Monthly Archives: July 2012

OD&D Equipment

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TL;DR: Skip to the bottom and roll 3d6 on the table for starting equipment and wealth. Continue reading here if you are interested in the details. You can find PDF versions of these tables on the downloads page.

In OD&D, one is instructed to roll 3d6 * 10 for starting GP and buy all equipment manually. Here is a one-roll method which uses a 3d6 table. This table has 64 different starting packages, one for each class at each potential starting wealth level. I built it strictly using the prices and equipment in Men & Magic, so should be useful in any vanilla OD&D game. Buying equipment has traditionally been the most time consuming part of creating a D&D character, but hopefully this can speed the process up. Maybe I should have broken this post into several more specific posts, but most of the following sections have bearing on starting equipment, so I have left it all together.

The OD&D equipment list can be broken into the following categories (GP prices are in parentheses):

  • One-handed melee weapons: dagger (3), hand axe (3), mace (5), sword (10), battle axe (7), morning star (6), flail (8)
  • Two-handed melee weapons: spear (1), pole arm (7), halberd (7), two-handed sword (15), lance (4), pike (5)
  • Missile weapons: short bow (25), long bow (40), composite bow (50), light crossbow (15), heavy crossbow (25), quiver 20 arrows (10), case 30 quarrels (10), 20 arrows/30 quarrels (5)
  • Animals & accessories: mule (20), draft horse (30), light horse (40), medium warhorse (100), heavy warhorse (200), saddle (25), saddle bags (10), barding (150)
  • Armor: leather (15), chain (30), plate (50), helmet (10), shield (10)
  • Exploration gear: rope (1), 10′ pole (1), iron spikes (1)
  • Containers: small sack (1), large sack (2), backpack (5), water/wine skin (1)
  • Light sources: 6 torches (1), lantern (10), flask of oil (2)
  • Bug spray: 3 stakes & mallet (3), steel mirror (5), silver mirror (15), wooden cross (2), silver cross (25), vial of holy water (25), wolvesbane (10), belladona (10), garlic (5)
  • Rations: quart of wine (1), week iron rations (15), week standard rations (5)
BASIC OBSERVATIONS
First, everything here has a use, and the offerings tell you a lot about the game. Learning about and exploiting monster weaknesses is very important. It is the largest single category, unless you consider weapons as one category. Also, everything is priced in GP (no silver or copper), presumably for making buying initial equipment easier (I think that is good design, compared to the baroque complexity of the AD&D price lists). I have ignored animals and vehicles in the starting packages, as they are not likely to be relevant at first level. “Bug spray” items are designed to combat specific monsters (I could not think of a better term). The entire equipment list fits on one digest-sized page.
COMPOSITION OF STARTING PACKAGES
I have tried to give each starting package at least one item from each of the following categories (when appropriate by class): melee weapon, missile weapon, armor, exploration gear, container, light source, bug spray, and rations. Everyone gets iron rations, even in preference to armor, because you need iron rations for expeditions, and all characters should be going on expeditions. If you don’t like your starting package, feel free to drop down to any lesser level and take the difference in GP. For example, if you roll 10, you could take result 8 + 20 GP. Some packages may seem less useful than others, but I would encourage you to consider playing what you roll, as figuring out how to make use of the equipment can be fun and interesting.Armor is determined as the best affordable by spending no more than half of the starting money. Missile weapons. For example, I gave clerics and fighters plate + shield (a value of 60 GP) for wealth roles of 120 or higher (for the clerics options without scrolls). Half of the cleric packages and all of the magic-user packages at 120 GP or higher begin with a scroll (see below). No more than every other thief package is given a missile weapon, as some people do not allow thieves a wide selection of weapons. Slings are mentioned in Supplement I: Greyhawk, so I have assumed availability at a cost of 1 GP (the entire thief class comes from that book, so if I am including the thief in this chart it seems reasonable to include a few of the mundane weapons as well). 

STARTING WITH SCROLLS

I have given all magic-users that roll 11 or more for starting wealth a scroll. First level scrolls for 100 GP are present in the rules (Men & Magic page 7), though they can’t be created by magic-users prior to 11th (“wizard”) level. Because of this, one won’t actually find scrolls for sale at the price of 100 GP in the game world, but it seems like a reasonable cost for assessing starting equipment. Determine the particular spell in any way desired. Rolling 1d8 on the table of first level spells (page 21) seems eminently reasonable to me. Another option would be to let the player pick one of the spells that they can cast under the assumption that they scribed the scroll before play started. For added spice you may want to roll for the level as well; there are few things more entertaining than giving a first level magic-user one use of disintegrate, animate dead, or fireball.

