Getting the Most out of D6 Weapons

As mentioned previously, I’ve been running a very rules-light game for my younger brother, which I’ve been calling D&D&LB. I was inspired by Brendan of Untimately to use the rules in the three little brown books. Accordingly, many of the gaps and weaknesses in those rules have been filled with the same innovations Brendan uses in his Pahvelorn campaign. I sketched out the rules in about an hour and a half, and they’ve served us well for about two months. But the players are starting to ask about crafting items, dual wielding weapons, and their XP is getting dangerously close to second level. It’s time for the rules to be expanded a bit, and I thought it would be a fun exercise of my game crafting abilities to come up with those expansions myself, rather than pulling them from books.

One of the oddities about the three little brown books is that all weapons have the same damage dice. Everything from a dagger, to a great sword uses 1d6 for damage. To my knowledge this is the only version of the D&D rules which doesn’t use different dice for different weapon types, which is too bad. I think all weapons using the same damage die is an idea with a lot of merit, because it has synergy with another of the game’s old rules: all characters have 1d6 hp at first level. That means any blow, for any character, from any weapon, has the potential to be fatal. And for first level characters, I think that level of danger is thrilling.

The only problem is that the differences between weapons become a lot less clear. What’s the value of choosing a long sword, when a short sword or a dagger is functionally identical? For the most part I haven’t seen this become an issue. Players choose whatever weapons they find the most interesting as a matter of preference. It becomes important, however, when the players must make a sacrifice for a given type of weapon. If, for example, the weapon is two handed, the player cannot use a shield. The same is true if the player is using an off hand weapon.

But then, since everything uses a 1d6, you can’t very well balance things with more or different dice. That would ruin the synergy between the 1d6 weapon damage and the 1d6 hp which I so love about the game. Nor do I want to add simple bonuses and penalties to choices between mundane weaponry.

Here’s the solution I’m going to run with for now:

When using a one handed weapon, the character’s THAC2 is equal to what their class prescribes, and they deal 1d6 damage.
When a character uses a shield, their Armor Class is improved by 1.
When a character uses a light weapon in their off hand, their THAC2 is improved by 1.
When using a two handed weapon, the character’s THAC2 is unchanged, but they roll 2d6 for their damage, dropping the lower of the two results.
Fighters, when using a one handed weapon, roll 2d6 for damage, dropping the lower of the two results.
Fighters, when using two handed weapons, land a critical strikes on an attack roll of either 19, or 20.

I think the above should work out well for this game. I particularly like the synergy between the well established idea that shields improve defense by 1, and the idea that offhand weapons increase offense by 1. I’m 99% certain that I can’t take credit for coming up with that idea, though. I’m sure I read it somewhere before. If you know where it came from, let me know so I can give credit. And for the record, two handed weapons dealing 2d6 damage, drop the lowest, is another one of Brendan’s ideas.
So no real innovations from me today. Fail.

Moving with Subtlety, and How to Roll Dice for it

I’ve been pondering how stealthy action could be handled better at the table. When I assessed Pathfinder’s stealth skill earlier this year, I came to the conclusion that while the rules were dangerously unclear on specifics, they could still be interpreted as a pretty solid stealth mechanic. To refresh: Pathfinder’s stealth skill is rolled as an opposed check. The character wishing to be subtle makes their check, and any characters they wish to avoid the detection of rolls a perception check. Highest result wins. If the GM only calls for the check under the proper conditions, and the D&D 3.5 optional facing rules are used, then the skill as written works respectably well, all things considered.

Nevertheless I’ve recently found myself attracted to a ternary stealth system. I hesitate to call it simpler, because in some ways it is more complicated, but ultimately I believe it is more enjoyable and more streamlined than Pathfinder’s raw ruleset. In many ways, it is similar to the Streamlined Skills System I wrote about back in September. It would function thusly:

Characters are either “Subtle,” or “Unsubtle.” If the game is a retroclone, then characters like the thief or assassin will obviously be the subtle ones, whilst all other classes would be unsubtle. In Pathfinder, a subtle character is one who has a bonus in stealth not less than their HD + 1. (So a level 6 rogue must have a +7 or more in her stealth skill if she wishes to be a subtle character.) -OR- if you are concerned about stealth becoming a skill tax, a subtle character is any who has 10 ranks or more in the Stealth skill. (I would discourage my fellow GMs from having subtle characters be those of a class for whom stealth is a class skill. While it is reasonable, the entire benefit of the skill system is that any character can use it to excel at a given task).

Anytime any character wishes to go unseen, and that character has a reasonable chance of failure (more on this below), they must make a stealth check. In a retroclone, the check would likely be defined by the subtle character’s class abilities. In Pathfinder, the DC will be based on the environment. A field of grass would be the baseline of 10, a stone floor would be DC of 15, creaky wood a DC of 20, crunchy leaves or a floor filled with trash a DC of 25. Darkness would reduce the DC, while something like a large mirror would increase it. Obviously, armor check penalties would apply. GMs of both type of game are encouraged to grant circumstance bonuses to characters who take extra precautions like camouflage, and impose penalties on characters who fail to observe common sense precautions like moving at a slow pace.

Attempts at stealth should be rejected by the GM outright in any circumstance where moving undetected would be completely unreasonable. For example, moving in plain sight of the creature you wish to hide from.

