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2015-03-05 16:02:34

FWIW, I thought of reskinning the Elf as a "Cambion" or Half-Demon.

Initially a Cambion looks human, but with every spell cast or every creature slain it gains one point of Corruption. After gaining each point, the GM rolls d100; if it's equal to or under the Corruption the Cambion sprouts a new demonic trait: horns, tail, hooves, glowing eyes, unnaturally colored skin, or some more bizarre mutation.

Cambions also have one positive(?) ability: when a Cambion even feigns anger, its dark heritage comes to the fore. Even a human-looking Cambion trying to intimidate someone can alter the Reaction roll by 1d3 points. Which way the reaction swings depends on the circumstances; some NPCs may acquiesce to a Cambion's demands simply to avoid trouble, while others may stiffen their resolve to fight such a foul creature.

If anyone's interested, I can dig up my original notes, but that's the gist.

2014-03-29 22:55:55

Maybe the model here should be Dungeon Crawl Classics: multiple 1st level (or 0th-level) characters per player. Each player picks and names a character from among the survivors.

If your players are really attached to their characters, maybe you'll have a gaggle of 0th-level Redshirts who the PCs magically swap places with if things go sideways. Downside: redshirts (posthumously) get XP for actions foisted upon them, not the PCs.

2014-01-26 08:39:35

On another site I've dissected and remixed alignments.

One point I'd like to offer, though, is that there's an asymmetry between Law and Chaos in LotFP. Law is a purpose, a divine plan, or a pattern determined by some entity or another. Chaos, on the other hand, is virtually everything else outside the scope of what humans call conventional reality. Perhaps Law is holding back Chaos somehow to create this safe haven for humankind, but Law struck me as a finite, petty thing while Chaos is infinite and purposeless, a thing with a billion discordant minds or no mind at all, ceaselessly beating at the door until the door breaks. You see this in Raggi's modules, where occasionally artifacts can DESTROY THE UNIVERSE or alter reality beyond comprehension. Are these the workings of Law, the same law that empowers certain men to heal diseases and banish undead, or are they aspects of infinite Chaos, the eventual victor?

Toning down the pomposity a bit, the Chaotic character knows infinite Chaos is lurking just outside the little garden we live in, ready to rush in if someone opens the doors between worlds just a little too wide. The Lawful character, on the other hand, sees portents and omens, feels a great destiny unrolling before him ... but how much is a metaphysical presence and how much just perception? And, assuming a metaphysical entity, how powerful is it really?

Still, as GM I'd offer Lawful characters little omens and coincidences, not enough to prove a higher purpose but enough to suggest one. And I like the idea of Chaotic characters as weirdness magnets, perhaps not because Chaos is drawn to the character but because he sees it everywhere. Neutral characters are probably more grounded and less superstitious, but they're prone to come along for the ride with either alignment.

2014-01-12 22:38:55

While I can't address the historical aspects, two classes doesn't sound quite right. I'd combine the Fighter and Specialist into one class:

a Generalist class which interleaves the progression of Fighters and Specialists, e.g. one skill point per level, BAB is 1 + 1/2 level rounded down
a "gestalt" that combines Fighter BAB and hit dice with Specialist skill points and the better saving throws of each class, perhaps with doubled XP for progression.
a combined class where at each level including 1st players can choose whether to take +1 BAB (minimum +1) or 2 skill points

P.S. I explored the first two ideas in this thread.

2013-12-23 13:25:41

Storapan wrote:

If in doubt, burn books.

Isn't that a sensible policy in any Lovecraftian horror story? Don't search out the quaint old folk tale, don't investigate mysterious deaths, and above all DON'T READ THE BOOK! Just stay comfortable, drunk, and blissfully ignorant until our inevitable doom arrives.

2013-12-16 02:05:50

One of the more creative solutions I've seen is the Alien Abductee prestige class. In summary:

When the player is absent, the character simply vanishes into thin air.
When the player returns, the character returns to a random location (embarrassing circumstances optional), with no memory of what happened.
With each subsequent disappearance, the character recovers memories about his abductors. In time the character gains hypervigilance, extraordinary luck (due to alien protection), knowledge of alien technology, and eventually a bonus to fight aliens.

One can adapt the concept to faerie, eldritch horrors, extra-dimensional entities, or anything else. Or, heck, stay with Grays.

