OD&D Rogues revisted

A while ago I presented a task system for D&D along with some Rogue classes to go along with it. I think it is a perfectly fine system but for my commerical project I want to work with D&D not supplant it. So after getting some feed back on the full write up, I concluded that my original setup isn't D&Dish enough. I am happy with the design and the math but for people in my target audience to use them they need to be presented differently.

First off I changed the task roll to a ability roll. While in theory it could be used a universal mechanic like Castle & Crusade Siege mechanics that not what I am using it for. Instead of saying "Roll equal or under your abiity score on a d20." Or "under your ability score times 5 on a d100 roll" I am using this type of roll.

Ability Roll

In order to succeed with an ability roll you have to roll 3D6. You add your attribute score, your class modifier and any situational modifiers. If you are equal to or higher than a 20 on a 3d6 roll you succeed. If you wish to use critical successes and failures then use the following. If you roll a 30 or higher you critically succeed, if you roll a 10 or lower you critically fail. At the referee's discretion a d20 roll may be subsituted. This will give more extreme results (both high and low).

I am doing it this way for several reasons

1. Using the Bell Curve instead of a straight roll. I played enough 3.X and 4.X to dislike the crapshot that a straight d20 roll gives. In a 3d6 roll most of your rolls will be between 9 and 12.

2. I wanted to have a roll high instead of a roll low system.

In general the math works out like this; a character with +4 in an ability and a 10 attribute score has a 50% of success. Most abilities start off with a -4 to -2 modifier.

To recap what Rogues are

Characters (Rogues)

The Rogues are those who choose to sacrifice fighting or magic aptitude in favor of special abilities or excelling at certain abilities.

I know that Rogues have been used by later editions of D&D but after looking the Thesaurus there isn't really a better term for what I am trying to do here.

An example of a Rogue Classs

Burglar

Rogues may choose to start as Burglars. Burglars are trained in abilities used by secret societies, thieves’ guilds and gangs. They learn these abilities at the expense of combat expertise. Burglars can be of any alignment, and must possess Dexterity of 10 or better.

• Prime Attribute: Dexterity is 13 or greater, character earns +15% experience.
• Gains 1d6-1 HP/level
• Fights using the Magic-user combat table.
• Can use leather armor and shield
• Can use the following weapons: hand axe, club, dagger, light mace, staff, short sword, light crossbow, dart, sling.
• At 9th level a Burglar may opt to form his own guild and attract loyal followers. The burglar’s former associates may object strongly to the formation of the new guild.

Climbing Ability
A Burglar has the Climbing ability at first level. The character adds the higher of his Strength or Dexterity score to his ability roll.
A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to climb with a rope or a steep incline.
A successful roll at -6 will allow a character to climb a sheer face.
If the character is encumbered then he is at -2 to his task roll.

Climbing with a rope is at 12 feet per round
Climbing a steep incline is at 8 feet per round
Climbing a sheer face is at 6 feet per round.

For every level a Burglar gains +2 to his ability roll with Climbing.

Eavesdrop Ability

A Burglar has the Eavesdrop ability at first level. The character adds his Intelligence score to his ability roll.
In most cases a conversation can be overheard but often times it is too indistinct or unclear. This ability is useful to understanding these type of conversations clearly.

A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to listen through a door or shuttered window.
A successful roll at -4 will allow a character to listen to a single conversation in a crowded tavern.
A successful roll at -6 will allow a character to listen through a stone wall or other thick surface.

For every three levels a Burglar gains +2 to his ability roll with Eavesdrop.


Legerdemain Ability
A Burglar has the Legerdemain ability at first level. The character adds his Dexterity score to his ability roll.

This ability involves using manual dexterity to manipulate small objects.

A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to pickpocket a mark that is in the midst of a crowd.
A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to perform a sleight of hand trick or concealment when you are 5’ feet or more away from an audience
A successful roll at a -6 modifier will allow a character to pickpocket a mark that is alone.
A successful roll at a -6 modifier will allow a character to perform a sleight of hand trick or concealment when you are closer than 5’ feet to an audience.

A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to disable a known trap.
A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to pick a lock open with thieves picks.
A successful roll at -6 will allow a character to pick open a trapped lock or a trapped chest with a lock without triggering the trap.
A successful roll at -4 will allow a character to pick a lock open with inadequate tools.

