I clearly remember a certain moment in 1980. It was about the 12th of August. I was at the desk in my bedroom working on an encounter and going through the various 1e books. Shine A Little Love was playing on the eight track (jealous?). I was taking notes on a sage when POW!
"What is going on with magic?"
Showing posts with label classes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classes. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Crazy Ideas - How Far Am I Willing to Go?
I am working on Tiny Kingdom (an adventure set in the garden of a mad arch-mage where the characters are just an inch tall) and updating The Book of Seaward (my book of house rules) and prepping a 2nd edition of Far Realms (my rues supplement for the OSR). I am also talking with the kids, playtesting Rolemaster Unified, rebooting a Champions campaign, starting a new business, and dealing with 4 family birthdays in just 15 days.
So last night I was re-reading Hackmaster 5th because I have absolutely nothing else to do with my time and remember how much I like how they did the fighter/knight/paladin thing. Son #3 was getting some NPC classes (from my book Far Realms, an excellent stocking stuffer, if you'll forgive the hint) when we started talking about NPC improvement. One of his PCs has a hireling, a mercenary spearman, who has been to Skull Mountain 3 times and lived through it all. He and I agreed that this guy has done enough that he is no longer a 0-level merc, but a level 1 Man-at-Arms and can advance to at least level 2
Son #1 joined in, asking about his 4th level Man-at-Arms, who is fairly tough and has been through the wringer. Son #1 asked,
"Let's say he drank a potion of super-heroism, grabbed a +2 axe, and brought down, oh, a fire elemental. Could that be enough to transform him into a 4th level fighter? A 3rd level fighter?"
We also spoke about the DCC 'funnel'; we've only glanced at borrowed rules and never played DCC, but the idea was interesting - can the schmoes of the NPC world become PC classes through Great Deeds?
Then Son #2 came in with some of his work on Tiny Kingdom and his suggestions for some custom classes for the mice men and bumblebee knights and Son #4 asked if we should just break down and put a mini-retroclone section in front of Tiny Kingdom so it can stand alone; after all, with a bunch of new classes....
But I said there are not just a lot of great retroclones already, the OD&D/AD&D books can be had, now, so if I am going to make a game, it will be different and new.
20 minutes later we had this;
So last night I was re-reading Hackmaster 5th because I have absolutely nothing else to do with my time and remember how much I like how they did the fighter/knight/paladin thing. Son #3 was getting some NPC classes (from my book Far Realms, an excellent stocking stuffer, if you'll forgive the hint) when we started talking about NPC improvement. One of his PCs has a hireling, a mercenary spearman, who has been to Skull Mountain 3 times and lived through it all. He and I agreed that this guy has done enough that he is no longer a 0-level merc, but a level 1 Man-at-Arms and can advance to at least level 2
Son #1 joined in, asking about his 4th level Man-at-Arms, who is fairly tough and has been through the wringer. Son #1 asked,
"Let's say he drank a potion of super-heroism, grabbed a +2 axe, and brought down, oh, a fire elemental. Could that be enough to transform him into a 4th level fighter? A 3rd level fighter?"
We also spoke about the DCC 'funnel'; we've only glanced at borrowed rules and never played DCC, but the idea was interesting - can the schmoes of the NPC world become PC classes through Great Deeds?
Then Son #2 came in with some of his work on Tiny Kingdom and his suggestions for some custom classes for the mice men and bumblebee knights and Son #4 asked if we should just break down and put a mini-retroclone section in front of Tiny Kingdom so it can stand alone; after all, with a bunch of new classes....
But I said there are not just a lot of great retroclones already, the OD&D/AD&D books can be had, now, so if I am going to make a game, it will be different and new.
20 minutes later we had this;
It can be hard to see, but it is an advancement tree for the fighter classes. All start as Men-at-Arms and then you can either stay a Man-at-Arms or move on to Woodsman, Warrior, or Nobleman. Warriors can go on to be Weapons Masters; Woodsmen can be Weapon masters or Rangers; Noblemen can be Cavaliers; etc. It would be similar to the old Palladium RPG but you could move up, down, or sideways, as with hackmaster 5th. Men-at-Arms fight less well and have fewer HP, but a lot more mundane skills. Others trade skills for HP or fighting or special abilities.
The other 'big four' classes would have similar trees:
Allowing players to mix, match, and customize their PCs.
Again, this was back of the envelope stuff from last night - thoughts?
