Regional Geomorphs

Why does every campaign you buy have to be an entire continent? Half the fun of being a DM is creating worlds so why steal that? There is the time issue but that's not really an answer. I don't think published modules should cover so much territory in such limited detail. 

I'm thinking of Regional Geomorphs as the title says. IMagine if TSR had develop a micro-setting (like the wilderness in B2 but a bit bigger) then dropped B1, B3 and B4 and others into that setting to really populate the Regional Geomorph with adventure and create a sandbox. Then develop a micro-setting for C1, C2, etc. That second setting could be next door or miles away. Encourage the DM to create a world but enable them to drop these microsettings into their creation.

This is a far more useful level of information for a DM to work with. The DM could then handle the big picture (or not, do adventurers really need to know the extent of the continent in most cases?

If the idea happened now DMs could homebrew their own and make it available (for sale or free, you do you). A DM then starts with one and chunks together a greater world when the players start to explore near the edges.

The only sticking point would be Gods and the Cults that worship them. Cult Geomorphs is another place it would have been nice if the DIY side of the hobby had explored. Imagine if DMs wrote up their religions and posted them online for free, or sold them, and other DMs would have the ability to pick and match however they saw fit. 

I'm imagining a buffet approach to world building and I think it would be better than what we have now with the Meh Forgotten Realms dominating a massive section hobby.

Some thoughts on 5E

I was a little late getting into 5E. My players and I cut our teeth on AD&D so that is something to think about during this post. Also for the first few sessions every player wanted a fighter (the most popular character class in polls as well) which creates a somewhat unique dynamic. A group of four fighters, two of which are archers, provides a pretty devastating attack.

My players prefer to get increases in to hit rather than the fiddly benefits at each level. They were constantly reminding each other not to forget class features. It all felt meta gaming and I didn't like it. Also it adds a level of complexity to the GM who has to keep track of what they can do. This I think dates back to AD&D when your fighter got better at fighting, and there were no extras per level.

This next complaint is not a 5E issue but an issue with every game. After a particularly successful mission the players were the toast of the village they saved. Playing out the events of carousing are dull and awkward. Also going door to door looking for plot hooks as seems to be expected in Lost Mines of Phandelin is dull and stupid. It would be much better to mix the two. Have the players take out the Redbrand Ruffians and then while drinking the rumors come to them.  A Carousing mechanic would work easily enough handle the celebration and hand out rumors. Then the players can have a more targeted search for info the next day when sober again. Carousing tables were a fun idea but they are just under-used when used for experience (or just used for experience). 

Another one that is not strictly 5E, but... I thought I liked platform leveling. That is mission complete you go up a level. This avoids counting XP like a bookkeeper. I'm a GM not a bookkeeper! But we had a session where two players didn't make it. They may join half way into this next adventure. So do they go up when the group goes up, that doesn't seem fair.

Lastly, for now at least, 5E and Lost Mines level the PCs up too quickly. I think if the pace of leveling slowed down the players might get a chance to get use to their new Class Features each level instead of just collecting them and forgetting about them.

Game Design - Mini Dragon Slayer

So I have a degree in Graphic Design (never used professionally) and a career in Technical Writing so I developed some kind of sickness in which I write and rewrite games. So many games are full of unnecessary and often confusing stuff. So many sentences are passive, or tangled, or generally awkward, so I try to see if I can make them better. I'd like to think that I usually do but then toss the results.

Then I came across a challenge on Venger Satanis' blog. He has a game called Crimson Dragon Slayer and he's recently cut it down to 3 pages and challenged anyone who wanted to format it. I took up the challenge, he sent me the Word file and and hour later I had hacked together a nice little game. 

I used art by Kim Diaz Holm, who makes incredible art that he releases under the Creative Commons license with attribution. He has a Youtube channel so you can see him create art from scratch, it's amazing.

I doubled the page count but its still a clean little game that I think would be good to include with modules and such that ordinarily require one own an RPG. I sent it to him and he seemed to like it, he gave me a free pdf for participating, and was generally agreeable about the whole thing. He also said I could post it or change it or do whatever I wanted with it, so I edited a bit more (removed some art and cut a few bits that seemed Cha'alt specific) and got it to 4 pages (2 pages of content as 1-4 is the title page, and 4-4 is the credits).

