Who's the New Guy Anyway? d20 Answers for OSR Games

Here's a new table for your OSR game of choice, wether it is Old-School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord, Sword & Wizardry, or any other clone of OE, B/X, or BECMI Dungeons and Dragons.

Of course brave DMs can adapt it to other editions and other games.

The table is straight from Notable Novices and Notorious Newcomers, my third electronic/print-at-home zine for Old-School Essentials.

Who Are You?

Roll a d20 to find out the reason why the party immediately welcomes a new member... such as a replacement character that's hastily rolled mid-session.

Some of the results are fairly obvious, some are more exotic or outlandish, and some affect the new character's statistics. Use with caution!

1. The new character is the hitherto unknown stepbrother or stepsister of another party member! Adventure runs in the family blood, it seems. The two of them are so happy of having met, they both receive +5% experience points as long as both are alive. The bonus only applies for sessions both characters participate in.

2. The new character grew up in the same village, city district or community as another party member, and spent their childhood playing together.

3. The new character has a crush on another party member and is eager to show their worth and bravery.

4. Another party member has a crush on the new character, and is eager to show their worth and bravery.

5. The new character cultivates, together with another party member, a not-so-adventurous hobby, such as crochet, soap-making, painting, or poetry.

6. The new character has heard of the group’s legendary exploits, and won’t leave them alone until they are considered part of the company.

7. The parents, spouse, or siblings of another party member have had the new character swear an oath to watch over them and make sure they are safe while adventuring. The new character receives +10% experience points as long as that party member is alive. The bonus only applies for sessions both characters participate in.

8. The parents, spouse, or siblings of the new character have had another party member swear an oath to watch over them and make sure they are safe while adventuring. That party member receives +10% experience points as long as the new character is alive. The bonus only applies for sessions both characters participate in.

9. After one glass too many, the new character bet that they could be as much of an adventurer as anyone else. If they survive their first adventure, another party member owes the new character 1d100 gp.

10. The new character has read some ancient tomes and scrolls, and has identified another party member as “the chosen one” of an obscure prophecy involving a dragon and a great danger to the realm. The new character receives +10% experience points as long as that party member is alive. The bonus only applies for sessions both characters participate in.

11. Another party member has identified the new character as “the chosen one” they’ve been dreaming of, a person destined to great things. That party member receives +10% experience points as long as the new character is alive. The bonus only applies for sessions both characters participate in.

12. Because of a “misunderstanding”, years ago the new character spent some time in jail together with another party member. They both have the same tattoo as a memento of that period!

13. The new character is the hitherto unknown twin sibling of another party member! Adventure runs in the family blood, it seems. The two of them are so happy of having met, they both receive +10% experience points as long as both are alive. The bonus only applies for sessions both characters participate in. The new character’s ability scores are increased or lowered by 1 point in order to become closer to their twin’s scores.

14. The new character comes from the distant future! Time travel has swept most of their memory, but they still remember a 30 feet high, golden statue of the party members.

15. The new character has a clue or map to a treasure that is hidden in the same place the group is currently exploring or is heading to.

16. The new character is the sole survivor of an unlucky group of adventurers, who have been slain by the monsters in a nearby lair or dungeon. Eager for revenge, the new character receives ten times the experience points from those murderous monsters.

17. The new character is simply irresistible and all party members welcome them unconditionally! The new character’s Charisma score changes to 18.

18. Despite being an adventurer, the new character sounds like the most sensible, sound-minded person you could find in a tavern! The new character’s Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores change to 15, if they were lower.

19. The new character is a welcome addition to the party because everyone knows they bring good luck! The new character and all other party members gain +1 to all their saves, as long as the new character is alive. The bonus only applies for sessions the new character participates in.

20. The new character is a welcome addition to the party because they are one of the most promising and gifted members of their class! Their prime requisite changes to 18. If their class has more than one prime requisite, the player chooses which ability changes to 18.

The full version of Notable Novices and Notorious Newcomers includes three tools in total:

The first is the "Who are you?" table as above.

The second is "What's your story?", and provides the previous adventuring career of freshly rolled character that starts the game as level 2 or higher.

The third determines the magic items they've looted during such adventures, and has different columns based on character class.

While the "Who Are You?" table is a simple d20 table, the tables for higher level characters have a specific mechanic: you make a roll for every level, adding each level to the roll. So, for example, for a 6th level character, you roll six times: 1d20, +1, 1d20+2, 1d20+3, 1d20+4, 1d20+5, and 1d20+6.

For this reason, both tables take into account the 14 level limit of Old-School Essentials and thus go up to 34 results.

Notable Novices and Notorious Newcomers is already available and is Pay What You Want, so go and check it!

You can also check out my other Old-School Essentials e-zines, and my Lands of Legends series, which is currently on sale as a nifty bundle!

As I have more and more stuff coming in 2022, including more e-zines, adventures, and a super secret larger project, if you don't miss it out you should check my linktree to stay in touch!