It's a Patron Generation

Back when I wrote for Angels, Daemons and Beings Between, a book chock full of patrons for DCC, I started out by analyzing the extant patrons in the core book and the few fan made ones that existed. I did this by stacking all the like results and pulling out some common data for each: Power, Type, Duration, and any "specials" which were results or extra effects that didn't fit. This, surprisingly, produced a bit of a pattern, at least to my eyes.

Taking that data, I built a rosetta stone to randomly generate Invoke Patron results for a given patron. I used it a little bit and didn't necessarily like the results, but the data pattern was still really useful in thinking about how to build something as complex as a patron. It might actually be useful for building spells, as well (I haven't thought about this), but +David Baity asked about spells, and I thought of this tool.

Anyway, I pitched it up on Google Drive for anyone that wants to see some of the behind the scenes madness that I started out with to come up with 20 or so patrons, and still use to some degree, today. What I found: Making Patrons interesting, unique and, more importantly, playable, was not easy. But, ended up being fun.

My suggestion: Don't make a patron outside the context of your campaign. Think about how that supernatural being, competing with various other supernatural beings in the world for servants, fits in that world -- and how does it compare to others. They should not all be at the same "power level." And they should NOT follow a pattern. So, forget I said that.

Patron Worksheet-- Enjoy!