Yes, It’s A Crazy Thing To Do

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…so, what’s your point?

Introducing The Doclopedia!

One year from today, if all goes well, Grace and I and two as yet to be adopted Basset Hounds will begin our 2007 Triumphant Return To GenCon U.S. Tour. (and yes, there will be tour t-shirts)

(Note from 2012: I went to GenCon 2007, but Grace & The Girls did not. Sadly, there were no t-shirts.)

In anticipation of this great journey, as well as to sooth the melancholy I’m feeling over not going to this years GenCon, I decided a few weeks ago that I would create a character a day, every day, for a year. This may turn out to be one of my famous grandiose schemes that fizzles out, or I may just make it to the end. Tune in daily and see.

(Note from 2012: Little did I know what this would eventually spawn a few years down the road.)

(Note from 2019: I just passed Doclopedia entry #1,700…and it would have been much higher, but I stopped doing them for a few years.)

(Note from February 2022: I’m about to start my 4th or 5th Doclopedia Deathmarch, starting with #2,320. It will go on for at LEAST a year, maybe longer. When I hit my 3,000th post, I’m gonna throw a party.)

(Note from September, 2024: I am past 3,000 entries now, with no end in sight.)

I used no specific system for this first character, just pluses to show how far above the norm he was. I may use specific rules sets for future characters, or I may not. We shall see what comes to pass.

About this character: Redbeard is the first character I ever created for a proper, non-Killer GM operated, D&D campaign. That would be way back in the fall of 1977. The following description is Redbeard at about 10th level or so.

The Doclopedia #1
My Earliest RPG Characters: Redbeard the Slayer
Fighter/Thief
Strength: +3
Constitution: +3
Dexterity: +2
Intelligence: +1
Wisdom: +1
Charisma: +2
Advantages: Cool Under Pressure, Lots of Friends/Contacts, Patron (Ool the Wizard)
Disadvantages: Hunted (by the Thieves Guild), Hunted (by Shandar Khan the Sorceror), Soft Spot for the Less Fortunate
Powers/Gifts: Incredible Healing (3X normal), High Magic Resistance (+3 vs all magic)
Primary Skills: Melee Combat (Great Axe), Missile Combat (Throwing Knives), Thief Skills
Background: Redbeard (his real name is a closely guarded secret), is a swordsman and thief of some reknown. He lives in a small suite of rooms on the fourth floor of the Purple Unicon, a “pleasure palace” located in the city of Ekarris. Redbeard stands 6’2″ tall, weighs 275 pounds, has long red hair and blue eyes. His primary weapon is a huge double bladed great axe, but he is well skilled in the use of most melee weapons.
Redbeard is quite skilled as a thief…skilled enough that his freelance exploits have earned him the wrath of the Thieves Guild. They have put a hefty price on his head. Now if any of them were brave or skilled enough to collect it…
The High Wizard Ool Mandragar is Redbeard’s primary employer, often sending the “redheaded scalawag” off on missions that would kill anybody without his phenominal healing factor. More than a few of these missions have pitted Redbeard against the mad sorceror Shandar Khan and his League of Wizards.
In his spare time, Readbeard enjoys whores, ale, barroom brawls, fair maidens, Dwarven baseball and women.
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Published by Doc Cross

I write things that I think people might enjoy reading, especially if they are roleplayers or just strange.

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13 thoughts on “Yes, It’s A Crazy Thing To Do”

  2. Huh…. One possibility, if you have enough games around the house, is to use a different system every day for 365 days!
    (OK, maybe not. Looking at my game index, even I only have 270 systems on my shelf…)

    1. Yeah, I doubt I even have 150 systems on my shelves. Still, you can expect to see TOON, OTE, D&D and a few others pop up over the next year.

  3. Can I place an order for a tour shirt now? Are they going to be tie-dyed? Does a matching bandana come with that?
    Redbeard sounds like a Fritz Leiber-ish character. Kind of a cross between Fahred and the Grey Mouser. I love the last line. It’s like a barbarian personal ad!

    1. Can I place an order for a tour shirt now? Are they going to be tie-dyed? Does a matching bandana come with that?
      To answer your questions, in order…
      No
      Possibly
      For ME, maybe

    1. Well, any hints into my Mysterious Past (or my Wild and Misspent Youth) will more likely come in other writings than the daily characters:)

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