Prior Experience and Customizing Characters

Character creation in old-school systems is elegantly simple, but aside from your dice rolls characters of the same class are likely to be more or less mechanically the same. Character creation in newer systems tend to be a bit more involved (with several decision points built into the process), but that degree of customization means making a character takes more time. 

Below is my attempt at a "Goldilocks" solution: assume an OSR game like LotFP as the base, but this adds some quick options at character creation to differentiate characters at the outset:

Prior Experience To account for your character's experience prior to becoming an adventurer, customize them by choosing two items from the list below. You can pick the same benefit twice, if you like.

Esoteric Arts – Pick a 1st level spell; your character can cast this spell once per day.

Hardened – You get an extra die's worth of hit points plus Constitution modifier.

Resilient – You get +1 to saving throws.

Sharpened – Add +1 to your attack bonus.

Skilled – Add +1 to a skill of your choice.

Special Snowflake – Want a special ability not covered by the regular rules? Tell me what you've got in mind and we can probably work something out.

Windfall – You get another 3d6x10 silver pieces of wealth to spend or save as you see fit.

Grendel's Arm

The petrified arm of a massive beast, Grendel's Arm can be wielded as a two-handed weapon that does 1d10 damage. The arm still retains a measure of its inherent ferocity; after it has been wielded as a weapon by a character, it strikes out on its own against the same foe with an attack bonus of +6.

On an attack roll of one, the wielder of the Arm must make a Saving Throw vs. Magic Device. On a failed Save, Grendel's Mother becomes alerted to the location of the bearer of her son's arm.

WEARING A FACE THAT SHE KEEPS IN A JAR BY THE DOOR

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(You can see the whole thing here. It's great.) 

Eleanor Rigby
AC 12, Move 120', HD 5, HP 23, bite 1d8, Morale 10
Special: 

• Eleanor Rigby can assume the facial likeness of anyone she has seen.
• Eleanor Rigby is compelled to pick up any grains of rice that are scattered before her, provided that the rice has previously been thrown upon a newly-married couple.
• Eleanor Rigby has advantage on attacks against all the lonely people. 

Color-Coding a Character Sheet

One thing new players sometimes struggle with in rpgs is finding stuff on their character sheets, which makes sense if they're just not used to the visual conventions and layout strategies of tabletop games. I'm wondering if color-coded characters sheets, like my above example of a custom LotoFAP sheet, could help. Something like "Okay, what's your Armor Class? It's in the red area" might just save some time and help nail things down.

If you want your own technicolor Baphomet character sheet, I've made it available here as a pdf.

Five Things to Do with Isle of the Unknown

Five things to do with a book you bought, looked at, and said "Oh, this seems curiously empty. Great cover though."

Pokecrawl
The characters go hex to hex catching the Pokemon-like monsters on the island; the Zodiac wizards are the Gym Leaders to be defeated; the clerics are helpful trainers; the statues are ways to access the Pokedex.

Wizard Fighter II: Super Turbo
The wizards on the island have all come to the island to do battle with each other, Magic: the Gathering-style, but the rules of engagement state that they cannot leave their chosen territory. This means that they compete with each other by vying for agents to sabotage and attack the others. That’s where the characters come in: who will they ally themselves with, and what reward is offered? Will they betray their patron if a better offer comes along, or do they fight for some higher ideal?

Weird Game Hunt
The characters are big game hunters exploring an uncivilized island, looking to bag some freakish trophies to mount in the ancestral manor. This probably isn't the most politically-correct idea in our post-Cecil moment. Mix in some of H. Rider Haggard's She for kicks.

Ritualis Interruptus
The wizards have all come to the island to perform a great magical working that requires them to complete a vast ritual in concert with each other ; their positions on the island all relate to a web of ley lines. However, there is some Ancient Evil that wants to prevent the beneficent ritual from happening. That’s where the characters come in: how will they safeguard all of those wizards from attack by the minions of the Ancient Evil?

Missionaries in a Pagan Land
The clerics on the island are all missionaries who are bringing the light of the One True Religion to the pagan isle. Cut off from the homeland, the clerics are counting on the characters to deliver much-needed supplies (bibles, food, weapons--maybe not in that order) to counter the pernicious influence of the isle's powerful pagan leaders (the Zodiac wizards, naturally). The statues are pagan idols (or perhaps the earthly manifestation of the pagan gods themselves) to be toppled and destroyed. Win hearts and minds, or bring religion with fire and sword--your choice!