Evening 1
An evening with JB from B/X Blackrazor
The Save or Die Podcast is excellent, and reminded me I need to dig out my B/X Companion again and savour.
Download as well from iTunes 23rd May Podcast
Evening 2 - 100 (this is more like a 3 months of nights rather than one)
I know the Old School like to diss Tolkien, but if you want to rediscover his pure genius by an enthusiastic and contagious academic: look no further than the iTune series from Corey Olsen the Tolkien Professor. I'm about half way through.
iTunes have them all
Check out the first podcast lecture 'How to Read Tolkien and Why' to understand the human desire for fantasy world building and know you are living the dream. He also took me through The Silmarillion and made it fun.
Evening 2a (to be interspersed with Evenings 2-100)
And if Peter Jackson's Tolkien interpretations are your thing (and they certainly are mine, except where he wrecks the ending and leaves me flat but at least he is no George Lucas) then follow Peter Jackson on Facebook as he films the Hobbit.
Evening 101-115
To those who might understand British humour, check out the TV series Spaced.
Watching the main character dressed as Luke Skywalker brandishing a burning torch and coming toward a pyre, whereupon he burns his George Lucas merchandise in protest against the Phantom Menace, is priceless.
Warning to US viewers - the main actor and actress are neither beautiful or even likeable - they are procrastinating, no-hopers; sublime British humour at it's best.
Showing posts with label B/X Blackrazor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B/X Blackrazor. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
Old School Thief: built using the best rule suggestions from the blogosphere
Old School Thief: built from the best of the blogosphere
Okay, what's the best is purely my own opinion.
I have used three key sources
2. Dyson Lygos: 2d6 thief skills for that real old school feel, yes I know percentile dice were in OD&D. That was a mistake.
So here is the Jovial Priest, thief class. DOWNLOAD THE PDF
| Thief | |||
| Level | Title | XP | HD |
| 1 | Apprentice | 0 | 1d4 |
| 2 | Footpad | 1200 | 2d4 |
| 3 | Robber | 2400 | 3d4 |
| 4 | Burglar | 4800 | 4d4 |
| 5 | Cutpurse | 9600 | 5d4 |
| 6 | Sharper | 20000 | 6d4 |
| 7 | Pilferer | 40000 | 7d4 |
| 8 | Thief | 80000 | 8d4 |
| 9 | Master Thief | 160000 | 9d4 |
| 10 | Master Thief | 280000 | 9d4+2 |
Thief SkillS (2d6)
Level Fav Skill Oth Skill Cl Walls Hr Noise
1 10+ 11+ 5+ 1-2
2 10+ 10+ 5+ 1-2
3 9+ 10+ 5+ 1-3
4 9+ 9+ 5+ 1-3
5 9+ 9+ 5+ 1-3
6 8+ 9+ 4+ 1-3
7 8+ 8+ 4+ 1-4
8 7+ 8+ 4+ 1-4
9 6+ 7+ 4+ 1-4
10 5+ 6+ 4+ 1-4
11 4+ 5+ 3+ 1-5
12 4+ 4+ 3+ 1-5
13 3+ 4+ 3+ 1-5
14 2+ 3+ 3+ 1-5
Favoured skill is one of Open Locks, Find Traps,
Remove Traps, Pick Pockets, Move Silently or Hide
in Shadows. Dex Bonus applies to Favoured skills,
Other skills and Climb Walls. Read Languages is
gained at Level 5 (5+ plus int bonus). Read Magic is
gained at Level 10 (3+ plus intelligence bonus). All
2d6 except Hear Noise 1d6.
Snake eyes ALWAYS fails regardless of any bonus
Thief skills are resolved on a 2d6 roll except hear noise 1d6. Dexterity bonus/penalty is applied to Open Locks, Remove Traps, Pick Pockets, Move Silently or Hide in Shadows and Backstab. Intelligence bonus/penalty is applied to Find Traps, Read Languages and Read Magic. Snake eyes (double 1 on 2d6) always fails, regardless of bonuses [The 2d6 roll with ability score bonus gives a greater probability for success then the percentile system and I prefer its granularity and old school feel]. One skill from Open Locks, Find Traps, Remove Traps, Pick Pockets, Move Silently or Hide in Shadows can be chosen as a Favored Skill by the thief character at character creation. No modifier is applied to Hear Noise and only 1d6 is rolled.