2013-09-15 06:03:11

PencilBoy99 wrote:

I've seen lots of other fixes that match the Appendix N fiction better - (1) 1 strong drink/day -> restores hit points; (2) body points = Con or starting HP, additional HP are your "luck/skill/stun" and restore either overnight or a chunk after a rest; (3) magic users can make vigor-restorative potions.

My preferred solution is a variation on #2: 0 HP isn't the point at which you go unconscious/die, but the point at which you START getting really hurt. Earlier versions of Warhammer Fantasy did this. IIRC, in 2nd edition if your HP dipped below zero the GM added the number of points negative to a random d10 roll to determine what horrible and potentially lethal injury you took. The higher the number, the worse your injury, leading up to evisceration, decapitation, rapid exsanguination, and far more colorful causes of death (if shades of red count as different colors). Spirit of the Century's stress track works similarly, if less lethally: run out of physical stress boxes and you start taking Consequences which enemies or cruel fate (i.e. the GM) can use against you.

Magicians with healing magic aren't completely unheard of, either. Usually it's not "gain 1d8 HP" so much as "my healing arts saved your life". This solution dovetails with #2: once serious injuries are taken care of, the hero recovers within a few days of rest. Not medically realistic -- scar tissue? physical therapy? hello? -- but Conan knows nothing of secondary infections.

I've also thought that there should be more NPC alchemists, mundane healers, and mystical herbalists in a game world. Take your buddy to the Wise Woman of a nearby village and he'll be as right as rain in a couple of days. Heck, maybe that explains why more people in your pseudo-medieval fantasy world aren't keeling over from dysentery, plague, cholera, or gangrene.

2013-06-28 00:07:53

For the campaign I'm going to run Real Soon Now, I developed a different history for Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings. While not as radical, they might spark some ideas. (I'm also experimenting with 3.x-style races, specifically Cambions and Little Folk.)

Of course, the "weirdest" thing might to make demi-humans rare and mysterious (i.e. NPCs). RuneQuest's weird take on elves, dwarfs, trolls, and reptile folk ("Dragonewts") might serve as a template.

One idea I've speculated on is that the peoples humans call "demi-humans" are but humans with a trace of Something Else in their bloodline. "Elves" are really half-elves, quarter-elves, eighth-elves, etc. who ALMOST pass for human, Little Folk ("dwarfs" and "halflings") have some ancient parahuman genes in their family tree, and "half-orcs" -- like the "orkin" of Faster Monkey Games's Lesserton and Mor -- carry an ancient blood taint of unspecified origin. All three groups, in fact, may stem from Faerie matings with mortals; their features come from genetic roulette and/or whatever the shape that Faerie wore at the time. They form coherent "races" with common features only because "pure" humans shun them and interbreeding reinforced certain features. Thus pointy-eared forest folk aren't inheritors of ancient wisdom but canny natives who play to "noble savage" motifs, red-eyed pointy-toothed people aren't any worse than blue-eyed square-toothed people except that society makes them so, and short people live in holes and abandoned mines because ignorant Tall Folk have driven them there.

Real "Elves", "Dwarfs", and "Orcs" -- three of many types or seemings of the Faerie Folk -- live in the wild places of the world because they like nature and/or hate humans. They change shape, beguile senses, cannot be slain except with meteoric iron, and may call upon their spirit siblings in every rock and tree to destroy their enemies. If you have one of the True Fae in your party, run. Run fast. Run far. Run NOW!

2013-06-23 17:51:17

In one game I gave every player two PCs, so that if one dies they still had the other. That proved to be a bit of overkill, since only one PC died.

While I haven't tried this in a game, I thought of including a few 0-level NPCs in every party of 1st level PCs, as "partners", hangers-on, whatever. If a PC died, that player took over a 0-level character; if THAT character survived, the player could transfer any XP earned to his next 1st level character. In higher-level games, maybe players could take over hirelings (two levels below PCs' levels) with the same deal.

There's always the option from Dead Gentlemen's The Gamers in which, not long after a PC dies, the remaining PCs meet a suspiciously similar PC, decide that he seems trustworthy, and lets him join the group.

2013-06-22 13:17:08

While perusing the latest no art Rules & Magic book, I found some odd rules regarding Alchemists and Scholars. Alchemists cost 250 sp / month, and the rules state, "An alchemist reduces the amount of laboratory time needed for any magical research by 1d6 days per project." Scholars cost 100 sp / month, and the rules state, "A scholar reduces the amount of laboratory time needed for any magical research by 1d4 weeks per project." (Emphasis mine.)

