WHAT'S A PREGAME ANYWAY...?
By
J. Patrick McDonald
I recently recruited an experienced player for my HârnWorld Campaign.
When I told her about the campaign, political intrigue revolving around Kronas,
Marshal and Magistrate of the Eidel province of the Thardic Republic, and
the opposing forces in the Imperial senate she was sold. I warned her we used
HârnMaster; she was undaunted. "I’ve played lots of RPG systems.
I’m sure I can pick it up pretty quickly." I agreed, and invited her
over to create a character about an hour and a half before our regular session.
"That long?" she asked. I explained HârnMaster used a concept
called the pregame--a mini-role-playing session, not all dice and numbers
so she agreed.I was surprised that a player as experienced as she hadn’t ever
done a pregame before. It’s one of the most important aspects of character
creation. Without a pregame, all you have are a bunch of statistics. A pregame
fleshes out a character. Gives her detail, background, goals, friends, and
enemies...I got to thinking that there are probably a lot of GM’s out there
that could benefit from the idea of a pregame. While this example uses HârnWorld
as a background, the principles can be adapted to any RPG. The pregame is
especially suited to detailed worlds and on-going campaigns. It’s probably
not worth the effort for a quick character generated for a one-shot game.Advantages
of a pregame:
- Introduce a new player to the game mechanics.
- Provide background information to the player.
- Establish family, friend, and enemy relationships.
- Determine the characters skill sets.
- Start a plot line for the character.
When Laura came over we sat down and went through the character generation routine.
We started with basic attributes, and generated a place of birth and general
family background:
| Alia of Kregg |
Occupation/Status |
|
| Born: Azura 7 (Nadai), 701 T.R. The fourth of six children
born to Kaevyn & Myra of Kregg a Villein clan in Hene village, Kuseme
District, Thardic Republic. An elder brother, sister and two younger brothers
surviving. |
| Height |
5'3" |
Weight: |
120 lb. |
Frame: |
Light |
Comeliness: |
13 |
|
| Strength: |
7 |
Eyesight: |
14 |
Intelligence: |
5 |
Aura: |
16 |
| Stamina: |
16 |
Hearing: |
9 |
Will: |
17 |
Morality: |
13 |
| Dexterity: |
11 |
Smell/Taste: |
14 |
Peoni (lapsed) |
|
Piety: |
16 |
| Agility: |
15 |
Voice: |
10 |
Mild Necrophobia, Moderate Hypochondria |
|
| Physical Skills |
ML |
Communication |
ML |
Craft/Lore |
ML |
|
|
| CLIMBING |
44% |
AWARENESS |
48% |
|
|
|
|
| JUMPING |
56% |
INTRIGUE |
48% |
|
|
|
|
| STEALTH |
48% |
RHETORIC |
42% |
|
|
|
|
| THROWING |
48% |
ORATORY |
26% |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
RITUAL |
12% |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
SINGING |
30% |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Combat Skills |
ML |
Languages/Scripts |
ML |
|
|
|
|
| INITIATIVE |
70% |
Hârnic |
74% |
|
|
|
|
| UNARMED |
33% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| This is Alia's character sheet after rolling up basic
statistics and calculating her automatic skills. |
I wanted the campaign to start in Tharda, so it was logical that Laura’s character,
"Alia," would be from the area. I needed to incorporate her quickly
into the game, so I selected Kuseme as the closest major town. She was born
to peasant serf farmers. So that meant her options would be limited. I outlined
them:
"You’re thirteen years old. Your mother Myra and father Kaevyn
work hard as peasant serfs in the fields of the village Hene in the Kusem
district of Eidel Province. Your older brother Dahfid will likely inherit
your fathers land, and your mother is working to arrange a wedding for your
older sister Gryta. Your two younger brothers Tomys and Jakyb work in the
fields, the oldest is showing real promise as a plowman. Your mother tells
you as soon as she gets your sister married off, she’ll find a nice man
for you. By the way, you can open agriculture, weather lore, and an animal
husbandry skill of your choice to 13, 14 and 14% respectively.[For those
of you who missed out on HârnMaster 1st edition, you might want to
include an optional rule left out of second edition. Family skills: allow
a character to open skills based upon their parent occupation as listed
in the Occupation Skills Table, CHARACTER 18; but only to the opening level
listed on the Skill Data Table SKILLS 3 & 4. Family skills will not
increase the value of other skills opened during the pregame--they are included
for flavor only.
