Spectrum systems

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Image from Wikipedia

There are primarily two types of resolution system. The first kind is pass/fail, which I will call binary. The attack roll and saving throw are examples. The second kind has multiple degrees of success. I will refer to the second kind as a spectrum system. Examples of spectrum systems include the variable damage roll, the 2d6 reaction roll, and the Apocalypse World roll.

To complicate this taxonomy, binary systems are often actually limited spectrum systems, but with possibilities for super success and super failure results at the extreme ends of the possibility set (or auto-hit and auto-miss). Considering the attack roll, Natural 20s and natural 1s are examples of this sort of system, as are critical hits and fumbles. These systems are still closer to binary than not though, and I’m going to put them aside for the moment.

Many people play without using any spectrum system other than the damage roll. The 2d6 reaction roll was even removed from WotC versions of D&D. For myself, I find the spectrum systems very important. Here are a few examples of five-fold 2d6 rolls that I commonly use (with the exception of the magic roll, which is still a work in progress).

Social Rolls
2d6 Negotiation Reaction Morale
2
Refused, -1 future
Attacks
Surrenders
3-5
Refused
Hostile
Flees
6-8
Will consider another offer
Uncertain
Fights, check again
9-11
Accepted
Friendly
Fights
12
Accepted, +1 future
Proactively helpful
Fights, no further check

Cosmic Rolls
2d6 Weather Magic
2 Tempestuous (rolls -2) Catastrophe
3-5 Inclement (rolls -1) Miscast
6-8 Calm Delayed success
9-11  Pleasant Immediate success
12  Gorgeous Puissant success

When using the weather system, I apply reaction penalties by season (winter is -2, autumn and spring are -1).

Thanks to Christopher Wood from Carapace King for the suggestion of the term resolution spectrum.

Another encumbrance system

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Image from Wikipedia

Back in March, Papers & Pencils posted a point based encumbrance system. It is similar to the LotFP slot-based encumbrance system and the less abstract encumbrance by stone system, but it bases how much you can carry on your strength score.

Encumbrance is measured relative to strength points, with most items being worth one point of strength (insignificant items do not count at all, and bulky items cost two strength points). An encumbrance of less than or equal to the strength score is considered unencumbered, with greater encumbrance being calculated by multiples of strength. So, for example, a character with strength 12 who was carrying 17 encumbrance points worth of equipment would be considered lightly encumbered. Each tier has associated penalties like you might expect (decreased speed, penalties to physical actions).

It’s a good system. Like the LotFP way of doing things, it’s a huge improvement over counting exact poundages (Third Edition) or coin-equivalent weights (TSR editions of D&D). However, I feel like it still requires a decent amount of calculation overhead, and this is especially difficult to coordinate for games played by videoconference (which is where I am doing most of my gaming these days). There have been a number of other blog posts about more visual slot based systems where players essentially fill out worksheets. I also feel like those are too much work to be easily adopted and maintained.

My current OD&D game is “officially” using this backpack-based encumbrance system I drafted back in July, but in practice it’s been more of a “keep it reasonable” kind of thing. The party as a whole does move slower since some of the PCs are wearing plate (and party speed is determined by the slowest members). It would be important if someone was in a drowning situation. But honestly, I don’t feel like it has made much difference.

The problem, I think, is that the movement penalty is not salient where movement happens entirely in a shared imaginary space. Ultimately, there are really two things that an encumbrance system should accomplish, in my opinion. The first is a sense of verisimilitude and realism (that’s right, I just used two trigger words). The second is that encumbrance should make choices of what to bring an interesting trade-off. In a perfect world, I would like the fighter’s choice of what weapon to bring along to be just as interesting as the magic-user’s choice of what spell to prepare.

So here is my super simple proposal, inspired by the Papers & Pencils strength based system. Items are categorized as either significant (sword, dagger, scroll) or insignificant (fishhook, ring, coin). Characters can carry a number of significant items equal to their strength score with no penalties, and up to 100 insignificant items (I don’t expect that anyone would actually want to carry that many insignificant items, but it obviously can’t be truly unlimited). For every extra significant item carried, characters take a -1 penalty to all physical rolls. So, for example, 3 extra items results in a -3 penalty to attack rolls, saves, etc.

That may sound harsh, but the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that it is actually realistic. An unencumbered person is able to fight just as well and move just as quickly as a person who is carrying nothing at all (that’s literally what being unencumbered means according to the system). In my past job, during my commute I would usually be carrying a briefcase with a few items inside and a canvas bag with two lunches and 1.5 liters of water. I’m relatively in shape, and I felt encumbered. I’ve also been backpacking, and even if modern equipment is used and items are packed well, it’s still quite awkward and tiring. Verisimilitude is less important to me than a functional game system, but in this case I think both requirements are satisfied.

