(2) Types of Character Classes:

Character Class          Prime Requisite(s)    Other Requirements

Cleric                              Wisdom                         None

Fighter                            Strength                         None

Magic-User                    Intelligence                    None

Thief                                Dexterity                        None

Dwarf                              Strength                         Constitution 9

Elf                                   Strength, Intelligence     Intelligence 9

Halfling                           Strength, Dexterity        Dexterity 9, Constitution 9

Druid                              Wisdom                          Neutral Alignment, 9^th level cleric

Mystic                             Strength, Dexterity        Wisdom 13,Dexterity 13

(3) Adjust Ability Scores:

You can trade two points from an ability score you don’t want to raise your prime requisite by one point. You can perform this trade as many times as you want, so long as you do not lower any ability below a score of 9. You cannot lower your Dexterity, Constitution or Charisma. You can only raise your character’s prime requisite score.

This is sort of like training hard to improve one skill while letting others be neglected. These are the rules for exchanging ability points:

1.        The prime requisite goes up 1 point for each 2 points that another ability score goes down. If a character has two prime requisites, both can be raised.

2.        Constitution and Charisma points cannot be exchanged with others.

3.        Dexterity cannot be lowered (but it may be raised for a thief or halfling character).

4.        No score can be lowered below 9. If it is already 10 or less, it cannot be lowered.

If you want to exchange any ability score points, you must do that now before continuing further in character creation. No such adjustments can be made later. Remember that you do not have to adjust any ability scores. This is an option, not a requirement.

(4) Roll for Hit Points:

Find your character’s class on the Character Class and Hit Dice Table, and then roll the type of die indicated in order to find your starting hit points. Note that your character’s Constitution score can affect the number of hit points he will have. Look for the bonuses and penalties for ability scores table and apply the appropriate number to the number of hit points rolled for your character.

Character Class and Hit Dice Table

                                                    Dice for

Character Class                    Hit Points

Cleric                                            1d6

Fighter                                          1d8

Magic-User                                  1d4

Thief                                              1d4

Dwarf                                            1d8

Elf                                                  1d6

Halfling                                         1d6

Druid                                                *

Mystic                                           1d6

*Does not apply.

After a character reaches 9^th level (or Name Level), the character no longer receives hit points by die roll. Instead, a given number of hit points will be gained. The number of hit points gained each level after 9^th will be shown later, and it differs between classes.

(5) Roll for Money:

Roll 3d6 and multiply by 10 to find your character’s starting gold pieces.

Money

Platinum pieces = pp           1 sp = 10 cp

Gold pieces = gp                  1 ep = 5sp = 50 cp

Electrum pieces = ep            1 gp = 2 ep = 10 sp = 100 cp

Silver pieces = sp                 1 pp = 5 gp = 10 ep = 50 sp = 500 cp

Copper pieces = cp             

Starting gold: Beginning characters receive a one-time sum of 3d6 x 10 gold pieces. This represents money saved up by the character before he embarked on his adventuring career, or money given him by family before he left home. It should be spent on weapons, armor, and equipment; the DM may have recommendations as to what the characters should buy. When first created, the character is assumed to own two or three sets of plain clothes, a pair of shoes, a belt and a belt pouch.

(6) Buy Equipment:

Now that you have money, you can spend it on the equipment you need to go adventuring.

There are restrictions on what items your character is allowed to have, especially on armor and weapons. Be sure what your character’s class is allowed to use before you buy equipment.

Spells and Spellcasters

If your character is a spellcaster, he will also need to equip himself with the spells he knows. Magic Users know between one and four spells at first level, and clerics learn their first spell at second level.

Magic Users need to have spell books to record the spells they know. A magic user’s first spell book is free, a gift of the wizard who taught him. Clerics do not need spell books.

