Starting a new D&D campaign is sometimes
hard on the players. The newly rolled characters
just seem to appear out of the thin air at the
moment they are ready for their first adventure. It
is better for both the player and the DM to know
about the character’s previous knowledge and
experience; the player can better know his
character and the DM can set up situations in
which a player can use his past experience and
skills. Therefore, we have come up with the
following birth tables to aid the DM in rolling up
new characters for a campaign.

I SOCIAL CLASS
01-30     Commoner
31-85     Merchant
86-95     Gentleman
96-00     Noble

II SIBLING RANK
1-1st
2-1st
3-2nd
4-2nd
5-3rd
6-4th
7-Bastard
8-Bastard
On a roll of 1 on a 6-sided dice,
a player is orphaned. 1st son
receives inheritance. No one
receives Allowance.
1st son receives 10% more
Initial and Allowance; bastard
receives 10% less.

III. SOCIAL RANK

COMMONER

-	-	Initial	Allow.	Inher.	Skills
01-25	Peasant	10	-	-	A
26-40	Average	30	1	15	A
41-47	Well-to-do	60	5	50	A
71-00	Wealthy	100	10	100	A

MERCHANT

-	-	Initial	Allow.	Inher.	Skills
01-25	Small	50	5	100	B
26-60	Average	100	10	150	B
61-80	Well-to-do	120	15	200	B
81-95	Wealthy	170	20	250	B
96-00	Very Wealthy	200	30	400	C

GENTLEMAN

-	-	Initial	Allow.	Inher.	Skills
01-25	Small	50	5	100	B
26-60	Average	100	10	150	C
61-80	Well-to-do	120	15	200	C
81-95	Wealthy	170	20	250	C
96-00	Very Wealthy	200	30	400	D

NOBLE

-	-	Initial	Allow.	Inher.	Skills
01-20	Impoverished	80	-	100	D
21-40	Poor	120	10	150	D
41-85	Average	200	25	300	E
86-95	Well-to-do	250	35	450	E
96-97	Wealthy	300	45	700	F
98-00	Very Wealthy	400	60	1000	F

"Initial" is the amount of money a player receives
    at start. It is multiplied by the player's level.

"Allowance" is the sum of money a player's
    family sends each month for the 1st year or
    until the player reaches 3rd level, whichever
    comes first.

"Skills" -- The letter determines how many skills
    may be chosen.

A -- 1 from Group 1
B -- 1 from Group 1 and Group 2
C -- 1 from each group
D -- 2 from Groups 1 and 2 and 1 from Group 3
E -- 3 from Group 1, 2 from Groups 2 and 3
F -- 4 from Group 1, 3 from Groups 2 and 3

IV. FATHER'S OCCUPATION

If:	Roll on this able
Commoner	1
Merchant	2
Gentleman	3
Noble	3

The number obtained
indicates which table
under SKILLS should be
used to roll father's
occupation.

V. SKILLS
    Percentage numbers are ignored when choosing
a player's skills.  One of a player's skills must be
his father's occupation (unless prohibited)

Group 1
01-10 = Vagabond
11-55 = Farmer/Serf
56-60 = Tinker
61-65 = Miner
66-70 = Woodsman
71-75 = Sailor
76-85 = Fisherman
86-95 = Craftsman
96-99 = Soldier
00 = Adventurer*

Group 2
01-35 = Normal Merchant
36-60 = Ind. Craftsman
61-65 = Scribe
66-70 = Seaman
71-75 = Slaver
76-80 = Animal Trainer
86-90 = Master Merchant
91-95 = Bird Trainer
96-00 = Adventurer*

Group 3
01-02 = Assassin/Spytracker
03-05 = Sheriff
06-08 = Magistrate
09-11 = Sage
12-15 = Alchemist
16-20 = Physician
21-25 = Artist/Sculptor/Musician
26-30 = Engineer
31-40 = Soldier
41-45 = Interpreter
46-50 = Writer
51-55 = Astronomer
56-60 = Don Juan
61-65 = Orator/Actor
66-70 = Dream Interpreter
71-75 = Biologist
75-80 = Seaman
81-85 = Gambler
86-90 = Astrologer
91-00 = Adventurer*

Crafts
1 = Tailor
2 = Smith
3 = Fletcher
4 = Cobbler
5 = Horseman
6 = Weaver
7 = Carpenter
8 = Armorer
9 = Bowyer
11 = Cartographer
12 = Jeweler

Notes

Group 1 — Peasant may not roll above 70; Wellto-
do may not roll below 31; Wealthy may not
roll below 52, with 52-55 equalling
Adventurer.

