d30 Rifts Mutations

The original Rifts core rulebook included an optional table where one could roll up their "family origin". A high roll would result in your character being an "Earth Mutant", a D-Bee (extradimensional being), or an alien.

"Earth Mutants", also referred to as "mutoids" (which I much prefer) are supposed to humans that were changed by the weird energies of the rifts -- and possibly by other means as well. Mutoids have largely been ignored in the game other than a few mentions here and there in early sourcebooks. (I'm told that the Dinosaur Swamp and Mad Haven books include mutoids, but I haven't read them.) The Rifts Ultimate Edition rulebook doesn't mention them at all, though this was supposedly an oversight.

D-Bees got the most attention in later books, with numerous new PC races introduced to the game in nearly every supplement. These races are usually quite different from humans, though, rolling different numbers of dice for attributes and possessing other special abilities. I kind of miss having characters of extradimensional origin that are pretty close to human.

Aliens were never really mentioned again, and it was fairly quickly established that Rifts Earth was effectively sealed off from outer space. Once, I thought it was a bad idea to limit the game in that way, but I'm actually okay with it now.

The table in the original Rifts rules is fun, but pretty abbreviated. I thought I'd try my hand at an expanded table. Like the original, this table can also be used to generate mutoids or humanlike D-Bees whose differences from normal humans are primarily cosmetic. I've tried to avoid anything that duplicates powers or races found elsewhere in the game.
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Roll 1D4 times on the following table, re-rolling redundant or contradictory results. (Note that results which grant skill bonuses give a base skill rating at the percentage listed if the character lacks training in the skill.)

01 Has a long tail, similar to that of a (roll 1D8): 1 cat, 2 dog, 3 horse, 4 lizard, 5 rat, 6 monkey, 7 devil, 8 kangaroo. Tail is 2+1D4 feet long. +10% to Sense of Balance.

02 No body hair. 50% chance of no hair on the head, either.

03 Body is covered in (roll 1D8): 1 short fur, 2 long hair, 3 scales, 4 loose skin, 5 wrinkles, 6 blotches, 7 stripes, 8 sticky substance. 50% chance of unusual color*. 25% chance of being limited to a particular area or part of the body (e.g. forearms, lower legs, back, face, etc.)

04 Has armored skin. Texture is (roll 1D8): 1 chitinous, 2 leathery, 3 lumpy, 4 metallic, 5 rocky, 6 rubbery, 7 scaly, 8 woody. Add 3D6 to S.D.C. 50% chance of unusual color*.

05 Body is unusually (roll 1D6): 1-2 short and squat (reduce height by 1D6+10 inches), 3-4 tall and thin (increase height by 1D6+10 inches), 5-6 broad and stocky (increase width by 1D6+10 inches).

06 Has an animal-like lower face or snout, similar to that of a (roll 1D10): 1 bat, 2 bird, 3 cat, 4 dog, 5 insect, 6 lizard, 7 monkey, 8 pig, 9 rabbit, 10 rat. Can bite for 1D6 S.D.C. damage.

07 Has animal-like eyes, similar to those of a (roll 1D6): 1 cat, 2 frog, 3 insect, 4 gecko, 5 owl, 6 rat. Has 60ft nightvision.

08 Has animal-like ears, similar to those of a (roll 1D8): 1 bat, 2 cat, 3 cow, 4 dog, 5 horse, 6 pig, 7 rabbit, 8 rat. +1 to initiative.

09 Has ornamental growths on the head, namely (roll 1D10): 1 antennae, 2 feathers, 3 knobs, 4 ridges, 5 scales, 6 small horn(s), 7 leaves, 8 quills, 9 tendrils, 10 long spikes. 75% chance of lacking hair on the head. 50% chance of ornamentation continuing down the shoulders and/or back.

10 Has a horn, horns, or antlers that can be used in combat, similar to those of a (roll 1D6): 1 bull, 2 deer, 3 goat, 4 ram, 5 rhinoceros, 6 unicorn. Can gore for 1D8 S.D.C. damage.

11 Cranium is unusually (roll 1D8): 1 angular, 2 broad, 3 flat, 4 oblong, 5 pointed, 6 spherical, 7 squarish, 8 tall.

12 Has facial features (roll 1D4): 1 eyes, 2 nose, 3 mouth, 4 ears of an unusual size (roll 1D4): 1-2 half normal size, 3-4 twice normal size. 50% chance of unusual color* for eyes.

13 Has digitigrade legs. Add 3 feet to all jumping distances. 50% chance of feet terminating in hooves.

14 Has unusually shaped ears (roll 1D6): 1-2 small and pointed, 3-4 long and pointed, 5-6 webbed/fan-shaped.

15 Unusual number of digits on each hand (roll 1D6): 1-2 1D2 additional fingers, 3-4 additional thumb, 5-6 1D2 less fingers. 75% chance of same number of digits on the feet (if "additional thumb" is rolled for the feet, character is capable of manipulating objects with the feet).

16 Has pigmentation of an unusual color* in the (roll 1D6): 1-2 hair, 3-4 eyes, 5-6 skin. 25% chance of a pattern/mix of two colors. 25% chance of luminosity.

17 Has 1D4 features similar to those of a primitive hominid (roll 1D4 to determine how many primitive features, then roll 1D4 again for the type, re-rolling duplicate results): 1 brow ridge/sloping forehead, 2 prognathous face, 3 bowed legs, 4 stooped shoulders/long arms.

18 Has unusually (roll 1D4): 1-2 short, 3-4 long body parts (roll 1D6): 1 fingers, 2 arms, 3 legs, 4 toes, 5 torso, 6 neck. Increase or reduce length of the body part(s) by 50%.

19 Has a long, extendible, sticky tongue, similar to that of a (roll 1D4): 1-2 anteater, 3-4 frog.

20 Has redundant "backup" organs. Add 2D6 to hit points.

21 Has an anomalous brain structure. +2 to save vs. psionics. 25% chance the brain is visible.

22 Has the outward appearance of an individual (roll 1D6): 1-2 much older, 3-4 much younger, 5-6 of the opposite sex.

23 Face apparently lacks one or more of following (roll 1D4 times to determine how many features are missing, then roll 1D4 again to see which features are missing, re-rolling duplicate results): 1 eyes, 2 nose, 3 mouth, 4 ears. The character inexplicably functions as a normal human in all ways.

24 Has claws (rather than nails) on fingertips, capable of inflicting 1D6 S.D.C. damage in combat. 50% chance of being retractable.

