It was my son's birthday Thursday the 24th, and on Saturday the 26th we're going to have his party -- at our place. So I've spent the past few days cleaning the heck out of the townhome, and should be resuming normal posting in a few days, after I recover.
Regrettably, unlike Paladin, I probably won't be doing any gaming for my son's birthday party. His cousins are usually invited, and my sister is a hardcore Christian who believes that D&D, Pokemon, Harry Potter, and other assorted things are Satanic.
It truly saddens me.
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Celebrating Gygax
Today is the anniversary of Gary Gygax's death. If anyone doesn't know what a Gary Gygax is, you need to look it up. Jeff Rients on his blog mentioned some homework:
"Start with a core set of rules, the older and crappier the better. You can use an RPG but some half-baked wargame works even better. Produce a two or three page document with suggestions for improving the rules/adapting them for RPG play and an outline for a campaign. Expand this to a 50-100 page book. Use the latter document as the basis for all your campaigns for the next decade or three. Run one to six games a week, refining your work as necessary. Publishing any of it is entirely optional."
Done and done. Except for publishing any of it. I'm still in the process of writing a clone, but it's not finished as of this writing. A short blurb:
I wrote this because I want a different "feel" for D&D, one that I don't believe the mechanics support well in their current form. I want to bring the violent action and feel of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and David Gemmell to the mix. I want the otherworldly horror of Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft. I want to renew a sense of wonder to the player, when you sat down and played your first game of D&D.
Choose from 10 unique races, not just another variation of elf. Some are the same as you're used to (shaken and stirred a bit), others are very different. Humans are now distinct by nationality and race.
You are not your stuff anymore. Your damage increases by class and level, not by acquiring a higher-damage weapon. This is logical and consistent with the pulps we are emulating.
No skills! Your character is unique and does have abilities all his own, and the rules allow anything to be attempted without fiddly rules. The Thief class is now more useful and fun than in earlier iterations of That Fantasy Game.
Experience points and Treasure are more logical, consistent, and reward actually doing things. Magical treasure is now something to be truly in awe of -- not because of raw power, but because of the effects.
New combat mechanics allow for any action to be taken, with instant effects -- not just “+2 to Armor Class!” Unhorse your foe! Throw your opponent into a group of enemies and bowl them over. Hurl your sword at someone and have it pierce him like a spear! Shatter weapons and shields! Simple, quick grappling rules allow you to wrestle with your enemy in style! 46 Combat Maneuvers make the Fighter class fun again!
Almost infinite variety. We have 43 character classes with different types of Spellcasters and Priest-types. Unique mechanics allow selection to be a breeze! Get a character up and running in 10 minutes! Variety like you've not seen in either kit or prestige class! Yet easier than any edition!
New spells, contained in the same Vancian spell slot system, but now with full power over your spells and how they're cast! Options for variants allow for a richer magic system! Eight different schools of magic are detailed, and clerics now have access to “Prayers,” instead of spells. It works the same, just renamed!
New monsters! Old monsters with a unique twist!
All this together with a unique fantasy setting. Make a name for yourself in the magical land of Andurantha!
Not Old School, not New School, but rather Alternative School. Backwards compatible with most editions of D&D.
Optional rules allow you to play it your way!
Getting anyone to playtest this might be interesting. Most people have fallen under the sway of WotC or Paizo, and have little patience for anything else. A weekly game? I wish!
"Start with a core set of rules, the older and crappier the better. You can use an RPG but some half-baked wargame works even better. Produce a two or three page document with suggestions for improving the rules/adapting them for RPG play and an outline for a campaign. Expand this to a 50-100 page book. Use the latter document as the basis for all your campaigns for the next decade or three. Run one to six games a week, refining your work as necessary. Publishing any of it is entirely optional."
Done and done. Except for publishing any of it. I'm still in the process of writing a clone, but it's not finished as of this writing. A short blurb:
I wrote this because I want a different "feel" for D&D, one that I don't believe the mechanics support well in their current form. I want to bring the violent action and feel of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and David Gemmell to the mix. I want the otherworldly horror of Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft. I want to renew a sense of wonder to the player, when you sat down and played your first game of D&D.
Choose from 10 unique races, not just another variation of elf. Some are the same as you're used to (shaken and stirred a bit), others are very different. Humans are now distinct by nationality and race.
You are not your stuff anymore. Your damage increases by class and level, not by acquiring a higher-damage weapon. This is logical and consistent with the pulps we are emulating.
No skills! Your character is unique and does have abilities all his own, and the rules allow anything to be attempted without fiddly rules. The Thief class is now more useful and fun than in earlier iterations of That Fantasy Game.
Experience points and Treasure are more logical, consistent, and reward actually doing things. Magical treasure is now something to be truly in awe of -- not because of raw power, but because of the effects.
New combat mechanics allow for any action to be taken, with instant effects -- not just “+2 to Armor Class!” Unhorse your foe! Throw your opponent into a group of enemies and bowl them over. Hurl your sword at someone and have it pierce him like a spear! Shatter weapons and shields! Simple, quick grappling rules allow you to wrestle with your enemy in style! 46 Combat Maneuvers make the Fighter class fun again!
Almost infinite variety. We have 43 character classes with different types of Spellcasters and Priest-types. Unique mechanics allow selection to be a breeze! Get a character up and running in 10 minutes! Variety like you've not seen in either kit or prestige class! Yet easier than any edition!
New spells, contained in the same Vancian spell slot system, but now with full power over your spells and how they're cast! Options for variants allow for a richer magic system! Eight different schools of magic are detailed, and clerics now have access to “Prayers,” instead of spells. It works the same, just renamed!
New monsters! Old monsters with a unique twist!
All this together with a unique fantasy setting. Make a name for yourself in the magical land of Andurantha!
Not Old School, not New School, but rather Alternative School. Backwards compatible with most editions of D&D.
Optional rules allow you to play it your way!
Getting anyone to playtest this might be interesting. Most people have fallen under the sway of WotC or Paizo, and have little patience for anything else. A weekly game? I wish!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Handling Fame and Infamy
Reading a post at RPG Blog II I was originally mentioning how I handle renown through roleplaying, somehow vaguely tied to level. And as I thought about it more and more, I began to realize that having it codified might be beneficial.
Generally, the thing you will be most known for is your character class. An elusive thief, a valiant warrior, a devout priest, etc. However, there will be deeds that will stand out above others, and there also can be alignment fame (or infamy, if particularly evil or chaotic). Most basically, the character will be known, for good or ill, by what he is and what he does. Slay a band of marauding goblins -- fame. Burn down an orphanage -- infamy.
Here is a rough chart of the levels, and the amount of fame they correspond to:
Of course, your fame/glory/renown/infamy could result in other actions being taken. Being known as an amazing warrior might have others challenging you for the title. Being infamous might mean a price is on your head, and so on. The player and DM are encouraged to be creative.
Generally, the thing you will be most known for is your character class. An elusive thief, a valiant warrior, a devout priest, etc. However, there will be deeds that will stand out above others, and there also can be alignment fame (or infamy, if particularly evil or chaotic). Most basically, the character will be known, for good or ill, by what he is and what he does. Slay a band of marauding goblins -- fame. Burn down an orphanage -- infamy.
Here is a rough chart of the levels, and the amount of fame they correspond to:
| 1st-4th level | Relatively unknown. If of noble birth, it is extremely minor or hidden |
| 5-8th level | By this time has proven himself a hero/villain. Educated men and bards will know of his deeds, but he will not be widely recognized. |
| 9th (Name) level | Known by all in his state/province. Can set up some sort of headquarters and attract followers. |
| 11th level | In/famous throughout the country. Could possibly have a place at court. |
| 13th level | Known throughout the continent. |
| 15th level | Known the world over. His deeds will be spoken of in distant lands |
Of course, your fame/glory/renown/infamy could result in other actions being taken. Being known as an amazing warrior might have others challenging you for the title. Being infamous might mean a price is on your head, and so on. The player and DM are encouraged to be creative.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Rethinking Combat
Combat in D&D (pre-2000) seems me to be a bit uninvolved. Sure, there's the whole "I'm down to my last hit point" or "I used up all my spells" resource management type thing, but otherwise there's just this: roll dice to hit, roll damage. For some reason, it felt a bit wrong to me, especially when I was exposed to other systems. In GURPS, you roll to defend yourself. In Marvel Super Heroes, you roll to dodge. In Palladium, you also have a dodge, block, or parry roll. In Storyteller, you roll to try and mitigate your foe's successes. In Tunnels & Trolls, each opponent rolls. In Rolemaster, you use some of your offensive ability to add to your defense. Heck, even in Risus you roll. Games with relatively static target numbers in combat just feel erratic, and in some cases erroneous, to me now.
Imagine this: if your buddy aims a punch at you, and you see it coming, you're not likely to sit there as it comes at you. I know D&D and other games are supposed to take that into account, but I don't visualize it happening, for whatever reason. It just feels like I'm sitting there, waiting to be hit.
Check out this clip from the 7th Voyage of Sinbad:
While not technically from Appendix N, I can't imagine no one kept Ray Harryhausen in mind when designing D&D.
The sad thing is, I don't have combats in D&D that play out like that clip. It just seems like two people standing there bashing each other's heads in. Even defensive maneuvers or shields tend to simply add to AC, they don't really reflect what's really going on as combat proceeds. Now, I realize that it was developed from a naval wargame. I realize that naval ships cannot dodge, parry, etc. Be that as it may, we have grown older, and better ways have been found to do certain things in the 37 years since D&D was born. And I do not care for the complexities of D&D3 or 4 -- if you enjoy them then more power to you, but I can think of easier ways to simulate what happens in this scene...and beyond it.
To do this we have to overhaul the system slightly.
Armor Class remains, but we have to adjust depending on what system you're using. Armor Class no longer stands for your entire defensive capabilities, but now simply straight armor. No bonuses for Dexterity are added into it. In my system, 5 is the base, and armor adds to it. It's ascending. For descending AC, you'd have to subtract that from 11 to get the bonus, and add 5. A roll under this number (still called Armor Class) means you hit the armor and no damage is done.
Next we determine what the bonuses are to hit. Usually this is STR bonus + Level for Fighters, and everyone else would need to know their Base Attack Bonus. Now in the case of matrix-based combat, this is relatively easy. Find the worst AC on the matrix (for Basic this would be 9, for AD&D 10), cross-index class and level, and subtract that number from 10. That is the bonus to hit. Enterprising players will already have these numbers written down, to avoid looking anything up. This can be done for monsters as well.