There are a few explanations I can think of:

Scholars really are a bargain, and alchemists are overpaid.
"Weeks" should be "days", or vice versa.
Alchemists and scholars can only help with certain types of research (e.g magic-users vs. clerics, potions vs. spells), which the rules neglect to mention.

Any official errata? Any unofficial errata?

2013-06-20 07:06:04

Lord Inar wrote:

I'd like a spell section (Right now I use Languages)

Hm, I'd rather have a separate "Grimoire" page, and indicate prepared spells with check marks (in pencil). If there's extra space on page 2, maybe just a general "notes" section, ruled or not.

Otherwise, I agree with all the suggestions above. So my ideal character sheet would have:

Ability scores, modifiers, saving throws, attack bonuses, skills, Armor Class, HP, and combat options as is.
Equipment, Languages, money, and encumbrance again pretty much as is.
One or more of the the previous items (e.g. money and/or languages) moved to replace Retainers and the spell stars.
A consolidated "notes" section on page two.

EDIT: I personally prefer to track stuff that changes often like current HP, money, and expended spells on a separate sheet of paper, or with tokens. One nifty idea would be a page "one-and-a-half": a strip of paper with blanks for that stuff that lined up with maximum HP, spell lists, etc. that players could discard when it became unreadable. But that might be too much to ask for a sheet of A4 paper.

2013-05-22 05:56:44

Geoffrey wrote:

Several times I have heard that the Summon spell can destroy the campaign world, and most recently I heard James himself say so.
I can NOT find that anywhere! It's a long spell description, so perhaps I'm missing the reference. Can anyone provide the quote?

Some of the "Special Forms" that start on p 148 of the Grindhouse version could wreck a campaign world, depending on how far you take them. If someone casts Summon in a major metropolitan area, any of these effects could decimate a neighborhood if not the whole city (as could a more conventional monster, actually).

#3 causes a local breakdown in logic, but it could well become global. #4 might end all conflicts in the campaign area, leading to a story-ending peace or genocide at the hands of species not affected. #5 causes irrational jealous rages and the birth of monsters. In #6 an otherworldly entity bent on world domination possesses someone present; the entity suppresses all vestiges of will in other beings, even instincts of self-preservation and self-defense.

I'm sure the others have dire consequences that I haven't thought of yet.

2013-03-16 15:40:26

islan wrote:

I've thought about revising goblins/hobgoblins/bugbears/trolls as a singular species that live underground.

Reminds me a bit of the orcs of Harn, a.k.a. Gargun, and I won't attempt to do the accent marks. There are five separate species (subspecies?) ranging from 3' to 4.5', each with different behavior and tactics. There's no reason why the size differences can't be more dramatic.

Gargun have males and females, but they're eusocial: One ultra-macho king fertilizes one obese queen The queen pops out large quantities of eggs, which are traditionally buried in dung to keep them warm. The vast majority of males don't reproduce, which perhaps explains the rumors that they, um, defile female captives of other species. The few females who aren't queens are kept separate from the males, otherwise a pair would start boinking and become a new king and queen. Externally virgin females are indistinguishable from males, and are just as fierce warriors if not more so.

There's also Warhammer 40K Orks who hatch from spores. The first generation is the smallest kind of goblins to pave the way for the next largest, and so on until the hulking 7' Orks with East End accents.

It's your choice, but I've always preferred alien and disgusting biology to magic.

2013-01-30 05:39:47

Justin in Oz wrote:

Why not stagger the hitpoint dice? Every even level a 1d6? That way they are not so cock-sure in combat. As things are they have the hefty hitpoints of the fighter.

Which one are you looking at?

The Generalist has 1d6 throughout, as part of the trade-off for having skill points. The Generalist is meant to fit into an otherwise normal party that needs a spare Specialist and/or Fighter. It resembles an ordinary Specialist at first level but gains half a Fighter's AB and half the specialist's skill points. It also has Fighter-like Saving Throws.

The Hero has +1d8 throughout, but also requires more XP than the fighter to gain levels. The Hero is meant to be a "gestalt" of both Fighters and Specialists for higher-powered games (where they still get eaten by immortal slime monsters).

2013-01-29 20:27:02

OK, I found one problem already. I should have said that both variants have the same expanded combat options as Fighters: the better AC for Parry, Press, and Defensive.