Having extra items in a backpack or sack that is easily dropped for combat is one way of avoiding some penalties while still carrying more gear, but note that saving throws made during standard exploration will be penalized by the extra encumbrance. Further, if you drop your backpack during combat and need to retreat, that backpack is getting left behind for the enemy.

The thing that I like about this is that the -1 penalty per extra item makes “just one more item” have immediate consequences. In most of the other systems I have seen, it is possible to add another sword and stay within lightly encumbered or whatever. I think that kind of structure fights against both a sense of immersion and meaningful choices.

Examples of encumbering items:

  • Sword
  • Shield
  • Torch
  • Wand
  • Suit of armor
  • Quiver of arrows
  • Staff
  • Dagger
  • Scroll
  • Book
  • Potion
  • Thieves’ tools
Examples of insignificant items:
  • Basic clothing worn
  • Pendant
  • Gem
  • Ring
  • Holy symbol
  • Belt pouch
  • Fishhook
  • Flint & steel
  • Coin

Rules of thumb:

  1. If the item has system weight (and is not a magic item), it is probably encumbering.
  2. If it is a magic item that can be crafted without extraordinary requirements (scrolls, maybe potions), then it is encumbering.
  3. Items made for helping to carry other things are insignificant in moderation (backpacks, belt pouches).

Wandering in Carcosa

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Cropped image from the LotFP store

I recently ran a FLAILSNAILS Carcosa one-shot on G+. This was a rescue mission for a character that had been imprisoned by the Donjon card from The Deck of Many Things.

Here are six Carcosan wilderness encounters that I developed for that adventure.

  1. T-rex corpse, skin mottled red and orange, being feasted upon by fist-sized maggots. Top of skull has been removed with surgical precision, and brain is missing. 
  2. Bipedal humanoid robot (HD 8, AC 3), with a spear and a head that has a single, spotlight eye in the center of a cylinder head. It is dragging a dead velociraptor behind it. It has learned how to hunt by spying on humans, but doesn’t understand what to do with the dead animals, so it just drags them back to a cave.
  3. Cuddly fluff balls (2d6, 1 HP each, AC 7). Bright red, hovering, bobbing up and down gently. Look and behave exactly like poison dirigible fruit (see below), but if observed for a turn there is a 3 in 6 chance of seeing the fluff ball lazily open one or both of its eyes. If petted, a fluff ball will orbit the character. Orbiting fluff balls will give characters a save versus wands to avoid a normal missile (something like an arrow or bullet) that would otherwise hit. A success means that the CFB intercepts the missile and is destroyed.
  4. Poison dirigible fruit (2d6, 1 HP each, AC 7). Visually identical to cuddly fluff balls (see above), but if touched in any way will explode in a burst of poison glop (all within melee range save or die). A poison dirigible fruit tree will grow in the corpse of any characters so slain, and will produce 2d6 dirigible fruit in 1d6 days. 
  5. Mummy with lower half of body buried (HD 5, AC 5, eyes shoot 2 lasers, save versus death ray or take 5 dice of damage). Wearing an emerald medallion (2000 GP). Quiescent unless the emerald medallion is disturbed. Two dead orange men nearby, one with a scorched hole blown in his head, the other with a scorched hole blown in his chest. 1d6 primitively armed orange men huddled at a safe distance discussing how to relieve the mummy of the medallion. They are not interested in treasure other than gems and technology, but will serve if offered such incentives.
  6. Floating circular platform, hovers 15′ above the ground. Space alien technology. 1 in 6 chance to figure out how to operate (intelligence modifier applies, only one try per character though). Can be moved at a rate of 10′ per turn. 3 bone men with spears have built a hut on top, and “desert fishing lines” hang down. The bone men are extremely xenophobic (reaction roll penalty of 2). One of the bone men has 2 sleep gas grenades (as sleep spell but a save versus paralysis applies, 30′ blast radius).
    On the way to the dungeon part of the adventure, the players came across 1 and 4, both of which they avoided approaching.

    Theorems & Thaumaturgy

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    Theorems & Thaumaturgy necromancer illustration

    This Labyrinth Lord supplement bills itself as Advanced Arcana for the Discerning Magic-User. Theorems & Thaumaturgy is available as a free PDF, but there are several Lulu print on demand options as well, for those that like physical books.

    It contains three new specialist magic-user classes, the elementalist, necromancer, and vivimancer. There is also a fey elf class, which is presented in both “basic” race-as-class and “advanced” race with class format. In some ways, it feels sort of like an OSR equivalent to the old TSR Tome of Magic, though with fewer system-level changes.