CLERIC WEAPONS

If I were to interpret weapons allowed for clerics conservatively and stick to the weapons listed explicitly in Men & Magic, the poor cleric would be left with only one weapon: the mace (and even some flanged maces are arguably edged, but I won’t go there). However, the book does helpfully add: “Other items cost may be calculated by comparing to similar items listed above” (Men & Magic page 14). I think the most appropriate list of starting weapons is probably what Cameron DuBeers suggested:

Mace, hammer, club, quarter-staff.

I’ve gone several ways with slings. I eventually settled on disallowing them, reasoning that a cleric or anti-cleric would want to punish the enemies of his faith by his own hand.

Derived prices are 5 GP for a war hammer (based on the price of a mace) and 1 GP for either a club, cudgel, or quarter-staff. Thank you also to everyone else who responded to the topic about cleric weapons over at ODD74.

CLERIC SCROLLS

According to the rules, “There is a 25% chance that any scroll of spells found will contain those usable by clerics” (Monsters & Treasure page 24). But also: “All Scrolls are spells for Magic-Users, and regardless of the level of the spell they can be used by any Magic-User capable of reading them” (Monsters & Treasure page 32). In addition, nowhere in the rules does it state that clerics can create magic items of any kind, though Men & Magic dedicates half a page to wizardly creation of magic items. How do we reconcile these seeming contradictions without assuming an editorial mistake? Here is one way (the quote is from ralph on ODD74):

Scrolls will contain those spells usable by clerics 25% of the time, but are for Magic Users.

How many spells appear on both classes lists? (I don’t have my books available at the moment.)

Could it be those spells that are on 25% of scrolls?

In other words, clerics can cast spells from “magic-user” scrolls, but only those spells that show up on the cleric spell list. Here is a list of those overlapping spells, sorted by cleric level.

  1. Light (C 1, MU 1)
  2. Detect Magic (C 1, MU 1)
  3. Protection from Evil (C 1, MU 1)
  4. Detect Evil (C 1, MU 2)
  5. Hold Person (C 2, MU 3)
  6. Locate Object (C 3, MU 2)
  7. Continual Light (C 3, MU 2)
  8. Remove Curse (C 3, MU 4)
  9. Protection from Evil, 10′ radius (C 4, MU 3)

One could roll d4 on this table to select the contents of a beginning cleric scroll.

BUNDLES FOR RE-EQUIPPING

  • Budget explorer (22 GP): backpack, waterskin, 6 torches, 1 week iron rations
  • Deluxe explorer (39 GP): backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations
  • Budget vampire slayer (10 GP): 3 stakes & mallet, steel mirror, wooden cross
  • Deluxe vampire slayer (73): 3 stakes & mallet, silver mirror, silver cross, vial of holy water, garlic
  • Werewolf slayer (35): 5 silver tipped arrows, wolvesbane
  • Heavy infantry (83): plate armor, shield, helmet, sword, dagger
  • Budget infantry (19): leather armor, spear, dagger
  • Archer (78): leather armor, longbow, quiver of 20 arrows, sword, dagger
  • Skulk (24): leather armor, dagger, 50′ rope, belladona
  • Spelunker (6): 50′ rope, 10′ pole, 12 iron spikes, 3 stakes & mallet
I actually don’t know all that much about medieval soldiering; I’m sure other people could come up with some better re-equipping packages based on historical warrior examples.
 

RATIONS

There are two types of rations: iron (15 GP for one week) and standard (5 GP for one week). Iron rations are explicitly described as “for dungeon expeditions” (Men & Magic page 14). Given that most low-level adventurers will be crawling dungeons (as the wilderness is too dangerous), it seems important that all starting packages include some iron rations (even though that is half of starting wealth on the low end of the roll).

I am going with the interpretation that standard rations are still relatively resistant to spoilage, but often require cooking. This is one reason why they are not going to be as useful for dungeon exploration, unless you also bring firewood and kindling (good luck keeping it dry). Also, consider that cooking in a dungeon, even if possible, will likely attract attention. So the quick take-away here is that iron rations are for the underworld and standard rations are for the wilderness.

Also remember that rations have a secondary purpose in OD&D: as a distraction for pursuing monsters. From The Underworld & Wilderness Adventure, page 12:

Edible items will have a small likelihood (10%) of distracting intelligent monsters from pursuit. Semi-intelligent monsters will be distracted 50% of the time. Non-intelligent monsters will be distracted 90% of the time by food.

Treasure will have the opposite reaction as food, being more likely to stop intelligent monsters.

In that light, standard rations may be considered more edible by monsters than iron rations. I would probably only use the above distraction probabilities for standard rations, so you might also want to stock up on standard rations to use as monster bait. However, standard rations will quickly become inedible to mortals in the strange environment of the underworld. (Side note: mentioned just prior to the above quote on the same page, burning oil is also a good deterrent.)