The main way the game is cut so short was ditching attributes and leaning on other games for spells and monsters. This works for a beer & pretzels pick-up game, or for a game bundled for free with a module. I might follow this up with some kind of Spell book crafted from the Glog. So here is the core game.

Mini Dragon Slayer

Best of the Web - Simulacrum, Post-Apocalyptic Maps, and Rules as Written

Simulacrum has posted the beta version of their Fantasy Heartbreaker which is also called Simulacrum. I haven't had time to read through it yet, but one aspect I really like is he's included a Designer Notes document. I really like this idea. In fact I'd considered doing something similar myself but petered out before I had anything worth posting. I will take up the project at some point. Anyway, I hope this becomes a thing with every Fantasy Heartbreaker providing rationals for some decisions, even if its just for consistency and backwards compatibility. 

Trollsmyth has a nice post called Using the Real World to Create Post-apocalyptic Maps which provides a quick serious of steps on how to do exactly as the title says. For some reason it didn't occur to me before but D&D or any of its variants would work nice enough in a Thundarr the Barbarian campaign. The only difference is the addition of cyborgs and post-apocalyptic maps.

Christopher Stogdill posting over at Tenkars Tavern has a post called Is Rules as Written Really Still a Thing? I'd ask, was it ever a thing? Speaking of AD&D in particular. I never met anyone that used weapon speeds, weapon adjustments by AC or segments. These were rule-rules, not optional like Psionics (which I've never met anyone that used either). I don't think Gygax used that stuff. DIY was built into the thing from the start by adding that sort of incompressible rules in order to differentiate it from anything Dave Arneson was a part of. 

Thoughts on Combat Momentum

 I was reading about the Encounters Die and it occurred to me that no games really capture momentum. If you read a story about sports (or even combat) the side doing well is said to have the momentum. This is mostly confidence for those that have momentum combined with lack of confidence for those that do not have momentum. That is where the momentum die comes in. 

The Momentum die is an old-style d20 numbered 1-10 twice. One color is dedicated to each side in the combat. If the die is one sides color they add the value to their To Hit rolls (fighters can take it as a addition to damage instead if they want), and the other side subtracts the value. 

1. When combat starts the d20 is at 0 (placed where everyone can see it). 
2. During the first round of combat the GM compares the successful hits for each side. Subtracts one from the other and moves the Momentum dice total that many numbers in that direction. For example the characters hit 4, their enemies 1, so the die moves 3 points in the characters direction. The Momentum die goes from 0 to 3 in the Characters color (characters now get +3 To Hit, enemies are -3 To Hit. The next round the characters hit twice, the enemies hit 3 times. 1 point in the enemy direction turns that 3 to a 2 (characters now have +2, enemies -2). The characters still have momentum but not as great. This repeats every round until the numbers are high enough one side always wins momentum which should move the die to 10 before long.
3. If one side gets a 10 momentum the other side rolls morale.

That's it. This makes being outnumbered particularly hairy, it might shorten combat or make it extra long, I can't be sure until its tested. I'm willing to take suggestions if anyone has any ideas that might improve it.

Thoughts on Alignment

There has been a bit of talk about alignments now that Wizards seems to be moving away from the idea. I've played enough non-D&D game that I'm not sure I care all that much what the do, but I thought I'd lay out some of my own thoughts on alignment. First, I think in terms of two types of Alignment.

Personal Alignment - For lack of a better term, personal alignment means the 9 alignment grid. It is a general graph of the character or NPCs personality. There are no alignment languages of this type and a spell can't tell if one is Lawful Good or Chaotic Evil, that stuff is for the Religious Alignment. 

Religious Alignment - The term isn't really all that fitting but it'll do. This is the old Chaos vs Law conflict that happens throughout the Multiverse. These groupings allow for alliances for the greater cause. Alignment languages might be a thing, allowing the disparate allies to communicate. Each alignment is marked by their loyalties (or lack of) and a Know Alignment spell would tell you which side they stand on. 

You can't gain Clerical Healing if you are not of the same Religious Alignment as the Cleric and don't expect to be brought back from the dead unless you're the same Alignment and Religion as the Cleric. The hope here is to make it beneficial for characters to get involved in religion beyond just befriending a Cleric to act as a dutiful healer. Also I'd assume there are areas that are Holy or Unholy Ground. These areas will prevent healing and resurrection if one is not of the correct alignment and give a boost to those of the correct alignment.

