Character Generation

Character Stats
Roll 1d100 once for each Ability pair.  Keep rolling sets of 4 until you have 2 scores of 50 or more.
STR/STA      DEX/RS      INT/LOG      PER/LDR
Find the ability base score on the table below.

Strength Strength determines a character's chance to break open doors, bend metal, shift heavy objects or anything else requiring brute force.

Stamina A character's Stamina score is the number of points of damage the character can take before being killed. It is also the character's percent chance to resist the effects of poison, gas, drugs, disease, extreme heat or cold, starvation and fatigue.

Dexterity A character's Dexterity score determines his base chance to hit in combat. It also is his percent chance to sense things by touch, throw or catch an object, keep his balance, jump into a moving vehicle or perform delicate actions like cutting a wire without touching any surrounding wires.

Reaction Speed A character's Reaction Speed score is his percent chance to react quickly, to avoid falling rocks, to catch something he knocked over before it hits the floor, to jump away from a vehicle that is racing toward him, to grab an animal or to dive through a door before it slams shut.

Intuition A character's Intuition score is his percent chance to notice small details or hidden objects, to sense an ambush or trap and, at the referee's discretion, to make sense out of seemingly unrelated or illogical facts. When a character passes an Intuition check, the referee should tell the player that they notice something unusual, and describe what the character sees (or hears, smells, feels or tastes). The player must decide what to do with this information. Referees should urge players to figure out puzzles on their own; Intuition checks should not be allowed until after the players have tried (and failed) to solve the puzzle themselves.

Logic A character's Logic score is his percent chance to follow complicated instructions, to figure out the best way to do something he has never done before or use something he is not familiar with, and to make accurate predictions from facts. The referee should roll Logic checks secretly. If the character fails the check, the referee can tell him either that he does not understand whatever he was studying, or can give him false information. A character's Logic score can be modified by the complexity of the situation and the amount of time the character spends studying it. The referee should encourage players to draw their own conclusions from information; like Intuition, Logic checks should be a last resort.

Personality Personality affects how likely a character is to get a friendly response from a stranger and how long he can hold someone's attention. The referee should encourage players to role-play their attempts to use Personality and talk to NPCs.

EXAMPLE: Paddy the Irishman has just insulted a Scandanavian thug by accidentally spilling a drink on him. The Scandanavian is very mad. Paddy decides to try talking his way out of the situation. "Oops, pardon me, my good fellow, how absolutely clumsy of me," the player says. "Here, let me buy you a drink and let's forget about it. Paddys' Personality score is 40. The referee notes that the Scandanavian is mad and wet and itching tor a fight. He tells Paddy to subtract 20 from his score. Paddy rolls 91, which is greater than his modified score of 20. The Scandanavian punches Paddy.

Leadership. A character's Leadership score reflects his ability to command with authority and have NPCs obey his/her orders. Leadership checks are needed only if a character orders an NPC to do something dangerous, or has mistreated the NPC. Under normal conditions NPCs who work for a character will always obey that character. If characters try to give orders to strangers, the referee must decide how likely the stranger is to obey.

Leadership also is used to bargain with NPCs. The referee should not let characters with high Leadership scores trade junk for valuable merchandise, but a successful Leadership check will get a better deal for the character, or convince reluctant NPCs to deal with the character. Characters can bargain for information as well as merchandise.

Players can increase their characters' ability scores by trading 1 XP to raise an ability score 1 point. No ability score can ever be raised above 100.

Example:
00:47, Sun 01 Dec 2019: Lieutenant John McLean rolled 42 using 1d100.  Character Stats.
00:47, Sun 01 Dec 2019: Lieutenant John McLean rolled 97 using 1d100.  Character Stats.
00:47, Sun 01 Dec 2019: Lieutenant John McLean rolled 63 using 1d100.  Character Stats.
00:46, Sun 01 Dec 2019: Lieutenant John McLean rolled 66 using 1d100.  Character Stats.

The 4 rolls = 42, 63, 97, 51 are applied to the table below giving us:
45/45  50/50  70/70  45/45 a pair of these values are applied to each attribute.

Humans add +5 to one of these 8 ability scores (not both scores in the pair).