So, as an example, we have Gorthon, and Ral. Gorthon is a level 7 Fighter with 17 STR, and Ral is a level 9 Thief with a 13 STR. They are coming from a matrix-based game, and both Gorthon's and Ral's chance to hit AC 9 is 5. 10 - 5 = 5, meaning they have a base attack bonus of 5. Gorthon, with his 17 STR, has a +2, and Ral has a +1 to hit. Gorthon is wearing Chain, and Ral is wearing Leather. So, to summarize:
Gorthon, Fighter: +7 to hit, AC 11 (Chain)
Ral, Thief: +5 to hit, AC 9 (Leather)
Next each combatant has 1 attack, and 1 defense. One person attacks, the other defends. The attacker declares his intent (special attacks, etc), and the defender declares his actions (parry, dodge, block with shield, or something else). To hit you simply roll a d20, and whoever rolls higher wins. If the attacker wins, roll damage. That's it. If you roll under the AC, your attack simply bounced off. Then, when the defender's initiative comes up, that's when he makes his attack, and the other guy becomes the defender.
The narrative is dependent on the actions being performed. Obviously, if the defender declares that he is dodging and his roll is higher, you don't say the attack bounced off the defender's shield. He ducked or jumped out of the way.
There are other things we saw in that clip as well:
Fighting from higher ground might grant a +1 to the attacker.
Ducking behind something could give a +1 to the defender.
Also the winner of a combat round might want to force the loser back a pace.
Too, you can have knockdown or knockback effects if you want, such as when Sinbad knocked the skeleton off the staircase with his sword, though again that could be simulated by having the loser forced back a pace, and falling off because there is no other place to step. A knockdown effect can be simulated by rolling attacker's STR vs. defender's DEX. If the defender fails, he's either pushed backwards, or is knocked to the ground, and must spend his next action standing. He may parry (or block, if he has a shield), but cannot dodge.
For disarm, you could simply have the attacker declare that instead of damage, he has knocked the weapon from his foe's hand. Obviously, that wouldn't work with tooth or claw, but with swords, axes, maces, etc it works just fine.
For disarm, you could simply have the attacker declare that instead of damage, he has knocked the weapon from his foe's hand. Obviously, that wouldn't work with tooth or claw, but with swords, axes, maces, etc it works just fine.
And did you see what the skeleton did when disarmed? It threw the shield at Sinbad and went for its sword. That could be an attack or defense, and a WIS roll might be needed to not lose your action.
The system is fairly versatile. Taking a page from Swords Against The Outer Dark, you could say that 11 minus your AC is a penalty to your dodge roll, thus representing that heavy armor can slow you down. I would probably rule that way for chain, not plate, since there are even YouTube videos showing people doing aerobics in full plate.
All this doesn't take that much longer than a normal combat, simply because there is a clear winner. It's not like the guy parrying or dodging will be successful all the time. And, I feel, it's more visceral, because as the defender you are responsible for making sure you roll higher than the other guy, rather than just waiting to see if you get hit.
The system is fairly versatile. Taking a page from Swords Against The Outer Dark, you could say that 11 minus your AC is a penalty to your dodge roll, thus representing that heavy armor can slow you down. I would probably rule that way for chain, not plate, since there are even YouTube videos showing people doing aerobics in full plate.
All this doesn't take that much longer than a normal combat, simply because there is a clear winner. It's not like the guy parrying or dodging will be successful all the time. And, I feel, it's more visceral, because as the defender you are responsible for making sure you roll higher than the other guy, rather than just waiting to see if you get hit.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Rules Hack - Mass Combat and Trade
Reading Telecanter's Receding Rules was inspiring. At the end of his house rules, there was a request thread, of sorts -- "requesting elegant solutions" for various in-game situations. So...challenge accepted! I don't know if these are elegant enough, as they are sort of off the top of my head...
Simple Mass Combat Rules
First of all, each side rolls a d20. This is modified by:
Simple Mass Combat Rules
First of all, each side rolls a d20. This is modified by:
| Combatant has monsters in his unit | +1 |
| Combatant has elite members in his unit | +1 |
| Combatant has a legendary hero (ala Conan) | +3 |
| Combatant has a magic user | +1 |
| Combatant has double the amount of foe's army | +5 |
| Combatant is holed up inside a fortress* | +7 |
* = one side only -- this would represent a siege.
Then roll. The side that gets the highest number wins.
For more granularity, you could say that each successful roll reduces the foe's army by half. So, if you had 500 foes, a hit would bring you down to 250, then 175, then 90, then 45, 25, 12, 6, 3, 1, and 0.
You might wish to divide the combatants into units, that way more soldiers get wiped out in a single attack. So, for example, if the above combatant had 500 men, 500 divided into 10 units of 50 men each, you could simply have the units engage in combat. Start with 10, first hit brings it down to 5, then 3, then 2, and 1, and finally the battle is won in five rolls instead of ten rolls as shown above.
Simple Trade Rules
First you figure out if you're trading by land or by sea. Trading by land is shorter, but you get less of a return on your investment because pack horses cannot carry much. Trading by sea is longer and riskier, but you get more of a return on your investment because ships can carry all sorts of things, and you can trade for exotic goods from all over.
Then, you take some of your gold, and put it into an investment in trade goods.
Trading by sea means you roll 1d6 to find out your profit margin. If you roll a 1-5, that is the amount you invested multiplies by. So, if you invested 100 gold, rolling a 4 means you make 400 gold. A "6" means the ship was lost at sea, along with the profits. The roll is also for how many game months the ships were at sea.
Trading by land, you'd roll a 1d3 for profits. Multiply what you invested by that number. It also takes that many game months for your pack horses to make the journey.
I'm still working on Simple Political and Social Intrigue rules. Those rules are more difficult since intrigue is quite complex.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A Way to Handle "Speak With Dead"
I've got a way to handle the Speak With Dead spell narratively. Now, in the Expert Set (Mentzer Edition) it says this:
This brings up some interesting questions about the afterlife. Most real-world religions teach that the body is simply a shell, and that the soul is what animates it. Once the body is dead, the soul departs it. In Egyptian mythology, however, preserving the body after death meant that the dearly departed would enjoy eternal life. So why would a pseudo-medieval society believe that the body had anything to do with the soul after death?
Perhaps in our game we can say that the soul departs within a number of rounds, making it impossible to resurrect. Now, after the soul goes to its final reward, there is a sort of "remnant" of a soul in the body, that makes it possible to contact the person in death. Obviously the person will only know what they knew in life. Again, because the soul remnant is tied to the body, you must be close to the body to do so. In time, the remnant fades, and is harder and harder to commune with. You may only pick up an obscure word or two, and that's it. Eventually, this too is gone. However, there is still some soul energy left in the body even after that. This energy is what allows necromancers to summon an army of undead, using the soul energy left in the body to power them. The more powerful ones may simply be recently dead, and are using a full power remnant as an energy source.
Obviously, YMMV.
Speak with the Dead Range: 10’ Duration: 1 round per level of the cleric Effect: Cleric may ask 3 questions By means of this spell, a cleric may ask 3 questions of a deceased spirit if the body is within range. A cleric of up to 7th level may only contact spirits recently dead (up to 4 days). Clerics of level 8-14 have slightly more power (up to 4 months dead), level 15-20 even more (up to 4 years dead). No time limits apply to clerics of 21st level or greater. The spirit will always reply in a tongue known to the cleric, but can only offer knowledge of things up to the time of its death. If the spirit’s alignment is the same as the cleric’s, clear and brief answers will be given; however, if the alignments differ, the spirit may reply in riddles. |
This brings up some interesting questions about the afterlife. Most real-world religions teach that the body is simply a shell, and that the soul is what animates it. Once the body is dead, the soul departs it. In Egyptian mythology, however, preserving the body after death meant that the dearly departed would enjoy eternal life. So why would a pseudo-medieval society believe that the body had anything to do with the soul after death?
Perhaps in our game we can say that the soul departs within a number of rounds, making it impossible to resurrect. Now, after the soul goes to its final reward, there is a sort of "remnant" of a soul in the body, that makes it possible to contact the person in death. Obviously the person will only know what they knew in life. Again, because the soul remnant is tied to the body, you must be close to the body to do so. In time, the remnant fades, and is harder and harder to commune with. You may only pick up an obscure word or two, and that's it. Eventually, this too is gone. However, there is still some soul energy left in the body even after that. This energy is what allows necromancers to summon an army of undead, using the soul energy left in the body to power them. The more powerful ones may simply be recently dead, and are using a full power remnant as an energy source.
Obviously, YMMV.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Calendar of Andurantha
My last post was mostly systemless, so I thought I'd continue this in earnest. I have a world I've been working on for awhile, and this world I'm trying to make as detailed as possible, while having as little to do with Tolkien as I can. Tolkien is a bit old hat these days, and while a large amount of the populace is discovering Middle Earth through Peter Jackson's movies, the influence on D&D is too pronounced, and I'd rather steer away from that. My ideas move more towards the Sword & Sorcery genre, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, et al. So, without further adieu, I give you the calendar of Andurantha.
A Note of Explanation: The Men of the Dawn were the first humans in the world. They developed a highly-accomplished society, before betrayal brought about their downfall. Their magic is ancient and some of the most potent known to any race.
On Andurantha, they talk of time passing in 28-day cycles called "Moons." Each moon represents a particular time of the year.
Wolf Moon -- Jan
Hunger Moon -- Feb
Sap Moon -- March
Spawning Moon -- March
Bear Moon -- April/May
Flower Moon -- Jun
Rose Moon -- Jul
Thunder Moon -- Aug
Red Moon -- Sep
Harvest Moon -- Oct
Hunter's Moon -- Nov
Frost Moon -- Dec
Long Nights Moon -- Dec
Wolf Moon - Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howl hungrily outside.
Hunger Moon - Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, harsh weather conditions make hunting very difficult.
Sap Moon - As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. It is considered to be the last Moon of Winter.
Spawning Moon - The herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. This is the time that the shad swim upstream to spawn.
Bear Moon - This is named for the time when bears begin to appear again most frequently. Most bears begin hibernation during the Hunter's Moon and rouse themselves about now. They're usually not holed up for the entire time, but are rarely seen before this Moon. They gain a lot of fat and tuck themselves into a cave or hollow tree. Cubs suckle from mothers in winter as the mom slumbers.
Flower Moon - In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon.
Rose Moon - The start of strawberry picking season. Strawberries are part of the rose family.
Thunder Moon - Normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. Thunderstorms are most frequent during this time.
Red Moon - Sturgeon are most readily caught during this month. As Sha'kal rises, it appears reddish through a sultry haze.
Harvest Moon - The Moon of the autumn equinox. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of the twin moons. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice are now ready for gathering.
Hunter's Moon - With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see foxes and the animals which have come out to glean.
