I Search For Treasure

When do you roll for treasure?

For most of you it's probably when you create your dungeon. You follow treasure-type codes, make some rolls and voila -- treasure.

How many of you fudge this roll? 

What if you roll an artifact or some such object of enormous power?

When you pay for an adventure, do you expect the treasure to be listed? And when it is, do you wonder if it was specifically chosen or randomly determined? And if it was random, couldn't you have just done that yourself? Or is it simply a matter of convenience? 

In my published adventures the treasures are almost always specifically tailored for that adventure and most of the magic items are unique, never seen before. I do this because I think it is what people expect when they pay for something -- to see something they wouldn't (or couldn't) have come up with themselves. 

It's funny, because in my mind, the ultimate dungeon is still the stereotypical, randomly created, nonsensical dungeon. Random rooms, random monsters, random treasure, random traps, random, random, random... But, this is not what I create, at least not for sale, anyway. 

These days in OSR products there is sometimes a table called "I Search the Body" (first seen by me in LotFP books). These tables usually cover treasure in its more mundane form -- a dagger, some rations, a few coins, a potion of healing, etc., and are generally meant for the odd corpse here and there. These tables are fun and seem to suggest a more gritty type of game, a game where you're grateful to have a few more torches.

Have any of you ever played the game where treasure was never predetermined, but rather, rolled randomly right there on the spot? 

What if all treasure was: I Search the Body? Where, after a fight or searching an empty room, you open the book and let the players roll. It creates a mini game within the game, a new subsystem to the dungeon crawl, a new excitement for the players. There's a certain psychology and satisfaction when a player rolls to see what they've found, knowing that anything can happen and that it is even out of the DM's control.

Would you be willing to live with said results? No matter the level of the PCs? It takes a certain type of DM and not one who is worried too much about their precious campaign.

Remember DMs, you're not a storyteller, you're a referee. You're not writing a book. You're not even creating a world, the dice are. Sure, you've planted some seeds, but you don't know if they'll grow or even into what. So sorry if your favorite subplot never develops. It's your job to facilitate and interpret results; the dice should surprise you as almost as much as they do the players. Yes, you should be descriptive at times. I've always been known for making combat exciting, dangerous, and fun. After my combats, you feel like you've been in a fight. If an ogre hits you with a large club, I might say you go flying across the room, crashing into a wall, but don't worry, you can get up and do whatever you were gonna do, unless there was a specific die result that states you remain prone. Anyway, back to treasure...

You could have fun with this: Ok, you rolled a weapon... a sword... a two-handed sword... and then, you require a detect magic spell to reveal the exact type, at which point they would make the final roll. BTW, Detect Magic is probably one of the most neglected spells in the game and I am as guilty as anyone. Or you can just tell them exactly what they've found, that's what the vast majority of us have all done throughout the years. Afterall, magic is not mundane, its power should emanate. I'm reminded of Larry Elmore's outstanding painting for the Basic D&D Companion Set, were the knight wields a two-handed sword absolutely overflowing with power. 

More and more I favor random results for everything, I've even been questioning the notion of stratified dungeon levels. 1st levels could be as random and dangerous as the wilderness (though yes, the wilderness is stratified to a degree -- e.g., plains are not as dangerous as forests or mountains, unless there's a dragon flying above...).

I wonder how many randomly created adventures are out there where people thought, My God, this is genius!

I'm not looking for answers, this is just food for thought, a sort of continuation of my previous post -- use your books at the table, they aren't just for prep.

Game on.

Memorial Day 2025

Praise the fighters and the fallen.

Looking Up Rules Is Part Of The Fun!

This notion of rulings not rules...

It is not being applied properly.

It doesn't mean NEVER LOOK UP THE RULES, it means make up your own rules when rules for something don't exist! Then... you make a ruling.

Somehow this has turned into, "Put that book down!"

I believe this is a symptom of the storyteller DM. Egotistical DMs so concerned about their narrative, this grand story they've been dreaming up, oh no, don't you dare interrupt it! I'm on a roll, I'm flowing, don't you dare touch that book!

No, I say pick that beautiful book up!

Reference it damn it. You wouldn't be sitting around playing without it.

The books are great. They are artifacts; wonderous things that got us into the game in the first place. They are fonts of knowledge and inspiration -- especially the one pictured above.

For some gamers the only time they ever got to look at the books was when we were playing. We were always surrounded by D&D books, and other games, it was part of the culture to look at them as we played... and any time we had (or have) a question about the rules you're damn right we looked it up!

Wizards have spell books and gamers have rule books.

This modern notion that rules can't be looked up during play is pure garbage.

The notion that it's not the "OSR way" is also garbage. Although maybe it's true in the sense that the OSR is a modern creation; a modern reinterpretation of the old. There are a lot of myths involved. 

The way people play now is not the way they played then.

It is older people rereading the rules and perhaps coming to a better understanding of them (technically) and then playing the game now, not as they did, but as they wish they had, or as they feel they "should have" and then imposing this falsely as something that always was.

Nope.

There were, and always have been, pauses and interruptions to consult the books; the aversion to it now is repulsive to me. Consulting the very books that the games are based on is an essential part of the experience. I would want it no other way.

In the desire to save the past, the past is being revised.

Playtesting the System... And Then, Autarch

You can get carried away with writing rules, it's very exciting when you're locked in, but at some point you need to stop... and see if they work. 

Although I have 30 some odd classes, the usual plus oddities like plague doctors and amazons, this test included four standards, warrior, cleric, thief, and sorcerer (to call it wizard or mage or sorcerer is more of a quandary than it should be).

To sum up the system super fast: 

• Instead of fighting fantasy's skill, we have four stats ported directly from D&D (str, dex, wis, cha). All skills are linked to a stat.
• Skills are roll equal to or under.
• Combat is opposed roll, roll higher. Winner does damage regardless of who's turn it is.
• Damage uses a chart, the d6 roll is modified by armor.
• Character creation offers mandatory skills by class plus a few random rolls on a class skill chart.

Party: prime stats: (Fate is luck, the better your core stats the lower your Fate, the thief had the best stats. Fate lowers with use, but only if it succeeds).

