Bad Characters for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Whenever I make a character for a role-playing game, I try to make them good at something. I often try to maximize their effectiveness in one area, to make them excel. When I make a barbarian, I want them to be as effective as possible in dealing melee damage. When I make a wizard, I want them to have many spells, and to be able to utilize them effectively. Additionally, I want my characters to have a few other strengths and talents to make them useful. My characters are meant to survive the adventure, defeat their enemies, and conquer their challenges. 

These are not such characters. They are the opposite of that. They are very bad at a few things and mediocre at everything else. Many of them can't even multiclass effectively, as they don't meet the attribute requirements to try to be anything else. These nerds are stuck being crappy characters until at least level 5. These characters are the opposite of optimized; they’re vandalized. Making these characters was surprisingly refreshing, after years of optimizing and trying to wring every little advantage out of a character. I recommend it to any veteran of character creation as a fun challenge and mental exercise.

These characters are made in such a way that they're bad at what they're supposed to be good at, and only mediocre at anything else. The barbarian is weak in melee combat. The wizard is bad at casting spells (and can't cast many). The would-be bard is actually a sorcerer, and is repugnant and bad at music. The monk is bad at fighting and isn't all that wise. I’ve taken advantage (disadvantage?) of custom backgrounds, the variant human race option, and monstrous races from other 5th edition books to make these characters as bad as possible. 

They each have a backstory that shows how they got to this state, and it's often a tale of woe. Some of these characters are complete assholes and deserve to suck at their profession. Others are unfortunate victims of circumstance.

Most of these characters have a high constitution. I'm not trying to say that constitution is a useless attribute - higher constitution scores are good - but it's not essential to any class, it isn't a prerequisite for multiclassing, and usually only gives you a few more hit points and a better chance on some saving throws. After all, a battle is won when your opponents are dead or defeated, and if you can't effectively overpower them, a few extra hit points aren't going to help.

These characters have all been made by the official WotC Adventurer's League standards (legal custom backgrounds, only one book besides the PHB), so you could play these poor bastards in an AL game if you wanted.

Now meet Bethyl, Dinki, Jeggory, Prizella, Shump, and Weynard.




Bethyl
Bethyl Character Sheet PDF
Bethyl is a very old hermit woman. She spends her time in small hut in the Neverwinter wood. She is obsessed with health and purity, and as a result is very healthy, but also very skinny. She has her own peculiar system of living, with a very restricted diet and a constant regimen of strange exercises and self-defense techniques; none of this serves to make her stronger, but it has contributed to overall great health. She knows druidic secrets she claims was taught to her by the trees; she uses these powers to purify her daily meal. She claims the fish and the rabbits taught her how to fight. When she is challenged on any of these beliefs, a terrible argument ensues. For fun, she sneaks around the forest trying to find people and animals, so she can lure them into conversation with a few magic tricks, then segue into preaching her way of life and selling her herbal poultices.



Dinki
Dinki Character Sheet PDF
Dinki is tiny, even for a kobold. Smarter than most kobolds, she had the misfortune of being fully aware of how poor her situation was, being a tiny weakling even amongst weaklings; this cursed her with a terrible and bitter rage. Dinki was part of a travelling kobold gang that would attempt to distract travelers along the Blackford Road with tricks and performances while the others picked pockets and looted saddlebags. One such occasion she was caught stealing from an old lady, who severed her leg with a meat cleaver. The other kobolds ran in terror, leaving her behind to fend for herself. After making herself a peg leg, Dinki has vowed to get revenge on old ladies, kobolds, and anyone that could be perceived as better off than she.



Jeggory 
Jeggory Character Sheet PDF
Jeggory was a big strong street thug from the city of Luskan. One ale-soaked drunken night, Jeggory wandered out into the wilderness, stumbled into a ring of mushrooms, and interrupted a fae dance contest. Jeggory attempted to impress the faeries with some lewd thrusting, and demanded they teach him magic. They agreed to teach him some of their magic, but it was a trick. They sold Jeggory to a green hag, who took him to the faewild. The hag agreed to teach him magic, but nothing else; to get food and water, he had to sell his eye, his ear, and years of servitude to the hag; he also had to agree to a pact to never wear metal again, as a true druid would. After decades of cooking, cleaning, picking herbs, and fixing the hag's stuff, the debt was paid and he was free to return to the mortal world, having been taught a hard lesson about making deals with the fae. 