If an unsubtle character fails their stealth check, then something has happened which alerts those around them. Perhaps they kicked a stone or scraped their foot on the floor. Perhaps something out of their control occurred, like the door they were opening being poorly maintained, and causing a loud squeaking sound when it opened. If an unsubtle character succeeds on their check, then they are moving pretty quietly. However, nearby creatures may be entitled to a perception check to detect the character anyway. In a retroclone, this perception check is a 1d6 roll, and could have a range of 1, 2, or 3, depending on how likely it is that the nearby creatures heard the player. In Pathfinder, this perception check is a skill check, directly opposed to the result of the player’s stealth roll.

If a subtle character fails their check, they receive the same result that an unsubtle character would on a successful check. If a subtle character succeeds on their check, then they are (within reason) moving with absolute stealth. Their victims are not entitled to any perception checks at all.

A single successful check is only good for so long, however. It would be ridiculous for a rogue to succeed on a stealth check, then move all the way down to bottommost level of the dungeon, retrieve the treasure, and walk back without requiring any further checks. A new check must be rolled any time the situation changes. Some examples of when a new check must be rolled include:

Anytime the character enters a new area, such as moving into a new room.
Anytime the character abandons something which aided them in their stealth, such as moving out of an area of darkness, or moving into an area where their camouflage would no longer be effective.
Anytime they attempt a maneuver which might get them caught, such as making a quick dash from one hiding place to another, or when they open a door.

As mentioned above, checks should only be called for if there is a reasonable chance the character will be detected. Checks should not be called for if the player is crawling on their belly to glance over a hill at an enemy fortress in the valley below. Nor should checks be called for if the character is merely attempting to use some form of cover to hide themselves, without moving. Anybody can crawl inside of a barrel and be essentially undetectable. Exceptions may be made if the character needs to remain in their hiding place for an extremely long time (perhaps an hour or more), or if their hiding space is ill suited to them (such as hiding behind a pole barely large enough to conceal your body while standing sideways).

Ultimately, I hope this system will turn sneaking into a more active process, where players must discuss their actions in detail with the GM. I’m quite happy with this, and plan to implement it in all of my games so I can work out any bugs there may be. I’m eager to hear what others think as well.

Magical Marvels 9: Fifty Ring Descriptions

When my players encounter a finely crafted piece of treasure–be it magical or not–I like to give them a few details about that item’s appearance. It’s not just a finely crafted breastplate. But it has gold inlays which depict the moon on one breast, the sun on the other, and a duel between two swordsmen below it. Maybe it’s not the most important thing for a GM to do, but it lends character and depth to the game world, and that’s never a bad thing.

For some reason, I’ve always found that rings inspire my creativity more than other types of treasure. So as a change of pace, instead of using magical marvels to describe a single powerful magic item, below I’ve compiled 50 unusual ring designs. None of the below include any particular magical effects, but most of the below descriptions are not specific to a given effect. They could be used for many different kinds of magic rings. Or they may not be magical at all, merely finely crafted pieces of jewelry the players can sell for gold.

After a few hours I capped it at 50. You can peruse this list as a source of inspirational fluff, or use the numbers I included to use it as a d% chart. Full disclosure, I started out wanting to make a list of 100 rings. Turns out that is super hard. Also hard: describing the different parts of a ring. Does anyone know of a resource for learning the words which describe rings? Google turned up a lot of terms which describe gems, but not a lot which describe the rings themselves. I hope the words I chose are clear, or at least decipherable!

1-2) A silver band with the final line of a well known poem engraved around the outside, and flecked with gold. The inside edge has a small spike which prick’s the wearer’s finger while the ring is worn.

3-4) A ring of gold with 3 links of golden chain attached to it. At the end of the chain is a small emerald, with an ancient rune expertly carved into its largest facet.

5-6) A mithril ring with the figure of wizard standing upon it. Deft fiddling will reveal that the wizard’s hat can be turned, and removed, revealing a small diamond within the figure’s head.

7-8) A glass band which appears, in most respects, very plain. However, when light is shone upon it, colors weave and dance within the glass. Despite its magic, the glass is still quite fragile.

9-10) A black ring of an unfamiliar material, which has a large seal on it. The seal depicts a droplet falling into a small puddle. The substance being depicted is unclear. Different color inks may appear to be different fluids

11-12) A hollow ring of transparent glass. The ring is filled with water which mysteriously flows around the band. Flecks of gold in the water dance and twirl in the current.

13-14) A pair of iron tongs, the ends of which are each one half of a circlet just large enough for a finger. If heated in a fire, the tongs can be used to brand a ring around someone’s finger.

15-16) A copper ring, with depictions of scales embossed around its edge.

17-18) A smooth ring of silver. A band of gold–approximately 1/5th the ring’s width–is inlaid around the center of the ring’s outside edge.

19-20) A ring of steel with several cogs attached to it. These cogs are interlocking, and spin freely. They have no obvious mechanical purpose, however.

21-22) A gold ring which splits into two bands at the crest, with a darkly tinted lens mounted between them.

23-24) A pair of twisting bands, one silver, one gold. Each wraps around the finger twice, forming a single ring.

25-26) Red copper which is masterfully crafted to look like a fox wrapped around the wearer’s finger, with emeralds for eyes, and a tail which extends back along the wearer’s finger.

27-28) A square of gold with a ruby on each of the four corners. The flat edges fit snugly around a finger.

29-30) An arm of gold, clasping an arm of silver, clasping an arm of copper, which in turn clasps the arm of gold, forming a ring.

31-32) A ring of ivory, carved to look like a single long finger, wrapping around in a full 360 degrees.

33-34) A braid of iron bands wrapping around a speckled purple sphere.

35-36) The band itself is constructed of intricately curving strands of silver, supporting a flat skull of jade, painted with bright colors and wearing a large grin.