Frost Moon - This is the time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. The beavers are now actively preparing for winter. This is when the frosts set in.
Long Nights Moon - During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. The midwinter night is indeed long; the Brothers are above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full moons have a high trajectory across the sky because they are opposite a low Sun.
Each time a new moon comes around, the bells in the cities toll to formally announce it.
Months last 28 days, based on the lunar cycle, also based on a woman's cycle, because women are the Bringers of Life.
There are 13 months (moons) a year.
Last day of the year (365th day) is called the Night of the Black Moon, when no moons are visible, the Dark Powers are at their prime, and monsters walk free.
Seasons are based on the time of year, on agriculture. Since farming and ranching feed the populace, this is natural.
SEASONS:
Planting...Sap Moon to the Flower Moon
Planting is when the seeds are sown in the fields.
Growth...Rose Moon to Red Moon
Is when the crops are at full growth.
Reaping...Harvest Moon to Hunter's Moon
Is when the crops are gathered in the fields.
Preserving...Frost Moon to Hunger Moon
Is when grain is stored in preparation for the long months ahead.
THE TWIN MOONS
Sha'kal and Kerrg, the twin moons. Sha'kal and Kerrg were brothers. Sha'kal was good, while Kerrg was evil. They fought constantly for which one would be ascendant, and during the days of the Long Nights Moon, Kerrg captured the sun, and blanketed the world, known as Isryn, with snow. Sha'kal eventually won out, and Kerrg was put in his place, further removed from Isryn. Sha'kal is white, with yellow and black spots some say are the wounds that Kerrg inflicted while they fought. Kerrg is smaller (as an orange is smaller compared to a watermelon) and it is red, like the color of blood, striated with black. Sometimes Kerrg is called "the Blood Moon." The moons collectively are called "the Brothers."
The names come from the Dawn Times, when the Men of the Dawn were simply scattered tribes.
FEAST DAYS
Major festivals and feast-days do not fall on a day of the week. Imagine it as: Monday, Tuesday, Midsummer day, Wednesday, Thursday… This gives the festivals an extra emphasis, making them stand apart from the rest of the week. Festivals and feast-days are not normal days, they are important events in the religions and beliefs of Andurantha, and they are far more than an excuse for a day off. Anyone who expects to find people conducting normal business on a festival-day is going to be disappointed.
A Note of Explanation: The Men of the Dawn were the first humans in the world. They developed a highly-accomplished society, before betrayal brought about their downfall. Their magic is ancient and some of the most potent known to any race.
On Andurantha, they talk of time passing in 28-day cycles called "Moons." Each moon represents a particular time of the year.
Wolf Moon -- Jan
Hunger Moon -- Feb
Sap Moon -- March
Spawning Moon -- March
Bear Moon -- April/May
Flower Moon -- Jun
Rose Moon -- Jul
Thunder Moon -- Aug
Red Moon -- Sep
Harvest Moon -- Oct
Hunter's Moon -- Nov
Frost Moon -- Dec
Long Nights Moon -- Dec
Wolf Moon - Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howl hungrily outside.
Hunger Moon - Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, harsh weather conditions make hunting very difficult.
Sap Moon - As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. It is considered to be the last Moon of Winter.
Spawning Moon - The herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. This is the time that the shad swim upstream to spawn.
Bear Moon - This is named for the time when bears begin to appear again most frequently. Most bears begin hibernation during the Hunter's Moon and rouse themselves about now. They're usually not holed up for the entire time, but are rarely seen before this Moon. They gain a lot of fat and tuck themselves into a cave or hollow tree. Cubs suckle from mothers in winter as the mom slumbers.
Flower Moon - In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon.
Rose Moon - The start of strawberry picking season. Strawberries are part of the rose family.
Thunder Moon - Normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. Thunderstorms are most frequent during this time.
Red Moon - Sturgeon are most readily caught during this month. As Sha'kal rises, it appears reddish through a sultry haze.
Harvest Moon - The Moon of the autumn equinox. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of the twin moons. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice are now ready for gathering.
Hunter's Moon - With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see foxes and the animals which have come out to glean.
Frost Moon - This is the time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. The beavers are now actively preparing for winter. This is when the frosts set in.
Long Nights Moon - During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. The midwinter night is indeed long; the Brothers are above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full moons have a high trajectory across the sky because they are opposite a low Sun.
Each time a new moon comes around, the bells in the cities toll to formally announce it.
Months last 28 days, based on the lunar cycle, also based on a woman's cycle, because women are the Bringers of Life.
There are 13 months (moons) a year.
Last day of the year (365th day) is called the Night of the Black Moon, when no moons are visible, the Dark Powers are at their prime, and monsters walk free.
Seasons are based on the time of year, on agriculture. Since farming and ranching feed the populace, this is natural.
SEASONS:
Planting...Sap Moon to the Flower Moon
Planting is when the seeds are sown in the fields.
Growth...Rose Moon to Red Moon
Is when the crops are at full growth.
Reaping...Harvest Moon to Hunter's Moon
Is when the crops are gathered in the fields.
Preserving...Frost Moon to Hunger Moon
Is when grain is stored in preparation for the long months ahead.
THE TWIN MOONS
Sha'kal and Kerrg, the twin moons. Sha'kal and Kerrg were brothers. Sha'kal was good, while Kerrg was evil. They fought constantly for which one would be ascendant, and during the days of the Long Nights Moon, Kerrg captured the sun, and blanketed the world, known as Isryn, with snow. Sha'kal eventually won out, and Kerrg was put in his place, further removed from Isryn. Sha'kal is white, with yellow and black spots some say are the wounds that Kerrg inflicted while they fought. Kerrg is smaller (as an orange is smaller compared to a watermelon) and it is red, like the color of blood, striated with black. Sometimes Kerrg is called "the Blood Moon." The moons collectively are called "the Brothers."
The names come from the Dawn Times, when the Men of the Dawn were simply scattered tribes.
FEAST DAYS
Major festivals and feast-days do not fall on a day of the week. Imagine it as: Monday, Tuesday, Midsummer day, Wednesday, Thursday… This gives the festivals an extra emphasis, making them stand apart from the rest of the week. Festivals and feast-days are not normal days, they are important events in the religions and beliefs of Andurantha, and they are far more than an excuse for a day off. Anyone who expects to find people conducting normal business on a festival-day is going to be disappointed.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
World-building with Blogger Word Verification
Over on his blog, Swords Against the Outer Dark, Shane has posed an interesting challenge: take a handful of Blogger word verification captchas and do writeups for each of them in such a way so they could be used in your game. Well, now that things have somewhat settled down here, I'm going to give it a shot.
The method I used was just to take some words that jumped out at me, and started thinking what they could be. There were some on the list that just didn't work for me (mation) and others that were simply obscene (arshl comes to mind). So...here goes...
Trised (try-sehd) - The city-state of Trised is one made up of concentric rings, each ring is a ward of the city. Walls between each ward keep them separated, though there is some bleedover at the walls themselves, as populations from one ward spill over into another. The center ring is the castle ward, where the military governor Schor keeps residence.
Challys (chall-iss) - Challys is a powerful sorcerer who lives on the edge of civilization, near Trised. His tower stands forbidding and alone. No one has actually seen Challys in many seasons, leading some to think he may be dead -- or worse, mutated by his forays into forbidden magicks. Travellers passing near the tower have heard strange noises and seen flashes of light inside the tower's windows.
Volut (vohl-oot...rhymes with 'droll foot') - Volut is a star appearing in the constellation Dotholh, and can be seen low in the southern sky in the northern hemisphere during Reaping and early Preserving seasons. (Seasons are based on agriculture: Planting, Growth, Reaping, and Preserving). Named for the warrior-poet from Al-Azyan, known for his poems of love and valor, as well as his military prowess.
Dotholh (doh-thole) - Means "the lion" and is one of the 12 constellations visible in the night sky over Andurantha. The Lion is stalked by the Hunter, and the Lion is hunting the Stag ("The Forest King").
Schor (shor) - General Schor is military governor of Trised. His normally strict, regimented decisions have been erratic of late. This comes shortly after he led an expedition inside the Vault of Orak'vi, leading some to darkly speculate what he may have encountered down there.
Word list:
trised
challys
coures
flammun
mation
anedgen
unplaha
gible
cansesse
volut
exedd
vipip
arshl
cativerm
orakvi
glyancen
plagi
doriumbe
dotholh
kince
schor
uines
denes
cocancie
phalimpa
reptio
dinne
interst
petsych
woodoco
The method I used was just to take some words that jumped out at me, and started thinking what they could be. There were some on the list that just didn't work for me (mation) and others that were simply obscene (arshl comes to mind). So...here goes...
Trised (try-sehd) - The city-state of Trised is one made up of concentric rings, each ring is a ward of the city. Walls between each ward keep them separated, though there is some bleedover at the walls themselves, as populations from one ward spill over into another. The center ring is the castle ward, where the military governor Schor keeps residence.
Challys (chall-iss) - Challys is a powerful sorcerer who lives on the edge of civilization, near Trised. His tower stands forbidding and alone. No one has actually seen Challys in many seasons, leading some to think he may be dead -- or worse, mutated by his forays into forbidden magicks. Travellers passing near the tower have heard strange noises and seen flashes of light inside the tower's windows.
Volut (vohl-oot...rhymes with 'droll foot') - Volut is a star appearing in the constellation Dotholh, and can be seen low in the southern sky in the northern hemisphere during Reaping and early Preserving seasons. (Seasons are based on agriculture: Planting, Growth, Reaping, and Preserving). Named for the warrior-poet from Al-Azyan, known for his poems of love and valor, as well as his military prowess.
Dotholh (doh-thole) - Means "the lion" and is one of the 12 constellations visible in the night sky over Andurantha. The Lion is stalked by the Hunter, and the Lion is hunting the Stag ("The Forest King").
Schor (shor) - General Schor is military governor of Trised. His normally strict, regimented decisions have been erratic of late. This comes shortly after he led an expedition inside the Vault of Orak'vi, leading some to darkly speculate what he may have encountered down there.
Word list:
trised
challys
coures
flammun
mation
anedgen
unplaha
gible
cansesse
volut
exedd
vipip
arshl
cativerm
orakvi
glyancen
plagi
doriumbe
dotholh
kince
schor
uines
denes
cocancie
phalimpa
reptio
dinne
interst
petsych
woodoco
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Rules Hack - Tactical Combat
I've been playing Age of Decadence recently -- the combat demo -- and realizing how fluid the combat system is while still being highly tactical. Combats don't take long at all, and the winner is determined in the same way as in traditional pen n' paper RPGs: a die roll modified by stats and skills.