Prizella 
Prizella Character Sheet PDF
An ambitious entertainer with delusions of grandeur and a terrible personality, Prizella is a healthy and attractive young woman, but completely undisciplined and untrained. She inherited a lute and magical talent from her ancestors but is only moderately proficient in both. Prizella is otherwise reprehensible and cruel. Without exception she resorts to violence and backstabbing when faced with criticism, rejection, or anything short of worship. People quickly learn to do what it takes to get her to leave, or at least get her drunk until the town watch can deal with her. 




Shump 
Shump Character Sheet PDF
A cabin boy on a fishing ship, Shump enjoyed a peaceful and simple life, until the ship was taken by vicious pirates in a bloody slaughter, who then enslaved the surviving crew. He lived as a slave, spending the daylight hours doing the most menial of tasks, and spending the night hours locked in a closet full of books - he had nothing to do but read the tomes that filled his closet space, including a spellbook. Shump eventually became more knowledgeable in various scholarly subjects, including wizardry. It took years, but Shump taught himself all the spells in the old wizard’s tome, and though he wouldn't know it, the spells were varied and random, not particularly useful for an adventurer. One of these spells did allow him to charm a guard and escape. He has vowed to never do anything strenuous again, and if possible, get servants of his own. His plan is to use his meager magical talents to trick people into giving him what he wants.

Dungeon World: Underwatch Episode 1

Episode 1: The Kidnapping

Cast:

Aubrey, Halfling Fighter

Lasbador, Human Wizard

Akajj Farstrider, Elven Druid of the Eastern Desert

Dash Seraphim, Human Bard

You stand at the end of a long hallway in an ancient building deep within the Undercity of New Axiom. You hear an anguished scream from the other side of the wooden door.  You need the man on the other side of that door alive.  You can still see the look on the Captain of the Guard's face as he told you the importance of the task.  Time is running out.  What do you do?

This was my opening description to the first session of my group's newly formed game of Dungeon World.  I tried to follow the book's suggestion to start the game in the thick of things.  I came armed with only the most basic of frameworks of what the session was going to be about:  all the stuff we outlined in the world creation step about 30 minutes before we started playing and a kidnapping/rescue scenario.

What follows is going to be a highlight of the events of the session.  I plan on going through some of the awesome events that took place and discuss what was going through my head and some of the judgement calls I made.  I'm no stranger to running games but Dungeon World is a different beast.  You really have to think about the consequences of player actions and know exactly what is at stake each time the dice are rolled.  Because of this you will find plenty of threads in internet land about "understanding" Dungeon World enough to run the game.  I figure if I running through reports like this might help me find ways to improve my game as well as giving some insight for others.

So what did our Underwatch do?

Aubrey charged at the door and busted it down!

I liked it.  Iconic Fighter type stuff.  A quick Bend Bars / Lift Gates roll later the door was smashed off the hinges and the group charged into the room.

The Watch found themselves standing in front of five men.  Four of which were obvious members of the Bower Street Boys and the fifth was some poor chap tied to an old chair with the visible signs that spend most of his free time as of late being someone else's punching bag.

The shocked thugs were speechless and most started to fidget nervously while the Watch filled the room.

I admit that I didn't much know where to go at first.  I liked the idea of starting the game with the group busting in on a crime in progress.  I rolled with it and made the thugs scared and nervous and waiting for the Watch to make the first move.  I get the idea that my players expected these guys to charge at them and for combat to break out after busting down the door.  I thought maybe that's what I should have done.  But it turned out better this way.  They got to do try out some "police procedure."

The Watch declared who they were and their intentions to bring these men to justice.  The Undercity isn't home to anything remotely close to the "suspect's rights," so the interrogation began right at the scene of crime.

It was learned that the poor chap in the chair was Dillard, a young member of the Stonemason Guild. The Stonemasons are responsible for the upkeep and construction of New Axiom.  They also have the reputation of having access to blue-prints, schematics and maps of most of the city old and new.  In other words, young Dillard is a fount of the kind of information that a band of thugs could have some real fun with.  Dillard was also the very man the Watch had been sent to find.

