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 (lbs.)							MALE WEIGHT (lbs.)
	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 Age 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.

Skin Tone

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.

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-humans
	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 Sub- continent	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." These numbers are called "adjusted charisma."

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.

This may seem like a lot of effort to make just to determine a character's hair, but I feel these details provide depth and feel to the overall character generation.

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 the first to the Hair Colour table and the second to the Hair Condition table.

Adj. Charisma	Demi-humans
	Dwarf	Elf	Gnome	Half-elf	Halfling	Half-orc
+17 to +14	ash grey	sooty black	ash grey	ginger	salt & pepper grey	sooty black
+13 to +4	ash brown	russet brown	tawny	russet brown	ash brown
+3 to -5					tawny
-6 to -9	copper red	wheaten	ginger	jet black	ginger	jet black
-10 to -12	ginger		jet black	wheaten
-13 to -14	bronze	flat white	bronze	flat white	flaming red	bluish black
-15 to -16	flaming red	platinum blonde	flaming red	platinum blonde
-17		silver grey

Ethnic regions conform to those described under skin tone.

Hair Colour

The lower colours at the bottom, where the adjusted charisma is in the negatives, are considered most attractive to members of that race. When determining the individual character's colour where more than one option exists, the options are wholly determined randomly.

For example, Lillith has a charisma of 16 and rolls a "2" on a d20, giving her an adjusted charisma of -14. This puts her result between "-13 to -17," where it gives three possible colours: flat white, platinum blonde and silver grey. Lillith simply rolls a d3 to determine which.

Overall, the emphasis for aesthetic is to suggest rich colours are more attractive than drab, so that less charismatic characters tend towards early greying while beautiful people are blessed with unusual hues like "flaming red" or "bluish black." With some peoples, such as half-orcs, the overall distribution is very narrow, even when the adjusted charisma roll improves.

Adj. Charisma	African humans			Asian humans					Proto-asian humans
	Sub-saharan Africa	East & South Africa	North Africa	East Asia	Himalayan	India Sub- continent	Southeast Asia	Turkestan	Polynesian	Amerindian
+17 to +14	iron grey	iron grey	iron grey	iron grey	ash grey	iron grey	iron grey	steel grey	iron grey	iron grey
+13 to +9	flat black	flat black	ash brown	flat black	flat black	flat black	flat black	russet brown	flat black	sooty black
+8 to +4			russet brown		salt & pepper grey			salt & pepper grey
+3 to -1	salt & pepper grey	salt & pepper grey	sandy brown	salt & pepper grey	silver grey			sandy brown
-2 to -5			sooty black		sooty black			sooty black
-6	jet black	jet black	chestnut brown	jet black	jet black	jet black	jet black	chestnut brown	jet black	jet black
-7 to -8								honey blonde
-9 to -10	tawny	tawny	jet black					jet black
-11 to -12								tawny
-13 to -15	raven black	raven black	raven black	raven black	golden blonde	raven black	raven black	bronze	raven black	raven black
-16 to -17					raven black			raven black

With many human races, hair colour is nearly always uniformly black — although the lustre improves attractiveness.

What follows is a description of each type for aiding characters in understanding what the words mean:

• ash blonde: blonde with dark roots and a hint of grey
• ash brown: brunette hair blended with cool grey tones; sometimes called "mushroom brown"

Adj. Charisma	European humans					Middle East humans
	West Europe	Scandinavia	Germanic	Slavic Lands	Mediterranean	Turkic	Persian
+17	ash grey	ash grey	ash grey	steel grey	steel grey	iron grey	iron grey
+16	iron grey	sooty grey	iron grey
+15 to +14	steel grey		steel grey
+13 to +10	ash brown	ash brown	ash brown	ash brown	ash brown	sooty black	sooty black
+9 to +7	salt & pepper grey		salt & pepper grey	salt & pepper grey	sandy brown
+6 to +4		sandy brown	sandy brown	sandy brown
+3 to +1	sandy brown	wheaten	sooty black		sooty	russet brown	russet brown
0 to -2	strawberry blonde	russet brown	strawberry blonde	sooty black
-3 to -5	russet brown	ash blonde	russet brown	russet brown	russet brown
-6	ash blonde	auburn	ash blonde	auburn	auburn	chestnut brown	chestnut brown
-7		chestnut brown		chestnut brown	chestnut brown
-8 to -9	auburn	ginger	auburn	jet black	honey blonde
-10 to -11	chestnut brown	tawny	chestnut brown		tawny	jet black	jet black
-12	jet black	flaxen	jet black	tawny
-13	flaming red	bronze	flaxen	raven black	flaxen	raven black	raven black
-14	flaxen	copper red
-15	platinum blonde	flaming red
-16	raven black	platinum blonde	platinum blonde		raven black
-17		raven black