Age of Decadence itself promises to be a fantastic game, somewhere on the order of Fallout meets Baldur's Gate, and the combat system alone is well done.
There's something to be said about the tactical environment. While I don't care for 3E's or 4E's version of that, I can think of ways that combat can be made more interesting than just a bonus here or a wearing down of your foe's hit points.
I began thinking about how to easily port the same system into D&D, and realized that I'd have to radically change the initiative model. Action points in this game can allow multiple attacks.
Spot Rules:
1) Use DEX to figure out "Action Points," which would be determined by the Ability Score bonus.
Everyone has at least 1 Action Point.
AD&D/D&D3:
14-15 2 APs
16-17 3 APs
18 4 APs
Basic D&D:
For basic, you simply add 1 to the Ability Score bonus.
13-15 2 APs
16-17 3 APs
18 4 APs
Action points are modified by the following:
Using a light weapon -1
Using a medium weapon -2
Using a heavy weapon -3
Generally lighter weapons do less damage. Medium weapons do a moderate amount of damage. A heavy weapon usually requires two hands, and does the most damage.
Wearing armor can slow you down as well:
Wearing no armor 0
Wearing light armor -1 (leather)
Wearing medium armor -2 (chain)
Wearing heavy armor -3 (plate)
You will never go below 1 AP.
It costs 1 AP to attack someone. Therefore, someone who has an 18 DEX, uses a light weapon and wears no armor can attack 3 times in a single round.
2) You may want to double or triple hit point values, to avoid insta-kills in this system.
3) You have four things to take into account, hitting, critical hits, dodging, and blocking with a shield.
A critical hit is that telling blow that allows something special, like knocking you down or interrupting your attack.
Dodging is getting out of the way of a blow.
Blocking is putting up your shield in hopes of deflecting a blow.
A D&D character in this system would rank these four things in order of priority, higher numbers mean you want to focus on that action more. Dodging and Blocking are special in that they're mutually exclusive. A shield will do nothing unless you are blocking, but if your dodge is a higher priority you will dodge instead. You can dodge and hit in the same round, as a defense costs 0 action points. So, a typical character might look like this:
4 Hit
3 Dodge
2 Critical
1 Block
This means he wants to hit most of all, but he also wants to dodge a lot. Criticals are less important to him, and he won't be using a shield.
So, to translate these numbers:
To hit: +4 to hit
Dodge: +3 to AC
Critical: 18-20 (20 - Critical Priority)
Note that "Hit" is only to hit, not damage.
As a defense is separated from the Action Point system, you might wish to allow Dodge and Block to be performed on a successful Ability Check, rather than having them add to AC.
4) Next we focus on weapons. Each weapon has something that it does on a critical hit:
Daggers - x1.5 damage (bypassing armor).
Swords - +1 to Critical Strike, x2 damage on critical.
Axes - split shields, if no shield x2 damage.
Hammers - knock your opponent to the ground.
Spears - interrupt attempts to close in.
Bows - +2 to Critical Strike, x1.5 damage on critical.
Crossbows - knock your opponent down.
Thrown Weapons - x1.5 damage (bypassing armor).
5) One square of movement is going to cost 1 AP. So if you have 4 APs and you move 4 Squares, that's it for that round. You must wait til next round to attack. You may still defend, however, as that takes 0 APs.
Will this flow as well as traditional D&D combat? I dunno. I can't imagine that it would take that much longer to complete. I wonder if it's workable...
Age of Decadence itself promises to be a fantastic game, somewhere on the order of Fallout meets Baldur's Gate, and the combat system alone is well done.
There's something to be said about the tactical environment. While I don't care for 3E's or 4E's version of that, I can think of ways that combat can be made more interesting than just a bonus here or a wearing down of your foe's hit points.
I began thinking about how to easily port the same system into D&D, and realized that I'd have to radically change the initiative model. Action points in this game can allow multiple attacks.
Spot Rules:
1) Use DEX to figure out "Action Points," which would be determined by the Ability Score bonus.
Everyone has at least 1 Action Point.
AD&D/D&D3:
14-15 2 APs
16-17 3 APs
18 4 APs
Basic D&D:
For basic, you simply add 1 to the Ability Score bonus.
13-15 2 APs
16-17 3 APs
18 4 APs
Action points are modified by the following:
Using a light weapon -1
Using a medium weapon -2
Using a heavy weapon -3
Generally lighter weapons do less damage. Medium weapons do a moderate amount of damage. A heavy weapon usually requires two hands, and does the most damage.
Wearing armor can slow you down as well:
Wearing no armor 0
Wearing light armor -1 (leather)
Wearing medium armor -2 (chain)
Wearing heavy armor -3 (plate)
You will never go below 1 AP.
It costs 1 AP to attack someone. Therefore, someone who has an 18 DEX, uses a light weapon and wears no armor can attack 3 times in a single round.
2) You may want to double or triple hit point values, to avoid insta-kills in this system.
3) You have four things to take into account, hitting, critical hits, dodging, and blocking with a shield.
A critical hit is that telling blow that allows something special, like knocking you down or interrupting your attack.
Dodging is getting out of the way of a blow.
Blocking is putting up your shield in hopes of deflecting a blow.
A D&D character in this system would rank these four things in order of priority, higher numbers mean you want to focus on that action more. Dodging and Blocking are special in that they're mutually exclusive. A shield will do nothing unless you are blocking, but if your dodge is a higher priority you will dodge instead. You can dodge and hit in the same round, as a defense costs 0 action points. So, a typical character might look like this:
4 Hit
3 Dodge
2 Critical
1 Block
This means he wants to hit most of all, but he also wants to dodge a lot. Criticals are less important to him, and he won't be using a shield.
So, to translate these numbers:
To hit: +4 to hit
Dodge: +3 to AC
Critical: 18-20 (20 - Critical Priority)
Note that "Hit" is only to hit, not damage.
As a defense is separated from the Action Point system, you might wish to allow Dodge and Block to be performed on a successful Ability Check, rather than having them add to AC.
4) Next we focus on weapons. Each weapon has something that it does on a critical hit:
Daggers - x1.5 damage (bypassing armor).
Swords - +1 to Critical Strike, x2 damage on critical.
Axes - split shields, if no shield x2 damage.
Hammers - knock your opponent to the ground.
Spears - interrupt attempts to close in.
Bows - +2 to Critical Strike, x1.5 damage on critical.
Crossbows - knock your opponent down.
Thrown Weapons - x1.5 damage (bypassing armor).
5) One square of movement is going to cost 1 AP. So if you have 4 APs and you move 4 Squares, that's it for that round. You must wait til next round to attack. You may still defend, however, as that takes 0 APs.
Will this flow as well as traditional D&D combat? I dunno. I can't imagine that it would take that much longer to complete. I wonder if it's workable...
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Race As Class
Because I love the occasional hot-button topic, I'll be weighing in on the "race as class" debate. For those of you unfamiliar with the debate, there are two schools of thought in the D&D community:
One favors the idea of "race as class," that is, if you're a non-human such as a dwarf or an elf, your character type is automatically accounted for and the ability to fight or cast spells is a racial ability. There is no selection of Elven thief, as you are automatically either a mage or a warrior.
Another favors selection of race and class. That is, you can take a Dwarven Cleric, you're not automatically a warrior-type simply because you chose to play a Dwarf. This would be the more familiar type to modern day players.
We will now contrast how the various editions handle races and classes:
OD&D
The LBBs (little brown books) seem to indicate that if you were one of the non-human races, then you were already in a "class:"
D&D (Holmes Blue Book)
In Eric Holmes' edition of Dungeons & Dragons (blue book, cover by David C. Sutherland III), the trend of using race as class appears to continue. I say *appears* because the one reference to race on page 7 reads: "the four basic classes and races (human, elven, dwarven, halflingish)..." But the classes and races are all lumped together in the experience tables, and page 6 says "any human character can be a fighting man and all halflings and dwarves are members of the fighter class, unless they opt to be thieves."
The terms "class" and "race" are not defined. There is a third way Holmes refers to characters, and that is "character type" (page 7), indicating class and race, which perhaps is the term that should have been used in later editions.
AD&D1e
AD&D hardcover Player's Handbook, first edition, is the first clear delineation between class and race. There you can be one of quite a few races, and you first select your race, then you select your class. There's also quite a bit of fiddly bits that make little sense, like level limits for non-humans. But this has been torn apart in many, many magazine articles, so we won't tackle this here. The interesting thing about the classes is that they now had "minimum ability scores" that you had to roll to be certain classes (like the Paladin). If you didn't roll it, you had no chance to be that class.
Basic/Expert D&D (Moldvay) & BECMI (Mentzer)
The simple race as class structure can be seen here, hearkening back to the LBBs and Holmes. The trend continued in Mentzer's BECMI. In contrast to AD&D, Moldvay had a "prime requisite," which meant the highest ability score you had was used to help determine class selection.
AD&D2e
AD&D2e was, for the most part, a cleaned up revised version of AD&D1e, and the final nail in the coffin for any royalties Gygax might have received. Race and Class are separate entities, and for the most part resemble their 1e counterparts. The main difference was in the fantastic settings created for 2e, introduced "Kits" which could be special classes designed for a specific race (like Elven BladeSinger or Dwarven Chanter).
D&D 3.X
The 3.X naming convention is strange, since its simplified ability bonus tables remind one of B/X or BECMI, but Race and Class are distinct and separate, like AD&D. Eventually 3.X would ape 2e by doing "racial kits" (like the Dwarven BattleRager). Dropping the "Advanced" moniker sent a clear message that this was the only Dungeons & Dragons we would see from WotC, and that B/X and BECMI were effectively unsupported.
D&D 4.X
Does the same thing as 3.X, races and classes are discrete groups, and one must select a race and a class.
My take:
I never had a problem with "race as class" because I'm aware of one of the dictionary definitions. From Dictionary.com:
27. to place or arrange in a class; classify: to class justice with wisdom.
28. to take or have a place in a particular class: those who class as believers.
The word comes from the Latin "classis," which meant class, fleet, division, army, etc. So we can infer that the D&D "class" is merely a grouping, and the only thing in the dictionary that implies profession is class as social standing or caste, hardly an ironclad case. So the snarkiness that I have observed (and been the target of) could have been avoided simply by cracking a dictionary.
Do I prefer race as class? For some things it works well. It gels nicely with the simplified structure of B/X. In the "clone" I'm working on, I have them separate as of this writing, though I'm thinking of leaning toward the race as class model and giving them different "builds" for race-specific classes. Time will tell...
One favors the idea of "race as class," that is, if you're a non-human such as a dwarf or an elf, your character type is automatically accounted for and the ability to fight or cast spells is a racial ability. There is no selection of Elven thief, as you are automatically either a mage or a warrior.
