Hi everyone. I'm still here.
I've just been spending most of my gaming time writing up my megadungeon, running it and playing in a 3.5 game with some friends.
The 3.5 game has been… eh. I enjoy playing with my friends, and I can't deny that it's pretty cool to be able to cast "Chain Charm Monster" or to shock the DM with my Old School tactics, but… I really, really don't like the complexity or how long it's taken me to create my character. And we just took something like three hours to kill a dragon.
BUT, my DM decided, at my strong suggestion, to adopt the Arduin critical hit and fumble tables! So I'm looking forward to that unexpectedly killing a PC or ending a boss-fight in one round, even if the criticals and fumbles have to be confirmed. I love those tables so much.
Exploring games that were published before I was born - and the games inspired by them.
Showing posts with label Arduin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arduin. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The DMG, Section by Section, Part 19: Spell Explanations – Magic-Users
Comprehend Languages
I found it interesting that this can be reversed and cast on a scroll to make it unreadable, though casting the unreversed version of this spell twice on such a scroll will make it readable again.
Enlarge
Apparently Gary's players tried to kill opponents by enlarging them inside their armor, but Gary says that their armor will either come loose (if secured with buckles and straps) or be ruined (in the case of chain mail) rather than kill an enlarged subject of this spell; even clothes are assumed to "split away during growth." I would have thought that Gary would have just had what a subject of this spell was wearing grow with the subject, but leave it to Gary to surprise me, right?
Tenser's Floating Disc
I don't know why Gary's such a kill-joy with this particular spell. First he stipulates clearly that no Magic-User can begin play knowing this spell or Nystul's Magic Aura, and then he bans Magic-Users from riding the Disc. Lame. (Though I think Gary's reasoning for banning these two spells may have been to allow players to choose a spell on a result of 10 on the beginning spell tables. Still.)
Unseen Servant
This is the spell my players have played around with the most, stretching the limits of how much they can communicate with an inanimate force (being able to command it clearly means that some amount of communication is possible, I've ruled). Gary stipulates that this force has no shape and therefore cannot be clothed.
Web
I hadn't ever realized that this spell requires at least two anchor points or the web will collapse in on and get tangled up with itself. I hadn't ever really thought about that, but it makes good sense.
Wizard Lock
I also hadn't realized that casters could freely pass through their own Wizard Locks. This has interesting possibilities if you want to take magic in the direction of different flavors of the same spells. (Brendan, I'm thinking of you here.)
Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer
I hadn't realized that this was in 1e as well as 2e. It came up in a previous discussion on this blog. (I prefer any one of my solutions, for the record, though the existence of this spell does settle what Gary thought about the issue.)
Wall of Force
This spell's commentary is interesting because Gary discusses two specific ways to defeat it, much the same way that prismatic spheres in AD&D and prismatic walls in Arduin are handled. These magical barriers that require specific, sometimes (especially with Arduin) non-sensical, unrelated magical keys fascinate me and seem under-utilized in the D&D I read about and play.
I found it interesting that this can be reversed and cast on a scroll to make it unreadable, though casting the unreversed version of this spell twice on such a scroll will make it readable again.
Enlarge
Apparently Gary's players tried to kill opponents by enlarging them inside their armor, but Gary says that their armor will either come loose (if secured with buckles and straps) or be ruined (in the case of chain mail) rather than kill an enlarged subject of this spell; even clothes are assumed to "split away during growth." I would have thought that Gary would have just had what a subject of this spell was wearing grow with the subject, but leave it to Gary to surprise me, right?
Tenser's Floating Disc
I don't know why Gary's such a kill-joy with this particular spell. First he stipulates clearly that no Magic-User can begin play knowing this spell or Nystul's Magic Aura, and then he bans Magic-Users from riding the Disc. Lame. (Though I think Gary's reasoning for banning these two spells may have been to allow players to choose a spell on a result of 10 on the beginning spell tables. Still.)
Unseen Servant
This is the spell my players have played around with the most, stretching the limits of how much they can communicate with an inanimate force (being able to command it clearly means that some amount of communication is possible, I've ruled). Gary stipulates that this force has no shape and therefore cannot be clothed.
Web
I hadn't ever realized that this spell requires at least two anchor points or the web will collapse in on and get tangled up with itself. I hadn't ever really thought about that, but it makes good sense.
Wizard Lock
I also hadn't realized that casters could freely pass through their own Wizard Locks. This has interesting possibilities if you want to take magic in the direction of different flavors of the same spells. (Brendan, I'm thinking of you here.)
Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer
I hadn't realized that this was in 1e as well as 2e. It came up in a previous discussion on this blog. (I prefer any one of my solutions, for the record, though the existence of this spell does settle what Gary thought about the issue.)
Wall of Force
This spell's commentary is interesting because Gary discusses two specific ways to defeat it, much the same way that prismatic spheres in AD&D and prismatic walls in Arduin are handled. These magical barriers that require specific, sometimes (especially with Arduin) non-sensical, unrelated magical keys fascinate me and seem under-utilized in the D&D I read about and play.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Shrelft the Pilgrim Peddler
So, I'm finally running games again. We ran a session of Dawn of Worlds a few weeks ago and played some S&W last Friday. I'm really enjoying gaming.
We didn't get a lot done, which is fine. We rolled up some new characters, discussed keeping track of time better (we all agreed that using a Gregorian calendar would be easiest and the players decided to start on January 1; we don't have years yet), played out a visit by Shrelft the Pilgrim Peddler and then they had a run-in with a Lindwurm.
But let's talk about Shrelft the Pilgrim Peddler, since there's been some interest expressed in him. I've refrained from sharing him before now because the majority of his inventory is from the Arduin Grimoires (specifically Grimoires IV, V, VI and VII), but I figure I can share the parts of Shrelft that I came up with and a few examples of his inventory so that you can have Shrelft show up in your games too, if you want.
Here's how I've described Shrelft for myself:
We didn't get a lot done, which is fine. We rolled up some new characters, discussed keeping track of time better (we all agreed that using a Gregorian calendar would be easiest and the players decided to start on January 1; we don't have years yet), played out a visit by Shrelft the Pilgrim Peddler and then they had a run-in with a Lindwurm.
