Mudcrab
Mudcrabs are hard-shelled creatures, smaller than humans but still big enough to still be dangerous. They are commonly found near water around Morrowind. Mudcrabs usually attack man-sized prey if they feel threatened, but a mudcrab tastes human or demihuman flesh even once it becomes a maneater until death – this behaviour usually gets it killed before too long.
No. Enc: 1-3 (1-6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60' (20')
Movement: Swim: 60' (20')
Armour Class: 3
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d6
Save: F1
Morale: 7 (11 for maneaters)
Hoard Class: None
XP: 10
Slaughterfish
Slaughterfish are carnivorous fish up to two feet in length, with sharp pointed teeth. They form into large schools, deadly to unlucky swimmers.
No. Enc: 1-20 (1-20)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: Swim: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1+1
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4
Save: F1
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None
XP: 15
Dreugh
Dreugh are a hybrid of human and octopus in appearance, with a humanoid upper body with pincer hands and a mass of tentacles for a lower body. They are said to have underwater kingdoms ruled by fabled "trident-kings", but are savagely hostile to intruders in their watery domains.
No. Enc: 1-2 (1-4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: Swim: 90' (30')
Armour Class: 2
Hit Dice: 5
Attacks: 2
Damage: 2d6
Save: F5
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: XIX
XP: 200
Special Notes: These creatures are easily transported to other settings, to help pad out the slim lists of aquatic monsters.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Morrowind Monsters: Undead
Morrowind has several types of unique undead. This is mostly because of the cultural practice of "sacred necromancy". This is the raising of ancestor spirits as undead to guard their own tombs from robbers. Those who practice "profane necromancy" (raising any other sort of undead for any other reason) in Morrowind are liable to be lynched or burned at the stake if caught, even though most outsiders see little moral difference between the two types of necromantic arts.
Ancestor Ghost
Ancestor ghosts are semi-transparent, and look like a floating tattered burial shroud, with bones and a skeletal face sticking out.
No. Enc: 1 (1-6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60' (20')
Armour Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4
Save: E1
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 19
Ancestor ghosts are immune to non-magical weapons, except those made of silver.They have all the usual undead immunities too. They can bestow a curse (as per the clerical spell Bless reversed) upon any who invade their tomb.
Bonewalker
Bonewalkers are the corporeal equivalents of amcestor ghosts, whose remains have been animated instead of just their spirits. They have a particularly intimidating appearance because their shattered bones stick out from their flesh all over their bodies.
No. Enc: 1 (1-4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d10
Save: E4
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 245
Bonewalkers have all the usual undead immunities. They can bestow a curse (reducing the target's Strength by 1d6 points for 1 minute, save negates) upon any who invade their tomb.
Greater Bonewalker
These are more powerful versions of the bonewalker.
No. Enc: 1 (1-3)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 3
Hit Dice: 7
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d12
Save: E7
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 1490
Greater bonewalkers have all the usual undead immunities. They can bestow a curse (reducing the target's Strength by 2d6 points, save negates) upon any who invade their tomb. Strength loss from this curse returns at a rate of only 1 point per day naturally, but a Remove Curse spell remedies the whole loss immediately.
Bonelord
Bonelords are dangerous tomb guardians. Their form is a skeletal body within a hooded burial shroud, with an extra pair of arms attached.
No. Enc: 1 (1-2)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 3
Hit Dice: 8
Attacks: 2
Damage: 3d6
Save: E8
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 1560
Bonelords have all the usual undead immunities. They have all the usual undead immunities too. They can bestow a curse (as per the clerical spell Remove Curse reversed) upon any who invade their tomb.
Skeleton
Sacred necromancers often animate common skeletons, either to support the more formidable tomb guardians or instead of them if the more difficult rituals aren't possible. These are exactly the same as the Skeletons from the Labyrinth Lord rulebook (pps.95.96 in the revised edition).
Dwemer Spectre
These are the restless spirits of dead Dwemer, still roaming their lost halls, and adding to the danger already presented by animunculi. Treat them as Spectres from the Labyrinth Lord rulebook (p.96 in the revised edition), except that they can be harmed by silver weapons.
Special Notes: These undead are easily used in other worlds, as long as there exists some individual or group willing to animate the dead to guard their own tombs.
Ancestor Ghost
Ancestor ghosts are semi-transparent, and look like a floating tattered burial shroud, with bones and a skeletal face sticking out.
No. Enc: 1 (1-6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60' (20')
Armour Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4
Save: E1
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 19
Ancestor ghosts are immune to non-magical weapons, except those made of silver.They have all the usual undead immunities too. They can bestow a curse (as per the clerical spell Bless reversed) upon any who invade their tomb.
Bonewalker
Bonewalkers are the corporeal equivalents of amcestor ghosts, whose remains have been animated instead of just their spirits. They have a particularly intimidating appearance because their shattered bones stick out from their flesh all over their bodies.
No. Enc: 1 (1-4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d10
Save: E4
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 245
Bonewalkers have all the usual undead immunities. They can bestow a curse (reducing the target's Strength by 1d6 points for 1 minute, save negates) upon any who invade their tomb.
Greater Bonewalker
These are more powerful versions of the bonewalker.
No. Enc: 1 (1-3)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 3
Hit Dice: 7
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d12
Save: E7
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 1490
Greater bonewalkers have all the usual undead immunities. They can bestow a curse (reducing the target's Strength by 2d6 points, save negates) upon any who invade their tomb. Strength loss from this curse returns at a rate of only 1 point per day naturally, but a Remove Curse spell remedies the whole loss immediately.
Bonelord
Bonelords are dangerous tomb guardians. Their form is a skeletal body within a hooded burial shroud, with an extra pair of arms attached.
No. Enc: 1 (1-2)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 3
Hit Dice: 8
Attacks: 2
Damage: 3d6
Save: E8
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVIII
XP: 1560
Bonelords have all the usual undead immunities. They have all the usual undead immunities too. They can bestow a curse (as per the clerical spell Remove Curse reversed) upon any who invade their tomb.
Skeleton
Sacred necromancers often animate common skeletons, either to support the more formidable tomb guardians or instead of them if the more difficult rituals aren't possible. These are exactly the same as the Skeletons from the Labyrinth Lord rulebook (pps.95.96 in the revised edition).
Dwemer Spectre
These are the restless spirits of dead Dwemer, still roaming their lost halls, and adding to the danger already presented by animunculi. Treat them as Spectres from the Labyrinth Lord rulebook (p.96 in the revised edition), except that they can be harmed by silver weapons.
Special Notes: These undead are easily used in other worlds, as long as there exists some individual or group willing to animate the dead to guard their own tombs.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Morrowind Monsters: Animunculi
Animunculi are the automata created by an extinct race called the Dwemer. The creations outlived their creators, and still guard the Dwemer ruins scatted across Vvardenfell. The exact nature of the animunculi is – like most things about the Dwemer – mysterious. Their nature seems to a mixture of technology and a lost magical art. Animunculi have articulated joints and seem to be partly steam-powered (steam hisses out irregularly as they move), but boiler machinery alone couldn't remain active after such a long period of neglect.
Animunculi are made of a metal known as Dwemer Brass. Not to be confused with the ordinary alloy called brass, Dwemer Brass (capital "B") is stronger than steel but much heavier, but the secrets of forging it are long lost. Salvaged parts of plating from Steam Centurions and other animunculi can be fashioned by an expert armourer into plate armour, but the result is cumbersome because of its makeshift construction. Such armour has an Armour Class of 1, but weighs 150 pounds (three times as much as regular plate armour). A true master armourer with quality salvage could partially articulate the plating like regular plate armour, so the only problem is the heavier weight of the metal – this changes the encumbrance to 100 pounds (only twice that of conventional plate mail).
The animunculi defend the Dwemer ruins from intruders, showing no mercy and never retreating. Whether they ever showed more complex behaviour is not known to anyone living. They never leave the area that they guard, and are unable to: if they are taken more than about a mile away, they instantly shut down, but reactivate if they come back in range. Whether this is due to a loss of power, loss of behavioural command, or something else is also unknown.
All animunculi are immune to poison and disease. They take half damage from fire and lightning attacks but double damage from cold because of their dependence on steam. They are too noisy to be able to surprise any opponent, with the exception of the Centurion Sphere's initial attack (see below).
Centurion Spider
These are the smallest and weakest of the animunculi, but are still deadly to the average looter. They have an egg-shaped central body surrounded by six narrow legs that make a distinctive fast clicking sound as they move.
No. Enc: 1 (1-4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: 1
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d8
Save: F3
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XI
XP: 80
Centurion Sphere
Centurion Spheres are the most unusual in appearance of the animunculi. When inactive, they rest in the shape of a ball, with only a few joins in the shell giving a clue to their true nature. They activate when they detect an intruder nearby, causing a roll for surprise. The shell opens down the middle, with a torso-like body extending upright. One arm has a pincer-like weapon, while the other resembles a shield. The two main halves of the outer shell tilt out to the sides and work like wheels, enabling them to patrol and attack quickly when active.
No. Enc: 1 (1-4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 0
Hit Dice: 5
Attacks: 1
Damage: 3d6
Save: F5
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XI
XP: 500
Steam Centurion
Steam centurions are hulking humanoid guardians. At the end of their right arm is a huge spiked mace-head instead of a hand, able to strike with tremendous power.
No. Enc: 1 (1-2)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: -1
Hit Dice: 10
Attacks: 1
Damage: 10d6
Save: F10
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XX
XP: 2,400
Special Notes: Outside of the Elder Scrolls setting, animunculi could be hard to justify unless a peculiar technomagical lost civilisation like the Dwemer exist in the world's history. This could actually make them a good candidate for one-off special cases, especially in cross-genre adventures in some old-school games. Animunculi might be a better choice for guardians of (for instance) a crashed spaceship than normal robots. The players know, more or less, how robots work and what they are, even if the characters don't, but animunculi are more mysterious because there's no telling where the technology ends and the magic begins. That means that the players are in the dark about their enemies out-of-character, just as much as their characters are.
Animunculi are made of a metal known as Dwemer Brass. Not to be confused with the ordinary alloy called brass, Dwemer Brass (capital "B") is stronger than steel but much heavier, but the secrets of forging it are long lost. Salvaged parts of plating from Steam Centurions and other animunculi can be fashioned by an expert armourer into plate armour, but the result is cumbersome because of its makeshift construction. Such armour has an Armour Class of 1, but weighs 150 pounds (three times as much as regular plate armour). A true master armourer with quality salvage could partially articulate the plating like regular plate armour, so the only problem is the heavier weight of the metal – this changes the encumbrance to 100 pounds (only twice that of conventional plate mail).
The animunculi defend the Dwemer ruins from intruders, showing no mercy and never retreating. Whether they ever showed more complex behaviour is not known to anyone living. They never leave the area that they guard, and are unable to: if they are taken more than about a mile away, they instantly shut down, but reactivate if they come back in range. Whether this is due to a loss of power, loss of behavioural command, or something else is also unknown.
All animunculi are immune to poison and disease. They take half damage from fire and lightning attacks but double damage from cold because of their dependence on steam. They are too noisy to be able to surprise any opponent, with the exception of the Centurion Sphere's initial attack (see below).
Centurion Spider
These are the smallest and weakest of the animunculi, but are still deadly to the average looter. They have an egg-shaped central body surrounded by six narrow legs that make a distinctive fast clicking sound as they move.
No. Enc: 1 (1-4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: 1
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d8
Save: F3
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XI
XP: 80
Centurion Sphere
Centurion Spheres are the most unusual in appearance of the animunculi. When inactive, they rest in the shape of a ball, with only a few joins in the shell giving a clue to their true nature. They activate when they detect an intruder nearby, causing a roll for surprise. The shell opens down the middle, with a torso-like body extending upright. One arm has a pincer-like weapon, while the other resembles a shield. The two main halves of the outer shell tilt out to the sides and work like wheels, enabling them to patrol and attack quickly when active.
No. Enc: 1 (1-4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 0
Hit Dice: 5
Attacks: 1
Damage: 3d6
Save: F5
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XI
XP: 500
Steam Centurion
Steam centurions are hulking humanoid guardians. At the end of their right arm is a huge spiked mace-head instead of a hand, able to strike with tremendous power.
No. Enc: 1 (1-2)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: -1
Hit Dice: 10
Attacks: 1
Damage: 10d6
Save: F10
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XX
XP: 2,400
Special Notes: Outside of the Elder Scrolls setting, animunculi could be hard to justify unless a peculiar technomagical lost civilisation like the Dwemer exist in the world's history. This could actually make them a good candidate for one-off special cases, especially in cross-genre adventures in some old-school games. Animunculi might be a better choice for guardians of (for instance) a crashed spaceship than normal robots. The players know, more or less, how robots work and what they are, even if the characters don't, but animunculi are more mysterious because there's no telling where the technology ends and the magic begins. That means that the players are in the dark about their enemies out-of-character, just as much as their characters are.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Morrowind Monsters: The Kwama
I'm beginning a series of monster conversions from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – one of my all-time favourite CRPGs – to Labyrinth Lord. One of the game's strengths is it's strange selection of creatures, so I think they're well worth spreading around. I've taken some liberties: the stats are converted by "feel" and gameplay experience instead of a strict formula, and I've added some things that weren't in the game to flesh them out.
Images are from the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
KWAMA
Kwama are a species that make colonies in cave networks. They hatch from eggs laid by their queen. These eggs are found in clutches throughout the colony, and are edible and nutritious to humanoids, with a very strong flavour and odd texture. Some subspecies of the kwama (foragers and warriors) are hostile and aggressive to any beings not of their colony, but a peculiar trait is that they identify this purely by scent. Humanoids who spend about a week in an outer part of the colony (near to the non-hostile kwama) take on the scent, and then the whole colony treats them as one of their own kind, allowing them to move around the colony safely.
There are very different subspecies of kwama:
Scrib
Scribs are small (up to two feet long) hard-shelled kwama larva, often found scuttling around within the colony or nearby on the surface. They are not hostile unless provoked.
