Previously, I decided to pull together the materials I would need to present an Open Table for Mythras Classic Fantasy. In Part 1, I outlined the framework for the project and came to the conclusion that the main elements I would need revolve around character creation.
This post takes the first step in forming a streamlined approach to character creation without recourse to technological tools.
Streamlined Character Creation
The focus of the “basic set” is the dungeon-crawl game. Bringing Classic Fantasy to the unwashed newbie is all about making the game accessible in under 30 minutes, of which they get to make a character in 15-20 minutes.
To begin, I have decided to limit the initial choices for a new player. There’s some strong science that suggests the average person can process a choice between seven (plus or minus two) items. I want to try and avoid cognitive overload, which leads to decision paralysis and makes people feel confused. Thus, at each step, I am trying to consciously reduce the volume of choices.
- Classes: Fighter, Cleric, Magic-user, Thief.
- Races: Civilised Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf.
Although Classic Fantasy offers far more choices, I am initially going to offer only the “classic” classes and races. This lowers my starting work load and makes for quicker decisions.
Next, I am going to use dice rolls for the characteristics because it’s quicker than points build and removes another layer of decision making. It’s also a lot of fun to discover your character and, for a newbie, removes the need for the context they don’t have when creating a hero.
Finally, I am going to re-structure and streamline the character creation process as much as possible. I have taken my lead from Basic D&D with one or two additions from AD&D 1e.
The character creation summary is now:
- Choose a character race.
- Roll your starting characteristics.
- Calculate your attributes and standard skills.
- Apply your cultural background: Civilised Human or Demi-human.
- Choose a character class and apply the template.
- Choose a hobby skill.
- Spend bonus skill points.
- Grab the equipment package (and choose spells).
- Add name and begin play!
Nine steps in total is pushing the cognitive limits but seems manageable. When you consider that each step is fairly straight-forward – either some mathematical procedures or quick choices – this is not too onerous. The key challenge will be in keeping each step to either a series of simple calculations / table look ups or a simple set of choices.
Race & Attributes
Step One involves the player choosing a Race – Human, Halfling, Dwarf, or Elf.
To make this more approachable, I have created a set of Cultural Templates which combine the Race and Culture choices from the game:
No challenge intended.
You’ll notice that I have made a few further decisions to speed player choices. For example, I have asked the player to allocate six 15% bonuses and one 10% bonus to skills – a maximum of seven choices that simplifies the usually very open 5%-15% choice in Classic Fantasy.
I was pleased to note that the Standard Skill choices total seven and the Professional Skills choices are three from among eight. That’s very manageable for a newbie.
I decided to leave choosing Passions for the Human to open play. In the demi-human culture templates, I added the stereotypical Passions by default. For example, the Dwarf has a Love (Something Materialistic). Again, this was about getting the player to get into the dungeon as soon as possible.
To help with the attribute calculations, I’m producing a quick reference card as a two-sided A4 resource. From there, the next step will be to create the four Class Templates.
Game on!
