Pseudodragon! Unusual Character Creation

ALLEGIANCE

            For unusual (non-knightly or non-native) characters, the most important requirement is to ensure that they owe allegiance to the Earl of Salisbury. They may not be his knights, but they must nevertheless serve the same liege lord as typical British Knights in the campaign. This is necessary to justify their purpose in adventuring with the other characters. Non-knightly or non-native characters may serve the Earl enthusiastically or begrudgingly, but their players and the GM must create a background that explains why they owe service to the Earl. Perhaps a foreign knight is the son of a foreign ally who is being fostered by the Earl? Perhaps a brigand was pardoned by the earl and joined his service as a sergeant? Whether or not loyalty (lord) is listed for their class, any character can add a passion of "Loyalty (Earl of Salisbury)" with a score of 12.

CLASS vs RELIGIOUS TRAITS

Class traits take precedence over religious traits. Change religious traits as necessary to accommodate class traits. For example, a Cathar Brigand would have a score of 15 in "Selfish" and therefore only 5 in "Generous," but Chaste, Modest, Pious, and Temperate would be 13. For knights, change the valorous trait to 15.

NON-KNIGHTLY CLASSES

Class	Brigand	Clergy	Yeoman Farmer	Merchant	Minstrel	Sorcerer	Thief	Woodsman
Skills	Aware 8, Boating 2, Courtesy 1, Dancing 2, Faerie L 2, Falconry 1, First Aid 5, Flirting 2, Folklore 10, Gaming 5, Heraldry 3, Hunting 5, Industry 5, Intrigue 3, Orate 2, Play Inst 2, Recog 6, Religion 2, Romance 1, Singing 2, Steward 2, Swim 2, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 2, Sword 6, Archery 6, Mace 8, Spear 8, Dagger 8	Aware 5, Boating 1, Chirurg 5, Compose 1, Courtesy 5, Dancing 1, Faerie L 1, Falconry 2, First Aid 10, Flirting 1, Folklore 2, Gaming 1, Heraldry 3, Hunting 2, Industry 5, Intrigue 5, Orate 5, Play Inst 2, Read L 10, Recog 5, Religion 10, Romance 2, Singing 5, Steward 5, Swim 2, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 5, Mace 5, Dagger 5	Aware 10, Boating 3, Courtesy 1, Dancing 2, Faerie L 1, Falconry 1, First Aid 7, Flirting 3, Folklore 10, Gaming 3, Heraldry 1, Hunting 5, Industry 10, Intrigue 3, Orate 2, Play Inst 2, Recog 5, Religion 2, Romance 2, Singing 2, Steward 7, Swim 2, Tourney 0, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 2, mace 10, Spear 10, Dagger 5	Aware 10, Boating 2, Chirurg 2, Compose 1, Courtesy 2, Dancing 2, Faerie L 1, Falconry 1, Fashion 5, First Aid 5, Flirting 5, Folklore 10, Gaming 5, Heraldry 1, Hunting 1, Industry 10, Intrigue 10, Orate 3, Play Inst 2, Recog 7, Religion 2, Romance 2, Singing 2, Steward 10, Swim 2, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 3, Dagger 5	Aware 5, Boating 1, Compose 5, Courtesy 7, Dancing 6, Faerie L 5, Falconry 1, First Aid 5, Flirting 5, Folklore 6, Gaming 3, Heraldry 3, Hunting 2, Industry 2, Intrigue 5, Orate 7, Play Inst 10, Read L 1, Recog 3, Religion 2, Romance 5, Singing 10, Steward 2, Swim 2, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 3, Dagger 5	Aware 2, Boating 1, Chirurg 4, Compose 1, Courtesy 2, Dancing 2, FaerieL 12*, Falconry 1, First Aid 5, Flirting 5, Folklore 5, Gaming 5, Heraldry 3, Hunting 1, Industry 5, Intrigue 5, Orate 3, Play Inst 2, Read L 10, Recog 3, Religion 5, Romance 2, Singing 2, Sorcery 10*, Steward 2, Swim 2, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 2, Dagger 5	Aware 10, Boating 2, Courtesy 1, Dancing 2, Faerie L 1, Falconry 1, First Aid 5, Flirting 5, Folklore 10, Gaming 10, Heraldry 1, Hunting 5, Industry 5, Intrigue 10, Orate 2, Play Inst 2, Recog 10, Religion 2, Romance 4, Singing 2, Steward 2, Swim 2, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 2, Spear 5, Dagger 10	Aware 10, Boating 3, Courtesy 1, Dancing 2, Faerie L 3, Falconry 3, First Aid 10, Flirting 2, Folklore 10, Gaming 2, Heraldry 1, Hunting 10, Industry 7, Intrigue 2, Orate 2, Play Inst 2, Recog 2, Religion 2, Romance 1, Singing 2, Steward 5, Swim 3, Battle 2, Siege 2, Horsem 5, Archery 8, Spear 5, Dagger 8
Home	Roll as per knight	Roll as per knight	Roll as per knight.	Sarum	Wandering	Sarum, or roll as per knight	Sarum	Roll as per knight
Traits	Selfish 15 Love family 12 Hate nobles 12	Religious virtues at 15 instead of 13. Loyal church 12 Love god 15 Hospitality 15. Fear Saxons 10.	Prudent 15 Modest 15 Loyal Lord 10 Love family 15 Hospitality 12 Fear Saxons 10	Selfish 15, Suspic 12. Fear Saxons 10. Loyal Lord 10 Love family 15 Hospitality 15	Proud 15 Honor 12 Hospitality 15	15 in 2 of the following: Lustful, selfish, deceitful, proud, or worldly.	Selfish 15 Deceitful 15 Love family 12 Fear law 10	Valorous 13 Prudent 13 Loyal lord 10 Love family 15 Hospitality 12
Holdings	Gang. Hideout w/ 15 thugs, spies in Sarum & in 2 villages. d6-1£/yr	Church. 20 deacons, 6d20 righteous parishioners. 3£/yr.	farm. 1£/yr. 2 farmhands. Levy of d20 clansmen on call if trouble.	shop. 2£/yr. 3 workers. Levy of 2d6 clansmen on call if trouble.	none. d3£/yr+ lodging. no levy.	manor or city villa and rental property. 5£/yr. 2 guards, 2d6 levy.	gang of 12 thieves. Day job with lodging. d3-1£/yr	forest cottage & hunting rights. 1£/yr. 1 farmhand. Levy of d20 clansmen.
Glory	6d6	6d6+100	6d6+100	6d6+50	6d6+120	6d6+50	6d6	6d6+120

