Creating a Character using Labryrinth Lord AEC

OK! So now that I've settled on a system, I had to do a little bit of thinking on how to implement my combat system into Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion.

First, you'll have to go to the website for Golinoid Games and download the free pdfs for Labryrinth Lord Core Rules and Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion (AEC).

The rules are quite close to Basic D&D from the late 70s. What is nice is that the AEC adds rules for it to play more like AD&D 1e, but those rules don't contradict the Core Rules, but rather expand on them, allowing for example Paladins, Rangers, and Assassins, and freeing up race/class restrictions but keeping the same to-hit and saving throw charts from the Core Rules.

Now, you are ready to roll up a character. In my own campaign, I will be using a variation on the 4d6 rule. Roll 4d6, drop the lowest. Re-roll ones. Arrange to order. Apply racial modifiers. My campaign will be a human only campaign, so racial modifiers won't apply.

Now it is time to create a character sheet. I'll have a blank sheet for your use at the end of the post. Here is a sample sheet for Sleathshadow, a 1st level thief.

His name is Stealthdhadow, and he is a Thief. His is male, and is from the Merchant's Republic in Calabria.

He is 17 years old, 5'-9" tall, and 163 pounds. His eyes are brown, and his hair is black. His is Chaotic Good, has no known foes, and is left handed. He casts no spells.

He has a Strength of 14, an Intelligence of 14, a Wisdom of 14, a Dexterity of 17, a Constitution of 11, and a Charisma of 16. He chose to put his second highest score in Charisma because as a thief, he may find himself having to bluff his way into or talk himself out of many situations.

I'll be using the Advanced HD rule from Labyrinth Lord AEC. With this rule, Fighters get d10, Clerics d8, Thieves d6, and Magic Users d4 for Hit Dice. Since my combat system is particularly brutal as you near zero hit points, I'm giving extra hit points at "zero level". Basically, everyone in Shatterworld starts out at zero level with half (rounded down) their Consitution score for hit points. Stealthshadow has a Constitution of 11, so he gets 5 hit points at zero level. I'm giving also max hit points at first level, so at first level he gets 6 hit points, for a total of 11. The chart in the upper right of the character sheet keeps track of hit points per level gained, in case the character ever has the unfortunate experience of losing levels.

The character sheet keeps track of the d20 ability score bonus from Labryrinth Lord, and also a d100 bonus, which is merely the d20 bonus multiplied by 5.

I am using a house rule that ability scores modify saving throws. Breath Weapons, Wands and Spells benefit from Dexterity Bonus. Poison benefits from Constitution Bonus, and Petrify or Paralyze benefits from Wisdom Bonus.

Now it is time to Armor Class. Using the Labyrinth Lord AEC rule, the most amor he can wear is leather. Using my Alternative Combat Rules, Leather Armor is AC8, and a full set weights 15 pounds.

He is going to use rapier and dagger as his weapons. The rapier offers a weapon with reach that is light and quick (+15 to hit on d100). The damage is low (-3 d20), but he isn't planning on going up against armored foes. Even a -3 on the Alternative Rules damage chart does a healthy 7 to 17 points against an unarmored opponent. He would rather have the plusses to hit than be a a powerhouse of damage. He is also choosing a dagger because he can throw it up to 20 feet.

In my house rules, I'm going to allow him double damage on both his rapier and thrown dagger back attacks if he can execute them stealthily. This double damage applies to all classes. However, since the thief is the only class that can move silently, the other classes must plan an ambush to achieve the bonus. If the thief can get a true up close and personal back attack with his dagger, he can also do a called shot, attacking whatever body location he chooses. Thus, if an unsuspecting opponent is wearing armor but no helmet, he can go for the unarmored head for a throat slit.

For miscellaneous equipment, he has thieves picks and tools in a pouch on his right side. The weight of these is negligible. He has a large empty sack over his back. He has 50 gold pieces in a pouch on his left side. In my house rules, 50 coin pieces weigh one pound. He has 50 feet of rope slung from his right shoulder down to his left hip, which weighs 5 pounds according to the Labyrinth Lord equipment chart. His total misc. weight is 6 pounds.

He has 15 pounds of armor, 7 pounds of weapons, 1 pound of coins, 6 other pounds of misc. for a total weight encumbrance of 29 pounds. All characters have a 20 pounds allowance, which brings him down to 9 pounds. He has an additional 5 pound allowance for his d20 Strength bonus. His Combat Penalty is 4.

His is not permitted a shield due to class according to Labyrinth Lord AEC.

Character Sheet, done!

Almost forgot... a Character Sheet for your use!