37-38) A gold coin of an ancient empire mounted on a golden band.

39-40) A strand of steel shaped like an arrow, twisted into a finger-sized circle.

41-42) A circlet of mithril, the exterior of which is covered in dozens of tiny spikes. In the center is a small, ocean blue sapphire. In the center of the sapphire is a tiny white sphere. It’s unclear how that sphere was placed within the gem.

43-44) A simple silver band with a weaving braid embossed around its edge.

45-46) The outside of the band is circled repeatedly by a number of deep grooves which are spaced evenly. What you or I would recognize as a thread.

47-48) This shiny silver band has a large concave plate in place of a signet. The surface of the plate is bare, save for a ring of tiny obsidian stones around the inside edge.

49-50) A ring carved seemingly from marble, with engravings of a crown, a sword, and a bull’s head on the outside edge. On the inside edge of the ring is a carving written in ancient common: “Power through adversity.”

51-52) This golden band has two large bumps on it, each covered in flecks of diamond. The bumps appear to be modeled after an insect’s compound eye.

53-54) A ring carved from jade depicts a might tiger which moves around the wearer’s finger, and bites its own tail.

55-56) This ring of platinum has numerous small images engraved on the outside of it. They depict a woman in many stages of life. Being born, learning to walk, growing into a woman, fighting mighty battles, bearing children, growing old, and finally dying.

57-58) The signet of this jade ring is an elaborate flower, made of numerous gems. Rubies and saphires make two layers of petals, wrapping around a large amber stone in the center. Within the amber is a petrified bee.

59-60) A delicate brass ring shaped to look like a feather, bent so the end of the vane meets the quill.

61-62) Carved from ivory, this ring looks like a tiny dragon’s skull, with the wearer’s finger going through the skull’s mouth.

63-64) A delicate ring carved from platinum to resemble a royal tiara, which fits around a finger instead of a head.

65-66) A wooden ring, thick with bark on the outside. At the crest of the ring, where a gem would normally sit, grows a thick pad of damp moss.

67-68) This smooth ring carved from jade has two arms extending from its crest. Between their hands, the arms hold a small ball of glass.

69-70) Upon the crest of this red stone ring rests a bird exquisitely carved from sapphire.

71-72) Two iron rings connected by a chain of finest mithril. If worn on adjacent fingers, this does not affect dexterity.

73-74) A band cut directly from a sapphire. At the crest of the ring, a tiny copper ship rests, as though it were drifting on a sapphire sea.

75-76) The signet of the ring appears to be a spider laying dead on its back. The spider’s 8 curling legs clasp tightly to a white pearl.

77-78) A goblin’s face graces the crest of this iron ring. He grins widely, and three small rubies are clasped in his mouth.

79-80) This ring of mithril has two circlets, attached together by a long, articulated piece of mithril artistry, made to look like the top side of a dragon’s talon. When worn, this will cover the wearer’s entire finger.

81-82) The crest of this ring is a large square space, where a large pyramidal piece of obsidian is embedded, and held in place by four demon hands clawing it; one from each corner of the square.

83-84) This bizarre platinum band is a sort of ‘reverse signet ring.’ A large oval pad contains some type of firmly affixed clay. The clay can be smoothed over by working it with your finger for a moment, then pressed to an object so it can take its shape.

85-86) This golden ring is topped with a large half-sphere of amber. Flanges of gold protrude in every direction around the amber, like rays from the sun.

87-88) A band of wood with a raised, rectangular opening along the top edge of the ring. Small pieces of ivory have been fitted into this opening, resembling bared teeth.

89-90) A tiny shield of steel is mounted atop this otherwise simple ring of silver.

91-92) An axe blade rises from the crest of this mithril ring. It is quite sharp, and may cause the wearer some incontinent cuts from time to time.

93-94) Both the inside, and the outside edge of the ring are covered in engravings which resemble a top-down map of a city. The city is not known to the players, nor to anyone they take the ring to. It must either be of another world, or so ancient that it has been forgotten entirely.

95-96) This ring is made of layered metals, wrapped one atop the other. The wearer’s finger contacts the ring’s gold, band, atop which is wrapped silver, then brass, and finally platinum.

97-98) Two dozen protruding stems rise from the crest of this platinum band. Atop each stem is a different gemstone: ruby, emerald, obsidian, amber, sapphire, and so on.

99-100) A very tiny candlestick is mounted on the crest of this brass ring. A very tiny candle could be mounted there, though it wouldn’t be very useful, and would likely be a burning hazard.

Picture Tuesdays 6 – Castle Grayskull by Ralph MaQuarrie

When it comes to fictional worlds, first and foremost in my affections will always be Star Wars. I can’t even number the ways in which that universe has shaped my artistic sensibilities, and my life as a whole. And when it comes to the men and women who gave that world life, few can be given more credit than artist Ralph McQuarrie.

Ralph McQuarrie rarely worked on fantasy projects, though I was able to find a few pieces he did relating to He-Man and the Master’s of the Universe. (A franchise others are far more familiar with than I). I particularly like this sketch of Castle Grayskull. The way that the castle is largely generic in construction, with only the skull shaped entrance to mark it as unusual, is very interesting to me.

Page by Page: Gary Gygax's DMG Part 8

This is the eighth installment of my continuing series on the 1979 Dungeon Master’s Guide, written by Gary Gygax. This post begins with the section “Saving Throw Matrix for Monsters” on page 79, and continues through “Gaining Experience Levels” on page 86. It’s been several months since the previous installment of this series, so I will reiterate: my purpose is not to review the DMG. It would be arrogant of me to think I could make a meaningful assessment of this book’s quality. I am merely going through it as a modern gamer, learning about the roots of Dungeons and Dragons, and making note when I see something surprising or interesting, or something which could be adapted for a modern game.