    Sorcerer: HP: 16, Fate: 9, AC: 0, Weapon--Dagger: 4

    Warrior: HP: 22, Fate: 9, AC: -3, Weapon--Sword: 8

    Thief: HP: 17, Fate: 8, AC: 0, Weapon--Dagger: 6

    Cleric: HP: 14, Fate: 9, AC: -2, Weapon--Mace:7, Faith: 7

Entering the dungeon the party chose the north passage (random roll). The thief checked the door for traps and failed. The thief's traps skill is a 7 (that's a 58% chance of success) and the thief failed this roll every time -- attempted 4 or 5 times. That's just a bit of bad luck.

Moving along, they entered the triangle room with standing coffins and out came the skeletons:

    Skeletons: HP: 10, AC: 0, Fighting: 4, Damage: Sword.

Immediately, I see, your stealth and initiative rules have to be solid (not vague) choose something, lock it in. Also in this system, who goes first doesn't always matter, combat is an opposed roll--high roll wins and does damage; you can kill a monster on its turn. This makes whose turn it is at times confusing. However there are only certain things you can do on your turn. There are strengths and weaknesses to doing it this way and this is something I'm pondering.

Anyhow, the skeletons were less of a threat than they could have been, thanks to some lucky rolls (and more than a few ties, something that happened throughout, surprisingly, I ruled stalemates though I wrote different options for this). Also, the sorcerer unleashed a spell I call Arrow Storm (costs 3 HP and unleashes a number of arrows equal to your roll) rolled a 4 (arrow storm skill of 7, but was raised to 8 using what I call a downtime skill of astrology to improve 1 spell by 1 until the next downtime) those 4 arrows helped undo the skeletons. 

Moving on around they entered the ghoul room where I was reminded to solidify my surprise rules as the ghouls jumped out. This should have been a tougher fight, but the cleric used turn undead (via the faith skill, Faith, like fate, lowers with use, but only if you fail your roll) to keep the ghouls cowering on defense mode, which means even if they win a combat, they don't do damage. The others chopped them up. Warrior finds a magic sword (+1 on damage rolls).

They then failed to find the secret door to the gorgon (medusa) who certainly would have ended them.

They entered the fountain room and I rolled randomly to see if anyone would dare drink; none did. They also failed to find that secret door as well (there is a secret door skill but none had it, no even the thief, so it's a straight wisdom roll. So, they opened the other door and woke up 2 ogres...    

    Ogres: HP: 15, AC: -1, Fighting: 5, Damage: large beast -- this is considerable damage.

During this fight the warrior got knocked down to exactly 0 HP, so he had to roll fate every round to avoid death, which he kept making. The fight only lasted 3 rounds technically, but remember, everyone's action is damage for someone. The thief chose to hide in shadows to sneak attack. Worked but he died anyway. The sorcerer was almost dead, so cast disappear (invisibility) on himself -- this actually reduced him to only 1 HP left. Then the cleric died, and finally the sorcerer took a chance because one ogres was dead and the other was at 1 HP. 

TPK.

During the ogre fight, several people (including an ogre) went prone due to fumbles. When prone you can only defend and can't get up until it's your turn.

Lessons learned:

• The fighting fantasy damage charts are fun in theory, but I'm wondering if rolling damage the traditional way wouldn't be better and have armor as damage reduction as opposed to lessoning the d6 roll.
• To have proper turns or not to? That is the question. There are pros and cons.
• It's amazing how many different games have convoluted surprise and initiative rules; these need to be clear and simple. Side initiative works just fine for any system.
• Monsters have less HP than PCs in general, otherwise you wouldn't survive a single fight.
• How would this little gauntlet have played out using D&D rules (any)? I think much the same, so I think I've captured the right feel. The difference here is that in D&D as you gain levels you become quite powerful and combat becomes sometimes a pointless drag. That will never happen here... ever. An ogre will always be dangerous, and I think that's the way it should be.
• How necessary is 2d6? I could write the same exact game using d20 contested combat rolls with percentile skills. This would give more wiggle room, yet doesn't this already exist in the form of Palladium?

Pondering time...

Playtest your shit before it's too late!

Oh yeah, then this arrives!

Adventurer Conqueror King System Imperial Imprint (ACKS II) by Alexander Macris (Autarch).

Talk about high quality books! 

These things are insane. This is about as comprehensive a version of B/X, BECMI as you will ever find.

The art is great (comic book style) some A.I. it seems; the theme: Imperial Rome.

This was the most I ever spent on a Kickstarter and I did so because the canceltards were pounding Macris quite hard. So a little support was in order. 

Anyhow, reports on these beauties will begin to pop up very soon. It's a lot to digest though.

Well done, Autarch.

Triggered Actions

2 claws/1 bite... iconic monster stat-line -- but, what if the bite attack did twice the listed damage and was only triggered if both claws hit? Obviously both claws have to hit the same target, like grappling and hug attacks. 

With if a dragon's breath weapon was only triggered on a critical hit? It would need a greater threat range than just 20, say 18/19-20 (20 would still be double damage.) Their breath weapon becomes an unpredictable bonus attack that occurs after all melee strikes are determined. And if multiple crits are rolled... prepare to burn!  

How about wizards getting a free spell if they score a 20 in combat? -- whether they have one available or not. Makes combat a little more exciting for magic-users. Same goes for spell-casting monsters or any monsters' special ability.

Suppose ghoul paralysis is only triggered on a bite (double listed damage) which in turn is only triggered if both claws hit? Makes paralysis less common, but more fun (it is a death sentence after all.)

The assassin's death strike triggered on a crit...? (Said that before, just saying it again.)

A medusa's gaze... Nobody fights medusas, you see statues, you run! Too fucking dangerous. What if her gaze (that's right, HER gaze, Woketards of the Coast) was triggered on her critical hits and your critical failures? 

Level drain, (the dreaded!)... again, make it triggered; 2 attacks, if both hit, then the classic -- grab you by the throat/kiss you/bite you/suck out your breath, whatever it is, followed by your preferred way to deal with energy drain.

Thieves get a pick-pocket check on a crit (if applicable) or a free back-stab, or a back-flip out of harms way, or hide-in-shadows (even if there aren't any!) They're just cool that way!

You see, crits should do more than just double damage.

How about a free attack if your crit slays? (This idea's certainly not new, but it is to someone.)

Clerics/paladins, when they score a crit vs chaos or undead, they (or their weapon) start(s) to glow with holy light and for the rest of the fight they do double damage (triple if another crit is scored, etc.) Who wouldn't enjoy that? It's bad-ass.