Thursday, May 19, 2016
NPCs for Fun and Adventuring: The Crew of the Black Parrot
I have had these guys floating around (pun intended) in my campaigns since at least 1981 and in my Blackstone campaign they became favorite NPCs with the party giving them a 1/4th share of treaure from any adventure the crew took them to/from.
The ship was originally called the Drunk Parrot but after seeing the amazingly bad film Knights back in the '90's I changed it to the Black Parrot.
Captain and owner Jo'Gahn- Raised in a small fishing village he signed on with a merchanter at the age of 13 and worked his way up to captain. By saving his money and investing it he made enough to buy his own ship.He is a shrewd man, an excellent judge of character, and a great leader. He will take passengers, especially adventurers, for a fee but he won't take just anyone; if approached he will check with his network of contacts which includes merchants, priests, and town officials and will not take evil people or those with a reputation of not paying their debts
Jo'Gahn is a 3rd level Man-at-Arms (from Far Realms; if you don't have it, treat him as a 2nd level fighter than can't advance in level). H.P. 12 A.C. 8/7 short sword, +2 Cloak of Protection (added to armor class). In an emergency he will grab a buckler. Neutral Good.
Jo'Gahn is in his mid-30's, has black hair, a beard, and is balding. He is deeply tanned and strong from a lifetime at sea. He dresses well to maintain his image as captain.
First Mate Altair- Altair has been friends with, and working for, Jo'Gahn for 15+ years. Altair doesn't have the flair for business that Jo'Gahn has, but he is just as good at leading men and sailing ships.
Altair is a 2nd level fighter who cannot advance in level. H.P. 11, A.C. 10/9 He typically fights with a club and is skilled enough with them he has a +1 to hit. In an emergency he will grab a buckler.
Altair has sandy hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. He is a little taller than average and carried some extra weight around his middle. Neutral Good.
Second Mate Smeagol- Smeagol has been with the ship since death of the original second mate in a tangle with pirates 4 years ago. he is liked and trusted by the crew and his superiors. He is a skilled navigator and sailing master but has no interest in the business side of merchant ships. The men tend to come to him first with personal problems (but Altair first for problems with the ship!).
If sailors need to go ashore in dangerous areas (for water or food on a desert island, say) Smeagol leads the group.
Smeagol is a 4th level Scoundrel (another Far Realms class - treat him as a second level thief with only the listed skills without it). H.P. 10 A.C. 9/6 He fights with a club. He has a +1 Ring of Protection (a gift from an adventurer who chuckled about his name). The ring and his dexterity are listed in his A.C.
He has the following abilities-
Move Silently: 27% Hide in Shadows: 25% Pick Pockets: 30% Climb Walls: 68%. If he can backstab a foe he does an extra 4 points of damage.
Smeagol has brown hair and eyes and is in excellent shape. He is handsome and charming with a quick smile.
The Men- The crew is made up of 12 more men who work as general sailors. All are 0 level with 2-4 H.P., A.C. 10, armed with clubs.
They are very loyal to their captain and officers. Any attempt to subvert them, encourage mutiny, etc. will result in them passing a message to the nearest officer and warning the rest of the crew.
The Ship- The Black Parrot is a well-built, well-maintained two-masted cog. It has extra cabins allowing it to carry up to 8 passengers (double occupancy) and up to 5 more can bunk in hammocks with the crew.
The ship was originally called the Drunk Parrot but after seeing the amazingly bad film Knights back in the '90's I changed it to the Black Parrot.
The Crew:[Knights is a Z movie by Albert Pyun where Kris Kristofferson and Lance Henricksen play cyborgs, Here is the trailer
You're welcome.]
Captain and owner Jo'Gahn- Raised in a small fishing village he signed on with a merchanter at the age of 13 and worked his way up to captain. By saving his money and investing it he made enough to buy his own ship.He is a shrewd man, an excellent judge of character, and a great leader. He will take passengers, especially adventurers, for a fee but he won't take just anyone; if approached he will check with his network of contacts which includes merchants, priests, and town officials and will not take evil people or those with a reputation of not paying their debts
Jo'Gahn is a 3rd level Man-at-Arms (from Far Realms; if you don't have it, treat him as a 2nd level fighter than can't advance in level). H.P. 12 A.C. 8/7 short sword, +2 Cloak of Protection (added to armor class). In an emergency he will grab a buckler. Neutral Good.
Jo'Gahn is in his mid-30's, has black hair, a beard, and is balding. He is deeply tanned and strong from a lifetime at sea. He dresses well to maintain his image as captain.
First Mate Altair- Altair has been friends with, and working for, Jo'Gahn for 15+ years. Altair doesn't have the flair for business that Jo'Gahn has, but he is just as good at leading men and sailing ships.
