This script is based on and intended for use with the game World of Synnibarr by Raven McCracken. All game concepts are copyrighted by Raven McCracken and I make no claims to them. I have "house rules" that resulted in changes to some of the tables that were published in the game, so they will be discussed below. Some of the character information dealing with the character's favorite things were originally taken from the anime game Mekton Zeta.

This script is intended to aid game referees in creating unique, detailed non-player characters in a quick and helpful way. I also use it with player characters to generate some game details (height, weight, etc) as well as to help flesh out some of their background information (personality, birthplace, etc). I want to emphasize, however, that the background information is not mandatory for player characters, and the player should have full freedom to use any, all or none of it, at the player's sole discretion.

To use the script, select information in the control panel fields (in the left-hand frame) and then click on the "Generate" button. A list of information about the character will appear in the right-hand frame, overwriting these instructions. By default, each time you generate a new character it will overwrite any characters already displayed in the right-hand frame. If you wish to generate several characters and keep them all, click on the "Append" radio button on the bottom of the control panel. Of course, this does NOT save the characters between sessions - it just keeps adding new characters generated in the current session to the bottom of the right-hand frame. After generating a character you can return to these instruction by clicking on the "Read Notes" button.

This script includes a VERY crude name generator - it is intended to provide the user with a starting point. If you leave the name field of the control panel blank, the script will generate a semi-random collection of letters. It is not intended that these letters should be used as the actual name! Choose a name which is phonetically similar to the random name, or ignore it. I just find it easier to come up with a name I like which is similar to the generated letters than to come up with good sounding names from scratch.

Please note that the character's class is the overriding variable for most of the script. You can specify a class in the control panel, or select either a random adventurer or completely random roll (which assumes adventurers are only a small percentage of the population). The rules for Character Creation Methods 2 and 3, the Basic Races and Non-Guild (or Unclassed) Adventurers, are included. This means that some Guild classes may have a small chance of having non-Human members. Character Creation Method 4, for Variant Races, are not included in this script.

With respect to character level, since I am actually pretty new to playing in Synnibarr, I am making some assumptions about how easy or hard it is to advance in level. The actual percent chances I use to pick a random level may change as I get more experience in the system. For now, I'm assuming that 5% of adventurers you encounter are still in training or never completed their training (level 0), 5% are newbies (levels 1-4), 40% are Common (levels 5-9), 35% are Lesser (levels 10-19), 12% are Greater (levels 20-39), and 3% are Major (levels 40+). Feel free to email me if, in your experience, those percentages seem off.

When determining levels of non-adventurer characters, I am converting the general categories (common, lesser, etc) to a general level of proficiency in the NPC's professional skills. The categories of in-training and newbie translate to apprentice-level skills, while common and lesser indicate journeyman-level skills, greater equals master-level and major indicates grand-master proficiency in the NPC's profession.

Since class is the primary character detail, if you specify a race in the control panel that is not allowed for the class of the character, the character's race will be randomly determined and will override your specification. Similarly, the program will force the gender of an Amazon to be female, the aura of a Tiger or Mage Tiger to be non-neutral, etc.

With respect to hair, eye and skin colors, I have made a number of changes from the core rules. Since there was such a small base population on Synnibarr (under 2000), it seems odd to me that standard Earth racial types (and therefore racial skin colors) would have remained the same over a 50,000 year period. Also, since there hasn't been a real sun providing light to the surface of Synnibarr for most of that time (I assume there was an artificial one as per a super-enhanced EP spell "Conjure Ministar"), the base skin color for most races will be a very pale white. Due to the high degree of mutations, however, a small but significant percentage of the population will have non-standard coloration, and the colors may be much more varied than in real-life. Thus, I have used anime-style color tables, allowing blue skin, green hair, etc. If you don't like that flavor, feel free to make a copy of the source and change the tables... :)

Other differences in my tables are: I have given more detailed height/weight tables, including gender differences. Some races (BSC, Wereman), which were either engineered from a small genetic pool or individually created, will have less variation in heights than standard humans. Also, Shamans, like Amazons, have an improved chance for good looks. This is based upon the text description of the Shaman class, which indicates that they are chosen from among the fairest of children.

When determining the exact age of the character, it is based upon the character's expected lifespan, and I am using a random roll to vary each character's lifespan from the averages given in the rule book. So, one human who is 100 years may be categorized as "old" while another human also at 100 may only be "mature".

When determining the birthplace of the character, I assume that for non-adventurers, it is likely to be close to where they are encountered. About 80% will be locals, and 20% will be from distant locations (either immigrants or visitors, as you see fit). For adventurers, it is much more likely that they are "foreign" travelers who are visiting the area or have settled down here, but some may be local. However, sometimes this tool may be used for fleshing out player character backgrounds, and an entry of "Local to the area encountered" isn't particularly useful then. For that reason, an alternative non-local origin is provided in parentheses for any adventuring character who the dice indicate has a local origin.

The current status of the character's relatives are generalized as alive and well, or dead due to natural causes (age, illness, or in child birth), accidents or having been killed. I intend the category of "killed" to include deaths due to war, raids by monsters, and other acts of violence.

Clothing preferences are included, but are intended to represent what the character would wear when "off-duty" or at home. If their occupation or current activities would indicate some other form of clothing would be more appropriate (or required) at that time, then obviously those should be used.

At this time, the method I am using to display the character sheet in the second frame doesn't seem to allow the information to be either directly printed or saved. I am still trying to find an alternative way to present the character sheet that will be printable. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know... :) As a temporary work-around, in Internet Explorer 4.0 (the browser I'm currently using), I can right click in the frame and choose the "view source" option. Then I save that source as an html document on my hard disk, open it in a new window, and print from there. Its kind of a pain, but I haven't figured out anything better yet.

Please email me if you find this script useful, or if you have any suggestions, additions or comments about its functions.