Character Backgrounds
Hello dear reader, this week instead of spending time telling you simply what I think, I want to present to you something I use in my own games.
While some players show up at the gaming table with a 10 page back story, to some players coming up with a background for a new character can be real headache. Gary Gygax was wise enough to include in the DMG a secondary skills table. This can be used to give the players a background base for their character, keeping this in mind I have expanded on this table for use in my games.
I originally did this for assigning skills quickly to NPC’s, but I have since allowed players to roll on these charts. I do not force my players to use it, in fact I allow my players to choose their own background story as long as it is within reason, but sometimes the player just has nothing in mind and I allow them to roll if they wish.
I expanded on the list of skills presented in the DMG by adding a few new skills, and I also took many of the skills listed for sages and made them available. I then took each class and created a new skills table based on what I believe would be their most reasonable background. For instance scribe is a possible skill for a cleric, druid, paladin, or mage but not a fighter, while armorer is a possible skill for a fighter but no other class. On some of the skills, such as scholar, there is a further breakdown provided on a sub table.
I hope these tables are of some use to you, or at least give you ideas for your own.
Cleric
Dice Roll Skill
01-20 Farmer/Gardener
21-26 Brewer
27-35 Carpenter
36-38 Miner
39-43 Husbandman
44-48 Limner/Painter
49-52 Trader/Barterer
53-59 Teamster/Freighter
60-69 Tailor/Weaver
69-74 Woodworker
75-80 Engineering
81-86 Scribe
86-90 Scholar*
91-94 Astrologist
95-97 Heraldry
98-100 Medicine
*Roll on the Cleric Scholar Chart below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-20 History (Local)
21-35 History (Ancient)
36-42 Legends & Folklore
43-50 Law & Customs
50-70 Theology & Myth
71-80 Politics
81-85 Astronomy
86-89 Anatomy
90-94 Biology
95-98 Mathmatics
99-100 Topography & Cartography
Druid
Dice Roll Skill
01-25 Farmer/gardener
26-38 Fisher
39-45 Forester
46-49 Mason
50-55 Carpenter
56-64 Husbandman
65-70 Woodworker
71-77 Tailor/weaver
78-83 Trapper/furrier
84-87 Scribe
88-91 Scholar*
92-94 Astrologist
95-97 Fauna expert**
98-100 Flora expert***
*Roll on the Druid Scholar table Below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-30 History (Local)
31-49 Legends & Folklore
50-69 Theology & Myth
70-85 Astronomy
86-100 Biology
** Roll on the Druid Fauna table below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-10 Amphibians
11-20 Arachnids
21-35 Avions
36-39 Cephalopods & Echinoderms
40-44 Crustaceans & Mollusks
45-50 lchthyoids
51-60 Insects
61-85 Mammals
86-90 Marsupials
91-100 Reptiles
***Roll on the Druid Flora table below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-20 Bushes & Shrubs
21-35 Flowers
36-40 Fungi
41-59 Grasses & Grains
60-69 Herbs
70-80 Mosses & Ferns
80-94 Trees
95-100 Weeds
Fighters
Dice Roll Skill
01-10 Armorer
11-20 Black Smith
21-25 Bowyer/fletcher
26-34 Brewer
35-45 Farmer/Gardener
46-50 Fisher
51-55 Forester
56-62 Gambler
63-66 Hunter
67-70 Husbandman
71-74 Leather worker
75-76 Limner/Painter
77-79 Mason
80-81 Carpenter
82-84 Miner
85-87 Navigator (fresh or salt water)
88-90 Sailor (fresh or salt)
91-92 Shipwright (boats or ships)
93-94 Trader/barterer
95-96 Woodworker
97-99 Weaponsmith
100 Musician
Paladin
Dice Roll Skill
01-09 Blacksmith
10-25 Farmer/gardener
26-36 Fisher
37-50 Mason
51-62 Carpenter
63-69 Tailor/weaver
70-73 Scribe
74-78 Scholar*
79-82 Shipwright (boats or ships)
82-90 Heraldry
91-93 Medicine
94-97 Woodworker
98-100 Weaponsmith
*Roll on the Paladin Scholar Table below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-15 Legends & Folklore