• ash grey: the darker end of the grey spectrum, with a smoky hue
• auburn: reddish-brown, ranging from medium red to burgundy
• bluish black: thick black hair with blue highlights, called "balayage"
• bronze: brunette hair with notes of gold that look vibrant
• chestnut brown: deep brown with reddish hues
• copper red: dark, rich ginger hair blended with brunette
• flaming red: shocking bright red with crimson and orange highlights
• flat black: black hair without gloss or sheen, dull
• flat white: eerily matte appearance with a velvety lustre
• flaxen: pale yellow-grey, the colour of straw
• ginger: burnt orange blended with pale reddish-brown
• golden blonde: warm, rich yellowy colour
• honey blonde: blend of blonde hair with a sheen of light brown
• honey brown: warm brown colour with honey highlights
• iron grey: dark, dull grey colour
• jet black: intense black with a dramatic blue and purple undertone
• platinum blonde: whitish blonde hair with an luscious metallic gloss
• raven black: lustrous shimmering black with a softened tone
• russet brown: hard reddish-brown blended with grey undertones
• salt & pepper grey: mixture of black & grey with traces of white
• sandy brown: soft light brown hair lacking shine
• silver grey: shiny grey hair mingled with white strands
• sooty black: dusky, dull-coloured black with hints of depth
• sooty grey: uniform, flat grey colour lacking sheen
• steel grey: distinctive bluish grey with a hard lustre
• strawberry blonde: reddish blonde hair with an orange hue
• tawny: pale brown with tan highlights and varying sheen
• wheaten: soft brown-blonde hair with light brown highlights

On the whole, players tend to forget or ignore their assigned hair colour, inserting a "latent image" that corresponds to an impression of what they think their character ought to look like. And usually it won't matter, because such players tend not to identify visually with their characters at all. However, for players who are interested in exploring a unique appearance, who may even draw an image of the character for themselves, the random generation provides a baseline from which to design.

Hair Type

Roll	Demi-humans						African humans		Asian humans
	Dwarf	Elf	Gnome	Half-elf	Halfling	Half-orc	Sub-saharan, East & South Africa	North Africa	East & Southeast Asia	Himalayan	India Sub- continent	Turkestan
1	spiral curls	stick-straight	s-waves	stick-straight	spiral curls	kinked	kinked	kinked	stick-straight	straight w/ slight wave	stick-straight	stick-straight
2	s-waves	straight w/ slight wave	straight w/ slight wave	—	s-waves	tightly coiled	tightly coiled	spiral curls	—	—	straight w/ slight wave	straight w/ slight wave
3	—	straight w/ body wave	—	—	—	tight corkscrews	tight corkscrews	s-waves	—	—	—	s-waves
4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	tightly coiled	—	—	—	—

Roll	Proto-asian humans		European humans					Middle East humans
	Polynesian	Amerindian	West Europe	Scandinavia	Germanic	Slavic Lands	Mediterranean	Turkic	Persian
1	tight corkscrews	stick-straight	spiral curls	stick-straight	ringlets	ringlets	spiral curls	spiral curls	spiral curls
2	—	straight w/ slight wave	straight w/ slight wave	straight w/ slight wave	spiral curls	spiral curls	spiral curls	straight w/ body wave	stick-straight
3	—	—	s-waves	straight w/ body wave	stick-straight	straight w/ slight wave	s-waves	s-waves	straight w/ body wave
4	—	—	—	—	straight w/ body wave	s-waves	tightly coiled	tightly coiled	s-waves
5	—	—	—	—	s-waves	—	—	—	tightly coiled

Hair exists in a variety of textures, which exhibit themselves as curl pattern, volume and consistency. Like colour, hair type is distinctive in different parts of the world, so this too becomes something that's added to the character's physical description. In many parts of the world, hair tends towards a singular type — Asian hair, for example, is nearly always straight, growing perpendicularly from the scalp. It also tends to grow faster than other types of hair.

The management of hair is part of the character's experience — for though a character cannot choose the type of hair they have, they can decide how it's worn. Persons living in temperate climates, with wavy or curly hair, often choose to grow their hair out long as protection against the elements. To manage this volume, hair is bound with cords or threads, or braided elaborately for comfort and convenience. Further north, extensive beards are worn as well, as a beard helps keep the face warm in sub-polar weather.

Characters that are male may wish to experiment with the facial appearance of beards, creating a goatee or mustache. These details can add verve to the character, and creates the need to carry a mirror so the appearance can be maintained. In warmer climates, characters may wish to shave their heads. In the case of African hair, which is characterised by tight curls and kinks, shaving the head or clipping hair close to the skull is often preferable — though growing out a single long braid, either large or small, occurs as a sign of manhood and breeding in many cultures.

How a character fixes or manipulates their hair is as important as the colour and type of hair itself. However, a player may not have the opportunity to enjoy long, flowing tresses, as charisma also dictates the health and vitality of hair — and for characters who prefer to use charisma as a dump stat, they may find their hair is not all they hoped.