Group 3 — A player may not choose the first 5
skills: they are prohibited.

Adventurers — No player may be an Adventurer.
This possibility is taken care of under
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE. For fathers, roll
on Table VII.

Craftsman — Roll under Crafts for a father.

Ind. Craftsman — Independent Craftsman: A
craftsman who owns his own shop. A player
would not own a shop, but would know a craft.
Roll under Crafts for a father.

Soldier — Player receives +1 on hit probability
until he reaches 4th level.

Interpreter — Character may know languages as
if his intelligence was 3 higher.

Orator/Actor — +1 when rolling random
reaction of monsters.

VI NOBILITY
Table I: Father's Title

01-30	Knight
31-60	Baron
61-80	Count (Earl)
81-90	Marquis
91-95	Duke
96-00	Royalty

Proceed to Table 3 (unless Royalty)

(If a player is a 1st son and his father is dead, he 
receives his father's title, but not his position. 
Knighthood cannot be inherited.)

Table 2: Royalty

-	-	minimum wealth
01-30	Distant	Average
31-60	3rd Cousin	Well-to-do
61-80	2nd Cousin	Wealthy
81-99	1st Cousin	Very Wealthy
00	Immediate Family	Initial: 1000, Allow: 100

All of the above are traced from the Royal
Family to the player.

A child in the immediate family is never an
orphan.

If a player’s Social Rank does not conform to
the minimum wealth, it is immediately raised to
that level.

After rolling on Table 2, all but those in the
immediate family return to Table 1 and reroll,
ignoring 96-00. Immediately raise father’s title
one notch (Knight = Baron; Duke = Duke.)

Table 3: Father's Position

Knight

01-40	1
41-50	2
51-90	3
91-95	4
96-00	5

30%    A

Baron

01-40	1
41-50	2
51-90	3
91-95	4
96-00	5

25%    A

Count (Earl)

01-35	1
36-45	2
46-65	3
66-80	4
81-90	5
91-00	6

20%    A

Marquis

01-30	1
31-35	2
36-50	3
51-80	4
81-90	5
91-99	6
00	7

20%    A

Duke

01-20	1
21-25	2
26-40	3
41-72	4
73-82	5
83-95	6
96-00	7

15%    A

Key:
1 — Land Holder Only
2 — Orator
3 — In Army
4 — Courtier
5 — Sheriff
6 — Magistrate
7 — Advisor to the King
A — Adventurer*(this is a separate roll.)

VII    *ADVENTURERS
Commoner 
01-50  = 1st level
51-70 = 2nd level
71-95 = 3rd level
96-00 = 4th level

* * 

1-5 = fighter
6-8 = thief

Merchant
01-40 = 1st level
41-65 = 2nd level
66-75 = 3rd level
76-85 = 4th level
86-95 = 5th level
96-00 = 6th level

* * 

1-4 = fighter
5 = thief
6-7 = cleric
8 = magic-user

Gentleman
01-35 = 1st level
36-50 = 2nd level
51-65 = 3rd level
66-80 = 4th level
81-90 = 5th level
91-95 = 6th level
96-98 = 7th level
99-00 = 8th level

* * 

1-3 = fighter
4 = thief
5-6 = cleric
7-8 = magic-user

Noble
01-30 = 1st level
31-45 = 2nd level
46-60 = 3rd level
61-75 = 4th level
76-85 = 5th level
86-90 = 6th level
91-94 = 7th level
95-98 = 8th level
99-00 = 9th level

* * 

1-3 = fighter
4 = thief
5 = cleric
6-8 = magic-user

VIII    RACE

A player may roll a random race under Table
1 OR roll his characteristics first, and then hope
to fulfill the requirements under Table 2.

