As much as I want to reply,
"No! You're stupid! you're stupid and you play wrong!"I didn't.
Well, until now.
Showing posts with label mechanics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mechanics. Show all posts
Friday, April 21, 2017
Misunderstood and Improperly Played: Save or Die Mechanics.
Not too long ago I ran into episode 43,912 in the unending series of posts that can be summed up as 'Save or die is teh stoopid'.
As much as I want to reply,
Well, until now.
As much as I want to reply,
Well, until now.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
What Do You Mean, 'What Is It For?'?!
Ah, the internet, where you can argue over all sorts of things. The most recent internet argument I got into was with someone explaining that monsters with a no-save level drain are badwrong and there is no reason to have them other than,
Of course, I had already pointed out some reason for having such monsters in your game, to wit;
"...imbecilic blind worship of the past..."Uh-huh.
Of course, I had already pointed out some reason for having such monsters in your game, to wit;
- Instilling terror in the players
- Driving quests for spells, etc. to get Restoration
- To 'throttle' level progression without nerfing XP/raising the bar or railroading players
What Do You Mean, 'What Is It For?'?!
Ah, the internet, where you can argue over all sorts of things. The most recent internet argument I got into was with someone explaining that monsters with a no-save level drain are badwrong and there is no reason to have them other than,
Of course, I had already pointed out some reason for having such monsters in your game, to wit;
"...imbecilic blind worship of the past..."Uh-huh.
Of course, I had already pointed out some reason for having such monsters in your game, to wit;
- Instilling terror in the players
- Driving quests for spells, etc. to get Restoration
- To 'throttle' level progression without nerfing XP/raising the bar or railroading players
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Misunderstood and Improperly Played: Reaction and Morale Rolls
I was reading a solid post by Trollish Delver, a blog I am sorry I just found, and it inspired me (thanks, Scott!) to write a new post in the Misunderstood and Improperly Played series, although I fear a better titled might be Forgotten About and Never Used.
Scott makes some good points in his post which I will not sum up - go read his stuff! The link is in the first sentence and it is a great, quick read and you'll like his blog!
When I have new players being introduced to the game I often use weak undead for the second or third encounter: everyone knows they should be destroyed, so no moral qualms, and there is a reason they fight to the death. But immediately after that? As soon as they get the upper hand I have monsters try to surrender.
I also use the reaction roll. You do, too, right? I mean, here is the quote from the DMG,
In short, 1e assumes the DM rolls reaction checks with every encounter he did not explicitly set a reaction for. Walking through the briars and encounter a few men? Roll a reaction. In a dungeon and burst in on a group of dwarves? Roll a reaction. Bump into an ogre? Roll a reaction. Cast a Speak with Animals and talk to a cow? Roll a reaction. Gnome is asking the badger for direction? Cast Speak with Dead?
You get the idea.
Scott makes some good points in his post which I will not sum up - go read his stuff! The link is in the first sentence and it is a great, quick read and you'll like his blog!
When I have new players being introduced to the game I often use weak undead for the second or third encounter: everyone knows they should be destroyed, so no moral qualms, and there is a reason they fight to the death. But immediately after that? As soon as they get the upper hand I have monsters try to surrender.
I also use the reaction roll. You do, too, right? I mean, here is the quote from the DMG,
"Any intelligent creature which can be conversed with will react in some way to the character that is speaking Reaction is determined by rolling percentile dice, adjusting the score for charisma...."The section on generating NPCs has a chart showing how their various personality traits affect their reaction rolls. And the section on random encounters also discusses reaction rolls (which I will cover later).
In short, 1e assumes the DM rolls reaction checks with every encounter he did not explicitly set a reaction for. Walking through the briars and encounter a few men? Roll a reaction. In a dungeon and burst in on a group of dwarves? Roll a reaction. Bump into an ogre? Roll a reaction. Cast a Speak with Animals and talk to a cow? Roll a reaction. Gnome is asking the badger for direction? Cast Speak with Dead?
You get the idea.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Why Wizards Don't Suck on the Battlefield
This is, naturally, directly related to my last post.
A little over a quarter century ago we had a guy sit in on a game for a session or two. As I recall he was playing a 6th level magic-user with an interesting mix of magic items and spells. He joined a large party (5 players and 8 characters, I think) and we went to Lew Pulsipher's Mount Thunder, where PC skulls as common as mice.
