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Chapter 1: Creating The
Player Character
| NPCs | - | The Effect of Wishes on Ability Scores | - | Character Abilities |
| - | - | Oriental Adventures | - | - |
Each and every character in the AD&D
Oriental Adventures game has seven
abilities: Strength,
Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence,
Wisdom, Charisma, and Comeliness. Each ability has a score ranging from
3 to 18. The characters portrayed by the
players (called Player Characters) are special in that each is above
average in some way, giving them special
potential. Most characters must have exceptional scores (15 or
higher) in at least two abilities just
to survive the rigors of an adventuring life.
As players in an Oriental AD&D
game will be playing the same character over many game sessions, it is
important to let each player create a suitable
character of the race and profession he desires. Even an average
character has a short life expectancy in
the treacherous regions of Kara-Tur. This discourages new players, as
does having to make do with some character
of a class or race the player can't or doesn't want to identify with.
Character generation, then, is a serious
matter.
Q: Why hasn't TSR published
Oriental
Adventures character sheets?
A: The newest AD&D
character sheets
(TSR product number 9264)
are designed
to work with Oriental characters.
(151.8)
The first six ability scores are determined
randomly by rolling dice (Comeliness is discussed later). In
order to give player characters (PCs) the
edge they need to rise above the mundane, these dice rolls are
weighted to give better-than-average results.
Four alternatives for generating player characters are offered here;
it is recommended that one of the following
methods be used.
Method I: Roll 4d6, discarding the
lowest die and totaling the remaining three. Do this six times, then
assign the six numbers to the character's
abilities however desired.
Method II: Roll 3d6 twelve times.
Retain any six scores, assigning them to the character's abilities as
desired.
Method III: Roll 3d6 six times.
Assign any one of the results to the character's Strength. Do the same
thing for Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence,
Wisdom, and Charisma, in that order.
Method IV: Roll 3d6 six times, assigning
the results in order to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution,
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Do
this 12 times to create 12 characters, then choose whichever character
is preferred.
Method V: Similar to the method presented
in UA, Method V
may be used to generate ability scores
for human (only) PCs once a class has
been chosen. To use the chart, simply roll
1d6 as indicated for each ability score.
| - | Str | Int | Wis | Dex | Con | Cha | Com |
| Barbarian | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| Bushi | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| Kensai | 7 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Monk | 7 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Ninja* | 6 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| Samurai | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| Shukenja | 7 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
| Sohei | 9 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Wu Jen | 5 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| Yakuza | 6 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
The DM should purposefully set the ability
scores of important NPCs, particularly those of high level
and power. (High-level NPCs should have
correspondingly high ability scores; how else could they have
survived to rise so high?)
Determine the ability scores of other non-player
characters as follows:
For run-of-the-mill characters, roll 3d6
for each ability. For more average scores, count any 1 as 3 and
any 6 as 4.
For special characters (including henchmen),
roll 3d6 for each ability (allowing the full range from 3 to
18) except the ability or abilities germane
to his profession. For these abilities, either use one of the four
methods for generating PC ability scores
or roll 3d6 and add 1 to each die that rolls a 5 or less.
The Effect of Wishes on Ability Scores
It is common for players to use wishes (or
alter reality spells found on scrolls) to raise their ability
scores in important or weak abilities.
This is a legitimate use for a wish, and should be allowed. At some point,
however, it must become very difficult
to raise an ability score, or the campaign will be overrun by characters
with grossly inflated abilities. To prevent
this, try the following guideline: a wish or alter reality spell will raise
an ability score of 3-15 by one point.
The same spells will raise an ability score of 16 or above by only
one-tenth of a point. Thus, a single wish
or alter reality spell will raise a score of 16 to 16.1. Nine more wishes
are needed to reach 17. This doesn't mean
that magical books or devices can't raise scores of 16 or better a full
point; the prohibition is only on wishes
and alter reality spells.