1. Classes and Races
Well, you're a 0-level here, so no class for you. Also, this is DCC, so rather than have you agonizing over a choice of race, roll 1d6 per character.
| 1-3 | tainted human |
| 4-5 | orkin |
| 6 | tainted halfling |
Roll on the taint tables as directed in the Player's Guide. I would recommend treating orkin as DCC humans with 30' infravision and enough of an orcish appearance to keep them from fitting in with polite company. If you want to use a half-orc DCC class for them (once they level up), feel free.
2. Contacts and Enemies
Use these as is. As a matter of fact, use them for any character, whether they're from Lesserton or not. These contacts and enemies are all connected to the character's home town, so far-traveling adventurers won't really run into them much, but for campaigns tied to a local area for at least a while, it provides some interesting background and possible adventure hooks.
3. Background Skills
Roll on the table in the Player's Guide, and then reference here for starting weapons and equipment.
| Actor | wooden prop sword (as club) | costume jewelry |
| Animal doctor | staff | herbs, 1 lb |
| Baker | bread knife (as dagger) | hard bread, 2 loaves |
| Beggar | club | begging bowl |
| Bird-stalker | club | 2 fresh pigeons |
| Blacksmith | hammer (as club) | steel tongs |
| Boot shiner | polishing rag (as garrote) | small tin of dubbin (polish) |
| Brass maker | brass ingot (as club) | lidded crucible, 1 quart capacity |
| Brewer | quern handle (as club) | ½ gallon growler of beer |
| Brick maker | clay paddle (as club) | clay, 5 lbs |
| Buckle maker | hammer (as club) | 5 brass buckles |
| Butcher | cleaver (as axe) | side of beef |
| Candle maker | scissors (as dagger) | candles, 20 |
| Carpenter | hammer (as club) | wood, 10 lbs |
| Charcoal burner | hand axe | charcoal, 5 lbs |
| Chef | knife (as dagger) | spices, 1 lb |
| Chimney sweep | flue brush (as club) | goose |
| Clerk, bookkeeper | quill (as dart) | parchment, 10 sheets |
| Clerk, shop | knife (as dagger) | extra roll on Table 3.4 |
| Cook | knife (as dagger) | meat pie |
| Cooper | crowbar (as club) | barrel |
| Cryer | dagger | parchment, 10 sheets, blank on one side |
| Dancer | dagger | costume jewelry |
| Dentist/barber | razor (as dagger) | tooth extracting pliers |
| Dishwasher | knife (as dagger) | 2 porcelain plates |
| Dye worker | staff | fabric, 3 yards |
| Feather gatherer | club | small sack and a selection of feathers |
| Fortune teller | dagger | tarot deck |
| Fur and skin dealer | skinning knife (as dagger) | badger pelt |
| Glassblower | hammer (as club) | glass beads |
| Graverobber | shovel (as staff) | 10 cp, small silver chain worth 2sp |
| Hair stylist | scissors (as dagger) | boar bristle brush and glossy hair oil |
| Hat maker | scissors (as dagger) | fashionable hat |
| Hay and feed dealer | knife (as dagger) | oats, 5 lb |
| House-servant | staff | locket |
| Laborer, outdoor | shovel (as staff) | large sack |
| Laborer, warehouse | crowbar (as club) | small chest |
| Laundress | club | two bedsheets |
| Leather worker | awl (as dagger) | piece of leather hide, 2' square |
| Leech | razor (as dagger) | herbs, 1 lb |
| Luthier | chisel (as dagger) | fiddle |
| Mudlark | staff | 10 cp, porcelain teacup, thimble |
| Mule wrangler | club | mule |
| Musician | dagger | ukulele |
| Paper maker | pulp beater (as club) | paper, 50 sheets |
| Petty official | quill (as dart) | ink and small blank book |
| Plasterer | trowel (as dagger) | large bucket |
| Porter | knife (as dagger) | backpack |
| Potboy | knife (as dagger) | 2 bottles of ale |
| Pure finder | shovel (as staff) | small sack and 5 lbs of dog feces |
| Rag and bone man | staff | large sack |
| Rat catcher | club | net |
| Rope weaver | knife (as dagger) | rope, 100' |
| Rug maker | scissors (as dagger) | 2'x4' braided rug |
| Seamstress/tailor | scissors (as dagger) | fine suits, 3 sets |
| Seed miller | club | flour, 1 lb |
| Shoemaker | awl (as dagger) | rugged boots, 2 pairs |
| Shopkeeper | dagger | 4 gp, 14 sp, 27 cp |
| Snitch | dagger | 50 gp and an enemy |
| Soap maker | knife (as dagger) | lye soap, 5 lb |
| Stone cutter | sledge hammer (as warhammer) | masonry chisel |
| Street vendor: beer, soup, or tea | large ladle (as club) | 5 clay cups |
| Street vendor: pans, spoons, tinware | skillet (as club) | 10 spoons |
| Street vendor: produce | knife (as dagger) | fruit |
| Swamp gleaner | staff | herbs, 1 lb |
| Teamster | staff | bridle |
| Thatcher | knife (as dagger) | dried rushes, 20 lb |
| Tinker/sharpener | hammer (as club) | whetstone |
| Tour guide | dagger | 20 sp |
| Waiter | knife (as dagger) | silverware sets (knife, fork, spoon), 2 |
| Watchman | short sword | lantern |
| Weaver | dagger | fine suit of clothes |
| Wig maker | scissors (as dagger) | fine peruke |
| Wood hewer | hand axe | bundle of wood |
| Wool shearer | scissors (as dagger) | wool, 5 lbs |
A few interesting notes here:
Some professions were similar enough to existing DCC backgrounds that I just gave them the same starting equipment. Which ones these are is an exercise left to the reader.
Chimney sweeps apparently used to drop geese down the flue, where their frantic flapping during the fall would loosen soot. Also, sometimes they used a brush on a chain, with a lead or iron weight at one end that they would drop down the chimney; if the Judge wants to allow it, a chimney sweep can have one of these and use it as a flail instead of a club-like brush.
Rather than having a set piece of additional equipment, shop clerks get an additional roll on Table 3.4 in the DCC rules. Two rolls.
A luthier is a maker of stringed musical instruments. Maybe you knew this already. I didn't.
A mudlark pokes through the mud along the edge of a river (or in this case the swamp, I guess) in search of items of value. Maybe you didn't know this. I did. Feel free to come up with a more random selection of items for a mudlark to start with. This might be worthy of a d100 table all on its own.
A potboy is a server in a tavern. At least this one is; I found an alternate definition as a dishwasher, but that's already listed on the table.
A pure finder is a collector of dog feces. Apparently dog poop was used in the tanning process back in the day, and this was just one of the reasons tanneries weren't allowed within many settlements.
Rag and bone men collected various kinds of trash and recycled them for various purposes. Rags were used in paper making. Bones were cleaned of grease, which was then sold to soap makers. The bones were then usually sold to chemists.
I'm going to assume that a seed miller is pretty much like a grain miller. Online research in this area was complicated immensely by the fact that Miller is a very common name in the English language. There is a Miller Seed Company with a large online presence, as well as several seed researchers named Miller. If there's a difference to be found, I guess Jeff and Joel Sparks will have to let us in on it.
Sneakiness!
Let Lesserton natives who are not classed as Thieves roll a d20 instead of a d10 for stealth related rolls.
4. Starting Poor
The Player's Guide is overly generous here. DCC characters from Lesserton still only get 5d12 copper pieces to start.
