Useful links now here: http://pastebin.com/JtFH682q
Link for the Trove: https://mega.co.nz/#F!3FcAQaTZ!BkCA0bzsQGmA2GNRUZlxzg
Who buys all that shit that adventures bring out of the tombs and ancient ruins?
I feel like writing up a random table or a mini dungeon. Someone give me a prompt.
>>44458815
The same jerks who charge 15gp for a replacement sword.
>>44458984
Random Table for Gentlemen of Loose Morals, please.
>>44459177
>Random Table for Gentlemen of Loose Morals, please.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean.
>>44459280
A random encounter table for male prostitutes and escorts, as a counterpart to AD&D's wandering harlot table.
>>44459436
I don't quite have the wonderful diction of the original, but I tried to give it a sub table for some extra style points so you'd forgive me.
>>44459609
>Spear Polisher
Worth every penny. Well done, anon.
>>44459701
Thanks.The 'sub' table was meant to be a literal sub table. It's the gay part of the male escort list, while the rest is more straight oriented. I just hoped somebody noticed.
Reposting my homebrew from last thread.
I've kept a lot of your feedback in mind and I really appreciate it. I'm going to update this and give Cultists a new ability to make them more interesting then just heal bots; I'm thinking giving THEM summoning powers instead of Wizards would be interesting and thematically appropriate. Additionally I think I will streamline the durability system, since its a little complex right now.
What's your guys' opinion on adding classes what, while technically new, operate on already existingand often underusedmechanics?
For example, I've stumbled across this summoner: gloomtrain.blogspot.com/2014/12/over-and-over-and-over.html, and the idea of using the retainer and morale mechanics seems really neat.
>>44460325
Have you considered renaming Militant "(aka Paladin)" to Asshole? It seems to fit the naming scheme better.
>>44460417
Care to explain?
They are religious extremists. Militant. The name makes sense for the class. All of the classes have edgy names but they match the class. 'Asshole' does not fit any religious connotations.
>>44460455
>To followers of your religion, you are a paladin, a holy warrior, a savior. For most people, you are just an intransigent asshole.
Clerics with spells at lvl 1 yes or no?
>>44461289
If you don't want clerics to be full spellcasters at level 1, restrict them to a few healing spells and maybe obscure, rarely useful stuff like Resist Cold for level 1 spells.
Basically, how much healing clerics can put out in your RPG will decide much of how long adventuring days are -- slow (1d8 per spell for example) but plentiful healing may sound like you're doing the players a favor, but large piles of slow healing like that result in an RPG in which PCs will strain their resources (like spell slots) much more and push their luck.
An answer to camp no-thieves from last thread: >>44431930
My favorite solution is just to give the thief skills to the Fighter. No change in XP requirement or anything like that, not needed. Just rule that armor interacts badly with sneaking in whatever way you prefer. It's very Conan.
>>44461289
100% no. Not only does it give a better PC dynamic for players to be unable to rely on magical healing out the gate and to get them used to the cleric as not just a healbot, it also makes me much more comfortable with using classed clerics as priest-type NPCs. Some basic turning and no magic's just what I want out of your typical parish priest.
>>44460455
I think Zealot might be good for it.
>>44461643
that's a nice way to give fighter some more flair (even if just being able to participate in fight is pretty grand in itself). I like it.
>>44461318
>>44461686
a twist to this question then, would you allow clerics to cast spells (miracles? I like that term in darksouls) if we either; cut healing as a low level spell or cut it entirely to make the cleric more of a knight templar, and less of a medic?
>>44461643
If you're going to cut out thieves, why not just let anybody try to do anything thiefly instead of preserving the thief skill mechanic?
I'm a beginner dm with beginner players; should I skip XP for monsters and bonus XP for stats? Running B/x
Has anyone made a retro clone where you start with ye'old demi-human/human classes, but after level 1 everybody just uses a point-buy system to up general/magical/combat skills instead of class bonuses; save for something every 4th or 5th level, but they just get HP and like 1 Skill Point, or literally an "Experience Point," to spend or save every level after the first?
I made a thread about this to no avail, so I'll just post it here instead.
Because I'd like to work on an RPG like this, but it feels like something that's been done, or at least should have been attempted by now.
>>44461915
No. There is no circumstance in which I'd give a cleric a spell on level 1.
>>44462245
It's because this way gives the nice clean distinction between the diabolical sorceror and ACTION JOE!, which, again, is very suitable for the Conan style and feel. Also it makes the fighter better compared to casters, which is something I don't personally consider vital but which a lot of 3E-scarred players have a bottomless thirst for.
>>44462628
Yes to both. Easier and faster, and skipping monster XP also helps reinforce the style. You can add bonus XP for stats back in later, when you're comfortable running the gameand confident your players won't bitch and moan that it's unfair.
>>44462628
Sure, no problem, as long as you keep XP for treasure.
>>44462628
I find the XP bonus to be obnoxious and unworth the trouble, but without it, there can be little reason to, for instance, have a magic-user prioritize his intelligence. Unless you substitute some other mechanic, that is.
>>44462690
I'm not sure how well the hodge-podge design of old school D&D works with point buy, and balancing things would be a real bitch. It kind of feels to me like if you want to do that sort of thing, you should run a mechanically distinct game that's inspired by D&D, rather than try to amalgamate the two different approaches to crunch.
>>44461289
Whatever.
>>44461289
No.
>>44462828
is it not in the spirit of the game to make the stats ha lesser impact on play?
>>44462690
It's not a retroclone (arguably it's not even old school), but you should take a look at Skills and Powers for AD&D 2E.
>>44463205
I guess, but it's a bit weird for magic-users to have no incentive to have a good intelligence, or for clerics to have no incentive to have a good wisdom. Without the bonus to earned experience, intelligence could effectively become a dump stat for wizards, which is aesthetically troubling. But I mean, it's not going to break the game or anything.
>>44463270
not sure thats what he's looking for
>>44463327
it cant be a dump stat if you roll in order - by definition- and simply remember the rule about each class having minimum class requirements
>>44463364
>>44463270
it's actually part of what inspired my prospect
>>44462865
It would end up being it's own thing, definitely; but the initial character creation process and flow of actions/turns/etc would be very og, but with modernized concepts of accessibility and intrinsic design(i.e. if you understand mechanic A you can apply it's principles to mechanic B and intrinsically get the gist of it; as opposed to Saving Throws, Skill Checks, and ThAC0).
Initial sketch ups ended up being laid out a lot like GURPS actually, but with no Feats/Advantages/ETC, and a more generalized/streamlined skills list.
>>44463374
>it cant be a dump stat if you roll in order
A stat of low priority and importance, then. You roll a character with a 6 intelligence and think "this guy'll make a great magic-user, because he's got a 13 dexterity and 14 constitution!" Hell, given the difference a +1 does when you've got a d4 damage weapon, I'm not sure that strength wouldn't be more important than intelligence to a magic-user.
>and simply remember the rule about each class having minimum class requirements
Some classes have them, but I don't believe that clerics or magic-users do.
>>44462690
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8azW7IbtcxzalBIRUl0VW5zY1k/view
Balrogs & bagginses is a lotr osr game, it uses skill points for everything including magic and hit points while still having an osr feel.
>>44461289
B/X clerics didn't need spells at 1st. They had Turn Undead, armour, and a hammer.
>>44463327
If you're using the b/x skill/challenge system of "roll under your stat on a d20, dm assigns situational modifiers" then it's helpful, but charisma's still the non-physical god-stat.
>>44461782
Zealot is much better than "Militant," as there is a strong connotation of religiosity.