Adj. Charisma	Hair's vitality & health	Adj. Charisma	Hair's vitality & health
+17 to +16	thin, shedding hair with a scalp chronically infected by a persistent fungus	0	somewhat dry, can be let alone
+15	thin, shedding hair with patches of baldness throughout	-1 to -2	healthy but coarse to the touch
+14 to +13	thin, showing mid-to-high frontal baldness	-3 to -4	healthy with a light natural bouyancy
+13	mid-to-high frontal baldness	-5	produces a natural rumpled, pleasant appearance
+12	substantial bald spot above the forehead	-6 to -7	thick and full
+11	some receding, with a recognisable bald patch at the back	-8 to -9	full and downy to the touch
+10	fairly sparse hair all over, with a slight bald patch at the back	-10	visibly silken in appearance, with sheen
+9	hair wispy and thin, but healthy	-11 to -12	glossy in light and lush
+8	thin with a tendency towards being chronic greasiness that never quite washes away	-13 to -14	sumptuous and positively glowing
+7 to +6	chronically greasy, requiring frequent washing	-15 to -16	excessively luxuriant and exciting to the touch
+5 to +3	frequently oily, though easily washed out	-17	superabundant in volume and exciting to touch
+2 to +1	chronically dry, needing treatment	—	—

Hair Condition & Health

It may seem an absurdity of grittiness to have a player's character be concerned with the relative bounce and fullness of their hair — and to be completely honest, players tend to ignore the information anyway, because they don't wish to acknowledge that their 7 charisma character is prematurely balding or has hair that's stringy and infected. Nonetheless, experience demonstrates that rolling for this detail, and others, causes the player to think about his or her character in ways they would never have imagined. This promotes a tactile, informative depth to the character creation process — so that even if the player fails to recognise the importance of "this" detail, the greater impact of so many details, of such variety and of more or less significance, builds a climate of concern and interest in the character's identity.

To calculate the health of the character's hair, we use the 2nd charisma adjustment roll asked for above. Once again, we roll a d20 and subtract the character's charisma, producing a number between 17 and -17. The result is then checked on a single table that affects all peoples and all races in the same manner. With higher numbers, the individual's hair is scraggly and thin, suggestive of poor health, something that would be evident to anyone being met.

Lower numbers describe fullness and buoyancy, the sort of hair that attracts attention immediately. A good player can make use of either of these characteristics to establish a greater feel for the persona being played.

Eye Colour

Like hair, certain eye colours possess an unparalleled attractiveness, and so the character's charisma affects a luminosity and richness of colour in the character's eyes. Also, the presence of non-human races gives the opportunity for eye colours that don't exist in humans ... providing interesting opportunities in determining this physical characteristic. In general, fantastic colours are considered more appealing than brown eyes — though it can be recognised that there are many shades of brown, some of which are considered more attractive than others.

There are other matters having to do with a character's eyes and hair that have yet to be addressed, namely the possibility of a character being an albino, or possessing heterochromia. These things are dealt with below.

Adj. Charisma	Demi-humans
	Dwarf	Elf	Gnome	Half-elf	Halfling	Half-orc
+17 to +14	moss green	china blue	seaweed green	faded blue	umber brown	turquoise
+13 to +1	coal black	china blue	hazel	cornflower blue	chocolate brown	hazel
		cornflower blue	moss green	faded blue
	graphite	sky blue	pine green	sky blue	walnut brown
		—	walnut brown	—
0	pewter	china blue	fern green	china blue	gingerbread brown	hazel
-1 to -8	cloud grey	sea green	forest green	fern green	chestnut brown	pink w/ green flecks
	ebony black	steel blue		steel blue	cinnamon brown
	slate grey	—		—	—
-9 to -13	emerald green	crystal blue	cat's eye green	baby blue	chartreuse	pink w/ grey flecks
	jet black	electric blue	forest green	emerald green
	obsidian	emerald green	russet brown	ice blue	honey brown
	topaz brown	ice blue	tawny brown	sapphire blue
	—	sapphire blue	—	—	—
-14 to -17	amber	amethyst	bottle green	aquamarine	champagne brown	pale pink
	charcoal grey	aquamarine	grass green	indigo	golden brown
	golden brown	indigo	midnight black	violet	silver grey
	silver grey	ultramarine	ultramarine	—	—
	—	violet	ultraviolet	—	—