Weapons & Equipment
Item	Damage	Range S/M/L	Cost (gp)	Encumbrance (cn)	Notes
Ammunition: (See ammunition table)
Axes:
Axe, Battle	1d8		7	60	r,2H,M
Axe, Hand	1d6	10/20/30	4	30	t,S
Bows:
Bow, Short	1d6	50/100/150	25	20	a,m,2H,M
Bow, Long	1d6	70/140/210	40	30	a,m,2H,L
Crossbow, Lt.	1d6	60/120/180	30	50	a,m,s,2H,M
Crossbow, Hvy.	2d4	80/160/240	50	80	a,m,s,2H,L
Bludgeons:
Blackjack	1d2		5	5	c,r,s,S
Club	1d4		3	50	c,r,M
Flail	1d6		5	40	c,M
Hammer, Throwing	1d4	10/20/30	4	25	c,t,M
Hammer, War	1d6		5	50	c,r,M
Mace	1d6		5	30	c,r,M
Morning Star	1d6+1		5	40	c,M
Staff	1d6		5	40	c,r,w,2H,M
Torch	1d4		1/6	20	c,r,S
Daggers:
Normal	1d4	10/20/30	3	10	t,w,S
Silver	1d4	10/20/30	30	10	t,w,S
Pole Weapons:
Halberd	1d10		7	150	s,2H,L
Javelin	1d6	30/60/90	1	20	t,M
Lance	1d10		10	180	s,v,L
Pike	1d10		3	80	s,v,2H,L
Polearm	1d10		7	150	s,2H,L
Poleaxe	1d10		5	120	s,2H,L
Spear	1d6	20/40/60	3	30	t,v,L
Trident	1d6	10/20/30	5	25	s,t,M
Shield Weapons:
Shield, Horned	1d2		15	20	s,S
Shield, Knife	1d4+1		65	70	s,S
Shield, Sword	1d4+2		200	185	s,v,M
Shield, Tusked	1d4+1		200	275	s,2H,L
Swords:
Short	1d6		7	30	r,S
Normal	1d8		10	60	r,M
Bastard
One-Handed	1d6+1		15	80	r,HH,L
Two-Handed	1d8+1		15	80	r,2H,L
Two-Handed	1d10		15	100	2H,L
Other Weapons:
Blowgun, up to 2’	Nil	10/20/30	3	6	a,m,s,w,S
Blowgun, 2’+	Nil	20/25/30	6	15	a,m,s,w,2H,M
Bola	1d2	20/40/60	5	5	s,t,M
Cestus	1d3		5	10	s,S
Holy Water	1d8	10/30/50	25	1	c,s,t,w,S
Net	Nil	10/20/30	n	n	s,t,w,M or L
Oil, Burning	1d8	10/30/50	2	10	c,s,t,w,S
Rock, Thrown	1d3	10/30/50	1/10	10	c,t,w,S
Sling	1d4	40/80/160	2	20	c,m,w,S
Whip	1d2		1/ft.	10/ft.	s,w,M

      

Weapon Special Effects Table		Failed Saving Throw Results*
Victim’s Level or Hit Dice	Bonus to Saving Throw	Bola, Blackjack	Net, or Whip	Blowgun
Up to 1	None	Knockout	Entangle	By poison
1 + 1 to 3	+ 1	Knockout	Entangle	By poison
3 + 1 to 6	+ 2	Stun	Slow	By poison
6 + 1 to 9	+ 3	Stun	Slow	By poison
9 + 1 to 12	+ 4	Delay	Delay	By poison
12 + or more	+ 5	Delay	Delay	By poison
* The effects of successful saving throws are explained in each weapon’s description