The barbarian's rage should be triggered, not planned -- a berserker can not control themselves! So, triggered by their own crit or a crit against them and then they fucking lose their shit! (They should also become a threat to allies while enraged.) If they want to fight the rage, they must roll under their wisdom score on a d20; same thing to end it. A crit on them also ends it.

Mechanics like this make the game more fun. They'll prompt more combats with monsters we've always avoided, and more combats period. Combat is FUN. It is not a failed state... unless you're a thief. 

The possibilities here are simple and numerous.

Tweak your games thus.

Spotlight: OSRIC Player's Guide

Charlie Mason of Seattle Hill Games has put together a Player's Guide for OSRIC.

It is 220 pages, soft covered, spined in orange, and contains all the information a player needs for 1st Edition AD&D... as presented in OSRIC. This isn't his version of OSRIC, this is OSRIC, word for word, at least, part of it, races, classes, equipment, spells, combat rules, etc.... just laid out better including much better art.

The PDF is free, and the print copy from Amazon is only $8.

Now, numerous times, I've contemplated contacting the right folks to acquire the current Black Blade Publishing copy of OSRIC, not because I need it, rather, because I want it. But I keep hesitating. Why? Because I'm not a big fan of the layout. It pains me to say that, considering the effort these fine folks must have put into producing the book. The major flaw is the fact that many charts are not contained on the same page or two-page spread... probably to save space. You should never have to turn a page back and forth to scan the contents of a chart. All charts should be contained on a single page/two-page spread and if this creates white space, so be it, add art.

Then I got wind of an OSRIC revision project in the works, perhaps still a couple years off from completion...

So, my question at this point: Is this Player's Guide a part of that current OSRIC revision project or is it just a stand alone thing? 

Because this book is nice. Well laid out and the interior art is PERFECT. If the revision of OSRIC is done exactly like this... It would certainly make for a fat tome, no doubt, but adding the rest of OSRIC to this exact book, in this exact fashion... I'd pay a king's ransom for it.

Of note, spells in OSRIC are listed alphabetically by class, whereas traditionally, they are listed by level by class. I'm a fan of alphabetical period, not by class, not by level. Any time I need to look up a spell, I know the spell I'm looking up, finding it should be easy. If you don't do it straight alphabetically, there should be some sort of tab noting what section of the spell descriptions you've opened up to, to help guide you to you're destination.

ERRATA NOTE: On page 4, in the section on Dwarfs, under Infravision, there is a reference to the Light and Vision rules on page xxx (it should say 162). If you know the diligent folks working on this project, kindly pass this along.

Anyhow, a few samples and link below...

Classic orange spine.

Cleric!

Nice.

Fighter!

I approve.

Sample two-page art spread.

Yep.

Cool.

You can purchase a copy at the link below.

 OSRIC Player's Guide

Nicely done.

Practical Insanity

 

So... After reading a page from the grotesque tome on the satanic alter, you must now save vs spells or roll for insanity... ah you failed... now you suffer from Equinophobia... the fear of horses... 

Huh? 

In most games, when you go insane, you accrue insanity points, which ultimately leads to losing your character, and/or, you roll on a phobia table to find your new fear. In either case, it's usually up to you to role-play the symptoms of your new affliction which may or may not make any sense at all.

On page 83 of the DMG, Gygax himself suggested that DMs should assume the role of insane characters.

Well, that's no fun.

Insanity should have real, immediate, in-game mechanical costs that make dungeon-crawling more difficult. Having an insane character should be an irritating condition that you'll want to be cured of, much sooner rather than later. In-game insanity doesn't have to resemble real world insanity. Your character is going mad and simply isn't functioning the way they're supposed to. Which leads to...

Practical Insanity

1. Amnesia: You've forgotten just who exactly you are and now function at half of your current level as far as, to-hit, saves, spellcasting, and turning is concerned. Or -2 if you're 1st level.

2. Kleptomania: You now have the pick-pocket ability of a thief of half your level (even if you're already a thief, because now you're sloppy about it.) Any time the party takes a rest, you must save vs spells or attempt to steal a random item from a random party member. If in town, you must attempt a theft at least once per day against a randomly determined target. You will always deny your theft (but you might have one person that you secretly brag to about it.)

3. Catatonia: Melancholia to the extreme. When a stressful situation occurs, save vs spells or retreat into yourself. You won't do anything. You can be carried. Lasts 2d4 hours.

4. Schizoid: You think you belong to another class. Determine the class randomly (use the 4 archetypes, 1-fighter, 2-wizard, 3-thief, 4-cleric, reroll if you roll your class.) You fight and save as if you belong to that other class at half your current level. Wizards and clerics must save vs spells in order to cast a spell or turn undead, but only if someone else reminds them that they are capable of doing so.

5. Delusional: You think you're better than you actually are and wonder why you don't experience better results. In combat, you attack with a +4 bonus but only do half damage. Targets save vs your spells at -4, but your spells only do half damage or only affect half the normal number of targets and only last half the normal duration. You only receive half of your XP earned.

6. Suicidal: If a trap is discovered, you must save vs spells or purposefully trigger it. If a chasm presents itself, you must save or throw yourself over -- hopefully your friends will stop you. You'll be the first into combat every time.

7. Schizophrenia: Like Schizoid, but the other class changes daily.

8. Panic Disorder: Your anxiety is extreme and your fear is all consuming. When a stressful situation occurs, save vs spells or retreat as fast and far away as you can get. Your anxiety builds with every successful save you make against this disorder causing any subsequent saves to suffer a cumulative -1 penalty until at last you're overcome by fear and flee. The DM should make you call split second answers to right, left, or straight as you race through the dungeon away from the danger and the other PCs until you are alone and lost. Only then might you get a grip.

9. Melancholia: Save vs spells every morning to see if you have the will to live. If not, all rolls suffer a -5 penalty. Save vs spells to see if you'll even try to help in any given situation.

10. Obsessive/Compulsive: You insist on doing things a certain way even if it doesn't make sense. A fighter will switch weapons every round or with every foe or will insist on using his least effective weapon, how else will he improve? A wizard will cast spells in a certain order (who cares if you need fireball, it can't be cast before feather-fall!) A cleric will always waste the first round of combat in prayer or spend 1d4 turns ritually cleansing their equipment after every battle -- if they don't do this they won't be able to cast any more spells that day. A thief takes twice as many rounds/turns to do his thing, etc.