25 Hands and feet have (roll 1D4): 1 small claws, 2 fine scales, 3 tiny hairs, 4 suction pads that assist in climbing. +10% to Climbing skill for non-sheer surfaces.

26 Has hyperflexible joints. +10% to Escape Artist.

27 Exudes pheromones that are effective on most humanoids. +10% to invoke trust, charm, Seduction skill, etc.

28 Has an unusual number of eyes (roll 1D6): 1-2 cyclops, 3-4 triclops, 5-6 four eyes. 50% chance of unusual color*.

29 Has a voice with an unusual quality (roll 1D6): 1 reverberating, 2 shrill, 3 guttural, 4 musical, 5 monotone, 6 scraping.

30 Has webbed digits on the hands and feet. +10% to Swimming skill.

*Unusual color (roll 1D8): 1 white, 2 red, 3 orange, 4 yellow, 5 green, 6 blue, 7 violet, 8 black.

d10 Rifts Active Rifts

Perhaps the most hazardous aspect of nexus points is the likelihood of there being an active dimensional rift in such a place. Rifts are not merely doorways -- they are rips in the fabric of space-time itself, and who can predict what might occur?

01 A demon, supernatural intelligence, malevolent god, or other monstrous entity is attempting to emerge from the rift, but is stuck or otherwise unable to break through fully. Perhaps it is out of phase with our reality, or ancient wards placed on the nexus point might prevent its crossing the threshold, or perhaps it is simply too large to fit. At any rate, it is displeased, and will lash out (physically, psychically, magically, or otherwise) at anything in view or reach.

02 Shifters have cast a powerful enemy through the rift and are trying to close it before they can re-enter our world. GM's choice whether the Shifters are good or bad, and whether who- or whatever it was they're trying to seal off deserved it.

03 A seasoned, well-equipped Coalition force has known about this rift for some time, and has set up a sort of base nearby. They will attack anything emerging from the rift, and will likely do the same to anyone trying to enter or otherwise interact with it.

04 This malformed rift constantly expels weird mutagenic energies into the surrounding area. Anyone exposing themselves to it must roll for strange effects. GMs, pick your favorite mutation or insanity tables (or both).

05 Gateway to Hell.

06 Raw magical energy spews forth from this rift at certain times -- if there is a pattern, no one has yet been able to discern it. At any given time, there is a 20% chance that a bolt of pure magical energy will surge forth, granting whomever it strikes 5d100 points of P.P.E. (determine target randomly). However, there are potential side effects, including (at the GM's option) physical damage, insanity, mutation, etc.

07 Time rift! A twist in the fabric of space where time becomes a loop, or other temporal disturbance. These have an unfortunate tendency to lead back to the time when the first rifts were triggered -- in other words, the dawn of the Apocalypse itself.

08 A stable rift that leads to the world of another role-playing game (or other fictional property, if you're feeling daring), possibly beyond the Megaverse itself. Pick something from your collection.

09 This rift leads to a "mirror universe" version of Rifts Earth, where bad is good (baby) and vice versa. 100% chance of the player characters encountering bizarro versions of themselves.

10 Not technically a rift, but a dimensional vortex that actually sucks in and swallows bits of the surrounding reality until some sort of threshold point is reached, at which point it vomits forth chunks of another dimension entirely. There is a high likelihood of this extradimensional binge and purge having gone on for some time, which means the surrounding environs will be a jigsaw puzzle of otherworldly elements.

d10 Rifts Ley Line Nexus Points

Most avoid the places where ley lines cross, for they are a lure to those that practice black arts. What might you stumble across at one of these nexus points, you ask?

01 Shifters in the process of summoning a demonic entity. They haven't managed to open the rift quite yet, and resent any interruptions to their ritual.

02 Due to ley line interference, a squad of Coalition troops has gotten cut off from communications and become hopelessly lost. They've lost a lot of men and supplies, and are essentially looking to commit suicide by demon/monster/wizard/what have you. Intend to launch an attack on the first non-"normal" thing they see.

03 A malign, invisible supernatural presence (possibly a possessing entity) lurks at this nexus, waiting to dominate and inhabit a worthy host.

04 This nexus point is marked with an ancient burial mound, standing stones, toadstool ring, stele of extradimensional origin, or similar. 50% chance of faeries, which likely means trouble for anyone that comes here.

05 Gateway to Hell.*

06 A cadre of Techno-Wizards has set up a station for charging their contraptions. They're willing to recharge TW items or sell Potential Psychic Energy batteries to those who can pay.

07 This nexus point is the hunting ground of a particularly feral pack of wild Psi-Stalkers. They are starving, and will attempt to ambush and drain any psychics or practitioners of magic.

08 A circle of Mystics and new recruits in the midst of hippie-ish initiation rites. May react with hostility, or invite visitors to share herbal substances and talk philosophy for several hours.

09 A cabal of evil mages (possibly from the Federation of Magic, depending on your location) is preparing a rite of human sacrifice. See, this is the kind of crap that gives practitioners of magic a bad name.

10 Active (open) rift. (Tune in next week for d10 Rifts Active Rifts.)

*"You did that last week," you say? Fine. Nothing bad going on at this nexus point. Yet.

d10 Rifts Danger Zones

Nobody that goes there ever comes back. How come?

01 Breeding ground/hatchery for monsters (pick a type - dragons are always a good idea). Adults will likely destroy anything that happens upon the locale.

02 Rift-lost Robotech Expeditionary Force Ikazuchi-class Cruiser starship, badly damaged by a failed space launch attempt. This was a special one that has a working Robotech Factory built in (capable of manufacturing mecha). Commander is spooked and is likely to attack anything unfamiliar.

03 A plague of faeries harass, wreck, and ruin anything that enters their territory. Nymph in faerie mound driven mad by pollutants or bad ley line juju.

04 Village with extremely high mutoid population due to designer gene facility's vats rupturing into fresh water supply during apocalypse. Villagers are even stranger looking than typical mutants, and most are (roll d6): 1-5 psionic, 6 superpowered (see Heroes Unlimited).

05 Gateway to Hell.

06 Splugorth slave-barge way station. Heavily guarded mobile base. Slavers drop off captured humans, D-Bees, and monsters here to be collected for the trip back to Atlantis and eventual sale.

07 Permanent rift hidden underground, with a "tumor" of the planet Wormwood extruding into it. Patches of fleshy, cancerous earth at the surface. Monitored by agents of the Unholy.

