Character creation challenge day 14

 Day 14

System: Labyrinth Lord with Advanced Edition Companion

Ability scores rolled: 8, 14, 7, 16, 12, 5

Starting gold (3d8 x10): 90 gp

I wasn't going to do Labyrinth Lord characters in this challenge, for the reason that LL is nearly identical to B/X. Then I remembered the Advanced Edition Companion, which adds some AD&D-style options to the basic game. Naturally, I want to do something I couldn't do with LL alone, and after poring over the book, I'm going with a multi-class half-elf magic-user/thief. I'll use the advanced hit dice option, so the character gets 1d4 hp for the magic-user class and 1d6 for the thief, both halved. Rolling a 4 and a 2, the character starts with 3 hp, less 1 point for Con penalty. The rules specify the player of a magic-user may choose two 1st level spells, but I'm going to roll randomly and see what the dice give me.

Perlock the Sly, half-elf 1st level magic-user/1st level thief

Strength 8 (-1 to hit and damage in melee, -1 to forcing doors)

Dexterity 14 (-1 to AC, +1 to missile attack rolls and individual initiative)

Constitution 7 (-1 hp per die)

Intelligence 16 (+2 languages, able to read and write)

Wisdom 12

Charisma 5 (+1 to reactions, max. retainers 2, retainer morale 5)

AC 6        Hit points: 2            Alignment: Neutral

Spells known: protection from evil, ventriloquism

Thief skills: Pick locks 17%, Find/remove traps 14%, Pick pockets 33%, Move silently 23%, Climb walls 87%, Hide in shadows 18%, Hear noise 1-2 on 1d6

Leather armor, short sword, crossbow, 30 quarrels, thieves' tools, backpack, crowbar, 5 days rations, water skin, silk rope, large sack, 12 gp and 5 sp left.

Height: 5'4"        Weight: 135 lbs.        Age: 26

Raised by his gruff, elf-hating uncle after his mother died shortly after giving birth and his elven father rejected him. A sour and surly outcast who resents those who are comfortable in their own skin, but has a secret soft spot for other misfits. Tired of eking out an existence using his diverse skills for odd jobs, he'll jump at the chance to join a dungeoneering expedition.

LL divides earned XP evenly between classes, with bonuses from high prime requisites applied separately to each class's pool. Perlock gets +5% to his magic-user XP, but will advance considerably faster as a thief, with +10% XP. As I said above, I rolled randomly for starting spells, and ventriloquism is quite a happy accident for this particular class combination. Curiously, there are no clarifications on armor and weapons allowed for a MU/Thief, but as the F/MU notes allow armor and weapons as a fighter, it seems reasonable that the MU/T can use the armor and weapons of a thief.

Labyrinth Lord, I've noticed, has a fair number of little idiosyncrasies that set it apart from B/X, but it's a familiar enough that one could forget and apply a long-memorized B/X rule instead and nobody would notice. AEC strikes a decent balance between AD&D's fiddly minutiae and B/X's simplicity, though in my opinion it hews a little too closely to AD&D at times, such as the ability score requirements for advanced races and classes.