>Trove -- https://mega.nz/#F!3FcAQaTZ!BkCA0bzsQGmA2GNRUZlxzg!jJtCmTLA
>Useful Shit -- http://pastebin.com/FQJx2wsC
ITT: Post rules, subsystems and mechanics you've created or borrowed from other sources. Beg others for house rules to solve your problems. Argue over what needs house ruling.
Question to get things started: If you were to play Basic and import one single rule, mechanic or subsystem from AD&D, what would it be?
>>47057375
>If you were to play Basic and import one single rule, mechanic or subsystem from AD&D, what would it be?
It's interesting because now that I've asked the question, I realize how little of the material in AD&D I really miss. I do appreciate the wider class selection, but not sure that they collectively qualify as a "rule, mechanic or subsystem", so I'm gonna have to go with the concept of additional attacks for fighters.
>>47057436
The little line underneath explaining the asterisk is pretty important too, don't leave it out.
>>47057514
I'm a bit less fond of that for a few reasons. First, it seems overly arbitrary that I could get six attacks vs. goblins, but only one vs. orcs. Second, it doesn't mix well with the standard multiple attacks. Third, it works better with minute-long rounds (otherwise, you can end up getting 2 attacks per second, which seems a bit excessive), which I dislike for aesthetic reasons--it hurts my sense of immersion for the part we play out to comprise only 1/10 of my character's time. But that's just, like, my opinion, man.
>>47057375
>If you were to play Basic and import one single rule, mechanic or subsystem from AD&D, what would it be?
This is a difficult question to me, because I'm not really sure that there's anything that I'd like from AD&D specifically! I thought that I knew some bits, but I prefer the way those were handled in OD&D/Chainmail better.
Also, most of the bits that I COULD choose from are already part of BECMI in one way or another anyway.
Maybe weapon lengths/speed factor? More ways to differentiate weapons in general, really - I'm firmly of the opinion that you should either have all weapons be the same or else have there be some reason to use more than one weapon. Down with the tyranny of the longsword!
>>47057620
It's originally from OD&D, for what it's worth, where rather than being against <1HD critters it's against "normal men" and those that fight like them, as opposed to fantastic figures like dragons and Fighters. Normal men get clumped together in mass combat while fantastic figures don't, basically.
You get multiple attacks against normals 'cause that's how the Hero worked in Chianmail - they literally fight as four 1:20 figures while being only a single 1:1 character. You don't get multiple attacks against dragons and the like 'cause Fantastic Combat was just a single roll on the Fantastic Combat Table.
Of course, in OD&D it was hella nebulous as to what exactly was a "normal" figure. The prime example is the Gnoll, who has two hit dice (and thus fights like two men) but also has a number appearing of 20-200. That's probably why Gygax codified it like that in AD&D.
> Hexographer
Code: http://pastebin.com/CX5iSpP9
Compiler: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/execute_python_online.php
> Dungeonographer
Code: http://pastebin.com/D363f50k
Compiler: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/execute_python_online.php
Keys (no space):
9677513968766771
1473601234380712
7377690150603089
6972650301521354
7973654397746683
4872683513667526
6873672655809948
> Cityographer
Code: http://pastebin.com/ntHXE5SJ
Compiler: http://www.browxy.com/
NB: this one is different. The key is 8 symbols (works with "-", no need to remove) and keygen code is in Java (i.e. uses different compiler). It was already included in Cityographer itself (don't ask me why).
Keys (no space):
GQP1-MYM2
QE93-UUW4
2GH5-9BS6
52W7-MD18
56Q9-D760
RSPA-W9CB
5JAC-ZI4D
>>47057950
Thank.
>>47057692
I could see the fighter getting, like one free attack vs. a monster with less than 1 hit die or something. That would mix with fixed attacks per melee round they get and there wouldn't be a horrendous gap between fighting goblins and fighting orcs. Also, you wouldn't need minute-long rounds for it to not seem ridiculous.
>>47057950
Amay-zing.
Kudos to you man.
>>47057375
Death at -10 rule from 1E DMG.
Maybe a couple of spells.
>>47057950
You're beautiful and I hope you know this.
>House Rules
Converting AC to DR
>>47058396
Oh, yeah. I sometimes forget that you're supposed to die at 0 in Basic.
>>47057375
Debating on bringing in dead at -10 hp. I'm kind of curious about adding multiclassing or dual classing as well.
>>47058658
Well, elves are basically just fighter / magic-users, so maybe the Basic approach to multiclassing is to simply create new classes to embody various multiclass combinations.
>>47058753
Yeah, that's what I was getting at, potentially letting demihumans dual class as thieves (and maybe clerics).
>>47057950
>>47057978
>>47058359
>>47058416
Someone was asking about some "update" in last thread.
> issues where it says Hexographer needs to update
Not sure what that was about. Either way, keys should work through any updates.
Also. Minor mistake (for those people who are saving keygen code). Last time (>>47037730) everything was correct, but this time I mistyped pastebin link for Hexographer. It should be: http://pastebin.com/T2eLgmkH
I do appreciate a smoothed-out attack progression rather than a jumpy one that advances it fits and stops.
Wasn't sure where to ask this, so I'm gonna ask here since this thread features many systems.
I need some materials/modules that have detailed village descriptions to use as a DM aid. Are there any good ones?
>>47060124
Well, there is "Fief" by Lisa Steele (compilation of historical data about medieval England). Also, I've got Judges Guild's village generators (Village I & II) - should be in Trove.
Can someone skim this series of House Rules I've made for my upcoming Labyrinth Lord campaign and critique?
>>47060124
T1: Village of Hommlett.
L1: The Secret of Bone Hill (Restenford).
B10: Night's Dark Terror (Threshold).
N5: Under Illefarn (Daggerford).
Can I get grimtooth's traps? I've heard there were several editions with a bunch of different stuff. Given the nature of OSR gameplay, I suspect collecting all those might be really useful
Cavegirl:
http://mysteriousearth.net/prehistoric-battlefield-yields-100000-giant-neanderthal-looking-skulls-in-kansas/
Also, check the comments on your blog.
>>47060500
>Player characters must be neutral or good.
You mean neutral or lawful, right?
>2.1. After two turns without sight, other senses become slightly heightened. The success range for a Listen check improves by one.
This is a ridiculous level of detail, IMO. You're never going to be able to make a good reality simulator that's actually a fun, playable game. I'd say go back through, streamlining and simplifying what you can. Whenever possible, see if eliminating a rule or step in a process would really cause you to lose very much, and if not, drop it...
>A player who has been reduced to 0 or fewer HP and then healed to 1 or more HP may attempt to resume combat, rolling 1d6 after declaring actions but before acting. On a 1-4, the character is unable to act and takes 1 point of damage. On a 5-6, he or she is able to act and takes no damage.
Like this. Or having an encumbered character lose 1d6 constitution (or 1d4 hp per HD if a monster), but with a check vs. paralysis halving the damage (as if ability damage weren't obnoxious enough by itself, now we've thrown an extra step into the process).
I will, however, say that there is a mitigating factor, and that's that these are rules for you to use in your own game, which means that you won't need to learn and come to grips with your rules, as you'll already know them. I still think you'd benefit from paring things down, but it shouldn't be an unplayable mess for you. (If I were to play your system, I'd just end up ignoring most of the shit you added, but adding back in at least half the complexity when improvising shit in a way that seemed intuitive to me.)
>>47060500
A bit of an overkill, imo.
> To generate abilities, roll 3d6 three times. Pick any full set (do not mix and match). Assign in
any order.
Too much rolling. 4d6 drop lowest (or 5d6, drop two lowest) would be much faster.
> At level one, players may reroll a 1 or 2 on rolls for HP.
Simply give full HP.
> At subsequent levels, before increasing HP, a player may reroll all of his or her HP
It's easier to "after each level-up, re-roll HP for all levels and use new result if it's higher".
> Alignment
You may drop it altogether or say it's Eberron-style and doesn't matter much.