>>44464516
Yeah, I mean, intelligence isn't worthless under those conditions, but it's not any more valuable to a magic-user than a fighter.
About a week or so ago, someone linked to a blog where the author ranked and reviewed a bunch of modules.
Sadly I forgot to bookmark it and I can't find it again. Anyone have the link?
>>44465568
On the other hand, that means intelligence is just as valuable to a smart fighting man as to a magic-user. I'm absolutely fine with that.
>>44465614
http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?page_id=844
>>44465660
I think my issue with it is more on the low end. Having a perfectly functional magic-user with a 4 intelligence is counter-intuitive.
>>44465676
That's the one! Thanks Anon.
>>44465708
doesnt it alter the chance of successfully learning new spells and time/success to research custom spells?
Its just neat that anyone with the dedication to do the graft can rote memorise how to do spells but only a true genius can create anew
While this is always potentially a touchy subject, but is there a way to salvage alignment? I like it, I suppose, when it is more metaphysical, and less some kind of wonky personality profile.
The way it's presented by Moldvay its more the latter, whereas by my understanding it feels more to the metaphysical in Moorcocks The Eternal Champion books.
>>44465998
I'm quite fond of the way LotFP does alignment, it is more about the cosmic nature of the character rather than its behavior.
>>44466047
Ive always read D&D alignment to be that way though, as it says in the 1e DMG
Good = Altruism
Evil = Self Centered
Chaotic = Individual
Law = Societal
The changes to it in later systems was where I went wrong imo
>>44465998
Two ways: Go full Moorcock, or just write down a film, character, or person's name in the alignment space.
Valid example alignments: Tokyo Drift, Don Quixote, and Christopher Lee.
>>44466132
Also for the love of god, recognise that Law and Chaos and Good and Evil can co-exist and co-operate as party members and possibly even friends. Sure, when the stars are right one of you will be revelling and shouting and another will be guarding an orphanage, but fuck it, that's political bullshit that's way off in the future, you can disagree and still get on.
>>44466075
>adding the good-evil axis was where it went wrong
>>44466132
That said, I do have some fondness for the 4e model... because Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1e did it first. Law - Good - Neutral - Evil - Chaos as a single axis, and the gods of law are not exactly friendly.
Still prefer ditching good & evil though.
>>44465998
One, it helps immensely to have a world that is far less anachronistically civil.
Two, it helps to not run LotR/Dragonlance-style "This is a campaign about a group of good heroes triumphing over the forces of evil" games.
Three, it helps to not have players who think that alignment can be used as an excuse to fuck over the other PCs and derail a game just to sate their own egos.
I still like alignment, but I think that it is best when downplayed compared to how much of a Big Thing some people make it out to be.
I think that two-axis alignment is a lot more divisive than one-axis.
I think that one of the better examples of how alignment (and particularly two-axis alignment) can work just fine can be found in Planescape. It is about ideologies that are more than just alignment, about GOALS that rise above just alignment. You need to think about why a character would be doing something, personally, rather than why they would be doing something to fulfill their alignment. I think that alignment becomes a much bigger issue in a void, and unfortunately probably far too many games take place in voids (regardless of edition, OSR or modern).
>>44465981
>doesnt it alter the chance of successfully learning new spells...
Not in B/X: "The DM may choose which spells a character has in the book, or may allow the player to select them." That's all there is to it.
>...and time/success to research custom spells?
Not officially, though the DM could always implement intelligence checks for either case. Moldvay Basic is very minimalist.
>>44466383
Of course, B/X has some weird (neat) stuff with spellbooks.
The way I played it was that you got your one spell per level, tops. You could research a new spell to switch out an old one, and having a spellbook or scrolls with that spell on might help, but you wouldn't be able to learn all the spells.
You don't _forget_ the old spell you unlearned, you just stopped obsessing over it, and it's going to take some obsessive, expensive study to get it back in your active spellbook if you change your mind.
>>44465998
>>44466075
I personally like the idea of honorable vs. dishonorable as the way to frame law vs. chaos. Will your character lie out his ass, fight dirty, go back on his word, and generally behave in a disreputable manner? Then he's chaotic. Meanwhile, his motivations are what define the good vs. evil axis. If he ruthlessly puts himself and his group (family, friends, village, ethnic group--whichever is important to him) before those outside his group, then he's evil. So the super honorable samurai who is willing to slaughter innocents on the command of his daimyo is lawful evil.
On the single axis, law vs. chaos alignment system, I framed it as civilized vs. uncivilized for one of my campaigns. Basically, how well (and how long) can you handle being in a crowded, "civilized" place like a town or city, and following all the social rules? The ranger-type who prefers the wilderness to the city, and doesn't like crowds is probably chaotic. Of course, that campaign was all about the struggle between civilized order and barbaric chaos that took place in the shadows of the fallen empire of NotRome. But it wasn't purely good vs. evil, as the hobgoblin's NotSparta represented an ordered but authoritarian and repressive force of evil.
>>44466534
I actually think B/X is a bit too restrictive with magic-user spells, and at the very least, they should know one extra spell per spell level they can cast (so that upon learning a new spell level, you'd get two spells for it instead of one).
>>44466605
this is as bad as the FATAL alignment system.
>>44466677
Altruism vs. ruthless self-interest is obviously what the good-evil axis is about, so I'm assuming your objection is with honorable vs. dishonorable. People argue a lot about the law of the land and under what conditions lawful folk will feel compelled to follow them. Laws can change willy-nilly and can be tyrannical and regarded as unjust by the populace, but honor is much more consistent. So one of the best ways to judge how societally-minded you are is to gauge how much effort you put into being honorable.
>FATAL alignment system.
Rape vs. Fornication?
>>44466194
I like the idea that probably most people are firmly neutral, and that chaotic and lawful are both extreme ends, whose ultimate conclusion exclude sentient life. Either it boils down to a sterile, ordered wasteland, or the supreme disorder where everything and nothing exists simultaneously. Pantheons from either side can be followed by people, but its not really a moral thing.
I use the Palladium alignment system, by which I mean I rant for ten minutes before each session about how "neutral" is stupid and wrong.
I've seen a few dungeons that outright require the PCs to find a hidden door in order to progress.
In these situations, do you give the PCs a hint? Let them exhaustively search every room? Or do they just head home, disappointed that they came to a dead end?
>>44467521
In order to progress? Tell them, or let them find a map.
Just there? Leave it. It's usual that PCs won't find everything, and quite common to find clues and treasure maps and rumours that'll lead them back to a dungeon floor they've visited to uncover new treasures, or prompt an expedition into somewhere far too dangerous because they know some secret others don't.
>Although the dictionary definition of orc is merely “monster,” modern authors universally follow the lead of Tolkien in using the term as a synonym for a large goblin. These have not had a fair press. They are fanatically brave in spite of being weaker and less practiced than most other humanoids, and must be kind to animals, since they train them so well. It is interesting that Tolkien’s characters describe them in terms very similar to those used by medieval chroniclers to describe Mongols, who in our day are considered a nice friendly people of slightly eccentric lifestyle. We might instead think of such goblins as a fantasy counterpart of the apocryphal northerner: clannish, rough spoken, given to imbibing of strong but peculiar liquor, keeping analogues of whippets and pidgeons, prone to mob violence at away fixtures and perhaps too easily influenced by radical politicians of other races.
Hordes of the Things, hopefully inspiring some better depictions of orcs.
>>44467618
And before we forget, let's take a look at OD&D, Men & Monsters - the very first player's handbook.
Neutral orcs are Gygaxian canon, yo.
Is it LotFP that used the idea of lawfull being the source for cleric spells and chaotic as the source of magic-user spells? Ie magic-user spells are by definition nature altering and strange, so it would make sense for that to tap out of something chaotic.