*Sorcerer note: In order to use sorcery, Faerie Lore must be 16 or higher.

Artisan: As Merchant, but following skills are different: Aware 7, Boating 5, First Aid 8, Industry 15, Intrigue 5, Recognize 4. Home may be village or Sarum. Traits are Energetic 13, Loyal Lord 10, Love family 15, Fear Saxons 10. Hospitality 15. Shop has one worker and earns 1£/yr. Levy of d20 clansmen. Starting glory 6d6+100.

AGE

Younger characters: For every year of age below 21, subtract two from the sixty points you will divide between your five attributes, and two from the bonus skill points in step 16.  For every three years younger (18, 15, or 12), lose one of the three non-combat skills that are raised to ten in step 16. You will gain two bonus attribute points every year until reaching age 21. Subtract ten points of starting glory for each year of age below 21.

Older characters: Use the "Previous Experience" rules on page 30 of the Pendragon rulebook for characters that start at 21-26 years old. If you want your character to be more than 26 years old, you can continue to add years of "previous experience, but will only get one of the listed benefits per year, and you cannot raise your attributes after age 26.  For every year over 35 in starting age, subtract one point from one of your attributes.

NON-KNIGHTLY MAINTENANCE

Non-knights lack a knight's expenses for followers, equipment, and horses. This reduces their cost of living. The table below corresponds to the standard table used for knights, but reflects the grades of maintenance for characters of others walks of life.

