Ghosts of Vietnam: Origins (Optional Rules for Character Generation)
Hometown/Home State
To assist players and Adventure Masters in the orderly creation of characters, the following tables are provided for the determination of a character’s home state. These tables are intended to reflect the demographic and regional realities of the United States during the decade in which the campaign is set. By their use, the place of origin is not left to vague invention but is grounded in the actual distribution of population and culture as it existed at the time.
The procedure is simple and requires two successive rolls. The first table establishes the region of the country from which the character hails. Once the region has been determined, the player then consults the corresponding regional table and rolls again to determine the specific state. Each regional table is weighted so that heavily populated or industrially dominant states appear more frequently than those of smaller population. In this manner, New York is more likely to appear than Vermont, and California more often than Wyoming, thereby preserving both randomness and historical proportion.
When the state has been established, the player or Adventure Master may consult a map appropriate to the year of play in order to determine the character’s hometown. This may be done by selecting a known city within the state, by choosing a county seat, or by identifying a rural area consistent with the state’s economic character. Where desired, an additional roll may distinguish between urban, small-town, or rural upbringing, guided by the nature of the state and its predominant industries. A character from Ohio might therefore come from the industrial districts of Cleveland or from a farming community along the Maumee; both are plausible, but the choice should accord with the state’s historical realities.
These tables do not grant mechanical advantages nor impose penalties. Their purpose is to provide foundation and context. Geography in this period was inseparable from occupation, speech, and habit of life. A youth raised among the steel mills of Pennsylvania did not encounter the world in the same manner as one who grew up on a cotton farm in Mississippi or on the open ranges of Wyoming. By determining the state of origin first and then situating the character within it, the campaign gains texture and internal coherence without burdening play with unnecessary complexity.
1d100 Region
01–18 Northeast
19–42 Midwest
43–67 South
68–82 West
83–90 Border/Appalachian Emphasis
91–95 Major Urban Center
96–99 Rural Isolated County
00 U.S. Territory or Overseas Dependent
Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Midwest: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas
South: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma
West: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico
Border/Appalachian Emphasis: West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, western Virginia, rural Tennessee
Major Urban Center: New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston. This overrides state and defines upbringing as urban industrial.
Rural Isolated County: Roll state normally but assume small population county (<25,000).
U.S. Territory or Overseas Dependent: Puerto Rico, Guam, Canal Zone, U.S. military base child
Northeast
1d100 State
01–30 New York
31–50 Pennsylvania
51–60 Massachusetts
61–68 New Jersey
69–73 Connecticut
74–77 Maine
78–81 New Hampshire
82–85 Vermont
86–92 Rhode Island
93–00 Roll Major Urban Center Table (NYC, Boston, Philadelphia override)
Midwest
1d100 State
1–22 Ohio
23–40 Illinois
41–58 Michigan
59–66 Indiana
67–74 Missouri
75–80 Wisconsin
81–85 Minnesota
86–88 Iowa
89–91 Kansas
92–94 Nebraska
95–97 South Dakota
98–00 North Dakota
South
1d100 State
01–18 Texas
19–28 North Carolina
29–38 Georgia
39–46 Tennessee
47–53 Florida
54–60 Virginia
61–66 Kentucky
67–72 Alabama
73–77 South Carolina
78–82 Louisiana
83–87 Mississippi
88–91 Arkansas
92–95 Oklahoma
96–98 West Virginia
99–00 Maryland or Delaware (roll 1d2)
West
1d100 State
01–35 California
36–45 Washington
46–54 Arizona
55–63 Colorado
64–70 Oregon
71–75 Utah
76–80 Nevada
81–85 New Mexico
86–90 Idaho
91–94 Montana
95–97 Wyoming
98–00 Alaska (statehood 1959) or Hawaii (statehood 1959) roll 1d6: 1-3 Alaska and 4-6 Hawaii
Major Urban Center
1d100 City
01–22 New York City
23–35 Chicago
36–48 Detroit
49–58 Philadelphia
59–66 Los Angeles
67–74 St. Louis
75–82 Boston
83–90 Cleveland
91–00 Pittsburgh
Character Backgrounds
Character backgrounds are presented in order to determine the profession pursued by the character’s father or mother, and thereby to establish the economic and social environment in which the character was raised. In the period represented by this game, the Selective Service Act of 1948 governed the draft, and induction at eighteen years of age was both common and expected. A young man called to service at that age would not ordinarily possess a full-time career of his own. His skills, habits, and technical familiarity would instead derive from the household in which he was reared and from such part-time labor as he undertook during his school years.