11. Manic-Depressive: On any given day, you're either (1-3) Hysterical or a (4-6) Melancholiac.

12. Hallucinatory: In combat there is a 25% chance, after you've resolved an action, that you did so against a foe that isn't really there. 

13. Sado-Masochism: In any given combat, you're either a (1-3) Sadist or a (4-6) Masochist.

14. Homicidal Mania: You will murder any NPC that you think has failed you, lied to you, betrayed you, or even looked at you funny (yes I know, this is every PC that has ever existed. God Damn murder-hobos!) Even other PCs need to look out.

15. Hebephrenia: Any time a stressful situation occurs, you must save vs spells or behave as if you are under a confusion spell for the duration of the stress. Someone may attempt to snap you out of it with physical contact (slap!) in which case, you get another save.

16. Paranoia: You don't trust anything, every door, staircase, chest, ladder, every thing is a potential trap. Your movement is cut in half. Actions take twice as long. e.g., picking locks, searching rooms. Every NPC is lying to you, anyone who thinks otherwise is a complete idiot. You must save vs spells to be healed, because, fuck-no you don't trust their God! You will only eat rations and use equipment that you brought along yourself. And all gold is cursed...

17. Hysteria: Any time a trap goes off, or a party member dies, or you run out of rations or light, or you're lost, etc., you have to save vs spells or FREAK THE FUCK OUT!... causing an immediate random encounter check at +1 probability (most likely now a 2 in 6 chance.) 

18. Sadist: When you slay someone in combat you will keep on attacking that target until it becomes pulp (this includes casting spells on it.) Save vs spells to snap out of it.

19. Masochist: When in combat, you must save vs spells in order to attack, otherwise you just stand there and take it.

20. Psychosomatic Disorder: You keep insisting there is something wrong with you. Don't you see these sores all over my arm? And soon there will be. You must save vs spells or terrible sores start to appear on your body. They ooze puss and they bleed and you must save everyday to avoid this terrible malady from worsening. Every time you fail a save, more sores appear and you lose 1 hit point from your hit point maximum until you die or your insanity is cured. Once cured, your original hit point maximum will be restored minus 1 hit point per week afflicted.

On top of the above afflictions, all insane characters should suffer nightmares. A save vs petrification is required each night to acquire any benefits of a full night's sleep.

Only heal, restoration, limited wish, and wish spells can heal these afflictions. Natural healing is possible but requires two successive saves vs spells done on a monthly basis, one save at the end of each month.

Or something like that.

Three Hearts And Three Lions

One of the inspirations for D&D as listed in Appendix N.

Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions, 1953/1961.

You have:

•  a paladin and his loyal and fierce warhorse
•  a shady witch
•  a dwarf (probably a ranger)
•  the exact swanmay from monster manual II
•  the land of Faery
•  devious and seductive elves
•  Law vs. Chaos
•  a fire-breathing red dragon
•  an ogre/giant and it's cursed purse of gold
•  Morgan le Fey
•  a werewolf
•  lay on hands is mentioned
•  a magician and his invisible servant
•  a Saracen knight
•  a beautiful but treacherous nixie, monster manual accurate
•  druids mentioned.
•  cannibal barbarians 
•  flint and steel and the need of a torch-bearer
•  a roughly 10x10 passage at the back of a cave
•  a mini dungeon crawl
•  the exact troll from the monster manual
•  the wild hunt
•  and a sword of destiny.

Great cover! There shouldn't be any plate mail though and the dwarf should have white hair.

Unfortunately, this cover is much more accurate.

Cons:

• I find, Holger, unlikeable. Whines to himself too much. Can't stand protagonists that feel sorry for themselves, even a little.
• Didn't like the real world connection and Holger's scientific solutions to problems. Cursed gold coins are radioactive. Defeats a dragon by throwing water in its mouth. Would have preferred this story if it was simply about a paladin with amnesia, from wound or spell.
• Morgan le Fey and the swanmay arguing over Holger like junior high brats nearly killed my desire to keep reading. This scene was downright stupid. I expect better from Morgan le fey.
• Not really a con, but the Saracen Knight seemed pointless, or incomplete, maybe I missed something. Strictly to make Holger jealous of the swanmay?

Pros:

• Plenty of darkness and adult themes despite some silliness, even the old hag at the beginning wants the hero. Werewolves eat babies. There's human sacrifice. Combat is surprisingly brutal compared to the tone of the book. Action scenes were good.
• The nixie, troll, and swanmay are direct verbatim inspirations for their D&D counterparts. The troll fight was fierce and followed a mini dungeon-crawl. The nixie scene was awesome (except for the magnesium dagger, conveniently acquired earlier.) The swanmay, while flying, would change to human form and fall, then change back to swan just in time for the thrill of it, reminding me of a trapeze artist -- very creative and insightful of the author. 
• The werewolf scene stands out, almost too much, as if it belongs in another book, but good none-the-less. Paladin almost becomes Inquisitor here.
• No wasted space, like all older fantasy, gets right to it, unlike the thousand page epics that sprang up in the late 80s/90s that were mostly hot air.

I finally read Three Hearts and Three Lions because I've been reading Brian N. Young's, Codex Celtarum, for Castles & Crusades where Poul Anderson is briefly mentioned and I figured it was high time... BTW, The Codex Celtarum is probably the best D&D source on Faery out there. 

THE SOULFORGE

Wherein I chronicle my doomed attempts as Raistlin Majere in his Test at the Wayreth Tower of High Sorcery...

Raistlin Majere:

• Hit Points: 9
• Reasoning: 4
• Agility: 3
• Presence: 2
• XP: 6 (can be spent to improve rolls, but will be judged by how many remain)

1st Level Spells Available: (specific components must be collected to cast most spells)

• Burning Hands
• Charm Person
• Hold Portal
• Push
• Comprehend Languages
• Magic Missile
• Sleep

2md Level Spells Available:

• Audible Glamor
• Invisibility
• Mirror Image
• Detect Invisibility
• Darkenss 15'
• ESP
• Web

This is from THE SOULFORGE, choose your own adventure style AD&D book by Terry Phillips. Be warned, I'm recording decision by decision and roll by roll. Spoilers will follow.