For every level a Burglar gains +1 to his ability roll with Legerdemain.


Perceive Ability
A Burglar has the Perceive ability at first level. The character adds his Wisdom score to his ability roll.

A successful roll at -6 will allow a character to spot a target that hidden in shadow or well covered.
A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to spot a target sneaking through a well-lit or open area.
Note these ability rolls assume that the target has made his stealth task roll otherwise the target is automatically spotted.

A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to notice a medium size or large feature of an area in the middle of combat.
A successful roll at -6 will allow a character to notice a small feature of an area in the middle of combat.

For every three levels a Burglar gains +2 to his ability roll with Perceive.

Stealth Ability
A Burglar has the Stealth ability at first level. The character adds his Dexterity score to his ability roll.

A successful roll at -2 will allow a character to sneak around or hide in areas with heavy shadowed or have heavy cover.
A successful roll at a -6 modifier will allow a character to sneak around or hide in areas that are well-lit or open.

For every level a Burglar gains +1 to his ability roll with Stealth.

Burglar Advancement

Level  Experience  Hit Dice   Save 
1      0             1d6-1     15  
2      1,750         2d6-2     14  
3      3,500         3d6-3     13  
4      7,000         4d6-4     12  
5     15,000         5d6-5     11  
6     31,000         6d6-6     10  
7     62,000         7d6-7      9  
8    117,000         8d6-8      8  
9    192,000         9d6-9      7  
10   267,000         +1 hp      6  
11   342,000         +2 hp      6  
12   417,000         +3 hp      6  
13+  +75,000/level   +1 hp/lvl  6  

Level  Climb    Eaves.  Leger.  Perc.  Stealth
1      +0      +0      +0      +0      +0
2      +0      +0      +1      +0      +1
3      +2      +2      +2      +2      +2
4      +2      +2      +3      +2      +3
5      +2      +2      +4      +2      +4
6      +4      +4      +5      +4      +5
7      +4      +4      +6      +4      +6
8      +4      +4      +7      +4      +7
9      +6      +6      +8      +6      +8
10     +6      +6      +9      +6      +9
11     +6      +6      +10     +6      +10
12     +8      +8      +11     +8      +11
13+    +2per3  +2per3  +1/lvl  +2per3  +1/lvl

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Other Rogue classes are Thugs, Mountebanks, and Merchant Adventurers.

From the Attic: My highest level 1e Character

A couple of days ago I posted my oldest character. However they were not my highest level character ever. Only one character was deemed worthy of a Permanent Character Folder, Robert the Wanderer.

His astoundingly original name had more to the 'the wanderer' rather than naming him after myself. I just liked the combo of "Robert the Wanderer".

His stats were rolled up using the method of 4d6 drop the lower, do this seven times, drop the lowest score. This was probably the most popular method in my hometown. The campaign was run by the DM using the Middle Earth map. From what little I remember it wasn't very middle earth like.

Yeah and the ink bleeding through from drawing the shields sucked. I still have one blank permanent folder left. With the OSR in full swing maybe I will get to use it. For those of you who missed on these the first time around (or never had a chance) I recommend going to Mad Irishman's site here. He even fixes the problem with having no AC on the front panel. Plus you can get adventure records to fill out.

A Fantasy Sandbox in Detail Part VII

Part VI

This is the seventh in a series detailing the 34 steps I recommended for making a Fantasy Sandbox Campaign. Today's post will cover the following step.

17. Write a paragraph describing each named geography

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Amur Forest
This forest has some of the richest game on the island but it has never been touched by the Gevons or the other island inhabitants. A pack of wereboars curshed by Tavaras still resides in the forest attacking any who dare venture inside its bounds.

Bay of the Dead
Several attacks were made against the lich lord the century before crusaders from the Eainian Empire arrived. Launched by petty kings and barons the fleets were sent to a watery grave in the bay, destroyed by the might of the lich lord. There dead sailors and warriors were reawaken as undead guardians of Sable Port. After the crusaders destroyed Tavaras the bay was swept of their foul presence. In the centuries since the bay has retained its ill reputation and local fisherman avoid the area as well as the surrounding underwater denizens.

