Character's Personal History - Revision history

Bennettj: /* Interpersonal Relationships */

2026-07-14T20:37:10Z

Interpersonal Relationships

Bennettj: /* Choices Made */

2026-07-14T20:35:58Z

Choices Made

Bennettj at 18:40, 7 July 2026

2026-07-07T18:40:28Z

Tao alexis: /* Predispositions & Shortcomings */

2026-07-03T18:33:47Z

Predispositions & Shortcomings

Tao alexis: /* Predispositions & Shortcomings */

2026-07-03T18:26:53Z

Predispositions & Shortcomings

Tao alexis: Created page with "The '''Character's Personal History''' is attached to the Character Background Generator, describing the individual's time between being trained to become a character clas..."

2026-07-03T18:09:45Z

Created page with "The '''Character's Personal History''' is attached to the Character Background Generator, describing the individual's time between being trained to become a character clas..."

Show changes

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-* '''Contacts with a local guild''' (results 31 to 32): while the character is not a member, he or she is acquainted with members of a special guild, as determined by the table shown.  Each type of guild brings its own benefits.  "Provincial" describes within the borders of a realm's subordinate administrative division and not the whole realm — unless the realm has no subdivisions.  Contact with the assassin's guild assures the character will be given personal warning by a friend if the character is targeted by an assassin; prices for the character to hire an assassin are standard, but negotiations and fee are easily begun, since the character already has the trust of this guild.  If the character has been robbed, the local thieves' guild will set out to recover the stolen property on the character's behalf — and the character also has access to purchase stolen goods from the thieves' guild, if wished.  Other general benefits, such as hiring members of each guild for other purposes, or seeking advice or knowledge from members of these guilds, are also available to the character.
+* '''Contacts with a local guild''' (results 31 to 32): while the character is not a member, he or she is acquainted with members of a special guild, as determined by the table shown.  Each type of guild brings its own benefits.  "Provincial" describes within the borders of a realm's subordinate administrative division and not the whole realm — unless the realm has no subdivisions.  Contact with the [[Assassin's Guild|assassin's guild]] assures the character will be given personal warning by a friend if the character is targeted by an assassin; prices for the character to hire an assassin are standard, but negotiations and fee are easily begun, since the character already has the trust of this guild.  If the character has been robbed, the local thieves' guild will set out to recover the stolen property on the character's behalf — and the character also has access to purchase stolen goods from the thieves' guild, if wished.  Other general benefits, such as hiring members of each guild for other purposes, or seeking advice or knowledge from members of these guilds, are also available to the character.
 * '''Noble's favour''' (result 33): at some point prior to joining the campaign, the character has done a service for a local ruler within the realm, of the rank of baron/baroness or count/countess, including all worldly equivalents.  The choice of whom the service was done is left to the DM.  It may be that the character attended training with the noble's offspring, or took part in a campaign led by the noble, or otherwise gave service in the form of advice or counselling (for, to receive this result, the character must have a wisdom of no less than 13).  In return, the character may ask a favour of the noble that is within the noble's power to grant, which in no way diminishes the noble's power.  Nor may a sum of more than 1,500 g.p. be asked for, whether in coin, goods or services.
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 : In the meantime, as proof this offer is not a fraud, the character is able to contact the Illuminati clandestinely, in a manner known only to the character (and which cannot be shared with others, as the Illuminati would surely know), to obtain special favours no closer than four months apart.  These favours include arranging for an assassin; a [[Raise Dead (spell)|raise dead]], [[Regeneration (spell)|regeneration]], [[Restoration (spell)|restoration]] or [[Resurrection (spell)|resurrection]] spell; a letter introduction to a noble or monarch within three hundred miles of the character's present location; evacuation from a hostile state, even one that's under occupation from an enemy; a pardon from prison; or an opportunity to consult with any individual in the world whose location is known.  Once arranged, these things will usually happen within a few days, signifying the power of the cabal ... but in some cases, where circumstances requires long travel, it may take weeks or even months to arrange a meeting.  A message can be gotten to the Illuminati from any city in the world with more than 15,000 persons.
-: If the character becomes a member of the Illuminati, then he or she will be expected to use their influence to enable other members in the same manner as the above.  For example, if the character were an assassin, every 2 to 5 months, the character would be asked to perform an assassination at no charge, without explanation given.  If the character were a cleric of sufficient level, then he or she would be required to perform spells for chosen individuals, no questions asked.  Once a member of the Illuminati, the character can ask a favour no closer than three months apart, instead of four.
+: If the character becomes a member of the Illuminati, then he or she will be expected to use their influence to enable other members in the same manner as the above.  For example, if the character were an assassin, every 2 to 5 months, the character would be asked to perform an [[Assassination (sage ability)|assassination]] at no charge, without explanation given.  If the character were a cleric of sufficient level, then he or she would be required to perform spells for chosen individuals, no questions asked.  Once a member of the Illuminati, the character can ask a favour no closer than three months apart, instead of four.
 * '''Royal favour''' (result 38): Like the favour from a noble, but instead the favour may be asked of the monarch in the realm where the character enters the campaign.  The value that's available to the character as a request is increased to 4,500 g.p.  Moreover, the character can be asked to be named a landless knight, or [[Character Background Generator#Charisma Source|dispossessed noble]], which the monarch will be eager to grant, as this costs him or her nothing and saves a great deal of money.