First decision after traveling for a month through the Kharolis Mountains with my twin brother, Caramon as an ominous forest appears out of nowhere, I know what lies ahead, he does not, I choose partial honesty as opposed to foolery.

He doesn't like the truth, doesn't like the danger he senses and I'm forced to make a Presence Test (roll d6 and add it to my score to beat a number (this test is 7) I roll a total of 5...

He refuses to let me enter the haunted woods. I hop on my horse and make an Agility Test. I succeed, which means I'm about to cast a spell... I choose Charm Person because certain spells require components that I have not collected. There's no roll here, but the story dictates that Caramon tackles me before I get the spell off. His feelings are hurt and he ties me to my horse and takes me home, my dreams of high sorcery are over! That quick.

Take Two... (wherein I pretend my initial Presence Test succeeded...)

Caramon reluctantly agrees to enter the woods and says I need his protection, something I resent, but then I start to feel guilty as I begin to worry for his safety. And so, I'm called upon to make another, easier, Presence Test, which I succeed.

We proceed into Wayreth, but the woods are terrifying and oppressive, we are both spooked as the foliage seems unpassable and the things that lurk in the shadows... I have to make a Reasoning Test to resist fleeing in fear. Here, the book hints that I might wish to spend XP to help the roll. I don't, but succeed anyway, saying to my twin that it's all part of the protection spell that keeps the forest hidden, we'll be fine, after all, we were invited. And then... the forest parts and a massive ogre-dog appears and launches itself at me for an attack. I need to pass a 7 Agility Test and decide to spend 2 XP to help my roll, which it does, I succeed by 1!

XP: now 4.

We jump from our horses using them for cover from the beast. Caramon dances before it, blade in hand while I cast a spell... Burning Hands and Magic Missile are my only real options as both do not require components (I don't know why I set off on this journey without spell components, perhaps I used them up on the way?) I choose Burning Hands which will bring me dangerously close to the beast. It yelps in pain and swipes at me with it claws sending me flying to the ground.

HP: now 7.

Caramon then takes this opportunity to jump on the beast and send his blade straight through it's skull into the ground. Then, another path opens up in the woods with ice cold voices taunting us that our flesh will be ripped from our bones. Do we retreat? I say no... Caramon reluctantly follows. The woods grow colder and spookier. Caramon mutters something about not trusting mages. Does he trust me? Our horses are spooked. I fail an Agility Test and I'm thrown to the ground.

HP: now 6.

An ethereal red-robed figure appears and I ask if he is to guide us to the tower. Caramon barks an insult and the figure insults us back. Caramon draws his sword and here comes another Presence Test. I'm spending 2 XP and it helps. My twin calms down a bit.

XP: now 2.

This spectral minion approaches, hand aglow in spell-craft and I feel fear, but Caramon attempts to intercept and I don't let him. I instruct Caramon to stand aside as fear consumes me. I must make a Reasoning Test of 9, which isn't even doable. I turn and flee and trip over a root. Then I find myself frantic and weeping at my failure. The figure leaves, but not before giving my twin a message for me...

I am not worthy to even take the Test, perhaps I can return one day, but for now I fail, deemed a witless dunce and a coward. I'm devoured by misery as my dreams of high sorcery have (once again) come to an end.

As has my desire to keep reading. 

And so Raistlin's Test will continue as vague a mystery to me as it was in the original novels. I know a book was ultimately written, but I have no interest in Dragonlance beyond the original 3 (or 6 if I'm feeling generous.)

Some things are best left unknown.

You Can't Play As Conan, But...

...you can play as one of his companions.

Conan has plot armor. He can't die. He won't die. Ever. Unless Howard willed it, in which case, it could only happen once. The same goes for Elric, Aragorn, and any other famous heroes whose worlds people like to game in. In order to showcase this, publishers often gave these protagonists bloated stats (just look at Elric in some of Chaosium's books) when all they really had to do was put an asterisk after their name that signified -- plot armor.

Role-Playing in these worlds never really worked for me. Much of the fun in D&D is creating your own world anyway. But gaming in Hyboria, not the same without Conan, because without Conan, who cares. Hyboria is his playground. Without Conan, Stygia simply becomes Egypt. Aquilonia becomes France.

Dragonlance was the closest we came to gaming in the world of novels. And yes, we had many of the modules, but never played them, we just liked referencing the stats. What eventually happened was we took ideas, like the Towers of High Sorcery and the tree town of Solace and came up with our versions for our worlds.

It's why I never got into the Star Wars RPG by West End Games, though I bought the book, I quickly traded it to my brother for his D&D books. (Star Wars is the one thing I loved as a kid that I now legit feel is the stupidest thing around.)

Anyway...

You see, you will never measure up to the iconic characters. You will always feel like wannabes, like supporting crew.

So play as them.

The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian, Issue 133, Feb, 1987. Features the story, Winter of the Wolf. This was the first issue of Savage Sword I ever bought and I was hooked... for awhile at least. It was this magazine that eventually lead me to dive into Howard's original stories, which until then, I knew very little about. By 1987, Savage Sword wasn't so savage -- still pretty violent, but the nudity was gone. At the time, I had no idea how cool the earlier issues were (70s/early 80s) and I should have been exploring the Warren horror mags, but, I wasn't.

Winter of the Wolf  -- I was cautious about revisiting this story; it has a mystique in my mind and I didn't want that ruined. It held up, the mystique stays, but I did notice some errors that aren't relevant here.

Summary: Conan and some Gundermen are part of a royal hunting expedition in the winter months. It goes poorly, the nobles are killed. Conan and the others decide not to return to Aquilonia proper, as they would be blamed for the deaths, so they head on and soon they are hunted by a pack of wolves which are actually, sort of, werewolves. They seek refuge in a fort manned mostly by farmers, led by a chieftain with a wicked daughter. Stuff happens. Eventually, when everyone is drunk, the fort is overrun by wolves and of course Conan is the last man standing.

Because, he has plot armor.

D&D characters don't have plot armor. They're not supposed to anyway. (Modern story-gamers probably beg to differ. Why do they even roll dice?)

But, what if you were one of the Gundermen?

Conan will survive the Winter of the Wolf... but will you?

