DRAGON ADVENTURES
D20 RPG BETA
This work includes material taken from the System Reference
Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of
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THE QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN ARROWS
BOOK ONE CHARACTER CREATION GUIDE
The two characters we are using in the module Dragon Adventures for the adventure book The Quest For The Golden Arrows are two female fighter characters Human or Elf , run in groups of 5 - 7.
Characters will be run at ability scores set to 18 with full bonuses, adjustments and rewards calculated - These are the strongest characters in this class that are as close to all 18 ability scores as you can get, characters may face penalties because of their gender or race that slightly lower the bonus.
STEP ONE CHOOSE CHARACTER FEMALE HUMAN OR FEMALE ELF
Character One - Human Fighter
-No Class Limitations ( Character not penalized for being human).
-Character not awarded or penalized for choosing human, this is the perferred game character in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (main player character).
Character Two - Elf Fighter
- 90% resistance to sleep and charm spells - character will monitor game play to keep track of spells used during the game, then roll the ten sided dice once they are attacked with a sleep or charm spell.
This is up to the player to keep track of this - character rolls 1 - 9 on the dice to defeat the spell, character loses if number ten appears on the dice and succumbs to the sleep or charm spell for it's listed duration in the game.
- +1 TO HIT ROLL when Elf Character is using any bow other than a crossbow, short sword or long sword.
- Languages Spoken - Elf Character will receive game preference during play and bonuses when speaking in their known languages - Elvish, Gnome, Halfling, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Orcish, Gnoll, Human.
- For Elves over 15 Intelligence add one new language spoken from character options lists in the Players Handbook for each point over 15.
- Can see up to 60' Feet in darkness (six squares on the game map graph paper square or hex), Elves better equipped for game conditions in non light situation - unless another character has a better option for game play in non light situations.
- 1 in 6 Chance of detecting a secret door when passing within 10' Feet of the secret door, Dungeon Master will keep track of player abilities and secretly roll to determine result while characters play the game.
Player will be alerted when secret door detected by Dungeon Master.
- 2 in 6 chance to detect a secret door when searching on puropse - roll one Six Sided Dice , Dungeon Master will tell you if you located secret door required a roll of 1 or 2 on the dice to detect the door if present.
-3 in 6 chance of discovering a secret panel if present the same as above roll one Six Sided Dice, a roll of 1 - 3 will detect door if present.
- Automatic +1 Dexterity Score for all Elf Characters
-Elf alone not wearing armour can move secretly within in 90' Feet in game 9 squares, roll one six sided dice in this situation 1 - 4 is a successful move to secretly surprise a monster, this drops to a roll of 1 - 2 if a portal must be opened first for chances of being successful.
CHARACTER MUST KEEP TRACK OF THESE BONUSES DURING THE GAME, DUNGEON MASTER MUST MONITOR FOR SECRET DOORS DURING THE GAME FOR PLAYER.
THE FIGHTER CLASS:
Fighters are the physically strongest characters in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
FIGHTER CLASS LIMITATIONS - NO MAGIC SPELLS
Since The Quest For The Golden Arrows is a fighter character adventure book only we will not be covering spells in this section.
Fighters instead are allowed using Magical Items including weapons, armour, rings, potions etc.
To become a fighter a character must have a Strength Ability Score of 15 or higher and a Constitution Ability Score of 7 or higher.
- 10% Experience Point Reward For All Fighters With A Strength Ability Score of over 15.
During the game the Dungeon Master will add a 10% Experience point bonus to all experience rewarded, since The Quest For The Golden Arrows is fighter characters only and run with characters with all 18 ability scores all characters in this adventure book will receive +10% to all experience points awarded during the game duration in all situations.
- Fighter uses Ten Sided Dice to determine player HIT POINTS, fighter can be any alignment but for this guide we are only using alignments that give us a positive bonus in the game play Neutral - Good.
- Fighters reaching the 9th Level can establish a "Freehold" and build their own castle.
This castle comes with automatic non playing characters for the Castle called men-at-arms which the player can use to defend the caste and estate.
When playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons the "game time" is how many days, weeks or months you are playing the character.
Award yourself 9 Silver pieces per month for each non player character at your castle (this number is determined later in the game) and estate for renting them your land for each month you play the character, using the same character over time in the official rule book will generate wealth over the several years you may be using the character for long term games, this wealth will build up for your character and you can use the money in the game to buy needed equipment.
This castle can be used in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Battle System which is also covered in Dragon Adventures for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons table top play in our adventure guides.
CHARACTER ABILITY SCORES & BONUSES
For each character in you party 5 - 7 players - Human or Elf, we will be using four Human and three Elf Female Fighters in this adventure book The Quest For The Golden Arrows.