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 * '''Depleted sage abilities''' (results 4 to 7): The player's ''decision'' to assign a 6 or less to a character's intelligence provokes a 20% chance that the character will lose most or some of his or her sage abilities.  In most cases, the character's woeful intelligence with respect to education and knowledge can be overlooked, supposing the character is a natural savant of some kind that would enable a sufficient level of practical skill.  But it must be acknowledged that there's a chance the character will be so dull-witted that only the bare minimum of special training will have taken hold.
-:: Bear in mind that characters with an intelligence of 5 or less can only be fighters, which is why the sage studies and fields are described exactly for the first three results of this section.  It isn't possible to get a 4 result unless the character's intelligence is 3; and none of these results can occur if the character has an intelligence greater than 6.  It is therefore a rare non-fighter who would lose a sage study; and it is something that can never happen to assassins, bards, illusionists, mages, paladins, rangers or thieves, as all these classes require an intelligence higher than 6.
+:: Bear in mind that characters with an intelligence of 5 or less can only be fighters, which is why the sage studies and fields are described exactly for the first three results of this section.  It isn't possible to get a 4 result unless the character's intelligence is 3; and none of these results can occur if the character has an intelligence greater than 6.  It is therefore a rare non-fighter who would lose a sage study; and it is something that can never happen to [[Assassin (class)|assassins]], bards, illusionists, mages, paladins, rangers or thieves, as all these classes require an intelligence higher than 6.
 * '''Criminal activities''' (results 8 to 10): For whatever reason, the character tried to improve his or her situation through breaking the law, which has not turned out so well to date.  If the character has already been to prison, then the location of that prison will be the nearest settlement of more than 2,000 persons from where the character entered the campaign.  If the character is on the run, then a random adjacent province to that where the character enters the campaign needs to be rolled — that province is where the character committed his or her crimes and is the one seeking the criminal character's recovery.  In all cases, the character was definitely guilty — though there's no requirement on the character's part to admit it to anyone.

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 : For game purposes, each of these impediments have no effect on the character's charisma.  It's assumed that in the game world, such habits are much more common than might be imagined, in fact occurring in about 1 in 20 persons — and are therefore not less compromising than the presence would be to a present-day observer.
-* '''Forgetful''' (results 19 to 20): whenever the character heads out from a location, he or she must make an [[Ability Checks|intelligence check]] 1-8 hours after leaving.  If the check fails, it'll be discovered that the character has left 1 random item behind, having failed to pack them — even though at the time they'd intended to do so.  These items cannot be the character's main clothing, nor body armour, nor items that would normally not be unpacked when camping for the night or resting at an inn.  It would include the character's carried weapons, helmet, cap, gloves, belt pouch, a full sack, items of jewelry, magic items that might have been handled during the last stay (such as wands, rods or staves), a quiver, book, pole, cup, plate, cutlery, drinking flask, musical instrument and other items of this nature.  Most often it should be something incidental and easily replaceable, but it's conceivable the character could have left their magic sword on the bed, or might even have left their dog chained to a stile somewhere.
+* '''Forgetful''' (results 19 to 20): whenever the character heads out from a location, he or she must make an [[Ability Checks|intelligence check]] 1-8 hours after leaving.  If the check fails, it'll be discovered that the character has left 1 random item behind, having failed to pack them — even though at the time they'd intended to do so.  These items cannot be the character's main clothing, nor body [[Armour List|armour]], nor items that would normally not be unpacked when camping for the night or resting at an inn.  It would include the character's carried weapons, helmet, cap, gloves, belt pouch, a full sack, items of jewelry, magic items that might have been handled during the last stay (such as wands, rods or staves), a quiver, book, pole, cup, plate, cutlery, drinking flask, musical instrument and other items of this nature.  Most often it should be something incidental and easily replaceable, but it's conceivable the character could have left their magic sword on the bed, or might even have left their dog chained to a stile somewhere.
 : Other characters in the party may take it upon themselves to help keep track of such items, although this must be limited to one designated person in the party that attends to this responsibility.  He or she then rolls a [[Ability Checks|wisdom check]] if an item is forgotten, effectively retconning the incident with the protecting character saying, "Oh, you forgot this."  If both checks fail, the item is truly left behind.  Obviously, the wisest person in the party should be the designated attendant.  If the item is forgotten and the character goes back, there is an 80% chance that the item can be easily recovered, even if it's magical.  Otherwise, it's disappearance may be overlooked or it may begin a minor quest to restore its possession to the character.
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 ! style="width: 40px|Roll<br>(d100) !! style="width: 110px|Training !! style="width: 90px|Primary<br>weapon !! style="width: 210px|Secondary<br>weapon (d10) !! style="width: 210px|Armour (d10)
 |-
-| 01-14 || style="text-align: left"|[[Archer (soldier)|archer]] || long bow || short sword (1-4), club (5-10) || ring mail (1-2), leather armour (3-7), none (8-10)
+| 01-14 || style="text-align: left"|[[Archer (soldier)|archer]] || long bow || short sword (1-4), club (5-10) || ring mail (1-2), [[Leather Armour|leather armour]] (3-7), none (8-10)
 |-
 | 15-16 || style="text-align: left"|[[Artillerist (profession)|artillerist]] || short sword || dagger (1-9), club (10) || scale mail (1), leather armour (2-5), none (6-10)
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 | 21 || style="text-align: left"|Character reduces the penalty for using a non-proficient weapon by 1 point
 |-
-| 22 to 23 || style="text-align: left"|Exhibiting bravery when fighting creatures up to twice or more the character's size, he or she receives a +1 armour class bonus
+| 22 to 23 || style="text-align: left"|Exhibiting bravery when fighting creatures up to twice or more the character's size, he or she receives a +1 [[Armour Class|armour class]] bonus
 |-
 | 24 || style="text-align: left"|Character begins the game with bonus experience equal to 10% of the amount needed to reach 2nd level

