It seems a good idea for the first step of character creation to set the tone for what an RPG is about. In my game, I’ve made this a weird meal and ale generator, to determine your character’s packed lunch for dungeon delving. It’s system neutral, so maybe of use to others too.
1 | Turnip | Stew |
2 | Coral | Flesh |
3 | Runt | Custard |
4 | Whelk | Pasty |
5 | Roach | Cake |
6 | Bean | Scrape |
7 | Eel | Mush |
8 | Pond | Paste |
9 | Mutton | Pie |
10 | Toad | Flan |
11 | Tendril | Sandwich |
12 | Tongue | Steak |
13 | Pike | Soup |
14 | Pumpkin | Tack |
15 | Boar | Pottage |
16 | Wyrm | Cubes |
17 | Vine | Shavings |
18 | Bat | Jerky |
19 | Swamp | Biscuits |
20 | Mushroom | Curd |
In Beggar’s Choice, this is the first part of character creation. I wanted to make some ordinary aspects of a fantasy setting more fantastical. Often, a fantasy setting draws things like food, professions and equipment directly from medieval history. I’m trying to inject a bit more of the weird into these things, rather than reserving weirdness purely for monsters and magic items.
So instead of hard tack and beef jerky, your character might have coral shavings, tendril pie or toad scrape. They can wash this down with a bottle of Impy’s Fetid or Barrow Murk. The ale names here are giving you a bit of flavour of the names and locations what might appear in your setting. They're both tables you can roll on twice, to combine the parts into new names.
Beyond all this, starting with your lunch and a drink is hinting at something about resource management in the game. A meal and a drink both take up a slot in your inventory. In games like D&D, tracking your drink supply is normally something hand-waved away. In Beggar’s Choice though, you need food and drink at hand to remove fatigue.
As I’ve introduced here, inventory matters a lot in Beggar’s Choice because there are big incentives to travel light. Essentially, anyone can be good at roguish things by virtue of not carrying very much. 7 items is the sweet spot that maximises these benefits. It’s a hard job keeping to these though, because you’ll fill a slot with fatigue on 1 in 3 dungeon event rolls.
If you’re heading out with just your lunch and an ale, this will likely influence your approach to dungeon delving. It creates a built in “clock”, incentivising speed, rather than crawling along tapping at every wall. Correspondingly, I’ve made rules for raiding a dungeon. Raiding is gets you through a dungeon quicker, with less random encounters or likelihood of fatigue. But you’re not going to spot even obvious indicators of traps.
Apparently, a lot of people drank ale in medieval times because it was considered safer than the water. To reflect this, I’ve also made the table below, in case thirsty characters feel like sipping some dungeon water. If you get a 6 as a dungeon event, your lucky characters have found just such a rancid puddle.
So instead of hard tack and beef jerky, your character might have coral shavings, tendril pie or toad scrape. They can wash this down with a bottle of Impy’s Fetid or Barrow Murk. The ale names here are giving you a bit of flavour of the names and locations what might appear in your setting. They're both tables you can roll on twice, to combine the parts into new names.
1 | Barrow | Stout |
2 | Mangrove | Burley |
3 | Garrow’s | Fetid |
4 | Cobsea | Pale |
5 | Donk’s | Choice |
6 | Griffon’s | Blue |
7 | Aunty’s | Brackish |
8 | Ramsey’s | Sandy |
9 | Grog’s | Golden |
10 | Stonehell | Spectral |
11 | Milna’s | Ashen |
12 | Impy’s | Hoppy |
13 | Polder | Sallow |
14 | Spire | Murk |
15 | Hillock | Stiffener |
16 | Wume’s | Flecked |
17 | Hopesend | Grog |
18 | Rockridge | Foamer |
19 | Beggar’s | Turgid |
20 | Zeiball's | Deadener |
Beyond all this, starting with your lunch and a drink is hinting at something about resource management in the game. A meal and a drink both take up a slot in your inventory. In games like D&D, tracking your drink supply is normally something hand-waved away. In Beggar’s Choice though, you need food and drink at hand to remove fatigue.
As I’ve introduced here, inventory matters a lot in Beggar’s Choice because there are big incentives to travel light. Essentially, anyone can be good at roguish things by virtue of not carrying very much. 7 items is the sweet spot that maximises these benefits. It’s a hard job keeping to these though, because you’ll fill a slot with fatigue on 1 in 3 dungeon event rolls.
If you’re heading out with just your lunch and an ale, this will likely influence your approach to dungeon delving. It creates a built in “clock”, incentivising speed, rather than crawling along tapping at every wall. Correspondingly, I’ve made rules for raiding a dungeon. Raiding is gets you through a dungeon quicker, with less random encounters or likelihood of fatigue. But you’re not going to spot even obvious indicators of traps.
Apparently, a lot of people drank ale in medieval times because it was considered safer than the water. To reflect this, I’ve also made the table below, in case thirsty characters feel like sipping some dungeon water. If you get a 6 as a dungeon event, your lucky characters have found just such a rancid puddle.
Ah I love a bit of colour! Pond Pasty and a flagon of Aunty's Stiffener for me please. I'd be interested to know your delving/raiding rules.
ReplyDeleteThanks, good choices! The rules are on p16 of Beggar's Choice, linked above. I'm going to do a separate post on them in the future. Essentially with raiding, you travel more quickly so get less random encounters/fatigue. But the downside is not spotting secret stuff or signs of traps.
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