Low Fantasy Silver Standard

I have written about this before, so just a brief thought today.

I like the idea of using a silver standard because it's much more sensible than gold. There are other advantages and disadvantages from that. One thing Delta recommends (and I follow) is keeping armor under the gold standard, so chainmail costs 10 times more than a long bow, for example.

Although I think the whole equipment list deserves rewriting, I still use it for reference when needed. But one thing I am thinking of doing automatically, in addition to making armor more expensive, is also keeping all magical items in the gold standard.

There are not hard numbers in B/X The OSE SRD suggests this for research:

As a general rule, items should cost from 10,000 to 100,000gp and from 1 month to 1 year of game time to complete. Some examples: 20 arrows +1 (10,000gp, 1 month), plate mail +1 (10,000gp, 6 months), crystal ball (30,000gp, 6 months), ring of x-ray vision (100,000gp, 1 year)

AD&D suggests 100 GP per spell level for hiring an NPC to cast a spell AFAICR.

Keep them in the gold standard and everything else in the silver standard, them let your players buy magic items if they are available. Now, every magic items costs more gold than they ever seem in their lives. This gives another "low fantasy" layer to a setting.

This has not happened in my current campaign, as there is no "magic item store" in most of my games. But it might be interesting... It makes me think of ASOIF, where a Valyrian steel sword is a dowry by itself, or enough to trade for a nobility title, but it's cost in gold is too much even to the richest families.

Magic items become much more special. I might keep a few exceptions - healing potions, maybe. And I could even safely use 5e lists that are easy to find online. 

Of course, if you keep giving the characters lots of magic items, as as it often happens in most TSR and OSR adventures I've played, you risk ruining the entire economy and making PCs instantly wealthy if they can sell the stuff they find (not that it would be easy to find a customer). So this would also require adjusting in a low fantasy setting.

Anyway, just an idea at this point. Maybe it would be easier to make my own list...

10 OSR Lessons from Darkest Dungeon (part II)

Here is part I.

Here are a few more OSR lessons I learned (or at least remembered) from playing Darkest Dungeon.

1 - Frail characters, strong archetypes. In old school games, there is a tendency to have slightly weaker characters. Character death is a little more common and resurrection, a little rarer. It is not a good idea to get too attached to your character. In Darkest Dungeon, the game is automatically saved, so when you lose a character (or even the entire group) there is no way to save them. You simply recruit new heroes and return to the dungeon.

Although the characters are fragile, their classes (warrior, sorcerer, cleric, etc.) represent strong archetypes. The classes establish not only the powers but also the roles of the characters in the game (protecting allies, destroying enemies from a distance, healing wounds, etc.).

2 - Simplicity. Since you change characters from time to time, generating new characters should be simple. Unlike modern games, a new character has few "powers" and is often generated randomly.

In Darkest Dungeon, you simply recruit the character that is available, without choosing anything about him. In old school games, you can (sometimes) make a few choices, but it is common for characters to be randomly generated, or to be found and hired as retainers or hirelings before becoming player characters.

In D&D 5th edition, on the contrary, creating a new character takes some time and several choices. In addition, a first level character already starts with three or more "special powers".

3 - Teamwork (and positioning). With fragile, simple and somewhat limited characters, teamwork becomes even more important. No character is capable of doing everything on its own. The strength of the group is not a simple sum of its parts, but relies on the synergy induced by the appropriate combination of skills.

In Old School games, it is useful for each player to understand their role within the group - although the roles are not entirely rigid.

Another interesting characteristic of DD is that physical positioning is important: some classes fight on the front line, others on the rear or even on the second row. In Old School games, this is a little more emphasized - in some old school games, spears, for example, could attack from the second row, and bows were useless in hand-to-hand combat.

4 - You are what you do. As we have seen, the characters are, at first, simple archetypes. Your past matters little. Even your personality is not yet fully defined when the game starts. Only through the game does the character gain more characteristics and nuance.

This is a lesson that old school games taught me some time ago: developing characters through play is often more fun than creating complex backgrounds that almsot no one will read.

