Character Creation

I've been thinking about the "northern" nature of this setting. I think this lends itself well to Duet play because of its inspirations, particularly Beowulf. In that one, Beowulf is the hero, the "main character" (perhaps even the beginning of English literature is also a sword and sorcery character), but he also comes with the support of men who follow him, his comitatus.

So I imagine a satisfying-enough game in which a traditional PC makes use of the Sword & Wizardry rules regarding hirelings and Henchmen, even at Level 1.

Alternatively, you can make a stable of characters.

Whatever the case, we can start negotiating immediately at character creation, but my preferred method for generating a character for Swords & Wizardry Complete is as follows:

* Roll 3d6 six times.
* Arrange to suit.
* You can change one value to 15 as long as it is placed in a Prime Attribute of the character.

Hut, here I am! Thanks for the invite, and for running this! That this game exists means a number of things, including, "Gabe doesn’t completely hate PbP play!" And this makes me glad.

Will get on chargen after leaving through the Player’s Book.

Oh, and regarding a stable of characters, would it be more troupe play where I only play one at a time, or are you thinking I’d go true old school and play more than one PC at a time?

I figure you could play more than one PC at once, not troupe play.

BUT I am now honing in on ONE character and we use your Charisma score to determine an immediate number of "Special Hirelings." These are hirelings that have character classes, sometimes called Henchmen. And I think this would be the most elegant means of gamifying this aspect.

I can get behind that. And either I can play the hirelings / henchmen, or you can. Whatever works!

Rolling...

So let me get this straight -- I can arrange to suit, and put the 7 in my class's prime stat... and then change that 7 to a 15?

Likely going Huscarl or Spear-Maiden. The Bearsarker has some interesting features, but eh, I dunno. Especially don't like the bear claw abilities.

Planning to read more in the player's book tomorrow, but generally speaking I'm thinking of a Huscarl who's lost and must avenge his Jarl, a Spear-Maiden who's lost her way, or perhaps a freeman whose family is imperiled or lost.

Correct.

Cool. This weekend I intend to try and get through more of the setting material to see what alights my imagination. I have lots of thoughts already, but they're pretty tired if I'm honest. Lone survivor of a village massacre, warrior trying to retire, farmer who has his wife taken from him by a warrior, poking around being a now-free thrall, etc.

I can maybe help you as I read through the setting info myself. My initial impression is Northlands characters should be fairly integrated into the community, serving their lord, etc. You don't want to be an outcast. Outlaws are lawfully slain on sight.

Northlander
Dominate language: Nørsk (the written form--Runic--has to be learned as a separate language)
Recommended social class: Freeman (Bondi)--would be attached to a farm; Hirdman (wealthier bondi); Huscarl (attached to a jarl's household)
Magic: Cleric or Druid (a godi, should be a man of distinction in the community, often a hirdman); only women characters (cunning women) should be true magic-users; male magic users will face extreme prejudice if sussed out.

Nûk
Dominate language: Nûklander
Recommended social class: All freemen (not bondi, Nûklanders are nomadic reindeer herders)
Magic: No arcane casters whatsoever, anathema
*Nûklander abilities: The Nûk are a type of Elf, but, rather than give them full Elf abilities according to Revised, I'm interested in giving them only what is specified in the setting materials, which is this:
Seagestrelanders
Dominate language: Seagestrelander
Recommended social class: Not recommended as characters in the Northlands; would be considered a thrall
Magic: Rare, but there is no distinction between divine and arcane magic--both forms are gifts of the gods

Dwarves
Languages
Andøvan - a dead, ancient language
Beast Cult Sign - secret evil cult hand signals
Nørsk - the dominate language of the Northlands
Nûklander - the language of the Nûk
Old Uln - used by a dying cult, a precursor to Ulnat
Runic - the written form of Nørsk
Seagestrelander - the language of a separate people in the southwest
Ulnat - of the seal hunters of the very Far North

At character creation or during play characters may pick up languages according to the table related to Intelligence on page 7 (Revised)

To make this easy, definitely going Northlander.

That is the right choice.

Brainstormed a bunch of ideas last night... will share via Discord. Is there a particular place I need to be from, or will be starting in?

Will take a peek at Hordaland today, FYI.

STR 15 (was 7; +1 to hit, +0 damage, Open Door 1-2, +10lbs Carry)
DEX 11
CON 14 (+1 HP per HD)
INT 8 (1 maximum additional language)
WIS 10
CHA 11

Class: Fighter
Race: Northlander

And... that's about it from the main book. What else do I need to do? For gear, wealth, etc...

We'll be using "Hacksilver" (p. 47), which basically means one piece of hacksilver is the equivalent of one gold, and subdivisions are simply that larger piece of hacksilver (like the size of an armring), broken into ten (for a "silver piece") and into ten again (for a "copper piece").

At character creation, roll 3d6, multiply the result by ten, and that's your starting "hacksilver" you can use to outfit your character.

Remember that we are leaning into not only the old school flavor but also into the Nordic flavor, in which a northern hero usually has a retinue, a number of followers, a comitatus. With a Charisma of 11, you can have attracted up to four "Special Hirelings," which, for this game, we can interpret to mean characters with actual "character classes," i.e., Clerics, Druids, Magic-users, etc., that, for whatever reason, have been attracted to your character and intend to meet their fortune with him, which usually involves sharing accumulated wealth and some amount of experience with them.

Similarly, you can keep any number of "normal Hirelings" for the appropriate "pay," as found on page 48 of the Revised book, also remembering this bit of flavor from the Northlands Saga:

Ring Giving

Of course, you don't need to have attracted these "special Hirelings" just yet, but it's something to consider.

Here's what I think for mechanical implementation:

Whereas normal hirelings are simply paid for with hacksilver (hs) and stay pretty static in level and ability, "special Hirelings" share xp with you on adventures, and any hs you choose to pay special hirelings for awards is deducted (in this instance) from your character's overall xp level and instead applied to the xp of the special hireling.

In other words, you and your special hirelings (granted that your hirelings are in a certain scene) share all "Monster xp" and any other incidental xp awards but you choose how much xp in the form of hs you are going to award to your retinue and deny yourself. After all, in this dynamic, you are the function of a ring-giving "lord."

You're also going to need to roll a d8 for hp and add five (in this case six, because of your high Con) to it for total starting hp.