Zorn: Zero Level Characters

 Zorn has always been a setting about diegetic character advancement, telling stories about the world changing your characters rather than the other way around. To better serve that purpose, I took a note from DCC and ripped the idea of a group of zero-level characters going on a deadly adventure and the survivors becoming the player party.

Here's the overarching process of this.

1. Roll for your stats as you normally would (3d6 down the line for base stats, 2d6 for fortune)
2. Derive Substats as normal, except for HP which is Con-6 for Level 0, and attack bonus, which is 0. This does mean you can start with negative HP, you don't immediately die, but you might soon,
3. Roll 1d50 on the table below for background and note the results down where applicable.
4. Pick one stat off your background's Reroll column, you can roll that stat again and take the better result
5. Write down your background's starting inventory, items denoted with (Light), (Medium), or (Heavy) are automatically considered corresponding melee weapons. Details on these weapons can be found here.
6. Note down your background's starting skill. This provides a -2 bonus to any flat attribute check that would benefit from relevant knowledge or experience.
7. Choose a character flaw. This is a small roleplaying quirk used to spice up your character and to provide interesting complications to the narrative. These are things like "Alcoholic", "Loves Exotic Food", "Anger Issues", "Overly Honest"
8. Repeat this until you have 4 functioning characters.

Once these characters survive their first adventure (or at least escape it with 50 Silver), one of the survivors can level up and become a true adventurer, the remaining survivors decide that this is not the life for them and retire, die, go insane, or otherwise leave the narrative. If a player has zero survivors, they may claim a survivor from another player or generate one zero-level character that can level up if there is enough Silver remaining to do so.

After the campaign is in full swing, dead characters should probably be replaced by level one characters rather than zero-levels, but this is a nice way to set the tone at the very beginning.

The Backgrounds listed below is a quick and dirty list, maybe I'll come back later and rewrite this one to be a bit better, but I really wanted a playable draft as soon as possible. Feel free to add suggestions, comments, or other notes in the comments below as tables like this really benefit from group brainstorming.

I've also provided a few lists of random items and weapons below for posterity's sake.

1d50 Backgrounds

#	Name	Reroll	Starting Items	Skill
1	Farmer	Con/Wis	Shovel (Medium), 3 Carrots	Agriculture
2	Hunter	Dex/Wis	Hunting Shotgun, Bear Trap	Tracking
3	Hobo	ANY	Large Stick (Heavy), 3 Crappy Rations	Survival
4	Nobility	Cha/Dex	Fine Clothes, 3 Pieces of Sharp Silverware (Light)	Courtesy
5	Housekeeper	Wis/Dex	Broom (Medium), Fine Clothes	Restraint
6	Bartender	Cha/Wis	3 Bottles of Mysterious Liquor (Light), Set of Drinking Glasses	Alcohol
7	Distiller	Con/Int	Heavy Keg of Cheap Swill (Heavy)	Brewing
8	Chef	Dex/Int	3 Sharp Knives (Light), Cutting Board	Cooking
9	Sailor	Cha/Wis	Dueling Sabre (Medium), Naval Uniform	Sailing
10	Soldier	Dex/Str	Rifle, 3 Awful Tasting MREs, Active Enlistment	Military
11	Mechanic	Wis/Int	Large Wrench (Heavy), Coveralls, Small Bottle of Oil	Jury-Rigging
12	Detective	Int/Wis	Service Handgun, Handcuffs	Investigation
13	Pilot	Dex/Int	Small Knife (Light), Parachute, Small Goggles	Aircraft
14	Ship Crewman	Str/Wis	Small Club (Medium), Hammock	Navigation
15	Ship Spotter	Wis/Dex	Small Club (Medium), Binoculars	Weather
15	Machinist	Con/Int	Wrench (Medium), Coveralls, Small Bottle of Oil	Manufacturing
16	Industrialist	Int/Cha	Sharp Pen (Light), Box of Paperwork	Capitalism
17	Nurse	Int/Con	Syringe (Light), Book on Natural Medicine	Medicine
18	Doctor	Int/Wis	Heavy Medical Book (Heavy), Doctor's Robes	Medicine
19	Dentist	Dex/Int	Pliers (Light), Hand Drill, Small Tool Bag	Surgery
20	Travelling Salesperson	Cha/Con	5 Cheap Knives (Light), Cheap Suit	Trade
21	Attorney	Int/Cha	Heavy Legal Text (Heavy), Nice Suit	Legal
22	Engineer	Int/Dex	Fancy Pen (Light), Drafting Paper	Engineering
23	Teacher	Wis/Int	5 Children's Books (Light)	Teaching
24	Banker	Wis/Int	Abacus (Medium), Large Sack, Precise Scales	Money
25	Bill Collector/Loan Shark	Str/Dex	Club (Medium), Black Book naming 3 Debtors	Scheming
26	Archeologist	Int/Con	Shovel (Medium), Fine Brush, History Book	History
27	Spy	Dex/Wis	Sharp Pen (Light), Foreign Soldier's Uniform, Fine Clothes	Espionage
28	Thief	Dex/Str	Prybar (Medium), Dark Clothes	Thievery
29	Hired Killer	Str/Dex	Handgun, Stiletto (Light), Cheap 3 Piece Suit, Note with Target's Name	Assassination
30	Cardsharp	Cha/Dex	Stiletto (Light), Deck of Cards, Small Bottle of Ink	Gambling
31	Smuggler	Wis/Cha	Prybar (Medium), Large Bag	Concealing
32	Construction Worker	Con/Str	Heavy Tool (Heavy), Sack of Tools	Construction
33	Foreman	Cha/Con	Clipboard	Oversight
34	Miner	Con/Str	Pickaxe (Heavy), Miner's Helmet with Light	Mining
35	Gardener	Dex/Con	Trowel (Light), 5 Mysterious Seeds	Gardening
36	Lumberjack	Str/Con	Axe (Medium)	Axe Demolition
37	Train Conductor	Wis/Con	Shovel (Medium), Sack of Coal	Steam Power
38	General Laborer	Con/Str	1 Random Weapon, 2 Random Items	ANY
39	Tailor	Dex/Wis	Set of 5 Large Needles (Light), Colorful Thread	Fabric
40	Barber	Dex/Cha	Barber's Razor (Light), 3 Rags	Cutting
41	Delivery worker	Dex/Con	Running Shoes, Backpack	Running
42	Telephone Operator	Cha/Int	50' Length of Copper Wire	Fast Talk
43	Mathematician	Int/Wis	Very Heavy Abacus (Heavy)	Math
44	Artist	Cha/Wis	Set of Paint and Brushes	Artistry
45	Philosopher	Wis/Int	Heavy Book on Philosophy (Heavy), Human Skull, Shiny Rock	Philosophy
46	Writer	Wis/Int	Pencil (Light), Notepad	Writing
47	Priest	Wis/Cha	Religious Text, Religious Icon, Bottle of Sacred Fluid	Religion or Occult
48	Scientist	Int/Wis	Set of Scientific Tools	Science
49	Oil Baron	Cha/Dex	Cane (Medium), Box of Fine Cigars, Fine Clothes	Money
50	Exiled	ANY	Locked Shackles (Heavy), Tattered Clothing	ANY