| Alia of Kregg |
Occupation/Status |
|
| Born: Azura 7 (Nadai), 701 T.R. The fourth of six children
born to Kaevyn & Myra of Kregg a Villein clan in Hene village, Kuseme
District, Thardic Republic. An elder brother, sister and two younger brothers
surviving. |
| Height |
5'3" |
Weight: |
120 lb. |
Frame: |
Light |
Comeliness: |
13 |
|
| Strength: |
7 |
Eyesight: |
14 |
Intelligence: |
5 |
Aura: |
16 |
| Stamina: |
16 |
Hearing: |
9 |
Will: |
17 |
Morality: |
13 |
| Dexterity: |
11 |
Smell/Taste: |
14 |
Peoni (lapsed) |
|
Piety: |
16 |
| Agility: |
15 |
Voice: |
10 |
Mild Necrophobia, Moderate Hypochondria |
|
| Physical Skills |
ML |
Communication |
ML |
Craft/Lore |
ML |
|
|
| CLIMBING |
44% |
AWARENESS |
48% |
Agriculture |
13% |
|
|
| JUMPING |
56% |
INTRIGUE |
48% |
Swinecraft |
14% |
|
|
| STEALTH |
48% |
RHETORIC |
42% |
Weatherlore |
14% |
|
|
| THROWING |
48% |
ORATORY |
26% |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
RITUAL |
12% |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
SINGING |
30% |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Combat Skills |
ML |
Languages/Scripts |
ML |
|
|
|
|
| INITIATIVE |
70% |
Hârnic |
74% |
|
|
|
|
| UNARMED |
33% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| This is Alia's character sheet adding in her family skills.
|
Laura: "So what, I marry some farmer and spend the rest
of the campaign raising oats and babies?"GM: "Only if that’s
what you really want. There are other options. If your parents have several
good years they might be able to buy your freedom--or you can take your
chances and run away."Laura: "What does that mean; take
your chances?"GM: "Well as a serf, if you leave without
Lord Krenna’s permission, he’ll probably come after you, particularly if
there is a labor shortage (there is), and punishment is likely to be severe."Laura:
"That doesn’t sound good. I’ll take my chances on the weather and
the crops."
I look over her stats, and note that she has a particularly high aura. I use
5 times her aura (80) as a "fate-roll" and have her roll d100. The
result is 70, a critical success. I also take the time to explain how the game
mechanics work. (HârnMaster has four levels of success failure--a straight
percentile roll with multiples of 5 being critical.)
GM: "Your mother speaks with the local seer, and is told
that you will have a great impact on the land and the lives of many people.
That your life is too important to spend on the farm. This encourages your
mother to start saving to buy your freedom."Laura: "Can
I do anything to help?"GM: "You work hard, but you’re
really too young to contribute much." [At this point it’s clear
Laura needs a little hint.] "The local seer thought you had promise,
why don’t you spend some time with her."Laura: "Okay, I
go talk to the seer."GM: "She’s an old, ugly, and very
wise woman. Ursila claims to be a "windwoman" who was raised by
the Tulwyni, a tribe of savages to the east. She asks you to spend about
an hour a day with her, more if you have time. Are you willing?"Laura:
"Sure!"GM: "It’s much harder work than you thought.
