tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73726465039283784902024-03-13T10:50:15.704+00:00Silver Blade AdventuresAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-59652149822391365122013-06-05T12:00:00.000+01:002013-06-05T14:57:20.143+01:00[Article] Dwarves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ30Jh91ZbM/Ua8Q8b3k7jI/AAAAAAAACkY/bcSRs-tpmwI/s1600/Dwarves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ30Jh91ZbM/Ua8Q8b3k7jI/AAAAAAAACkY/bcSRs-tpmwI/s320/Dwarves.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
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A notably prominent demi-human race in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, dwarves no doubt owe their popularity to the success and mythology of Middle Earth. Whilst well known from legend, medieval literature and folk tales, not to mention modern works of fantasy, it is dwarves as they are depicted in the <i>Hobbit</i> and the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> that dominates the collective imagination. Indeed, the purpose of their first introduction in the <i>Fantasy Supplement</i> was to allow the medieval miniatures war gamer to "refight the epic struggles related by J.R.R. Tolkien" using <i>Chain Mail</i>. Given this context, it is interesting to note that dwarves are classed as "heavy foot" in attack and "light foot" in defence, since this compares unfavourably to elves, orcs and men (assuming Viking or Norman type infantry). Even the advantage they enjoy in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> against trolls, ogres, and giants is of little matter in <i>Chain Mail</i>, as though they take half the ordinary number of hits from such monsters, they only inflict half themselves in return. Combined with a relatively slow movement speed and commensurately high point cost, dwarves make for a poor choice of troop type, unless fighting underground or otherwise in darkness.</div>
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By contrast, dwarves were presented as equal or superior to orcs in the original edition of the <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> adventure game. Additionally, they were shifted from being exclusively lawfully aligned to also potentially neutral, like elves. When the five point alignment structure was introduced in <i>Strategic Review</i> #6, though, dwarves became mainly lawful with good tendencies. Holmes interpreted this as meaning that a quarter of dwarves would be aligned with lawful good and the remainder neutral. For their part, B/X and BECMI retained the earlier ambivalence, whereas the <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual</i> took a more straightforward approach, classifying dwarves as lawful good, possibly so as to contrast them with the chaotic good elves. Perhaps this is also why a subrace of "mountain dwarves" with 1+1 hit dice appears as a note in the same work, further reinforcing the mirror like juxtaposition of the two best known demi-human races. Somewhat related may be the reference in the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> (p. 104) to the apparently chaotic nature of orcs, which could suggest that at an early juncture their alignment was opposed to that of the lawful evil goblins or hobgoblins, creating a tetrarchy of juxtaposed races.</div>
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With regard to class choices and level advancement, dwarves, like gnomes and halflings, fall short of elves, to embrace the pun. Lack of magical ability serves to differentiate them, but also creates a problem for their independent manufacture of magical arms and armour. The <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> indicates that very old dwarves who have reached maximum level advancement have the necessary magic and spells to create such items, providing that they are also possessed of great intelligence and wisdom. No more detailed explanation is provided for how this might be possible, but it is worth noting that there is technically no prohibition on dwarf sages having magical ability. One solution is to simply remove the class and level restrictions for demi-humans altogether, but there is something rather incongruous about dwarf magicians and halfling paladins. Indeed, it is entirely purposeful that, for example, halflings make for neither powerful wizards nor great warriors, and surpass none as thieves or as clerics. Perhaps the ability of high-level thieves to use spell scrolls is the most viable solution to the puzzle, since all demi-humans enjoy unlimited advancement in that class and so potentially equal access to such magic.</div>
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Notably, the physical appearance of dwarves is consistent across all editions from the <i>Greyhawk</i> supplement onward, which is to say their colouration is grey to brown, they stand around four feet tall, and they weigh about one-hundred and fifty pounds. There is a shift between the original and advanced game, in that they go from having skin that is a ruddy tan, brown or grey to having tan or light brown skin and hair that is brown, grey or black. Additionally, mountain dwarves are indicated in the <i>Monster Manual</i> to be fairer and taller, at around four and a half feet, and the <i>Complete Book of Dwarves</i> introduces sundered dwarves, who are fairer and taller again, reaching up to five feet in height. It can be troublesome to adjudicate the restrictions size imposes on characters; first edition prohibits characters under five feet from using the long bow and B/X extends this to the two-handed sword, but it is second edition that imposes the most stringent limitations, preventing small-sized characters from using large-sized weapons, requiring medium-sized weapons to be wielded with two hands, and lowering their base movement to 6", rather than the 9" Gygax suggested. Little wonder, then, that <i>Sage Advice</i> advocated treating dwarves as being medium-sized!</div>
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Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, there were no dwarf player characters in the original <i>Silver Blade</i> campaign, and they have only been an occasional choice subsequently. Quite why is unclear, but it may be an example of gnomes serving as a conceptual substitute, since in no case were there gnome and dwarf player characters in the same campaign. Of course, the players themselves typically already had experience of other fantasy adventure games, such as <i>War Hammer</i>, if not <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> itself, and so it may simply be that the novelty of demi-humans had worn off for them. So far, the two most successful dwarf player characters have both been cleric types, one managing to establish a string of religious strongholds along a stretch of the dust march. Naturally, since the dwarf cleric and fighter/cleric were originally only non-player character options, these were player characters generated using post <i>Unearthed Arcana</i> rules. In the <i>World of Silver Blade</i>, dwarves are primarily found in the northlands where they have a major realm beneath the mountain ranges that divide the Great Kingdom of Calthornia from the demon haunted desert of ash. Nevertheless, there exist relatively isolated, but much valued, communities of dwarves elsewhere.</div>
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Often additional content for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> is generated by subdividing <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=6350921&da=y">existing material</a>, resulting in greater specificity and detail. For instance, and as a case in point, the <i>Complete Book of Dwarves</i> identifies hill, mountain, deep, gully, sundered, and grey as subraces. In the <i>World of Silver Blade</i>, however, these are all consolidated into "dwarf" for game rule purposes. Several changes to the default have been made, mainly with a view towards greater generalisation and simplicity. Perhaps the most contentious of these is increasing the average height of dwarves to around five feet so as to ensure they can be credibly classified as medium-sized. Additionally, their saving throw adjustment against magic and poison has been detached from constitution, their combat benefits against the "giant class" subsumed in a general fighting ability bonus, and their detection abilities revised. Moreover, the non-magical nature of dwarves has been deemphasised in view of the fact that gnomes and halflings enjoy the same resistances. These modifications recommended themselves during campaign play and may not be suitable for others outside that context, but they are made available here as a matter of potential interest: <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=6350922&da=y">Silver Blade Dwarves</a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-13839101471911270612012-09-29T18:00:00.000+01:002013-06-05T13:32:10.401+01:00[Article] Gnomes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjXfydeK0RA/UGcUCvyt4EI/AAAAAAAABwY/GBz8wTKIJPI/s1600/Gnome+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjXfydeK0RA/UGcUCvyt4EI/AAAAAAAABwY/GBz8wTKIJPI/s1600/Gnome+3.JPG" /></a></div>
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Unlike the other demi-human races in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, gnomes have no analogue in the mythology of Middle Earth. Judging from the list of literary influences in the first edition of the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i>, it seems likely that the inspiration for their inclusion was the work of Poul Anderson. In particular, gnomes appear in <i>The Broken Sword</i> as well as <i>Three Hearts and Three Lions</i>. Whilst in the former their depiction is brief, but separate from that of the mountain dwelling dwarves, in the latter gnomes are synonymous with dwarves, and are indeed only referred to as such. This goes a long way towards explaining why they are classified as the same troop type in the <i>Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement</i>, but are nevertheless somewhat differentiated in the original edition of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>. Moreover, it sheds light on the decision to later present them as a separate playable race in the <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook</i>. Simply put, gnomes had originally been conceived as a type of dwarf within the game framework and so already were a playable demi-human race from the start. It can reasonably be surmised that this was changed because dwarves were perceived to be eclipsing gnomes as a potential archetype.</div>
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Of course, this strikes at the heart of the matter, in that the gnome is a relatively weak archetype that has not subsequently been able to establish itself firmly at the centre of the corpus. Perhaps the most significant and unavoidable difficulty is that it is vying for much of the same conceptual space that the dwarf already fully occupies. The first attempt to differentiate them from one another seems to have come with <i>Strategic Review</i> #6, where gnomes are listed as chaotic good and dwarves as lawful good. Whilst this was retained for the Holmes version of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, it did not carry over into subsequent editions, perhaps because they reverted to the three point alignment system. Neither, however, was this distinction retained for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, even though it used a nine point alignment system. Instead gnomes were classified as neutral to lawful good, which in second edition became just neutral good. Most likely these neutral to lawful alignment designations refer to the opposition of law and chaos in <i>Three Hearts and Three Lions</i>, as that is roughly where gnomes and dwarves stand in that work. Still, it is not very useful in drawing a distinction between the two for swords & sorcery adventure games.</div>
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In the post Holmes <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> monster entries for gnomes and dwarves there is little difference between the two races; one point of armour class, one point of average damage, thirty feet of infra-vision, an especial hatred of kobolds for the former and of goblins for the latter. For the most part this echoes their depiction in the <i>Monster Manual</i>, though gnomes and dwarves there have the same degree of infra-vision and overlapping racial animosity toward goblins. The advanced system also gives both races a resistance to magic and poison, as well as the ability to detect various facts about dungeon environments, such as depth underground and the gradient of sloping passages. Whilst the <i>Monster Manual</i> indicates that gnomes are around three feet tall, thus a foot shorter than dwarves, the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> suggests three and a half feet is average, closing the gap by half a foot. Probably it is no coincidence that the average height of gnomes in the former work is the same as that of Hogi the dwarf in <i>Three Hearts and Three Lions</i>. Either way, the height disparity appears to affect what creatures they get their defensive bonuses against, gnolls and bugbears being added to ogres, trolls and giants for gnomes.</div>
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As well as being physically smaller, the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> indicates that gnomes also have a lower average strength than dwarves, being 10 and 14 respectively; the racial minimums for attributes outlined in the <i>Player’s Handbook</i> further suggests that there is a similar or greater differential in constitution, though they have a higher minimum intelligence. Whilst in the original game all demi-humans have a 2-in-6 chance of successfully listening at a door, which is twice that of humans, in the advanced system gnomes have the best chance and dwarves no advantage at all. The <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> also notes that gnomes have less ability than dwarves as armourers or jewellers, but greater skill in the cutting of gems, though this is of little direct consequence to player characters. Perhaps the most significant difference is hinted at in the Monster Manual, where it is suggested that some gnomes are rumoured to possess magical ability, which is fully articulated in the <i>Player’s Handbook</i> with the introduction of gnome illusionists. Notably this directly contradicts what Hogi says of his folk in <i>Three Hearts and Three Lions</i>, reinforcing again the eclectic way that <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> used its sources.</div>
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Whilst gnomes were a relatively popular choice of player character race in the earliest <i>World of Silver Blade</i> campaigns, as with halflings, interest in them later waned sharply. Only three examples come readily to mind, and the latter two a purposeful comedic pairing of twin brothers named "Bill" and "Ben" (yes, as in the eponymous "flowerpot men"). None of these prospered long enough to have a significant impact on the campaign world or contribute to the milieu as retired non-player characters. For the most part, gnomes have been employed as comic relief by players and game master alike, from a ship full of muscle-bound Nordic pirates to a squeaky-voiced eccentric inventor. Initially there was no specific place for gnomes in the <i>Silver Blade</i> campaign setting, but during its resurrection and the redevelopment process it was quickly established that a number of gnome princedoms bordered on the dwarf kingdom. These were conceived of as being somewhat reminiscent of the medieval Welsh principalities, if on a larger scale. As a sort of adjunct of the mountain dwelling dwarves it seems like the gnomes have more gravitas; proud, fierce and clannish they make the wilderness of the borderland their home.</div>
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Since gnomes never appeared as a separate player character option from dwarves outside of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, there are <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=4707679&da=y">few contradictions</a> to reconcile. The main difficulty lies in differentiating them from one another without defining them in terms of what they are not. Rather than seek to do so by minor variations, such as the range of infra-vision, it may be considered better to embrace the shared abilities of demi-humans as a common faerie heritage. Nevertheless, one ability evident in <i>Three Hearts and Three Lions</i>, but absent from gnomes in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, is that of Hogi to track magical enemies by their scent. Giving them the tracking capability of the ranger subclass seems like a natural fit and does serve to help to set them apart from the other demi-humans. It is also quite interesting to note that as originally presented in <i>Chain Mail</i> the defensive advantage that gnomes and dwarves enjoyed versus ogres, trolls and giants was just as much of an disadvantage offensively, which happily argues for dropping them from consideration altogether. As with halflings, the following must be somewhat speculative on account of there not being much call for their use in play: <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=4707823&da=y">Silver Blade Gnomes</a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-17461634409980641642012-09-12T12:00:00.001+01:002013-06-05T13:32:31.500+01:00[Article] Halflings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ejk6azOl0oQ/UE8I5ZfVdCI/AAAAAAAABuM/t2LO_ouPsJg/s1600/D59H.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ejk6azOl0oQ/UE8I5ZfVdCI/AAAAAAAABuM/t2LO_ouPsJg/s400/D59H.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Of all the demi-human races in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, halflings are surely the most undeniably linked to the mythology of Middle Earth. The earliest printings of the <i>Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement</i> reference them as hobbits, along with nazgul, balrogs, rangers, and various tribes of orcs, terms which were apparently mostly removed after some legal disagreement with the Tolkien estate. Nonetheless, halflings remained completely recognisable as their former selves; indeed the term itself is drawn from the <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, being a word used by men to describe the "little folk". As presented in the <i>Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement</i>, halflings are indicated to have "small" (pun intended, no doubt) place in a war game, and are only included for the recreation of "certain battles". In fact, though, they are rather effective troops in that they have the ability to turn invisible in brush or woods, have a movement of 12", and every two shooting count as three on the missile table. Unfortunately, no point value is provided, so players must come to their own agreement as to how and when halflings can be deployed. Most likely Gygax had in mind scenarios recreating the "scouring of the shire" or perhaps the exploits of "Bullroarer Took".</div>
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Whatever the facts of their initial inclusion, halflings certainly made the transition to the original edition of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> as a player character option. However, it is again reinforced there that they have no great place in the game, which is to say that "should any player wish to be one, he will be limited to the fighting-man class" and in any case "cannot progress beyond the fourth level" of ability. On the other hand it is noted that halflings have "magic-resistance equal to dwarves" and "deadly accuracy with missiles", so they are not completely unappealing, for example as henchmen. These limitations were slightly mitigated with the release of the <i>Greyhawk Supplement</i> and the introduction of the thief class, which provided all demi-humans with unlimited advancement potential and the prospect of multi-classing. Furthermore, it included errata to the effect that hobbits got +3 to hit probabilities with slings, translating the earlier <i>Chain Mail</i> advantage into the alternative combat system. Unlike the other demi-humans, halflings do not get a listing in <i>Monsters & Treasure</i>, and are inconsistently referenced in the <i>Swords & Spells</i> supplement, so we are left in the dark as to their original capabilities as "monsters".</div>
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However, halflings do get a half page entry in the first edition of the <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual</i>, which preserves and elaborates somewhat on the previous details. By contrast with dwarves and elves, halflings are deemed a rare encounter, which tells us a little of their relative expected frequency in a given campaign milieu. Following <i>Strategic Review</i> #6, their alignment is fixed as lawful good, whilst the fourth level of ability continues to be the highest they can achieve as a fighter, though two subraces are introduced whereby advancement to fifth or sixth level is possible for those with very high strength. In keeping with <i>Swords & Spells</i> the halfling movement rate is reduced to 9", no doubt reflecting their size and typical armour type. We also learn there that halflings are very intelligent, but stand only 3'+ in height; the subraces are a bit taller at 3½'+ and 4'+ respectively, though the former is intriguingly implied to be therefore smaller than the average. The "stout" halfling subrace exhibits some dwarvish qualities, including the ability to see in the dark with apparently no drawbacks. All halflings enjoy the equivalent of elvish stealth and can operate together with them in that capacity.</div>
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Notably, there is some controversy over how the halfling entry in the <i>Player’s Handbook</i> relates to that in the <i>Monster Manual</i>, especially with regard to their adjustment to hit with missile weapons. Essentially, the question is as to whether the bonus encompasses the dexterity of halflings or not, since the saving throw adjustment versus magic and poison clearly does subsume their constitution. A compromise approach was taken by the Holmes edition of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> whereby the bonus was reduced to +1, and this was followed in subsequent iterations of the non-advanced game and the second edition of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>. Confusingly, the latter assigns the bonus to slings and thrown weapons only in the <i>Player’s Handbook</i>, but the <i>Monster Manual</i> indicates that a +3 adjustment applies to attacks made with slings and bows. This confusion is compounded by the <i>Complete Book of Gnomes & Halfling</i>s and <i>Player’s Option: Skills & Powers</i>, the former indicating that the +1 applies to all missile weapons and the latter again restricting it to thrown weapons and slings. Similarly the second edition of the <i>Player’s Handbook</i> and <i>Monster Manual</i> disagree as to whether halfling base movement is 6" or 9", respectively.</div>
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During the first campaign in the <i>World of Silver Blade</i>, halflings were a popular choice of race; there were at least three amongst a dozen or so player characters. In part this may have been the continuation of a trend carried over from the non-advanced version of the game, but it is also worth noting that level limits were of little concern, being as if there was any awareness of them at all it was in the context of the less stringent second edition of the <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> system. Concerning the fates of these halflings, one was unlucky enough to put on a vampiric helmet, and another slain by a powerful demon, but the third did manage to retire as a wealthy burgher. Subsequent <i>Silver Blade</i> campaigns witnessed a pronounced decline of interest in halflings as a player character race, indeed no examples spring to mind. Even widening the net yields only two recollections, the first being from almost two decades ago in a <i>Ravenloft</i> campaign, and the other a more recent addition to the <i>Greyhawk</i> roster. This apparent lack of interest suggests that halflings have as little place in adventure games as they do in war games, but nevertheless it behoves us to offer them as an option, perhaps for the recreation of "certain adventures".</div>
