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| A particularly 'high STR, low INT' adolescence |
Ability Scores as Origin Stories
3d6 down the line? Not this time. What if the process for rolling a character’s ability scores could be used to generate their backstory? This is the system for it. This system assumes a standard array of 6 ability scores - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom* and Charisma. Rolling for your ability scores is broken into three stages - childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. For each stage roll 6d6 (one for each ability) and a d30. The d30 will direct you to a notable event or mood in that stage of your character’s life. This event will influence how your ability scores are distributed for that life stage. Each event will determine to which of the six ability scores the highest and lowest of your d6 results must be placed. Once placed, the remaining four results of your 6d6 roll must be assigned to your other four ability scores. You may assign them in any order you wish but each ability must have a roll assigned to it, you cannot double up. Repeat this again for the other life stages, once complete your character should have their final array of six ability scores (made up from three dice, each rolled during a different stage of your character’s life) ranging from 3-18 and an interesting origin story to match them.
Some of the d30 table entries are vibes, some are specific events or a change in circumstances. You must interpret and detail them as you see fit. These events are a prompt, you are encouraged to expand on them or add personal touches to fit the evolving backstory. Your character’s circumstances may appear to change quite drastically between events, consider how this happened and why.
Results of 6 and 1 will often be the highest and lowest results of the 6d6 roll, these results will be directed toward a certain ability by your character’s life event. However, any additional results of 1 or 6 are special and represent something to your character and had some impact on their life. When assigned to a stat, any of these additional 6/1 results become Anecdotes. You, the player, should detail a life event or description to match their character’s extremely high or low ability at that age. For example, I have rolled two 6’s, two 1’s and two other middling results on my 6d6 roll for my character’s adolescence. The character’s life event means I must place the 6 in Intelligence and the 1 in Wisdom, that event is detailed. I could then place the 6 in Strength, stating my character ‘once pulled her drunken father from the village well’ to reflect this high strength stat, I then place the 1 in Dexterity and give the Anecdote; ‘but she failed to harpoon the jelly-beast that would mortally wound him the next summer’. The Anecdotes don’t need to be related but it can help your ideation.
There remains the potential to roll six 6’s, six 1’s or six 3’s, so whatever your result on the d30 tables, it won't make sense. In such a rare instance that you roll so very well or so very poorly, feel free to ignore your rolled event and freely describe that stage in your wunderkind/blunderkind life - being overwhelmingly excellent, entirely average or otherwise.
*For the sake of definitions, Wisdom refers to perception, will-power and affects saving-throws.
The Inciting Incident:
Once you have completed the Young Adulthood stage and totalled your ability scores consider what was the inciting incident that led you to become an adventurer. It may be evident from your young adulthood event or it could be something different entirely. This is whatever propelled your character into action and should be based in the backstory you have assembled. It is also an opportunity to redirect the character’s personality to something you are more comfortable with. Remember, be dramatic.
Optional Death Meme Rule: Because people like that you can die during Traveller's character creation system. Now you can in DnD. If any stat should total 3 by adulthood, the character dies. Tell everyone how.
What if this for? Why?
It’s fun to roll on? Certainly, this has something to do with my nostalgia for detailed, random creation character creation - the 3.5 Hero Builder’s Handbook was a guilty pleasure when I was younger. But this system could prove quite useful for solo play or some kind of OSR campaign where characters don’t die frequently and begin play with detailed backstories () or for groups who enjoy both the character creation process and random generation. You might also use it to create interesting NPCs for your players to encounter.
Now, on with the Childhood, Adolescence and Young Adulthood life event tables!
- Childhood d30:
High Low
1. Strength → Dexterity
As a child, you were expected to work. You could carry heavy loads but were clumsy and often chastised for breaking things.
2. Strength → Constitution
Even from an early age your childhood was tough and full of hard work, the gruelling labour made you as strong as it did sick.
3. Strength → Wisdom
You'd pick fights with much larger children - it was foolish but occasionally you'd win.
4. Strength → Intelligence
A bit of a bully, when it came to who knew best you could only win arguments with your fists.
5. Strength → Charisma
What a big brute of a child you were! You had no friends - just cronies who were scared you'd duff them up.
6. Dexterity → Strength
As a child, you were always running, jumping, and dodging with surprising agility. That's how it had to be, you couldn't let the stronger kids catch you again.
7. Dexterity → Constitution
You were a pale, waifish child - graceful but sickly.
8. Dexterity → Wisdom
You'd often climb to great, precarious heights and sneak into places you shouldn't be or couldn't get out of.
9. Dexterity → Intelligence
You were always the fastest kid around, life was fast and fun but you couldn't focus on anything for long.
10. Dexterity → Charisma
You were a wild child who spent more time climbing, crawling and running than making friends.
11. Constitution → Strength
You were born small, no one thought you'd survive. You proved them wrong.
12. Constitution → Dexterity
You were such a clumsy child, covered in bruises and scrapes - you never cried though - too tough for that.
13. Constitution → Wisdom
Once as a child you became lost in the wilderness for several days. You were tough enough to survive but continued to get lost easily.