So basically you could have someone that is Chaotic Evil aligned with Law for whatever reason and nobody would know until they got caught doing something Chaotic Evil. People lie, especially to themselves, that Chaotic Evil bastard may not even really know how bad he is until the opportunity presents. That Chaotic Evil guy couldn't be a Cleric or Paladin of a religion demanding they be Lawful though as the God in question, the one dealing out the spells, would certainly know.

Anyway that's the way I look at alignment, when I do look at alignment which isn't very often.

Thoughts on To Hit and Damage rolls

To Hit rolls are binary, you hit or you do not. Yes you might have critical hits and fumbles but there is a lot of wiggle-room there that nearly every game just discards. Rolling a 19 and adding all bonuses resulting in hitting easily is no different than getting the exact number required to hit. So I was wondering how practical it would be to take that number (the amount above required to hit) and add that to the weapon damage.

This might be lethal at low level, but then DCs and ACs should make it harder to hit and thus there will be less overflow to add to damage.

I also think it would work particularly well in any game that uses Armor Points that absorb damage instead of AC.

Okay, its a bit of extra math but hardly difficult math. Also if you went with straight weapon damage instead of a roll you could reduce things to a single roll. 

Thoughts on Adventure Design (Part 2)

In yesterdays post I talked about dividing modules to separate the Map and Overview from the Encounters so that multiple Encounters sheets can be drafted for the same Map and Overview. This time I'm thinking about those Encounters and more specifically the use of Monster Manuals. I love Monster Books but they aren't useful in quickly populating a dungeon. This is an idea for a supplement to that. A pdf that would be super-useful in populated an adventure. 

5E srd has some prepared stat blocks that enable a GM to simply state GOBLIN in their adventure. This is a decent start but I don't like it for three reasons. 

1. The Stat block should be in the adventure, you shouldn't depend upon cross-referencing to another book. That is great design to create slimmer books but horrible design for usability at the table. I know some folks like hardcover books but they are limiting as the kind of thing I'm talking about works far better in PDF where you can copy/paste to quickly populate a module.
2. The Stat blocks have too much info. Does the GM really need to know the Knights skills? Or their passive perception? or even all of their weapons when they are most likely to use their most damaging go-to weapon?
3. One GOBLIN is insufficient. Back in 4E's monster manual they listed different varieties of each beast to create variety to the encounter. This is the best thing in 4E and they didn't carry it forward. Imagine if that GOBLIN was actually a page or two of WEAK GOBLING, VETERAN GOBLIN, SKIRMISHER GOBLIN, WARRIOR GOBLIN. So the GM could just copy/paste out one or all to create a group of goblins, or to put a different Goblin in different rooms to customize encounters.

So this supplemental book would be a pdf, full of statblocks, with multiple statblocks per beast. include a table of weapons used by the group, and tactics and you have a very useful entry. Yes this book will be a lot longer, and it'll be a dull read, but it should be super-useful and super-fast when it comes to populating an adventure. 

Yes there are probably online generators that do all of this (they have them for RuneQuest which had far more complicated stat blocks, but I've never seen them for D&D). If there are generators it should be easy to cook up what I'm looking for.

Thoughts on Adventure Design (Part 1)

Most old school adventures had an idea, a map, and 30ish pages of fluff that a GM had to sort through (and often cross-out) before they could use the thing.

All Dead Generations has  post called One Page Dungeon Design that is all about good One Page Dungeon Design. The One Page Dungeon is an interesting concept because in most cases they don't provide enough detail to run right away either, but they basically skip the part where the GM has to hack out the fluff and provide the kernel of good stuff directly so the GM can add in their own details right away (much of which can be improvised) allowing for a bit more usability.

All this got me thinking. Does anyone run modules as written (outside a convention setting that is)? If the answer is no, not really then we should all be doing some thinking on how to fix this. B1 In Search of the Unknown created a starting adventure designed where a GM would populate the dungeon, thus learning how that sort of thing is done. This was a good idea but I don't think it was ever duplicated so maybe it wasn't so good, but I tend to think it was and my mind ran with it, a bit.

