Welcome to the Online Fantasy Character Generator!

This page is designed to help you create interesting, new Candidates for weyrs, caers, aeries, or role playing. It is in no way attempting to replace or supersede any published matter by any company or person and is not intended to generate profit of any kind. Last Update: 9/18/03 - added Events Guide!

These charts and the information contained on them is copyright Sara K Gray, and is intended as shareware but must not be distributed in any format without express permission from her.

What you will need to use this chart: a bit of experience with fantasy worlds, and online adoption sites or role playing games. It is assumed that the characters generated by this chart will be embellished by the person using the chart -- numbers are worthless unless you can put them together in an innovative manner!

Pencil and paper are essential -- I recommend printing out this page for your own use, rather than staring at a screen all night...

Dice of the 10 sided variety. If you look, some rolls require a 4, 6, 8 and 12 sided die, though you can fudge these if you don't have them. (I'm assuming that everyone reading this has a clue that dice come in more than 6 sided versions...) The roll of d3 and d2 are made by halving or thirding a 6 sided. But you knew that already.

Online Dice! There are numerous online dice sites, here is one from the Red Dragon Inn!

You will also want to possibly have a site in mind for bonding a dragon, gryphon, or other such creature which requires a candidate. You can find many of them for the pern setting by searching for "weyr" online, but there are other options as well. The world of Danach is a unique world tilted on its side with one in eternal day, the other eternal night. Between those extremes life is hard but present. The world of Alskyr is another island-world, with many varied isles and a mostly-tropical feel. Other worlds will be added (I am waiting for information on them i.e.: Everond) as needed. Candidates created for one world are usually compatible with other worlds, but check first to make sure. Terms and information might vary considerably. Nexus worlds also exist which will take all comers no matter their origin. (Icarus, Healing Den/Kshau Protectorate, Pelar Protectorate, Vella Crean, Tris'Hath, Ryslen))

How to Use This Site: Go down the page following the rolls as you go. First roll on Chart 1, basics. This will give you the character's basic information. Chart 2 is the physical appearance of the character. Chart 3 is their personality/description. Chart 4 is for the unique values, fears and such that the character displays. Chart 5 can be used whenever a craft, skill, rank, color, animal, circumstance or other information is desired (for instance, the rank of the parent's dragon, or the condition of their younger brother who has been missing... etc.). Optional information may include deformities or disadvantages. Lastly, a name generator for you to think about!

CHART ONE: Basics. Please keep in mind that this chart is used for Non Magic Using character generation.

Type = Social class available.

Age = for candidacy purposes.

Gender is weighted to Guilds and Crafts and such being more male-dominated as per tradition.

Number of Siblings is heavily random, and can always be chosen as "Only Child". Birth Order may help give a bit of history to the character, and decide things like inheritances! To determine Birth Order, just roll again and compare the results with the number of siblings. If it's high, they're born later. Low, and they're born earlier, middle, and obviously, they're middle children!

Legitimacy indicates whether the character's parents were married to each other when the character was born; most Rider's children are not considered "bastards" if they are born out of wedlock, however in non-riding society it is quite different! Fostering or adoption of children usually occurs when the parents are too busy to care for their child, mostly in Riding situations, and this may indicate Fosterling children as siblings as well or instead of their rolled siblings. In the case of Fosterlings, see further charts (indicating death in the family, circumstances, etc.). If you roll the number indicated, this applies to the character. So if you roll a Servant and on the Legitimacy roll a 6, they are born out of wedlock. Then if you roll a 1 on their Adopted score, they ARE adopted. See? On the "Adopted" chart, certain ones are listed with a * -- check Chart 5 to see what happened to the parents under "Circumstances".

