D&D 5E Free 60+ page Guide to Sword & Sorcery for 5E D&D

CapnZapp said:
Take any random level 17-20 scenario and... just stop assuming the heroes are supposed to fight this thing, let alone win - and voilá, you have yourself a half-decent half-gonzo level 8 S&S scenario. Splash some mud, gore and supple flesh over the pristine four-color disneyfied presentation of modern D&D and you're good to go ;)
Click to expand...

From my experience running 5e Primeval Thule, this is exactly right.

Teens-level 5e in S&S is kinda ok but leans strongly towards the feel of the Marvel Savage Sword of Conan comics, with Conan as a superhero stomping on gods and Great Old Ones. The most fun we had was definiitely with level 3-4 PCs massively underlevelled for the adventure. Lots of "Flee, you fools!" :LOL:

I did definitely find that with Xoth, running it in Dragonbane/BRP made for the pretty much perfect feel. Severos the Executioner getting his head bitten off by a baby Great Old One was a definite highlight. :LOL:
 

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Some of you have already seen my contribution regards Carousing, but since Goodman Games is closing down their forums, I've reposted here at ENWorld:

www.enworld.org

[DCC] Carousing - Paramour Table

Note: these posts are copied from Goodman Games whose forums are about to close. Please excuse if the direct copy leads to some wonky formatting. NOTE: I wrote this material for a Sword & Sorcery campaign using Dungeon Crawl Classics rules. You should find the material easy to use for most...
www.enworld.org www.enworld.org

Posting about it in Xoth's thread simply because if you read this, you're likely a fan of Sword & Sorcery :)
 

xoth.publishing said:
The Player's Guide to the World of Xoth is a free PDF
Click to expand...
Just a heads up, Xoth: when I attempted to download the file just now my 2024 Firefox browser throws up the "download risk" popup where you need to confirm that you indeed dare download the file. This did not happen back when I last downloaded the file...

I am no web wizard, so I don't know the steps modern web sites take to avoid this, but you might want to look into it, 'cause I imagine a curious forumist will not want to proceed...
 
Last edited:

In an unrelated thread someone posted a link to this site, which generates entirely random but still legal 27 point buy characters with a single click, using the method of purchasing one random ability point at a time until all 27 points are used up.

I liked the idea more than the code so I "had to" write my own. My original 5E-legal code is in that thread. For purposes of this thread, however, I'm presenting y'all with a variant that might be of use in a "world where men are mighty, women are voluptuous!"

Since not everybody is aboard gender differentiated starting ability scores, I'm using spoiler tags. Simply don't click the spoiler if you don't think this idea has a place in your S&S campaign.

To be clear, what this code does is it presents two buttons instead of one: to generate male and female characters respectively. Male characters are 50% as likely to increase Strength as any other stat while female characters are 50% as likely to increase Charisma. That change alone makes for what I believe is a genre-appropriate difference. Do note - this can still result in a male with, say Strength 11 or 12 - but it makes it likely he'll be stronger and very unlikely he'll be weaker. Same for females and Charisma - far from every female character will get 14 or 15 in Charisma, but very few will be generated with an 8 or 9.

Simply paste the following code into a new Notepad and save it as "roll.html", then double-click that file to run it in your default browser. I won't even try to attach a html file; I'm sure multiple computer systems would get a heart attack for fear of viruses if I tried...

Note: These characters remain completely legal 5E 27-point buy characters, exactly what the Xoth Player's Guide suggests.

HTML: 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang='en'>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Redrick Roller (Zapp's Sword and Sorcery variant)</title>
</head>

<body>
    <button onclick="roll(false)">Roll up a male!</button>
    <button onclick="roll(true)">Roll up a female!</button>
    <pre id="output"></pre>

