Character Background Generator

The character background generator is a series of random rolls designed to outline a new player character's basic characteristics and idiosyncracies resulting from cultural heritage, race, age, ability stats and chance events happening during the individual in the time prior to joining the game. The generator concentrates on social relationships and skills that originate with the game world and do not, therefore, come within the player's sphere of control. For example, the player isn't given the choice of deciding whether or not his or her parents are alive, whom he was raised by, what generational skills he or she was taught, into what social class the character was born, what others who have known the character for years think, how much money he or she has with which to start the game and so on.

It's standard in many games to allow the player to invent an entirely fictional "background" that serves their personal needs; this system sets out, instead, to create a completely RANDOM background, over which neither the character nor the DM has control. Players may, after the fact, choose to lie about their background; they may make up a background that suits them; but they cannot change the actual fact of what their background was, a fact that's known to the other players and the DM as a matter of game play.

The generator includes a considerable number of both elaborate and simple tables that strives to offer so many possibilities that the generation of two identical characters would be next to impossible. Normally, these tables are incorporated into an excel file for random generation, but for the wiki I have chosen to include all results as a series of open tables for readers to examine.

Physical Characteristics

Height & Weight

Initially, the character's physical creation requires the character's height and weight. For this, height is measured in feet and inches, while weight is measured in lbs. These represent the character in the peak of condition, unless indicated otherwise elsewhere in the generator. Base height depends upon the character's race and birth sex. Base weight depends on the character's race and birth sex, and also upon results indicating gluttony, agility and lack of balance.