    Theorems & Thaumaturgy has what I would consider close to professional grade layout, and excellent, distinctive artwork that fits nicely with the Labyrinth Lord aesthetic without being exactly the same.

    In addition to the new classes (which all contain full, custom spell lists), there are also new magic items, new monsters, and a collection themed books of magic. Some of these new spells are very creative, allowing things like detecting which spells another magic-user has prepared (spell reading), and manipulating those spells (for example, there is a charm spell spell). The fey elf presented is distinctive and much more thematic than the standard LL fighter/mage elf.

    Gavin also did some great, practical work (like sets of prepared spells for magic-users of any level and an index of all the LL spells). This is the kind of effort that people rarely put into free resources, because despite being very useful it is often not as fun to put together as the parts where you make new stuff up.

    There is a chapter on optional magic rules, including an awesome variation on at-will detect magic that functions like the search action (2 in 6 chance, takes one turn). I would be very tempted to use something like that (perhaps X in 6 chance, where is the the highest level spell that a magic-user was able to prepare). The d30 table of magic affinities looks good too. It offers a minor quirk/power for every magic-user, but the random determination makes it much more interesting than all magic-users expecting to be able to use mage hand or whatever.

    Silvered weapons

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    Image from Wikipedia

    Some foes, such as lycanthropes and wights, are immune to standard weapons but vulnerable to silver, and most or all versions of D&D include silver versions of various items in the equipment list. OD&D prices silver arrows at 5 GP per arrow (compared to a quiver of 20 arrows for 10 GP), and Moldvay prices silver daggers at 30 GP (ten times as much as the standard dagger). Silver crosses are also available for 25 GP (the simple wooden variety is only 2 GP).

    However, treasure hunting adventurers are not very price sensitive regarding mundane equipment, so increased cost does not have much effect other than during initial equipment buying. Thus, there should be some trade-off to using a silvered weapon other than just costing more initially. Otherwise, players will just outfit everyone with silver versions of everything, and then combattants will be assumed to always use silvered weapons, just in case. Most things that are unproblematically better are boring. So there should be some reason to not use silver weapons all the time.

    A silvered weapon is not actually made of solid silver. Rather, it is an iron or steel implement that has silver bound to the blade in a process similar to gilding. Perhaps a ritual and some hedge magic or blessing is also required as part of the procedure. As it is used, the silver wears off. This process of wearing off is actually critical to the effective functioning of the silver weapon — you are essentially leaving traces of poison in the argyrophobic  creature.

    A “silver die” (d6) should be rolled along with every damage die. On a silver die roll of 1, the silvering process has worn off, and must be re-silvered. Needing to roll an extra die also draws attention to the use of a silver weapon, making it more of an explicit choice, and less of a default. This makes silver arrows potentially more cost-effective than most silvered melee weapons (though note you can’t effectively fight with a ranged weapon if you are in melee). Also, a miss with a silvered melee weapon will not potentially degrade the weapon, but an arrow that misses may be damaged or lost. So the value comparison is not direct.

    Most metal weapons can be silvered. The cost (following Moldvay) is ten times the normal weapon, and takes a skilled smith one week to complete. Given the cost of silvering, it makes sense to only use silver weapons when they are likely to make a difference. This is in effect a form of melee ammunition.

    Silvered plate armor is available too, at the same cost multiple. Argyrophobic foes will generally prioritize attacking characters that are not wearing silvered armor, and will usually take a penalty when attacking combattants armored in silver (though this varies based on the specific creature). Silvered armor will also wear out in a similar manner (a silver die should be rolled per attack that is landed on the wearer).

    Thief skills

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    Cropped image from Wikipedia

    Eric recently did a clarification post on thief skills for use with B/X D&D, based on the idea of leaving the basic percentages as is (that is, working with the basics of the traditional system without completely rewriting it). The thief class in my Pahvelorn game is a version of the Greyhawk thief, modified slightly to fit the mechanics of the 3 LBBs. My general approach is similar to Eric’s, though I have not committed to writing how the skills are resolved (despite much rumination on the thief class in general). Here is an attempt at guidelines for thief skill use.

    Thief skills include Climb Walls, Hear Noise, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Open Locks, Pickpocket, and Remove Traps. All of these are percentile skills, other than Hear Noise.

    The following general principles apply to all percentile thief skills.

    1. Failing with a roll of 96, 97, 98, 99, or 00 means something goes wrong. The thief falls, the trap goes off, the lockpick breaks. Depending on the circumstances, the consequences of something going wrong may be dire (though a further saving throw might apply).
    2. Failing with a roll of 95 or less means the thief makes no progress, but does not suffer any other negative effects. Another attempt may be made. Most attempts take one turn, but see below.
    3. Succeeding by more than half means the skill use is quick. For example, if a thief has a 30% chance of success and rolls a 15 or less, the task was accomplished with alacrity. The exact amount of time required is up to the referee, but it should take much less than a full turn.