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 | 8 || style="text-align: left"|Character has an awful temper.  While the character means well, set-backs have a tendency to cause the character to over-react in a manner that distracts the character's attention, while undermining his or her effectiveness
 |-
-| 9 || style="text-align: left"|When competing against another character for a prize, such as a magic item, losing creates a wave of such envy in the character that for a full day his or her wisdom is reduced by 2 points
+| 9 || style="text-align: left"|Tendency to selfishness; when competing against another character for a prize, such as a magic item, losing creates a wave of such envy in the character that for a full day his or her wisdom is reduced by 2 points
 |-
 | 10 to 11 || style="text-align: left"|Character's gluttonous behaviour is so rife that the character must eat 50% more food than normal in order to feel "full"; moreover, the character's weight is increased by 10 to 25 per cent
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 * '''Foolish & Gullible''' (result 5): [[Mind Control Spells|mind control spells]] include those that [[Charm|charm]], [[Hold Person|hold]] or otherwise remove each character's ability to think for themselves. Players may wish to intentionally play a more gullible character, so long as the behaviour, outside of a die roll, does not excessively put the party at risk.
-* '''Coward''' (result 6):
+* '''Coward''' (result 6 to 7): the repeated consequence of the character to withstand being stunned, given the tendency to run, requires that the player take account for this by focusing heavily on missile combat, choosing sage abilities that are supportive and otherwise accepting that they need to fight on the edge of a line or only in situations where they're running away won't seriously compromise the party's integrity. It is a difficult characteristic to run, but it can be done well.

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 ! style="width: 85px|d20 + Wis. !! style="width: 420px"|Predisposition
 |-
-| 4 || style="text-align: left"|Character suffers from great ignorance and superstition; all saves vs. fear and mind control spells carry a -8 to -6 penalty against success
+| 4 || style="text-align: left"|Character suffers from great ignorance and superstition; all saves vs. fear and mind control spells carry a -6 penalty against success
 |-
-| 5 || style="text-align: left"|Character displays great foolishness and gullibility; all saves vs. mind control spells, perceiving disguises or illusions carry a -5 to -4 penalty against success
+| 5 || style="text-align: left"|Character displays great foolishness and gullibility; all saves vs. mind control spells, perceiving disguises or illusions carry a -4 penalty against success
 |-
-| 6 to 7 || style="text-align: left"|Character is cowardly and lacking in confidence; if stunned, the character must make a save vs. paralysation; if this fails, the character will flee the combat at stride-8 for one round, before restoring their courage
+| 6 to 7 || style="text-align: left"|Character is cowardly and lacking in confidence; if stunned, the character must make a save vs. paralysation; if this fails, the character will flee the combat at stride-6 for one round, before restoring their courage
 |-
 | 8 || style="text-align: left"|Character has an awful temper.  While the character means well, set-backs have a tendency to cause the character to over-react in a manner that distracts the character's attention, while undermining his or her effectiveness
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 Once again, the player creates an '''adjusted wisdom number''' by rolling a d20 and adding the character's wisdom.  This number is then applied to the '''Predisposition table'''.  Further notes on the table are as follows:
-* '''Superstition''' (result 4): characters are immediately made uncomfortable (wisdom check to overcome) by strange noises, old stories, curses, graveyards, ruins and masks; in play, the character is easily shaken (losing initiative or coming last in the party's movement order) in situations where the minus 6-8 (d3-5) even might be applied to a coming saving throw. An additional bonus of +2 can be obtained against fear and mind control spells if the character obtains a legitimately magical luck stone or talisman against evil.
+* '''Superstition''' (result 4): characters are immediately made uncomfortable (wisdom check to overcome) by strange noises, old stories, curses, graveyards, ruins and masks; in play, the character is easily shaken (losing initiative or coming last in the party's movement order) in situations where the penalty even might be applied to a coming saving throw. An mitigation that lessens the effect can be obtained against fear and mind control spells if the character obtains a legitimately magical luck stone or talisman against evil; the object must be [[Magic Item|magical]] in nature. Players may wish to lean into the mindset so long as it does not affect the play of characters not belonging to the player.