    <script>
function roll(female) {
    // start with all 8s and purchase a +1 increase in one random stat until all points are used up
    // stats have a 2 in 13 probability of being selected except one stat for each sex with 3 in 13.
    let pts = 27;
    let stats = [8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8];
    let costs = [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 99];
    let stat;
    let output = document.getElementById("output");
    while (pts > 0) {
        let cantbuy = true;
        let cost;
        while (cantbuy) {
            stat = Math.floor(Math.random() * 13);
            if (stat === 12) {
                stat = (female ? 5 : 0);
            } else {
                stat = Math.floor(stat / 2);
            }
       
            console.log("roll " + stat);
            cost = costs[stats[stat]-8];
            cantbuy = (cost > pts);
        }
        pts -= cost;
        stats[stat]++;
        console.log("increase " + stat + ", pts left " + pts);
    }
    output.textContent += "STR" + (female ? ": " : "> ") + stats[0] +
                        "  CON: " + stats[1] +
                        "  DEX: " + stats[2] +
                        "  INT: " + stats[3] +
                        "  WIS: " + stats[4] +
                        "  CHA" + (female ? "> " : ": ") + stats[5] + ".\n";
}
    </script>
</body>
</html>
 
Last edited:

CapnZapp said:
In an unrelated thread someone posted a link to this site, which generates entirely random but still legal 27 point buy characters with a single click, using the method of purchasing one random ability point at a time until all 27 points are used up.

I liked the idea more than the code so I "had to" write my own. My original 5E-legal code is in that thread. For purposes of this thread, however, I'm presenting y'all with a variant that might be of use in a "world where men are mighty, women are voluptuous!"

Since not everybody is aboard gender differentiated starting ability scores, I'm using spoiler tags. Simply don't click the spoiler if you don't think this idea has a place in your S&S campaign.

To be clear, what this code does is it presents two buttons instead of one: to generate male and female characters respectively. Male characters are 50% as likely to increase Strength as any other stat while female characters are 50% as likely to increase Charisma. That change alone makes for what I believe is a genre-appropriate difference. Do note - this can still result in a male with, say Strength 11 or 12 - but it makes it likely he'll be stronger and very unlikely he'll be weaker. Same for females and Charisma - far from every female character will get 14 or 15 in Charisma, but very few will be generated with an 8 or 9.

Simply paste the following code into a new Notepad and save it as "roll.html", then double-click that file to run it in your default browser. I won't even try to attach a html file; I'm sure multiple computer systems would get a heart attack for fear of viruses if I tried...

HTML: 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang='en'>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Redrick Roller (Zapp's Sword and Sorcery variant)</title>
</head>

<body>
    <button onclick="roll(false)">Roll up a male!</button>
    <button onclick="roll(true)">Roll up a female!</button>
    <pre id="output"></pre>

    <script>
function roll(female) {
    // start with all 8s and purchase a +1 increase in one random stat until all points are used up
    // stats have a 2 in 13 probability of being selected except one stat for each sex with 3 in 13.
    let pts = 27;
    let stats = [8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8];
    let costs = [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 99];
    let stat;
    let output = document.getElementById("output");
    while (pts > 0) {
        let cantbuy = true;
        let cost;
        while (cantbuy) {
            stat = Math.floor(Math.random() * 13);
            if (stat === 12) {
                stat = (female ? 5 : 0);
            } else {
                stat = Math.floor(stat / 2);
            }
         
            console.log("roll " + stat);
            cost = costs[stats[stat]-8];
            cantbuy = (cost > pts);
        }
        pts -= cost;
        stats[stat]++;
        console.log("increase " + stat + ", pts left " + pts);
    }
    output.textContent += "STR" + (female ? ": " : "> ") + stats[0] +
                        "  CON: " + stats[1] +
                        "  DEX: " + stats[2] +
                        "  INT: " + stats[3] +
                        "  WIS: " + stats[4] +
                        "  CHA" + (female ? "> " : ": ") + stats[5] + ".\n";
}
    </script>
</body>
</html>
Click to expand...
wow, I'd never heard of the Redrick Roller. I think I love it!
 

CapnZapp said:
In an unrelated thread someone posted a link to this site, which generates entirely random but still legal 27 point buy characters with a single click, using the method of purchasing one random ability point at a time until all 27 points are used up.

I liked the idea more than the code so I "had to" write my own. My original 5E-legal code is in that thread. For purposes of this thread, however, I'm presenting y'all with a variant that might be of use in a "world where men are mighty, women are voluptuous!"