> Class-Specific Rules
> Thief Skills
Just use Specialist from LotFP.
> Magic Users
> any non-damaging spells
> does not expend a use of the spell if it was prepared.
Make it 10 minutes. (+10 minute per level of the spell, if are feeling nasty - you ARE using those monster encounter rules in dugeons, are you not?)
>>47060500
>>47061416
>At subsequent levels, before increasing HP, a player may reroll all of his or her HP (but may not reroll a 1 or 2 for those HP representing level one. If the new total is higher...
I initially found this a bit confusing, but with a close parenthesis mark, it would probably be clearer. Maybe you should simply mark it with an asterisk and make the comment as more of a footnote, like:
*You do not get to reroll any 1s or 2s this time.
Honestly though, I kind of feel like you could have a very similar system for hit points that was a little easier to explain. Why not just roll all your hit points from scratch and keep your old score if it's higher? Why reroll your current hit dice separately before rolling your newly acquired die? The system isn't bad, it just seems like you could easily cut out a step or two.
>To generate abilities, roll 3d6 three times. Pick any full set (do not mix and match).
I assume you mean players should roll three full sets of attributes and then pick one, but it reads like they should roll up 3 different attributes.
>Penalties caused by encumbrance may apply to some skills, combat, AC, and spell level; the specifics are up to the Referee.
If you're gonna wing it, that's fine, but it's a bit odd to go into the level of detail you do in the encumbrance section only for the actual effects to be undetermined and left to DM fiat.
Anyway, in conclusion, I've probably sounded very critical here, but that's mostly down to a pet peeve about unnecessary complexity or clutter (well, that and the ridiculousness of me going through and telling you every time you didn't fuck something up--I'm obviously going to tend to focus on the things I think need work rather than taking the time to say "Everything's fine with section!"). As I suggested before, the fact that you're the person running this makes an enormous difference with what's workable and what's not, and overall I actually like the overall direction of your rules.
>>47061426
While I agree with your overall thrust towards streamlining things...
>Too much rolling. 4d6 drop lowest (or 5d6, drop two lowest) would be much faster.
And either significantly more powerful or way more powerful. Plus, this isn't something you're doing in the middle of combat or anything, so taking a little extra time is fine. And it gives folks some flexibility as far as character types go, as the higher numbers in the sets are likely to be different. So you might choose to go with the set with the high Dexterity, because you want to play a thief, even if the scores aren't as high overall.
>Simply give full HP.
I don't have a problem with it, except that it makes the next step (rerolling when leveling up) more complicated, because you need a disclaimer.
>Just use Specialist from LotFP.
I haven't mathed the system out, so I can't speak to how well it will work, but it's legit to do thief skills a different way.
>>47061211
Check the trove.
>>47061855
> And either significantly more powerful or way more powerful.
Clarify this bit, please.
> roll 3d6 three times
As far as I understood, you suggest rolling 3d6 three times (choosing the highest) for each ability.
>>47061910
>>47061948
>To generate abilities, roll 3d6 three times. Pick any full set (do not mix and match). Assign in any order.
The second sentence made me conclude that he meant to roll three full sets of attributes, 3d6 straight down the line (and left the full description out of his first sentence).
I should note that part of what I was saying last post--about choosing the set where the high number is in an attribute you like--is actually nonsense, in light of the third sentence in the description ("assign in any order").
>>47057436
>with any thrusting or striking weapon
What does that mean? Isn't every weapon a striking weapon?
>>47062059
I suspect it's "everything except axes".
>>47062059
That... uh... That's a good question. I never really took note of that before. I'm gonna assume it's Gygaxian prose for "any weapon", because what weapon doesn't strike or thrust? I mean, I guess you wouldn't be able to wrestle twice a round, or garrote somebody twice a round...
>>47062110
What? How are axes considered to be the one weapon that doesn't strike?
Man, Gygax loved to fill his writing with the most obscure vocabulary and Latin abbreviations he could find, but he could not write in plain English to save his life.
>>47062200
But you could still wrestle, garrote, or lasso a number of kobolds equal to your level each round.
>>47061416
>>47061712
All taken into account. Thank you!
>>47061426
I was unclear in my description of rolling for stats. Fixed that.
I took your tips into account and did this:
>At level one, players get the maximum amount of HP they could roll (i.e., a Fighter gets 8 plus CON modifier). After this, roll as usual.
>After each level-up, re-roll HP for all levels (including actually rolling for level one) and use the new total if it is higher.
>You may drop it altogether or say it's Eberron-style and doesn't matter much.
I kept it but added a comment that it really only matters for understanding how some spells that detect or protect against certain alignments work.
I'm keeping my thief skills.
>ritual casting
I'll make it 10 minutes per level of the spell. That way level 1 spells are only 10 minutes.
I've been muddling with my homebrewed LotFP/Into the Odd style hack. I plan to keep it level less, and give characters abilities after they devote so many levels in either their skills, spells, or attack bonus. I could use some helf coming up with about 3 or 4 thiefy/specialist tiers.
>>47062992
Forgot the file
>>47062200
A flail?
Looking for some module recs. Something more dungeon oriented, but with some oddities involved. Anything you'd suggest? No megadungeons preferably.
I want to make a kobold city which has been fortified against dwarves, who are the enemies of the kobolds. Because of the nature of caves, where all this is happening, it seems that massive clearings would be uncommon. Instead, I imagine a series of clearings connected by tunnels, with some areas bricked off or just filled with rocks, or with strong iron doors, to control coming and going to/from the kobold city.
The party would be coming from the opposite direction, from which nobody has ever approached the city before because the entrance from the surface is all but unreachable.
How do I depict all this, including a significant kobold civilization, without literally drawing a gigantic cave map and thousands of kobold homes?
In a regular city, it would make sense, but this is structurally different. It also may end up being a place where the party becomes welcome, or could become a site of conflict through which they fight their way as quickly as possible in hopes of finding the dwarves, depending on how they react to the kobolds waving spears at them and yelling "kill the tall dwarf!" in draconic.
>>47062880
> rolling for stats. Fixed
Okay. But my math sense is still tingling. Way too much rolling.
"Roll 3 separate sets of 3d6s for all stats" will give slightly more than 11.5 points on average for each stat. You might as well go for 3d6+1/re-roll 1s, then switch 2 attributes.Or roll 3d6 seven times, then switch 2 sets. Discard 7th set.
>>47063345
This one is highly regarded.
>>47057375
How strict are you guys on finding/disarming traps, and lighting?
>>47057620
That rule looks like something designed for fighting hordes of these enemies, like swarm rules in 3e.
>>47063467
During chargen, one of my players (a newbie to rpgs) was describing her elf. She casually mentioned her bow glowed with an aura. I decided to allow it cause keeping track of torches and shit bores me. It also makes it impossible for her to use stealth.
>>47063424
I like the one in spoiler text. Switched it in. Thanks.
>>47063423
> I want to make a kobold city which has been fortified against dwarves, who are the enemies of the kobolds.
Low ceilings, man. Low ceilings everywhere.
Kobolds are smaller than dorfs (2-2.5 feet tall versus 4-5 feet tall).
> Because of the nature of caves, where all this is happening, it seems that massive clearings would be uncommon.
Depends on what you mean "massive". As long as it can be turned into kill-zone - why not?
I'd say - very few large tunnels that connect everything. Lots of small tunnels (3 feet high, 1 foot wide).
> How do I depict all this, including a significant kobold civilization, without literally drawing a gigantic cave map and thousands of kobold homes?
No idea. But city map should be Top Secret. Anything beyond very few areas (large caverns: market and foreigner dwelling; maybe temple) should be unmapped mess of labyrinthine passages.
If you want some inspiration - check Vietnam tunnels.
>>47063689
That last part actually helps a lot. I'll make a few big nodes connected by big tunnels (with low ceilings anyway) and just describe everything else as little tunnels the party can't fit through, that kobolds have to climb and crawl through.
>>47063467
To me this is part of the core experience, if you don't want that stuff why are you running an old-school dungeon crawl?