You can read all posts in this series under the Gary Gygax’s DMG tag.

Saving Throws: Ultimately there’s not a lot of new or surprising information in this section. It merely details why the saving throw exists, explains how it functions in the game world, and provides advice on how the GM should implement saving throws within the game. This section highlights something I’ve found I really love about Gygax’s style of writing. The way he communicates the game’s rules. In Pathfinder, the saving throw mechanic receives only a few paragraphs on page 180, which barely cover the mechanical necessities of how a saving throw functions, along with a brief description of what each of Pathfinder’s three saving throws are used for.

Here, Gygax devotes perhaps three or four times the amount of space that Paizo allotted to describe the concept of a saving throw. He addresses criticisms of the concept, and explains exactly what a saving throw means within game terms. This is a huge criticism I have of D&D 3.X. Not enough attention is given to educating the GM, and teaching them to think diagetically about their game. Instead, 3.X stressed what is commonly called “System Mastery” – a comprehensive knowledge of the rules. While in fact, I think understanding the spirit of the game is far more important to being a good game master.

Hit Points: This section strikes me as a little strange, since much of it just retreads information which appeared earlier in the DMG. However, I like that Gary addresses this issue:

It is quite unreasonable to assume that as a character gains levels of ability in his or her class that a corresponding gain in actual ability to sustain physical damage takes place. It is preposterous to state such an assumption, for if we are to assume that a man is killed by a sword thrust which does 4 hit points of damage, we must similarly assume that a hero could, on average, withstand five such thrusts before being slain! Why then the increase in hit points?

That discussion could easily have been moved earlier in the book, and saved some space. But I’m none the less happy he acknowledged this.

Effects of Alcohol and Drugs: I had one takeaway from this section: get your hirelings drunk. Sure they’ll take penalties to their ability scores and attack dice, but bonuses to hit points, bravery, and morale are worth it. It makes perfect sense, and I can’t believe I never considered it before. It’s particularly effective if you just get hour hirelings buzzed without letting them get drunk, because they won’t take penalties on anything you care about. Who actually wants hirelings with high wisdom in the first place?!

I’d be curious to learn if this has any historical support, like generals giving their men a round of beer before a battle. I’m sure that’s happened a few times, but was it effective?

Insanity: These are respectably game-able, but they’re not particularly inspired. None the less, it’s good that they’re included, and it’s good that they’re grounded in reality rather than being completely fantastical. I much prefer the type of fantasy world where characters suffer from Melancholia, rather than something ridiculous like “Devilbrain.”

Division of Experience Points: I was very interested to read that 1st edition AD&D actually had a primitive, clunky version of the “Challenge Rating” system found in D&D 3.x, and perfected in Pathfinder. The amount of math involved in this process is ridiculous. I don’t see how anyone could compare it favorably to challenge ratings as seen in Pathfinder, or even as seen in 3rd edition. Personally I’m not fond of any of these, as they all complicate the process of converting player achievement into experience rewards. None the less, Pathfinder is far superior in this regard.

Experience Value of Treasure Taken: Holy shit this is way too complicated. I am glad that people I know who base experience gain off of treasure stick with a simple 1gp = 1xp model. This rule would suggest that a 1 to 1 exchange should only be used if the treasure was appropriately difficult for the adventurers to recover. If the treasure is too easy to get, Gygax recommends “5 g.p. to 4 x.p., 3 to 2, 2 to 1, 3 to 1, or even 4 or more to 1.”

On a single dungeon run, players are likely to acquire gold from numerous sources, each of which may be more or less difficult for them. Using this methodology, the GM would need to note each acquisition of treasure separately, and the ‘exchange rate’ beside it. Combined with the ridiculously complex rules for calculating experience points from monsters, and you almost need to hire an accountant to ensure you’re awarding XP properly!

Special Bonus Award to Experience Points: This started out sounding very reasonable . Of course if you’re running a mid or high level game you’re going to want to give your low level players some way to catch up to their higher leveled counterparts. I never really expected Gygax to recommend XP for dying and being resurrected, though. That strikes me as extremely odd. Particularly considering that resurrection most commonly comes with an XP penalty.

Gaining Experience Levels: It seems as though I’m finding a lot to dislike today, and I’m afraid this is no exception. Here, Gygax suggests that the GM should monitor their player’s role playing, and grade them based on whether or not they stuck to their alignment, and acted in keeping with their character class. I find this strange. Stranger still is the idea that gaining new levels is not something which a character is entitled to upon gaining sufficient experience. Rather, it is suggested that characters gain new levels at the GM’s discretion, and that they should be made to wait an appropriate amount of time (based on their role playing ‘grade,’) before they are allowed to move up.

Sometimes, Gary, I just don’t know what to think.

Favorite Quotes from this Section

“These adventures become the twice-told tales and legends of the campaing. The fame (or infamy) of certain characters gives lustre to the campaign and enjoyment to player and DM alike as the parts grow and are entwined to become a fantastic history of a never-was world where all of us would wish to live if we could.” -Gygax, DMG, Page 80

Tavern Tales 2: Ooze, Poison, and Near Death Experiences

It’s been awhile, but I have a few more Tavern Tales to tell, if you’ve got the time!

