Checking for Traps is Bullshit

Earlier this evening, I was GMing a game of my D&D&LB campaign. The game consisted of the players trying to escape from a tower where they had been imprisoned. This was the third session of them working to escape this tower, and I’ve been happy with their performance. They’ve had a few slipups and bad judgement calls, have lost all of their hirelings and a PC, but have nevertheless held it together and survived with barely any time to rest or recover their health or spells. I’ve been hard on them, and they’ve succeeded despite that.

Halfway through this session, they entered a room with three chests in it. Eager to be on their way, but unable to pass up this tantalizing prize, they decided to loot the chests. One of the players stood guard while the magic user tested the lid of each chest with a sword. All were locked. The MU (our newest player), then asked if he could test for traps with the sword. I replied that he could poke around, but that many lock traps were activated by the tumblers within the lock, so the sword would be too big to test for those. With no other recourse, the rogue stepped up. She checked for traps, and I rolled to see if she found any, because I don’t like the players to know if they rolled high or low for this kind of thing. She rolled very low, and in turn, I told her that there were no traps she could detect. She then told me that she was putting on a pair of leather gloves, and would then like to pick the lock.

At this point it fell to me to inform her that a poison needle shot out of the locking mechanism, and injected her with a 4d6 Intelligence draining poison. Since the party was trapped in this tower, with dozens of bandits between them and a half-day’s march into town, it was time for her to make a save versus poison, or face nearly certain death.

But I couldn’t do that to her.

One of the most important philosophies I’ve taken from my reading in the OSR, is that players should be able to avoid death through intelligent play. That saving throws should only be called for if the player has made a mistake. But as far as I can see, this player didn’t make any mistakes. She did everything right, tested everything thoroughly, even put on an ineffectual pair of gloves for extra protection, and now I was supposed to kill her for it. Had I gone through with it, I think that player would have been fully justified in being angry. I think she would have been right to believe that her choices had not meaningfully affected whether her character lived or died, which is the grossest violation of player agency in my view.

It could be argued, of course, that before opening any chests, an intelligent player would have antitoxins on hand. An even more intelligent player would make sure someone else was always the one to open chests. The most intelligent player is the one who never leaves the starting town, and becomes rich through economic prowess. If the game is about adventure, it seems counter productive to create an environment where players can never feel safe opening the next door, or looting the next chest.

I was silent for a good 30 seconds while I pondered this, and my players stared at me with trepidation. Finally I said “Here’s the deal, guys. There is a needle trap on this lock. You rolled too low to find it. The poison on it would almost certainly kill you. But you guys did everything you could to be careful, so I’m not going to do that to you. Instead, for the rest of this session, if the rogue checks for traps, I’ll just tell you if there are traps or not. By next session I’ll figure out a more permanent trap-checking mechanic for us to use.”

And that’s where I’m at right now. I’ve decided I don’t like rolling for trap checks, but can’t figure out how better to approach the task. Any thoughts?

Also, this is relevant.

Pathfinder Class Analysis 1: Barbarian

Core Concept: While they’re not a class I’ve personally ever wanted to play, I think barbarians have a legitimate niche within fantasy adventures. Fighters are soldiers with expertly honed weapons skills and knowledge of military tactics. The fighter class can’t represent the brute ferocity of the wild-man. If you are to imagine the battles between Rome and Gaul, it would be hard name meaningful similarities between the warriors on the two sides. What I’m a little less fond of is the rage mechanic which is part-in-parcel of every barbarian class. I don’t actively dislike rage mechanics, they’re flavorful and they work fine. I just don’t think it’s such a perfect fit for the barbarian concept that it deserves to be ubiquitous.

As an example, I once made a class called the Whirling Berserker which received a bonus to attack rolls so long as she attacked a different target on each turn. As such, the character would be most effective if she moved through a battle, attacking everyone she passed, rather than engaging with a single opponent.

So while I think the concept deserves some more creative thinking than it normally gets, I none the less approve of the class’s inclusion in the Pathfinder RPG.

