please note: this post originally appeared in Under The Dice #7
Celestial Guidance: Medieval Astrology in your OSR* Game
The desire to include fantastic medieval concepts into wargaming is the kernel that led to the development of Chainmail's Fantasy Supplement by Gary Gygax and then The Blackmoor Campaign by Dave Arneson which directly led to the development of the first roleplaying game. However, the middle ages are far weirder and alien than the creators of tabletop roleplaying games could understand.
Much of the material I write is to reintegrate medieval ideas into the OSR-sphere of games to help aid playing within a “medieval mindset” and embrace the weird vibes of the middle ages. An easy way to include that is to apply medieval astrology to character creation! All walks of medieval life believed the stars above influenced both major and mundane aspects of their daily lives, making them choose specific activities on specific days to have the best possible outcomes. This also wasn’t considered heretical by the church since this apparently was well within the practiced canon of medieval christianity since the heavens is the domain of God the Father.
The following is a flavor and mechanic overview of both Zodiac Signs (months of the year) and Planetary Signs (Days of the week) and their application in your Old School Revival campaign.
The Celestial Sign: The influence of the stars on your birth by the month you were born, which directly alters attributes
The Astral Influence: The influence of Planets on your day-to-day life, including the day of the week you were born on. This provides a re-roll to a specific attribute skill or ability once per day or twice per day if on the day of your birth.
How it Works: Use your preferred OSR game’s character generation to roll attributes. Then determine the following:
Celestial Sign Roll: Roll a D12 on the Celestial Sign table to determine which sign you were born under. This will determine any final Attribute changes. This will also inform seasonal influence on your upbringing.
Astral Influence Roll: Roll a D8 to determine which Planet you were born under. This can further be used to provide roleplaying inspiration if desired.
Once you're done, continue with your game’s character creation process.
Celestial Sign: Use the following table to determine your character’s birth sign.
Celestial Sign: This is the zodiac sign that influences your life broadly
Seasonal Activities: This represents the common activities or tasks the commoners do during this time. I included it to help inform the everyday activity that someone might be focused on based on the seasonal changes.
Attribute Increase: Increase the listed attribute by +1 due to celestial influence on your birth
Attribute Decrease: To balance out the celestial gift, the heavens will need to hinder your growth in a minor way. Roll a D3 on the associated Physical or Mental sub-tables to determine which attribute decreases.
*Attribute Decrease: Roll a D3 on the associated listing to randomly determine which attribute decreases by -1:
Physical: 1) Strength 2) Dexterity 3) Constitution
Mental: 1) Intelligence 2) Wisdom 3) Charisma
The Astral Influence: After finalizing your character’s attributes, determine the day your character was born on by rolling a D8 to find out what planet was in the sky on the day of birth. This will provide an advantage to using certain attribute abilities and skills. If desired, your astral influence can also be used to determine your character’s personality and interests to aid with roleplaying.
Day of Birth: Determine the day of the week you were born under to determine who you are. Roll a D8: 1) Sunday, 2) Monday, 3) Tuesday, 4) Wednesday, 5) Thursday, 6) Friday, 7) Saturday, 8) Choose any one day
Your Day’s influence: The following are traits gained by being born on any day of the week. This will help determine what your personality will be like, what interests you are inclined to, and your mechanical advantage.
Sign Mechanics: Based on the day you were born, you will gain the ability to reroll any single roll that is modified by that specific attribute and select the best result once per day. However, any day of the week you were born on allows you to make two rerolls on that day.
Example: Hans was born on Tuesday, the Day of Mars. Any day of the week, he can reroll a single roll that is modified by their Strength such as attacking with a sword. However, on Tuesdays they can do this twice.
Sunday: The Sun, No attribute
Character Personality: Just and Wise but indifferent
Mechanics: Reroll any single roll of choice per day. On Sunday you can make two rerolls.
Personal Interests: Law and Politics
Personification: The Emperor
Monday: The Moon; Constitution
Character Personality: Honest and Insightful but fickle.
Mechanics: Reroll any single Constitution roll per day
Personal Interests: Socializing and Travel
Personification: The Lady
Tuesday: Mars; Strength
Character Personality: Bold and Strong, but Stubborn
Mechanics: Reroll any single Strength roll per day
Personal Interests: Fencing, Wrestling, Sports, War
Personification: The Knight
Wednesday: Mercury; Dexterity
Character Personality: Clever and Quick, but Deceitful and sneaky;
Mechanics: Reroll any single Dexterity roll per day
Personal Interests: Economics, Medicine, Acrobatics
Personification: The Doctor
Thursday: Jupiter, Wisdom
Character Personality: Courageous, Merry, and Elegant but Haughty and out -of touch
Mechanics: Reroll any Wisdom roll per day
Personal Interests: Philosophy and Religion
Personification: The Bishop
Friday: Venus, Charisma
Character Personality: Love, Kinship, Passion, but self-centered
Mechanics: Reroll any Charisma roll per day
Personal Interests: Art, Music, Romance
Personification: The Lover
Saturday: Saturn, Intelligence
Character Personality: Smart and Confident, but shy and aloof
Mechanics: reroll any single Intelligence roll per day
Personal Interests: Magic, Science, Nature
Personification: The Elder
I hope this helps with getting into the headspace of not only your character but also the past in some way, since the heavens had a direct influence on every life within the medieval mind.
- Bryan