    Move Silently is an attempt to approach or move past an enemy without being detected. Any action taken while moving silently automatically gains surprise.

    Hide in Shadows allows a character to remain hidden even if someone is searching. Any action taken while hidden in shadows automatically gains surprise.

    Regarding the two stealth skills, as specified above in principle 2, failing a Move Silently or Hide in Shadows roll does not mean that they are noticed (unless the roll is particularly bad, as laid out in principle 1). Neither Move Silently nor Hide in Shadows may be used in combat.

    Characters other than thieves (or thieves that fail a stealth-related skill check) still have recourse to the standard chance of gaining surprise. This is 2 in 6 by default per encounter. It may be adjusted up or down based on the specific situation and character preparation.

    Picking locks and removing small mechanical traps require tools and the special training of the thief. Larger traps must be disabled or avoided by player ingenuity. Traps may be discovered by using the same procedure for secret doors: 1 in 6 chance per turn (2 in 6 for demi-humans) given a 10′ x 10′ area, or by engagement with clues and explicit description.

    Hear Noise functions exactly as the standard 1 in 6 listen at doors action, but with better chances.

    Armor penalties apply to all percentile skills and are -20% if wearing chain and -30% if wearing plate. Hear Noise may not be attempted if wearing a helm.

    I think this also reveals an interesting potential taxonomy. Listening and searching (the d6 checks) have to do with the state of the environment external to the thief. Whether or not a trap is present or a monster is beyond the door is not a function of the character. It’s either there or not. In contrast, all the other skills represent something about the character. Climbing, picking locks, removing traps, etc — these are all things that the character in some sense controls (particular task difficulty notwithstanding). Further, they are things that a character experientially can perceive the success of. They know whether they have failed to make progress climbing the wall or have fallen in a way that is different than a failure when attempting to use Hear Noise. Is there nothing there or did I just not hear it? This also explains why there is a Remove Traps percentage, but no Find Traps, as that is covered under the search action.

    Thus, I propose the following final generalization: the d6 checks are rolled by the referee (to represent the objectivity and externality of the environment) and the percentile checks are rolled by the player. Even the Hide in Shadows and Move Silently skills, if looked at in the proper light, are not about being perceived by others, they are about the thief’s talent. Why shouldn’t the thief know whether or not they have successfully hidden in shadows? Thus, the thief can use the skill before they need to depend on it, unlike the surprise roll, which always happens when the thief is already potentially face to face with danger.

    Note that this approach is more forgiving in several ways than the guidelines in Supplement I: Greyhawk, which specify (page 5):

    The ability of a thief to climb is also a function of his level. There is a basic chance of 13% that a 1st level thief will slip and fall in climbing. With each higher level attained by the thief this chance is reduced by 1%, so that a 10th level thief has but a 4% chance of slipping.

    And, regarding Open Locks, Remove Traps, Pickpocket, Move Silently, and Hide in Shadows (page 11):

    A score above the indicated percentage means failure, and no further attempts may be made.

    Role playing

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    There has been some discussion recently about what it means to play a role in an RPG. Is it just making decisions about a unit like in a war game, or does it involve trying to get inside the head of an imaginary character? My general take is that it can be either depending on the player, but that the weight of that role playing is in setting interaction and the notoriety that a character builds up within the game.

    A character’s personality is created based on what they actually do. It’s all well and good to write “coward” on the sheet, but if the character tends to charge into battle, then the actual personality of that character is foolhardy or impetuous, not cowardly, and this arises out of actual play.

    Through their actions, characters create a reputation. This is also part of their personality, and will affect social interactions. Charisma can help a bit (that is the modification to the reaction roll), but if you are Mao Zedong or Steve Jobs or Genghis Khan your actions speak louder than your charisma.

    Basically, this is another way of rephrasing the novelist’s dictum of show, don’t tell or the aphorism that actions speak louder than words. You don’t need to speak in a funny voice or make up backstory motivations to play in character, you need to engage with the setting and show how your character is. If this means occasionally acting against the incentive system of the game, it is exactly that counteraction that gives the role playing weight (just like altruism is not actually altruism if you are paid for it).

    Aside: whenever I publish something here, I usually also share it on Google Plus. This post is a slightly edited version of a comment on the G+ thread associated with my recent post on 5E energy drain (you will need to be in my G+ circles to see the G+ thread). At the time of this writing, that G+ thread has 124 comments, in comparison to the six on my blogger post. This shows the level of interaction about RPGs going on over at Google Plus right now, and how the social networking model decreases the friction of interaction.