You're really smart Jovial, you must speak a lot of languages.

I speak English only, and even that with an Australian twang.

The more I live in England, and the more Continental Europeans I meet, the more I realise that linking intelligence to number of languages known is non-sensical.

What, every child in Continental Europe has an intelligence of 13 or above because they can speak English and their native tongue?

I think this reflects the ango-centric nature of the rules. Maybe in the USA (not Canada you lucky guys and gals), the UK and Australia you have to be pretty bright to be offered the opportunity to learn another language at school. But not so for vast areas of the world, where bi, or even try-lingualism is the norm. What everyone in Switzerland has a 17 intelligence (+2 languages) in their tri-language country?

I don't think it's even historical in England - French and English being commonplace in England during the middle ages, not to mention those that also knew Latin. Every vaguely educated person = 17 intelligence, I don't think so.

I suspect, assuming a basic intelligence, that number of languages spoken is cultural rather than intellectual. Perhaps languages known should be campaign driven rather than ability score driven? Social standing is probably a better guide to number of languages known, than one's intelligence score.

Intelligence might be used to modify speed of language learning?
You travel somewhere, how quickly do you pick up the lingo? Depends on your intelligence score.

Every week roll to advance, modifying roll by intelligence score. If fail, add +1 to roll for each subsequent week, until advance to the next level.

Level 1 = Tourist (starting level) Où sont les toilettes ?
Level 2 = Rudimentary (Requires 1 on a d6 to reach)
Level 3 = Conversational (Requires 1 on a d10 to reach)
Level 4 = Fluent (Requires 1 on a d20 to reach)
Level 5 = Native (Requires 1 on a d100 to reach)

Additionally, or perhaps, it is time to abandon the link between intelligence and number of languages known, and use it for XP bonus. 

You catch on quick: Only Intelligence gives XP bonus

Rolling more dice in combat, and making shields more fun...

We all know shields are underrated, even with such rules as Shields shall be Splintered and all the good comments here.

I'm interested in shields and their offensive capability and I want more dice rolled. I would like shields to be treated as if they are an off-hand weapon.

My house rules:

SHIELDS
If the player has a strength greater than 12 a shield not only grants +1 AC, but also can be used offensively using the following options.

Shield Bash
Roll a 2nd d20 'to hit' with the shield. If successful does 1-2 damage plus strength. Any shield magical bonus are applied to both the shield 'to hit' and the damage. The shields bonus to armor class is not effected.

Shield Overpower
Roll a 2nd d20 'to hit' with the shield. If successful it inflicts no damage but the opponent is -1 initiative for the next round. Strength bonus is additive as well as any shield magical bonus which is applied to both the shield 'to hit' and the penalty to initiative. The shields bonus to armor class is not effected. (I think this ability will prove very useful.)

Additionally a shield can be used by any character regardless of strength to cower.
COWER behind shield: – can’t attack, -2 AC (2 better AC), +2 saving throws. Any strength or magical shield bonus is additive.

TWO-WEAPON FIGHTING
If the player has a dexterity greater than 12, a 2nd off-hand weapon can be used to attack. If the strength is also greater than 12, two medium sized weapons can be wielded, one in each hand, otherwise a medium and small weapon can be wielded.

Both weapons get a 'to hit' roll, without penalty.

TWO-HANDED WEAPON
If the player has a strength greater than 12, a 2nd damage dice is rolled when wielding a two-handed weapon, and the larger number is taken as the damage.

ONE-HANDED WEAPON
Umm, woops, power inflation. Any suggestions...

Waterborne Adventures : Random Events and Monsters Tool

One of my projects, long on hold was the creation of the Old School Adventure Guide.

Re-inspired by JB which allowed me to find Jeff's eXPloration 2009 post (my vote is for 100-600 XP per wilderness hex explored, shared by the party), and having abandoned any HP loss for overland travel mechanic, here's something to add into the mix. 

And don't forget, everyone likes choosing cards. Blanks left for you to suggest and if you like blanks, you will find many more, in fact mostly blank, in the OS Adventure Guide. Join the project.

Waterborne Adventures 



Random Events and Monsters Tool

Daily roll 1d6, on a 1-2 get the players to draw a card…





54 Deck of Cards (2 Jokers)


♥ = Relational


♦ = Situational


♣ = Confrontational


♠ = Environmental


Joker = Draw 2 more cards and ‘somehow’ link them.