Thief Skills
Open Locks (player rolls 2d6 modified by Dexterity bonus/penalty)
Open Locks takes 1 turn. If the 2d6 roll, modified by dexterity and quality of the thief's tools, is unsuccessful, a further attempt can be immediately made, taking another 1 turn. A double 1 roll, always fails and one of the thief's tools snaps. Usually a set of thief tools will only have two suitable implements for each size of lock.
Find Traps (DM rolls 2d6 modified by Intelligence bonus/penalty)
[Here I would like to suggest the reader glances at my rules retrospective and interpretation post on Find Traps]
Anyone can detect Large Traps with a 1 in 6 chance.
Dwarves can detect Large Traps when underground with a 2 in 6 chance.
Only thieves can detect Small Traps
Thieves use the better of 1 in 6 chance to detect/find Large Traps or their 2d6 thief skill [with dexterity, even at 1st level 2d6 is equal or better than 1 in 6 chance]; but must use the given thief skill 2d6 roll to remove the trap.
Small Traps always use the given thief skill 2d6 roll at all levels, to both find and remove traps.
Searching for traps takes 1 turn and can be repeated as often as required.
Additionally thieves detect secret doors using their Find Traps Skill. Searching for secret doors takes 1 turn and can be repeated as often as required. [This gives thieves an additional important role in dungeons]
Remove Traps (player rolls 2d6 modified by Dexterity bonus/penalty)
As above, thieves can remove small traps.
Removing traps takes 1 turn and can be repeated as often as required.
A double 1 roll, always fails and the trap is sprung!
Pick Pockets (player rolls 2d6 modified by Dexterity bonus/penalty, DM applies any hidden modifiers and gives outcome)
A pick pocket attempt only takes one round.
2d6 is rolled, modified by dexterity. For every level the thief is above the intended target add 1 to the roll. For every level the thief is below the intended target subtract 1 from the roll.
A modified roll of 2 or less always fails and the thief is detected.
If the roll is a fail but not 2 or less, the pick pocket attempt fails but the thief was not detected.
A double 1 roll, always fails and the thief is detected.
Pick pocketing a fellow thief, is a dangerous undertaking. If a thief is pick pocketed by another thief, the thief victim gets to roll their own pick pocket roll, and if this roll is successful (modified by the difference in levels between the thieves), the thief victim has detected the attempt!
Move Silently (DM rolls 2d6 modified by Dexterity bonus/penalty)
From Robert Fisher:
"Anybody can move quietly. I like to use a variation on the listening at doors mechanic (p.B21) to determine whether a character moving quietly is heard.
Demihumans have a base 2 in 6 chance of hearing noise. The chance for thieves depends upon their level. For everyone else it's 1 in 6. (The DM will choose a base chance for each monster.) If the sneaking character is wearing metal armor or walking on a particularly noisy surface, increase the chance of being heard by 1 in 6. (i.e. 1 in 6 becomes 2 in 6. 2 in 6 becomes 3 in 6.) If multiple or extreme factors are involved, the DM may increase the chance further.
Increases beyond 5 in 6 should go to 7 in 8, then 9 in 10, then 11 in 12.
Thieves, however, have a chance to move silently. If successful, there is no chance for the thief to be heard. If the thief fails to move silently, they should still be considered to be moving quietly.
Note that if he is moving silently, a thief is not hiding, in shadows or otherwise. Move silently & hide in shadows are mutually exclusive. There is no double jeopardy."
2d6 is rolled modified by dexterity for the thief. A double 1 roll, always fails and the thief is heard. If the roll is successful the thief can not be heard short of magical means. If failed, and not a double 1, the thief is moving quietly, roll for opponents hear noise.
Hide in Shadows (DM rolls 2d6 modified by Dexterity bonus/penalty)
From Robert Fisher again:
"Anybody can hide. Hiding is an all or nothing thing. Either you're hidden or you're in view.