08 Evil wizard tower. No lasers, no robots, no cyborgs, just a straight up evil wizard tower.

09 Old mine/sewer/subway/cave system infested with hive-based monsters that capture, store, and eventually kill any living thing they can find. (Xiticix, Invid, maxpary, or good old Aliens would work.)

10 Ley line nexus point. (Tune in next week for d10 Rifts Ley Line Nexus Points.)

Fight On! Random Table Contest

I try to avoid posts like this one, but the idea behind this contest is too damn brilliant to ignore. Not just what it's about, not just the prizes, but the way the prizes are determined. I say again: brilliant.

Random tables are a big part of what I love about RPGs. I'm already trying to think up a decent submission or two.

Gloomspear's Saga: Part Five

In Central Casting: Heroes of Legend, the twists and turns of a character's life have an effect on their personality, represented by Lightside, Darkside, and Neutral traits. Considering all the crap Gloomspear's been through, you'd expect him to have a pretty negative take on life, but apparently not: the winding road to adulthood has left him with four Lightside, one Neutral, and two random personality traits.

Lightside traits first, then. I turn to table 647: Lightside Traits and roll 2d20 four times, resulting in scores of 13, 14, 32, and 10. This means Gloomspear is Pious (which the author defines not-too-subtly as "reverently devoted to worship of God"), Honest ("always gives what is due"), Benign ("gentle, inoffensive"), and Trusting ("trusts others to behave correctly"). So Gloomspear's a big pussycat, considering everything he's been through. Too bad about that berzerker rage.

Gloomspear's Neutral trait, rolled on table 318B: Neutral Traits, is Grim - "unsmiling, humorless, stern of purpose" - a roll of 28 on 2d20. Well, that's more like it. Even though Gloomspear is strong of conviction and generally morally upright, he's not cheerful about it. That makes the Lightside rolls easier to swallow.

Last, I need to make a roll on table 318A: Personality Trait Check to see what to do with his random traits. My first percentile roll of 99 indicates that I need to roll up an Exotic Personality Feature on table 649. First, I need to figure out what type of exotic trait he has by rolling a d20... and I roll a 20, so "Several Features manifest themselves. Roll 1d3+1 times on this table." All righty, I get a 4, so that's 3 more rolls: 18 (Sexual Disorder), 11 (Behavior Tag), and 10 (Allergy). All right, Gloomspear's getting weird...

Deep breath. A quick glance at table 649F: Sexual Disorder shows me that it's definitely the product of somebody who's not particularly open minded: transsexualism, bisexuality, and homosexuality are all listed as disorders, and it's explained in a sidebar that "All Sexual Disorders are considered to be Darkside personality traits by most societies, fantastic or otherwise." Nice editorializing there, Jaquays. I guess the description of the Pious trait should have tipped me off. But we've come this far, so let's see what happens, shall we? I roll 2d8 and get "Too Prude: Convinced that sex is bad in any form. Despises all who lower themselves to it, including self." Well, that could sort of make sense, considering that Gloomspear's cursed to cause the death of anyone he loves, and who knows what happened to him (or what he witnessed) when he was enslaved or imprisoned as a child? I'm now directed to roll a d8 to see if his prudishness is an attempt to hide his own sexual disorder, and thankfully, it isn't.

That gave me the heebie-jeebies a little.

I still need to roll Gloomspear's Behavior Tag and Allergy. I roll a d20 for Behavior Tag and get a 4: "Distinctive Possession". I'm to select an object "for which the character is well known and which he may not wish to be parted from". I'd say it'd make a lot of sense if this was his cursed spear. It's given him his moniker, and he actually can't get rid of it - not that he'd wish his curse on anyone else. The Allergy is pretty unremarkable, as my roll of 5 indicates an "unusual food type", with a 1 for its strength, meaning it's a mild allergy. So, Gloomspear has a mild allergy to... let's say frog meat. Underwhelming, as I said, but they can't all be telepathic tamarins and wondrous wizards, right?

One last random trait to go. I roll an 86 on d100, meaning it's a Darkside Trait. (Hopefully it's not something really monstrous, like being gay or having premarital sex.) I roll 23 on 2d20, meaning Gloomspear is Angry: "spirit always unsettled, never at peace". That directly contradicts my earlier roll of Benign, but hey, that's how the cookie crumbles. I'll take Angry over Benign, anyway - it just makes more sense for this character.

You're instructed to total up your Lightside, Neutral, and Darkside traits, and assign the character an alignment according to whatever you've got the most of. In this case, Gloomspear would come out as a Lightside (i.e., "good" or "lawful") character, but I've already written in Neutral on my character sheet. Next time I'll make the character after using Central Casting, as I think that would make more sense.

That's it for Gloomspear! Overall, I'm impressed with how this worked out, despite the prejudices of the author and a few rolls that were contradictory or not to my taste. The subtitle of the book, Heroes of Legend, turned out to be very appropriate to the results I got. Gloomspear feels like a big, high-fantasy tragic hero, maybe a bit more AD&D 2nd Edition than Labyrinth Lord, but still pretty damned cool.

Gloomspear's Saga: Part Four

Having escaped from slavers and befriending a dwarf and a wizard, Gloomspear is ready for adulthood (or so we hope). Table 217: Significant Events of Adulthood works a lot like the Childhood & Adolescence chart, right down to the number of events: 1d3. I get a 4 on my roll, so Gloomspear has two events. This time, I roll 2d20 plus his SolMod. My results are 15 and... 15! This means that I need to roll on table 544: Exotic Events twice. Gloomspear will also have to roll up two more Lightside Traits later.

My first Exotic Events roll is a 16: "The character and another player character become acquainted with each other." Cool - this reminds me of the random cooperative character generation that Mongoose's new versions of Traveller and RuneQuest use. I roll a d10 to see exactly how they're acquainted. I get a 9: "One saves the other's life." A roll of a 5 on d6 indicates it was Gloomspear who saved the other PC's life. I like this. Adult events work a bit differently than Childhood & Adolescent ones in that you pick at what age they happened. Let's say this one happened when he was 20 years old.

I roll a 12 for Gloomspear's second Exotic Event, a long and detailed entry which explains that Gloomspear discovered "a waterlogged old chest" with "an apparently drowned animal" inside, that then awakened and became his pet. Well, that's definitely exotic. So, I have a roll on table 759: Unusual Pets up next. A roll of 7 on d20 indicates that it's a monkey, and another roll on table 760: Special Pet Abilities tells me that it's "Telepathic - Can communicate by mental speech." 19 seems like a good age to find a half-drowned psychic monkey, right?