See this thread and this thread for more discussion.

PAHVELORN-SPECIFIC NOTES

With the exception of mounts (horses are rare and valuable), all the prices in Men & Magic are valid for the town of Zorfath. Note that clerics in my campaign can use any weapon, but I have kept the table to non-edged weapons as per the rules so that this can be useful to others as well. If you are playing in my campaign, feel free to drop down one category and add a sword, or take the fighter entry rather than the cleric entry. In fact, if you want to play against type (for example, a diabolist magic-user disguised as a soldier), feel free to take the starting package for any class at the level rolled.

TABLE FOR STARTING EQUIPMENT

3d6 Cleric Fighter Magic-User Thief
3 cudgel, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, 4 GP spear, dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 3 GP dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 4 GP cudgel, sling, pouch with 20 sling bullets, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 4 GP
4 cudgel, shield, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, wooden cross, 4 GP cudgel, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 1 GP 2 daggers, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 2 flasks oil, 50′ rope, 7 GP cudgel, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 1 GP
5 mace, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, 5 GP leather armor, morning star, dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 3 GP dagger, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 7 GP cudgel, dagger, sling, pouch with 20 sling bullets, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 6 GP
6 quarter-staff, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 12 iron spikes, wooden cross, 3 stakes & mallet, steel mirror, 10 GP leather armor, battle axe, hand axe, dagger, sling, pouch with 20 sling bullets, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 7 GP dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, vial of holy water, 9 GP sword, dagger, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 9 GP
7 chain armor, war hammer, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, 2 small sacks, 8 GP chain armor, spear, dagger, sling, pouch with 20 sling bullets, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 11 GP dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole 5 flasks of oil, silver mirror, belladona, 9 GP cudgel, light crossbow, case with 30 quarrels, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 6 GP
8 chain armor, shield, mace, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, wooden cross, 2 small sacks, 8 GP chain armor, shield, sword, dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 4 GP dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 2 vials holy water, 4 GP sword, light crossbow, case of 30 quarrels, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 7 GP
9 chain armor, shield, war hammer, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, 2 small sacks, 3 stakes & mallet, steel mirror, 10 GP chain armor, spear, light crossbow, case with 30 quarrels, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 11 GP 3 daggers, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, vial of holy water, 16 GP sword, 2 daggers, 35 short bow, quiver of 20 arrows, leather armor, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 1 GP
10 plate armor, shield, mace, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, wooden cross, 10 GP plate armor, shield, sword, dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 4 GP dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 2 vials holy water, 24 GP sword, dagger, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 32 GP
11 plate armor, shield, war hammer, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, small sack, 2 GP plate armor, two-handed sword, 3 daggers, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 2 flasks oil, 9 GP dagger, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 67 GP sword, light crossbow, case of 30 quarrels, 2 silver tipped quarrels, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 10 GP
12 plate armor, quarter-staff, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, silver cross, 4 GP plate armor, shield, sword, light crossbow, case with 30 quarrels, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 2 GP dagger, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 77 GP sword, dagger, short bow, quiver of 20 arrows, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 17 GP
13 cudgel, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, scroll, 4 GP plate armor, flail, dagger, 35 short bow, quiver of 20 arrows, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, small sack, 10 GP dagger, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, scroll, 10′ pole, 4 GP sword, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 65 GP
14 plate armor, shield, mace, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, silver cross, 10 GP plate armor, shield, sword, light crossbow, case with 30 quarrels, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 5 GP 2 daggers, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, scroll, 50′ rope, 11 GP sword, light crossbow, case of 30 quarrels, 6 silver tipped quarrels, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 20 GP
15 leather armor, mace, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, scroll, 2 flasks oil, 1 GP plate armor, helmet, 2 battle axes, dagger, light crossbow, case with 30 quarrels, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 5 flasks oil, 15 GP dagger, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, scroll, 10′ pole, 7 GP sword, short bow, quiver of 20 arrows, 6 silver tipped arrows, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 20 GP
16 plate armor, shield, helmet, war hammer, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, silver cross, 3 stakes & mallet, steel mirror, 12 GP plate armor, two-handed sword, dagger, short bow, quiver of 20 arrows, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 2 small sacks, 15 GP dagger, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, scroll, 50′ rope, 17 GP sword, 4 daggers, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 98 GP
17 chain armor, war hammer, 6 torches, backpack, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, wooden cross, scroll, 10 GP plate armor, halberd, dagger, long bow, quiver of 20 arrows, 2 silver tipped arrows, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 10 GP dagger, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, scroll, 10′ pole, 27 GP sword, light crossbow, case of 30 quarrels, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, 80 GP
18 plate armor, shield, helmet, mace, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 50′ rope, silver cross, vial holy water, 12 iron spikes, 3 stakes & mallet, small sack, 10 GP plate armor, shield, helmet, sword, 2 daggers, light crossbow, case with 30 quarrels, 4 silver tipped quarrels, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 9 GP dagger, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, scroll, 50′ rope, 37 GP sword, 3 daggers, short bow, quiver of 20 arrows, 8 silver tipped arrows, leather armor, backpack, waterskin, lantern, 4 flasks oil, 1 week iron rations, 10′ pole, 31 GP