**Guild-born characters should roll on Chart 5 to see what Craft they are working on.

Descriptions of Type

Servant -- Born to servitude, because of social or financial reasons, or because of physical/mental inadequacy. These folks are a very sorry lot, mostly with short lifespans and with very little to hope for in their lives. The huge bulk of Servants on any world will live and die without anyone caring to notice them in the slightest. Usually among large families, occasionally the product of rape, sometimes outcast because of illegitimacy, Servants do all the hard work around a House, Hall, Guild, Caer/Weyr, anywhere that requires more than a little upkeep. Scrubbing floors and walls, cleaning carpet, washing and mending clothing, digging wells, cooking and serving, often providing visitors with whatever requests (however unsavory) they have, those are but a few of the things Servant class members do for a living. They usually do not receive payment, but are given food and shelter and a minimum of clothing. Finding a truly worthy Dragon riding choice among these people is rare at best. On Danach: May also include Slave OR Servant class, differing by freedom.

Wanderer -- Outcast but fit, Wanderers might come from any walk of life, but are now found on the road eternally. Some are thieves, some entertainers, others beggars or hunted folk. Wanderers must truly struggle through their lives, as they must keep warm, find food and shelter, make their own clothing or goods for trade. They are often not wanted in social places such as Halls or Houses, because they are often seen as rabble no matter their true origin. The stigma of being a Wanderer, Holdless or Rogue even extends from the Servant class -- at least Servants have a job and a roof over their heads.

Clan Born -- Though it might seem similar, clan born folk are actually quite tightly knit together with ties of family and honor. Mostly nomadic, but remaining on ancestral lands. Clans often fight over areas, but they also often trade with one another. Goods and services, as well as finding new blood for each family, bring clans together. Extended relations keep clan born folk up on rumors or information. They are often on the road similar to wanderers, however they are equipped to do so -- visually a caravan or gypsy cart comes to mind when thinking about Clans in most fantasy settings. They are welcomed as traders, but often seen as deceptive, insular, and with shoddy or inferior goods. Don't tell that to the Clan!

Rider Born -- Born to a family or couple who live in a weyr, caer, aerie or cove (or other appropriate den). With parents who might both be too busy to tend their own children, Rider offspring are often kept busy by working in their home alongside servants or guild craftsmen alike. They are afforded a bit of education, though not all of them take up on it. A life of hard work is ahead in a den like this, however it is quite rewarding as the Rider born are always exposed to the magnificent bond animals which grace any fantasy world. They are often given the chance to stand for bonding at an earlier age, but by the same token they are expected to perform better and bond well. Life in a Den like that is often both brighter and more gregarious, as well as more harsh and desperate. The thought that one's parents might not survive whatever threat has surfaced is always there, and rider-born children often lose more relatives than they have actually met.

Commoner/House Born -- the bulk of any fantasy world's population are commoners who till the land, mine or fish, and generally are the helpless population which dragon riders (gryphon riders, whatever) protect from whatever threat exists. They supply tithes to their Lords, comprise a fighting force when it comes to man-against-man, offer their daughters or sons up for marriage to increase their title or wealth... In short, commoners are pretty much... common. Marriage is far more common in this type, and the flashy lifestyle of Rider folk is disdained by them, if not outright offensive to them. Women and girls are expected to keep a household tidy and smoothly running, and are expected to produce many heirs to a minor lord. Many hands are needed on a farm, and male children are usually valued far more than females. Most Commoners are not educated, but some can prove themselves up to it. Commoners live a much healthier, longer life than Wanderers or Servants, however their livelihoods are utterly dependent upon their money or land -- if a crop fails, they might lose everything including their land. On Danach: term for House/Hold is Keep.

Lordling -- Those who directly benefit from the tithes and do most of the organization work around smaller Houses are Lords (known as such in nearly every fantasy world as exists). They require obedience by their common folk, whose work affords them fine meals or wines, dresses or gold. In return -- hopefully -- House born folk are given security and shelter, justice and law, and sometimes entertainment. Lords are well known to be snooty and arrogant, as they are brought up to be the "upper crust" of any society. Whether the individual actually is better than the rest, only time will tell. Many lordlings and young Ladies are totally unfit for the work of a dragon rider, and must be trained with care. Ladies are encouraged to flirt but to remain loyal to their husband -- while after marriage a Lord often has many mistresses and illegitimate children. Lords dispense justice and judgment, some fairly and some not. Petty arguments between lords could cost lives, gold or land. Lords are often required to pay tithing to the Rider population when threats on their world are such that they endanger everyone equally. When tithes are not paid, their people may die. Danach Term: Morair, family head.

