Random generated PCs

[Blackhawk748]

Me and a buddy had an idea at work today, it goes like this. Instead of rolling up characters in the usual fashion you randomize just about everything. You roll on the following charts for your race and class, and then flip a coin or something for gender. however i need some help with the charts, as i cant really think of 20 LA 0 races, and class wise i'd like to keep it between Tiers 3-5 generally.

Race Chart


Human
Half orc
Half elf
Elf (roll again for subrace)
Dwarf (roll for subrace)
Halfling
Gnome
Orc
Goblin
Lesser Aasimar
Lesser Tiefling
Lesser Drow
Hobgoblin (from KoK)
Changeling
Shifter
Lesser Genasi (roll for type)
Common Race
Common Race
Common Race
Common Race



Class list

Barbarian
Binder
Ranger
Rogue
Shadow Caster
Warlock
Truenamer (The Way Words Work)
Swordsage
Warblade
Favored Soul
Paladin (all variants)
Knight
Dragon Shaman
Marshall
Swashbuckler
Beguiler
Dragonfire Adept
Totemist
Warmage
Wu jen


So here they are, thanks for the help.

[JHShadon]

Sounds good, you could also combine it with Pathfinder's Random Background (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/more-character-options/character-backgrounds/background-generator) Generator (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/more-character-options/pfbggen) so you can have a random background in addition to race.

[Jormengand]

Have elves and dwarves, as well as lightfoot and strongheart halflings, be separate instead of "Roll again"?

When you say "Truenamer (The fixed one)" do you mean Kellus' Truenamer, The Way Words Work, the Worldspeaker, something I've never heard of? What do you mean by "The fixed one"?

Add Psychic Warrior, Soulknife, Bard maybe? Magus, Inquisitor (yeah, they're PF, deal with it).

Anyway, this is just a bad idea. Imagine rolling an elf barbarian. Not to mention you have a mix of tiers, so you're going to end up with a really unbalanced party. It'd be better if you had different lists for different tiers, but...

[Jgosse]

I have thought about doing this myself a few times. I would go with what has been said about putting sub races on the list. as for class Scout and Swashbuckler.

[HaikenEdge]

If you have access to PHB2, they have an appendix for Quick PC and NPC creation you could probably use to help with your random creation lists.

[AstralFire]

I'd add:
Raptoran
Kobold
Elan
Changeling
Shifter

Warforged maybe, but they tend to be harder to insert.

[Blackhawk748]

I meant The Way Words Work, totally spaced there lol and the main reason i didnt put the sub races on the list is because then half the list would be elves lol

[Raezeman]

Maybe give a player a veto on some classes based on the race the rolled first, so they are not forced to play a class that needs an ability they have a penalty against. I mean, if you roll for abilities, there is already a lot of luck involved, and it would be rather frustrating if you are bad-lucked into an additional penalty.

[Perius]

Just coming at this from a WFRP perspective, where we're meant to randomise everything in character generation -

a) Why don't you have some races multiple times on the generator? If Humans are meant to be the majority race in world, why not have results 1-10 be a Human, and then have the other races take up results 11-20? That'd solve your problem of needing 20 and your problem of having too much exposure of some things at a stroke.

b) In WFRP, you have different career (class?) charts for each race. So if you've generated a human, there's a D20 chart for the races available to a human; but an elf or drow for you would role on a more appropriate chart for elves.

c) And on that note, there's no need to cram all the high-tier careers onto one chart. Results of 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and so on can randomise between the basic careers. Heck, if some careers (I dunno, mage) are meant to be rarer than warriors, you can even skew the probabilities here too to make it less likely players will come from rarer backgrounds.

Great advantage of this is that you won't have a group with mad different power levels, and you won't have a group made up entirely of race/class combinations that the fluff tells you are really rare in the world. When you do get a rare result, that'll make it all the cooler.

d) For gender, 1-10 is male, 11-20 is female (or, if your world is sexist about people adventuring, 1-15 is male, 16-20 is female. Or vice versa. Or whatever).

[Jgosse]

Why not leave gender up to the player. I personally don't like gender bending. I have seen to many male players that poorly play female characters and one time I saw the opposite . Unless I trust the player very much or there is a good reason I don't even allow gender bending in my games. I know that while playing a messed up character like a halfling barbarian would be a fun challenge being forced to play a female character would suck and take me out of the game.

[DEMON]

Why no Beguiler, Duskblade, Dragonfire Adept, Scout or Crusader on the list? They are all within your Tier limitations as far as I know.

[Blackhawk748]

I took Duskblade out because its been played rather often in my group and my goal is to make players play things they normally dont play, and as for Dragonfire Adept and Beguiler i forgot. As for the Crusader, my group isnt really a huge fan of them, im not sure why we dont like them, we just dont.

And really? Is being an Ef Barbarian the end of the world?

As far as gender goes my group is very comfortable doing this, as i would warn them ahead of time that we'd be randomizing characters.

Also i dont think giving someone a reroll is out of the question

[DEMON]

And really? Is being an Ef Barbarian the end of the world?

Well there is a rageless, archery-oriented barbarian ACF (Crafty Hunter). Can be combined with the Trapkiller ACF for extra party role. Sounds quite Elfy...

But I'm starting to get obsessed with archers, it seems.

[Blackhawk748]

Hey they're fun if your party is'nt optimized crazy lol Theres also the Ferocity ACF i think that ones +4 Dex +4 Con

[Deox]

Class list

Barbarian
Binder
Ranger
Rogue
Shadow Caster
Warlock
Truenamer (the fixed one)
Swordsage
Warblade
Favored Soul
Paladin (all variants)
Knight
Dragon Shaman
Marshall
Swashbuckler
Beguiler
Dragonfire Adept



I'd add:

Warmage
Wu Jen
Totemist
Incarnate
Wilder
Dread Necromancer
Spirit Shaman
Spell Thief
Shugenja
Factotum

[Blackhawk748]

Well the class list is done, now i need more races.....

[DEMON]

Well you have Orcs, Goblins and Hobgoblins, Kobolds should fit as well. Or are you afraid of their breakability?

How do you feel about Raptorans and Illumians? And what about lesser Genasi, since you already have their lesser planetouched brethren?

[Blackhawk748]

Well i didnt put kobolds on there because, well their stats suck, and unless your being a sorcerer, its gonna hurt, so i just avoided them. Raptorans i've always thought were just a bit odd and most DMs i know dont really go for them, also noone i know even brings them up. Illumians might be ok, and i have no idea what a Gensai is lol

[Raezeman]

i'd playing a raptoran in a campaign and yes, they are a bit odd, but they are also fun to play. Being winged gives options for nice roleplaying, and the 'walk of the 4 winds' background is a good start for those who like but are not good at making background stories.

[DEMON]

i have no idea what a Gensai is lol

Elemental planetouched, lesser version have no LA, just as with the lesser Tiefling and Aasimar.
There is a Water, Fire, Earth and Air Genasi (possibly also others, I know of these; I remember seeing some para-genasi somewhere), each gets some stat boosts and penalties and a spell like ability, favored class Fighter if that somehow matters to you.