The party got into an altercation and the visiting player cast Mirror Image, then Shield. The he drew a dagger and closed with the front line, doing very well for himself and helping turn the tide. This led Lew to discuss the idea of Pocket Quarterbacks vs. Fran Tarkenton. Wizards who stay in the middle of the formation and lob spells over his defenders = pocket quarterback. Guys like the visitor who wander around both casting and fighting are Fran Tarkenton (look him up, kids).
While I have certainly mentioned what I call the Four Roles a few other places, let me repeat them;
1) Fighters are Physical Offense
2) Magic-users are Magical Offense
3) Clerics are Physical and Magical Defense
4) Thieves are Intelligence and Scouting
And the other classes make sense, too; paladins are physical offense and magical defense, etc.
Now, while I say, many times, wizards are magical offense and have said very recently that wizards suck on the battlefield (see the link in the first sentence) that isn't quite all there is to say. See, wizards don't have to suck on the battlefield, you just need to stop thinking of them as artillery and start thinking of them as melee combatants.
Yes, really.
While a wizard is artillery to a party they aren't to an army. But 'not being artillery' doesn't mean 'useless in battle'. Let's talk a little about wizards on the battlefield and mention Battlesystem.
You remember Battlesystem right?
Anyway, let's look at the spell caster above. Good armor class from the Shield spell; the Mirror Image adds to his survivability. How about we toss in, oh, Blink? Wow! His survivability goes up farther, he's more capable in combat (lots of flanking and rear attacks), and all of his images start blinking around, too!
If he were to engage a Battlesystem unit I might treat him and his images as a unit, not an individual (there are a lot of him) and I might make the opposing unit make a morale check for 'engaged with an enemy they cannot hurt', especially if they have low hit dice. These spells are easily accessible for a 5th level mage. Other good 3rd level spells for the battlefield are Haste and Slow (although they would only affect one unit marker in an army). Invisibility, 10' radius might allow a unit to move around the battlefield for a while.
Another major battlefield impact available to the wizard is Wall of Fire; this spell can be used to stop arrows and protect a flank in an emergency. Wall of Ice, Stone, Iron etc. are similar.
But the really big one at 4th level must be Hallucinatory Terrain.
Normally I stick to the rule for 1e spells that "outdoors the range changes to tens of yards but area of effect stays tens of feet'. I make an exception for Hallucinatory Terrain simply because it can't do what it is described as doing ('open fields looking like a swamp', 'a rock strewn gulley looking like a road') so I have its range and area of effect switch to tens of yards
The ability to hide the real terrain of a battlefield should have obvious advantages! Your reserves are bidden behind a 'steep hill'; the open field now looks like a huge thicket of scrub and boulders; the inviting open field to the left flank of your army is actually a river; etc.
But this leads us far enough down the primrose path to discuss the true magical master of the battlefield. That is, of course,
The First Edition Illusionist!
That's right, the 1e illusionist is the King of the Battlefield.
Let's look at what a 9th level 1e Illusionist can do with a selection of spells
1st level- Wall of Fog, Hypnotism, Detect Illusion, Phantasmal Force
2nd level- Fog Cloud, Mirror Image, Improved Phantasmal Force
3rd level- Invisibility, 10' r., Hallucinatory Terrain, Spectral Force
4th level- Massmorph, Shadow Monsters
While Wall of Fog and Fog Cloud do no damage, they are good at providing concealment and perhaps making foes move if they think the Fog Cloud is a Cloudkill. Not great, but not useless.
Mirror Image, Detect Illusion, and Hypnotism are really about self-protection.
Invisibility, 10' r. and Massmorph are about concealing units on the battlefield. If the illusionist gets a chance they can hide an entire unit (up to 90 creatures) as a copse of trees (Massmorph) or simply make up to, oh, around 40 medium creatures invisible. The sudden appearance of 40 heavy crossbowmen in what was thought was an open field would be a bit of a shock. Having 90 heavy infantry appear on the flank you though was anchored by a thicket of oaks would be even worse!
I mentioned Hallucinatory Terrain above. The reason it is even better for illusionists is they get it a level earlier - a 5th level illusionist can potentially hide parts of the battlefield.