Underwater Ooze

Over the last few months, Brendan‘s Vaults of Pahvelorn campaign has become one of the best parts of my week. I love the game, I love the group, and I love having the opportunity to be a player as a change of pace. I’ve also enjoyed the challenging, and high-mortality style of Brendan’s GMing, despite the fact that it cost me one of my favorite PCs ever. As a group, we’ve learned to be cautious, and when its best to simply run away. I think we’ve become quite skilled at navigating the depths, but our explorations are far from done. And just this past week, we encountered a challenge which very nearly defeated us entirely.

In a large cave, amidst a forest of glass trees, we discovered a series of ziggurats. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say, we had reason to believe there was treasure in those ancient structures. We ventured down the stairs which led into the first, and were immediately confronted with an octagonal room filled thigh-deep with water. We could see a dry passageway leading further into the dungeon straight across the room, as well as a stone slab with a body atop it that we wanted to investigate. But the water was murky, and even a first level adventurer would know not to step into any water you can’t see the bottom of.

We tested the bottom of the water with our 10ft poles, and felt only thick sludge. We thought perhaps it would be safe to trudge through–but when we withdrew our poles, we noticed that the metal hooks mounted on the ends of them were completely gone. Our rat catcher, Beni Profane, pulled a rat forth from his pouch and tossed it squarely into the center of the room, and we all watched expectantly. At first the tiny cr5eature frantically swam back towards us, and dry land. But the rodent didn’t make it three feet before a grey, gloppish ooze rose up from the water, and came down on the rate, dragging it beneath the surface.

Now thoroughly convinced that we didn’t want to step into the water. we broke some of our 10ft poles in half, and used rope to tie foot hold knots to each half, thus constructing a crude pair of stilts. We tied a rope to Beni–as he is our most dextrous party member–and sent him staggering through the mucky black waters to the other side. Once he had successfully made it there, he used an iron spike to mount the rope to the wall, then tossed the end back to us. We constructed a crude bridge of two ropes–one for our arms, and one for our legs–and began to cross one by one.

The dice were not with us, though, and the second to cross–our beloved hireling Levis–caused the rope to snap from the wall. He fell with a splash into the water, and lost all composure. He miraculously managed to flee from the water without too much injury, and continued fleeing towards the ziggurat’s entrance, where we later found him dead from an unknown source.

The rest of us managed to reattach the bridge and make it across. The entire process took at least 40 minutes of game time. But it was well worth it!

…I’m kidding of course. We didn’t find a single copper piece in the entire Ziggurat. And in addition to losing Levis, one of the player characters–Satyavati–also lost his life while fighting a monster in that next room.

Without question, that was our most dismal delve into the depths yet. And I adored it.

Poisoned Journal

I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned this or not, but recently my younger brother asked me to introduce him to the hobby. I threw together a quick amalgamation of OD&D rules I gleaned from playing in Vaults of Pahvelorn, made a dungeon, and told him we’d play for three hours on the the following Saturday. Six weeks later, it has turned into a running campaign which I’ve dubbed Dungeons & Dragons & Little Brothers; or D&D&LB for short. Running the game has unfortunately pushed back a few other projects I wanted to work on, but I’ve also been having a great deal of fun with it, so I don’t mind.

In a recent game the party found part of an ancient manor house which had fallen into the earth in ages past. Most of it had been destroyed, but a few rooms remained largely intact, and could be accessed directly from the caves they were exploring. They had good luck finding treasures here, and when they encountered a largely intact, luxurious office room, they started to get pretty excited. Too excited to check under the desk as they normally would have. They didn’t notice the dire rat nesting there until it leapt out to defend its territory. My brother’s character, Garret, took a bite to the face which dropped him to -2 hp.

Now, the way I handle death in this game is thus: If the character reaches 0 hp, then they are unconscious. They can be revived after 10-60 minutes, but cannot fight or move quickly, lest they risk reopening their wounds and taking 1 hp of damage. If the player ever falls below 0 hp, they must make a save versus death. If their save succeeds, then they return to 0 hp and are unconscious. Characters who succeed on a save versus death also receive a permanent disability, based on the manner of their near death. If the save is failed…well…roll 3d6 for your stats, in order.

As it so happened, Garret succeed on his save. He was left with a permanent hole in his cheek which cost him 1 point of Charisma, and was reduced to limping around at 0 hp, but was otherwise none the worse for wear. Garret’s companion, Drako, urged that they should return to the surface so he could recover. But Garret insisted that they had cleared the room of danger, and it would be a shame to go back without looking through the room to see what they could find. As it turned out, Garret was correct. That single room held more treasure than the party had yet discovered in the rest of the dungeon combined. They found ancient books of law from before the fall of human civilization, and even managed to procure a piece of fine sculpture, dedicated to a powerful goddess.

Unfortunately, Garret had been wrong about clearing the room of dangers. For while there were no more vicious creatures there to attack them, there was a vicious poison dart trap. One which stung Garret in the palm when he attempted to open a locked journal. He failed his save versus poison, and had to be dragged back to town by Drako. Even before they made it to the surface, Garret’s mental state had been reduced to that of a vegetable, and it cost the Party every penny they had earned that day, just to restore his mind.

Near Death at the North Tower

For the most part, I’ve been very proud of how quickly my younger brother adapted to the dangers of OD&D. Despite his actions in the previous story, he’s made more good choices than bad ones. But even good players sometimes have bad tactics. And no player is immune from the occasional wrath of poor fortune.

While investigating those underground manor houses, the players came upon a deed to the “North Tower.” They did some investigating, and discovered that the building was still standing, the deed was still valid, and their new property was only a half day’s travel from the town they were residing in. Truth be told I didn’t expect them to find that deed as quickly as they did, but that’s the nature of the game. Sometimes players surprise you.