Imagine a one-page dungeon with just enough info. Nothing about the encounters, just a bit of history, some notes on the location and traps or dressing or unique challenges. Then imagine 2-3 pages listing the encounter table and contents of each room (with stats). Then imagine another 2-3 pages listing an alternate encounter table and contents of each room (with stats). Then maybe a third for a higher level. The same location could be filled with Orc & Ogres in Option 1, Bandits & Bugbear in Option 2, and Drow & Dueger in Option 3. The GM then picks the option they prefer for their campaign. They might end up using all three options as a campaign goes on over the year. Do it right and you might find half the RPG blogs adding their own option to give a location life again, and again.

Anyway I think that might be a useful way to package adventures.

Note, clearly I'm mostly talking about location type adventures here, anything more than that could be cobbled together out of multiple locations with Encounter Option designed to go together in some way. 

The Thrill of Resource Management

I've read a bunch of posts on resource management lately. Most have decided that 5E does a poor job of resource management, and they did it back in the day when the game was played a bit differently, and does it even matter anymore? This got me thinking of the two ways I've handled resource management in the past (well three ways but I've never bothered tracking arrows and just assumed the archer recovered the arrows and that seems to be the default out there so I won't cover that).

1. Have the adventurer party buy their resources in quantities aligned with days. Buy five days of food/water and you don't need to worry about tracking day to day, your mission is up at 5 days. Since 5E has long rests that makes a good marker for a single day even if it doesn't align to 24 hours exactly. Make sure the party eats during a long rest or they don't get the benefits and you have a nice marker for used goods. A smart party will take an extra days worth of resources with them just in case. A sneaky GM might decide to spoil the resources for some reason (torches got wet, food got covered in green slime), when that happens they should assume the same standard. Four days worth of torches were destroyed. 
2. Have the players hire a pack bearer to follow behind them carrying the Resources they need to survive in the dark. Have them pay the pack bearer  the listed rates and otherwise ignore the resources, Patsy has that covered. The pack bearer should be assumed to avoid combat and may actually have to be protected but they can cook during those long rests, hold light during combat, and trudge out the treasure in their pack that is now depleted of resources. This bypasses resource management in a playable way.

I've not only used both ideas with some success I've even blended the two. The fun thing about ignoring Resource Management most of the time is when it suddenly matters and players haven't given it any thought before. Patsy is gone and the torches are gone with him, now what? We've got an hour before the torches we've got burn out and it's going to be really, really, dark down here. Most games have fighting in darkness rules and if you're a player you probably don't want to be using them if you don't have to.

Visibility

I stumbled across the blog Cyborgs and Sorcerers and started poking around and found an interesting post. It was one of those, why don't we talk about that more? The post talked about Visibility in different conditions. It was called You're Doing Vision All Wrong and included a table from the 2E Players Handbook showing vision at different ranges. The table is sloppy. It didn't include alternate visions (Infravision, Ultravision at that time, or Torches burned into the table or something else useful) but had the seed of a really good idea, a seed that grew in my brain until I had to vomit something out.

First I felt Captain Caveman's advice about re-arranging the table by distances and dumping the Fog and mist rows was good. Second I wanted to reduce the number of columns so Spotted was out, and so was detail as that seemed irrelevant and something easily winged by the DM.

3E they had Darkvision for baddies and Dwarves and Low Light Vision for Elves. In 5E everyone got Darkvision. I wanted a compromise so I kept Low Light Vision and gave it to Elves and Dwarves. I also wanted Darkvision to work backwards so I had the ranges decrease the better the light.

Anyway it needs work, how does stealth work into this for example, but it's something.

Found in a Box Part 11: Finish Him! Critical Hits in Grappling

Again, not actually in a Box, but more of a computer folder.

I don't think the D&D rules make grappling very interesting. That's where this idea began. My players never really got into fist fights. They prefer to slice and dice, so this isn't really tested stuff but it's been on my mind a lot so I thought I'd post it.

I'm not sure if these tables could be used as the finishing move in unarmed combat, or they could be used anytime a Critical Hit occurs, in addition to extra damage or whatever. Anyway here are tables for Chops/Punches and Kicks, and Unique... Depending upon how these tables are used the blow could stun the target for a round or drop them to the ground.

1d6	Chops/Punches
1	Backhand - the attacker strikes with a powerful backhand blow to the head.
2	Cross-chop - The attacker uses two hands to hit the defender on both sides of their neck.
3	Headbutt - The attacker strikes the defenders in the head using it's own forehead.
4	Overhead Strike - The attacker chops their hand down on the top of the defenders head.
5	Spinning Blow - Attacker spins and strikes the defender with a roundhouse punch.
6	Throat thrust - The attacker stabs with their fingres into the defenders throat.

