pati is devout in her new found faith and would like to earn enough to pay for training as a cleric . She is 14 years 9 months and twenty three days old as our story begins . She owns the dress and belt she stands up in , a dagger , strictly for eating and general use , her Baton and an over shoulder carry-bag of fine leather . She wears no shoes . Her life savings consists of 10 Sovereigns (Nickel) .

Artemis , orphaned at the age of 10 years and 4 months , became a chimney sweep's boy , on account of his small size . Thus he has skills in Climbing , Rope Use , Contortion , Rappelling and Fire Use . He has himself expanded these skills into Spelunking and Tightrope Walking and has practised Sleight of Hand . He uses a dagger when he has to protect himself . Artemis is especially taken with tales of mighty wizards and wishes that such things were true , so that he could become one . Artemis performs his work in a loincloth and has a spare one to wear when he is off duty and a tattered old bedroll stowed away in his hovel accommodation to keep him warm at night . Since he started sweeping he has saved 5 Sovereigns (Nickel) and one Mark (Bronze) , which he keeps in a corner of his bedroll . All the ropes etc. he uses belong to his employer . He has now reached the age of 12 years 5 months and 17 days .

Karen was orphaned when her family was wiped out by a plague . With no visible means of support she started out dancing for money , at the age of 12 years and 4 months . 1 year and 7 months later her dancing has improved somewhat and she has 3 Sovereigns (Nickel) and 3 Marks (Bronze) to her name . She owns a dancing costume in addition to the blouse and skirt that she lives in . She wears sandals to travel but dances barefoot . She keeps har coinage wrapped in whatever set of clothes she is not currently wearing . She has no weapon but is adept at Throwing people off balance if they bother her . She has branched out from just Dancing to other performing arts such as Tumbling , Acrobatics , Acting , Singing , Fortune Telling and Narration (Story Telling ) . Her facility with makeup and having to make do with few resources has lead her to be good at Disguise , given some props to effect it with . She is now 14 years 1 month and 29 days old . Having collected old stories , passed down by word of mouth , she is entranced by the concept of using magic and would like to believe it was possible to do .

Zoe became separated from her family at the age of 12 years and 6 months . She still doesn't know what happened to them . She fell on her feet when she was taken in by a scribe to be his apprentice . She is now 14 years and 21 days old and goes each day to the courts to assist the scribe in his duties . She has slight skills in Scribing , Accountancy , and of course is Literate , Legal Systems and Basic Maths , all connected with her work but in addition she has spent a great deal of time and money (which is why she still has little ) in learning Cartography , Appraisal as it relates to gems and jewellery , Bargaining , Information Gathering , Observation and has taught herself the art of Forgery . Her first objective was to equip herself to become some sort of investigator adept at solving crimes and catching criminals . She has 9 Sovereigns saved and two good suits of clothes . She , as yet , lacks weapons or weapon skills to defend herself and would consider taking on a partner to assist her in case of trouble when she begins her career . Shirt , Skirt , soft shoes , handbag (all x 2) . She has saved 3 Sovereigns (Nickel) and 1 Crown (Iron) .

Mellita ran away from a bad situation at home when she was 12 years and 2 months old and she was not a silly child . She found shelter and a job as a rural cleric's assistant . He has since been advanced to the city . She accompanied him and continues to serve , learning Religion , Healing , Herbalism , Flora lore , Fauna Lore and Animal Healing . He has also instructed her in the use of a Mace as a weapon . She hopes eventually to be good enough to take up the robes of a priest proper . Most of what she uses still belongs to the church , including the robes that she stands up in . It is an austere faith and uses little beyond the barest essentials , priests take a vow of poverty . Mellita , at age 15 years 8 months and 36 days has saved 9 Sovereigns (Nickel) and 1 Crown (Iron) . If she were to quit the church she would have to make arrangements as to clothing food and equipment , which would probably cost her much of what she has . She has recently learned that it is much easier to get accepted into the clergy in the north , beyond The Wall , where priests are in short supply and missionaries are always welcome .

That's the ten of them, as they started out Don't know if I can do this but I'm going to try to transport my character summary sheet onto word:

 PNAME										
CNAME	FEODORIC	CHELNYA	GARETH 	LARINA	TARQUIN	PATI	ARTEMIS	KAREN	ZOE	MELITA
LHOME	11.8	14.4	13.5	11.5	14.6	10.9	10.4	12.4	12.6	12.2
YRSWRK	2.5Y	4.0Y	3.9Y	2.2Y	2.1Y	4.0Y	2.1Y	1.7Y	1.4Y	3.6Y
DOB	15.7.21	11.6.26	12.6.22	16.3.37	13.3.22	15.1.27	17.5.33	15.9.21
15.10.29	14.2.14
AGE.START	14.3.21	18.4.24	17.4.28	13.7.13	16.7.28	14.9.23	12.5.17	14.1.29
14.0.21	15.8.36
GENDER	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	F	F
CCMSTC	ORPHAN	NORMAL	POVERTY	LOST	NORMAL	ORPHAN	ORPHAN	ORPHAN	LOST	RUNAWAY
JOB	BOATHAND 	TOURGUIDE	MILITIAMAN	SHEPHERDESS	RUNNABOUT	BARKER	SWEEP
DANCER	APP.SCRIBE	ASST CLERIC
ST	11	17	15	10	12	13	14	12	12	11
DX	10	14	12	12	14	13	11	14	16	10
IN	12	13	10	12	12	11	15	15	17	12
WS	12	13	14	13	12	16	14	14	13	14
CN	16	15	13	12	13	11	14	9	10	10
CH	10	17	9	17	11	18	15	10	14	12
CM	12	17	15	11	14	16	16	14	13	13
P'PROF	F	F	F	F	R	C	M	M	R	C
CASH	6.5Ni	10Ni	11Ni	5.5Ni	230.25Ni	10Ni	5.25Ni	3.75Ni	3.5Ni	9.5Ni
FAM	NONE	KNIGHT	RP	LOST	EARL	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE
EDU	NONE	SOME	NONE	NONE	SOME	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE
SKILLS1	ROWING     12	ETTIQUETTE    7	GUARD/PATROL   12	FAUNA LORE    13
BASIC MATHS  8	CROWDWORKING   7	CLIMBING           14	DANCING       11
ACCOUNTING     8	RELIGION            11
2	SAILING      13	DIPLOMACY    7	CROWD CONTROL11	FLORA LORE     13	L
GEOGRAPHY  8	TRADING              14	ROPE USE           14	TUMBLING     11
SCRIBING           9	HEALING             11
3	SWIMMING 14	LEADERSHIP    7	FARM LABOUR     12	HERDING          08	L
HISTORY        8	PUBLICSPEAKING   7	CONTORTIONS    14	ACROBATICS 11	FORGERY
          9	HERBALISM         13
4	FISHING      13	HERALDRY    12	SIGNALLING          15	AN HAND SHP   08
LITERACY        8	WAGON USE           9	RAPPELLING       14	DISGUISE
15	CARTOGRAPHY  9	FLORA LORE        13
5	ROPEUSE    15	EQUESTRIAN12		WEATHER SNS 11	STREETWISE    7	AN HAND HRS
    7	FIRE USE            11	ACTING          15	LITERACY           8	FAUNA
LORE       13
6		HUNTING       10			CONTACTING   7	BASIC MATHS      14	SLGHT OF HAND 14
SINGING         16	LEGAL SYSTEMS 8	ANIMAL HEALING11
7		TRACKING    10				APPRAISAL          14	SPELUNKING       11	FRT'NE
TELNG15	BASIC MATHS     8	
8							T'ROPE WALKING14	NARRATION    15	APPRAISAL         8	
9									BARGAINING    11	
10	LASSO	LONGBOW	PIKE	SLING SP	SHORTSWORD	BO STICK	DAGGER	THROWING
INVESTIGATION  8	MACE
11	WHIP	DAGGER	SHORTSWORD	CROOK 	DAGGER				OBSERVATION   8	
12	BOATHOOK	LONGSWORD	DAGGER	DAGGER	SAP					
13	FISHKNIFE	LANCE								
PROPS1	TUNIC	JODHPURS	SHIRT	SMOCK 	ROBE 	DRESS	LOINCLOTH	BLOUSE	SKIRT	robe
borrowed
2	LOINCLOTH	RIDING JACKET	TROUS	3'ROPE	BELTPOUCH	BELT	LOINCLOTH	SKIRT	SKIRT
sandals borrowed
3	SANDALS	HIGH BOOTS	BELT	CLOTH BAG	BELTPOUCH	CARRY BAG	BEDROLL	DANCE
COSTUME	SHIRT	
4	FISHKNIFE	BELT	BELTPOUCH	SLING	DAGGER	BATON	DAGGER	SANDALS	SHIRT	
5	LgBELTPOUCH	BIT&BRIDLE	BOOTS	CROOK 	SAP	DAGGER			SOFT SHOES	
6	BELT	BELTPOUCH	DAGGER	8STONES					SOFT SHOES	
7	WHIP	DAGGER							HANDBAG	
8		LONGBOW							HANDBAG	
9		DAGGER								
10		QUIVER								
11		12ARROWS								
AC	10	8	10	10	8	9	10	9	8	10
HP	21/14/7	21/14/7	21/14/7	21/14/7	21/14/7	21/14/7	21/14/7	21/14/7	21/14/7
21/14/7
TH(held)	22	20	22	22	22	21	21	22	23	22
TH(misl)	22	21	22	22	21	21	22	21	21	22
SaveVpsn	14/12	14/12	15/13	16/14	15/12	16/10	15/13	16/14	16/13	16/10
Par/Dth	16/14	16/14	16/14	16/14	16/13	16/10	16/14	16/14	16/13	16/10
pet/poly	17/15	17/15	17/15	17/15	17/12	17/13	17/13	17/13	17/12	17/13
RSW	18/16	18/16	18/16	18/16	18/14	18/14	18/11	18/11	18/14	18/14
BW	20/17	20/17	20/17	20/17	20/16	20/16	20/15	20/15	20/16	20/16
Spells	19/17	19/17	19/17	19/17	19/15	19/15	19/12	19/12	19/15	19/15
MA	19/17	18/16	18/16	18/16	19/15	17/13	18/11	18/11	18/17	18/14

