Random Character Generation? Just Maybe!

I've been reading the Dragon Warriors pdf that I picked up in the latest round of fundraising pdf magic over at Drivethru RPG, and I'm really liking what I see. Dragon Warriors, for those who are historically challenged, is one of the old great games that was released around the same time period as D&D. From my understanding, the edition we have now isn't changed all that much from what was originally released. Because of this the system is definitely an old-school game rather than anything resembling modern-day d20 or D&D 4th Ed. It does use a d20, but instead of adding it to some ability or skill score, you try to roll underneath your ability score. It's a fun change of pace, but it's not my point!

My point: Dragon Warriors uses random stat generation. This isn't a new thing - it's pretty much a staple of old-school gaming - but it's something we've never tried before.

Having grown into the hobby with Star Wars Saga Edition and really embrace weekly gaming with D&D 4th Ed., we're used to min-maxing our characters because the games really require you to do such a thing to enjoy the game. Dragon Warriors has gamey aspects, but there's just something about it that makes me really want to run a game using random stat generation. I haven't finished reading the game yet, but it seems simple enough to teach and a great game to run on the fly, so I think I might give it a shot. Dragon Warriors seems to encompass much more than just combat and action. It's very much modelled after Dark Ages Europe, and social status and profession define characters.

I don't actually GM fantasy games... like ever. I've done lots of Dread, Savage Worlds Day After Ragnarok, and Star Wars, but never a fantasy game. We'll have to see if Warhammer Fantasy or Dragon Warriors wins out as my first fantasy game. I'll make sure to keep you updated!

Oh, NaNoWriMo? Of course this isn't a form of procrastination. Shut. Up.