parent nodes: Game Master Information | Rules
Character Creation Options
The standard character creation rules call for rolling 3d6 for each Ability Score in order. Players may complain that they can’t create the sort of characters they want to play. Here are several options you may choose from if you wish to make things easier for your players. Note that the players must not be allowed to demand these options; it’s purely the decision of the Game Master.
Point Swapping: Allow the player to “move” points from one Ability Score to another, at a rate of -2 to one score for each +1 added to the other. The maximum score is still 18 (or the racial maximum if lower), and the player should not be allowed to lower any score below 9.
Score Swapping: Let the player exchange any two Ability Scores, once per character.
The Full Shuffle: Let the player arrange the six Ability Score values as he or she wishes. This allows the most customization for the player, but on the other hand you may find that all player characters in your campaign begin to look very much alike. It’s not uncommon for players to “dump” the lowest statistic in Charisma, for instance.
Hopeless Characters
Sometimes a player will roll for ability scores, look at the ability scores rolled, and declare the character “hopeless.” Of course, no player can be required to play a character with less than 9 in the first four scores, since all four classes would be unavailable to that character. However, you as the Game Master might choose to allow the player to reroll a character with scores that are overall below average even if the character isn’t as “hopeless” as this.
Here’s an alternate suggestion: Allow the player to “flip” all of their scores by subtracting them from 21. This will turn a roll of 15 (+1 bonus) into a 6 (-1 penalty) but turn a roll of 3 (-3 penalty) into an 18 (+3 bonus). This will result in a character who previously had mostly penalties becoming one with mostly bonuses. If this is allowed, all scores must be flipped, not just the bad ones! Doing this ensures the character is playable while still allowing the possibility of some penalty scores.
It is of course possible to roll all average scores, such that the character has neither bonuses nor penalties and would not gain any benefit from flipping scores. The choice here should be the player’s; if they wish to reroll all scores, the GM should probably allow it.
Weapon and Armor Restrictions
Several races and classes have weapon and/or armor restrictions applied to them. What happens when a player declares that his or her character is going to use a prohibited weapon or wear prohibited armor?
Clerics: The prohibition against edged weapons is a matter of faith for Clerics. Therefore, if a Cleric uses a prohibited weapon, he or she immediately loses access to his or her spells as well as the power to Turn the Undead. A higher-level NPC Cleric of the same faith must assign some quest to the miscreant which must be completed in order for the fallen Cleric to atone and regain his or her powers. If unrepentant, the character is changed permanently from a Cleric to a Fighter. Refigure the character’s level, applying the current XP total to the Fighter table to determine this. Hit points and attack bonus remain the same; change the attack bonus only after a new level is gained as a Fighter, and roll Fighter hit dice as normal when levels are gained.
Magic-Users: These characters are simply untrained in any weapon other than those normally allowed to them, and should suffer a -5 attack penalty when using any prohibited weapon. A Magic-User in armor can’t cast spells at all; any such attempt fails, and the spell is lost.
Thieves: Wearing armor heavier, more restrictive and/or noisier than leather armor prevents the use of any Thief ability, including the Sneak Attack ability. Thieves may choose to wear such armor, but this only makes them a poor excuse for a Fighter.
Dwarves and Halflings: These characters are prohibited from using large weapons, mainly due to their small stature and relatively low weight. It’s hard to swing a weapon when the weapon is trying to swing you. If such a character tries to use a prohibited weapon, the Game Master may either apply a -5 attack penalty based on the difficulty of using the weapon, or alternately declare the attempt unsuccessful, at his or her option.
Judging Wishes
Wishes are one of the most potentially unbalancing things in the game. With a carefully worded wish, a player character can make sweeping, dramatic changes in the game world, possibly even rewriting history. Before allowing the player characters in your game access to even one wish, think about how you will deal with it.
Wishes are granted by a variety of beings. Even when a wish comes from a device (a ring or a sword, for instance), some extradimensional being, god or devil or whatever, has placed that wish in the device. A wish will tend to further the goals of the granting being; if the granter is an evil efreeti, for instance, it will attempt to twist the meaning or intent of the wish so that it does not really accomplish what the player character wants. On the other hand, if the granter is one of the good powers, it will grant the wish as intended so long at the player character isn’t being greedy or spiteful.
Game balance is the main issue that must be considered. Using a wish to heal the entire party, teleport everyone without error to a distant location, or to avoid or redo a catastrophic battle, is reasonable. A wish that a character be restored to life and health is reasonable, but a wish that not only restores but also improves the character is not.
In general, a wish is granted with at least literal accuracy… the words of the wish must be fulfilled. The exception is wishes that are unreasonable for game balance purposes; they are still at least literally interpreted, but may be only partially granted. In the last example above, for instance, the granting power would likely restore the character to life and health but ignore the “improvements” wished for.
+++Magical Research