AD&D's Dual Classing doesn't suck (much)

Recently in an AD&D campaign a player lost his character and the DM decided to allow him to make a new character with the same amount of XP. After looking at the PHB he decides to go for Bard (which involves Dual Classing). We were 7th level characters when this happened.

To our surprise he was able to make a 3rd level Bard dual classed as a 5th level Fighter and a 5th Level Thief.

What happened is that the rough doubling of required XP to advance really worked in his favor. It required only a modest amount of XP to advance to 5th level in both Fighter and Thief and then to 3rd level to Bard.

The implication of this is that in AD&D 1st; Dual Classing isn't as onerous as it first appears. Because when you do it, it is likely that you will continue adventuring with the rest of the party. The XP award will not be what you getting when you were at low levels but whatever the party has been tackling i.e. deeper dungeon levels.  Advancement through the lower levels will be a lot more rapid than what occurred for the original levels.

When it all said and done it is likely the dual classed character will only be a level or two behind the rest of the party. By that point it is likely he would have exceeded his former levels and regained his old abilities. So as crazy as the old Bard looked it doesn't look as bad as it did before.

From the Attic: Janon News Report #1

Tim of Gothridge Manor co-DMed a couple of campaigns with me in the late nineties. One of the things he did well was supply "color" as the campaign progressed. One of them was in the form of news bulletins posted by a bard named Janon. This particular one was about Zik, a player character who was a elven wizard who loved his fireballs. Luckily it was GURPS Magic and Fireball only nailed a person at a time. But then it was GURPS that usually meant the person died or horribly injured.

Five City Guards Slaughtered!

Last night five city guards were savagely murdered. They were ripped and torn to pieces. At first, the guards believed it must have been a wild animal or crazed creation of one of the mages, but later on they discovered the identity of the killer to be an elf! This is a great embarassment to the authorities two days before the Jubilee of the Overlord is to begin. All the increases of security, the construction of walkways over the city, check points, and more guards was all for not. An elf single handedly destroyed whatever blanket of saftey the city guards thought they were providing. Although, I know little of elves and thier ways, I believe this should be a warning to the possible destructive nature of these outwardly docile creatures.

The elf is known as Zik. The city officials are also accusing Zik of murdering a father protecting his wife and child, crippling two draft horses, destroying a wagon, and the strangulation of a Gynorian belonging to the Brotherhood of the Lion. While the city officals are at it I would like to blame this Zik for making me loose 50d at the dice tables last night.

Zik apparently entered City-State a week ago and met with his long time friend Zepherus Hammerguard who lives on the northern end of Regal Street. The had some dealings together, although the details are sketchy at this point. Sources say Zepherus Hammerguard, Zik, and an unidentified person at this time ventured into the sewers and Zik did not return. The Frik brothers were on the scene and said they tried to warn and help them, but the mysterious adventurer hit Igny Frik with a powerful spell. The Frik brothers were so upset by the ordeal they went to drown their sorrows at the Red Axe Tavern.

Rumors of vampires are still floating around, but until I find more information I just let that dangle out there to tempt you till next time folks. Until then, stay away from elves and hug a guard.

as told by Jynon

Eventually Zik was brought to justice in front of the Elven Queen. Her sentence was simply.

As you treated others little better than an animal so shall you be treated as animal. You shall be transformed into a mule and for the next century offer a ride to all those who arrive at our gates. 

Again I have to credit Tim for coming up with this. The player's next character had a lot more respect for the powers that be of the campaign.

Impressions of Google+ gaming

The short answer is that using Google+ and the web for internet gaming sucks. But simultaneously it doesn't suck. How can that be so?

Understand that since 2007 or so I been using Fantasy Grounds plus Skype on a near weekly basis. So far I gamed using D&D 4e, Castles & Crusades, GURPS, and Swords & Wizardry. Fantasy Grounds is in my opinion the Cadillac of Virtual Tabletops. Google+, and the use of various web tools like Twiddla is far inferior to using Fantasy Grounds in every respect except one.

Accessibility.

Google+ and most of the web tools just work. And they easily setup by the average gamer. Fantasy Grounds and similar software require both an outlay of money and the knowledge of how to open a port. There are server based tabletops (web and non-web based) but they currently cost $$$, and not as feature rich as fantasy grounds. While most of these are only small barriers they are a substantial barrier to just getting a game together and having a session.

