Underdark Musings - Company Game Trait Generator

At the very bottom of everything, the well stretching skyward, with the surface as distant as the radiant heavens of the Bother Gods, and for us equally unobtainable we took stock of who had survived slaughter by the maggot skinned beasts.  We sat around a meager fire making biscuits from the weevil rich flour  whose sacks had been torn in the combat.  Our only protection was a low roof of stone held by a myriad of pillars, an edifice much like a pier, but rising from the smooth dry stone of the cave.  As we sat, men and woman first tried to find those of their own country, or those who had made up the cliques and gangs in the camps above. 

The grim descent and the fight afterward had scattered and broken these chains of the past.  Amid the abattoir of our fellows, torn by the deep beasts, the past seemed less important then before, a rebirth from a womb of light and space into a place where darkness has twelve distinct varieties.  I found myself using the blade of the ax I had grabbed up in desperation to help the man next to me heat his doughy biscuits as well as my own. He was a lean and ageless man, and from his ragged robes I knew him to once have been a noble from the distant islands across the spotted sea.  From the scars of torture and the brands on his hands I also knew him to have been a sorcerer, who had somehow survived the special attentions of the Crusaders. He called me "Ax" from that day, and we became friends there. I for my part always called him as "Titter" from his strange laugh - in our own lands we would have clung to our proud traditions and he insisted on his title and honorifics while I demanded he respect the honors I once won in the City of Glass. 

- Testimony of fallen redeemer No. 34 at the Inquisitional inquest regarding the White Fortress massacres.

I was thinking again about running a 'company style' game, where the player select from a large pool of potential characters, but do not each 'own' a specific character. Obviously generating PCs quickly is essential in such a game, and as mentioned in previous posts on the subject the goal is to have a varied party of 'adventurers' each session with a trade off between leaving the best company members in camp or using them as characters in a specific session.  While stat lines can be generated quickly, and equipment becomes more a function of company stores then individual record sheets, I wanted to add a bit more to character generation so that the company members, most who will be little more then replacements or NPCs could be a bit more memorable.

To this end, below is a table of 100 Nicknames and Traits, many of which also adjust statistics so that a player will have something to go on when starting with a new PC.

Using the the table is designed to be simple, requiring 2D100 rolls, and giving nicknames and characteristics that evoke some basic ideas about the character, give the player a chance to fill out detail and may provide a bonus, penalty or combination. In a 'company' still game, where the players select from a larger poll of potential PC's these nicknames could help define the characters before hand beyond just providing a stat-line.

Green are negative characteristics and nicknames, blue mixed and orange positive. The notations are designed as follows + or - followed by a traditional statistic abbreviation is designed to indicate a +1 or -1 to the statistic (maybe a 1d2 depending on game system), while a *+ or *- is a larger bonus or penalty, perhaps a D4.