Adj. Charisma	African humans			Asian humans					Proto-asian humans
	Sub-saharan Africa	East & South Africa	North Africa	East Asia	Himalayan	India Sub- continent	Southeast Asia	Turkestan	Polynesian	Amerindian
+17 to +14	chocolate brown	walnut brown	chocolate brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	chocolate brown	walnut brown
+13 to +1	chocolate brown	chocolate brown	china blue	chocolate brown	walnut brown	chocolate brown	chocolate brown	walnut brown	chocolate brown	walnut brown
			chocolate brown	jade green
	walnut brown	walnut brown	faded blue	walnut brown		walnut brown	walnut brown		walnut brown
			graphite	—
	—	—	walnut brown	—		—	—		—
0	chocolate brown	chocolate brown	chocolate brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	walnut brown	chocolate brown	walnut brown
-1 to -8	chestnut brown	chestnut brown	chestnut brown	chestnut brown	whiskey brown	chestnut brown	chestnut brown	whiskey brown	chestnut brown	whiskey brown
			cloud grey
	whiskey brown	whiskey brown	slate grey	whiskey brown		whiskey brown	whiskey brown		whiskey brown
			whiskey brown
-9 to -13	russet brown	russet brown	baby blue	russet brown	crystal blue	honey brown	russet brown	topaz brown	russet brown	topaz brown
			crystal blue		honey brown	russet brown
			russet brown	topaz brown	ice blue	ice blue	topaz brown
			—		tawny brown	topaz brown
			—	—	topaz brown	topaz brown	—
-14 to -17	champagne brown	champagne brown	amber	amber	amber	amber	amber	amber	amber	amber
			amethyst blue		amethyst blue	champagne brown
			charcoal grey	golden brown	champagne brown	golden brown	golden brown	golden brown		golden brown
			silver grey		golden brown	—

Adj. Charisma	European humans					Middle East humans
	West Europe	Scandinavia	Germanic	Slavic Lands	Mediterranean	Turkic	Persian
+17 to +14	walnut brown	faded blue	faded blue	hazel	walnut brown	hazel	hazel
+13 to +1	hazel	china blue	china blue	hazel	hazel	chocolate brown	chocolate brown
		cornflower blue	cornflower blue
		faded blue	faded blue			hazel	hazel
	walnut brown	jade green	hazel	walnut brown	walnut brown
		sky blue	jade green			walnut brown	walnut brown
		walnut brown	sky blue
	—	—	walnut brown	—	—	—	—
0	walnut brown	faded blue	faded blue	hazel	walnut brown	hazel	hazel
-1 to -8	cloud grey	chestnut brown	chestnut brown	whiskey brown	whiskey brown	chestnut brown	chestnut brown
	steel blue	sea green	cloud grey
	whiskey brown	steel green	sea green			whiskey brown	whiskey brown
	—	—	steel blue
	—	—	whiskey brown			—	—
-9	honey brown	baby blue	baby blue	honey brown	cat's eye green	cat's eye green	cat's eye green
		cat's eye green	cat's eye green		chartreuse	chartreuse	chartreuse
-10	honey brown	chartreuse	chartreuse	honey brown	emerald green	emerald green	electric blue
		crystal blue	crystal blue				emerald green
-11	tawny brown	electric blue	electric blue	tawny brown	forest green	forest green	forest green
		emerald green	emerald green				honey brown
		forest green	forest green				russet brown
-12	tawny brown	tawny brown	honey brown	tawny brown	honey brown	russet brown	sapphire blue
		ice blue	ice blue		sapphire blue		topaz brown
-13	tawny brown	russet brown	russet brown	tawny brown	tawny brown	topaz brown	topaz brown
		sapphire blue	sapphire blue
-14	amber	amber	amber	amber	amber	amber	amber
-15	amber	champagne brown	aquamarine	amber	aquamarine	golden brown	amethyst blue
		charcoal grey	champagne brown		champagne brown		bottle green
-16	champagne brown	grass green	grass green	champagne brown	grass green	grass green	champagne brown
		indigo	indigo		indigo		golden brown
-17	champagne brown	bottle green	bottle green	champagne brown	bottle green	bottle green	grass green
		silver grey					indigo

Once again, the character needs to roll a d20 and subtract his or her charisma. This is then compared against the varying races and regions that have been used thus far for skin tone and hair colour. In addition, to give an impression of different eye colours, a description of each is included to aid characters in understanding what the words mean:

• Amber: clear, luminous warm gold colour, warm and seductive
• Amethyst: very pale, clear, true-violet colour with no hint of blue
• Amethyst blue: like amethyst, but with sky-blue striations
• Aquamarine: clear, piercing blue-green with a yellow hue
• Baby blue: very light to very pale greenish or purplish blue
• Bottle green: deep vivid green, luminous, with grey flecks or rays
• Cat's eye green: pale green with yellow undertones surrounding the iris
• Champagne brown: pale orange-yellow to greyish yellow, sparkling and light-catching
• Charcoal grey: very dark grey, almost black
• Chartreuse: a brilliant greenish yellow, backlit with a deep yellowish hue
• Chestnut brown: greyish brown with a soft medium reddish hue and orangish rays
• China blue: strikingly pure dark indigo with a luminous quality
• Chocolate brown: medium true-brown, with elements of red and grey; sexy and decadent
• Cinnamon brown: distinctive reddish eyes with warm brown undertone
• Cloud grey: softly luminous pale grey with whitish tones and striations
• Coal black: pure black eyes with a vague shininess or gleam
• Cornflower blue: muted medium-blue with flecks of light blue and white
• Crystal blue: extremely pale with white rays, clear and luminous
• Ebony black: flat black eyes with a soft and subdued beauty
• Electric blue: pale to medium bright blue; bright, energetic and striking
• Emerald green: very dark, clear green with a gleaming radiance
• Faded blue: dull pale blue with a homespun quality
• Fern green: cool, flat green colour lacking in other colours
• Forest green: soft, medium green with few flecks of brown, without a brown hue
• Gingerbread brown: medium brown with a strong yellow hue and rays
• Golden brown: medium warm brown with golden rays and gold circling around the iris
• Graphite: medium true-grey, flat and dull but distinctively unusual
• Grass green: medium true-green with equal ratio of blue and yellow rays
• Hazel: strong greenish-brown with glints of many colours, with blue or yellow rays
• Honey brown: pale brown with soft, light golden colour with a warm character
• Ice blue: extremely pale blue eyes, nearly white, hard and unsettling
• Indigo: warm, exotic dark blue that absorb light rather than reflect it
• Jade green: pale greenish-white with soapy luminosity, occasionally with exotic black flecks
• Jet black: a luxurious glossy black colour notorious for reflecting images
• Midnight black: blue-black with an indigo underlay and flecks of white
• Moss green: cool mid-tone greyish green with grey-blue undertones
• Obsidian: hard, flinty black with elements of unsettling transparency
• Pale pink: whitish-pink with yellow-grey flecks
• Pewter: rich saturated dark grey with a hint of soft blue undertone
• Pine green: deep, dark green colour with a slight black hue
• Pink with green flecks: sickly-looking pink-orange hue with flinty dark green flecks
• Pink w/grey flecks: deep pink color with grey flecks and striations
• Russet brown: shimmering, glossy reddish-brown with deep blue undertones
• Sapphire blue: deep, luminous medium-blue with a rich, luminous colour
• Sea green: clear blue-green colour with darker outer blue rim
• Seaweed green: flat dark green mixed with yellow and brown hues
• Silver grey: Bright and shining glossy grey with metallic rays, very luminous
• Sky blue: clear, light blue lacking highlights or balancing hues
• Slate grey: medium grey with hints of blue with stony coolness and a matte appearance
• Steel blue: hard iron grey-blue with light grey highlights, somewhat flat in colour
• Steel green: hard iron grey-green with flecks of grey-white colour
• Tawny brown: light brown to brownish orange, with yellow gold striations
• Topaz brown: pale, clear gold colour that reflects and appears glowing or luminous
• Turquoise: pale, milky blue-green colour with white hue and undertones
• Ultramarine: vivid strong blue mixed with dense, dark violet; very luminous and beautiful
• Umber brown: dark purplish-red colour mixed with deep brown, with violet ring around iris
• Violet: light purplish colour, somewhat dull, with white and yellow flecks
• Walnut brown: medium dull dark-brown, with lighter brown ring around the iris
• Whiskey brown: watery, warm brown with a light orange hue and a reflective quality

Albino Characters

The chance of a character being an "albino" should be higher than the chance of a real person having this condition (between 1 in 3000 to 1 in 20000, depending on region). Albinism inspires a unique characteristic for a player to consider when having their character approach the game world. I suggest that the chances of the first albino occurring in the campaign should be 1 in 100; and the chance of a second like character being 1 in 400. Such characters possess a flat white hair colour and deep red eyes. They may also be partially or wholly blind, in which case they have adjusted somewhat to that condition; or the DM may rule that the character's condition has been cured and that only the appearance of albinism remains.

In either case, the presence of albinism supercedes the generation of hair and eye colour, and so this roll should be made first. Of course, some DMs may prefer greater odds against the condition, or the suspension of the condition in their campaign.

Heterochromia

This is the variation of colour between the character's two eyes. Less than 1% of the world's population possesses eyes of two different colours, so we may fairly institute a 1 in 100 chance of this occurring, without the odds against increasing. Simply roll twice on the tables given for the character, indicating the left eye and the right eye.

Body Type & Overall Appearance

While the main determination of the character's general semblance and quality of being pleasing or sexually alluring is determined primarily by the character's charisma, a potential exists for the character's appearance to also be affected by wisdom. Unwise characters may have experienced critical accidents through foolhardiness that resulted in the loss of a hand or limb, or even an eye. However, those effects by wisdom are dealt with elsewhere. Imagine, then, that the tables for physical appearance and features describe what the character would look like without such mishaps having occurred.

[further details to be added at a later time]

Origin

The character's origin addresses the circumstances of the character's birth and other matters relating to upbringing, family, early training in secondary skills and the character's starting wealth. Prior to that moment when the player first enters the game, all time that has passed and all things that have happened are out of the player's control. These things are determined randomly, influenced by the choices made in allocating their ability scores ... for this allocation may allow or disallow the occurrence of a wide range of chance events and possibilities.

Family

As we know from our own experience, no person chooses the family or social status into which he or she is born. We may wish to be born rich, or a member of the nobility, but the fact is that our fate is out of our hands. Some are lucky; some are not. A part of learning what the character is, or what opportunities exist to be had, we must first learn what family the character has. The attribute that determines this is strength, which dictates the overall survival and number of the character's living relations.