The Phantasmal and Spectral Force spells, though, have the potential to truly wreak havoc on the battlefield. The have ranges of up to 170 yards (potentially out of short bow range) and the illusion can travel anywhere within range. While magic-users get Phantasmal Force they get it as a 3rd level spell while illusionists get it as a 1st level spell (!) and illusionists have sole access to Improved Phantasmal and Spectral Force - both of which last for 2 or 3 rounds after the caster ceases concentration and include some more senses other than just sight.
Each of these three 'pure illusion' spells can create a huge range of effects from ditches filled with flaming tar to 500 pikemen in formation. Also remember; unless foes disbelieve in their nature AND make a saving throw these illusions can injure and kill!
The sneaky spell here is Shadow Monsters. I say sneaky because of the impact it has on the other spells. Shadow Monsters is, really, an illusion so good it is partially real, but it can only be used to make creatures - almost a summoning. A 9th level illusionist could use this spell to make a giant, 2 ogres, 10 goblins, or 18 kobolds. The latter two are, effectively, battlefield units.But the Shadow Monsters stick around after the caster is doing other things and keep existing and fighting (if diminished) even when successfully disbelieved. Shadow Monsters, with its range of only 30 yards, is a really nasty surprise to any unit that gets too close to the caster and could be a last minute way to plug a gap in the lines in an emergency.
So - what would fighting a battle where one side had an illusionist like that look like?
Baron Mordan was indignant. He had been for over a year, ever since the king gave a grant of land to some upstart from the city. Mordan had learned from friends that the man had begun life as the son of a scribe and had made a fortune as a vagabond and mercenary before earning the king's favor on the Orc Marches.
Mordan was descended from nobility and was a 5th cousin to the king! Yes, yes, he was aware that by being the 4th son of a 3rd son he was reduced to a small barony on the border. While this land had been prosperous under his father Mordan struggled to generate any real income from the lazy peasants. When he found out that the king had given the next valley West to some common scribbler he had been furious!
Burt Mordan had begun working immediately; his men at arms were loyal before too long there had been a series of 'problems' on the border between Mordan's lands and those of the new "baron" Worrel. Mordan had complained loudly and bitterly over each incident, even after his own brothers had told him to be silent. But it had paid off - at the last moot Worrel had directly accused Mordan of deception and theft. Worrel had offered to trial by combat, but Mordan knew of the man's reputation as a swordsman. No, Mordan had insisted on the old ways, the Lord's Battle ways. No scribbler could be a commander of men like Mordan; now it was to be settled by force of arms!
Mordan had set out with his own 50 heavy cavalry, 200 medium foot, 300 militia short bow men, and 500 militia pikemen with an additional 100 heavy foot mercenaries (whom he planned to pay with loot).
He knew the upstart had only 100 light cavalry and 200 medium foot with perhaps 200 militia archers and 300 militia pikemen.
After 3 full days of marching directly toward Worrel's keep Mordan had yet to face any opposition. The villagers had fled, seemingly ordered by Worrel, and there was no battle. But on the evening of the third day Mordan arrived on the top of the last hill before Worrel's keep.
He had to admit - waiting to fight here had been the best option for Worrel; The forest on Mordan's right flank and the river on his left would limit his mobility. He noted that the meadows near the river were marshy, so his cavalry and heavy foot would need to avoid that area.
On the other hand, Worrel had erected no ditches, palisades, or stakes in defense - the only thing between Mordan and the keep were the few forces of Worrel! Mordan pitched his camp between the trees and the river less than 500 yards from the outermost of Worrel's troops.
Dawn was clear and crisp, promising a perfect day for a battle. His commander told him there had been only one incident in the night - a guard had vanished. Probably a deserter, as nothing was missing and there were no reports of trouble.
Worrel's forces were drawn up about 400 yards away; a pikewall 100 men wide and 3 ranks deep with 50 medium foot on each flank; Another 100 medium foot were on Mordan's right, 100 light cavalry on the left, with 4 groups of 50 archers each 20-30 yards behind. Worrel's forces made a line from the swampy river on Mordan's left to the heavy trees on Mordan's right. Mordan did not see the rest of the foot and assumed they were in the keep.