Grade of Maintenance	Cost	Includes	Lodging cost
impoverished	0£.	Unrealiable food & lodging	None
poor	0.5£.	Basic food only.	Add 0.5£ for cheap lodgings if no home.
ordinary	1£.	Basic food and clothing only.	Add 1£ for comfortable lodgings if no home.
rich	6£	Includes squire and two horses, food, and fashionable clothing.	Add 2£ for fancy lodgings if no villa or manor.
superlative	11£	Includes 2 squires and 4 horses, food, fashionable clothing.	Add 4£ for opulent lodgings if no villa or manor.

For all grades add 1£ for armor, 1£ if married, 1£ per squire, 0.5£ per horse. If a character has armor but does not pay for it, his armor deteriorates during the winter phase as for impoverished knights.

NON-RULING KNIGHTS

For variety, perhaps not all beginning knights will be orphaned squires or the verge of their knighting ceremonies. Here are other options:

1. A squire on the verge of knighthood, but one whose father still rules their estate. The father could die in one of the early battles after the story begins.

2. A squire on the verge of knighthood, but one whose father has been awarded a second estate, for the character to govern upon achieving knighthood.

3. A squire of humble parentage, who is granted knighthood and an estate as a reward for his family's service.

4. A household knight with no estate. He might be granted an estate in the future if all goes well.

5. A nephew of the Earl. The nephew will be granted one of the Earl's estates upon earning knighthood. He might have a tenuous claim to inherit the Earldom if the heir were to die.

6. A squire with an elderly father who is still alive, but the elderly father is unable to manage the affairs of the estate.

SIBLINGS

d6-2 siblings.

* Oldest sibling is d6-3 years younger than the PC (negative number means older). Roll d6: sister on 1-4, brother on 5-6. If same age as PC, then roll d6; 1-4= half sibling of father, 5-6 = twin of the PC. If the PC has a twin, roll another d6; 5-6= identical twin. If the PC has a half-sibling, 1-3/d6= illegitimate. Otherwise, 1/d6 illegitimate.

* Younger sibling is d6 years younger than oldest. Roll d6; sister on 1-3, brother on 4-6.  Roll d6 again; 1/d6 half-sibling. If half sibling, roll d6 a third time, 1-2/d6 illegitimate.

* Repeat the process for more younger siblings a second or third time if necessary, each being d6 years younger.

OLDER BROTHERS

On the chance that a sibling is randomly determined to be an older brother. roll d6 on the following table.

D6 roll	Fate of Older Brother
1	Older brother is a knight, but father had extra gear to outfit PC as a knight as well (but with no manor to inherit)
2	Older brother was maimed and cannot serve as knight, but will inherit manor.
3	Older brother not suited for knighthood and trained to be a priest instead.
4-5	Older brother dishonored and disinherited.
6	Older brother abducted and enslaved by (roll d6) 1 Irish, 2 Picts, 3-4 Saxons. 5 Franks, 6 Faeries.

FATES OF SISTERS

If any sister is at least eighteen years old, roll d20 on the table below to determine her fate.

D20 roll	Fate of Sister
1-5	Still unmarried and very eligible. APP as PC +1d6 and minus 1d6.
6	Unmarried and in love with a commoner. 2d6+6 APP.
7-8	Unmarried, with a problematic reputation for (roll d6) 1 independence, 3 ugliness (d6+3 APP), 4 licentiousness (2d6+6 APP), 5 heresy (witchcraft), 6 toughness (strong and capable as a knight). APP as PC +1d6 and minus 1d6, unless indicated otherwise.
9	Is missing because (roll d6) 1-2 disappeared, 3-4 ran away to avoid marriage, 5-6 abducted.
10	Abducted and forced to marry a warrior of the (roll d6) 1 Irish, 2 Picts, 3-4 Saxons. 5 Franks, 6 Faeries.
11	Married to a prosperous merchant in Sarum.
12-13	Married to a friendly knight.
14	Married to an important knight.
15	Unhappily married to an important knight.
16	Married to an unfriendly knight.
17	Unhappily married to an unfriendly knight.
18	Married to a distant knight.
19-20	Already widowed.

If the sister is married to a local knight, roll to determine his manor on page 26 (re-rolling to exclude manors taken by PCs of course)