Day 4 brings me to the first game I ever bought, Fantasy Games Unlimited
Chivalry & Sorcery by Ed Simbalist and Wilf Backhaus. It's been one of my favorite games for over forty years and I did a
write up of it here several years ago so I'll let you follow the link rather than repeating the text in this post. I've written a fair
number of posts over the years about or referencing the game.
I will say the mechanics are kind of kludgely and after spending 2020 doing solo-play with it off and on, I'm probably done with most of the game system mechanics. Other systems are just more streamlined. With that said, it is still, after four decades on my shelf, one of my go to books for world and campaign design.
Character creation would take me about two hours - if I hadn't wrote my own Google Sheets character generator.
Name: Aquila Heyworth
Aquila did very well on his d20 characteristic rolls. The 20(2) Superhuman strength level makes him into a killing machine, for as we'll see below C&S doesn't add damage - it
multiplies it. His only real poor characteristic is his low Constitution, probably due to poor childhood nutrition or something like that. The Frame of Average Height & Average Weight determined how to read the tables on which his height and weight were rolled. He's very average.
The only calculated value in this section is Charisma and his is through the roof due to his Appearance (helped by his Dexterity, Bardic Voice, Intelligence and Wisdom. His Strength is the cherry on top as people have a lot of respect for someone who can tear them apart.
The Combat section are all calculated based on the Characteristics. His Body & Fatigue (hit points basically) are mostly due to his character class (see Vocation below), Superhuman Strength and his Intelligence - he fights smart. His low Constitution isn't low enough to penalize him.
Carrying Capacity is calculated as a multiple of his Weight - in this case 5* again due to his Superhuman Strength. And I just discovered two bugs in my character generator, his Strength is really 20(20). not 20(2) so there's a display issue and I haven't factored in that Strength has a Constitution minimum, he should have a Constitution of 14! Oh well.
Military Ability is tied into the Campaign Battle rules in C&S (no need for Chainmail) and is a determination of how good a Military Commander he his. And if not a Napoleon, he's at least equal to U.S. Grant. It's the sum of Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Strength and Charisma divided by 10 with bonuses for high Wisdom, Charisma and Dexterity.
Command Level is half Military Ability plus a bonus for Charisma. It determines how well he can lead the rather flighty feudal troops he may be working with.
Personal Combat Factor is just how good a fighter you are. It's calculated from Carrying Capacity, Military Ability, Dexterity plus a "Class Factor" that depends on what you do for a living and where you are in Feudal society. Experience will improve it, but this guy is a first level killing machine.
Finally we have background data. I created an algorithm based on Social Class and the Characteristics to determine if the character would be a Fighter, Magic User, Cleric or Thief. The only classes C&S offers in Feudal society. With his Strength and being the younger son of a Serf, Man-At-Arms, where he has been accepted into the service of his feudal lord, is the best he could do.
Every Character gets a Horoscope and he's a Well-aspected Libra enjoying a 5% experience bonus. His father was a herdsman Serf with NO social status, but being very Charismatic, young Aquila has a very good chance of Influencing people.
To finish him off. using my Wilderlands charts - he is quite Exotic looking with his Metallic Silver hair, Dark Brown skin (unusual around the City State) and Violet eyes.
NOW this is a game I need to get a copy of and learn. I have wanted to try it for years. This challenge has really made me want to learn more about it.
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