STRENGTH - 18
INTELLIGENCE - 18
WISDOM - 18
DEXTERITY - 18
CONSTITUTION - 18
CHARISMA - 18
NOW CALCULATE BONUSES FOR FIGHTER CLASS - CHARACTER RACE BONUS CALCULATED SECOND
STRENGTH:
Using an ability score of 18 for a fighter gives us the following strength bonus:
Fighters awarded an ability score of 18 will receive an second ability score number listed as 18(00).
The second number in parenthesis is a probability bonus.
Roll One Ten Sided Dice to determine you strength ability probability score, your character will fall into five brackets.
A Roll of:
1 - 2: RESULT (01-50)
3 - 4: RESULT (51 - 75)
5 - 6: RESULT (76 - 90)
7 - 8: RESULT (91 - 99)
8 - 9: RESULT (100) - Represented as (00)
This is your strength percentage roll bonus to determine your strength ability score adjustment.
You receive a strength ability score of 18 then you get awarded a percentage roll bonus, we write in (00) for our characters for receiving a perfect score.
The new strength ability score is listed as 18(00).
For receiving this strength score here are the awards to add to your character.
USE STRENGTH TABLE II: ABILITY ADJUSTMENTS IN PLAYERS HANDBOOK ON PAGE 9
AWARDS:
HIT PROBABILITY: +3
DAMAGE ADJUSTMENT: +6
WEIGHT ALLOWANCE: +3,000
OPEN DOORS ON A: 1-5 (2)* - Figure represents Two Chances listed in parenthesis, for a one time attempt to open a locked door.
BEND BARS / LIFT GATES: 40%
Record these numbers on scrap paper for filling out your character sheet later, so you can understand the strength adjustment before playing the game.
When receiving an 18 Strength a Fighter receives a Hit Probability bonus of +3 meaning every time they make an attack roll they get a +3 added to the attack dice to increase their chances of hitting the monster or target.
The damage adjustment of +6 adds 6 damage points to the target.
Weight allowance +3000 - Weight of character will be determined in Weapons and Equipment Section.
Open doors represents the bonus of 18 awards the fighter two chances to open a locked door one time only and must roll a 1 - 5 to be successful I am assuming on a ten sided dice, any errors in this module design will be corrected later.
Bend Bars / Lift Gates - Fighter receives a 40% chance of opening locked gates or bend bars to open windows etc. with a roll of 1 - 4 on a ten sided dice - At this point in the module I am assuming that all percentage rolls like this rule are calculated on a ten sided dice for each number representing a perentage range for each number between 1 -10 which represents 1 - 100 percentage points in the game.
However we have chosen Female Fighter Characters.
Female Human Fighters are penalized on the Strength Table Ability Score Bonus for Probability and are limited to 18(01 - 50) - This is the maximum strength for a Female Human Fighter.
Female Elf Characters are also limited in strength to a maximum score of 16 strength, however also receive a dexterity bonus of +1.
Now we have to re-evaluate our Strength Ability Score award of 18.
The Female Human Fighter receives a maximum strength of 18 (1-50).
The Female Elf Fighter receives a penalty of a maximum 16 strength reducing this score to 16 , but a bonus dexterity score for being an Elf bringing that score to 19.
These are the new ability scores:
HUMAN: Strength: 18 (01-50)
ELF: Strength 16
Dexterity 19
Now the characters are becoming different and we need to recalculate their separate bonuses.
FEMALE HUMAN:
HIT PROBABILITY ADJUSTMENT: +1
DAMAGE ADJUSTMENT: +3
WEIGHT ALLOWANCE: +1000
OPEN DOORS ON A: 1 - 3
BEND BARS / LIFT GATES: 20%
FEMALE ELF:
HIT PROBABILITY ADJUSTMENT: NORMAL
DAMAGE ADJUSTMENT: +1
WEIGHT ALLOWANCE: +350
OPEN DOORS ON A: 1 - 3
BEND BARS / LIFT GATES: 10%
Now record these numbers for your characters GENDER ADJUSTMENT for being female.
At this point in the game this is where the characters start getting their individuality to add more realism to the game.
This is recorded here, Female fighters are smaller than male fighters and carry less weight etc. so they have a slightly smaller strength bonus, Female Elf Fighters have a Maximum strength of 16 because they are smaller than the Female Human Elf, they make up for this by receiving a Dexterity bonus of +1 bringing the score to 19, this bonus will be calculated later.
Refer to Strength Table 1 Page 9 of Players Handbook for Character Strength Limitations.