14. Constitution → Intelligence
You were tough or had to become tough quickly. As a child, you worked hard and received no education at all.
15. Constitution → Charisma
You were tough, pain-tolerant to the point it made the other children think you weird - and weird you were.
16. Wisdom → Strength
Being small and weak in a tough home gave you a perception others lacked.
17. Wisdom → Dexterity
You knew there was going to be a terrible accident but you couldn't stop it in time.
18. Wisdom → Constitution
You were gravely ill and bed bound for most of your early childhood, only your willpower kept you alive.
19. Wisdom → Intelligence
You had no home, you had to get wise quickly and when you're trying to survive there's no time to learn anything else.
20. Wisdom → Charisma
You often made observations aloud that adults and children didn't like.
21. Intelligence → Strength
Your scrawny arms weren't fit for work but it never stopped you carrying those books around with you.
22. Intelligence → Dexterity
You were hopeless at games so you spent your time observing the world or reading.
23. Intelligence → Constitution
You only ever stopped asking questions when you were asleep, which was often as you always felt tired.
24. Intelligence → Wisdom
You were a clever kid and you thought that was enough to get you by.
25. Intelligence → Charisma
Even as a small child knew you were smarter than other children, you couldn't relate to them or even some adults. You spent much of your time alone.
26. Charisma → Strength
Folk were worried that such a small baby wouldn't live long, but as you grew you tried to waylay their worries with jokes, tales and joviality.
27. Charisma → Dexterity
The other kids loved you, you couldn't keep up with their games so they carried you.
28. Charisma → Constitution
You were a fragile child and so quickly developed the ability to talk your way out of trouble and make friends with bigger children.
29. Charisma → Wisdom
You were able to convince your friends to sometimes do dangerous dares and challenges. Once you lead your friends into a very fraught situation but you were unable to
30. Charisma → Intelligence
You could win over children and adult's with your charm and wit, but academic pursuits felt tedious and unengaging.
- Adolescence d30:
High Low
1. Strength → Dexterity
You tried to woo a potential paramour with your body but fell flat on your face.
2. Strength → Constitution
You fought off a beast. Folk thought you a hero but its bite left you with a lingering limp.
3. Strength → Wisdom
You became stronger but could be rather suggestible, your strength was a tool used by peers that didn't care for you.
4. Strength → Intelligence
Book-learning felt difficult now, what became easier was throwing your rivals to the ground.
5. Strength → Charisma
Who needs a personality when you've got muscles?
6. Dexterity → Strength
You were more of a dancer than a fighter. Your moves impressed but your punches didn't.
7. Dexterity → Constitution
You were a sneaky kid and soon, by one means or the other, your mind turned to crime. Frequent trips to a jail cell left their mark on your constitution.
8. Dexterity → Wisdom
You spent your nights dancing and smoking strange substances. Your body was lithe but your mind, foggy and addled.
9. Dexterity → Intelligence
You fell in with a fast and loose crowd, life was full of tricks and japes. But soon things got serious… duels, brawls, crime and thievery. In these circles life was cheap and short - you were fast enough to survive but that’s all you focused on.
10. Dexterity → Charisma
You would often slip away unnoticed from social situations, sneaking away to your favourite, most inaccessible spot.
11. Constitution → Strength
The gang thought you looked like an easy target for their 'fun' . They beat you terribly but you never let yourself fall down.
12. Constitution → Dexterity
You ate well and grew large but your size made you ungainly.
13. Constitution → Wisdom
Life was fun, you could partake in more libations and puffery than any of your friends. That said, the constant revelry made you groggy and greedy.
14. Constitution → Intelligence
Your body endured toiling and fighting remarkably - but your brain struggled with the challenges and lessons of your oncoming adulthood
15. Constitution → Charisma
The same gruelling work, day after day. There was no time for friendship, only continual toil.
16. Wisdom → Strength
The other kids might have teased you but church life isn’t so bad. It’s given you awareness and conviction others lack even if it hasn't done wonders for your muscles.
17. Wisdom → Dexterity
You were very lucky and lived through a terrible, magical event. After that, you adopted a reckless mindset—"If the gods decide my fate, why bother being cautious?"
18. Wisdom → Constitution
It was a near death experience - you thought you saw the other side. Neither you nor your body have ever quite recovered.
19. Wisdom → Intelligence
You spent much of your adolescence in the company of wise or holy folk, your faith and mental vigour increased but you began to forget about the world and began to think dogmatically, rather than rationally.
20. Wisdom → Charisma
You saw something uncanny, something that others couldn't see nor believe. You've been a bit odd ever since.
21. Intelligence → Strength
Your family found themself in a hard situation, you soon learnt it was better to scheme than to fight.
22. Intelligence → Dexterity
You found, or were found by, a mentor who taught you a great many things, even knowledge that others found verboten. When your mentor was in danger, you weren’t quick enough to help them.
23. Intelligence → Constitution
Struck down by some condition in your adolescence, only books kept you company as you recuperated.
24. Intelligence → Wisdom
You secluded yourself away in a musty room full of books and scrolls, your mind grew sharp but your wits grew dull.