Example: Lieutenant John McLean adds +5 to his LDR

Players now can modify their ability scores by subtracting points from one ability and adding them to the other ability in that pair. No more than 10 points can be shifted this way.
Example: Lieutenant John McLean has a Personality/Leadership base score of 50/50. The player decides he wants his character to be a leader. He can increase the character's LDR score to 60 if he reduces the PER score to 40

IM: Initiative Modifier is equal to your Reaction Speed score divided by 10, rounded up.

PS: Punching Score is found on this table, using the character’s Strength score:

RW: Ranged Weapons is equal to half your character’s Dexterity score, rounded up.

MW: Melee Weapons is equal to half your character’s Strength or Dexterity scores, whichever is better, rounded up.

Starting money = TBA

Starting Age:  16 + 1d10
Game Start Date is 1798


So a character aged 17 0r 18 will have no modifiers.  A character aged 19-35 will add +5=STR/STA & INT/LOG

Choose a name, gender, birth place, native language and handedness.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:40, Sun 20 Aug 2023.

Character Career Paths:

After choosing their Primary Skill Set, characters for the Pirates & Privateers Campaign can choose from three different career paths: Volunteers, Press Gang or Cadets.  These are introductory stories that give characters some basic, Naval type skills to add to their starting skills, vocations or hobbies

Press Gang:
Citizens with all manner of backgrounds are pressed into naval service by gangs of recruiters who cudgel and cajole victims into enlisting in Her Majesty's Navy.

Press Gang recruits can be any PSS and start the game with a level one Skill from their PSS and a level one Military skill.

Starting nationality of  British or European except for Spain, France or Dutch

Any starting Vocation (Except Volunteer Skills listed below) x1
Hobby Skill x1
They begin the game with 2d10 shillings.

Volunteers:
Volunteers can be any PSS and start the game with a level one Skill from their PSS and a level one Military skill.

Volunteers seek out enlistment with the British Navy and are usually eagerly accepted as they often already have skills needed by the Service.

Starting nationality of British or European except for Spain, France or Dutch.
Starting Vocation:  Choice of Boat Builder, Carpenter, Cooper, Fisher, Sailor or Tailor/Sail Maker
Hobby Skill x1
They begin the game with 2d10 shillings plus a 5 pound bonus for volunteering and sack of personal items (paid for from their starting money)

Cadets:
Cadets can be any PSS and start the game with Classical Education Lvl 1 or Natural Sciences Lvl 1 or Medicine Lvl 1 and one other skill.

The lesser sons of minor houses are enrolled into Naval Academy by their family as a way to get them off the family pay and hope they will cover themselves in glory in which the rest of the family may bathe (and take credit).

Must be from British Isles (English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh)
Literacy or Latin (in lieu of Vocation)
Hobby Skill x1
Naval officer cadets begin the game with a foot locker, a dress uniform & shoes, a work uniform & shoes, a choice of an ordinary pistol or an acceptable sword and 1d10+20 Pounds.
Medical officer cadets begin the game with a foot locker, a dress uniform & shoes, a work uniform & shoes and a Surgical Kit as well as 1d10+20 Pounds in cash.
Marine officer cadets begin the game with a foot locker, a dress uniform & shoes, a work uniform & shoes and a musket, an ordinary pistol, an acceptable sword and 1d10+20 Pounds in cash.

Player Check List - Character Generation

Step 1 - Read the Character Generation thread and roll dice to determine your starting attributes etc:

STR/STA
DEX/RS
INT/LOG
PER/LDR

Step 2 - Choose a Career Path

Press Gangs recruit from a wide variety of back grounds so players have a wide variety of back ground skills.

Volunteers start with more Naval oriented skills.

Cadets will have formal education for the science and engineering skills.

Step 3 - Choose a Primary Skill Set - Military, Science or Engineering

In other RPG's this would be your Class.

Once you have sorted out your basic Attributes, Chosen your Primary Skill Set (Character Class) and selected a Career Path, your next step should be adding your Background as the first post in your Solo Thread.  From there I will introduce you to your training regime, you will pick up a couple of extra skills and you will begin your first shake down cruise on board the HMS Boudica.