Fast Movement:Movement speed is important to grid based combat. And while I don’t like to be forced to use a grid, I certainly like to have it as an option. The potential problem of Fast Movement is that it does tie a group down to using a grid, because if a grid is not used, then the barbarian player’s class is functionally gimped. That being said, I have GMed for several barbarians, and none of them have complained yet during the battles where I choose to run things grid-less.

That’s really a minor issue however, as Pathfinder combat is intended to be run with a grid. And when using a grid, the rate of movement has some very interesting effects on combat. If anything, I’d like to see more movement speed bonuses and penalties in the game.

Rage: I’ve already mentioned that I don’t think rage mechanics deserve to be ubiquitous, but it’s here, so lets talk about how it’s implemented.

Honestly I’d rather see rage be more dramatically powerful, but come with more significant drawbacks. As it stands, Rage is certainly…’balanced.’ It’s a boon to the class which allows them to be competitive in combat. But that’s a metric which I believe to be overrated. Not entirely without value, mind you, but certainly overrated. I won’t go into that now, but I recommend Brendan of Untimately’s thoughts on the matter.

Instead of a small bonuses and penalties, I want to see Barbarians hurl stones that weigh as much as they do–but I also want them to have a possibility to attack their fellows, or flee from a flashy magical effect. I haven’t thought out how this might be implemented, but I’d enjoy it a lot more than a +4 bonus to Strength and Constitution. Snore.

Rage Powers: Despite myself, I love rage powers. They overcomplicate the class, confuse new players, and encourage veteran players to concentrate on their character’s ‘build,’ rather than improvement through play. But all of that aside, I think Rage Powers are awesome. They’re elegantly flavorful, and lend the rage ability the type of drama I was lamenting the lack of above.

Consider that when enraged, a character could gain the ability to see in the dark, or run twice as fast, or deflect swords with the sheer bulginess of their muscles. It is fun, and awesome. And–better yet–most every one of the rage powers presented in the core rulebook avoid my problem with feats. They’re mostly improvements to stuff the character could already attempt, or legitimately new abilities, rather than agency-damaging game options.

Though I do love them, I think Rage Powers might benefit from being made much more powerful, and acquired much more slowly.

Improved / Uncanny Dodge: There’s not a lot to say about this pair of abilities. They might be seen as complications, but at least they’re not minor, fiddly ones. The inability to be caught flat footed, or the inability to be flanked, change a lot about how combat will work. The pair works well with barbarian flavor–particularly if you consider my alternative to ‘rage’ noted above–so no complaints on that front either.

Trap Sense: This, on the other hand, is a minor fiddly complication; and not one which fits particularly well with Barbarian flavor. I’ve always hated Trap Sense, even for rogues. Perhaps it might carry more weight if traps were deadlier in Pathfinder. (Of course, traps are plenty deadly in my games. But not in Pathfinder raw.)

Damage Reduction: I think damage reduction is a really elegant mechanic, and one of the best innovations of D&D 3rd edition.* I think it’s also a good fit for the Barbarian, since they’re so ferocious and battle scarred that minor blows have completely ceased to phase them.

Greater / Mighty Rage: While I’m okay with rage as a barbarian ability, I do not like these kinds of rage ‘upgrades.’ I suppose there’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but it makes the character’s progression seem stilted. I would much rather see rage improve organically. So instead of +4 strength at level 1, +6 at level 11, and +8 at level 20; rage could simply give characters a 25% increase in strength. As the character’s strength improved, so would the strength bonus they received when they raged.

As an alternative, all improvements to rage could come in the form of something similar to rage powers.

Indomitable Will: I can’t help but feel this ought to just be a rage power. Maybe it was deemed to be out of balance with other rage power options, but as I mentioned, I think rage powers ought to have a more dramatic effect anyway.

Tireless Rage: I’ve decided I’m too tired and apathetic to write what I think about Tireless Rage. Instead, just go up and read what I think about Indomitable Will, because my thoughts on that ability are literally identical to my thoughts on Tireless Rage. I seriously considered copy-pasting it.