5 - A living, enticing world. In Darkest Dungeon, like in OS RPGs, the internal story of each character is not as relevant as the setting itself. Although characters will grow and create their own narratives, the main goal (or at least one of them) is to explore the world they inhabit. A world that "grows" with the characters, and that will be there even after they are gone.

The idea is that the characters leave their mark on the setting, and from this interaction the "story" emerges.

How do I apply this to my games?

I am currently running a Tomb of Annihilation campaign. It is a very lethal 5e campaign (with a "meat grinder mode"). To stay true to this premise, I am using my "minimalist D&D" rules to give the game an old school style - something I have been trying to do for some time.

In this system I'm using, the characters are generated with few scrolls (something like Dark Fantasy Characters), start without powers and almost without backstories. Each player controls two characters and, when necessary, can replace one of them. In addition, each attempt to explore Chult is an expedition that requires some planning about encumbrance, rations, etc. There are always several expeditions available for players to choose from - in a structure very similar to DD.

It is working quite well. Let's see how far this goes. In the meantime, I keep devising new ways to bring these DD (and other old school games) lessons to D&D 5th edition.

10 OSR Lessons from Darkest Dungeon (part I)

Darkest Dungeon is a fun and addictive PC (and video-) game. It seems strongly inspired by OSR-style RPGs (or at least has similar influences). Playing Darkest Dungeon (DD) reminded me of several interesting principles for my own OSR games. 

Of course, the interesting thing about this game is not only the mechanics, but the Gothic atmosphere and the amazing visuals, which go very well with the "dark fantasy" motif. If you want that "feel" in your games, you can try my "Dark Fantasy" line. 

Anyway, here are some "lessons" that occurred to me when playing DD.

1 - Expeditions. Many modern RPGs are organized through sessions, adventures, campaigns, "milestones", etc. Some even use terms such as scene, episode and season, or divide events into minutes, hours and days. Darkest Dungeon, like some old school modules, is divided into expeditions.

The structure of the expedition is as follows. You start at your "headquarter", the village - a somewhat safe place, where you can buy weapons and supplies, recruit helpers, rest, etc. Then you set out to explore a "dungeon" - a dangerous place, where the possibilities for resting or obtaining useful resources are limited. Finally, IF you survive, you return to the city with some treasures and perhaps a few missing members in your group.

Most 5e D&D campaigns do not make this structure very explicit, but the two I played most recently could certainly benefit from this perspective. Try applying this "expedition" mechanic to Curse of Strahd and Tomb of Annihilation, and you will see some interesting results. 

2 - Resource management and encumbrance. Managing the resources that will be carried into the expedition becomes a essential part of the game. Your carrying capacity is limited, you need to bring torches to avoid being surprised by monsters in the dark, enough food to keep you from starving, etc.. In addition, you need to bring shovels, antidotes, bandages and other useful tools. But carrying too many things limits your ability to carry treasure (and, in old school games, also slows you down). 

This aspect of the game is all but lost in modern games like D&D 5e, in which encumbrance is too generous and gold is too light.

3 - Time limits. Gary Gygax famously said that "YOU CAN NOT HAVE A MEANINGFUL CAMPAIGN IF STRICT TIME RECORDS ARE NOT KEPT" in page 37 of the original Dungeon Master’s Guide

A similar idea applies here. Although there is no explicit "ticking clock", the longer you stay in the "dungeon", the more stress you accumulate and the more food and torches you spend - increasing your chances of dying alone in the dark or going crazy. That means: time, along with torches and food, is a scarce resource that must be managed.

In fact, the stress meter from DD is an EXTREMLEY useful and versatile tool. Although this is not common in old school RPGs, it fits this "limited time" concept very well. I think it deserves a post of its own (on how to integrate this into your RPG games). Stay tuned!

BTW, the problem with stress in DD that it causes some significant amount of stress in real life, lol. Not an easy game!