No. Enc: 1d3 (1d10)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: ½ (1d4 HP)
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 1d2 + paralysis
Save: F1
Morale: 6
Hoard Class: None
XP: 6
Special: Scribs have a poison bite that causes paralysis for 1d3 rounds unless a saving throw is made to resist. Only the first successful bite in any combat has poison.
Kwama Forager
These wormlike foragers hunt for the colony. They prefer small prey but are unintelligent enough to attack humanoids despite being much smaller (similar size to scribs).
No. Enc: 1d3 (1d8)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1 (pouncing bite)
Damage: 1d4
Save: F1
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None
XP: 10
Kwama Worker
Workers are passive four-legged drones that toil away within the colony (they are rarely seen outside). They are not aggressive, but can be dangerous if provoked.
No. Enc: 1d2 (1d10)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: 6
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 1d6
Save: F2
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None
XP: 20
Kwama Warrior
Looking much like upright workers, these are never found outside the colony, and attack fearlessly as soon as they detect a foreign being. Their sole role is defence of the colony and the queen.
No. Enc: 0 (1d6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 3 (bite, claw, claw)
Damage: 1d8, 1d6, 1d6
Save: F3
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: None
XP: 65
Special: Kwama warriors have a magical power to generate an electrical strike. This has 30' range and does 3d6 damage (save for half) to a single target. It is usable once per turn.
Kwama Queen
The largest of kwama, the queen has a large egg sac at the rear. Kwama queens are strong, but cannot move so they are dependent on the warriors for their protection.
No. Enc: 0 (1)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: None
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 4d6
Save: F6
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XII
XP: Nil (the queen's immobility usually makes her no challenge, but if this isn't the case, her XP value is 320).
Special Notes: In Morrowind, the locals operate “egg mines”, in which workers lurk in the fringes of the colony to take their scent, then help the kwama out so that the queen's egg production increases. These eggs become a local staple, and some can be exported.
In other campaign settings, an enterprising person might have worked out how to “egg mine” a kwama colony, and the eggs could become a highly prized rare delicacy in the nearest big city. An adventure could be based on finding (or hiding) the secret of the eggs' origin. For a short adventure, perhaps a clever fugitive is hiding in a kwama lair, and adventurers who want to claim the price on his head have to also deal with the kwama who think he is one of the colony and fight in his defence.
Images are from the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
KWAMA
Kwama are a species that make colonies in cave networks. They hatch from eggs laid by their queen. These eggs are found in clutches throughout the colony, and are edible and nutritious to humanoids, with a very strong flavour and odd texture. Some subspecies of the kwama (foragers and warriors) are hostile and aggressive to any beings not of their colony, but a peculiar trait is that they identify this purely by scent. Humanoids who spend about a week in an outer part of the colony (near to the non-hostile kwama) take on the scent, and then the whole colony treats them as one of their own kind, allowing them to move around the colony safely.
There are very different subspecies of kwama:
Scrib
Scribs are small (up to two feet long) hard-shelled kwama larva, often found scuttling around within the colony or nearby on the surface. They are not hostile unless provoked.
No. Enc: 1d3 (1d10)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: ½ (1d4 HP)
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 1d2 + paralysis
Save: F1
Morale: 6
Hoard Class: None
XP: 6
Special: Scribs have a poison bite that causes paralysis for 1d3 rounds unless a saving throw is made to resist. Only the first successful bite in any combat has poison.
Kwama Forager
These wormlike foragers hunt for the colony. They prefer small prey but are unintelligent enough to attack humanoids despite being much smaller (similar size to scribs).
No. Enc: 1d3 (1d8)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1 (pouncing bite)
Damage: 1d4
Save: F1
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None
XP: 10
Kwama Worker
Workers are passive four-legged drones that toil away within the colony (they are rarely seen outside). They are not aggressive, but can be dangerous if provoked.
No. Enc: 1d2 (1d10)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armour Class: 6
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 1d6
Save: F2
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None
XP: 20
Kwama Warrior
Looking much like upright workers, these are never found outside the colony, and attack fearlessly as soon as they detect a foreign being. Their sole role is defence of the colony and the queen.
No. Enc: 0 (1d6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 3 (bite, claw, claw)
Damage: 1d8, 1d6, 1d6
Save: F3
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: None
XP: 65
Special: Kwama warriors have a magical power to generate an electrical strike. This has 30' range and does 3d6 damage (save for half) to a single target. It is usable once per turn.
Kwama Queen
The largest of kwama, the queen has a large egg sac at the rear. Kwama queens are strong, but cannot move so they are dependent on the warriors for their protection.
No. Enc: 0 (1)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: None
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 4d6
Save: F6
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XII
XP: Nil (the queen's immobility usually makes her no challenge, but if this isn't the case, her XP value is 320).
Special Notes: In Morrowind, the locals operate “egg mines”, in which workers lurk in the fringes of the colony to take their scent, then help the kwama out so that the queen's egg production increases. These eggs become a local staple, and some can be exported.
In other campaign settings, an enterprising person might have worked out how to “egg mine” a kwama colony, and the eggs could become a highly prized rare delicacy in the nearest big city. An adventure could be based on finding (or hiding) the secret of the eggs' origin. For a short adventure, perhaps a clever fugitive is hiding in a kwama lair, and adventurers who want to claim the price on his head have to also deal with the kwama who think he is one of the colony and fight in his defence.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Sorry Gary...
I've only just discovered from reading a post by Frank Mentzer on the Dragonsfoot forums that I've been pronouncing Gary Gygax's name wrong all these years. I've always pronouned it like GUY-JACKS. Turns out it's actually GUY-GACKS (both G's are hard like in "Granite"). While I'm pleased to know at last, I'll now have to try to retrain myself to say it differently after a quarter of a century's habit of saying it wrongly.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Downtime in High-Level Classic D&D
One of the things I really like about Classic D&D – especially the Frank Mentzter BECMI/RC version – is the treatment of the post-Name Level game. That is, how the emphasis changes, and the way that's encouraged by the game mechanics. This is most evident in the character options available in "downtime" between traditional adventures.
At Name Level, Magic-Users get to conduct magical research. This is a much bigger deal than it might at first appear. One reason for this is the content of the research: M-Us can craft magical items. Crafting magical items is a very powerful tool, as most veterans of 3.x D&D are well aware – if only because the ability to easily make scrolls of uncommonly used spells and wands of commonly used spells makes the M-Us spells-per-day limitation much less limiting. What's significant about crafting magic items in Basic is that, unlike in 3.x, there is no prerequisite in feats (or anything else) to craft, nor is there any experience point cost; just money and time (and M-Us of this level are bound to have a good amount of money). On the other hand, there is no exhaustive shopping-list of items and costs, which puts things more in the DM's hands to decide what can be made, what can't be made, and what requires a quest for an exotic component, which helps keep it all under control. Unlike AD&D, however, the tone isn't all about discouraging crafting magical items in favour of gaining magical items solely as loot. So the magical research rules in Basic are powerful, but still give DMs the last word in what's possible.
Other classes have options too. The Expert Set allows PCs to build strongholds, claim lands and raise private armies, but the Companion Set opens things up much wider by adding dominions and their management. This is a sophisticated minigame that can play out like an empire-building computer or board game, but it feeds into the core D&D adventuring game too. In a beautifully simple extension of the XP-for-gold reward system for adventuring, dominion income is also worth experience.
Fighters are the quintessential land-owning high-level characters. They gain automatic followers if they build a keep, plus are likely to be offered land in a feudal arrangement. Should they choose this option, the additional XP that they gain from this between adventures contributes to their level gain, which goes a long way to topping up their THAC0 and impressive higher-level saving throws to keep them strong and viable when the Magic-Users are coming into their own. In fact, the usefulness of domain management to the Fighter is such that in a way, the special abilities of the well known wandering-Fighter options of BECMI (Paladin, Knight, or Avenger) are compensation for giving that up.
Clerics are more of a middle ground. They probably get financial aid from their religious hierarchy in building a stronghold and free followers as well, so they are also well suited to the domain-management minigame. On the other hand, they can take advantage from magical research (although not to the same degree as Magic-Users), so they don't get a subclass option comparable to the landless Fighters.* It makes for an interesting choice – be landless and spend downtime making items to get more "juice" during adventures (especially for healing), or run a dominion for the XP to go faster through the upper levels and get to the Righteous Firepower high-level Cleric spells.
Thieves are a bit of an odd one out (as they often tend to be in BECMI). They build hideouts instead of strongholds and get apprentice Thieves instead of soldiers, with a place in the Thieves Guild hierarchy. Actually running organised crime is left to the DM, which feels weak compared to the level of detail given to dominion management. Wandering Thieves get a tantalising hook in the form of a chance of a treasure map or similar per game week, but nothing more systematic. Crime really doesn't pay in BECMI, which is unfortunate for the Thieves. Should the DM flesh things out for the guild thieves, though, there's lots of potential for gangster goings-on with lashings of experience points for ill-gotten gold.
Even Magic-Users can build strongholds (a tower in their case), but it's a more casual affair; they get a few apprentices, but don't really run dominions. One fun quirk is that they can build open dungeons beneath their tower, which draw monsters to lair there. By and large, though, M-Us have more important things to do than manage people.
Demihumans have special rules for strongholds, which – like the racial classes themselves – helps to emphasise that they're not just like humans. For instance, elves build strongholds that blend into the forest, and gain the friendship and aid of the woodland animals. They don't get any special subclasses for forfeiting a stronghold, which makes sense considering they're at or near their level cap anyway.
These options help to change the texture of the game beyond Name Level, and in a gradually increasing way. At higher and higher levels, magical researchers get more and more resources for ever greater projects, while the dominion rulers' territories grow to grander scales with even greater experience rewards. So – while it's never actually forced – incentives are there to spend increasing amounts of in-character time doing non-adventuring things. This gives higher-level gaming a very different style to lower-level gaming (not just more of the same with bigger numbers), and also emphasises the unique style of each of the character classes.
* Neutral Clerics can become Druids, but I think that the trade-off of armour versus the extra spell list is an evenly matched one, so it doesn't belong to the same category as the Fighter options.
At Name Level, Magic-Users get to conduct magical research. This is a much bigger deal than it might at first appear. One reason for this is the content of the research: M-Us can craft magical items. Crafting magical items is a very powerful tool, as most veterans of 3.x D&D are well aware – if only because the ability to easily make scrolls of uncommonly used spells and wands of commonly used spells makes the M-Us spells-per-day limitation much less limiting. What's significant about crafting magic items in Basic is that, unlike in 3.x, there is no prerequisite in feats (or anything else) to craft, nor is there any experience point cost; just money and time (and M-Us of this level are bound to have a good amount of money). On the other hand, there is no exhaustive shopping-list of items and costs, which puts things more in the DM's hands to decide what can be made, what can't be made, and what requires a quest for an exotic component, which helps keep it all under control. Unlike AD&D, however, the tone isn't all about discouraging crafting magical items in favour of gaining magical items solely as loot. So the magical research rules in Basic are powerful, but still give DMs the last word in what's possible.
Other classes have options too. The Expert Set allows PCs to build strongholds, claim lands and raise private armies, but the Companion Set opens things up much wider by adding dominions and their management. This is a sophisticated minigame that can play out like an empire-building computer or board game, but it feeds into the core D&D adventuring game too. In a beautifully simple extension of the XP-for-gold reward system for adventuring, dominion income is also worth experience.
Fighters are the quintessential land-owning high-level characters. They gain automatic followers if they build a keep, plus are likely to be offered land in a feudal arrangement. Should they choose this option, the additional XP that they gain from this between adventures contributes to their level gain, which goes a long way to topping up their THAC0 and impressive higher-level saving throws to keep them strong and viable when the Magic-Users are coming into their own. In fact, the usefulness of domain management to the Fighter is such that in a way, the special abilities of the well known wandering-Fighter options of BECMI (Paladin, Knight, or Avenger) are compensation for giving that up.
Clerics are more of a middle ground. They probably get financial aid from their religious hierarchy in building a stronghold and free followers as well, so they are also well suited to the domain-management minigame. On the other hand, they can take advantage from magical research (although not to the same degree as Magic-Users), so they don't get a subclass option comparable to the landless Fighters.* It makes for an interesting choice – be landless and spend downtime making items to get more "juice" during adventures (especially for healing), or run a dominion for the XP to go faster through the upper levels and get to the Righteous Firepower high-level Cleric spells.
Thieves are a bit of an odd one out (as they often tend to be in BECMI). They build hideouts instead of strongholds and get apprentice Thieves instead of soldiers, with a place in the Thieves Guild hierarchy. Actually running organised crime is left to the DM, which feels weak compared to the level of detail given to dominion management. Wandering Thieves get a tantalising hook in the form of a chance of a treasure map or similar per game week, but nothing more systematic. Crime really doesn't pay in BECMI, which is unfortunate for the Thieves. Should the DM flesh things out for the guild thieves, though, there's lots of potential for gangster goings-on with lashings of experience points for ill-gotten gold.
Even Magic-Users can build strongholds (a tower in their case), but it's a more casual affair; they get a few apprentices, but don't really run dominions. One fun quirk is that they can build open dungeons beneath their tower, which draw monsters to lair there. By and large, though, M-Us have more important things to do than manage people.
Demihumans have special rules for strongholds, which – like the racial classes themselves – helps to emphasise that they're not just like humans. For instance, elves build strongholds that blend into the forest, and gain the friendship and aid of the woodland animals. They don't get any special subclasses for forfeiting a stronghold, which makes sense considering they're at or near their level cap anyway.
These options help to change the texture of the game beyond Name Level, and in a gradually increasing way. At higher and higher levels, magical researchers get more and more resources for ever greater projects, while the dominion rulers' territories grow to grander scales with even greater experience rewards. So – while it's never actually forced – incentives are there to spend increasing amounts of in-character time doing non-adventuring things. This gives higher-level gaming a very different style to lower-level gaming (not just more of the same with bigger numbers), and also emphasises the unique style of each of the character classes.