>>44468015
Well in that case, it would make more sense for me to be how the spells are used that determine their alignment. A sword isn't good or evil.
Then again, if magic users are directly getting their magic from powerful chaotic entities like demonic patrons or genies or whatever, then yes I would say that is starting to lean towards chaotic.
>>44465998
There are problems with making one axis "Good" vs "Evil". (To say these terms are loaded is an understatement.) The general observation that Law vs. Chaos works better is because people don't tend to feel so strongly about that conflict.
That said, I think Gygax's write-up in 1e is actually very playable once you get into it. (Exploring the true horror of Chaotic Good and the ruthless spirit of Lawful Good is generally a good start.)
>>44466075
>Chaotic = Individual
I mean... kinda? It seems to work OK for CG & CE, but the Chaotic Neutral write-up pretty much says that life is order and therefore ought to be brought to an end, which isn't individualism as I know it. I do agree that Evil as self-centered is important - it's what makes Chaotic Evil rather easier to deal with than Chaotic Neutral.
>>44466981
>I like the idea that probably most people are firmly neutral
I tend to assume that most civilized humans are Lawful Good. It seems like part of the implied setting in 1e.
>>44467521
Depends on what you mean by "progress". If the module is about treasure-hunting, then progress is the players' problem.
On the other hand, if the designer clearly wants the party to get through the door to tell their story, I would tend to go with intent and make the door not-so-hidden.
>>44468063
>I tend to assume that most civilized humans are Lawful Good.
I guess anything is possible in a mythological world.
>>44468063
I should note that I was thinking in the terms of lawfull as "sinister heaven" and chaotic as "the devil". So either way those would both be bad. Altough this isn't really the way aligments work in general. Just making people Lawful Good honestly seems like the best solution. Ie make Lawful = Civilization and Chaotic = Ruin
>>44468244
You can have your cake and eat it, too. Humans could be predominantly Lawful Good (i.e. servants of a sinister heaven) while still acting in familiar human-type ways. In fact, contrary to what >>44468146 seems to be implying, this would get something fairly believable.
Here- I have reworked the Cultist to be a little less of a heal bot.
How do people feel about this summoning ability?
>>44468696
Sacrifice a small hamlet, summon turbogodzillathulhu, still easily control it if you kill enough peasants?
>>44469060
....probably should have added in a 'maximum number of sacrifices is equal to level' then, huh?
>>44469095
It'll be fine, what's the worst that could happen?
>>44469265
Well I don't want level 1 characters trying to minmax and destroy everything.
Secondly, and somewhat more importantly, I want to stress this summoning ability is for things like demons and like ghostly spirits. Summoning a patron, essentially, and getting magical powers or mutations for it. It's in many ways the opposite of a cleric and is meant to be heretical, hence the name of 'Black Sabbath' and the 'Cultist' class name itself.
Moldvay Reading Guy again. Retainers; Should a smaller party of beginner player hire retainers? How much pay would a retainer ask for? 20% of treasures?
Hey, could I get some recommendations for good blogs with Lamentations of the Flame Princess blogs?
>>44469265
>what's the worst that could happen?
Quick trip to Google...
>in OD&D Demogorgon has 10d20 HD
>in OD&D Orcus has 12d12 HD
Pic related.
>DM's face when level 1 cultist summons Orcus
It's a good first draft class design, but perhaps a little balancing is in order.
so uh. Did the Zine ever drop?
>>44460325
This dev here. I'm having a bit of a crisis because as the classes are split 3 magical and 2 nonmagical. Currently I kind of want it to be even.
Are there any classes I could insert to the nonmagical side to balance it or should I just get over it?
>>44469624
If you're running old school modules, they'll definitely want some hired help, because those modules often assume players have a group of 10+ people on their side.
As for pay, that's something they negotiate, and you adjudicate.
I'd say 1 gp a delve is a fair price for a torchbearer who just has to stand there holding a torch so the Fighter can see to fight. For guys who are expected to actually help out beyond hold a torch until it's time to run, either a set amount of gold/silver per day, or a share of the loot would be expected, as on a pirate ship. The major characters might be expected to get multiple shares for doing most of the work, but splitting things with your pikemen is fair; and a flat rate is nice alternative with lower risk (you get paid even if the bosses find squat) but likely a smaller payoff if they find a lot.
>>44474274
A Gun toting + bomb thowing class?
Hey /osrg/! I know the module "Tower of the Stargazer" for LotFP was heavily based off the old Rainbow songhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6CjO0H2j0s, but were there any other modules heavily influenced by music, whether for LotFP or other clones? It just seems like a really, really untapped well of inspiration, given the crazy shit that came out in the 70s and 80s in terms of interesting settings.
>>44478323
Wow that is an ugly beard destroying an otherwise gorgeous face
>>44478499
Alright. This ties into another sort of fuzzy topic; what is d&d economy like? What's expected to pay someone? It's overkill maybe since getting gold is the be all end all but it's nice to know how much you're offering someone in terms of flat rates. In the Keep on the Borderland it looks like 10 gp could buy you tavern food for like a week yet most classes require a fortune just to go to level 2.
>>44478941
Hmm, an intestine idea, especially if it wasn't lumped in with an Alchemist.
Personally I was kind of leaving the Fighter as being either ranged or melee, but a class entirely based around gunplay could be really cool. Personally I'm the kind of guy who puts guns in fantasy, and I can easily see some more advanced weapons in that vein, like guns with cartridges but only this class can use it because it's so expensive.
What's A Good Name that matches the current edgy naming scheme? Anarchist? Saboteur?
>>44480002
I like Saboteur.
>>44479226
The Pale Lady, an adventure for LotFP.
Zzarchov is asked about his design goals for his products.
>In addition to its spoiler based goal, The Pale Lady was also a good test of how much of a song’s lyrics I can get into an adventure without anyone noticing (a lot). That last one is really more of an author game mechanic.
>>44480168
>Saboteur
Mwee?
>>44474274
Please be careful. In general, adding non-magical classes winds up reducing the options available to the existing ones by walling capabilities off behind class and skill requirements.
There's a reason more than one person in these threads thinks adding the thief class was a terrible decision.
That's true. But it kind of feels unfair if magic users have to be uber specialized but Fighters can just do anything.
While it is true that magic users intrinsically have more options I would prefer to see that kind of thing explored in the game itself. Like let the class be normal but let them specialize some how.
Also I should mention the class is different enough from Fighter and Thief to really warrant it; the Saboteur. Skilled with firearms, bombs, probably has some methods at trashing enemy morale too, maybe some other stuff? Always looking for ideas.
So, you want to make a walking wandering monster check? Since any loud noise usually warrants one and the guy is going to be very noisy, it will get annoying quickly.
We've got a battered Rules Cyclopedia, one page of space rules, and a lucky d20. I think it's time we blow this scene. Get everybody and the stuff together. Ok. 3. 2. 1. Let's jam.
>>44469624
It all depends on play style, I suppose. The gang-of-retainers, dungeon-crawl-as-a-business-enterprise doesn't interest me in the least and none of the people I've played with have approached it that way. I'm not above having a few NPCs in the party, and having them be retainers is fine, but I'd like to keep things manageable and with a tight focus on the PCs. Having half-a-dozen or more retainers along for the ride would hurt my sense of immersion as there is no way that they would be properly depicted and would just sort of magically fade into the woodwork.
Most old school modules do, in fact, assume that you'll have a lot of people along, but having characters of slightly higher level with maybe some extra magical goodies can help, along with periodic opportunities to heal and recoup spells, and maybe a couple NPCs/hirelings to pad things out.