Mordan decided simple was best; his pikemen formed up as the center, 3 ranks deep and 100 men wide. The main pikes were flanked with 50 medium foot on each side. The mercenaries formed on the right flank, the cavalry on the left. The short bow men were in a group 50 men by 50 men 50 yards behind the pikes. He kept 200 pikemen, 50 bow men, and 50 medium foot in reserve with another 50 medium foot guarding the camp. While Worrel's light horse would be more maneuverable in the marshy land on the left if they did anything Mordan's heavy cavalry could charge the flank. With the light cavalry pinned Mordan would simply march up, wait for the pike crush, and have the mercenaries roll over the medium foot. His reserve would then follow on and pin Worrel's forces against the river.
He'd own the barony by nightfall.
Before too long Worrel's archers began to fire, mainly at the pikes. Mordan had his own archers target Worrel's archers. Mordan heard a cry from the right - a group of heavy foot were marching from the trees! In just a few moment 150 heavy footmen in Worrel's livery were formed up, blocking the advance of the mercenaries. A moment later, they began marching forward, apparently eager to attack the smaller force ahead of them!
Mordan shifted his archers to the new threat and while they began to fall it wasn't fast enough - the larger force was going to hit his right flank hard. With a loud battle cry the mercenaries rushed forward to engage and-
Worrel's heavy footmen vanished, like a puff of smoke.
Mordan stood in his stirrups, staring at the right flank. The mercenaries were disorganized, almost a mob, as they tried to find their missing foes. Mordan sent a runner to order the mercenaries to form back up and continue their advance.
He realized his archers didn't have orders, but before he could order them to fire on Worrel's archers there was another shout, from behind him.
A wedge of heavy cavalry, also wearing Worrel's livery, was trotting towards his rear! The archers, completely unprotected, were scattering , most of them running for the shelter of the reserves, who were forming a square, or the treeline. Mordan ordered his cavalry to wheel as he sized up the new threat - 80 cavalry, all in plate with lances! He faced a dilemma; if he engaged them, Worrel's light cavalry would be free to move; but if the heavy cavalry engaged bypassed his reserves his main body would be forced to form squares. He decided to charge the cavalry. He quickly sent a runner to order the reserves to the left and to move the mercenaries to cover the rear of the pikewall.
Very soon his was leading his horsemen at the trot, then a full charge at the enemy. He leaned forward, lance in hand, ready for the terrible shock of impact....
And the enemy rode through his forces like ghosts. Several of his men slipped from their horses when there was no impact, a number of horses stumbled and went down, likewise. Some lay still, seemingly dead.
He gathered his cavalry together, minus 10 men unhorsed, and took stock of the situation.
His pikewall was still slowly advancing and still under constant enemy arrow fire. The mercenaries, having seen the vanishing enemy horses, were struggling to return to the right flank to oppose Worrel's footmen. His reserves remained in a square with about 1/3rd of his archers within, the rest of his archers were scattered.He and the remaining 40 heavy cavalry were out of place. And where Worrel's light cavalry had been waiting there was now a thick wall of fog, hiding them from view.
Like phantoms, the light cavalry appeared out of the fog and began a charge across the battlefield between the opposing pikes towards Mordan's right flank! Realizing Worrel hoped to catch the mercenaries before they could get back into formation he ordered his tired cavalry to follow him as he raced to keep them from catching scattered infantry in the open.
He knew his horses weren't fast enough to beat the enemy cavalry there, but they could drive them off before too much damage was done. If he was lucky he might drive them back into the medium infantry behind them and try to roll up Worrel's flank.
Looking back he saw - Worrel's light cavalry charging out of the fog. But that was impossible! Both groups were the size of all of Worrel's cavalry! The second group was charging, at full gallop, along the river bank towards Mordan's rear. Remembering how marshy the meadows were he decided that those troops must be more phantoms, like the earlier ones, to distract him from the real troops, ahead.
The mercenaries, realizing they were about to be caught in the open, had hastily formed into 4 small squares as Worrel's lancers approached. The light cavalry ignored them, however, and charged around them, heading along the treeline toward Mordan and the heavy cavalry.
A great crash and shouting arose from Mordan's left flank - the 'phantom' cavalry had struck the medium infantry on the left of the pikewall and were inflicting terrible losses on them. Horrified, Mordan watched the cavalry in front of him fade away into nothingness.