*Please forgive me, and correct me, if I’m missing a piece of gaming history here.

Page by Page: Gary Gygax’s DMG Part 9

This is the ninth installment of my continuing series on the 1979 Dungeon Master’s Guide, written by Gary Gygax. This post begins with the section “The Campaign” on page 86, and continues through “The Town and City Social Structure” on page 90. My purpose is not to review the DMG, but to go 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.

The Campaign: I’ve read a fair share of sourcebooks at this point in my life, and I’ve never been fully satisfied with how the GMing information is presented. Whenever I read one, I imagine how I would interpret those instructions were I a new player again, learning to GM for the first time. There are always huge gaps in what the information should contain, and they never present a clear path between where to start, and how to develop your skills as you learn more. And while the DMG isn’t perfect in this regard, it certainly does better than most other sourcebooks I’ve read. I think page 87 may be my single favorite page in the entire book so far.

What stood out to me more than anything I did notice, is what I did not notice. No great emphasis was placed on the idea that the game could take any shape the GM could imagine. That was mentioned later, but the first four paragraphs of “The Campaign” provide the kind of straightforward advice I wish I had received when I was just starting out as a GM. This section in particular is golden:

“You are probably just learning, so take small steps at first. The milieu for initial adventures should be kept to a size commensurate with the needs of campaign participants–your available time as compared with the demands of the players. This will typically result in your giving them a brief background, placing them in a settlement, and stating that they should prepare themselves to find and explore the dungeon/ruin they know is nearby. As background you inform them that they are from some nearby place where they were apprentices learning their respective professions, that they met by chance in an inn or tavern and resolved to journey together to seek their fortunes in the dangerous environment, and that, beyond the knowledge common to the area (speech, alignments, races, and the like), they know nothing of the world.”

That, hands down, is the best introduction to being a game master that I’ve ever read in a sourcebook. Gygax knows that given infinite options, people will become confused about how to frame their options, and indecisive about which to choose. He provides straightforward advice for what your game should initially look like, and as the section goes forward he expands on that. The more time you spend as a dungeon master, the greater the demands on your creativity will be, and you’ll be forced to grow your knowledge and your campaign world at an organic pace. While this is happening, you’ll also be gaining valuable experience with the tools of your trade, and confidence in your own ideas. It doesn’t take long for a GM to realize they don’t need the game to tell them what their job is anymore.

What sourcebooks really need to provide is that first step, and the tools with which to build off of it. And the Dungeon Master’s Guide does this beautifully here.

Setting Things in Motion: Continuing in like fashion from the previous section, this may include the best description of how to run a town that I have ever read. Running towns and cities is a task I think I’ve always been my own worst enemy with. I get so focused on coming up with grand schemes for how to make the town work simply, that I never really considered how ultimately simple the entire process could be. And while I think I do a pretty good job of it, I also think I could be doing a lot better if I took a step back, set my elaborate plans aside, and adhered to this simple advice:

“Set up the hamlet or village where the action will commence with the player characters entering and interacting with the local population. Place regular people, some “different” and unusual types, and a few non-player characters (NPCs) in the various dwellings and places of business. Note vital information particular to each. Stock the goods available to the players. When they arrive, you will be ready to take on the persona of the settlement as a whole, as well as that of each individual therein. Be dramatic, witty, stupid, dull, clever, dishonest, tricky, hostile, etc. as the situation demands. “

This passage is one I think I will study further, and create my own interpretation of.

Virtually everything you can imagine…: This isn’t a proper subsection, but rather a single quote. I thought about placing it in the “favorite quotes” bit, but I’d actually like to comment on it in greater depth. The emphasis is mine:

“OUtdoor adventures can be in a ruined city or a town which seems normal but is under a curse, or virtually anything which you can imagine and then develop into a playable situation for your campaign participants.“

That point in bold is one of the most overlooked elements in gaming today. It’s why GMs railroad their players, and why video games are plagued by endless cutscenes. We are repeatedly inundated with this idea that the game is the GM’s canvas. Anything they imagine can become a reality. And yes, I would grant (in opposition to Gygax) that the GM can be an artist. But being an artist doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want and call it good. An artist must be mindful of their medium. As a writer, I can’t expect to insert a soundtrack into my fiction. And as a GM, I can’t expect anyone to give a shit about my unplayable game. Not even if I imagined it really, really hard.