Adventuring Gear Table
Item	Description/Notes	Cost	Enc (cn)
Backpack	Capacity 400 cn	5 gp	20*
Belt		2 sp	5**
Boots, plain		1 gp	10**
Boots, riding or swash-topped		5 gp	15**
Cloak, short		5 sp	10**
Cloak, long		1 gp	15**
Clothes, plain	Tunic and pants; blouse and skirt; Dress; robe; or equivalent	5 sp	20**
Clothes, middle-class	See above	5 gp	20**
Clothes, fine	See above	20 gp	20**
Clothes, extravagant	See above	50+ gp	30**
Garlic		5 gp	1
Grappling Hook		25 gp	80
Hammer, Small		2 gp	10
Hat or cap		2 sp	3
Holy symbol		25 gp	1
Holy water	Breakable vial	25 gp	1
Iron spike	One spike	1 sp	5
Iron Spikes	Twelve spikes	1 gp	60
Lantern	Burns oil	10 gp	30
Mirror	Hand-sized, steel	5 gp	5
Oil	One flask	2 gp	10
Pole	Wooden, 10’ long	1 gp	100
Pouch, belt	Capacity 50 cn	5 sp	2*
Quiver	For arrows or quarrels	1 gp	5***
Rations, iron	Preserved food for one person for -one week	15 gp	70
Rations, standard	Unpreserved food for one person -for one week	5 gp	200
Rope	50’ length	1 gp	50
Sack, small	Capacity 200 cn	1 gp	1*
Sack, large	Capacity 600 cn	2 gp	5*
Shoes		5 sp	8**
Spellbook	100 pages maximum	50 or 100 gp per page	200
Stakes (3) and mallet		3 gp	10
Thieves’ tools	Lockpicks, wire, etc.	25 gp	10
Tinder box	Flint, steel, kindling	3 gp	5
Torch	One torch	2 sp	20
Torches	Six torches	1 gp	120
Waterskin/Wineskin	One-quart capacity; enc 30 when filled	1 gp	5
Wine	One quart, wineskin not included	1 gp	30
Wolfsbane	One bunch	10 gp	1
*	This is the item’s encumbrance when empty. When goods are placed within it, the encumbrance includes both the item’s encumbrance and the encumbrance of the goods within it. Thus a fully filled belt pouch has an encumbrance of 55 cn.
**	This is the encumbrance if packed. If the clothes are worn, disregard the encumbrance.
***	This is the quiver’s encumbrance when empty. Filled with arrows or quarrels, it is up to 10 cn for encumbrance. A 5 cn encumbrance quiver + 10 cn of missiles (20 arrows or 30 quarrels) still equals only a 10 cn encumbrance bundle to carry around.

Land Transportation Equipment

Riding Animal Costs Table                Land Transportation Gear Table                                                     

 Item                      Cost                           Item                                  Cost         Capacity (cn)        Notes    

Camel                     100 gp

Horse:                                                    Saddle & Tack                        25 gp        200 (enc 300)        (a)

-          Draft                 40 gp                      Saddle Bags                             5 gp        800 (enc 100)        (a)

-          Riding              75 gp                      Cart (2 wheels)                      100 gp       4,000/8,000           (b)

-          War                250 gp                      Wagon (4 wheels)                  200 gp      15,000/25,000         (b)

Mule                       30 gp                     

Pony                       35 gp                     

(a)                 The Encumbrance figure is the amount of weight the empty container adds to the load the horse carries.  A fully loaded saddlebag has an encumbrance of 900 cn.

(b)                 The cart’s or wagon’s capacity varies with the number of horses pulling it; one horse indicates the lesser capacity, two horses indicate the greater. These figures are based on using draft horses. Two

Mules can substitute for one horse.

(7) Determine other numbers and rolls:

Armor Class, attack rolls and saving throws are numbers you’ll calculate from the character’s other attributes or find on tables according to level.

Attack Rolls for all 1^st level characters.