2013-01-29 20:17:34

While I'm aware that a lot of people simply house-rule skill points and/or Attack Bonuses for all classes, I like the idea of a distinct Specialist but also a Fighter/Specialist hybrid. A few days ago I whipped up two variants of the latter, the "Generalist" (half and half) and the "Hero" (both at the same time). Here they are, for your amusement, criticism, and/or vilification.

(BTW, while I'm aware of a Ranger class presented previously, I didn't use it when designing the Generalist.)

GENERALIST
-----------

A Generalist studies both the way of battle and the skills of a Specialist. With a foot in each world he progresses only half as fast in both. However, parties that lack a Specialist (or Fighter) can use his expertise.

The Generalist has the following abilities:

A Generalist has an Attack Bonus of 1 + *level*/2, dropping all fractions. A Generalist's maximum possible AB is +5.
Generalists acquire Skill Points like Specialists, albeit not as quickly. A Level 1 Generalist has 4 Skill Points, and gains 1 Skill Point per level.
At Level 1 a Generalist must select four skills available to a Specialist. The Generalist may spend his skill points *only* on those skills. Generalists need not increase those four skills with their initial four points, but they may only increase those four at first level and beyond.
For example, if Fred wants to make his Generalist like a "ranger", he might choose the skills Bushcraft, Climb, Search, and Stealth. He decides to put two points in Bushcraft and two in Stealth.
A Level 1 Generalist may elect to switch to the Specialist class at any time at no penalty. A Generalist may not switch to any other class, nor switch after reaching Level 2, without explicit Referee permission. Once a Generalist switches, he or she cannot switch back.

Except as noted above, all rules that apply to other classes apply to the Generalist class.

| Level | Experience Points | Hit Points | Skill Points | Attack Bonus |
|:-----:|------------------:|:----------:|:------------:|:------------:|
|   1   |                 0 |     1d6    |      4       |     +1       |
|   2   |             2,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +2       |
|   3   |             4,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +2       |
|   4   |             8,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +3       |
|   5   |            16,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +3       |
|   6   |            32,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +4       |
|   7   |            64,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +4       |
|   8   |           128,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +5       |
|   9   |           256,000 |    +1d6    |     +1       |     +5       |
|  10+  |    +128,000/level | +2*/level  |   +1/level   |     +5       |

* Constitution modifiers no longer apply

#### Saving Throws ####

| Levels | Paralyze | Poison | Breath Weapon | Magical Device | Magic |
|:------:|:--------:|:------:|:-------------:|:--------------:|:-----:|
|  1-3   |   14     |   14   |     15        |      13        |  14   |
|  4-6   |   11     |   12   |     13        |      11        |  12   |
|  7-9   |    9     |   10   |     11        |       9        |  10   |
| 10-12  |    7     |    8   |      9        |       7        |   8   |
|  13+   |    5     |    6   |      7        |       5        |   6   |

HERO
-----

A Hero (or Heroine) is a larger-than-life figure, competent in a surprising number of areas. He or she is easily worth two men, perhaps more.

1. A Hero has the full abilities of a Fighter at the equivalent level, including an Attack Bonus.

2. A Hero also has the full abilities of a Specialist at the equivalent level. The Hero acquires Skill Points, and may spend them on any skill.

3. Optional Rule: A Chaotic Hero can use the Read Magic spell once per day and cast a spell from a Magic-User scroll, as if he were a Magic-User of his Hero level. However, magical effects that apply to Magic-Users also apply to the Hero, even if the Hero has never read a scroll. Likewise a Lawful Hero can use Cleric scrolls, but magical effects that apply to Cleric also apply to the Hero, even if the Hero has never read a scroll.

Except as noted above, all rules that apply to other classes apply to the Hero class.

| Level | Experience Points | Hit Points | Skill Points | Attack Bonus |
|:-----:|------------------:|:----------:|:------------:|:------------:|
|   1   |                 0 |     1d8    |      4       |     +2       |
|   2   |             2,500 |    +1d8    |     +2       |     +3       |
|   3   |             5,000 |    +1d8    |     +2       |     +4       |
|   4   |            10,000 |    +1d8    |     +2       |     +5       |
|   5   |            20,000 |    +1d8    |     +2       |     +6       |
|   6   |            40,000 |    +1d8    |     +2       |     +7       |
|   7   |            80,000 |    +1d8    |     +2       |     +8       |
|   8   |           160,000 |    +1d8    |     +2       |     +9       |
|   9   |           320,000 |    +1d8    |     +2       |    +10       |
|  10+  |    +160,000/level |  +3*/level |   +2/level   |    +10       |