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From a design and development standpoint it is relatively straightforward to resolve the <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=4597799&da=y">contradictory rules</a> that have accrued around halflings through the editions. It is much more difficult to make them a compelling and interesting game option, as the article by Roger Moore, the "Halfling Point of View" (<i>Dragon</i> #59), and the <i>Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings</i> both amply demonstrate in their over generalised restatements of a Tolkien gleaned mythology. There is no reason halflings could not be presented as more fey than mortal, for instance, less "little men" and more "little elves". Maybe, like the faerie folk of the <i>Broken Sword</i>, they have not souls as men do, and belong properly to the unseen otherworld. Nor is there really any compelling purpose to keeping them married as a race to the lawful good alignment. Certainly, a lot of potential for differentiation could be realised without needing to go so far as the kleptomanic kender of <i>Dragonlance</i> or the cannibalistic halflings of <i>Dark Sun</i>. Since there has been so little call for them in the <i>World of Silver Blade</i>, though, the following must be necessarily somewhat speculative, but is intended to explore one way in which they might be leveraged a little way out of the Tolkien mould: <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=4597999&da=y">Silver Blade Halflings</a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-41643647545966653812012-09-03T15:00:00.002+01:002012-09-12T13:05:12.846+01:00[Article] Races & Subraces<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As they appear in the <i>Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement</i>, the various humanoids and demi-human races have only a single troop classification each. For example, there are no elvish light foot or elvish heavy foot, there are just elves, all of which are classified as heavy foot with 12” movement and bows. Somewhat amusingly, then, it could be argued that <i>Chain Mail</i> was the first place where the concept of “race as class” manifested in the <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> corpus. Indeed, this conceit seems to have persisted into the <i>Monster Manual</i>, where for instance elves are listed as doing 1-10 damage, and <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=4597614&da=y">beyond</a>. However, it is worth noting that in <i>Spells & Swords</i> lightly and heavily armoured elves are provided as an analogue to lightly and heavily armoured men, even if the same cannot be said for halflings, gnomes, dwarves or humanoids. Nonetheless, the four basic demi-human races of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> originated in the <i>Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement</i>, and it is noticeable that gnomes are not presented as a playable race in the original edition of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, though they are described in <i>Monsters & Treasure</i>. By the same token, fairies are listed in <i>Swords & Spells</i>, but not in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>.</div>
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One possible reason for the exclusion of fairies and gnomes from <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> as playable races is that they are in the same troop class as elves and dwarves, respectively. When gnomes are described in <i>Monsters & Treasure</i> it is noted that they are “slightly smaller than dwarves, and with longer beards”, that they live in “hills and burrows” as opposed to the “mountainous homes” of the dwarves, that they are more reclusive than their “cousins”, but in all other respects resemble them. Similarly, when fairies resurface in the <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual</i> it is as an alternative name for “grey elves, albeit now spelt as “faerie”. It can be seen, then, that these shared troop classifications in <i>Chain Mail</i> were the kernel for the concept of the demi-human races being organised into subraces, a fate that gnomes more or less escaped when dwarves were divided into hill and mountain types. Also first introduced as a playable races in the <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook</i> are the semi-humans, which is to say half-elves and half-orcs. These two options are fairly clearly imported from Middle Earth and the <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, though altered during the transition in various ways; as combination races they are an analogue to the multi-classes.</div>
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Just as with the prohibition on demi-human player character clerics, the subraces made their way out of the pages of the <i>Monster Manual</i> and into <i>Unearthed Arcana</i> as playable options. Perhaps the most famous of these subraces is the drow or dark elves, not only as exotic and despicable antagonists, but also as the progenitors of perhaps the most popular and simultaneously unpopular <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> character of all time. In this way halflings were subdivided into hairfoot, stout, and tallfellow, gnomes into deep and surface, dwarves into hill, mountain and grey, whilst perhaps most egregious of all elves were subdivided into dark, grey, high, valley, wild and wood subraces. Frankly, this proliferation of playable options needlessly bloated the game, the net result being the encouragement of character optimisation; as <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/2047651-post36.html">Gygax attested</a>, players who wanted to play an elf magician, including himself, selected the grey elf subrace because it was the best prospect for the advancement of magical ability. Rather unsurprisingly, second edition initially reversed this trend and then gradually reintroduced all of the previous options and more, giving us sundered and deep dwarves, rock and forest gnomes, not to forget orcs and other monsters as playable races.</div>
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Most of what <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> calls subraces rely on their environment for differentiation, which is to say that there is barely any justification for them. The distinctions drawn are rarely any more sophisticated than denotation as mountainmen, hillmen, woodsmen, plainsmen, rivermen, and so on; fantasy adventure games being what they are, the prefixes “dark” and “deep” can also be profitably employed to describe evil aligned or subterranean dwelling variants on a demi-human race, in other words of the underworld. Indeed, this simple taxonomy of races and subraces can potentially be quite attractive, and certainly the <i>World of Silver Blade</i> initially embraced such concepts readily. When one considers dark gods, elves, dwarves, priests, wizards, and knights, it is a rather short step to “dark” men, halflings and, gnomes, not to forget the ever popular “anti-paladin”. At around this point it all becomes faintly ridiculous, or at least it ought well to seem so to anybody with a decent sense of aesthetics (yes, that is a somewhat subjective sentiment). None of this is to say there is no place for “mountain dwarves” and “wood elves” or “dark gods” in adventure games; it is just a rejection of proliferation for its own sake.</div>
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The basic underlying question rarely asked of playable races and subraces is what the point actually is of having them and where the appeal lies. Gygax was quite frank when questioned about his motive for their inclusion, which was that the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> was enjoying an unprecedented popularity at the time as the touchstone for fantasy and he hoped to harness that for commercial purposes. Bearing in mind the ever controversial demi-human level advancement limitations and discouragement in the <i>Dungeon Master's Guide</i> as to monsters as player characters, this does ring true; Gygaxian <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> is human-centric. However, it does not really answer the question, which is why is it that people desire to play non-human characters in the first place? A passable case could be made for it being chiefly about escapism, shedding even humanity in a bid to get as far away from the mundanity of life as possible, and for some people this may well be true. Really, though, that is a fantasy underlying a fantasy, inherent humanity is a basic limitation on the ability of the mind to explore any imagined landscape. It is this that leads to the assertion that playing a demi-human is typically nothing more than playing a human in a “funny suit”.</div>
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Such sardonic condemnation somewhat misses the point of playing a demi-human, though, and that is role emulation. It is no coincidence that so many new players name their first halfling Bilbo, their first dwarf Gimli, or have a Tanis Half-Elven. Perhaps the most alluring prospect of adventure games is the ability to step into the skin of a beloved literary character and assume their role, or one close to it. That is the actual purpose of playable demi-human races, not to escape human experience, but to facilitate the exploration of a particular character or archetype, often including its own subversion. A subrace usually isolates particular characteristics and repackages them as something new, dwarves that definitely live in mountains for instance, narrowing the role for the player in advance. Essentially it comes back to the question of abstraction versus specificity, with subraces as a means of increasing the degree of the latter at the expense of the former. More detail determined in advance of contact with the imagination of the player, more structure and uniformity with less room for deviation and innovation. Not that such is inherently bad; it is just that treating a subrace as an optimised version of a race rather defeats the point.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-92071153974795745492012-08-26T20:35:00.005+01:002012-09-12T13:07:58.552+01:00[Article] Orcs & Goblins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wURt6uDBP00/UDb9dakorLI/AAAAAAAABi4/JlIFko7JREk/s1600/Orcs.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wURt6uDBP00/UDb9dakorLI/AAAAAAAABi4/JlIFko7JREk/s400/Orcs.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Aside from the titular beast itself, orcs and goblins are perhaps the best known monsters associated with the <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> game. Probably they are also the clearest link to the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> and Middle Earth, though less certain antecedents have been occasionally suggested. No doubt they have served as the foot soldiers and minions of an endless parade of dark lords and evil magicians in the decades since they were described in <i>Monsters & Treasure</i>. However, it was <i>Chain Mail</i> where they originally appeared for gaming purposes, and where a clear taxonomy was established. Therein kobolds and goblins are presented as equivalent, the only difference being that they have a reciprocal racial hatred for gnomes and dwarves, each respectively; above them are orcs, tellingly described as "nothing more than overgrown goblins" and in the Fantasy Reference Table equipped with bows. Both of these troop entries contain a note that stronger versions exist, in the case of goblins there are hobgoblins and for orcs there are "giant orcs". In ascending order of combat ability they can be listed as goblin, orc, hobgoblin, and giant orc. One significant difference between goblins and orcs is that the later are factional and will fight amongst themselves.</div>
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With <i>Monsters & Treasure</i> the same basic order is followed, though kobolds are shifted one class below goblins and “giant orcs” disappear, perhaps replaced by gnolls. Although the entries for kobolds, goblins and hobgoblins are very similar to one another, orcs are described in more detail and there is a table showing the probability of them being led and protected by a powerful fighting-man, magic-user, dragon, a small group of ogres, or even trolls. Interestingly, whilst in <i>Chain Mail</i> all of these monsters are always of chaotic alignment (p. 39), in <i>Men & Magic</i> orcs are also listed in the neutral column (p. 9). By the time of <i>Strategic Review</i> #6, and the emergence of the nine point alignment system, the thinking had changed so that goblins and kobolds are classed as lawful evil and orcs as chaotic evil. This pattern was continued in the Holmes edition of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, and for the first time it is also noted that hobgoblins do not suffer any penalties when fighting in sunlight. Significantly, this tendency was ignored with the publication of the <i>Monster Manual</i> for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, where orcs were listed with a lawful evil alignment, but are still noted to have a tendency for infighting. A comparison of basic statistics across editions can be downloaded <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/4502688/2012-08-26-hobgoblins-orcs-goblins-and-kobolds-pdf?da=y">here</a>.</div>
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Obviously Tolkien and Middle Earth had a great influence on the depiction and development of orcs in the game, from <i>Chain Mail</i> onwards; goblins and hobgoblins mirror the definitions in the introduction to the Hobbit, the factionalism of orcs reflects events at the holdfast guarding Cirith Ungol, their collective dislike of sunlight and the eventual resistance of hobgoblins to its effects, even being armed with bows by default is suggestive of the uruks of Saruman. Visually, though, the orcs of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, pig-headed and literally animalistic, diverge from the <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c4yp299T-Rw/UDojn_ltzAI/AAAAAAAABjM/k1Y0AiCdGOs/THoC.jpg">dominant aesthetic</a> of Middle Earth. Furthermore, the <i>Monster Manual</i> artwork actively and significantly differentiates kobolds, goblins, orcs and hobgoblins from one another, leading eventually to the association of kobolds with dragons of all things. Notably the accompanying text no more supports the idea that kobolds have scales than it does that hobgoblins are equipped as pseudo-samurai. The sheer scale of variation and potential for confusion is probably most clearly demonstrated in an article published in <i>Dragon</i> #25, “Would the Real Orc Please Step Forward?” Diversity can be advantageous, but it is unusual for a monster to have such an indefinite appearance.</div>
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The artwork for the second edition of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> consciously compromised between the pig-headed orcs and the increasingly common depictions of monstrous grey-green humanoids; Doug Chaffee even went so far as to homogenise orcs and goblins for the front cover of <i>Dragonspear Castle</i>, which was an <a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XflylZF6d2Q/UDojn3H_cKI/AAAAAAAABjQ/JKceI_YeCcI/OoDS.jpg">illustration</a> also prominent in the <i>Player’s Handbook</i>. Furthermore, the arguably over detailed descriptions of humanoid "societies" in the second edition <i>Monster Manual</i> took its lead from B2 <i>Keep on the Borderland</i>, essentially treating them as primitive human tribes of evil disposition, with females and children to defend. Perhaps the origin of this view is an article by Roger Moore published in <i>Dragon</i> #44, "Fantasy Genetics I: Humanoid Races in Review", which suggests that kobolds, goblins, orcs and hobgoblins "represent a collateral branch of humanoid evolution." Certainly this seems to humanise and detract from the monstrosity of orcs and goblins, naturalising and reconciling them to a rational world that rejects the mythic underworld as sufficient explanation. Such socially organised monsters present an infamous conundrum for good aligned characters in dealing with non-combatants.</div>
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For the <i>World of Silver Blade</i> this subversion of the mythic monstrosity of orcs and goblins is far from satisfactory, but some sort of alternative explanation for their existence still seems necessary. Of course, Tolkien wrestled endlessly with their origin and nature without ever reaching any definite conclusion, even though the <i>Silmarillion</i> suggests that they are corrupted elves and the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> that they are bred in the black pits of Mordor and Isengard. The idea that orcs and goblins are bred by evil beings is intriguing and has some potentially horrific implications when one considers what the breeding stock might be. Still, the idea that they are bred like animals is perhaps an over rational interpretation, ignoring the inference that sorcery plays a significant role in the process. Although it may seem initially objectionable that orcs and goblins are created by magical means, it reinforces their existence as unnatural, and suggests them as a living parallel to the undead. Such a dislocation from the natural order of things capitalises on the fear of otherness that the mythic underworld lends to its monstrous denizens, evoking a sense of unknown evil in its distance from the human experience.</div>
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Somewhat fortuitously, there exists already an entire category of spells that can be leveraged in support of this conceptualisation of orcs and goblins. The various monster summoning spells cause creatures to appear from elsewhere in order to serve the caster for very short periods of time, but if instead they created the monsters permanently in a similar manner to the animate dead spell, then they become a ready explanation for how and why so many diverse monsters fill campaign worlds and their dungeons. In particular it explains why orcs and goblins feature so prominently as the foot soldiers of dark lords and evil magicians, magic creates monsters. Of course, it cannot be too easy for monsters to be created; broiling flesh pits would need to be prepared to provide living bodies for evil spirits to enter, in the manner of undead and demons, the evil dead put to new purpose, incidentally explaining why such creatures should be so aligned, and irredeemable. Compelling them to service might similarly be a difficult matter. No doubt this solution would neither be palatable or necessary for every campaign, but for the <i>World of Silver Blade</i> it preserves logically and satisfactorily the monstrous and unnatural nature of monsters.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-73463719027820690432011-08-21T05:00:00.001+01:002011-08-21T05:00:02.211+01:00[Review] AA9 The Lost Pyramid of Imhotep<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Six0Lu9f7PI/AAAAAAAAADY/pbkytTNhkAM/s1600-h/XRP6109.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344774602715294962" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Six0Lu9f7PI/AAAAAAAAADY/pbkytTNhkAM/s320/XRP6109.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 243px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.xrpshop.citymax.com/catalog/item/3906568/6955061.htm" style="font-weight: bold;">The Lost Pyramid of Imhotep</a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Author:</span> Alphonso Warden<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contents:</span> 12 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 10 pages of adventure, and 1 open game license page.<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Publisher:</span> Expeditious Retreat Press<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Product Code:</span> XRP6109<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Retail Price:</span> £7.00 or $12.00<br />
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<i>Overview</i><br />
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An adventure for 4-6 characters of levels 4-7, the <i>Lost Pyramid of Imhotep</i> is an unusual five level dungeon with a tightly integrated theme. The physical product is furnished with a glossy cover stock, durable internal pages, clearly printed text, and well rendered black and white internal maps. Both the front and back cover illustrations are by Jeff Womack, though misattributed to <i>Advanced Adventures</i> stalwart Bradley McDevitt, and each depicts an encounter from the adventure with suitable atmospheric weirdness, complementing the relatively unusual subject matter. Whilst the title page illustration, also by Jeff Womack, is the only interior piece provided, it similarly sends a clear visual signal to the reader to anticipate a conflation of the familiar and the strange. Of the three images, this last is probably the most compelling, perhaps because it contrasts in its exterior enormity with the more claustrophobic and close quarter encounter environments used for the cover pieces. Even though the module is only twelve pages long, it is disappointing for there to be no other interior illustrations, especially when there are none of adventuring parties exploring or interacting with the dungeon and its denizens.<br />
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The scenario premise is straightforward, in that the player characters are hired by a magician to investigate recently unearthed evidence of a tomb in the desert. Since the adventure takes ancient Egypt as its thematic inspiration, there are numerous references to the trappings and theology of that culture, and a good deal of concern is given to the need to translate hieroglyphs. Indeed, it is noted that adventurers native to the area will have a much easier time than outsiders, and that holds true for much of the module. Progressing to the lowest dungeon levels requires being able to answer several rather culturally specific questions, and unless the players happen to know or guess correctly the game master will have to decide how to handle the player characters accessing the necessary knowledge. Whilst some of the rooms require clever thinking or intuition to overcome, many of them rely more heavily on the random outcome of the dice with little consideration given to alternative solutions. Although this is not much of an issue in cases of combat with guardians, it is more problematic when characters are left with no option but to make saving throws, as is the case in area fourteen for instance.<br />
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Interestingly, there is very little treasure to be had in the tomb complex, and what little there is could easily be missed. As a result the player characters will likely waste plenty of time searching fruitlessly, but in the absence of wandering monsters they can do so at their leisure. There is an item that could conceivably have a similar role, but as soon as the players figure out what is going on they are likely to stow it somewhere safe until needed and thereby obviate any time considerations. Similarly, the compact nature of the dungeon has left little opportunity for the game master to expand on what is provided, which is unusual for traditional style modules. Of the nineteen encounter areas at least seventeen of them must be explored, largely one after the other, in order to reach the final location. Naturally, this makes for rather linear exploration, which may frustrate players and game masters used to more expansive designs, but for tournament purposes is entirely suitable. Moreover, not every dungeon need be cut from the same cloth. Given that the adventurers manage to successfully negotiate all the dangers and puzzles there is a satisfactory denouement as well as a rather unusual, but substantial, reward to be had.<br />
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<i>Technicalities and Errors</i><br />
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With regard to grammar and editing there is little of note to complain about. It is rather vexing to see a true minus used early in the text, only for hyphens to be used thereafter, but it is of little consequence. There appears to be a mistake in the ghoul statistic string on page five, insofar as damage is listed as "1-3/1-6/1-6" and it seems obvious that "1-3/1-3/1-6" was intended. As far as design flaws go, encounter area eleven is troublesome, in that failure to roll the right numbers on the dice not only results in an unsuccessful trial of strength, but destroys the means to carry out future attempts and thus the method of passing beyond the chamber. Stumbling blocks of this sort, but of lesser consequence, are typical rather than exceptional and can easily lead to a party being stuck in one area for a prolonged period. In another instance, one player is required to play and win the ancient game of <i>Senet</i> in order to obtain a necessary item, which aside from being quite random excludes the other players from active participation. However, whether any of these potential issues will manifest at a given game table is likely highly subjective, depending on the ability of the players and the skill of the game master. <br />
<i><br />Conclusion</i><br />