East Bay
This bay is the main landing for the island. Every day at dawn the bay becomes a riot of festive colors as fishermen hoist their sails to leave on their daily fishing runs. The fishermen return about an hour before sunset and evening twilight broken by the light of dozens of fires as the drying of the day’s catch begins. Watching this are four sahuagin stationed in the swamp that makes up the southern arm of the bay. They have cunningly dug out a watchpost amid the tangles of the mangroves. After the fishing boat leave they send out a fast swimmer to tell their brothers of any likely prey.

Mount Devon
Once a non descript rock outcrop the Cataclysm has exposed this limestone mass as the central peak of the island. It is riddled with caves carved out by the once higher water table. The lich lord Tavaras explored much of the caverns and made it into his strong hold. It is rumored that it connects to the Underearth and is why Tavaras as able to retain power for as long as he did.

The slopes of the mountain are bare offering little cover. The peak is likewise bare but high enough to have ice form when a storm passes through. The ice will melt when sky clears. Conditions are especially dangerous during the monsoons.

North Downs
These hills are gentle slopes on their north face and very steep (sometimes cliffs) on their south face. The ravines and valleys formed by the south faces were mostly filled in by soil during the Cataclysm forming some of the richest farmland on the island. During Tavaras rule dozens of Latifundas were established, worked by the enslaved population of the island. But overfarming depleted much of the region soil and the latifundias were abandoned when the crusaders liberated the island.

The North downs are split in the middle by a broad valley filled with the tangles of the Briar Patch. Legend has it that a sorcerer under Tavaras and his army were destroyed here by the power of a hierophant accompanying the crusaders.

South Bay
This bay is more exposed than East Bay to storms and not as popular of an anchorage for ships coming to Isle of Piall. Weekly barges depart Hawth and Sandpoint to Mikva. The bay is also a popular spot among the fishermen to hunt for clam and lobsters. Both the regular and the giant sized variety are abundant in the area.

South Downs
These hills are similar to the north downs. Their south facing slopes are gentle and the north facing slopes are steep almost a cliff. The eastern end of the range is used for grazing sheep and has several scattered sheepfolds. The area also several nature caves that are rumored to connect to the caverns under Mount Devon.


Southpoint
This low mountain was created when a rocky mass was hurled upwards during the Cataclysm and landed in this spot. It is rich in iron, zinc, copper along with several veins of silver. Several hundred years ago Baron William Gevon invited the Darkiron Clan to mine the riches in exchange for a share for the island’s use. Since then the mine has proven profitable making the Darkirons one of the wealthiest of the dwarven clans.

The slopes of Southpoint are bare of soil and have little cover. A steep stairway winds up and around the mountain to the peak where a lighthouse/watchtower is maintained jointly by the King of the Isles and the dwarves. Currently it is the home of Valard the Yellow mage (MU 9). Once the court mage of the king’s father he retired here 8 years ago. Nominally in charge of the tower he leaves the daily operation in the hands of his capable assistant Reynard (FTR 4).

The Midland Sea
Greatly expanded during the Cataclysm the Midland Sea now hums with the commerce of the surrounding realms. The Po Empire and the Kingdom of the Isles have been traditional rivals for mastery of the inland sea. In the last century Po has been ascendant as the wealth of their mainland territories have finally given them a lasting advantage against the Isles.

Under the waves the Midland Sea has been continually source of turmoil. Suddenly hundreds of square miles of new sea laid open for claims by the underwater realms. When the turmoil of the Cataclysm subsided the sea grab started in earnest. Initally with the support of the Dark Lord the Sahuagin gained the initial advantage. But later the Eainian Empire and the successor realms (Po, Isles) aided the merfolk, and Locathah were able to push back the Sahuagin and establish their own holdings. Despite the aid of the surface realms the balance of power still remains precarious in the underwater world.

The Dwarves recently suffered a rash of disappearance after a new vein was opened. They have closed the section and now are preparing an expedition to investigate what happened.