As he drew up to try to figure out what was going on he saw a messenger riding hard towards him. When he arrived the messenger's horse was blowing as hard as any of the destrier's in the cavalry.
"My lord! The captain asks for assistance in the camp!"
"What?! Why?"
"Well, my lord, some of the trees. Some of the trees..."
"The trees? Spit it out, man!"
"Some of the trees turned into men, my lord! A grove of trees turned into soldiers and they are attacking the camp!"
"Ride back and tell the fool captain they are phantoms, some sort of glamor to distract him."
"My lord, the captain ordered me hence as he lay dying from a wound."
"Dying...?"
Mordan looked past the messenger. A column of smoke was beginning to rise over the ridge from the location of his camp.
Mordan turned to survey the battlefield: His left flank was broken and Worrel's lancers were slaughtering scattered infantry; his pikes, weakened by salvoes of arrows, demoralized by the loss of the left flank, and terrified by the magic, were wavering. The mercenaries were finally in formation, but were staying close to the tree line. He watched as the reserves noticed the smoke from the camp - in moments they were running towards the camp.
As Worrel's pike wall lowered their weapons into position and gave a great shout the rest of Mordan's army broke and began to run back towards his lands. The mercenaries, more disciplined, began to slip into the forest.
The cavalry with him were holding firm, for now, but all of them were looking at him expectantly.
Even he started in surprise as a voice appeared out of thin air,
"Greetings, Baron Mordan."
"W-Worrel? Is that you?"
"I am Baron Worrel, yes."
"Where are you?"
Almost instantly a small group of horsemen appeared just a few yards away. Mordan sensed several of his men prepare to flee. Of the four Mordan recognized only Worrel, who was on the finest warhorse Mordan had ever seen. Two of the others were retainers, and obviously warriors, but the fourth was a beautiful woman on a palfrey.
"Here I am, come to accept your surrender."
"Surrender? This was a single battle!"
"Indeed. But recall, when you demanded Lord's Battle I pointed out that I was granted a barony for defeating the Red Orc Chieftain on the field of battle. Besides, while your troops were busy here some of my closest friends visited your keep. Surrender and you can dine in my keep with your wife and your sons this very evening."
Mordan sagged in the saddle. Defeat on the battlefield and the taking of hostages - Worrel had fulfilled the rules of Lord's Battle. Mordan's lands and titles were now Worrel's.
Moments later Mordan's men were returning home, Mordan had no sword, and he was riding between the two retainers.
"I apologize, Mordan," said Worrel, "I failed to introduce you. This lady is my wife, Lady Gwenhyfar. She is a student of magic."
A little over a quarter century ago we had a guy sit in on a game for a session or two. As I recall he was playing a 6th level magic-user with an interesting mix of magic items and spells. He joined a large party (5 players and 8 characters, I think) and we went to Lew Pulsipher's Mount Thunder, where PC skulls as common as mice.
The party got into an altercation and the visiting player cast Mirror Image, then Shield. The he drew a dagger and closed with the front line, doing very well for himself and helping turn the tide. This led Lew to discuss the idea of Pocket Quarterbacks vs. Fran Tarkenton. Wizards who stay in the middle of the formation and lob spells over his defenders = pocket quarterback. Guys like the visitor who wander around both casting and fighting are Fran Tarkenton (look him up, kids).
While I have certainly mentioned what I call the Four Roles a few other places, let me repeat them;
1) Fighters are Physical Offense
2) Magic-users are Magical Offense
3) Clerics are Physical and Magical Defense
4) Thieves are Intelligence and Scouting
And the other classes make sense, too; paladins are physical offense and magical defense, etc.
Now, while I say, many times, wizards are magical offense and have said very recently that wizards suck on the battlefield (see the link in the first sentence) that isn't quite all there is to say. See, wizards don't have to suck on the battlefield, you just need to stop thinking of them as artillery and start thinking of them as melee combatants.
Yes, really.
While a wizard is artillery to a party they aren't to an army. But 'not being artillery' doesn't mean 'useless in battle'. Let's talk a little about wizards on the battlefield and mention Battlesystem.
You remember Battlesystem right?
