Character Creation Guide

This page is primarily for new players who are confused by the Labyrinth Lord rules for making characters. Making a character in Labyrinth Lord is a lot simpler than it may seem at first glance. I'll do my best to walk you through how to make a character in both the Core Rules and the Advanced Version books. Make sure you downloaded and printed the character sheet from the Labyrinth Lord website (3rd link down). I'll be making a character, Fiddlefoot the Halfling, using this guide for reference.

## Part 0: What version do I use?

As you've probably noticed, Labyrinth Lord has two different rulebooks: Core Rules, and the Advanced Version companion. The Core Rules outline how to play the game and make basic characters, while the Advanced Version has optional rules and more detailed rules for character creation. Quite simply, the book you want to choose from depends on how complex you want your character to be. In the Core Rules, it boils down to rolling/buying stats, selecting a class, choosing alignment, and buying equipment. In the Advanced Rules, you roll/buy stats, select a race, select a class, choosing alignment, and buying equipment. While one difference may seem minimal at first, the addition of having to choose a race adds more rules/saving throws than choosing a class would.

So basically, it's a trade off. More customization at the price of more rules. Choose whatever you think sounds cooler.

*Right: A blank character sheet. This acts as a reference for your character.*

## Part 1: Statistics / Character Abilities

The first step in making a character is finding out what he or she is good at. This is represented by the Character Abilities of your character, which are defined by six categories...

* **Strength (STR)**: Represents the character's muscle and physical ability. This stat is most important in close combat as it determines damage and how often you connect on your attacks.
* **Dexterity (DEX)**: Represents the character's agility and reflexes. This stat helps in ranged combat for the same reasons as Strength helps in close combat.
* **Constitution (CON)**: Represents how tough your character is. This determines how resistant you are to diseases and how many hits you can take before you die.
* **Intelligence (INT)**: Represents how smart your character is. This is most important for Magic-Users.
* **Wisdom (WIS)**: Represents how wise your character is. This is most important for Clerics.
* **Charisma (CHA)**: Represents how sociable your character is. This stat is important for raising the morale of the party and bartering with merchants.

All of these scores are represented by a numerical value from 3-18, with 3 being the worst, and 18 being the best. These numbers determine any modifiers to dice rolls you have (modifier tables can be found on pages 6 and 7). To determine your Character Abilities, roll 3d6 (3 six sided dice) for each statistic. Once you're finished, you may elect to re-roll the value of a single statistic of your choosing. After that, you're done. As a house rule, I will boost your stats to meet the requirements for playing a certain race or class (such as needing 9 INT to play an Elf). Once you are done with character creation, I will not boost any other stats.

## Part 2: Choosing a Class

If you're playing a basic character, the next step is choosing a class. If you're playing Advanced, you need to choose a race first, but the method is the same. In basic, all classes except for Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling are classes for Humans. Each class may or may not have prerequisites, and you talk with me if you're confused on them. Additionally, each class has up to three Prime Requisite stats, and depending on the value of the stat, you can gain XP bonuses. Finally, each class has a hit die that determines how much HP you can get on each level-up. The Core Rules has rules for 7 different classes...

* **Cleric**: A magical class that focuses on healing teammates and fighting the undead. They may choose a number of Cleric spells according to the Cleric Spell Progression chart in the book (page 9). They can use any armor, but they can't use weapons with sharp edges, only blunt weapons. Their Prime Requisite is WIS and their hit die is a 1d6.
* **Fighter**: A strong class that focuses on combat and leadership. They are the easiest class to play. They can use any armor and any weapons. Their Prime Requisite is STR and their hit die is a 1d8.
* **Magic-User**: The other magical class that focuses on using combat magic. They are the hardest class to play because of their inability to use armor, and they can only use small weapons. They can pick Magic-User spells according to the Magic-User Spell Progression chart (page 12). Their Prime Requisite is INT and their hit die is 1d4.
* **Thief**: A utility class that has a lot of useful abilities. They aren't too good at combat, but they have lots of class-specific abilities, like lockpicking and scaling walls, located on pages 13 and 14. Their Prime Requisite is DEX and their hit die is 1d4.
* **Dwarf**: It's a dwarf! Dwarves play like a mix of Fighter and Thief, as they are competent in combat and can detect traps. They can use use any armor but cannot use two-handed weapons. Because a Dwarf is a type of subhuman, you must have at least a 9 in CON to use the Dwarf (however the house rule shouldn't make this a problem). Their Prime Requisite is STR, their hit die is a 1d8, and their maximum level is 12.
* **Elf**: It's an elf! Elves play like a mix of Fighter, Magic-User, and Thief. They can use the Magic-User Spell Progression chart up to level 10 (page 12), have a few abilities like the Thief, and can wield any weapon and armor. You must have at least 9 INT to use the Elf. Their Prime Requisites are a STR and INT, their hit die is a 1d6, and their maximum level is 10. There are also some additional rules regarding XP boosts that elves can get that you can find on page 10.
* **Halfling:** Halflings are a bit like hobbits, and also the weirdest class in the game. They're good at hiding, using ranged weaponry, and sneak attacking. They also naturally have a lower Armor Class due to their size. They top off very quickly but they also make good party leaders. You must have 9 DEX and 9 CON in order to use the Halfling. Their Prime Requisites are STR and DEX, their hit die is a 1d6, and their maximum level is 8. Like the Elf, they have additional rules regarding XP boosts which can be found on page 11.