The Sands
The southern end of the Isle of Piall has an extensive stretch of sandy beaches stretching for nearly four miles along the shore and reaching nearly a mile inland. The area is known for their shifting shoreline which is carved anew every year during the monsoon storms. The area is noted for Giant Scorpions which also inhabits the local shallows. It rumored that Sahuagin raiding parties are seen here capturing the Giant Scorpions for their own nefarious reasons.

West Fen
This salt marsh runs for almost two miles along the Isle of Piall’s western shoreline. Much of it is soft ground overlaid by six foot strands of tallgrass. These strands are home to murderous packs of Daggerbeaks who hunt the local fauna and any unwary adventurers.

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Having done nearly a dozen of these things so far one thing I have to say is get a good set of random tables together. Even right now I can use more tables. The main use is for an idea generator. You will have a half dozen good ideas and still will need to come up with dozens more. The tables help as an idea generator. Just keep rolling until something clicks and makes you go ah-ha!

Amur Forest I struggled with for a bit until I decided to use a variant of the cursed forest.

Bay of the dead was inspired by the scenes of the dead walking along the bottom of the sea in Pirates of the Caribbean.

East bay pretty much an extrapolation from all the villages I placed around it. The sails are a color bit to set the scene for the players. The sahuagin were thrown in to tie it with once of the plot elements I will developing.

Mount Devon is from the desire to have a mega dungeon for the island. The dropping of the water table makes for a ready excuse to have lots of caves. Not like we need one but hey at least mine got some plausibility behind it.

North Downs and South Downs geography comes from something I read recently about the geology of SE England. Basically formed by the different layers exposed after the top regions get whacked off. In England's case it was the Ice Age in mine the Cataclysm. The latifundas come from Spartacus and reading roman history. Nasty places for the slave inhabitants. Now have some nice ruins for small adventures.

South Bay I didn't much of feel for so I just extrapolated something from the surrounding settlements and threw in some giant sized animals to liven things up.

For the South downs I came up with the idea of caves connecting with the larger network underneath Mount Devon. You can have some low level adventure here in these cave and in the very back have that one lone passage that connects to the vast "Underearth" beneath the Island.

Southpoint. I though it would be cool to have what is essentially a giant meteorite plopped down here and is now being mined by Dwarves. Mind Flayers or other things that man was not meant to be know in here?

The Midland Sea comes from the fact if you got an island pretty much you got underwater civilizations. Since this whole area was just recently created in terms of history means thing are probably even more chaotic than usual.

The Sands come from a show called the most Dangerous Seas in history with Niall Marvin. It one of those show that are like Walking with Dinosaurs where the creatures are seamlessly integrated with the actors. One segment has going back to the Cambrian period where Giant Scorpions inhabited the land. In fact were the only animals on land. The beach covered in scorpions stuck in my head when creating this.

The West Fens comes from the scene in 10,000 B.C where the hunters got hunted by Terror Birds.

That it for Part VII, next is Part VIII.

From the Attic: The Quest for the Oldest Character

This is a bit of a crazy thought. But I think it would be neat if we could find the oldest character sheets around, have it scanned in for folks to see and read.

I posted this thought on the various old school forums and to get the ball here is a scan of my oldest character. While it doesn't have a date I do have a sheet dated Nov 1979 and this was to me was obviously it predecessor being some several thousand XP less.

As for the familiar name I really liked the names Roghan and Zelligar from B1. Also this was rolled up with the most generous of the character rolling methods hence the bloated stats. What can I say I was 14 then. This character (and Zelligar) were my first serious AD&D characters. I started playing in the fall of 78 and rolled these guys up shortly after. They never progressed beyond 6th level as I became one of those folks who DMed nearly all the time.

Chgowiz's does a great product

Michael Shorten known as Chgowiz has done a great job with the Swords & Wizardry Old School Reference Sheets which you can find here.

They have some character gen stuff, spell listings, and a complete monster reference. Along with a nice treasure generation set of tables that is very complete.

Now I admit these type of products are not exactly the most exciting thing in the world. But when I started doing Wild North I quickly photocopied, scanned and pasted together a set of reference sheet. Looking through the rulebook for this stuff is a pain. This is also coupled with the fact that not every chart in the books need to be duplicated. There are some that you will rarely use if ever.

When I looked through what Chgowiz did I was impressed that he made many of the same choices as I did. I feel that this product will be of useful practical benefit both in creating characters and in the referee creating stuff for his game.