But let's talk about Shrelft the Pilgrim Peddler, since there's been some interest expressed in him. I've refrained from sharing him before now because the majority of his inventory is from the Arduin Grimoires (specifically Grimoires IV, V, VI and VII), but I figure I can share the parts of Shrelft that I came up with and a few examples of his inventory so that you can have Shrelft show up in your games too, if you want.
Here's how I've described Shrelft for myself:
Shrelft shows up at the PC's
home base occasionally, selling minor magical items and dungeoneering
gear that is pretty much unavailable elsewhere. Shrelft will show up
in a particular session on a roll of 1 on a d6. No one knows much
about Shrelft, especially concerning where he obtains his wares. When
asked about his sources, Shreflt only smiles, and those who try to
follow him always lose him around a corner, over a hill or behind a
tree; Shrelft also ceases to visit those PCs until a 2 is rolled on
2d6 (roll once per session), at which point Shreflt has apparently forgiven the PCs and will
resume his normal schedule.
I then list 20 magical alchemical items for purchase. I usually roll a d20 three or four times to determine what Shrelft is selling today, and d4 for each item to determine how many he has for sale. The four Grimoires I mentioned have a lot more than 19 alchemical items, but I decided that, until the PCs get richer (switching to using the ACKS method of dungeon stocking will make that happen more quickly, it's looking like) there's no point in teasing them with anything that costs more than 1000 silver (I'm using a silver standard).
Some examples:
Saethryth's Salve (500sp): A thick green paste
that smells of mint and fish. Applied to a freshly cut body part,
even a head, it will keep that part alive and viable for up to a
week. If the part is bound to a fresh wound within that week, it
will grow a healthy connection. (This is, I think, the only item I didn't get from the Arduin Grimoires. It's a favorite with my players, understandably. It's probably under-priced, but that's OK.)
Sigestamundo's
Silver Screamers/ “Banshee Stones” (105sp):
The size and weight of steel marbles and silver colored, when
sharply struck, they ignite and take off in random and crazy flight
patterns, trailing sparks and grey metallic smoke while screaming
and wailing. They fly for 1d8 seconds but take flight again once
they hit something. They last for 20 minutes.
Zartan's Outfire Fog
(330sp): Comes inside sealed
glass containers, which hold enough fog to fill an area of 100 cubic
meters. The fog is heavier than air and puts out all mundane fire in
one second and all magic fire in three seconds. The fog dissipates
in one minute, after which magical fires return.
Zorn's Instant Armor
(250sp): Small grey cubes with
a red button on one side. When the button is pressed, it unfolds
into a simple shield which lasts for 1d100 minutes before crumbling
away.
Lalamaluna's Liquid
of Lasting Luminescence (25sp):
This yellow-gold liquid glows brightly for 20 years after its
manufacture; anything soaked in it will also glow, provided the
liquid, which is water-soluble, is not washed away.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Extended Random Character Generation
One of the oversimplified differences between playing Old School or New School style D&D as I've seen the issue laid out is that Old School character generation is quick and random because Old School gaming revels in the disposability of characters and the beautiful surprises of the dice while New School character generation is lengthy and almost completely controlled by the player because New School gaming revels in details and preparing the character to fit the game.
Like many in the OSR, I enjoy tables to roll on, like these, and I've incorporated many of these into my game. One wrinkle with so many tables to roll on, though, is that character generation is not as trivial and quick as it is in your favorite flavor of D&D, as written, with perhaps some modifications to make it go even more quickly.
I think that actually fits my gaming style, though. I don't run a game where PCs drop like flies in a DCC character funnel (though I've certainly enjoyed playing in such games), so it's OK if players invest a little more into their characters, even if that investment is simply rolling the dice ten more times. On the other hand, PCs absolutely do die in my games, so it's good that each PC isn't the product of a week's worth of free time.
What about you? Would you be interested in using these charts in your games, or do they take too much time and create too much background details for your taste, or even perhaps take too much control over the characters from the players?
These are generalizations of course, but actually pretty helpful ones, so long as we remember the limits of generalizations and don't fall into the trap of a false dichotomy. Most OSR referees, so far as I can tell, emphasize very quick, random character generation, with a few recent posts about using algorithms to determine class and random rolling to determine equipment, and I don't think anyone argues that creating a 3.5 character is a short, choice-less process.
The thing I'd like to point out with this post, though, is that random character generation doesn't have to be a quick affair. One could, instead, significantly lengthen character generation with the use of numerous random tables that can be found in gaming products from the 70's and early 80's.
For example, let's say I'm rolling up a Human Magic-User. Using tables from multiple books, I could determine...
[AD&D DMG (there may be more charts I haven't read yet)]
...that my character is 36 years old (Age Category: Mature) and will live to be 137 years old if allowed to die a natural death.
...that my character is "competent" at Sleep and Charm spells, but vulnerable to dragon's fire, is six feet tall, weighs 172 pounds, has roan-colored hair, hazel-colored eyes, a birthmark that looks like a bird, Caucasian skin pigmentation, is double-jointed, and is obese (-1 to Con and Dex).
...that my character has three siblings and grew up in a rural, inland setting, where he was apprenticed to a Hosler (fine horseman, +3 with all riding beasts) and to a Riverman (excellent swimmer, +1 to Strength, +1 to Constitution).
...and that my character carries four yarpick thorn javelins among his possessions (though he probably can't use them).
Like many in the OSR, I enjoy tables to roll on, like these, and I've incorporated many of these into my game. One wrinkle with so many tables to roll on, though, is that character generation is not as trivial and quick as it is in your favorite flavor of D&D, as written, with perhaps some modifications to make it go even more quickly.
I think that actually fits my gaming style, though. I don't run a game where PCs drop like flies in a DCC character funnel (though I've certainly enjoyed playing in such games), so it's OK if players invest a little more into their characters, even if that investment is simply rolling the dice ten more times. On the other hand, PCs absolutely do die in my games, so it's good that each PC isn't the product of a week's worth of free time.
What about you? Would you be interested in using these charts in your games, or do they take too much time and create too much background details for your taste, or even perhaps take too much control over the characters from the players?
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Brendan's 20 Rules Questions
Though I recently suspended the Skype campaign I've been running since 2010, I decided to answer Brendan's questions concerning how I ran my campaign and, hopefully, more or less how I'll run it again one day. In any case, it's likely to reflect the rules no matter where I'm running a table in the near future. Enjoy!
