Based upon a quick idea that I discussed with Andy Fischer after he ran a fun F&D demo on Sunday...

Instead of everyone starting at a base of 50, each PC rolls two 10 sided dice, and then subtracting the second number from the first number to get their starting Morality score. Doing so cuts down all the PCs from having identical Morality scores in the first session, which can make things tough on the GM if he rolls a 0 on the d10 to see which PCs have their Morality triggered and also serves as a nod to how only one PC's Obligation (EotE) or Duty (AoR) can trigger, and as such that PC whose Obligation/Duty got triggered has a more important role in the story.

As an example, let's take Heru Po'whell, a Human Guardian/Soresu Defender. Under the current rules, he's got a starting Morality value of 50 (he took the +10 XP option at character creation). Using the above change proposed, I roll two d10's, and get a 6 on the first die, and a 2 on the second die. Subtracting the 2 from the 6, I get a result of 4, which changes Heru's starting Morality to 54; obviously he's been a good boy prior to the campaign starting.

As a second example, let's look at Dera Nurano, a Human Sentinel/Shadow. I roll a 4 on the first die and a 9 on the second die. Subtracting 9 from 5, I get a result of -5, which changes Dera's starting Morality to 45; past events pushed her to take darker options, but maybe she'll be able to mend her ways after the campaign starts.

Not bad, but it could meddle with character concepts. If a person rolled a 9 and a 1 he would be a light side paragon. If he rolled a 1 and a 2 he would be pretty corrupted. This might make too much random for what someone wants to build.

Gigerstreak,

Fair point on the swinginess of it.

Perhaps in light of that, change the increase/decrease Morality options to +10 or -10? Putting a PC right at the threshold of either one means that after the first session becoming a paragon of either side is quite easy; simply be a good boy and don't generate a lot of Conflict if you want to be a light side paragon, or be an utterly malicious fiend if you want to go dark side.

Why not roll a force dice for each player in the group?

Sso if you have 4 players each player rolls 4 force dice and move up or down as per the light/dark pips that show?

So... why does Morality go off of the 1s spot and not the 10s spot? Wouldn't activating ON your Paragon/Corruption be more iconic?

Not bad, but it could meddle with character concepts. If a person rolled a 9 and a 1 he would be a light side paragon. If he rolled a 1 and a 2 he would be pretty corrupted. This might make too much random for what someone wants to build.

I think you're misinterpreting his idea. If you rolled a 9 and 1, you'd subtract the 1 from nine and get 8, thus starting with a 58. Far from Paragon. The 1 and 2 would be -1 or 49.

Seems to work for me. Alternatively I'd just allow the GM to ignore the roll for the first session or two.

Not bad, but it could meddle with character concepts. If a person rolled a 9 and a 1 he would be a light side paragon. If he rolled a 1 and a 2 he would be pretty corrupted. This might make too much random for what someone wants to build.

I think you're misinterpreting his idea. If you rolled a 9 and 1, you'd subtract the 1 from nine and get 8, thus starting with a 58. Far from Paragon. The 1 and 2 would be -1 or 49.

Seems to work for me. Alternatively I'd just allow the GM to ignore the roll for the first session or two.

I think what Gigerstreak is alluding to is that if a PC uses the option to increase or decrease their Morality at character creation, taking that modifier and then a good roll under my suggested change could put the PC at paragon status.

To go back to Heru and Dera, if they'd taken the +20 and -20 Morality options respectively, then using the dice rolls in my example, Heru would go from a starting Morality of 70 (base 50 plus 20 from his starting Morality option as per 34), to a 74, which puts him into light side paragon territory, while Dera's starting Morality of 30 (base 50 minus 20 this time) is a 25, putting her firmly into the grasp of the dark side.

You know, perhaps a +20 and -20 options aren't the best idea, since they put the PC on the cusp of those paragon thresholds anyway. Perhaps a +15 and -15 option would be better; the PC is close, but still leaves some wiggle room.

I agree that putting characters right on the cusp of the thresholds is too generous for morality.

So... why does Morality go off of the 1s spot and not the 10s spot? Wouldn't activating ON your Paragon/Corruption be more iconic?

Whether you are a Lightside Exemplar, a Darksider or down the middle, the odds of rolling the same as the 1's number of someones Morality are higher than if you use the 10's. Also, using the 10's increases the chance of either multiple characters Morality being activated or no-ones.

E

So the original idea presented here seems needlessly complicated -- rolling two d10 and subtracting one from the other is functionally no different than using a single die, such as:

Morality = 45 + 1d10

Morality = 40 + 1d20

Morality = 42 + 2d10 (less variance)

Seems like a pretty simple / reasonable house rule for character creation.

Sorry to necro the thread but I think it is an important suggestion, and I'd suggest the following for the light / neutral / dark starting morality:

Light: 60 +1d10

Neutral: 45 + 1d10

Dark: 30 + 1d10

If you apply this adjustment you have a higher likelihood of triggering morality in the first session with multiple characters and the possibility of different values in the 'ones' position to start.