Speaking of torch times and whatnot, can anyone provide a good round/turn tracker? I saw one the other day and never saved it.
>>47064118
Here's one. There's a few others floating around.
What's your favorite old school era published setting?
What's your favorite newer published setting that's designed for OSR purposes?
Is allowing a lv. 1 Magic-User and Cleric to start with a prepared spellscroll (with a lv. 1 spell) in addition to their 1-a-day casting spell a bad idea?
Anybody ever run a game in Yoon-Suin? How'd it go?
I know I've asked before, but I'll ask it again, because it's important.
How fucking verisimilitudinous is your goddamn milieu?
Any books with ideas for compelling adventure hooks?
How do I, a man with no previous experience in RPGs or story telling, create a session and be a 'game master'?
>>47065382
Go to the Trove. Download the following books:
>The Role Playing Game Primer and Old School Handbook (probably in the GM Tools folder at the top)
>TSR 2014 - Basic (Moldvay - BX) which is in TSR > Basic D&D > '81 Basic Rules - Moldvay (Bx)
>B2 - The Keep on the Borderlands, which is in TSR > Basic D&D > Basic D&D Modules B Series)
Read the first PDF. Look through the second and third ones. Once you feel you've got a basic idea of how they work, run the third PDF, which is a module (basically an adventure) that is designed both for new players and new DMs, using the rules and such from the second book.
After that, you should be well on your way.
I know it sounds like a lot but it really isn't. You're getting a PDF which explains how RPGs work in general, that will make it easier to understand the other two PDFs. Then you're reading the rules and an adventure, and diving in.
>>47064443
It could be exploited, but as a single use item, it can't hurt all that much. Scrolls are a great way to extend MU power--since you can only carry so many, they serve as a check on the "weird wizard show" of 3.0.
>>47065382
IIRC the 5e DM guide has a nice section on how to GM in general. Older edition DMG's do too, but prose in TSR editions can be needlessly esoteric.
I made a couple of wacko, gonzo Race-As-Classes yesterday night before I went to sleep.
You'll have to excuse the incomplete savage lizard thing, I couldn't think of anything else before I passed out. I might finish or touch these up later, or might not.
Should a magic potion have its full effect despite the amount drank?
>>47067111
Depends on the potion. A B/x potion of invisibility makes you invisible .. uh.. forever.. until you do something that turns it off. OR you can drink one-sixth of it to get a temporary effect.
So the answer is "depends on the potion." If you want it to have a smaller effect if you drink a portion of it, then you need to make a rule about it. If you don't plan on giving them decreased effects then probably not.
How should one think when making a wandering monster table? What HD range should monsters be? Should lower tier monster act a certain way and should higher tier monsters act differently? Should the chance of encounter be the same in any dungeon?
>>47067469
>What HD range should monsters be?
The general rule is to aim for hit dice equal to the current level of the dungeon, but that gets tricky with added abilities and whatnot. Higher-HD monsters should come in smaller numbers while lower-HD monsters should come in larger groups.
>Should lower tier monster act a certain way and should higher tier monsters act differently?
Not necessarily? Just have them act as appropriate for their type and use reaction rolls when in doubt.
>Should the chance of encounter be the same in any dungeon?
Depends on the system. Also, higher encounter chances discourage exploration while lower encounter chances encourage pixel-bitching - there's a lot of fine-tuning to be done there.
When in doubt, you can just change the encounter rate mid-session. Gygax had a bit in the DMG about fucking with poke-every-10ft-with-a-pole players by screwing up the encounter rate to make them hurry up, for instance, although personally I'd recommend something less passive-aggressive.
I remember a site that had about a thousand double-wided papercraft characters to print and use. Anyone have the link?
Any tips on how to come up with good adventure hooks?
>>47069833
You've got to think of something interesting and unique. The reason why people go adventuring is for wealth or some sort of magic item, so there should always be some kind of legend of a reward or treasure of some kind, or problems that would personally effect the party members.
>>47069833
THOSE FUCKER STOLE YOUR SHIT!
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
simple but effect
>>47063320
A flail doesn't strike somebody?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flail
>a : to strike with or as if with a flail <arms flailing the water>
>>47062880
Yeah, I like that better.
>>47062992
>I could use some helf coming up with about 3 or 4 thiefy/specialist tiers.
You're gonna have to explain further or give examples before I understand what you're really looking for.
>I plan to keep it level less
Doesn't this contradict the stuff in the text about gaining levels?
Whats a good first module for level 1-3 characters that provides some kind of town for them to keep interacting with once the adventure is over?
I was thinking of using White Dragon Run, but if any of you know of something else I might go with that instead.
>>47065500
I really wouldn't start with something as sandboxy as B2. Running a more packaged adventure like B3 would be a good deal easier for a noob GM.
>>47065382
Role-playing is really just playing pretend with some dice rolls thrown in. Rules-heavy games can sort of turn into complicated tactical wargames, but you want to avoid those to start out with. You should be spending your time learning the basics of role-playing, storytelling, group management and so forth not, and not wrangling with mechanics 95% of the time. If you search around you can find play-throughs and podcasts of folks playing RPGs (which I personally think are mostly awful and uninspired, but they can at least give you an idea of the basics). But when I first started role-playing, I was in 4th grade, I was the GM, and I just kind of made shit up and rolled some dice, and everybody had fun. Don't overthink shit.
As far as a rules set goes, if you're looking into the D&D family, Swords & Wizardry White Box is a good place to start, or Moldvay Basic (B/x) if you want to play an authentic edition. Something like Barbarians of Lemuria is going to be even easier to get into, or you could go for an ultra-light game that's a few pages at most (something like Risus) to start out with. An ultra-light game probably isn't going to give you a super-long campaign, and your game is more likely to end up being silly, but it can allow you to get a feel for role-playing before you try to tackle a more complex set of rules.
Risus is in the image slot. S&W White Box and B/x are in the Trove.
Barbarians of Lemuria -- https://www.mediafire.com/folder/7llc83r2xf8bg/Barbarians_of_Lemuria_-_Mythic_Edition
>>47072142
>I really wouldn't start with something as sandboxy as B2.
B2 comes in a box intended for ten year olds, granted that only EGG and TSR know what the fuck that means. I DMed my first three games ever running B2, and intend on using it for my 4th. Having a detailed homebase that responds well to customization, (I'm using Vornheim and others) as well as a dynamic dungeon with a bunch of sketchy factions is super helpful. The necessity of schlepping back and forth gives a lot of room to a new DM and the lack of a firm plot allows a new but adult DM plenty of room to build up a campaign. I'm super stoked to get to third level and have the crew head back west on the road and roll into Dolmenwood.
House rules for multiclassing.
>>47072350
Just trying to read through B2 bored me to the point where I couldn't do more than quickly skim over the module and then put it away in favor of something more interesting. It felt like the actual adventure was an uninspired afterthought to the people in and particulars of the keep. Of course, I was young and a noob DM, but that's going to be pretty common. I didn't know what a sandbox is, but it wouldn't have interested me much even if I had. I certainly wouldn't have had the skill to pull one off as a noob. Not sure I really do now either, but then my standards for what makes a good adventure are pretty high. I do know that most of the sandboxy stuff I've played in has been frustrating and boring. I'm convinced it takes a good GM to pull one off, and not merely a passable one.
>>47061317
ooooh
Right now, I'm wresling with getting the cover for a Print version of Wolfpacks ready. The templates are being weird.
I dunno, just sharin' stuff. I like this gonzo spell list.
>>47072405
Updated and expanded with a bit more explication about how the table works and with the option of half-level classes, so multiclass characters don't start off so powerful.
>>47061855
Here's how I do fair attributes.
Get a deck of playing cards (or tarot, or custom made). Your deck has 18 cards in it. Three have a value of 1, three have a value of 2, three have a value of 3, three have a value of 4, three have a value of 5 and three have a value of 6.
Each attribute is generated by drawing three cards from the deck, totalling their values, and then discarding them.