* Neutral Clerics can become Druids, but I think that the trade-off of armour versus the extra spell list is an evenly matched one, so it doesn't belong to the same category as the Fighter options.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Navigating the Labyrinth
So far, we're two adventures into the Labyrinth Lord campaign. The first was Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics #0: Legends Are Made, Not Born, and the second was The Fountain of Health from Dungeon issue #39. Running an old-school D&D game has been different in a few ways from the games I'm used to.
Simplicity: I mentioned in a previous post that I really appreciate the simplicity of LL. The easy prep for me is more than just a matter of investing less of my time; every time I ran a d20 game the drudge work involved was demoralising. That meant that I'd put off the prep work to the last minute, and it would be rushed and unfinished, which didn't work as well and put me in a negative mood for the game. I actually abandoned the last two d20 campaigns I ran (Lone Wolf and Monte Cook's World of Darkness) because they were actually souring me on GMing. LL has been really liberating.
The simplicity in character options is something I had reservations about, because the group is used to games where you get to "build" your character with certain strengths. I think some of the group still aren't sold on LL's build-free way of handling characters (where one Fighter is much like another game-mechanically), but they seem to be giving it a fair shot. Hopefully the old-school ethos that characters are defined by what they do in the game and not by their powers will catch on as the campaign develops.
THAC0 & AC: Some of the group are still tripping over the THAC0 and to-hit rolls with lower-is-better AC. I even got a little confused once or twice myself. We're getting used to it again though, which isn't surprising considering the group's collective long experience with AD&D 2e.
The controversial THAC0 Defence house rule has mostly worked fine, but there was one weird moment in the first adventure where a PC fought an enemy one-on-one, which worked out as the player rolling the same d20 himself back and forward. Maybe THAC0 Defence needs a duelling exception to stop that happening, where single combat reverts to the standard system where the DM rolls attacks.
Lethality: We had one PC death in the first adventure. The second adventure was going well up till the very end, when a single bad decision got half the party killed. Not an ideal ending, but I think the group would have to admit that it was player error, and there didn't seem to be any bad feelings over it. I think the fact that it wasn't just a single PC loss this time made it seem less personal.
An unexpected benefit of the lethality comes from the fact that the players have been taking hirelings along with them to improve their odds. Having NPCs travelling with the group has opened up a little more roleplay. I think it's also helped the players feel less discouraged about the low power levels of their characters (compared to later editions), when they can see that the NPC adventurers don't do any better.
Sandboxing: I'm introducing sandboxing in small steps, because the group (me included) is used to linear sequences of adventures. So the first adventure was a straightforward "this is your mission, go and do it" thing to ease into the new game. After that, I gave the group several different adventure hooks to choose from. That drew comments about the videogamey feel, and the players approached it exactly like in a Bioware RPG; they also had a brief bit of analysis paralysis from those choices, but that didn't last long. When the PCs get more capable (round about when they graduate from the "Basic" into the "Expert" level range) I'll try opening things up further. When they start to outgrow the small town they're based in, I'll sound them out for where they want to go next, and build from there.
Experience for gold: I was surprised at how fiddly this turned out in actual play. I'm used to giving out mission-based XP, which is a simple case of picking a number to award, but gold-plus-monster XP needs a fair bit of calculation, at a point in the session where I'm usually finished GMing. The other thing that caught me off guard about it was that it makes the amount of treasure in the adventure very important for the experience award as well. In particular, the first adventure I ran was very cash-poor (which I hadn't thought to consider in advance) so I ended up multiplying the XP ad hoc, and even then it wasn't a whole lot when split between the PCs and the hirelings.
Description Over Dice: One of the biggest changes in this campaign is having the players' interaction with their environment be mostly based on the exact descriptions of their actions, instead of having skills like Perception or Search. This bit of the game style is still a work in progress for all of us to adjust to. I still instinctively feel like calling for dice rolls when it's not necessary, and I need to prompt the players occasionally to be specific about their actions. It's only to be expected that this will take time, considering how long we've been playing regular-style games but we've only had two adventures with LL.
Simplicity: I mentioned in a previous post that I really appreciate the simplicity of LL. The easy prep for me is more than just a matter of investing less of my time; every time I ran a d20 game the drudge work involved was demoralising. That meant that I'd put off the prep work to the last minute, and it would be rushed and unfinished, which didn't work as well and put me in a negative mood for the game. I actually abandoned the last two d20 campaigns I ran (Lone Wolf and Monte Cook's World of Darkness) because they were actually souring me on GMing. LL has been really liberating.
The simplicity in character options is something I had reservations about, because the group is used to games where you get to "build" your character with certain strengths. I think some of the group still aren't sold on LL's build-free way of handling characters (where one Fighter is much like another game-mechanically), but they seem to be giving it a fair shot. Hopefully the old-school ethos that characters are defined by what they do in the game and not by their powers will catch on as the campaign develops.
THAC0 & AC: Some of the group are still tripping over the THAC0 and to-hit rolls with lower-is-better AC. I even got a little confused once or twice myself. We're getting used to it again though, which isn't surprising considering the group's collective long experience with AD&D 2e.
The controversial THAC0 Defence house rule has mostly worked fine, but there was one weird moment in the first adventure where a PC fought an enemy one-on-one, which worked out as the player rolling the same d20 himself back and forward. Maybe THAC0 Defence needs a duelling exception to stop that happening, where single combat reverts to the standard system where the DM rolls attacks.
Lethality: We had one PC death in the first adventure. The second adventure was going well up till the very end, when a single bad decision got half the party killed. Not an ideal ending, but I think the group would have to admit that it was player error, and there didn't seem to be any bad feelings over it. I think the fact that it wasn't just a single PC loss this time made it seem less personal.
An unexpected benefit of the lethality comes from the fact that the players have been taking hirelings along with them to improve their odds. Having NPCs travelling with the group has opened up a little more roleplay. I think it's also helped the players feel less discouraged about the low power levels of their characters (compared to later editions), when they can see that the NPC adventurers don't do any better.
Sandboxing: I'm introducing sandboxing in small steps, because the group (me included) is used to linear sequences of adventures. So the first adventure was a straightforward "this is your mission, go and do it" thing to ease into the new game. After that, I gave the group several different adventure hooks to choose from. That drew comments about the videogamey feel, and the players approached it exactly like in a Bioware RPG; they also had a brief bit of analysis paralysis from those choices, but that didn't last long. When the PCs get more capable (round about when they graduate from the "Basic" into the "Expert" level range) I'll try opening things up further. When they start to outgrow the small town they're based in, I'll sound them out for where they want to go next, and build from there.
Experience for gold: I was surprised at how fiddly this turned out in actual play. I'm used to giving out mission-based XP, which is a simple case of picking a number to award, but gold-plus-monster XP needs a fair bit of calculation, at a point in the session where I'm usually finished GMing. The other thing that caught me off guard about it was that it makes the amount of treasure in the adventure very important for the experience award as well. In particular, the first adventure I ran was very cash-poor (which I hadn't thought to consider in advance) so I ended up multiplying the XP ad hoc, and even then it wasn't a whole lot when split between the PCs and the hirelings.
Description Over Dice: One of the biggest changes in this campaign is having the players' interaction with their environment be mostly based on the exact descriptions of their actions, instead of having skills like Perception or Search. This bit of the game style is still a work in progress for all of us to adjust to. I still instinctively feel like calling for dice rolls when it's not necessary, and I need to prompt the players occasionally to be specific about their actions. It's only to be expected that this will take time, considering how long we've been playing regular-style games but we've only had two adventures with LL.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Weapon Forms
Fun fact: I made more posts in August than I did in the whole of 2009. Now that I'm actually running Labyrinth Lord, I seem to have more to post about than when it was all theoretical. I'm going to try to keep the momentum going and post weekly (or better) on average.
Anyway, this time I'm going to be lazy and repost a house-rule system I wrote and posted to the LL forums last year. The idea behind them is similar in concept to the lightsaber forms from Star Wars lore, but the execution is very different from the d20 Star Wars games. I've left it open whether to these should be high-level only abilities (to give fighters in particular something to look forward to past name level), or potentially available at low levels with special training (so that characters can gain unique signature styles early on).
Weapon Form Specialisations
Note that elements of these forms are in common use by all competent weapon-users; these game mechanical effects represent specialisation in a form, and active use of this. Regardless of having one or more specialisations, a character may always choose to fight unspecialised. In fact, this is the default assumption unless the player agrees with the GM that he uses a form as a matter of course.
Characters may switch between any known form specialisations during combat, but only at the beginning of his turn (not between multiple attacks in the same round). Unless stated otherwise, all forms are usable only with melee weapons.
Headsman Form
Description: This form relies on the user forcing his opponent off balance for a moment to take the opportunity to draw his weapon arm(s) all the way back to wind up for a heavy, powerful attack. This is an aggressive form, very dangerous to use.
Favoured By: Executioners, assassins, berserkers.
Benefit: If the attack hits, damage is doubled (roll damage once and multiply by 2).
Drawback:If the target of the attack is not killed (i.e. survives the damage or the attack misses), he gets an immediate free counterattack. If the attacker has multiple attacks in a single round, a counterattack, if applicable, applies to each one at a time.
Waterdhavian Classical Form
Description: This is an elegant, balanced form, developed for duelling, teaching its wielders to anticipate their opponents' attacks.
Favoured By: Knights, nobles, duellists.
Benefit: The attacker may give up his attack (if he has multiple attacks, he may give up one or more) to parry an enemy attack later in the round, i.e. any time before his next turn. He must declare the intent to parry before the attack against him is rolled (he cannot wait to see which attacks would miss anyway). Success is determined by the attacker and defender both rolling attacks; if the parrying character “hits” a lower AC, he parries the attack harmlessly. Even if the parry fails, the attacker must still hit the defender's AC to successfully hit.
Drawback: The only drawback is that the form requires forfeiture of attacks for a limited advantage.
Windmill Form
Description: This form makes use of rapid attacks, often alternating high and low thrusts or left and right slashes, the attacker sometimes spinning round to attack from another angle. This often enables the attacker to overpower the target's defences, but only the most skilled can execute this successfully.
Favoured By: Avengers, expert swordsmen, elves.
Benefit: The attacker makes twice as many attacks.
Drawback: The attacker must compare each attack roll he makes to his base THAC0 (the number needed to hit AC 0, not counting any bonuses for this purpose, per the table in LL p.60 – a player with this form should keep this number ready and up-to-date). If he rolls less than this, his opponent breaks the sequence of his attack combination or he goes off-balance, and he loses all subsequent attacks this round. It is still possible for this low attack roll to hit, if hit hits the AC anyway.
Siege Form
Description: This form focuses on solid stances and the use of upper-body movement, in order to apply as much force as possible to weapon strikes. It looks simple but can be deceptively skillful, though its fixed nature limits mobility.
Favoured By: Soldiers, dwarves, orc warlords.
Benefit: The attacker can re-roll any damage roll coming up minimum (i.e. a natural 1 in most cases). If it re-rolls as minimum again, re-roll again (repeat as necessary to get a non-minimum result).
Drawback: The user may not move in the same round as making an attack.
Physician Form
Description: This form is based on taking opportunities to use a knowledge of anatomy to hit an enemy to hurt them most.
Favoured By: Clerics, necromancers, dirty tricksters.
Benefit: On an attack roll of natural 20, the enemy must make a saving throw versus Poison/Death or be stunned. If the attacker isn't using a blunt weapon, the target gets a +4 to the saving throw; if the target isn't humanoid, he gains a +4 bonus (cumulative with the other +4 if applicable). Undead, golems, and similar enemies are immune. If the target is stunned, he loses his actions for the next round; he isn't unconscious or helpless, however.
Drawback: The natural 20 roll isn't a critical hit, and so doesn't automatically do maximum damage.
Skirmish Form
Description: Many warriors prefer to hit-and-run rather than stand and trade blows; they may be lightly armoured, outnumbered, or simply favour mobility. Those who specialise in this form can become fearsome in battle, controlling the battlefield and denying safety to their enemies.
Favoured By: Halflings, werewolves, outlaws.
Benefit: The attacker may make his normal encounter movement in a round and attack with either a melee or missile weapon, then make a second encounter move immediately after his attack (normally encounter movement is allowed only once in a round in addition to an attack, LL p.52-53).
Drawback: Attacking on the run is very difficult. When attacking, the user of this form must roll two dice for the attack roll, and take whichever is lower.
Anyway, this time I'm going to be lazy and repost a house-rule system I wrote and posted to the LL forums last year. The idea behind them is similar in concept to the lightsaber forms from Star Wars lore, but the execution is very different from the d20 Star Wars games. I've left it open whether to these should be high-level only abilities (to give fighters in particular something to look forward to past name level), or potentially available at low levels with special training (so that characters can gain unique signature styles early on).
Weapon Form Specialisations
Note that elements of these forms are in common use by all competent weapon-users; these game mechanical effects represent specialisation in a form, and active use of this. Regardless of having one or more specialisations, a character may always choose to fight unspecialised. In fact, this is the default assumption unless the player agrees with the GM that he uses a form as a matter of course.
Characters may switch between any known form specialisations during combat, but only at the beginning of his turn (not between multiple attacks in the same round). Unless stated otherwise, all forms are usable only with melee weapons.
Headsman Form
Description: This form relies on the user forcing his opponent off balance for a moment to take the opportunity to draw his weapon arm(s) all the way back to wind up for a heavy, powerful attack. This is an aggressive form, very dangerous to use.
Favoured By: Executioners, assassins, berserkers.
Benefit: If the attack hits, damage is doubled (roll damage once and multiply by 2).
Drawback:If the target of the attack is not killed (i.e. survives the damage or the attack misses), he gets an immediate free counterattack. If the attacker has multiple attacks in a single round, a counterattack, if applicable, applies to each one at a time.
Waterdhavian Classical Form
Description: This is an elegant, balanced form, developed for duelling, teaching its wielders to anticipate their opponents' attacks.
Favoured By: Knights, nobles, duellists.
Benefit: The attacker may give up his attack (if he has multiple attacks, he may give up one or more) to parry an enemy attack later in the round, i.e. any time before his next turn. He must declare the intent to parry before the attack against him is rolled (he cannot wait to see which attacks would miss anyway). Success is determined by the attacker and defender both rolling attacks; if the parrying character “hits” a lower AC, he parries the attack harmlessly. Even if the parry fails, the attacker must still hit the defender's AC to successfully hit.
