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Preparation & Meaningful Choices

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There has been some discussion on the blogs recently regarding the value and practicality of preparation. Check out Roger, in The Mediocrity of Improvisation; Noisms, in Verfremdungseffekt; Courtney, in On the Preparation; and the RPG Site thread which prompted the Monsters & Manuals post. Roger makes the most direct claim for the value of preparation (which I think is indisputable):

In short, while improvised content can be wildly fun and creative, it usually also tends toward a middle ground of risk and reward. … As sole authority, there is a strong pull toward the middle ground – to mitigate challenges, to clip rewards. The lurking spectre in the background is that of the juvenile, “mad god” style of DMing, where party-killing traps and mind-numbing treasures are handed out, “just because.” Avoiding this spectre, you veer towards the safe and average.

If you are deciding what PCs encounter “just in time” (without rolling on a table, as populating an encounter table is a form of preparation), there is almost no way to be impartial. Your choice of kobold or dragon is largely a choice about whether you want the party to live or die. All of the linked articles above make valuable points, but don’t mention (at least explicitly) what I consider to be the main reason that preparation is necessary, and the main benefit to be gained thereby.

Much of the discussion around sandbox play revolves around the idea of making player choice meaningful (as opposed to railroading where you will tell your story no matter what the players decide, or using quantum ogres). For this kind of play to be fair, PCs must have a way to learn about the threat levels of their possible choices. Players cannot make an informed and meaningful choice if you decide what is present after they have already made choices.

Or, in more concrete terms, you can put Mordor on the map, which gives players a chance to learn about the danger through rumors or other clues, or you can improvise them walking into Mordor. Following Roger, this will either be bland (because you don’t want to kill them) or unfair (because they were not given a chance to assess the risk and prepare, or go somewhere else).

This very specific kind of virtue is not dependent upon the quantity of preparation. You can put in a lot of time into Tolkien-style world building and still not obtain the primary virtue available from preparation, which is threat level communication. For example, a very simple hex map along with four encounter tables (one for each compas direction) and a few lairs are enough for you to be able to impartially dole out info about risk levels if your players are curious.

If you put a little more work into it (maybe some history and upcoming events, to bring the temporal dimension in), your players can make even more sophisticated choices (do they want to attempt the mountain pass before the snows, or take this other lucrative job first?). If PCs still kick in doors without listening first (or take analogous actions in other environments), then what happens is on them, as long as the info was available for them to find in the first place.

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

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.

Monster Defaults

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Parsimony is a virtue in monster stat lines. It seems like many game products make a fetish of following a template however, even if much is wasted space. For example, the omnipresent “Magic resistance: Nil” lines in 2E, though there are similar examples in all editions. This was recently brought up on G+, and I thought I would share how I do things here.

The basic idea is that I have a “default” monster (which is very close to a first level fighter), and I only specify anything that differs. Here is said monster:

# appearing 1, HD 1, AC unarmored, # attacks 1, damage 1d6, movement as unencumbered human (12), save as fighter of level equal to hit dice, attack as fighter of level equal to hit dice (or by monster hit dice, depending on the game), size as human (medium), % in lair, treasure none, morale 12 (fearless).

% in lair and size are actually not things that I have been specifying, but they were brought up and I think they are useful. I default to fearless for morale because that probably represents the single largest group of foes (undead, constructs, etc), even if they are not a majority (so most of my stat lines do end up with a different morale entry).

This leads to monster entries that look something like:

Robot, HD 3, AC as plate

And everything else is assumed.

I would probably include XP rewards too in anything intended for others, but I’ve been experimenting with so many different methods for rewarding XP that it would not be all that meaningful to me right now.

See also Alex Schroeder’s method.

Seal Evil

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Joseph William Turner, Interior of a Prison

Sometimes truly destroying a demon is impossible or impractical. In such cases, magical seals are sometimes employed. Clerics may learn the seal evil rite upon reaching fourth level. Learning requires four months study with a holy text describing the rite or one month of study with a cleric can can perform the rite. Creating a seal is closer to creating a magic item than casting a spell. It requires one day of work (regardless of the seal level) and 100 gold pieces per level of seal. A cleric may not create a seal of level higher than their experience level as a cleric. So, for example, a fifth level cleric could create a fourth level seal at the cost of 1 day of work and 400 GP in expenses. The same cleric could not create a seal of strength higher than fifth level.