♥ = Relational


2♥ = one of the crew or passengers has a secret (traitor, spy, monster)


3♥ = one of the crew is to be punished for a minor offence (the punishment will be severe)


4♥ = trouble with the natives (at the next shore stop, the crew cause trouble or are accused of trouble)


5♥ = there is a thief onboard


6♥= betrayal (you will be betrayed)


7♥ = raucous rum filled party (join in or try and stop the fun)


8♥ = learn some wisdom (new song, new tale, new rumour)


9♥ = Contraband is in the hull


10♥
=

J♥= duel (after an argument on board, one of the players is challenged to a duel)


Q♥= one of the male crew or passengers is a she not a he


K♥ = mutiny on the high seas


A♥= one of the crew or passengers has formed a deep attachment to one of the players)



♦ = Situational


2♦= one of the crew / passengers has disappeared


3♦ = food / water spoilage 


4♦= slavers ahead


5♦= strange force at work disables all magnets AND Magic


6♦ = merchants on the seas


7♦= a strange darkness


8♦= buccaneers ahead


9♦= lost


10♦= the map is damaged / a fake / or just plain wrong


J♦= the stars seem different tonight


Q♦


K♦


A♦



♣ = Confrontational


2♣= Whale


3♣= Termite, Water


4♣ = Snake, Sea


5♣ = Shark


6♣ = Serpent, Sea


7♣= Sea Dragon


8♣ Squid, Giant


9♣ = Hydra, Sea


10♣= Octopus, Giant


J♣ = Ahoy, it be pirates


Q♣ = Mermaids (and maybe Mermen)


K♣ = Dragon (flying)


A♣= Dragon Turtle



♠ = Spades (Environmental)


2♠= Becalmed for 1d6days


3♠= Extreme light breeze for 1d6 days (movement reduced to ⅓)


4♠ = Light breeze for 1d6 days (movement reduced to ½)


5♠ = Strong breeze for 1d6 days (movement increased by ⅓)


6♠ = Good winds for 1d6 days (movement increased by ½)


7♠= High winds for 1d6 days (double movement rate but lose 1d10 hull points)


8♠= Gale (triple movement rate but in a random direction and lose 2d10 hull points)


9♠ = 


10♠
=

J♠ = 


Q♠= Iceberg 


K♠= Tidal Wave


A♠= Maelstrom with/without Whirlpool 


Poison, made simple

Don't like save or die, confused by Neutralize Poison rules? 

Then what I have introduced may be helpful.

Poison does damage over time. Roll for damage, roll for time, start the poison. Simple, and it is even realistic.

For example, in my Kids D&D campaign, a poison dart hit the thief and she failed her saving throw. On the fly I said it gave 1d6 damage over 1d6 rounds. I rolled in secret 2 damage, 3 rounds. She had 6 hit points. First round 2 damage. She panicked, took healing. Then 2 more damage. She waited. Then 2 more damage, more healing taken. No more damage.

Player anxiety, time to heal, no save or die. I am going to use this mechanic for all my poisons. Easy to scale up or down depending on strength of poison eg 1d10 damage over 2d6 rounds.

No healing available, time for that farewell speech. Unless one likes, "Black Dougal gasps 'Poison!' and falls to the floor. He looks dead."

IQ and brain power

Sometimes you get a strange email.

Hi there,

My name is Alexa and I came across jovialpriest.blogspot.com while exploring issues related to IQ and the brain. Myself, along with a team of designers and researchers have created a graphic which illustrates facts about the brain and how intelligence can be improved.

I would love to share it with you, if you're interested let me know. :)

Thank you,

Alexa Phillips

Well here it is. It's nice to be noticed, even if for obscure topics. If you want to read my posts on IQ click here.

Created by: www.OnlineMastersDegree.com

To embed the image on your site

<a href="http://www.onlinemastersdegree.com/master-your-brain/"><img src="http://images.onlinemastersdegree.com.s3.amazonaws.com/master-your-brain.gif" alt="Master Your Brain: Raise Your IQ" width="500"  border="0" /></a><br />Created by: <a href="http://www.onlinemastersdegree.com/">www.OnlineMastersDegree.com</a>

XP Drain not Level Drain

The words that have been spilt on this topic.

Here and here and of  course Grognardia with 83 comments.

It was DM'ing kids D&D, watching my young players all buy silver daggers, and then silver swords (100gp) in case they faced a wight. After the first session no wight but they all had just over 100 hard won XP. And I thought, losing that XP would be a tough loss, and then I had for me a eureka moment. An elegant solution to all the debate. Well for my campaigns anyway.

Undead will drain XP not Levels and each hit will will drain the XP you might have gained for killing the undead creature. So a wight in B/X is worth 50 XP. Therefore each hit by a wight drains 50 XP.

Still something players will seek to avoid, no one likes to lose XP, but it is not the total downer that level drain is. Zero level NPCs still die with one hit. Higher levels can now contemplate fighting undead toe to toe. But who wants to go into melee range? Enough hits and one might lose a level but in play, most often it will be easy to wipe XP off the characters XP total, without any fiddly ability score loss, or time based effect. That's it, the XP are gone, drained away by all that negative energy.

You want a pirate ship crewed by wights and captained by a vampire. That's what I am now planning. Previously certain death unless a powerful cleric is in the party. Now... armies of XP draining undead are possible.

Previously the name level fighter would run faster away from a wight than he would a huge dragon. Level drain was that fear invoking. Now wights are for low level characters, en masse for higher. And that sits very comfortably with me.

B/X Rules
Wight = 50 XP drain / hit
Wraith = 175 XP drain / hit
Spectre = 725 XP drain / hit
Vampire = 7 HD (1250 XP drain / hit), 8 HD (1750 XP drain / hit), 9 HD (2300 XP drain / hit)
(or if you want to be double drain for Spectre and Vampire like in the rules = double the XP drain, a couple of hits from a vampire will make most players cross but not quitting!)