Drawback: The only drawback is that the form requires forfeiture of attacks for a limited advantage.
Windmill Form
Description: This form makes use of rapid attacks, often alternating high and low thrusts or left and right slashes, the attacker sometimes spinning round to attack from another angle. This often enables the attacker to overpower the target's defences, but only the most skilled can execute this successfully.
Favoured By: Avengers, expert swordsmen, elves.
Benefit: The attacker makes twice as many attacks.
Drawback: The attacker must compare each attack roll he makes to his base THAC0 (the number needed to hit AC 0, not counting any bonuses for this purpose, per the table in LL p.60 – a player with this form should keep this number ready and up-to-date). If he rolls less than this, his opponent breaks the sequence of his attack combination or he goes off-balance, and he loses all subsequent attacks this round. It is still possible for this low attack roll to hit, if hit hits the AC anyway.
Siege Form
Description: This form focuses on solid stances and the use of upper-body movement, in order to apply as much force as possible to weapon strikes. It looks simple but can be deceptively skillful, though its fixed nature limits mobility.
Favoured By: Soldiers, dwarves, orc warlords.
Benefit: The attacker can re-roll any damage roll coming up minimum (i.e. a natural 1 in most cases). If it re-rolls as minimum again, re-roll again (repeat as necessary to get a non-minimum result).
Drawback: The user may not move in the same round as making an attack.
Physician Form
Description: This form is based on taking opportunities to use a knowledge of anatomy to hit an enemy to hurt them most.
Favoured By: Clerics, necromancers, dirty tricksters.
Benefit: On an attack roll of natural 20, the enemy must make a saving throw versus Poison/Death or be stunned. If the attacker isn't using a blunt weapon, the target gets a +4 to the saving throw; if the target isn't humanoid, he gains a +4 bonus (cumulative with the other +4 if applicable). Undead, golems, and similar enemies are immune. If the target is stunned, he loses his actions for the next round; he isn't unconscious or helpless, however.
Drawback: The natural 20 roll isn't a critical hit, and so doesn't automatically do maximum damage.
Skirmish Form
Description: Many warriors prefer to hit-and-run rather than stand and trade blows; they may be lightly armoured, outnumbered, or simply favour mobility. Those who specialise in this form can become fearsome in battle, controlling the battlefield and denying safety to their enemies.
Favoured By: Halflings, werewolves, outlaws.
Benefit: The attacker may make his normal encounter movement in a round and attack with either a melee or missile weapon, then make a second encounter move immediately after his attack (normally encounter movement is allowed only once in a round in addition to an attack, LL p.52-53).
Drawback: Attacking on the run is very difficult. When attacking, the user of this form must roll two dice for the attack roll, and take whichever is lower.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Equipment Packs
I've seen equipment packs appear elsewhere in old-school blogs, but I haven't seen any for Labyrinth Lord specifically. They're invaluable for quick character creation because gearing up seems to take longer than everything else put together, between adding up costs (in different coin types), adding up weights, and deciding what's most useful to have. I'm also going to try to improve game utility by having themed packs for specific situations, so that groups can re-equip quickly for the needs of their current mission.
For these packs, each item is followed by the weight in pounds in [square brackets]. After the pack's contents is the total cost, with a DM-optional “package deal” price offered by outfitters when the contents are all bought together.
Dungeoneer's Pack
Backpack [2]
Blanket, winter [3]
Case, map [½]
Crowbar [5]
Flask [1½]
Flint and Steel [-]
Ink [-]
Quill Pen [-]
Lantern [3]
Oil, 10x 1-pint flasks [10]
Parchment, 2 sheets [-]
Pole, 10' wooden [8]
Rations, unpreserved, 2 days [2]
Rope, silk, 50' [5]
Sack, large, empty [½]
Spade [8]
Vial, ink [-]
Waterskin [4]
Total Cost: 40gp 8sp 3cp (package deal: 40gp)
Total Weight: 44½ (Encumbered to 90/30 movement)
For: This pack equips an adventurer for dungeon delving in an area close to town; extra equipment may be required if travelling far overland as well.
Wilderness Pack
Backpack [2]
Bedroll [5]
Blanket, winter [3]
Flask [1½]
Flint and Steel [-]
Hammer [2]
Rations, unpreserved, 2 days [2]
Rations, trail, 10 days [10]
Rope, hemp, 50' [10]
Sack, large, empty [½]
Spikes, iron, x12 [8]
Torches x8 [8]
Waterskin [4]
Total Cost: 14gp 3cp (package deal: 14gp)
Total Weight: 56 (Encumbered to 90/30 movement)
For: This pack equips an adventurer for overland travel in varied terrain for up to 12 days.
Travelling Light Pack
Backpack [2]
Bedroll [5]
Rations, unpreserved, 2 days [2]
Sack, large, empty [½]
Waterskin [4]
Total Cost: 3gp 7sp
Total Weight: 13½ (unencumbered)
For: This pack is for adventurers who let their companions carry heavy equipment. Characters in heavy armour may have no other option, and having at least one unladen character in the group is useful to spread the load of the heavy packs around, and/or to carry back loot.
For these packs, each item is followed by the weight in pounds in [square brackets]. After the pack's contents is the total cost, with a DM-optional “package deal” price offered by outfitters when the contents are all bought together.
Dungeoneer's Pack
Backpack [2]
Blanket, winter [3]
Case, map [½]
Crowbar [5]
Flask [1½]
Flint and Steel [-]
Ink [-]
Quill Pen [-]
Lantern [3]
Oil, 10x 1-pint flasks [10]
Parchment, 2 sheets [-]
Pole, 10' wooden [8]
Rations, unpreserved, 2 days [2]
Rope, silk, 50' [5]
Sack, large, empty [½]
Spade [8]
Vial, ink [-]
Waterskin [4]
Total Cost: 40gp 8sp 3cp (package deal: 40gp)
Total Weight: 44½ (Encumbered to 90/30 movement)
For: This pack equips an adventurer for dungeon delving in an area close to town; extra equipment may be required if travelling far overland as well.
Wilderness Pack
Backpack [2]
Bedroll [5]
Blanket, winter [3]
Flask [1½]
Flint and Steel [-]
Hammer [2]
Rations, unpreserved, 2 days [2]
Rations, trail, 10 days [10]
Rope, hemp, 50' [10]
Sack, large, empty [½]
Spikes, iron, x12 [8]
Torches x8 [8]
Waterskin [4]
Total Cost: 14gp 3cp (package deal: 14gp)
Total Weight: 56 (Encumbered to 90/30 movement)
For: This pack equips an adventurer for overland travel in varied terrain for up to 12 days.
Travelling Light Pack
Backpack [2]
Bedroll [5]
Rations, unpreserved, 2 days [2]
Sack, large, empty [½]
Waterskin [4]
Total Cost: 3gp 7sp
Total Weight: 13½ (unencumbered)
For: This pack is for adventurers who let their companions carry heavy equipment. Characters in heavy armour may have no other option, and having at least one unladen character in the group is useful to spread the load of the heavy packs around, and/or to carry back loot.
Friday, August 27, 2010
What Was I Thinking? Part 2
Following on from my last post, here's the continuation of my explanations for my house rules:
MAGIC
Magic-users (and other arcane classes like Elves) prepare spells rather than memorising them, and don't need to have their spellbook to hand to prepare spells that they know. The spellbook is only required for learning a new spell (scribing it into the book is a necessary part of the learning process) and for any magical research; the spellbook is a workbook and notebook rather than a reference work. Scribing a spell from another magic-user's spellbook takes days at least (if not weeks) of uninterrupted work, making trading spells a risky measure of trust since spellbooks are very time-consuming to replace.
Magic-Users and Elves start knowing Read Magic, one randomly rolled first level spell, and one chosen spell at both first and second level. The second level spell can't be used until level 3 of course; it's advance study in anticipation of increased magical skills.
REASONS: This slight variant on spellbooks means that Magic-Users don't have to carry them around everywhere. I like this for several reasons. One is that since PCs don't automatically get an enemy MU's spellbook after killing and looting him, they don't acquire so many new spells so quickly and easily. Another is that it's not so hard to keep one-of-a-kind unique NPC spells out of player hands. Also, if a player MU loses his book, he's not so useless after a single day.
The rule for known spells for a starting character is similar to the standard rules, except that a PC gets a free randomly rolled level 1 spell before choosing a level 1 spell. This helps MUs be a little more versatile and encourages some of the less commonly used spells into play.
POWER ATTACK
Before making a melee attack roll, a player can choose to make a power attack, taking a 4-point penalty on the attack roll to gain 1d4 to the damage if the attack hits. Stronger power attacks are possible: -6 to hit for +1d6 damage, -8 to hit for +1d8 damage, -10 to hit for +1d10 damage, -12 to hit for +1d12 damage.
REASON: I like the idea of the power attack system from 3e, but a 1-for-1 trade from to-hit to damage would be too potent in Basic (especially since the ability doesn't cost a feat). This system makes the exchange about 2-for-1 on average, but does allow for a power attack to hit extremely hard on a good enough roll, which helps give it the feel of a do-or-die gamble.
THAC0 DEFENCE
Players roll a "defence" against the attacks made against them instead of the DM rolling for the attack. The DM declares the number of attacks (splitting by type if applicable, e.g. claw/claw/bite) against a PC. The player rolls his defence against them: a d20 plus his AC, and declares the result. A lower result is better. If the result is equal to or higher than the attacker's THAC0 (including all modifiers into the THAC0 score) the attack hits, otherwise it misses. A natural 1 is an automatically successful defence, and a natural 20 is an automatic failure, suffering a critical hit (unless the attack is of a blunt type).
Note that this is a procedural change rather than a rule change: it's mathematically identical to the standard method of the DM rolling for the attacks.
REASON: As a player, I always used to prefer combat defence rules where I got to roll dodge/parry/whatever to ones with a D&D-style passive defence like AC. It took a while before I realised that if the chance of being hit is, say, 50/50 by a given enemy, it doesn't matter whether I'm rolling for defence or not – it's 50/50 – it just seems like I have more control if I roll the dice. So, this was the initial reason why the THAC0 Defence system appealed to me when I read it in the Dragon Magazine Archive (issue #177 page 24, for those who have it). The second reason was that one of the things I always found awkward about various versions of D&D was keeping track of PC ACs. Having to keep asking players to remind me of their AC, or realising after a while that I had one of their ACs recorded wrongly and I'd had them hit when the attack should've missed; it's a bane of mine across editions. With THAC0 Defence, the players are the only ones who need to know their own ACs, which helps them and me.
THIEVES
The Thief class gets 1d6 for Hit Dice.
Clarification on the scope of Thief skills: Starting percentages may be low, but they represent the chance of exceptional feats. "Move Silently" is the chance of complete silence, which isn't always needed - moving quietly is usually enough to give a chance of surprising an enemy, and that doesn't require a roll. "Hide in Shadows" is the chance of remaining unseen in direct line of sight with only shadow for concealment - having real concealment can improve the chance or give automatic success. Players may be able to find traps (and find ways around them) by experimentation and cleverness, without having to succeed at "Find and Remove Traps" rolls.
REASONS: The HD increase helps Thieves do damage under the “class-based weapon damage” rule, and I think it's good for it's own sake. Thieves have weak armour making them almost as vulnerable as MUs, but are more likely to get into combat (especially if they do any forward scouting or try Backstabbing), and in many groups are less likely to get protected like the MU would. I think Thieves are too weak per the standard rules, and increasing HP seems a good way to boost them (especially since it can help them survive any traps they set off accidentally, so it aids them in their class role).
The interpretation of Thief skills is another thing I've found on the blogosphere. It helps to keep the low skill percentages of low-level Thieves in context and suggest ways to get round their mechanical limitations (i.e. using descriptions to resolve thiefly activities so the player doesn't have to roll for those low percentages).
TWO WEAPON FIGHTING
A character can wield a one-handed weapon in each hand. Attack and damage modifiers are based on the characters' Strength or Dexterity modifiers - whichever is lower - and on a successful hit, the player gets to roll damage for both weapons and choose which one hit (this option does not add multiple attacks).
REASONS: Dual-wielding is a tricky beast to make both balanced and simple in D&D. My experiences in 2e and 3e are that adding more attacks for dual-wielding is either unbalanced (2e) or clunky (3e). Rolling damage twice and taking the better one is simple, and balanced because it's exactly the same as using a single two-handed weapon (in my version of “class-based weapon damage”). The limit of using the lower of STR or DEX means that classic brute-force fighters are going to be better off with the two-hander, which fits the flavour of dual-wielding and ensures that not everyone will dual-wield (2e failed badly on both counts); dual-wielding has its own advantages at high levels when magic weapons with special effects are common.
MAGIC
Magic-users (and other arcane classes like Elves) prepare spells rather than memorising them, and don't need to have their spellbook to hand to prepare spells that they know. The spellbook is only required for learning a new spell (scribing it into the book is a necessary part of the learning process) and for any magical research; the spellbook is a workbook and notebook rather than a reference work. Scribing a spell from another magic-user's spellbook takes days at least (if not weeks) of uninterrupted work, making trading spells a risky measure of trust since spellbooks are very time-consuming to replace.
Magic-Users and Elves start knowing Read Magic, one randomly rolled first level spell, and one chosen spell at both first and second level. The second level spell can't be used until level 3 of course; it's advance study in anticipation of increased magical skills.
REASONS: This slight variant on spellbooks means that Magic-Users don't have to carry them around everywhere. I like this for several reasons. One is that since PCs don't automatically get an enemy MU's spellbook after killing and looting him, they don't acquire so many new spells so quickly and easily. Another is that it's not so hard to keep one-of-a-kind unique NPC spells out of player hands. Also, if a player MU loses his book, he's not so useless after a single day.
The rule for known spells for a starting character is similar to the standard rules, except that a PC gets a free randomly rolled level 1 spell before choosing a level 1 spell. This helps MUs be a little more versatile and encourages some of the less commonly used spells into play.