4 - Mundane items. As you can see, mundane items (torches, rations, shovels) are very important. It is not about accumulating powerful magic items, but managing ordinary objects. 

In "old school" games, which have much broader possibilities than video games, ordinary items (such as a rope, shovel or 10-foot pole) can always be used in many creative ways to overcome obstacles, although consumable items (torches and rations) lose some of their importance when the characters reach the highest levels

5 - Underground Nightmares x Gygaxian Naturalism. 

Since the beginning of RPGs, dungeons have been built in two different (and somewhat antagonistic) structures. 

In the first, the dungeon is a dreamlike and almost inexplicable place, containing dragons bigger than the tunnels would allow and creatures that have no obvious ways to feed themselves - as if they came from a nightmare. In the second structure, the dungeon was created for a reason, and the creatures that live there are part of a (somewhat) coherent ecosystem ("Gygaxian naturalism").

In DD, the dungeons fit into the first model, but the game makes some concessions to the second, with aquatic creatures in the most flooded environments and mushroom-men living in the caverns. 

The lesson here is that even in the unexplainable environments of a nightmare, having some thread of rationality is useful in giving players some chance to prepare themselves adequately to face the challenges that lie ahead. If there was no predictability, a huge part of the "preparation of resources" phase would be lost, since there is no way to choose the best tools if there is no clue as to what is to come.

Well, I think this is enough for today. I'll have the second part soon - explaining some characteristics of the characters in DD and OSR games.

(Here is part II).

D&D is too VERBOSE (small rant + book suggestion)

In a little follow-up to the last post, I started wondering if all those spells in 5e could actually fit a card... Anyway, tried to do my own version. Just got a list of spells to cut out the ones the PCs used, for easy reference...

Well, the spells took LOTS of pages. These pages dt didn't, however, contain that much information; many of the words in 5e (around 40%, I'd guess) are useless repetition; they don't contain any new information. Some of it could be cut by using abbreviations.

For example, look at this spell:

Acid Arrow
2nd level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V S M (Powdered rhubarb leaf and an adder's stomach)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Wizard
A shimmering green arrow streaks toward a target within range and bursts in a spray of acid. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 4d4 acid damage immediately and 2d4 acid damage at the end of its next turn. On a miss, the arrow splashes the target with acid for half as much of the initial damage and no damage at the end of its next turn.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage (both initial and later) increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 2nd.

Compared to:

Acid Arrow (2)
Evocation; 1 action; 90'; Instant
Components: V S M (Powdered rhubarb leaf and an adder's stomach)
Wizard
A shimmering green arrow streaks toward a target within range and bursts in a spray of acid. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 4d4 acid damage immediately and 2d4 acid damage at the end of its next turn. On a miss, the arrow splashes the target with acid for half as much of the initial damage and no damage at the end of its next turn.
Higher slots: The damage (both initial and later) increases by 1d4 for each level above 2nd.

No information is lost.

(To be honest, a single "deal damage, choose type" spell template would be enough for me; one page and you get rid of 50+ spells. But that's a different matter)

The same pattern (unnecessary letters, words and sentences) is repeated throughout the book.

"On a short or long rest" is used again and again where "on a short rest" would do.

Darkvision is described over and over - but the rules about light and vision still do not make much sense.

The contents of monster stat-blocks get repeated over and over again or gain needless details. Look at the dragons in the Monster Manual. 30 pages? They could have used 10. Or less... Just check the DCC RRG. Or the Rules Cyclopedia. Or wait a couple of months for my monster book! ;)

Of course, using things like HP instead of Hit Points, saves instead of saving throws, etc. would make the book even smaller.

I know this sounds like nitpicking, but the size of 5e books (and the amount of words in them) is a HUGE factor for me - and, I would bet, for many new players. 5e is not THAT complex, but it LOOKS complex because of these things.

There would be a lot less page-flipping and weight-carrying (and less intimation to new players, I guess) if the books were more concise.

But I guess WotC would make less money? I dunno. Seems to me that adding lots of "casual" players would be great to D&D.

