Thursday, July 30, 2015

Random Illness/Disability Generator (using a deck of cards)

While engaging in a purely mechanical and utterly boring task, the following addendum to a character creation system came to mind. This is raw, untested, and pretty much as it popped into my head. It is geared for d20 System games--such as Pathfinder, d20 Star Wars, or NUELOW Games favorite OGL d20 Modern--but it is easily applicable to any system that has analogies to the d20 System attributes and saving throw mechanics, Basically, it's a system for generating disabilities and mental illnesses for characters.

Maybe one of the NUELOW crew will think of something we can do with this. Maybe YOU can think of something we can do with this--and if you do, don't hesitate to get in touch! Meanwhile, however, this is released under the Open Game License. Copyright 2015 Steve Miller.



RANDOM OGL DISABILITY/ILLNESS GENERATOR 
(using a deck of cards)

Generation System
1. Draw Three Cards. Discard any Aces or Jokers.
2. Determine the character's illness/disability by comparing the suits of the cards to the lists below. If the cards drawn are of different suits, the character suffers from all the illnesses/disabilities indicated by the cards. (See "Face Cards" for some special conditions, however.)

Face Cards
If one is a face card, your character has Multiple Personality Disorder; the sex of the card determines if the personality is male or female. If you drew one or more number cards of the same suit as the face card, the number on those cards determine how many multiple personalities you have. If multiple face cards are drawn, discard any Jacks or Queens first, then draw another card.
Otherwise, the suit of cards drawn determine the illness(es) your character suffers from.

Clubs
   Odd -- Sadist... your character enjoys hurting other loving things. (+1 to attack rolls and damage, -4 to all Charisma-based skill checks and attribute rolls).
   Even -- Over-sensitive... your character is so concerned with hurting others (especially their feelings) that it's debilitating (-2 to all attack and damage rolls, +2 to all Charisma-based skill checks and attribute rolls).

Diamonds
   Odd -- Bleeder... your character is easily injured and heals slowly. (+1 point to any and all damage suffered. -1 point to natural recovery).
   Even -- Arthritic... your character's joints are still and it's painful to move sometimes. (-2 to all Dexterity-based skill checks and attribute rolls, -1 to Reflex saves.)

Hearts
   Odd--Weak Constitution... your character has overall poor health. (-2 to all Strength- and Constitution-based skill checks and attribute rolls. -1 to Fort saves.)
   Even--Egomaniac... your character is over-confident. (+2 to all Charisma-based skill checks and attribute rolls, -4 to all Wisdom-based skill checks and attribute rolls.)

Spades
   Odd--Weak Hearing... your character suffers a penalty to all Listen skill checks, Move Silently skill checks, and checks for Surprise equal to one-half the numeric value of the card, rounded up.
   Even--Weak Eyesight... your character suffers a penalty to ranged attacks, Search skill checks and Spot skill check equal to one-half the numeric value of the card.

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