Height Rolls

roll 4d6	FEMALE HEIGHT							MALE HEIGHT
	dwarf	elf	gnome	half-elf	halfling	half-orc	human	dwarf	elf	gnome	half-elf	halfling	half-orc	human
4	3 ft. 3 in.	3 ft. 10 in.	2 ft. 9 in.	4 ft. 5 in.	2 ft. 4 in.	4 ft. 5 in.	4 ft. 9 in.	3 ft. 5 in.	4 ft. 3 in.	3 ft.	4 ft. 9 in.	2 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 9 in.	5 ft.
5	3 ft. 4 in.	3 ft. 11 in.	2 ft. 10 in.	4 ft. 6 in.	2 ft. 5 in.	4 ft. 6 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	3 ft. 6 in.	4 ft. 4 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	2 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 1 in.
6	3 ft. 5 in.	4 ft.	2 ft. 11 in.	4 ft. 7 in.	2 ft. 5 in.	4 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	3 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 5 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	2 ft. 8 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 2 in.
7	3 ft. 5 in.	4 ft. 1 in.	2 ft. 11 in.	4 ft. 8 in.	2 ft. 6 in.	4 ft. 8 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	3 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 6 in.	3 ft. 2 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	2 ft. 8 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	5 ft. 3 in.
8	3 ft. 6 in.	4 ft. 1 in.	3 ft.	4 ft. 9 in.	2 ft. 6 in.	4 ft. 9 in.	5 ft.	3 ft. 8 in.	4 ft. 7 in.	3 ft. 2 in.	5 ft.	2 ft. 9 in.	5 ft.	5 ft. 4 in.
9	3 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 2 in.	3 ft.	4 ft. 10 in.	2 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 1 in.	3 ft. 9 in.	4 ft. 8 in.	3 ft. 3 in.	5 ft. 1 in.	2 ft. 9 in.	5 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 5 in.
10	3 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 3 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	2 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 2 in.	3 ft. 9 in.	4 ft. 9 in.	3 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 2 in.	2 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 6 in.
11	3 ft. 8 in.	4 ft. 4 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	2 ft. 8 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	5 ft. 3 in.	3 ft. 10 in.	4 ft. 9 in.	3 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 3 in.	2 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 3 in.	5 ft. 7 in.
12	3 ft. 9 in.	4 ft. 4 in.	3 ft. 2 in.	5 ft.	2 ft. 8 in.	5 ft.	5 ft. 4 in.	3 ft. 11 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	3 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 4 in.	2 ft. 11 in.	5 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 8 in.
13	3 ft. 9 in.	4 ft. 5 in.	3 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 1 in.	2 ft. 9 in.	5 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 5 in.	3 ft. 11 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	3 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 5 in.	2 ft. 11 in.	5 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 9 in.
14	3 ft. 10 in.	4 ft. 6 in.	3 ft. 3 in.	5 ft. 2 in.	2 ft. 9 in.	5 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 6 in.	4 ft.	5 ft.	3 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 6 in.	3 ft.	5 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 10 in.
15	3 ft. 11 in.	4 ft. 7 in.	3 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 3 in.	2 ft. 9 in.	5 ft. 3 in.	5 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 1 in.	3 ft. 7 in.	5 ft. 7 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 7 in.	5 ft. 11 in.
16	3 ft. 11 in.	4 ft. 8 in.	3 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 4 in.	2 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 8 in.	4 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 2 in.	3 ft. 7 in.	5 ft. 8 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 8 in.	6 ft.
17	4 ft.	4 ft. 8 in.	3 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 5 in.	2 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 9 in.	4 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 3 in.	3 ft. 8 in.	5 ft. 9 in.	3 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 9 in.	6 ft. 1 in.
18	4 ft. 1 in.	4 ft. 9 in.	3 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 6 in.	2 ft. 11 in.	5 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 10 in.	4 ft. 3 in.	5 ft. 3 in.	3 ft. 8 in.	5 ft. 10 in.	3 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 10 in.	6 ft. 2 in.
19	4 ft. 1 in.	4 ft. 10 in.	3 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 6 in.	2 ft. 11 in.	5 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 11 in.	4 ft. 3 in.	5 ft. 4 in.	3 ft. 9 in.	5 ft. 11 in.	3 ft. 3 in.	5 ft. 11 in.	6 ft. 3 in.
20	4 ft. 2 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	3 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 7 in.	3 ft.	5 ft. 7 in.	6 ft.	4 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 5 in.	3 ft. 10 in.	6 ft.	3 ft. 3 in.	6 ft.	6 ft. 4 in.
21	4 ft. 3 in.	4 ft. 11 in.	3 ft. 7 in.	5 ft. 8 in.	3 ft.	5 ft. 8 in.	6 ft. 1 in.	4 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 6 in.	3 ft. 10 in.	6 ft. 1 in.	3 ft. 4 in.	6 ft. 1 in.	6 ft. 5 in.
22	4 ft. 3 in.	5 ft.	3 ft. 7 in.	5 ft. 9 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 9 in.	6 ft. 2 in.	4 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 7 in.	3 ft. 11 in.	6 ft. 2 in.	3 ft. 4 in.	6 ft. 2 in.	6 ft. 6 in.
23	4 ft. 4 in.	5 ft. 1 in.	3 ft. 8 in.	5 ft. 10 in.	3 ft. 1 in.	5 ft. 10 in.	6 ft. 2 in.	4 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 8 in.	3 ft. 11 in.	6 ft. 2 in.	3 ft. 5 in.	6 ft. 3 in.	6 ft. 7 in.
24	4 ft. 5 in.	5 ft. 2 in.	3 ft. 9 in.	5 ft. 11 in.	3 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 11 in.	6 ft. 3 in.	4 ft. 7 in.	5 ft. 9 in.	4 ft.	6 ft. 3 in.	3 ft. 5 in.	6 ft. 3 in.	6 ft. 8 in.