16-59 Law & Customs
60-87 Politics
88-100 Theology & Myth
Ranger
Dice Roll Skill
01-19 Bowyer/fletcher
20-26 Brewer
27-33 Farmer/Gardener
33-39 Fisher
40-60 Forester
60-79 Hunter
80-89 Trapper/furrier
90-93 Woodworker
94-96 Tailor/Weaver
97-98 Fauna expert*
99-100 Flora expert**
*Roll on the Ranger Fauna table below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-25 Avians
26-88 Mammals
89-100 Reptiles
** Roll on the Ranger Flora table below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-30 Trees
31-60 Bushes & Shrubs
61-80 Flowers
81-100 Weeds
Thief
Dice Roll Skill
01-10 Brewer
11-20 Farmer/gardener
21-30 Fisher
31-40 Gambler
41-48 Hunter
49-53 Jeweler
54-56 Leather worker
57-60 Limner/painter
61-64 Mason
65-69 carpenter
70-73 Woodworker
74-77 Juggler
78-80 Musician
81-83 Navigator (fresh or salt water)
84-89 Sailor (fresh or salt)
90-93 Shipwright (boats or ships)
94-97 Teamster/freighter
98-100 Trader/barterer
Assassin
Dice Roll Skill
01-09 Brewer
10-20 Bowyer/fletcher
21-35 carpenter
36-45 Farmer/gardener
46-50 Fisher
51-63 Gambler
64-67 Hunter
68-75 Jeweler
76-79 Leather worker
80-86 Sailor
86-88 Juggler
89-93 Teamster/freighter
94-98 Trapper/furrier
99-100 Fauna expert*
*Roll on Assassin Fauna table below
Dice Roll Skill
01-50 Arachnids
51-100 Reptiles
Magic-User
Dice Roll Skill
01-11 Farmer/gardener
12-17 Fisher
18-21 Jeweler
22-29 Leather worker
30-40 Engineering
41-50 Limner/painter
51-58 Tailor/weaver
59-64 Trader/barterer
65-70 Woodworker
71-76 Mason
77-84 carpenter
85-90 scribe
91-94 scholar*
95-97 Astrology & Numerology
98-100 Heraldry, Signs & Sigils
*Roll on the Magic-User Scholar table below
Dice Roll Skill
01-10 History (Local)
11-19 History (Ancient)
20-26 Legends & Folklore
27-30 Law & Customs
31-34 Politics
35-41 Psychology
42-46 Sociology
47-54 Astronomy
54-62 Chemistry
62-68 Geography
69-74 Geology & Mineralogy
75-79 Mathematics
80-88 Physics
89-92 Topography & Cartography
93-100 Alchemy
Illusionist
Dice Roll Skill
01-10 Farmer/gardener
11-19 Actor
20-26 Gambler
27-31 Jeweler
32-40 Leather worker
41-49 Engineering
50-57 Limner/painter
58-66 Tailor/weaver
66-72 Trader/barterer
73-79 Woodworker
80-85 scribe
85-88 scholar*
88-90 Astrology & Numerology
91-94 Juggler
95-100 Heraldry, Signs & Sigils
*Roll on the Illusionist Scholar table below
Dice Roll Skill
01-10 History (Local)
11-18 History (Ancient)
19-27 Legends & Folklore
28-37 Psychology
38-48 Sociology
49-57 Astronomy
58-68 Geography
69-79 Geology & Mineralogy
80-92 Mathematics
93-100 Physics
Monk
Dice Roll Skill
01-11 Brewer
12-20 Farmer/gardener
21-30 Fisher
31-41 Leather worker
42-51 Limner/painter
52-60 Mason
61-70 carpenter
71-79 Miner
80-84 Woodworker
85-88 Scribe
89-92 Scholar*
93-96 Tailor/weaver
97-100 Flora expert**
*Roll on the Monk Scholar table below
Dice Roll Skill
01-25 History (Local)
26-32 History (Ancient)
33-38 Legends & Folklore
39-46 Law & Customs
47-50 Psychology
51-56 Sociology
57-68 Theology & Myth
69-77 Astronomy
78-87 Mathematics
88-93 Physics
94-100 Topography & Cartography
**Roll on the Monk Flora table below.
Dice Roll Skill
01-20 Bushes & Shrubs
21-35 Flowers
36-40 Fungi
41-59 Grasses & Grains
60-69 Herbs
70-80 Mosses & Ferns
80-94 Trees
95-100 Weeds
The Looking Glass
This week I want to list a magic item that I originally presented in my Chaos Halls of Belzir module that is available for download at dragonsfoot.
Belzir Disks:
These ceramic disks are as big around as a saucer and 1 inch thick. They are as hard as steel until the command word is spoken. Once spoken the disks become brittle and light and breaks easily. Once a disk is broken it releases a dispel magic in a 10’ radius as if cast by a 12th level magic-user. Because the disk is so light it can only be thrown a maximum of 15 feet. Once broken and the dispel magic is released the disks become worthless. These disks normally show up in groups of 1-4 disks.