Climate and Ecology: There’s some definitely solid information in here, though nothing I would call stellar. Then again, one of my players is an ecologist in training, and another is an ecological enthusiast, so perhaps I’m just used to taking this stuff into consideration already!

Social Class and Rank in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: You know, I’ve never actually given serious consideration to social standing in my D&D games. Players have always just been ‘adventurers,’ and the nobility is generally either standoffish or open minded. Including social standing in my games has never really struck me as enticing, but after reading through this subsection I can definitely see the attraction. I don’t have a great deal to say about Gygax’ particular thoughts, since I have little experience of my own to draw upon in this area. But you can bet I’ll be experimenting.

Favorite Quotes from this Section

“It is no exaggeration to state that the fantasy world builds itself, almost as if the milieu actually takes on a life and reality of its own. This is not to say that an occult power takes over. It is simply that the interaction of judge and players shapes the bare bones of the initial creation into something far larger. ” -Gygax, DMG, Page 87
“My own GREYHAWK campaign, for example, assumes all player characters (unless I personally place one who is otherwise) are freemen or gentlemen, or at worst they can safely represent themselves to be so. (Note that the masculine/human usage is generic; I do not like the terms freecreatures or gentlebeings!)” -Gygax, DMG, Page 88

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.

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

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.

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.

Fallout 3 Tabletop Game 3: Equipment

Hello to you, gentle reader. I know that I dropped off the face of the planet for a few days, and missed my regularly scheduled Friday post. I promise, I had a good reason. Or at least an okay reason. I’ll make it up, though, really I will. For now, it’s time for me to get back to tabletop writing, and more specifically, outlining the Fallout 3 Tabletop Game. If you haven’t read the other parts of this series yet, you may want to read up on how to create a character, and the details of the skills system.

There’s not all that much more to cover. As I said at the start, this isn’t a serious attempt to create a comprehensive game system. The skills detailed in part 2 should serve as adequate resolution mechanisms for most conflicts, and that’s all any RPG really needs: conflict resolution mechanics. Anything else can be handled through discussion between the player and the GM. In terms of setting, the Fallout games themselves provide ample setting information. I would not presume to improve upon the fine work done by the developers. All that remains is to cover the game’s weapons, armor, and enemies. I’ve no intention of creating any comprehensive lists, but over the next two days we’ll go over how equipment and foes will work, and I’ll provide a few examples.

Armor

Armor and other items of clothing serve two functions within the game. First, most clothing has some kind of Damage Resistance. Any time the a character takes damage while wearing armor, they subtract their damage resistance from the amount of damage they will receive. So if Kestrel is wearing a regulator duster with a DR of 5, and she is hit by a weapon which deals 11 damage, then the protection of her armor means she only takes 6 damage. The second function of armor is to provide miscellaneous bonuses, to various skill rolls. For example, pre-war clothes, or a vault jumpsuit, will likely provide bonuses to speech or charisma based skills, because you appear to be more respectable. These miscellaneous bonuses need not make perfect sense (A raider wouldn’t care about respectability, but the clothing should still provide its bonus.) While this may weaken the game’s verisimilitude, it is in keeping with the spirit of the video game on which it is based.

Both of these functions decrease according to the armor’s durability score. Durability ranges between a minimum of 1, and a maximum of 100. A durability of 100 represents how the item might have appeared prior to the Great War. If durability ever falls below 1, the item is broken and does not confer any benefits whatsoever, save perhaps covering the character’s nakedness. Any time a character take damage their armor’s durability decreases by 1/2 of the damage dealt to the player, rounded down. To use the example above again; Kestrel’s regulator duster had a durability of 89 before she was hit. At that durability, it offers her a Damage Resistance of 5. So when she’s hit by a weapon which deals 11 damage, Kestrel takes only 6. Her armor’s durability decreases by half that amount, which is 3. So after the shot, Kestrel’s regulator duster has a durability of 86. If she has another regulator duster handy, Kestrel can use the repair skill to attempt to raise the items durability back up later.

