Randomly Generated Characters

[sonofzeal]

What started as an innocent amusement has evolved into something massive.

(Spoilered because the reason I'm asking might not be as interesting to everyone)
On a lark, I made a sorcerer with random spells. By copying a list of all Sorc spells into an Excel file to index them by number, and then rolling d283's (simulated by computer of course), I got myself a pseudorandom spell selection.

Only now all of my friends want me to generate random characters for them, too. I made one friend a Favoured Soul, and we even rolled randomly for god (Fenmarel Mestarine, god of scapegoats) and race (Ghostwise Halfling). Then another friend asked, and we rolled randomly for class as well this time... and got another Favoured Soul! This one was a Lesser Drow FvS of Fionnghuala, fey goddess of swanmays... however that works.

Thing is, both ended up with a spell selection that worked. The first FvS got a mix of spells tending towards stealth and escape and desperation, while the other got a mix tending towards light and beauty and healing.



So now I'm wondering how far random generation can be taken, and I have a few questions...

1) What spellcasting classes have limited Spells Known lists? I know of Sorcerer, Favoured Soul, Bard, and Hexblade. Are there any others?

2) Is there a list somewhere of all the Psi powers, sorted by level?

3) What other classes have class features that lend themselves to this sort of random selection process?

4) Is there anything else that can/should be randomized? I want to leave ability scores and feats alone, because we still want these characters to be somewhat effective and actually useable in a real game.



Finally, if you want me to generate a random character for you (class, race, and deity), just let me know!

[Elfinor]

1. Duskblade, Shugenja & Spellthief. Do you want to include PrC's and psionic powers as well?

3. Maybe Warlock could work...

[Fortuna]

For 3, I suggest ToB classes (homebrew optional). In fact, I'm going to go make me a warblade 20 with randomized maneuver selection and see what I come up with.

[sonofzeal]

1. Duskblade, Shugenja & Spellthief. Do you want to include PrC's and psionic powers as well?

3. Maybe Warlock could work...
1) Good call.

3) Hmm... Warlock and DFA could work, thanks!

[sonofzeal]

For 3, I suggest ToB classes (homebrew optional). In fact, I'm going to go make me a warblade 20 with randomized maneuver selection and see what I come up with.
How would you randomize them, though? The whole "depending on prereqs" thing makes that difficult. And then there's the whole school thing. The process with spells is easy, put all spells into a giant list and generate a number. For manuevers it seems like you'd have to redo the list each time.

If you have a way to solve this though, let me know!

[Fortuna]

How would you randomize them, though? The whole "depending on prereqs" thing makes that difficult. And then there's the whole school thing. The process with spells is easy, put all spells into a giant list and generate a number. For manuevers it seems like you'd have to redo the list each time.

If you have a way to solve this though, let me know!

No easy way, although once done once it's easy enough to repeat. I dabble a bit in coding, so I'll hack up a database and draw my lists from that. Simple, but time-consuming.

[sonofzeal]

No easy way, although once done once it's easy enough to repeat. I dabble a bit in coding, so I'll hack up a database and draw my lists from that. Simple, but time-consuming.
I code as well, but I found the database manipulation to do this properly too tedious.

Actually, though... really you can just generate totally random maneuvers check for compatibility, rerolling any you don't qualify for. It'd be tedious by hand, but not for the computer that can roll hundreds in a second. It's computationally inefficient and pretty darn kludgy, but saves a lot of time on the coding end and the performance drop really doesn't matter.

I don't think I'll do it any time soon though. If you get yours up and running, could you toss me a randomized maneuver list for a lvl 7 Swordsage?

[Fortuna]

I'll see what I can do.

[Tokuhara]

I actually want a full class randomizer, as in a race/class randomizer for core. I have a DM who loves to say the words "Core Only," and since I love Splatbooks, a race/class randomizer would make life simple for me when I have to deal with his Core Only tirades.

[sonofzeal]

I actually want a full class randomizer, as in a race/class randomizer for core. I have a DM who loves to say the words "Core Only," and since I love Splatbooks, a race/class randomizer would make life simple for me when I have to deal with his Core Only tirades.
If you want the actual widget, that could be a bit more difficult. It's in Openoffice Calc, and fairly kludgy at the moment.

Or do you mean you want one that's core-only?

[Tokuhara]

If you want the actual widget, that could be a bit more difficult. It's in Openoffice Calc, and fairly kludgy at the moment.

Or do you mean you want one that's core-only?

I want a class/race generator for Player's Handbook races & classes

[sonofzeal]

I want a class/race generator for Player's Handbook races & classes
That's easily done manually with an online dice roller (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm).

Class: d11
1) (Barbarian (Bbn)
2) Bard (Brd)
3) Cleric (Clr)
4) Druid (Drd)
5) Fighter (Ftr)
6) Monk (Mnk)
7) Paladin (Pal)
8) Ranger (Rgr)
9) Rogue (Rog)
10) Sorcerer (Sor)
11) Wizard (Wiz)

Race: d7
1) Humans
2) Dwarves
3) Elves
4) Gnomes
5) Half-Elves
6) Half-Orcs
7) Halflings

Deity: d19
1) Boccob, god of magic, arcane knowledge, balance and foresight.
2) Corellon Larethian, god of elves, magic, music, and arts. (also a demihuman power)
3) Garl Glittergold, god of gnomes, humor, and gemcutting. (also a demihuman power)
4) Gruumsh, god of orcs. (also a monster power)
5) Moradin, god of dwarves. (also a demihuman power)
6) Nerull, god of death, darkness, murder and the underworld.
7) Pelor, god of sun, light, strength and healing. More humans worship Pelor than any other deity.
8) Wee Jas, goddess of magic, death, vanity, and law.
9) Yondalla, goddess of halflings. (also a demihuman power)
10) Ehlonna, goddess of forests, woodlands, flora & fauna, and fertility.
11) Erythnul, god of hate, envy, malice, panic, ugliness, and slaughter.
12) Fharlanghn, god of horizons, distance, travel, and roads.
13) Heironeous, god of chivalry, justice, honor, war, daring, and valor.
14) Hextor, god of war, discord, massacres, conflict, fitness, and tyranny.
15) Kord, god of athletics, sports, brawling, strength, and courage.
16) Obad-Hai, god of nature, freedom, hunting, and beasts.
17) Olidammara, god of music, revels, wine, rogues, humor, and tricks.
18) Saint Cuthbert, god of common sense, wisdom, zeal, honesty, truth, and discipline.
19)Vecna, god of destructive and evil secrets.

[Diefje]

For other randomizable stuff

- you could assign skills, I'd take the class list and just pick int+classmod(+1 for human) of skills and max ranks in those. It's pretty easy to work with if you want to customize.

- basic spells studied/prayed for list, similar to Sorc, just so you have a starting point. You can always change out, but it's convenient to have a base. Plus maybe players will use some of the underused spells.

- randomize 2 domains for cleric.

- animal companion for druid/ranger. Familiar for sorc/wiz. Mount for paladin.

- bonus feats for monk, fighting style for ranger, special abilities for rogue. They are limited choice to start with.

- specialization and banned schools for wizards.

- some basic starting gearsets for level 1s