* Constitution modifiers no longer apply

#### Saving Throws ####

| Levels | Paralyze | Poison | Breath Weapon | Magical Device | Magic |
|:------:|:--------:|:------:|:-------------:|:--------------:|:-----:|
|  1-3   |   14     |   14   |     15        |      13        |  14   |
|  4-6   |   11     |   12   |     13        |      11        |  12   |
|  7-9   |    9     |   10   |     11        |       9        |  10   |
| 10-12  |    7     |    8   |      9        |       7        |   8   |
|  13+   |    5     |    6   |      7        |       5        |   6   |

2012-12-17 09:05:53

While I'm procrastinating an already late term paper, I thought I'd throw out a couple more candidate house rules. I'm sure someone has done something similar; I'm sure I saw another Healing/Heal/Chirurgy/etc. skill.

------------------
APPRAISAL

Upon a successful skill roll, the character can gauge the approximate value of an item. The Referee need not specify the exact value, but at least the order of magnitude should be right. This skill cannot take into account invisible or undetectable properties of an item, like magic or historical significance.

HEALING

This skill represents mundane healing arts. It has three uses:

1. Binding Wounds: After a battle, a character may use this skill on himself or another to regain a number of hit points equal to the value of the die roll, or half the number of hit points lost during the battle, whichever is smaller.

2. First Aid: If a character has gone below 0 HP (but not lower than -3 HP) in the previous round, a successful Healing roll gives the character a second chance. The dying character may make a Save vs. Death to stabilize, with a penalty equal to the number of hit points below 0. If that saving roll succeeds, the character's hit points reset to 0. First Aid can also save the life of a character dying from poison, drowning, or other familiar and natural causes.

3. Long-Term Care: If a character with the Healing skill attends a wounded character in clean, safe surroundings with easy access to medical supplies, multiply the wounded character's healing rate by the healer's Healing skill value. A healer can attend multiple characters, although each additional patient reduces the multiplier by one.

PERSUASION

If a character has a chance to talk to NPCs for several minutes and knows the NPCs' language, he can test his Persuasion skill. If the skill test succeeds, the NPC's reaction roll increases by 1d3. The Referee may increase a character's effective Persuasion skill if the PLAYER provides a convincing or at least entertaining performance. This skill cannot be used against an NPC who is already attacking.

------------

Healing seems like an essential skill if the party has no Cleric, but I worry it's a bit overpowered and overloaded. If someone can point me at other versions, I'd appreciate it.

I'd also like to do something like Knowledge or Lore skills, but they could proliferate outrageously. Perhaps a single Education skill would suffice. If successful, the player could know an obscure but pertinent fact, discover a clue, or make a Cliff-Clavin-esque pronouncement about the game world and have it actually be true (subject to Referee approval). "Oh, yes, this is clearly a van Ooms masterpiece from his mauve period."

Alternatively, the Education skill might represent the number of times a character can show off his erudition in this way, a la Investigative Skills in the GUMSHOE system. If a character spends that last point, maybe anything he thinks he knows about the game world can be wrong, retroactively. "Cat? What's a cat?"

2012-12-15 10:13:42

Lord Inar wrote:

Here's a couple of suggestions in the interest of making things better.
Why not make # of additional languages equal to Int bonus, such that if a character has a -1 or less they can't even speak their own language well (heavy dialect or some such thing).

In the RAW the Int modifier adds to the Languages roll, so that feels a bit like double-counting. Also, I don't regard Intelligence as an absolute measure of brain power, merely as the character's ability to handle complex concepts (like magic). I can imagine an adventurer who isn't book-smart but can speak a little bit of everything. IIRC, so could Robert E. Howard.

Lord Inar wrote:

I'd say that in almost any pre-1700's game that it is the exception rather than the norm to be literate, though, clocking in at 10% or less.

True, in a historical game. Charlemagne encouraged literacy in his realm, but couldn't read or write himself. However, in a game it's handy to assume that at least the player characters can read and write.

Finally, the unknown languages could have no analog, but people can take them with DM approval.