1. Ability scores generation method?
Player's choice between 3d6 down the line or making up whatever they want within ranges of 3-18. Thanks, Jeff, for that idea (and, incidentally, Brendan for bringing it to my attention).
2. How are death and dying handled?
If a major character hits 0 hp, they roll on The Table of Death, Dismemberment and Dangerous Damage. Each time they take a hit and are at 0 hp, they roll on the table again.
3. What about raising the dead?
Nope. The PCs probably couldn't afford it anyway at this stage in the game.
4. How are replacement PCs handled?
They show up, somehow, whenever the player rolls them up. Often they'll wait until the end of the session or the beginning of the next one. That's actually probably because my players usually play two characters at once so it doesn't get boring when one character dies.
5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else?
I have this really complicated initiative system that is based off of this. I'm considering replacing it with this.
6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?
Yep. Roll a natural 20, roll on the Arduin Critical Hits table. Roll a natural 1, roll on the Arduin Critical Fumbles table. Same goes for monsters. Combat is deadly (actually, deadlier than Arduin was intended, as the tables were designed to be used with percentile dice and confirmations of criticals).
7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?
They come in very handy when you roll on the Table of Death, Dismemberment and Dangerous Damage.
8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?
Can you ever! If you fire into melee and miss, you roll to hit on another, randomly selected target. I've had characters fire into melee, miss their target, hit an ally, critically hit them and kill them.
9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?
Run!
10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no?
Strictly speaking, no. When the party does encounter monsters that normally drain levels, they will just drain XP instead, per Raggi's idea.
11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?
Yes.
12. How strictly are encumbrances and resources tracked?
Not as strictly as I'd like them to be… I at least keep my players aware of them and they calculate them. It's just harder for me to figure out how far they can go in a dungeon during a certain length of time, to do that on the fly and actually run the dungeon. Tips on this would be appreciated.
13. What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?
PCs level up at the end of the session. No training is involved. If an MU is an apprentice, the master will send spells of the appropriate new level; otherwise the MU will have to procure them himself.
14. What do I get experience for?
Coin spent and sessions played.
15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?
100% description.
16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?
Retainers are encouraged but seldom used; another side-effect of allowing players to run two characters at once, I think. Morale is another item I try to include in my games but don't often succeed at. I wish Swords & Wizardry included morale rules so I didn't have to look them up in other rule-sets.
17. How do I identify magic items?
Trial and error, a spell your MU has or taking it to another wizard, probably in a city, who is willing to identify it for you for a price.
18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?
On a roll of 1 on a d6, Shrelft the Pilgrim Peddler shows up at the beginning of the session, selling magical items that you can't get anywhere else. They are usually minor, but are more than just potions and have definitely gotten PCs out of scrapes before.
19. Can I create magic items? When and how?
Yes. According to the LotFP:WFRP rules (and, when the campaign is re-started, according to the ACKS rules).
20. What about splitting the party?
I'd rather you didn't, but it's allowed. I'll bounce back and forth between the two sub-parties. Since this is on Skype, I don't worry too much about isolating players. My players are good players and usually play as if they didn't know what was happening with the other sub-party.
1. Ability scores generation method?
Player's choice between 3d6 down the line or making up whatever they want within ranges of 3-18. Thanks, Jeff, for that idea (and, incidentally, Brendan for bringing it to my attention).
2. How are death and dying handled?
If a major character hits 0 hp, they roll on The Table of Death, Dismemberment and Dangerous Damage. Each time they take a hit and are at 0 hp, they roll on the table again.
3. What about raising the dead?
Nope. The PCs probably couldn't afford it anyway at this stage in the game.
4. How are replacement PCs handled?
They show up, somehow, whenever the player rolls them up. Often they'll wait until the end of the session or the beginning of the next one. That's actually probably because my players usually play two characters at once so it doesn't get boring when one character dies.
5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else?
I have this really complicated initiative system that is based off of this. I'm considering replacing it with this.
6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?
Yep. Roll a natural 20, roll on the Arduin Critical Hits table. Roll a natural 1, roll on the Arduin Critical Fumbles table. Same goes for monsters. Combat is deadly (actually, deadlier than Arduin was intended, as the tables were designed to be used with percentile dice and confirmations of criticals).
7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?
They come in very handy when you roll on the Table of Death, Dismemberment and Dangerous Damage.
8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?
Can you ever! If you fire into melee and miss, you roll to hit on another, randomly selected target. I've had characters fire into melee, miss their target, hit an ally, critically hit them and kill them.
9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?
Run!
10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no?
Strictly speaking, no. When the party does encounter monsters that normally drain levels, they will just drain XP instead, per Raggi's idea.
11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?
Yes.
12. How strictly are encumbrances and resources tracked?
Not as strictly as I'd like them to be… I at least keep my players aware of them and they calculate them. It's just harder for me to figure out how far they can go in a dungeon during a certain length of time, to do that on the fly and actually run the dungeon. Tips on this would be appreciated.
13. What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?
PCs level up at the end of the session. No training is involved. If an MU is an apprentice, the master will send spells of the appropriate new level; otherwise the MU will have to procure them himself.
14. What do I get experience for?
Coin spent and sessions played.
15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?
100% description.
16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?
Retainers are encouraged but seldom used; another side-effect of allowing players to run two characters at once, I think. Morale is another item I try to include in my games but don't often succeed at. I wish Swords & Wizardry included morale rules so I didn't have to look them up in other rule-sets.
17. How do I identify magic items?
Trial and error, a spell your MU has or taking it to another wizard, probably in a city, who is willing to identify it for you for a price.
18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?
On a roll of 1 on a d6, Shrelft the Pilgrim Peddler shows up at the beginning of the session, selling magical items that you can't get anywhere else. They are usually minor, but are more than just potions and have definitely gotten PCs out of scrapes before.
19. Can I create magic items? When and how?
Yes. According to the LotFP:WFRP rules (and, when the campaign is re-started, according to the ACKS rules).
20. What about splitting the party?
I'd rather you didn't, but it's allowed. I'll bounce back and forth between the two sub-parties. Since this is on Skype, I don't worry too much about isolating players. My players are good players and usually play as if they didn't know what was happening with the other sub-party.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
… and Sometimes They Go Really Well!