POWER ATTACK
Before making a melee attack roll, a player can choose to make a power attack, taking a 4-point penalty on the attack roll to gain 1d4 to the damage if the attack hits. Stronger power attacks are possible: -6 to hit for +1d6 damage, -8 to hit for +1d8 damage, -10 to hit for +1d10 damage, -12 to hit for +1d12 damage.
REASON: I like the idea of the power attack system from 3e, but a 1-for-1 trade from to-hit to damage would be too potent in Basic (especially since the ability doesn't cost a feat). This system makes the exchange about 2-for-1 on average, but does allow for a power attack to hit extremely hard on a good enough roll, which helps give it the feel of a do-or-die gamble.
THAC0 DEFENCE
Players roll a "defence" against the attacks made against them instead of the DM rolling for the attack. The DM declares the number of attacks (splitting by type if applicable, e.g. claw/claw/bite) against a PC. The player rolls his defence against them: a d20 plus his AC, and declares the result. A lower result is better. If the result is equal to or higher than the attacker's THAC0 (including all modifiers into the THAC0 score) the attack hits, otherwise it misses. A natural 1 is an automatically successful defence, and a natural 20 is an automatic failure, suffering a critical hit (unless the attack is of a blunt type).
Note that this is a procedural change rather than a rule change: it's mathematically identical to the standard method of the DM rolling for the attacks.
REASON: As a player, I always used to prefer combat defence rules where I got to roll dodge/parry/whatever to ones with a D&D-style passive defence like AC. It took a while before I realised that if the chance of being hit is, say, 50/50 by a given enemy, it doesn't matter whether I'm rolling for defence or not – it's 50/50 – it just seems like I have more control if I roll the dice. So, this was the initial reason why the THAC0 Defence system appealed to me when I read it in the Dragon Magazine Archive (issue #177 page 24, for those who have it). The second reason was that one of the things I always found awkward about various versions of D&D was keeping track of PC ACs. Having to keep asking players to remind me of their AC, or realising after a while that I had one of their ACs recorded wrongly and I'd had them hit when the attack should've missed; it's a bane of mine across editions. With THAC0 Defence, the players are the only ones who need to know their own ACs, which helps them and me.
THIEVES
The Thief class gets 1d6 for Hit Dice.
Clarification on the scope of Thief skills: Starting percentages may be low, but they represent the chance of exceptional feats. "Move Silently" is the chance of complete silence, which isn't always needed - moving quietly is usually enough to give a chance of surprising an enemy, and that doesn't require a roll. "Hide in Shadows" is the chance of remaining unseen in direct line of sight with only shadow for concealment - having real concealment can improve the chance or give automatic success. Players may be able to find traps (and find ways around them) by experimentation and cleverness, without having to succeed at "Find and Remove Traps" rolls.
REASONS: The HD increase helps Thieves do damage under the “class-based weapon damage” rule, and I think it's good for it's own sake. Thieves have weak armour making them almost as vulnerable as MUs, but are more likely to get into combat (especially if they do any forward scouting or try Backstabbing), and in many groups are less likely to get protected like the MU would. I think Thieves are too weak per the standard rules, and increasing HP seems a good way to boost them (especially since it can help them survive any traps they set off accidentally, so it aids them in their class role).
The interpretation of Thief skills is another thing I've found on the blogosphere. It helps to keep the low skill percentages of low-level Thieves in context and suggest ways to get round their mechanical limitations (i.e. using descriptions to resolve thiefly activities so the player doesn't have to roll for those low percentages).
TWO WEAPON FIGHTING
A character can wield a one-handed weapon in each hand. Attack and damage modifiers are based on the characters' Strength or Dexterity modifiers - whichever is lower - and on a successful hit, the player gets to roll damage for both weapons and choose which one hit (this option does not add multiple attacks).
REASONS: Dual-wielding is a tricky beast to make both balanced and simple in D&D. My experiences in 2e and 3e are that adding more attacks for dual-wielding is either unbalanced (2e) or clunky (3e). Rolling damage twice and taking the better one is simple, and balanced because it's exactly the same as using a single two-handed weapon (in my version of “class-based weapon damage”). The limit of using the lower of STR or DEX means that classic brute-force fighters are going to be better off with the two-hander, which fits the flavour of dual-wielding and ensures that not everyone will dual-wield (2e failed badly on both counts); dual-wielding has its own advantages at high levels when magic weapons with special effects are common.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
What Was I Thinking? Part 1
When I debuted my campaign of Labyrinth Lord recently and unveiled my house rules (already posted here) some of my players weren't too keen and seemed to think they were excessive in scope. I don't agree. On the other hand, putting myself in their place I can imagine how the house rules might seem arbitrary, since I didn't include explanations of my reasons for them.
I always like in an RPG when a designer explains why the rules are the way they are, so it seems only fair that I explain my decisions for making the house rules that I did. To keep this from being a huge indigestible mass of information (I have a bad habit of making overly large posts sometimes) I'm going to break it down into smaller parts.
Here's Part 1:
ATTRIBUTES
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma work as described in the rulebook, except that Prime Requisites are removed, so these attributes don't modify experience earned for any class (ability score minimum values for demihumans still apply). Instead, Intelligence modifies experience for all classes, 5% per modifier point (i.e. -15% for Intelligence 3, -10% for 4-5, -5% for 6-8, no modifier for 9-12, +5% for 13-15, +10% for 16-17, +15% for 18). Wisdom modifies all saving throws, not just magic.
REASONS: I explained my thinking behind this one in a previous blog post. In short, I wanted to prevent the double-dipping of some Prime Requisites but not others (for example, Fighters getting benefits direcly from a high Strength and also for having it as a PR, unlike Magic-Users getting no direct benefit from Intelligence), to make mental attributes more appealing for non-spellcasters, and make the classes less closely tied to their typical attributes.
ATTRIBUTE ROLLS
When creating a character, the player rolls 3d6 in order, nine times. The first six rolls make up the six attributes in the order: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma. The final three are floating results that can be substituted in for any of the six attributes (or discarded if too low to be any use).
REASONS: I didn't want a rolling system like 4d6-drop-lowest that just inflates the numbers across the board; nowadays that just seems to me like power inflation for its own sake. I wanted a system that was based on rolling stats “in order” so PCs might have atypical strengths and weaknesses for their classes (to make PCs less cookie-cutter). On the other hand, the floating results allow players to make some choices, and give some insurance against bad rolls on the original 6 rolls without powering up too much across the board.
CLASS-BASED WEAPON DAMAGE
All classes can use all weapons (apart from physical size limits), but the damage done is based on the character's class, not the weapon. The damage die is equal to the classes' hit die type. The exceptions are for daggers or slings (which do one die size smaller) and two-handed weapons (which allow the player to roll damage twice and take the better result).
REASONS: This rule isn't my own invention, but I liked it as soon as I saw it. I adopted it partly for Clerics; I don't have a problem in general with the blunt-weapons restriction on Clerics, but I'm using the Forgotten Realms setting again, after a 2e game where the Priest PC could use a sword (with limits) then a 3e game with no Cleric weapon restrictions at all. This rule allows all weapons to Clerics (and Magic-Users) without giving away one of the Fighter's advantages (hitting for 1d8 damage). Plus this rule helps avoid the factor of some weapons being clearly better than others, which is one thing I never liked about Basic. So this one simple house rule solves two problems at once.
CRITICAL HITS
On a natural attack roll of 20, the result is a critical hit, scoring maximum weapon damage. Blunt weapons cannot score criticals.
REASONS: I like the idea of something special happening on a natural 20. I wanted to avoid the 3e-ism of complicating things with adding “confirmation rolls” (despite using a similar system years before in 2e), and also to avoid ramping up the damage too much. So I decided to go with another rule I'd seen elsewhere, and simply give maximum damage on a critical. Also, with no special effects on a 20 I don't have to worry about the odd cases where a character needing a natural 20 to hit can only do a special-effect critical; if they do hit, they will hit hard, but I'm happy with that (and the fact that groups of weak enemies are a little more dangerous).
Regarding the blunt weapon limit, this is partly for flavour (edged weapons doing critical hits is more intuitive) but mostly because blunt weapons would otherwise be the best choices under the “class-based weapon damage” rule, because of their full effectiveness against skeletal undead. The loss of critical hits gives them a very slight loss of average damage to even the scales. Plus, giant's clubs are some of the most damaging single attacks in the game; with critical hits their deadliness would be too much for my liking.
DEATH
When being raised from the dead, a character must make a save versus death. Failure means that something of the character doesn't quite make it back from the Fugue Plain, so his Charisma attribute drops by one point. If this would reduce Charisma below 3, the character doesn't come back at all and is permanently dead save for divine intervention.
REASONS: This is the one real “nerfing” house rule I introduced, because getting raised without penalty seems cheesy and too videogamey to me. I don't like the death penalties from other editions of D&D either (level loss or Constitution loss), because these have the potential to be “death spiral” situations where dying makes you more vulnerable to dying again. Charisma loss doesn't have that problem, it fits thematically, and it helps keep Charisma an important attribute. Allowing a saving throw to resist the Charisma loss helps to keep the penalties minor, just enough that death is more than a trivial inconvenience to high-level characters.
DEMIHUMANS
Demihumans can increase hit points after reaching their level limit. Every 200,000 XP above the minimum XP for their last level grants one additional HP (or a reroll of HP - see "Hit Points" below). This should be noted on the character sheet by writing a + after the level - for instance, a Dwarf with maximum level plus 2 HP writes "12+2" in the level box. Saving throws and other features do not increase beyond the level limit.
Note that the standard race-classes only represent typical adventuring members of their races. If a player is dead set on an atypical demihuman character (like a dwarven thief), he can combine class and race features to create a special class (e.g. Dwarf Thief) - subject to DM vetting of course.
REASONS: Although I supported demihuman level limits in a previous post, I prefer for PCs to have some potential to progress. This rule keeps this progress both small and slow so humans don't lose their unique benefit.
The second part of the rule reflects my feelings on the race-classes. Not every elf in the fantasy world has the Elf PC class (for example), the race-class just a template for game purposes that reinforces what each race typically does and is typically good at, giving the demihumans a “feel” that I never see in them in other versions of D&D. Requiring a player to make the special class for demihumans that don't follow the norm keeps those characters as rare as they should be (otherwise, “special snowflake syndrome” sets in and everyone wants to be the “rare and unusual” race/class combinations), and means that the player will be more invested in such a character.
ENCUMBRANCE
This will be handled informally unless this leeway is abused.
REASONS: This is just a formalisation of what I've already been doing for years.
HIT POINTS
Characters get maximum hit points at level 1. At each level up, the character rolls his entire new hit dice, adding Constitution modifiers, and takes this roll if it is higher than the current hit point total, or keeping the existing hit point total if that's higher. Example: a level 1 Fighter with 14 Constitution gets 9 HP (max d8+1), and at level 2 he rolls 2d8+2 for HP, keeping 9 HP if the new roll is lower.
At each level beyond Name level, the player chooses to either take the fixed hit point addition, or to reroll all the hit dice and then add all the fixed hit points. If the latter option is taken, the character still can't lose hit points even on a low roll, but does miss out on getting the fixed hit point(s) that he would've had from the first option.
REASONS: As far as I know, the “reroll all HD each level” system had it's beginnings in a common misinterpretation of OD&D's vaguely-worded HP rules. I like how it helps to “normalise” HP so that a run of high or low rolls doesn't let a character shoot ahead (or fall behind) permanently in HP.
The “maximum HP at level 1” part of the HP rules is a rule I've been using for many years before it became official with 3e, and fits especially well in Basic where zero HP means instant death.
I always like in an RPG when a designer explains why the rules are the way they are, so it seems only fair that I explain my decisions for making the house rules that I did. To keep this from being a huge indigestible mass of information (I have a bad habit of making overly large posts sometimes) I'm going to break it down into smaller parts.
Here's Part 1:
ATTRIBUTES
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma work as described in the rulebook, except that Prime Requisites are removed, so these attributes don't modify experience earned for any class (ability score minimum values for demihumans still apply). Instead, Intelligence modifies experience for all classes, 5% per modifier point (i.e. -15% for Intelligence 3, -10% for 4-5, -5% for 6-8, no modifier for 9-12, +5% for 13-15, +10% for 16-17, +15% for 18). Wisdom modifies all saving throws, not just magic.
REASONS: I explained my thinking behind this one in a previous blog post. In short, I wanted to prevent the double-dipping of some Prime Requisites but not others (for example, Fighters getting benefits direcly from a high Strength and also for having it as a PR, unlike Magic-Users getting no direct benefit from Intelligence), to make mental attributes more appealing for non-spellcasters, and make the classes less closely tied to their typical attributes.
ATTRIBUTE ROLLS
When creating a character, the player rolls 3d6 in order, nine times. The first six rolls make up the six attributes in the order: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma. The final three are floating results that can be substituted in for any of the six attributes (or discarded if too low to be any use).
REASONS: I didn't want a rolling system like 4d6-drop-lowest that just inflates the numbers across the board; nowadays that just seems to me like power inflation for its own sake. I wanted a system that was based on rolling stats “in order” so PCs might have atypical strengths and weaknesses for their classes (to make PCs less cookie-cutter). On the other hand, the floating results allow players to make some choices, and give some insurance against bad rolls on the original 6 rolls without powering up too much across the board.
CLASS-BASED WEAPON DAMAGE
All classes can use all weapons (apart from physical size limits), but the damage done is based on the character's class, not the weapon. The damage die is equal to the classes' hit die type. The exceptions are for daggers or slings (which do one die size smaller) and two-handed weapons (which allow the player to roll damage twice and take the better result).
REASONS: This rule isn't my own invention, but I liked it as soon as I saw it. I adopted it partly for Clerics; I don't have a problem in general with the blunt-weapons restriction on Clerics, but I'm using the Forgotten Realms setting again, after a 2e game where the Priest PC could use a sword (with limits) then a 3e game with no Cleric weapon restrictions at all. This rule allows all weapons to Clerics (and Magic-Users) without giving away one of the Fighter's advantages (hitting for 1d8 damage). Plus this rule helps avoid the factor of some weapons being clearly better than others, which is one thing I never liked about Basic. So this one simple house rule solves two problems at once.