Relative power levels

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I think it is widely accepted that there has been some degree of power inflation through the march of D&D editions, with hit points and many other stats increasing. Ability use limitations have also decreased or gone away. For example, the humble TSR D&D magic-user or wizard got to prepare one first level spell per day, and after it was used no more spells could be cast until the next day. Compare that with the at-will magic missiles D&D Next and at-will Pathfinder cantrips.

In any case, I’m not saying that any of these power curves are objectively better or anything like that (though I do personally prefer lower power games in most cases), but I thought that a graphical visualization might make it easier to communicate the ideas. Yes, in reality the power levels do not increase so linearly (for example, see how access to certain spells changes the nature of the game). But I think the general idea of the graph above, if approached abstractly, is more or less correct.

Some other notable changes are how TSR D&D has a phase shift around ninth (“name”) level, after which power accumulates more slowly (other than for magic-users, who continue to amass large numbers of spell slots). Third Edition largely did away with the phase shift, allowing hit dice and other abilities to progress until the end. Fourth Edition, chasing the “sweet spot” of levels 5 through 10 in traditional D&D, starts out much more powerful, but ends up weaker (by some comparisons).

Just as a thought, perhaps something like a logarithmic power curve would be interesting? In other words, a way to accumulate power indefinitely (this is an important motivator in the game), but at a slower and slower pace. E6 comes closest to this, but the resolution of power accumulation above sixth level is rather crude (one feat every 5000 XP), and feats also don’t model many kinds of advancement very well.

Mythical ideal power curve? (Plotted with Google)

MU004 Diamond Ray of Disappearance

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I have these DVDs of the original He-Man cartoons that I’ve been meaning to watch. They were a big influence on me when I was young, and probably helped get me interested in fantasy. I figure blogging about them a little might help urge me on. Also, before going any further, check out Robert Parker’s essay on Masters of the Universe (this is required reading). Why might this be of interest to you, even if you have no He-Man nostalgia? I’ll just quote a bit from Robert’s post:

I’m talking about intergalactic vampire warlords invading your sword & sorcery world and installing Satanic Lich-Kings in a bid for colonial rule. Pterodactyl riders with laser guns in a dogfight with UFOs piloted by serpent men. Cleaving through hordes of cyborg beast-men as we leap from asteroid to asteroid towards that leering organic castle in space.

That’s why.

I’m not sure if this will become a semi-regular feature or not; I suppose it depends on how much I feel like I am getting out of watching the show and if watching it leads to interesting gaming ideas. I’m starting with MU004 because it was the first episode on the first disc. All the other episodes seem to be in order, so I think this one might have aired first or something like that.

A glimpse at the world map

I’m not going to try to put together a coherent plot summary or anything like that here; instead, I think I’ll just range about arbitrarily, like a crazy Eternian tour guide. What’s the diamond ray of disappearance? It’s probably more interesting to leave it to your imagination. The plots are nothing to write home about, as you might expect, but the setting ideas, ambiance, and some of the character ideas are pretty fantastic. Check out that world map above. One can almost identify the ghost of the Americas, but then there is that narrow continent that extends into the “Pacific” and that is covered by volcanoes or something in the middle. You probably don’t want to hexcrawl over there until you have some levels under your belt.

A stronghold

Above we can see a sample of Eternian architecture, a stronghold perched on a bluish stone outcropping. Pleasingly ambiguous, this fortress or town could easily be science fiction or cyclopean fantasy.

Another strangely subdued vista

And again, zoomed out. If you haven’t already looked at the Monster Brains post linked to in Robert’s post, it is definitely worth your time. The amazing thing about those paintings is that they actually look like the toys if you are familiar with them, but don’t look like toys otherwise.

Note the colors: Dr. Seuss by way of H. P. Lovecraft?

Giant purple spires of rock, swept slightly to the side as if blown by wind. Plains of dark green vegetation, thick like a woman’s hair, waving slightly in the breeze like seaweed underwater.

This is where the good guys get their powers

Here is Castle Grayskull, the home of The Sorceress and the source of He-Man’s power. Perhaps He-Man is a somewhat naive warlock, being used as a vessel to defend the lands of civilization? Magic item power sword idea: every time the transformation is invoked, a saving throw must be rolled to avoid rolling on a mutation table.