It works out just like rolling 3d6 down the line, but without the risk of getting loads of high or low dice.
>>47063345
Deep Carbon Observatory and The God That Crawls are both pretty good.
>>47062059
Is it to exclude ranged weapons?
>>47073300
>>47073644
>It works out just like rolling 3d6 down the line, but without the risk of getting loads of high or low dice.
You need to weight the cards towards the extremes if you want to end up with a similar distribution. Your chance of rolling an 18 with dice is 1/6 * 1/6 * 1/6 = 1/216. But with cards, because every time you draw a 6 there's one less in the deck, your chance is 3/18 * 2/17 * 1/16 = 1/816. That's almost 4 times less likely. (To look at it another way, once you draw a 6 card for any other attribute, it becomes impossible to get an 18.)
If you want a somewhat similar distribution, you're better off going with either 4 aces, 3 twos, 2 threes, 2 fours, 3 fives and 4 sixes (the top left graph), or 4 aces, 2 twos, 3 threes, 3 fours, 2 fives and 4 sixes (the top right graph), rather than 3 of each (the bottom left).
>>47074368
Hmm. I was thinking it already specified it was melee, but it just says "per melee round", so you're probably right. It's a retardedly vague and confusing way of say "melee weapons" though.
>>47072123
Thunder Rift, and the series of modules that followed, are all based around the eponymous town.
>>47075679
The classes section of the OD&D (LBB) column is wrong. OD&D technically has race distinct from class, so the only classes in LBB OD&D are FM, MU, and Cleric.
>>47075724
Hmm. I didn't even notice that. You are, of course, correct. Without Greyhawk, the demihumans might as well be race-as-class, since there's only one class allowed for each (fighter for dwarves and hobbits, fighter/magic-user for elves), but they are technically separate.
Are there any good rules on running organized crime campaigns?
>>47075724
Greyhawk also introduces demihuman thieves, multiclassed thieves, and various NPC-only Cleric multiclasses.
>>47073300
Here's a Vancian spell list I found before. It's pretty neat.
It's meant for OD&D, I'm pretty sure, hence the scant descriptions and six spell levels.
bump
How does one salvage a "weird earth" campaign? I started one but it's getting boring fast.
>>47078666
What's a weird earth campaign?
>>47078719
Set on normal earth but with weird fantasy elements. Basically what most LotFP modules are about.
I want to add a Medical skill to LotFP. Regular 1-in-6 chance (add INT Mod & Specialist can invest points.) Requires a one-use medkit (which they can buy).
Only thing is, I can't decide on healing factor:
>1d4 per healer level
>1d4 per victim level
or
>1HP per healer level
>1HP per victim level
That aside, should I add potential harm for a failed Roll? Perhaps a flat 1HP in damage? Or nix that altogether?
>>47078869
Ten foot polemic had kind of an elegant rule: you get healed the amount of HP that the healer has skill points in first aid. So a person with 1-in-6 would only heal 1 HP if he rolls a one, but a person with 3-in-6 chance would heal 3 HP if he rolls a one, two or three.
>>47078938
and as a bonus to that, you could make it so that rolling a 6 does some kind of damage to the subject (unless the doctor has 6/6 in the skill, in which case I guess they'd have to roll two sixes). Either you can make the damage the same as the skill level or just roll a 1d6.
>>47079014
Making the damage the same as the skill level would have the weird effect that a good medic has a 1-in-6 chance of hurting you badly and a shitty medic has a 1-in-6 chance of giving you a scratch.
>>47079038
It's true, I guess it's all about how you present it. You could say that a capable medic does more in-depth healing, and as such there's a bigger chance that he fucks up bad once he does.
But it was mostly a suggestion. I don't play with that rule myself.
>>47078938
>>47078938
That's pretty simple, I like it. I will have to make sure they understand that it's only effective for physical injury and not any of the saving throw Magical/Poison/Breath Damage.
I think I'm gonna nix failed roll damage. Seems kinda too much. You either did an effective patch-up job, or you didn't.
How much time would you make it take? One full turn?
>>47078869
If the healer has to roll to successfully heal, then it seems like his expertise / badass-ness has already come into play. I'd go with the... uh... 'victim' level. 1d4 seems a bit overly generous, especially for characters with d4 hit dice, where's it's basically healing them 100% of their maximum hit points on average. So out of those choices, I'd go with 1 hp / target level.
>>47078938
That seems a bit underwhelming for higher level characters.
What about if you multiply your die roll, if it succeeds, by the tens digit of your target's maximum hit points (minimum of 1)?
>>47078869
>>47079119
Can you post the one where the blond one is standing on a battlefield covered in blood? And are there any more besides that one?Why do I find her so damn attractive/weirdly endearing?
>>47079136
I thought the same about the higher-level character thing, but then I decided that a patch-up job while adventuring isn't meant to significantly bring your HP up so much as keep you from flatlining. That's the Cleric/Potion/Rest's job.
>>47079164
Yes.
>>47079119
One turn sounds good to me.
>>47079136
I think that could work for high level campaigns, but I suppose it depends on how good one wants the first aid skill to be. If it becomes better than cleric heals then it feels a bit overpowered to me.
>>47078666
>>47078784
That's kind of a broad question to ask. What's the problem, exactly?
>>47079179
>>47079182
>If it becomes better than cleric heals then it feels a bit overpowered to me.
Okay, let's say we have 9th level characters. The fighter, tougher than most characters, has about 41 hit points. The healer, with 4 points in medical skills goes to heal him. If you go by the "heal your roll, if successful, times the target's tens digit" mechanic, the fighter is healed an average of 6 2/3 hit points (taking into account the chance of failure). Meanwhile, a 9th level cleric with cure light wounds will heal him an average of 12.5 hit points, and that's a 1st level spell.
>>47079305
Granted, if the healer's medical score was 6, he'd heal the fighter an average of 14 hit points, which is marginally higher than the cleric's spell, but again, that's a 1st level spell we're talking about, and it'd do the healing in the course of a melee round, as opposed to however long bandaging and so forth took the healer: ten... fifteen minutes?
How would you guys go about fixing the Thief, i.e. making them somewhat comparable to the other classes?
I'm currently looking at Swords & Wizardry Complete and thinking i'll give them 1D6 hit dice and 15%+ in the percentage skills from higher Dex.
Still feels like they're really missing something though.
I'm interested in running Scarlet Heroes for my friend and was wondering if there was anything specific people have found about using old modules. I was thinking of running something from the Basic series like Keep On The Borderlands or The Lost City, although the Veiled Society seems cool too.
It seems pretty straight forward to convert but any advice would be handy.
Thanks
>>47079305
>>47079385
You're making a good case, but I'd like to see some more calculations on how this would work with classes of different levels and with different amounts of HP. I feel like it could be all over the place in regards to if it's too strong or not.
>>47079947
I posted this... last thread? The thread before that? It reduces the thief's chance of failure by 1/3, which is what you'd get if you use thief skills as saving throws (like some claim they were intended) after failing an ordinary check of, in this case, 1-2 on a d6. Honestly, I still think they look a bit anemic at low level, but if you gave them bonuses due to tasks generally being easier in low level dungeons (primitive locks and such), that could help. You could also give a +5% bonus for each +1 dexterity modifier.
>>47080779
Sounds good. I think i'll use this instead of the dex bonus and combine it with 1D6 HD and giving them the same Attack table as Fighters.
>>47079179
I think this is the best concept of a Medical skill for LotFP. Not "I'm a doctor and can make you tip top in 10 minutes" but "i'm going to keep you from dying until we get you a Cleric/physician/potion." Its almost like the Phoenix Down in Final Fantasy. It can get you back on your feet, or at least unconscious, but the HP provided isn't to substantial, especially as you level.
I'd do 1 HP per Skill level. 3-in-6? 1, 2, or 3 roll heals 3HP.