Ranked Rider Born -- Though many people live in a Caer, Weyr or Aerie, most are not riders. Some that are riders rise to the higher status among their kind. Wing and Fleet leaders, Caerlords and Aerieladies, all share a huge responsibility and honor. To have survived long enough to gain rank is one thing, but to continue holding on to it is another. Ranked riders must be strongly literate and healthy, of an even temper or at least controllable, and must have the talent on their mount to back up their words or actions on the ground. To these parents, then, a Ranked child is expected even more to be strong, healthy and intelligent, to prove themselves worthy rather than simply "being" worthy as a Lordling would be brought up. Failure among these ranks is common, but the rewards are spectacular. A strong education or at least a good shot at an appropriate trade or skill is usually offered. Hard work is a daily event for Ranked children, they are not pampered lords! But they just as often relish the work and would be left wanting for more if not kept busy. Danach term: Cathairte/Cathairix; Pern term: Weyrwoman/Leader; Alskyr Dragon Term: Caerlady/Caerlord, Gryphon Term: Aerielady/Lord, Sea Term: Covelady/Lord

Guild / Craft Born -- Guilds or craft halls are found on nearly every fantasy world. These are the skilled workers, the professionals who keep trades going. Everything from recording events, being wandering bards and educators, medical experts and herbalists, glass blowers and shipwrights, all skilled trades which require some form of education and training are done in Guild halls. Some guilds are more hands-on than others, some might be joined simply by a letter of recommendation and some require a large fee and a lifetime of effort. Each guild has different expectations of their members, but all have one thing in common: They are the glue which holds society together. Without Guilds and their workers, no skilled profession could ever be attained. Guild halls keep records and libraries, warehouses of knowledge and often have tools which are certainly not available elsewhere. Guild members are most often more intelligent than their kin elsewhere. Even the most "common" of trades, farming, agriculture and husbandry, benefit from having Guild information and tools available. Guild members may enter their craft only when they are proficient or found able to do it, then they must Apprentice for a certain length of time. When they are finished with their apprenticeship, most Guild professions require further training and experience as Journeymen, which can last a lifetime. Only the truest devotee of the craft may become Masters, and Guild masters are rarely if ever chosen to Bond.

Mixed Heritage -- any of the above may be combined, of course. Just keep in mind the social aspects of the world which is being used, and use caution.

Unknown Heritage -- also, of course, someone might be a mysterious stranger -- even to themselves! They may have relatives, a job, a background, but they might have amnesia or have been kidnapped away from their family... Anything is possible.

An Example! My first 10-die roll is a 5, indicating that I'm going to make a Commoner. Then, I roll another 10-die and add 9 to it, getting a 1 on my die... So this character is 10 years old, rather young for a Bonder. Next I roll a 9 on my die, showing me that this is a male child. Then I find my 6-sided die, and roll a 6 -- he's got six siblings! When I roll the 6-die it again comes up a 6, so I decide to have him be the last born of his large family. Next, I roll the 10-die again, to see if he's born in wedlock, and on a 10, NO, he's illegitimate! To see if he was adopted away, I rolled a 7, so he remains with one of his parents.

 

CHART TWO: Physical Appearance.

Health is an indicator of not only their chance to be ill, but their environment too. I recommend not using "Sickly" or lower for candidates.

Height and Build are flexible but are intended to portray ADULT height and build! Heights of these fantasy people are taller than earthly ones.

Skin tones are often darker than "Middle Class White American" due to the huge mix of characteristics in many online fantasy cultures.

Hair color and Eye color too are darker.

Length and Style are only recommendations. Choose or roll, as always!