CRITICAL HITS
On a natural attack roll of 20, the result is a critical hit, scoring maximum weapon damage. Blunt weapons cannot score criticals.
REASONS: I like the idea of something special happening on a natural 20. I wanted to avoid the 3e-ism of complicating things with adding “confirmation rolls” (despite using a similar system years before in 2e), and also to avoid ramping up the damage too much. So I decided to go with another rule I'd seen elsewhere, and simply give maximum damage on a critical. Also, with no special effects on a 20 I don't have to worry about the odd cases where a character needing a natural 20 to hit can only do a special-effect critical; if they do hit, they will hit hard, but I'm happy with that (and the fact that groups of weak enemies are a little more dangerous).
Regarding the blunt weapon limit, this is partly for flavour (edged weapons doing critical hits is more intuitive) but mostly because blunt weapons would otherwise be the best choices under the “class-based weapon damage” rule, because of their full effectiveness against skeletal undead. The loss of critical hits gives them a very slight loss of average damage to even the scales. Plus, giant's clubs are some of the most damaging single attacks in the game; with critical hits their deadliness would be too much for my liking.
DEATH
When being raised from the dead, a character must make a save versus death. Failure means that something of the character doesn't quite make it back from the Fugue Plain, so his Charisma attribute drops by one point. If this would reduce Charisma below 3, the character doesn't come back at all and is permanently dead save for divine intervention.
REASONS: This is the one real “nerfing” house rule I introduced, because getting raised without penalty seems cheesy and too videogamey to me. I don't like the death penalties from other editions of D&D either (level loss or Constitution loss), because these have the potential to be “death spiral” situations where dying makes you more vulnerable to dying again. Charisma loss doesn't have that problem, it fits thematically, and it helps keep Charisma an important attribute. Allowing a saving throw to resist the Charisma loss helps to keep the penalties minor, just enough that death is more than a trivial inconvenience to high-level characters.
DEMIHUMANS
Demihumans can increase hit points after reaching their level limit. Every 200,000 XP above the minimum XP for their last level grants one additional HP (or a reroll of HP - see "Hit Points" below). This should be noted on the character sheet by writing a + after the level - for instance, a Dwarf with maximum level plus 2 HP writes "12+2" in the level box. Saving throws and other features do not increase beyond the level limit.
Note that the standard race-classes only represent typical adventuring members of their races. If a player is dead set on an atypical demihuman character (like a dwarven thief), he can combine class and race features to create a special class (e.g. Dwarf Thief) - subject to DM vetting of course.
REASONS: Although I supported demihuman level limits in a previous post, I prefer for PCs to have some potential to progress. This rule keeps this progress both small and slow so humans don't lose their unique benefit.
The second part of the rule reflects my feelings on the race-classes. Not every elf in the fantasy world has the Elf PC class (for example), the race-class just a template for game purposes that reinforces what each race typically does and is typically good at, giving the demihumans a “feel” that I never see in them in other versions of D&D. Requiring a player to make the special class for demihumans that don't follow the norm keeps those characters as rare as they should be (otherwise, “special snowflake syndrome” sets in and everyone wants to be the “rare and unusual” race/class combinations), and means that the player will be more invested in such a character.
ENCUMBRANCE
This will be handled informally unless this leeway is abused.
REASONS: This is just a formalisation of what I've already been doing for years.
HIT POINTS
Characters get maximum hit points at level 1. At each level up, the character rolls his entire new hit dice, adding Constitution modifiers, and takes this roll if it is higher than the current hit point total, or keeping the existing hit point total if that's higher. Example: a level 1 Fighter with 14 Constitution gets 9 HP (max d8+1), and at level 2 he rolls 2d8+2 for HP, keeping 9 HP if the new roll is lower.
At each level beyond Name level, the player chooses to either take the fixed hit point addition, or to reroll all the hit dice and then add all the fixed hit points. If the latter option is taken, the character still can't lose hit points even on a low roll, but does miss out on getting the fixed hit point(s) that he would've had from the first option.
REASONS: As far as I know, the “reroll all HD each level” system had it's beginnings in a common misinterpretation of OD&D's vaguely-worded HP rules. I like how it helps to “normalise” HP so that a run of high or low rolls doesn't let a character shoot ahead (or fall behind) permanently in HP.
The “maximum HP at level 1” part of the HP rules is a rule I've been using for many years before it became official with 3e, and fits especially well in Basic where zero HP means instant death.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Master Thief Skills
In Labyrinth Lord, Thief skills reach maximum values at level 14. Even though these are good skill levels, the cap makes Thieves unappealing characters at high levels, since all they gain per level after this point is a mere one Hit Point per level, a few more rows on the Attack Table, and a single improvement to their mediocre saving throws at 17. For this, they need to earn 120,000 XP per level past name level, which is not a fast rate (it's equal to Fighters, and the Cleric needs only 100,000 per level).
Frank Mentzer's BECMI edition dealt with the maxed-Thief problem by retroactively nerfing Thief skills in the Companion Set so they actually needed more levels to get 99%+ abilities. I think that Thieves are underpowered as it is (hence my house rule to up their HD to d6), so that's not a solution I favour. Apparently (I'm going from second hand information, since I've never owned this one) the Moldvay/Cook Expert Set intended a different approach, promising unique advanced skills for higher level Thieves in the Companion Set (which never got made). In that spirit (and also inspired by the AD&D 2e High Level Campaigns book) I've had a go at making up Master Thief Skills.
So:
MASTER THIEF SKILLS
At level 15 and up, a Thief gains 15% to two separate Master Thief Skills per level. The maximum that any of these skills can be raised to is 75%.
Master Thief Skills List:
Hide in Plain Sight (advanced Hide in Shadows)
This skill allows the Thief to attempt to Hide in Shadows even when he is already being watched. In combat, a successful Hide in Plain Sight can set up a Backstab for the following round.
Swift Glide (advanced Move Silently)
This skill allows the Thief to Move Silently at full movement speed, even running. A Swift Glide roll allows passage across liquid surfaces, requiring a walking pace (no slower or faster) and no other actions; failure means falling in.
Jury-Rig Traps (advanced Find & Remove Traps)
This skill allows the Thief to reset a trap he has already disabled with a trigger of his choosing, allowing the possibility of tricking dungeon denizens into their own traps. The skill can even be used to move a trap (unless it's on a large enough scale that this is impossible) or disassemble parts for the Thief's own purposes (for instance, to retrieve an intact bottle of acid from an acid trap, replace it with holy water, etc.). Failure at this skill doesn't result in triggering the trap, it simply means that the operation is beyond the Thief's abilities.
Finesse Locks (advanced Open Locks)
This skill allows the Thief to pick a lock without tools, or to pick a lock with tools in a single round. If the skill roll fails, a normal Open Locks roll can still be attempted (with tools) on the same lock. Another use for this skill is, after picking a lock, to sabotage it so that the key(s) it was made for no longer fit, but the Thief can open the lock by Finesse without having to roll.
Wallrunning (advanced Climb Walls)
This skill allows the Thief to climb at the same speed as moving across level ground, and still keep one hand free. A failed skill roll means that this advanced form of climbing won't work in this case, but it doesn't mean falling, and a normal Climb Walls can still be attempted. Should the Thief fall (for any reason) within reach of handholds, he can attempt this skill to grab on and prevent the fall; if he falls without anything to grab, a skill check still allows him to take half damage.
Unfasten (advanced Pick Pockets)
This skill allows the Thief to unfasten armour or clothing on a target by undoing buckles or clasps, cutting straps, etc. This can be attempted in or out of combat, with chances modified as per Pick Pockets. Success allows the Thief to unfasten the target's apparel either immediately, after 1d6 rounds, or after 1d6 turns (Thief's choice from the three options). The effect is to halve movement, and reduce the AC of armour by 2 (and possibly reduce the target's modesty!). Multiple unfastens increase the AC penalty but don't hinder movement any further. The target can cancel the movement penalty by spending one round sorting his apparel, but the AC penalty can only be sorted by spending a full turn putting the armour back together.
Frank Mentzer's BECMI edition dealt with the maxed-Thief problem by retroactively nerfing Thief skills in the Companion Set so they actually needed more levels to get 99%+ abilities. I think that Thieves are underpowered as it is (hence my house rule to up their HD to d6), so that's not a solution I favour. Apparently (I'm going from second hand information, since I've never owned this one) the Moldvay/Cook Expert Set intended a different approach, promising unique advanced skills for higher level Thieves in the Companion Set (which never got made). In that spirit (and also inspired by the AD&D 2e High Level Campaigns book) I've had a go at making up Master Thief Skills.
So:
MASTER THIEF SKILLS
At level 15 and up, a Thief gains 15% to two separate Master Thief Skills per level. The maximum that any of these skills can be raised to is 75%.
Master Thief Skills List:
Hide in Plain Sight (advanced Hide in Shadows)
This skill allows the Thief to attempt to Hide in Shadows even when he is already being watched. In combat, a successful Hide in Plain Sight can set up a Backstab for the following round.
Swift Glide (advanced Move Silently)
This skill allows the Thief to Move Silently at full movement speed, even running. A Swift Glide roll allows passage across liquid surfaces, requiring a walking pace (no slower or faster) and no other actions; failure means falling in.
Jury-Rig Traps (advanced Find & Remove Traps)
This skill allows the Thief to reset a trap he has already disabled with a trigger of his choosing, allowing the possibility of tricking dungeon denizens into their own traps. The skill can even be used to move a trap (unless it's on a large enough scale that this is impossible) or disassemble parts for the Thief's own purposes (for instance, to retrieve an intact bottle of acid from an acid trap, replace it with holy water, etc.). Failure at this skill doesn't result in triggering the trap, it simply means that the operation is beyond the Thief's abilities.
Finesse Locks (advanced Open Locks)
This skill allows the Thief to pick a lock without tools, or to pick a lock with tools in a single round. If the skill roll fails, a normal Open Locks roll can still be attempted (with tools) on the same lock. Another use for this skill is, after picking a lock, to sabotage it so that the key(s) it was made for no longer fit, but the Thief can open the lock by Finesse without having to roll.
Wallrunning (advanced Climb Walls)
This skill allows the Thief to climb at the same speed as moving across level ground, and still keep one hand free. A failed skill roll means that this advanced form of climbing won't work in this case, but it doesn't mean falling, and a normal Climb Walls can still be attempted. Should the Thief fall (for any reason) within reach of handholds, he can attempt this skill to grab on and prevent the fall; if he falls without anything to grab, a skill check still allows him to take half damage.
Unfasten (advanced Pick Pockets)
This skill allows the Thief to unfasten armour or clothing on a target by undoing buckles or clasps, cutting straps, etc. This can be attempted in or out of combat, with chances modified as per Pick Pockets. Success allows the Thief to unfasten the target's apparel either immediately, after 1d6 rounds, or after 1d6 turns (Thief's choice from the three options). The effect is to halve movement, and reduce the AC of armour by 2 (and possibly reduce the target's modesty!). Multiple unfastens increase the AC penalty but don't hinder movement any further. The target can cancel the movement penalty by spending one round sorting his apparel, but the AC penalty can only be sorted by spending a full turn putting the armour back together.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Level Limits
There are some things about old-school D&D that I've completely changed my opinion about at some point, and the system of limiting demihuman level advancement is one of them. For many years I thought that it was completely stupid, an arbitrary game-balance artefact that gave demihumans some weird kind of mental disability that stopped them from learning anything new after a certain point. In fact, until recently I'd intended to house-rule level limits out when I ran Labyrinth Lord.
What changed my mind was the sudden realisation of what level limits mean. They're not a “learning difficulty” - they're a performance plateau, like when an athlete reaches a peak performance where they just can't get any better, and actually have to work hard just to keep up what they have.
The "peak performance" claim might seem strange when the level limits look far short of the level that the game goes up to (20), but look at things in perspective. Compare the demihumans in the LL core to Fighter, the human class that they all have much in common with. All but one of them can get beyond Name level, by which a Fighter already has most of the hit points he's ever going to get, and near-superhuman combat ability overall. At level 9, without any other modifiers, a Fighter can wound an opponent in plate armour with shield 50% of the time; he can confront large numbers of level 1 Fighters (each one a “Veteran” per the D&D level titles) successfully, fight and kill creatures like giants and dragons of colossal scale, and is so renowned for his prowess that merely founding a small keep will attract warriors from far and wide to pledge themselves to his service. In short, a level 9 Fighter is a warrior of epic proportions. A Dwarf at level cap (12) is beyond even this, with slightly more hit points than the equivalent level Fighter and significantly better saving throws. The Elf can also get beyond Name Level (to 10), and is fully as capable at magic as a Magic-User of equal level as well. Even the humble Halfling gets almost to Name level (8).
Imagine that these breakpoints represent the maximum physical potential of the demi-humans. Dwarves are excellent at combat thanks to their toughness and determination, but they they're just not built for much speed or agility. Elves have speed and agility to spare, but lack brawn. Halflings can get surprisingly effective in combat, but are disadvantaged in physical power. In all cases, building on their strengths eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns where it doesn't overcome their inherent weaknesses anymore. Hence, the level limit. Humans are the special case – they are the supremely versatile race, whose unique package of qualities allows them to develop in potential without limit. Outside of the context of RPG game systems, the idea that someone who already is exceptional among the elite (at any physical or mental discipline) keeps getting better and better is extraordinary; so really the demihumans aren't odd for having level limits, it's the humans who are odd for not having them!
Looking at things in this way is especially in-genre: it's a very common trope in fantasy and sci-fi that humans have the greatest potential because of their all-round capabilities, unhindered by any intrinsic limitations. It also works well on a world-building level – having the very mightiest warriors, spellcasters, and so on be humans helps to justify the human-dominated world that D&D (and most classic fantasy) is built around.