By extension, we may assume that if the character has living grandparents or parents, most likely there exists a corresponding extended family, dwelling around the area of the character's birthplace. If, on the other hand, it turns out the character was made an orphan in their youth — perhaps without any family relations at all — then the lack of family might be a motivating factor in the way the character sees the game world.

Adj. Strength	Upbringing
+17 to +14	Left on the doorstep of a cottage as a foundling; and thereafter adopted and given an education
+13	Born a slave and kept until freed, began working as an apprentice at the age of [6-9].
+12 to +11	Lost family at age [6-9], finding support from a mentor acting as a surrogate parent [+1 age for elf thieves]
+10 to +9	Lost family after beginning class-level training at age [10-14] [+2 age for elf thieves]; continued education with the help of mentor and institution [see Institution subtable]
+8 to +7	Raised by [mother/father]'s [sister/brother] after [1-12] years of age [see Sibling subtable for this entry and all entries downtable]
+6 to +4	Raised by [mother/father]'s [sister/brother] after [1-12] years of age
+3	Raised by an elder [sister/brother] after [3-12] years of age; sibling is [2-8] years older than the character
+2	Lost family at age [6-9], finding support from a mentor acting as a surrogate parent [+1 age for elf thieves]
+1	Raised by both of [mother/father]'s parents after [2d4+5] years of age
0	Raised by single [mother/father]
-1 to -2	Raised by both parents
-3 to -6	Raised by both parents and [1-2] grandparents, elder either to [mother/father]
-7 to -12	Raised by both parents and 3 grandparents
-13 to -17	Raised by both parents and all four grandparents

Family Table

We begin by creating an adjusted strength number, rolling a d20 and subtracting the character's strength. This produces a number between 17 and -17, as explained in the determination of hair. By consulting the table, we can learn the extent of the character's living family. Throughout the table, additional details need to be rolled here or on the subtable below. Where it describes the character as "raised by," it should be understood that the named parents are still alive when the character enters the campaign.

If there are parents, the first sibling is born into a family when the mother is between the age of 14 and 20. Count the father's age as [3d4-4] added to the mother's age. Additional children are born 1 to 3 years after the first (the time difference accounting for children who may have been lost between living siblings). This should give the approximate age of the character's parents. If the placement of the character in the order of birth cannot be reconciled, then assume elder brothers and sisters are twins or triplets. Mentors will be [5d6+20] years older than the character.

From extrapolating the age of the parents and siblings, a character may take the time, if wished, to calculate their wider family tree by rolling the strength of each family member, rolling their own background on the family table — obviously discounting any results that can't fit with known details. At present, a true depiction would require another table for maladies and early deaths, which I don't intend to create at this time; but the reader could make up one of their own.

Sibling Subtable

A character's relationships with his or her siblings are discussed under Choices and Relationships. It shouldn't be assumed that characters have a positive relationship to any member of their family. With the table below, we're only concerned with the number of siblings, along with other odd matters. The same adjusted strength roll should be used for the sibling table as it was for the main family table.

Thus, if the character's adjusted strength was +8, indicating that "he" was raised by an "aunt," then the same +8 result would be used to determine the character's number of siblings.

Due to the circumstances of their birth, character with an adjusted strength of +17 to +9 have no known siblings.

Once the sex of each sibling has been determined, the character can be placed in the order of birth by simply rolling a random number of siblings who are either younger or older than the character. For example, if the character were one of 8 children, a d8 could be used to indicate if the character where the 1st or the 5th born, or whatever.

This particular fact can matter greatly where it comes to possibility of inheriting a rich parent's fortune, and is particularly crucial if the character turns out to be born a member of a region's nobility or of a kingdom's royal family.

Adj. Strength	Number of Siblings	Special
+8 to +7	[roll d20] none (1-14), one (15-19) or two (20)	—
+6	[roll d20] none (1-9), one (10-17), two (18-19) or three (20)	—
+5 to +3	0-3 (d4-1)	—
+2	0	—
+1 to -2	1-4	—
-3 to -6	2-4	—
-7 to -9	0-5 (d6-1)	character had a fraternal twin that died [roll d20] at birth (1-7), at the age of [1-3] (8-17) or at the age of [4-14] (18-20)
-10	1-6	character has a living fraternal twin
-11	2-7	character has a living identical twin
-12 to -13	2-8	roll character had an identical twin that died [roll d20] at birth (1-9), at the age of [1-3] (10-17) or at the age of [4-14] (18-20)
-14 to -15	4-10	—
-16 to -17	6-15 (3d4+3)	—

Should it happen that the character has a fraternal or an identical twin, the DM may give the player the option of running both. In the case of fraternal twins, roll 2d8 for each of the original character's stats, subtracting 5, producing an adjustment between -3 and +3. For each of these rolls, there's a 10 in 16 chance that the adjusted stat for the twin would be the same or within 1 point of the originally rolled character. The chance is 15 in 16 that it'll be within 2 points. With identical twins, the twin's stats are exactly the same.