Last night I enjoyed myself greatly running a session of my Skype campaign; it was the kind of game that makes this kind worth playing.
We started slowly, and two hours late (we ended up playing two hours later than planned as well). The party consisted of:
Gunt Vor, Dwarf Warrior (Level 3, I think)
Velmont Pirok, Dwarf Warrior (Level 1, I think)
Sorvana, Magic-User (Level 3)
Firgon, Warrior (Level 1)
Shavasta, Scoundrel (Level 3, I think)
The party went back to an area of the dungeon with irregularly cut, cyclopean stonework where they had discovered two ray guns on a previous expedition. They found their way into a large throne room with rows of statues down both sides and a yellow skeleton on the throne, pointing to the floor in front of it (thank you, Dungeon Alphabet).
Examining the floor, the players found a loose stone and were able to lift it out of the floor with a crowbar and some effort. The stone had been covering a lever, which the players promptly pulled. Blue lights came on near the tops of all the walls… and the 18 statues in the room animated and attacked the party!
This is a combat that I had been concerned about the party encountering when I first laid it out, but I had decided that, first of all, the players had to activate the encounter themselves and that I would stand by the Old School dogma of allowing "unbalanced" encounters that the party should run away from, as heavy-handed as it felt. I did decide that the batteries for these statues wer low so that they would attack every other round, but it turns out that I needn't have worried.
First off, both Gunt and Velmont took advantage of the "Unstoppable" house rule we use, which is fairly common in the OSR. It states that if a Warrior/Fighter kills an enemy in melee then that warrior gets an extra attack that round. Gunt and Velmont both dropped multiple statues in a few rounds.
Secondly, though, I hadn't taken into consideration the unpredictable effects of using Arduin's Class-based Special Ability charts during character generation. Velmont's player had rolled a 77 or 78, the result of which reads: "Roll d6 - Add this number as a bonus with any one weapon type." Velmont's player had proceeded to roll a 6 on his d6 roll and added it to any time he uses axes. This bonus (to both to-hit and damage rolls, I ruled), along with the Unstoppable class ability, meant that most of the statues fell to Velmont's axes.
One of the most fun things I've learned from another member of the OSR is to ask "please describe the [thing your character just killed]'s horrible death." (I learned this from Tavis Allison at SoCal Minicon.) Velmont's player actually started declining to answer the question with more than one word; I asked him if he was sure he didn't want to describe Velmont rocking out in combat, but, once again, I needn't have worried about him losing his spotlight. After it had been established that there were only a few statues left, Velmont started singing "We will Rock You" as he smashed the last of the statues to bits. As the last statue crumbled at his feet, Velmont assumed this stance and belted out "We Are the Champions."
Exploring this throne room, now that the statues were vanquished, they found that the large cyclopean stones that made up the walls all had court scenes depicted in reliefs. Looking at them carefully, they found six figures that stood out from the rest; three figures held coils of rope while the other three bent over and held lanterns to the rope.
There is a secret door here, and the way to open it is to bring a light source near the depictions of rope three times. It's a difficult secret door, and they weren't able to figure it out, but they ended up finding another way to the treasures behind this door, though they haven't taken it yet.
We started slowly, and two hours late (we ended up playing two hours later than planned as well). The party consisted of:
Gunt Vor, Dwarf Warrior (Level 3, I think)
Velmont Pirok, Dwarf Warrior (Level 1, I think)
Sorvana, Magic-User (Level 3)
Firgon, Warrior (Level 1)
Shavasta, Scoundrel (Level 3, I think)
The party went back to an area of the dungeon with irregularly cut, cyclopean stonework where they had discovered two ray guns on a previous expedition. They found their way into a large throne room with rows of statues down both sides and a yellow skeleton on the throne, pointing to the floor in front of it (thank you, Dungeon Alphabet).
Examining the floor, the players found a loose stone and were able to lift it out of the floor with a crowbar and some effort. The stone had been covering a lever, which the players promptly pulled. Blue lights came on near the tops of all the walls… and the 18 statues in the room animated and attacked the party!
This is a combat that I had been concerned about the party encountering when I first laid it out, but I had decided that, first of all, the players had to activate the encounter themselves and that I would stand by the Old School dogma of allowing "unbalanced" encounters that the party should run away from, as heavy-handed as it felt. I did decide that the batteries for these statues wer low so that they would attack every other round, but it turns out that I needn't have worried.
First off, both Gunt and Velmont took advantage of the "Unstoppable" house rule we use, which is fairly common in the OSR. It states that if a Warrior/Fighter kills an enemy in melee then that warrior gets an extra attack that round. Gunt and Velmont both dropped multiple statues in a few rounds.
Secondly, though, I hadn't taken into consideration the unpredictable effects of using Arduin's Class-based Special Ability charts during character generation. Velmont's player had rolled a 77 or 78, the result of which reads: "Roll d6 - Add this number as a bonus with any one weapon type." Velmont's player had proceeded to roll a 6 on his d6 roll and added it to any time he uses axes. This bonus (to both to-hit and damage rolls, I ruled), along with the Unstoppable class ability, meant that most of the statues fell to Velmont's axes.
One of the most fun things I've learned from another member of the OSR is to ask "please describe the [thing your character just killed]'s horrible death." (I learned this from Tavis Allison at SoCal Minicon.) Velmont's player actually started declining to answer the question with more than one word; I asked him if he was sure he didn't want to describe Velmont rocking out in combat, but, once again, I needn't have worried about him losing his spotlight. After it had been established that there were only a few statues left, Velmont started singing "We will Rock You" as he smashed the last of the statues to bits. As the last statue crumbled at his feet, Velmont assumed this stance and belted out "We Are the Champions."
 |
| Subtract a meter, add two axes and a beard and you've got what happened last night. |
There is a secret door here, and the way to open it is to bring a light source near the depictions of rope three times. It's a difficult secret door, and they weren't able to figure it out, but they ended up finding another way to the treasures behind this door, though they haven't taken it yet.