I notice at this point that I was supposed to roll "Noteworthy Items" for Gloomspear's friends, the dwarf and the wizard, by using table 114: Parents & NPCs. Obviously, you wouldn't want to roll up a detailed history for everybody Gloomspear's ever met, so instead, each of his friends will get d3 rolls on the table. The dwarf gets one roll, and the wizard gets two.

To make a long story short, the dwarf (a male) is "persecuted or villainized" for "being involved in illegal activities", namely "organized guild thievery". Gloomspear befriended a notorious dwarven thief when he was a slave. The poor guy was probably in the clink with Gloomspear when the prisoners' amnesty was declared, and ended up enslaved alongside him.

Gloomspear's wizard friend (a woman) is forever telling "tales of a legendary treasure" and has vague hints as to its location. Interestingly, she is also believed to be the destined mate of "some unheard-of god from another land". The wizardess disagrees, but is still harassed and annoyed by this god's followers. Well, whatever else you might think, you can't say this book doesn't provide some colorful results.

Next, I'll finish up Gloomspear, roll up his personality traits and post some final thoughts about Central Casting: Heroes of Legend.

Gloomspear's Saga: Part Three

When last we left our unfortunate hero, he had been released from prison at the tender age of 12, only to be enslaved by a conquering force that reduced his home city to ashes.

Table 539: Enslaved! is one of the more complex entries in Heroes of Legend. First of all, you have to generate your character's owner. So, let's see who bought poor Gloomspear. I roll a d6 to determine gender (getting a 6): a female owner. Next, I roll a d10 to see if this woman is from a different Culture, and get a 3, meaning she's also from a Civilized-Decadent background. Then I have to generate her Social Status by rolling a d20 and adding 83, then checking table 103: Social Status. I get a total of 96, meaning she's Wealthy, but not Nobility. Finally, I need to determine her Occupation on table 423D: Upper Class Occupations. I roll a 7, indicating that she's a Merchant, and then have to roll on table 425: Merchants to see what sort of business she's in. I roll a 16. She's a Slaver.

Okay, so young Gloomspear is enslaved and sold to a slaveress. Next, I'm told to roll a d6 to determine the duration of enslavement. I roll a 4, meaning Gloomspear serves this woman from age 12 to age 16. This also means that some Adolescent Events, which I still haven't gotten to quite yet, might happen to Gloomspear while he's a slave. I also roll a d3 to determine how many "Enslaved! Events" I need to roll up, and get a 6! (Jeez, Zocchi, are you sure these dice are "more random" than the competitors'?) 3 events on the chart, d20 roll for each: 17, 13, 5.

17 means "Character is branded." On a 5 or a 6 on d6, the brand is large and unmistakably a slave brand. I roll a 5. Great. Gloomspear is now literally, rather than just figuratively, scarred for life. Now I have to go to Table 867: Body Locations to see where his mistress had him branded. I roll another 17 on d20, indicating the brand is located on his left hand. I could roll to see when this happened, but it just makes sense to me that he'd be branded as soon as he was bought, so that's age 12 again.

My roll of 13 indicates that Gloomspear was "promoted to a position of authority", and determine that this happened in his third year of slavery by rolling a d4. Gloomspear evidently served his mistress well, and was rewarded with a better position at age 15. Creepy.

"Owner dies" on my roll of 5, and I'm going to assume this happens in Gloomspear's final year of enslavement (age 16). I'm to roll a d6 to determine the consquences, and get a 3: "The owner's last request is that all of his or her possessions be interred in his or her grave. The character escapes." I'm then directed to roll a d8 for the fallout of the escape, getting a 2: "1d6 slaves accompanied the character." Upon learning their mistress' morbid last will, 5 slaves escaped with Gloomspear - possibly ones for which he was in charge.

On to Significant Events of Adolescence! I roll a 4 on d3, meaning Gloomspear gets two rolls on this table. My first roll of 12 indicates that Gloomspear gains a friend, generated on table 750: Others. I also add a Lightside Trait to be rolled later. Finally, Gloomspear gets a break. I roll a 19, indicating "A Nonhuman", determined on table 751: Nonhumans. I roll a 7, which means he befriended a dwarf. 12+1d6 to see at what age he made this friend gives me a 15, so Gloomspear met his buddy when he was still a slave. Presumably, this dwarf was a slave, too, and was probably one of the five that escaped with Gloomspear the following year.

My second roll is also a 12: Gloomspear gains another friend! Certainly beats being cursed or enslaved, right? Another Lightside trait to be rolled later, then. This time Gloomspear befriended somebody at age 18 (the end of his adolescence). I roll a 4 on table 750: Others... it's a "wielder of magic". What kind of spellcaster? I roll a d4, getting a result of 1: "A wondrous wizard." Things started off sword & sorcery for Gloomspear, but his life is getting pretty high-fantasy lately! Heck, he's basically got an adventuring party already.

Next, we'll see what happens when Gloomspear the boy becomes a man...

Gloomspear's Saga: Part Two

Picking up where I left off, it's time for me to roll up Gloomspear's childhood. We already know he spent a good chunk of it on the streets, even spending a couple of years in prison. Nevertheless, table 215: Significant Events of Childhood & Adolescence ("where the action begins," according to the author) instructs me to roll a d3 for the number of events in childhood. I roll a 5, so I've got to roll up three events. For each event, I roll a d20 and add Gloomspear's SolMod of -3, since he's Destitute. My final results are 4, 8, and 2.

My roll of 4 means that Gloomspear learned an unusual skill, generated on table 876: Unusual Skills. I roll a 2 on d20: "Professional gambling." Well, that certainly makes sense, considering his background. My roll of 4 on the Significant Events chart is also annotated with an [N], which apparently means I will later need to make a check for a Neutral Personality Trait later on. Fair enough. Finally, I'm told to roll a d12 to determine at what age this event happened, and get an 11. This means Gloomspear learned to gamble while he was in jail. Works for me!

That roll of 8 indicates that Gloomspear had a religious experience, also at the age of 10 (while he was in jail, learning to gamble, natch). This gives me a check for a random Personality Trait later, and I'm directed to table 541: Religious Experience. I roll a 16, which means that Gloomspear "uncovers the activities of an evil cult" while in prison. I roll a d6 to see what that means, and get a 6: "Others shun character because of this, possibly out of fear of the evil cult." So, I'm thinking Gloomspear found out about some kind of nasty secret society among the inmates, and his fellow prisoners preferred not to know about it. Interesting.