Purple swamps

Color is such a powerful aesthetically unifying tool, but something that is often not consciously brought into tabletop RPG play, other than for use as an occasional descriptor (“the man with the red cloak”). I wonder how effective it would be to take a cinematographer’s approach to setting design and consciously attempt to apply different combinations of colors to various settings or setting areas? Jack over at TOTGAD likes to apply “taste, sound, image” to each of his area descriptions (example: What Ulverland is Like). Why not add a few colors, too? The putrescent swamp: pale green, dark purple, dark blue, and gray.

Evil cotton candy vegetation

Retainers

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Grenadier Miniatures 2004 – Hirelings

There are two types of adventuring hirelings, combatant and noncombatant. Useful animals can also be purchased. You may roll on the STARTING RETAINER table once during PC creation. Consider the retainer to be paid up for one delve. The retainer comes with the basic equipment noted, but you may want to purchase additional gear for them. Below are also prices if you want to continue their employment (derived from Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox, since OD&D does not give guidance).

STARTING RETAINER (D8):
  1. Bodyguard (leather, dagger, d4: 1 sword, 2 mace, 3 battle axe, 4 spear)
  2. Torchbearer (dagger, 6 torches)
  3. Porter (dagger, backpack, 3 small sacks, 1 large sack)
  4. Squire (dagger)
  5. Mercenary (leather, sword, dagger, light crossbow, case with 30 quarrels)
  6. Shieldbearer (leather, shield, dagger)
  7. Servant (dagger)
  8. Dog (spiked collar, leash)

RETAINER PRICES

  • Combatant (5 GP): bodyguard or mercenary
  • Noncombatant (2 GP): torchbearer, porter, squire, shieldbearer, servant
  • Trained animal (20 GP): war dog or mule

Prices are per delve, other than the animals, which are owned outright. A delve is generally understood to be a single expedition, usually no longer than a few days, but occasionally as long as a week. Expeditions longer than a week require more payment. It is expected that the job ends (and wage must be renewed) once the party returns to town or civilization. Retainers expect that their meals will be provided.

Morale and loyalty will be handled as per Men & Magic. Animals have a loyalty rating just like hirelings (this is a house-rule), but their loyalty will increase after every expedition during which they are treated well. Unlike the monster-dogs of AD&D, war dogs here are 1 hit die creatures. Dogs don’t show up in OD&D, so I’ve just given them the same price as mules.

Bodyguards will attempt to defend their employer, while mercenaries will generally be more offensive. Torchbearers, porters, and servants will stay out of combat and in general will only fight if cornered (if threatened, they will run). Squires will stay near employers during combat and provide replacement weapons or reloading, though they may flee if the danger becomes too great. Note that squires may also be used by classes other than fighters (consider tome-holders and scroll-bearers). Shieldbearers usually carry a large shield that requires two hands to use, and will grant a small AC bonus to their employer where appropriate (just remember that a trusty shield on your own arm cannot fail a morale check or be slain).

It is also possible to find more specialized hirelings (such as: sage, bard, chronicler, alchemist, assassin, spy, standard-bearer, messenger), but they will be much more expensive and often will refuse to accompany adventurers into danger.

All hirelings are 0 level humans with one hit die. Do not bother rolling ability scores unless your PC dies and you need to promote the hireling to full player character status. If this happens, you may also choose an adventuring class when you return to civilization.

Thanks to all those on G+ that provided useful suggestions when I brought up this topic.

Delve! first issue

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Delve! First Issue Cover

I just picked up a copy of the new zine Delve! (the PDF version) by the OSR artist Johnathan Bingham. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Bingham’s work, he has done the cover of the OSRIC module The People of the Pit (shown below), the cover of the recent Lands of Ara Compendium, and many other things (here is a pretty good collection from his blog). He plans on selling a print version too sometime soon, but the PDF includes pages formatted to easily print yourself (in addition to the standard formatting; see more about this below).

The form factor is digest-sized, which is very nice for tablet reading. The zine itself is about 40 pages of content. In actuality, the entire contents of the issue is a module, which includes a number of new spells, magic items, and monsters (easily usable stand-alone as well). The vibe is what I would consider Lamentations-style Weird Fantasy. Quick take-away: as a PDF module, this is a fantastic steal for $5. Recommended. I have a few suggestions, but most of them apply to published modules in general and should not be read as overly critical of Delve! in particular. Now to the details.

The module features the lair of a diabolical disease wizard (Calmos Vectos Mori), and introduces a new school of magic called pathognomancy. The writing style is very dense, and paragraphs sometimes stretch almost over entire pages. This would be a hard module to run without making referee notes prior to play. This writing style reminds me of AD&D 1E modules, and that is probably intended, as the system given is OSRIC (though it should work just fine with any of the major retro-clones).