Anyway, rant over.

After spending more time than I should with this exercise I gave up on buying spell cards for now. Maybe I'll still get monster cards, I dunno. Certainly items.

To end this on a positive note, here is the stuff I like.

First, monster variations. You know, when Curse of Strahd (or the MM itself) says "this monster is like a zombie, but wearing plate armor", or "treat this NPC like a noble, but she is carrying a +1 rapier"? That is more than enough for me and provides interesting twists to familiar monsters. I wish more books would do the same (and I will give you a book based entirely around this idea soon).

Second, games that manage to be simple and short without being minimalist or incomplete.

You can always try my Dark Fantasy Basic; 5 classes with lots of variations, 20 spells that can be cast at any level, and about 50 pages. But if you're tired of hearing about my game... here is another idea, specially if you like the idea of a B/X and 5e mix, but would prefer more 5e than B/X.

Try Into the Unknown [affiliate link - by using this, you're helping to support this blog].

About 250 pages (including everything), 13 bucks for the PDF (25 for the print version), straightforward, concise and EFFICIENT. Few classes, but a lot more customization than B/X. Monster have small stat blocks, with morale and number encountered! And just look at the guidance spell:

Guidance
Priest (Divination)
Range: Touch
Duration: Conc. (up to 1 minute)
Once before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to one ability check of its choice. It can roll the die before or after making the ability check. The spell then ends.

Notice that it seems similar to guidance, but it omits useless info; no mention of casting time (assume 1 action); no mention of components (assume V, S).

In short... that's AWESOME. Congratulations to Anders Honoré! Check his blog The Setting to End All Settings, BTW.

If you want to introduce someone to D&D 5e, I would prefer this game even to D&D basic. Great stuff! It could save lots of folks some time, money, patience... and maybe spare a few trees!

Cards against pencils

Some players missed the last RPG session, so we played some cooperative boardgames. Something I should do more often, it seems.

Anyway, the game had cards in addition to the board, and it got me thinking about how useful cards would be to my RPG sessions.

Come to think of it, using cards is also something I should do more often.

I think I disliked dealing with cards because of 4e; it practically required you to browse through your "cards" every round to find the right power, etc. I dislike that idea not only in practice but also on principle.

However, I used to LOVE D&D cards back in the TSR days... Specially those from Dragonquest!

And I enjoyed playing with cards this week. One mechanic I particularly enjoyed is discarding; you have a maximum number of cards to hold, and when you get something new, you must discard something else.

Such a mechanic is obviously well-suited for items. With one obvious advantage: item cards do not make me feel like I'm looking at the character sheet, but at actual items - like my character would be in order to solve a puzzle, decide what items to carry, etc.

Cards representing monsters and spells are cool as well, mainly to avoid lots of page-flipping.

I think the main difference is, these are things you actually have - most are things you can actually see (unlike a "clever shot" or "rapid shot" from 4e). They strengthen immersion instead of making you feel like you're playing a character sheet instead of an actual character.

---
Brief digression:

Of course, you could argue that there is no difference between a "rapid shot" power and a "fireball" power. And I agree, up to a point - the main reason I'd like to use spell cards is because there are SO MANY spells to choose from that this would just make things easier.

However, there is another conceptual difference, at least in my head - the fireball is an actual THING in old school D&D. Anyone can tell when a wizard is using a fireball. It EXISTS in some vancian spell slot inside your head. You might even CHOOSE the spell BEFOREHAND, and CARRY it in your mind - it occupies SPACE. You can write the spell down in a grimoire or scroll, etc. A "rapid shot" is not a "thing"; it REPRESENTS an action an archer could take. If you miss a "rapid shot", it is likely that no one could even tell you TRIED to "rapid shot" in the first place... unlike a fireball.

Yes, they are pretty much the same in 4e and, you could argue, in 5e, since spells slots work a bit differently now. But anyway, I prefer this old school flavor.

Digression over.
---

Anyway, now I feel like buying some cards. I didn't buy many back in the day because, well, they were too expensive. Looking at cards now... They are still expensive in most cases, and just UGLY in other cases. But we'll try anyway.