>>47080356
Honestly, I have to say that I'm a bit leery myself, but mostly about the ramping power of skill points. A 4 medical skill ends up being more than three times as good as a 2 medical skill since not only do you succeed twice as often, but you also have the opportunity to succeed bigger (with 3 and 4 results healing more than would be possible for a person with 2 medical skill). What if instead you made two different skill checks, giving you a range of 0 to 2 successes? For every success, you'd heal somebody an amount equal to 1 + 1/10 their max hit points (in other words, their 1 greater than the tens digit of their hit points).
The table here shows you how that would shake down. The cure light wounds assumes they're being healed by somebody of their same level. The values under the medical skills represent the average number of hit points the characters (with average hit points for their classes) would be healed.
>>47081093
Alternately, you could just do one check and have it heal 1d6 hit points plus an extra 1 for every 10 hit points they have. That means that that 9th level fighter with 41 hit points would be healed 7.5 hit points on a successful check as compared to an automatically successful 12.5 with cure light wounds.
Or you could make it heal 1d6 + target's Hit Dice, which would make it equivalent to Cure Light Wounds except A) you could fail your skill check, and B) it would take significantly more time and require supplies.
>>47081198
What about pips rolled x Healer Level? Skill level just increases the success rate, but the actual number rolled x healers level is HP restored.
>>47081294
>What about pips rolled x Healer Level?
Too powerful. If the healer is 10th level and you rolled a 5, that's 50 hit points. Also...
>Skill level just increases the success rate, but the actual number rolled x healers level is HP restored.
If I understand you correctly, skill level is still increasing the amount you can heal, because a skill level of 2 only succeeds on a die roll of 1 or 2 (for an average healing on a successful roll of 1.5 x level), while a skill level of 4 succeeds on a 3 or 4 as well (which allow greater healing, bring the average healing on a successful roll up to 2.5 x level).
>>47079164
The name's Alice.
The old M-U (the one covered in slime in >>47079119 is Melissa)
>>47080832
I was thinking of the Dex bonus combining with that table, rather than replacing it, but regardless, it's an improvement.
As far as attack scores and HD go, remember that a thief is usually going to be about half a level ahead of a fighter due to lower XP requirements. That's not a huge deal, but it is something to take into account.
As far as buffing thieves goes, you could always give them some sort of thief-y special power somewhere around mid-level (pic related).
>>47081415
Right, but instead of the highest possible outcome every time you get variables. A lv. 2 PC with 3-in-6 medical could heal either 2, 4, or 6 HP.
If a healer is 10th level and even has the option to roll a 5, that means they were a specialist who dedicated points to invest medicine.
I'm terrible with numbers tho, so I'm sure theres an over-powered flaw to this. What's the average HP for the classes at lv. 10?
>>47081674
>What's the average HP for the classes at lv. 10?
A cleric or specialist is going to have around 33-34 hit points on average, fighters more, magic-users less.
Under your scheme, a 10th level specialist with a skill of 5 will heal an average of 25 hit points, and that's taking into account his chance to fail (he'll heal an average of 30 hit points on a success). By contrast a 10th level cleric casting cure serious wounds (a 4th level spell) on a 10th level target will heal him an average of 23.5 points.
>>47081902
What's the average HP for classes at level 10 in 3.5?
It's been years since I've played 3.5 but I feel like it was drastically higher than that.
Going to run a game of Labyrinth Lord (Revised Edition) for some friends Sunday. One has played Pathfinder a bit. The others have never played a tabletop RPG. All of them play board games and video game RPGs.
I'd like to run a module first, then move on to something of my own.
What's a module that will blow their fucking minds? I don't care what it's actually made for, as long as it's easily compatible with LL.
>>47081992
Hit dice are one step higher for everybody but magic-users in AD&D and 3e (so a cleric has d8 HD rather than the d6 they do in Basic). Additionally, stats are considerably higher in 3e, and modifiers progress more quickly (having a 14 in 3e is about like having a 12 in Basic, and a 14 in 3e gives you a +2 modifier, while a 12 in Basic gives you nothing). So with an average constitution (and no min-maxing involved), a cleric in 3e is going to be getting an average of 5.5 hit points per level rather than the 3.5 he'd be getting in Basic.
>>47082099
1. RAVENLOFT
2. RAVENLOFT
3. RAVENLOFT
4. B2
5. RAVENLOFT
>>47082099
ASE for Labyrinth Lord is great. Gonzo fantasy-scifi megadungeon. Its in the trove.
>>47081902
Gotcha. Thanks for the rundown. I'm sticking with this one: >>47079179
What does gonzo mean in the context of OSR? I know what it means in the context of Hunter S. Thompson and muppets, but not here.
>>47082437
It means dwarves finding laser rifles in the ruins of the wastelands while vampire badger-men build a time machine to domesticate dinosaurs.
>>47082437
It means dwarves finding laser rifles in the ruins of the mutated wastelands while vampire badger-men build a time machine to domesticate dinosaurs.
>>47082601
>>47082567
Oops.
>>47077193
ACKS probably has some rules on thieves guilds, but you might be better off reading up on actual organized crime shenanigans, and designing play around that.
FWIW it shouldn't be all that complicated if the financial and legal system of your world isn't complicated. You don't need money launderers if there's no IRS watching your revenue stream.
If you want to abstract mass gang wars and the like, a different system with more robust domain simulation might suit you better.
>>47082437
High-octane kitchen sink. Literally throw everything in, disregard pretentions of "realism", "narrative coherence".
>>47082601
>>47082649
For what it's worth, I instantly thought of Gamma World from your first post without the picture.
>>47082437
Cavemen worshipping dinosaur gods while battling aliens with valuable rocket launchers. Neo-Africa is infested with kung-fu werewolves armed with mind bullets and the elves are terraforming the moon.
>>47082732
>>47082601
Module recs? This is my kinda shit.
>>47082808
Well, there's always this one.
>>47077193
I'd recommend skipping OSR and using Blades in the Dark for an organized crime campaign. OSR is great for dungeon crawling, but for that kind of campaign it's a stretch even to call OSR barebones.
In Stargazer, the treasure at the end uses gold standard, while LotFP changed to silver afterwards. Can someone give me a conversion of the reward at the end?
Silver Standard as per LotFP.
1gp = 50sp
50sp = 500cp
Gold Standard Treasure:
2,428gp. 10,641sp. 57,642cp.
>>47084501
Stargazer is the first module and predates the silver standard in LotFP, so just swap gold out with an equal amount of silver.
>>47084622
Yes, but does that mean SP becomes CP? what do I do about all those copper pieces from the gold standard?
>>47082808
Anomalous Subsurface Environment (ASE), Tower of the Stargazer, Carcosa, World of the Lost, and basically all DCC modules.
>>47084622
I wish I realized this before I ran it, like an idiot I let all four players get to level 2 just for managing to escape the tower with some bottles of wine.
>>47073296
Gave you a plug the other day. Not much, but maybe it gave your traffic a boost.
>>47084662
I'd switch the module's silver to copper, and divide the module's copper by 10 and tack it on.
So 2,428 sp, 16405 cp.
Alternatively, turn the copper into 115 gold pieces on top of the silver. So 115 gold, 2,428 sp, 10641 cp.
>>47084723
Well one of the copper treasures in the tower is supposed to be sort of a trick since it is inconvenient to carry right? I don't think converting those to gold is a good idea.
>>47084723
So roughly 2460sp as a lump unit, correct?
>>47084825
Yeah, but unless you want to invent a "brass piece" or something, it's not feasible to map it 1:1. I'd leave it as a giant pile of silver, but I suggested the alternate method if he wanted to add more variety at the cost of being rather generous.
>>47084861
Okay, let's step through this, since I messed up above, converting the copper into module silver without the 10:1 translation between module silver and LotFP silver.
If you convert the original treasure all to gold pieces, the total is 4068.52 gp.