My third roll for childhood events was a 2: "A Tragedy Occurs." This entry has an [R] after it, which means I'll have to check for a random Trait later. I'm directed to table 528: Tragedies, and roll a d20, plus Gloomspear's SolMod, resulting in a 17: "War ravages the character's homeland." This happens when Gloomspear is 12 (almost out of prison), and I have to roll a d6 to see exactly how tragic this is. I get a 5, which means Gloomspear suffers 1d3 additional Tragedies. Man, this kid could not catch a break! I roll a 4, so I get two more Tragedies. Here we go again, d20 + SolMod: 5, 11. 5 means the "town where the character lives is wiped out". Normally, if the character lives in a city, only the neighborhood where he lives is destroyed, but on a roll of 6 on d6, the entire city is razed. I, of course, roll a 6. So, I guess that amnesty was declared because the city was doomed anyway. That roll of 11 indicates that Gloomspear was sold into slavery! So, the kid gets thrown into jail, and then when the war starts to go badly, amnesty for all prisoners is declared just in time for the conquerors to slap the chains back on him.

Next up, we'll see what table 539: Enslaved! holds for Gloomspear...

Gloomspear's Saga: Part One

Previously, I introduced you to my fighter, Gloomspear. Now it's time to see where he's coming from. I've unbagged my battered copy of Central Casting: Heroes of Legend and broken out some Gamescience dice for maximum randomness. Let's get to work.

I can skip the first table, 101: Character Race, because I already know my character is human. Kind of a shame, really, because the chart has a couple of interesting possibilities (like Beastman or Reptileman) alongside the usual Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling. Ah well.

Next is 102: Cultural Background. I roll and get a result of 10 on a d10 - Gloomspear is from a "Civilized-Decadent" culture, and is native to the Urban environment. "Fictional examples of decadent Culture include: Robert E. Howard's Stygians, Michael Moorcock's Melniboneans, Fritz Leiber's Lankhmarites and Raymond Feist's Tsuranuanni of Kelewan." Never read any Feist myself, but nice! Gloomspear's a city boy. This gives me a Culture Modifier Number (or CuMod) of 7, which "will be used later to modify other die rolls". Right on. Gloomspear would also get a -10% chance of going insane, and some urban survival skills if he were being created for a game that used such things. Since Labyrinth Lord doesn't have systems for skills or insanity, I can ignore these modifiers, but can keep them in mind for roleplaying purposes.

I roll a 32 on d100 for table 103: Social Status. Even with my CuMod of 7, this nets me a result of Poor. I have a -1 Social Level Modifier (SolMod), but my survival skills increase, and I'd get a chance to get Dagger and/or Brawling skills, if applicable to the system. So, Gloomspear's from the mean streets of a decadent city. All well and good.

104: Birth Legitimacy is up next. Rolling a d20 and adding my CuMod of 7, I get a total of 15. Your character is illegitimate only on a modified roll of 19 or higher, so he's legit. Gloomspear has no LegitMod.

Since Gloomspear is of legitimate birth, I skip to table 106: The Family. It's d20 + CuMod again, and get a total of 24. "None known - left to fend for self. Change Social Status to Destitute." All right, so he was of legitimate birth, but spent his childhood as a homeless street urchin. Going back to the description of Destitute, he automatically gets Dagger and Brawling skills, and (being from a Decadent culture) has a 60% chance of having Underworld Experience. I roll a 40, so yep, I'm going to be rolling on that table next. I'm assuming my SolMod would also change to -3, the default for Destitute Social Status, though it's not explicitly stated as such.

So, since Gloomspear has been caught up in the world of crime, I'm directed to section 534: Underworld Experience. 534A: The Wrong Path will tell me what led Gloomspear to this lowly state. A simple roll of the d10 gives a result of 9: "The character is forced into a life of crime by criminals who threaten his loved ones." Well, Gloomspear never knew his family, but apparently somebody must have been taking care of him for his early childhood. This is a little weird, but workable.

Next is 534B: Type of Crimes. A 1 on d6 gives me "Petty theft. The character and several pals steal things they want or need. They act in violation of any organized thieves guild." I'm envisioning a sort of Oliver Twist situation.

Finally, I'm to roll on table 534C: Underworld Events d3 times. I get a 6 (three events!) and then roll 14, 18, and 8 on a d20. 14 is "The character discovers that several items taken in a recent heist are 'cursed'. No fence will take them and even the owner is making no attempts to recover his property. It seems impossible to dispose of these items or even lose them. Select 1d3 items on Table 863: Gifts & Legacies, then determine the alleged curse on the owner of the items on Table 868: Curses." Damn. Well, I'll get to that in a minute. 18 means "The character's thieving skills improve by one Rank." Gloomspear's a fighter, not a thief, dammit, and this indicates to me that if you're not using a skill-based system, it's probably best to pick your class after using this book. (Maybe I'll use the Advanced Edition Companion rules to multiclass him as a fighter/thief.) Anyway, my last roll of 8 indicates that "The character is imprisoned for a crime. Select the crime on Table 875: Crimes, then determine the length of imprisonment. After being freed, the character goes straight, but maintains his underworld contacts." Wow. All right, so I've got a lot of rolling to do.

863: Gifts and Legacies is going to tell me what cursed things Gloomspear stole. I roll a 4 on d3 (2 items) and so roll a d20 twice: 18 and 20. 18 is "A sealed trunk. There is a 60% chance that it contains 1d3+1 additional items from this table." 17. Yep, it contains (roll of 6 on d3) four freakin' additional items. All right, fine: 15 ("A musical instrument"), 5 ("A tapestry"), 10 ("A sealed bottle, determine contents") and 20 ("Roll again. The resulting item defnitely has both magic properties and some great significance to the character's destiny and the over-all scheme of things"). Jeez! So I'm rolling for two magic items, one that was in the chest, and one that was separate. Okay, I get a 12 ("A bound wooden staff", whatever that means) and an 8 ("A locked or sealed book"). Let's say the book was in the chest. Clearly, Gloomspear robbed a wizard, and nobody is willing to touch his ill-gotten (and reputedly cursed) magical wares.