Gale Force Nine

The "official" D&D 5e cards.

Monsters look cool enough, and the art is certainly high quality. However, I really I prefer the old ones (see above). Much more inspiring, with movement and backgrounds... I don't quite get it. WotC has access to these old classic pieces of art. If that is not enough, they should at least learn something from Magic the Gathering. Have you seem any MtG monsters without movement or backgrounds?

Spell are not illustrated, but are good enough, I guess. They have "martial power" cards if you like that, too...

Prices are reasonable - not much more than, say, 10c per card in most sets.

Unfortunately, item cards - my main interest - were apparently done in such a lazy manner that it turns my stomach. Just check some customer images on amazon.

Let's look for itens elsewhere...

The Deck of Many Weapons

The art is a bit cartoony, but looks cool and gets the point across. I find this a bit expensive - 15 dollars for 33 cards? - but I might consider it. Find it here.

Inkwell Ideas

There is also this*. It seems to be the most functional of the bunch, since I can add my own info (although it doesn't contain much info of it's own - for example, the damage, weight or cost of the greatsword below). Decent price, too. The art seems too "computer-based" for my tastes, but good enough.

[*Affiliate link. By purchasing stuff through affiliate links, you're helping to support this blog].

Free stuff

There is plenty of FREE cards online. Some of it is of higher quality or usefulness than the "official" stuff, but you must print them for yourself... Unless there is an easy way to do that, it won't work for me. But if you're interested, check this and this.

What else?

Have you ever tried playing D&D with cards? Did I miss some interesting product? Let me know in the comments!

Apprentice’s Weapons and Magic Items (for D&D 5e)

Apprentice’s Weapons are special items that can be used efficiently by anyone - even if they aren't proficient. They are probably more expensive, rarer or even magical when compared to common weapons. They might have been created by wizards for themselves or their incompetent minions, or by a gifted blacksmith to help rebelling villagers against oppressive knights.

In game terms, anyone is proficient with this weapon. A wizard using an Apprentice’s Glaive, for example, would at her proficiency bonus to the attack.

This idea is inspired by this post at Don't Split the Party (invented in 79!). Check the blog if you will, it has some awesome stuff.

Now, let us expand the idea further.

Magic Items for Dummies

Adding the "Apprentice’s" template to magic weapons and items would allow them to be used by characters that are not proficient or that ordinarily cannot be attuned to them.

This would allow non-proficient characters to use magic weapons, but also  non-spellcasters to cast spells with staves and wands!

As a general rule, all apprentice’s items should require attunement.

Of course, these apprentice’s items would be rarer or somewhat worse than their DMG counterparts.

Alternatively, you can make it worse only when used by an apprentice, while working as written on the DMG if wielded by the intended classes. You can even use this method to give PCs a "taste" of the item and encourage them to take the adequate proficiency if they want to make full use of the item.

Some examples of limitations (choose two or more of than, or add other limitations):

1. Charges. If an item has charges, the apprentice's version has half as many charges (round down).
2. Save DCs. If an item allows the target a save DC, the apprentice's version DC is half the original DC (round down), plus the wielder's Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma modifier depending on the item.
3. Fragility. If an item has a chance of breaking, the apprentice's version has twice as much chance of breaking. If an item does not have a chance of breaking, the apprentice's version might have a small chance of breaking (for example, an apprentice's sword might have 10% chance of breakage if a crit is rolled).
4. Bonuses. If an item gives you a bonus (for example, a +3 sword), the apprentice's version has a smaller bonus (+1 or +2) since amateurs cannot make the best use of it.
5. Spellburn! My go-to answer to the question of "can my Fighter PC cast spells?" is usually "Yes, at his own risk". Which means: if a magic item is used by someone that is not really used to this kind of magic/weapon/etc., give it a small change of creating a magical blowback.

Name variations. To add some mystery to it, you can use other synonyms to name your items.

