(Mark Dowson)

When it comes to rolling up new characters, there is often someone blessed with fey luck with the values they roll for their characteristics, while someone else is cursed to roll abysmally. The luck-imbued person perhaps rolls 18s as often as their cursed friend rolls around 12.

What follows is a limited solution to this problem. Everyone should benefit more or less equally in rolling up good characteristics, resulting in less extremes in how good the characters are, however not all five stats are necessarily equal. Instead of getting hardly anything above 12, someone cursed with bad luck might just find the best characteristic they have is Looks 18, while still get low in the characteristics they want that influence combat. At least they would get to shine in social situations!

You start off with 6 in each characteristic, or 10 if the Games Master is feeling very generous. Roll five 6-sided dice (or four 6-sided dice, if you are starting with 10 for each characteristic), using the table below to determine what improvements you get for each single dice result. No characteristic however can go over 18. If with one characteristic you get enough increases to take it over 18, assign the excess dice roll results instead to another characteristic of your choice.

This article first appeared in Casket of Fays Issue 9.