It was around this time the scrawniest of the Bower Street Boys became extremely agitated.  He was vigorously fiddling with an object behind his back, desperately hoping that the watch wouldn't catch on.

They caught on.

All at once they demanded to see what Scrawny was up to.  But it was too late.  As he showed the wondrous items his hands concealed they heard the calls and screams of more thugs outside.

What were these items?  A pair of enchanted bottle caps that were glowing with a soft blue nimbus.  A rushed interrogation had the scrawny thug reveal that those were gifts from The Stoutman.  It was here that we established that The Stoutman was some kind of criminal Kingpin in the Undercity.  Some kind of back alley boogey-man that no one had ever seen.  The bottle caps?  When rubbed together they allowed communication between the gangs remotely.  Bad news for the Underwatch.

After it was clear these "suspects" were not going to come in quietly, our group quickly attacked them.  Aubrey cleaved one in twain, Dash pinned one to the wall with his rapier, Lasbador fired magic missiles and Akajj was fighting tooth and claw (and spear).  Just when the characters seems their most Bad Ass, I had the front door the building smashed down and a flood of Thugs started to poor down the hallway.  The magic bottle caps work.

Soon the party was running for their lives with a couple of hostages suspects in tow.  They started to smash their way through the dilapidated wall into the building next door. One of the suspects took his chance to try and escape and was run through by Dash. They proceeded into the building to find an old stone door.  Akajj took a position to hold off the stampede of gangers while the rest of the party examined the door.  It was sealed shut by ancient dwarven mechanisms.  Akajj quickly shifted into Bear form and starting to fight the thugs 2-3 at a time.  Aubrey did a Bend Bars / Lift Gates and got the old door open before returning to Akajj's side.

Meanwhile, Dash and Lasbador were debating how safe it would be to descend the pitch-black staircase that was behind the door.  Lasbador quickly tried to cast his Light spell and got a Miss (6-).  The clean glow of the magical energy swirled around and was quickly siphoned down the staircase.  Oops.  Not one to waste a good scouting resource, Lasbador shoved the remaining suspect down the stairs.  The poor guy's anguished screams and loud thud of impact as he met the bottom was all the scouting the young Wizard needed.  Dash and Lasbador nodded at each other and followed down the stairs, calling to Aubrey and Akajj to follow.

Once the pair could push the gangers back they charged after their companions and met them at the bottom of the steps.  The only light in the tunnel at the bottom was the swirling energy from Lasbador's previous Light spell.  A large group of gangers were now at the top of the steps.  It was either take their chances with the darkened hallway or fight the mob coming down the steps after them.  They decided to run headlong into the darkness.

So you might be saying "Hey Guy, didn't the Wizard miss with that Light spell?"  Why yes he did.  The move I choose to do was Turn their move back at them.  I described the desperate chase down the hall.  The countless enemies to their rear and nothing but the ghostly whisp in the darkness to lead their way.  Suddenly, the light picked up speed and was consumed by something at the end of the hall.  The soft glow turned an angry red as the magic from the rogue spell brought an ancient construct to life.  Standing around 10 feet tall and made of smooth rock segments connected by ancient dwarven mechanics the towering war golem stood up.  It's eyes glowed with such intensity that it bathed the hallway in a dim red light.  It started to run toward our Underwatch.

It was right around this time that I really fell in love with Dungeon World as a game.  I hadn't even really considering what might be beyond that door when I put it in their way.  The miss on the Light spell immediately gave me the idea that the magic was "drawn" to the old magi-tek that was in these ruins.  And what would it turn on?  Huge Dwarven War Golems that's what!

The look on the players' faces was priceless.

The group immediately turned and started running back toward the mob of gangers.  They figured it was the best of the two options.  The Wizard Spouted some Lore about what this thing was as they ran full tilt the way they came.  The result was 10+ so I spilled the beans.  "The intense RED glow of this golem's eyes sends a shiver down your spine.  The only golems that were said to have eyes like that were the ones crafted by Garven MadAxe, a twisted rune-tek that was said to have found a way to power his creations with Hellfire.  As a result they have a special hatred for all living beings.  Oh, and they are said to be indestructible."

