Editing DS Manual (section)

=== Guided Character Creation ===
Rather than picking and choosing character stats and a history, I recommend a guided character generation that’s more in line with A) a realistic randomness and B) complex character histories that are geared towards roleplaying and the style of gameplay that DS aspires to encourage.

==== Character History ====
History Points, what another set of stats? I thought this was roleplaying. Okay, hear me out, these points are just used for character creation. You have six history points to spend in each of four categories: 

* Family: your family life, standing, general upbringing
* Academia: how you fared in school, trade, or something similar
* Social: your social nature, circle of friendships, charismatic standings
* Flaw: a character flaw (or flawlessness) determined by the DM or a rolling table

[[Image:History_Points.png|center|800px|''Figure 1 - History Points'']]

===== Academic Specialties =====
This is typical for my own setting, but my list of specialties include:

* History & Lore
* Engineering
* Practical Magic
* Pure Magic
* Physicking (Medicine)
* Music, Culture & Languages
* Husbandry, Agriculture

I intentionally will not define the subjects further than that, but I leverage these specialties in character history to allow players to do extraordinary things they perhaps would not have thought of on their own. E.g. using their Engineering knowledge to pick a lock even though they may not be the thief-type character, their knowledge of Practical Magic to manipulate the inner workings of a magic-assisted elevator, or their Physicking prowess to make a healing spell more effective. I try to encourage and reward roleplaying and engagement wherever possible, so this whole “History Points thing” is a route that could simply end up as a footnote in someone’s character sheet, or allow a player to get more engrossed in their character. Entirely optional, but I encourage it.

==== Rolling for Stats ====
There exists a tremendous amount of options here. My recommendation is you roll 2d4-1 for Strength, Speed, and Endurance, in a fixed order and do not allow players to reposition their rolled stat points. It creates interesting dynamics and forces players to draw lines from their origin history to these rolled stats. When you have to reconcile an origin history and stats that are not in perfect alignment, you create a well-rounded and fleshed-out background. It provides the motivation to come up with a story for a character who comes from a line of blacksmiths that ultimately became a doctor. All of a sudden this character has an interesting life journey and a set of unique skills that no blacksmith or doctor would have on their own, you can already see quirks and out-of-the-box solutions coming together, and this whole process took only 20 minutes to execute. This is my preferred method for character creation, as it prevents players from “min/maxing,” and brings people just a little bit outside of their comfort zone. If the players find themselves hating their characters, they’re only level 0, and from level 1 onwards they can shape the path that their characters will walk, honing them more to their preferred set of tactics. The idea is to broaden horizons, make for a more interesting party, keep the game fresh for the battle-hardened, pile-of-dead-character-sheets veterans, and provide a much easier entry for the new-to-tabletop players.