You can read more about the challenge here and here.

Dedicated to Niko whom once lamented “man you have SW in the scene for like 10 or more years and you cannot get a supplement with pregens.”

As mentioned in the first post, I plan to make 260 characters for Swords & Wizardry Complete. Since that's a lot of rolling, I'm writting scripts for Inspiration Pad Pro (IPP) and creating spreadsheets in LibreOffice Calc.

First step was to create a spreadsheet which rolls 20 attribute score sets, and lists their respective modifiers:

Next step will be to concatenate results to get output like:

STR: 14 (to-hit modifier: +1; damage modifier: 0; open doors: 1–2; carry modifier: +10 lbs) DEX: 10 (missile to-hit modifier: 0; AC modifier: none) CON: 11 (hp per hit die modifier: 0; raise dead survival: 75%) INT: 13 (max additional languages: 3) WIS: 13 (bonus xp: +5%) CHA: 11 (max # of special hirelings: 4; retainer morale adjustment: 0; bonus xp: 0)

Having had enough of spredsheets, I turned to automating Arduin's Optional Character Appearance Chart with IPP.

“Regular” chart:

DIE ROLL	HAIR	EYES	SCARS	BIRTHMARKS	PIGMENTATION	EXOTIC THINGS
1	Light Brown	Hazel	None	Crescent	Light Tan	None
2	Brown	Light Brown	1”	Star (5 point)	Medium Tan	Cyclopic Eye
3	Dark Brown	Brown	1 1/2”	Star (6 point)	Dark Tan	Six Fingered, Etc.
4	Auburn	Dark Brown	None	Star (8 point)	Milky White	Double Thumbed
5	Red	Grey	1/2”	Triangle	Caucasian	Pointed Ears
6	Black	Light Blue	1/4”	“X”	Amber	Fang Mouthed
7	Blonde	Blue	None	“Z”	Pale Grey	All Double Joints
8	Light Blonde	Black	2”	Snake	Pale Blue	Gills And Lungs
9	Dark Blonde	Yellow	3”	Bird	Yellow White	Webbed Toes, Etc.
10	Grey	Light Green	None	Spider	Pale Orange	Two Hearts
11	Silver	Green	4”	Sword	Pale Green	Very Hairy
12	Golden	Amber	5”	Horns	Pale Silver	No Body Hair
13	Bald	Aqua	None	Pentagram	Pale Gold	No Belly Button
14	Roan	Violet	6”	Circle	Light Brown	Hermaphrodite
15	Yellow	Tan	7”	Square	Medium Brown	Transparent Skin
16	Orange	Gold	None	None	Dark Brown	Scaly Skin
17	White	Silver	8”	None	Black	Double Pupiled
18	2 Mixed **	Bronze	10”	None	Ochre	Reptile Tongued
19	Grey / Mix **	Copper	1’	None	Grey-Green	Cat Clawed
20 *	Special	Special	Special	Special	Special	Tailed (d6’)

“Special” chart:

DIE ROLL	HAIR	EYES	BIRTHMARKS	PIGMENTATION
1	Purple	Purple	Wolf’s Head	Metallic **
2	Green	Orange	Leaping Panther	Half And Half **
3	Blue	Pink	Dragon	Chequered **
4	Pink	Scarlet	Sun Disk	Striped**
5	Scarlet	Pupilless **	Ankh	Fluorescent **
6	Saffron	2 Mixed **	Thunderbolt (d3)	Chameleon Like
7	Maroon	3 Mixed **	Comet	Pearlescent
8	Cyan	Maroon	Crown	Purple
9	Magenta	Cyan	Heart	Maroon
10	Lavender	Magenta	Griffon	Cyan
11	Transparent	Red	Unicorn	Scarlet
12	Tentacles	White	Pegasus	Red
13	Quills	Clear	Lion	Shiny Ebon
14	Feathers	Metallic **	Raven	Deep Blue
15	Crested	Glowing **	Scythe	Emerald Green
16	Horned	No Eyes ***	Hammer	Gem Sparkled **
17	2 Mixed **	All Pupil **	Infinity Sigil	Shifting Always **
18	3 Mixed **	Invisible ****	Tree	Lavender
19	Vipers	Prismatic	Flower (choice)	Violet
20	Changeable **	Flaming **	Eye	Prismatic