 'RUN!" Lasbador screamed in response.  On one end of the hall we had an ever increasing amount of Bower Street Boys flooding down the path and on the other we had a twisted dwarven warmachine bearing down on them like a locomotive.  The Underwatch needed to think fast.  Luckily someone was able to spot a hallway on the right side of the tunnel.  They ran right past it in the dark.  Thanks to the Hellfire glow emanating from the 2 tons of death behind them, it was somewhat easier to see this time around.

The group did a quickly timed turn and the Golem smashed into the oncoming Bower Street Boys.  Screams of agony mixed with the sounds of pistons and gears as the mechanical monster tore through the poor Boys.

The rest of the adventure was a short affair.  They hurried their way through the tunnels and were able to find the secret passage out.  It was at this point we learned about Lasbador's "other gift."  He's a Human Wizard so he get's a Cleric Spell to start.  He decided to take Guidance, but instead of always seeing his deity for the answers, he has a vision/hallucination that is appropriate to the task at hand.  He rolled well and saw the "ghost" of Garven Madaxe himself.  After a short conversation with the vision (giving the rest of the group the heebie jeebies) Lasbador found the way out.  Just in time too, the sounds of more of the Hellfire Golems waking up echoed through the chambers.

So the first mission of the Underwatch was a success.  They made it back with Dillard the Stonemason.  They made enemies of the street gangs below.  They unleashed a group of life-hating automatons.  Oops. That last part isn't so good. But fear not!  The Underwatch always cleans up their mess.  I hope.

Plot Hooks

• Who is the Stoutman and how does he have access to create such wondrous items?


• What were the Bower Street Boys trying to beat out of the Stonemason, Dillard.


• How in the nine hells is the group going to explain / deal with the Hellfire golems they have unleashed?

Barebones Fantasy Review

The Fantasy RPG genre is certainly one filled with choices.  Some might even say that it is getting overpopulated at this point.  I think that is all the more reason to check out the new games that are coming out.  Each author and publisher is looking to give us a new way to experience the genre and I am always eager to take a look at what might make them stand out from the pack.

Enter Barebones Fantasy from DWD Studios.

Barebones Fantasy fits within the rules-lite category as far as RPG systems go.  It offers an easy to learn rules system that keeps character creation quick the game moving along.  I was surprised to find out that Barebones Fantasy (despite the name) had quite a bit under the hood.  So let's crack it open and see what's what.

The Cover

Sometimes you want to judge a book by the cover.  In this case I was greeted with some traditional Fantasy RPG fare: A party of intrepid adventures about to battle the big bad Red Dragon.  In my eyes this is a good thing.  If you're selling a new take on traditional fantasy, why not open up with some familiar imagery to get the reader's head in the right place.







The System

The basic dice mechanic is a simple percentile.  You roll a d100 and compare it to your Ability or Skill.  If you get equal to or below your score you succeed.  Simple and to the point.

There are four Abilities that make up your character.  They are Strength, Dexterity, Logic and Willpower.  These are used to do the normal attribute stuff that any RPG player is used to with some slight differences.  Strength lets you lift objects and influences melee weapon use but also determines how much damage you can take (something a Constitution or Endurance stat usually does).  Dexterity is used to shoot, jump and dodge out of the way of incoming harm.  Logic is used for perception and deduction and Willpower is used for persuasion, bluffing (borrowing for traditional Social or Charisma stats) and some spell resistance.

There are eight different Skills that a character can learn.  They are: Cleric, Enchanter, Leader, Scholar, Scout, Spellcaster, Thief and Warrior.  These function as areas of expertise that a character has as opposed to singular skill specialties that some games rely on.  Scout, Thief and Warrior are Skills that all characters can use.  The others require training (meaning points must be invested in these) for a character to use them.

Character Creation

Making a character in Barebones Fantasy is a pretty straight forward process.  First, you roll Ability Scores.  To roll up a set you roll 5d10 and add 30 for each score.  Once you have four of them you can assign them to the four Ability Scores.  You then pick your Race (all the standard fantasy races are included).  Then you assign a primary and secondary Skill (which boost your starting score using it) and then assign one Skill rank to a skill.

Players then get to define one positive and one negative "descriptor" to their character.  These are roleplaying quirks that will reward the character with bonus Development Points (XP) if they portray this during the gaming session.

