Honestly, arguing with myself over which RPG would go first was starting to drive me a little mad. I have so many options, so many games that I love, that I came very close to overthinking the entire idea and experiencing 'Analysis Paralysis'. Finally I just stopped, took a deep breath, and thought, 'Where do stories begin?'. The answer is 'at the beginning'. Well what was the beginning? What started it all?
Dungeons & Dragons.
I can sense your confusion. Adam doesn't like Dungeons & Dragons. He especially dislikes Character Creation in D&D. Well yes, all that is true. Creating a character for D&D would not only be uninteresting to me, it would be kind of pointless. I'd never end up using the character 'cause I never play that game. You're right again.
I used to though. I started with D&D. I've played and run both short and long campaigns of Advanced D&D 1st Edition, as well as Dungeonmastered long campaigns of Dungeons & Dragons 3E and 3.5. I've played every version at least once. My favorite is...my version. D&D-But-Not, a term I've used over the years, isn't just an easy way to refer to my houseruled version of D&D but it is actually a game in and of itself. That is to say, D&D-But-Not (also called D&D AD) is a complete(ish) homebrewed game of my own creation, largely based on the various earlier edition of the famous ampersand Fantasy game.
Introducing ...the first Dungeons and Dragons-But-Not Character I've created in at least 10-15 years.
Character: Selsa LookBeyondTheSea
AKA: Selsa of Corindel, Selsa The Sea Ranger
Player: Possibly me, possibly an NPC.
System: Dungeons and Dragons AD/D&D-But-Not. A Homebrewed RPG based on D&D.
But very different.
Nature: Created for this Challenge.
Gamemaster: None yet. Possibly me.
Circa: January 1st, 2026
Origins: I already went over that above. I have chosen to go with a Race/Kind and Class that shows off the differences between my homebrew and the official versions.
Backstory: Alea (Pronounced A-Leia) LookBeyondTheSea was born on the Island Continent of Corindel, the daughter of a Corindel 'Half-Elf' Shipwright and a Sea Elven Scout. She grew up a happy child, her family doing well as members of important and lucrative Guilds. Alea spent most of her time on the land with her mother where she learned about ships and sailing. She looked forward to her father's return from the sea to hear his tales of the ocean and its wonders.
As she approached her her 'teens' (late 20s to early 30s) she apprenticed with her father and used her talents and knowledge to quickly raise to the level where she was dubbed a true 'Ranger of Corindel'. In adulthood she became a full member of the Corindel Rangers Guild. With her good looks, warm personality, and both learned and natural abilities, she was hired quite often. She was especially popular with Adventurers seeking fame, fortune, or knowledge either above or below the waves or on any of the scattered islands of the Northern or Southern Atlantaen Seas. Fueled by her innate Curiousity, she looked forward to any mission that took her to where she'd never been before, to see things she had never seen.
Overview: Alea LookBeyondTheSea showcases both a Kind (aka a Race - in this case a Race of Elves) and a Class with features particular to D&D AD.
She is a Corindel Elf, the accepted name for the people of the nation/continent of Corindel. The inhabitants of this land (think Australia) are the descendants of Humans, Elves, and Half-Elves who have lived, married, and had children together for many generations. While she is mechanically a Half-Elf, she could very well be a Six-Eighths Elf or a One Fifth Human. She receives a +1 Intelligence, a +1 Charisma, and two -1's that can be placed wherever the player wishes. In addition, while an Elf may choose a +3 Elf Trait and a Human a +3 Human Trait, Half-Elves choose one Elf Trait and one Human Trait, each at +1. She automatically receives Seafaring +1, as all Corindel natives due (which would drop her Kind Trait to a +2 if she were pure Human or pure Elf). .
Hmm. For my stats I've rolled 4D6 drop the lowest. Wow. Not bad. Honestly best rolls I've had in a really long time. I add the +1 Int, +1 Cha, and adjust a -1 to Strength and -1 Wisdom. As her father is a Sea Elf, I'm picking the Sea Elf Trait 'Amphibious'. No Movement Penalties related to being in the Water versus being on Land. I should've gone with 'Waterbreathing' but I almost feel that's too expected. Her Human Trait will be Curious. This gives her a +1 when investigating/looking for clues, trying to learn something new, etc.
Her Class is Ranger and in D&D-But-Not, Rangers begin with two Class Traits (Ranger Class Traits). One has to be Tracking +Level (Bonus is equal to the Character's Experience Level). Rangers follow trails, track animals or missing villagers, etc. Her second Trait is free for me to choose and I choose Survival +Level. This will help her if and when her Seafaring fails and ends up running aground, marooned on some tiny isle. I'm making her as a First Level Character so that's it. Later I can choose additional Traits or raise previous ones.
Lastly, Alea gets two Personal Traits. Traits unique to Alea LookBeyondTheSea. This is the fun part. One gets to be at +Level and the other is +1. Tough. Hmm. Random rolls! OK. For my first Trait I got a 'Gift' - a Magic Book! Ooh, how about a Magic Book of Maps! I'll call it, 'The Cartographer's Memories, A Guide to Where You've Been'. It makes maps of the places you go to as you move through the area so you'll have a (mostly) perfect record to refer back to. For the other I'll choose Swimming since, yeah, you figure she'd be good at that.
I like her. A Seagoing Ranger who knows her way around a ship, can swim and move through the water almost unnaturally well, and has maps of the seas and lands she's already been to. Selsa's not just good on a boat or in the drink but can handle herself on land, skilled at finding a way to survive in the roughest environments.
Her character sheet would look like this...
Game Info:
Elements of Alea's Character Sheet will be both familiar and strange to many a D&D player and that's to be expected. As noted, this is NOT a Dungeons & Dragons or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons PC. This is a D&D-But-Not PC. There are several major and minor differences in the mechanics of my version of the game.
Still and all, I think you get a decent idea of Alea's capabilities and could easily convert her to one of those lesser...ah, I mean...more familiar editions of the game. Heh.
Notes: This was...fun? I'm honestly not sure. I mean, I like her but there is nothing earth-shattering here. She isn't a member of The Winghorn Guard; those character sheets read more like a Superhero game! Rolling randomly for much of it was sometimes interesting but mostly slow. It took me longer to roll her up than to create a character for Star Wars D6, Star Trek Adventures, my Ghostbusters game, ALIENS, etc.
In the end, I'm happy to be done with this first entry and look forward to creating characters for games I'm more jazzed about. Essentially, I like her but still don't like the game, even my take on it.
Legacy: She'd make an interesting NPC. Maybe spice up her backstory a little more. Not sure.
Onward!
AD
Barking Alien
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