2428 gp in gold
1064.1 gp in silver
576.42 gp in copper
Okay, now we swap out gold 1:1 for silver
2428 sp in silver
1064.1 sp in copper (10641 pieces copper)
576.42 sp in "brass" coins. (5764 copper pieces, 576 silver, or a little over 1 gold piece )
>>47084865
I think if I would run the module again, I would keep that treasure chest as 10000 cp, just because I don't think the players will bother with it, but if they actually manage to take it with them then they deserve that 1000 sp.
>>47084501
There's an updated version of Stargazer that uses the silver standard.
>>47085069
Oops, should read: "a little over 10 gold pieces)"Guess I shouldn't math when I'm sick.
>>47084339
>Blades in the Dark
That's not out yet, right? Care to share the latest PDF?
>>47085316
Not that anon but..
What's the best way to run an Underdark campaign?
I'm thinking a pointcrawl
>>47085799
I'd concur; pointcrawl is probably the best choice for representing a maze of underground tunnels and galleries and things.
>>47085799
By stealing heavily from Deep Carbon Observatory and FalseMachine's blog.
>>47085825
>>47085799
Is there a good guide on how to point crawl?
>>47086402
http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/search/label/pointcrawling
>>47057375
>If you were to play Basic and import one single rule, mechanic or subsystem from AD&D, what would it be?
Obviously the RHT
>>47086539
You're one sly pimp, friend
Anyone saw a pdf of the Original (74) Supplement V Carcosa book? I'm talking the one with that cover, pre-censorship.
Also asking on the pdf request thread.
>>47087285
Here: https://mega.nz/#fm/BdhngTAb
>>47087407
not that anon, but it doesn't seem to work for me.
>>47087407
>https://mega.nz/#fm/BdhngTAb
that anon, me neither.
>>47087285
What was censored in the second printing?
>>47087740
In the Expurgated version, he removed all details of the rituals, only specifying that they require a human sacrifice. I like the detailed grisly rituals, as they evoke a very bleak setting (even tho I plan on running it gonzo and fantastic) which make Sorcerers absolute assholes instead of just "ooh evil wizard".
Plus the specifics make X ritual harder to perform than Y, if you need seven twenty year old virgin Blue Women, it'll be harder than getting two newborn Purple Boys.
>>47087801
LotFP version does have one more encounter per hex, totalling 800 encounters, but it lacks a few OD&D touches, like the alignment chart, and I'd like to have the saving throw tables and such for the correct game since I use the LBBs.
>>47087579
>>47087638
New link here: https://mega.nz/#!1JIDBYYa!tcTXVETD8kGqx7_h-P9S9mvigORla8zDPa-yBgNSEVg
Hey anons.
I was reading up on morale rules in various OSR games.
Do you use morale/loyalty checks? Any stories related to that? For whatever reason I always ignored those rules and I'm thinking of trying them out. Do you roll for the morale of combat ready retainers any time they go into a fight, when one of them falls, or what?
I'm curious why LotFP calls for a roll of 2d6 instead of d12 (aside from sticking it to the Big Dice Lobby fat cats)--does this change the dynamic much?
>>47089023
> Do you use morale/loyalty checks?
Yes. Morale/loyalty checks and reaction rolls are a huge part of how I run things. The latter often determines if there will be a fight in the first place and the former usually decides when it ends. Very few monsters will fight to the death if they have an option. I usually roll morale the first time someone dies on a team, and again when they are at half-power (so everyone on the team very injured, or half of them dead, whatever). I might also roll for a single monster individually if they are cut off from their friends or something. NPCs who beat the roll twice fight to the death.
Loyalty and morale are also a huge part of how I run retainers/hirelings/henchmen. If you want your dudes to do something dangerous for you, you need to roll. If they are fighting in combat, they roll just like NPCs do to see if they flee, etc. It's a very simple and useful tool for fairly abstracting NPCs and keeping your players from taking advantage of them.
> I'm curious why LotFP calls for a roll of 2d6 instead of d12
Almost certainly for probability sake. 2d6 means a bell curve with most results leaning towards the center. I thought B/x did that as well, but I could be misremembering.
>>47088549
Thanks anon! Awesome.
>>47089023
I love morale & loyalty, and I think they're essential, as one of the main stats revolves around that mechanic.
I roll for morale the Chainmail way, meaning few fights are to the death because losing a huge side of your troops means retreat. Retainers make reaction check whenever I feel like it or don't have a ready answer for the situation.
Every D&D I've known since 1974 has been using 2D6 for morale/reaction.
Welp. Another game night, another cancellation. Being the GM sucks sometimes.
>>47090777
Are you me?
>>47090788
I gotta be honest, this was for a super valid reason. Buuuut, ya can't help being bummed when you've spent all week prepping and being stoked.
>>47090926
I've been doing cancellation hopping for a couple months now. For every four games we were supposed to play, we maybe got one done.
>>47090777
>>47090926
>>47091079
>Enjoy OSR games
>Working on my homebrew
>Finally get some interested folks together
>Mfw just confirmed that I will be starting a second job
>>47091366
I feel ya dude. All work no play makes anon something something
>>47091366
I got that first half, though I'm stuck working 6 days a week, with little time to finish my science-fantasy homebrew. It doesn't help that I can't nail down exactly how I want to do attributes, which directly influences how I want to model classes, races, and the rest of the PC statistics. Currently, I have two ideas:
One) Reduce attributes down to just the modifiers, and split them with Might, Agility and Vitality as Physical and Wit, Cunning and Will as Mental. Health Points would be a racial base (to be changed per race) plus the sum total of all Physical stats (positive and negative), while Psionic Points would be much the same, but with Mental stats. Classes may end up a bit more freeform under this system, maybe even borrowing some inspiration from the Pie System from Neoclassical Geek Revival to allow players to pick and choose what they'd like to play.
Two) I could ape the stats from a game, having Strength and Vitality modify physical damage, Technique and Resistance modify magical damage, Agility affect both initiative and evasion, and a Luck stat for modifying saving throws, recovering from status effects and applying secondary effects from both spells and special maneuvers. Classes would then be a bit more rigid, and the possibility of talent trees would come into play. Multi-classing would also be feasible, though power restrictions (as well as stat spreads) would need to be baked in as well.
Both concepts have their merit in my eyes, though I'm actually kinda leaning more towards the first option (if only because it's a little more unique, and not stealing from video games, at least not as blatantly as the second).
Running some LotFP tonight, any recommendations? I've only had some experience running Tower of the Stargazer. Wanna know some stuff that might be good to keep in mind.
>>47091825
Everyone will say Death Frost Doom.
>>47091909
Because DFD is pretty awesome.
>>47091800
It's hard to judge without knowing all the particulars, but I like the way the first one sounds.
>>47091825
I really like Thulian Echos, but it works better as part of a campaign you've already set up.
>>47091909
DFD is pretty cool, but again, works better as a plot point adventure for setting up a campaign where the players's fuck up the world in DFD and then make new characters trying to unfuck it. Because their first characters are probably all kinds of dead.
A Single Small Cut or Tales Of The Scarecrow are interesting mini adventure that can get a party together and set the tone of weird bad world. Everyone's sheltering in the church or farm for various mundane reasons, then stuff goes down.
Has anyone ever experimented with LotFP by granting other classes the chance to learn skills? Or maybe just one skill?
For example, to allow the fighter to play more of a ranger type.
I'm wondering if that would overshadow the Specialist.
I like how clean the class roles are, but I'm curious how GMs would handle a player who wants to (for example) play a fighter with some background knowledge (like maybe a barbarian type, with Bushcraft, or an assassin with Stealth).
>>47082437
you know with some minor adjustments Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas would make for an excellent D&D adventure
>>47093733
In Green Devil Face #5 (I think) Raggi proposes a new system for leveling up where one would roll on a table to see what bonuses one gets. Fighters would be more likely to get fighting bonuses and magic users would be more likely to get magic bonuses but everyone has a chance to get skill points just like the specialist. Check it out.
>>47085799
Night Below and D1-3.
>>47091825
God That Crawls
Better than any man
>>47078869
Just make it whatever the medic rolled on the skill check to pass the test. Eg. Roll a 2 on a 3in6 test, heal 2.
