With the help of friends and a few play tests I decided to revamp my ability system again. The whole thing started when I wanted new classes that are better things other than spells, praying, and combat. I labeled them as Rogues and they included claseses like Burglar, Mountebank, Thug, Merchant Adventures, and the Claws of Kali (assassins).
I made a whole list of things that OD&D characters can do and called them abilities. Climbing walls, fast talking your way out of a situation, haggling over a item and so on. The way I recommend these abilities work is that you describe or roleplay what you are doing and the referee uses the roll and modifiers as a guideline for the chance of success. Any character can use these abilities but Rogues are better at them then other characters at the cost of either combat and/or spell casting.
Originally I tried making a 3d6 + attribute system work. While it worked well in playtesting the disparity in attributes proved it's downfall, couple with actually trying explain it to other GMs. Most had a negative reaction. The disparity in attribute swamped the effect of the Rouge classes which defeated the point of doing this.
I still want a roll high so percentages are out. So, sigh, I just fall back to using the d20. So now as go through the individual abilities (climb walls, pick locks, haggle, etc) I use this as a template.
If your attribute is 8 or lower you get a -1 to the roll, 13 or higher +1 to the roll. The attribute used depends on the ability. Str or Dex can be used for climbing, Charisma for haggling. To see if you succeed you roll a d20+modifiers and see if you beat a target. I set abilities to a base between 10 and 20. For example trying to climb a steep slope in the middle of combat is a 10, a sheer wall is a 15, and ice covered cliff a 20. A Burglar would start out with a +2 to climbing going up to +8 around 10th level.
I am still working the numbers basically going through a variety of Judges Guild stuff and other older sources and seeing what various DM did. Most of it is in percentages (perhaps the first "universal" task dice) so converted it over to a d20 roll by dividing by 5. Judges Guild's Dungeon Tac Card are a goldmine for this stuff.
I didn't copy over d20 system even though I am using the OGL. This is because I am using Swords & Wizardry as the basis for my project. In S&W (and OD&D) the effect of high (and low) scores are a lot less than later additions.
Along with this and the just completed editing I am ready to layout out my project. I should have an announcement with details this month.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
From the Attic: Favorite TSR Modules .
There are a couple of TSR Modules I used over and over again. This collection I consider my utility modules. TSR had plenty of other good modules but these have elements that allow them to be incorporated easily into my Majestic Wilderlands. In no paritcular order here they are.
Note: You can find a nice overview of all the AD&D era TSR/Judges Guild products here at the Acaeum.
The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is one of the best low level modules put out by TSR. It locale of a haunted house and smuggler's cave underneath made it easily placed any where I needed it.
In general the UK series was "different" than the rest of the TSR Modules. I liked reading all of them however I only every ran two of them, Gauntlet and Sentinel. Typically I placed them in a mountain region along a pass or broad valley.
Ah the Village of Hommlet one of my all time favorite. The was the only module I took the time to convert fully into GURPS. I liked however every inhabitant was listed in the module. One thing I did in my conversion was add a little plot to the town itself.
The construction workers are having issues with the regular villagers who view them as "outsiders" who cause trouble. The construction workers live in a temporary settlement of mud and wattle huts near the castle.
Tension is mounting as the workers attempted to erect a tent to serve as a pub. The resulting protest from Ostler Gundigoot forced the Brewer not to sell any more kegs of beer and ale to the workers. One of the workers is currently in jail because he tried to steal a keg from the Brewer. Much of this is inflamed by the two Trader who are secretly evil agents.
Typically the way the events unfold when I run this are as follows
The Destiny of Kings is another favorite of mine. I liked it because it was one of the few AD&D modules that was human centric. Basically revolving around a plot around the search for the missing heir to the kingdom of Dunador.
The Island of Castanamir isn't really about an island but rather it is about the crazy lair of a a fore named wizard. It is a puzzle dungeon and always liked running it. It for low level character as well.
First off this module, Against the Cult of the Reptile God, has a complete village, the Village of Orlane. Plus the associated adventure isn't bad either.
The classic puzzle dungeon is the Ghost Tower of Inverness. I probably ran this one several times too many.
Finally the Secret of the Slaver's Stockade. I used the hill fort several times when I DMed AD&D. Dressing it up with the whatever bad guys where the antagonists of the campaign. Unlike the Ghost Tower the players never really caught on to this.
Note: You can find a nice overview of all the AD&D era TSR/Judges Guild products here at the Acaeum.
The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is one of the best low level modules put out by TSR. It locale of a haunted house and smuggler's cave underneath made it easily placed any where I needed it.