I'd reserve "unknown" languages for the following circumstances:

Tantalizing but untranslatable inscriptions on ancient ruins. Unless the characters find a Rosetta stone or a living translator, they'll never know about the ancient curse ...
Languages of previously unknown peoples or civilizations. The characters would have to spend significant game time to learn the language, assuming one or more willing teachers or superhuman observational skills.
Languages unpronounceable by a human throat. Someone with keen hearing or musical ability might have a chance of learning the language, but they'd never be able to speak it without magical or technological aid. (Think Han and Chewie.)

I've also speculated on presenting word puzzles, e.g. a partial translation or dictionary is available, but the players must fill in the gaps. (E.g. words on a Space Alien device.) That might be too much for some players, but then again Tower of the Stargazer had a chess game in the middle of the adventure.

2012-12-15 02:27:38

Because of a passing interest in linguistics and a desire for "realism" I've added a few house rules to the Languages roll.

BEGINNING LANGUAGES: Each character begins with two languages, one a "common" language for the starting region of the campaign. The second is either another widely used language or a specialized language for the class or race. (E.g. Latin or Greek for Clerics, Elfin for Elves, Gaelic, Arabic, or Aklo for Magic Users, etc.)
LANGUAGE FAMILIES: Some languages are grouped into families. (Earth examples include Catalan, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, or Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish.) The Languages roll is at +1 for a language in the same family as one a character already knows. "Dialects" count as separate languages in the same family.
RARE OR DEAD LANGUAGES: Some languages may be uncommon enough to incur a -1 or -2 penalty to the Languages roll, reflecting the diminished chance of a character having just "picked it up somewhere". This penalty is cumulative with the Language Family bonus. Examples in a European milieu might include Latin (except for educated folks), Greek (ditto), Hebrew, Ethiopian, or Hindi.
UNKNOWN LANGUAGES: In some cases a Languages roll might impossible. Medieval Earth examples might be Ancient Egyptian, Linear B, or a Native American language (assuming Native Americans were wholly unknown before contact). The pipings of Elder Things would also qualify.
WRITTEN LANGUAGES: In MOST cases, knowing how to speak a language implies knowing how to read or write it unless a character is defined as illiterate. (Referee or player decision.) Exceptions are as follows:
1. LOGOGRAMS: Logographic languages like Chinese represent words, not sounds. Native speakers will typically know both spoken or written forms, Others must learn the spoken and written forms separately. On the plus side, the written form can be a common "language" of multiple spoken language communities (again, like Chinese).
2. COMMON ALPHABETS: Many languages use the same "script", e.g. nearly all European languages use Roman letters. If a character knows the "script" of a language (e.g. Roman letters) but not the exact language (e.g. German, Spanish, Latin, Romanian) he can attempt to sound out the written form. What comes of his mouth might be unintelligible or offensive (Referee's decision). This doesn't work with logographic languages, of course.
3. SPOKEN ONLY: Some languages have NO canonical written form. Knowing the spoken language will grant no written form, even if someone later develops a written form. Cherokee, for example, had no written form until 1821, and presumably it was slow to catch on.
4. SYNTHETIC ALPHABETS: The modern International Phonetic Alphabet can represent the sounds of almost any language, and one might postulate a fictional equivalent in one's game world. Again the results might be accurate, ludicrous, or offensive.
5. MULTIPLE ALPHABETS: Some languages have canonical written forms in multiple scripts. For example, Yiddish commonly uses Hebrew letters but, as a dialect of German, could just as easily use Roman letters. Someone who knows both German and Hebrew might have a bonus to their Languages check to also know Yiddish; someone who knows Yiddish might likewise have a bonus to learn Hebrew.
6. COMPLEX SCRIPTS: In medieval Japan most women wrote entirely in Hiragana, a syllabic form of writing; "educated" Japanese write in a mixture of Kanji (logograms derived from Chinese), Hiragana (for word endings and particles), and Katakana (a spiky syllabic script equivalent to Hiragana). Referees may decide that some, all, or none of these alternate forms need to be "learned" as a distinct language.
SIGNS: Some groups or cultures have a form of "writing" that conveys simple concepts but isn't a true writing system, e.g. hobo signs. In these cases, the player must interpret and learn these signs.

Whew, that was a bit long.

Anyway, I'm looking for opinions on these rules, specifically, is this too fiddly? Especially since I'm not setting my campaign in a fantasy world, not Earth?

2012-12-04 18:21:14

thornlord wrote:

Heavy Metal has a similar effect on the brain as classical music. Many, but not all fans are upbeat, positive and generally happy people.
Here's the link.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article … finds.html

Call me a skeptic, but that article's from the Daily Fail, er Mail, which isn't known for its high reporting standards. The article's characterizes fans of each genre in terms as vague as horoscopes.

