Kicking it Old-School with 5e: Character Creation

5th edition is super-popular, and that is fucking great. New blood is good blood.

The question is "How do we get all the new blood that's over there, and bring it over here?"

To that end, I'm writing up a couple posts as a way to bridge the gap between 5th edition and old-school play, as a way to encourage them into the mindset while not straying too far from the rules that they are familiar with. Ideally, it would be something that you could introduce to all those bushy-tailed, bright-eyed newbies while running sessions at the local library without scaring them all away.

Basic mechanics

• Attributes are 3d6 in order. Attribute bonuses are as in 5e. 
• If the level-0 session is not meant as a funnel, you may adjust scores as you wish.
• Reaction and morale rolls are in effect.
• For level 0 characters, start with 1d4 + CON bonus HP.
• Alternatively, HP = CON,  skip HP gain at level 1.
• Checks operate under Shadow of the Demon Lord rules. You need to beat 10. Add your ability modifier to d20, then apply the greatest boon or bane that was rolled. 
• Initiative is also according to SotDL rules.
• Advantage and Disadvantage are replaced with boons and banes.
• Skills are out. Proficiency may be treated as a single Boon. 
• Feats are for walking, not for characters.
• Backgrounds can be whatever fulfills "prior employment". Use whatever list you like. You start with a (usually makeshift) weapon and an appropriate item, DCC style.

 

Character Race

Character race is determined by die drop.

Category (d%)	Type	Race	Reroll	Bonus	Weakness
1-5	Human (d20)	1-7: Human	Any	Kinship with dogs	1 bane to resist mutation
		8-10: Dwarf	CON	Can identify origin of worked items	No booze = exhaustion
		11-13: Halfling	DEX	Lucky: rerolls a 1, 1/day	Save vs lost in cities
		14-16: Goliath	CON	Shrug off d12 damage 1/day	Too big for normal doors
		17-18: Half-Orc	STR	Extra attack after drawing first blood	Cursed by the orc gods
		19-20: Firbolg	WIS	Speak to animals and plants	Unmaskable smell of dirt and sweat
6-7	Monstrous (d10)
		1-2: Kobold	DEX	Can squeeze into tiny spaces	Terribly nearsighted
		3-5: Goblin	DEX	Immune to disease	Leave filth and grease everywhere
		6: Hobgoblin	INT	Knows military hand signs	All about machismo and saving face
		7: Bugbear	STR	Hides without detection under beds and behind doors	Terribly confused by blankets and sheets
		8: Lizardman	CON	d6 bite, 13 AC scales	Save vs cold or 1 bane to all checks
		9: Orc	WIS	Can survive a hit that would drop to 0 HP, 1/session	Save vs blood-frenzy
		10: Serpentman	INT	Milk a dose of venom 1/day	Opium addiction
8-9	Elf (D12)
		1-2: Gnome	INT	1 boon to understand, repair, and build mechanical devices	Enemies may choose to punt
		3-4: Half-Elf	CHA	1 boon on saves vs magic	Hated by domestic animals
		5-6: Wood Elf	DEX	Stealth boon in natural cover	Allergic to iron
		7-8: Drow	CHA	Darkvision	Sunlight sensitivity
		9: Sea Elf	CON	Speak with sea creatures	Sinks like a stone
		10: High Elf	INT	Thermal vision and magnetic sense	Terrified of ugly things
		11: Shadar-Kai	DEX	Speak with dead, lvl/day	Looks like a warmed-over corpse
		12: Eladrin	CHA	Can make dead plants bloom	Must have permission to set foot in a building
10	Exotic (d8)
		1: Dragonborn	STR	2d6 dragonbreath 1/day, 15'	Breath causes 1d6 damage to self
		2: Kenku	DEX	Mimicry of sounds and voices	Compulsion to devour carrion
		3: Tabaxi	DEX	Darkvision	Save vs laziness
		4: Gith	INT	Critical range 19-20 with blades	Save vs chaos or anxiety attack
		5: Duergar	CON	1 boon vs mental effects	Alcohol triggers PTSD
		6: Triton	CHA	Can breathe underwater	1 damage / hour if left to dry out
		7: Aasimar	WIS	Can heal ally lvl HP	Explode when critically hit
		8: Tiefling	CHA	Resistance to fire damage	Heavy leaden footsteps

 

A Minor Extrapolation of Setting

5e comes with some implied setting bits that aren't all that common in OSR-style games: cosmopolitanism, panoplies of playable beings, and high magic all over the place. Certainly not in the tradition of Appendix N, but let's try something different.

All those angels / demons / dragons / liches / squibbly squid things / other immensely powerful beings out there? They run the world. They are the boot stomping down on everyone's neck, forever. They are the scions of a world based on inequality and systematic oppression.

Imagine a world where Jeff Bezos can resurrect himself.

You know that sort of crippling melancholy oppression found in the boat and parade sequences of Ghost in the Shell? Replace the computers with magic.

The superficial trappings are different, but the core is the same: old-school 5e characters are nobodies on the fringe, scrounging through the wilderness and the ruins of previous civilizations and societies, trying to make ends meet in a world stacked against them. It's basically scum and villainy tier Star Wars.

If the players want to be big heroes, let them. But make them earn it. No one gets to start out as Mr. Big Hero Man. Gotta work for it.

Classes 

Character classes will be featured in a subsequent post. For the time being, one could easily use classes as they are in 5e, or Mateo Diaz Torres excellent Lamentations of the Fifth Princess. The final result will probably tend towards the latter over the former, but with more random tables.The aim is to get all nine core classes adapted, so that prospective players will keep the options they get in the default book.