Birth & Background
or, Soldiers, Scholars and Reprobates
The character is the "avatar" or presence of the player within the fiction of the game. While each player may only have one character at a time, there is no limit to the number of consecutive number of characters they may have in total.
Characters are randomly generated by the referee for the players. As a player, you will initially be given a choice of one of three pregenerated characters. After making your choice, you be asked to name your character.
The most important thing a player must know about his character is his initial Social Level. This depends on the parents to whom he is born, their wealth and their titles (if any). These will be determined by the Birth Tables, below.
These are the tables used to generate characters and key non-player characters, and are presented here for player reference only.
Social Class
1d6 Roll |
Class | Roll on: |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Commoner | Sibling Rank, Father's Position |
2 |
Commoner | Sibling Rank, Father's Position |
3 |
Gentleman | Sibling Rank, Father's Position |
4 |
Gentleman | Sibling Rank, Father's Position |
5 |
Nobleman | Sibling Rank, Father's Position, Title |
6 |
Nobleman | Sibling Rank, Father's Position, Title |
Sibling Rank
1d6 Roll |
Sibling Rank |
|---|---|
1 |
First son1 |
2-4 |
Second son |
5-6 |
Bastard2 |
1 Increase Initial Funds and Allowance by 10% and Initial Social Level by 1. Then roll one die again. On a roll of 1, you are an orphan: you do not get an Allowance and receive the Inheritance instead of Initial Funds; if noble, you receive your Father's Title and increase your Initial Social Level by another 3.
2 Decrease Initial Funds and Allowance by 10% and subtract 1 from Initial Social Level.
The result of the Father's Position Table will give each character's initial fortune and allowance (if any) as modified by the Sibling Rank Table.
Father's Position
1d6 Roll |
Class | Initial Funds |
Allowance |
Inheritance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commoner | ||||
1 |
Peasant | 10 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Peasant | 10 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Small Merchant | 25 |
5 |
100 |
4 |
Merchant | 150 |
20 |
750 |
5 |
Wealthy Merchant | 250 |
50 |
1500 |
6 |
Very Wealthy Merchant | 500 |
100 |
4000 |
| Gentleman | ||||
1 |
Impoverished | 40 |
0 |
100 |
2 |
Impoverished | 40 |
0 |
100 |
3 |
Well-to-do | 250 |
50 |
1500 |
4 |
Well-to-do | 250 |
50 |
1500 |
5 |
Wealthy | 500 |
100 |
4000 |
6 |
Very Wealthy | 750 |
125 |
5000 |
| Nobleman | ||||
1 |
Impoverished | 40 |
0 |
100 |
2 |
Impoverished | 40 |
0 |
100 |
3 |
Well-to-do | 250 |
50 |
1500 |
4 |
Wealthy | 500 |
100 |
4000 |
5 |
Very Wealthy | 750 |
125 |
5000 |
6 |
Very Wealthy | 750 |
125 |
5000 |
Father's Title
1d6 Roll |
Class |
|---|---|
1 |
Knight |
2 |
Baron |
3 |
Marquis |
4 |
Earl |
5 |
Viscount |
6 |
Count |
After doing all this, the referee compare the results to the Initial Social Level Table, making sure to implement any applicable modifiers.
Initial Social Level
| Son of: | Social Level |
|---|---|
| Peasant | 2 |
| Merchant | 3 |
| Gentleman | 4 |
| Very Wealthy Gentleman | 5 |
| Knight | 6 |
| Baron | 7 |
| Marquis | 8 |
| Earl | 9 |
| Viscount | 10 |
| Count | 11 |
All of the above data is recorded in the game's database, once the character is given a name.
EXAMPLE: The Bergerac family is blessed with a son. A five is rolled on Social Class, a 1 on Sibling Rank: we discover that the character is the first son of a nobleman. Rolling again as instructed in the notes to Sibling Rank, we find he is not yet an orphan. Rolling a three on the nobles section of Father's Position shows that the character's father is well-to-do, and the character has an initial fortune of (250 + 10%) 275 Crowns (coming of age money, so to speak). In addition he will receive a monthly allowance of (50 + 10%) 55 Crowns. A four rolled on the Titles table shows that the senior Bergerac is an Earl. The character, Rodney Bergerac, has an initial Social Level of 9, plus one for being a first son, or 10 total.
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