>>44481017
I like this.i really like this. Where is this from?
>>44481398
Blog of Holding. There was an image version too, same content, and posts full of design notes.
>>44481482
I really like the star colour system. Of course the star's colour reflects the age of the worlds, and of course your generic D&D dying earth is probably long past yellow and into orange.
>>44481529
Isn't Dying Earth as far into orange you can be before you're actually red according to this chart? (Even though the sun is frequently described as red in his novels).
Also, I really like that chart, it looks fun, but it also seems difficult to use without printing considering all the bent text
>>44481705
It's just one page, I won't cry for that used ink.
Okay, so I was tinkering around with the way multiple attacks work for fighters and building off some earlier ideas I had. I've always found the 3/2 rate of attack to be a bit clumsy in implementation and had come up with the idea of drawing poker chips to keep track of things. You'd draw a chip every round, and could spend 2 in order to take an extra attack (effectively giving you a 3/2 rate of attack).
Then it occurred to me that this enabled a certain graduation of power, because you could start off with a variable number of chips at the beginning of a battle, ranging from -1 to 3 (with -1 just meaning that you wouldn't draw a chip on your first turn). You would never be able to take more than one extra attack in a round, so starting off with 3 chips would simply give you more rounds with multiple attacks (3 in a row, in fact, once you account for the chips you're drawing along the way).
This chip draw mechanic would enable a smoother transition between having one and two attacks per round and wouldn't require people to keep track of whether it was an odd or even numbered round. On the downside, warrior-types would have to draw poker chips every round, which might slow things down a bit.
Comments? Good idea or bad idea?
>>44481805
its just that they couldve flipped the text that on the lower side of the circle, then you'd still be able to just read it without flipping it.
>>44481820
AD&D multiple attack progression to compare to it.
>>44481820
You could also have the warrior who stands in the back charging up for a dozen epi-- rounds before unleashing a truly devastating flurry of attacks.
>>44482665
You're still limited to one extra attack per round, so I don't have a problem with somebody saving up to get a three, four or five rounds in a row of multiple attacks. And you wouldn't have to stand in back. You'd collect chips whether you were attacking or not.
>tfw lost a folder containing 21GB or so of AD&D 1e and 2e material
>don't know if torrent still exists
JUST
>>44481482
What does 'barren' mean? Do you just let it be eventual ruin-planets and no other life? Or is it still a chance you encounter stuff?
>>44483000
Yeah, think of it as the empty room in a dungeon. It's meant as a supplement to turn naval wilderness travel and regular dungeon crawls into a space opera.
>>44483000
>What does 'barren' mean?
>>44483555
>think of it as the empty room in a dungeon.
I am currently working on a dungeon which changes shape, that is moves into a different "configuration" as the players touches some particuclar item (items). Anyone done anything like that? :keeps drinking:
>>44478323
>>44486249
These are great
>>44479888
Checked
>>44479941
>what is d&d economy like
The Mystara Gazetteers are really good for this sort of question. I have no idea if they are "realistic", but each gazetteer dedicates a significant amount of page space on taxes, the economy, and local government.
It really paints a good picture of the role and place of the adventurer in society.
>>44484462
I was playing with the idea of a dungeon where the doors have a sort of "non-logical" relation, the order you move in them alters where they go, and the pathways can randomly change.
So I'd think, it might make it easier if you focus on paths between areas changing.
I was trying to make a dungeon vaguely based on the 70's stalker movie.
>>44487467
Cool to hear it. Not what I had in mind for this dungeon area but that sounds like a cool idea. I finnished it just a while a go, and would post a picture if it wasn't for the fact that it is new years. The idea is (the campaign is situated) that the PC:s are inside a slumbering god. Every so often he moves (based on dice rolling) which results in certain pathways being blocked and other opened after a particular system. Anyhow, the PC:s will, hopefully, discover where they are and will touch a certain, or other, items which will wake the god and the are that they have mapped will change when he will wake up. Hopefully it will work out.
>>44487570
That should be pretty fun. I imagine the players end up mapping it, figuring out how the system behind it all works and then it radically changes once the god wakes?
I was thinking of mine, having the pathways change but not be truly random. Lots of traps as well. The idea is that the players never quite get oriented to place and navigation is the real challenge.
>>44487848
>That should be pretty fun. I imagine the players end up mapping it, figuring out how the system behind it all works and then it radically changes once the god wakes?
That is the idea indeed. It will radically change once the god, if the god, awakes but from earlier interactions with the game they may realize some ideas around how the map will look like. I have GM:ed a similiar game for another group and they enjoyed it, so hopefully this one, that is quite a bit more complex, will be enjoyable. Plenty of traps are of course included, they are after all inside a slumbering god.
>>44487848
>I was thinking of mine, having the pathways change but not be truly random. Lots of traps as well. The idea is that the players never quite get oriented to place and navigation is the real challenge.
Sounds like a cool idea as well and something I would love to play personally. The last couple of years I have only GM:ed and most playable scenarios come across as "stupid" to me, in the sense that I have basically seen it all, but I would have loved to be a participant in your scenario. Any particular system you play/would apply on your idea?
I wanted to check out The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence, an anon in the last thread said it was in Labyrinth Lords folder but I can't find it. Anyone know which folder it's in, or can share?
>>44487986
It sounds like it would be pretty neat. I've always liked dungeons that change once you're a bit into them. Even simple things like "the entire dungeon begins to fill with water" once players are deep in.
I think this dungeon would be best as a one shot. The room at the center of the zone can grant a persons deepest desire. So if I tell players to keep it a secret, it might make for something a bit interesting as they get nearer to the room. I was thinking of ways to use sound, description, slightly "off" physics in some areas to make it even more disorienting. they can see different parts of the dungeon and the actual location of areas are static. But the relations between them aren't quite right.
Really, I just want an extremely challenging dungeon that's focused more on problem solving unusual hazards, navigation and all that Most challenge dungeons feel like RNG meatgrinders rather than thinking mans dungeons.
>>44488148
>It sounds like it would be pretty neat. I've always liked dungeons that change once you're a bit into them. Even simple things like "the entire dungeon begins to fill with water" once players are deep in.
Indeed. "Oh, so your characters can't swim", that is a classic. Haha.
>I think this dungeon would be best as a one shot. The room at the center of the zone can grant a persons deepest desire. So if I tell players to keep it a secret, it might make for something a bit interesting as they get nearer to the room. I was thinking of ways to use sound, description, slightly "off" physics in some areas to make it even more disorienting. they can see different parts of the dungeon and the actual location of areas are static. But the relations between them aren't quite right.
Sounds like a great idea. I like the fact that certain areas are static, which make it seem more "fair" for the players. Hopefully you will be able to get your ideas to the grid paper. Would love to have a look of what you would come up with!
>>44486249
I love these keep putting them out please
Happy new year (best thread on /tg/)!
>>44489064
I didn't make 'em, but I did save a bunch of them.
>>44488047
Found it in the OSR Misc.
I really like OD&D, basic DD&D and AD&D (both). I just wish so many people famous in the OSR scene weren't complete asshats.
Pic related.
>mfw I actually read Varg Vikernes website
>>44490509
Varg's not OSR, his game is clearly an ode to 90s-era overdeveloped rules-for-everything crapfests.
>>44490602
People seem to identify him with the OSR scene though. And honestly, he's not the only freak with public recognition.
>>44490693
I'm not surprised, some folks think "OSR" just means "anything old or outdated."
What other "freaks" are you thinking of? Been listening to James Raggi internet memes?
