Not long ago, one of my players said she wanted to have a break from playing heroes all the time and do something completely different. She wanted to have a go at playing an 'ordinary person' for a while.
Her suggestion chimed with a corner of my contrary streak that has wanted to prove that commoners really can survive in D&D land (and you can even have fun with them).
Joe Wood Male human commoner 1 TN medium humanoid Init +1 Senses: Listen -1, Spot +1 Languages: Common, Elven ------------------------------- AC 11 (touch 11, flatfooted 10) hp 6 (HD 1) Fort +2, Ref +1, Will -1 Endurance (+4 to resist non-lethal damage) -------------------------------- Speed 30’ Melee: Dagger, +2 att, Dam 1d4, 19-20 (x2) Ranged: Dagger, +1 att, Dam 1d4, 19-20 (x2), Range 10 BAB +0, Grapple +2 -------------------------------- Abilities: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 10 Feats: Animal Affinity, Endurance Skills: Craft (Leather) +3, Handle Animal +6, Knowledge (local) +2, Profession (Farming) +1, Ride +3, Spot +1, Use Rope +5 Possesions: Dagger, peasant’s outfit, sack, bedroll, iron pot, clay jug, flint & steel, clay mug, belt pouch, bread, cheese, 1sp, 13cp
(Here's Joe as he is today) Joe Wood Male human commoner 4 TN medium humanoid Init +1 Senses: Listen +0, Spot +2 Languages: Common, Elven ------------------------------- AC 13 (touch 11, flatfooted 12) hp 19 (HD 4) Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +0 Endurance (+4 to resist non-lethal damage) -------------------------------- Speed 30’ Melee: Mwk Dagger, +5 att, Dam 1d4+2, 19-20 (x2) Ranged: Mwk Dagger, +4 att, Dam 1d4+2, 19-20 (x2), Range 10 BAB +2, Grapple +4 -------------------------------- Abilities: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 10 Feats: Animal Affinity, Endurance, Quick Draw Skills: Craft (Leather) +7, Handle Animal +11, Knowledge (local) +4, Listen +0, Profession (Farming) +1, Profession (Teamster) +1, Ride +5, Spot +2, Survival +0, Use Rope +8 Possessions: 6 mundane daggers on bandolier, 3 mwk dagger, Leather armor, engraved cloak brooch, everburning lantern, 2 potions CLW, 1 potion Shield of Faith, 1 Oil Magic Weapon, mwk horse tools, mwk leather tools, flask, 4 tindertwigs, 2 belt pouches, clay mug, clay jug, flint & steel, iron pot, bedroll, sack, peasant’s outfit, traveller's outfit, 2 flasks alchemist fire, spare shirt, backpack, 50' silk rope,
So we started, and before masses of time had passed, her character was becoming a power in his own town.
Here's how it happened:
Episode 1: Joe Wood comes to town
Having been thrown off the farm when his father died, 16 year old Joe Wood heads to nearby Freetown to earn his living. Apart from the peasant's outfit he stands up in, he has only an all-purpose belt knife (dagger), a sack containing the few things he actually owns (Clay jug & mug, cooking pot, flint & steel, a bedroll and a bit of food) and a battered old belt pouch containing more coins than he's ever seen before (1 sp and 13 cp). He feels rich and ready for anything.
Freetown comes as rather a shock to Joe. So many people! So much noise! And the prices! The inn wants more money than he owns, just for one night's food and shelter!
After some searching and some asking, Joe finds the labour corner of the market. Here he can turn up any morning and wait to be hired. Unfortunately, today he is too late. All the hirers have been and gone, and the corner is empty. He sits there hopefully for several hours, eating pieces of his own bread when the smell of good food gets too much for his hunger.
Eventually, he makes his way back out of the gates, buying a pound of flour, 6 eggs and some firewood as he leaves. Outside, he sets up camp on a bit of rough ground and, with the help of a flat stone, manages to turn the flour into reasonable unleavened bread. He hardboils the eggs in his cooking pot and eats one of them with the remains of the loaf he brought from home and a small slice of cheese. He stores the rest of his food in his sack for tomorrow, puts out the fire and settles down in his bedroll with his sack beside him.
In the middle of the night, he starts out of sleep to find he has rolled slightly away from his sack and a fox is trying to get into it...
Winner of Hero Craftsmen 3: Gladiator Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 1: Ancient Ruins Gold Medallist in MDMC 38: Populate a map I placed first (that's right, FIRST!) in the second CowCon: "We All get Old" Contest! Gold Medallist in MDMC 42: Create a Remote Location Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 7: I am Legend Best in Category: Rules Use - Hero Craftsman 17 Best in Category: Clarity - Hero Craftsman 17 Second place in Master Storyteller Competition 6: Fall from Grace Silver Medallist in MDMC 32: Magic Item Spectacular Joint Silver in Hero Craftsmen 6: The Frostfell Silver medallist in Hero Craftsman 17: We're going Underground! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 18: We need a Hero! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 20: Back to School
All his life, Joe has both scared wild animals away from the crops and cared for his father’s animals (and their gear). He knows the best thing to do is to look threatening and powerful, but that isn’t easy when you’re wrapped up in bedding.
