Sometimes players are having difficulty coming up with a character concept. The FAGE game does provide random tables for their character’s background, but nothing for the ancestry selection. At my table, I always seem to have at least one player who can’t decide. So, here are some tables to help with that selection.
| 2d6 | Common Ancestry |
|---|---|
| 2-3 | Gnome |
| 4 | Halfling |
| 5 | Elf |
| 6-7 | Human |
| 8-9 | Orc |
| 10-11 | Dwarf |
| 12 | Roll on Random Heritage Table, or roll twice on this table ignoring results of 12. |
This table is heavily weighted towards humans, giving them a 30.56% chance of occurring, Orcs have the second highest weight with 25.00%. From there we have Dwarf at 13.89%, Elf at 11.11%, Halfling at 8.33%, and finally Gnome at 8.34%. The reasoning for this is because I figured Humans and Orcs are everywhere, Dwarves and Elves being sort of likely to wander the world a bit, with Halflings and Gnomes probably being the least likely. Admittedly, all of this is based upon my perceptions of representation in classical fantasy literature, and is always going to vary depending upon locale. For instance, the table would have to be reworked if the campaign were taking place in an Elven forest.
If you’re only playing with the classic fantasy ancestries as defined in the FAGE basic rulebook, then a roll of 12 should just be defined as a character with mixed ancestry. So roll twice on table 1, rerolling any results of 12 that may come up again. This either gives the player a 2.78% chance to have a mixed heritage character, or if you branch into table 2, then a chance at an uncommon ancestry.
| 1d6 | Ancestry |
| 1-2 | Roll on Random Uncommon Ancestry Table. |
| 3-6 | Roll twice on Random Common Ancestry Table ignoring results of 12. |
I gave heavier weight on table 2 to generating a mixed ancestry character, rather than branching off into the uncommon ancestry table below. So, with this table, that means a mixed ancestry character has a 1.85% chance of occurring, and chance of getting into the uncommon ancestry table is sitting at 0.93%.
| 2d6 | Uncommon Ancestry |
| 2-3 | Orean |
| 4-6 | Draak |
| 6-9 | Beastfolk |
| 10-12 | Blooded |
Here I placed most of the weight on the Beastfolk with 55.56% of the weight on this table going to them, or for a total weight of 0.51% chance of getting a Beastfolk. I did this because, even though they are faerie, I figured they were likely to be more common than the other ancestries on this table. The next heaviest weight I gave to the Draak with 19.44% of table 3, for a total chance of 0.18%, with the Blooded as a close third to them at 16.67% on table 3 and a 0.15% overall. Finally rounding out the table with the Orean with 8.34% of table 3 and their 0.08% chance overall.
If these tables don’t work for you, feel free to generate your own and please share them. I used the nifty little site called AnyDice to easily work out the percentages (I was sort lazy and didn’t want to do the math myself).
Have fun and Game on!
Den of Games 