Another favors selection of race and class. That is, you can take a Dwarven Cleric, you're not automatically a warrior-type simply because you chose to play a Dwarf. This would be the more familiar type to modern day players.
We will now contrast how the various editions handle races and classes:
OD&D
The LBBs (little brown books) seem to indicate that if you were one of the non-human races, then you were already in a "class:"
There are three (3) main classes of characters:It is interesting to note that OD&D never defines the term "class." The LBBs also do not use the term "race." The only idea of race that creeps in is that the non-human player's choice plays differently depending on whether you select Elf or Dwarf, and the Dwarf has a level limitation.
Fighting-Men
Magic-Users
Clerics
Fighting Men includes the characters of elves and dwarves and even hobbits. Magic-Users includes only men and elves. Clerics are limited to men only. All non-human players are restricted in some aspects and gifted in others. This will be dealt with in the paragraphs pertaining to each non-human type.
D&D (Holmes Blue Book)
In Eric Holmes' edition of Dungeons & Dragons (blue book, cover by David C. Sutherland III), the trend of using race as class appears to continue. I say *appears* because the one reference to race on page 7 reads: "the four basic classes and races (human, elven, dwarven, halflingish)..." But the classes and races are all lumped together in the experience tables, and page 6 says "any human character can be a fighting man and all halflings and dwarves are members of the fighter class, unless they opt to be thieves."
The terms "class" and "race" are not defined. There is a third way Holmes refers to characters, and that is "character type" (page 7), indicating class and race, which perhaps is the term that should have been used in later editions.
AD&D1e
AD&D hardcover Player's Handbook, first edition, is the first clear delineation between class and race. There you can be one of quite a few races, and you first select your race, then you select your class. There's also quite a bit of fiddly bits that make little sense, like level limits for non-humans. But this has been torn apart in many, many magazine articles, so we won't tackle this here. The interesting thing about the classes is that they now had "minimum ability scores" that you had to roll to be certain classes (like the Paladin). If you didn't roll it, you had no chance to be that class.
Basic/Expert D&D (Moldvay) & BECMI (Mentzer)
The simple race as class structure can be seen here, hearkening back to the LBBs and Holmes. The trend continued in Mentzer's BECMI. In contrast to AD&D, Moldvay had a "prime requisite," which meant the highest ability score you had was used to help determine class selection.
AD&D2e
AD&D2e was, for the most part, a cleaned up revised version of AD&D1e, and the final nail in the coffin for any royalties Gygax might have received. Race and Class are separate entities, and for the most part resemble their 1e counterparts. The main difference was in the fantastic settings created for 2e, introduced "Kits" which could be special classes designed for a specific race (like Elven BladeSinger or Dwarven Chanter).
D&D 3.X
The 3.X naming convention is strange, since its simplified ability bonus tables remind one of B/X or BECMI, but Race and Class are distinct and separate, like AD&D. Eventually 3.X would ape 2e by doing "racial kits" (like the Dwarven BattleRager). Dropping the "Advanced" moniker sent a clear message that this was the only Dungeons & Dragons we would see from WotC, and that B/X and BECMI were effectively unsupported.
D&D 4.X
Does the same thing as 3.X, races and classes are discrete groups, and one must select a race and a class.
My take:
I never had a problem with "race as class" because I'm aware of one of the dictionary definitions. From Dictionary.com:
27. to place or arrange in a class; classify: to class justice with wisdom.
28. to take or have a place in a particular class: those who class as believers.
The word comes from the Latin "classis," which meant class, fleet, division, army, etc. So we can infer that the D&D "class" is merely a grouping, and the only thing in the dictionary that implies profession is class as social standing or caste, hardly an ironclad case. So the snarkiness that I have observed (and been the target of) could have been avoided simply by cracking a dictionary.
Do I prefer race as class? For some things it works well. It gels nicely with the simplified structure of B/X. In the "clone" I'm working on, I have them separate as of this writing, though I'm thinking of leaning toward the race as class model and giving them different "builds" for race-specific classes. Time will tell...
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Why I Hate Energy Drain
Over at B/X Blackrazor there is post about how the author loves Energy Drain. Energy Drain is one of the little banes of my existence as both GM and Player. I don't agree with the rules for it at all.
It's simply not conceptual. Why should I lose my skills because my life force is gone? Simple fact: Energy Drain is stealing your life force. It is not retrograde amnesia affecting procedural memory.
It's also a pain in the patootie. If you reduce someone's level, it could affect attack rolls, saving throws, thieving skills, class abilities, and spells. That's a lot of bookkeeping!
It's also a pain in the patootie. If you reduce someone's level, it could affect attack rolls, saving throws, thieving skills, class abilities, and spells. That's a lot of bookkeeping!
I finally figured an easy way to do Energy Drain (even easier than losing a level) and have it be true to what I feel Energy Drain actually is.
Make it a stackable -1 modifier to every roll.
Even easier than losing levels, and more effective. Someone drained 3 times would be at Energy Drain -3. You may only be drained a number of times equal to your level. If the penalty from Drain is equal to or greater than your Level, you are dead. Energy Drain can only be "cured" by a Restoration spell or potion. Since those spells are not only high level in my world but it is necessary to find them in ruins, tombs, etc, it would take awhile to get that life force back.
Players whose characters were drained would write it on their character sheets, along with the penalty (e.g., "Energy Drain -2"). In the case of percentiles (frex for thief skills), it would be -5%.
Another option is to have the victim of an Energy Drain make a CON Check (8 or less + CON Modifier) 24 hours after being drained. A successful Check means a -1 penalty is gone. Other penalties still remain, so if you were drained to -3, and you healed one, you'd still have a -2 to deal with. Only one Check can be made each day (or if you want to be cruel, each week).
Obviously, YMMV. I'm messing with a rule that's been in place for nearly 30 years. But still, the rule has bothered me for about that long...
Another option is to have the victim of an Energy Drain make a CON Check (8 or less + CON Modifier) 24 hours after being drained. A successful Check means a -1 penalty is gone. Other penalties still remain, so if you were drained to -3, and you healed one, you'd still have a -2 to deal with. Only one Check can be made each day (or if you want to be cruel, each week).
Obviously, YMMV. I'm messing with a rule that's been in place for nearly 30 years. But still, the rule has bothered me for about that long...
Abstract vs. Heroic Combat
Something that D&D has done in violation of the fiction that inspired it is retain a combat system that doesn't give you much of a "feel" for combat. Technically, you can try anything, but the RAW (rules as written) DMs were more than likely going to either (A) not let you or (B) give you a high chance of failure.
Older editions seemed to lean towards a more abstract combat system. That's great, but I don't want to read that Conan quickly dispatched his foes, I want to read about *how* he did it.
Recent editions have put a premium on tactical combat. Move this much, gain this modifier, etc, has become a standard part of modern iterations of D&D. But, to me, this still doesn't fit the source material.
What I'm talking about is Pulp Combat. Pulp combat isn't about kewl powerz. Pulp combat isn't necessarily saving someone's bacon, though it's certainly possible. Pulp combat, in this context, has to do with emulation of some of the fantastic things we see heroes doing in fiction. Think Robert E. Howard, Alexandre Dumas, or David Gemmell (for a more modern take) and you pretty much have what I want.
So, how to make combat more pulpy? Well, I started in my retro-clone by adding maneuvers that you can do in combat. I designed them with two assumptions in mind: 1) pluses and minuses suck. 2) I want results *now*.
Now, I'm sure we're out of grade school and can add +1 or subtract 2 or whatever. But I got tired of that schtick in 2nd Edition, and I sure didn't like it in 3rd. So I made it go away. Too, I wanted results that would let the combat march on normally. I don't want a 45+ minute combat. (Awfully demanding, aren't I?) So here's an example maneuver I designed:
KNOCK FOE OFF-BALANCE - This is a powerful blow designed to move weapons and shield out of the way. STR vs STR. If successful the attacker can attempt to follow up with a quick attack before the defender can get his shield/blade back into position.
STR vs. STR is a from a rule I devised called "Ability Checks." The check is 8-, and the Ability Score Modifier adds to it. So if you have a +4 Modifier your Check would be 12- on a d20. In cases where an opposed Check is needed, the higher roll wins (as long as it falls within the range of the Check). If the person above rolled a 13, for example, his Check would fail.
So, quickly put, the attacker and defender roll their STR Checks. If the attacker wins, the attacker can try to quickly attack and take advantage of this, and the defender cannot parry or block. If the defender wins, the attack was wasted.
It's quick and easy. Here's another:
THROWING YOUR FOE -- You have to win a turn of combat to do this (i.e., do damage, bind arms, etc). You lift your foe over your head, and throw him into one or more foes to stop them. They must make DEX Checks to see if they're knocked down.
No zillion arcane modifiers, just the ability to quickly knock down more than one foe at once.
Or how about this one?
INTERRUPT ATTACK -- DEX Check vs foe's attack roll. If DEX Check succeeds, then foe's attack is disrupted and no damage is done. DEX Check failure means the attack hits.
These are just maneuvers that I see all the time in fiction, in comics, in films, and for some reason haven't made them into many, if any, game systems. Some might think that if you include maneuvers, you infringe upon creativity. I don't believe that -- a list of combat maneuvers with accompany text on how to model them can be a springboard for all sorts of maneuvers. You can simply roll to hit, but why when you can do cool things like throw sand in your foe's face, fast-talk your foe into making a mistake, bash through your opponent's parry or perform a Leaping Attack (think James Cameron's Avatar).
Again, if you don't like all that, you can simply describe your action and roll to hit. But I don't ever want to hear you say "I roll to hit."
Older editions seemed to lean towards a more abstract combat system. That's great, but I don't want to read that Conan quickly dispatched his foes, I want to read about *how* he did it.
Recent editions have put a premium on tactical combat. Move this much, gain this modifier, etc, has become a standard part of modern iterations of D&D. But, to me, this still doesn't fit the source material.
What I'm talking about is Pulp Combat. Pulp combat isn't about kewl powerz. Pulp combat isn't necessarily saving someone's bacon, though it's certainly possible. Pulp combat, in this context, has to do with emulation of some of the fantastic things we see heroes doing in fiction. Think Robert E. Howard, Alexandre Dumas, or David Gemmell (for a more modern take) and you pretty much have what I want.
So, how to make combat more pulpy? Well, I started in my retro-clone by adding maneuvers that you can do in combat. I designed them with two assumptions in mind: 1) pluses and minuses suck. 2) I want results *now*.