The fox isn’t fooled and snaps the air in warning. Joe yells at it, all the while scrabbling for his knife, and the fox backs a wary pace out of reach.
Sitting up with his knife now firmly in his grip, Joe eyes up the distance, takes a deep breath, and hurls the knife. To his relief, it hits a weak spot between the eyes and sinks in almost to the hilt. The fox promptly collapses in a heap.
When Joe finally scrambles out of his bedroll and checks everything over he finds that he was in time to prevent the fox from doing more than tearing the mouth of the sack slightly.
The fox itself is quite dead and Joe retrieves and cleans his knife. Remembering that some places offer a bounty on pests like foxes, rats and weasel and unable to get back to sleep, he carefully skins the fox and puts the skin beside his sack.
By the time the sun comes up, Joe is already waiting at the town gates so that he can quickly get to the labour market and earn some money. He has managed to tie the fox pelt to the side of his sack. He easily finds a day’s work loading and unloading a merchant’s wagons.
During their midday break, one of the three other workers, Den, asks if Joe is thinking of selling the pelt anywhere in particular. Joe shrugs and the worker offers him 5sp for it, saying “You won’t get a price like that anywhere else,” while the other two workers snicker into their bread.
Joe thinks it sounds like a fortune and eagerly accepts. It’s a whole week’s wages for something he was just lucky in! That evening though, when the workers return to the market, he spots Den carrying the pelt into one of the more expensive looking shops. A short while later, Den comes out without the pelt and slips what looks very much like gold coins into his purse…
Winner of Hero Craftsmen 3: Gladiator Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 1: Ancient Ruins Gold Medallist in MDMC 38: Populate a map I placed first (that's right, FIRST!) in the second CowCon: "We All get Old" Contest! Gold Medallist in MDMC 42: Create a Remote Location Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 7: I am Legend Best in Category: Rules Use - Hero Craftsman 17 Best in Category: Clarity - Hero Craftsman 17 Second place in Master Storyteller Competition 6: Fall from Grace Silver Medallist in MDMC 32: Magic Item Spectacular Joint Silver in Hero Craftsmen 6: The Frostfell Silver medallist in Hero Craftsman 17: We're going Underground! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 18: We need a Hero! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 20: Back to School
Kewl thread. On a side note, I always wanted to play a commoner so I could take max out the Survivor PRC at level 6, commoners get Spot and Listen so it would be interesting, and fun, I hope. No Armor, One simple weapon proficiency, no BAB, a kingdom to save.
Amazing! I wish I was that creative to get this type of idea.
If you want to borrow any of my ideas, go ahead. I meant this thread to be a resource as much as anything else. :D
PiedmonSama wrote:
This is awesome. Please keep the stories coming! I want to see how it turns out for Joe!
The next episode should (cross fingers) be up tomorrow. In the mean time, have a look at Freetown itself.
FREETOWN
Freetown (small town): Conventional (paired councils, high council of nobles & low council of burgesses); AL LG; 800 gp limit; Assets 40,000 gp; Population 1000; Mixed (human 79%, elf 9%, halfling 5%, half-elf 3%, gnome 2%, 1% dwarf, 1% other).
Authority Figures: The High Council: Lord William Sharpsen, LN male human aristocrat 1 (Chief High Councillor and current mayor); Lady Erithae Hallasei, LG female elf aristocrat 1 (high councillor); Sir Thomas Sharpsen (Lord William’s son), LG male human aristocrat 1 (high councillor); Sir Ferith Sweetwater, NG male half-elf aristocrat 1 (high councillor); Lady Giselle Demarka, LE human aristocrat 1 (high councillor). (The high council rotates the mayorship among its members)
The Low Council: Chief Guildsman Harold Clay, TN male half-elf expert 11 (Chief Low Councillor); Chief Husbandman Matthew Piers, NG male human commoner 10 (low councillor); Chief Artisan Renee Dallan, CG female human bard 3 (low councillor); High Priest Dassi Burrowcliff, LG male halfling adept 4 (low councillor); Captain George Frent, LN male human fighter 5 (low councillor and captain of the town guard).
Notes: Freetown is a trade town, specialising in producing good quality food, clothes, tools and other general purpose items. Because so many of these goods are high bulk, low cost types, Freetown accepts both hacksilver (metal handed over in the lump rather than as minted coinage) and farthings (worth 1/4 of a (copper/ silver/ gold) piece, made by cutting coins into quarters) as payment. Small purchases in farthings (3p or less) go for face value; larger farthing purchases and all hacksilver purchases are valued by weight and all shops have a set of scales for precisely this purpose.