>>47093733
it already has Halflings learning bushcraft and stealth. So long as no class is as flexible and strong with skills as the specialist, you're fine.
Help.
I'm running a game in a few hours and literally have nothing prepared due to my laptop breaking down.
Anyone got a one page dungeon with some heavy gonzo for first level characters at hand? It should fit in with ASE, but I can adjust on the fly
You could just use a little dungeon map, randomly roll up some monsters and reverse engineer a premise from that. Or use a thematic map like this one and stock it appropriately.
>>47096049
Ctrl + F: "Gonzo".
http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=2419
http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=1257
>>47096209
>>47096049
Here's a page with a bunch of 5-room dungeons. I can't speak to how good they are, but even if they're lame, I'm betting you could get some decent inspiration out of them.
https://roleplayingtips.com/5-room-dungeons/
>>47096049
>>47079947
I remove the thief.
Thereby, making everyone the thief.
Suddenly, my class-based system no longer tries to shoe-horn in a skill-based system that implies that no one else can accomplish those same skills.
If a player says to me, "But what if I want to play a Thief?"
I respond, "Then steal something."
>>47096555
how do you handle a player who wants to play a stealthy character? Sneaky cunning daredevil who's not much good in a fight is a pretty normal archetype in fantasy - how would I play one of them?
The thief's specific mechanics might not have turned out the best, but the archetype is one that probably ought to be supported.
>>47094173
I kinda want to do my own Underdark, more Gygaxian Realism than Mythic Underworld
>>47096996
By playing them in a stealthy way and sneaking around to get surprise attacks and backstabs?
Hell, in some early editions there's even a slight incentive to NOT armor up - plate weighs a ton and slows you down, after all. Combine that with some lighter weapons (one-handed swords, or perhaps a bow?) and you're pretty much all the way there.
>>47096996
It is supported. Every class in OD&D can sneak and move silently. That's what the Surprise Roll is for.
If a player wants to play a sneakier, cunning type of character I tell them to put their higher stats in Intelligence and Dexterity and to buy light armor then simply describe themselves doing those things.
The heavier armored characters have to actually remove their mail or plate to sneak.
The only thing in fantasy fiction that isn't covered by this is something like the Gray Mouser's ability to use certain spells or read from scrolls, but this could probably just as well be explained as him being a Fighter with some levels of Mage.
In my game there are these classes: Fighter, Magic User, Dwarf, Halfling and Elf. Magic Users have access to the cleric spell list, and magic is generally divided between White (healing, protection, nature), Gray (mind control, scrying, etc) and Black magic (destructive power, necromancy).
The Elf class basically replaces the Cleric as a martial/spellcaster hybrid class. The ability to turn undead works in combination with their connection to life/nature.
Every class in the game can do anything a thief could do, either through rolling Ability Scores or rules already present in the game.
>>47097431
>If a player wants to play a sneakier, cunning type of character I tell them to put their higher stats in Intelligence and Dexterity and to buy light armor then simply describe themselves doing those things.
Does a higher intelligence or dexterity actually mechanically translate into being sneakier the way you run it?
>>47098004
In my game sneaking is a matter of saying you are trying to sneak, hiding behind cover, and not wearing armor or performing loud actions. Then I make a roll to see if you surprise the enemy.
Dexterity and Intelligence do not factor into this, but I do for example make characters make Dexterity checks when they attempt to perform acrobatics, balance across beams/tight ropes, etc. Likewise, Intelligence rolls are called for when a character tries to remember something the player forgot, or when some tidbit of academic knowledge is asked, to see if the character might know it.
>>47098264
>>47097431
>>47098004
>>47097374
I always bump into something of a conceptual problem when you remove thieves, specifically in that Fighters, Clerics, and Magic-users are extremely strong archetypes but each is basically defined by a specific ability.
Fighters specialize in combat.
Clerics have divine powers (though they aren't bad in a fight either)
Magic-users.. uh. Use Magic.It was originally Fighting Man, Cleric, Magic User. ...Why is cleric not ..God Invoker or something? You're fucking up the scheme
I can very easily imagine characters that don't want to fit into any of those molds very well. Thief (particularly in the LotFP Specialist conception) makes a great catch-all for quite a few other concepts.
>>47098724
>It was originally Fighting Man, Cleric, Magic User. ...Why is cleric not ..God Invoker or something? You're fucking up the scheme
'Cause "Fighting Man" is a term taken from old pulp fiction - either Conan or Tarzan, I think, although I might be wrong.
Magic-User also kind of fits as a greater more all-encompassing title that they can fit Wizards and Sorcerers and Necromancers into. (Gygax invented the term, to my knowledge, since it's in Chainmail's decription of the Wizard - Wikipedia says that he did it because it's a more neutral term unaffected by cultural connotations, as opposed to something like "Warlock", but [citation needed].)
Clerics, meanwhile, are called that since it's a fairly generic term for religious leaders. Don't ask me why the level titles jump through so many religions, though. Catholic Bishop to Buddhist Lama to Orthodox Patriarch.
>>47099015
Autistic nitpicking incoming: Roman Church technically still has some Patriarchs (of Lisbon, for example).
>>47099015
I hearby declare that the Cleric class shall be renamed God Botherer to better fit the naming scheme.
>>47099015
Maybe a carryover from the wargaming days? Perhaps any creature that could cast a spell was a "magic user".
>>47099161
A damn sight better than "god invoker", at least. It has history and everything.
>>47099212
Who knows. Here's where Chainmail used the term:
>(Adjust all dice scores by the lesser value
of weaker magic users.)
Note also that it's in the section for Wizards (including Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Magicians).
It's a somewhat logical term, to be fair - magic users are users of magic. It wouldn't surprise me if someone used it before.
Cleric in my LotFP party has a bunch of dogs. I rolled moral/loyalty scores for all of em. Should those scores increase as he levels implying them becoming more "trained"? How would you do it?
>>47099576
> How would you do it?
I wouldn't roll Loyalty for dogs, but give them all 7 (provided they are guard dogs). Basic dog (the 1sp ratcatcher terrier version) would get 5 for morale.
By the end of adventure (that had "everybody dies, tentacles everywhere" moment) all dogs get loyalty check to run away from this nutjob of a master and never come back.Even dogs have brains.
Those that stay get some upgrades. +1 to morale sounds reasonable.Probably, will add description "foaming out of the mouth" if morale goes beyond 10.
>>47099766
But any time he commands a dog to sic someone or walk into a sketchy room, I should be rolling for M/L to see if they listen, yes?
>>47099766
>>47099938
No offense, but it's a fucking dog. If it's a guard dog especially I wouldn't have it roll loyalty.
Gif related. Trained attack dogs are stupid brave.
>>47100019
Not either of those anons, but I'm going to disagree, at least with your example.
I don't think a dog can actually understand a gun as a threat, and it's certainly abstract enough of a threat that it can be trained around. I don't know if I would ever have an attack dog make a morale test against a normal human enemy.. but against monsters? That's a language dogs can understand. If anything, animals are more attuned to supernatural crazy bullshit than humans are and tend to be more likely to spook than humans.
If you're sending an attack dog to attack a gibbling horror, I'm making it roll loyalty not to be overwhelmed by the pure animal instincts that scream "fuck this" with every fiber of its being.
>>47100019
This is my line of thought. You really think every dog is going to approach a tower being struck by lightning every minute? Or attack a giant spider when you command it? Naw. Hence individual moral/loyalty scores. Some are simply braver than others.
I think basic shit like walk into a room as trap-fodder or fetch something or attack a human can be done without a check, but anything that's pitting it VS visible/audible terror should be rolled for.
>>47093294
Can you or anyone else recommend a follow up to DFD, I am running a DCC campaign though but most of this stuff is interchangeable. I'm not limiting myself to a specific line but obviously based on what I hear some really game altering shit goes down.
When running a DCC module with LotFP or B/X, how do you tackle the DC checks? D20 over DC+appropriate ability mod or a simple d20 under ability roll?