Altair is a 2nd level fighter who cannot advance in level. H.P. 11, A.C. 10/9 He typically fights with a club and is skilled enough with them he has a +1 to hit. In an emergency he will grab a buckler.
Altair has sandy hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. He is a little taller than average and carried some extra weight around his middle. Neutral Good.
Second Mate Smeagol- Smeagol has been with the ship since death of the original second mate in a tangle with pirates 4 years ago. he is liked and trusted by the crew and his superiors. He is a skilled navigator and sailing master but has no interest in the business side of merchant ships. The men tend to come to him first with personal problems (but Altair first for problems with the ship!).
If sailors need to go ashore in dangerous areas (for water or food on a desert island, say) Smeagol leads the group.
Smeagol is a 4th level Scoundrel (another Far Realms class - treat him as a second level thief with only the listed skills without it). H.P. 10 A.C. 9/6 He fights with a club. He has a +1 Ring of Protection (a gift from an adventurer who chuckled about his name). The ring and his dexterity are listed in his A.C.
He has the following abilities-
Move Silently: 27% Hide in Shadows: 25% Pick Pockets: 30% Climb Walls: 68%. If he can backstab a foe he does an extra 4 points of damage.
Smeagol has brown hair and eyes and is in excellent shape. He is handsome and charming with a quick smile.
The Men- The crew is made up of 12 more men who work as general sailors. All are 0 level with 2-4 H.P., A.C. 10, armed with clubs.
They are very loyal to their captain and officers. Any attempt to subvert them, encourage mutiny, etc. will result in them passing a message to the nearest officer and warning the rest of the crew.
The Ship- The Black Parrot is a well-built, well-maintained two-masted cog. It has extra cabins allowing it to carry up to 8 passengers (double occupancy) and up to 5 more can bunk in hammocks with the crew.
Monday, May 16, 2016
G.K. Chesterton's Fence, AD&D 1e, and What Happens When You Don't Understand What You Are Changing - A Varied Rant
The subheading on my blog warns you about my rants.
G.K. Chesterton was a prolific writer of the early 20th Century who once told a parable about reform and a fence, which I will paraphrase
This is a simple concept - understand why before you remove or change - that seems to escape a lot of people. Especially some in gaming.
In high school I had a friend named George who ran a game of AD&D 1e. We had two players that were in both groups and he and I spoke about the game fairly often. One of our 'shared' players, a guy named Brent, loved to play elves but hated, hated, hated, the level limits on elves. He argued with me often that he should be able to go to any level he could as an elf. I always said no.
George said 'ok' and removed all level limits on all demi-humans. Then he removed all class limits. Then he removed all characteristic limits from demi-humans. He had removed alignment restrictions to classes before any of this.
Then he was wondering why there were so many half-orc fighter/assassins in his game. Never mind the slew of elven fighter/magic-users with castles. And no human PCs.
They did not understand the why of class, level, and stat requirements in AD&D 1e and they tore them out without understanding them. As a result, they had a wild bull get loose.
If you look at the 1e limitations on demi-humans you see some interesting things:
Not only do these restrictions make guys who can, say, wear armor while casting Lightning Bolt rare and therefore more interesting, it means there are great reasons for playing humans - the domain game.
-------------------------------------------------
In 1e half-elves and gnomes have access to classes other demi-humans can't be: half-elves can be rangers, gnomes can be illusionists. Half-elves are (in my experience) popular because they have so many possible multi-class combinations but gnomes have that sweet niche of being illusionist/somethings. Who doesn't want a fighter/illusionist or illusionist/thief in the party?!
In 3e there was a decision to let any race be any class. Sure they tried to give a sop to things by saying some races were 'better suited' to certain classes, but especially for gnomes that changed around a bit, etc.
When 4e came out I remember reading a statement from one of the designers about why gnomes had become 'monsters'. He said [paraphrased] "Well, they were just a lot like dwarves and we really didn't understand why anyone would play them or what they were for."
OK, leaving aside the different flavors of elf available, the reason that gnomes had nothing special about them because the designers of 3e removed what made them special! Team A tore down a fence they didn't understand and that resulted in Team B not really grasping why those post holes were all over the place.
Half-elves and Half-orcs are, as I mentioned, the only demi-humans that can be cleric PCs. Despite the low level cap this works out to be an advantage because this makes these races the source of multi-class clerics, combos that are always welcome in any party. If you let every demi-human be a cleric and expand the access to multi-class combinations there is no reason to play a half-elf - after all, if elves, who have better bonuses, etc., can do the same thing being an elf makes more meta-sense than being a half-elf.