Weapons and armour are not forbidden in Freetown, but they are in short supply. Buyers can expect to pay top price and suffer long delays on delivery. Anyone carrying a lot of weapons or wearing expensive armor can expect to be speculatively eyed by guards wondering if they will sell anything and to be charged double or triple for standard goods in the belief that anyone that rich can afford it.
Freetown maintains 10 full time guards and a further 50 militia members.
Guards, led by Captain George Frent, LN male human fighter 5: 1x warrior 6; 2x warrior 3; 2x fighter 3; 4x fighter 1; 1x ranger 1.
Winner of Hero Craftsmen 3: Gladiator Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 1: Ancient Ruins Gold Medallist in MDMC 38: Populate a map I placed first (that's right, FIRST!) in the second CowCon: "We All get Old" Contest! Gold Medallist in MDMC 42: Create a Remote Location Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 7: I am Legend Best in Category: Rules Use - Hero Craftsman 17 Best in Category: Clarity - Hero Craftsman 17 Second place in Master Storyteller Competition 6: Fall from Grace Silver Medallist in MDMC 32: Magic Item Spectacular Joint Silver in Hero Craftsmen 6: The Frostfell Silver medallist in Hero Craftsman 17: We're going Underground! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 18: We need a Hero! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 20: Back to School
Joe realises that it will be no use trying to get the truth out of and vows never to be as stupid again. Next time he acquires a pelt, he decides, he will try the shop for himself.
He continues to turn up every morning at the labour market and finds work as either a labourer or a porter about 3 days a week. On the first day he isn’t hired, he splashes out on some good cord and sets a few snares where he knows from past experience that several kinds of animal run. A week later, he has caught 2 rabbits and a squirrel. He skins and cleans them, and stews the meat in his pot with onions and turnips. After a monotonous diet of bread and hard-boiled eggs, broken only once by a ‘don’t ask’ pie (the full nickname being ‘don’t ask what’s in it, you won’t like the answer’, the stew is wonderful and Joe savours every bite.
The next day, he braces himself and goes into the expensive shop. Fur-trimmed clothes sway on every side and bolts of expensive cloth peek out of protective wrappings, and Joe is acutely aware of his own shabbiness. Still, he squares his shoulders and marches up to the counter. “I heard,” he says, “that you sometimes buy pelts?”
The shopkeeper nods without much surprise. “Let’s see them.”
Joe spreads the three skins on the counter and the shopkeeper flips them back and forth, fingers them and examines the fur closely. “Reasonable quality. Here’s your pay. Take it or leave it.” He pushes 2gp across the counter to Joe who tries not to stare as he fumbles them into his fist. So much money, so easily! It’s like a dream! He bites a corner of one to make sure he isn’t dreaming, but the dents he leaves, and the metallic taste in his mouth are quite real.
The shopkeeper nods again. “If you have more squirrel pelts, trapper, bring them here and I’ll pay you top price.”
Joe can only nod, speechless. He slips quickly out of the shop and shoves the coins into the bottom of his belt pouch.
As he crosses the square, someone shouts “Hey, you!”
Joe looks quickly around, but no-one is near him.
“Yes, you in the brown shirt.”
Joe has to admit that his shirt is indeed brown. He turns quickly as hooves clatter on the cobbles behind him only to find himself facing not only a horse and rider, but also a wolf with a gnome on its back.
The rider grins at him. “My friend here insists that his wolf is faster than my horse. I’m racing him to prove him wrong. Start us off, man.” He holds up a silver coin. “For your trouble.”
Joe catches the coin and raises his arm. “Ready? Then, 3, 2, 1, go!” He sweeps his arm down and the pair charge away towards the temple. They are gone before Joe looks down at the coin they gave him and realises that it isn’t silver at all, it’s a metal and design that he has never seen before...
Winner of Hero Craftsmen 3: Gladiator Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 1: Ancient Ruins Gold Medallist in MDMC 38: Populate a map I placed first (that's right, FIRST!) in the second CowCon: "We All get Old" Contest! Gold Medallist in MDMC 42: Create a Remote Location Winner of Master Storyteller Competition 7: I am Legend Best in Category: Rules Use - Hero Craftsman 17 Best in Category: Clarity - Hero Craftsman 17 Second place in Master Storyteller Competition 6: Fall from Grace Silver Medallist in MDMC 32: Magic Item Spectacular Joint Silver in Hero Craftsmen 6: The Frostfell Silver medallist in Hero Craftsman 17: We're going Underground! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 18: We need a Hero! Silver Medalist in Hero Craftsman 20: Back to School
A few questions. 1. Will Joe be allowed to gain character levels? He seems like a ranger currently. He's getting pretty good at trapping. 2. If so, Will Joe be joining the rest of your party at any point?
, the stew is wonderful and Joe savours every bite.