1d50 Random Weapons

#	Name	Type
1	Hunting Knife	Light Melee
2	Chef's Knife	Light Melee
3	Stiletto	Light Melee
4	Pencil	Light Melee
5	Metal Straw	Light Melee
6	Brick	Light Melee
7	Throwing Knife	Light Melee
8	Small Statuette	Light Melee
9	Pen	Light Melee
10	Scalpel	Light Melee
11	Icepick	Light Melee
12	Small Paperweight	Light Melee
13	Blackjack	Light Melee
14	Very Sharp Fork	Light Melee
15	Very Sharp Spoon	Light Melee
16	Golf Club	Medium Melee
17	Katana	Medium Melee
18	Cane	Medium Melee
19	Suitcase	Medium Melee
20	Axe	Medium Melee
21	Prybar	Medium Melee
22	Shovel	Medium Melee
23	Club	Medium Melee
24	Wrench	Medium Melee
25	Sabre	Medium Melee
26	Rapier	Medium Melee
27	Frying Pan	Medium Melee
28	Rebar	Medium Melee
29	Tire Iron	Medium Melee
30	Baseball Bat	Medium Melee
31	Heavy Book	Heavy Melee
32	Large Rock	Heavy Melee
33	Longsword	Heavy Melee
34	Antique Glaive	Heavy Melee
35	Sledgehammer	Heavy Melee
36	Pickaxe	Heavy Melee
37	Massive Wrench	Heavy Melee
38	Locked Shackles	Heavy Melee
39	Antique Maul	Heavy Melee
40	Long Rusty Pipe	Heavy Melee
41	Service Revolver	Handgun
42	Military Sidearm	Handgun
43	Pepperbox Pistol	Handgun
44	Homemade Pipe SMG	SMG
45	Military Issue SMG	SMG
46	Hunting Rifle	Rifle
47	Sniper Rifle	Rifle
48	Antique Musket	Rifle
49	Hunting Shotgun	Shotgun
50	Antique Blunderbuss	Shotgun

1d50 Random Items

#	Name	#	Name
1	Bottle of Oil	26	Chicken
2	Small Bottle of Ink	27	Sheep
3	Small Bottle of Blood	28	Cat
4	Pen	29	Binoculars
5	Pencil	30	Tent
6	Prybar	31	3 Flares
7	50' Rope	32	50' Thin Wire
8	50' Chain	33	3 Small Handbells
9	Pickaxe	34	10 Pitons
10	Shovel	35	Bag of Ball Bearings
11	Axe	36	Handheld Radio
12	Hammer	37	Pocket Knife
13	Wrench	38	100' Twine
14	Large Backpack	39	Small Bucket of Paint
15	Sleeping Bag	40	Canteen
16	5 Rations	41	Oil Lantern
17	50' Colorful Thread	42	Flashlight
18	Bear Trap	43	Guitar
19	Fine Clothes	44	5 D Batteries
20	Fine Furs	45	20 Bullets
21	5 Bottles of Beer	46	Fishing Pole and 15' Line
22	Parachute	47	Silver Mirror
23	Small Goggles	48	Magnifying Glass
24	Horse	49	Gallon of Gasoline
25	Pig	50	Hammock