>>47102203
How do DC checks work in DCC?
>>47102463
Basically the Judge decides the difficulty (5=easy, 20+=insanely difficult) and the PC rolls a d20+mods against it.
For skills where the character would have no knowledge of it/how to do it they roll a d10.
I remember reading about this in AD&D 2e AGES ago and fell in love but it felt like it was super unfinished.
Where would I go to read more about it/update it to make it work?
>>47099938
> But any time he commands a dog to sic someone or walk into a sketchy room, I should be rolling for M/L to see if they listen, yes?
Nah. You don't have "Animal Handling" as a skill, so there is no point in making it worse than it should be.
Assume the dogs follow orders, unless TENTACLES (in this case - Morale checks). I'd say, biting a zombie or skeleton is no problem. But Raggi's weird crap (shoggoth-like "God that Crawls", for example) would definitely require Morale check.
>>47100019
I disagree. Dogs might be on the dumb side, but they aren't suicidal (unlike horses). It's just their handlers know how to use dogs properly to avoid/suppress all the instincts that might kick in and tell doggie "that's a BAD idea" or "it's time to run for the hills".
However, training dogs to deal with extreme violence from outer space is a bit improbable. Dogs might learn through experience, but that would require getting said experience the hard way.
>>47057620
1 attack for each experience level? It's so bad i can't even wrap my head around it. These creatures are weak so you can attack ten times in six seconds,,, what if you want to attack a higher HD creature in the middle of your attack frenzy? Please dont answer i couldnt care less, Gygax was truly garbage, glad he's dead
Does anyone know a good tavern setpiece or adventure i could steal it from.
Planning a campaign centered around a tavern and I want some supplements to really make that place seem alive.
>>47102553
There's no reason you couldn't use the same mechanic with B/X.
If, however, you wanted to convert to a roll-under system, then just subtract the DC from 21 to get your target number. Subtract your ability modifier from this target number then roll. So a DC of 10 on an Intelligence-based check turns into a target number of 11 or under minus your Int Mod. For an unskilled roll, simply make it 16 - DC instead of 21 - DC. Alternately, just use the same target number (21 - DC) but you must take the worst of two rolls.
>>47103353
I figured I could use the same. I just didn't know if suddenly having a DC check in an adventure would throw them off.
>>47102985
AD&D used minute-long rounds (which I'm not fond of, but it doesn't seem as silly when it comes to this particular thing), and you could only attack < 1 HD monsters if you wanted the greater attack rate.
>>47103147
A lot of games have little Crousing tables, rolling on them and having those results happen to NPCs and be the starting point for a plot could work. But I don't many supplements that do Taverns well.
>>47103422
I DM fiat enough weird shit that I don't think my players would bat an eye. Others might find it a bit odd, but I can't see it actually being a problem.
Going to be running a game for my sister, her boyfriend, and two of their friends soon.
This is what I know:
>three of them have never played tabletop RPGs before
>all of them like fantasy
>my sister is resistant to wacky gonzo shit
>they aren't really fans of the idea of race-as-class
>at least one of them is a stickler for IP and won't play if he can't get a free PDF of the rules from the official site (I might use a module or setting from the Trove though)
What BD&D clone should I run?
>>47103930
You could do Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion or Basic Fantasy.
>>47104008
Thinking of going with LL:AE. Thanks.
Should I run Red Tide?
bump
>>47104285
>Should I run Red Tide?
Yes, but not for that party of beginners. It's sandboxy, it substantially changes core classes, and it's better appreciated by people who have something to which they can contrast it.
Don't know if this applies to these threads but anybody try to use OSR modules with Torchbearer? I really wanna try the game out but I have a lot of modules on the back burner begging to be played too. Two birds one stone and all.
How did it go?
>>47106089
I haven't, but it's an applicable question.
I found this in a garage sale. I don't really play TTRPG but I've been meaning to, plus it was a dollar. Is there anything interesting in here?
>>47107308
>Is there anything interesting in here?
So much so that people mine it for ideas for games that don't even use AD&D rules.
>>47064155
I want you to know that I love you, you glorious bastard. Thank you.
>>47066225
It's okay. The bug people alone, and the inspiration for my own games totally made that worth saving. Thanks for sharing.
>>47067111
I would think this is something that you should make a ruling on for your own game, but some ideas/guidelines:
1.) A potion must be entirely consumed in order for it to take effect, or else it is wasted.
2.) A partial dose of a potion causes an effect that has a shorter duration or a lessened effect depending on the % consumed (either one, but I wouldn't do both personally).
3.) The potion functions normally, but bear in mind that this means potions gain a LOT more utility, and the party might use partial doses more frequently, rather than hoarding them.
But... you could always introduce a chance that they'll spoil and become useless (backwash, mouth bacteria, etc.) if they do this.
Obviously, you should be upfront about what interpretation you've chosen.
>>47107308
It's one of the best DM resources you'll ever have.
That said, the editing is really bad, and the tables kind of flow into one another. Could have used more white space. Gygax is kind of smug and passive aggressive in his suggestions for applications of certain rules... but the random dungeon generator is gold, and there's a ton of other stuff that you can use for all sorts of things.
For example, a random page flip turns up a table for Language Determination. Percentile dice. Everything from Brownies, to Nagas, to Xorn are represented.
As someone who played a few old school games when I was a kid, but never DMed...
1. Why is poison considered chaotic and/or evil?
2. What the fuck was the point of alignment languages?
3. Why does changing alignment make you less bad at what you do (ignoring clerics and paladins)? If I'm good at fighting with a sword, why would changing worldviews make me worse with a sword? Am I constantly mulling over my beliefs when I should be fighting?
Building a City for my players to be able to visit in between shit.
Used Vornheim and stole a map from City-State. Any suggestions?
Caithen - 'Lost Side' District (ie. my Lankhmar/New Crobuzon mashup.)
>>47057375
>If you were to play Basic and import one single rule, mechanic or subsystem from AD&D, what would it be?
Random harlots table from dmg
Any good resources for interesting takes on kobolds?
>>47104285
Keep on the Borderlands is always a great way to go.
>>47108740
I can't tell you for sure, but here's some musings on your questions:
1.) Probably because a Noble/Honorable person wouldn't stoop to poison (it's classically been considered unfair, or the tool of a villain, or just excessively cruel. In myth, poison is associated with snakes - and in Western myth in particular, snakes are evil, deceitful, and dangerous).
2.) No fucking idea. Honest. There's some justification regarding religious languages, but in the context of the game they're not only useless. Ex: It's rude to initiate conversations with them, and if the person isn't the proper alignment, they won't understand anyway. Worse, you aren't supposed to converse in the language with someone you know for SURE is the same alignment as you in the presence of others - like the rest of your party. So... unless you have a spell or item that detects your specific alignment and lots of others share it, it's kind of an extraneous thing bolted onto the game that doesn't really do anything. I say chuck it and never look back.
3.) I'd guess that it's some sort of existential angst distracting the character, but I think it really exists only to punish players who can't stick to an alignment (or a DM's particular interpretation of alignment).
Which likely explains why Chaotic Neutral became the alignment of choice for many people. Personally, I do away with alignment beyond Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic. I prefer LotFP's way of handling it, as well as the explanation in Carcosa. Basically, most people are Neutral. Characters who are Lawful are crusaders against Evil in a big way, and those who are Chaotic generally serve Evil powers in some fashion. Lawful and Chaotic people are naturally antagonistic, since they work at cross purposes.
Most PCs will end up being Neutral most of the time (and fit any range of personalities, from altruistic do-gooders, to psychopathic war mongers).
>>47108944
Basically all lines up with what I would've guessed. Thanks.
>>47108809
Are you drawing this by hand or with some kind of computer program? If the latter, what is it?
>>47109145
It's a map from City-State of the Invincible Overlord. I just ran it through some photoshop filters to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
this is the original.
How can I make my dragons almost Lovecraftian? I don't just want the players to be worried their characters might be killed; I want them to be unsettling on the deepest level.