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Conceptually the <i>Lost Pyramid of Imhotep</i> is engaging and innovative, but whilst the design is suitable for a tournament environment, it could bear considerable improvement and expansion. Although redesigning the dungeon might not be a desirable undertaking, there is plenty of room for a wilderness description, random encounters, a settlement, rival treasure seekers, and other augmentations. Several encounter areas could also be improved on so that they are less linear and have several potential solutions. Less emphasis on combat in some instances would also be worthwhile, in particular for the locust and beetle vehicles; the usefulness of the latter in the passage of annihilation already hints at alternative possibilities, rather than simply combating a like opponent. Whatever its design shortcomings for regular campaign use, the adventure is well written and Warden demonstrates a considerable knowledge of the history of ancient Egypt without overwhelming the reader, though anybody expecting a swords & sorcery Stygian theme might well be disappointed. If the implementation of the concept is somewhat pedestrian, it remains an entirely playable and imaginative module that should make for one or two entertaining and challenging sessions.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-43890063393564062592011-06-15T16:00:00.003+01:002013-06-22T11:05:24.921+01:00[Article] Hit Points<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XDvVsEGXFbU/TeBhviTnB5I/AAAAAAAAAKI/l2wmKUDZgOw/s1600/frank_frazetta_bw_kublasanguish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XDvVsEGXFbU/TeBhviTnB5I/AAAAAAAAAKI/l2wmKUDZgOw/s320/frank_frazetta_bw_kublasanguish.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
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Of all the game elements introduced or popularised by <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> the concept of hit points has probably been the most influential and widespread, finding its way into numerous tabletop and electronic games alike. The origin of the mechanism likely lies in the <i>Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement </i>where the superior fighting capability of heroes, wizards and monsters is represented by making them individually equivalent to multiple figures. For instance, a hero is worth four figures of any type, a wizard is equal to two armoured foot, or if mounted two medium horse, whilst a giant attacks as twelve heavy foot and defends as twelve armoured foot (or twelve heavy foot according to Fantasy Reference Table on p. 43). In each case, these powerful combatants are normally only slain after suffering enough cumulative or simultaneous hits to kill the number of men to which they are judged to be equivalent. That these were the forerunners of hit dice can be seen most clearly in the goblin, orc and hobgoblin entries, where they are indicated to attack and defend as heavy foot/light foot, heavy foot/heavy foot, and armoured foot/heavy foot, respectively, which is a relationship later reflected in their hit die ratings of 1−1, 1 and 1+1.</div>
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At an indeterminate but early juncture hits as kills were deemed insufficiently granular for swords & sorcery adventure gaming. Instead, each man equivalent was assigned 1-6 "hit points", a successful hit inflicting 1-6 damage rather than slaying outright. This approach had the advantage of allowing the average result of an isolated hit to remain a kill, but also ensured that five-in-twelve such hits would be non-lethal. It also created the possibility that combatants with multiple hit dice might be laid low with a single blow, if they had been unlucky in their hit point determination. Because of the way hits accumulate, the introduction of hit points strengthened the less powerful creatures and weakened the greater ones. Dealing with non-fatal hits is an area where <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> often comes in for criticism, as its default assumption is that hit point loss in and of itself has no further deleterious effects. Since damage is most often conceived of as the inflicting of wounds, this seems counterintuitive, but it is worth recalling that the original edition of the game did give the subject some consideration, noting that "whether sustaining accumulative hits will otherwise affect a character is left to the discretion of the referee" (<a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=2875068&da=y">M&M, p. 18</a>).</div>
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Both the first and second editions of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> take the time to address the issue of hit points and wounds, warning that debilitating injuries are "not the stuff of heroic fantasy" (1e DMG, p. 61) and that "characters have enough of a challenge as it is" (2e DMG, p. 74). Even so, it is nevertheless noted that this is not necessarily the case for monsters and in fact neither edition is completely opposed to the idea of inflicting specific wounds on characters. For instance, maiming is considered a viable alternative to death in cases where player characters have played well but been extraordinarily unlucky (1e DMG, p. 110), and the <i>sword of sharpness</i> is well known for its ability to sever limbs regardless of whether the hit points of the target have been exhausted. The hydra is a good example of a monster that suffers an injury for each hit die of damage suffered, in this case the loss of one of its heads. A more general example is extant for winged flying creatures, as it is specified that if such monsters lose more than half of their hit points they must seek to land (2e DMG, p. 78), whilst if they lose more than three-quarters of their hit points during flight they plummet to the ground (1e DMG, p. 53).</div>
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Lest we forget, the original <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> game has rules for aerial combat, apparently borrowing from <i>Fight in the Skies</i> by Mike Carr, which involve specific body location and critical hits. Nor should the much maligned hit location system presented in <i>Supplement II: Blackmoor</i>, and its assignation of hit points to various body parts, be overlooked. By the same token, the first edition of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> includes a rule for handling attacks against combatants without helmets (1e DMG, p. 28), whilst the second edition discusses the inclusion of called shots (2e DMG, p. 58). Indeed, the methods by which hit points are commonly restored, such as healing magic, regeneration, or lengthy periods of rest, suggest that their loss is representative of wounds suffered, rather than luck, skill, endurance or divine protection. Whilst it might be reasonable to evade this conclusion by applying the retroactive logic that a character is not wounded unless healed, for which precedent exists with regard to saving throws against poison, such arguments are unlikely to satisfy anybody desirous of a cause and effect relationship. As with other elements in the <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> combat system, hit points oscillate between having abstract and specific qualities.</div>
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In reality, any wound significant enough to impair fighting ability is likely to take an individual out of the combat they were involved in. On the other hand, the notable individuals who fight on despite injury are the very sorts that player characters are intended to emulate. Leaving things up to individual game masters as the original game does is the most coherent solution, but also runs the risk of seeming too arbitrary. The suggestion in the first edition <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> that characters reduced to zero hit points suffer some sort of injury rather than being slain is attractive, especially if the negative ten optional rule is discarded or modified. A house rule used in the <i>World of Silver Blade</i> is that characters brought to zero hit points or below are wounded and out of the fight, suffering ongoing penalties until the injury is healed, regardless of hit point recovery. Furthermore, and partly because magic is less prevalent in the campaign, characters can heal one hit point for every turn of rest after combat up to a maximum of one point for every die of damage suffered. So, for example, a character fortunate enough to have survived a <i>fire ball</i> spell that inflicted 6d6 damage can expect to recover six hit points after resting and tending his wounds for an hour.</div>
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Clearly hit points are a useful abstract combat mechanism for swords & sorcery adventure games, as well as being a source of controversy that defies singular definition. As Gygax notes in the first edition <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> it is ludicrous to suppose that characters can regularly survive multiple sword blows, but the binary "alive or dead" model that hit points seem to support seems equally unsatisfactory, and is a level of abstraction often gainsaid elsewhere in the text. Whilst it may be undesirable in a game of "heroic fantasy" for persistent or debilitating injuries to feature overmuch, a world without wounds is no more appealing. The key to reconciling this likely lies in realising that, although hit point loss may indicate injury and vice versa, the two are not inexorably related, which is to say a broken arm need not correspond to any form of hit point loss at all, and yet could be healed by restorative magic. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that healing magic in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> is bound up with the positive and negative energy planes, as well as the concept of life energy levels. Indeed, hit points are perhaps most usefully defined as "life force", but probably they are best understood as being whatever they need to be in the context of game events.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-3681734618006151852011-05-27T05:30:00.002+01:002011-05-27T05:30:01.431+01:00[Review] AA8 The Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Sc7AGBtdSuI/AAAAAAAAADA/kwFPL9OTWfQ/s1600-h/XRP6108.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318399419741981410" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Sc7AGBtdSuI/AAAAAAAAADA/kwFPL9OTWfQ/s320/XRP6108.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.xrpshop.citymax.com/catalog/item/3906568/6737800.htm" style="font-weight: bold;">The Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar</a><br />
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<i>Author</i>: James C. Boney<br /><i>Contents</i>: 12 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 9 pages of adventure, 1 page of <i>Your Games Now</i> and <i>Other World Miniatures</i> advertisements, and 1 open game license page.<br /><i>Publisher</i>: Expeditious Retreat Press<br /><i>Product Code</i>: XRP6108<br /><i>Retail Price</i>: £7.00 or $12.00<br /><br /><i>Overview</i><br /><br />An adventure for 6-8 characters of levels 8-12, the <i>Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar</i> is a straightforward two level dungeon crawl with a strong theme. The physical product has a glossy cover stock and durable internal pages, onto which the text and black and white maps have been clearly printed. Both the front and back cover illustrations by Bradley K. McDevitt are atmospheric and complement one another by contrasting two related scenes with different degrees of action. Including the title page, there are four interior drawings by Jeff Womack, each related to events and encounters in the module. Of these, the title page is the most compelling composition, depicting a group of adventurers apparently deliberating over how to deal with the smiling stone golem in area fourteen of the first level. Two of the remaining illustrations are of new monsters introduced in the appendices, and the last shows the focus of an encounter area. Although more interior art would be welcome, and the frequency varies considerably by module, the use of diverse artists in the <i>Advanced Adventures</i> series is much appreciated, as is the overall stylistic continuity, which speaks to a skilful choice of illustrators.<br /><br />Very little space is given over to the premise of the scenario, just two paragraphs outlining the history of the titular toad cult of Nav’k-Qar and how the seven shrines came to be abandoned, whilst the introductory text contains the entirety of the otherwise unreferenced adventure hook. Unusually, there is also some advice to the game master with regard to fairness and moderation of the effects of randomness, which is probably not strictly necessary. A selection of rumours and wilderness encounters are provided as a precursor to entering the dungeon, the latter including swamp orcs and an adult black dragon, as well as several other interesting or environmentally suitable items. The dungeon itself also has several thematic and atmospheric features that help to give it a unique feel, such as the poisonous walls or the virtual carpet of toad bones covering the floors. On the other hand, the ogre and bugbear guardians held in suspended animation seem somewhat out of place, though such things are perhaps inherent to the design sensibilities of the author. Nevertheless, this feels like a missed opportunity to invent or use something more indicative of the degeneracy of the toad cult and its presumably twisted activities prior to being overthrown.<br /><br />There is very little treasure to be had on the first level of the dungeon, but plenty of interesting and deadly encounters, so player characters that do not make use of divination magic, or otherwise fail to take sufficient steps to determine what they are facing, will be in for a hard time of things. By contrast, the second level is very linear in design; three sets of shrines must be entered and defeated, each pair in turn so as to gain entry to the next, before the seventh shrine finally becomes accessible. The challenges in these areas are heavily combat orientated, which is a bit of a pity as more puzzles would certainly have been welcome at this stage in the adventure, as would more latitude with regards to methods of bypassing the dangers. Once within the final sanctuary the party is confronted by almost an avatar of Nav’k-Qar himself, which should makes for a difficult battle and a fitting climax. Nonetheless, it is possible to come away from this module practically empty handed in terms of treasure; diligent parties will be well rewarded, but they run the risk of a final deadly obstacle in typical swords & sorcery style. As the introductory text warns, there are numerous places in the module where an unfortunate party could be wiped out. <br /><br /><i>Technicalities and Errors</i><br /><br />In terms of grammar and editing there is very little to complain about, though the "chamber of dispair" on page four is a notable exception. As with the majority of <i>Advanced Adventures</i> preceding this one, there is a tendency towards using a hyphen instead of a "true" negative and it seems strange to see "1/2" in preference to "½", but the usage is consistent and so nothing more than minor gripes. Other very insignificant errors or inconsistencies include a colon after "HP" on page four, "d6" instead of "1d6" on page ten, the unnecessary pluralisation of the abbreviation "HP" to "HPs" in several places, and the appearance of "1-4+1" rather than "2-5" on pages four and five. In the latter case there is also an instance of "1-12+5" on page nine, but maybe that is a preferable notation to "6-17". That this is a module originally designed for use with the <i>Old School Reference and Index Compilation</i> and not a conversion from another system is evident throughout; indeed, the author has made full use of its terminology and potential. It might have been useful to include, for ease of reference, the movement rates for the various monsters in addition to their armour class, hit dice and damage, especially considering the environmental movement restrictions in the dungeon.<br /><br /><i>Conclusion</i><br /><br />Whilst the <i>Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar</i> is perhaps not as strong an offering as the earlier modules penned by James C. Boney, it reads well and is bound to provide a satisfactory high level play experience. As with the three previous scenarios he has authored for the <i>Advanced Adventures</i> line, the most significant way in which this adventure could be improved is not in terms of quality but quantity. For instance, the concept could certainly be extended to a wilderness hex exploration of a partially swamp submerged and ruined city containing the eponymous seven shrines, with lizard men, bullywugs, swamp orcs, cultists, and worse vying over the drowned and broken remains. However, that probably goes rather beyond the scope of what can really be effectively conveyed in a standard sixteen page or even thirty-two page module, and as it stands the length and structure are well suited to a four to six hour tournament slot. Whilst the design is not particularly ambitious, it is certainly effective. A party of player characters of the appropriate levels should find the dungeon a difficult and entertaining challenge. Furthermore, they can consider themselves to have achieved something of note if they emerge relatively unscathed and victorious.<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-50640599411637443822011-04-08T11:30:00.002+01:002011-04-11T02:50:00.780+01:00[Article] Spell Ability<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Whilst fighting ability and thieving ability are barely attested and at best ambiguous terms in the first edition <i>Player’s Handbook</i> and <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i>, spell ability frequently appears and is fully defined in the former work as indicating "whether or not the class of character is able to employ spells" (p. 19). It is further divided into four types, which is to say magic-user, clerical, illusionist and druidic, each corresponding to one of the four major spell casting classes. However, much like the fighting and thieving characteristics, spell ability also has a narrower definition, referred to in the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> entry for the <i>Ring of Wizardry</i>; it is explained there that the "ring doubles spell ability (i.e. the number of spells a magic-user may prepare each day) in one or more spell levels" (p. 132). As with the other entries in this series of articles, it is the more limited definition that is of interest here, spell ability as an indication of the number of spell slots available to a character by level. Whereas the spell slot progressions in the various iterations of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> vary considerably in structure by class, the contention here is that a more consistent approach would be useful and do no violence to the overall system.<br />
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In the original <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> game there were initially two spell casting classes available, the magic-user and the cleric, with the illusionist and druid subclasses being later additions in <i>Strategic Review</i> and <i>Eldritch Wizardry</i>, respectively. Famously, at first level a cleric had no spell slots available, his progression only beginning at second level, but what is rarely noted is that at eleventh level the magic-user and cleric have exactly the same number of spell slots available and this remains the case at twelfth level when they both first get access to spells of the sixth level. After that they deviate again, partly because their maximum spell levels differ (level nine for magic-users and level seven for clerics). The spell progressions for classes are slightly different in each subsequent edition, including the D20 version of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, and this interesting transient equality is lost. On the other hand, in the advanced game, magicians and clerics nominally have the same number of slots available from levels one to four, but in practice any cleric with a wisdom score of thirteen and above has rather more. Their subclasses, the illusionist and the druid, follow completely different progressions of their own.<br />
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Apart from the major spell casting classes and their multiclass combinations, there are the fighter subclasses with minor spell casting ability, which is to say the paladin and the ranger, and not counting the capacity of the thief class to read scrolls. Of the two subclasses, only the ranger originally had any spell casting ability, though the paladin as he appeared in <i>Greyhawk</i> could always "lay on hands", "detect evil", and "dispel evil", which applied to "spells, undead, evil enchanted monsters, and the like" (p. 8). Indeed, it was only in the advanced game that the paladin acquired the ability to cast spells at relatively high levels, along with the precondition in the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> that such characters had served a "novitiate" much like the cleric and druid (p. 39). Along with the details in the same section (pp. 38-40), this reflects an increasingly complex and specific approach to explaining how magic works in <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> and as a result also partially defining its limits. The positive and negative energy planes have a central role to play in the process, always triggering the channelling of energy from other planes of existence or else serving as the prime source themselves, the effects of which then manifests of the prime material plane.<br />
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Perhaps the most significant delineation in the advanced magic system is the acquisition, memorisation and preparation of spells for clerics and magicians. For the latter, a spell may be taught by an already learned master, studied from a book or researched anew, but in all cases the magician is limited in both the number he may ever learn and even which spells he has the aptitude to learn. After successfully acquiring a spell it must be maintained in a spell book and memorised from the text whenever it is to be prepared. The cleric, by contrast, has knowledge of all existing spells for his class, but in order to prepare those of third to fifth level must communicate with intermediaries of his deity and have them bestow the spells requested upon him, whilst for spells of sixth to seventh level must petition the deity directly. Nonetheless, in order to prepare spells of the first and second level the cleric need only rely on his training and faithful service to his deity, which is to say the spells he desires are bestowed without direct communication, apparently simply a matter of prayer and meditation. There is something vaguely conceptually dissatisfying about this treatment and the open ended character of the clerical spell list is potentially troublesome.<br />
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Limiting the number of spells available to the cleric is most easily done by imitating the lot of the magician, requiring each spell to be acquired individually and maintained in a "prayer book", which is how it currently works in my <i>Silver Blade</i> and <i>Greyhawk</i> campaigns. When using published modules the simple expedient of treating spells memorised as spells known for non-player characters and monsters has proven to be largely satisfactory. Conceptually, the cleric is reimagined as a holy warrior so worthy in his abilities and faithful in his character that a deity or pantheon has empowered him with spell ability. As he rises in ability level the cleric must petition, usually through otherworldly intermediaries, for access to higher spell levels. Whilst the magician seeks arcane knowledge and may traffic with extraplanar beings to obtain it, understanding for the cleric comes in the form of divine revelations as to the nature of the multiverse, often conveyed by the very same outside intelligences. Regardless, not everybody, indeed few, have the potential to become clerics or magicians, whether it is a matter of inner qualities, external selection, diabolical compacts or a mixture of some or all, few can speculate with authority and none can say for sure.<br />
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There is no real reason for magicians and clerics to have different spell progressions, excepting perhaps an appreciation for an eccentric and erratic aesthetic, not lightly discounted by all. Still, if levels one to four and levels eleven to twelve can be the same, why not reasonably levels five to ten? As a known and stable value spell ability might be easier to design around and certainly easier to notate in statistic strings, though "SA" might cause confusion with "special attacks" or "special abilities", so might be more productively rendered "SCA". That said, acronyms could be created for the already existing spell ability divisions by class and subclass, if that were preferred, for instance "MSA", "CSA", "ISA", and "DSA". Either way the use of spell ability as describing the number of spell slots available by level is potentially useful. For those interested, a comparison of spell ability across the extant editions and classes of the game can be downloaded <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2714019/2011-04-08-spell-ability-pdf?da=y">here</a> in portable format document, including for <i>Swords & Wizardry</i>, <i>Labyrinth Lord</i>, and the <i>Old School Reference & Index Compilation</i>. Differences from the original game are highlighted in red, from the basic and expert game in blue and from the advanced game in green.<br />