The table doesn't include the possibility of triplets or quadruplets, but the DM may allow a 1 in 100 chance of triplet fraternal twins — with an equal chance of quadruplets and quintuplets, following each roll of 1 in 100 (thus, quintuplets would occur with three rolls of double-zero) once the twin result shows. The chance of triplet identical twins might be rated at 1 in 400. The reason the chances are so low is that in a medieval or post-medieval setting, like as not all of three or more twins would be unlikely to survive the birth, or the mother either.

Institution Subtable

It should be noticed that character's with high strengths, like clerics, fighters, monks, paladins and rangers, are far more likely to have large families than are bards, illusionists or mages. This is intentional. Strength and bravery ask for a strong support network, encouragement and a belief in working together, the sort of thing that large families encourage. On the other hand, the unlikeliness of illusionists and mages suggest that many who come to profession come to it by chance, as self-reliant, even resentful persons isolated by their circumstances — for example, by being made an orphan.

Still, a line has been inserted into the Family Table to ensure there is at least some chance for every character to become an orphan. Some would certainly miss the possibility if this were entirely denied.

The sort of upbringing an individual is given has no influence at all on their ability as a class character. But it does suggest a view of the world; a history that can be played, for the player to find in his or herself when approaching the game.

Instititutions, foster parents and mentors are determined by the character's class. Normally, an individual starts training as a bard, cleric, druid and so on at the age of 8 to 10. A foundling or a young character forced to fend for themselves — who has clearly made something of themself, since we're looking back — relies upon whatever culture is willing to support them. Assassins thus come from cultures very different than an illusionist or a paladin.

Applicable discriptions for the different institutions are below. Remember that although a character may have spent time aboard ship or in a varying type of guild, this doesn't necessarily mean they learned how to swim or create an article of some sort; to learn precisely what sort of secondary knowledge the character accumulated in their youth, see Progenitors.

Class	Institution [d20]
assassin	barracks (1-3), beggar's guild (4-16), shipboard (17-19), whorehouse (20)
bard	bard's college (1-14), guildhouse (15-16), performing troupe (17-20)
cleric	church/temple (1-14), monastery (15-20)
druid	manor farm
fighter	baggage train (1), barracks (2-13), manor farm (14-16), shipboard (17-20)
illusionist	guildhouse (1-9), library (10-20)
mage	guildhouse (1-14), library (15-20)
monk	monastery
paladin	barracks (1-12), manor farm (13-19), monastery (20)
ranger	manor farm (1-9), shipboard (10-20)
thief	beggar's guild (1-12), guildhouse (13), shipboard (14-18), whorehouse (19-20)

• Baggage camp: the character spent their childhood following military camps through campaigns, helping to cook, launder clothes, make liquor, nurse soldiers, carry baggage and otherwise act as a servant to soldiers. Like as not, he or she began their training as a fighter while still on the move, as taught by the soldiers present, not actually being sent to a proper school to gain traditional fighting skills until the age of 13.

• Bard's college: these are dramatic places of learning, often no more than a single sprawling structure, where the character was able to watch and listen to bards discuss and perform their arts. Much of the character's youth would have involved servant and cleaning duties, though as a bard they would have learned to read & write at an age of six or seven — as all bards have this ability. Practical, serious training would have started at the age of 10.

• Barracks: these are long buildings used to house soldiers and labourers. Characters would have spent much time cleaning weapons, sharpening them, sewing arming gowns and flags, cleaning and attending livestock or acting as servants to the soldiers. Practical training for fighters and paladins would have started and been completed in rooms attached to the main barracks; assassins from a barracks have started this training until their mid-teens, before abandoning the traditional path to gain knowledge from tutors and masters in less savoury activities.

• Beggar's guild: starting under the tutelage of a "kidsman," an organiser of begging and thieving children as depicted by Fagan, both assassins and thieves would have been stealing from the age of 6 or even earlier. Assassins, having shown a talent and interest in intimidation and confrontation, would have taken the skills learned as a child and maneuvered themselves into a proper barracks school to master fighting. Thieves, on the other hand, are likely to have reached the full skills of their class without any formal training at all, having started so young.

• Church/Temple: being taken in and given a place to sleep as an act of charity, the character would have spent their childhood cleaning the pews, carrying hymnals and other books, gardening, tending to animals kept to help support the clergy and carrying candles, flags and podiums during festivals. After the character is given a place during services and shows his or her piety, the decision is made to send the character to a formal seminary on a stipend.

• Guildhouse: represents different possible organisations for different classes, but in all cases the characters would spend time acting as servants and participating in the backbreaking work of feeding and housing a large number of workers. This means much laundering, kitchen duties and carrying much wood and water. Bards are familiar with guilds related to ceramic, tailoring, woodworking guilds and other artisan examples. Illusionists spend their time in bookbinding, print houses, scribners and university-supportive guilds. In addition to these for the illusionist, a mage can include guilds dedicated towards alchemy, medicine and other sciences. The guild for a thief is assuredly a thief's guild. Each of these guilds would be responsible, through collections and donations, for the character receiving a formal education in their class.