25. Intelligence → Charisma
You were too curious for your own good, and after your weird relative told you some esoteric secrets about the world, you were never quite as normal again.
26. Charisma → Strength
You stood no chance if you encountered one of the local gangs so you started one of your own.
27. Charisma → Dexterity
You were immensely unpopular and soon learned how to dodge a punch.
28. Charisma → Constitution
You were struck down by a terrible and contagious disease but you were so beloved that your friends and family continued to visit and care for you.
29. Charisma → Wisdom
You easily goaded your friends into doing something dangerous with you but someone got hurt saving your imperceptive, cowardly life.
30. Charisma → Intelligence
You were very cocksure, thinking you were the best there was, lots of people agreed... that was till the smarter kids made you look like a fool. You remained popular, but your pride was wounded.
- Young Adulthood d30:
High Low
1. Strength → Dexterity
You saw they were in danger and rushed in, your strength was enough to save them but doing so left you with a lingering unsteadiness.
2. Strength → Constitution
Life felt easy, you became stronger and few challenged you. Perhaps too easy, when that challenge came you realised you were much softer than you assumed.
3. Strength → Wisdom
In a moment requiring action, you relied on your strength, only to find later you’d overlooked something and your effort was for nothing.
4. Strength → Intelligence
You committed a crime and were incarcerated.
5. Strength → Charisma
You grew to be tall and strong but after that one particularly ignominious incident, most considered you an oaf, a constant source of embarrassment.
6. Dexterity → Strength
Whatever your calling, you seemed to attract altercation. When fights came, and they did, more and more, you never shied away. You relied on your skill and the maxim - defence is the best offence.
7. Dexterity → Constitution
You spent time among the wealthy and swanned about during their ostentatious social events, you impressed many with your dancing, precision and finesse but the finer life didn’t build you any grit.
8. Dexterity → Wisdom
You were easily enamoured, hopelessly romantic and would climb through second-story windows, perform stunts, anything to impress, you’d even steal if they wanted you to.
9. Dexterity → Intelligence
Perhaps you regressed, or you never really grew up. Your young adulthood was fun, free and breezy.
10. Dexterity → Charisma
You became something of an outcast, a drifter, an exile. Travelling from place to place and always, always, quick on your feet.
11. Constitution → Strength
Stranded alone in some harsh environment, you body began to fail and wither away - only your innate grit and fortitude saw you through.
12. Constitution → Dexterity
You thought you were the toughest there was, your cockiness led you to defy some powerful and cruel people. You withstood some brutal punishment but they weren’t done with you yet, and you couldn’t escape their clutches.
13. Constitution → Wisdom
You found yourself charmed, bewitched, commanded to work hard for goals that were not your own.
14. Constitution → Intelligence
You much grew to prefer a physical challenge over a mental one and your abilities and lifestyle grew to match that outlook.
15. Constitution → Charisma
You went away for a few years. It was bad. And while you were tough enough to survive it, when you returned you never spoke about what happened - for a long time you rarely spoke at all.
16. Wisdom → Strength
You acted when others, stronger and larger than yourself, were frozen with fear.
17. Wisdom → Dexterity
You guided a group through a dangerous place, relying on your wits and determination to keep them safe. Though you overcame many dangers, not everyone made it - the experience left you wary, slow and hesitant to act without overthinking things.
18. Wisdom → Constitution
Circumstances began to unwind, slowly perhaps or swiftly in a great calamitous swoop. Either way, life became about survival - your wits and will grew sharper but the effects of the hardship you faced remains with you.
19. Wisdom → Intelligence
You picked up some strange beliefs from a strange source, eschewing common knowledge. To the common folk, you seemed a fool, and to scholars, you were deranged - but your unusual perspective gave you an insight that few understood or believed.
20. Wisdom → Charisma
You began to notice things others often missed and considered them foolish. You appeared wise, but aloof, strange and impersonal.
21. Intelligence → Strength
You sought some knowledge, skill or mystery with such vigour it left your body drained and neglected.
22. Intelligence → Dexterity
Some knowledge is better off not known at all. Whatever you learnt opened your mind but aged you beyond your years.
23. Intelligence → Constitution
You travelled far in the pursuit of knowledge or skill but in that foreign land you were struck by a strange and debilitating sickness.
24. Intelligence → Wisdom
You pursued knowledge relentlessly in young adulthood - your studies were only limited by temptations that your frequently lapse-prone willpower could not overcome.
25. Intelligence → Charisma
You'd debate the mysteries and wonders of the world with anyone who'd listen but fewer and fewer would.
26. Charisma → Strength
The many that pursued you were more interested in your personality than your body.
27. Charisma → Dexterity
Your young adulthood was pleasant. You charmed your peers at parties though you never, ever danced.
28. Charisma → Constitution
You couldn’t stand by any longer, neither could your fellows, leading them you stood up and challenged the status-quo - whether you succeeded or failed, you took a savage beating.
29. Charisma → Wisdom
You committed many faux pas but you made a lot of friends doing it.
30. Charisma → Intelligence
You flourished at parties and social events but you’d sneak away or bloviate when the conversation turned academic.
Here's a PDF copy, please share your results with the tables, I'd love to hear them!