You wanna play in Hyboria? You're a part of Conan's saga, not yours. Take any adventure, any D&D group, insert Conan (NPC). He cannot die, but you can. If Conan's hit points reach zero, he is knocked unconscious and left for dead or captured. Maybe he escapes. Maybe you rescue him -- maybe you die trying -- such is often the case. Your goal -- to see how long you survive as a companion to the mighty Cimmerian. You could build a whole campaign centered around Conan and his many companions, but HE is the main character, not you. In the end, most of your characters will have died and Conan will have ridden off, perhaps with a bag full of jewels, alone or with a half-naked woman.

Such as it should be.

By Crom!

Just Saying...

The Monsternomicon

Not gonna say too much here, but, the Monsternomicon, is one of the best monster manuals ever made...

The art is superb.

The monsters are viscous.

The lore is awesome.

Iron Kingdoms is bad-ass.

On 2nd Edition...

If you haven't read this, do so.

Read it carefully, it is very good...

http://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2022/10/blog-osr-module-o5-2e-is-still-not-old.html

I was reminded of a piece I wrote on 2nd Edition, three years ago, when I was still very new to the scene. For whatever reason, I never hit "publish." Thankfully, I saved it, as it is very relevant right now...

Begin Original Post

Written in November, 2019.

(Back when I was still double-spacing between sentences.)

AD&D 2nd....the Lost Edition?

Several months ago I found myself thinking about AD&D 2nd Edition.  Of all the editions, this one seems to get talked about the least.  Browsing the web, I came across an old reference to it as the Lost Edition.

Is it?

This is literally true for me, as it's the only edition that I no longer possess.  I loaned out the books mid 90's, never got them back, but my interest in gaming waned at the time, so.....

When 2nd Edition came out I was in high school.  It seemed then, that a new edition was due.  We couldn't wait.  The big new innovation: THAC0!!!!

THAC0 came to exist as a whipping boy.

No Monk, no Assassin, no Half-Orc.  I completely forgot this happened.  They were added in a later product I didn't own.  Of those three, I really only cared about the Assassin.

Deities no longer had full stats; you could no longer kill a God, just their Avatar, and Specialty Priests were born.  We were cool with this at the time, but in retrospect, it helped kill the Sword & Sorcery aspect of D&D.  There was an over-all grounding of the game into something more, real-world.  This was reflected in the art, which depicted realistic cultures and the challenges of slaying a dog-sized dragon.

Forgotten Realms was quickly becoming the main course.  Many of you like the Realms and that's cool, I wanted to, it just never came together for me.  The original Grey Box was nice though, great Keith Parkinson cover art, but that style didn't carry forth very long.  The art, as 2nd Edition grew (especially with the novels) quickly devolved into photographic paintings of the out-of-shape authors themselves, dressed in Renaissance Festival fluffy-shirts and feathery caps.....ugh.

Demons and Devils became Tanar'ri and Baatezu.  I hated this and consider it the single worst aspect of 2nd Edition.  A serious over-reaction to the Satanic Panic that was, by then, already winding down. There we were, loyal players defending the hobby, and the designers capitulated to people that didn't, and never would, actually play the game.  And ironically, the new kid on the block did everything D&D was ever accused of, and then some...

Enter, The Masquerade, and overly gothed-out people, sitting in proto coffee shops, counting ten-sided dice, lamenting the loss of their souls.....  

I bought very few 2nd Edition modules.  An adventure came with the DM's Screen (I think) and man did it suck.  All story, fit for locomotion.  But the 90's were all about story.  I had friends that were trying to emulate novels.....they should have just written novels.  

But the settings......Planescape......Dark Sun.  Incredible!!!  Well conceived, well written, well presented with gorgeous art.  Tony DiTerlizzi's art was Planescape.  Brom's art was Dark Sun.  I stopped buying Planescape books when they stopped using DiTerlizzi's art, but most of it was out by then.

Splat books galore!  The Complete This, The Complete That.  I never bought any of these.  

In many ways, the game was the same.  Saving Throws were still old-school, class-based, roll over this number, poison, paralysis, etc.  Armor Class was still descending.   Spells and weapons now had speed factors, which added granularity to combat.  Proficiencies (introduced in late 1st edition) became par for the course.

We loved it, I'd be lying if I said we didn't.

So, why is this the lost edition?  Or is it not?  (Someone reading this right now is saying, "Dude what the hell are you talking about, I've been playing 2nd Edition all along!?!?!")  It's definitely the edition that I hear the least about (aside from 4th of course.)  Is it because it's the middle child, crunched between 1st and 3rd, not quite a fulcrum?  Or the end of the beginning, too old-school for the modern gamer, yet not old-school enough for the true grognard?

Maybe it's too tied to the 90's, a decade people have yet to wax nostalgic for.  Before then, D&D was Heavy Metal and Pentagrams, Iron Maiden posters, Black Sabbath and Black Magic.  SWORD & SORCERY!!!  Things changed in the 90's.  Metal became Grunge, Demons became Tanar'ri, Vampires became Heroes.  In every medium, the focus became "character development."

Old school mechanics tempered by storytelling may have tainted 2E.  And yet I remember when 5th Edition was in the works, there seemed to be a consensus that the edition it should emulate the most was 2nd (which I don't think it does at all, I view 5th Edition as a simplified hybrid of 3rd and 4th.)

No doubt there are many players out there that still love it, but other than THAC0 and settings, 2nd Edition does seem kind of.....forgotten.  (There is a clone out there, but the name escapes me.)

So for awhile there, I found myself browsing the internet for good copies of those 2nd Edition books......(oh yeah, not the ugly, black-covered "2.5" edition.)

Had I bought those books again, would I have cringed?  Is there some hidden turd I forgot about?  Or perhaps I'd be blown away and feverishly start creating 2nd Edition content.....

But why even bother now that we're well into the enlightened Age of the OSR, DIY D&D, especially when I already own so many "editions" including great games created by other bloggers and OSR enthusiasts, not to mention my own ability to create?

We'll see.....

End Original Post

That "clone" I spoke of is called For Gold & Glory. I never bought it or the 2nd Edition books.

The intro module was called Terrible Trouble At Tragidore. I still have it in a box, and, holy shit was it stupid. 

Planescape had so much potential. The Blood-War was dumb; you shouldn't ever know that much about demons and devils, they should be vague and terrifying and evil to the core. I loved the art and I'm convinced it is the main reason for Planescape's success. Sigil, conceptionally should/could have been the greatest city/mega-dungeon of all time. 