Nicknames and Traits – Quick Generation
D100	Name/Effect	Description/Effect
1	Worm/*-Chr *-Int	Diseased/*-Con
2	The Roach/-Con -Chr – Int	Missing Leg/*-Dex
3	Bad Mojo/*-Wis	Missing Arm/*-Str
4	Humongus/-Str-Con	Stunted/-Str/-Con
5	Lump/*-Int	Foolish/*-Wis
6	Runto/-*Str	Clumsy/-Dex
7	Smash n’ Grab/-Int	Horribly Scarred/*-Chr
8	Witless/-Int	Moronic/*-Wis
9	Weed/-Str	Elderly/-Dex-Str
10	Stinky/-Chr	Halfwit/*-Int
11	Greenguts/*-Con	Gullible/-Int
12	Smoker/-Con	Midget/*-Con
13	Maladroit/*-Dex	Illiterate/-Int
14	One-Eye/-Dex	Filthy/-Chr
15	Hunchie/-Str	Missing Eye/ -1 to missile attacks
16	Dirty Britches/-Chr	Scrawny/-Str
17	Wildman/-Int	Drug Addict /-Con
18	Naptime/-Wis	Obese/-Dex
19	Dead Light/-Int	Near sighted/-1 hit with missiles
20	The Creep/-Chr	Violent Zealot/-1 Wis/-Int
21	Sharky/-Chr	Pocked
22	Stumpy/-Dex	Extra pinky
23	Rabbit/-Con	Flatulent
24	Slouch/-Dex/-Con/	Abstainer and teetotaler
25	Grandpa/-Con/-Dex	Unnatural eye color
26	Constance/-Wis/-Int	Has autopsy scars
27	Brokeback/-Str	Always hungry
28	Wretch/-Int/-Str/-Con	Shockingly white hair
29	Badgerbag/-Chr/-Int	Missing 1D4 fingers
30	Devil Face/-Chr	Performs many tiny superstitious rituals
31	Hedgehog	Collects grisly trophies
32	Mouther	Musician
33	Lost Boy	Entirely hairless
34	The Prince	Covered in tattoos
35	Grim	Has slave/criminal brand
36	Strawman	Rumormonger
37	Giggler	Strange religious prohibitions
38	Ladykiller	Hates snakes
39	Footsore	Fond of black clothing
40	Redeye	Pleasant singing voice
41	Shark	Disheveled
42	Campfire	Neat
43	Two Penny	Gluttonous
44	Ditchwater	Lonely
45	Pinky	Animal lover
46	The Cheat	Opposite sex, in drag
47	Drip	Incomprehensible foreigner
48	Black Rose	Odd laugh
49	Lowtrade	Disgraced nobleman
50	Pleasant	Dandy
51	The Dancemaster	Peasant agitator and revolutionary
52	Diddler	Mildly xenophobic
53	Petunia	Excellent cook
54	Red	Former lawreader
55	Angel	Well-travelled
56	Bandit	Former stage actor
57	Preacher	Tiny Head
58	Blister	Former Tax Collector
59	Grumbler	Extra Finger
60	Blood Drinker/*+Con/-Chr	Potbellied
61	Runion/- Int/- Wis/+Chr	Enormous Beard
62	Monk/+Wis/-Chr	Former Acolyte
63	Throatcutter/*+Dex/-Str	High squeaky voice
64	The Dastard/+Wis/+Dex/-Con/-Int	Slovenly and shambolic
65	Lil’ Mercy/*-Con/+Dex/+1 Damage	Scarred face
66	Ox/*+Con/-Dex	Immaculately dressed
67	Beast +Con/+Str –Int/-Wis	Fear of stinging insects
68	Glass Green/-Con/*+Str	Crude barbarian/- Wis/-Int/+Con/+Str
69	Eggs/-Str/-Con/-Dex/*+Int/*+Wis	Offputtingly calm/-Chr/*+Wis
70	Ten Fingers/+Dex	Faulknerian idiot/+Str/+Chr/*-Int
71	Ironhand/+Str	Foppish dandy/+Dex/+Chr/-Con/-Wis
72	Killer/Backstab 2 in 6	Functional drunkard/+Con/-Wis
73	Deadeye/+1 Hit with missiles	Magically null/+4 all magic saves/*-Wis
74	Mother/+Wis	Brutal +1 Damage/-Chr
75	Lightfoot/2 in 6 Stealth	Child/+ Dex/-Con
76	The Barber/2 in 6 medicine skill	Sneering rationalist/-Wis/+Int
77	Hellion/+1 Damage all attacks	Devil blood/*+Str/+Int/no clerical healing
78	Crusher/+1 Hit with blunt weapons	Naïve optimist/-Wis/+Chr
79	Sorry/Crit on 19 or 20	Hypochondriac/-Con/+ 1 poison save
80	Ace/*+Str/+Dex/+Int	Upper class accent/+Chr
81	Spooky/*+Wis	Burly/+Str
82	Sweetpea/+Chr	Trustworthy face/+Chr
83	Monkeyman/+Dex	Prophetic dreams/+Wis
84	Ruin/ +Str	Stoic/+Con
85	Pincher/2 in 6 pick pocket skill	Iron stomach/ +2 to poison saves
86	Spider/2 in 6 climb skill/	Forester/2 in 6 Survival skill
87	Hexer/+Wis	Speaks the language of bees
88	Cutter/always has at least 1 dagger	Ambidextrous/+Dex
89	Dog’s Life/+Wis/+Con	Sin Eater/+1 to saves
90	Rat Nose/2 in 6 search skill	Flesh branded with magic sigils/*+wis
91	Hard Bread/*+Con	Decisive/*+Int/+Dex
92	Stainless/+Chr/+Con/+Wis	Inspiring/+1 to follower morale
93	Crossroad/+2 save vs. magic	Nimble fingers/+Dex
94	Warbaby/+1 Hp per Hd	Never ill/*+Con
95	Yellow King/+Chr/+Int/+Wis	Hexed tattoos/+1 AC
96	The Judge/*+Wis/+Int	Enchanted metal arm/+*Str
97	Cat/*+Dex	Mystically attuned/2 in 6 detect magic
98	Lucky/+1 to all saves	Giant Blood/*+Str
99	Doc/*+Int	Very well read/*+Int
100	The Hillock/*+Con*+Str	Exceptionally Handsome/*+Chr