However, multiple clerics working together may create stronger seals. All clerics so cooperating must have learned the rite (and thus must be at least fourth level). For each cleric in excess of the first, the strength of the seal is raised by one level, to a maximum level of 20. The time to complete the rite is still one day, but costs are commensurate with the final level of the seal (so a 15th level seal created by a 7th level cleric and eight assistant clerics would take one day and 1500 GP in sacrifices and components).

Seals work by preventing magical or chaotic beings from passing through the warded area, usually a door, though a physical barrier is not required. Such beings include elementals, undead, demons, powerful sorcerers, and cauldron-spawned beastlings (but not natural humanoids or animals, even if dangerous). Affected creatures inside the sealed area with hit dice equal to or less than the level of the seal may not in any way cross the barrier. In addition, if the barrier is an entrance into a closed area (such as a room, coffin, or complex), such creatures may also not leave via any other route (for example, tunnelling through dirt around the door is not possible). In addition, all the benefits of a protection from evil spell are present.

Clerics of any level can immediately identify a seal and ascertain its potency. In addition, clerics of fourth level or higher can read any details included (seal inscriptions are written in the hidden language of law). Magic-users will recognize a seal but must make an intelligence check to determine its level. Seals detect as magical, and read magic can be used to uncover details about the evil being warded against (if the seal creator decided to include such information). Anyone else may identify a seal with a successful intelligence check, though no details about its power or reason for being should be provided. A sage can often assess the level of a seal if provided with rubbings or sketches.

Creatures with more hit dice may attempt a saving throw versus spells once per lunar cycle to break the seal. If successful, the seal is destroyed. In addition, unless accompanied by a cleric who knows the seal evil rite, anyone crossing the threshold will break the seal. Thus, creatures trapped within a sealed chamber will often seek to trick or tempt mortals into transgressing the seal.

Healing & Aging (Again)

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Previously I brought up the idea of aging as a potential side effect of healing magic. My original method was cumbersome (1 day of aging per HP healed) and potentially not salient enough to the player. Talysman also weighed in, and suggested that there could be a chance of years worth of aging per die of healing rather than a smaller guaranteed amount of aging. Talysman’s method avoids the need for extra rolls, but the probabilities result in aging being a bit too frequent for me.

I do think the idea of aging one year every once in a while rather than aging days for every instance of healing would work much better in terms of bookkeeping, and also be more salient to the player. I personally don’t mind an extra roll, since healing is infrequent. Based on these principles, here is a revised proposal:

Whenever a character is healed magically, there is a percentage chance to age one year equal to the number of HP so healed, minus the character’s constitution modifier. For example, if a character with 10 (average) constitution is magically healed 6 HP, there is a 6 percent chance of ageing. If a character had a +1 constitution modifier, the same healing would result in a 5 percent chance of aging.

The percentage can obviously be tuned for any specific campaign. For example, if you want the aging to be rarer, you could make it % equal to half the HP healed, or a flat 1 in 20 chance (essentially, a fumbled constitution check). I kind of like having the number of HP healed and the character’s constitution influence the result, however, and HP healed = percentage chance of aging is really easy to remember. Also, if natural healing is 1 HP per day, that means that the recover of 350+ HP is the natural “worth” of one year of aging. Healing the same number of HP magically over the same time period would result in about 3.5 times more aging, making magical healing not a good alternative for the common cases.

The books of magic

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Image from Wikimedia commons

Recently I have been fascinated with the idea of magic books as things with identity over and above individual spells. Here is a system for handling the main D&D spells using grimoires rather than generic spell books. All but eleven of the spells in Men & Magic are accounted for. Magic-users may begin with a copy of Arcana Metaphysica and with one other grimoire (choose or roll 1d12).

Researching a spell for personal use or scribing a scroll is different than creating a grimoire, which is not just a collection of spells. A grimoire is a book of power, painstakingly copied down through the ages, and often the work of an individual (perhaps mad) genius. They also often contain things like poems and chants in addition to spell formulae. Many parts of these eldritch books are unintelligible, even to magic-users. However, the spells listed have been identified by sorcerous tradition, and are commonly understood to exist, even if not all magic-users have the talent or experience to cast them safely. Individual magic-users often create spell books, but these are not grimoires and cannot be used by other wizards (though they may grant a bonus to magic research rolls if examined with the assistance of read magic). Magical spells cannot be shared like science, and often die with their creator.