In the hands of a group of gamers Google+, Twiddla and other webtools are "good enough" and the have the virtue of allowing anybody with a internet connection to quickly get on a game. There is a element of trust without a online dice rollar so some maturity is needed among the gamers in order to make this work.

The missing elements that I think is needed for Google+ and Twiddla is a dice roller for Google+ and layers with locking for Twiddla. Twiddla also need mouse rotation for object.

After using Google+ I am glad to have a viable alternative to Skype.


The Google+ client on iPad sucks for not having access to the chat while in a hangout. I have to do this complicated dance of being on my computer and the iPad (because I don't have a webcam) to use the hangout full capabilities.

If you and your group are finding that you play tabletop on a regular basis you owe it to check out Fantasy Grounds if there is support for your favorite RPG rules. There are a lot of improvement over the Google+ plus Twiddla combination. I plan on later this year to upgrade to the Ultimate version so folks can use the free demo version to connect to any games I run.

Into the Dwimmermount

This Friday I was able to join the Dwimmermount campaign run by James Maliszewski of Grognardia. I was originally exposed to the dungeons several years ago in a short play by post game run over on the OD&D Discussion Forums. For this session I recycled Argyll the highland magic user I played in the play by post. Can't throw away that 18 Intelligence!

The game was organized on Google+. I almost missed it because I didn't figure out where the notification appeared until nearly the last minute. I will get back to the technical stuff in another post.

I gamed with Jason Azze, Ryan Browning and Michael Curtis; two fighters and an elf. We jelled pretty solidly as a group. Mostly because we were all a mellow bunch of gamers who had a healthy respect for the deadliness of low level OD&D. The experience of the Jason, Ryan, and Michael really helped to keep everybody hide intact and yet not bog down the exploration.

You can see some of that on my sheet with all the stuff I packed on Mirk Plook "Dark Spots", my mule. Over the game I found myself wondering at why I omitted things like rope and oil. I think that was an artifact of the setup for the play by post game. James' post over at Grognardia goes into the details.

I will add that I was playing Argyll as a bit reckless. Argyll has a 18 intelligence but a 6 wisdom. For example normally folks would avoid the Room of Masks as it was obviously trapped. But Argyll had to poke around so he got out his 10 foot pole and poke around eventually figuring out that knocking the masks off triggered the trap, which was a deadly poison gas.

The Dwimmermount was as evocative as I remembered it from the play by post game. A little better because we playing a normal sessions rather than the long dragged out process of play by post. I also just signed for the $40 hardcover level of the kickstarter project.  Earlier today I looked at the one preview level that has been released. I have to say Dwimmermount is shaping up to be a stellar book.

I think also due to the fact that James uses bog standard older D&D as the base that it should be readily adaptable to most campaigns. For example not everybody has a Turms Turmax or a Tyche but many campaign have gods with similar roles and could be adapted into their roles.

Due to time constraints I won't be able to make this a regular game but I do hope to pop in every once in a while as long as James keeps running it.

And thanks to Michael for suggesting that we try to be the first into the Depths of the Dwimmermount (hear those capitals slamming into place.).

Origin of the name Majestic Wilderlands

When I first started working on Judges Guild project with Bob Bledsaw around 2000 I kept calling the Wilderlands, the Majestic Wilderlands. Bob didn't know what I was talking about even tho I was 100% sure that was the overall name. Eventually under Necromancer it just became the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

Still I wondered for a long time why was I sure it was called the Majestic Wilderlands. Now I found my answer which is on page 17 of Pegasus #8. There is an article giving a overview of various Judges Guild Product and at the end there is a list of project they are working on.

One of which was

Majestic Wilderlands: Campaign Overview.

Now my question is answered. Still wouldn't made a difference as during the course of working with the Judges Guild I learned that a lot of the later Wilderlands products didn't reflect Bob's personal view of his Wilderlands. When the background and major details of the boxed set was organized it taken from his notes. After that was the contributions of the team and the later Wilderlands products was woven in.

20 questions about my D&D game

I normally ignore these but I like Brendan's set of question about what type of game you run.

    Ability scores generation method?
3d6 six time arrange accordingly. Reroll a new set if you have two scrolls under 8 or no scores over 12.

    How are death and dying handled?
-3 times your levels until you reach your cap of negative constitution.