She is a demanding teacher, she keeps talking about discipline, and the
controlled use of the power of the mind, but it all seems like gobbledygook
to you. Do you stick with it?"Laura: "Uh, how’s mom’s savings
plan going?"GM: [I have her roll another fate roll this time
against a flat 50% to determine the savings level--Marginal Success]
"There able to save a bit. You’re fourteen now. They can probably buy
your freedom sometime before your 21st birthday. Saving the money won’t
be easy, and you’ll be expected to pay the money back. Besides, your sister
married Dugal the Lords plowman this summer, even if the savings plan falls
through your mom can always find you a husband--maybe yours won’t have a
big wart on his nose like Dugal!Laura: "I’ll wait a bit longer
and stick with the seer for a while." GM: [She’s catching
on now] "You continue your work with the seer. You begin to get
headaches and fevers at unexplained times. Your mother is worried, but the
Ursila doesn’t seem to be.Laura: [Worried] "This doesn’t
sound good."GM: [I’ve secretly rolled up some psionic talents. Based
upon her high Aura and sunsign, Pyrokenesis was the strongest (17%), so
it’s the first to begin manifestation. Her other abilities are less developed,
and probably won’t manifest until later during the campaign. I have her
make a third fate roll this time against her poorly developed Pyrokinesis
talent. I haven’t told her she has the talent, only the percentage chance:
17%. The result is a critical failure. While I’ve killed PC’s when their
players do stupid things in the pregame, I never let a fate roll end in
a fatality--particularly one like this. Still something bad has got to happen:]"During
the summer of your fifteenth year you are out in the fields helping with
the harvest. Your mad, you’d rather be elsewhere. Gryta is bragging about
the baby she’ll be having and your brothers have been teasing you about
Ursila again. And it’s hot. Really hot. The sun is burning down on you,
and you don’t think you can take it anymore. Suddenly, the wheat around
you catches fire and begins to burn. Everyone rushes to get buckets of water
and shovels to fight the fire and save the crop.Laura: "I
run to help."GM: "Make a roll against 5 x Agility"
[Marginal Success] "Okay, your able to help, but you still lose
a fair portion of the crop. Most of the town blames you. The lord fines
your parents in excess of all the money they’ve saved, and the local townspeople
want to tar and feather you. It’s likely to happen at the hall moot next
ten-day."Laura: "Maybe now is a good time to run away?"GM:
"Well, Ursila seems to think so. She gives you a sealed scroll, and
a few coins, and tells you to go to Coronan and give the scroll to Fargil
of Krunos a friend of hers from a long time ago. She suggests you leave
immediately, travel only at night, and stay hidden during the day. Lord
Krenna will likely dispatch riders, and if they find you...Laura:
"What does the scroll say."GM: "You can’t read. Do
you open it?"Laura: "No, I do what Ursila says."GM:
"Okay, stealth is an automatic skill, so you’ve already opened it."
[We check the opening skill level] "It looks like it starts
at 48% This is a critical time, so we’ll make skill rolls each watch (4
hours) instead of the broad based annual fate rolls." [I decide
that she’ll only get caught on a critical failure, but she’ll only lose
her persuers permanently on a critical success. With Marginal Failure she
can tell she’s being followed, but manages not to get caught, with Marginal
Success, she’s not in immediate danger, but she won't think she’s lost them
either.]Alia manages to evade the dispatched riders for several days
[at this time it is good to have a player memory map]. She plays cat an
mouse with Lord Krenna’s men and suffers headaches and mysterious fires
along the way, until Laura rolls a critical failure.Laura: Uh-oh!GM:
"Alia is just outside of Heage, A quick check of the weather tells
me it’s a very hot autumn day, riders catch up to her and run her down.
Roll against 20%" [Her pyrokinesis talent has gotten improvement
rolls along the way--She rolls a 14, Marginal Success.] "You realize
that the headaches and fires are a result of your power--Ursila’s teachings
have finally sunken in. The men-at-arms are upon you, what do you do?"Laura:
"Can I set the grass on fire between us?"GM: "Okay,
the ground in front of the horses bursts into flames. [Rolling Dice]
The horses are frightened away, and one of the men-at-arms is badly hurt.