And what exactly is that curse? A roll of 16 means "Character is subject to fits of berzerker rage" and gives pretty detailed rules on exactly what that means in combat (it's pretty similar to the barbarian class' "rage" ability from 3rd edition D&D). I'm told to roll a d10 (getting an 8), which is the "strength of the affliction", meaning that if I roll under that number on d100 when combat begins, Gloomspear flips out Wolverine-style. I also have to make this check any time he's wounded, a companion is wounded or killed, or if Gloomspear or a companion is insulted during combat. Yikes.

I still have to roll up Gloomspear's time inside, starting with table 875: Crimes. We already know he's been involved in petty theft and robbery, but let's see what landed him in jail. A result of 6 on d20 means it was "Offending an influential person." This means he's imprisoned for d10 years. I roll 9. Nine years in the clink.

Time to head to table 540: Imprisoned! I'm a little unclear as to exactly when this happened in Gloomspear's life, though. Normally, you only start rolling for this sort of thing when you're generating the character's Childhood and Adolescent Events, but I was directed into this whole Underworld Events sequence before I even got that far. I'm going to go ahead and say Gloomspear is imprisoned in childhood, and am directed to roll a d12 to figure out how old he was when this happened. It turns out that he was locked up at age 10. Damn. I get d3 rolls on the Prison Events table, and roll a 6 again. Three events rolled on d10. My first roll is a 2: "The ruler of the land declares a general amnesty. The character is freed after serving only 1d10 X 10% of his sentence (do not make any more rolls on this table)." I roll a 3, and Gloomspear lucks out, only serving 30% (roughly three years) of his sentence. He is released before the age of 13 by a kindly decree from the local despot, and so is spared some of the cruelties of prison life.

Whew. So, after stealing some cursed items from a sorcerer, then being sentenced to jail for insulting his betters, Gloomspear's been scared straight. Where was I again? Oh, right, I was rolling up his family, and it turned out that he didn't have one. The next applicable table is 109: Time of Birth, but the reader is directed to make his own table if he deems it relevant. I don't.

Table 110: Place of Birth is next. I roll a 14, which indicates Gloomspear was born "In a cave" and gives him a Birth Modifier (or BiMod) of 5. Interesting, considering he's a city boy. I'll have to come up with a reason for that. The next table is 112: Unusual Births. I'd say being born in a cave is already interesting enough, but let's see what happens. A d100 roll of 77 plus Gloomspear's BiMod of 5 yields two Unusual Occurances, to be generated on the next table, 113: Unusual Birth Circumstances. I get d100 rolls of 32 and 74. The first indicates that "Water froze or boiled by itself" and the second that he was "Born with a curse (go to Table 868: Curses)." Foiled again.

So, back the Curses chart for Gloomspear. I roll a 3 on d20 this time, meaning that the poor guy "will be responsible for the untimely death of his lovers. When an event indicates a love affair, go to Table 545: Death Situations to determine the cause of death." Maybe this is an allusion to the destiny-affecting magic "bound wooden staff" he later stole? Could this curse at birth be tied to the berzerker rage curse he later acquires from robbing the wizard? Is he doomed to kill the people he loves? Hey, maybe the cursed staff's actually a spear? (No wonder they call him Gloomspear!) I'm getting a real "tragic hero" vibe from this guy now; too bad I gave him that goofy smirk on his character sheet.

Next is table 114: Parents & NPCs. Remember, Gloomspear never knew his parents. However, we know that somebody he loved was being threatened to force him into a life of crime during his childhood. So let's say that somebody found this cursed, abandoned child in a cave, then brought him to the Decadent City and raised him there, until he ended up on the streets. I get a roll of 9 on d20 for table 114A: Occupation, which means this kind soul had one occupation. Another roll on 423: Civilized Occupations (which has the inexplicable Ayatollah Khomeini illustration I referred to in my previous post) indicates he or she had a Middle Class Occupation, to be rolled on table 423C. A roll of 13 on d20 means that Gloomspear's caregiver was "An overseer". Another roll on 423A to determine what type of workers he oversaw directs to yet another table (422A, Barbarian Occupations). I roll an 18, indicating that they were Craftsmen. Yet another roll, this time on 424A Craft Table I, will tell me what type of Craftsmen: 10 on d20 means they were "Rope and Net Makers". Yeesh, that was a lot of rolls for a meager result. I should have just handwaved it and said he was a kindly puppet maker or something.

Still, I'm impressed: Gloomspear's already pretty damned interesting. Next post, I'll get into his Significant Childhood events, as if he hasn't already had enough of those...

Introducing Gloomspear

This is Gloomspear the fighter, a character I made for Labyrinth Lord. I rolled 3d6 in order and named him using my Core Names table. Check him out:

So far so good, right? Sure, his Hit Points roll could have been better, and he looks kind of like Saladin as played by Inspector Gadget, but his stats are well above average. He certainly seems to be a cheerful guy. His future is wide open, but it's his past that he needs to worry about. Why?

He's about to go through this:

"This book contains everything you need (except dice) to create detailed character histories and includes guidelines and rule materials to accomodate any FRP game system."

Yes, that's right, this is Central Casting: Heroes of Legend, Paul Jaquays' batshit crazy lifepath book, which I recently managed to pick up for a song on eBay. I don't know much about it, but I do know it has a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini in it for no reason whatsoever.

So wipe that crooked-eyed smirk off your Saturday-morning-cartoon-looking face, Gloomspear. Things are about to get real.

Fighting On

I'm happy to announce that issue #5 of Fight On! (the fanzine of the old school renaissance) is available now from Lulu. Along with a bunch of other cool stuff, this issue contains the "Dungeon Motivations" random table Bret Woods and I put together a while back, greatly expanded from Jeff Rients' original.

This is the second gaming product I've managed to get my name on. (The first was the errata document for the new version of Dragon Warriors.) I hope people are able to get some use out of my goofy little contribution.

Maybe I'll use this as an excuse to reorder that copy of Barbarians of Lemuria that I had shipped to the wrong address...

I feel pretty good about this. Movin' on up!

Review: Ultimate Toolbox

I am a big fan of random rolling. Don't get me wrong: I like making stuff up whole-cloth as much as the next guy, but if there's one thing that I've learned over my years of gaming, it's that rolling randomly often gives me fun results that I never would have come up with on my own.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I jumped on AEG's new supplement, Ultimate Toolbox, as soon as I learned it was available. The back cover blurb describes it as "400 pages of the best charts, tables, and seeds of gaming adventure." It's a massive expansion of their well-received Toolbox sourcebook, released for the d20 system several years back. Ultimate Toolbox cleans that product up, removes the d20 gaming statistics, and adds a whole lot more random tables.