    What about raising the dead?
Per spell, basically you are raised but weak for 1 week of in-game time.

    How are replacement PCs handled?
Roll them up normally and I will work them in. If the campaign has been going on for a while I will start them at a higher level randomized by a 3d6 roll.

    Initiative: individual, group, or something else?
Individual. 1d6 + your dex bonus. Fighters get to add their to hit bonus. I manage it by using a count down. Monsters use group initiative except for important NPCs.

On  their turn players can do two actions, with a half-move considered a action and only one of the action can be an attack or a spell. Can always move 5 feet without drawing a free attack. So if you want to retreat without a free attack against you. You can take a 5 foot step and then a half move.  Combat rounds are considered to be six seconds.

    Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?
Critical Hits
Roll normal damage. If you roll a nat 20 you do a critical hit. Roll again to see if you score another natural 20. Stop rolling if you don't roll another 20. Each time you score a critical you get to add max damage to the damage you rolled.

Critical Miss
A natural 1 is a critical miss, roll a d6.  1-3 you throw your weapon away 1d3 x 5ft away in a random direction. Or fall prone if fighting unarmed. 4-5 you hit an ally, 6 you hit yourself.

    Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?
A adjusted roll of 17 or better that hits on a helmless target is a successful head short and cause the target to make a saving throw at +2 or fall unconcious. A adjusted roll of 20 or better is a faceshot and will cause the target to make a saving throw or fall unconcious unless they are wearing a greathelm.

    Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?
If you critically miss  a result of 6 means you hit an ally.

    Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?
You will need to run.

    Level-draining monsters: yes or no?
Yes

    Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?
Yes

    How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?
Magic Item components, and gold should be strictly checked. The rest within reason.

    What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?
You go up a level when you earn the XP. However magic-users will need to spend time time scribing new spells. 1 day per spell level, and 100 gp per spell level. Clerics will need to wait until their next rest period to pray for new spells. I have several custom classes that have require specific actions by the PC when they reach a certain level.

    What do I get experience for?
I award monster xp plus a roleplaying bonus of a factor times the character level. The factor is usually set to 200 or 400. I will give additional rewards due the resolution of important character goals and penalizes out of game or metagame crap at the table (this happens rarely).

    How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?
You must describe what you are doing before making any rolls.

    Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?
Players are free to whatever they want. If they want to spend money and time getting retainers more power to them. However that means they have a group of individuals to deal with.


As for morale I make a check when 50% of their allies are down, and another when 25% of their allies are down.  For the first 1-3 they stay, 4 to 6 to they run, for the second, 1 to 2 they stay, 4 to 6 they run. If they are in a lair or home then they only run or surrender on a 6.

    How do I identify magic items?
Character basically roll a d20 plus their intelligence modifier if they roll a 15 or better they ID the magic item within one turn. If they want to spend a rest period doing the ID they automatically succeed. Magic users get a additional bonus due their Thaumatology ability which is any thing that has to do with the identification or understanding of magic.


    Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?
Magic Items are divided into three broad groups. Common, Uncommon, and Rare. Common magic items (potions, etc) can be easily bought at a magic store, Uncommon generally can be bought in very limited quantities, while Rare items are only avaliable on the auction circuit where access is controlled.

    Can I create magic items? When and how?
Working on the exact prices but basically spend the time and gold pieces and the items is created.

    What about splitting the party?
Not a issue but don't whine if you don't feel like you are partipating the whole time and you will have to learn to handle how to roleplay properly even when you have out of game knowledge about what the other half is up too. One of the few things I will blue bolt a player for is metagaming.

Enjoying D&D

Several things help me enjoy D&D more this round than back in the 80s.

Getting the idea that running older D&D is more about making rulings than looking up rules.

Having a over a decade of reenactment and boffer live-action rpg experience which helps me describe and referee combat better which is important considering how abstract D&D combat is.

I simply improved as a referee and know more stuff to make interesting and memorable encounters. Because of the nature of the D&D  rules, I do more of my thinking is on the details of the encounter rather than looking stuff up.

The wealth of material to draw on when I am pressed for time is staggering.

Having my house rules in a printed form, the Majestic Wilderlands, has been really helpful. Even you don't want to be a publisher I recommend using Lulu to print up your own collection. Or if you don't have a lot, use the local copy store to make a bound copy.