Weight Rolls

roll 4d6	FEMALE WEIGHT							MALE WEIGHT
	dwarf	elf	gnome	half-elf	halfling	half-orc	human	dwarf	elf	gnome	half-elf	halfling	half-orc	human
4	99	66	62	83	41	107	116	124	83	66	107	50	124	144
5	102	68	64	85	42	110	119	127	85	68	110	51	127	148
6	105	70	65	87	44	113	122	131	87	70	113	52	131	153
7	107	72	67	90	45	116	125	134	90	72	116	54	134	157
8	110	74	69	92	46	120	129	138	92	74	120	55	138	161
9	113	75	71	94	47	123	132	142	94	75	123	57	142	165
10	116	77	73	97	48	126	136	145	97	77	126	58	145	169
11	119	79	74	99	50	129	139	149	99	79	129	60	149	174
12	122	81	76	102	51	132	143	153	102	81	132	61	153	178
13	125	84	78	104	52	136	146	157	104	84	136	63	157	183
14	128	86	80	107	53	139	150	160	107	86	139	64	160	187
15	133	89	83	111	55	144	155	166	111	89	144	66	166	194
16	137	92	86	114	57	149	160	172	114	92	149	69	172	200
17	142	95	89	118	59	154	166	177	118	95	154	71	177	207
18	147	98	92	122	61	159	171	183	122	98	159	73	183	214
19	151	101	95	126	63	164	177	189	126	101	164	76	189	221
20	156	104	98	130	65	169	182	195	130	104	169	78	195	228
21	161	107	101	134	67	174	188	201	134	107	174	80	201	235
22	166	111	104	138	69	180	194	207	138	111	180	83	207	242
23	171	114	107	142	71	185	199	214	142	114	185	85	214	249
24	176	117	110	147	73	191	205	220	147	117	191	88	220	257

Age

Starting Age for Character Classes by Race

Class	Dwarf	Elf	Gnome	Half-elf	Halfling	Half-orc	Human
Assassin	27+1d4	14+2d4	20+1d4	16+2d4	na	37+1d6	20+1d4
Bard	na	na	na	33+1d4	na	na	25+1d4
Cleric	57+2d4	38+1d8	48+1d10	28+1d6	na	30+1d6	20+1d4
Druid	na	na	na	30+1d6	36+1d8	na	22+1d4
Fighter	16+1d4	15+1d4	15+1d4	18+1d4	17+1d4	25+1d6	14+1d4
Illusionist	na	na	21+2d6	na	na	na	29+2d8
Mage	na	22+2d4	na	23+2d6	na	na	24+2d8
Monk	na	na	na	na	na	na	23+1d4
Paladin	na	na	na	na	na	na	19+1d4
Ranger	na	18+1d4	na	21+1d4	na	na	17+1d4
Thief	25+1d4	12+2d4	18+1d4	14+2d4	29+1d6	35+1d6	18+1d4

Next comes the calculation of age according to class and race. My game doesn't recognize the extended lifespans given to non-human characters in AD&D, so my character races are adjusted to fit the traditional human lifespan. This translates to some characters being unusually old (dwarf and gnome clerics) or atypically young (elven assassins and thieves). My feeling is the disparity reflects some races resistance against training individuals until they've reached a certain age — or that youth indicates how much faster some races master a character class compared to others.

Multi-classed characters begin with the highest base number of all classes possessed; the total modifiers for all classes is added. For example, a half-elven fighter/mage would have a base age of "23," adding "2d6 + 1d4" to that base. This makes the multi-classed half-elven's age an average of 32-33.

Further Details

The character's age as determined at this point describes the time needed to complete his or her training; however, there are other things that can happen to the character that arise from other tables in the generator. For example, the character might have spent time in jail, or might have lost time due to a family tragedy or due to laziness. So this is only tentatively the character's final age.

Counting backwards, we determine the character's year of birth. If the year is 1650 and the character is 32 years old, then he or she was born in 1618. We determine the exact date of the year by rolling randomly against every day of the calendar, taking note whether the birth year was a leap year.

Physical Appearance

Though the player may wish otherwise, the character is not permitted to decide the colour of their skin, hair, eyes, or even the vitality of these things. Because a strong sentiment for individuality is preferable, the tables for skin-tone, hair and eye colour are extensive. I've adopted a premise that demi-human races possess a greater homogeneity that human races — if only because we possess much more knowledge of individual humans living in different parts of the world than we have for dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings or half-orcs.

Skin Tone

The image shown was found years ago on a cosmetic website for the purpose of explaining which foundation was best to wear with which colours. I don't know the source any more, but there are many similar images that can be found for this purpose, such as this one.