You could easily apply for AD&D as long as you know the hit points. Page 85 DMG.

AD&D undead generally hit harder than B/X undead.

Kids D&D: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I'm a bit behind in posts and have, in the meantime, played three Kids D&D sessions, that I am yet to write up. Ahem, Diablo 3, moving right along...


But I want today to get some general thoughts down on DM'ing kids.


I DM my own two children (girl 7, boy 5) and my niece (10) and nephews (8 and 12). You can read about their adventures here.


I was using Jimm Johnson's excellent Kid's D&D rules and character sheets. They had reached as high a level as Jimm's rules really allowed for (3), I could have stretched on, but the wizard was already casting 3rd level spells (level = spell level in Jimm's rules). I felt it was time to graduate them to B/X D&D and onto the red book (though it was Mentzer first for me) that brought me into the hobbit. 


There was more resistance to the idea than I anticipated. Starting new characters and at level 1, wasn't appealing to my young players. There was some confusion over who the new character would be, could they try and be the same old character again? But then they discovered equipment lists! Yep, shopping. They had gold, and a list of items they could buy. That was all it took to convince them to go with the new rules. It also led them to wish to buy, tuna pasta, sleeping bags, pizza, toilets (where do you go on campaign), and lots of other items not in Basic or Expert set (or any edition for that matter).


So that's my first piece of DM'ing for kids advice - never underestimate the desire to shop. Now onto  a few home truths I have learnt.


The Good

1. Nothing beats the feeling of five people begging to play D&D. 'When can we play next?' I loved this game and I love sharing it anew. They love the puzzles, the fighting, the variety of encounters, the victories.
2. Kids are a very forgiving audience. Most of my adventures I have not written down, just a few ideas and I run with it. It doesn't take much pre-preparation.
3. Originally I played with miniatures, which worked well enough. When we were all camping, I ran with no miniatures, just character sheets and dice. Back to how I always played. It worked even better. Kids have great imaginations. They don't know what a war game is, so they are happy to just imagine and run with it.
4. Your kids don't like maths? Get them playing D&D and they are adding and subtracting all by themselves. It's part of the game. Maths becomes fun. 'You have found 600 silver pieces', 'That's 120 silver each' says one of the five kids. And away they go trying to add to their current silver.

The Bad

1. Kids characters can't die. It is just unthinkable to them.
2. It's a railroad. They want and need direction. It's your story and it's hard to get them to role play, think as their character or act things out. They want to know what happens next, in a passive story telling way, and you are the story teller. That's not to say they don't suggest things they want to happen, but the expectation is that you deliver it into the story, not that they go and find it in the campaign world.
3. Kids won't surprise you. Well not at the age of my players. Usually their suggestions follow how you thought things would work out. It's not collaborative, though the fun is.
4. Kids are rivals. They hate if one person gets more than another. It is very hard to just give out 1 magic item, there needs to be one for each player. They don't really get that different characters have different strengths and weaknesses. The thief, because she can attempt to open locks, despite always failing, appears stronger than the other characters! She has more choices = stronger. Everyone needs to do something that shines, each and every session, to enjoy the session.
5. Kids choose names for their characters that are 'unique' (being kind here) or directly from another source such as a movie or book, and they often like to change names between sessions. 'Shampoo' was one name I recently overruled - but only for the second oldest, the younger I leave their name choices well alone.
6. You are their performer and entertainer. They expect you to perform and entertain.
7. This may feel a strange one, for someone who is an OSR blogger. But confession time here. I feel kind of strange, teaching them an out of print game. Strange enough when they say in public and to their teachers how they played D&D. Stranger still when the game I am teaching, can only be bought from eBay and is 3 times older than they are. Yes, of course I know about the clones, I own most of them, but try explaining to kids why there are clones, and why they are playing D&D, but the book they are using isn't called that.

The Ugly

Photo of my 5 year old son's ripped and screwed up level 2 fighter character sheet form the end of last session.
He didn't go up a level and the thief did. No matter the elf in the party is still only level 1.

1. Kids D&D comes with tears. As the youngest, my son is often in tears. When he fails a saving throw, tears. When the rust monster rusts his armor, tears. "But now I'll have to buy new armor and I don't want to waste my money!" See, I told you they all love to shop.
2. Kids D&D can make you feel like a bad parent. When my daughter was in tears after a session. I learnt, through the tears it was because her character didn't get to do anything. This was true. Her 1st level wizard with charm person and no one in the session to charm. 1st level wizards do suck, but despite my explanation of incredible cosmic powers to come, tears. Also I learnt from my daughter that I would rush her turn by saying, "Right if you can't think of anything to do, we'll miss your go." Ouch, did I say that? Unfortunately, yes. Even experienced players struggle to think of actions for their 1st level wizard to do, let alone a 7 year old. So not only am I a terrible DM I am also a terrible Dad. Advice - sometimes you are harder on your own kids than the other kids - don't.

Verdict:

Despite the negatives above, they still want more and it is a joy. 'Uncle Jovial, when can we play next..." I'm hoping, as much as they are, it won't be too long until the next instalment.