Example Armor

Vault 101 Jumpsuit (Wt 4)
Durability: 100-75; DR: None, Speech +5%
Durability: 74-50; DR: None, Speech +4%
Durability: 49-25; DR: None, Speech +3%
Durability: 24-1; DR: None, Speech +2%

Raider Painspike Armor (Wt 20)
Durability: 100-75; DR: 20
Durability: 74-50; DR: 17
Durability: 49-25; DR: 14
Durability: 24-1; DR: 11
Special: 5 damage inflicted on anyone who performs an unarmed attack on the wearer.

Brotherhood of Steel Power Armor (Wt 45)Durability: 100-75; DR: 40, Strength +4, Radiation Resist +15
Durability: 74-50; DR: 36, Strength +3, Radiation Resist +13
Durability: 49-25; DR: 32, Strength +2, Radiation Resist +11
Durability: 24-1; DR: 28, Strength +2, Radiation Resist +9

Metal Helmet (Wt 2)
Durability: 100-75; DR: 4
Durability: 74-50; DR: 3
Durability: 49-25; DR: 2
Durability: 24-1; DR: 1

Brotherhood of Steel Power Armor Helmet (Wt 5)Durability: 100-75; DR: 9, Radiation Resist + 5
Durability: 74-50; DR: 7, Radiation Resist + 4
Durability: 49-25; DR: 5, Radiation Resist + 3
Durability: 24-1; DR: 3, Radiation Resist + 2

Weapons

Weapons are slightly more complicated than armor. And, in fact, I would recommend that both weapons and armor ought to be recorded on index cards which are kept in the player’s possession, rather than listed on character sheets. I’ve found this to be a much simpler way of keeping track of the information. (I do not presently have access to a scanner, but will endeavor to post an example once that is remedied. )

Weapon damage is a static number, which decreases according to the durability of the item. Like armor, weapon durability ranges from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 100, with 100 representing a pre-war state, and less than 1 representing a complete lack of function. Durability decreases by 1 each time the weapon is fired, but misses its intended target. This is because characters who are more familiar with the weapon they’re using–and thus able to hit more often–are better able to maintain their weapon, and prevent its deterioration.

In addition to damage and durability, most weapons require ammunition. The type, and weight-per-unit of ammunition is listed with each weapon entry. Players must scavenge for their weapon’s ammunition. Each unit of ammunition is good for a single battle. Any time the player uses a weapon in battle–regardless of how many times they fired that weapon–they expend one unit of ammunition. Most weapons also have a special attribute, which helps make the various weapon choices distinct from one another. Finally, all weapons have bonuses and penalties to their hit chance, based on the range between the weapon’s wielder, and the target. There are five ranges: Melee, Close, Mid, Long, and Distant.

When using any weapon, players have a 1% chance to score a critical hit, for every 5% chance to hit they have. If, for example, a character has a 15% chance to hit, then they have a 3% chance to crit. A player’s crit chance cannot be higher than their luck score.

Hunting Rifle (Small Guns)(Wt 7) [Ammo: .32, Wt 2]
Durability: 100-75; Dmg: 30
Durability: 74-50; Dmg: 24
Durability: 49-25; Dmg: 18
Durability: 24-1; Dmg: 12

Melee: -60%
Close: -5%
Mid: +10%
Long: +10%
Distant: +0%

Special: Each round spent studying a target without taking a shot adds +10% to the hit chance, up to 30%.

Sawed Off Shotgun (Small Guns)(Wt 8) [Ammo: Shotgun Shells, Wt 3]
Durability: 100-75; Dmg: 40
Durability: 74-50; Dmg: 30
Durability: 49-25; Dmg: 20
Durability: 24-1; Dmg: 10

Melee: -30%
Close: +30%
Mid: +0%
Long: -60%
Distant: -100%

Special: Regardless of small guns skill, all wielders have +20% crit chance with the sawed off shotgun at close and melee range. At those ranges, all crits deal x3 damage instead of x2.