>>44490781
Well yeah, Raggi was the one I had in mind. Of course, it's not like gaming hasn't always been 'outsider' stuff. I just thought that after I got out of High School back during 2e's heyday, the people looking at me like I was some kind of weirdo for my hobby choices would be over.
>>44490930
The main vibe I get from all the LotFP adventure modules and the refugee book can only be defined in my mind as "nihilistic", which is easily found in a Nordic metalhead like Raggie.
>>44489097
y-you too
>>44460325
Fearsome Gods Dev, do you have a place I can regularly look to find the most recent version, aside from crawling these threads?
>>44491104
They're nihilistic as horror movies are nihilistic. There's a good interview where he basically lays it out like this: Decisions of characters in horror movies are more intresting than the decisions of characters in action movies, so he's more intrested in the horror.
>>44492474
No, I am sorry but there is really nothing to report. The newest it's gonna be is in the thread.
Thanks for your interest though. I'm at work right now but spending breaks on /tg/ and coming up with a gun and bomb using class.
Could someone tell me of OSR-style stuff where fighters actually have more than just "I hit things, and then I hit things even harder/more"? For example, stuff like DCC and the stunt die, and Flying Swordsmen martial arts and I guess Neoclassical Geek Revival and stuff like that.
I've been thinking about Fighters and warriors in general and how to make them more special a lot recently, so inspirational material would be appreciated.
>>44458644
I made this character sheet for AD&D 2E what do you guys thinks?
>>44492794
To be fair, isn't that kind of the entire point of the OSR's design philosphy? You don't need advanced fighting moves because the DM can just take your action and make new rules as neede.
You could basically do it every attack if you wanted.
>>44492824
Pretty good m80.
>>44492901
T-t-thanks....
>>44492831
Some of OSR stuff, sure. Some have, however, codified more intresting takes on it.
The main problem with that mindset is that it means that fighters are exactly as good as the DM allows them to be. Every other class has their codified tricks and cool things (thieves and specialists have percentages or other dice rolls for their skills, casters have spells) that always do exactly what they should do. Meanwhile, the fighter gets to play "Mother May I" every time he wants to do something, and then argue with the DM if their visions of something differ.
DM fiat as combat maneuvers can be either great or fucking terrible, depending on the game and the situation. I wouldn't be opposed to fighters having some more rules-protected authority on these things. In my experience, it doesn't ruin the feel or anything. I've played games with stunts, and the end results is pretty much the same: fighters get to do cool shit in combat, but without having to eyeball it all the time.
I mean, if we take that design philosophy a bit farther, then I could just argue that wizard spells and specialist skills are pointless and not needed, because the DM can just take your action and make up new rules as needed.
>>44492824
I like it. if I were to critique I'd want more spaces for proficiencies, and a place to write down spells.
>>44492927
On top of that, I just like the feel of warriors actually achieving codified special things. I don't mean that I need to optimize feats or my autism starts to thirst for numbers, but simply that it's Cool to do shit like find an old master and get him to teach you that special attack that can slay even the greatest monster. It's a tanglible reward, something cool and intresting you can use to differentiate this warrior from all the rest.
It depends on the game, of course, but if I were to do, for example, a mythological Celtic campaign with warrior feats (the mythological Celtic kind, not D&D), I'd sure as hell want rules for learning, knowing and actually using those.
>>44492979
Different anon here.
Just make it something like they have to find a teacher to teach them a special move, or spend time inventing it themselves or whatever, and then let them use it x times a day (probably 1) or x + y (where y is a function of Intelligence because dump stats are for pussies) in a certain situation.
Example
>fighter seeks out old dragon slayer
>"teach me great old dude" etc
>time spent learning
>fighter comes away having learned a special way to twist his weapon when he gets a solid hit in (does 5 or more damage, or beats to hit roll by 5 or more, or something like that) that strips dragon scale, worsening the dragon's AC by 1 until it is healed
>>44493144
Expanding on this idea:
>fighter learns from a duelist, can now disarm melee weapons when he beats necessary to hit roll by 5 or more, instead of damage, but only when wielding one certain kind of weapon (longsword, scimitar, etc)
>fighter leans from axe-wielding knight, and can now sunder his opponent's armor when he beats to hit roll by 5 or more, but only when using a battle axe
Etc etc.
>>44493202
Sundering armor would worsen the AC of someone wearing that armor until it is repaired by 1, or something.
>>44493144
Heh, yeah, thanks. It's not that I can't come up with rules for it, I'm just intrested in seeing other people's takes on fighter mechanization.
I guess my desire for fighters to have something special of their own stems from the fact that at the basic level, they really don't. I mean, they're best at fighting, sure, but what they do isn't actually unique to them. All characters hit things. Very few DMs would just arbitrarily decide, if combat fiat is a thing, that only fighters could try anything special if they described a maneuver they're doing. Sure, a cleric or a thief (or even a wizard) is going to have a harder time pulling those things off, but still. Everyone else has their own "thing", so to speak, and fighters are just kind of there. For someone like me, who really fucking loves warrior fiction, this is annoying.
Warriors having more tools at their disposal cannot be a bad thing, in my opinion. Hell, just making fighters feel more "special" otherwise as well would be great. At least for my games and visions.
>>44493230
I feel ya. Fighters may be able to grind down a threat in combat, but it having a little more flair or variety would sure be nice.
>>44493438
I feel that having that "This is our special thing, we do this and you can't even comprehend" thing also adds a lot of identity to the class. I mean, let's not even try to deny that fighter is everyone's "basic" class, the one that's associated with new players and "boring" characters a whole lot. And sure, some like that. Some want fighters to be the basic class, a dependable brick that gets the job done without any special fanciness. But really, I feel that fighters could be so much more than that.
Just historically speaking, warriors sure as hell aren't the basic dudes. Warriors are often considered the coolest motherfuckers, historically and mythologically. Culturally, warriors might even associate with the supernatural one way or the other. They have special knowledge, supernatural or otherwise, and skills that other people simply don't.
I mean, I'm not saying that warriors should all be magical superheroes or something. Just that the warrior often feels sadly neglected in these games. I just want some more warrior love, man.
Depending on the setting (probably not the standard medieval stuff, but more exotic/primitive, for example), I would totally be cool with fighters eating the hearts of their enemies (or just monsters) for power, for example. I mean, that shit's textbook warrior mysticism.
>>44492745
Are you thinking more of a more like a rifleman/musketeer or western/desperado type character?
I just got around to reading LotFP because I'd been hearing so much about it. There are a lot of really surprising and elegant tidbits in it that I really like, like encumbrance and maritime combat.
Thanks /osr/.
>>44493230
>It's not that I can't come up with rules for it, I'm just intrested in seeing other people's takes on fighter mechanization
Have you read this?
>>44460325
I had that in mind when making Fighters. Wonder what you think.
>>44494150
I like the trophy mechanics. The combat techniques are a bit minor, but I don't know how much clout you want characters to have in that regard. Numerical bonuses, in my experience, tend to make players less excited than more concrete effects. For example, attacking someone and also being able to trip them (or do some other, similar thing) with the attack would be a juicier reward for trying to maneuver into your favored situation. It might be too powerful if you've balanced it around small numerical bonuses, though.
In general, if fighty-fighty is all a fighter does (which is entirely reasonable), then I generally like to see them bend the rules in some ways instead of just play to them more effectively. As it is, the trophy ability is much more intresting (and flavorful) than the technique ability.
>>44493673
Bit of both honestly, the same way the Fighters can be barbarians, knights, Dexterity based, etc.