Some of these grimoires contain very high level spells. Magic-users may attempt to cast or prepare spells above their normal ability, but at great risk. The casting or preparation takes 1 turn (10 minutes of in-game time). If prepared, the highest level spell slot must be used. When cast, a saving throw versus spells is made with penalty equal to spell level and bonus equal to 1/2 level. On a roll equal to or less than the spell level, the magic user suffers a catastrophic backfire. Note that the fumble range is not decreased by increasing level until the magic-user is able to prepare the spell as normal. The saving throw is not made until the moment of casting.

All grimoires are looked upon with fear and awe, but of the individual books, Arcana Metaphysica is by far the most common (relatively speaking) and least mysterious of the known grimoires. Anyone with an education will be able to identify it, and anyone carrying this book will be assumed to be a magic-user. Grimoires are quite bulky; one will occupy most of a backpack or sack. Travelling with several grimoires generally requires multiple chests and servants, or at least a pack animal with generous saddlebags.

Arcana Necromantica, Conjurations & Banishments, and The Roads Between the Stars are all considered forbidden knowledge, and will mark the possessor as a necromancer or demonologist. Even many magic-users will destroy these books if given the chance, though the status of Conjurations & Banishments is ambivalent, as the fragments do contain warding spells. Unfortunately, most of the spells of banishment have not survived.

Copying a grimoire correctly is not something that a common scribe can accomplish. It must be done in the proper ritual setting, and requires the finest materials. Costs as per magical research in Men & Magic. Arcana Metaphysica is the primary exception, often being created by a magic-user during apprenticeship (though some individuals have been able to teach themselves from a pilfered copy of the Arcana). It is also the only grimoire that a magic-user can recreate from memory if the original is lost. The great cost of creating a grimoire does not encourage experimentation, however, and small variations can sometimes doom an entire project.

(Spell levels are indicated by the number prior to the spell name.)

The Basics

Arcana Metaphysica, anonymous

  • 1 Read Magic
  • 3 Dispel Magic
  • 4 Remove Curse
  • 6 Anti-Magic Shell

Specialized Grimoires

Roll 1d12:

1. The Hidden Knowledge, attributed to Cochyla the Younger

  • 1 Detect Magic
  • 1 Detect Evil
  • 2 Locate Object
  • 2 ESP
  • 3 Clairvoyance
  • 3 Clairaudience
  • 4 Wizard Eye

2. Realms Seen and Unseen, attributed to the Fifth Council

  • 1 Light
  • 2 Detect Invisibility
  • 2 Invisibility
  • 2 Continual Light
  • 3 Invisibility, 10′ Radius
  • 3 Infravision

3. The Organ of the Inner Moon, attributed to Sezius Elfblood

  • 1 Charm Person
  • 1 Sleep
  • 3 Hold Person
  • 4 Confusion
  • 4 Charm Monster
  • 5 Feeblemind
  • 6 Geas

4. Mastering Gates, attributed to Marlow Shadow-Walker

  • 1 Hold Portal
  • 2 Wizard Lock
  • 2 Knock
  • 5 Pass-Wall

5. Codex of the Cloud-Masters, anonymous

  • 2 Levitate
  • 3 Fly
  • 3 Protection from Normal Missiles
  • 5 Telekinesis

6. Illusio, anonymous

  • 2 Phantasmal Forces
  • 4 Hallucinatory Terrain
  • 4 Massmorph
  • 6 Projected Image

7. On Essence, attributed to Caleia

  • 4 Polymorph Self
  • 4 Polymorph Others
  • 5 Transmute Rock-Mud
  • 5 Growth of Animals
  • 6 Stone-Flesh

8. Arbatel of Flame

  • 3 Fire Ball
  • 3 Lightning Bolt
  • 6 Disintegrate

9. Songs of Three Winters, attributed to Taymar the Wise

  • 3 Slow Spell
  • 3 Haste Spell

10. Arcana Necromantica, anonymous

  • 5 Animate Dead
  • 5 Magic Jar
  • 6 Reincarnation
  • 6 Death Spell

11. Conjurations & Banishments (fragments), anonymous

  • 1 Protection from Evil
  • 3 Protection from Evil, 10′ Radius
  • 5 Conjure Elemental
  • 5 Contact Higher Plane
  • 6 Invisible Stalker

12. The Roads Between the Stars (fragments), anonymous

  • 4 Dimension Door
  • 5 Teleport