They decided to go investigate their new property, and promptly found themselves in a pitched battle with the bandits who had claimed the tower as their hideout. It was an absolute route. The magic user was the first to go down. His “Shield” spell gave him an AC of 3 against normal missiles, so he tried to stand in front and offer cover for his companions. The first volley of arrows overcame his increased armor class, and he went down, barely making his save v. death to remain unconscious at 0 hp. The players barred the door from the outside, dragged their companion around a corner, and tried to revive him so they could flee. The bandits immediately succeded on their first 1-in-6 chance to break the door open, and charged out swords and arrows blazing.

Drako held up a leather tarp to obscure her form, and ran for the trees, but an arrow hit her in the leg for 3, which is exactly the amount of HP she had at the time. Garret held out a good while longer with the help of the party’s two hirelings, but he and one of them were both dropped to 0 hp within a few rounds. The remaining hireling wasn’t about to fight on alone, and surrendered. For a moment, I thought my brother was about to learn what TPK stands for. But then I noticed something: Every single member of the party had miraculously ended up at 0 HP. Only one of them had even needed to make a save vs. death.

I couldn’t see why a group of bandits would kill a group of potentially valuable prisoners, so a few days later, the party awoke in a prison, and began to plot their escape.

Facilitating a Jailbreak

Over time, as an adventurer adventures, the probability that they will end up imprisoned for some reason approaches 1. For my newest group, their luck ran out in our last game, and they found themselves locked in a bland stone cell, without their equipment, in a part of the dungeon they had never explored before. Which was necessary, since there were actually no prisons in the dungeon before they managed to put themselves into a position where the bandits had significant motivation to lock them up.

Once I had my players under lock and key, I realized that I faced an interesting game mastering challenge. In most respects, being locked in a cell isn’t significantly different from any other problem PCs must deal with. Certainly the trappings of imprisonment are familiar: locked doors, hostile NPCs, and crazy plans. But there’s an important, and potentially game damaging difference: the players can’t give up. Most of the time, it doesn’t matter how hard a given obstacle or puzzle is, because the players can always walk away from it, and seek adventure elsewhere. But when the players imprisoned, walking away is the challenge. If it’s too difficult, the players may become frustrated.

There’s also danger in making escape too easy. After all, the players ought to believe that their prison would have been able to hold most people. Just not super awesome adventurers, like themselves. It would be agency destroying to simply allow the players to escape because keeping them locked up is boring. If the players feel as though their escape was handed to them, then they’ll justly begin to wonder whether they’re being railroaded through scripted events.

This didn’t turn out to be a problem in my specific case. The players relied on a few prison escape cliches (faking sickness? Rly?) but took some creative steps to make it convincing. They earned their way out the door, and have struggled tooth and nail through room after room, gathering a hodgepodge of equipment, and trying to find their way out. But had they been a little less creative, or given up a little sooner, being imprisoned could have turned into a problem. So as an exercise, I thought I’d work on a few different solutions that could be used to either believably aide the characters in an escape, or to outright release them, without letting them entirely off the hook.

They Were Unprepared It’s unlikely that most jailors would really know what to do with an adventurer. They may think they’re tossing a few troublemakers into the clink, never suspecting that their prisoners are a master lockpicker, or a cleric who can call upon the magics of their god. And even if the players demonstrate their abilities prior to their capture, it’s unlikely that a local sheriff is going to know what to do about it. It’s not as though they have antimagic cells handy on the edges of civilization!

It would be silly if every jailkeeper were unprepared, of course. More civilized areas will have more sophisticated holding facilities, and ought to be more difficult to break out of.

24 hours to catch the REAL killers For one reason or another, the players could be released from captivity on the condition that they complete a task for their captors. Most likely, there would be no reward for this task other than freedom, and possibly amnesty for whatever landed the players in prison in the first place. (Of course, it’s still possible they’ll be told not to return to town). There are a number of ways you could do this. A just court could offer to let the players out on parole, on the condition that they take care of a local goblin problem–or better yet–pay a tax on any treasure they haul out of the local dungeon. If the players are held prisoner by an evil character, they might be commanded to perform an assassination or theft.

And, of course, there’s no reason the release needs to be officially sanctioned. If the guard who is protecting the players is in great need, he or she may be willing to release the players in exchange for a favor. It’s unlikely the guard would do this lightly (as they would no doubt lose their job, and possibly be imprisoned themselves) but if their spouse was captured by the devilbear, or their father murdered by Kranos The Red, then the guard may be willing to risk their freedom in exchange for a favor from some powerful adventurers.

The B Team If the players have hirelings who were not captured along with them, then the GM can allow the players to take control of those characters for the purposes of mounting a daring rescue operation. It may be difficult if the hirelings are significantly lower level than the PCs. But then again, escaping from a heavily guarded cell when you have no equipment or spellbooks severely hinders a character’s abilities. Fully equipped characters who are trying to get in rather than out may have better luck than their higher level counterparts.

Pulling a Skyrim Sometimes events completely unrelated to the player’s situation can work out to their advantage. It’s likely that anyone who is powerful enough to have a dungeon to keep people in, is disliked by some people. Maybe those people are, themselves, powerful. If a full scale battle breaks out while the players are imprisoned, it’s a good opportunity for them to slip out in the chaos. Maybe they can convince their captors–or their captor’s attackers–to let them out so they can help in the fight. All the while the GM can roll each turn to determine if a catapult or flicking dragon’s tail opens an escape-sized hole in the cell’s wall.