Next is Moral code which steps in and takes the place of an alignment system.  This is a cool change of pace as it gets rid of the tried and true Good vs Evil distinction.  Instead you decide to what degree your character displays certain aspects.  There are three levels: Somewhat, Very and Totally.  These are used to describe how Kind or Cruel, Forcus or Unfocused, Selfless or Selfish, Honorable or Deceitful and Brave or Cowardly they are.  After these guidelines are set, the GM can call for a WIL checks when the character is acting "out of character" and wishes to act outside their personal moral code.

After that you buy some equipment and determine all your derived stats (Body Points, Initiative, Damage Reduction from Armor and so on).

Magic and Spellcasting

Like most actions in Barebones Fantasy, Spellcasting is easy to execute.  Usually this is just a test of the Spellcasting or Cleric skill.  What is worth noting though is that spells have a toolbox approach that can change from casting to casting.  You might have a buff spell that can improve an ally's ability score.  At the time of casting you can change which Attribute is the one to get boosted.  The same goes for some of the damage spells.  Fireball one turn and Lightning Bolt the next.  It allows for quick rules but different trappings for each casting.

Combat

Combat is a straight forward affair.  You roll a d100 and compare to your ability or skill.  If you get equal to or lower you succeed and deal damage.  You'll notice that there is no "defense trait" like Armor Class or anything factored into the equation.  This is because defending counts as an action.

Each action after the first you take in a turn results in a -20 percent penalty to all skill and ability checks.  So it creates a simple tactical decision of whether you want to defend (and make any subsequent attacks suffer the increasing penalty) or do you take the hit and hit them with your full skill rating.  It also allows for multiple attacks per round, making higher ranked characters able to dish out some punishment to groups of bad guys.

GM Guidelines and Setting

The rest of the book is all for the GM.  You have a chapter that goes into more detail on running a game.  It has guidelines for bonuses and penalties to rolls as well as rules for all kinds of conditions (dazed, immobilized, prone, slowed) and different ways to get hurt (falling, starvation, fire, environmental exposure).  This alone gives Barebones Fantasy a little more meat than a traditional "rules-lite" game.

There is also an included setting that is presented in a very "broad strokes" fashion.  It requires the GM to fill in most of the details but the inclusion is a nice starting point for new comers.

The Verdict

I think that DWD Studios have a great rules-lite game on their hands.  Barebones Fantasy gives some comprehensive attention to areas that most rules-lite games simply skimp on.  This is especially welcomed in the areas of Spell utility, equipment lists and character statuses.  The rules are simple and easy to learn and teach.  I think for $10 it makes a perfect game for teaching beginners the hobby or for anyone who is looking to throw some of the crunch to the side and dive right into the game.

Dungeon World: Kickstarting My Heart

Ok.  I have a confession to make.  I have yet to back anything on Kickstarter.  I know, I know.  I'm not supporting all the great Board Game, RPG and Video Game projects that are being made.  I'm missing out on all of those cool Backer rewards.  Trust Me!  I've wanted to.  My greatest failure was actually forgetting, FORGETTING to back Shadowrun Returns.

All of this is about to change.  I've stumbled on a project today that really sings to my latest interest.  Old School Fantasy Adventuring.  I've been reading the most excellent Dungeon Crawl Classics and it really has me longing for a return to form for my Fantasy RPGs.



Enter Dungeon World.

Dungeon World promised to combine modern rules with old school style.  I heard about this what seems like ages ago.  A rules hack for Apocalypse World which emulated old school D&D as opposed to the dark and deviant setting that is standard for the game.  Apocalypse World is supposed to have some good mechanics backing it.  Stuff that ties characters together and rules that don't get in the way.  From what I understand it has many "Indie" RPG mechanics.

Fast forward to now and Dungeon World is already well past being funded.  In fact, it is currently 1,281% Funded.  Yea.  They overshot the goal that much with over a week to go.

So I'm going to throw in my $5 at least.  For that price you get the PDF and PDF copies of the exclusive Kickstarter Backer supplements.  At that price point I can't help but give in to curiosity.  For those that want a little more there are tons of other backer levels that include softcover and hardcover books.  All of which are priced nicely.

The game will operate under an open Creative Commons license as well.  The developers want it to inspire others and let them run amok with what they have created.  I think this is a great approach as it is even more open than the typical OGL.

Modern Mechanics + Old School Style + Great Art + Great Price.  I'm on board.

You still have 11 days to go.  Check it out.