Cover also by Mr. Bingham

Some event hooks are provided, but the meat of the adventure is a 12 room site. From a read-through, it looks pretty challenging; I would guess around 5th level AD&D (though that will obviously vary based on party and magic items possessed). There are several good disease oriented effects tables, a laboratory full of dangerous things for inquisitive PCs to play with, and a table of evocative extraplanar locations (though a 3d3 table is just silly; it should be a d20 or d30 table).

All the new monsters and magic items are illustrated, though the spells are not. The contagion guards remind me of Bioshock (that’s a good thing). The layout is uniformly nice, though the AD&D spell format and lack of spell illustrations leads to lots of unused white space on the spell pages. I must admit, I don’t understand the appeal of the AD&D template formats. Why not use a more compact format similar to a monster stat line? For example, which would you prefer? AD&D:

Bloat
Arcane Pathognomancy
Level: Magic User 2
Range: 40 ft
Duration: 6 rounds
Area of Effect: One Person
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 4 Segments
SavingThrow: None

Or stat line:

Bloat, MU2 spell, 40 ft, 6 rounds, one person, VSM, 4 segments, no save.

Would anyone familiar with AD&D or OSRIC not understand the stat line version? And it uses an order of magnitude less space. Oh, all the spells, monsters, and treasures are open game content, which is appreciated.

I think all modules, but especially ones written so densely, would benefit from play aids in addition to (but not replacing) the prose. One possibility is the one page dungeon, another is Courtney’s set design outline format.

Tacked on to the end is the print format

I mentioned above that the digital version of the zine includes two formats; standard digest and printable. This is a nice touch, and makes it possible for people without a duplex printer (like me) to produce a hardcopy. I would like to see other publishers go the same route, though it is slightly disconcerting to have both formats in a single PDF rather than a zip file containing multiple PDFs.

Bingham is also one of the authors participating in the current LotFP adventure campaign; his offering is Strange and Sinister Shores. The precis is interesting, and if the first issue of Delve! is anything to go by, S&SS will be quite good (if it is produced). One of the downsides to making all the projects compete against each other during the same month is that the slightly less known have been overshadowed by those authors with more established followings. Almost half-way into the campaign, I think it’s pretty clear that this was a bad decision. The offerings should have been done sequentially (perhaps one per month), so that community enthusiasm could focus on one at a time.

Legends of Pahvelorn: Doorcreeper

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Image from Wikimedia (cropped)

Doorcreepers are small, wicked demons. They are not bouncing, gibbering imps, however. They move purposefully, and with malign intelligence, often draped in dark rags or swathed in cloaks. Doorcreepers range from malicious (stealing pies, reversing or garbling the text in books) to pure wickedness (poisoning wells, removing the eyes from children, turning pets inside out). They are said to love sweets and fresh blood. In the stories, they have no head for wine.

Their vocalizations are a combination of hisses, growls, and booming bass tones which seem to echo from far-off places with little correspondence to their actual size or location. They are said to be able to speak through the mouths of others, leading to the saying “that was a doorcreeper talking”, often used after having spoken something one wishes to retract. They speak their own language which sages connect to no other existing tongue, but also parrot arbitrary snippets of other languages, often said to be inconvenient secrets.

The scariest thing about the doorcreepers? Once they have gone through a door, any other door they walk through can lead back to that previously traversed threshold. Thus, once they get into a town, it is almost impossible to get rid of a doorcreeper haunting without finding and killing the whole group. If the affected structure is known, it will be ritually destroyed, though it is said that the residents of a building infected by doorcreepers may have some strange influence over them, leading some dark magicians to attempt luring the creepers (a burn-worthy offence, if discovered).

Pahvelorn 20 Setting Questions

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Here are answers to Jeff’s twenty quick campaign setting questions for the Vaults of Pahvelorn OD&D campaign.

What is the deal with my cleric’s religion?

Clerics are members of an ancient order of holy warriors dedicated to the power of law. In legend, the order originated as the elite judicial and martial arm of a mighty and just empire, but is now a religion of mysteries. See here for more details.

Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

In Zorfath: the General Store, the blacksmith, and Thracle’s Grand Emporium.

Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

The blacksmith in Zorfath can probably take care of it given a few weeks (and some extra gold).

Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

The master of the Lustrous Tower to the southeast is reputed to be no slouch. Many people assume that the vanished wizard Ismahir would be the greatest were he to return, and if he is not dead.

Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

There hasn’t been a great warrior in a generation. Perhaps you will be the next? Libash Dalzat, Griffonlord, and master of the stronghold Shem Nabar to the east, claims the title of “Great Redeemer” (despite having lost the sword), but he has not ventured forth in many years, nor sent his knights on errands. He is said to have grown distrustful.

Who is the richest person in the land?