Pulling back the tapestry behind the throne, the party found a much less concealed secret door, made of some kind of silvery metal, without locks or hinges, but which they couldn't open. I allowed Gunt to use his laser-gun to cut out a section of the door; reaching through it, he found a wheel on the other side fo the door, which he turned. After turning it enough, the door opened and they found what looked to be a long-abandoned, dusty bedroom. Looking around and investigating the desk and rotting bed, they still failed to find the treasure hidden in a hole in the wall behind the desk.
The room they were in has three other doors, all with wheels to unseal them. Taking one, they found themselves in an abandoned alchemist's lab. The cyclopean stones in the walls, floor and ceiling were constantly changing shape and size and shifting among each other. They found a workbench covered in broken glassware (Sorvanna was disappointed, as I'd just discussed the usefulness of libraries and laboratories for Magic-Users with her at the beginning of the session) and a cabinet. Investigating the contents of the cabinet, they found three spheres of glass that seem to contain some kind of smoke (when a sphere is broken, it will release the "Outfire Fog," which puts out all fires it comes in contact with) and a bag with powdered roots necessary for the Carcosan ritual "Chaining the Formless Aspect." If the party encounters a sorcerer, the sorcerer will likely want the contents of the bag.
Moving on, the party discovered an old prison, with many of the inmates' skeletons left in their cells. The skeletons were mostly human, but some had longer, thinner, more fragile bones, bones they didn't recognize and skulls not built with jawbones (mind-flayer skeletons- yeah, the guys who ran this prison were that tough).
Connected to the prison was a chamber with a lever on the wall and a red square outlined in the middle of the room with a large pile of powdery dust in the middle. This was a summary execution chamber. Shevasta's player decided to have her experiment by having Sorvana command her Unseen Servant to pull the lever while Shevasta stood in the circle. Failing her save, Shevasta disintegrated into dust. The party, saddened by this turn of events, decided to leave the dungeon. As they headed towards the exit, however, they met a Spawn of Shub-Niggurath, an three-eyed, toothy worm-like thing that they were able to kill after a less one-sided battle than the fight with the statues had been.
This spawn had 6 HD which means that the party qualified for a roll on the Puppet-Master Machination Tables to see whether a dragon has noticed the party or not. They only had a 10% chance to be noticed, but they "made" their throw, being noticed by a dragon which I'll now have to generate. This dragon, I found out after rolling further on the tables, has decided to get rid of the party by sending some of its minions to rub them out. We'll see what happens; the minions will have 4 HD, so if the party kills them it will increase their chance to be noticed by other dragons as well!
Connected to the prison was a chamber with a lever on the wall and a red square outlined in the middle of the room with a large pile of powdery dust in the middle. This was a summary execution chamber. Shevasta's player decided to have her experiment by having Sorvana command her Unseen Servant to pull the lever while Shevasta stood in the circle. Failing her save, Shevasta disintegrated into dust. The party, saddened by this turn of events, decided to leave the dungeon. As they headed towards the exit, however, they met a Spawn of Shub-Niggurath, an three-eyed, toothy worm-like thing that they were able to kill after a less one-sided battle than the fight with the statues had been.
This spawn had 6 HD which means that the party qualified for a roll on the Puppet-Master Machination Tables to see whether a dragon has noticed the party or not. They only had a 10% chance to be noticed, but they "made" their throw, being noticed by a dragon which I'll now have to generate. This dragon, I found out after rolling further on the tables, has decided to get rid of the party by sending some of its minions to rub them out. We'll see what happens; the minions will have 4 HD, so if the party kills them it will increase their chance to be noticed by other dragons as well!
All in all a great session. The loss of Shevasta was severely tempered by the fact that, well, no one, including her player, really liked her (for good reason). Her replacement character, to my glee, will be the first character in my campaign to be a member of the Order of the Green Hand, as I mentioned in my last post. Along with figuring out what will be ambushing the party next session, I need to figure out which spells the Order has. It's going to be interesting to see Magic Users of very different backgrounds interact; Flynn's new character will have access to many, many spells, as a perk of being a member of the Order, while Sorvana, the other Magic User, as the apprentice to an independent master, has access to comparitively few spells; this is complicated by the fact that members of the Order are not allowed to share their magical knowledge without express permission, and such permission is rarely granted.
All in all a very fun session, especially because I'm beginning to see how the party's actions are going to influence how the world treats them from here on out.
All in all a very fun session, especially because I'm beginning to see how the party's actions are going to influence how the world treats them from here on out.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Two Questions
So, I've got two questions for my readers. The first is a question of style, and the second one is an obscure question about Arduin and prismatic walls.
1. If my players continue along their present course of action, that is, exploring in the same direction on this level of the megadungeon they are exploring, they will find a few Carcosan ray-guns. The PCs will have never have seen anything like them before in their lives. How would you describe a rifle to someone who's never seen one before? I don't want what these are to be immediately obvious to the players; also, how would you adjudicate figuring out how to work the rifles? Roll at-or-under Intelligence?
2. So, in both the lists of prismatic walls in Arduin I and Arduin V there's the Green and Yellow (or Greenish Yellow) wall which works against everything related to dragons. Dragons can't physically pass it, their breath weapons are blocked and even their magic cannot pass the wall. The only way that a dragon can destroy this wall is to cast a "Trigger" spell at it, and that's the rub. Both the entries for this wall in Arduin I and Arduin V reference the Trigger spell, but don't explain it. Arduin I references it in a footnote as "the aforementioned trigger spell," but I can't find where it's previously mentioned; considering that this is the Arduin Grimoire, it's conceivable that this is just talking about the entry of "Trigger spells" (is the plural a typo? it's the only time I think I've seen it plural) in the chart that it references, or that Hargrave forgot to flesh this out, but I'm hoping not, and it's also Hargrave's style to totally explain himself, just in a place you wouldn't expect, like he does with "competence." I've tried looking around and reading anything that seems like it might be relevant, but I haven't seen anything about trigger spells. Does anyone know anything about this?
Thanks in advance!
1. If my players continue along their present course of action, that is, exploring in the same direction on this level of the megadungeon they are exploring, they will find a few Carcosan ray-guns. The PCs will have never have seen anything like them before in their lives. How would you describe a rifle to someone who's never seen one before? I don't want what these are to be immediately obvious to the players; also, how would you adjudicate figuring out how to work the rifles? Roll at-or-under Intelligence?