Lead Pipe (Melee Weapon)(Wt 2) [Ammo: None]
Durability: 100-75; Dmg: 14
Durability: 74-50; Dmg: 10
Durability: 49-25; Dmg: 8
Durability: 24-1; Dmg: 6

Melee: +0%
Close: -20% (Thrown)
Mid: -60% (Thrown)
Long: -100% (Thrown)
Distant: -100% (Thrown)

Laser Pistol (Energy Weapons)(Wt 2) [Ammo: Energy Cell, Wt 1]
Durability: 100-75; Dmg: 25
Durability: 74-50; Dmg: 20
Durability: 49-25; Dmg: 15
Durability: 24-1; Dmg: 10

Melee: -20%
Close: +10%
Mid: +0%
Long: -30%
Distant: -60%

Special: If the wielder has a crit chance with energy weapons, then there is a 5% chance that an opponent who has been hit will be completely vaporized.

Minigun (Big Guns)(Wt 30) [Ammo: 5mm, Wt 10]
Durability: 100-75; Dmg: 70
Durability: 74-50; Dmg: 60
Durability: 49-25; Dmg: 50
Durability: 24-1; Dmg: 40

Melee: -95%
Close: +60%
Mid: +50%
Long: +0%
Distant: -30%

Special: Any time the gun stops firing, one round of ‘warm up’ is required before it can begin to fire again. While the gun is firing it creates a stream of bullets which cannot be crossed by friendly players without taking damage.

Fallout 3 Tabletop Game 2: Skills

This post details the 13 skills used in the Fallout 3 tabletop game which I began outlining yesterday.

Skill Check: For nearly all of the skills, there will be times when a “skill check” is called for. When performing a skill check, the player rolls a d%, and compares the result to the relevant skill. If their roll is higher than the skill’s value, then the check is failed. If they roll equal to, or less than, the skill’s value, then the check is a success.

Barter (C) When buying items from a vendor, the character will be charged an amount equal to the item’s cost, plus 1% for every point that the character’s barter skill is beneath 100. This can be rounded to the nearest 10% for simplicity’s sake.

For example, Kestrel has a Barter of 21, and wants to buy a gun worth 50 caps. Kestrel’s barter skill is 79 points below 100, so rounding to the nearest 10%, that means the vendor should charge Kestrel 80% above the list price for the gun she wants to buy. 10% of 50 is 5, so the vendor should charge Kestrel 90 caps for the gun.

When selling items, vendors will pay an amount equal to [Barter Value]% of the item’s cost. For example, Kestrel would now like to sell the gun she purchased. The gun’s base price is 50 caps, and Kestrel’s Barter Score is 21. Rounding to the nearest 10%, that means Kestrel will be able to get 20% of the gun’s value at sale. The vendor will buy the gun for 10 caps.

NOTE: The Barter skill is by far the most complicated to convert to a tabletop game. This is the simplest rule I could come up with. If you deem it too complicated, simply remove Barter from the game entirely, and allow characters to buy and sell items at their base value.

Big Guns (E), Energy Weapons (P), Melee Weapon(S), Small Guns (A), Unarmed (E) All five of these skills function the same way. When wielding a weapon of the associated type, the character has [Skill]% chance to hit what they are aiming at. When firing a weapon, the character should roll a d%. If their roll is equal to, or less than, their relevant [Skill]%, then they’ve successfully hit their target.

For example, Kestrel has an Energy Weapons skill of 31, and a Small Guns skill of 17.

She takes aim at a Super Mutant, and fires at it with her Laser Pistol. She rolls a D%, and it is a 74. Since this is above 31, she has missed! The Super Mutant fires back at Kestrel, but also misses. It is Kestrel’s turn again, and she fires another blast with her Laser Pistol. This time her D% roll is 22, which is a successful hit! The Super Mutant takes damage, but is still alive. It fires at Kestrel again, and once again misses. Kestrel’s laser pistol is out of ammunition, so she switches to her 10mm pistol. She rolls her D%, and it comes up as an 18. Because the 10mm pistol is a Small Gun, not an Energy Weapon, an 18 is a miss!