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<a href="http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=chainmail&action=display&thread=2099&page=5"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-25575692737700764882011-04-01T08:19:00.006+01:002011-07-27T07:29:35.797+01:00[Article] Handbooks, Guides & Manuals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>One Ring To Rule Them All...</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>...And In The Darkness Bind Them!</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-11811809194333083822011-03-24T19:20:00.004+00:002011-03-24T19:20:01.117+00:00[Review] AA7 The Sarcophagus Legion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.xrpshop.citymax.com/catalog/item/3906568/6582011.htm" style="font-weight: bold;">The Sarcophagus Legion</a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Author:</span> Andrew Hind<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contents:</span> 16 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 13 pages of adventure, 1 page of OSRIC advertisements, and 1 open game license page.<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Publisher:</span> Expeditious Retreat Press<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Product Code:</span> XRP6107<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Retail Price:</span> £7.00 or $12.00<br />
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<i>Overview</i><br />
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An adventure for 4-6 characters of levels 2-4, the <i>Sarcophagus Legion</i> presents a desert wilderness area and two dungeons, each consisting of one level. The physical product has a glossy cover stock and durable internal pages; the text has been clearly rendered, as have the black and white interior maps. Happily, the spine seems to be showing more resistance to wear than the last two in this series. The cover illustrations by Bradley K. McDevitt depict encounters in the module and appeal to traditional sensibilities, though the back image is perhaps the more compelling of the two. Of the three interior pieces by John Bingham, the title page image is particularly good. In addition to being evocative of the substance and theme of the module, it is a stylistically strong example of his work. The writing is for the most part energetic and clear, but does sometimes become cumbersome and over descriptive in places. An informed reader might suspect that the module was written in the style of a <i>Dungeon Crawl Classic</i> and then later converted over as a prospective <i>Advanced Adventure</i>, the read aloud text being integrated into the area descriptions, and a repeat error in the monster entries appears to confirm that as a likelihood.<br />
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The basic scenario is relatively straightforward; the sultan of a small desert kingdom seeks to engage the services of the adventurers to retrieve his fifth wife, Syriana, from a band of dervishes, who have taken her captive after ambushing her caravan. However, unbeknownst to the party and only lately revealed to the sultan, this unfortunate woman has been determined to be the reincarnation of a long dead queen, whose blood can be used to ritualistically animate the dead. In particular, she can potentially be used to bring into undying service a legion of mummies reputed to lie dormant beneath an abandoned temple deep in the desert. This is a setup with great potential, and reminiscent of a good number of <i>Doctor Who</i> episodes, but it is unfortunately largely squandered. Instead of becoming embroiled in the political intrigue and power struggle between the sultan and the dervishes for control of the ruined temple and the means to awaken the undead legion beneath, the adventurers are sidetracked to a former derro stronghold where Syriana has ended up; after rescuing her they are unavoidably betrayed and captured by servants of the sultan, then expected to escape so that they can rescue her again from the temple.<br />
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Whilst both dungeons are reasonably interesting and playable individually, they read as though they were designed independently and then stitched together into a heavy handed narrative. At first blush the wilderness map seems to promise open ended exploration, but the reality is much more linear, a string of encounters leading to a final showdown in the temple, the sacrifice essentially delayed until the adventurers show up. Hind, as always, provides numerous memorable encounters with innovative denizens, which offsets to some degree the larger design shortcomings. The clockwork spider and Laukshar the Leaking, a diseased ghoul priest, are particularly interesting examples of twists on conventional monsters, but there are also thematic magical items to be had and deadly locations to avoid, such as the "Pit of Fangs". Good use is made of task resolution mechanisms, rather than simple reliance on linear attribute checks, such as bend bars/lift gates to escape magical attacks and opportunities to forestall saving throws. Even experienced players should find an entertaining surprise or two in this module, and intelligent play will usually be rewarded, allowing the party to avoid expending resources unnecessarily. <br />
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<i>Technicalities and Errors</i><br />
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Occasional textual errors, such as "desrt" (p. 2), are almost unavoidable, but still worth noting. The stylistic and notational inconsistencies are somewhat irritating; for instance, the forms "1-6", "2-12", "1-6+1", "1d6", and "d6" are all in evidence, and whilst such lack of standardisation might be thought endearing by some, it is seems doubtful that it was really intended. On the other hand, the notation for less than a full hit dice is consistent in that it is presented as a hit point range, even if fractional notation is arguably more aesthetically pleasing. However, the most significant technical fault of this module is that the movement rates for all of the monsters and non-player characters are the D20 values, up to and including the new monsters in the appendices. Consequently, skeletons and dervishes have a move of 30’ instead of 120’, and that can only be confusing for a game master who does not realise what has probably happened. Errors of this sort must be caught in editing, especially if a module shows signs of being originally written with a different system in mind. It is particularly unfortunate because the statistic strings are otherwise very consistent, the product of some considerable care. <br />
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<i>Conclusion</i><br />
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Conceptually, the <i>Sarcophagus Legion</i> has a lot to offer, the sultan is well characterised and the political situation provides plenty of opportunity for adventure. Moreover, its individual elements are good examples of Andrew Hind’s imaginative approach to swords & sorcery adventure, but as a whole it falls somewhat short of being an ideal module. Perhaps its worst design transgression is the pause between dungeons that requires the player characters to surrender or die, presuming the former. The lack of wandering monsters in the dungeons and relatively linear structure of the maps (though this is less of an issue with the mines than the temple) are also issues. With enough time and will, any experienced game master could get a lot out of what is provided, but as it stands the <i>Sarcophagus Legion</i> is in need of redesign and further development to meet the full potential of the ideas it contains. That is not to say that the module is a failure, indeed it is not a bad marriage of traditional game rules and modern adventure design sensibilities. Nonetheless, that is not really what has come to be expected of the <i>Advanced Adventures</i> series, but it is still to be hoped that Hind continues to bring his creative talent to future modules of improved design.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-89215483910733041472011-01-10T21:30:00.002+00:002011-04-17T05:29:53.085+01:00[Article] Turning Ability<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The genesis of the <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> cleric class is relatively well known. Inspired by the character of Van Helsing and his analogues as portrayed in the <i>Hammer Horror</i> films of the preceding decades, the cleric was created to combat a particularly troublesome vampire player character known as “Sir Fang”. To this somewhat narrow archetype were appended the trappings of a pseudo-medieval warrior priest typology, and the infamous restriction against the use of edged weapons (later “edged and/or pointed weapons which draw blood”). This latter clause was derived from a nineteenth century visual interpretation of the depiction of Bishop Odo in the Bayeux Tapestry, which was current in academic circles up until the late twentieth century, and remains embedded in the popular consciousness, even amongst those who really ought to know better. Gygax showed some trepidation in this assertion by the time of the <i>Player’s Handbook</i>, when he stated that the cleric has “a certain resemblance to religious orders of knighthood of medieval times” (p. 20), who he must have known were under no such compulsion. Regardless, the most formidable abilities of the class, casting spells and turning away evil spirits, have little to do with the military orders.<br />
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Whilst spell casting was already well established in the developing milieu, the ability to turn away undead, as well as lesser demons and devils, was a new addition. It fairly clearly has its roots in the conventional <i>Hammer Horror</i> scene where a character attempts to keep a vampire away by holding up a cross, with varying degrees of success (perhaps most amusing of these is an instance in which a character played by Peter Cushing destroys a vampire with the shadow of a burning windmill). These sort of scenes no doubt owe their currency to the myriad superstitions concerning the warding off of evil with magical amulets or sacred objects, and the reputed power of holy men to themselves drive away evil spirits. However, even in the original version of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> the vampire is singled out as averse to garlic, mirrors, and the sight of the cross, over and above any power of the cleric, if “presented strongly” (<i>Monsters & Treasures</i>, p. 10). Indeed, to turn away a vampire ordinarily a cleric must be at least sixth level (and thus equivalent in fighting ability to a hero) and roll a nine or more on two six-sided dice, a probability of only ten in thirty-six or just less than twenty-eight percent.<br />
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It is interesting to note that, just as the <i>Chain Mail</i> man-to-man combat system and its two six-sided dice gave way to the alternative combat system and its twenty sided die, <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> did the same with regard to the turning ability. This was not the case with B/X or BECMI, both of which retained the shortened bell curve approach. Frank Mentzer, primary editor and designer of the later, has mentioned in the past that this also mirrored the B/X and BECMI morale rules, which used two six-sided dice, and that this was similar to how he envisioned a turning attempt, which is to say as a morale test for the undead. Of course, morale was not described in the original <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> game, presumably the game master was expected to borrow from the byzantine <i>Chain Mail</i> version, though many must have used the “reaction test” as a stand in, again using two six-sided dice. Nonetheless, the morale rules for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> used percentiles, with modifiers mainly in five-percent increments, which obviously would work well with a twenty-sided die. Oddly, the second edition of the advanced game compromises between the two methodologies by using two ten-sided dice for morale, but not to generate percentiles.<br />
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Once the numbers for the original chart are converted to percentiles (8.340%, 27.78%, 58.33%) it quickly becomes evident that Gygax rounded them off (0.10, 0.30, 0.60), inserted an additional increment between the largest step (0.10, 0.30, 0.45, 0.60) then shifted the probability down one for the latter three numbers (0.10, 0.25, 0.40, 0.55), paralleling what he did for armour class, before converting the probabilities to target numbers on a twenty-sided die (19, 16, 13, 10). He then extended the range downwards by increments of fifteen percent, and made “20” the top of the range (20, 19, 16, 13, 10, 7, 4). For whatever reason, levels 4-7 (hero to superhero −1) omit the 19 between 16 and 20, increasing the overall effectiveness of the cleric from what might be expected of the pattern between levels 1-3. Unsurprisingly, second edition standardised the table to follow the initial pattern, resulting in a corresponding decrease in effectiveness. The expansion in level range and decrease of one step between “D” and “D+” (or D*) somewhat flattened out the curve, along with the switch from “1-12 affected” to “2-12 affected”, and “7-12 destroyed” to “2-12 destroyed and 2-8 turned”, respectively.<br />
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Although the original version of turn undead specified the number to be turned as 2-12, it did not indicate how frequently the ability could be used, its range, area of effect, or for how long it was effective once employed, amongst other things. B/X somewhat clarified things by allowing turn undead to be used as frequently as desired, but reduced its effectiveness to 2-12 hit dice, albeit with a minimum of one creature affected. <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> took the opposite approach, restricting use to more or less once an encounter (under limited conditions it could be used in consecutive rounds against different types) and specifying the duration as 3-12 rounds, with previously affected undead “being subject to further turning by the cleric” (DMG, p. 76). The second edition returned to vaguer language, and duration seems to be as long as “he continues to maintain his turning”. Whilst that works well for turned undead, it makes destruction results extremely effective; for instance, to a tenth level cleric a pack of 2-16 wights is potentially little to no threat, but 2-12 wraiths remain foes to be feared! Happily, it does at least specify that cornered undead will fight back, “breaking” the turning effect.<br />
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For my own campaigns none of the approaches above have entirely sufficed, even less so when chaotic or evil clerics are stirred into the mix, not to mention the unlooked for vulnerability of paladins. Perhaps a better way to handle it would to be to treat it like a spell, an approach that has certainly been postulated elsewhere. However, that is not really any different than restricting it to a once per day effect, which would avoid the complication of introducing an additional slot. As long as an encounter can be defined, there is no reason not to keep it at once per encounter. The variable number of affected undead is a little unpalatable as an all or nothing affair, and the obvious solution is to roll one turning attempt against each target up to twelve, which would result in a more average spread of results, but “T” and “D” effects would always be the maximum. One way to counter that would be to spread out the probabilities for one half of the matrix on a 1:1 basis and use a higher ratio for the other, such as 1:2 or the 1:3 of the original scale. As things stand turn undead is somewhere between a saving throw based fear spell and a percentile morale test, neither fair nor foul. For those interested, comparative charts can be downloaded <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2506763/2011-04-17-turning-ability-pdf?da=y">here</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-92090201031497752612010-10-14T02:33:00.001+01:002010-10-23T20:02:03.022+01:00[Review] Blood Moon Rising<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=83083"><b>Blood Moon Rising</b></a></div>
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<i>Authors</i>: Peter C. Spahn.</div>
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<i>Contents</i>: 32 portable document format black and white pages, 1 title page, 29 pages of adventure, 1 page of advertisements, and 1 open game license page.</div>
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<i>Publisher</i>: Small Niche Games.</div>
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<i>Product Code</i>: SNGLLA001.</div>
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<i>Retail Price</i>: $4.95.</div>
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<i>Overview</i></div>
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An adventure for 3-6 characters of levels 1-3, <i>Blood Moon Rising </i>takes place in and around the small village of Garanton. It consists of a description of the settlement, short history of the locality in which it is situated, a five day festival itinerary, and three short encounter areas that become of interest during the course of the celebrations. The electronic product appears to use relatively large verdana font and spacing, which is easily legible, and presents the text in two columns with half inch margins and a header and footer decorated with a narrow celtic border pattern. Each page contains about 600 words, giving the whole document a total count approaching 18,000 or so. There are four maps, one of the village and three of the encounter areas, and four illustrations, the best of which is reproduced on the front cover and has a very gothic feel. Of the other three, there is a very dark and almost indiscernible image of warrior with an axe, a crudely drawn moon symbol, and what appears to be an image culled from a medieval manuscript of two Germanic knights duelling. The writing is clear and workmanlike, rarely dwelling needlessly on ancillary topics or over lengthy descriptions, which makes for agreeable and uncluttered reading.</div>
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Whilst the method by which the player characters are introduced to the village of Garanton is left up to the game master, the adventure unavoidably takes place against the backdrop of the five-day Feast of Saint Garan, whose tomb is nearby. The events and random encounters likely to take place during the course of the festival take up eleven pages, and the six pages of character descriptions and statistics towards the end of the module largely pertain to those individuals associated with these. As the festival progresses it becomes increasingly apparent that something untoward is occurring in the vicinity of the settlement, the result of the excavations of an inquisitive soul, whose actions accidentally reopen a portal to another plane, unleashing a plague of "night demons" and result in his own disappearance. Meanwhile, a number of orcs are attempting to open the long sealed tomb of Saint Garan, having been set to the task by their shaman, prompted by signs, portents and visions related to the impending release of the night demons. Active and motivated adventurers may drive off the orcs, uncover the secret of the saint in his tomb, reclose the portal and rescue its hapless victim, not to mention become embroiled in acts of murder and thievery in the village itself.</div>
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This is an adventure with a strong timeline, and keeping the action moving over the course of several days of game time will require more than the contents of the module, even with its robust selection of random and scripted encounters. However, there is plenty to build on, and it should pose little problem for a seasoned game master acquainted with settlement based adventures. The broad selection of non-player characters is diverse and occasionally amusing, such as "Big Annamar", a large barbarian woman with an affection for “little folk” and a poor reaction to rejection. Opportunities for role-playing abound, particularly with some of the relatively unsavoury rival adventuring groups present for the festival. The local inhabitants are of similar interest, and the larger world context is hinted at in the fact that there are no clerics amongst the local priests, all of whom are presented as fighters. Should the player characters be successful in putting an end to the night demon attacks, the village of Garanton would make a good base for further adventures, and in the traditional style it is hinted that the encounter areas already discovered may lead to larger underground complexes with greater evils to be faced and treasures to be won.</div>
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<i>Technicalities and Errors</i></div>
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Happily there are very few editing errors to be found in this module, and it is particularly pleasing to see a true minus used over the less aesthetically pleasing, but more usual, hyphen. The only typographical errors that were noticeable was the occasional missing space as in the case of "battle axe+1”"on page twenty-four, but it seems to be applied so consistently in the text that this may be a house style, though it looks ungainly to my eye and a space is used on page eighteen outside of a statistics block. As noted above, an experienced game master should have no problem keeping the pacing, but there should perhaps have been some advice for the neophyte. The maps are not pretty and two appear to be crammed into the columns, but they seem to be useable enough, though the scale of one square to twenty feet is perhaps slightly overly ambitious. Whilst in line with the random charts in the rulebooks, the amount of treasure available does seem rather a lot, resulting in very quick advancement for low level adventurers, and it might have been a good idea for Spahn to have addressed this in some way. Finally, the name of the new monster seems rather unimaginative; "night gaunts" immediately leapt to mind as an alternative, but others can no doubt do better!</div>
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<i>Conclusion</i></div>
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Non-dungeon based adventures are difficult to write, as they lack the structure that a restricted environment provides. Spahn has taken a reasonable approach here in using a timeline to substitute for that lack and has created an interesting locale for the players to explore. The night demon attacks are a little flat as written, but their execution is really largely in the hands of the game master anyway. Where this adventure falls short is when it comes to dungeon exploration, and that is admittedly a subjective criticism given the nature of the module, but expanded subterranean areas beyond the sparse four pages provided could only have improved the whole, even if left relatively incomplete. By the same token, more information on the plane of the night demons would have been welcome, particularly what lies beyond their mausoleum sanctuary. Of course, the inclusion of such additional material might also have driven the price beyond the target range, and there is little that could be reasonably omitted that was provided, save perhaps the details of the back story. All in all, this is a well thought out adventure, well edited, and worth the price. Last of all, it is worth noting that player characters who do too well may find an unexpected drawback in the prize! </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-45078414482420585022010-08-28T02:50:00.001+01:002010-08-30T20:11:48.229+01:00[Review] AA6 The Chasm of the Damned<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Sc6_7oK_apI/AAAAAAAAACw/1XleD9prNGs/s1600-h/XRP6106.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318399241087838866" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Sc6_7oK_apI/AAAAAAAAACw/1XleD9prNGs/s320/XRP6106.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.xrpshop.citymax.com/catalog/item/3906568/6129141.htm" style="font-weight: bold;">The Chasm of the Damned</a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Author:</span> James C. Boney<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Contents:</span> 16 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 13 pages of adventure, 1 page of OSRIC advertisements, and 1 open game license page.<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Publisher:</span> Expeditious Retreat Press<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Product Code:</span> XRP6106<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Retail Price:</span> £7.00 or $12.00<br />
