6 Figure Characters

Surely they don't ALL need character sheets...

I was continuing to ruminate on different styles of combat, in particular mass combat. I wanted to find a way for my players to cycle through characters in a mass-combat scenario. I had a few goals in mind:

1. Make it quick and dirty. Cut rules when necessary.
2. Preserve the power level and flavor of each class and race at first level.
3. Don't let the players get too attached to the characters.

I wanted to create a system where the players could potentially create and run multiple characters at once, and spend less than 5 minutes creating a character. I think I figured out how.

6 Figure Characters

They are called 6 Figure Characters because they are wholly dependant on the ability scores the player rolls.

To make a 6 Figure Character, roll each ability score, in order, using 3d6 to determine the numbers.

The highest two stats determine your class. Your class determines your offensive and defensive ability, as well as your melee and ranged damage die.

The lowest two stats determine your race. Your race determines a bonus racial feature.

Additionally, each stat determines a few other numbers. All divisions are rounded down.

Strength (STR)

• Melee attack bonus = STR/4 (rounded down)
• Melee damage bonus = STR/6 (rounded down)

Dexterity (DEX)

• Ranged attack bonus = DEX/4 (rounded down)
• Ranged damage bonus = DEX/6 (rounded down)
• DEX = AC

Constitution (CON)

• CON = hit points

Intelligence (INT)

• Tactics bonus = INT/4 (rounded down)
• Wizard spell attack bonus = INT/4 (rounded down)

Wisdom (WIS)

• Passive Perception = WIS
• Cleric/Druid/Ranger spell attack bonus = WIS/4 (rounded down)

Charisma (CHA)

• Morale bonus = CHA/4 (rounded down)
• Bard/Paladin/Sorcerer/Warlock spell attack bonus = CHA/4 (rounded down

Since these characters are going to be rather short-lived, I've created two "new" stats to approximate certain effects on a full character sheet.

All skill checks are now rolled using 1d20 plus the "Tactics" bonus. I imagine these characters are not going to survive a single battle, so clumping the various skills into a single stat seems appropriate.

All saving throws are now rolled using 1d20 plus the "Morale" bonus. The most common saving throws are Dexterity (to dodge), Constitution (to endure a physical effect), and Wisdom (to endure a mental effect). On a battlefield, such effects will be everywhere, and a soldier's ability to fight through the pain is more about their willingness to stay on the battlefield than the meager differences between their stats. Thus, it is assumed that these characters are succumbing to multiple effects, but their dedication to the cause determines if they actually flee.

Race

Race is determined using the two lowest scores. There are many types of dwarves, but most of them aren't dexterous. There are many types of elves, but most of them aren't strong.

Since you know how much I love spreadsheets, I made a spreadsheet to help determine race.

Note that this is based on Ahnerian (specifically Garlancian) racial breakdowns. I highly suggest changing the table if you have a different race makeup in your world.

Beyond that, each class gets a special ability that approximates their most combat-related racial trait.

• Dwarf: Ignore Poison damage
• Elf: Use highest stat for Passive Perception
• Human: Use highest stat for tactics
• Halfing: Use highest stat for Morale
• Dragonborn: Breath weapon - one use, ranged 1d12
• Gnome: Take half damage from magic
• Half Elf: Can select any class that matches highest ability, ignore second highest ability requirement
• Half Orc: If you would be killed, you are left at 1 HP instead
• Tiefling: If damaged, attacker takes 1d6 fire damage

Class

Class is determined using the highest two ability scores. This one was a lot more difficult to put together, and I ended up weighting it towards the core classes (Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, and Wizard), with the two most versatile classes (Monk and Warlock) also being the rarest.

Again, this is weighted the way I see Ahneria, so please adjust if your world is different. You can even adjust if the battle is different - if one side is mostly paladins, you'll want to play that up.

Here is the breakdown of each class.