In general the UK series was "different" than the rest of the TSR Modules. I liked reading all of them however I only every ran two of them, Gauntlet and Sentinel. Typically I placed them in a mountain region along a pass or broad valley.
Ah the Village of Hommlet one of my all time favorite. The was the only module I took the time to convert fully into GURPS. I liked however every inhabitant was listed in the module. One thing I did in my conversion was add a little plot to the town itself.
The construction workers are having issues with the regular villagers who view them as "outsiders" who cause trouble. The construction workers live in a temporary settlement of mud and wattle huts near the castle.
Tension is mounting as the workers attempted to erect a tent to serve as a pub. The resulting protest from Ostler Gundigoot forced the Brewer not to sell any more kegs of beer and ale to the workers. One of the workers is currently in jail because he tried to steal a keg from the Brewer. Much of this is inflamed by the two Trader who are secretly evil agents.
Typically the way the events unfold when I run this are as follows
- The PC comes into Hommlet gets a room at the Welcome Wench
- That night a rock is thrown into their room shattering the window.
- The PC track down the kid and find out about the problem between the two groups
- They get interested and start talking to everyone to find out what really going on.
- They start seeing that the two Traders are way more involved than they should be and investigate them. Usually by breaking into their establishment.
- The workers for a mob intent on liberating the jailed worker
- Evidence in hand the PC expose the trader and help forge a compromise between the two sides.
- They interrogate the Traders finding out about the moathouse.
- Goto the moathouse and clear it out.
The Destiny of Kings is another favorite of mine. I liked it because it was one of the few AD&D modules that was human centric. Basically revolving around a plot around the search for the missing heir to the kingdom of Dunador.
The Island of Castanamir isn't really about an island but rather it is about the crazy lair of a a fore named wizard. It is a puzzle dungeon and always liked running it. It for low level character as well.
First off this module, Against the Cult of the Reptile God, has a complete village, the Village of Orlane. Plus the associated adventure isn't bad either.
The classic puzzle dungeon is the Ghost Tower of Inverness. I probably ran this one several times too many.
Finally the Secret of the Slaver's Stockade. I used the hill fort several times when I DMed AD&D. Dressing it up with the whatever bad guys where the antagonists of the campaign. Unlike the Ghost Tower the players never really caught on to this.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
More on Religion
The best source for roleplaying is GURP Religion. There is very little in the way of rules so it is usable for just about any RPG. While it may seem academic at first glance the authors explain how the various concept are applicable to a RPG campaign.
You can get the book here. The PDF here.
While more rules oriented towards GURPS. A more concise treatment that is useful for D&D campaigns is the recently released Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics. The Dungeon Fantasy series is about how to use GURPS to run D&D style Dungeon crawls.
While it doesn't tell how to build a religion Harnmaster: Religion is a in depth look at a ten fantasy religions. While written for Harn the deities can be easily adapted to other campaigns. Harnmaster Barbarian has sections on barbarian style religions.
Ars Magica has a variety of good books on religion for the medieval era (Christianity, Islam, etc).
A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe has a good section on medieval religion that has rules for the D20 version of D&D.
You can get the book here. The PDF here.
While more rules oriented towards GURPS. A more concise treatment that is useful for D&D campaigns is the recently released Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics. The Dungeon Fantasy series is about how to use GURPS to run D&D style Dungeon crawls.
While it doesn't tell how to build a religion Harnmaster: Religion is a in depth look at a ten fantasy religions. While written for Harn the deities can be easily adapted to other campaigns. Harnmaster Barbarian has sections on barbarian style religions.
Ars Magica has a variety of good books on religion for the medieval era (Christianity, Islam, etc).
A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe has a good section on medieval religion that has rules for the D20 version of D&D.
Friday, October 30, 2009
In reality evil religions don't exist.
The Blood of Prokopius is an interesting blog and has a lot of interesting posts on how FrDave Christian Faith relates to D&D and his campaign. Recently he had a post on Evil. I responded with a lengthy post on my cosmology and the theology behind it and he replied.
The main point he picked out was this statement
The problem with evil religions in D&D is that they are not realistic if they are part of a culture or nation. My definition of a evil deity is somebody like Lolth, Elemental Evil, Bane, Howard's Set, etc. They are not realistic because throughout human history cultures just don't go into worshiping evil deities. Isolated cults yes which often manifest as small groups or individuals rejecting the larger culture they are part of.
The technical definition of these type of religions is Maltheism.
This doesn't mean cultures haven't adopted religions or philosophies that were considered abhorrent by neighboring cultures. Also various cultures adopted religions that essentially turned their nations into totalitarian states with all that entails.