An Example! With my commoner boy living with mom, I want to see what he looks like. This is just a series of 10-die rolls. First, for Health I roll a 4, he's average of constitution. Next, for height, I get a smashing 9, meaning that when he's grown up he'll be over 6'7" tall! Then I roll for his build, getting another 4 meaning he's slender. His skin tone I roll yet another 4, for Olive Tan. His hair is 3 - brown, 4 tells me it goes to the nape of his neck nicely trimmed, and is 1 - straight. His eyes I roll 5, hazel green. A pretty typical guy, except that very tall height!

 

CHART THREE: Descriptive Terms.

Literacy in fantasy situations is highly variable and if Female often is not offered.

Politeness refers to the character's ability to maintain a pleasant front even with high-status Lords or Ranking riders, Guild leaders or Clan leaders.

Focus is the ability to concentrate on their goals or tasks at hand. The number after the / slash is for Obsession and should be rolled if the character has Focus - if they roll under the number for Obsession, something consumes the character to the point of distracting them from other activities.

Looks applies to the general appearance and attractiveness of the character.

Features are detailed below.

Giving and Selfishness may be rolled with only one roll, but are also found at the same time in one character: a giving and selfish person might have a complex reason for being the way they are.

Each of these, if rolled under the indicated number, becomes something that may describe the character. (i.e.: rolling a 5 Politeness as a Servant shows they are quite well versed with keeping their tongue when faced with an angry Holder, but a 5 rolled on a Wanderer person shows they cannot do the same thing.)

Clan numbers for Politeness and Giving/Selfish are for "Clan members" and "Not Clan Members", indicating how Clan families stick to their own and really dislike others. They often run along one family-owned piece of land, offering them their Place attachment.

An Example! My commoner boy now needs to roll for his mental/emotional traits. Again, this is a series of 10-die rolls. With a 7, he is not literate, which isn't surprising for an illegitimate child. I roll a 3 on the Politeness scale, meaning he's pretty polite to those around the House. However, I rolled a 9 for his Focus, he really lacks any proper focus. I'll get back to that later! For Looks, I roll a 1 -- he's VERY handsome! When I roll for Giving and Selfishness, I roll a 4 and a 7 so he's not really here nor there for this trait. I wrote down that he'd have 1 extra "Place" to roll for below, and his Goal will be at -1 in its strength value.

CHART FOUR: Features and Values. These items add the bare bones of a history or background to the character. Roll or choose once in EACH category, modifying them based on the Type chart above.

A "Strength of like or dislike" on a 1-10 roll may be used, to determine how intense the condition is (a 1 is barely present, a 5 is present and accounted for, and a 10 is overwhelming). Roll the Strength first, THEN the 1-10 roll for what exactly the trait is all about. Reject obvious contradictions, of course, or try to make them work... (A kid who loves the open sea, but is afraid of water...) If "50%" is indicated, choose which option works best for you or roll even/one option, odd/the other option.

Obviously, these are not the ONLY items which someone might value, fear or enjoy. This is just a very small, basic list.

Items marked with a * are very special indeed. Think hard about giving the character a trait like this, as they will have very unusual and strong social connotations as well as physical ones!

Items marked with ** indicate that you should look below at Chart 5 to see what specifically it is.

An Example! Now I will complete the setup for this character, by figuring out if he has any strong attachments, fears or other things going on which will key me in to a good story. First, I roll for "Things", and get a 9, meaning he "Hates" this thing. Then I roll 4, a Parent! Well that clears something up, doesn't it? I see how his last-born status to a married man and an unmarried local girl has given him a bitter edge against his dad. Next I roll for "Place", and get a 2, a place he likes to be. I roll a 5, and decide that he likes hot places. For his additional "Place" roll, I first get a 3, meaning he likes wherever it is, and then a 3 again, the Great Outdoors. This makes his lack of focus far more sensible -- he's not paying attention to his teachers (his illiteracy!) because he's running around outside or dreaming of being there at least. Now for his Goal. I roll a 8 on my die, but subtract 1 from being a Commoner, so the strength he'll be devoting to this goal is 7, still above average. Next I roll a 10 on my die, learning that he really wants to have children of his own. Now it all comes together, doesn't it! He wants to be a better father than the one who keeps him trapped in the House and won't reject his love the way dad did. Lastly, I roll for his Fear strength -- I get a 7, and find that it is to 4, an animal. Now I go to Chart 5 to see what kind of animal, and roll a 5, a bird. I decide that it's a hunting falcon which his father owns, something which he resents because he'd spend time and money on his bird but not on his son!