The travelling merchant Thracle maintains an emporium in Zorfath, though he is usually not in attendance. Goods available at Thracle’s Grand Emporium change frequently, so it pays to visit regularly. Thracle also employs the sage Strodastin, who resides permanently in Zorfath. Strodastin will pay good coin for texts or volumes of forgotten lore. Thracle also owns part of The Giant’s Sword (the tavern), and several other businesses.

Fabulously wealthy merchants from the overworld used to visit and bring strange goods, but they have not been seen in many years.

Where can we go to get some magical healing?

The stronghold Ilum Zugot to the northwest is ruled by the priest king Agamos. He is known for dispensing miracles in reward for labors.

Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

The alchemist Useth (owner of Useth’s Apothecary) in Zorfath has antidotes for some poisons, diseases, and curses. Useth has been sick for many years, and most of the work in the business is now done by one of his several apprentices, Shilum being the primary. The wizard of the Lustrous Tower might be able to help with more dire enchantments, such as cases of polymorph or petrification.

Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

Nothing public, but you might be able to discover something during play.

Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

The sage Strodastin resides in Zorfath (see the “richest person” entry above for details about his employer, Thracle). The apothecary Useth has some minor alchemical skills.

Where can I hire mercenaries?

There are sometimes soldiers and other retainers for hire at the lodge for the Society of Treasure Hunters in Zorfath.

Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

Magic-users are looked upon with fear and awe. They may not carry weapons heavier than a dagger and are expected to dress in a way that advertises their wizardlyness (concealed sorcery is assumed to be demonic). Outside of civilized areas, such laws are obviously less strongly enforced (though you may encounter travellers on the road that might attempt to take the law into their own hands). Remember also that banishment from a town or stronghold is a significant punishment, as travel in the wilderness is dangerous, and many old roads between settlements have been reclaimed by the wilderness.

In general, each stronghold or settlement enforces their own, unique laws, so it can be useful to investigate the customs before potentially causing offence (which can lead to inconvenient things like being challenged to a duel or banished).

Which way to the nearest tavern?

The main drinking establishment in Zorfath is marked by an ancient giant’s sword thrust into the ground next to the door. It has no other marking, but is known to residents as The Giant’s Sword.

What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

Several dragons have been reported south of the Shagagramis wastes. Some claim there is actually only one dragon, but others say that caravans have been attacked by multiple dragons working in concert.

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

The citadel of Trolmun, to the west, ruled by Efulziton the Necromancer, has been engaged in an ongoing struggle with some sort of demonic incursion from the Cobramurk Mountains.

How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

The town of Slexmul somewhere to the north is famed for gladiatorial combats. Any noble of means is expected to maintain private arenas with slaves and beasts. Fabulous fighting styles are much appreciated in Slexmul. It is, after all, the birthplace of Slexmulian stilt-fighting, among many other even stranger styles. Menagerie caravans sometimes travel to Slexmul, though word is that the road north of Gosmermorul has become all but impassable.

Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

Some crackpot is trying to start up a cult around the dragons spotted just south of the Shagagramis Wastes.

What is there to eat around here?

Farms surround Zorfath, and farmers make up the bulk of the population. The green bread and gruel from the farmed grain makes up the biggest part of the Zorfathian diet. There is a small fishing village south of Zorfath on the banks of the Gust Snang, and the catch is the second most common foodstuff. Other fare consists of giant rabbit (common in the hills), serpent, and meat from the rare six-horned stag (which can sometimes be found in the Whiskerknife Hills or Cobramurk Mountains). The supreme delicacy is the flesh of the Beautiful People (though well-preserved bodies are more valuable for taxidermic purposes).

Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

Libash Dalzat, lord of Shem Nabar, lost the sword Redeemer during an expedition in the Cobramurk Mountains many years ago. The lost sword is not a topic to be spoken of in Shem Nabar among polite company.

Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?

Several dragons are known to make their lairs in the Cobramurk Mountains to the south and west. Periodically, they savage caravans and carry off plunder and slaves. In addition, several dragons seem to have made their home in the plains south of the Shagagramis Wastes (that is north of Zorfath). They seem to behave oddly for dragons (travellers have reported sinuous dragon dancing under open sunlight, and nobody knows what to make of that).

The OD&D Engine

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In preparation for my OD&D game, I’ve been going back through the 3 LBBs to review the rules. Here is a summary of what makes up the game. Of all of the systems discussed below, only four are affected by ability scores. The social reaction mechanics are affected by charisma, the attack roll for missile weapons is affected by dexterity, and the hit die (HP) roll is affected by constitution. I have marked these with the tag [ABILITY]. Some other systems are affected by level, and I have marked them with the tag [LEVEL].