If all else fails, it’s unlikely that anyone will be paying too much attention during the battle. So the players can attempt the noisy stuff which would normally attract guards.

Skipping Out on the Long Walk I’m a little dubious about this last one. It has the potential to be exciting, but there’s also an implied threat here which the GM will be required to act on if the players don’t make good on their escape: execution. A public beheading, for example, puts the players in a do-or-die scenario where any plan is a good plan. And once they’re out of their cell, opportunities to escape will doubtless present themselves. If they’re marched out onto the streets, then if they get away, they can disappear into the sidestreets quickly. Or perhaps they’d prefer to go a more dramatic route and attempt to shoulder the executioner in the chest when he raises his axe to strike.

I’m curious to know if this is how other GMs approach imprisoned players, or if there’s a different approach entirely that I haven’t thought of.

Merciless Monsters 10: Goldtooth Mosquito

Goldtooth Mosquitoes are a serious nuisance for adventurers. Unlike most of their cousins, they do not feed on the blood of other creatures for their sustenance and reproduction. Rather, they use their superheated proboscis to liquify, and consume gold. Encountering a swarm of the creatures is, understandably, enough to send a wise adventuring group running. Truthfully the creatures pose little threat to the adventurer’s health, as they find blood to be quite poisonous. Their smoldering proboscis is quite painful, though, and the creatures have been known to sacrifice themselves if they feel their swarm is threatened. And, of course, the true danger is to a character’s gold. Anytime a character occupies the same space as a swarm of Goldtooth Mosquitoes, they must make a reflex save (DC: 20) to keep any of the creatures from getting inside their coin purse or backpack. Fortunately, the pests do not like incense, and can be dispersed easily by bringing a censer.

While adult Goldtooth Mosquitos pose a serious threat to a player’s wealth, they’re much less dangerous than their eggs are. This species lays their eggs on the surface of golden objects. Preferably in a dark, cool place. The flat surface of a coin in a treasure chest is an ideal location. The eggs themselves are numerous, and very fine. After laying them, the creature excretes an amber adhesive which holds the eggs in place. When the newborn Goldtooths hatch, they’ll spend their first hours eating this amber substance to give them enough energy for their first meal of gold.

Upon inspection, an item with Goldtooth Mosquito eggs lain on it appears to merely be coated in a coarse, sticky substance. Many inexperienced adventurers have shrugged off this clue, stashed their newly found treasure, and continued adventuring. Only hours later do they discover that the eggs have hatched, and the newborn creatures have devoured every item of gold in their possession. In a few of the most dire cases, the eggs have not hatched until the player deposited the gold in a local bank, causing thousands, or millions of gold pieces worth of damage.

Despite the danger they pose, some adventurers actively try to capture these creatures to make use of their unique Goldsense ability. By keeping a handful of the creatures tied to strings, adventurers hope to uncover hidden treasures they might otherwise miss.

Goldtooth Mosquito Swarm

A flitting, thrumming cloud of gold flecks glints at the edge of your torchlight.

Goldtooth Mosquito Swarm; CR 3; [Vermin (Swarm)] [Underground] [Active 12-16 hrs/day. Activity not relative to time of day.]

XP: 800
N Diminutive Vermin (Swarm)
Init +4; Senses Darkvision 60ft, Goldsense, Perception +10

DEFENSE

AC 22, touch 21, flat-footed 15 [10 + Dex(7) + Size(4) + Natural(1)]
HP 24 (4 HD, 4d8)
Defensive Abilities: Swarm Traits; Immune mind-affecting effects, weapon damage
Weaknesses Swarm Traits
Fort +6 Ref +11 Will -3;

OFFENSE

Speed 5ft, fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee Swarm (2d6)
Space 10ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Blood Sacrifice

STATISTICS

Str 1 Dex 24 Con 14 Int – Wis 11 Cha 2
BAB +3; CMB –; CMD —
Languages None
SQ Goldsense, Gold Feeding

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Goldsense(Ex) Able to detect gold by scent. A small amount, such as a single gold coin, can be detected within 10ft. Larger amounts can be detected from further away, at roughly a rate of +10ft per multiple of 100gp. For example, 300 gold can be detected from 30ft away, 1000 gold can be detected up to 100ft away. This ability reaches its maximum at 200ft. Beyond that range, no amount of gold can be detected. Note that Goldtooth Mosquitoes will always attempt to fly towards the nearest gold, not the largest amount of gold. So if a character has gold in their backpack, the creatures won’t pay any mind to the untended dragon’s horde in the next room.

Gold Feeding(Ex) If a Goldtooth Mosquito finds any gold, they consume it quickly. Though an entire swarm could survive for a week on a single gold coin, the creatures have a tendency to gorge themselves. A single swarm could easily devour a large chest full of coins in an hour. As noted above, characters who pass through the same square as a swarm of Goldtooth Mosquitos must succeed on a reflex save, DC 20, or the creatures will devour their gold. Note that the save involves dropping to the floor, waving arms wildly, etc. The GM may choose to move the player to an adjacent square as part of the save, and may choose to grant any nearby opponents attacks of opportunity against the character.

Blood Sacrifice(Ex) The superheated probosci of the Goldtooth Mosquito is an extremely effective weapon against larger opponents such as an adventurer. It causes a stinging burn which can last for days, and often leaves a scar. However, since blood is extremely toxic to Goldtooth Mosquitoes, any members of the swarm who use this appendage as a weapon are immediately killed. On any successful attack, the swarm can sacrifice some of its own HP in exchange for a damage bonus. For every 1 hp sacrificed, 3 additional damage is dealt. There is no limit to how often this ability can be used, or how much hp can be sacrificed on a given attack.