2. So, in both the lists of prismatic walls in Arduin I and Arduin V there's the Green and Yellow (or Greenish Yellow) wall which works against everything related to dragons. Dragons can't physically pass it, their breath weapons are blocked and even their magic cannot pass the wall. The only way that a dragon can destroy this wall is to cast a "Trigger" spell at it, and that's the rub. Both the entries for this wall in Arduin I and Arduin V reference the Trigger spell, but don't explain it. Arduin I references it in a footnote as "the aforementioned trigger spell," but I can't find where it's previously mentioned; considering that this is the Arduin Grimoire, it's conceivable that this is just talking about the entry of "Trigger spells" (is the plural a typo? it's the only time I think I've seen it plural) in the chart that it references, or that Hargrave forgot to flesh this out, but I'm hoping not, and it's also Hargrave's style to totally explain himself, just in a place you wouldn't expect, like he does with "competence." I've tried looking around and reading anything that seems like it might be relevant, but I haven't seen anything about trigger spells. Does anyone know anything about this?
Thanks in advance!
Monday, December 19, 2011
20 Questions, Part 7: Strong Magic
The fourth question on Jeff's list is "Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?" The actual personality of the mightiest wizard is a matter for you to decide for your own setting (and keep in mind that an ambitious player of a Magic User will probably have the title of "mightiest wizard in the land" in his sights, so keep both the current title-holder's attitude about that and how your PC Magic User can achieve the title in mind), but there remains the question of what makes this wizard the mightiest in the land. Here are some ways that a wizard can be the most powerful wizard in your campaign.
Answer 1: This wizard is just the highest-level wizard around. She had the most raw talent and the best work ethic and is also pretty old; she'll be legendary not only for her power but also for the adventures she's been on and the feats and services for kingdoms she's accomplished. In a lot of ways, she'll be like Yoda. (To replace her, you'll need lots of hard work over lots of time.
Answer 2: This wizard possesses spells that no other wizard has, or at least more spells than any other wizard. This can be because your setting has different spells available to different wizards, based on who they apprentice with or where they study, or it can be because this wizard has researched and invented a bunch of new spells. (To replace this wizard, find a way, fair or not, to obtain or copy his spell book, or to amass even more spells than he has.
Answer 3: This wizard knows a powerful, non-standard type of magic that gives him access to a privileged spell list. In the Delos setting, Dragons have their own type of Dragon Magic with their own powerful spells. Dragons are loathe to teach them to non-Dragons and will do so only for the very best of reasons; some spells they will completely refuse to teach to non-Dragons. Somehow, through extraordinary service or guile, this wizard has obtained at least some Dragon spells and learned to cast Dragon magic; or perhaps this wizard is a Dragon! Another way to do this is to make other arcane classes, like illusionists or Arduin's Runeweavers, into prestige classes that this mightiest of wizards has taken, making their spell-lists available to him. (To replace this wizard, learn the secrets to this non-standard magic, either through apprenticeship, replicating this wizard's adventures or trickery.
Answer 4: This wizard knows many rituals that few wizards have even heard of and even fewer are willing to practice. The quickest way to do this is to let Magic Users perform Carcosa rituals on top of regular spells. (This kind of wizard won't be disposed to sharing or teaching, so stealing the spell book or killing the wizard are probably your best bets for replacing this wizard.
Answer 5: This wizard specializes in a weird sub-section of magic that is very powerful and esoteric. A good example would be the many prismatic walls in Arduin that take a long time to learn, take a good amount of time to erect and are very hard to dispel. (To replace this wizard, study under him, or go get your own weird sub-section of magic to specialize in; stealing his book will probably not result in much, as it won't make sense at all to a standard wizard.
Obviously, all of these can be combined with each other to make the "mightiest wizard in all the land" even more powerful.
Answer 1: This wizard is just the highest-level wizard around. She had the most raw talent and the best work ethic and is also pretty old; she'll be legendary not only for her power but also for the adventures she's been on and the feats and services for kingdoms she's accomplished. In a lot of ways, she'll be like Yoda. (To replace her, you'll need lots of hard work over lots of time.
Answer 2: This wizard possesses spells that no other wizard has, or at least more spells than any other wizard. This can be because your setting has different spells available to different wizards, based on who they apprentice with or where they study, or it can be because this wizard has researched and invented a bunch of new spells. (To replace this wizard, find a way, fair or not, to obtain or copy his spell book, or to amass even more spells than he has.
Answer 3: This wizard knows a powerful, non-standard type of magic that gives him access to a privileged spell list. In the Delos setting, Dragons have their own type of Dragon Magic with their own powerful spells. Dragons are loathe to teach them to non-Dragons and will do so only for the very best of reasons; some spells they will completely refuse to teach to non-Dragons. Somehow, through extraordinary service or guile, this wizard has obtained at least some Dragon spells and learned to cast Dragon magic; or perhaps this wizard is a Dragon! Another way to do this is to make other arcane classes, like illusionists or Arduin's Runeweavers, into prestige classes that this mightiest of wizards has taken, making their spell-lists available to him. (To replace this wizard, learn the secrets to this non-standard magic, either through apprenticeship, replicating this wizard's adventures or trickery.
Answer 4: This wizard knows many rituals that few wizards have even heard of and even fewer are willing to practice. The quickest way to do this is to let Magic Users perform Carcosa rituals on top of regular spells. (This kind of wizard won't be disposed to sharing or teaching, so stealing the spell book or killing the wizard are probably your best bets for replacing this wizard.
Answer 5: This wizard specializes in a weird sub-section of magic that is very powerful and esoteric. A good example would be the many prismatic walls in Arduin that take a long time to learn, take a good amount of time to erect and are very hard to dispel. (To replace this wizard, study under him, or go get your own weird sub-section of magic to specialize in; stealing his book will probably not result in much, as it won't make sense at all to a standard wizard.
Obviously, all of these can be combined with each other to make the "mightiest wizard in all the land" even more powerful.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Arduin Magic Domains
Typing up the Arduin Special Ability Charts and tweaking them for my own campaign (converting skills to my own skill system, replacing undead with fungus and so forth), I realized that the Magic User chart has a system of magic schools or categories, like many people have house-ruled and like D&D 3.x made a part of the magic system under the moniker "domains." Here it is. I may do something with this someday, but not now.