The "evil" religions have some fig leaf that makes it appealing to members of that cultures. Usually by preaching some type of racial or cultural superiority. The worst practices of these religions (and they can be pretty bad) are reserved for those they conquer or capture. But among those in the "in-group" the religion can be benign. The Assyrians around 800 B.C. are a good example of this.
The way I apply this to a fantasy campaign is rather simplistic. Religions involving a truly evil deity have cults and never dominate a nation or a culture. The rest have various fig leafs to make them appealing to the cultures that adopted them.
In my own campaign cultures dominated by Set are totalitarian and tyrannical in nature. The culture worshipping Hamakhis believe that the practice of human sacrifices aids the god in holding back the chaos that will destroy creation. And that culture has an ongoing reformation that is trying to return the worship of Hamakhis back to it's older form in worshiping him as the Judge of the Dead. The last evil god of campaign, Kalis, is a nature goddess of blood and revenge. She is only worshiped by cults.
The main point he picked out was this statement
My whole system came about because I wanted true evil, rejection of creation, but I wanted shades of gray in religion. In my reading I know that "evil" religion don't exist in reality.
The problem with evil religions in D&D is that they are not realistic if they are part of a culture or nation. My definition of a evil deity is somebody like Lolth, Elemental Evil, Bane, Howard's Set, etc. They are not realistic because throughout human history cultures just don't go into worshiping evil deities. Isolated cults yes which often manifest as small groups or individuals rejecting the larger culture they are part of.
The technical definition of these type of religions is Maltheism.
Maltheism (from "mal" meaning bad, or illness, and theism, from... well, theism) is the idea that god is just out to get us and that he or she or it is malicious, like a kid who keeps selecting "Monster" from the disaster menu in Sim City. A Maltheist, therefore, is someone who believes that a god or gods exist, and that they are evil, malicious, incompetent, or otherwise causing the suffering of humanity.The Cathars of southern France during the Middle Ages believed Earth was under the sway of an evil god, the Demiurge. The Demiurge was equated with Satan. But being a Cathar wasn't about worshiping the Demiurge. Their whole faith was about rejecting the world (mainly through a severe form of asceticism) so their souls would be put on the road to the realm of light where God exists.
This doesn't mean cultures haven't adopted religions or philosophies that were considered abhorrent by neighboring cultures. Also various cultures adopted religions that essentially turned their nations into totalitarian states with all that entails.
The "evil" religions have some fig leaf that makes it appealing to members of that cultures. Usually by preaching some type of racial or cultural superiority. The worst practices of these religions (and they can be pretty bad) are reserved for those they conquer or capture. But among those in the "in-group" the religion can be benign. The Assyrians around 800 B.C. are a good example of this.
The way I apply this to a fantasy campaign is rather simplistic. Religions involving a truly evil deity have cults and never dominate a nation or a culture. The rest have various fig leafs to make them appealing to the cultures that adopted them.
In my own campaign cultures dominated by Set are totalitarian and tyrannical in nature. The culture worshipping Hamakhis believe that the practice of human sacrifices aids the god in holding back the chaos that will destroy creation. And that culture has an ongoing reformation that is trying to return the worship of Hamakhis back to it's older form in worshiping him as the Judge of the Dead. The last evil god of campaign, Kalis, is a nature goddess of blood and revenge. She is only worshiped by cults.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Dungeon Alphabet
I just got a copy of Dungeon Alphabet in pdf from Joseph Goodman. The product hasn't been released yet. Because of my work on Points of Light he wanted to me to one of the few people to look it over and comment on it.
I have to tell you that I am not a fan of Erol Otus art. I know, I know. Put your pitchforks down. I do appreciate the appeal for many. He just not one of my favorites out of the original gallery of artists. (Although the jester/Cthulu monster cover for Dragon I liked). This cover just has too many primary color and looks cartoonish.
But then I looked inside of the PDF.
Wow
4 stars WOW.
What is Dungeon Alphabet?
It is a series of Random Tables on topics ranging from A to Z;
Altars, Books, Caves, Doors, Echoes, Fungi, Gold, Hallways, Inscriptions, Jewels, Kolbolds, Levers, Magic, No Stone Left Unturned, Oozes, Pools, Questions, Room, Statues, Traps, Vermin, Wierd, Xenophobia, Yellow, Zowie!
It pretty much Old School in tenor and tone.
The tables are well done and evocative of the various subjects. If the product has a flaw is that it left me wanting more of Micheael Curtis charts and tables.
But where the product goes from nice to a sublime WOW! is the interior art. There are 13 interior artists and they all do a hell of a job. (Even Erol Otus ;) )
More than anybody else the 13 captured the feel, tone, and tenor of the art that graced the original 3 AD&D manuals. From the crisp yet silly Holloway illustration to the creepy Otus pieces.