Footnotes: * re-roll on the special chart ** roll for the colour(s) *** born without eyes, sockets, and lids; 50' radar sense **** eyes are present but it looks like empty sockets

Players are allowed to roll on however many columns they want. Although I want pregens to stand out a little bit (after all, they are supposed to be adventurers), I also don't want to create 260 freaks with exotic features.

Hence I made a small table to randomise number of appearance columns that get rolled on:

DIE ROLL	HAIR	EYES	SCARS	BIRTHMARKS	PIGMENTATION	EXOTIC THINGS
1–7	YES	YES	NO	NO	YES	NO
8–12	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO
13–16	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO
17–18	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
19–20	YES	YES	NO	NO	YES	YES

Here are few test outputs:

• grey hair; dark brown eyes; yellow white skin tone; no body hair
• 2 mixed (roan and bald) hair; gold eyes; pale grey skin tone
• brown hair; black eyes; amber skin tone
• yellow hair; dark brown eyes; grey-green skin tone; none-shaped birthmark
• white hair; bronze eyes; medium tan skin tone; 1 ½'' scar

Love the second roll. I imagine it as as guy with bald top of the head and then some small roan bushes to the side. GOld eyes and pale grey complexion for that slightly sickly look. Sounds like a perfect Magic-User.

Either way, enough for today.

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Dedicated to Niko whom once lamented “man you have SW in the scene for like 10 or more years and you cannot get a supplement with pregens.”

This year we'll be moving from B/X rules to OD&D rules (via Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised). As part of the move, and due to lamentations of my friend, I have decided to make 260 pregens: 20 for each human class, and then 20 for each ancestry (dwarf, elf, halfling).

It is quite possible that I won't be able to finish all 260 this month, but that won't stop me for trying. Given the numbers, I'll do this year's challenge a bit differently than character per day.

First I'll generate 20 ability score sets (3d6 in order). Then I'll generate names, appearance, and traits. Then I'll equip them (1/3 spent on armour, adventuring gear, leave at least 5 gp).

Resources I'll be using are:

• Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised as main rulebook.
• Hyborian Names generator to create human names (Aquilonian for Lawful, Cimerian for Neutral, and Stygian for Chaotic); Apocrypha 2: Chart of Darkness for elven names; Dwarfs: Stone and Steel for dwarven names; and I'll call all halflings Bilbo.
• Height and weight chart by spurious for height and weight and Arduin Grimoire for unique physical appearance.
• d1000 NPC Traits to generate 2d3 traits.

LibreOffice Calc and Inspiration Pad Pro (command line version) will be my digital tools of choice. In fact, I think most of my time this week will go on automating many of the rolls above so I can focus on the characters!

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As part of the challenge I made a character each day. They are perfectly usable as retainers for classic Dungeons & Dragons games (BX, BECMI, RC) and their retroclones (e.g. Labyrinth Lord and Old-School Essentials).

Without any further ado, here they are in the list form:

Day 1: Richrad “The Treacherous” Feutrer (Fighter) Day 2 Watt “The Merciful” Coxeter (Thief) Day 3: Arnbella Meale (Magic-User) Day 4: Bowerroth (Cleric) Day 5: Annora Hornblow (Cleric) Day 6: Tolbert “The Violet” (Fighter) Day 7: Theilras Alynshadow (Elf) Day 8: Seaherita Spier (Magic-User) Day 9: Alaine (Thief) Day 10: Widuklar Weakshield (Dwarf) Day 11: Theodosia “The Fiendish” Sendall (Magic-User) Day 12: Luna (Cleric) Day 13: Nireal (Elf) Day 14: Magna “The Numb” (Thief) Day 15: Boastridge Callendar (Magic-User) Day 16: Iduna (Fighter) Day 17: Grover Winmill (Magic-User) Day 18: Proctor Maskill (Magic-User) Day 19: Cottar Goodman (Halfling) Day 20: Galiana “The Lily” Payne (Cleric) Day 21: Bhimrao (Cleric) Day 22: Redesca Tabiner (Magic-User) Day 23: Marorbriel (Elf) Day 24: Anvild Happynose (Dwarf) Day 25: Gadsby “The Waggish” (Fighter) Day 26: Theellith Aelerrili (Elf) Day 27: Newall (Thief) Day 28: Margwald “The Marksman” (Dwarf) Day 29: Zenon (Cleric) Day 30: Montfort Grater (Magic-User) Day 31: Ulrich “The Ripe” Gaman (Fighter)

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Ulrich “The Ripe” Gaman

Class: Fighter Alignment: Chaotic Languages: Common, Alignment, Elvish

Appearance: 5'11” / 1,80m, 193 lbs. / 88 kg; cleft chin; well-groomed van dyke beard Traits: Jovial, likes speaking in voices, studies birds, resents his family

Hit points: 3 Armor class: 2

Attributes

STR: 9 INT: 14 (reads and writes native languages) WIS: 12 DEX: 17 (+2 to hit with missiles, -2 AC bonus, +2 initiative) CON: 11 CHA: 5

Saving throws

Death Ray or Poison: 12 Magic Wands: 13 Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 14 Dragon Breath: 15 Rods, Staves, or Spells: 16

Equipment

Coins: 4 gp Armor: Chain Mail Armor plus Shield Weapons: Long Sword Gear: Backpack, Rope (50ft)

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Montfort Grater

Class: Magic-User Alignment: Lawful Languages: Common, Alignment

Appearance: 6'2” / 1,88 m, 194 lbs. / 88 kg; taut; wheat blonde wild hair Traits: Energetic, afraid of blood, paranoid, talented at reading body language

Hit points: 6 Armor class: 9

Attributes

STR: 7 (-1 to hit, damage, and open doors) INT: 10 (reads and writes native languages) WIS: 7 (-1 on magic based saving throws) DEX: 9 CON: 16 (+2 points per hit die) CHA: 9

Saving throws

Death Ray or Poison: 13 Magic Wands: 14 Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 13 Dragon Breath: 16 Rods, Staves, or Spells: 15

Equipment

Coins: 50 gp Armor: None Weapons: Dagger Gear: Spell Book (Charm Person), Small Sack, Standard Rations (1 week), Iron Rations (1 week), Wine (1 qt), Steel Hand Mirror

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Zenon

Class: Cleric Deity: Fubar, petty god magical mishap and adventure; symbol is a flaming, simple five-pointed star (Petty Gods p. 53) Alignment: Chaotic Languages: Common, Alignment

Appearance: 5'10” / 1,78 m, 146 lbs. / 66 kg; honey skin; soft black bushy hair and long forked beard Traits: Calm, lacks empathy, prays before all decisions

Hit points: 4 Armor class: 2

Attributes

STR: 13 (+1 to hit, damage, and open doors) INT: 8 (can write simple Common words) WIS: 16 (+2 on magic based saving throws) DEX: 14 (+1 to hit with missiles, -1 AC bonus, +1 initiative) CON: 8 (-1 points per hit die) CHA: 9

Saving throws

Death Ray or Poison: 11 Magic Wands: 12 Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 14 Dragon Breath: 16 Rods, Staves, or Spells: 15

Equipment

Coins: 3 gp Armor: Plate Mail Armor Weapons: War Hammer, Sling (30 stones) Gear: Holy Symbol, Small Sack (2), Torches (6), Wine Skin, Rope (50ft)

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Margwald “The Marksman”