Here are the major player-facing resolution systems:

  • Attack roll (d20 roll high with difficulty matrix) [ABILITY, LEVEL]
  • Saving throw (d20 roll high with difficulty matrix) [LEVEL]
  • 2d6 roll for turning undead (for the cleric) [LEVEL]
  • Percentile roll based on investment for magical research
  • Percentile skills for the thief [LEVEL]
  • 1d6 damage roll
  • 1d6 HP per hit die is the other side of the damage roll [ABILITY]
  • 3d6 determination of ability scores

Magical research is arguably based on level, since you can only research spells of a power that you can cast, but other than that characters don’t get better at it, so I’m leaving off the tag. A roll-under ability score check is also easy to bolt on (and something I will almost certainly use), though it doesn’t show up anywhere in OD&D that I am aware of.

The referee uses all the player-facing systems, along with several others:

  • 2d6 reaction roll (for social interactions) [ABILITY]
    • Monster reaction: 2-5: negative, 6-8: uncertain, 9-12: positive
    • Hiring monsters: 2 attack, 3-5: hostile, 6-8:uncertain, 9-11: accept, 12 enthusiast (+3 loyalty)
  • 3d6 determination of retainer loyalty [ABILITY]
  • Evasion/pursuit actions: too complicated to summarize
  • Chance to drop something if surprised: 25%
  • Random encounter: 1d6, chance by location, 1 in 6 is common
  • Hear noise: 1 in 6 or 2 in 6 for demihumans
  • Force doors: 2 in 6 or 1 in 6 for smaller characters
  • Search: 2 in 6 or 4 in 6 for elves, which also have passive 2 in 6
  • Party/monsters surprised: 2 in 6
  • Trap triggers: 2 in 6
  • Stronghold occupant action: 3 in 6, 2 in 6, or 1 in 6 (by hex distance)

This may look complicated, but all other than the first several they are really just 16%, 33%, or 66%. In other words: rare, uncommon, and common; or hard, medium, and easy. Talysman also has a good summary of the various d6 rolls.

There are other systems for stocking dungeons, generating treasure hoards, and populating strongholds, but they are more prep aids than game mechanics (I’m not saying that prep aids are unimportant to the game, merely that they are not required for running it). There are also subsystems for ariel and naval combat, but they are closer to separate minigames.

In the alternative combat system (which is really the standard “roll a d20” combat system), characters don’t just gain an attack bonus (or THAC0 improvement), instead they advance through a series of combat ranks (the LBBs don’t use this terminology, but it is clear from the tables). All classes begin with the same “to hit” skill (a 10 being required to hit an unarmored enemy). Fighters improve in groups of three levels, clerics and thieves in groups of four, and magic-users in groups of five. For example, magic-users of level 6 – 10 attack as fighters of level 4 – 6.

The only tables required during play are:

  1. Attack matrix 1: characters attacking (M&M p19)
  2. Attack matrix 2: monsters attacking (M&M p20)
  3. Saving throw matrix (M&M p22)

These can be considered the engine of play (what might be called core mechanics in more recent games) rather than game entities which are affected by engine results. Also notable, the game is almost entirely located in Men & Magic, whereas the contents of Monsters & Treasure and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures are more implied setting (with the exception of the mass combat minigames). And data from items one and three will probably be copied to PC character sheets, which means that the sum total of required lookup tables for 3 LBB D&D is one!

There is clearly space here for a few more play tables, such as the Arduin critical hits table, or Jeff’s carousing table. Equipment prices, spell details, and monster stats are not strictly speaking required during play, as those are generally referenced between sessions with the relevant data being copied to character sheets or referee notes. They can be used “just in time” during play, but may be predecided, unlike the systems noted above which must be consulted during play. The following tables are on the borderline between for prep and for play; I could see occasionally wanting to consult them at the table, but most of the time they can be used offline.

  • Ability score consequences (M&M p11-12)
  • Experience and hit die progression tables, one per class (M&M p16-18)
  • Spell progression table for the magic-user (M&M p17)
  • Spell progression table for the cleric (M&M p18)
  • Clerics versus undead monsters (M&M p22)
  • Thief skills (Greyhawk p4-5, p11)

Given how these systems are scattered around the 3 LBBs, I’m sure I missed one or two, but I think I have covered all the important ones.

Pahvelorn Side & Over Views

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Here are side and over views of the known entrances leading to the Vaults of Pahvelorn. They lie deep within the pit left when the fortress ascended. The castle’s absence revealed both caves and remnants of long buried ruins. Originally, what has come be be known as Demongate was just a bare cave, but someone (or something) carved a demonic visage around it. The town of Zorfath lies just south of the chasm, and there are also ruins of several towers and bits of curtain wall left from Pahvelorn Castle.

Pahvelorn Chasm Side View
Pahvelorn Chasm Over View