AC:                  9      8       7      6      5       4      3      2        1        0             

Attack Roll:   10   11     12    13    14     15   16     17     18      19

AC:                -1     -2      -3     -4     -5     -6     -7     -8       -9    -10

Attack Roll:   20   20     20    20    20    21    22    23      24     25

Saving Throws

                                         Cleric      Fighter     Magic-User    Thief  

                                          1 – 4         1 – 3              1 – 5           1 – 4     

Death Ray/Poison            11              12                  13               13

Magic Wands                    12              13                  14               14

Paralysis/Turn to Stone    14              14                  13               13

Dragon Breath                  16              15                  16               16

Rod/Staff/Wand                15              16                  15               15

                                         Dwarf        Elf              Halfling        Mystic 

                                          1 – 3        1 – 3              1 – 3            1 – 3   

Death Ray/Poison              8             12                   8                12

Magic Wands                      9             13                   9                13 

Paralysis/Turn to Stone    10            13                  10               14           

Dragon Breath                  13             15                  13               15

Rod/Staff/Wand                12             15                  12               16 

(8) Bonuses and Penalties for Ability Scores:

Ability Score         Adjustment

2 – 3                        -3 Penalty

4 – 5                        -2 Penalty

6 – 8                        -1 Penalty

9 – 12                      No adjustment

13 – 15                    +1 Bonus

16 – 17                    +2 Bonus

18                            +3 Bonus

Abilities and Adjustments Table

Ability                    Adjustments to:

Strength                 Attack Rolls (Melee Weapons and Unarmed Combat), Damage Rolls (Melee and Thrown Weapons), Opening Doors

Intelligence           Languages, General Skills

Wisdom                 Saving Throws vs. Spells

Dexterity                Attack Rolls (Thrown and Missile Weapons), Armor Class

Constitution          Hit Points per Experience Level

Charisma                Reactions from NPCs

Intelligence and Languages Table

Intelligence              Use of

Score                      Languages

3                                                              Has trouble speaking, cannot read or write

4 – 5                        Cannot read or write Common

6 – 8                        Can write simple Common words

9 – 12                      Reads and writes native languages (usually two)

13 – 15                    Reads and writes native languages, +1 additional language

16 – 17                    Reads and writes native languages, +2 additional languages

18                                                        Reads and writes native languages, +3 additional languages

Charisma Adjustment Table

Charisma                Reaction                  Max. No.                Retainer

Score                       Adjustment              Retainers               Morale  

3                                         -3                             1                             4

4 – 5                                  -2                             2                             5

6 – 8                                  -1                             3                             6

9 – 12                      No adjustment                 4                              7

13 – 15                             +1                            5                              8

16 – 17                             +2                            6                              9

18                                      +3                            7                             10

(9) Character Alignment:

An Alignment is a code of behavior or way of life which guides the actions and thoughts of characters and monsters. There are three alignments in this game:

Good (Law)

Neutral (Neutral)

Evil (Chaos)

Certain characters are bound to their chosen alignment, mostly clerics, druids and mystics. Clerics must adhere to the tenants of their chosen alignment or lose the abilities to cast spells and turn undead. Clerics can choose any alignment at creation.

Druids must always remain neutral.

Mystics may be good, neutral or evil, but due to the strictness of their beliefs, they do not break oaths or ideals easily, and must always be of a lawful alignment.

Law

Law is the belief that everything should follow an order and that obeying rules is the natural way of life. Lawful creatures will try to tell the truth, obey laws that are fair, keep promises and care for all living things.

If a choice must be made between the benefit of a group or an individual, a Lawful character will usually choose the group. Sometimes individual freedoms must be given up for the good of the group. Lawful characters and monsters often act in predictable ways. Lawful behavior is usually the same as ‘good’ behavior.

Chaos

Chaos is the opposite of Law. It is the belief that life is random and that chance and luck rule the world. Laws are made to be broken, as long as a person can get away with it. It is not important to keep promises, and lying and telling the truth are both useful.

To a chaotic creature, the individual is the most important of all things. Selfishness is the normal way of life and the group is not important. Chaotics often act on sudden desires and whims. They have strong belief in the power of luck. They cannot always be trusted. Chaotic behavior is usually the same as behavior that could be called ‘evil’. Each individual player must decide if his chaotic character is closer to a mean, selfish ‘evil’ personality or merely a happy-go-lucky, unpredictable personality, or anywhere in between.