Anyway, let's look at the spell caster above. Good armor class from the Shield spell; the Mirror Image adds to his survivability. How about we toss in, oh, Blink? Wow! His survivability goes up farther, he's more capable in combat (lots of flanking and rear attacks), and all of his images start blinking around, too!
If he were to engage a Battlesystem unit I might treat him and his images as a unit, not an individual (there are a lot of him) and I might make the opposing unit make a morale check for 'engaged with an enemy they cannot hurt', especially if they have low hit dice. These spells are easily accessible for a 5th level mage. Other good 3rd level spells for the battlefield are Haste and Slow (although they would only affect one unit marker in an army). Invisibility, 10' radius might allow a unit to move around the battlefield for a while.
Another major battlefield impact available to the wizard is Wall of Fire; this spell can be used to stop arrows and protect a flank in an emergency. Wall of Ice, Stone, Iron etc. are similar.
But the really big one at 4th level must be Hallucinatory Terrain.
Normally I stick to the rule for 1e spells that "outdoors the range changes to tens of yards but area of effect stays tens of feet'. I make an exception for Hallucinatory Terrain simply because it can't do what it is described as doing ('open fields looking like a swamp', 'a rock strewn gulley looking like a road') so I have its range and area of effect switch to tens of yards
The ability to hide the real terrain of a battlefield should have obvious advantages! Your reserves are bidden behind a 'steep hill'; the open field now looks like a huge thicket of scrub and boulders; the inviting open field to the left flank of your army is actually a river; etc.
But this leads us far enough down the primrose path to discuss the true magical master of the battlefield. That is, of course,
The First Edition Illusionist!
That's right, the 1e illusionist is the King of the Battlefield.
Let's look at what a 9th level 1e Illusionist can do with a selection of spells
1st level- Wall of Fog, Hypnotism, Detect Illusion, Phantasmal Force
2nd level- Fog Cloud, Mirror Image, Improved Phantasmal Force
3rd level- Invisibility, 10' r., Hallucinatory Terrain, Spectral Force
4th level- Massmorph, Shadow Monsters
While Wall of Fog and Fog Cloud do no damage, they are good at providing concealment and perhaps making foes move if they think the Fog Cloud is a Cloudkill. Not great, but not useless.
Mirror Image, Detect Illusion, and Hypnotism are really about self-protection.
Invisibility, 10' r. and Massmorph are about concealing units on the battlefield. If the illusionist gets a chance they can hide an entire unit (up to 90 creatures) as a copse of trees (Massmorph) or simply make up to, oh, around 40 medium creatures invisible. The sudden appearance of 40 heavy crossbowmen in what was thought was an open field would be a bit of a shock. Having 90 heavy infantry appear on the flank you though was anchored by a thicket of oaks would be even worse!
I mentioned Hallucinatory Terrain above. The reason it is even better for illusionists is they get it a level earlier - a 5th level illusionist can potentially hide parts of the battlefield.
The Phantasmal and Spectral Force spells, though, have the potential to truly wreak havoc on the battlefield. The have ranges of up to 170 yards (potentially out of short bow range) and the illusion can travel anywhere within range. While magic-users get Phantasmal Force they get it as a 3rd level spell while illusionists get it as a 1st level spell (!) and illusionists have sole access to Improved Phantasmal and Spectral Force - both of which last for 2 or 3 rounds after the caster ceases concentration and include some more senses other than just sight.
Each of these three 'pure illusion' spells can create a huge range of effects from ditches filled with flaming tar to 500 pikemen in formation. Also remember; unless foes disbelieve in their nature AND make a saving throw these illusions can injure and kill!
The sneaky spell here is Shadow Monsters. I say sneaky because of the impact it has on the other spells. Shadow Monsters is, really, an illusion so good it is partially real, but it can only be used to make creatures - almost a summoning. A 9th level illusionist could use this spell to make a giant, 2 ogres, 10 goblins, or 18 kobolds. The latter two are, effectively, battlefield units.But the Shadow Monsters stick around after the caster is doing other things and keep existing and fighting (if diminished) even when successfully disbelieved. Shadow Monsters, with its range of only 30 yards, is a really nasty surprise to any unit that gets too close to the caster and could be a last minute way to plug a gap in the lines in an emergency.