So if you use Swords & Wizardry you can't go wrong with this product.

A Fantasy Sandbox in Detail Part VI

Part V

This is the sixth in a series detailing the 34 steps I recommended for making a Fantasy Sandbox Campaign. Today's post will cover the following step.

16. Write a Half Page background describing the region and it's history.

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A thousand years ago this island emerged from the Cataclysm as a bare expanse of rock and soil. Whatever existed here was obliterated in the chaos. It took a hundred years for it transform from an barren expanse to a weed choked landscape and finally back to it's original wooded condition. During that time survivors, both human and animal found themselves washed up on it shores. The humans were originally from Nemedia, one of the Five Kingdoms of the Eainans. They established several fishing hamlets in and around East Bay. In the chaos of the time they manage to carve out an oasis of tranquility due to the island's isolation and the Midland Sea's plenty.

This was all shattered when scouts of the Lich Tavaras discovered the Isle of Piall. Tavaras was one of those charged by the Dark Lord to chart the islands of the newly created sea. Tavaras decided to claim Piall as his own. In 110 AC (After the Cataclysm) he landed on the shore of the Bay of the Dead with his undead army. He quickly subjugated the fishing hamlets and enslaved the populace. He used them to build the Sable Port.

From there he explored the island taking particular interest in Mount Devon. It was originally just a rocky outcropping but the Cataclysm stripped away the surrounding soil leaving the rocky core. Within the mountains was a extensive network of caves; now dry because of the drop in the water table. There Tavaras decided to establish his stronghold More slaves, and materials were shipped in through the Sable Port and up into the mountain. On the North Downs Bone Keep was established at the center of several latifundas setup to feed the growing slave population.

Tavaras ruled Piall as his personal domain for nearly 200 years. He survived the fall of the Dark Lord and collapse of the Dark Empire. He became one of the numerous petty lords striving for mastery in the shattered remnants of the Five Kingdoms. His downfall came with the arrival of crusaders from the United Church. They brought overwhelming force and besieged Tavaras in his stronghold for nine months. In the end they were able to breach the mountain and bring down the lich lord.

After the downfall of Tavaras, Piall was incorporated as part of the County of the Isles. The Isles were part of the Grand Duchy of Nemedia a province of the Eainian Empire. When the Eainian Empire split apart around 500 AC, Piall was briefly the capital of Arwold III, one of the pretenders to the Eainian Crown. After the Civil Wars it was incorporated into the Kingdom of the Isles and granted to the Gevon family. Markon Gevon was made the first Baron of Piall in 553 AC.

It was Baron Markon Gevon who invited halflings, the Hightower family, to settle the rich bottomlands west of The Sands. A hundred years later, the friendship of Baron William Gevon with the Dwarves of Kharan led to the Darkiron Clan to establish Hawth Hold to mine Southpoint.

Over the centuries Bone Keep, and Sable Port remained abandoned. The wars that led to the foundation of the Eainian Empire did not leave much time for the crusaders to scour the island of Tavaras evil. Enough remained to make the northern half of the Isle of Piall dangerous to the unwary traveller. The Barons of Piall have kept up patrols. But since disappearance of Baron Andrew Gevon 150 years ago in Mount Devon nobody has returned to explore any of the old ruins.

Today (1000 AC) the Isle of Piall is starting to emerge from relative obscurity. The nearly Empire of Po is expansionist and Piall is on the border between the Kingdom of the Isles and Po. The King has appointed a Sheriff to survey the island and to strengthened the island's defenses. The Gevons welcome the additional gold but not sure they like a royal officer in permanent residence.

Most of the peasantry are not free having been reduced to serfdom in the wake of their liberation from Tavaras. There has been several peasant revolts on the island. 20% of the human population is free; a mix of yeomen, craftsmen, and merchants.

The human inhabitants of Piall worship Veritas. There a temple in Mikva and shrines in the other villages and hamlets. The Dwarves of Hawth are devout worshipper of Veritas in his aspect as the Soul Forger. The Halflings of Sandpoint follow Dannu the goddess of the Hearth, and Healing. They pray to her to bless the crops and their homes.