Class: Dwarf Alignment: Chaotic Languages: Dwarvish, Common, Alignment, Gnomish, Kobold, Goblin

Appearance: 3'6” / 1,07 m, 110 lbs. / 50 kg; brown braided hair; metallic bronze eyes; yellow white complexion Traits: Insists on using ranged weapons, optimistic, unlucky

Hit points: 9 Armor class: 9

Attributes

STR: 14 (+1 to hit, damage, and open doors) INT: 7 (can write simple native languages words) WIS: 10 DEX: 5 (-2 to hit with missiles, +2 AC penalty, -2 initiative) CON: 13 (+1 points per hit die) CHA: 6 (-1 reaction adjustment)

Saving throws

Death Ray or Poison: 10 Magic Wands: 11 Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 12 Dragon Breath: 13 Rods, Staves, or Spells: 14

Equipment

Coins: 7 gp Armor: Leather Armor Weapons: Mace, Crossbow (10 bolts) Gear: Large Sack, Lantern, Rope (50ft), Standard Rations (1 week)

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Newall

Class: Thief Alignment: Chaotic Languages: Common, Alignment

Appearance: 5'2” / 1,57 m, 185 lbs. / 84 kg; paunchy; straight light blonde long hair Traits: Arrogant, jaded, moderately jealous

Hit points: 2 Armor class: 7

Attributes

STR: 11 INT: 10 (reads and writes native languages) WIS: 6 (-1 on magic based saving throws) DEX: 12 CON: 8 (-1 points per hit die) CHA: 6 (-1 adjustment to reactions)

Saving throws

Death Ray or Poison: 13 Magic Wands: 14 Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 13 Dragon Breath: 16 Rods, Staves, or Spells: 15

Equipment

Coins: 9 gp Armor: Leather Armor Weapons: Two Handed Sword, Crossbow (10 bolts) Gear: Thieves Tools, Backpack, Iron Spikes (12), Steel Hand Mirror, Standard Rations (1 week), Wine (1 qt)

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Theellith Aelerrili

Class: Elf Alignment: Neutral Languages: Elvish, Common, Alignment, Orcish, Hobgoblin, Gnoll, Doppleganger, Halfling

Appearance: 4'9” / 1,45 m, 92 lbs. / 42 kg; tawny skin; hooked nose; bushy, bright copper brown hair Traits: Kind, cowardly, bloodthirsty when drunk

Hit points: 7 Armor class: 5

Attributes

STR: 15 (+1 to hit, damage, and open doors) INT: 16 (reads and writes native languages) WIS: 12 DEX: 17 (+2 to hit with missiles, -2 AC bonus, +2 initiative) CON: 14 (+1 points per hit die) CHA: 15 (+1 adjustment to reactions)

Saving throws

Death Ray or Poison: 12 Magic Wands: 13 Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 13 Dragon Breath: 15 Rods, Staves, or Spells: 15

Equipment

Coins: 9 gp Armor: Leather Armor Weapons: Long Sword Gear: Spell Book (Hold Portal), Small Sack (2), Silver Dagger, Standard Rations (1 week)

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Gadsby “The Waggish”

Class: Fighter Alignment: Chaotic Languages: Common, Alignment

Appearance: 5'12” / 1,82 m, 163 lbs. / 74 kg; golden curly long hair; flamboyant chest hair Traits: Jovial, greedy, weak-willed

Hit points: 6 Armor class: 5

Attributes

STR: 15 (+1 to hit, damage, and open doors) INT: 9 (reads and writes native languages) WIS: 8 (-1 on magic based saving throws) DEX: 9 CON: 10 CHA: 10

Saving throws

Death Ray or Poison: 12 Magic Wands: 13 Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 14 Dragon Breath: 15 Rods, Staves, or Spells: 16

Equipment

Coins: 9 gp Armor: Chain Mail Armor Weapons: Battle Axe Gear: Small Sack (3), Iron Spikes (12)

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