Primarily, though, the level limit mechanic is about game balance. It gives demihumans a disadvantage to compensate for their racial benefits. Many other games model “human versatility” by making them equally suited to any class/role while non-humans excel only in one or two roles, failing to consider that in group games, characters typically do best by focusing in one or two roles anyway because they're in a team of specialists. The level-limit method handles “human versatility” on a micro-scale (versatility within a role) not just a macro-scale (versatility across roles) which works much better within typical RPG gameplay.
What changed my mind was the sudden realisation of what level limits mean. They're not a “learning difficulty” - they're a performance plateau, like when an athlete reaches a peak performance where they just can't get any better, and actually have to work hard just to keep up what they have.
The "peak performance" claim might seem strange when the level limits look far short of the level that the game goes up to (20), but look at things in perspective. Compare the demihumans in the LL core to Fighter, the human class that they all have much in common with. All but one of them can get beyond Name level, by which a Fighter already has most of the hit points he's ever going to get, and near-superhuman combat ability overall. At level 9, without any other modifiers, a Fighter can wound an opponent in plate armour with shield 50% of the time; he can confront large numbers of level 1 Fighters (each one a “Veteran” per the D&D level titles) successfully, fight and kill creatures like giants and dragons of colossal scale, and is so renowned for his prowess that merely founding a small keep will attract warriors from far and wide to pledge themselves to his service. In short, a level 9 Fighter is a warrior of epic proportions. A Dwarf at level cap (12) is beyond even this, with slightly more hit points than the equivalent level Fighter and significantly better saving throws. The Elf can also get beyond Name Level (to 10), and is fully as capable at magic as a Magic-User of equal level as well. Even the humble Halfling gets almost to Name level (8).
Imagine that these breakpoints represent the maximum physical potential of the demi-humans. Dwarves are excellent at combat thanks to their toughness and determination, but they they're just not built for much speed or agility. Elves have speed and agility to spare, but lack brawn. Halflings can get surprisingly effective in combat, but are disadvantaged in physical power. In all cases, building on their strengths eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns where it doesn't overcome their inherent weaknesses anymore. Hence, the level limit. Humans are the special case – they are the supremely versatile race, whose unique package of qualities allows them to develop in potential without limit. Outside of the context of RPG game systems, the idea that someone who already is exceptional among the elite (at any physical or mental discipline) keeps getting better and better is extraordinary; so really the demihumans aren't odd for having level limits, it's the humans who are odd for not having them!
Looking at things in this way is especially in-genre: it's a very common trope in fantasy and sci-fi that humans have the greatest potential because of their all-round capabilities, unhindered by any intrinsic limitations. It also works well on a world-building level – having the very mightiest warriors, spellcasters, and so on be humans helps to justify the human-dominated world that D&D (and most classic fantasy) is built around.
Primarily, though, the level limit mechanic is about game balance. It gives demihumans a disadvantage to compensate for their racial benefits. Many other games model “human versatility” by making them equally suited to any class/role while non-humans excel only in one or two roles, failing to consider that in group games, characters typically do best by focusing in one or two roles anyway because they're in a team of specialists. The level-limit method handles “human versatility” on a micro-scale (versatility within a role) not just a macro-scale (versatility across roles) which works much better within typical RPG gameplay.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Labyrinth Lord House Rules
Now that I've begun running my LL game proper (as opposed to the one-shot trial run a few months ago), I've decided on my set of house rules to tweak the game to my tastes. It's open to revision depending on how things work out in-game, but it's mostly final if not playtested.
The rules are:
ATTRIBUTES
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma work as described in the rulebook, except that Prime Requisites are removed, so these attributes don't modify experience earned for any class (ability score minimum values for demihumans still apply). Instead, Intelligence modifies experience for all classes, 5% per modifier point (i.e. -15% for Intelligence 3, -10% for 4-5, -5% for 6-8, no modifier for 9-12, +5% for 13-15, +10% for 16-17, +15% for 18). Wisdom modifies all saving throws, not just magic.
ATTRIBUTE ROLLS
When creating a character, the player rolls 3d6 in order, nine times. The first six rolls make up the six attributes in the order: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma. The final three are floating results that can be substituted in for any of the six attributes (or discarded if too low to be any use).
CLASS-BASED WEAPON DAMAGE
All classes can use all weapons (apart from physical size limits), but the damage done is based on the character's class, not the weapon. The damage die is equal to the classes' hit die type. The exceptions are for daggers or slings (which do one die size smaller) and two-handed weapons (which allow the player to roll damage twice and take the better result).
CRITICAL HITS
On a natural attack roll of 20, the result is a critical hit, scoring maximum weapon damage. Blunt weapons cannot score criticals.
DEATH
When being raised from the dead, a character must make a save versus death. Failure means that something of the character doesn't quite make it back from the Fugue Plain, so his Charisma attribute drops by one point. If this would reduce Charisma below 3, the character doesn't come back at all and is permanently dead save for divine intervention.
DEMIHUMANS
Demihumans can increase hit points after reaching their level limit. Every 200,000 XP above the minimum XP for their last level grants one additional HP (or a reroll of HP - see "Hit Points" below). This should be noted on the character sheet by writing a + after the level - for instance, a Dwarf with maximum level plus 2 HP writes "12+2" in the level box. Saving throws and other features do not increase beyond the level limit.
Note that the standard race-classes only represent typical adventuring members of their races. If a player is dead set on an atypical demihuman character (like a dwarven thief), he can combine class and race features to create a special class (e.g. Dwarf Thief) - subject to DM vetting of course.
ENCUMBRANCE
This will be handled informally unless this leeway is abused.
HIT POINTS
Characters get maximum hit points at level 1. At each level up, the character rolls his entire new hit dice, adding Constitution modifiers, and takes this roll if it is higher than the current hit point total, or keeping the existing hit point total if that's higher. Example: a level 1 Fighter with 14 Constitution gets 9 HP (max d8+1), and at level 2 he rolls 2d8+2 for HP, keeping 9 HP if the new roll is lower.
At each level beyond Name level, the player chooses to either take the fixed hit point addition, or to reroll all the hit dice and then add all the fixed hit points. If the latter option is taken, the character still can't lose hit points even on a low roll, but does miss out on getting the fixed hit point(s) that he would've had from the first option.
MAGIC
Magic-users (and other arcane classes like Elves) prepare spells rather than memorising them, and don't need to have their spellbook to hand to prepare spells that they know. The spellbook is only required for learning a new spell (scribing it into the book is a necessary part of the learning process) and for any magical research; the spellbook is a workbook and notebook rather than a reference work. Scribing a spell from another magic-user's spellbook takes days at least (if not weeks) of uninterrupted work, making trading spells a risky measure of trust since spellbooks are very time-consuming to replace.
Magic-Users and Elves start knowing Read Magic, one randomly rolled first level spell, and one chosen spell at both first and second level. The second level spell can't be used until level 3 of course; it's advance study in anticipation of increased magical skills.
POWER ATTACK
Before making a melee attack roll, a player can choose to make a power attack, taking a 4-point penalty on the attack roll to gain 1d4 to the damage if the attack hits. Stronger power attacks are possible: -6 to hit for +1d6 damage, -8 to hit for +1d8 damage, -10 to hit for +1d10 damage, -12 to hit for +1d12 damage.
THAC0 DEFENCE
Players roll a "defence" against the attacks made against them instead of the DM rolling for the attack. The DM declares the number of attacks (splitting by type if applicable, e.g. claw/claw/bite) against a PC. The player rolls his defence against them: a d20 plus his AC, and declares the result. A lower result is better. If the result is equal to or higher than the attacker's THAC0 (including all modifiers into the THAC0 score) the attack hits, otherwise it misses. A natural 1 is an automatically successful defence, and a natural 20 is an automatic failure, suffering a critical hit (unless the attack is of a blunt type).
Note that this is a procedural change rather than a rule change: it's mathematically identical to the standard method of the DM rolling for the attacks.
THIEVES
The Thief class gets 1d6 for Hit Dice.
Clarification on the scope of Thief skills: Starting percentages may be low, but they represent the chance of exceptional feats. "Move Silently" is the chance of complete silence, which isn't always needed - moving quietly is usually enough to give a chance of surprising an enemy, and that doesn't require a roll. "Hide in Shadows" is the chance of remaining unseen in direct line of sight with only shadow for concealment - having real concealment can improve the chance or give automatic success. Players may be able to find traps (and find ways around them) by experimentation and cleverness, without having to succeed at "Find and Remove Traps" rolls.
TWO WEAPON FIGHTING
A character can wield a one-handed weapon in each hand. Attack and damage modifiers are based on the characters' Strength or Dexterity modifiers - whichever is lower - and on a successful hit, the player gets to roll damage for both weapons and choose which one hit (this option does not add multiple attacks).
The rules are:
ATTRIBUTES
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma work as described in the rulebook, except that Prime Requisites are removed, so these attributes don't modify experience earned for any class (ability score minimum values for demihumans still apply). Instead, Intelligence modifies experience for all classes, 5% per modifier point (i.e. -15% for Intelligence 3, -10% for 4-5, -5% for 6-8, no modifier for 9-12, +5% for 13-15, +10% for 16-17, +15% for 18). Wisdom modifies all saving throws, not just magic.
ATTRIBUTE ROLLS
When creating a character, the player rolls 3d6 in order, nine times. The first six rolls make up the six attributes in the order: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma. The final three are floating results that can be substituted in for any of the six attributes (or discarded if too low to be any use).
CLASS-BASED WEAPON DAMAGE
All classes can use all weapons (apart from physical size limits), but the damage done is based on the character's class, not the weapon. The damage die is equal to the classes' hit die type. The exceptions are for daggers or slings (which do one die size smaller) and two-handed weapons (which allow the player to roll damage twice and take the better result).
CRITICAL HITS
On a natural attack roll of 20, the result is a critical hit, scoring maximum weapon damage. Blunt weapons cannot score criticals.
DEATH
When being raised from the dead, a character must make a save versus death. Failure means that something of the character doesn't quite make it back from the Fugue Plain, so his Charisma attribute drops by one point. If this would reduce Charisma below 3, the character doesn't come back at all and is permanently dead save for divine intervention.
DEMIHUMANS
Demihumans can increase hit points after reaching their level limit. Every 200,000 XP above the minimum XP for their last level grants one additional HP (or a reroll of HP - see "Hit Points" below). This should be noted on the character sheet by writing a + after the level - for instance, a Dwarf with maximum level plus 2 HP writes "12+2" in the level box. Saving throws and other features do not increase beyond the level limit.
Note that the standard race-classes only represent typical adventuring members of their races. If a player is dead set on an atypical demihuman character (like a dwarven thief), he can combine class and race features to create a special class (e.g. Dwarf Thief) - subject to DM vetting of course.
ENCUMBRANCE
This will be handled informally unless this leeway is abused.
HIT POINTS
Characters get maximum hit points at level 1. At each level up, the character rolls his entire new hit dice, adding Constitution modifiers, and takes this roll if it is higher than the current hit point total, or keeping the existing hit point total if that's higher. Example: a level 1 Fighter with 14 Constitution gets 9 HP (max d8+1), and at level 2 he rolls 2d8+2 for HP, keeping 9 HP if the new roll is lower.
At each level beyond Name level, the player chooses to either take the fixed hit point addition, or to reroll all the hit dice and then add all the fixed hit points. If the latter option is taken, the character still can't lose hit points even on a low roll, but does miss out on getting the fixed hit point(s) that he would've had from the first option.
MAGIC
Magic-users (and other arcane classes like Elves) prepare spells rather than memorising them, and don't need to have their spellbook to hand to prepare spells that they know. The spellbook is only required for learning a new spell (scribing it into the book is a necessary part of the learning process) and for any magical research; the spellbook is a workbook and notebook rather than a reference work. Scribing a spell from another magic-user's spellbook takes days at least (if not weeks) of uninterrupted work, making trading spells a risky measure of trust since spellbooks are very time-consuming to replace.
Magic-Users and Elves start knowing Read Magic, one randomly rolled first level spell, and one chosen spell at both first and second level. The second level spell can't be used until level 3 of course; it's advance study in anticipation of increased magical skills.
POWER ATTACK
Before making a melee attack roll, a player can choose to make a power attack, taking a 4-point penalty on the attack roll to gain 1d4 to the damage if the attack hits. Stronger power attacks are possible: -6 to hit for +1d6 damage, -8 to hit for +1d8 damage, -10 to hit for +1d10 damage, -12 to hit for +1d12 damage.
THAC0 DEFENCE
Players roll a "defence" against the attacks made against them instead of the DM rolling for the attack. The DM declares the number of attacks (splitting by type if applicable, e.g. claw/claw/bite) against a PC. The player rolls his defence against them: a d20 plus his AC, and declares the result. A lower result is better. If the result is equal to or higher than the attacker's THAC0 (including all modifiers into the THAC0 score) the attack hits, otherwise it misses. A natural 1 is an automatically successful defence, and a natural 20 is an automatic failure, suffering a critical hit (unless the attack is of a blunt type).
Note that this is a procedural change rather than a rule change: it's mathematically identical to the standard method of the DM rolling for the attacks.
THIEVES
The Thief class gets 1d6 for Hit Dice.
Clarification on the scope of Thief skills: Starting percentages may be low, but they represent the chance of exceptional feats. "Move Silently" is the chance of complete silence, which isn't always needed - moving quietly is usually enough to give a chance of surprising an enemy, and that doesn't require a roll. "Hide in Shadows" is the chance of remaining unseen in direct line of sight with only shadow for concealment - having real concealment can improve the chance or give automatic success. Players may be able to find traps (and find ways around them) by experimentation and cleverness, without having to succeed at "Find and Remove Traps" rolls.
TWO WEAPON FIGHTING
A character can wield a one-handed weapon in each hand. Attack and damage modifiers are based on the characters' Strength or Dexterity modifiers - whichever is lower - and on a successful hit, the player gets to roll damage for both weapons and choose which one hit (this option does not add multiple attacks).
Forgotten Realms Race-Classes for Labyrinth Lord
Last weekend, I made up LL-style race-classes for all the major races of the Realms in the 4e era. I'm loving how quick and simple it is to make things for this game - it's a breath of fresh air after years of running d20, where the most basic things drag down into mind-numbing drudge work.
