D&D Ultima Online Character Builder and Adventure

Discussion in 'Guides' started by Adam_Olini, Feb 27, 2020.

  1. Adam_Olini

    Adam_Olini New Member

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    Hi guys, I am an old UO veteran, and I hop on this server every so often. In the last year, I started playing D&D as a player and a DM. As a UO veteran, i've always looked for new ways to play the game, and I do enjoy roleplaying. I searched and searched for someone who had already written a guide like this before, but I couldn't find it. I guess I was going to be that person tonight. This is a rough draft, and has not been put to the test YET. I rolled an example warrior throughout this journey, but I will make my official character sometime this weekend. Maybe by then, some of you will review and critique what I wrote.

    A. Rolling Stats:
    1. Use dice or a dice roller to roll a 3d10 (3 ten-sided dice).
    2. Discard any roll with a combined total below 8 and above 22.
    3. Multiply each die x 10 and assign it to a stat of your choice.

    Example:
    * I rolled a 9, 9, and 3. They have a combined total of 21, so its okay (and a damn good roll).
    * I assign them to my stats as 90 str / 90 dex / 30 int



    B. Skill Limits:
    * You may use raise skills that you "learn" to a maximum level according to your stats and classification of a skill. This would be the base or real value for a skill. Your total skill points may still reach 700 no matter what.

    Example:
    * Swordsmanship is a strength based skill. I have 90 strength. So I can raise my swordsmanship to a maximum of 90.


    C. Skill Classification:
    * Many skills are a mix of stats, so I tried to align them to one stat or another. It may not be perfect, but makes some UO templates possible.

    Strength Skills: Anatomy, Animal Taming, Armslore, Blacksmithy, Carpentry, Fishing, Herding, Lumberjacking, Mace Fighting, Mining, Resisting Spells, Swordsmanship, Tactics, Wrestling.

    Dexterity Skills: Archery, Begging, Bowcraft, Camping, Fencing, Healing, Hiding, Lockpicking, Musicianship, Parrying, Remove Trap, Snooping, Stealing, Stealth, Tailoring, Tinkering, Tracking.

    Intelligence Skills: Alchemy, Animal Lore, Cartography, Cooking, Detect Hidden, Evaluate Intelligence, Forensic Evaluation, Inscription, Item Identification, Magery, Meditation, Peacemaking, Poisoning, Provocation, Spirit Speak, Taste Identification, Veterinary.

    Crafting, Harvesting Classification: Blacksmithy, Carpentry, Lumberjacking, Mining, Bowcraft, Tailoring, Tinkering, Alchemy, Cooking, and Inscription.

    Example: Because of stats, I could raise anatomy to 90, archery to 90, but magery to only 30.


    D. Choosing Starting Skills and Proficiencies: A new lvl 1 character may spend 6 points on any combination of the following:

    * Skills - 1 point per skill you want to unlock. Remember they are limited by your stats. You may choose one crafting or harvesting skill for free.

    * Armor - 1 point each to unlock:
    Cloth - Free
    Light Armor (Leather/Studded) - 1
    Medium Armor (Ringmail/Chainmail) - 1, req. light armor
    Heavy Armor (Bone/Platemail) - 1, req. medium armor
    Small Shields (Bronze, Buckler, Wooden, Metal) - free with Parry skill
    Heavy Shields (Chaos, Order, Heater, Metal Kite, Tear Kite) - 1, req. small shields

    * Weapons - One hand weapons for your weaponskill are free when you purchase the skill. Two-hand weapon access will cost an additional point. For instance, I pick up Fencing for 1 point and i'm now allowed to use any one-handed fencing weapon. If I want to use a spear or short spear, I will need to spend an additional point.

    * Riding Ability - 1 point for each type of mount, unless you tamed it yourself. (color variations don't count as a different type)

    * Boat - 1 point for a sailing ability

    * Pack animal - 1 point for each type of pack animal

    Example: My character has 6 points to spend. He chooses mace fighting (hammerpick as free weapon unlock), tactics, anatomy, healing, leather armor, and pack horse. I choose mining as my free crafting skill. I have cloth armor for free as well.


    E. Ideals: Choose at least 1 belief that drives your character. These are usually kind of generic, and have a certain alignment.

    There are some options linked below:
    https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/blogs/dnd/dnd-5e-ideals-everything-you-need-to-know

    Example: I chose Charity. My warrior is charitable and will often distribute the money he acquires to those who could really use it. (Good alignment)


    F. Bonds: Choose at least 1 bond for your character. This is a more specific theme to get your character idea going.

    There are some options linked below:
    https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/blogs/dnd/5e-bonds

    Example: My good aligned warrior idolizes a hero of the old tales and measures his deeds against that person's.


    G. Flaws: Choose at least 1 flaw for your character. I would even suggest 2-3, because I personally think its a character's flaws that define them more than anything.

    There are some options linked below:
    http://weirdzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Flaws.pdf

    Example: My warrior has a shameful secret that prevents him from ever going home or giving others too much information about where he's from. He can't resist a pretty face, and has a weakness for spending too much on city vices (especially women).


    H. Milestone Leveling: Your character will level and gain more points to spend on skills and proficiencies. Your stat cap, and the cap on your skills will never change though. I prefer milestone leveling, and its best you set out goals for your character to reach over his or her lifetime. You can make them generic or very specific. Up to you. They can be financial, items, achievements, etc... Write them out ahead of time. There are only 5 official levels, with a 6th one being a retirement only if you lived that long.

    Example:
    Level 1 - Starting point for all characters

    Level 2 - Milestone (financially sound, a savings in the bank, spare equipment, attend at least one server event), 2 additional points to spend

    Level 3 - Milestone (significant charitable contributions made, level 1 dungeon veteran), 2 additional points to spend

    Level 4 - Milestone (become a regular at server events, level 2 dungeon veteran, purchase a home and marry the adult entertainer you've spent too much money on), 2 additional points to spend

    Level 5 - Milestone (level 3+ dungeon veteran, confront hometown shame with others, make a major charitable contribution), 2 additional points to spend

    Level 6 - Milestone (character development complete, host an event announcing your retirement), character retirement



    I. Extra Tips:
    * Consider allowing your character to die. For every old warrior, there are many that died young. People usually love making new characters anyway. I would consider not counting event or PK deaths to count.
    * You're the DM, so don't cheat. If you cheated your original dice roll, you'll probably cheat again. Flaws and weaknesses make a character interesting and unique. The closer you get to a perfect template and a character that acts just like you, the more it will just be another vanilla 7x on your character list.
    * Post your template, and update us with your milestone adventures.
    * Help me to revise the rules.
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2020
  2. Vincent Blackshadow

    Vincent Blackshadow Well-Known Member

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    PaddyOBrien likes this.
  3. PaddyOBrien

    PaddyOBrien Well-Known Member

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    Interesting idea! I've been toying around with a skill and weapon/armor system similar to how the original ultimas uses to be. Like rangers could have bows and medium range weaponry and armor, and limited magic, then fighters would wield certain heavy weapons and armor, and so on
  4. Adam_Olini

    Adam_Olini New Member

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    I originally started thinking of how a class based system would work, and then I realized this was UO. Make your own class if you want, but there are no restrictions on what you decide to mix together.

    I have rolled a few characters to see what they would look like. The only downside is that you may not roll the character you were hoping for. I rolled one with 40 / 30 / 30 stats at max lol.. so my skills would be very limited as well. So, it would be a rather short and dull adventure. But maybe that is the average life for a Britannian. I considered giving a bit more range to the skills you could raise, but at the same time, it makes it really special when you have a character with 100 in a stat

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