1d6	Kicks
1	Bicycle Kick - The attacker jumps and kicks with one foot to the defenders body, and then the second into the defenders face.
2	Dropkick - Attacker jumps up and kicks the defender with the soles of both feet.
3	Legsweep - The attacker goes low and sweeps the legs of the defender, knocking them to the ground.
4	Roundhouse Kick - The attacker spins and kicks the defender with a lot of power.
5	Spin Kick - The attacker spins and kicks the defender.
6	Superkick - Attacker delivers a kick to the defender's face or chest.

1d6	Unique
1	Battering Ram - The attacker uses their head to spear the defender in the chest or stomach.
2	Body avalanche - The attacker just runs up and runs into a defender standing near a wall, slamming them against the wall.
3	Bodyslam - The attacker lifts the defender above their head and slams them to the ground.
4	Lariat Takedown - Attacker runs forward, wraps their arm around defender's kneck and pulls the defender backwards to the ground.
5	Living Shield - Attacker grabs the defender and uses them as a shield to defend against others
6	Piledriver - Attacker grabs the defender, turns them upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the defender head-first into the ground.

Of course if you use them for a Critical Hit that causes problems for similar tables for weapons as the results would be so different. Oh, and I don't particularly like wrestling, I just imagined it would be fun to have an Ogre pull a pile-driver on a character.

Thoughts on Encumbrance

5E Encumbrance is ridiculous, so much so that I suspect nearly everyone house rules or hand waves it. I've read a few of the variants around the blogsphere and thought I'd post my own.

Encumbrance

Instead of tracking weight, we take bulk into account. Each character can carry a number of items. An item easily held in one hand counts as one item, an item that requires two hands counts as two items. Some rather big items such as plate armor or a backpacks full of stuff might count as 3 or 4. Regarding smaller items, if you could hold 12 arrows in one hand that's one item.

Ones load is divided into categories Lightly Encumbered and Heavily Encumbered.

• Light Load - Carrying a number of items equal to your STR or CON, whichever is lowest. 
• Heavy Load - Carrying a number of items equal to your STR or CON, whichever is highest. In addition to being slower (see below) all skills, saves, and checks are Disadvantaged while Heavily Encumbered.

For example a character with 8 CON and 12 STR. 8 Items or less is lightly Encumbered, 9-12 items is Heavily Encumbered, and 13 items is just too much.

Movement from LoTFP

Load	Movement Turn Exploration	Movement per Round Combat	Movement per Round Running	Miles per day
None	240	80	240	48
Light	180	60	180	36
Heavy	120	40	120	24

Note: for some reason in my notes I had half the values used by LoTFP but both 5E and LoTFP use a 6 second round (at least I think they do) so I'm not sure why. I decided to restore them to LoTFP speeds for now.

Carrying Items

All weight isn't equal. Some items aren't removed, other items are consumed, and of course treasure is added. So loads are generally split into two categories:

• Things you wear - Not just clothes but armor, and weapons on your belt, shield on your arm, etc. This rarely changes much and really, seriously, be kept to the Lightly Encumbered level.
• Things you carry - These are the things you'll dump if forced to run away! Typically includes backpacks, sacks, and satchels. These might even be dropped prior to each and every battle (which allows for a quick escape, but also means losing your gear). Grognards might pay hirelings to carry this stuff on their behalf.

Size Categories

Sizes are useful for comparison sake and because adventurers are likely to end up dragging dead friends around. Creatures come in five basic size categories

1. Small (rats and dogs) (4-12 Items)
2. Medium (Halfling to horse) (12-130 Items)
3. Large (Really big bear, moose) (131-160 Items) 
4. Huge (Rhino, Elephant) (161-250 Items)
5. Massive (Dinosaur) (251-300 Items)

Humanoid size can be approximated by averaging CON and STR, I think.