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<i>Overview</i><br />
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An adventure for 4-6 characters of levels 6-10, the <i>Chasm of the Damned </i>consists of eight relatively short dungeons, each accessed from the titular location, some of which are interlinked. As with previous offerings in the series, the physical product has a glossy cover stock and is clearly printed on durable paper with black and white interior maps, but with a spine that appears to be susceptible to wear. The cover art is by Bradley McDevitt and appeals to the traditional aesthetic associated with the game, as well as being reflective of the subject matter. Both the front and back illustrations depict atmospheric scenes from the module that are easily recognisable. There are six interior pieces by John Bingham, including a particularly evocative depiction of a new monster that features in the adventure, and as with the cover illustrations almost all self evidently refer specifically to the content of the module. With regard to the writing, James Boney is typically economical and clear, rarely dwelling overlong on a description, and preferring to provide only enough to spur the imagination of the reader, which is of course in keeping with the methodology of traditional swords & sorcery adventure module design.</div>
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What has earned the chasm its ominous appellation is that it is a well known but randomly located plane shifting occurrence, appearing regularly every thirty-seven years for four and a half days. Rumours abound that great fortunes are hidden in the caverns it harbours, which is a natural draw for adventurers of all sorts, but commensurate dangers await and few are said to escape unscathed. The module presents two possible ways in which to get the player characters involved. In the primary scenario, it is common knowledge that the chasm is due to appear again and they are competing with several non-player character groups to locate and raid the caverns before the allotted time is up. As the alternative scenario, it is suggested that the player characters are employed by an enterprising cleric or magician who has determined the location the chasm will appear at in advance, and are engaged to prepare an expedition in secret. Of course, if they are incautious there is an ever increasing chance that a local guild of thieves or assassins will get wind of what they are up to and lay an ambush for the treasure laden party upon their return. A collection of rumours of varying degrees of veracity are provided for the party to glean about the chasm in advance.</div>
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There is a map of the chasm provided; it is about a mile in length and divided into three levels, each of which has access points to two or more of the eight dungeons. Several additional access points are provided in order to alert the game master to the possibility of expanding the chasm. The caverns entered from the first level are fairly straightforward, offering some relatively standard monster encounters, a few strange objects to interact with, the opportunity to rescue and recruit some non-player character associates, and the possibility of negotiating for a place to rest. From the second level, the caverns accessed are stranger and feature three new monster types denoted bogwings, madsome gargoyles, and faceless ones. One area is home to a powerful middle eastern inspired character known as the Gray Sultan, who has quite a lot of potential for a thoughtful game master. There are also some more familiar monsters that may be encountered or avoided as fortune dictates. Should the player characters reach the final level of the chasm, which is somewhat inaccessible, they will have the opportunity to explore the last set of caverns and uncover the mystery of the chasm, perhaps earning themselves a powerful enemy or patron in the process.</div>
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<i>Technicalities and Errors</i><br />
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Besides the occasional editing error, such as "shortsword+1" (p. 6), and the somewhat vexing, but hardly unusual and in any case consistently applied, tendency to use compound words such as "chainmail" and "shortbow" there is little to complain about. The use of hyphens for minuses (e.g. p. 10) is worth commenting on, since a true minus does appear (p. 14) and I would like to see that practice extended to all instances. Oddities like "2-4 +2 turns" (p. 3) occasionally crop up, and mixed use of terms like "footman’s mace" (p. 6), "mace", and "war hammer" (p. 14) are maybe questionable in the context, since it seems inconsistent to specify the former, but not indicate whether a shield is intended to be small or large (p. 14). Hardly an issue for any game master more than passingly familiar with the system, but worth mentioning all the same if simply overlooked. The large efreeti bottle (p. 10) is also of interest, since it is not bolded, leaving the reader to wonder at its significance, but perhaps that is the intent. On the whole, the module is an improvement stylistically on its predecessors, suffering from fewer inconsistencies and hopefully future instalments will continue to ensure there are very few nits to pick.</div>
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<i>Conclusion</i><br />
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<i>Chasm of the Damned</i> is a good example of James Boney’s work. It has a strong and innovative adventure hook, is engagingly written, and features plenty of interesting encounters. As with his previous modules, there is a tendency towards the eclectic, with a number of seemingly randomly selected monsters appearing as the result of what amount to traps, and no fear of including creatures capable of draining life energy levels. The author shows excellent understanding of the system, and knows where to provide mechanisms for adjudicating otherwise undefined actions, as well as knowledge of how elements of the adventure are likely to interact with typical and experienced players. His modules feel like they are very much in the tradition of their predecessors without being simple retreads of the past, and have a definite identity of their own. That said, this adventure was less tightly themed than his previous two, and ran the risk of amounting to a number of dislocated set piece encounters. A more fully integrated theme and, as always, more content would have improved the whole, but it is nonetheless a very good module. </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-38143761834384124122010-08-20T04:30:00.002+01:002010-08-22T14:25:40.080+01:00[Article] Henchmen & Hirelings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Whilst a player in a swords & sorcery adventure game typically generates and plays the role of only one character at a time in the context of a single campaign, he is also well advised to recruit hirelings and henchmen into his service when possible. These individuals provide the character with additional resources, look to his interests when he is unable, and may eventually serve as replacement player-characters in the event of his retirement, incapacitation, disappearance, or death. Clearly, then, it can be desirable for a player to enlist both hirelings and henchmen, but there is also a downside. Such characters are a drain on resources, requiring payment, upkeep, and a part of the treasure seized, not to mention being apportioned a share of the experience points gained. This last aspect is often particularly contentious amongst players of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, since the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> implies that hirelings count for the division of experience, yet gain no advantage from it, whilst henchmen gain only half the benefit, and that amounts to "wasted" experience points (DMG, p. 85). Of course, the root of the idea is that player-characters are awarded experience in proportion to the difficulty of gaining them.</div>
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In the original <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> game (1974), there is only a brief mention in <i>Men & Magic</i> (p. 11) of the difference between ordinary hirelings and "hirelings of unusual nature", but the idea that charisma limits the number of the latter, whilst the former can be employed in unrestricted numbers, is present. Even a player character with a charisma of one is entitled to enlist a single henchman, whilst an eighteen allows for up to twelve. The text notes that players "will, in all probability, seek to hire Fighting-Men, Magic-Users, and/or Clerics in order to strengthen their roles in the campaign", and also that "charisma will aid a character in attracting various monsters to his service." Further elucidation is provided on the following pages (pp. 12-13), where it is explained that monsters with the same basic alignment as the player-character may be "lured into service", but otherwise they may be charmed or subdued. In this context, it is also made clear that men count as monsters and that high-level characters can be enlisted in a similar way. Furthermore, subdued monsters can be sold, presumably even men if there is a market for them. A loyalty check is made for groups or individuals so enlisted, which affects all subsequent morale rolls.</div>
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Unsurprisingly, these somewhat brief guidelines were expanded for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> (1979) and a formal distinction drawn between hirelings and henchmen. The former group was subdivided into "standard" and "expert" types, the idea being that experts were more suitable for employment after the construction of a stronghold. That these included the various mercenaries available seems to contrast with the idea put forth in the original game that a player-character might wish to hire such a band to "participate in and share the profits from some adventure" (M&M, p. 12). Nonetheless, some provision was made for recruiting men-at-arms to participate in the danger of exploring a dungeon, though in restricted numbers, and the random non-player-character adventuring parties generated using the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> are noted as containing such hirelings only on the upper levels of the dungeon (DMG, p. 175). Subsequent versions of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, as well as the second edition of the advanced game, downplayed and discouraged the use of mercenaries outside of the context of strongholds and domain management. This coincided, it is often noted, with the increased emphasis on small parties of four to six player-characters. </div>
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As with hirelings, henchmen are divided into two types for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, which is to say standard and exceptional. The former are down on their luck adventurers of first to third level, arriving with little but themselves by way of possessions, whilst the latter are higher level characters who may agree to become permanent or temporary henchmen, depending on their level relative to that of the player-character seeking their service. Alternatively, they may agree to become associates, which is presumably similar to the relationship between player-characters. Indeed, the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> notes that henchmen operated independently tend to become associates, or even rivals, of the player-character (p. 38). The potential for a henchmen to become an associate or rival is somewhat analogous to the possibility of a player character being permanently rendered a zero level character as a result of life energy level drain (DMG, p. 119) or of the textually unmentioned, but otherwise well attested, capacity of a zero level and classless hireling to receive a battlefield promotion and attain the rank of henchman. Movement between hireling, henchman and associate, then, is a feature of the game.</div>
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The concept of a non-player-character associated adventurer is interesting, as when a player fails to turn up (and even the best campaigns invariably suffer from scheduling issues sometimes) this is what the character they would usually play essentially becomes, assuming some alternative device is not employed. It is also possible that a player whose character is slain, incapacitated, lost, or simply not present at the scene of action, will be asked to take the part of a non-player-character, such as an associate. This recourse seems most successful with experienced players, as they are usually better able to divorce the persona and aims of one character from another, or even capable of running multiple characters at once, but it is also a good exercise for neophytes and often a welcome change of pace. In the <i>Shadow Peaks</i> campaign there was a considerable amount of role-changing as player-characters were frequently incapacitated or removed from the action, and there were often several associated non-player-character adventurers accompanying the party. Such individuals were recruited to assist in difficult expeditions, allotted equal shares of treasure and received full experience, but had their own agenda.</div>
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Since each of these had their own personality and opinion of the party, the players grew to like and trust some of them more than others, which was rather gratifying. In fact, they had their beginning as the nine pregenerated player-characters for the <i>Twisted Tower of Mordras</i> introductory adventure (and can be downloaded <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=2168874&da=y">here</a>), but ended up as an integral part of the campaign, supplying the players with information and many role-playing opportunities, as well as accompanying them on adventures from time to time. For their part, the players seemed interested in the fortunes of these characters, even seemingly trying to impress them from time to time (their own reputation was a frequent source of concern to them). This did not discourage them from taking on hirelings and henchmen, though, so the party was usually comprised of four to six player-characters, two or three henchmen, two or more associates, and half a dozen hirelings. In fact, the difficulty of their adventures encouraged it. In retrospect it is interesting that at the time it seemed unusual to me, because my earliest campaigns were very similar, but at some point four to six characters became my normal expectation.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-22360979342110778612010-08-14T01:30:00.004+01:002011-04-11T02:48:41.396+01:00[Article] Thieving Ability<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Analogous to, and in contrast with, fighting ability, the concept of thieving ability usually refers to a discrete subset of "skills" typically only available to thieves, and the probability of their success. In the first edition <i>Player’s Handbook</i> it is referred to when describing the limitations of the multi-class thief (pp. 16 and 33), indicating the reduced capability of the assassin in the same regard (pp. 28-29), the monk (pp. 30-31), and the limitations on the bard (pp. 117-118). By contrast, the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> uses thieving ability in the sense of thief experience level when referring to life energy level drain (p. 119). A rendering of Conan as an <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> character, authored by Gygax and published in <i>Dragon</i> #36 (April, 1980, pp. 10-11), makes use of both terms in the wider and narrower senses, also noting that his exceptional ability to <i>move silently</i> and <i>hide in shadows</i> (which Conan can naturally accomplish as though a tenth and fourth level thief, respectively) allows him to surprise opponents fifty percent of the time. So, as with fighting ability, the term appears to be employed loosely, but can be usefully applied to the collection of ten abilities that differentiate the thief class from the other three.</div>
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It is worth considering that there are a number of objections to the thief class, these often being rooted in, or deriving legitimacy from, the fact that the thief was not included in the original three booklets that composed the <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> adventure game, but was introduced only afterwards with the <i>Greyhawk</i> supplement. These run from at best perceiving the class as superfluous to requirements, to at worst as a usurper of activities that ought to lie in the domain of the fighter. In fact, though, as soon as one steps away from the simple abstract dichotomy of the fighter and the magician, the result is intrusion or surpassing of a sort. Moreover, and as Robert Fisher pointed out to me several years ago by ways of his <a href="http://web.fisher.cx/robert/infogami/On_thief_skills_in_classic_D&D">writings on the subject</a>, thief abilities are not just colourfully named skills, but frequently duplicate spell effects, such as <i>silence</i>, <i>invisibility</i>, <i>knock</i>, <i>find traps</i>, and <i>spider climb</i>. The fighter class lost nothing in this regard, even if the perception was created that they could not be stealthy or search for traps. Indeed, it seems to me that the quartet of classes, fighter, magician, cleric, and thief, are fundamental to the identity of the game in a way that the subclasses and, even the races, are not.</div>
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Whilst objections on the grounds of aesthetics or misunderstandings have little weight, a more substantial criticism of the thief class is its relative weakness in comparison to the other three. As has been demonstrated elsewhere, the starting fighting ability and progression of the thief has varied across editions, and even the relatively speedy level advancement that he enjoys will not serve to make him the equal of the fighter nor often that of the cleric. Much like the magician and cleric, then, we must look to the special abilities of the class in order to seek justification for its inclusion. Unfortunately, the probabilities of success for most thief abilities start out exceedingly low and then rise rapidly until almost certain by around twelfth level in the original and classic versions of the game. For the first edition of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, the starting probabilities were slightly increased and then the rate of advancement reduced by a relatively more significant amount, so that by the same point several abilities compared very unfavourably with earlier versions. With second edition an entirely new approach was taken making use of point allocation so that the player determined the probabilities within certain defined limits.</div>
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The benefit of this approach was that a single ability might start at around forty percent, higher if racial and dexterity modifiers were favourable, and be increased by up to fifteen percent at each level. The obvious problem with this was that the abilities of any given thief were unpredictable, depending on what the player had decided to specialise in (or not, as the case might be) and relatively less useful abilities were sacrificed in favour of high scores in more desirable ones. Less obviously, the allocation of points substantially increased character creation time, most importantly for non-player characters, and required an entire extra statistic line for each individual entry. This may seem like a small price to pay for a resolution to the problem of the underpowered thief, but it is more of a redistribution of power than it is an actual solution to the underlying issue, which is that the class starts out with very limited usefulness and then rapidly rises in capability in uneven steps, much like the non-advanced fighter does with regard to fighting ability. A comparison of the various approaches taken to thief abilities in different editions and versions can be downloaded in pdf format <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2153746/2011-04-10-thieving-ability-pdf?da=y">here</a>.</div>
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However, there is one major difference between the first edition version of the thief and all of the others, and that is the seeming lack of a limit on the number of times a thief can try some abilities. In the case of <i>move silently</i>, <i>hide in shadows</i>, and <i>climb walls</i> there are obvious immediate repercussions for failure, but none that prevent further attempts under the same conditions, assuming life still remains of course! The asterisks in the <i>Greyhawk</i> supplement indicate that only <i>hear noise</i> may be retried, but the actual note only refers to <i>pick pockets</i>, so it could conceivably be an editing error (pp. 11-12). The rules for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> put no absolute limit on the number of times that characters may listen, nor seemingly on the number of times they may attempt to open doors, or search for secret doors (DMG, pp. 60 & 97). In particular they contrast with <i>Greyhawk</i> by explicitly allowing repeated attempts at picking a pocket (DMG, p. 19). On the other hand, more than one attempt to open a lock is prohibited and restricted to one attempt per thief (PHB, p. 28). More significant is the time consumed for each attempt, as this increases the probability of being interrupted by wandering monsters.</div>
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For my <i>Silver Blade</i> campaign the concept of thieving ability has suggested a different approach to the problem. Many tasks are rated by thieving ability (or thief level), so certain secret doors can only be found by a third level thief, for example, and the same applies to hearing noises, opening locks, as well as finding and disabling traps. In some cases no ability check would be required, in others repeated checks permitted, though obviously the dice roll must be hidden from the players so that they remain uncertain as to whether they have failed or there is simply nothing to be found. The probability used is a base thirty percent plus five percent per level, though it can be adjusted if the situation requires. With regard to stealth, lightly or unencumbered parties have an increased three-in-six probability of achieving success, medium encumbered parties two-in-six, and heavily encumbered parties a reduced one-in-six chance. A magically silenced party, silently moving and lightly armoured thief, elf, scout or ranger would thus have a four-in-six probability of surprising enemies. I remain in two minds as to whether to follow the example of Conan in forgoing the move silently roll in favour of overall increased surprise.</div>
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The “great wheel” cosmology of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> was not something that particularly concerned me until the introduction of the <i>Planescape</i> campaign setting, and even then its impact was confined largely to extra-planar adventuring within official game worlds and products. As written, the “blood war” seemed an enticing concept, but the differentiation between demons (or daemons) and devils was not something that I cared for. Nor can I say that the four elements as discrete planes of existence really made much sense to me conceptually. Whilst the illustration that adorns the cover of the first edition <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i>, depicting adventurers doing battle with an efreet on the Elemental Plane of Fire in the vicinity of the City of Brass, which “can be seen floating over a flame-swept sea of oil”, is evocative, it hardly speaks to a realm of existence primarily comprised of the element of fire. Indeed, such an idealisation of the elemental planes of existence is less than readily imaginable, mainly because the four elements hardly describe everything that there might be in existence, nor clearly define what exactly they do encapsulate. This, of course, led to such things as the para-elemental planes in second edition.</div>