Characters can aim at different parts of a creature to improve their chances of hitting, or to improve the damage they deal. These numbers may be modified based on the environment, but generally speaking:

Head: -10% chance to hit. +25% damage.
Arms/Legs: +10% chance to hit. -25% damage.
Torso: Normal chance to hit. Normal damage.
Weapon: -25% chance to hit. Knocks weapon from hand.

Some weapons may also have a better, or worse chance to hit at various ranges from the shooter (Melee, Close Range, Mid Range, Long Range, Distant). These bonuses or penalties are unique to the weapon being used.

Kestrel’s chance to hit with her 10mm pistol is very small. She aims for the creatures exposed arms to try and improve her chances. She rolls her d% die, and it comes up as a 20. Normally this would be a miss, because her Small Guns skill is only 17. However, because she aimed for the creature’s arms, her chance to hit was raised to 27%, and this shot hits! Unfortunately, instead of dealing the normal 4 damage that a 10mm bullet would, this shot only deals 3 damage because it is in the creature’s arm.

The Super Mutant is mad now, and pulls out a sledgehammer. It charges for Kestrel, and before she can get another shot off it has moved to Close Range. She’s not very good at melee combat, so she needs to stop that creature before it gets any closer! She pulls out her sawed off shotgun. It’s a small gun, but it has +50% chance to hit at close range. She aims for the Supermutant’s head for extra damage.

With the 17% chance she has from small guns, plus the 50% chance from being at close range with a sawed off shotgun, minus the 10% penalty she gets for aiming for the head, Kestrel has a 57% chance to hit.

Kestrel pulls the trigger, and rolls a 44! It’s a hit! Sawed off shotguns normally deal 18 damage, but for a headshot that gets a 25% boost! Rounded up, that’s an extra 5 damage, for a total of 23 damage right to the Supermutant’s face!

Melee and Unarmed weapons are unique. Like other weapons, they have a chance to hit equal to the relevant [Skill%]. However, since they can only be used at short range, they receive no increased chance to hit based on range. They do still receive bonuses or penalties based on which part of the target is being attacked, however.

The other unique thing about Melee Weapons and Unarmed combat is that while they both deal an amount of base damage equal to the weapon being used, they also deal an additional amount of damage equal to the character’s strength.

Shit, shit, shit! The super mutant is still up, and on its last turn it closed to melee range and walloped her good! This close, it’s difficult to use a gun, so even though she’s bad at it, Kestrel opts to use a melee weapon. She pulls out a knife, and stabs at the Super Mutant! Kestrel has a Melee Weapon skill of 10, so she does everything she can to increase her chances by aiming for the super mutant’s arm, increasing her chances by 10%. Miraculously, Kestrel rolls a 20 on her d%! Any higher than that, and she would have missed!

The knife’s damage is 6, but Kestrel gets to add her strength to the damage. Unfortunately Kestrel’s strength is only 2, and she deals a measly 8 damage. The Supermutant is still up.

On its turn, the supermutant attacks Kestrel’s knife, and knocks it from her hand. She’s in trouble now! Its her turn, and all she has to attack with is her fists. So she does the only thing she can do: she punches the super mutant in its leg.

Kestrel’s unarmed skill is only 6, but with the +10% she gets from attacking the Supermutant’s leg, it’s just high enough for her to hit when she rolls a 15. Since she’s not wielding any weapons right now, the only damage she deals is from strength. 2 Damage.

Apparently the Super Mutant was only just barely hanging on, though, because that 2 damage is enough to knock the creature to the ground, dead. Kestrel gains 3 experience points for defeating a difficult monster!

Explosives (P) Explosives is primarily used for throwing grenades or disarming mines. But may be used for other tasks, such as safely building an incendiary device, or disarming an undetonated nuclear bomb.