For some, skin tone is a touchy subject. It's fair to say that most would rather let the players choose their skin tone rather than assign it randomly. However, in keeping with the argument that the colour of one's skin is NOT something we get to choose about our coming into being, I don't believe it's appropriate for characters to have this as an option.

Moreover, I believe that by embracing every kind of skin tone in our characters is mature and appropriate. I would immediately boot any player who raised a conflict about their elf's colouring, or that their fighter or thief happened to originate in North Africa or the Middle East, and therefore had a sienna or sepia skin tone. My game world respects and appreciates persons of all races — though some villains in the game world do not — and as a DM I don't carry on vendettas against persons of any background or appearance.

It could be argued that my choices for non-human races deserve evaluation — but it should be understood that the choice, or belief in the "right" possibilities, is a personal matter. Any DM could easily adjust the table to their liking. A player might suggest my adding a choice prior to their generating a character. But there cannot be a definite right or wrong list with regards to a fictional ideal: not even one that is strictly respectful towards Tolkein's work. I don't run a version of Middle Earth. I run my own world, with its own rules, substantively influenced by details I can find in the real world.

I have many tables for the distribution of skin tone — one for each demi-human race and one for different ethnic parts of the world. The number of options means to reflect the stability of the culture and the variability of tribal movements dating back tens of thousands of years.

Roll	Demi-human Races
	Dwarf	Elf	Gnome	Half-elf	Halfling	Half-orc
1	bronze	ivory	bronze	alabaster	bronze	bronze
2	olive	nordic	olive	cream	honey	dark honey
3	sepia	–	tan	soft beige	–	greenish walnut

Demi-humans

Elves in my game world live in the north, so most half-elves to as well, though there is more mixing of races with human stock. Dwarves, gnomes and halflings dwell in mid-to-high temperate climates; some dwarves and gnomes spend most of their lives underground; halflings do not. Half-orcs come from the Asian steppelands. My world's history explains that all these races originated in ways very different from humans, primarily from off-world and arriving through planar gates tens of thousands of years ago. For much of their history they occupied lands devoid of human culture until only 7,000 years ago ... so that their genetic heritage is abnormally stable compared to humans. That is why so few choices for skin tone are given.

"Dark honey" and "greenish walnut" are not shown on the foundation chart, and reflect my conception for what colours a half-orc would possess, coming as they do from a humanoid race not of the earth and related to ogres and haruchai.

To determine the character's skin tone, we choose the column and roll against it. For example, an elven character rolls 1-2 to determine tone; a "1" indicates the character has ivory skin; a "2" indicates nordic.

Roll	African Humans			Asian Humans					Proto-asian Humans
	Sub-saharan Africa	East & South Africa	North Africa	East Asia	Himalayan	India Subcontinent	Southeast Asia	Turkestan	Polynesian	Amerindian
1	chocolate	almond	almond	caucasian	almond	almond	honey	beige	earth	beige
2	earth	bronze	bronze	honey	bronze	beige	olive	bronze	ebony	honey
3	ebony	caramel	caramel	olive	sepia	caramel	sienna	honey	molasses	olive
4	mocha	chocolate	honey	sienna	–	chocolate	–	olive	sepia	–
5	molasses	cocoa	olive	soft beige	–	cocoa	–	sepia	–	–
6	sepia	earth	sepia	–	–	sienna	–	–	–	–
7	–	ebony	tan	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
8	–	mahogany	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
9	–	mocha	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
10	–	molasses	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
11	–	sepia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

African & Asian Humans

Sub-sahara includes regions south of the Sahara Desert, the Gambia, Ghana and Sudan, reaching from the Atlantic to the Nile — lands of savanna and jungle. East and South Africa includes the Congo jungles and the savanna vegetations reaching from Somalia to the Cape of Good Hope, including the Kalahari, Madagascar and islands in the Indian Ocean. North Africa includes lands between the south coast of the Mediterranean well into the Sahara oases, Berbers, Libyans and Egyptians.