Other Notes

• Satchels and sacks are easier to drop than backpacks. Players should be encouraged to divide their loads into stuff they are willing to drop and stuff they won't drop except in an emergency.
• Satchels and sacks are easiest to access in a rush. Food and coins can distract pursuit. Oil pots can be lit and thrown. Players should be encouraged to consider this sort of thing lest they be forced to remove a backpack and dig through it during an emergency.
• Beasts of Burden can handle heavier loads. Instead of the highest and lowest between CON and STR a Beast of Burden adds CON and STR together to determine their Heavy Load. Beasts of Burden have no Light Load.
• Where to put all of this stuff while they drink in a tavern is something the GM should consider as well. At some point paying the Silversmith guild in order to use their safe, or finding a Goblin Bank starts to make sense and can drag the characters into the factions of a settlement.
• 1000 gp = 1 item (assumes a sack or small chest). The weight and bulk of 1000 gp worth of coins is roughly the same no matter what denomination of coins comprise the pile. A pile of gold will be small and heavy, a pile of copper coins will be a lot of lighter coins. It mostly evens out.

Lifestyle Expenses

I like the idea of Lifestyle expenses but this also should be baked into the different races the way backgrounds are to tell you something about the race. The player should roll for their lifestyle during character creation. A series of tables will better show what I mean.

Hill Dwarf

2d6	Lifestyle
--	Wretched
01	Squalid
02	Poor
03-08	Modest
09	Comfortable
10	Wealthy
--	Artistocratic

Mountain Dwarf

2d6	Lifestyle
--	Wretched
01	Squalid
02-05	Poor
06-09	Modest
10	Comfortable
--	Wealthy
--	Aristocratic

High Elf

2d6	Lifestyle
--	Wretched
--	Squalid
--	Poor
01-05	Modest
05-06	Comfortable
07-09	Wealthy
10	Aristocratic

Wood Elf

2d6	Lifestyle
--	Wretched
--	Squalid
01-02	Poor
03-08	Modest
09-10	Comfortable
--	Wealthy
--	Aristocratic

Halfling (Stout)

2d6	Lifestyle
--	Wretched
--	Squalid
--	Poor
01-06	Modest
07-09	Comfortable
10	Wealthy
--	Aristocratic

Halfling (Tallfellow)

2d6	Lifestyle
--	Wretched
02	Squalid
03-04	Poor
05-06	Modest
07-08	Comfortable
09	Wealthy
10	Aristocratic

Half Orc

2d6	Lifestyle
01-02	Wretched
03-04	Squalid
05-07	Poor
08	Modest
09	Comfortable
10	Wealthy
--	Aristocratic

Human

2d6	Lifestyle
01	Wretched
02	Squalid
03-04	Poor
05-06	Modest
07-08	Comfortable
09	Wealthy
10	Aristocratic

A character may select to live a week at a higher level than their normal level, but not below. What happens when they are unable to afford their normal level is up to the GM (take out a loan, take up petty crime) but unhappiness and a feeling of desperation is likely. Possibly enough to risk their lives on an adventure.

If they spend too long at a lower level their own lifestyle expectations might drop a level as well.

Here is what the lifestyles mean according to the 5e srd.

Lifestyle Expenses per day

Price/Day	Lifestyle	Notes
--	Wretched	You live in inhumane conditions. Violence, and hunger follow you wherever you go. Other wretched people covet your gear, which represent a fortune by their standards. You are beneath the notice of most people.
1 sp	Squalid	Your lifestyle means you live in a desperate and often violent environment, in places rife with hunger, and misfortune. You are beneath the notice of most people. Most people at this lifestyle level are refugees of some sort.
2 sp	Poor	A poor lifestyle means simple food and lodgings, threadbare clothing, and unpredictable conditions result in a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience. People at this lifestyle level tend to be unskilled laborers, costermongers, peddlers, thieves, mercenaries, and other disreputable types.
1 gp	Modest	A modest lifestyle keeps you out of the slums and ensures that you can maintain your equipment. You don't go hungry or thirsty, and your living conditions are clean, if simple. Ordinary people living modest lifestyles include soldiers with families, laborers, students, priests, hedge wizards, and the like.
2 gp	Comfortable	A comfortable lifestyle means that you can afford nicer clothing and can easily maintain your equipment. You associate with merchants, skilled tradespeople, and military officers.
4 gp	Wealthy	A wealthy lifestyle means living a life of luxury. You live a lifestyle comparable to that of a highly successful merchant, a favored servant of the royalty, or the owner of a few small businesses. You are happiest when you have a small staff of servants.
10 gp	Artistocratic	You like to live a life of plenty and comfort. You have excellent lodgings, you dine at the best restaurants, retain the most skilled and fashionable tailor, and have servants attending to your every need. You receive invitations to the social gatherings of the rich and powerful, and spend evenings in the company of politicians, guild leaders, high priests, and nobility.

