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Creativity in Randomness

 Creating characters for roleplaying games can be a fun process regardless of the medium you are playing in. I always enjoy the process of imagining who my latest character will be and watching them come to life. The art of character creation differs from game-to-game, each with their own complexities and flexibility. 

One of my favorite character creation process is in Shadowdark RPG. For those unfamiliar, Shadowdark is a fantasy roleplaying game that revisits the classic dungeon crawling style of play with modern gameplay mechanics. There is a lot to like about the game but one of the first things that caught my attention was the character creation process. It is quick, easy to follow process with a level of randomness that I appreciate.

I was creating some Shadowdark characters the other day and one of the characters went in a direction I didn’t expect. I rolled for stats and, seeing as the highest stat was Dexterity, it made sense to make a character of the Thief class. I continued on with the process and when it was time to choose a background, I rolled for it. My die roll resulted in the “Noble” on the background table. A person of nobility who is also a thief? Who is this???

I didn’t have an immediate answer but I found the combination to be too fun to set aside. Is this someone who was formerly of a noble house, was cast out, and picked up a life of thievery? Are they currently a noble who lives for a little danger and moonlights as a dungeon crawling thief? I don’t know. I am leaning on the latter as it sounds like a fun character. I will make the determination if I ever play this character. 

There is something to like about crafting and controlling every aspect of a character’s creation but I wouldn’t dismiss the opportunities that can present when you roll for it and see what happens. You never know who you’ll end up with and the possibilities are endless.

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