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Elementals as monsters are initially found in the <i>Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement</i>, using the traditional earth, air, fire, and water typology. Interestingly, at this juncture air elementals were almost entirely synonymous with djinn, and fire elementals with efreet. That is to say, they were imagined as conjured spirits closely associated with a particular element, but not necessarily exclusively comprised of that element in the way they literally later came to be; they were also divided into two classes, those subject to flame (earth and fire) and those subject to lighting (air and water). All four types are impervious to normal attacks, but have different movement rates and fighting strengths. The air elemental has a move of twenty-four, fights as four light horse, and adds two to its dice score in aerial combat; the water elemental has a move of six on land and eighteen in water, fights as four light horse on land, but as four heavy horse in water as well as adding two to its dice score in such combat; the earth elemental has a move of six, fights as four heavy horse, and adds one to its dice score against earth-bound opponents; the fire elemental has a move of twelve, fights as four medium horse, and adds two to its dice score against fire using opponents.</div>
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It would seem that the fire elemental is the odd man out in the above schema, as its abilities rely not on the environment, but the attack forms of the enemy. By the time of <i>Monsters & Treasure</i> (1974) djinn and efreet were separated out from the elementals. The elementals were rendered more powerful than previously in terms of hit dice, which vary in number between eight, twelve and sixteen, depending by what means they were summoned. As before, the combat effectiveness of the earth, air, and water elementals increases if fighting in a favourable environment, but the conditions for the fire elemental are reversed so that it does more damage against normal opponents than against fire using enemies. This suggested that affinity for fire made one less subject to its attacks, rather than more vulnerable as a result of using its element. Movement rates remain the same except that the speed of the air elemental is increased to thirty-six. As with <i>Chain Mail</i>, elementals will run amok if not successfully controlled. The advanced versions of elementals are very similar, the main difference being the requirement to use magical weapons +2 or greater in order to be able to harm them.</div>
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Many other creatures are native to the elemental planes, and the <i>Monster Manual</i> alludes to the existence of beings of greater and lesser power or intelligence not documented, but the elementals seem to be the “purest” standard form. However, the idea of creatures and places that purely exist of one element is more limiting than it needs to be, and when it comes down to it fire seems fundamentally different from the other three, in that it is largely energy rather than substance. In perhaps pseudo-philosophical terms, earth, air, and water can all be hot or cold, and their form may change by the application or absence of energy; creatures eat, drink, and breathe, and they are hot or cold, but energy is active on each, rather than separate. At first it seemed that an “ice elemental” might fill the gap, but frozen water is not an opposite of fire. Reading around the subject it seemed that perhaps Buddhism might suggest a solution in the form of void as a fifth element, but that has more in common with the Aristotelian conception of aether as a sort of heavenly substance than with the presence or absence of energy. Indeed what is translated as void from the Japanese godai (五大) system is better understood as a form of divine or pure otherworldly energy.</div>
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Nonetheless, the more prevalent usage of void and connotation of cold suggests another possibility within the cosmology of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, which is to say the negative energy plane. Indeed, it is possible to conceive of the planar layout as a three-part cylinder with the energy planes extending it in the two opposite directions, negative and positive. These would not represent physical places, however, but rather how negative and positive energy might relate to the other three elements, or states of being. The City of Brass could be located on a plane of existence suited to seas of fire, pitiless wastelands, and dry, hot air; an environment typically hospitable only for certain sorts of otherworldly beings, but visitable by those with the means, or misfortune, to find their way thither. Inhabitants of such a place would not normally be natural creatures, but rather spirits of varying powers, whether diabolic, angelic or somewhere between; garbed in terrestrial raiment, they may appear to be composed chiefly of earth, water, or air (or metal or wood, for that matter), but their true form might appear more like a burning white fire or an icy black void. The idea is that the physical manifestation of the spirit need not be a reflection of its nature.</div>
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These thoughts are admittedly incomplete ramblings, and present their own problems in equating heat with life and cold with unlife, whilst associating them with good and evil respectively. In its own way it makes sense for otherworldly evil beings to be closely associated with negative energy in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, since clerics are able to turn or command them. But, by that logic, an evil cleric ought to be able to “turn” living creatures and good clerics be able to “command” them, though I suppose that is not too far from the truth. Still, part of the point is to allow elementals to be potentially more than simply the brutish personification of one of four elements and become more akin to the djinn or efreet otherwise closely associated with them. Whatever the case, a plane uncompromisingly comprised of a single element does not represent much of an adventuring locale, nor does it seem to correspond with renderings of the elemental planes, so that concept can be usefully discarded. As envisioned here, then, a void elemental would be a neutrally aligned spirit comprised of negative energy, exuding cold, and perhaps manifesting as an icy blue-black flame; a draft version of this monster can be downloaded <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=2136037&da=y">here</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-67325780465369938802010-07-31T04:20:00.003+01:002011-04-16T06:31:03.008+01:00[Article] Fighting Ability<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Also known as “fighting capability” and “combat ability”, fighting ability in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> is used in the general sense to denote the combat abilities of a fighter and also in the specific sense as a measure of the probability of a character scoring a hit in combat. That is to say, a character with a fighting ability of six is sometimes said to fight as though a sixth level fighter, but this usually does not encompass the hit die size, saving throws, and rate of attack that the fighter class enjoys. For instance, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Boot Hill</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Gamma World</span> conversions in the first edition <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeon Master’s Guide</span> distinguish fighting ability from saving throws and hit dice, but seemingly not from attack rate. On the other hand, the “experience” entry in the glossary uses fighting ability in the more specific sense of an increase in effectiveness on the attack matrices, and that is often the usual sense intended. Interestingly, this statistic has not remained very consistent across editions, neither with regard to classes nor monsters. The cause can probably be traced to its occurrence as a bridge between <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span>, where fighting ability is expressed in multiplications of “men” and in terms like “hero” and “wizard”.</div>
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In the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement</span> it is stated that a hero has the fighting ability of four figures and a superhero that of eight figures, which is fairly straightforward, the value of a figure depending on armament; all other fantasy unit classifications, including wizards, have specific ratings. For <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span>, ten levels of fighting ability were allocated to the fighter, corresponding to ten experience levels. At first level a fighter was rated as “man +1”, at second level “2 men +1”, at third level “3 men or hero −1”, and so on. The exact significance of the “+1” at levels one and two remain elusive, but magicians, clerics, and thieves all start out with the rating “man” before advancing to “man +1” at level two. By way of analogue, monsters simply attack as their hit dice, with any plus or minus added to one roll, as explained on page six of <span style="font-style: italic;">Monsters & Treasure</span>, meaning that a goblin (HD 1−1) attacks once and deducts one from the roll, whilst an ogre (HD 4+1) attacks four times and adds one to a single roll. This only applies when they are fighting “normal men” or the equivalent, however, and the fantasy combat table is used whenever more powerful types face off against one another.</div>
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The alternative combat system takes a different approach, with fighters advancing in ability every three levels, clerics and thieves every four levels, and magicians every five levels; normal men are treated as first level fighters, and this first bracket is equivalent to THAC0 19. Similarly, orcs (HD 1) and goblins are rated at the same level of fighting ability. With <span style="font-style: italic;">Swords & Spells</span> this was changed with normal men, orcs and goblins being rolled back to THAC0 20, though first level magicians, clerics and thieves remained equivalent to the fighter. This also resulted in monster THAC0 being capped at ten on reaching fourteen hit dice, as opposed to nine in the original game, and reflected a one-hundred percent success rate against armour class nine. It is unlikely to be a coincidence that this was also the THAC0 of fighters of levels thirteen to fifteen, though they were themselves capped at nineteenth level with a THAC0 of six. The classic versions of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> (B/X, BECMI, and the simulacrum <span style="font-style: italic;">Labyrinth Lord</span>) adopt the change made to normal men, but class everything up to one hit die as THAC0 19 and do not distinguish between fighters and the other classes with regards to starting fighting ability.</div>
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With the first edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span>, though, there was a rethinking of the situation, so that first level thieves, magicians, and normal men were classified as equivalent to monsters of lower than goblin fighting ability, which is to say THAC0 21; fighters and clerics were rolled back to THAC0 20, equivalent to a goblin, whilst orcs and other single hit die creatures were classified as having the original THAC0 19 once common to all. Even with their relatively speedy level advancement, it appears that Gygax calculated the fighting ability of thieves so that it would never overtake that of clerics with the same experience point total, a significant demotion. The cleric, thief and magician could advance until they had a THAC0 of nine, ten, and eleven, respectively, but the fighter could continue to advance in fighting ability up to level seventeen, when he achieved a THAC0 of four. Despite a strong start, monsters were capped at sixteen hit dice with a THAC0 of seven, though for every “plus three” after their hit dice they moved up a bracket. The intent seems to have been to make fighters stronger at higher levels, but also make all classes somewhat weaker at lower levels relative to monsters.</div>
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That the result was not very satisfactory to Gygax seems fairly obvious from the changes he instituted in <span style="font-style: italic;">Unearthed Arcana</span>, particularly the introduction of weapon specialisation. With second edition all the classes were brought into line with goblins at first level, as well as men-at-arms and all other monsters of less than one hit die. The fighting ability of thieves was increased in advancement granularity at a ratio of 1:2 to levels, with the result that they became erratically related to clerics, sometimes ahead, sometimes equal and sometimes behind. Similarly, the fighting ability of magicians was increased in advancement rate at a ratio 1:3 to levels, but with less noticeable effect. The advancement rate of monsters was also made cleaner by hit die, though for some reason did not take the obvious step of 1:1 granularity, which OSRIC eventually adopted. With the virtual integration of weapon specialisation into the second edition fighter class his previous ability to attack as many creatures of less than one hit die (one hit die or less in the original game) as he had levels was eclipsed and that last vestige of the multiple men approach taken by <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail</span> was removed from the default rules and became truly optional.</div>
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It has often seemed to me that the system can be improved upon without going much beyond any of the paradigms already explored. That a fighter ought to start with a better fighting ability than the other classes seems desirable and the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail</span> approach suggests as the equal of a 1+1 hit die monster. Considering the frequent complaints about the combat viability of low level thieves, it would also be a small matter to return them to their previous standing relative to clerics. So, if all classes start off at level one with a fighting ability of one (FA 1) and if this is equivalent also to a single hit die monster, then the rest almost writes itself. HD 1−1 indicates FA 0, equivalent to level zero, and HD 1+1 indicates FA 2, with fighters similarly having the equivalent +1 to hit mirroring the effects of weapon specialisation in that regard. In fact, HD 1+1 could also denote FA 1(2) with +1 damage and the standard statistic shorthand of the game would be largely unaffected. Advancement for each class would be 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 with respect to fighters, clerics as well as thieves, and lastly magicians. An overview of the changes between editions and comparison with the potential aforementioned alternative can be downloaded <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2117265/2011-04-16-fighting-ability-pdf?da=y">here</a>.</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-81026837556796883452010-07-19T02:40:00.002+01:002010-08-23T02:06:57.734+01:00[Article] Yggsburgh Coinage<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/TEOuKmwZGFI/AAAAAAAAAFg/CnYOLbjeGuE/s1600/Gold+Coin+of+Greyhawk.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495427467547580498" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/TEOuKmwZGFI/AAAAAAAAAFg/CnYOLbjeGuE/s320/Gold+Coin+of+Greyhawk.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/TDkVyR22hhI/AAAAAAAAAFY/jjlo6A1yHNA/s1600/Gold+Coin+of+Greyhawk.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a><br />
One of the more troublesome aspects of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Castle Zagyg</span> campaign setting is that its economy seems to exist in isolation from both that of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> (any iteration) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Castles & Crusades</span>. As I understand it, the underlying reason for this was that Gygax approached the design and development of Yggsburgh from the point of view of his <span style="font-style: italic;">Lejendary Adventure</span> system and <span style="font-style: italic;">Fantasy Worlds</span> series, which is to say he used nonstandard terminology for the equipment lists and assessed everything in dollars. The issue was further problematised during editing by the erroneous conversion of dollars to gold coins at a rate twenty-five times that intended, and the smoothing over of any resulting inconsistencies. So, for example, a long sword at Elite Arms & Armour is valued at 4,200 gold pieces in the Yggsburgh campaign setting book, but was supposed to cost only 168 gold pieces (or $3,360 in the original manuscript). This compares quite disproportionately with <span style="font-style: italic;">Castles & Crusades</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span>, where a long sword costs a mere 15 gold pieces, but it is perhaps an unfair comparison given that hafted weapons at the same location cost generally less than 2 gold pieces at the correct price (that is less than $40 in the original manuscript).<div style="text-align: justify;">
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At first it seemed simply a matter of going through the text and correcting the numbers, as the conversion error was apparently consistently applied throughout. However, because the setting book was only meant to be a starting point, it being expected that the game master would add detail either from his own imagination or using the then projected twelve town expansions, some frame of reference is necessary, and neither the listed prices in Gary Gygax’s <span style="font-style: italic;">World Builder</span>, nor those in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Castles & Crusades</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> rulebooks, accord with what is found in Yggsburgh. Frustratingly, the town expansions that did see publication refer the reader to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Castles & Crusades</span> equipment lists, which even after a degree of conversion are wholly unsuitable. The only really viable solutions are to either discard the <span style="font-style: italic;">Castle Zagyg</span> price lists in favour of those of another system, or else to attempt some sort of integration. Whichever of these is attempted, it is first desirable to correct all of the erroneous calculations in the Yggsburgh text in order to get an idea of what the original manuscript intended; having had cause to do so myself I have made the results available for download <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/726095/2010-07-18-true-yggsburgh-prices-pdf?da=y">here</a>.</div>
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Whatever his ability as a game designer and author, numismatics appears to have been of only passing interest to Gygax. The exchange rates of gold to silver he provided for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Castle Zagyg </span>campaign setting are the same as those that appear in his <span style="font-style: italic;">Fantasy Worlds</span> series, and according to those volumes are based on renaissance exchange rates. Unfortunately, there is little to support this assertion, possibly his understanding of inflation and coinage for that period was flawed, but it is also notable that the ratio looks very similar to the contemporary market at the time of writing (about 50:1 silver to gold), which may have influenced his thinking. As with <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span>, Gygax envisioned the “gold piece” of Yggsburgh to be quite heavy (437.5 grains) by comparison with medieval coins, perhaps modelling them on the extremely rare late fifteenth century gold double sovereign (480 grains), the more well known silver guldengroschen (491 grains), or the sixteenth century silver thaler (450 grains). He also suggests that smaller coins might circulate, perhaps worth a half or a tenth of a gold piece, which rather makes one wish he had stuck more consistently to decimals for the purposes of game play.</div>
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It is worth noting at this point that several different exchange rates and coin weights have been used in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span>. The original game (1974) used a 1:10:50 ratio of gold to silver to copper, whilst <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span> (1979) used a 1:20:200 ratio. It was not until the Moldvay edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> (1981) that the more straightforward 1:10:100 ratio was adopted, which was rather sensibly embraced for the second edition of the advanced game (1989) and later for D20/3e. Encumbrance was originally measured in coins, and it was strongly implied that one coin was equal to a tenth of a pound (700 grains), even though also stated that the measurement encompassed bulk as well as weight. When second edition switched to using pounds directly as the measure of encumbrance the weight of the standard coin was also set at a fiftieth of a pound (140 grains), accompanied by a brief and somewhat inaccurate overview of ancient and medieval monetary systems. These largish coins would be roughly equivalent in size to the ancient stater, tetradrachm, or aureus, which would in turn be roughly twice the size of the drachme, denarius, or solidus. A brief and incomplete overview is available for download <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=2075699&da=y">here</a>.</div>
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The fact of the matter is that ancient and medieval coins could come in extremely variable sizes and denominations, not to mention purity. Whilst a weight of 1-10 grams seems to have been the most common range for coins intended for circulation, the gold piece need not be regarded as anything more than a unit of account, which is how the dollar is treated in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Lejendary Adventure</span> system. Exchange rates are less readily dealt with; although a 1:20 gold to silver ratio is not entirely unreasonable, a 1:50 ratio seems faintly ridiculous for any setting looking to evoke the ancient or medieval world. As a compromise between verisimilitude, aesthetics, and simplicity of play the 1:10:100 ratio seems the most suitable. In the same spirit, the default coin would be best fixed at either ten or one-hundred to the pound. That ten to the pound is probably unsuitable is evident from a brief survey of the jewellery and other items of precious metal that appear in prominent <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> modules. As early as <span style="font-style: italic;">G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief</span> we are faced with a belt buckle (albeit giant sized) specified as containing one-hundred gold pieces worth of gold (ten pounds) and a large golden hairpin worth five-hundred gold pieces (fifty pounds).</div>
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None of the above is intended to invalidate any given approach to coinage in the East Mark or swords & sorcery adventure games more generally, but rather represents a short exploration of the relationship between the value and weight of precious metals in Dungeons & Dragons. Gygax famously noted in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Player's Handbook</span> that the prices quoted reflected a “boom town” economy, the idea being that large amounts of treasure liberated from a dungeon would drive up prices locally. In fact, though, even relative costs are highly variable in the game system, some things are simply over or under priced for whatever reason, and the frequent appearance of multiples of “100 GP” are suspicious. The disparities have led some to suppose that there may be two economies reflected in the game, one “big” and intended for adventurers and the other “small” and representing more normative costs. When the wages of a captain outstrip that of the total for his entire company it is hard not to notice these issues, and yet one supposes these were interlinked design choices. At any rate, it is neither a relationship Gygax perpetuated for his <span style="font-style: italic;">Castle Zagyg</span> campaign setting, nor a precedent I propose to emulate.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-2421713438415035842010-07-08T02:30:00.007+01:002011-04-30T05:53:54.589+01:00[Article] Saving Throws<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/TDUV7FbxO5I/AAAAAAAAAFI/5SpEWjuEses/s1600/Beowulf+and+the+Dragon.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491319425463303058" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/TDUV7FbxO5I/AAAAAAAAAFI/5SpEWjuEses/s320/Beowulf+and+the+Dragon.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 214px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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The concept of a saving throw both predates and appears in <i>Chain Mail</i>. Of course, the <i>Fantasy Supplement</i> contains several references with regards to spells and dragon breath (pp. 31 & 35), but its first appearance in <i>Chain Mail</i> in general is in the siege rules, where a “rock dropped down a ladder will kill the first climber, and the second and third men on the ladder must roll a die to see if they survive, 1-3 saving the second and 1-5 saving the third” (p. 23). This idea that the defender makes a roll to save himself, rather than the attacker rolling to determine if a kill is scored, takes the onus away from the aggressor and assigns it to the victim. In most cases the ability of the attacker is of no consequence, he is assumed to either be one-hundred percent effective, or else the probability of his action failing as a result of his own insufficiencies is accounted for in the saving throw. A notable exception to this is found in <i>Supplement II: Blackmoor</i> and the monk class, which can make a saving throw to negate a successful enemy attack roll with a missile weapon; these rolls are not opposed, however, and the probabilities of success are largely independent of one another.</div>