So - what would fighting a battle where one side had an illusionist like that look like?
Baron Mordan was indignant. He had been for over a year, ever since the king gave a grant of land to some upstart from the city. Mordan had learned from friends that the man had begun life as the son of a scribe and had made a fortune as a vagabond and mercenary before earning the king's favor on the Orc Marches.
Mordan was descended from nobility and was a 5th cousin to the king! Yes, yes, he was aware that by being the 4th son of a 3rd son he was reduced to a small barony on the border. While this land had been prosperous under his father Mordan struggled to generate any real income from the lazy peasants. When he found out that the king had given the next valley West to some common scribbler he had been furious!
Burt Mordan had begun working immediately; his men at arms were loyal before too long there had been a series of 'problems' on the border between Mordan's lands and those of the new "baron" Worrel. Mordan had complained loudly and bitterly over each incident, even after his own brothers had told him to be silent. But it had paid off - at the last moot Worrel had directly accused Mordan of deception and theft. Worrel had offered to trial by combat, but Mordan knew of the man's reputation as a swordsman. No, Mordan had insisted on the old ways, the Lord's Battle ways. No scribbler could be a commander of men like Mordan; now it was to be settled by force of arms!
Mordan had set out with his own 50 heavy cavalry, 200 medium foot, 300 militia short bow men, and 500 militia pikemen with an additional 100 heavy foot mercenaries (whom he planned to pay with loot).
He knew the upstart had only 100 light cavalry and 200 medium foot with perhaps 200 militia archers and 300 militia pikemen.
After 3 full days of marching directly toward Worrel's keep Mordan had yet to face any opposition. The villagers had fled, seemingly ordered by Worrel, and there was no battle. But on the evening of the third day Mordan arrived on the top of the last hill before Worrel's keep.
He had to admit - waiting to fight here had been the best option for Worrel; The forest on Mordan's right flank and the river on his left would limit his mobility. He noted that the meadows near the river were marshy, so his cavalry and heavy foot would need to avoid that area.
On the other hand, Worrel had erected no ditches, palisades, or stakes in defense - the only thing between Mordan and the keep were the few forces of Worrel! Mordan pitched his camp between the trees and the river less than 500 yards from the outermost of Worrel's troops.
Dawn was clear and crisp, promising a perfect day for a battle. His commander told him there had been only one incident in the night - a guard had vanished. Probably a deserter, as nothing was missing and there were no reports of trouble.
Worrel's forces were drawn up about 400 yards away; a pikewall 100 men wide and 3 ranks deep with 50 medium foot on each flank; Another 100 medium foot were on Mordan's right, 100 light cavalry on the left, with 4 groups of 50 archers each 20-30 yards behind. Worrel's forces made a line from the swampy river on Mordan's left to the heavy trees on Mordan's right. Mordan did not see the rest of the foot and assumed they were in the keep.
Mordan decided simple was best; his pikemen formed up as the center, 3 ranks deep and 100 men wide. The main pikes were flanked with 50 medium foot on each side. The mercenaries formed on the right flank, the cavalry on the left. The short bow men were in a group 50 men by 50 men 50 yards behind the pikes. He kept 200 pikemen, 50 bow men, and 50 medium foot in reserve with another 50 medium foot guarding the camp. While Worrel's light horse would be more maneuverable in the marshy land on the left if they did anything Mordan's heavy cavalry could charge the flank. With the light cavalry pinned Mordan would simply march up, wait for the pike crush, and have the mercenaries roll over the medium foot. His reserve would then follow on and pin Worrel's forces against the river.
He'd own the barony by nightfall.
Before too long Worrel's archers began to fire, mainly at the pikes. Mordan had his own archers target Worrel's archers. Mordan heard a cry from the right - a group of heavy foot were marching from the trees! In just a few moment 150 heavy footmen in Worrel's livery were formed up, blocking the advance of the mercenaries. A moment later, they began marching forward, apparently eager to attack the smaller force ahead of them!
Mordan shifted his archers to the new threat and while they began to fall it wasn't fast enough - the larger force was going to hit his right flank hard. With a loud battle cry the mercenaries rushed forward to engage and-
Worrel's heavy footmen vanished, like a puff of smoke.
