The Fifty Worlds web site is currently under construction. Make sure you have read the legal bit on my home page.
Currently, all the starting places are in southern England. For those of you whose geography is shaky, England is a country which occupies about half the land area of Great Britain, which is an island off the north-west coast of Europe, which is a continent in the northern hemisphere of Earth.
Earth is a planet. For the purposes of these scenarii, planets are assumed to be roughly spherical, although even that is controversial.
I deliberately don't specify what's happening on Earth now. Now, in scenario time, might be the present day, or a hundred years ago, or (except in one case) thousands of years ago. Now might even be in the future, although I don't recommend it.
If you're the sort who likes to read background info before going anywhere, I've got some unhelpful background info to keep you happy.
If you want to start from somewhere other than Earth, check this list and pick something suitable.
If you want to customise your character, check this list.
It's midsummer, and the sun is rising, and you choose exactly the wrong moment to walk through one of the megaliths.
You wouldn't think you can take a wrong turning at Glastonbury Tor, would you? The path just winds around the Tor, taking you higher on each circuit. But today the Tor is covered in fog from the nearby Bristol Channel, and somehow you've managed to take a wrong turn. Instead of going up, you're going down.
According to legend, there's a particular tree in the University Park. If you walk anticlockwise around it three times, you vanish. No-one is quite sure which tree it is. Only you would be stupid to try every tree in the park until you find the right one.
N.B. Oxford University has only been existence for the past thousand years or so. If now is, for example, the Roman era, you can't use this starting-point.
The other options are:
Within reason, you can use any of the character point systems outlined in the core AD&D products to customise your character.
Some of them seem overly restrictive to me, so the following are also allowed in the Fifty Worlds. Except for the last three, all options are available to all characters created anywhere in the Fifty Worlds.
Follower: When the character is initially created, the DM creates a 1st-level NPC and assigns this NPC as the character's follower. The cost is 1 character point per follower. This is cheap because the follower is almost as much of a liability as an asset: in most circumstances, the follower will be either a childhood friend or a younger brother or sister. The follower is not replaced if slain. You can have as many followers as you want: if you really want to spend ten character points getting your entire family eaten by trolls, that's your privilege. Followers are available to all character classes.
Defence bonus: The character gains a bonus to his armour class if unarmoured and unencumbered. The cost is 5 character points for a +1 bonus, 10 character points for a +2 bonus, etc without limit. Normally, this ability is only available when the character is initially created - it cannot be gained later. It is available to all character classes, not just fighters and thieves, but (to avoid absurdities and help role-playing) the character must also have some non-weapon proficiency which justifies the defence bonus (jumping or tumbling would be suitable). Whenever the player character improves this non-weapon proficiency, he can (by spending a further 5 character points) gain a further +1 defence bonus.
Increased movement: The character's base movement rate is 15 rather than 12. The cost is 5 character points. This ability is only available when the character is initially created - it cannot be gained later. It is available to all character classes, not just fighters, but (to avoid absurdities and help role-playing) the character must also have running proficiency.
Two-weapon style: The character can fight with two weapons and suffer no penalties to his attacks rolls. Obviously, no shield can be used, and if the character wears armour heavier than studded leather, the standard penalties apply. The cost is 5 character points, but the character must also purchase the ambidexterity trait. This ability can be gained whenever the character rises in level, but ambidexterity is not - it must be chosen whene character is initially created. It is available to all character classes, not just rangers (I really don't understand why this should have been specific to rangers in the first place - why should rangers be any more ambidextrous than anyone else?).
Hit Point Bonus (1): Any character with 17 or higher constitution gets the additional hit points a fighter would. This ability is only available when the character is initially created - it cannot be gained later. It is free to fighters, paladins and rangers, and costs anyone else 5 character points.
Hit Point Bonus (2): The character gains one extra hit point. The cost is 1 character point per hit point. It is available to all character classes. One extra hit point may be purchased on initial character creation and every time the character rises in level (and, for nit-pickers, yes, that does include dual-classed characters rising in level in their second class).
Limited Thieving Skill: Most thief skills (specifically including picking pockets and opening locks) are available to all character classes. The cost is 5 character points more than the skill would cost a thief (i.e. 15 character points for picking pockets, 15 character points for opening locks ...).
Limited Magical Skill: If you read the existing books carefully, you may note that a wizard character can gain the ability to prepare one additional 1st-level spell (this costs 5 character points) and enter a specified 1st-level spell in his spell-books (this also costs 5 character points). In certain, very restricted, parts of the Fifty Worlds, characters of other classes can (at the cost of 15 character points) gain the ability to prepare one 1st-level spell of their choice. For a further 5 character points (i.e. 20 character points in total), they may prepare this spell (and only this spell) twice. Alternatively, for a further 17 character points (i.e. 32 character points in total), this may be a persistent spell effect. It sounds expensive, but a thief might possibly regard change self as a persistent spell effect as worth 32 character points. This option is only available when the character is first created, and if the player character chooses one of the stereotypical backgrounds from the previous section and that stereotypical background specifically states that Limited Magical Skill is available; it is not available to characters starting from Earth.
Limited Granted Power: If you read the existing books carefully, you may note that clerics can gain additional granted powers (for a minimum of 10 character points). In certain circumstances, non-clerics who follow a particular deity can also gain granted powers. The power can duplicate any priest or wizard spell, up to a maximum of 3rd level, of which the deity in question would approve. The base cost is 20 character points for a power useable once per day, 22 character points for a power useable three times per day, or 25 character points for a continuous or persistent power. Add to this 1 character point per level for a power duplicating a priest spell, or 2 character points per level for a power duplicating a wizard spell. This way, our hypothetical thief in the previous example could get change self as a persistent effect for a mere 27 character points, but if he fails to remain loyal to the particular deity granting the power, the power is lost. This option is only available when the character is first created, and if the player character chooses one of the stereotypical backgrounds from the previous section and that stereotypical background specifically states that Limited Granted Power is available; it is not available to characters starting from Earth.
Psionic Wild Talent: With some restrictions, characters of any class can gain a psionic wild talent (randomly-rolled or chosen by the DM) at a cost of 9 character points. Characters of any class can instead gain a devotion of their choice as a psionic wild talent at a cost of 18 character points, or a science of their choice as a psionic wild talent at a cost of 27 character points. The character can only gain one psionic wild talent at first level. However, a character who already has one or more psionic wild talents can add extra wild talents (paying the cost as listed above) whenever he rises in level. These options are normally only available when the character is first created, and if the player character chooses one of the stereotypical backgrounds from the previous section and that stereotypical background specifically states that Psionic Wild Talent is available. Characters starting from Earth may be Psionic Wild Talents.
DMs can, occasionally, find notes which give extra information which player characters don't have. Click here and then shadow what the players are doing.