First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons™ Character Creation


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24:  Referee Additions

  At this point, the referee must take over, and fill in certain information which has already been determined but is not yet recorded, such as the information regarding race and class, and the bonuses and penalties for ability scores.  Much of this is drawn from other resources.

  The character's date of death should be determined and recorded in secret.  Each character has an age at which he will die of old age, if he has not died already.

  The bonuses and penalties associated with each ability score should be listed on the page--such as hit bonuses, saving throw adjustments.

  The saving throws themselves should be determined and recorded.  Some referees put these on character papers (as the original character sheets suggested), while others keep these secret from the player.  Either way, if these are recorded where they are available, with all adjustments included, it will speed game play.

  The number of experience points required for the next level should be noted on the paper or elsewhere, so the referee will be aware when the character has advanced to that level.

  The non-proficiency penalty for the use of weapons unfamiliar to the character should be listed somewhere where it will be readily available to the player or the DM.

  It may be valuable to provide character background material on such matters as why the character is here, what he knows of the area, what are his objectives, and how does he perceive his companions.

  Referees using computer-generated character papers may find it convenient to develop a single template containing full information on all character races and classes, and delete the information which does not apply on a character-by-character basis.  Because of the immensity of the task, it is recommended that the template be developed by accretion:  when creating the first character, save the form with race and class information as a template; with each additional character, add the race and class information to the template for future use.

  The referee may wish to calculate ADR's and Surv's (see M. J. Young's Dungeons & Dragons MaterialsBASIC Programs for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Games, or find these defined on the same web site at M. J. Young's Dungeons & Dragons ADR's and Surv's Explained), compile a spreadsheet or other record of the character for his own use, forward character information to the player who is the character party leader.

  Under the MyWorld rules, the character's leadership is calculated as described under, M. J. Young's Dungeons & Dragons Materials, Special Rules, Leadership.

  The Valdron game, run by E. R. Jones, allowed a character to roll for Mystery Options, things the character did not know about himself or his family which would be revealed during the campaign.

  Referees may have their own special rules or special information which will require notes on the character paper or elsewhere


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The complexity of creating a D&D character always reminds me of how much simpler it is to play
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A consideration of time travel....

Temporal Anomalies in Popular Movies
There are enough time travel films out there now that most of the things which could go wrong in time have been shown on the silver screen.  This page applies a new conception of how time works (discussed in the
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