Barbarian

• Melee attack die - 1d12
• Ranged attack die - 1d6
• Offensive Ability - Rage: +2 melee damage
• Defensive Ability - Unarmored: AC=CON, not DEX

Bard

• Melee attack die - 1d8
• Ranged attack die - 1d8
• Offensive Ability - Spell: Charm Person - force opponent to make morale check
• Defensive Ability - Inspire: Adjacent allies get +1 to attack rolls

Cleric

• Melee attack die - 1d8
• Ranged attack die - 1d8
• Offensive Ability - Smite: double damage against undead
• Defensive Ability - Spell: Bless - Adjacent allies get +1 to saving throws

Druid

• Melee attack die - 1d6
• Ranged attack die - 1d6
• Offensive Ability - Spell: Thunderwave - all adjacent take 1d8 damage
• Defensive Ability - Animal Form: double HP

Fighter

• Melee attack die - 1d10
• Ranged attack die - 1d10
• Offensive Ability - Precise: +2 to attack rolls
• Defensive Ability - Second Wind: heal self 1d10, usable once

Monk

• Melee attack die - 1d8
• Ranged attack die - 1d10
• Offensive Ability - Unarmed: extra attack using 1d4
• Defensive Ability - Unarmored: AC=CON, not DEX

Paladin

• Melee attack die - 1d10
• Ranged attack die - 1d8
• Offensive Ability - Smite: double damage against undead
• Defensive Ability - Lay on Hands: heal adjacent ally 1d10, usable once

Ranger

• Melee attack die - 1d6
• Ranged attack die - 1d12
• Offensive Ability - Spell: Hail of Thorns - on ranged hit, enemies adjacent to target take 1d4
• Defensive Ability - Explorer: ignore difficult terrain

Rogue

• Melee attack die - 1d10
• Ranged attack die - 1d10
• Offensive Ability - Precise: +2 to attack rolls
• Defensive Ability - Dodge: +5 to AC, usable once

Sorcerer

• Melee attack die - 1d6
• Ranged attack die - 1d6
• Offensive Ability - Spell: Chromatic Orb - 2d8 ranged damage
• Defensive Ability - Spell: Mage Armor - AC+3 for remainder of combat

Warlock

• Melee attack die - 1d6
• Ranged attack die - 1d6
• Offensive Ability - Spell: Eldritch Blast - double ranged attack, 1d10 damage
• Defensive Ability - Patron Bond: advantage on tactics and morale rolls

Wizard

• Melee attack die - 1d6
• Ranged attack die - 1d6
• Offensive Ability - Spell: Magic Missile - no attack roll, 1d4 damage to three targets
• Defensive Ability - Spell: Mage Armor - AC+3 for remainder of combat

Level

All of this was put together in order to approximate the power of a 1st level character. To create higher-level characters, just apply the following formulas:

• HP = CON x level
• Number of attacks = level / 5 (rounded down)

Using 6 Figure Characters At the Table

So, obviously it would be pretty inconvenient to use this system as it is presented here in this article. In order to make the system function better, I put together two sheets for players to use. One is a reference sheet for making a character, and the other is the simplified character sheet itself.

Here is the Reference Sheet.

Here is the Character Sheet.

Between them, they contain all of the rules laid out here. If a player has access to both, they should be able to make a character in no time at all.



Another fun game of spot-the-PCs-on-the-battlefield

Now, in my mind, a game using these characters could be the start of a campaign, where the players run through dozens of characters in the first session to simulate a war. Then, the surviving characters are transferred from the 6 Figure format to a full character sheet.

Because of the unusual stat-generation method, I would leave it up to the DM to decide if the players can reroll their stats. I might offer them an option:

1. You can keep your stats as is
2. You can change your stats to the standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) but you have to keep them in highest-to-lowest order

This might mean that a couple 16's or 17's are knocked down to 15, but in return, the 4's and 5's are brought up to 8. I'm okay with that.

If I run a game using these rules, I'll make sure to link this article!

Thanks for reading!