In all cases, the character must simply roll under their [Explosives]% using a d% die. If their explosives skill is 50, then in order to succeed, they must roll a 50 or less on a d%. GMs may offer bonuses, or penalties, to an explosives roll, based on circumstances. (Throwing at a target you can’t see, for example, would be a penalty to success of 25%)

Lockpick (P), Science (I) Lockpicking and Science function the same way, with different devices. Lockpick helps the player pick locks, while Science helps the player hack computers. Players must roll under their [Skill]% in order to succeed at breaking into whatever they’re attempting to breech. If the roll is failed by more than 20%, then the lock becomes jammed, or the computer locks down. Another attempt cannot be made unless a key or password is found.

Super Easy – +50% to Success Chance
Very Easy – +25% to Success Chance
Easy – +10% to Success Chance
Average – Normal Skill Roll
Hard – -10% from Success Chance
Very Hard – -25% from Success Chance
Super Hard – -50% from Success Chance

Medicine(I) For the most part, this is used when the character is using scavenged medical equipment (such as stimpacks) to restore their HP. Each such healing item has a value of how much HP it can restore. The character can effectively restore [Medicine Skill]% of that value. For example, Kestrel has a Medicine score of 30. 30% of 50 is 15, therefore Kestrel’s medical skills allow her to restore 15 HP using the Stimpack.

The Medicine skill may also be used to perform various medical procedures. Gauge what procedures the character can perform using this guideline:

Medicine 1-10: Untrained.
Medicine 11-30: Wasteland Nurse
Medicine 31-60: Wasteland Field Medic
Medicine 61-90: Wasteland Doctor
Medicine 91-100: Pre-War Doctor

Repair (I) Items will slowly degrade as you use them, which will reduce their effectiveness. To fix an item, you must have two examples of the same item from which you can extract spare parts. (For example, if you wish to repair your 10mm pistol, you will need a second 10mm pistol.) This second item is destroyed by the repairing process, and cannot be repaired, or used for future repairs.

When repairing an item, add the current durability score of the item being stripped for parts, to the item being repaired. Players are capable of repairing items up to a durability score equal to their repair skill.

Kestrel has been using her Hunting Rifle a lot, and it’s down to 30 durability. This significantly impacts the damage her weapon does, so when she finds a new hunting rifle, she quickly strips it for spare parts. The new hunting rifle she finds has a durability of 24. Combining the durability of the two items can bring her hunting rifle’s durability up to 54.

Unfortunately, Kestrel’s current repair skill is 51, so that’s the maximum she can repair the item to. The remaining 3 points are discarded.

Sneak (A) Sneak is a very simple skill. If a character wishes to be undetected, and there is a reasonable chance that they may fail in that endeavor, then they must roll a skill check. If they roll equal to or under their sneak skill, then they have successfully gone unnoticed. Note that a sneak check shouldn’t be required if there is not a reasonable chance that the player will be detected.

A new check is required any time the player risks detection. Some examples of times the player might risk detection are:

Attempting to pickpocket a target.
When a new target enters the area.
When an NPC looks in the direction of a character who is not fully hidden.
When an NPC moves close to their hiding place.
If a hiding place requires that the character remain still, then after long periods checks should be required to see if the character accidentally makes noise.

Speech (C) Social interaction should be handled through role playing. The GM should consider an NPC’s interests, and craft the NPC’s reactions based on them. If the player suggests something the NPC would strongly agree with, then the NPC should agree. If the player suggests something the NPC would strongly disagree with, then the NPC should disagree. If the player suggests something which falls into the gray area, then a Speech check should be made. If the player succeeds on this check, then they’ve convinced the NPC. If the player fails the check, then they succeed in convincing the NPC.

Note that neither success nor failure is ever absolute. If the NPC offers the player 200 caps to kill a local Supermutant, and the player demands 400 caps, then success might mean that the NPC offers 300 caps. And if the character fails, then they might be able to earn another check by offering some good reasons why they deserve more caps.

In the coming week I’ll wrap up this exploration of Fallout 3 as a tabletop game with a few miscellaneous rules.