Granted, the article might be spot-on about Heavy Metal listeners as a group, but I'd prefer another source.

2012-11-25 04:27:39

Thaumiel_Nerub wrote:

Why can't you just put random tables on little cards to save space?

A virtue of cards over random tables is that you can add a card far more easily than you can add to a random table, assuming every entry must have an equal probability of showing up. I'd rather cut each 3x5 card in half -- or find smaller cards -- and write one entry each on those smaller cards.

Granted, you could put 6 slots on each card, and roll a die to determine which entry to use. If a card has less than 6 entries and the roll hits an empty slot, reshuffle the deck and draw again. (Anything else would bias probabilities.) It's therefore best to have only one such card, maybe removed from the deck for convenience and replaced with a "Roll on incomplete card" card.

Also, you can write the full description directly on the card. In a 3.5 variant I ended up with so many feats and class abilities I copied them onto index cards, just so I wouldn't have to flip between two or three books. Then what does Type IV do with its plethora of Powers?

2012-10-01 05:59:38

I've also toyed with the idea of weapons with "plausible deniability". For example, when a rune-carved sword connects with a monster or NPC, the Referee could roll a second damage die and deal the larger number to the target. (Magic armor would work in reverse: Ref throws two damage dice, takes the smaller.) Players will figure out a creature's AC after a few hits and note inconsistencies, but only the Ref knows how many HP a creature starts with. Since the effect is wholly random, players who figure out their sword is magical can't count on it working for them in any battle.

For that matter, if a sword grants a +1 or even +2 to AB, is it magical or just really well made? Does Excalibur need to grant combat advantages or does its significance transcend rules and numbers? What does the Spear of Destiny actually DO?

It may not be "Weird Fantasy", but famous artifacts of vague goodness might drive a whole campaign. Imagine every knight questing for the Lance of Truth, every noble desiring it, every commoner inspired by whoever wields it. Imagine the wars fought over its possession, the blood spilled on once fertile fields, the magnificent feasts ravens enjoy.

2012-09-21 07:43:07

This evening I purchased "The Magnificent Joop Van Ooms" PDF from DriveThruRPG, and I noticed a bunch of blank spaces on certain pages. These include:

- p 4, results 8, 16, 24

- p 5, results 32, 40, 48 (no, seriously)

- p 6, "Selling on the Black Market" result 8, "Buying on the Black Market" result 8 (I sense a pattern ...)

- p 18, bullet point between "... who is doing this?" and "'I'd like someone ..." (yep, the 8th one ... what is this, Discworld?)

I'm using Adobe Reader 9.5.2 on MacOSX 10.6.8. Curiously, the missing text appears when I use Preview.app to read the PDF.

If I'm having this problem, I have to figure someone else is having it on some platform-hardware combination. Unless DTRPG, LotFP, or rebel psychonauts are screwing with me ...

2011-12-29 05:30:11

Kev wrote:

I'm hoping that this will add flavor to the campaign as well as reduce the number of PC playing magic using classes.

I'm all for flavor, especially one of ash and decay, but if you don't want magic-using classes, don't allow them. I'm not keen on the "here's this class, but it sucks" method of design. (Non-humans in LotFP do fill their own niches, even if they're sub-optimal compared to the four "human" classes.)

BTW, there's also Akrasia's "Magician" class, which combines both spell-casting classes into one, and makes "grey" and "black" magic cost more than spell slots. While written for Swords & Wizardry, it should convert over fairly easily.

2011-12-20 05:29:07

Somewhat tangentially, I worked out probability curves for the Carcosa Dice Convention at AnyDice.com.

If the URL doesn't show the script, here it is:

\Carcosa dice, from _Carcosa_ by Geoffrey McKinney (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)\

\output d{d4, d6, d8, d10, d12} named "1 die"\
output d{1:5, 2:5, 3:5, 4:5, 5:4, 6:4, 7:3, 8:3, 9:2, 10:2, 11, 12} named "1 die"

loop N over {2, 3, 5, 8} {
   output d{Nd4, Nd6, Nd8, Nd10, Nd12} named "[N] dice"
}

output 8d{d4, d6, d8, d10, d12} named "8 x 1 die"

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23 Topic by fmitchell 2012-09-21 07:43:07

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