East Asia describes Japan and China, including those parts to the north and west touched by the Han Dynasty. Himalayan lands include Tibet, the Takla Makan and the sweeping ranges from the Tian Shan to Bhutan. The India Subcontinent counts the lowlands lands from Assam and the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta reaching west to the Indus, and south to the tip of India. Southeast asia includes the East Indies and the Philippines, but not the Pacific or Australian continent. Turkestan includes the high country west of the Himalayas and north of Persia, between the Tien Shan and the Caspian/Aral seas and south of the Siberian forest.

Polynesian peoples occupy the islands of the Pacific and include Australia. Amerindians include all the humans who came to the Americas some fifteen thousand years ago.

The plethora of possibilities in East and South Asia reflects the origin of the human race, for research into skin tone indicates that at the source there are the greatest number of unique and individual persons ... all of them with pigmentation that reflects an Equatorial environment. In comparison, the Himalayas represent the least interactive genetic pool on the list, so naturally it produces the most homogeneous colours.

The Middle and Near East regions appear on the next table, with European humans.

Roll	European Humans					Middle East Humans
	West Europe	Scandinavia	Germanic	Slavic Lands	Mediterranean	Turkic	Persian
1	alabaster	alabaster	caucasian	alabaster	almond	beige	beige
2	cream	fair	cream	cream	beige	bronze	caucasian
3	nordic	ivory	fair	fair	fair	honey	fair
4	soft beige	nordic	nordic	ivory	honey	olive	honey
5	–	soft beige	sienna	nordic	olive	sienna	–
6	–	–	soft beige	soft beige	tan	tan	–
7	–	–	tan	–	–	–	–

Europe & the Middle East

West Europe include Britain and France, whose genetics are influenced by many tribes, including the Franks, Saxons, Danes, Vandals and Visigoths. Scandinavia include Denmark and the lands above the North and Baltic seas. Germanic includes the greatly mixed peoples north of the Alps. Slavic Lands are a mixture of westward moving tribes and the Rus peoples from the north, from the Carpathians to the Urals. Mediterranean humans include those on the north side of the Mediterranean Sea, from Greece to Spain.

The Middle East represents a complex heritage; both "Turkic" and "Persian" peoples represent groups created by the mixture of Semetic peoples from the south mixed with incoming tribes from Turkestan. Thus, although people of the Arabian Peninsula are distinctly not Turkic, their genetic heritage includes much Turkish-and-north-Asian heritage. The same can be said for the peoples of Afghanistan and Iran with respect to the Persians. Both headings aren't meant to describe the many, many social groups within the lands between the Aegean and the Himalayas, but rather to describe genetic traits related to those areas.

Hair

Determining the colour and vitality of a character's hair is much more complex than skin tone, as besides regional factors there are real matters of the character's physical beauty and charisma to consider. Certain hair colours and characteristics are recognised as more attractive than others ... and so the generator must take this into account. In keeping with the uncertainty of all things, not every charismatic character has "great hair" — rather, we want a system that favours it, rather than dictates.

Additionally, the generator defines a difference of even 1 point of charisma with regards to the likelihood of a vivacious, luscious head of hair. And so the character's specific charisma, whether it's 8, 9 or 10, matters! Finally, with regards to hair, some randomness is also a factor. Together, these conditions offer a considerable variation of appearance based on the character's real ability stats.

The method requires two d20 rolls. The first roll subtracts charisma to produce a number between 17 and -17, determining the character's hair "colour." The second roll subtracts charisma to determine the hair's "condition."

For example, if a character's charisma were 3 and the die roll produced a "20", the result would be 17 (20-17=3) — the maximum possible result and therefore the worst result. This same character might get a result anywhere from 17 to -2 ... but could not get a better result than -2.

At the same time, a different character with a charisma of 17 would, rolling a natural "20," get a result of 3, whereas if they rolled a "1," the result would be -17. There are many cases throughout the generator where the character's ability stats are calculated in this way. To determine the kind of hair a character has, both the color and the hair's condition must be calculated by first rolling two d20 and minusing the character's charisma from each, then comparing them on the tables below.