Background for higher level characters

[capmarvel]

I originally posted this on the Castles&Crusades site as that was what I was reading at the moment, but haven't had much traction - though one person has started something - so I thought I'd try here (this community seems much more active - and you seem to love random tables as much as I do).


Awhile back I had a GM say "make a 4th level character". Well - I could do that with the numbers on the characters sheet but got to thinking: how did this guy get to 4th level? What happened at Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3?

So - inspired by Dungeon Crawl Classics zero-level funnel...I thought of a "chunnel" for higher level/rank characters. Basically - some random tables to help fill out what happened to you from level 0 until "now". This could also obviously be used as a list of suggestions for adventures to run at each level. So again - I thought of 10 or 20 random lists per level to give some backstory to the character - "remember when at level 3 you had this grand adventure which got you to level 4?" Well, now you do.

I'm finding I'm terrible at making tables however which is why I've been asking for help. I assume each list would have harder and harder things that were achieved.

Some not so great examples:

Level 1
1. clear the forest of bandits
2. etc

Level 2
1. retrieve the stolen amulet for a wealthy patron
2. etc

etc

Level 10
1. defeat the ghoul army
2. beat the Demon Prince in one-on-one combat
3. etc

I also thought of finding summaries of published modules for each level and using that as the basis for the lists.

I've gotten some feedback from fellow RPGers on this - everything from "this is a great idea" to "turn that into a mini-game where you can die as you roll" to "what the hell do you need that for?".

Anyway, obviously I like the idea but need greater minds than mine to achieve it. So wondering if the DCC veterans can come up with 10 possible adventures (or more) for each level or if you see any value in doing so?

thanks!

[catseye yellow]

lvl 2

2. survived being turned into emerald statue (stamina check dc15 - if pass +1 sta/if fail -1sta)

[catseye yellow]

lvl 1

1. plundered the tomb of the savage king (near hirot) - luck check to get + 1 bonus to hit with spear/fail check claustrophobia -1 in tunnels

[catseye yellow]

lvl 3

1. survived plague of frogs in the croaking fane (luck check. fail: -1 to resist disease/pass +1 to save vs disease)

[capmarvel]

Just had a discussion with a friend on why I want this.

Basically this: Your GM says "roll up a 4th level character". You roll up a 4th level character. Your 4th level character walks into the town tavern - what would the patrons know about your character? What did your character accomplish to get to Level 4? (And also what did they do to get to Level 3, Level 2, and/or Level 1?)