ECOLOGY

Environment Underground, in dungeons. Any environment which is cool, and provides easy access to gold.
Organization Swarm
Activity Cycle Active 12-16 hrs/day. Activity not relative to time of day.
Diet Gold; Natural Enemies Rust Monsters, Mimics.
Treasure If placed in a smelting fire, the organic material of the swarm will melt away, leaving only the gold they consumed. A given swarm will commonly have 6d10 gold pieces worth of gold in their bellies. Of course, this requires capturing an entire swarm. Not merely dispersing it by reducing it to 0 hp.

Picture Thursday 5: The Chaos Curse by Jeff Easley

I’ve long felt that the Cleric Quintet is an underrated series, from a writer who gets a lot of undue flak simply because he’s popular. (Protip: disliking something popular does not make you cooler than the people who like it).

I have several of the books in this series from the first print run, and I’ve always loved the art for the series’ final installment, The Chaos Curse. If you play D&D, you’ve probably seen Jeff Easley’s art at some point. The guy joined TSR in the early ’80s, and continued to produce official D&D art up to at least D&D 3.5.

His official website has some very nice, easy-to-browse galleries.

Fallout 3 Tabletop Game 4: NPCs and Foes

This is the fourth post in my series on running a tabletop game based on Fallout 3’s setting and mechanics. If this is the first post you’re seeing, you ought to check out how to create a character, the details of the skills system, and the post on equipment.

It’s hard enough just to scrape by in the wasteland. Food is scarce, and radiation is plentiful. You’re lucky if you’re able to scavenge a drink of clean free water once in a month. And to top it all off, everybody else seems to want to kill you. Whether it’s Enclave soldiers trying to kill you because you’re not a true American; Raiders trying to kill you for your food; or Supermutants trying to kill you because “PUNY HUMAN, HAHA.” It all means the same thing: bullets are as precious as water out here in the wastes.

It is important to remember that non player characters only exist for one purpose: to interact with the player characters. NPCs don’t need each of their 13 skills to be calculated out the same way PCs do. Their skills can simply be as good or as bad as they need to be fore that NPC to serve their function within the game. NPCs don’t even need all 13 of their skills to be defined at all. Why waste your time writing down the town doctor’s Energy Weapons score? He need a Medicine score, maybe a science score. And there are some skills which no NPC should ever need. Barter and Speech are the exclusive purview of player characters. For the most part, NPCs don’t even need SPECIAL attributes at all.

The only thing you should ever write down for an NPC are the following:

Hit points. All characters should have hit points, but you don’t necessarily need to roll Endurance for this. Just roll 2d20, and keep the better result. Multiply the result by whatever level you wish for the character to be.
If this is a character the players are likely to fight, then any damage resistance should be noted.
Characters should have any skills relevant to their function in the game. Generally speaking, most NPCs should only have 1-5 skills. These can be assigned manually by the GM or calculated using the following formula: [(2d20, discard lower roll) + 15 + (5 per level)]
If it is likely that the NPC will perform melee or unarmed attacks against the PC, then they should have a Strength score in addition to their Melee or Unarmed skill.
If the NPC has any equipment the player would find useful, it should be noted.
Sometimes creatures will have special abilities or attacks. These should be noted.

Below are a number of example NPCs, mostly foes.

Dr. Malkov (Doctor, Rivet City)(lvl 5)
HP 65
Medicine: 53
Science: 28

Jimmy The Wrench (Repairman, Traveling Tradesperson)(lvl 2)
HP: 18
Repair: 41
Small Guns: 35
Equipment: 10mm Pistol [Durability: 22], 2x 10mm Ammo

Supermutant (lvl 3)
HP: 90; DR: 15
Small Guns: 35
Big Guns: 50
Melee: 46[STR: 27]
Equipment [Roll]: 20%: Minigun[Dur: 33], 3x 5mm Ammo; 50% Hunting Rifle[Dur: 26], 2x .32 Ammo; 30% Sledgehammer[Dur: 74]

Feral Ghoul (lvl 1)
HP: 20
Unarmed: 44 [STR: 8]

Feral Ghoul (lvl 6)
HP: 150
Unarmed: 85 [STR: 14]
Special: Radiation blast. Anything at close range is hit with an intense burst of radiation, dealing 40 damage, and causing radiation exposure of 50 for one round.

Yao Guai (lvl 4)
HP: 116; DR: 8
Unarmed: 70 [STR: 25]
Special: Claws and teeth allow Yao Guai’s melee attacks to deal an additional 10 damage.
Special: Yao Guai can make 3 attacks on a single turn. (Right Claw, Left Claw, Bite)

Raider (lvl 2)
HP: 30; DR: 5
Small Guns: 40
Big Guns: 29
Melee: 19 [STR: 14]
Stealth: 17
Equipment[ROLL]: 50%: 10mm Pistol[Dur: 60], 3x 10mm Ammo; 35% Chinese Officer’s Sword[Dur: 10]; 15% Flamer[Dur: 46]

Enclave Soldier (lvl 10)
HP: 180; DR: 44
Energy Weapons: 100
Equipment: 50% Plasma Rifle [Dur: 80], 5x Microfusion Cell, Enclave Power Armor, Enclave Helmet

With this fourth post, I’m confident that the game is ready for the kind of slapdash campaign I want to run with it. A number of elements have been glossed over, or entirely omitted, but I was never aiming for comprehensive. Plus I’m anxious to get back to writing about more thoroughly developed games. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to test out these rules in the coming weeks, and may post revisions and new rules as appropriate.