Thieves, however, have a chance to hide in shadows. A thief generally prefers to hide rather than to hide in shadows. It's nice to have a chance to hide in shadows when you need it, though.
Halflings have a similar ability, having a 2 in 6 chance of hiding in shadows. They also have a 90% chance of hiding in woods or underbrush. (p.B10)
Note that to hide in shadows, the thief cannot be moving, silently or otherwise. Hide in shadows & move silently are mutually exclusive. There is no double jeopardy."
2d6 is rolled modified by dexterity for the thief. A double 1 roll, always fails and the thief is detected. If the roll is successful the thief cannot be seen short of magical means. If failed, and not a double 1, the thief may or not be seen. If the thief is in darkness (not shadows which are half lit rooms/areas) and wasn't seen moving into the shadows, he is still hidden. The DM may allow a perception roll (hear noise equivalent), if the thief is doing something to attract attention, but in normal circumstances the thief will not be seen. If the thief fails his roll and is attempting to hide in shadows (half lit rooms/areas), he is seen. Hiding in mere shadows is something a beginning thief should not attempt, hiding in darkness is almost always successful for a thief of even 1st level.
Climb Sheer Surfaces (player rolls 2d6 modified by Dexterity bonus/penalty)
Robert Fisher:
"Anybody can climb. Generally, the DM can simply declare something climbable or inclimbable. In stressful or unusual situations, the DM may call for an appropriate ability check.
Thieves, however, have a chance to climb sheer surfaces."
Thieves climb normal obstacles with no chance of failure unless they are doing something particularly stupid, or trying to move rapidly (greater than their Encounter speed eg MV 120’/turn = 40’ / round), in which case they roll on their thief skill.
For sheer, almost impossible looking surfaces, 2d6 is rolled modified by dexterity for the thief. A fail or a double 1 roll, and the thief falls. Thieves climb sheer surfaces at ½ their Encounter Speed.
If a roll is required one roll is made every at the half waypoint, or every 50’ whichever is more frequent.
Hear Noise (DM rolls 1d6 with no ability score modifiers, other circumstances may modify the roll at DM discretion)
Robert Fisher:
"Anybody can hear noise. Demihumans (dwarfs, elves, & halflings) have a 2 in 6 chance. Everyone else has a 1 in 6 chance. (p.B21)"
A great helm will reduce hear noise by 1 in 6 for all characters.
Hear Noise can be more than just an aural sense, and can double as a perception roll. 1d6 is rolled. A low roll is desired, compared to a high roll for all other skills. Success means the thief perceives a noise or 'something' from his senses, if it is there to be sensed. A fail means nothing is sensed.
Read Languages (player rolls 2d6 modified by Intelligence bonus/penalty)
Gained at Level 5 owing to the 'dead' level from Level 4 to 5.
2d6 is rolled modified by Intelligence for the thief. 5+ is required for success. A small parchment, message (approximately 20 words) will take 1 turn to decipher. Failure means nothing is deciphered that turn. A double 1 roll, always fails and the thief can not make any further attempts to decipher that message until gaining another level. He is stumped.
Read Magic (player rolls 2d6 modified by Intelligence bonus/penalty)
Gained at Level 10.
2d6 is rolled modified by Intelligence for the thief. 3+ is required for success. A magic-user scroll can be read in one round. Failure means the spell backfires!
Backstab (player rolls a d20 to hit, modified by +4 AND by Dexterity bonus/penalty)
If the thief attacks unseen or unheard, OR has surprised his/her opponent; the thief has backstabbed his opponent. The player rolls a d20 to hit, modified by +4 AND by Dexterity bonus/penalty. A successful roll does (damage roll + strength bonus/penalty + magic item bonus/penalty) times 2. ie the double damage is double once all modifiers have been used, not just double the damage die roll.
That's my thief. [Download PDF here]
EXTRA
I also plan on using 2d6 roll to advance a level. [Not included in my above description as I felt too radical] A thief advances in level on a 10+. With game play I have decided this is static and does not increase with levels.