Some people say Dragonlance was the true beginning of the end of old-school... at least Dragonlance had phenomenal art. Yes, art will always be a part of the equation for me. The art experience of 2nd Edition Core and the books/novels that followed was atrocious. This was mainly a product of the times though. Throughout the 80s, fantasy art became sterilized. Nudity disappeared. The fabulous paintings of the 70s and early 80s were no more, driven away by the church-lady and the corporate desire to be family-friendly.

I would love to see the AD&D hardcovers reprinted with the art of Frank Frazetta and the likes of Simon Bisley... unabashedly, unapologetically, strong and sexy! This would be the greatest thing of all time. Based on that alone, I would play nothing else.

As I said in my last post, it is up to you to un-bland D&D.

Gabor is right, the spirit of 2nd Edition is not old-school... but what you do with it can be.

Clerics!

It is up to you to un-bland D&D.

Clerics are so uniquely D&D (which is the first place I even encountered the word cleric.)

Righteous warriors.

Bane of the undead.

Healers of pain.

Fanatics! Zealots!... At least there's the potential for such flavor.

So MEDIEVAL. Oh how modern D&D has forgotten (more likely -- abandoned/disowned) it's gritty medieval roots -- too European. (Actually D&D is a mixture of Medieval Europe and American Sword & Sorcery.)

I can't imagine D&D without clerics.

I want no part of D&D without clerics.

The MACE is their weapon. What better to crush bone? And as skeletons are the foot-soldiers of evil...  

The undead... turn them you say? Suppose turning undead merely held them at bay, slightly cowering, as if from a bright flash of light, not destroy or cause them to flee. Kind of like the old Hammer Horror movies such a notion is actually based on where turning is usually something you do as you are trying to flee.

Suppose, clerics simply did more damage to undead. Double damage. And this can even increase with levels. So, they're still a weapon and undead are still a threat. In B/X, skeletons are made obsolete as soon as you have a 2nd level cleric... that's no fun.

In my imagination, clerics will always explicitly be a Roman Catholic styled class. I know, specialty priests and all that. And what of weird D&D, Dying Earth as opposed to Medieval Europe? Well you do you. But, I like having the Church, and demons, and witches, and black magic, and plagues, and crosses. All built on top of the ruins of the ancient, weird stuff... 

Sects devoted Saints, Angels, Apostles... 

And yes, CROSSES, not generic, good guy, holy-symbol crap. Actual crosses. And blood spilled in the name of those crosses. Wars and inquisitions. Saints and sinners. Heretics! There is a reason demi-humans live in the shadows of man... with some plotting their violent return.

And no spells. Spells are the realm of black magic (though some wizards may beg to differ, speaking of formulas and such.) Just prayers. And no spell books... Holy Missals.

• Of note: We always treated cleric spell knowledge like magic-users, meaning, you knew what you knew and didn't get to pray for whatever spell you wanted that day. But, if you think about it, a cleric should be able to pray for anything at any time. Their "spells" are direct pleas to their God for help with a very specific problem. Why clerics have to prepare spells is beyond me, unless it involves making sure they have properly memorized a prayer, of which, looking at the real world, there are hundreds, all serving a different purpose. How much time spent to memorize all of those? Most people, who know any, only know a few. 

I love the concept of a squad of clerics, all clad in plate and chain, coifs are a must as well as a common tabard, delving deep to purge the unholy. A medieval crew, not unlike this book: VAMPIRE$.

The type of flavor, devotion, and fanaticism I want, Warhammer does better, Sisters of Battle and such. It is up to you to un-bland D&D.

Just some ruminations as I scratched pen to paper.

9th Grade Lunch Hour Campaign

This was the beginning of the heart of my early D&D years (1987-1991). AD&D specifically.

In the first semester of the first year of high school, we all had the same lunch period (a half-hour labeled either A, B, or C.) 

The same school at the same time as a certain rapper named Marshal.

The year was 1987. (I was introduced to the game back in 1983 with the Mentzer Red Box.)

Players ranged in number from 3-5 depending on the day. The main three consisted of a thief, a mage, and a cleric. I, of course, was the DM. 

Now, there were no dice. This was the 80s, this was stealth mode. We weren't afraid of the, Satanic Panic, but we were afraid of being labeled dorks, so dice bouncing around the lunch room was out of the question. (There was a secret society aspect to D&D in the 80s that has been forever lost.)

I had a page full of dice-ranges written down, a few charts per die type, for example, there were three or four d20 tables that looked like this:

1:2

2:16

3:12

4:11

5:6

6:20

7:1

8:17

9:13

10:19

11:3

12:7

13:14

14:8

15:4

16:5

17:10

18:15

19:18

20:9

I would pick a number on a chart then ask for a number from the player to determine their roll. Every so often, I would create new charts to prevent the players from figuring out successful numbers. Such a system depends on trust. Sometimes we would just flip a coin. (Interestingly enough, the year before, in 8th grade, myself and a different group were already experimenting with dice-less role-playing, something that did not stick with me.)

We had a basic world map, hand drawn on a blank sheet of white paper. We all took turns adding things to it, including additional pages that were taped on. Basically, the world grew with pages of mountains and forests and castles and towns as we passed the map around in between sessions. This was mainly done by myself and the guy who played the thief... speaking of: He was a real world kleptomaniac who would go around stores after school solely for the thrill of stealing. His ultimate dream for his character was to find a, ring of invisibility, his, precious, something I withheld from giving to him for quite some time. He had to earn such an artifact. Often he would ask if he was close to getting one. Often, I would say no. But eventually, in the hall, at my locker, I don't remember, I let slip the place it might be hiding, and the quest was on.

What I remember of the mage was that he wanted to be able to spin his staff like a martial artist. I eventually let him achieve this unlikely skill. He also once had a dream where I resembled Dungeonmaster from the D&D cartoon.

The cleric wasn't what you would call a gamer but played anyway. His "rolls" were always the luckiest and his character progressed the fastest to the slight annoyance of the others. He passed his Test of High Sorcery long before the mage did.

The players started out as a group, but eventually split up and scattered to different parts of the map on their own personal quests. Everyday they would each get 5-10 minutes of time as I went from player to player to player and back again. As I mentioned above, both the cleric and the mage had to undergo Tests of High Sorcery at various towers (a heavy influence from Dragonlance here; can't wait for WoTC to ruin that) and the thief was obsessed with infiltration missions, oh how this guy reveled in being a thief.