Neutral

Neutrality is the belief that the world is a balance between Law and Chaos. It is important that neither side get too much power and upset this balance. The individual is important, but so is the group; the two sides must work together.

A neutral character is most interested in personal survival. Such characters believe in their own wits and abilities rather than luck. They tend to return the treatment they receive from others. Neutral characters will join a party if they think it is in their own best interest, but will not be overly helpful unless there is some sort of profit in it. Neutral behavior may be considered ‘good’ or ‘evil’ or neither.

Alignment Behavior

Take this situation as an example: A group of characters is attacked by a large number of monsters. Escape is not possible unless the monsters are slowed down.

A Lawful character will fight to protect the group, regardless of the danger. The character will not run away unless the whole group does so or is otherwise safe.

A Neutral character will fight to protect the group as long as it is reasonably safe to do so. If the danger is too great, the character will try to save himself, even at the expense of the rest of the party.

A Chaotic character might fight the monsters or he might run away immediately – Chaotics are as always, unpredictable. The character may not even care what happened to the rest of the party.

Playing an alignment does not mean a character must do stupid things. A character should always act as intelligently as the Intelligence score indicates, unless there is a reason to act otherwise (such as a magical curse).

(10) Select Name, Personality and Background:

Appropriate names please! This is a straightforward fantasy campaign. Elements can be drawn from a number of sources. Choose a name carefully. It should represent the character in some way, or at least be a name you like. You might find yourself playing this character for years, so if you give him a silly or inappropriate name, you might regret it later.

Volsted Gridban, Eando Binder, Bengo Mistral, Drax Amper, Cragg Beemish, Vektis Brack, & Astron Del Martia are good examples of fantasy sounding names, however, some of them may sound more sci-fi than fantasy.

Personality

There is more to a character’s personality than his alignment. You should think about your character’s mannerisms, the way he speaks, the way he dresses, how he spends his money, what sort of people he likes, how he spends his non-adventuring time, and so on. The more attention you invest in imagining your character, with all his traits, virtues and vices, the more interesting and ‘real’ you will make him. Sure it’s useful to have the mightiest warrior in the world, but none of the other players or characters will care whether he lives or dies unless he has a personality.

Background

At some point you’ll need to decide on your character’s background. Where and when he was born, how he was reared, who his family is, who his friends were, and what he did up until the time he enters play. This isn’t a solo effort – it’s a cooperative effort between you and the DM. He knows more about his campaign world than you do; you know more about your character than he does. The two of you have to work together to integrate your character into his world.

(11) Character Height and Weight Tables:

Human characters                                                        Elf Characters

                     Male       Female                                                                   Male       Female

Height              Weight (cn)                                          Height                        Weight(cn)          

4’10”             1,100       1,050                                      4’8”                            900          750

5’0”               1,200       1,100                                      5’0”                         1,000          800

5’2”               1,300       1,200                                      5’2”                         1,100          900

5’4”               1,400       1,250                                      5’4”                         1,200       1,000

5’6”               1,500       1,300                                      5’6”                         1,300       1,100

5’8”               1,550       1,400                                      5’8”                         1,400       1,200

5’10”             1,650       1,500                                      5’10”                       1,500       1,300

6’0”               1,750       1,550                                      6’0”                         1,600       1,400

6’2”               1,850       1,650                                      6’2”                         1,800       1,500

6’4”               2,000       1,750                                      6’4”                         1,900       1,600

Dwarf Characters                                                         Halfling Characters 

                      Male       Female                                                             (Both sexes)                  

Height             Weight (cn)                                          Height                  Weight(cn)  

3’8”               1,300       1,250                                     2'10"                           580

3’10”             1,400       1,350                                     3’0”                             600

4’0”               1,500       1,450                                     3’2”                             620             

4’2”               1,550       1,500

(12) Earn Experience:

As characters go through a lot  of adventures, they gradually get better at what they do. Everyone learns to fight better (especially fighters), withstand damage (more hit points and better saving throws), and so forth. This is all accomplished through the use of experience points and experience levels. At the end of every game session or complete adventure story, the DM will award experience points (XP) to the characters. XP are awarded for accomplishing goals in the course of the adventure story.