Movement
Fire and Light
Animation and Disanimation
Time and Gate
Undead
Sleep and Charm
Cold and Poison
Fear and Confusion
Elemental
Polymorph
Liquid
Teleport, Phase and Dimension Door
Is this a reasonable division of schools or domains of magic? Are there any spells you can think of that don't fit into one of these categories?
Movement
Fire and Light
Animation and Disanimation
Time and Gate
Undead
Sleep and Charm
Cold and Poison
Fear and Confusion
Elemental
Polymorph
Liquid
Teleport, Phase and Dimension Door
Is this a reasonable division of schools or domains of magic? Are there any spells you can think of that don't fit into one of these categories?
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Sometimes Things Go Badly…
So, when you run a typical open-ended, sandbox, Old School game, you leave things up to chance and make sure that there's a real possibility of failure. The idea is that if failure isn't a possibility then success isn't real.
Sometimes it works out really well.
Other times, though, necessarily, it doesn't. Like tonight.
I think it really started during a character generation towards the beginning of the session. I've been having my players roll on Arduin's special ability charts, which are tables of 100 quirky adjustments to characters, one table for each general type of class. (Arduin, unlike my campaign, has a LOT of classes.) Anyway, this player rolled a result that gave his character +3 to saves against magic spells, but -4 to Charisma because the character is now arrogant.
And then this character (Shevasta) fires into melee a few times. And actually does more damage to the other PCs than the monsters do, critical hitting one character (Tamaren) and cutting open his throat with a crossbow bolt. Despite Shevasta and Tormick's best efforts, they were unable to save Tamaren, who died.
I attribute this to a few things. One is that I messed up the order of combat towards the beginning of the session, so that may have confused things some. Another is that this player hasn't been able to make it to our virtual table in probably more than a month, so, though he's been able to run and play in 3.5 games, he's probably out of practice so far as Old School games go. He was definitely kicking himself over what he made his character do. So far as the player goes, he's really sorry he did what he did.
His character, though- Shevasta- isn't. Remember that she'd been given extreme arrogance by the chart? Well, her player had her do some soul searching, hoping that reflecting on her reckless behavior and the death of a party member that she caused would temper her arrogance. Taking a cue from Pendragon, I ruled that if he rolled at or under her Wisdom score, then she could have 1 point of Charisma back, reflecting a change in her character.
Even this roll was failed, much to Shevasta's player's dismay. Shevasta's player did have her forfeit her share of the loot for the night, though.
I'm blessed to have mature players who are good friends with each other. We knew each other for a few years before we ever started gaming together. While Tormick (who also was a victim of Shevasta throwing a dagger into combat) is on the verge of killing Shevasta if she does anything reckless again, my players are still on good terms with each other. Tonight was an example of when a player honestly plays a character's personality rather than what he wants to do. I think that's actually a key to determining the acceptability of the excuse "that's what my character would do": if the player isn't happy with the character's actions, it's definitely legitimate roleplaying, rather than just trying to cause trouble. None of them were exactly thrilled with the results tonight, though.
Tonight, in many ways (except for getting a few dozen silver pieces) was the kind of failure that is possible in open-ended Old School games– the cost of this kind of giddy, spectacular success. That's OK, though, since failure is the risk we all knowingly took when we went into this session. Tonight's session will sweeten my players' later successes just that much more.
Sometimes it works out really well.
Other times, though, necessarily, it doesn't. Like tonight.
I think it really started during a character generation towards the beginning of the session. I've been having my players roll on Arduin's special ability charts, which are tables of 100 quirky adjustments to characters, one table for each general type of class. (Arduin, unlike my campaign, has a LOT of classes.) Anyway, this player rolled a result that gave his character +3 to saves against magic spells, but -4 to Charisma because the character is now arrogant.
And then this character (Shevasta) fires into melee a few times. And actually does more damage to the other PCs than the monsters do, critical hitting one character (Tamaren) and cutting open his throat with a crossbow bolt. Despite Shevasta and Tormick's best efforts, they were unable to save Tamaren, who died.
I attribute this to a few things. One is that I messed up the order of combat towards the beginning of the session, so that may have confused things some. Another is that this player hasn't been able to make it to our virtual table in probably more than a month, so, though he's been able to run and play in 3.5 games, he's probably out of practice so far as Old School games go. He was definitely kicking himself over what he made his character do. So far as the player goes, he's really sorry he did what he did.
His character, though- Shevasta- isn't. Remember that she'd been given extreme arrogance by the chart? Well, her player had her do some soul searching, hoping that reflecting on her reckless behavior and the death of a party member that she caused would temper her arrogance. Taking a cue from Pendragon, I ruled that if he rolled at or under her Wisdom score, then she could have 1 point of Charisma back, reflecting a change in her character.
Even this roll was failed, much to Shevasta's player's dismay. Shevasta's player did have her forfeit her share of the loot for the night, though.
I'm blessed to have mature players who are good friends with each other. We knew each other for a few years before we ever started gaming together. While Tormick (who also was a victim of Shevasta throwing a dagger into combat) is on the verge of killing Shevasta if she does anything reckless again, my players are still on good terms with each other. Tonight was an example of when a player honestly plays a character's personality rather than what he wants to do. I think that's actually a key to determining the acceptability of the excuse "that's what my character would do": if the player isn't happy with the character's actions, it's definitely legitimate roleplaying, rather than just trying to cause trouble. None of them were exactly thrilled with the results tonight, though.
Tonight, in many ways (except for getting a few dozen silver pieces) was the kind of failure that is possible in open-ended Old School games– the cost of this kind of giddy, spectacular success. That's OK, though, since failure is the risk we all knowingly took when we went into this session. Tonight's session will sweeten my players' later successes just that much more.
Friday, September 2, 2011
The Megadungeon is a Go!
So, my two most regular players lost their character sheets in the move to their new house and still haven't been able to find them. Last time we tried Risus out, but this time we rolled up some new characters for them.
Quite quickly, one of them started complaining about his attributes. I use 3d6 down the line. In the past, I've allowed re-rolls of attributes when the sum of the modifiers is less than 0. This time, though, I remembered this.
I had him make up his own attribute scores. Then his wife wanted to do that as well.