As they retreat, you recognize the leader of the patrol. A yeoman friend
of your brothers. You can’t help but think you’ve made an enemy today."Laura:
"That was close."GM: You get to Coronan without further
incident, and are taken in by, Fargil, an alchemist and member of a group
of lorists known as Shek Pvar. He teaches you to read and write, and finds
you an apprenticeship as an astrologer. He is unable to help you in the
development of your pyrokinesis talent, but say’s you’ll manage to gain
limited control of it over the years. He thinks you have other mental talents,
and says that Ursila’s letter concurs, but he doesn’t know what they might
be. You study as an apprentice under an astrologer named Bael, who is a
dour man whom you don’t care for. Fargil turns out to be a helpful mentor
though, and you learn that you can rely on him and his apprentice Tamys
from time to time. Over the course of the next four years you learn a great
deal, and begin play at age 19."
I then give Laura a list of skills to open, and we calculate the correct skill
levels.
| Alia of Kregg |
Astrologer/Journeyman |
|
| Born: Azura 7 (Nadai), 701 T.R. The fourth of six children
born to Kaevyn & Myra of Kregg a Villein clan in Hene village, Kuseme
District, Thardic Republic. An elder brother, sister and two younger brothers
surviving. |
| Height |
5'3" |
Weight: |
120 lb. |
Frame: |
Light |
Comeliness: |
13 |
|
| Strength: |
7 |
Eyesight: |
14 |
Intelligence: |
5 |
Aura: |
16 |
| Stamina: |
16 |
Hearing: |
9 |
Will: |
17 |
Morality: |
13 |
| Dexterity: |
11 |
Smell/Taste: |
14 |
Peoni (lapsed) |
|
Piety: |
16 |
| Agility: |
15 |
Voice: |
10 |
Mild Necrophobia, Moderate Hypochondria |
|
| Physical Skills |
ML |
Communication |
ML |
Craft/Lore |
ML |
Talents |
ML |
| CLIMBING |
44% |
AWARENESS |
48% |
Agriculture |
13% |
Pyrokinesis |
20% |
| JUMPING |
56% |
INTRIGUE |
48% |
Astrology |
75% |
|
|
| STEALTH |
48% |
RHETORIC |
42% |
Drawing |
52% |
|
|
| THROWING |
48% |
ORATORY |
26% |
Mathematics |
45% |
|
|
| |
|
RITUAL |
12% |
Swinecraft |
14% |
|
|
| |
|
SINGING |
30% |
Tarotry |
48% |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Weatherlore |
14% |
|
|
| Combat Skills |
ML |
Languages/Scripts |
ML |
|
|
|
|
| INITIATIVE |
70% |
Hârnic |
94% |
|
|
|
|
| UNARMED |
33% |
Lakise/s |
83% |
|
|
|
|
| Quarterstaff |
40% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| This is Alia's character sheet after the pregame including
occupational skills. The GM and player negotiate a few meager possessions,
and Alia is ready to begin play. Note: Alia's Language skill increased
due to her years of study within the guild of Arcane Lore. Alia spent
her option poitns as follows: 2 to open Quarter Staff at SB4, 1 each in
Astrology, Drawing, and Tarotry. Option points cannot be used to increase
psionic talents. |
Laura has some option points [to improve skills], and decides she’d better be
able to defend herself, so she takes up the quarterstaff. She allocates the
rest of her option points to her open skills. She also has, unbeknownst to her,
two additional dormant psionic talents, Telepathy and Healing, both at 16% As
an astrologer, at age 19, she graduates to journeyman status and may begin her
trade. I designate a few meager possessions and a few weeks wages of savings.
Alia is ready to begin play. I also work with Laura to create a folder of memory
information, including maps of her former village, what she saw along the way
to Coronan, and areas of the city she became familiar with during her apprenticeship.
I give her a few materials to read from HârnPlayer, the Tulwyn article
to reflect the knowledge she gained about the tribe from Ursila, and some background
on the secret order of Shek Pvar Astrologers to which she belongs.Now Alia has
a real background. She knows where she grew up, she has a profession from which
she can earn a living. She has a passing familiarity with her surroundings.
She also has a secret past that may catch up to her soon. And it’s highly likely
that the PC’s will need a competent astrologer early in the next play session,
and won’t be able to afford the rates of a Master...