Now, I'm sure we're out of grade school and can add +1 or subtract 2 or whatever. But I got tired of that schtick in 2nd Edition, and I sure didn't like it in 3rd. So I made it go away. Too, I wanted results that would let the combat march on normally. I don't want a 45+ minute combat. (Awfully demanding, aren't I?) So here's an example maneuver I designed:
KNOCK FOE OFF-BALANCE - This is a powerful blow designed to move weapons and shield out of the way. STR vs STR. If successful the attacker can attempt to follow up with a quick attack before the defender can get his shield/blade back into position.
STR vs. STR is a from a rule I devised called "Ability Checks." The check is 8-, and the Ability Score Modifier adds to it. So if you have a +4 Modifier your Check would be 12- on a d20. In cases where an opposed Check is needed, the higher roll wins (as long as it falls within the range of the Check). If the person above rolled a 13, for example, his Check would fail.
So, quickly put, the attacker and defender roll their STR Checks. If the attacker wins, the attacker can try to quickly attack and take advantage of this, and the defender cannot parry or block. If the defender wins, the attack was wasted.
It's quick and easy. Here's another:
THROWING YOUR FOE -- You have to win a turn of combat to do this (i.e., do damage, bind arms, etc). You lift your foe over your head, and throw him into one or more foes to stop them. They must make DEX Checks to see if they're knocked down.
No zillion arcane modifiers, just the ability to quickly knock down more than one foe at once.
Or how about this one?
INTERRUPT ATTACK -- DEX Check vs foe's attack roll. If DEX Check succeeds, then foe's attack is disrupted and no damage is done. DEX Check failure means the attack hits.
These are just maneuvers that I see all the time in fiction, in comics, in films, and for some reason haven't made them into many, if any, game systems. Some might think that if you include maneuvers, you infringe upon creativity. I don't believe that -- a list of combat maneuvers with accompany text on how to model them can be a springboard for all sorts of maneuvers. You can simply roll to hit, but why when you can do cool things like throw sand in your foe's face, fast-talk your foe into making a mistake, bash through your opponent's parry or perform a Leaping Attack (think James Cameron's Avatar).
Again, if you don't like all that, you can simply describe your action and roll to hit. But I don't ever want to hear you say "I roll to hit."
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Memories: The Atlantean Trilogy
In a recent post I helped explore the meme of 15 games in 15 minutes. Now, as the mists of time part, one game rises to the fore. One game that I used to be enthralled with:
The Atlantean Trilogy.
I first discovered this in 1985 through a friend who was visiting from California at the time. He had a copy of the Arcanum, the first edition, the cover in living greyscale. I looked through it, and was enrapt with the game-related art inside. While not technically fantastic, it was interesting enough, and as I skimmed it, I saw rules that were like D&D, yet were not D&D. Gone were the nebulous Armor Class rules and attack matrices and saving throws. Ability saves were used to resist spells. Given that the hobby was still quite young at the time, it was still shackled to some of the more cumbersome engines, tables for things that would have better used a target number, variable percentages for skills, etc. My friend told me that he thought that it was D&D, and therefore his campaigns were set there, and used those rules.
The Arcanum
It had the standard D&D abilities, but swapped WIS for WILL and added Perception. You didn't just have the choice of Thief, Fighter, Magic-User, or Cleric anymore. You had Witch Hunters, Astrologers, Alchemists, Witch Doctors and more. You didn't have the bog-standard choices for races -- you now had Druas (Dark Elves, before anyone else ever did), Aesir (giants), Zephyr (like ordinary people with huge eagle wings), and Andaman (half-human, half beast). You didn't have the standard array of spells anymore. Things like Fire Sign and Lesser Invocation of Mars gave the spells a much needed revision. They separated the spells into nine schools of magic, such as Black Magic, Astrology, High Magic, et al. All of this gave the game a definite flavor, a "feel" to it.
Skills were given to you based on race, class, level, and what climate you were raised in. The skill list not only included Martial Arts, several different sub-types of Acrobatics, but also Knife Throwing, which gave you the ability to "call" your shot to any location, including throat, heart, etc. This would cause the roll to be halved, but a hit to any vital area caused 2x damage and the target would need to save vs. CON or be incapacitated by the wound. If I had to quibble with the skills, it would be that some of was percentile, and others were based on attack rolls in combat. One of my house rules was that each skill was tied to an ability and got a bonus if the ability was "exceptional."
Combat itself was almost rewritten from the ground up, and was a whopping four pages long. Combat ability was defined by three different ratings: Highly Trained, Skilled, and Untrained. Each determined to hit bonuses and hit points per level, and each of the classes had one of these ratings. A straight 11+ on a d20 was a hit, and was modified by DEX, magic, and the bonus from class and combat rating. Each opponent rolled a d20 -- the attacker and the defender. Highest die roll + mods won. The standard offensive tactics were in there -- melee, missile, hand-to-hand, dirty tricks, and called shot. Defenses included parry, evasion, dodge, or counter (which you wait for your foe to strike first, then you strike him back while he's off-balance from his attack). Damage was a bit more (such as 2d8 for a two-handed sword), given that hit points were higher (CON + set number from Combat rating). AC was gone, so Armor actually subtracted 1-6 points from your damage, based on whether it was leather, ring, chain, plate, ad infinitum. Also, chain, plate mail, and plate armor gave you -1, -2, and -3 on DEX saves respectively.
Alignment was handled a bit differently, too. It had only four Alignments: Lawful Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic, and Neutral. Lawful Good characters were committed to honor, truth, justice and mercy. Lawful Evil characters despised honor, lied, had no sense of mercy or justice. Devils were LE. Neutrals uphold and maintain their own beliefs. Chaotics analyzed a situation and then acted. The best of these are loners. The worst lack all conscience (demons).
The spell system was markedly different from the Vancian system. At first level, all spellcasters get every first level spell from their school of magic. Any higher level spells must be found, and they offer ways to do that, from private collections to libraries, to learned mages, and adventuring in ruins and tombs. It is worth noting spellcasters may only cast two spells per day, plus 1 per level. In combat, it is also impossible to cast anything other than a first level spell, due to the stress and frenzy of battle. They also had extensive rules for the properties of various plants and metals, alchemical rules, signs and symbols, and spell research.
I went home the next morning and dug up one of my dragon magazines that had that book in it. I sent in a check to Bard Games. They told me that it really cost a buck more, but they'd send it to me anyway. I soon found the Bestiary and the Lexicon published in one book (I don't recall where -- the now-defuct Crown Books?), and thus began my love affair with the Atlantean Trilogy.
Of course I houseruled it, I found the AD&D-inspired ability tables lacking (i.e., bonuses all over the place) and so tacked on the BECM ability bonuses, instead. 13-15: +1; 16-17: +2; 18: +3. Easy to remember, easy to apply and easily consistent.
The Bestiary This was an interesting book. The colorful cover by PD Breeding draws the eye, almost reminding one of Don Maitz's work. The interior illustrations were rendered by comic artist Bill Sinciewicz. Though I despised his run on The New Mutants (they hadn't had a good artist since Bob McLeod), the illos in the Bestiary were perfection. His crazy, somewhat manic-messy style fit the tone of the book. They had an interesting way of handling the monsters. Each monster was given a class and a level. From there you could figure out the to hit bonuses. They also had no orcs, they were lumped under the label "goblin," which would handle everything from the standard D&D goblins to the big nasty orcs. The other thing is that they had mythical or quasi-mythical names for the monsters. A mummy was a "sahu," a lich was a "yatu," and they had special undead monster types for those who have been slain by ghouls and vampires to rise from the dead once more.
For those who wish to see a sample of the gonzo art, here's a peek:
The Lexicon
The Lexicon was the atlas of the antediluvean world. This product was obviously a labor of love, and parts of it resembled nothing so much as Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age (even going so far as to use some of the names, themselves taken from ancient history), but everything was ripped from myth and folklore and ancient cultures. A giant mixing pot of Greek, Roman, Inca/Aztec/Mayan, Native American culture, and Medieval Europe. The entire earth is described. In a nutshell, the world suffered a massive Cataclysm, and Atlantis is a shadow of its former self. Mu and Lemuria and similar mythic continents all share space in the Lexicon. All in all, it's a fascinating read. This is one of those games I kinda wish had reached ascendancy, but it is a very different game than it started out as. The first time some of this material saw print was in the "Compleat" series by Bard Games. The Compleat Alchemist, The Compleat Beastmaster, etc. Then, Bard Games put out these three books. And later, Talislanta was born and would change publishers again and again. If the Atlantean Trilogy is at the dawn of the world, Talislanta takes place at twilight, well after the Atlantean Cataclysms and the ice ages that followed. A decade later, Death's Edge Games picked up and republished the Arcanum, the Lexicon, and the Bestiary, added some new material and changed the art. A decade after that, Morrigan Press decides to update and revise the material, calling it Atlantis: The Second Age. They changed the game to a series of suggested templates, spells that are created from different "elements" that combine to create specific effects, and a different system more based on the one found in Talislanta. I'm not sure what Morrigan Press set out to achieve, but it has a very different flavor than the original Atlantean Trilogy. I'm no less intrigued, but I miss the old game.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Yay! Another Meme!
Perpetuating the meme I found over at Save or Die!, here's my 15 games in 15 minutes:
1. D&D - the boxed B/X and BECM, starting with Moldvay and moving to Mentzer.
2. Gamma World 1st Edition
3. Palladium Games, particularly TMNT, Fantasy, and Heroes Unlimited
4. Feng Shui
5. WoD (old), particularly Vampire and Mage, for better or for ill.
6. Warhammer FRP (1E)
7. Risus
8. Atlantean Trilogy
9. Gothic II (since I'm an avid video gamer)
10. Drakensang (another CRPG, itself based on a P&P rpg)
11. Risen (another CRPG)
12. The Fantasy Trip (first Melee, then Wizard, and then Labyrinth)
13. Baldur's Gate & Torment (more CRPGs, this time based on D&D)
14. GURPS (3e)
15. The HERO System (particularly Champions 1st-3rd editions)
1. D&D - the boxed B/X and BECM, starting with Moldvay and moving to Mentzer.
2. Gamma World 1st Edition
3. Palladium Games, particularly TMNT, Fantasy, and Heroes Unlimited
4. Feng Shui
5. WoD (old), particularly Vampire and Mage, for better or for ill.
6. Warhammer FRP (1E)
7. Risus
8. Atlantean Trilogy
9. Gothic II (since I'm an avid video gamer)
10. Drakensang (another CRPG, itself based on a P&P rpg)
11. Risen (another CRPG)
12. The Fantasy Trip (first Melee, then Wizard, and then Labyrinth)
13. Baldur's Gate & Torment (more CRPGs, this time based on D&D)
14. GURPS (3e)
15. The HERO System (particularly Champions 1st-3rd editions)
This list could be a lot longer, but 15 was the rule. I've also been influenced by Ars Magica, Fading Suns, Theatrix, Riddle of Steel, Sorcerer, etc. The sad thing is that some weren't necessarily all good -- the World of Darkness in particularly seemed almost a parody of itself over time (look at me...I'm so dark). And some (like Risus or Feng Shui) I wish I could play more.
