11-66 Table for Fighter Abilities at First Level

I wrote this table back in December, and only just rediscovered it. I was reading Jon Peterson's Playing at the World at the time, which is a history of our hobby from its roots in wargaming up through the early years of D&D. Alas, I cannot find the reference in the book at the moment, but apparently a number of referees came up with variant abilities for the Fighting-Man class to roll at first level, to help distinguish one from the next, somewhat in the way that Magic-Users and Clerics are distinguished by their choice of spells.

I was quite taken with the idea, and I thought an 11-66 table, with 36 entries, would provide enough variety for few fighters to be the same, but not take too long to write (also, I have a fondness for 11-66 tables after playing so much of Avalon Hill's Samurai, which uses one for random events each turn). So this is what I came up with; it probably could use a bit more creativity (like Zak S.' random advancement Alternative Fighter), but I'm still using bog-standard fighters in my game:


Fighter Abilities
When generating a fighter-character at first level, roll once on this table using 2d6. Read one as the tens and one as the ones.

11  +1 to hit with swords

12  +1 to hit with pole arms

13  +1 to hit with axes

14  +1 to hit with maces

15  +1 to hit with bows

16  +1 to hit with slings

21  +1 to hit with crossbows

22  +1 to hit with spears and javelins

23  +1 to hit with daggers

24  +1 to hit with hammers

25  +1 to hit in melee

26  +1 to hit with missiles

31  -1 AC with shields

32  +1 damage in melee

33  +1 damage with missiles

34  +1 damage

35  +1 to hit

36  +1 to hit when fighting alongside a companion

41  -1 AC in mail armor

42  -1 AC in plate armor

43  grant -1 AC from your shield to your companion next to you

44  may climb sheer surfaces as a same-level thief when in leather armor

45  may move silently/hide in shadows as a same-level thief when in leather armor

46  may open locks as a same-level thief (when not wearing gauntlets)

51  knows one first level magic-user spell (cannot cast it while armored)

52  knows one first level cleric spell

53  may turn undead as a first level cleric

54  +1 hp per hit die

55  may dual-wield weapons for -1 AC

56  may dual-wield weapons for +1 to hit

61  eldritch aura--may use normal weapons to strike creatures only struck by magical weapons

62  25 gp income per month

63  100 gp income per month

64  knightly title--some discretion as to what this entails, but certainly deference from inferiors, exemption from taxation or some other legal burden, access to a higher social circle, etc.

65  +1 morale to followers

66  +1 to number of retainers one may lead