Currently my main idea for their core combat skill is something like taking multiple shots, giving then extra d20s, but they only deal one attack and get an extra +1 for each other d20 they rolled that was a hit. Then they have to roll their ammo dice every single time they attacked, meaning they could go down a lot with a combat turn where they flurry their attacks like this. The problem with this is that primitive firearms don't really work like that, my idea is they could fluff this as firing off a whole bandolier of flintlocks or just abstracting it for a sniper style character; their ammo goes down because they don't carry that much anyway, each shot is precious, etc.
Giving them bombs and a bonus to siege weaponry seems logical, but I am somewhat struggling to really distinguish them. Letting them use bombs and ammo to set up either exploding traps or blowing new walls or blowing up support beams is also something I want to go for. Give them a practical skill beyond just pew pew.
I like the idea so far but I'm not sure if it will feel right.
>For example, attacking someone and also being able to trip them (or do some other, similar thing) with the attack would be a juicier reward for trying to maneuver into your favored situation.
I see what you're saying but this is basically exactly as older dnd where you can't trip anyone unless you have a special fear that allows it, which is kind of like this.
However the technique system could easily allow a '+1 to trip or stagger opponents' to let you specialize it. Considering that you get 20+ techniques at level 20 these types of techniques are perfectly fine.
What's you peoples preferred way of stocking a dungeon with randomized treasure? For some reason B/x looks pretty fiddly.
Weapon Mastery from the Rulecyclopedia is what you need anon. Flavorful and awesome save or suck effects for the fighter, codified rules for seeking out awesome old masters (who in Mystara at least tend to be Kings and other important NPCs, so it's a great adventure hook and awesome world building.), ways for the Fighter to make opponents despair and run away, smash, multiple attacks, etc.
Fighters in this edition are really, really, fucking good at fighting. I mean, Wizards are still king at versatility and out of combat effects, but when the fighting is on, the Fighter gets to shine.
Download Dark Dungeons and study Weapon Mastery there, because the RC version is a bit unclear.
Weapon Mastery is available to every class though, it's just that as a Fighter, you get more weapon slots and advance faster. Just hack it so the Fighter gets it just for himself if you want.
>Neoclassical Geek Revival
Is this worth buying? It seems Zzarchov changed all the rules, so I'm not sure how backwards compatible this is with BECMI. Stealth and Social system sounds good though, but I don't know if it can be adapted easily.
>>44495841
Depends on the kind of treasure you want them to find.
Sometimes, the value of something is disputed. For example, a painting, tapestry, sculpture, or strange gemstone.
>>44496050
Wait, wait, wait...
OD&D and a couple of other games have mechanics where you gain experience based on how much treasure you manage to haul out of the dungeon. But like you've said, often times the exact value of an item is non-specific. In that case, how much experience does an item with an ambiguous cost give?
Does haggling the selling price uo give more experience?
>>44495355
maybe a sort of area control/denial role would fit into their skill set? Staying out of fights is a pretty central part of the early D&D games, and it would make sense for area control be one logical extension of that.
>>44496453
In terms of experience, the GM will know the true value of the item. Whether or not the person appraising the value of the item will be accurate is a completely different matter.
>>44496453
>Does haggling the selling price uo give more experience?
Sure as shit does. It's not about the technical act of hauling treasure. You get experience for turning treasure into cashable money because that's the "payout" for you. That's the culmination of your adventure, the pain you went through and the plans you had to make and execute. You getting that treasure back home is the proof that you succeeded, and your adventure is measured in the value of what you brought home.
Haggling and cashing in nonstandard loot is a big part in our campaign, at least.
>>44496495
Yeah! This is exactly what I had in mind. Things like smoke bombs are an obvious one, but another mechanic I had in mind is a bit more abstract but really useful; when the shooter deals damage to a monster that monster gets a negative to its attack rolls equal to the damage.
Now that does seem kind of powerful, so one way to change it would to make it so you can only give this protection to one target, like yourself or a single ally. This would be a type of covering fire ability, it could also benefit from Charisma somehow.
>>44458984
Anyone else want to give me a prompt?
>>44458984
>>44499180
Curiosities, and minor or niche magic items. For instance, I had one campaign where the party was fighting fish-people, and one of their leaders had an enchanted sword that, when the hilt was grasped, caused you become dripping wet. This was an obvious advantage to a fish-person needing to stay moist in dry air, but was more of an annoyance to the PCs. Still, it was a magical blade, and its added power in combat made it worth putting up with.
>>44499249
Alternately, fixtures and items of interest in terms of dungeon construction or decorating. Unusual or valuable mirrors, doors, etc.
>>44481820
I was thinking that, importing something like this into Basic, I could potentially drop differentiated attack progression and/or democratize magic weapons such that swords were no longer over-represented / overpowered compared to other sorts. In terms of the unified attack progression, my idea is that fighter-types would be set apart by getting multiple attacks, and so wouldn't need to advance more quickly in terms of THAC0. (And at that point, why even bother with a different progression for magic-users, who are already severely penalized in combat by a limited weapon selection of low-damage weapons, no armor and low hit points?)
The only real concern I would have about this is the rate of leveling, whereby thieves and clerics would often have marginally better attack scores than fighters (I could live with the former, but the latter is problematic), and elves lag behind everybody (though this could potentially be overcome with a something like a racial +1 sword / bow advantage).
>>44492794
>Could someone tell me of OSR-style stuff where fighters actually have more than just "I hit things, and then I hit things even harder/more"?
Where's that Mornard quote dismissing this stuff as rubbish?
>>44499395
Somewhere in the pile of "kill them and take their stuff" and "hey ladies hurr hurr you are very sexy" and "I swear my book will come out eventually."
>>44496693
Hm. Do you only reward XP for jewelry and gems when they're sold as well?
>>44499249
That's pretty fucking clever
>>44495874
To be honest, I like the idea of thieves, magic users, and clerics getting weapon mastery levels -- just slower, and with suckier weapons. No one's going to find a d4 hp mage swinging a d6 quarterstaff to be borked for example.
Any tips on how to make the martial melee guy into the designated crowd control class for the party instead of the mage? Sleep and Web for example are really really really powerful crowd control effects, and I'm wondering how I could give that level of cc to a warrior type and how to balance it.
>>44473525
4plebs says no.
>>44500156
Yeah. When your loot is in actual cash form, yout get xp. Unless those are considered viable cash in your campaign, then cashing them in should be required.
>>44482928
The TSR era torrent? If it doesn't exist, I'll make a new one as i actually have it on my PC
>>44482928
It exists just fine. I'm not gonna link it here, but the torrent is easy to find. Also, from what I can see the Mega link in the OP contains more or less all of the AD&D stuff.
>>44488355
To add another idea to this, I once made a dungeon that had more than 360 degrees. Wrap your head around that
>>44500436
When you start using encumbrance, even in simplified form, using gems as currency gets common. You might keep a pound or two of coins, but most of your wealth is in bling.
>>44500672
Then I'd say getting XP as soon as you bring that home is fine. Coins work like that, so logically anything else with actual cash status would as well.
It's just that out campaign is basically the LotFP assumption of weird medieval Earth, so good luck buying goods and services in the middle of fucking Holland with a ruby or something.
Anyone here have Starvation Cheap? Is it worth buying if you just want to adapt its contents to fantasy? Is it possible/easy to do? I'm looking for fun mass combat.
>>44501016
If you want mass combat I'd recommend Battlesystem for AD&D 1e and 2e. Both systems are very different.
>>44482928
If you dousenet,somebody's been mass dumping that stuff for the past month and a half.
Would you agree with the notion that Dark Souls is essentially a megadungeon?
>>44502372
These are great. Who makes them?
>>44502372
>scaphism and halflings
Hahahaha, Teratic Tome was edgy as hell but the monsters in it seem so fun to fight and kill.