-------------------------------------------------
There are plenty of other examples. The most common one I see is 'Gee, I don't understand alignment, so I removed it' followed by 'why do all my players play murderhobos?!'.
It's a puzzle.
-------------------------------------------------
At the end of the day (and near the end of my rant!) the radical changes by some who want to 'fix' level limits, racial class restrictions, and even alignment where these limits are replaced by nothing reveal mainly two things about the people making the changes: they don't understand the why of these game elements and they don't grasp that Gary was actually a competent, good, even great game designer.
-------------------------------------------------
End Rant.
G.K. Chesterton was a prolific writer of the early 20th Century who once told a parable about reform and a fence, which I will paraphrase
Two men are enjoying a pleasant stroll through the country when they come upon a fence barring their way. This rather stout, well-maintained fence stretches from the thick forest on each side and completely blocks the trail.
The first man looks at it and declares,
"I do not understand why this fence is here; I will tear it down so I may continue to enjoy my stroll!"
The second man replies,
"If you do not understand why this fence is here you certainly should not tear it down." "What if it prevents a mad bull from running wild? Go, research and think about it and once you understand why it is here, then you might still want to tear it down."
This is a simple concept - understand why before you remove or change - that seems to escape a lot of people. Especially some in gaming.
In high school I had a friend named George who ran a game of AD&D 1e. We had two players that were in both groups and he and I spoke about the game fairly often. One of our 'shared' players, a guy named Brent, loved to play elves but hated, hated, hated, the level limits on elves. He argued with me often that he should be able to go to any level he could as an elf. I always said no.
George said 'ok' and removed all level limits on all demi-humans. Then he removed all class limits. Then he removed all characteristic limits from demi-humans. He had removed alignment restrictions to classes before any of this.
Then he was wondering why there were so many half-orc fighter/assassins in his game. Never mind the slew of elven fighter/magic-users with castles. And no human PCs.
They did not understand the why of class, level, and stat requirements in AD&D 1e and they tore them out without understanding them. As a result, they had a wild bull get loose.
If you look at the 1e limitations on demi-humans you see some interesting things:
- Only Humans, Half-orcs, and strong Dwarves are establishing domain fortresses
- Only Half-orcs can't establish a thieves guild
- Only Humans, Half-elves, and Half-orcs can be cleric PCs and only Humans are any good at it
Not only do these restrictions make guys who can, say, wear armor while casting Lightning Bolt rare and therefore more interesting, it means there are great reasons for playing humans - the domain game.
-------------------------------------------------
In 1e half-elves and gnomes have access to classes other demi-humans can't be: half-elves can be rangers, gnomes can be illusionists. Half-elves are (in my experience) popular because they have so many possible multi-class combinations but gnomes have that sweet niche of being illusionist/somethings. Who doesn't want a fighter/illusionist or illusionist/thief in the party?!
In 3e there was a decision to let any race be any class. Sure they tried to give a sop to things by saying some races were 'better suited' to certain classes, but especially for gnomes that changed around a bit, etc.
When 4e came out I remember reading a statement from one of the designers about why gnomes had become 'monsters'. He said [paraphrased] "Well, they were just a lot like dwarves and we really didn't understand why anyone would play them or what they were for."
OK, leaving aside the different flavors of elf available, the reason that gnomes had nothing special about them because the designers of 3e removed what made them special! Team A tore down a fence they didn't understand and that resulted in Team B not really grasping why those post holes were all over the place.
Half-elves and Half-orcs are, as I mentioned, the only demi-humans that can be cleric PCs. Despite the low level cap this works out to be an advantage because this makes these races the source of multi-class clerics, combos that are always welcome in any party. If you let every demi-human be a cleric and expand the access to multi-class combinations there is no reason to play a half-elf - after all, if elves, who have better bonuses, etc., can do the same thing being an elf makes more meta-sense than being a half-elf.
-------------------------------------------------
There are plenty of other examples. The most common one I see is 'Gee, I don't understand alignment, so I removed it' followed by 'why do all my players play murderhobos?!'.
It's a puzzle.
-------------------------------------------------
At the end of the day (and near the end of my rant!) the radical changes by some who want to 'fix' level limits, racial class restrictions, and even alignment where these limits are replaced by nothing reveal mainly two things about the people making the changes: they don't understand the why of these game elements and they don't grasp that Gary was actually a competent, good, even great game designer.
-------------------------------------------------
End Rant.
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