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Analogous to class based saving throws are the various other fixed probability rolls in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, such as the chance of springing or detecting a trap, detecting and opening a secret door, and gaining surprise, for example, all of which are described together in <i>Monsters & Treasure</i> (p. 9). Indeed, initiative and just about any action that has a probability of failure and success could be described as a form of fixed “saving throw”, the consequences of failure being usually undesirable. However, the five class based saving throws (<i>Death Ray or Poison</i>, <i>Wands</i>, <i>Stone</i>, <i>Dragon Breath</i>, <i>Staves and Spells</i>) are differentiated from these in that the probability of success differs by class and increases as characters advance in experience levels. The categories were somewhat changed for <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, but are otherwise pretty much the same. It is very likely that these categories were organically developed and represent specific things that Gygax or Arneson thought of as particularly within the realms of heroic ability. Indeed, who can hear of the “death ray” and not think of Conan in <i>Red Nails</i> facing off against Tolkemec and his jade-hued wand?</div>
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Further elucidation, or perhaps <i>post facto</i> rationalisation, as to the meaning of saving throws, and indeed fighting ability, hit points and other improving characteristics, is provided in the <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i>, where it is explained in no uncertain terms that “the accumulation of hit points and the ever-greater abilities and better saving throws of characters represents the aid supplied by supernatural forces” (pp. 111-112), which is also related to the idea that “whether or not the character actively professes some deity, he or she will have on alignment and serve one or more deities of this general alignment indirectly and unbeknownst to the character.” (p. 25). That is not to say that saving throws are entirely unaffected by natural ability, since dexterity and wisdom certainly affect saving throws, and they can be entirely based on an attribute score, as with a system shock roll, which is specifically denoted as a saving throw in the <i>Player’s Handbook</i> (p. 12). Indeed, both the spells <i>dig</i> (p. 76) and <i>phantasmal killer</i> (p. 98) have saving throws that are simply attribute tests, where the player is required to roll under the relevant attribute on a specified number and size of dice.</div>
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Testing an attribute became a standard method for task resolution from around 1985 and was included as an optional rule in second edition for making saving throws. The recategorisation of the five specific instances to the three broader defences of fortitude, reflexes, and willpower in D20/3e represents a further move away from sheer chance or divine sponsorship towards emphasis on the importance of physical ability, neatly tied into the core mechanism of that iteration of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>. Direct magical protections can significantly improve saving throws in any edition of the game, but it is also interesting that regardless of the measures taken, class based saving throws always succeed on a 20 and always fail on a 1, which was an idea later borrowed for the attack roll as well, though interestingly not for skill checks. Personally, I am not inclined towards the “there is always a five percent chance” model, though the attraction is understandable there is a not inconsiderable case to be made for “assured results” as an alternative. Certainly, some of the most potent or powerful magical spells and effects do not allow saving throws and are rendered considerably more fearsome thereby; <i>sleep</i>, <i>slow</i>, and energy level drain are of this order.</div>
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As with many things in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, saving throws are abstractions and lend themselves to interpretation and rationalisation after the fact. If a giant spider scores a hit on a fighter, but does not slay him by hit point damage and he makes a successful saving throw versus poison, then that can represent anything from a spider bite that failed to inject its venom to the character successfully fending off the attacks of the monster. The <i>Dungeon Master’s Guide</i> devotes a good page or so to the subject (pp. 80-81), with a lengthy preamble concerning the game function of saving throws and alternative ways to rationalise them by class and level. A section of interest concerning the potential modifiers follows, giving the example of a character standing in a pool of water as potentially more susceptible to lightning attacks and less vulnerable to fire attacks. In general, the game master is encouraged to adjust saving throws however he sees fit in accordance with what he feels is balanced, but urged not to remove all chance of failure or any chance of success, though such is permitted. Anecdotally, it would seem that such adjustments are little used, but perhaps this is something that should be more widely encouraged.</div>
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When it comes down to it, a saving throw is much like every other abstract and randomised element of the game, a roll of the dice to decide an uncertain outcome by means of probability. There is no reason that the game master could not simply assign the probability in every case on an individual basis, the charts are there as a guideline and aid to reduce his workload, as well as promote a sense of consistency and fairness to the other participants. It is somehow more acceptable for a base probability to be established by level, class, attributes and equipment, subsequently altered by the game master to account for circumstances, than it is for him to assign it out of hand, a sense of lesser arbitrariness, perhaps. Whilst there are aesthetic reasons to murmur against the concept of a single saving throw, modified by the above factors, there is little by way of practical effect. Even within the seemingly esoteric saving throw tables of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i> there are quite <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2052939/2011-04-30-saving-throws-pdf?da=y">simple mathematical patterns</a> to be discerned and it is questionable as to whether there is much more to them than that. There is certainly something attractive to me about the idea of an unspecified generic saving throw as a baseline concept.</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-4835308559911500002010-03-05T22:00:00.001+00:002010-08-23T02:08:28.862+01:00[Article] The Shadow Peaks Campaign<div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/S45eY2EZzQI/AAAAAAAAAEE/kRbPZhUaK8Y/s1600-h/Mountains.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444392780461362434" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/S45eY2EZzQI/AAAAAAAAAEE/kRbPZhUaK8Y/s320/Mountains.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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It was probably the Summer of 2001 when I decided to get back into playing <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span>; the exact course of events is somewhat hazy in my memory, but I recall that we used the <span style="font-style: italic;">First Quest</span> boxed set initially. Things developed organically from that starting point, and soon we were digging back through the various “complete” supplements and the like, searching for memories and new visions of past knowledge. Eventually I went looking for my old campaign notes, having decided that the campaign needed a world and knowing that I had one ready to hand. The world of <span style="font-style: italic;">Silver Blade</span> was what I was using in my early to mid teens, and the material hardly seemed suitable to me in my early twenties. After all, I had been sporadically adventure role-playing and world building in the interim, just not using any of the various <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> systems. My studies kept me mainly in Surrey at the time, so play was intermittent and related to the holidays, as that was when the members of our old group were located together and had sufficient time to spare. However, that grew increasingly difficult to arrange and unsatisfactory, so in the Autumn of 2002 I decided to put together a new group in Surrey.</div>
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And that was the beginning of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Shadow Peaks</span> campaign. Having taken part in the earlier games, my girlfriend Maki was persuaded to participate, along with Chris and Phil, who we met through the university gaming society, both of whom would be regular players for the following three years and have remained good friends of ours ever since; rounding out the initial group was our housemate, Ajit, who had always wanted to try <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span>, but was too near the end of his studies to participate regularly. In order, the characters they created were a human magician/thief, a half-orc barbarian, a dwarf cleric, and a human knight. The adventure was set against the backdrop of the Calthornian reconquest of the eastern territories, which had been lost during the Talisasian invasion, and the assumption was that the player-characters had fought, or been present, at the decisive Battle of Black Crag, and subsequent pursuit of the enemy into their own territory. So, when the Calthornian army began dispersing to winter quarters, the adventurers find themselves in a fortified camp on the edge of the new frontier, and at the feet of the ill reputed Shadow Peaks mountains.</div>
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The background of the Talisasian invasion goes back to the first <span style="font-style: italic;">Silver Blade</span> campaign I ever ran, which was set in the aftermath; the Calthornian reconquest was begun in earnest by one of the few player-characters to reach the heady heights of ninth level, a human fighter named Cirin, and was played as an amalgamation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> and a strategic war game, with varying degrees of success. We did not have access to <span style="font-style: italic;">Battle System</span>, so largely improvised the rules, utilising other miniature and counter based war games with which we were familiar. Naturally, once the new group were made aware of this, it leant the campaign world a sense of history and continuity, and in being furnished with an idea of what others had accomplished they seemed more greatly enthused about the potential deeds of their own characters. That only came up in conversation later, at the outset of things the main aim was to play an enjoyable game. It is not clear to me whether I wrote the campaign introduction before or after the first session, but if the latter then most of the content must have been explained at the table. A somewhat rewritten version of what eventually made its way to the players by electronic mail is available <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1787057&da=y">here</a> for those interested.</div>
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Since the group was new, the hook was written to both get the player-characters swiftly into the action and to provide them with an immediate initial focus. As envisioned, the adventure was not easy, so the addition of an allied non-player-character, a second level fighter, and his four zero level men-at-arms seemed reasonable. The idea was to give the party some extra muscle, provide opportunities for role-playing, and alternative characters to play if theirs were incapacitated or killed, but it was otherwise designed largely for expediency. Despite being the one to have propositioned the adventurers, Ulius was treated as though an exceptional henchman of associate status. He turned out to be well liked by the players, his services being engaged fairly regularly over the course of the campaign. The adventure itself was tentatively titled the “Shrine of Sirke”, being partly inspired by a few lines from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Odyssey</span>, and the premise was that a band of kobolds were operating out of the shrine aided by some powerful magic. These were, predictably, responsible for the disappearance of the survey party and various other mischiefs, it being left it up to the adventurers to find a way to the lair and deal with the problem.</div>
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From this small kernel grew the campaign; a number of clues to wider mysteries were present from the start, though their meaning had not at that time been fully thought out. It took two or three sessions to complete the initial adventure, and against all the odds the player-characters survived. With Ajit unable to play regularly, we canvassed for another player, which turned out to be Ed, and the following year we were joined by Ian, after Maki found herself having to divide her year between Japan and England. As with Chris and Phil, they were recruited through the university gaming society, were regular players for the rest of the campaign, and remain good friends outside of that context, which I think is the key to success with these sorts of games. If it matter, they both started at first level. We had a number of guest and temporary players over the course of the campaign, and in the last year Matt joined us as a regular player, again starting at first level. There were twelve major adventures, which I have been looking at publishing using OSRIC or some variant thereof, and a number of more minor encounters, locations, and settlements that I am undecided about how to present. I am also thinking of putting together a <span style="font-style: italic;">Silver Blade Adventures</span> companion supplement of some sort.</div>
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Most of the adventures are already written in large part, though they will have to be edited for compatibility, since they were written with the proficiency system strongly in mind, and there is a lot of boxed text, both of which have since fallen out of favour with me. The least developed of these is the oft mentioned <span style="font-style: italic;">Twisted Tower of Mordras</span>, which was initially conceived of as an introductory module for the university gaming society and a method of recruiting players, but because it was not really needed it never got fully developed. As a result, it may well turn out to be the most challenging instalment to write of this, admittedly, rather ambitious project, but it may also serve as the best testing ground with regards to feasibility. On the other hand, it was also intended to be played with pregenerated characters in one four-hour session, somewhat on the model of a tournament module; as long as the need for relative brevity is born fully and prominently in mind, it should be within my ability to complete before the end of Spring. That seems like a long time away at the moment, but there are many pressing matters to attend to in the meantime, and there never seems to be quite enough time in the day, so we shall see!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/S2SgqjYaSkI/AAAAAAAAAD8/rMPjA3fuz0M/s1600-h/Conan+01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432643703428237890" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/S2SgqjYaSkI/AAAAAAAAAD8/rMPjA3fuz0M/s320/Conan+01.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 269px;" /></a><br />
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A fundamental characteristic of every edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span>, and the simulacrum games that it has spawned, is that each player character is defined by a set of six ability scores: strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. There was an abortive attempt to add comeliness in the mid-eighties via <span style="font-style: italic;">Unearthed Arcana</span>, and an equally ill received attempt to introduce twelve subability scores in the mid-nineties by means of <span style="font-style: italic;">Skills & Powers</span>. The majority of adventure role-playing games use a similar concept, though the number and nomenclature vary, as does the scale on which they are measured and the impact they have on the character. The traditional spread of numbers for each ability score is from three to eighteen, randomly generated on three six-sided dice, though it is thought that in Arneson’s proto-<span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons Blackmoor</span> campaign the spread was two to twelve, using two six-sided dice. Many alternative generation methods have been presented over the years, the most popular seeming to be four six-sided dice, drop the lowest. Numbers outside the spread could also occur in various circumstances, the complete range prior to third edition being one to twenty-five.</div>
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By the time the first edition <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeon Master’s Guide</span> was released for <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span>, Gygax had decided that the overwhelming majority of non-player characters would have ability scores ranging from six to fifteen, indicating that such scores should be generated by rolling three six-sided dice and rerolling dice that came up with a one or a six. As is often noted, though, the advanced version of the game put more emphasis on the importance of attributes than the original incarnation. In <span style="font-style: italic;">Original Dungeons & Dragons</span>, strength, intelligence, and wisdom only had an impact on the number of experience points earned by player character fighters, magicians, and clerics, respectively. A constitution higher than fourteen granted one extra hit point per hit die, or one less if below seven; a dexterity above twelve granted a plus one bonus to hit with missile weapons, but if below nine resulted in a minus one penalty (thus, the two significant ranges of nine to twelve and seven to fourteen were established in the earliest edition). In play, ability scores affected the game and were certainly tested in various unspecified ways, as little guidance existed to that effect in the booklets themselves.</div>
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The importance of ability scores rose dramatically with the release of <span style="font-style: italic;">Supplement I: Greyhawk</span>, which presented the reader with most of the information regarding their impact that would become familiar in the advanced version of the game. Interestingly, it was slightly more lenient with strength, a score of eighteen being no different to eighteen with an exceptional strength roll of one to fifty, and a score of thirteen to sixteen providing a plus one to hit. This at once made a score of thirteen to fifteen of impact in combat and a higher score more desirable. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Greyhawk</span> supplement also introduced the thief class, and with it a whole new slew of special abilities, such as move silently and hide in shadows, previously only achievable by the use of spells or magical items. Prior to that only three class abilities had really been described, fighting, spell casting, and turning undead, though it was noted that non-human races had bonuses to saving throws, attack rolls, and detecting traps and secret doors. As subraces, subclasses, kits, proficiencies, and rules supplements proliferated, new abilities came to be expected and were often linked to ability scores, such as by requiring a certain minimum score or by modifying the effectiveness of the ability.</div>
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Whilst the advanced system expanded on <span style="font-style: italic;">Greyhawk</span>, the original system was revised and reinterpreted for an, arguably younger, audience. The impact of attributes was more strongly codified into discrete ranges that followed a “one, two, three, four, three, two, one” pattern, which has subsequently been adopted for <span style="font-style: italic;">Castles & Crusades</span>. That system has also taken the logical step of discerning between abilities and ability scores by changing the nomenclature and using attribute scores to distinguish the latter, since it strongly emphasises the role of abilities in defining each class. When I initially returned to my <span style="font-style: italic;">Silver Blade</span> campaign, the second edition of the advanced system formed the basis of the rules, but within a few months I had switched to an ascending armour class and started using attribute modifiers similar to those found in the basic game. On discovering <span style="font-style: italic;">Castles & Crusades</span> and being exposed to the larger community via such forums as <span style="font-style: italic;">Giant in the Playground</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Dragonsfoot</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Knights & Knaves</span>, I dropped the somewhat clunky proficiency and skill system I had developed and returned to using a descending armour class. However, I retained my distaste for the organic disorder of the advanced attribute tables.</div>
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Early on in the design process for <span style="font-style: italic;">Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea</span>, it was decided that the <span style="font-style: italic;">Labyrinth Lord</span> attribute tables were slightly too powerful, and those in <span style="font-style: italic;">Swords & Wizardry</span> slightly too weak, for what was desired. Part of the reason was to leave us with some room when determining the abilities of the four main classes and sixteen or so subclasses to be included in the game, but also because whatever method of generating the scores we recommended, we know that most veteran players have their own preferred methods. Limiting the impact of attributes on the effectiveness of a given class without going quite as far as a simple trichotomy of “good-average-bad” has been a challenging design goal. How far to go in limiting class options by attribute scores has also been of interest, as has been what to do about exceeding the normal range of three to eighteen. The unlimited cap of many recent adventure games seemed unfitting, leading to such oddities as dragons with a strength of forty, and so on. As things currently stand, the range is one to twenty-five, with scores above eighteen indicating superhuman ability, such as the strength of a giant or the wisdom of a sphinx, and so on.</div>
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For the last few years I have been using a modified version of the basic attribute tables for my <span style="font-style: italic;">Silver Blade</span> campaign, borrowing ideas occasionally from the advanced tables when it seemed appropriate. Initially, the bonuses derived from attributes were quite high, with thirteen representing a plus one bonus and eighteen a mighty plus four bonus, but the benefits of a seventeen or higher were restricted by class. That proved a conceptual problem similar to exceptional strength when dealing with attributes outside of the normal range, but switching to a range more congruous with the basic tables and embedding bonuses in the classes has proven to be an excellent solution. It seems to be quite normal in my campaign for a player character to have a sixteen in his primary attribute, a seventeen is unusual and an eighteen is rare. I do allow adjustments during creation on a 2:1 basis, but not above sixteen or below nine, which may account for that observed tendency. Anyway, for your entertainment and edification, <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1718890&da=y">here</a> are the attribute tables I have been using in a format compatible with OSRIC, along with some related notes to give an idea of how they interact with the game system and a hint of what we are doing in <span style="font-style: italic;">Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea</span>.</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-91163572693232854642010-01-21T00:10:00.004+00:002010-08-23T02:11:34.243+01:00[Article] Weapon Class<div>