Roll to Advance Class Threshold
Cleric and Thief 10+
Fighter 11+
Dwarf, Halfling, Magic User 12+
Elf 13+
At the end of every session of game play (~ 3 hours) the DM awards each character 0, ¼, ½, ¾ or 1, XP point. Usually 1 XP point is awarded per game session. But this is at DM discretion.
The player notes this on their character sheet and XP points accumulate over time.
At the end of every game session, players roll 2d6 modified by Intelligence Bonus/Penalty to see if they advance a level.
If the roll to advance is successful for their class, they advance one level, if unsuccessful the player may spend any XP points they have accumulated, including from the just completed session, to modify the roll so it is successful. Any spent XP points are then lost. Any non-spent XP points can be held over to the next roll to advance at the end of a subsequent session.
I found this system, reduced traditional XP counting considerably, sped up level advancement, which is important when one can only play infrequently, and added tension and fun to the end of the night.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Reimagined demi-humans and Coats of Halflingkind
Two posts have inspired me to reimagine D&D demihumans. The first is less a single post and more B/X Blackrazor's race as species musings. The second was this paragraph by Old School Psionics:
Magic Users, and humans in general by association, are hated by magical creatures, because of the exploitative method of magical ingredient harvesting. Boots of Elvenkind, for example, are not boots created BY elvenkind, but are boots OF elvenkind. As you can imagine, elvenkind does not appreciate having their foot skins harvested for the making of human boots... Nevertheless, humans value such boots greatly, as they allow their wearers to move silently through the forests.
It left me thinking about B/X class as species, and a desire to make dwarves more than just short stocky humans. I wanted to allude to the medieval magical dwarf. I wanted all demihumans to be magical. I wanted cloaks of Halflingkind that help the wearer to HIDE (pun intended) in the wilderness.
I haven't succeeded in creating this atmosphere in my campaign yet, but I am working on it. The below is not a full fledged game mechanic it is an evolving idea. It has led me to the idea that all demihumans are spellcasters. There are no spell books, as spells are gained like clerics. However, like my human Templar Clerics, the caster does not know all spells in that spell level at once, but knows only as many as their allowed casting quota per day plus their wisdom bonus. Such that Wisdom, the perception of the unseen world, and the will to use it, determines the demihuman spellcasters strength.
Elves
Creatures of air and water.
An elf, is essentially a Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion (LL AEC) druid, with spells restricted to air and water. When you think about it, elf as druid is very apt. Forests, nature, talking to animals, moving lightly and unseen through the wilderness. I didn't want my elves to lose their options of B/X magic user spells so I allowed them the ability to also have a magic user spellbook. That is an elf can cast both elf spells (druid spells) and magic user spells but the number of spells cast per day is limited by level, such that a 1st level elf can still only cast one spell / day but this can be of either druid or magic user variety.
Spells known: Minimums: wisdom 9, minimum intelligence 9 to cast magic-user spells.
An elf can can cast magic-user spells but this will require the elf to own and maintain a spellbook. Like a magic-user an elves spell book may contain as many spells as they can cast per day plus an additional number can be written into the spell book, per spell level, as determined by their intelligence score bonus.
| Elf Level | Spell Level | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Very roughly especially for any level above 1st, these are the elf spells, all derived from druid spells in LL AEC.
LEVEL 1
1. Animal Companion
2. Detect Magic
3. Detect Snares and Pits
4. Divine Weather
5. Entangle
6. Faerie Fire
7. Invisibility, Animal
8. Locate Creature
9. Pass without Trace
10. Purify Water
11. Shillelagh
12. Speak with Animals
LEVEL 2
1. Barkskin
2. Charm Person or Mammal
3. Create Water
4. Cure Light Wounds
5. Find Plant
6. Purify Food and Drink
7. Obscuring Mist
8. Stumble
9. Warp Wood
LEVEL 3
1. Call Lightning
2. Cure Disease
3. Gust of Wind
4. Hold Animal
5. Neutralize Poison
6. Plant Growth
7. Snare
8. Tree Shape
9. Water Breathing
LEVEL 4
1. Cure Serious Wounds
2. Hallucinatory Terrain
3. Hold Vegetation and Fungus
4. Passplant
5. Polymorph Self
6. Repel Vermin
7. Speak with Plants
8. Summon Animal I
9. Summon Sylvan Beings
Dwarves
Creatures of stone and fire.