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Maybe there a little more than a half page there. Then again I get carried away with this part of setting creation.

I am a history buff



It helps by making you aware of the different situation people found themselves in over the century. But not necessary to write your own fictional history.

The key elements are being aware of the time line you created and extrapolate from the initial premises.

From my general history I now the Isle of Piall was effected by the following events in following Order.

The Cataclysm
Dark Lord & the Dark Empire
The Fall of the Dark Empire
The Eainian Empire
The Civil Wars
The Kingdom of the Isles.

The Cataclysm is a bit of cop-out as it greatly simplifies the original history of the island. Simply it wiped everything was there before. I could left something in Mt Devon and may use that option later on.

Since I want a central dungeon for this mini-setting the Dark Empire sequence provides me with a convenient hook to use the cliche yet useful lich lord.

The remaining stuff up to the Kingdom of the Isle is an example of probably what not to do with backgrounds. What I call Tolkein's 1,000 year stretch. If you ever looked at the timeline in Return of the King there are hundreds of years where literally nothing has happened. Indeed remember when you watch the LOTR film trilogy that nearly 3000 years happened between the death of Islidur and Aragon. And they act as if happened a few generations ago both in the book and film.

I found that you can really flesh out about 500 years with good stuff useful for your setting. More that then you either need to writing about your setting a really long time or just have huge gaps. 500 years is equivalent to the span of time from the fall of Rome to the start of the High Middle Ages. I did think of some interesting stuff with allied Dwarves and Halflings coming onto the Island to plug the time gap.

When I come to the Kingdom of Isles I pick some idea again. I figured the freed slaves would be eventually become serfs in the feudal society that rose after the fall of the Eainian Empire. This can be used to create tension within the setting. This is an example of extrapolating from the premise.

The rest of it comes from looking at the last overall map I did with all the Kingdoms. The Empire of Po is a much larger realm to the east of the Kingdom of the Isles. Po not being one of the original Five Kingdoms it must be an expansionist empire. This could provide some external tensions to the Island.

I probably should come up with some "sea" menace. I am fairly good with coming up with human cultures and getting them to clash together to generate adventures. Not so good with the sentient monster stuff. I will try to take of that oversight in the locales and Geography Section.


That it for Part VI, next is Part VII.

A Fantasy Sandbox in Detail Part V

Part IV

This is the fifth in a series detailing the 34 steps I recommended for making a Fantasy Sandbox Campaign. Today's post will cover the following steps.

14. Decide to place miscellaneous locales. (anything that doesn't fit a above.
15. Name your geography (don't forget islands)

Miscellaneous locales could be things like tribal ranges, political units etc anything that is tied to an area as opposed to a specific hex. In Wildlands (Points of Light I) I marked on the map the rough location of the various barbarian and humanoid tribes.

I am not going to have anything like that one this map.

Next I name the villages. Here I use the tried and true method of making up random fantasy gibberish for the human villages. The main difference between today and 30 years ago is that I make sure I can pronounce myself before inflicting them on my players. For the halfling village I pick some ye olde english village name. For the dwarven settlement I decide something that sounds like Old English of the Anglo Saxon era.



This map is small so I am just going to do a separate export for geography. Here I will display the natives stunning imaginative grasp of naming. Or not. I have a good reason for not naming the northern bay 'North Bay' as I am going to tie the Bay of the Dead to the ruins on Mt Devon.


If you been doing your own map while following along by now you have everything you need to create an outline for the next steps.

Geography
Amur Forest
Bay of the Dead
East Bay
Mount Devon
North Downs
South Bay
South Downs
Southpoint
The Midland Sea
The Sands
West Fen

Locales
0102 Lair
0105 Hawth (village) Dwarf
0201 Lair
0203 Lair
0204 Sandpoint (village) Halfling
0302 Ruins
0303 Ruins
0305 Ruins
0401 Lair
0402 Ruins
0403 Mikva (castle, town) Human
0403 Datha (hamlet) Human
0404 Carra (hamlet) Human
0503 Kathi (village) Human
0505 Lair

From your own make this list and put in your notebook, index cards, or word processor. Next post we will work on the regional background and start filling out some of this stuff.

That it for Part V, next is Part VI.