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So my GM and I have found untold levels of fun in random character generation. Two of our favorite PC's were the result of a random roll rather than a char. with a specific design in mind. The random rolling makes us better role players because we have to learn to work with what we've got. Well the other day, when I was so tired that I bordered on delirious, an idea came to me. What would happen if we randomized the ENTIRE char.gen. process even more than it already is? How hard would we have to play if we were presented with something that didn't make any logical sense at all?

So I told the GM my idea and he was excited by the prospect and figured out the following guidelines.
*Note: We're playing TMNT&OSr so you might have to roll a little differently for your game

1. The 8 Attributes: The GM rolled the attributes like normal (3D6+1d6 for 16-18) without assigning them to any category. He did this 8x so he had 64 different numbers in an 8x8 grid. Once all the numbers were in place, he rolled 2d8 to represent the X and Y axis of his grid (respectively). This showed which number was chosen (in standard order) for each Attribute

2 Animal Type: This was easy. There are 5 categories (which do not have an equal opportunity for random selection.) We evened the odds and rolled 1d6, discarding any roll of 6. This could also be done on any die that is evenly divisible by 5. A D10 (1-2,3-4,5-6,7-8,9-0) or a D20 (1-4,5-8...17-20)
For the specific animal you are, a little more math is involved. Basically you have to count the # of animals in each category and figure out the appropriate die or dice combination to roll. OR you can use the chart as listed if you don't mind an uneven spread [this is what we did] (only a 1:100 chance to be a wild boar)

3. Cause of mutation and Education: Cause of mutation roll 1d6 (1-2,3-4,5-6) and choose the appropriate cause. Education (Deliberate 1d10, Wild 1d4) Responsible Organization for a deliberate experiment 1d10 and discard rolls of 0

How did we randomize skill selection? It took some creative arithmetic but we got it done. There are 16 skill programs. Roll 1d20. Discard rolls of 17-20, OR D10+D8. So that 1+1=2 = 1st choice. If total = 18, then -1 so that your result is 17=16th choice. Reroll duplicate rolls. From there count the # of skills in a category where you are allowed to pick and roll the appropriate die or dice combination with modifiers as needed. [I went ahead and worked out the rolls for TMNT&OSr)
Domestic Program - 1d6 (1-2,3-4,5-6)
Espionage Program - 1d20 (reroll on 15-20)
Language Program - (we googled the top 10 languages thand then rolled 1d10. rerolling when we hit the PC's native language).
Physical Program - 1d20 (reroll on 17-20)
Science Program - 1d8 (reroll on 8 )
Technical Program - 1d6 (1-2,3-4,5-6)
Ancient W.P. Program - 1d10 (reroll on 0)
Modern W.P. Program - 1d8

There are 13 Secondary skill categories. To randomly determine which category you get to roll your skill from use 4d4. The breakdown goes like this
Die result:Skill Category - Die roll to determine skills (reroll duplicate #'s for skill selection [dont take first aid 2x]). N/a means there is only one skill available.
4:Computer - N/a
5:Domestic - 1d6 (reroll on 6)
6:Electrical - N/a
7:Espionage - 1d6
8:Mechanical - 1d4 (1-2,3-4)
9:Medical - N/a
10:Physical - 1d8
11:Pilot Related - 1d4 (1-2,3-4)
12:Science - N/a
13:Technical - 1d4 (1-2,3-4)
14:W.P. Ancient - 1d6 (1-2,3-4,5-6)
15:W.P. Modern - 1d4
16:Pilot Basic - 1d8

From this point on we left everything the way it was. We considered rolling to determine if the PC had No, Partial, or Full Human features and which Animal Abilities/Natural Weapons they would spend Bio-E on, but we thought that might be taking it a little too far.

This is the rough unfinished PC my GM came up with using this system
IQ 5
ME 11
MA 22
PS 11
PP 4
PE 4
PB 21
SPD 9

Animal Type: Deer
Cause of mutation: Accidental Encounter
Education: Grew up on the fringes of society. Has Prowl +12%, HtH Basic, and 14 secondary skills.
(These are the 14 random skills we came up with)
Adv. Math
Auto Mechanics
First Aid
Basic Mechanics
Body Building
Wilderness Survival
Language: Hindi/Urdu
Language: Arabic
Writing
Land Navigation
Read Sensory Equipment
Pilot Related - Navigation (Air, Land, Sea)
Photography

Oh the fun we had laughing at the back story for this character.

After a little bit of figuring, we managed to put a more equal spread on the individual animal selection tables
Urban Animal (13 choices): Roll D10+D4 add together. 0=10. So that 1+1=2 = 1st choice and 14= 13th choice
Rural Animal (13 choices): Roll D10+D4 add together. 0=10. So that 1+1=2 = 1st choice and 14= 13th choice
Wild Animal (26 choices) D20+D8 add together. So that 1+1=2 = 1st choice. If total = 28, then -1 so that your result is 27=26th choice
Birds (16 choices) D10+D8. So that 1+1=2 = 1st choice. If total = 18, then -1 so that your result is 17=16th choice
Zoo Animal (17 choices) D10+D8. So that 1+1=2 = 1st choice and 18 = 17th choice.

Using the above fromula's you should be able to COMPLETELY randomize your character generation experience (at least as far as TMNT goes).

We will consider doing ATB2 depending on available time.

I see there have been quite a few viewers of my little thread, but has anyone else tried this out? Even if it was just for fun?

If so, I'd like to see your results.

We started on the ATB2 tables but didn't get very far on them for various reasons. We'll take another crack at it soon I hope.

I notice you didn't reroll ones and twos in the stats, so you came out with extremely low stats for the PE and IQ. I usually don't let stats be rolled that are below a nine. Also, were there no bonuses for the deer that boosted the stats even a little?

Stone Gargoyle wrote:I notice you didn't reroll ones and twos in the stats, so you came out with extremely low stats for the PE and IQ. I usually don't let stats be rolled that are below a nine. Also, were there no bonuses for the deer that boosted the stats even a little?

Bodybuilding was the only randomly rolled physical skill. I cant be sure if the #'s listed reflect that or not.

Thanks so much for the post SG.

The Oh So Amazing Nate wrote:

Stone Gargoyle wrote:I notice you didn't reroll ones and twos in the stats, so you came out with extremely low stats for the PE and IQ. I usually don't let stats be rolled that are below a nine. Also, were there no bonuses for the deer that boosted the stats even a little?

Bodybuilding was the only randomly rolled physical skill. I cant be sure if the #'s listed reflect that or not.

Thanks so much for the post SG.

Not a problem. I was just browsing the forum and came across this topic. I think bodybuilding only boosts your PS and SDC, I don't think it does anything for PE.

Give it a try with your buddies. See what poor unfortunate mess fate casts your way