• Library: the duties for children in these places are primarily cleaning, collecting and copying. As illusionist and mages, they would have learned to read & write at the age of 8 to 9, when they were old enough to be trusted to spend endless hours writing copies as a scholar droned on and on. Characters of this type would also have some experience with many possible educations; as "farmers" or "explorers," they may never have stood in a field or been aboard a ship. Formal education begins when the character is paid for their ability to write, a task they perform all through their training.

• Manor farm: the character becomes a part of a squire or minor noble's household, working in a wide variety of possible tasks and places: in the stables, attending the reeve or hayward, farming, processing staples into foodstuffs, working as a servant in the house and like the guilds above, many hours of carrying wood and water. Future druids and rangers find themselves acting as a servant to the gameskeeper and manor shepherds, learning about the woods and animals. Paladins impress the manor owners so much that their way is to a formal education is paid, whereas fighters and others must beg, borrow or steal the money from the various overseers and friends they've made.

• Monastery: the culture here is not so different from that of a manor, with opportunities to learn about farming, animals and the making of various foodstuffs ... but the religious expectation encouraged the character to become a cleric or a monk — remaining to complete their training in the same institution they attended as young children. Paladins growing up in a monastery remain affected by what they saw and the rituals they took part in, but by the age of 10 or 11 they head out, with a stipend, to get formal training in fighting.

• Performing troupe: a fun and exciting life for a young future bard, full of helping to move and walk long distances beside wagons on their way to the next town ... but also opportunities to act on stage, walk through strange places shouting out the arrival of the troupe to outsiders, handling money and watching the players and performers hone their craft. Many heartbreaking moments also, as a performer in a troupe can lose heart. Such bards use what skills they can find in these places to audition their way into a college or guild to receive their formal training.

• Shipboard: life aboard ship includes many dangerous, unique ideas for the character to discover as a child, but it's hard, repetitive work also. Decks must be scrubbed white, while learning to walk out on a mast or spar in a storm is also part of the character's education. More than one lost friend, fellow child or adult alike, is remembered though they are long gone. Shipboard also allows for long periods ashore, where a fellow seaman may take time to teach an assassin, fighter, ranger or thief a wide variety of secondary abilities. Formal training is usually made possible by a long voyage at sea, where years of income are accumulated and paid out in a single day.

• Whorehouse: the most lurid of places where the assassin or thief character might spend their childhood. Suffice to say that the duties may be of a kind that the character would never speak of, be they man or woman. Certainly bathing the artists, cleaning, acting as servants and perpetually cleaning after the worst sort of visitors would make for unpleasant memories. More likely as not, the character stole what they needed to get out and be long gone from such a place — though they could never admit it.

Progenitors

Progenitor is a blanket term for the strongest person in the character's early life, who instigated or acted as the antecedent to the character's eventual career as a class-levelled person. Most often, this is the character's father and mother, but it might be an uncle or a mentor, depending on the generated family above. This person's profession was experienced and lightly transferred to the character prior to advanced training as a fighter, mage, thief or whatever — and that profession forms the character's "secondary skill," or in terms of knowledge, a "sage ability."

In most cases, the happenstance of this relationship is simple. Yet the determination of the character's progenitor also defines their starting capital, the social status of their birth and the possibility of other peculiar benefits and opportunities.

Progenitor Sources

So far, 112 progenitors have been added to the character's generation. Like character classes, these are divided into six "source", each rated according to their "primary attribute" — strength, intelligence, wisdom, constitution, dexterity or charisma. Usually, a character gets only one progenitor; but there are exceptions that occur (dealt with on other tables).

To determine the character's secondary skills, we must first subtract 10 points from each of the character's ability stats. If the character has less than 1 point in any of these, then secondary skills from that source are unavailable. The remaining points are added together and used for weighting the roll to determine from which source the character's progenitor comes.

For example, Paul rolls his ability stats, ending with an 18 str, 12 int, 10 wis, 14 con, 8 dex and 13 chr. Subtracting 10 from each and discarding wisdom and dexterity, Paul ends with 8 str, 2 int, 4 con and 3 chr; a total of 17. He rolls a random number from 1 to 17: str (1-8); int (9-10); con (11-14) and chr (15-17). Paul gets a "17." The source for his secondary skill is found on the charisma table.

As will be seen, characters with insufficient strength have no chance to be a gladiator or guardsmen; those without enough intelligence cannot be a surgeon or a scribe; and those without enough charisma have no chance at all to be a military leader or royalty. That's simply how the cards fall; not everyone can be everything. Most of the time, we end up being a farmer, a potter, a rat catcher or a teamster. The best the character can do is choose where to put his or her ability stats and hope for the best kind of luck.

Once we know the source, we can roll on that table. Feel free to jump ahead if you know what table you want:

• Strength
• Intelligence
• Wisdom
• Constitution
• Dexterity
• Charisma