I don't know how that goes with emailing if not then sorry for the mess. Or badly turned into a HTML page...[nash]

You probably don't need explaining all this but.. here goes Most kids will have four or five years work under their belts by the time that they reach their leaveling year. So they should have anything from four or five to even six or seven 'juvenile skills' under their belts. Even the humble shoeshine boy has skills that he needs to do his job. Shining shoes is but one and is sort of trivial really. In order to make a living at it he has to be good at more than shining shoes. He has to know how to pick his spot, to get a good flow of customers, he also has to be able to hold his spot in the face of competition, for space as well as against other shoe shiners. He has to identify his potential customers and he has to grab their attention and persuade them to employ him, rather than anyone else. He has to convince them that they need his services. So he could develop observation, persuasion, begging, bargaining or bartering, intimidation, crowd working, fast talking and the like. The former, humble shoe shine boy might become a powerful individual in later life. As for weapons there are many professions in which one uses tools which can easily translate into weapon skills, for example the woodcutter can obviously become proficient with an axe, very easily, and the farmer with a pick or a military fork. The fisherman's lackey will use ropes and nets and spend a lot of time gutting fish, with a knife which easily translates into skill with a dagger and there is also the trusty old boat hook involved. A chimney sweep can become good at climbing and this might also involve rope use, balancing skills, contortionism, getting around in tight chimneys and, of course, a rope can be used as a weapon. Children are often used in the performing arts as acrobats, jugglers, clowns, dancers and there are heaps of good skills to be learned in these occupations. What is more a child might not have been in the same job for all of those years, so a weird combination of skills might emerge from having a variety of jobs. All this only limited by your imagination, just think what jobs there are in a large, mediaeval city.

I will not, of course, be attempting to use my previous revised rules the world has gone back to almost as it was before the rise of the spemen gods. There are a couple of minor differences. Stats to start roll 3D4 and add 4 to generate a number between 7 and 16, seven times and put them where you like. There is a reason for this, that is enhanced character progression. Each level a character can improve one of their stats by one, the only limit is that you can't raise the same stat on two successive levels. Alternating between two stats is quite acceptable. In this way when a character reaches immortality hes stats should be commensurate with other immortals, strengths and intelligences of 25 etc. not uncommon. Stat bonuses slightly changed 13-14 = +1, 15-16 = +2, 17-18 = +3 and so on, so that a stat of 36 will give a bonus of +12, all very regular and very logical. Plusses ain't plusses Because I personally know someone who was run over by a train and was only slightly maimed by it, I don't believe in automatically doing 6 or 12 points of damage in a hit. Damages have random die rolls for a reason and a minotaur with +7 to damage from strength and +2 from weapon specialisation and +4 from magic etc. makes the random roll for the weapon meaningless. You add up the total damage you could possibly do and reduce it to the nearest suitable die roll. E.g. 12 for longsword and +2 for strength and +2 for weapon specialisation and +2 for magic comes down to d12 + d6 you can still get up to 18 points of damage sometimes, just every hit is not a super hit. The same applies to your opponents. I believe this will make the combats a little less hazardous and unpredictable, avoiding excessive character deaths. Hit points I used to start people off with a gift from the gods, because player characters are specially gifted people, the chosen of the gods. Then the going to minus ten rule before final death was installed. This amounts to an additional twenty hit points for beginning characters, almost. However I am dealing with this differently now. To counterbalance this I have added ten hit points to everything, so we don't mess about with minus hit points anymore. A creature which used to have 32 hit points now takes forty two hit points To Kill. The way this works is simple and logical. Zero level characters don't have their first hit die, the one they will get on going up to first level, neither do they yet have any con bonus, when they rise to 1st level they get that too. They have a To Kill number of 20 hit points, no matter what their eventual profession will be. (They aren't that yet). To begin with, when you are reduced by a third of your hit points you have to take a consciousness check, against your constitution, if you fail you go bye-byes. When you are reduced to one third of your hit points or less you automatically lose consciousness. In the beginning you have 20 tk and you do a con check at 13 or less and you go unconscious at 6 hp or less. (This can actually save a weak character from being killed) Because people can't always stay conscious until the point of death, in fact very rarely do. But when a character gets tough enough, the first hit points represent not much damage. At thirty hit points it is regular, con check at 20 and blackout at 10. Thereafter the con check is always at 20 hp or less and the point of mandatory unconsciousness is always at 10 or less, even if you have 200 hp. These benchmarks represent the points at which health is critically affected by damage. A normal person might have 10 or 12 tk and may go unconscious at 7 or 8 and will go unconscious at 3 or 4. Of course all of this means that zero hit points is dead. No coming back without powerful magics. Subsequent damage and healing A character who has fallen unconscious and has less than 10 hp left is bleeding to death and probably will not recover without help. However subsequent loss of health is not as horrendous as in the past, being one hit point for every three turns (thirty minutes) which pass. This makes it possible for other characters to finish a fight before people bleed to death. Yes people can bleed to death in two minutes but they don't always have to do so. It is not unusual for a person to take five hours to bleed to death after an injury. Skills unlike in 2nd ed where the number of skills allowed was pitifully small and absolutely proscribed it is not unlikely that a character could learn a new skill with each level of progression, in addition to raising stats and improving professional performance. You improve at what you practice. One thing your character won't be starting the game with is six or seven languages, unless they happen to be a professional translator (hardly likely). The rule of thumb is that you can gain an additional skill for every point of intelligence above eleven. I don't mind if you keep slots in hand so that you can develop skills or languages you want for your character after the game has started. You can also have an additional skill for every full half year your character has been working. There are five levels of proficiency in each skill.