Once a character has gained enough experience to go up a level, he gains more abilities. Under no circumstances can a character advance more than one level per adventure. All experience beyond one level of advancement can be retained up to one point short of a two level advance. Any additional experience is lost.

Prime requisites and Experience Points

If your character’s prime requisite is high enough, he will get extra experience points. The Experience Bonuses and Penalties Table will serve as your rule of thumb for calculating how much extra experience clerics, fighters, magic users and thieves get for high prime requisites.

Experience Bonuses and Penalties Table

Character Class    Prime Requisite and Experience Bonus/Penalty             

Cleric                      Wisdom 3 – 5: -20%

                                Wisdom 6 – 8: -10%

                                Wisdom 13 – 15: +5%

                                Wisdom 16 – 18: +10%

Fighter                    Strength 3 – 5: -20%

                                Strength 6 – 8: -10%

                                Strength 13 – 15: +5%

                                Strength 16 – 18: +10%

Magic User            Intelligence 3 – 5: -20%

                                Intelligence 6 – 8: -10%

                                Intelligence 13 – 15: +5%

                                Intelligence 16 – 18: +10%

Thief                        Dexterity 3 – 5: -20%

                                Dexterity 6 – 8: -10%

                                Dexterity 13 – 15: +5%

                                Dexterity 16 – 18: +10%

Dwarf                      Strength 3 – 5: -20%

                                Strength 6 – 8: -10%

                                Strength 13 – 15: +5%

                                Strength 16 – 18: +10%

Elf                           Strength 13 – 18 and Intelligence 13 – 15: +5%

                                Strength 13 – 18 and Intelligence 16 – 18: +10%

Halfling                   Strength 13 – 18 OR Dexterity 13 – 18: +5%

                                Strength 13 – 18 and Dexterity 13 – 18: +10%

Druid                      Wisdom 3 – 5: -20%

                                Wisdom 6 – 8: -10%

                                Wisdom 13 – 15: +5%

                                Wisdom 16 – 18: +10%

Mystic                     Strength 3 – 5: -20%

                                Strength 6 – 8: -10%

                                Strength 13 – 15: +5%

                                Strength 16 – 18: +10%

This work is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork presented herein is prohibited without the express written consent of TSR, Inc. © 1991 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Rules Compilation and Development: Aaron Allston

The D&D Cyclopedia is a derivative work based on the original Dungeons & Dragons game by E. Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson. The Cyclopedia has also been drawn from the works of and benefitted from the input of the following people: Jim Bambra, Brian Blume, Tim Brown, Jonatha Caspian, David Cook, Troy Denning, Anne C Gray, Ernie Gygax, Allen Hammack, Bruce Heard, Kevin Hendryx, John Eric Holmes, Harold Johnson, Tim kask, Jeff Key, Rob Kuntz, Alan Lucien, Steve Marsh, Frank Mentzer, Tom Moldvay, Mike Mornard, Steve Perrin, Jon Pickens, Brian Pitzer, Michael Price, Patrick L Price, Paul Reiche, Evan Robinson, Gordon Schick, Lawrence Schick, Don Snow, Edward G Sollers, Gary Speigle, Stephen D Sullivan, Ralph Wagner, Jim Ward, Jean Wells, and Bill Wilkerson. Additional thanks go to the Cyclopedia’s commentators and helpers: Mark Bennett, William W Conners, Alan Grimes, and the Role Players Guild of Kansas City, Bruce Heard, Rob King, Dirk Remmecke, and Luray Richmond.