My favorites are
A full page Jeff Easley illustration on page 15 showing a shadow of a orge/troll thing around a corner of a vermin filled passageway.
A Holloway illustration on page 20 showing a bunch of kobolds beaning a flop in the head with a sling stone.
A even more funny picture on the next page by Jeff Wilson showing why you should be careful pulling levers.
A two page spread by Peter Mullen on page 44-45 showing a overview of a very nasty dungeon. I have say this is best one in the book. It so good that I feel it should have been in the original DMG at least.
To top it all off Goodman Games is selling it only for $9.99
I have to admit I was kind of rolling my eyes at the enthusiasm of James Raggi's review. But now that I have seen it I think this product is a outstanding achievement in both content and art. At it's price it is a great value.
I have to tell you that I am not a fan of Erol Otus art. I know, I know. Put your pitchforks down. I do appreciate the appeal for many. He just not one of my favorites out of the original gallery of artists. (Although the jester/Cthulu monster cover for Dragon I liked). This cover just has too many primary color and looks cartoonish.
But then I looked inside of the PDF.Wow
4 stars WOW.
What is Dungeon Alphabet?
It is a series of Random Tables on topics ranging from A to Z;
Altars, Books, Caves, Doors, Echoes, Fungi, Gold, Hallways, Inscriptions, Jewels, Kolbolds, Levers, Magic, No Stone Left Unturned, Oozes, Pools, Questions, Room, Statues, Traps, Vermin, Wierd, Xenophobia, Yellow, Zowie!
It pretty much Old School in tenor and tone.
The tables are well done and evocative of the various subjects. If the product has a flaw is that it left me wanting more of Micheael Curtis charts and tables.
But where the product goes from nice to a sublime WOW! is the interior art. There are 13 interior artists and they all do a hell of a job. (Even Erol Otus ;) )
More than anybody else the 13 captured the feel, tone, and tenor of the art that graced the original 3 AD&D manuals. From the crisp yet silly Holloway illustration to the creepy Otus pieces.
My favorites are
A full page Jeff Easley illustration on page 15 showing a shadow of a orge/troll thing around a corner of a vermin filled passageway.
A Holloway illustration on page 20 showing a bunch of kobolds beaning a flop in the head with a sling stone.
A even more funny picture on the next page by Jeff Wilson showing why you should be careful pulling levers.
A two page spread by Peter Mullen on page 44-45 showing a overview of a very nasty dungeon. I have say this is best one in the book. It so good that I feel it should have been in the original DMG at least.
To top it all off Goodman Games is selling it only for $9.99
I have to admit I was kind of rolling my eyes at the enthusiasm of James Raggi's review. But now that I have seen it I think this product is a outstanding achievement in both content and art. At it's price it is a great value.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
From the Attic: Zhodani Courier
At some point I lucked in a desktop blotter that was a pad of 1/4" graph paper. We are talking huge sheets that were about 17" by 22". My first thought wasn't about making a megadungeon.
Nope.
My first thought was now I can make huge Traveller deckplans :D
Here is one of them a Zhodani Courier from Classic Traveller Alien Book on the Zhodani.
Nope.
My first thought was now I can make huge Traveller deckplans :D
Here is one of them a Zhodani Courier from Classic Traveller Alien Book on the Zhodani.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Mapping Question
I wrote several posts on mapping; tutorials and tips. After reading James Mal of Grognardia frustration over mapping here. I wanted to get some feedback for future posts.
To me mapmaking is both art and science. The science is cartography and geography, the art is painting and drawing. It possible to emphasize one side too much with the result being not much of a map.
I am not much of a raw artist. I have limited abilities in painting or drawing. However thanks to my geography minor in college and a general interest in the subject I think I got a good handle on the cartography. I know a lot of you like maps. My trick is picking the map styles that allows me to use my limited artistic abilities to the fullest.
I think with a few basic rules that anybody can draw decent maps. Event distinctive ones that look nice. But it is a pretty broad subject so I could some feedback on what you guys need help with or like to see next.
To me mapmaking is both art and science. The science is cartography and geography, the art is painting and drawing. It possible to emphasize one side too much with the result being not much of a map.
I am not much of a raw artist. I have limited abilities in painting or drawing. However thanks to my geography minor in college and a general interest in the subject I think I got a good handle on the cartography. I know a lot of you like maps. My trick is picking the map styles that allows me to use my limited artistic abilities to the fullest.
I think with a few basic rules that anybody can draw decent maps. Event distinctive ones that look nice. But it is a pretty broad subject so I could some feedback on what you guys need help with or like to see next.
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