In Matt Finch's
Quick Primer for Old School Gaming the first zen moment is Rulings not Rules. He describe how in the absence of mechanics or guidance the referee has to rely on his common sense and experience to come up with the mechanics to adjudicate the actions of a character.
Since I started actively refereeing Swords & Wizardry several years ago I come up with some handy concrete guidelines that help make up a ruling without staddling the game with overly complicated mechanics.
First off I look at Swords & Wizardry and the classic editions to see what tools I can come with.
- There is the to hit roll.
- Saving Throws
- Modifiers
- Some type of roll based on a characteristic.
- A skill roll.
The To Hit Roll
This is best used when the ruling involves throwning, swinging, or hitting something. If it is just about hitting the target with no real damage I usually set the target number based off AC 10 (or 9 depending on the edition). The same with targeting a piece of floor or a specific section of a wall. If just hitting a large building, wall, rock, etc. Then I will add +2. I will also use the range guidelines for darts and other thrown weapons as a guide to when to impose range modifiers.
Saving Throws
I use saving throw to resolve actions where player is attempting to have his character do something non-lethal to another character. A character wants to do disarm or trip an opponent. I will generally say he needs to hit the target and the target gets a save. If the save fails then the character is successful in his action.
The implication is that it harder to do certain things against higher level character or monsters. I feel this is OK as in my mind higher level or HD represent characters/monsters with more points or build in other systems.
Modifiers
The benchmark I go by here is that it is -4 to hit an invisible opponent or to fight in complete darkness. Generally this means modifiers range from +4 to -4.
There is also the issues with modifiers granted by characteristics. Some editions like ADnD have extensive modifiers while other don't. I found I was happy with this chart.
18 +3
15-17 +2
12-14 +1
9-11 +0
6-8 -1
3-5 -2
Some type of roll based on a characteristic.
I don't use this a lot myself but other referees. The basic options are
1) Roll under the characteristic with a d20
2) Roll a d20 add the characteristic and get 20 or higher
3) Multiply the characteristic by 5 and roll under the number with percentile dice.
A skill roll.
With the introduction of the Thief class skill rolls became part of DnD. The original class used percentile dice modified by race and dexterity. This is something I never really liked. I preferred something similar to 3rd Edition version which is a d20 roll and beat a target number. I consider skill rolls valuable because they allow the creation of character class that are better at various non-combat things. Ultimately what I adopted was roll a d20 and equal or beat a 15 modified by the relevant characteristic and any bonus given to you by your class.
However the spirit of the oldest editions make for a game where characters can attempt anything. So instead of skill I added abilities. That way anybody can still try to pick a lock but burglars are better than anybody else.
By combining these various elements I can come with the mechanics needed to adjudicate just about any a players wants to do in my campaigns. With the virtue of still making the game feel like you are playing a classic edition.
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