As can probably be gleaned from the book's cover, which appears to depict a cleric of the new default D&D death goddess, the Raven Queen, Ultimate Toolbox is still aimed at those running and playing D&D-style fantasy. The book organizes its charts into seven chapters: Character, World, Civilization, Maritime, Dungeon, Magic, and Plot. Each chapter contains around one to two hundred d20 charts that can be used to generate a bewildering variety of useful information that one might need to produce on the fly (or any time inspiration is needed). Here are some sample tables that I've randomly flipped to:

• Druidic Orders (Character chapter)
• National Calamities, Magical (World chapter)
• Power Behind the Throne (Civilization chapter)
• Ship Names (Maritime chapter)
• Potion Tastes 2 (Dungeon chapter)
• Command Words, Healing (Magic chapter)
• Gossip About a Group/Guild (Plot chapter)

Naturally, the real question here is "how good is the stuff you can roll up?" Well, they're generally pretty good. Results can be dull ("Ranger" under Ranger Titles), anachronistic ("Bring it on!" under Battle Cries 1), ornate ("Scarlands of the Bladed Earth" under Desert Names), or inspired ("Pretty wife of an ugly man said to be magically animated statue" under Local Legends 1). There is a lot of material here I would probably never use, but I think the point of this book is to help you out when something you thought would never come up in your game suddenly does. I found that the World and Plot chapters, especially, would be useful if one needs to whip up an adventure background when their player characters elect to wander off the map.

As far as drawbacks, there are a few. Ultimate Toolbox is a project that likely exhausted its authors, and while most of the results you can roll up are pretty interesting, as I mentioned earlier, sometimes you can roll up a dud. This is probably inevitable when you have three people creating over 700 charts, but it should be mentioned. Also, as in many RPG products, I noticed quite a few typos that easily would have been caught with even a simple spell check - "steppe" is consistently misspelled as "steepe", for example. If you're a person who likes a book packed with glossy artwork, look elsewhere - there are a few pen and ink illustrations here and there, but nothing that will knock your socks off. Finally, the book is pricey - $49.95 for a black-and-white softcover.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I picked up Ultimate Toolbox. It isn't perfect, but it does deliver what it promises: piles and piles of random tables. If you're the type of gamer that enjoys such things, as I am, it's a purchase worth considering.

Core Names

Red Falcon. Elkhorn. Hawk the Slayer. Deathstalker. Names like this crop up in old modules and yellowed character sheets, on the covers of dog-eared gamebooks and musty VHS tapes. My friend Kent Bonifield once referred to such names as "core". For me, there's something primally, fundamentally old-school about them. I thought it would be fun to throw together a random table that could produce such names:

CORE NAMES TABLE (d100)

01 black

02 red

03 green

04 blue

05 gold(en)

06 silver

07 death

08 bane

09 doom

10 spell

11 dark

12 bright

13 light

14 dusk

15 dawn

16 shadow

17 steel

18 star

19 sun

20 moon

21 night

22 storm

23 fire

24 sea

25 wind

26 stone

27 leaf

28 river

29 war

30 blade

31 sword

32 horn

33 axe

34 claw

35 staff

36 spear

37 hammer

38 lone

39 falcon

40 eagle

41 hawk

42 dragon

43 wyvern

44 sphinx

45 griffon

46 lion

47 bull
48 panther

49 elk

50 bear

51 wolf

52 boar

53 rat

54 ox

55 fox

56 raven

57 serpent

58 soul

59 heart

60 strong

61 hunter

62 walker

63 stalker

64 killer

65 slayer

66 master/mistress

67 lord/lady

68 duke/duchess

69 king/queen

70 iron

71 grey

72 brother/sister

73 curse(d)

74 eye

75 tooth

76 shield

77 helm

78 fist

79 god

80 devil

81 demon

82 spirit

83 ghost

84 dread

85 blood

86 scar

87 hand

88 deep

89 rock

90 gloom

91 razor

92 bringer

93 ring

94 rune

95 weaver

96 caller

97 great

98 high

99 mega

00 ultra

(Core name generation is not an exact science. Players are encouraged to use their imagination when generating a name. One could roll two, three, or more times, and then combine, discard, and modify them as desired.)

(To put it another way, this table is kind of busted, but I just rolled up a guy named Megagloom and so I have to think that I did something right.)

Dungeon Motivations

A while back, Jeff Rients wrote a post titled "What's My Motivation?" for his Gameblog. Tired of players at pickup D&D games asking why their puny first-level character would waltz into a subterranean deathtrap, he devised a random chart on which the players could roll to answer that very question. It was awesome, and the idea took its hold on me. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was only a d12 roll. I'm happy to see the under-utilized d12 get some love, but I wanted more options.

So, with Jeff's blessing and a lot of help from my friend Bret Woods, here's the expanded version:

DUNGEON MOTIVATIONS TABLE (d100)