Some of them are computer games, as I've long held that some video games have content in them that need to be ported over to the pen n' paper genre. Of course, this can be way over the top. I have little love for MMOs or RTS games. Those games are the way they are for a specific reason, and while I am familiar with them, I don't think they necessarily need to influence much in the way of gameplay. Flavor? Yes. Gameplay? Unlikely.
Others have pointed how 4E is like an MMO. While I won't get into that here, it makes me wonder if that's why I don't care for 4E? I've tried MMOs and mostly what they seem to be is quite pretty Roguelikes. This isn't to say Roguelikes aren't fun, but I don't have fun with 'em for very long anymore.
Others have pointed how 4E is like an MMO. While I won't get into that here, it makes me wonder if that's why I don't care for 4E? I've tried MMOs and mostly what they seem to be is quite pretty Roguelikes. This isn't to say Roguelikes aren't fun, but I don't have fun with 'em for very long anymore.
It's interesting to see what you can glean about others from looking at their lists.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Gary Gygax and House Rules
"D&D encourages inventiveness and originality within the framework of its rules. Those who insist on altering the framework should design their own game."
"Why can’t magic-users employ swords...On the surface this seems a small concession, but in actuality it would spoil the game!"
"Each character role has been designed with care in order to provide varied and unique approaches to solving the problems which confront the players...This same reasoning precludes many of the proposed character classes which enthusiasts wish to add to D&D. Usually such classes are either an unnecessary variation on an existing class, are to obtuse to be interesting, or are endowed with sufficient prowess to assure that they would rule the campaign..."
"The “critical hit” or “double damage” on a “to hit” die roll of 20 is particularly offensive to the precepts of D&D as well."
"Any fighting man worth the name made it a point to practice daily with all forms of arms....The truth of the matter with respect to weapon expertise is, I believe, another attempt to move players closer to the “instant death” ability.
"...[Amateur Press Associations] are generally beneath contempt, for they typify the lowest form of vanity press. There one finds pages and pages of banal chatter and inept writing from persons incapable of creating anything which is publishable elsewhere. Therefore, they pay money to tout their sophomoric ideas, criticise those who are able to write and design, and generally make themselves obnoxious...they are unprofessional, unethical and seemingly ignorant of the laws concerning libel...When I first got into this business, I felt that the APA-zines might be good for the hobby...Now I know the error of my thinking. They serve no useful purpose."
"Additions to and augmentations of certain parts of the D&D rules are fine. Variants which change the rules so as to imbalance the game or change it are most certainly not. These sorts of tinkering fall into the realm of creation of a new game, not development of the existing system."
"Spell points add nothing to D&D except more complication, more record keeping, more wasted time, and a precept which is totally foreign to the rest of the game."
"Many seek to trade on D&D’s popularity by offering “new” or “variant” systems which fit only with D&D, even though the game is not actually named. Buy them if you have money to throw away, but at peril of your campaign; do not use material which alters the basic precepts of the game."
He uses "framework" and "precepts" as if they are unalterable, or sacrosanct. But what are the precepts of D&D? Roll a d20 and interpret the results the way the rules tell you? Randomly generated ability scores? Experience, level, and class systems? Spell memorization? Some combination of the above, or none of these?
I can understand why a designer might think his design choices are best, but to publicly lambast someone else's design choices is purely unprofess-ional. I may not like AD&D nor the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th editions. I can tell you at length why I do not like them, but I'm not going say that their design choices are bad. I can tell you without a doubt that they are not for me.
What's funny is that, as time progressed, D&D changed:
- Everyone used the "natural 20" rule, and it made it into 2E as an optional rule, and into 3E as an official "critical threat" roll.
- Weapon expertise found its way into all editions as "Weapon Mastery" (in BECM), "Weapon Proficiencies" in 1 and 2E, and through various Feats in 3E.
- Character classes were added, first in the form of "Kits" in 2E, then 180+ "base classes," and over 700 Prestige Classes in 3E (this is according to the Wizards official site).
- Bulletin Board Services sprang up, host to a number of house-rules, and then this ballooned to blogs and retro-clones, each touting his or her own "variant system which fit only with D&D."
- Spell Points made it into the Wheel of Time game published by WotC.
I've played with mages who used spell points and found it refreshing and new. It brought a flavor to the game that somehow the spell slot system lacked. I know the way Vance describes it is fantastic, but in D&D it was cut, dried, clinical, and limiting. I've since found variants to make it less limiting and more flavorful, but still use basically the same system.
It's pretty interesting to see Gygax violently defend a game that later on, even under his watch, changed immensely. True, even before 2E, he was ousted and even hunted by TSR's legal team. But it's also strange to see such venom being spewed at people who simply were trying to add rules to a game they loved. It is even more interesting if you consider he had a hand in Castles & Crusades decades later, itself a variant of D&D.
Regardless of the "angry young man" showcased here, we owe Mr. Gygax a debt we cannot repay, and I'm glad that he was able to continue to ignite our imaginations and inflame our passions about the hobby up until the end.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Drakensang vs. Dragon Age
After my laptop died, I didn't hold much hope for computer gaming, but my wife kindly let me install some games, so I can while away some time here and there, having some good high-tech fun.
I installed Drakensang, in a wistful fit, revisiting the world and making different choices. During combat, I had a few epiphanies that made me realize that another game I own, Dragon Age: Origins, was completely inspired by other things, and that it was so transparent it hadn't hit me until now.
Everyone who owns Dragon Age: Origins who is a fan of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series knows that the computer game is highly derivative of that series, especially if you play a Human Noble. The betrayal of the King by one house that has designs on the throne, the eradication of other houses loyal to the King, an organization dedicated to fighting back the forces of darkness, etc. Almost slavishly derivative. I didn't have a chance to replay before my laptop died, but I finished one game, so I got a chance to experience everything first hand.
What hit me playing Drakensang is that combat in Dragon Age is identical, and yet Drakensang was out for several months before Dragon Age went gold. Here are the similarities:
1) The auto-pause option to issue orders. Not unusual in and of itself, but taken with everything else it tends to look bad for EA...
2) Once you issue your orders and unpause the game and your orders are carried out in realtime.
3) Everyone has a few special abilities that can be brought to bear on the foe. These options can be trained and new options are bought in a skill tree fashion, where once you have one combat ability new ones are automatically unlocked.
4) Characters can fall unconscious during combat if they take enough damage, and if everyone falls unconscious the game is over.
5) When the characters who fell unconscious get back up, they have wounds that must be healed manually, usually by some manner of "Treat Wounds" skill or similar. Unhealed wounds cause penalties to everything, particularly fighting.
Both games have all 5 things there in common. So, not only did one of Dragon Age's stories come straight out of fiction, its game play came straight from another video game!
True, there are some things about Dragon Age, the interactions among the characters, that were truly humorous and in many cases genuinely moving, and in a few cases outright disturbing. I have to give it kudos there. Few other games I've seen captivated me like Dragon Age. Other games that gave me similar "must play" compulsions were Redguard, Arena, and Morrowind.
But this new revelation has challenged my belief in the creativity of the designers. Was it intentional? I dunno, I've come up with original mechanics and settings only to see them surface in published works weeks, months, or even years after the fact. But, on the other hand, I'm not under a deadline, and I game for the love of it, not money or any other discernible reason.
I'm not saying that there is a clear case of plagiarism, but I'm merely musing about it. It's a question I will probably never have an answer to.
I installed Drakensang, in a wistful fit, revisiting the world and making different choices. During combat, I had a few epiphanies that made me realize that another game I own, Dragon Age: Origins, was completely inspired by other things, and that it was so transparent it hadn't hit me until now.
Everyone who owns Dragon Age: Origins who is a fan of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series knows that the computer game is highly derivative of that series, especially if you play a Human Noble. The betrayal of the King by one house that has designs on the throne, the eradication of other houses loyal to the King, an organization dedicated to fighting back the forces of darkness, etc. Almost slavishly derivative. I didn't have a chance to replay before my laptop died, but I finished one game, so I got a chance to experience everything first hand.
What hit me playing Drakensang is that combat in Dragon Age is identical, and yet Drakensang was out for several months before Dragon Age went gold. Here are the similarities:
1) The auto-pause option to issue orders. Not unusual in and of itself, but taken with everything else it tends to look bad for EA...
2) Once you issue your orders and unpause the game and your orders are carried out in realtime.
3) Everyone has a few special abilities that can be brought to bear on the foe. These options can be trained and new options are bought in a skill tree fashion, where once you have one combat ability new ones are automatically unlocked.
4) Characters can fall unconscious during combat if they take enough damage, and if everyone falls unconscious the game is over.
5) When the characters who fell unconscious get back up, they have wounds that must be healed manually, usually by some manner of "Treat Wounds" skill or similar. Unhealed wounds cause penalties to everything, particularly fighting.
Both games have all 5 things there in common. So, not only did one of Dragon Age's stories come straight out of fiction, its game play came straight from another video game!
True, there are some things about Dragon Age, the interactions among the characters, that were truly humorous and in many cases genuinely moving, and in a few cases outright disturbing. I have to give it kudos there. Few other games I've seen captivated me like Dragon Age. Other games that gave me similar "must play" compulsions were Redguard, Arena, and Morrowind.
But this new revelation has challenged my belief in the creativity of the designers. Was it intentional? I dunno, I've come up with original mechanics and settings only to see them surface in published works weeks, months, or even years after the fact. But, on the other hand, I'm not under a deadline, and I game for the love of it, not money or any other discernible reason.
I'm not saying that there is a clear case of plagiarism, but I'm merely musing about it. It's a question I will probably never have an answer to.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
My version of D&D (but why?)
The purpose of my authoring this game was to write a fantasy game that gets back to the "feel" of Dungeons & Dragons. The Original Edition, while playable in its own right, had too little of what I wanted, so I wasn't too interested in playing something that limited my options. The Supplements added complications I wasn't keen on dealing with either.
I got more of a charge out of the Basic rulebook as authored by Moldvay. Erol Otus, David Sutherland, David Trampier, Jeff Easley, Bill Willingham, Jeff Dee, together with Elmore's early work really defined what I thought D&D looked like. Despite the art, I felt AD&D was rather a chaotic mess that the PHB and DMG did nothing to clear up, system-wise (though I loved adapting everything else under the AD&D banner).