Since not everybody is aboard gender differentiated starting ability scores, I'm using spoiler tags. Simply don't click the spoiler if you don't think this idea has a place in your S&S campaign.

To be clear, what this code does is it presents two buttons instead of one: to generate male and female characters respectively. Male characters are 50% as likely to increase Strength as any other stat while female characters are 50% as likely to increase Charisma. That change alone makes for what I believe is a genre-appropriate difference. Do note - this can still result in a male with, say Strength 11 or 12 - but it makes it likely he'll be stronger and very unlikely he'll be weaker. Same for females and Charisma - far from every female character will get 14 or 15 in Charisma, but very few will be generated with an 8 or 9.

Simply paste the following code into a new Notepad and save it as "roll.html", then double-click that file to run it in your default browser. I won't even try to attach a html file; I'm sure multiple computer systems would get a heart attack for fear of viruses if I tried...

Note: These characters remain completely legal 5E 27-point buy characters, exactly what the Xoth Player's Guide suggests.

HTML: 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang='en'>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Redrick Roller (Zapp's Sword and Sorcery variant)</title>
</head>

<body>
    <button onclick="roll(false)">Roll up a male!</button>
    <button onclick="roll(true)">Roll up a female!</button>
    <pre id="output"></pre>

    <script>
function roll(female) {
    // start with all 8s and purchase a +1 increase in one random stat until all points are used up
    // stats have a 2 in 13 probability of being selected except one stat for each sex with 3 in 13.
    let pts = 27;
    let stats = [8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8];
    let costs = [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 99];
    let stat;
    let output = document.getElementById("output");
    while (pts > 0) {
        let cantbuy = true;
        let cost;
        while (cantbuy) {
            stat = Math.floor(Math.random() * 13);
            if (stat === 12) {
                stat = (female ? 5 : 0);
            } else {
                stat = Math.floor(stat / 2);
            }
     
            console.log("roll " + stat);
            cost = costs[stats[stat]-8];
            cantbuy = (cost > pts);
        }
        pts -= cost;
        stats[stat]++;
        console.log("increase " + stat + ", pts left " + pts);
    }
    output.textContent += "STR" + (female ? ": " : "> ") + stats[0] +
                        "  CON: " + stats[1] +
                        "  DEX: " + stats[2] +
                        "  INT: " + stats[3] +
                        "  WIS: " + stats[4] +
                        "  CHA" + (female ? "> " : ": ") + stats[5] + ".\n";
}
    </script>
</body>
</html>
Click to expand...
So the RedrickRoller method, I like it a lot but I want to make sure I understand the process:

Start with 8's in everything, let's say Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Roll a d6.
It's a 5- buy a point of Wisdom.
Keep doing this.. but how does it figure out what you're buying when you're low on points? Keep rolling d6's and ignore the results that you can't afford?

Does that sound right?
 

Distracted DM said:
Does that sound right?
Click to expand...
Yes

I opted for this simple approach because I didn't bother parrying the scenario where the code purchases an array of, say, [13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 9] for your first 26 points and then loops until the generator generates another Charisma; the only ability you can afford at this stage.

Yes, theoretically you can roll a gazillion numbers without ever rolling one particular stat and thus hang the web page, but...
 
Last edited:

CapnZapp said:
Just a heads up, Xoth: when I attempted to download the file just now my 2024 Firefox browser throws up the "download risk" popup where you need to confirm that you indeed dare download the file. This did not happen back when I last downloaded the file...

I am no web wizard, so I don't know the steps modern web sites take to avoid this, but you might want to look into it, 'cause I imagine a curious forumist will not want to proceed...
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know. There have been no changes in terms of hosting the file, and I didn't get any errors or warning when trying with Firefox myself. But in any case I noted that the original link used "http" instead of "https", I've now updated the link in my first post so it now uses the encrypted protocol. Can you try again?

Also, do you get the same warning if you go to xoth.net publishing - sword and sorcery roleplaying adventures and scroll down and click to download the Player's Guide for 5E there?
 



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