INTELLIGENCE / WISDOM:
At this point in the game we do not need to refer to the intelligence / wisdom tables for character bonuses since this a game for Fighter Characters only and no magic spells apply.
The Intelligence table mainly refers to ability score bonuses for Magic User characters so this bonus in not needed for our Fighter Characters.
DEXTERITY:
HUMAN:
+3 Reaction Adjustment
-4 Defense Adjustment
ELF:
+1 Dexterity Score bringing the number to 19.
Refer to dexterity table 1 page 11 in Players Handbook.
In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons a 19 bonus on the dexterity table is not listed on the table...however this is an option in the game for higher levels.
Add a 19 to the table and increase Reaction Adjustment and Defence Adjustment by 1 or -1.
NEW ELF DEXTERITY ADJUSTMENT (FOR 19 DEXTERITY):
+4 Reaction Adjustment
-5 Defense Adjustment
The smaller size of the Female Elf Fighter only allows a maximum strength of 16, however the Elf Race Bonus gives them a reaction and defence adjustment bonus on the Dexterity table.
This is so they respond in the game faster to attacks and defence to make up for their smaller size on the strength table.
CONSTITUTION:
HUMAN / ELF:
+4 Hit Point Adjustment - Add 4 Hit Points to your character for using a fighter with strength score 18, Constitution Table Page 12 - Listed as +2(+4)* - this represents +4 Hit Points for the * value for Fighters only, all other classes would be +2 Hit Points for a strength 18.
System Shock Survival:
99% chance of survival to specific spells such as aging and pertrification, when you are attacked and hit with these spells roll a 100 sided dice - only a value of 100 will harm your character, use a 100 sided dice for this defence abbreviating it by a ten sided dice is actually a 1 in 10 when the value is actually 1 in 100.
You can also roll a ten sided dice for this an only use values under 9 which is the same roll, re-roll if you roll a 10 because that represents a 10% chance on the dice for using abbreviated values when the attack needs a 1%.
Just re-roll, you would actually need to roll a ten on the dice ten times in a row to get the actual percentage to be affected with this spell by using abbreviations. That is not possible so just use under nine for a successful defence or get a 100 sided dice for the actual roll value.
Resurrection Survival:
100% - This character will always have a successful resurrection survival which must be performed by a Cleric Character on you team.
CHARISMA:
Maximum number of Henchmen is 15, this means your character is allowed using 15 non-player characters at the same time as your main fighter character. Use abbreviated character sheets for these non player characters, you are also only allowed one turn in the game for game direction but can roll for up to 15 extra characters on larger longer adventures.
These non payer characters are important because if your character gets killed you can switch to one of your non player characters build them as normal characters you would like to have but use abbreviated character sheets of basic values only for time purposes as it is long to create all the character sheets.
Probably several weeks to choose and assemble all your non player characters from the Player Handbook.
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CHARACTER ALIGNMENT:
For this module we are using the alignment of Lawful Neutral to test basic game play in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons for a Female Human Fighter and Female Elf Fighter in the game at all ability score values set to 18.
CHARACTER HIT POINTS:
In this adventure we are not getting into dice rolling for combat / hit points at this time.
HIT DICE determines your hit points.
The fighter has a Hit Dice of d10, meaning they use the ten sided dice to determine their hit points...set to maximum for this adventure of 10.
Then for each level of experience gained the player gets another ten sided dice per level.
At each new level add ten Hit Points to your character.
Then apply Hit Point Adjustment which is +4 for our characters, at each level.
Meaning in this adventure add 14 Hit Points per level gained to your character, at level 10 you should have 140 Hit Points.
That's 10 per level for choosing the fighter class and then add ability score adjustment of +4 Hit Points per level totalling 140 Hit Points.
At Level 100 if you play that high you will have 1400 Hit Points...that is play the game for longer periods against larger monsters at the highest levels.
MONEY:
Roll four a four sided five times to determine your starting money...since we are setting this at maximum your fighter will start out with 200 Gold Pieces as listed on page 35 of the Players Handbook.
This is the end of the Character Creation section for this part of the manual and includes Ability Scores / Ability Score Adjustments / Alignment / Hit Points / Money.
This is enough to begin filling out your complete Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Character sheet for playing Dragon Adventures.
Equipping the character with weapons and armour will be done next in it's own separate section if you are following along you can equip your character yourself and play ahead from the weapons, equipment and amour table on page 36 and 37 of the players handbook.
The next section in the manual will contain adding the weapons, equipment and armour to calculate you proficiency and armour class adjustments from the ability score adjustments above after your character has been equipped.
RETURN TO PREVIOUS MAIN INDEX SECTION AND CONTINUE TO NEXT STEP.
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