1. Apprentice’s.
2. Neophyte’s.
3. Novice’s.
4. Fledgling’s.
5. Beginner's.
6. Pupil's.

Random effects. As an alternative, if you want to allow non-proficient characters to use ALL magic items in the game, you can use this method to allow your PCs to make SOME use of magic items that are found randomly and have nothing to do with their characters... before they trade it or sell it, anyway. Here are some possible effects of using an item you're not supposed to use:

1. Fewer charges, low DC (see above).
2. Smaller bonus (maximum +1).
3. Every time you use it, there is a 1-in-20 chance or hurting yourself or having another negative consequence (see "Spellburn", above).
4. Fewer charges, frail (see above).
5. You cannot make head nor tails of this item, but you can roll again after you gain a level.
6. This item is definitely not intended for you. You cannot attune or use it proficiently until you have the required proficiency/class.

Caveat emptor (magic armor)

While letting wizards walk around with +1 swords will not break the game, you should be very careful about armor. Weapon proficiency is easy to come by, unlike armor proficiency. In addition, a fighter with a +2 sword is still better than a wizard due to increased attacks and Strength, but a wizard with +1 plate might have the exact same AC as the fighter! In conclusion, apprentice’s armor should be rare and significantly weaker.

Sample magic items

Fledgling’s Staff of Fire

Staff, Very Rare.

Requires Attunement.

You have Resistance to fire damage while you hold this staff.

The staff has 5 Charges. While holding it, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its Charges to cast one of the following Spells from it, using half your spell save DC*: Burning Hands (1 charge), Fireball (3 charges), or Wall of Fire (4 charges).

The staff regains 1d3 + 2 expended Charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1 or 2, the staff blackens, crumbles into cinders, and is destroyed.

* 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence, Charisma or Wisdom modifier; and divide the total by two.

Optional: if attuned to a  Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard, it functions as a regular Staff of Fire.

Neophyte’s Sun Blade

Weapon, Rare (requires attunement, longsword)

This item appears to be a longsword hilt. While grasping the hilt, you can use a bonus action to cause a blade of pure radiance to spring into existence, or make the blade disappear. While the blade exists, this magic longsword has the finesse property. While attuned, you are proficient with the Neophyte’s Sun Blade, even if you are not proficient with longswords.

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon, which deals radiant damage instead of slashing damage. When you hit an undead with it, that target takes an extra 1d4 radiant damage.

The sword's luminous blade emits bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet. The light is sunlight.

If you roll a natural 1 while attacking with this weapon, roll another d20. On a 1 or 2, the sword is destroyed in a flash of light, causing 1d6 damage to the wielder.

Optional: If you are proficient with shortswords or longswords, it functions as a regular Sun Blade.

Orbs

Here is some fluff inspired by these ideas; maybe you can use it as fodder for your settings, or ignore it completely.

Think of orbs like pyromancy flames in Dark Souls; a magic weapons anyone can use -  a great equalizer that can potentially make ordinary people almost as dangerous as mighty warriors or magicians. Like firearms, basically.

Orbs are magical implements crafted by hired wizards in ancient to give mighty rulers the power to cast spells. Most wizards hate orbs with a fierce passion, since their existence cheapens the wizards' power, and will likely destroy them on sight before they may fall in wrong hands (or anyone's hands for that matter).

Mechanically, it functions similarly to ring of spell storing, with a few differences:

The orb stores Spells cast into it, holding them until the attuned wearer uses them. The orb holds one spell chosen by the creator at the moment the orb is created, and can store up to a maximum of 5 levels worth of Spells (for example, an Orb of Magic missile will allow one to cast this 1st level spell 5 times). When found, it contains 1d6 - 1 levels of stored Spells chosen by the DM. While holding this orb, you can cast any spell stored in it. The spell uses the slot level, spell save DC, spell Attack bonus, and spellcasting ability of the original caster, but is otherwise treated as if you cast the spell.

The orb regains 1d4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the orb's last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the orb crumbles into ashes and is destroyed.