Here's the attribute scores he decided on: 18 13 13 9 3 4
And here's her's: 10 13 10 16 8 13
Wow, that didn't break the game, even when you let a player with very gamist tendencies do it!
The way he put it, "It's no fun to play a character that's good at everything."
No arguments here. Thank you, Jeff Rients.
We actually spent about three hours doing character generation, mostly because we took our time. I also had them roll on charts for their background from Monsterous Civilizations of Delos and the special abilities chart from Arduin. Those worked as well as I hoped they would and added some nice flavor. Once I've tweaked and worked and changed them to the point where I feel sharing them wouldn't be a copyright violation, I'll do so; in the meantime, both books are for sale…
Then, since we only had an hour left, I decided to run them through the start of my megadungeon. I only have 18 rooms done(or mostly done) right now, but I figured they wouldn't get too far. I was right; they only went into three rooms and only had one combat, with a Saucer Fungi. They interacted a lot with the dungeon dressing. If I had been using my wondering monster tables, they would have had quite a few rolls on those, but it was interesting to see them take every random piece of debris I had lying in a corner of a room (or the middle of the room) seriously.
This is also motivation for me to get cracking on expanding my megadungeon! There needs to be more ready for them by next week! So hopefully you'll see some more megadungeon posts around these parts soon.
Also, I have some kobolds that guard the main entrance to the dungeon and charge a toll. It was fun to see one player irked at having to hand over a silver to the kobolds. He expressed a desire to fight them, though he knew he was too weak and outnumbered right now. This should be interesting, as the kobolds are one of the most powerful factions in the megadungeon as I plan it, so getting on their bad side can make life very, very interesting.
Quite quickly, one of them started complaining about his attributes. I use 3d6 down the line. In the past, I've allowed re-rolls of attributes when the sum of the modifiers is less than 0. This time, though, I remembered this.
I had him make up his own attribute scores. Then his wife wanted to do that as well.
Here's the attribute scores he decided on: 18 13 13 9 3 4
And here's her's: 10 13 10 16 8 13
Wow, that didn't break the game, even when you let a player with very gamist tendencies do it!
The way he put it, "It's no fun to play a character that's good at everything."
No arguments here. Thank you, Jeff Rients.
We actually spent about three hours doing character generation, mostly because we took our time. I also had them roll on charts for their background from Monsterous Civilizations of Delos and the special abilities chart from Arduin. Those worked as well as I hoped they would and added some nice flavor. Once I've tweaked and worked and changed them to the point where I feel sharing them wouldn't be a copyright violation, I'll do so; in the meantime, both books are for sale…
Then, since we only had an hour left, I decided to run them through the start of my megadungeon. I only have 18 rooms done(or mostly done) right now, but I figured they wouldn't get too far. I was right; they only went into three rooms and only had one combat, with a Saucer Fungi. They interacted a lot with the dungeon dressing. If I had been using my wondering monster tables, they would have had quite a few rolls on those, but it was interesting to see them take every random piece of debris I had lying in a corner of a room (or the middle of the room) seriously.
This is also motivation for me to get cracking on expanding my megadungeon! There needs to be more ready for them by next week! So hopefully you'll see some more megadungeon posts around these parts soon.
Also, I have some kobolds that guard the main entrance to the dungeon and charge a toll. It was fun to see one player irked at having to hand over a silver to the kobolds. He expressed a desire to fight them, though he knew he was too weak and outnumbered right now. This should be interesting, as the kobolds are one of the most powerful factions in the megadungeon as I plan it, so getting on their bad side can make life very, very interesting.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Selling Your Players on Abstract Hit Points
If hit points are abstract, increasing hit points with level advancement represents increased work that needs to be done by enemies/traps/nature to inflict the same amount of damage on a PC, not increased damage that a PC can take. If that's true, why does it take more healing to heal the same proportional loss of hit points to a higher level PC that has more hit points?
Dave Hargrave points this out in his third Arduin Grimoire, asking "why is it that a tenth level character requires several Heal Lesser Wounds rituals to fix up the same proportional damage that a first level character needs only one lesser heal to fix? The disparity gets greater the higher in experience that a character gets."
He then goes on to suggest a four-tiered set of Clerical healing spells to replace the default model:
Heal Lesser Wounds heals up to 25% of the character-being-healed's hit points. Heal Wounds of the More Serious Sort (seriously, that's what he calls it- not "Heal Moderate Wounds" or anything short like that- that's the Arduin Grimoire for ya) heals up to 50% of a character's hit points. Heal Grievous Wounds heals up to 75% of a character's hit points. Heal Critical Wounds heals up to 100% of a character's hit points.
As a ref who's running an Old School game but has some players who are inclined to New School (3.5) gaming and are playing not because it is an Old School game but because it's gaming with friends, I'm always on the lookout for more ways to sell Old School gaming. I'll probably be introducing these mechanics into my game the next time we game as a way to cement hit points as an abstract concept. I don't currently allow clerics, but the box of super-powerful healing pills the PCs have will either be Heal Grievous Wounds or Heal Critical Wounds. We'll see what they think.
Dave Hargrave points this out in his third Arduin Grimoire, asking "why is it that a tenth level character requires several Heal Lesser Wounds rituals to fix up the same proportional damage that a first level character needs only one lesser heal to fix? The disparity gets greater the higher in experience that a character gets."
He then goes on to suggest a four-tiered set of Clerical healing spells to replace the default model:
Heal Lesser Wounds heals up to 25% of the character-being-healed's hit points. Heal Wounds of the More Serious Sort (seriously, that's what he calls it- not "Heal Moderate Wounds" or anything short like that- that's the Arduin Grimoire for ya) heals up to 50% of a character's hit points. Heal Grievous Wounds heals up to 75% of a character's hit points. Heal Critical Wounds heals up to 100% of a character's hit points.
As a ref who's running an Old School game but has some players who are inclined to New School (3.5) gaming and are playing not because it is an Old School game but because it's gaming with friends, I'm always on the lookout for more ways to sell Old School gaming. I'll probably be introducing these mechanics into my game the next time we game as a way to cement hit points as an abstract concept. I don't currently allow clerics, but the box of super-powerful healing pills the PCs have will either be Heal Grievous Wounds or Heal Critical Wounds. We'll see what they think.
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