That about wraps it up for this character, now I need to come up with a name and I'm pretty much done!

Completing the Character: Now that you've got the basics down, Chart Five will show you details if needed. If the character is Fostered, for instance, they could roll on the chart to see what has happened to a parent (why were they Fostered? Are they on good terms with their parent or did they die in some awful accident?). If a Guild bred person is rolled, choose or roll for the skill. Anyone can choose a non-Guild skill, just to flesh out their background. If the character is a Rider/leader's child, perhaps rolling on the Dragon Color chart to see what kind of dragon their parent rides if not Gold/Bronze. If someone has a Fear, Like or Dislike perhaps they need to find out what kind of Animal, Person or Area they are specifically dealing with.

CHART FIVE: Special Circumstances, Skills, Colors, and Other Charts. Roll on this chart if you want more details about their family life, what crafts they are skilled in, their history and such should follow from this or can be rounded out with it! Choose or roll, of course! Decide where they were born (using Locations), what skills they picked up on their way to their destiny.

Key: no marking is "generic/Pern" world. A = Alskyr. D = Danach. E- Everond. Other markings as needed.

Putting everything together! Now that you know numbers and items and such, how do you put it together? Well, if there are obvious relationships between things (such as they like to be around people and they are Craft bred) the results should be clear (they're probably a Harper!). However, what about things like WHY they dislike that piece of jewelry? Perhaps someone gave it to them and they have bad memories of them? Perhaps they are afraid of being in enclosed spaces because they lost their parents in a cave-in and had to be Fostered. This chart isn't really meant to flesh every connection out, it's mostly to provide inspiration and get the creative juices flowing.

Optional Things

If this isn't quite enough for you, here is a short random list of Disadvantages. It works by rolling two six-sided dice. The first will show you what Type of Disadvantage it is -- Social, Physical, Spiritual/Psionic. The second roll will determine which Disadvantage it is. They generally go from mild to extreme in seriousness of disadvantage. Some might openly contradict your already-created character. Feel free to ignore any of those, or just choose one or two if they're lower-level. Fears and such are already covered in the charts above.

Descriptions:

Don't feel that you must apply any of the disadvantages to your character if it won't help flesh them out. On the other hand, sometimes laying on a couple disadvantages will take the annoying edge off a 'perfect' candidate and make them 'better'. Who knows?

But what about a name?

Every character should have a unique name. Since many -- but not all -- Dragon agencies worlds shorten male names (often using a ' mark, so Darnell would become D'nell or D'arn or R'nell) so try to avoid very common names which will shorten to the same as others. Fantasy world names should be exotic sounding. To help find names, here are some sites which create random names, or have lists of existing names.

Cavemaster's name generator; Kabalarian name list; Dada's Little Baby Namer; Chris Pound's Random Name Generator.

Some questions to ask about this character:

What about their brothers and sisters? Where are they now? How is their relationship with them or their family?

Why would someone become this character's rival? What would they do if confronted with a rival?

Who are they attracted to? Why? Who or what totally turns them off? Who do they Idolize?

What is their reason for coming to a dragon site (assuming this is a Candidate character)? Why would they leave? Who do they respect?

How long do you see them living? How will they age? Are they likely to die fighting threats to the world or because of treachery?

If you want to flesh out the character's history even more, check out the new EVENTS GUIDE!

Thank you for using the Fantasy Character Generator! Please link to this site if you feel that it helped you! Also, please feel free to email the creator to add input.