AD&D 2nd edition and 3rd edition really did nothing for me. Whatever happened to the days when players were supposed to be clever instead of just relying on dice and character sheets? So gone are the the 3300 Feats, 187 Base Classes, and the 762 Prestige Classes from D&D3E. Overkill doesn't even begin to describe it.
When I was young, players described what they were doing. The best of them were precise (“I check the 3rd block from the right, five blocks up, to trigger the secret door”) or cool (“Ragnar leaps into battle, his axe drinking blood from foes left and right”). There were no rules for this, per se, just people's imaginations – and they were rewarded for it. Nowadays, the style of play appears to be min-maxing to squeeze every last “plus” out of the rules. Half a dozen bonuses from this and that and the other to give you this number which affects that number. Why use your imagination when you can just read what's on your character sheet and roll some dice? The author of this game prefers the first option, and wrote this game to help address it. Characters shouldn't take longer than 10 or 15 minutes to whip up, and should have a fair amount of leeway in what they're allowed to do.
What I'm trying to do here is to re-create the early feel of D&D, trying hard to give it the same “gee whiz” factor it had back in the day. The editions by Moldvay and Holmes; the Judges Guild add-ons, the Arduin Grimoire booklets, and Role Aids supplements; all of these have tons of flavor. I would love to give back to D&D what I got out of it, and more. My hope is, as you read this, is that I succeed.
Choose from unique races, such as the Pa'arr (Tigermen), S'srath (Lizardmen), Pachyars (Elephant men), the Aerosi (winged humans), and Skrettle (mouse men). Yes we have Elves, but we have other races as well!
No skills! Your character is unique and does have abilities all his own, and the rules allow anything to be attempted easily!
Experience points reward actually doing things during the adventure. Treasure allows for a wide variety to be collected, but in a plausible manner. Hint: collecting spider venom sacs to sell in town is more realistic than collecting coins or gems from its lair.
New combat mechanics allow for any action to be taken, with instant effects rather than “+2 to Armor Class!”
Almost infinite variety. We have nearly 40 character classes with 15+ types of Spellcasters and Priest-types. Unique mechanics allow selection to be a breeze! Get a character up and running in 10 minutes!
New and different spells, contained in the same Vancian spell slot system, but now with full power over your spells and how they're cast! Options for variants allow for a richer magic system! You have 8 different schools of magic to choose from. A 9th, "Prayer," works the same way as the others, we just refer to it differently.
Rules on gadgets, potion creation, golems, homunculi, and more. Easy, logical, and consistent rules.
All this together with a unique fantasy setting informed by the works of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, H.P. Lovecraft, and more! Make a name for yourself in the magical land of Andurantha!
Not Old School, not New School, but rather Alternative School. Backwards compatible with most editions of D&D.
I got more of a charge out of the Basic rulebook as authored by Moldvay. Erol Otus, David Sutherland, David Trampier, Jeff Easley, Bill Willingham, Jeff Dee, together with Elmore's early work really defined what I thought D&D looked like. Despite the art, I felt AD&D was rather a chaotic mess that the PHB and DMG did nothing to clear up, system-wise (though I loved adapting everything else under the AD&D banner).
AD&D 2nd edition and 3rd edition really did nothing for me. Whatever happened to the days when players were supposed to be clever instead of just relying on dice and character sheets? So gone are the the 3300 Feats, 187 Base Classes, and the 762 Prestige Classes from D&D3E. Overkill doesn't even begin to describe it.
When I was young, players described what they were doing. The best of them were precise (“I check the 3rd block from the right, five blocks up, to trigger the secret door”) or cool (“Ragnar leaps into battle, his axe drinking blood from foes left and right”). There were no rules for this, per se, just people's imaginations – and they were rewarded for it. Nowadays, the style of play appears to be min-maxing to squeeze every last “plus” out of the rules. Half a dozen bonuses from this and that and the other to give you this number which affects that number. Why use your imagination when you can just read what's on your character sheet and roll some dice? The author of this game prefers the first option, and wrote this game to help address it. Characters shouldn't take longer than 10 or 15 minutes to whip up, and should have a fair amount of leeway in what they're allowed to do.
What I'm trying to do here is to re-create the early feel of D&D, trying hard to give it the same “gee whiz” factor it had back in the day. The editions by Moldvay and Holmes; the Judges Guild add-ons, the Arduin Grimoire booklets, and Role Aids supplements; all of these have tons of flavor. I would love to give back to D&D what I got out of it, and more. My hope is, as you read this, is that I succeed.
Choose from unique races, such as the Pa'arr (Tigermen), S'srath (Lizardmen), Pachyars (Elephant men), the Aerosi (winged humans), and Skrettle (mouse men). Yes we have Elves, but we have other races as well!
No skills! Your character is unique and does have abilities all his own, and the rules allow anything to be attempted easily!
Experience points reward actually doing things during the adventure. Treasure allows for a wide variety to be collected, but in a plausible manner. Hint: collecting spider venom sacs to sell in town is more realistic than collecting coins or gems from its lair.
New combat mechanics allow for any action to be taken, with instant effects rather than “+2 to Armor Class!”
Almost infinite variety. We have nearly 40 character classes with 15+ types of Spellcasters and Priest-types. Unique mechanics allow selection to be a breeze! Get a character up and running in 10 minutes!
New and different spells, contained in the same Vancian spell slot system, but now with full power over your spells and how they're cast! Options for variants allow for a richer magic system! You have 8 different schools of magic to choose from. A 9th, "Prayer," works the same way as the others, we just refer to it differently.
Rules on gadgets, potion creation, golems, homunculi, and more. Easy, logical, and consistent rules.
All this together with a unique fantasy setting informed by the works of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, H.P. Lovecraft, and more! Make a name for yourself in the magical land of Andurantha!
Not Old School, not New School, but rather Alternative School. Backwards compatible with most editions of D&D.
Friday, June 11, 2010
A Million Rules, a Million Pages
I announced in my last post that I was disenchanted with most RPGs and was hard at work writing a new one.
I think in some ways what I'm disenchanted with is the tendency to cram a million rules into 300 pages, and the set in stone mentality of many rules systems. I think I know why the bulk of these rules are written, though. Aside from a bottom line, the authors usually assume that at least some of their core audience have never picked up a game before. Never played anything more challenging than Chutes & Ladders.
Which, to be fair, may well be the case.
Now, if you were the tyro, and you'd never seen a role-playing game before, which would you prefer? Something that you can pick up and understand immediately, or something that you have to study in order to play the game efficiently?
All things being equal, I'd rather someone hand me a 30-page intro and by the end I'd have a character and a basic idea of how to play. Here's a look at how this has changed over the years:
OD&D (Gygax, Arneson): 18 pages
D&D (Holmes): 17 pages
Basic D&D (Moldvay): 13 pages of character creation
Basic D&D (Mentzer): 52 pages (to be fair, this was the best intro to the game I've ever seen)
AD&D Player's Handbook (1st Ed): 40 pages
In 3.0, this inflated to monstrous proportions. By page 114, they had not even gotten to Movement yet.
For fun, let's take a look at some licensed properties of TSR, both for AD&D 2E:
Adventures in Lankhmar: 35 pages (and very well-done)
Diablo II: This is a weird one, so it's hard to codify. Each character received a sort of a character folio, with all the numbers filled in. There were instructions on the sheets as well, everything from an XP chart to take 'em to 5th level, and explanations of how to make a Hit Roll or a Saving Throw. The actual rulebook itself was 32 pages long.
The licensed ones were not only fairly short, they were also the most fun to read. Diablo II started it out as its own game system, with some additions not found in AD&D before (like their powers, which cost mana). Diablo II later became entwined in 3.0, and spiralled out of control, but the basic boxed set is fun.
By contrast, reading The 3E Player's Handbook was a great cure for insomnia. Watching paint dry was not only more interesting, but seemed to be more useful. I dunno, I guess the pretty pictures inside failed to suck me in.
This is what I don't understand. If you assume your core audience has never gamed before, why cram your product full of rules that they must learn? Why not provide a good framework, explain how to create a character well, and create systems that are intuitive so that there is less to explain? I'm looking at you, WotC!
This post, however, is very much YMMV. There are some people who love 3.x, and more power to them. For my own buck, I'd rather find something else. I just wish I could take a large number of followers with me...
I think in some ways what I'm disenchanted with is the tendency to cram a million rules into 300 pages, and the set in stone mentality of many rules systems. I think I know why the bulk of these rules are written, though. Aside from a bottom line, the authors usually assume that at least some of their core audience have never picked up a game before. Never played anything more challenging than Chutes & Ladders.
Which, to be fair, may well be the case.
Now, if you were the tyro, and you'd never seen a role-playing game before, which would you prefer? Something that you can pick up and understand immediately, or something that you have to study in order to play the game efficiently?
All things being equal, I'd rather someone hand me a 30-page intro and by the end I'd have a character and a basic idea of how to play. Here's a look at how this has changed over the years:
OD&D (Gygax, Arneson): 18 pages
D&D (Holmes): 17 pages
Basic D&D (Moldvay): 13 pages of character creation
Basic D&D (Mentzer): 52 pages (to be fair, this was the best intro to the game I've ever seen)
AD&D Player's Handbook (1st Ed): 40 pages
In 3.0, this inflated to monstrous proportions. By page 114, they had not even gotten to Movement yet.
For fun, let's take a look at some licensed properties of TSR, both for AD&D 2E:
Adventures in Lankhmar: 35 pages (and very well-done)
Diablo II: This is a weird one, so it's hard to codify. Each character received a sort of a character folio, with all the numbers filled in. There were instructions on the sheets as well, everything from an XP chart to take 'em to 5th level, and explanations of how to make a Hit Roll or a Saving Throw. The actual rulebook itself was 32 pages long.
The licensed ones were not only fairly short, they were also the most fun to read. Diablo II started it out as its own game system, with some additions not found in AD&D before (like their powers, which cost mana). Diablo II later became entwined in 3.0, and spiralled out of control, but the basic boxed set is fun.
By contrast, reading The 3E Player's Handbook was a great cure for insomnia. Watching paint dry was not only more interesting, but seemed to be more useful. I dunno, I guess the pretty pictures inside failed to suck me in.
This is what I don't understand. If you assume your core audience has never gamed before, why cram your product full of rules that they must learn? Why not provide a good framework, explain how to create a character well, and create systems that are intuitive so that there is less to explain? I'm looking at you, WotC!
This post, however, is very much YMMV. There are some people who love 3.x, and more power to them. For my own buck, I'd rather find something else. I just wish I could take a large number of followers with me...
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