For this reason, the Background Profession tables do not assign an occupation to the character himself, but rather to his parent or guardian. The result reflects the trade, industry, or profession that sustained the household and within which the character would have gained practical exposure. A son of a machinist might have learned the names and uses of tools long before he could legally enlist; a farm boy would have known engines, fences, and livestock as part of daily life; the child of a bookkeeper would have grown accustomed to ledgers, forms, and the routines of clerical order. These influences shape familiarity and plausibility, but they do not confer mastery.
The Professional Skill and other skills indicated by the background represents an area in which the character has had opportunity to learn through observation, instruction, or adolescent employment. It is not granted freely. All skills must be purchased with Nonweapon Proficiency slots in the normal manner. The background merely establishes what is reasonable and appropriate for selection. In this way, the system preserves both verisimilitude and mechanical fairness, ensuring that no character acquires expertise without cost while still reflecting the formative influence of family and environment.
A further note must be made regarding education and the draft. During the war years, attendance at a four-year college commonly resulted in deferment until completion of an undergraduate degree, typically at twenty-two years of age. Within the necessities of the game, characters may be assumed to have completed, or to be in the process of completing, such a bachelor’s degree if that background is chosen. They may not, however, pursue education beyond that level prior to military service, as advanced degrees would ordinarily postpone or preclude induction and thereby remove the character from the campaign’s intended circumstances. The limitation is not arbitrary, but a reflection of the legal and social framework of the era.
By grounding character background in parental profession and draft reality, the game situates each individual within a recognizable historical structure. The result is neither arbitrary embellishment nor modern invention, but a coherent expression of the time in which these characters lived and from which they were drawn into war.
1d100 Background
01–20 Rural Farm Family
21–35 Industrial Factory Household
36–45 Skilled Trade Household
46–55 Construction/Heavy Labor
56–63 Small Business/Retail
64–70 Clerical/Civil Service
71–75 Transportation
76–80 Law Enforcement/Fire Service Household
81–85 College-Track Middle Class
86–88 Technical Emerging Field
89–91 Military Family
92–94 Mining/Resource Extraction
95–97 Urban Service/Hospitality
98–99 Merchant Marine/Maritime
00 Roll Twice (Blended Household)
Rural Farm Family: Grew up on a working farm (crop, dairy, livestock). Comfortable with tools, animals, long hours, and mechanical improvisation.
Industrial Factory Household: Parent worked in auto plant, steel mill, textile mill, or manufacturing line. Familiar with machinery, shift work, union culture.
Skilled Trade Household: Carpenter, electrician, plumber, mechanic, welder, machinist. Grew up around tools and practical problem-solving.
Construction/Heavy Labor : Road crews, concrete, roofing, railroad, dockyard, warehouse labor.
Small Business/Retail: Family ran a grocery, hardware store, gas station, diner, barber shop, or similar.
Clerical/Civil Service: Bookkeeper, postal worker, secretary, municipal office worker. Paperwork, bureaucracy exposure.
Transportation: Truck driver, railroad worker, delivery services, bus operator.
Law Enforcement/Fire Service Household: Police officer, sheriff’s deputy, firefighter.
College-Track Middle Class: Parent professional or manager. Likely some college exposure or ROTC.
Technical Emerging Field: Radio/TV repair, early electronics, drafting, lab assistant.
Military Family: Father career military.
Mining/Resource Extraction: Coal miner, oil field worker, logging camp.
Urban Service/Hospitality: Hotel staff, cook, bartender, janitorial, theater usher.
Merchant Marine/Maritime: Commercial shipping, fishing fleet.