>>44502423
100% agreed there. Also great use of elevation.
>>44502423
Basically. More megadungeons should have a place as cool as firelink though, and fun friends like patches the hyena.
>>44502423
This actually really makes me want to design a similar dungeon, with an equally rich, but unintrusive lore and history.
>>44502423
A lot of games are, if you think about it.
>>44503656
>>44500397
Pick a sap. Hit someone on the head. Fighter casts sleep.
Pick a net. Throw it to someone. Fighter casts web.
This might be the wrong thread but I guess that I'll ask...
Does anyone have any experience running the Dungeon Crawl Classics modules? I was thinking of running them with Microlite20 characters but I'm not sure how well those two systems will interact.
>>44502423
>>44503656
>>44503785
>each area of the Megadungeon can be treated as a single level in a videogame
That's a nice way to look at it from an organizational perspective. It makes Megadungeons easier to wrap my head around. Entering one is like entering a new game and following its own rules.
Somewhat related. Videogames should take inspiration from Megadungeon design where completing one level/area in a certain way affects all the rest and the changes just accumulate, so every playthrough is different. That would be neat as hell in a platformer.
>>44504068
I do have experience with running the modules, but not with Microlite20, to be honest.
>>44503785
>>44503656
>A lot of games are
True that, I suppose. Super Metroid comes to mind as a particularly good example of that.
A lot of good ideas can be found there, and some probably can be ported to pnp.
For instance the way you can pace a dungeon by locking certain doors with keys that are hidden in other parts, so that you naturally progress into other areas as you've finished exploring one area.
>>44504068
god I love these like medieval drawings. that and old 50s monster movie stuff really fits better with my idea of dnd than really flashy high end illustrations.
>>44504437
it's pretty clever to put bosses like that on the map. I'll probably steal that.
>>44504232
How are the DCC? Are they fun? Are they lethal?
>>44505174
Lethal and the weird kind of fun. I do feel like some of the dungeons are a bit too linear for my taste, but even with that, they're very evocative and full of great ideas.
Which ones did you have on mind?
Whats some weird fantasy elements you've used in your games recently? Thing's like obscure magic items, robots and space ships, really strange creatures.
>>44506343
Besides weird camping setting? Can't think of too much. The party fought a weird long limbed witch though.
>>44506343
eh, usually I prefer 3e for my weird fantasy. My two favorites were one inspired by The Long Afternoon on Earth, a world where humanoids have been reduced lower than the bugs and plants have filled all the niches animal life used to, and in my take on it, plant-monsters and giant bugs were the normal ecology of the setting. The other is a barbaric ice world.
>>44506343
Gonzo, gonzo, gonzo science fantasy and fungal adventure locales! Can't get more fun than that.
>>44506343
Ancient Aliens. I even parked the campaign center on top of a rounded "hill" containing mysterious "magic".
>>44499249
I hope this Anon is still here, I'm working on it now.
>Two of the world’s most famous precious metals – platinum and silver – can appear identical to the untrained eye. They’re both shiny, metallic, and gray in nature, and at first glance, they don’t appear to have any intrinsic differences.
(http://www.sellgoldhq.com/how-to-differentiate-platinum-and-silver/)
OSR, how much of a dick move is it to always identify platinum coins just as "gleaming silver pieces" or "shining silver coins" or whatever?
>>44510635
It wouldn't work for coins, as they often have different shapes, holes and engravings.
But it's fair play when used as a material for otger constructions like statues or perhaps picture frames
Does anyone have advice on hoe to make DCC saving throws closer to more oldshool ones? Most problematic are spells, as they're mostly using the spell roll as a DC.
>>44510928
>It wouldn't work for coins, as they often have different shapes, holes and engravings.
Works fine if platinum pieces are Ancient Treasure From Before the Fall.
No need to be on page 9.
>>44499249
>>44499268
>>44510496
Alright, just finished this.
Hope they aren't too samey or boring.
/osr/ I cannot recommend the 7th voyage of simbad too highly. It really plays out like a fast paced adventure, like the one I'd imagine gygax and arneson tried to emulate. It's got so much good stuff in it, the magic user, iconic monsters, a cave filled with a shit ton of gold, a mythical island. So much fun!
>>44514956
>the magic user
really? Please elaborate, I didn't think there was almost any good guy movie wizards except for Gandalf, Harry Potter, and Merlin.
Kevin Crawford's running late on his latest kickstarter, by which I mean he's pushed its launch back to March so he can finish writing the whole thing beforehand.
You may know him from such products as Red Tide, Scarlet Heroes, Stars Without Number, and Spears of the Dawn.
Godbound is basically his take on high-powered OSR D&D-xalted. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4qCWY8UnLrcczEwSXRRUjVXZHc/view is what I think is the latest beta. Shit looks incredible, and the setting material is great.
>In the days before the Shattering the land known as the Thousand Gods was little more than an underpopulated testing range for esoteric theotechnology and experimental theurgy. Aside from a few rugged communities of lumberjacks and trappers the thick jungle had few inhabitants. Creeping diseases and dangerous beasts were a great discouragement to settlements beyond the coast.
>This isolation encouraged a number of nations to establish secure testing zones within the jungle, where their magic could run free without observers. Many secrets were discovered which later became part of the Made Gods and their golem-godheads. Yet when the Shattering finally came, the desperate researchers were thrown back on their own sorceries to survive the chaos that followed.
>Nezdohva is a land of cool plains, deep pine forests, and forbidding mountains. Its master is the pitiless Iron Tsar, an automaton who is the product of the land’s peerless construct-builders and the mad ambitions of its last human ruler.
>The boyars are largely humanoid in shape, though the dreaded auto-cossacks are more centaur-like in appearance. Some are extravagantly alien, while others are crafted so expertly that the only hint to their mechanical nature is their unnatural perfection.
>>44514956
God, I love Harryhausen's skeletons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiTSyZbIjAg
>>44515376
He's currently working on cyberware ("the theotechnical implants of the Bright Republic and the polished clockwork of the Vissian maestros") and larger things.
>The tricky bit was balancing things so that the cyber was appealing to strictly mortal PCs while not being so enticing that every Godbound hero felt like it was worth it to get cybered up. I don't want every Godbound PC to feel like they need cyberware, any more than I want them to feel obligated to pick up the True Strife martial arts that exist. It's okay if mortal PCs jump for it or for the organizational benefits of groups like the Ancalian knighthood orders, because shticks like that are what define a mortal hero. Godbound have better toys to play with.
>Godwalkers, hulking war machines that come in bipedal and vehicle formats. Currently only manufactured by the theotechnical tribes of the Thousand Gods, but ancient ones can be found in storage, or built anew by artificer-Godbound. Includes rules for making and customizing your own godwalkers.
>Shinji, get in the damn godwalker.
>>44515099
Sokurah struck me as a pretty well done magic character. If the magic user archetypically is a conan villain then Sokurah's a pretty good one.
He's even using some d&d spells in the movie. Raise Dead, Protection from Evil.
>>44515099
Never mind that I totally missed that you specified good guy magicians and not just on general. I'd like to see some of that too.
>>44515376
>>44515476
He's pretty much going full OSR Exalted on this thing and its glorious. It'll have supernatural martial arts styles too. I'm glad he's enthusiastic, since from forum posts years ago this is a project that he's always wanted to do.
I really hope there's a market waiting for him for this.
How did armies fight during the time period d&d is inspired by? Specifically, what strategies and tactics did they use when fighting in plains, hills, forests, and mountains?
I'm asking because I have no knowledge of this sort of thing, so I'm having trouble visualizing it.
>>44515639
You start with 6 points of powers. Lesser powers cost 1, greater powers cost 2.