Languages

I've never been happy with how languages were handled in games. I like the original game with "common". They didn't really describe common but the idea of a lingua franca glossed over most of the issues while leaving the idea that there are lots of languages out there available for court room intrigue and all that once you get out the dungeon.

So for my Axes & Arrows campaign I have the following languages.

Language Table

Language	Script	Notes
Common	Dwarvish	Common is a simplified version of Dwarvish used to assist in communications between Hill and Mountain Dwarf communities. The language has become the lingua Franca of the region. Even the Horde has picked up on the language to ease communications between vastly different Orc and Goblin tribes.
Dwarvish	Dwarvish	A really guttural and phgmey language. Hill  Dwarfs and Mountain Dwarves both speak Dwarvish but each have thick accents that are nearly impossible for others to understand. The Dwarvish script looks like Runes as they developed it carving on wood and into stone.
Elf	Elvish	Elvish is a musical language. The Elves are protective of it and snotty about mispronunciations so few learn the language and even fewer get practice in speaking with natives. Elvish is the language of Wizardy so most Wizards learn it.
Halfling	Elvish	The Halfling language is dead. Halflings adopted the Elvish script long go so their books can still be read, awkwardly, by someone who reads Elvish script.
Human	Many	Most humans have their own language(s) which is a babble of incomprehensible nonsense that they may use amongst themselves. Luckily nearly all learn Common.
Orc	None	The orcs never developed a written language which has held them back. The Common Tongue was brought to the horde by the traitors of House Duegar to enable the Orcs and Goblins and other member races of the horde to communicate. Roughly half of all Orcs and Goblins speak Common.
Thieves Cant	None	The Thieves Cant is a slang version of Common with a lot of Human and Orc words thrown in. The language is used by the thieves that work amongst the poor and the refugees in the Hill Dwarf settlements.

What this all means is all characters will speak Common, including half of the Orcs and Goblins and other humanoid monsters they encounter. This allows for parlay.

It also means that a Halfling cookbook looks a lot like an Elvish book and a Spellbook. The main difference *might* be the inclusion of drawings of the food. Halfling cookbooks can be very valuable but not of the same scale as a Spellbook.

No alignment languages. Alignment languages was a half-baked idea based off of Latin. Clerics and Druids don't need their own language.

Human Backgrounds

Humans

Humans appear in most Hill Dwarf settlements. Mostly they are mercenaries come to fight, either because they believe in the cause or they are looking for cash. The flood of humans has only increased recently as Dwarven law says any Dwarven treasure left unclaimed for 50 years is up for grabs, a well known law well known to treasure hunters who have counted down the years since the Grand Vault fell 50 years ago. The humans come in many racial types but they all share the same culture (for now, eventually I'd like a couple different human cultures represented).

Illustration by Russ Nicholson

1d6	Ideal
1	Faith. I trust that my God Lord Gax will guide my actions. I have faith that if I work hard, things will go well.
2	Fame. Through adventuring I'll become famous and someone people want to know.
3	Progress. Backwards and antiquated ways should be updated or we'll never persevere.
4	Freedom. I hate to see anyone enslaved or imprisoned and will take great risks to free prisoners of the horde.
5	Fairness. Unfair rules are meant to be broken. Unfair fights are meant to be joined.
6	Greater Good. I'm willing to do some bad things if it leads to the correct results.

1d6	Bond
1	I'm willing to risk my life to prove the value of humans in the alliance.
2	I care for my family and will risk all to provide for them.
3	I love the alliance despite the imperfections and will die to preserve it.
4	I believe in honor and will not break my codes no matter what.
5	I'm loyal to the Guild that was both father and mother to me.
6	I am faithful and comfortable knowing my soul will be cared for after death.

1d6	Flaw
1	I put way to much trust in authority, I know it, but can't help it, and this war is too important for petty rebellions.
2	I'm a religious zealot and will do just about anything the Clerics of Gax say.
3	My family is everything, and I'll do anything to protect or advance the family.
4	I like the good things in life and I'll take whatever risks are necessary to afford living like an Aristocrat, even for awhile.
5	I can't hide it, I'm very proud of everything human, especially our position as the shield of the Alliance.
6	I don't trust authority at all and will at least consider doing the opposite when given orders. It's a problem, I know.