If a character has no skill in any field of endeavour then attempts to do something can be at a minus eight penalty but success will always happen on a roll of a twenty, no matter how odd that seems. (There is always a 5 percent chance of success) I am turning the skills upside down so that a high number is always beneficial to the person making the roll. Coz I like that. (PS haven't turned the example character numbers upside down yet) It only has to be done once so it can't be all that difficult to handle. Initiative roll, then, is a d20, highest number goes first and there can be ties. Sometimes things do happen simultaneously. The effects of the five skill levels go like this because of the learning curve performance increases very quickly with the first instruction. With one level of skill the penalty is reduced to minus four on the roll. Level two improves to minus two, level three zero modifier, level four plus two bonus, level five (world class standard) plus four on the roll. That's the best you can do. Thieves skills some chump who is not a rouge might take a short course in picking pockets and they might have 16 dex and their roll to pick pockets would then be at minus four which would be target number twelve. Sixty Percent chance of success, from so little training? Official rules say a rouge gets a pick pockets roll of thirty percent at first level even with a dex of 16? This sounds all screwy, right? Well the rouge has been trying to learn a dozen different things. Then again, it depends on the nature of the task. Tasks have levels of difficulty. A trivial lock, any Joe can attempt it and, with some training might have a 60 percent chance. I probably won't even ask a real rouge to roll for success at a trivial feat. A rouge has a 30 percent chance at a normal feat and reduced penalties for more difficult circumstances. I am also including a larger list of rouge skills including tunnelling, bribery, escapology, contacting, forgery, (in fact choose any fifteen skills which we can agree are relevant and start them all at thirty percent, then you can spend twenty percentage points amongst them with each level you advance.) Option 3 just gain an extra skill for every two levels of advancement (at the first skill level, obviously). Apart from these small details it's not unlike ADnD really.

The setting

All characters will be natives of The Florenian Empire. There are lots of faerie stories but according to the official edicts of The Florenian Empire magic does not exist and monsters and humanoids and faeries do not exist. Your characters have certainly never seen anything which would contradict this view. Your world and your reality is very small. PS you get spoken speman for free. Most characters might never have met anyone they know is able to read and write, unless you want to be from a scribing background. There is no public education so knowledge and skills can be hard to come by. You know almost nothing beyond the skills you use in your occupation. You have a limited number of items essential to the carrying on of that occupation, assuming that these are not just borrowed from your employer. You also have a set of clothing, although this might only be a piece of sackcloth tied up with string. If you make a good case for it I might allow you to have saved up a nickel piece for every full year you have worked. If you want your character to be of advanced age, say seventeen or eighteen, two skills for each year and an extra nickel piece will be yours goody, goody. It is better if the characters are all leaveling or at a turning point in their lives, preferably down to desperate straits (motivation, you know).

Warriors are a dime a dozen, good rouges a dime each, clerics a dozen dimes for one, mages... there ain't enough dimes.

Denzil.