Table 1
Commoner
2 = Half-goblin
3 = Half-orc
4-10 = Human
11 = Half-elf or Dwarf
12 = Hobbit

Merchant
2 = Hobbit
3 = Half-elf
4-11 = Human
12 = Dwarf

Gentleman or Noble
2 = Hobbit
3-4 = Half-elf
5-8 = Human
9-10 = Dwarf
11-12 = Elf

Race                                               # of dice rolled

Half-goblin/Half-orc	3	2	3	3	2	2
Elf	3	3	4	3	4	4
Dwarf	4	3	3	4	3	3
Half-elf	3	3	3	3	3	4
Hobbit	2	3	3	4	4	3
Human	3	3	3	3	3	3
-	S	I	W	C	D	Ch

Table 2
Elf
S -- any
I -- any
W -- 9-18
C -- 9-18
D -- 9-18
Ch -- 13-19

Dwarf
S -- 9-18
I -- any
W -- any
C -- 13-18
D -- any
Ch -- any

Hobbit
S -- 3-12
I -- any 
W -- any
C -- 13-18
D -- 13-18
Ch -- any

Half-elf
S -- any
I -- any
W -- 9-18
C -- any
D -- any
Ch -- 13-18

Half--goblin/orc
S -- any
I -- 3-12
W -- any
C -- any
D -- 3-12
Ch -- 3-15

Human
S -- any
I -- any
W -- any
C -- any
D -- any
Ch -- any

IX CHOOSE CHARACTER CLASS

X. PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
(multiply by % dice) 

Commoner
01-85 = nil
86-96 = x20
97-99 = x30
00 = x50

Merchant
01-70 = nil
71-90 = x20
91-96 = x30
97-99 = x50
00 = x70

Gentleman
01-60 = nil
61-80 = x20
81-93 = x30
94-97 = x50
98-99 = x70
00 = x100

Noble
01-50 = nil
51-70 = x20
71-85 = x30
86-92 = x50
93-97 = x70
98-99 = x100
00 = x130

The tables themselves should be self-explanatory;
simply go straight through them,
ignoring anything that isn’t appropriate.

I adjust nobility to the race. I know that in our
campaigns the world is dominated by the
humans. Therefore, a non-human cannot be
higher than Earl.

Either or both tables under RACE can be used.
We both use Table 2. Table 1 has been used in the
past. A variation of Table 2 can be used by
substituting 9-18 wherever 13-18 appears, thereby
making it easier to become a non-human. Also,
when Table 2 (not a variant) is used, it may be
possible to remove some of the restrictions
pertaining to the various races. Rather than
letting any player be an elf and then limit his
advancement, simply limit the number of people
who can be elves. This is done by placing the
requirements on various features. (Anyway,
whoever heard of an ugly elf?)

To those who worry about letting a player start
at higher than first level: It is a great help in
keeping the low level parties alive. Anyway, if
players don’t deserve it, for some odd reason, they
don’t tend to keep themselves alive. A player who
can never get himself past 1st level, is still going to
get himself killed if he starts at 2nd; it will just
take him longer.

Now to run an imaginary player through the
tables: His roll under I is a 97 = Noble. Under II,
he rolls a 7 = Bastard. He rolls to see if his father
is alive: 5 = yes, he is.

Under III, he rolls a 95 = Well-to-do.
Therefore his initial gold is 250 (-10% for bastard)
with an allowance of 31. His skill class is E.

Under IV, he finds that his father’s occupation
is to be rolled under Table 3: 42 = Interpreter.
This is automatically one of the player’s skills. He
may now choose 3 from Group 1, 2 from Group 2
and 1 more from Group 3.

Under VI, Table 1, he rolls a 92 = his father is
a Duke. Table 2 is ignored. Table 3: he rolls a 52;
looking under Duke he finds that his father is a
courtier. He rolls to see if his father is an
Adventurer (15% chance): 9 = yes.

Under VII, he rolls a 63 and a 7. Looking under
Noble, he finds that his father is a 4th level magicuser.

He now goes to VIII and decides to use Table 2.
He rolls his characteristics and, fit for nothing
else, chooses to be a human.

He now chooses his character class — cleric.

Under X, he rolls an 89. Looking under Noble,
he finds that his multiplier is 50. He again rolls
the percentile dice, getting a 41. 41 X 50 = 2050.
He starts the game as a second level cleric.

These tables should take care of most aspects of
a character.. However, more tables can be added.
Some may be wondering why each table is used,
so we will give you a few reasons.

In a human oriented society, it is very
important to know in which social class the
character belongs. It determines how the
character should be treated (i.e., nobles are more
honorable with nobles). Sibling rank is important;
it dictates treatment from the character’s parents.

Instead of every character starting with 3 dice
of gold, we feel that this amount should be
determined by the wealth of the family; in a
campaign there is always a minute chance of
being an influential person (high noble or
adventurer.) Of course, these tables are just
suggestions and can be modified to fit each of
your campaigns.