Racial Table for Averoigne

I only was able to play Stormbringer a couple of times in my life (our group always saw it as a challenge to see who could survive rather than as legitimate bait for an ongoing campaign due to the brutality of the system). One of things about it, though, that I remember with great fondness is character creation. Players roll on a race table to determine which of the plethora of backgrounds their character can come from and what possibilities this background provides.

While certainly not as diverse as Elric’s stomping grounds, my version of Averoigne does have a number of different possibilities for character background. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to provide a table for players to roll on to provide some of their character’s background.

Included with each entry is a list of starting equipment (which should help speed character creation). There are also a couple of incentives:

• The only way to be able to have a character with a noble, scion or half-elf background is to roll on this table.
• Depending upon the outcome of the roll, a player can outright switch one characteristic for another (where characteristics are rolled in order).

Hopefully, that will be enough encouragement for players to roll:

01-05 Romani — Scimitar + Throwing Daggers + Leather + Shield
06-15 Wolfshead (S): Flail + Sling + Leather + Shield
16-25 Wolfshead (A): Spear + Short Bow + Leather + Shield
26-45 Peasant (S): Polearm + Sling + Leather
46-65 Peasant (A): Polearm + Short bow + Leather
66-71 Burgher (S): Short Sword + Crossbow + Chain + Shield
72-75 Burgher (MS): Long Sword + Crossbow + Chain + Shield
76-81 Burgher (A): Handaxe + Longbow + Chain + Shield
82-85 Burgher (LS): Javelin + Longbow + Chain + Shield
86-88 Noble (S): Bastard Sword + Crossbow + Plate + Shield
89-90 Noble (MS): TH Sword + Crossbow + Plate + Shield
91-93 Noble (A): Battle Axe + Longbow + Plate + Shield
94-95 Noble (LS): Throwing Axe + Longbow + Plate + Shield
96-97 Half-Elf*
98-98 Elf*
99-99 Dwarf*
00-00 Halfling*

*roll again for background & equipment, ignoring 96-00
(A)=Averni (S)=Salian (MS)=Merovingian Scion (LS)=Luernian Scion

• Romani can swap CON with one other characteristic of the player’s choice.
• Wolfshead can swap DEX with one other characteristic of the player’s choice.
• Peasant can swap STR with one other characteristic of the player’s choice.
• Burgher can swap INT with one other characteristic of the player’s choice.
• Noble can swap CHA with one other characteristic of the player’s choice.

All characters also get 10gp, a quiver/pouch with 20 arrows/bolts/stones as well as one of the following kits:

• Kit 1 (10 oil flasks, lantern, spade, 12 iron spikes, 10ft. chain)
• Kit 2 (10 torches, ink & pen, blank scroll, mirror, crowbar)
• Kit 3 (five torches, 3 cloves of garlic, fist of wolfsbane, 50 ft. rope, grappling hook, wooden pole)

In addition:

• Clerics begin with a cross (silver for Nobles and Scions, otherwise wooden) and swap out any non-class melee weapon with a Mace (Averni, Luernian Scion or Romani) or a Warhammer (Salian or Merovingian Scion) and any non-class missile weapon with a sling.
• Fighters begin with one extra weapon.
• Magic Users begin with a spell book and can trade out any non-usable weapons and armor for cash.
• Burglars begin with lock picks and may trade out any armor and shield for leather and extra cash.

Obviously there are a couple of things that need some clarification:

• Romani are gypsy-like wanderers who call no place home. They may choose to speak one extra language of their choice besides Common.
• Averni are the native people of Averoigne. They may choose to speak Elvish (Occitan) in addition to Common.
• Salians are outsiders whose homeland is trying to unite the entire region into a new Holy Roman Empire.
• Wolfsheads are bandits, outlaws and those who live outside the protection of the feudal system. They are tied to no land and have few loyalties.
• Peasants are either serfs or freemen who work the land of a local noble.
• Burghers are middle class merchants.
• Nobles who adventure are usually younger siblings who have no right to the lands of their father.
• A Merovingian Scion is someone who either through illegitimate (in the case of Burghers) or legitimate lines can trace their lineage back to the Merovigian kings of the Salians (who are no longer in power).
• A Luernian Scion is someone who either through illegitimate (in the case of Burghers) or legitimate lines can trace their lineage back to the Luernian kings of the Averni (who are no longer in power).
• This is meant to be a human-centric campaign world, which is why the chances of being a demi-human are so small. Demi-humans roll twice because they come from a human background, but are fey-touched and have embraced their demi-human status. They can speak their racial tongue (Elvish in the case of halflings) in addition to Common
• Half-elves are fey-touched who have rejected their demi-human status. They still have some of the demi-human abilities, but suffer penalties when using them. They get to function like the elves of 0e — adventure as either a fighter or a magic user — without the level limits. When they choose to use their demi-human abilities, they suffer an XP penalty and can operate at a maximum of 8th level, regardless of XP.