Tried this on another forum; had a lot of fun with it. The plot part will start as soon as the Hero is chosen.
Yes, this is a Choose Your Own MisAdventure. FUN will happen!
Races, Perks, and Disadvantages1. Human: You're a human, but not just any human - you have always been extremely strong of will. When Adventure knocked next door, you went outside and "convinced" Adventure that he had "gotten the wrong address". You chose an extra skill at the beginning. You have the supernatural ability Heroic Willpower (Any roll of 18 or higher counts as a natural 20.) The majority of the NPC's are human, so regardless of your charisma, a first encounter with most stranger NPC's will start at "willing to be friendly".
Weaknesses: You're not immune to anything, you don't have any natural racial talents, and you are squishy unless you're wearing some form of armor.
2. Blood Elf: You are a dark and thorny-skinned elf/plant symbiotic being. Your skin is covered in tough, natural thorns; as a result, you are constantly bleeding and appear to have anime-esque amounts of blood. Your unique nature and age has given you time to develop your inherent talents for blood magic and earth elementalism, automatically starting you as an Adept of both schools of magic. As long as you spend at least eight hours in partial to full sun, you are not required to eat or sleep.
Weaknesses: -5 Charisma; you are restricted to two additional skills instead of five; all other forms of magic require twice the skill to use; if you don't get enough sunlight, you need to eat twice as often and require ten hours of sleep to get a full night's sleep.
3. Sidhe: You're a humanoid fey. You are resistant to normal weaponry (3 damage soak), any magical skills you purchase advance you two levels instead of one, your magical stat is given a +3, and you are automatically an Adept at glamour magic (illusions and charms). Also, you get a better pick of starting gear.
Weaknesses: As an immortal underling, you have been following orders most of your life. As a result of this, your intelligence has never been developed, giving you a -4 to Intelligence. You are incapable of telling a lie, your magical abilities can be disrupted by a handful of salt, physical skills cost 1.5x the points, and you take double damage from iron weaponry. You are restricted to four additional skills.
4. Fire Giant: You're a seven to twenty foot tall thick-skinned giant with fire for hair and eyebrows. You are naturally stronger than other races (+4 Physical Ability), are immune to heat-based attacks (not cold-based!), and possess the ability to Set Anything On Fire, Even If It's Physically Impossible To Light On Fire. You are automatically an Adept at Fire Elementalism, and you can carry five more items.
Weaknesses: You're a seven to twenty foot tall thick-skinned giant with fire for hair and eyebrows, born in a culture of violence and barbarism, in a world mostly populated by one to six foot people who build their homes out of flammable materials, have "laws", and make a funny sound when they go "squish." -3 Charisma and Intelligence, and all the problems that naturally go along with being way too tall and way too much of a fire hazard.
5. Drall: Imagine a cross between a wyvern and a human. You are somehow capable of flying, resistant to both physical and magical damage (2 physical soak and 1 magical soak), possess very sharp claws, a tail, and a lightning-based breath attack, and have a greater physical endurance than other races (+3).
Weaknesses: You can't wear (most) armor, don't have any inherent magic (read: if you have magic, that is ALL you have), and are required to eat three times as often. Making physics weep takes a lot of calories.
The StatsPhysical Ability - Your ability to do physical things. This is both Dexterity and Strength, essentially. Your total inventory space is five plus half of your strength, rounded down.
Physical Endurance - Your ability to keep doing physical things. Constitution, Endurance, what-have-you. Your health is five plus half of this score, rounded up.
Charisma - Your ability to relate to people. This actually will be a useful stat, I swear.
Intelligence - How smart you are. A high level in this makes you Genre Savvy, and if it isn't high enough, I reserve the right to shoot down brilliant ideas or limit your character choices if you don't have time to react.
Magic - How powerful you are and how much magic you have. Your spells per day is equivalent to half of your Magic score, rounded up, and it also affects how powerful it is on a SEEKRIT DM SCALE.
Roll(7d20)+0:
14,17,16,17,1,5,3,+0
Total:73
Roll(3d20)+0:
20,15,9,+0
Total:44
Assign 20, 17, 17, 16, and 15 as you please.
The SkillsPick six, unless the race prevents it. You can choose fewer skills and advance higher in a skill if you prefer, and there are thirteen levels for each skill. The skill levels are akin to
Dwarf Fort, only with "Competent" as the minimum level.
Violence SkillsUnarmed Combat
[Melee Weapon] Combat
[Ranged Weapon] Combat
Dodge
Social SkillsDiplomacy
Haggling
Intimidation
Making Shit Up
Profession SkillsStealing
Healing
[Whatever]Crafting (brewcrafting, foodcrafting, metalcrafting, whatever)
[Whatever]Harvesting (mining, farming, hunting, whatever)
Magic Skills[Elemental] Magic (This is anything-goes element: air, darkness, whatever)
[Abstraction] Magic (Anything that cannot be considered an element, like "fluffy kitten magic", "the power of rock'n'roll", "blood magic", "illusion magic" or whatever)
Mind Magic (think psychic powers)
Anti-Magic
Plot SkillsDetect Plot Element
Sheer Dumb Luck
I've Got A Bad Feeling About This
Rule of Cool (as in, the more awesome an idea is, the more likely your character can do it)
Starting ItemsPick 'till you're full! Each individual item is one slot.
Melee Weapon
Ranged Weapon
30 Units Of Ranged Weapon Ammo
3x A Blue Healing Potion [4 HP]
5x A Meal
Leather Armor (1 soak)
A Really Nice Hat (+1 Charisma)
A Rope
2x 1d20 Gold
A Lockpick Set
A Compass
2x A Torch
A Big Blue Gemstone
A Set Of Tools
Human Only:
Your Great-Grandfather's Rusty Old Broken Sword
1x Ceremonial Pair of Bull Testicles
Sidhe Only:
Castle-Forged Melee Weapon
Castle-Forged Ranged Weapon
40 Units Of Ranged Weapon Ammo
1x A Vibrant Blue Healing Potion [8 HP]
1x A Clear Potion of Desire
1x Family Magical Item
2x 1d100 Gold
Choose away, my friends!