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As with many war games, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail</span> mass combat rules uses a troop classification system that governs fighting ability, movement speed, morale, and so on. The concept of discrete classifications appears to have been carried over into the man-to-man system with reference to the arms and armour of the individual combatants. Instead of a verbal descriptor of type, such as “elite heavy foot, each classification of weapon and armour conceived was allocated a number. In the case of armour, a number from one to eight roughly indicated the degree of protection afforded, with a higher number being generally better. The list of weapons follows a similar pattern, but size, and perhaps also speed, appears to have been the final determinant, with spears and pikes most prominently disrupting the low to high values. Gygax diversified the list of pole-arms in issue #2 of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Strategic Review</span>, and in issue #4 he introduced three new weapons that no longer had one class, but rather separate length and speed ratings. With a view towards a more precise representation of the capabilities of a given weapon this separation is entirely understandable, but it was a step away from the simple abstraction and utility of weapon classification.</div>
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Neither the <span style="font-style: italic;">Original Dungeons & Dragons</span> alternative combat system, nor the <span style="font-style: italic;">Greyhawk</span> expansion featured any element of the weapon class concept, though the infamous inverted armour class rating was by contrast an integral factor, that of the defender being compared to the fighting ability of the attacker to determine the probability of his scoring a hit. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Greyhawk</span> expansion does introduce one new feature, though, which is the space required to either side of the character to make effective use of his weapon. This idea is of more import in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Swords & Spells</span> supplement, where it has an impact on the spacing between soldiers and thus the number that may fight in a given frontage. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span> combat system took note of all of this and assigned each weapon an individual rating for length, space, and speed. As with the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail</span> man-to-man combat system, length determined which combatant struck first at the point of contact, but weapon speed was reduced to a tie breaking mechanism, though there are vestigial rules and indications in the text that suggest it was at one point envisioned as having a more significant and wide ranging role; the effect of space was left unexplained beyond its inclusion.</div>
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One of the stated design aims of the second edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span> was to simplify the combat system and make it more dynamic. It included all of the many weapons available in its predecessor, but left out any rules governing their length or the space required to use them effectively. Each weapon was categorised as one of three sizes that determined whether and in what manner it was usable by differently sized creatures; as to space, it was simply stated as a general guideline that two fighters with long swords and shields could fight side-by-side in a ten foot space. Nonetheless, speed factor was kept as an optional rule, elevated in importance as an initiative modifier and ignoring any ramifications with regard to “first strike”. Detail was added in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Complete Fighter’s Handbook</span>, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Arms and Equipment Guide</span>, various other supplements, and articles in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dragon</span> magazine, but little that addressed the shortcomings of the underlying rules, mainly having the effect of expanding the weapon list into an unmanageable, unbalanced, and undesirable morass. The D20/3e weapon tables were, by comparison, a much needed reduction, but that system eventually fell prey itself to the same phenomenon of addition.</div>
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For my ongoing <span style="font-style: italic;">Silver Blade</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Dunfalcon</span> campaigns I have been experimenting with the introduction of a basic weapon class system as a parallel to the armour class system previously discussed <a href="http://silverbladeadventures.blogspot.com/2008/11/article-armour-class.html">here</a>. Initially the idea was to simplify the weapons tables to a short list of reasonably balanced choices, which was connected to my thoughts on weapon techniques, and appeared in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Castles & Crusades</span> society electronic <a href="http://www.dragonsfoot.org/php4/archive.php?sectioninit=CC&fileid=249"><span style="font-style: italic;">Domesday</span></a> magazine, after being reasonably well received on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Troll Lord Games</span> forums. The document itself seems to have been a relatively popular download and can be accessed <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=651931&da=y">here</a> for anybody curious. However, after becoming somewhat enamoured of the idea of armour class as a numerical classification that described more than just the defence rating of a combatant, I began seeking ways to apply the same principle to weapon class and revised the document to accord with that idea. Initially there were something like twelve classes that broadly accorded with the speed ratings in <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span>, but a recent revision has reduced the number to ten, prompted by an aesthetic sensibility for symmetry, but in practice a suitable solution to what had become something of a design conceit.</div>
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During the development of <span style="font-style: italic;">Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea</span>, which has often prompted me to consider what lies behind my own assumptions, it became apparent that in swords & sorcery adventure games there is a frequent oscillation between the abstract and the specific, both in terms of design and in the course of game sessions. This creates a sort of “zoom in” and “zoom out” effect where, depending on the preferences of the participants, a specific interaction may be role-played out or a die roll used to determine the outcome in a more abstract way. A similar thing can be observed in the class and subclass system, where a fighter or magician encompasses a very broad archetype, but their subclasses concentrate on much narrower subtypes, such as illusionist, necromancer, knight, or barbarian. This principle is selectively applied to weapons as well, to the extent that Gygax could write that the short sword “includes all pointed cutting & thrusting weapons with blade length between 15” and 24”, and yet have separate entries for the long sword, scimitar, falchion, broad sword, and bastard sword. Once recognised, though, it seems possible to adapt these disparate levels of granularity to better serve the game.</div>
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The general observation that there are at least two levels of abstraction in traditional swords & sorcery adventure games suggests a potential design paradigm for races, classes, equipment, exploration, and combat. For example, at the lower level of detail a player character might be described as a third level elf fighter with mail armour, large shield, and long sword, whilst at a higher level of detail he could become a third level wood-elf ranger with mail hauberk, large kite shaped shield, and leaf-shaped long sword. Of course, it is possible to get considerably more precise, but the greater level of abstraction is both the least information required for play and the most portable between systems and campaigns. This concept has come to a degree of fruition in the current draft of <span style="font-style: italic;">Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea</span>, which is divided into basic and advanced (or expert) rules, especially with regard to classes and combat actions, though we remain somewhat undecided about its viability with regard to equipment. Nevertheless, for your entertainment, I have put the basic weapon class system that I have been using in my own swords & sorcery campaigns into a form compatible with OSRIC that can be downloaded <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1696235&da=y">here</a>.</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-13944109343732169532010-01-14T00:00:00.002+00:002010-08-23T02:12:26.421+01:00[Article] Fighting Techniques<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/SolixZynxeI/AAAAAAAAADo/vZqd8XLIQ2o/s1600-h/manapes.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370932631492347362" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/SolixZynxeI/AAAAAAAAADo/vZqd8XLIQ2o/s320/manapes.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 252px;" /></a><br />
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Broadly speaking, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail</span> man-to-man melee combat system presents two kinds of weapons, those that can be wielded with one hand, and therefore in combination with a shield, and those that require two hands, meaning that the combatant must forgo such protection. A two-handed sword will generally score a kill on a 5+ or a 6+ on 2d6 with only plate armour and shield requiring a 7+, whilst a halberd requires an 8+ to achieve the same. By contrast, a one-handed sword requires a 10+ to score a kill against a plate armoured combatant and an 11+ if that same opponent bears a shield. However, the difference in weapon classes makes a big difference in what initially appears to be a relatively clear cut advantage. Because the one-handed sword is class 4 and the two-handed sword is class 10, a fighter wielding the former weapon has three options after the initial round. He can choose to attack twice, once before and once after his opponent with a two-handed sword (or, indeed, halberd); he can choose to reduce his opponent’s roll by 2 and attack after him; or he can choose to attack first and reduce his opponent’s roll by 1. The net result being that the weapon combinations are roughly equal, depending on the situation. However, the mace is the better choice, requiring only a 7+ to hit a plate armoured target and never needing more than the sword to hit any other class of armour.</div>
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This interestingly balanced system was largely thrown out for the alternative <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons & Dragons</span> combat system, and by all accounts was never used by Gygax in the context of his own campaign. It is not hard to understand why, given that the man-to-man system was not written with monsters in mind and that the fantasy combat table was not designed to accommodate groups of heroes. However, in reducing all weapons to doing 1d6 damage and having a hit chance based on the fighting ability of the attacker, the alternative combat system made two-handed weapons redundant. A character could either use a one-handed weapon and shield, improving his armour class by one and doing 1d6 damage, or he could use a two-handed weapon, improving his armour class by none and doing 1d6 damage; not a particularly difficult choice. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Greyhawk</span> supplement attempted to rectify this by introducing variable damage dice for weapons, and a weapon type versus armour class modifier to the attack roll. The solution was overcomplicated for the task at hand, which really only called for a +1 to hit for two-handed weapons, but it was probably seeking to address a wider range of interconnected concerns that had developed over time.</div>
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Notably, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span> combat system builds on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Greyhawk</span> solution as well as incorporating bits and pieces of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chain Mail</span> man-to-man rules. One major innovation, though, was the introduction of a seemingly innocuous rule for fighting with two weapons, allowing characters to use a dagger or hand axe in addition to their primary weapon. A character utilizing this technique suffered a −2 to hit with his primary weapon and a −4 to hit with his secondary weapon, but the penalties could be mitigated to as low as 0/−1 if the character had a high enough dexterity. More significant as a balancing factor was that the dagger and hand axe had fairly poor modifiers versus armour. On the surface, this meant that the design of the game encouraged using two-handed weapons against large or heavily armoured enemies and fighting with two weapons against more lightly armoured small or medium opponents, whilst a one-handed weapon and shield combination occupied the ground between them. In practice, many game masters ignored the optional weapon type versus armour class table or failed to apply it to monstrous opponents, and perhaps more importantly many players recognised fighting with two weapons for what it was, a force multiplier.</div>
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Once it was realised that the associated penalties for fighting with two weapons were vastly outweighed by the potential advantages, the exploitation became obvious, particularly at higher levels where the modifiers to hit could be combined from many sources. The second edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</span> took a much needed step towards reducing the potency of the technique in the default rules by explicitly limiting a second attack to one per round and preventing the doubling of attacks occasionally inferred from the first edition rules. However, the simplification of the weapon type versus armour class rules undermined the advantages previously enjoyed by two-handed weapons and removed the disadvantages that had been placed on secondary weapons. The simultaneous release of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Complete Fighter’s Handbook</span>, authored by Aaron Allston, compounded these problems, making it possible to mitigate all the penalties associated with fighting with two weapons and allowing any one-handed weapon to be used in a secondary capacity. Allston also identified four fighting “styles”, or techniques, labelling them “single weapon”, “weapon and shield”, “two weapon”, and “two hander”, but they were less than equal.</div>
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Although the techniques were not equal, they required a significant expenditure of character building resources to acquire. A character specialising in single weapon technique could improve his armour class without a shield or secondary weapon by one for one proficiency slot, and by two for two proficiency slots; not a great deal when using a shield the first benefit is gained for free. A character specialising in two-handed weapons reduces the speed factor of the weapon by three and gains a +1 damage bonus when wielding one-handed weapons two-handed; so no reason at all to ever really choose the bastard or two-handed sword over the long sword. A character specialising in weapon and shield technique is able to attack with his shield as though fighting with two weapons for one proficiency slot, and reduce the penalties for doing so to 0/−2 by expending two proficiency slots, though when he does so he forgoes the improvement to armour class he would otherwise enjoy from utilising a shield; far better to invest one proficiency slot in two-weapon fighting and be able to use any weapon in a secondary capacity at a 0/−2 penalty, and switch between the two techniques as the situation demands.</div>
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The <span style="font-style: italic;">Player’s Option</span> series and, as I understand it, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Birthright</span> campaign setting took the idea of style specialisation even further, for example introducing the “shield proficiency”, which allowed fighter to expend one proficiency slot to improve the armour class bonus from a large shield by two, making it an instant sine qua non. Of course, D20/3e rather overreacted to the legacy of fighting with two weapons and the mid edition revision turned two-handed weapons into its successor. It is often noted that in actual play the underlying mathematics are not noticed or have less importance than as theoretical design elements, but the more robust the system the more likely it is to avoid breaking down in other areas. So, for your entertainment and convenience, <a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1681145&da=y">here</a> are my current campaign rules for fighting techniques along with a few combat actions for use with OSRIC. Obviously, some of these ideas will find their way, or have already found their way, into <span style="font-style: italic;">Astonishing Swordsman & Sorcerers of Hyperborea</span>.</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372646503928378490.post-87464944032219014212009-09-01T20:43:00.001+01:002010-03-06T16:07:15.127+00:00[Review] AA5 The Flaming Footprints of Jilanth<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Sc6_278B3oI/AAAAAAAAACo/GHiBTZbtqMk/s1600-h/XRP6105.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PrwZtpQHVd8/Sc6_278B3oI/AAAAAAAAACo/GHiBTZbtqMk/s320/XRP6105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318399160494448258" border="0" /></a><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.xrpshop.citymax.com/catalog/item/3906568/5967584.htm">The Flaming Footsteps of Jilanth</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Author</span>: Andrew Hind.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Contents</span>: 16 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 14 pages of adventure, and 1 open game license page.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Publisher</span>: Expeditious Retreat Press.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Product Code</span>: XRP6105.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Retail Price</span>: £7.00 or $12.00.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Overview</span><br /><br />An adventure for 6-8 characters of levels 3-5, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Flaming Footsteps of Jilanth</span> presents a small subtropical isle and three dungeon levels. The physical product is sturdy enough, having a glossy cover stock and durable interior pages, on which the text is clearly printed and the black and white maps are well rendered, but unlike previous offerings the spine seems to wear easily. The cover illustrations by Bradley K. McDevitt are in keeping with the traditional aesthetic, though the image of an enraged carnivorous ape on the front is a little misleading, being only likely to be encountered as a wandering monster, and suggesting a homage to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Isle of the Ape</span> that does not materialise. Including the title page, there are three interior illustrations by John Bingham, which relate directly to the substance of the module.<br /><br />The premise is fairly straightforward; the Lord Admiral of the port city of Ranste has gone missing, and flaming footsteps, the hallmark of the long dead pirate lord Firebeard, have been seen in the streets. In response, the city council has dispatched the player characters to the isle of Jilanth, a former pirate stronghold, to search for signs that Firebeard might have returned, or else some other indication as to what is going on. The isle is about ten miles in diameter and consists of around seventy hexes. Four of the hexes are keyed as adventure locations, whilst the rest are a mixture of jungle, swamp, hill and mountain terrain types. The random encounter table has thematically appropriate entries for day and night, as well as three special events that each have quarter page descriptions. It is a little strange that the chart allows for the appearance of goblins armed with blowpipes, but not the lizard men whose camp is one of the adventure locations.<br /><br />Each of the other three keyed locations presents a short dungeon level that consists of around a dozen or so encounter areas. The first of these is a cavern complex that was used by Firebeard and his pirates as a stronghold. The main opposition are giant vermin and skeletal undead, but there is also a mummified voodoo witch to contend with. Further upriver is an abandoned gnome hold, which can also be reached by means of an underground tunnel from the pirate caverns. Once a prosperous copper mine, the gnomes were overwhelmed by an insidious curse. In addition to giant vermin and undead, corrupted creatures known as hold creepers stalk the empty halls of the gnome hold. They have also captured the last surviving member of an ill fated expedition to the pirate caverns, who the adventurers may rescue.<br /><br />If the players choose to continue following the river or otherwise explore the isle they may discover an entrance to the wizard lair that serves as the third dungeon. However, the magician has been driven out by a wax doppelgänger he created of himself, and languishes in captivity amongst the lizard men. The adventurers may find out about this if they manage to overcome his usurper and other wax creations, or if they encounter the lizard man encampment whilst exploring the wilderness. Should they be able to rescue or in some other way gain access to the magician, then he may reveal that he wears Firebeard's <span style="font-style: italic;">flaming boots</span>, and that he is responsible for the reappearance of the flaming footprints in the streets of Ranste. However, his motives are left up to the discretion of the game, as is the reason for the disappearance of the Lord Admiral.<br /><br />There is a lot of interesting material here, several new monsters and magic items, as well as a self contained wilderness area to explore. The author has added a twist or two to several conventional monsters, such as the skeletons in the pirate caverns, and generally shows good knowledge of the rules in developing the various encounter areas. It is not clear if the lack of wandering monsters in the lair of the wax wizard is intentional, but it seems a reasonable supposition. There are occasional missteps, such as the blessed ring in the well room, which seems out of keeping with more traditional dungeon elements, but such things show a willingness to explore the boundaries of the game.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Technicalities and Errors</span><br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">Flaming Footsteps of Jilanth</span> suffers from the usual editing errors and notation inconsistencies here and there; for instance, hit point spreads are mainly used in place of fractional hit dice, but occasionally, as in the case of the giant centipede, the latter is used. There are also occasionally redundant phrases like "chain mail armour" and references to weapon nomenclature that is not used in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Old School Reference & Index Compilation</span>. It should probably have also been noted next to the various stirge entries that whilst the creature has only 1+1 hit dice it fights as though it has 4. These are very minor technicalities, however, and do little to affect the utility of the module. There are rather a lot of calls for attribute checks, and a few rogue references to boat handling checks, which could probably have been safely excised. On the other hand, defined procedural methods are useful for a module when run under tournament conditions.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Conclusion</span><br /><br />This is a module that would benefit from having a tighter focus. As it stands it feels like three short adventures that are otherwise unrelated have been combined. Each dungeon has the potential for significant expansion and seems like the kernel of a larger adventure location. The gnome hold in particular feels like it could have been developed as a completely independent module. Whilst a lot of traditional adventures leave undeveloped hooks to spur on the imagination of the game master, there is rather too much left open and unexplained in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Flaming Footsteps of Jilanth</span>. An abandoned and haunted pirate stronghold on a deserted subtropical isle is a strong concept, and the presence of the wax wizard adds an extra threat, but in the form that they are currently presented the elements are too disparate and not suggestive enough.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com0