Lesser:
>Walk Between the Rain
>Your natural AC is 3. You cannot be hit by anything not driven by a purpose unless you allow it; random debris, raindrops, or falling objects will never strike you unless some will to harm you set them in motion.
>Mark the Maker Action
>With an action’s careful inspection, you understand the purpose and basic operation of any crafted object, magical or mundane. You also gain a brief vision of each person who substantially helped in its creation, and a short description of what they contributed to it.
>Jewel-Bright Eyes On Turn
>you can see through earth or stone. With a moment’s focus, you may look outward from any gemstone you’ve ever touched, regardless of where it is now.
Greater:
>Tsunami Hand
>You strike a blow which becomes a crashing wave, rushing up to 200 feet in width, 30 feet in height and 100 feet in length before it drains away. Small buildings and fragile structures are destroyed, and creatures take your level in points of damage.
>Sever the Line
>The target is rendered sterile and only a gift or similar power can undo it. All their children immediately suffer a 1d12 damage die, grandchildren suffer 1d10, great-grandchildren suffer 1d8, and so forth down to the fifth generation, which suffers 1d4. This curse only works once on any given target, and particular descendents may be spared by the hero.
But really, the most exciting thing is him writing his usual level of GM and sandbox advice for running a campaign where the PCs can do shit like that. He's damn good at providing tools.
>>44515899
If there was some mechanical way to model the impact demigod PCs have on warping the world it would be fucking amazing. I'm tired of having to wing it, since I like game elements.
>>44516233
He's said Godbound is planned as a line, not an unsupported core, and he did write a pretty great domain-management book (An Echo, Resounding). There may be further empire-mangling crunch if there's demand.
>>44515707
Some D&D is inspired pretty heavily by the European 'Dark Ages', and other D&D stuff is inspired more by the Conan/Deathdealer barbarian fiction of the early part of the 201th century.
Either way, warfare basically broke down to raids on towns held by your enemy, burning them and killing/stealing the inhabitants (because people to work the land were one of the most important things for the generation of wealth in the medieval era), or taking them as new territory for your own. Raids against an enemy's encampment to burn their supplies and kill their horses was a pretty effective tactic as well. An army marches on it's stomach, after all, and without food, your men start thinking you might not be the right leader for them.
Siege warfare was common in the middle ages when it came to trying to topple a ruler or something of that sort, which basically came down to surrounding the fortified city/castle of the enemy and forcing them to hole up inside until their food ran out, and then slaughtering them when they got desperate enough to come out and meet you in the field.
Battlefield tactics were pretty rudimentary. Use infantry to clog up the battlefield to keep the enemy's cavalry from having an easy line of attack against your archers (or God forbid, your commander's position). Advance the infantry to take and hold the field and grind down your enemy. Use archers to support your infantry's advance and to foil infantry charges. Use cavalry to ride down archers or unsupported infantry.
Fighting in the woods and other unorthodox terrain was actually pretty uncommon in the middle ages. Such a thing might be used as an ambush, as an enemy is moving his men. Marching formations weren't for fighting. Basically, it was just long trains of men carrying/hauling their gear in whatever way made it easiest to move, which didn't make it easy to fight with. An army attacked while moving found itself stretched thin (origin of the phrase), stumbling over dropped gear.
>>44516885
Addendum: One of the reasons for raids in the middle ages was to get the people of whatever area you are raiding to complain to their lord, who would either try to use his own men to do something about it or go to his own lord and request assistance. Because people and land were the basis for wealth, burned crops and stolen/killed villagers were taken seriously by the lords.
If the raiders were sent by an enemy, instead of just being thieves or barbarians or something, the idea was to put pressure on the ultimate ruler or the area. He might be asked to send food to supplement the suffering villages so that his peasants didn't die of starvation. If he did send it that was food he didn't have to withstand a long siege, and if he didn't he had less peasants to farm his land and supply food for the next year. If he had to send soldiers, that was less soldiers to defend his own stronghold, etc.
Basically, raiders were often employed (either directly or indirectly) by an enemy to weaken the rule of an area before the real attack came. If nothing else, your enemy was less rich and less well supplied, which would at the very least affect his plans against you.
>>44517222
>Encumbrance
>Who gives a fuck?
Not me.
>>44517222
God I love these things.
Can somebody tell me why it is that AD&D is generally not OSR, given that it's more than half the age of D&D/RPGs in general?
>>44516885
>>44517549
This is immensely useful. Thank you!
>>44518308
AD&D is definitely OSR!
What is not OSR are those portions of late stage 2e like the point buy class systems in Player Option (some of Player Option is actually quite reasonable, like its fix for the borked probabilities of ability checks). 2e introduced 101 conflicting rulesets, some of them totally bizarre, and many of them mutually incompatible.
>>44518308
it is, it's just most people don't use it these days or Clone it, cause it's a clunky mess compared to OD&D or BX/BECMI/RC D&D
So I made a rough draft of the Saboteur/gun using class.
It's kind of trashy though, I don't know whats wrong with it quite yet but it just doesn't feel right. I'll have to keep tinkering. Hope people don't think its too overpowered though.
>>44518332
>>44518362
I actually forgot to write 2e in there.
>>44518402
yeah. 2e's fine, and most people play AD&D as more like 2e than 1e (as they don't get how much depth is added by 1e's weapon type vs AC and reach vs speed factor thing), but 2e splats are often goofy as hell.
>>44518320
No problem.
So here's something that I have long wondered about all editions of D&D until 3e: what's with the different numbers of xp for advancement based on class?
>>44518431
>1e's weapon type vs AC
Breaks as soon as there's more than one way to reach a given AC.
>>44518503
You're going to get 5 people tell you the exact same thing but I'm going to say it anyways.
Wizards are more powerful the fighters and other classes by design. That's kind of how the game works, and to balance this they made them take longer to level up. The idea is you're supposed to carry this once a day sleep guy around until he can carry the rest of your asses through the adventure. Plus it also kind of makes sense that a researching, careful and studious Wizard takes longer to get more powerful where as a Warrior gets enough gold and practice in and he's good.
>>44518503
Balancing.
>>44518503
Meant as some kind of class balance I think?
>>44518308
I don't think that AD&D is commonly not viewed as OSR. People may be a bit iffy on 2e, since you see some moving away from an old school play style dungeon crawl towards more story-based games, and with skills & powers, towards a more tweaky approach to the rules. But it still uses the same core system, and application aside, it's not that different from 1e.
Now, a fair number of people view Basic as being more authentically old school than AD&D in that it promotes a very improv-heavy play style similar to what existed at the dawn of OD&D. But I don't think you'd find many who would say that 1e isn't actually OSR material.
>>44518513
>Breaks
No. Compared to the plethoras of other things that are screwy or just plain awkward about OSR, or RPGs in general, shield + armor being debatably unrealistic in certain permutations is totally irrelevant.
It isn't even 1% as problematic as how broken longswords are in 2e or BECMI.
>>44518567
No you doof, since it's weapon vs AC, as soon as two different types of armour have the same AC the table stops working.
>>44518521
There isn't a significant difference in how much XP they cost. One could also argue that level 1 is the apex of the wizard's relative power.
>>44518567
>shield + armor being debatably unrealistic in certain permutations is totally irrelevant
It invalidates the whole point of the thing, doesn't it? Why else would I bother with all that fiddly bullshit if not for simulationist reasons? Otherwise, why not do something simple like in pic, or drop the matter entirely?
>>44518594
All the 2e core classes are pretty similar in terms of XP.
>>44518611
>>44518587
It's just bad construction. If they'd put it as weapon vs. armour we wouldn't be having this discussion.