You may notice the the Human classes do not have a maximum level, and that's because they all top off at 20. This is to balance out the subhumans and the regular humans, as the subhumans tend to have better rules while the humans are specialized to one role. Because this is Eastmarch, I would forego any concerns about party balance when choosing your class. Pick whatever seems the coolest, and if you can't decide, then check out the Advanced book to find additional race and class options (they're too numerous to list here).

Once you've decided, go ahead and roll for your HP. This is your hit dice plus your CON modifier (page 7). Then roll how much gold you start with, which is the sum of 3d8 multiplied by 10. Note everything related to Character Abilities, class abilities, HP, gold, and any relevant information on your character sheet.

*Right: This is what your sheet should look like now. Stats aren't too shabby, which is good. I rolled a 19 for gold, so that means I have 190 GP to start with. I also rolled a 4 for HP, and because my CON is high enough, I get a +2 modifier, so that means I have 6 HP at level one. Pretty good!*

## Part 3: Alignment, Appearance, and Background

The next step is to choose your alignment. In the basic book, there's three different alignments to choose: **Lawful**, **Neutral**, and **Chaotic**. Alignment is basically a sliding scale of how selfless/selfish your character is. A Lawful character would be happy to put themselves in danger to save their friends. A Chaotic character would only do it if he/she would benefit from it. A Neutral character hits somewhere in the middle. Game-wise, alignment doesn't matter to much. It's more of a guideline for how your character thinks and acts. You do, however, learn a language that you can use to speak with other characters of the same alignment. Speaking of which (heh), all characters should know Common and their alignment's language. Depending on what class you picked, you may have some additional languages learned as well.

Now it's time to think about how your character looks. Think about the following questions...

* What's the shape of the character's body?
* What do his/her eyes look like?
* What kind of hair does he/she have? Is it covered by a hat or hood?
* What does he/she wear (if it's armor, what does it look like)?
* Is there anything interesting or quirky about his/her appearance?
* Does he/she keep anything with him/her at all times?
* What makes him/her stand out?

Be sure to tell the group what your character looks like so that we all have an idea about it.

For background or backstory information, I would try and keep it brief. If you spend more than like 10 minutes thinking about a decent backstory, then you're probably trying too hard. It's important to leave blanks for role playing purposes. I do encourage having at least some sort of backstory, however. If you're unsure about what your character's background is, ask yourself these questions...

* Where did he/she grow up?
* What are 1-2 things that affected your character in the past?
* What does your character like?
* What does your character dislike?
* What are some goals that your character has?

Those questions should give you a good base for your character's background and mannerisms. Hopefully at this point you are getting the general "feel" for how you should play your character.

## Part 4: Buying Equipment

The next step in making your character is buying equipment! After all, an adventurer without his/her equipment is nothing. At this point you should have rolled for how much money you have on hand, in Gold Pieces (GP). The exchange values for the money is located on page 14 of the Core Rules. On pages 15 and 16, there are lists of items and equipment to purchase. My recommendation is to take one or two weapons and a set of armor at minimum. As for other items, I would take whatever you feel fits your character. A Fighter may want a Guard Dog and a Cleric may want a holy symbol, or example. Descriptions of items are located on pages 16-18.

## Part 5: Final Touches

Now that you have everything, it's time to finish up some blanks on your character sheet. Write your alignment in the alignment blank, and write the names of any equipment you purchased on the second page. The notes section may include any languages your character speaks and information related to your background, such as goals. For armor class, use the listed armor class value for the armor you purchased. Saving throws for each character class is located on page 55 in the Core Rules. Write the values of those in the blank circles next to the Saving Throw type. The attack table for the "Roll 1d20 to hit" section is located on page 60. Find your class and level (in this case, level 1), and write down the values in the corresponding circles on the character sheet\*. If you don't understand completely, then don't worry, because it'll make more sense in practice. Be sure to update this and Saving Throws as you increase in level, as it will change as you level up. Finally, consult the Level Progression Table for your class (pages 9-13) and write the XP needed to reach level 2 on the second page.

And with all that, you're done! Congrats! Give yourself a pat on the back because the most boring part of playing Labyrinth Lord is over with. Go get a cookie. You deserve it.

*Right: The completed character sheet for Fiddlefoot. Your completed character sheet should look something like this.*