I drew no dungeons, there were no maps beyond the world map. All I had were scant notes and prompts as to what might happen. Everything else was in my head. Never again, would I play the game this way. And never again would I play outside of my, or a friend's, house.

It was all cool, but by December I was burned out, and beginning in January (2nd semester) I would pass the reins on to another friend who now shared our lunch. This angered everyone, because honestly, none of them cared much for this guy. They would call me at home or meet with me secretly in the hallway, begging me to take back the reins. They complained that he was turning the game into a fairytale... in my absence, something happened involving flowers, that was their breaking point. He simply didn't have the same source-material pedigree that the rest of us had.

So, I took control again and promptly went on to fail algebra.

Game on!

Knight vs Dragon

The classic trope of the lone knight against a dragon. Is it doable in D&D? I've never seen it happen. Seems like a suicide mission unless you're talking about a super, high level, overpowered character, but where's the fun in that?

Before writing this, I watched the dragon fight scene in the Disney classic, Sleeping Beauty (1959). It's really the only on-screen visual I could think of that matches this scenario.

• That dragon was black and breathed green fire which had acidic qualities.
• Wondering if this influenced Gary Gygax's version of a black dragon.
• The knight (or was he just a prince?) hit the dragon once on the nose and it sounded like metal.
• The knight (prince) lost his shield to the dragon's breath weapon (saving throw in action?)
• The knight slew the dragon by throwing his sword (which had just been enchanted by a faerie) into it's underbelly.

Time to roll up a fight... 

• B/X will be the system.
• The dragon will be a standard black (7HD).
• The knight will be a 7th level knight as offered by Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, though for all intents and purposes, it is essentially just a regular B/X fighter because none of the knight class features apply here at all, unless the dragon had spell casting capabilities, where-as the knight would be granted a saving throw vs sleep.
• The knight will have four randomly determined magic items including a magic sword, representing time spent adventuring. I rolled shockingly well for these, see below...
• Black dragons have a 20% chance to speak, and thus, cast spells. This dragon is a non-speaker, so, no spells. This alone, makes the dragon much less formidable.
• The breath-weapon will work on a recharge mechanic after the initial use. The rules state there is an equal chance of the dragon using claws/bite as there is of it using it's breath-weapon. Random determination will mean breathing acid on a 4-6 (d6). Maximum 3 times. 

The Knight

Str:15(+1)   Int:10   Wis:13(+1)   Dex:10   Con:12   Cha:11

HP:36    AC:17(plate + shield)   Dragon-Breath Save:10    To-Hit:+7    Damage:1d8+2

Magic Items:

• Sword+1 (+3 vs Undead)
• Ring of Wishes (1) (actually rolled this, could be a game changer)
• Potion of Healing 
• Boots of Traveling and Leaping (why did OSE rename the Boots of Striding and Springing?) By-the-book these won't help much here, but I might allow advantage on breath-weapon saves or some such thing.  

Black Dragon 

AC:17    HP:31    To-hit:+6    Damage: 2 claws (1d4+1), 1 bite(2d10), or 1 breath (current HP)    

Morale:8 (will check at 16 and 8 hit points)

Round One (assumes no surprise)

• Dragon wins initiative breathes acid.
• Knight makes the save and takes 1/2 damage, 16 points.
• Knight then hits dragon for 9 points.
• Knight HP:20   Dragon HP:22

Round Two

• Initiative is tied, combat will be simultaneous.
• Dragon breathes acid again.
• Knight fails save and dies while striking the dragon for 6 points of damage.
• Knight HP:0   Dragon HP:16

That was quick! 

Lets go again with the following caveats: 1. The boots of traveling and leaping will allow the knight to take zero damage if the save vs dragon-breath is made and half damage if it fails. 2. The knight may also sacrifice a shield to avoid breath-weapon damage on a failed save or a killing melee blow.

Round One

• Dragon wins initiative breathes acid.
• Knight makes save, using the boots, leaps out of the way taking zero damage then hits the dragon for 6 points of damage.
• Knight HP:36   Dragon HP:25

Round Two

• Dragon wins initiative and chooses 2 claw/1 bite... all three miss!
• At this point the knight could use the ring of wishes any number of ways to win the fight, it's such a game changer that I passed on that for the sake of this exercise. So the knight strikes and hits again for 6 points of damage.
• The dragon passes a morale check, continues the fight.
• Knight HP:36   Dragon HP:16

Round Three

• Initiative is tied, combat will be simultaneous.
• Dragon breathes acid, knight makes save, jumping away taking zero damage. While jumping, strikes the dragon for 10 points of damage!
• Knight HP:36   Dragon HP:6

Round Four

• Knight wins initiative and hits the dragon for 8 points of damage, slaying it.
• Knight HP:36   Dragon HP:0

Thoughts...

• Simultaneous combat has interesting consequences.
• In either fight, the knight never missed an attack roll, had to roll 10+.
• House ruling the magic boots gave the knight a nice edge, seriously helped by making both saves. This makes sense though, and is probably how these boots would work in sword & sorcery fiction.
• The knight took zero damage in the four round second fight mainly due to the dragon rolling very poorly.
• I initially rolled morale at the end of the third round. The dragon failed and flew away (realistic.) Then I remembered that initiative had to be rolled first, which the knight won, then proceeded to slay the beast. Rolling initiative every round has dynamic effects.
• The ring of wishes could have been used to nullify the dragon-breath, blind the dragon, put it to sleep, etc. Not the best item for this exercise, that's why I didn't use it.
• Great little fight, easy to visualize, quick and dramatic not unlike the scene in Sleeping Beauty.

I think the knight's chances of success in this scenario diminish further and further with every edition following B/X & AD&D due to the fact that dragons keep getting bigger and bigger, though I'm not about to put that to the test.

XP & Treasure

• Slaying the dragon: 1,250 XP
• 58,000 SP (GP value: 5,800)
• 20 gems (GP value: 2,610)
• 40 pieces of jewelry (GP value: 48,000)
• Total GP value: 56,410. Slightly under the average of 60,000 for a black dragon.
• Total XP: 57,660. 

Enough for this knight to ascend to 8th level!