01 PC is obsessed with proving the existence of the Hollow World.
02 PC quests to retrieve bones of famous adventuring ancestor and re-inter them in family tomb.
03 PC has terrible but enticing dreams of sitting on the throne of a vast underworld kingdom.
04 PC owes 1d6 x 10,000gp to Jabba the Hutt.
05 PC seeks vengeance against the Troll King.
06 PC's family member afflicted with disease that can only be cured with the waters from a sacred subterranean spring.
07 PC haunted by visions of a beautiful witch/drow/princess/goth chick living on an island at the center of a vast underground lake.
08 PC seeks one segment of the Rod of Seven Parts. Must obtain all to save homeland from foretold doom.
09 PC's evil duplicate (twin? simulacrum? clone?) has fled into the dungeon. One or the other must die before both go mad.
10 PC's true love has been trapped in amber and is on display in the trophy room of Lord Utterdark.
11 PC's parents imprisoned. Corrupt official will release them in exchange for the Star Ruby of Umman-Gorash.
12 PC quests for legendary sword (fighter), archmage's spellbook (MU), or holy relic (cleric).
13 PC is a naturalist studying dungeon-based ecologies.
14 PC is from another plane/reality/dimension and is looking for a way home.
15 PC was a hireling in the employ of a party that entered the dungeon days ago and has yet to return. Left to tend to their horses, PC is waiting by the dungeon entrance, grumbling about back pay, when PC party arrives.
16 PC seeks the subterranean River Lethe, hoping to forget a shameful past deed.
17 PC has lost everything they once held dear and has a suicidal death wish.
18 PC is a member of a tribe that considers surviving the dungeon a rite of passage.
19 PC has been outfitted with an unremovable, deadly device that magically transmits their every sensation to a decrepit immortal who craves the thrill of dungeon crawling. Immortal will spare the PC as long as they are entertained.
20 PC was double-dog dared to enter the dungeon.
21 PC was originally a member of the opposite sex and quests for a cure.
22 PC is doing research for an up-and-coming mad wizard who wants to construct the ultimate dungeon.
23 PC heard dungeon crawling was a growth industry and is in it for the money.
24 PC is on the run from the law, and figures they won't follow him/her into a dungeon.
25 PC is trying to impress a love interest.
26 PC is the descendant of a disgraced noble family and quests to restore its good name.
27 PC is a criminal sentenced to certain death in the dungeon.
28 PC is the illegitimate child of a great hero, now intent on proving him/herself to their deadbeat parent.
29 PC was trained from birth by a bizarre dungeon-worshipping cult and sent as an offering to the great gods of the underworld.
30 PC just adores that gloomy dungeon ambience.
31 PC is obsessed with proving something called "Unified Dungeon Theory".
32 PC's crazy old uncle has filled PC's head with glamorous nonsense about dungeon crawling.
33 PC has terrifying dreams commanding them to awaken a sleeping god.
34 PC is the impressionable younger relative of another PC and follows them everywhere.
35 PC is the overprotective older relative of another PC.
36 PC was sent to act as bodyguard to another PC.
37 PC owed another PC a huge favor.
38 PC is the indentured servant of another PC.
39 PC is the slave of another PC. Whether the PC will remain so is another question.
40 PC is the devoted friend of another PC and didn't want them to go alone.
41 PC is driven to prove him/herself the strongest of all.
42 PC collects spores, molds and fungus and will go to any length to find new ones.
43 PC seeks blood/tooth/claw/eye of a monster found in the dungeon to sell to a witch/complete a ritual/create a magic potion/hawk on the black market.
44 PC wants to completely eradicate one type of monster found in the dungeon from the face of the earth.
45 PC is an aficionado of ancient wall carvings and wants to add rubbings from this dungeon to collection.
46 PC lost a wager and must enter the dungeon as a result.
47 PC's beloved pet scampered into the dungeon.
48 PC was bullied/coerced/tricked/seduced into accompanying another PC into the dungeon.
49 PC is an adrenaline junkie looking for a rush.
50 PC is a jaded hedonist in search of new thrills.
51 PC shipwrecked nearby and needs to raise money quickly to repair ship.
52 PC was forced to stop at this backwater world when spaceship ran out of the magic items/gems/gold/other treasure it uses for fuel.
53 PC must spend a night in the dungeon in order to receive a promised inheritance.
54 PC has complex legal documents stating that the dungeon is technically located on his/her property and intends to claim it. Must evict tenants first.
55 PC decides to enter the dungeon while extremely drunk. PC may sober up later and regret this decision.
56 PC has a thing for "underdark chicks/guys".
57 PC believes a cryptic journal that details his/her true family history lies within the bowels of the dungeon.
58 PC wants to prove that flumphs are not extinct.
59 PC really likes dragons, heard they tend to hang out in places like this.
60 PC's loved one violated by monsters from the dungeon, must be avenged.
61 PC is an amnesiac, believes key to discovering forgotten identity lies in the dungeon.
62 PC is searching for evidence of a lost race/civilization.
63 PC is a tomb robber, pure and simple.
64 PC's loved one kidnapped and taken to be villain's consort, held in the dungeon.
65 PC realizes that being an adventurer = dungeon crawling in this world and there's no way around it.
66 PC has been injected with a slow-acting poison, the antidote for which can be made from a lichen that grows only in the dungeon.
67 PC is a former henchman of the dungeon's main villain, seeks to overthrow the villain.
68 PC secretly seeks to betray PC party to the dungeon's main villain, whether out of own malice or because villain holds PC's loved one captive.
69 PC seeks to disprove the existence of the Hollow Earth.
70 PC is codependent and feels a need to do what everyone else is doing.
71 PC comes from peasant stock and refuses to live as his/her forebears have, sees dungeon crawling as the quickest path to fame and fortune.
72 PC's ex-adventurer grandfather's last request was for PC to brave the dungeon.
73 PC was sent on mission into dungeon by liege lord/chieftain/king.
74 PC was expressly forbidden to enter dungeon by superiors - lives to break rules.
75 PC was prophesied to undertake journey into the dungeon, and who can dispute prophecy?
76 PC received divinely inspired knowledge that he/she was born in the Hollow World, and wishes to find his/her way home.
77 PC commanded to enter dungeon by master/mentor as a final test.

78 PC is trying to atone for a past misdeed or crime.

79 PC is agoraphobic and dungeon crawling is the most lucrative line of work available to him/her.

80 PC is sent to search the dungeon for a missing child.

81 PC would rather die in the depths of the dungeon than be branded the village coward.

82 PC never looks before he/she leaps - this sojourn is just the latest in a lengthy list of foolhardy endeavors.

83 PC is a cartographer of the underdark.

84 PC is a painter of subterranean landscapes.

85 PC heard there were lasers down there.

86 PC is related to the main villain, intent on bringing him/her to justice.

87 PC is another PC's rival, sees dungeon crawl as a game of one-upmanship.

88 PC determined to complete dungeon quest as holy pilgrimage.

89 PC has a pathological tendency to underestimate danger.

90 PC is actually a magically-created organism designed only for dungeon crawling.

91 PC was told by fortune teller that he/she will die in sunlight, goes underground in attempt to live forever.

92 PC longs for immortality and scours dungeons in search of sympathetic lich/vampire/wight.

93 PC faces unwanted arranged marriage, wants to "live a little" before being forced to settle down.

94 PC is fleeing persecution.

95 PC is a spelunker looking to take his hobby to "the next level".

96 PC simply enjoys killing things and taking their stuff.

97 PC seeks the missing part that will allow him/her to activate Earthshaker!

98 PC claims to be "from the future!" and insists he/she is ensuring that all goes according to his/her future's "history".

99 PC's motivation to be determined by the player. Lucky you!

00 PC instantly ascends to godhood, roll new PC.

(First twelve entries taken from Jeff Rients' original table. I considered modifying them a bit to make them more generic, but I have to admit that I love the idea of a fantasy-world dungeon crawler owing Jabba the Hutt 50,000gp. Substitute concepts and proper names with ones suitable to your game if desired.)