Anyway, here they are for anyone who might find them useful:
DRAGONBORN
Requirements: STR 9, CHA 10
Prime Requisite: STR
HD: d8 (+2 HP per level above 9)
XP: As Magic-User
Maximum Level: 12
Armour and Weapons: Any, but standard armour doesn't fit; custom armour is required costing double or more.
Attacks: As Fighter
Saves: As Dwarf/Halfling, but replace the "Breath Attacks" column with a duplicate of the "Poison or Death" column.
Special Abilities: Dragonborn are trained in techniques to fight dragons and gain a +1 to hit against them, increasing to +2 at level 7 and +3 at level 11. They gain Draconic as a bonus language.
Dragonborn also have a breath weapon of their own, of a single type like a true dragon chosen at character creation (for example, a cone of fire like a red dragon). This does 1d6 damage, usable once per day, with half the area of the true dragon's breath weapon. The damage improves to 2d6 at level 4, and 3d6 at level 8. The dragonborn gets two uses per day at level 2, three at level 6, and four at level 12. The area increases to the true dragon's at level 10. Targets gain a saving throw versus Breath Attack for half damage. Dragonborn are immune to the effects of their own breath attack, as well as the same kind of breath attack from other dragons and dragonborn. They are further immune to ordinary instances of a similar nature to their attack. For instance, a dragonborn with a red dragon type breath weapon is immune to all ordinary fire. However, dragonborn will sustain half damage from magical based attacks that are similar to the nature of their breath attacks. A dragonborn with blue dragon breath, for instance, will not suffer damage from a natural lightning strike, but will suffer half damage from the spell lightning bolt.
At 9th level, a Dragonborn can become a leader among his kind, equivalent to a Fighter of equal level.
DWARF
Adventuring dwarves in the Realms are either Gold Dwarves or Shield Dwarves. Both use the Dwarf class without modifications.
ELF
The choice of subrace modifies the core Elf class:
Drow (Dark) Elf: Drow are limited to chainmail or lighter armour and no shield, but can Move Silently and Hide in Shadows as a Thief of equal level. They do not cast spells like a typical Elf, but can invoke Darkness (reversed Light as the Magic-User spell), Faerie Fire (lights up a target giving all attackers +2 to hit them and negating benefit of invisibility or concealment, 120' range, no save), and/or Levitate (as the Magic-User spell), up to a total number of combined uses equal to the Drow's level per day. Drow also gain a +4 bonus to all saving throws against magic, and resist all effects of a spell on a successful save even if it would normally still do half damage (but Drow still don't get a save against effects that don't allow a saving throw). Drow have infravision to 120'. Instead of the Elf bonus languages, they get Drow and Undercommon.
Moon (Silver) Elf: Moon Elves use the default Elf class.
Sun (Gold) Elf: Sun Elves are limited to chainmail or lighter armour and no shield, but with their deep knowledge of the arcane they can use magical items allowable to any other class (even clerical scrolls), alignment, etc.
Wild (Green) Elf: Wild Elves are limited to leather (or no) armour and no shield, but have the ability to hide like a Halfling. Their spells come from the Clerical spell list (not the Magic User/Elf list) and they know all available spells like a Cleric. When using a bow, they gain one additional attack per round.
Wood (Copper) Elf: Wood Elves are limited to studded leather or lighter armour and can use a shield, but have the ability to hide like a Halfling. Their spells can be prepared and cast from any mixture of both the Magic-User and Cleric spell lists; they know all spells from the Cleric list, but must learn Magic-User spells as normal.
GENASI
Requirements: CON 12
Prime Requisites: STR and CON. Both at 13+ gives +5% XP, STR 13+ and CON 16+ gives +10% XP.
HD: d6
XP: As Elf
Maximum Level: 10
Armour and Weapons: All
Attacks: As Fighter
Saves: As Elf
Special Abilities: Genasi choose a single elemental aspect (air, earth, fire or water) at character creation, and have magical abilities dependent on their choice. Air genasi do not need air to breathe, earth genasi have a -1 AC bonus for hard skin, fire genasi are immune to normal fire and take half damage from magical fire, and water genasi can breathe underwater and move underwater as fast as on land. All genasi have 60' infravision.
Genasi also gain spell-like abilites depending on their element that they can invoke twice per day each, all from the Magic-User spell list, once they reach the required level (in brackets).
Air: Floating Disc (1), Levitate (3), Fly (5), Arcane Eye(7), Cloudkill (9)
Earth: Shield (1), Locate Object (3), Protection from Normal Missiles (5), Polymorph Self (7), Passwall (9)
Fire: Light (1), Continual Light (3), Fireball (5), Wall of Fire (7), Conjure Elemental: fire only (9)
Water: Sleep (1), Mirror Image (3), Water Breathing (5), Wall of Ice (7), Transmute Rock to Mud (9)
At level 10, the genasi gains a secondary elemental aspect, adding all the base abilities of both. The second aspect doesn't add more castings, just options - for example, a Fire/Water Genasi can cast Light or Sleep twice per day, or once each, etc., but these don't need to be prepared.
HALF-ELF
Half-elves choose from human classes, and are handled like humans in the game mechanics except that they gain the Elf abilities of infravision 60', the increased ability to detect secret doors, and immunity to ghoul paralysis. They also get the Elf bonus languages plus Common and their local language; this is Chondathan, Damaran, Thayan, or Untheric, defaulting to the region where the character begins play (Chondathan in the Dalelands). Half-Elves gain a bonus -1 Reaction Adjustment, cumulative with any modifier from Charisma.
They pay for this with a 10% XP penalty, cumulative with any XP modifer from INT (for example a half-elf with 13 INT has a net -5% modifier to earned XP).
HALFLING
There are two subraces of Halfling adventurers:
Lightfoot: limited to studded leather or lighter armour and may use a shield, but can Move Silently and Hide in Shadows as a Thief (may hide as a Thief or as a Halfling, whichever is better at the time).
Strongheart: use the default Halfling class.
Both subraces speak both Common and their local language; this is Chondathan, Damaran, Thayan, or Untheric, defaulting to the region where the character begins play (Chondathan in the Dalelands). Both subraces can use slings for 1d6 damage (i.e. the damage is not reduced for the weapon's size).
HUMAN
Humans in the Realms speak both Common and their local language; this is Chondathan, Damaran, Thayan, or Untheric, defaulting to the region where the character begins play (Chondathan in the Dalelands).
TIEFLING
Requirements: DEX 9, INT 9
Prime Requisites: DEX and INT. Either at 13+ gives +5% XP, both at 13+ gives +10% XP.
HD: d4
XP: As Magic-User
Maximum Level: 10
Armour and Weapons: All weapons, no armour or shield.
Attacks: As Thief
Saves: As Magic-User
Special Abilities: Tieflings have infravision to 60', and have a +4 bonus to saving throws against fire, cold, and electricity. They have Abyssal as a bonus language. They can use all Thief skills (except Pick Pockets, but including Backstab) as a Thief one level lower (minimum level 1). They can learn and cast spells as a Magic-User, and automatically know one spell per character level but cannot learn spells by any means besides gaining levels. The spell known at level 1 must be Protection from Evil.
Anyway, here they are for anyone who might find them useful:
DRAGONBORN
Requirements: STR 9, CHA 10
Prime Requisite: STR
HD: d8 (+2 HP per level above 9)
XP: As Magic-User
Maximum Level: 12
Armour and Weapons: Any, but standard armour doesn't fit; custom armour is required costing double or more.
Attacks: As Fighter
Saves: As Dwarf/Halfling, but replace the "Breath Attacks" column with a duplicate of the "Poison or Death" column.
Special Abilities: Dragonborn are trained in techniques to fight dragons and gain a +1 to hit against them, increasing to +2 at level 7 and +3 at level 11. They gain Draconic as a bonus language.
Dragonborn also have a breath weapon of their own, of a single type like a true dragon chosen at character creation (for example, a cone of fire like a red dragon). This does 1d6 damage, usable once per day, with half the area of the true dragon's breath weapon. The damage improves to 2d6 at level 4, and 3d6 at level 8. The dragonborn gets two uses per day at level 2, three at level 6, and four at level 12. The area increases to the true dragon's at level 10. Targets gain a saving throw versus Breath Attack for half damage. Dragonborn are immune to the effects of their own breath attack, as well as the same kind of breath attack from other dragons and dragonborn. They are further immune to ordinary instances of a similar nature to their attack. For instance, a dragonborn with a red dragon type breath weapon is immune to all ordinary fire. However, dragonborn will sustain half damage from magical based attacks that are similar to the nature of their breath attacks. A dragonborn with blue dragon breath, for instance, will not suffer damage from a natural lightning strike, but will suffer half damage from the spell lightning bolt.
At 9th level, a Dragonborn can become a leader among his kind, equivalent to a Fighter of equal level.
DWARF
Adventuring dwarves in the Realms are either Gold Dwarves or Shield Dwarves. Both use the Dwarf class without modifications.
ELF
The choice of subrace modifies the core Elf class:
Drow (Dark) Elf: Drow are limited to chainmail or lighter armour and no shield, but can Move Silently and Hide in Shadows as a Thief of equal level. They do not cast spells like a typical Elf, but can invoke Darkness (reversed Light as the Magic-User spell), Faerie Fire (lights up a target giving all attackers +2 to hit them and negating benefit of invisibility or concealment, 120' range, no save), and/or Levitate (as the Magic-User spell), up to a total number of combined uses equal to the Drow's level per day. Drow also gain a +4 bonus to all saving throws against magic, and resist all effects of a spell on a successful save even if it would normally still do half damage (but Drow still don't get a save against effects that don't allow a saving throw). Drow have infravision to 120'. Instead of the Elf bonus languages, they get Drow and Undercommon.
Moon (Silver) Elf: Moon Elves use the default Elf class.
Sun (Gold) Elf: Sun Elves are limited to chainmail or lighter armour and no shield, but with their deep knowledge of the arcane they can use magical items allowable to any other class (even clerical scrolls), alignment, etc.
Wild (Green) Elf: Wild Elves are limited to leather (or no) armour and no shield, but have the ability to hide like a Halfling. Their spells come from the Clerical spell list (not the Magic User/Elf list) and they know all available spells like a Cleric. When using a bow, they gain one additional attack per round.
Wood (Copper) Elf: Wood Elves are limited to studded leather or lighter armour and can use a shield, but have the ability to hide like a Halfling. Their spells can be prepared and cast from any mixture of both the Magic-User and Cleric spell lists; they know all spells from the Cleric list, but must learn Magic-User spells as normal.
GENASI
Requirements: CON 12
Prime Requisites: STR and CON. Both at 13+ gives +5% XP, STR 13+ and CON 16+ gives +10% XP.
HD: d6
XP: As Elf
Maximum Level: 10
Armour and Weapons: All
Attacks: As Fighter
Saves: As Elf
Special Abilities: Genasi choose a single elemental aspect (air, earth, fire or water) at character creation, and have magical abilities dependent on their choice. Air genasi do not need air to breathe, earth genasi have a -1 AC bonus for hard skin, fire genasi are immune to normal fire and take half damage from magical fire, and water genasi can breathe underwater and move underwater as fast as on land. All genasi have 60' infravision.
Genasi also gain spell-like abilites depending on their element that they can invoke twice per day each, all from the Magic-User spell list, once they reach the required level (in brackets).
Air: Floating Disc (1), Levitate (3), Fly (5), Arcane Eye(7), Cloudkill (9)
Earth: Shield (1), Locate Object (3), Protection from Normal Missiles (5), Polymorph Self (7), Passwall (9)
Fire: Light (1), Continual Light (3), Fireball (5), Wall of Fire (7), Conjure Elemental: fire only (9)
Water: Sleep (1), Mirror Image (3), Water Breathing (5), Wall of Ice (7), Transmute Rock to Mud (9)
At level 10, the genasi gains a secondary elemental aspect, adding all the base abilities of both. The second aspect doesn't add more castings, just options - for example, a Fire/Water Genasi can cast Light or Sleep twice per day, or once each, etc., but these don't need to be prepared.
HALF-ELF
Half-elves choose from human classes, and are handled like humans in the game mechanics except that they gain the Elf abilities of infravision 60', the increased ability to detect secret doors, and immunity to ghoul paralysis. They also get the Elf bonus languages plus Common and their local language; this is Chondathan, Damaran, Thayan, or Untheric, defaulting to the region where the character begins play (Chondathan in the Dalelands). Half-Elves gain a bonus -1 Reaction Adjustment, cumulative with any modifier from Charisma.
They pay for this with a 10% XP penalty, cumulative with any XP modifer from INT (for example a half-elf with 13 INT has a net -5% modifier to earned XP).
HALFLING
There are two subraces of Halfling adventurers:
Lightfoot: limited to studded leather or lighter armour and may use a shield, but can Move Silently and Hide in Shadows as a Thief (may hide as a Thief or as a Halfling, whichever is better at the time).
Strongheart: use the default Halfling class.
Both subraces speak both Common and their local language; this is Chondathan, Damaran, Thayan, or Untheric, defaulting to the region where the character begins play (Chondathan in the Dalelands). Both subraces can use slings for 1d6 damage (i.e. the damage is not reduced for the weapon's size).
HUMAN
Humans in the Realms speak both Common and their local language; this is Chondathan, Damaran, Thayan, or Untheric, defaulting to the region where the character begins play (Chondathan in the Dalelands).
TIEFLING
Requirements: DEX 9, INT 9
Prime Requisites: DEX and INT. Either at 13+ gives +5% XP, both at 13+ gives +10% XP.
HD: d4
XP: As Magic-User
Maximum Level: 10
Armour and Weapons: All weapons, no armour or shield.
Attacks: As Thief
Saves: As Magic-User
Special Abilities: Tieflings have infravision to 60', and have a +4 bonus to saving throws against fire, cold, and electricity. They have Abyssal as a bonus language. They can use all Thief skills (except Pick Pockets, but including Backstab) as a Thief one level lower (minimum level 1). They can learn and cast spells as a Magic-User, and automatically know one spell per character level but cannot learn spells by any means besides gaining levels. The spell known at level 1 must be Protection from Evil.
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