Dwarves live underground, they like to work in a smithy - stone and fire - works for me. Like B/X clerics, all other demihuman spell casters do not get spells at 1st level.
| Dwarf Level | Spell Level | |||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 | 0 | |||
| 2 | 0 | |||
| 3 | 1 | |||
| 4 | 2 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 7 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| 12 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
The dwarf spells are mostly derived from LL AEC druid spells, focussing on, you guessed it, stone/earth and fire. These ideas are very very rough.
LEVEL 1
1. Detect Magic in metal, stone objects
2. Pass without Trace within stone
3. Manipulate Fire LEVEL 2
1. Burning hands
2. Fire Trap
3. Heat Metal (useful in a smithy)
4. Produce Flame
5. Stumble
6. Warp Wood (I like that dwarves can damage growing things)
LEVEL 3
1. Glyph of Warding
2. Protection from Fire
3. Pyrotechnics
4. Stone snare
5. Stone Shape
6. Explosive Runes LEVEL 4
1. Flash Fire
2. Dispel Magic in inanimate objects (dwarf version of dispel magic)OTHER POSSIBLE (depending if higher levels can be gained and how it plays over time...)
Transmute Rock to Mud (reversible)
Wall of Fire Conjure Fire Elemental
Fire Seeds
Repel Wood
Guards and Wards
Stone to Flesh (reverse only) Animate Mineral
Conjure Earth Elemental
Fire Storm
Fire Chariot
Statue
Halflings
Creatures that are hard to kill.
"If you have had to beat a halfling to death you will know they just won't stay dead," Wild Billy.
Halflings are magic creatures that are good at hiding, and can take a beating from any source.
| Halfling Level | Spell Level | ||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | |
| 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
LEVEL 1
1. Invisibility, Animal
2. Pass without Trace in wilderness
3. Resist fear (kender?)
4. Resist Cold LEVEL 2
1. Feign Death
2. Resist Fire LEVEL 3
Water Breathing
Invisibility OTHER POSSIBLE
Temperature Control
Orcs
Creatures that hunt you.
The Tolkienesque concept that elves and orcs share a heritage is very appealing to me. What if instead of skulking in caves, orcs hunt in forests. Evil elves but diminished. In fact you don't want an orc chief on your trail, they live for the hunt. See my last post for a possible female version.
| Orc Hit Dice | Spell Level | ||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 2 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 5 | 2 | 2 | |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
LEVEL 1
1. Locate Creature ‘Animal Intelligence only’ (great for hunting)
2. Hearts Health (remove and eat a heart within 1 turn of death heals 1 hp / hit dice of victim
3. Speak with Animals
4. Entangle LEVEL 2
1. Snare
2. Enlarge
3. Spider Climb (yeah)
4. Locate humanoid (I've got you now)LEVEL 3
1. Insect Swarm
2. Poison (reverse)
3. Locate creature (There will be nothing to stop us this time)
Goblins
Creatures of stone.
Strongly influenced by Raggi's Hammer of the Gods I want goblins to have a big grudge against dwarves. The dwarves stole fire from the goblins, or so the goblins believe. Goblins are like dwarves, could they be related, but diminished. Goblins are smart, magical but small. Hobgoblins are the dumb, nonmagical brutish cousins the goblins often have to coexist with and are often subjugated by.
| Goblin Hit Dice | Spell Level | |
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | |
| 3 | 1 | |
| 4 | 2 | |
| 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | 2 | 2 |
LEVEL 1
1. Stone sense (gain abilities of dwarves eg find traps, sloping passages etc for 1turn/level)
2. Detect Magic in metal, stone objects (they love magic items)
3. Hide in stone 1 turn / HD (a goblin can vanish into stone for 1/turn per HD)LEVEL 2
1. Pass without Trace if underground
2. Infravision
Hope you enjoyed!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)