Mordan stood in his stirrups, staring at the right flank. The mercenaries were disorganized, almost a mob, as they tried to find their missing foes. Mordan sent a runner to order the mercenaries to form back up and continue their advance.
He realized his archers didn't have orders, but before he could order them to fire on Worrel's archers there was another shout, from behind him.
A wedge of heavy cavalry, also wearing Worrel's livery, was trotting towards his rear! The archers, completely unprotected, were scattering , most of them running for the shelter of the reserves, who were forming a square, or the treeline. Mordan ordered his cavalry to wheel as he sized up the new threat - 80 cavalry, all in plate with lances! He faced a dilemma; if he engaged them, Worrel's light cavalry would be free to move; but if the heavy cavalry engaged bypassed his reserves his main body would be forced to form squares. He decided to charge the cavalry. He quickly sent a runner to order the reserves to the left and to move the mercenaries to cover the rear of the pikewall.
Very soon his was leading his horsemen at the trot, then a full charge at the enemy. He leaned forward, lance in hand, ready for the terrible shock of impact....
And the enemy rode through his forces like ghosts. Several of his men slipped from their horses when there was no impact, a number of horses stumbled and went down, likewise. Some lay still, seemingly dead.
He gathered his cavalry together, minus 10 men unhorsed, and took stock of the situation.
His pikewall was still slowly advancing and still under constant enemy arrow fire. The mercenaries, having seen the vanishing enemy horses, were struggling to return to the right flank to oppose Worrel's footmen. His reserves remained in a square with about 1/3rd of his archers within, the rest of his archers were scattered.He and the remaining 40 heavy cavalry were out of place. And where Worrel's light cavalry had been waiting there was now a thick wall of fog, hiding them from view.
Like phantoms, the light cavalry appeared out of the fog and began a charge across the battlefield between the opposing pikes towards Mordan's right flank! Realizing Worrel hoped to catch the mercenaries before they could get back into formation he ordered his tired cavalry to follow him as he raced to keep them from catching scattered infantry in the open.
He knew his horses weren't fast enough to beat the enemy cavalry there, but they could drive them off before too much damage was done. If he was lucky he might drive them back into the medium infantry behind them and try to roll up Worrel's flank.
Looking back he saw - Worrel's light cavalry charging out of the fog. But that was impossible! Both groups were the size of all of Worrel's cavalry! The second group was charging, at full gallop, along the river bank towards Mordan's rear. Remembering how marshy the meadows were he decided that those troops must be more phantoms, like the earlier ones, to distract him from the real troops, ahead.
The mercenaries, realizing they were about to be caught in the open, had hastily formed into 4 small squares as Worrel's lancers approached. The light cavalry ignored them, however, and charged around them, heading along the treeline toward Mordan and the heavy cavalry.
A great crash and shouting arose from Mordan's left flank - the 'phantom' cavalry had struck the medium infantry on the left of the pikewall and were inflicting terrible losses on them. Horrified, Mordan watched the cavalry in front of him fade away into nothingness.
As he drew up to try to figure out what was going on he saw a messenger riding hard towards him. When he arrived the messenger's horse was blowing as hard as any of the destrier's in the cavalry.
"My lord! The captain asks for assistance in the camp!"
"What?! Why?"
"Well, my lord, some of the trees. Some of the trees..."
"The trees? Spit it out, man!"
"Some of the trees turned into men, my lord! A grove of trees turned into soldiers and they are attacking the camp!"
"Ride back and tell the fool captain they are phantoms, some sort of glamor to distract him."
"My lord, the captain ordered me hence as he lay dying from a wound."
"Dying...?"
Mordan looked past the messenger. A column of smoke was beginning to rise over the ridge from the location of his camp.
Mordan turned to survey the battlefield: His left flank was broken and Worrel's lancers were slaughtering scattered infantry; his pikes, weakened by salvoes of arrows, demoralized by the loss of the left flank, and terrified by the magic, were wavering. The mercenaries were finally in formation, but were staying close to the tree line. He watched as the reserves noticed the smoke from the camp - in moments they were running towards the camp.
As Worrel's pike wall lowered their weapons into position and gave a great shout the rest of Mordan's army broke and began to run back towards his lands. The mercenaries, more disciplined, began to slip into the forest.
The cavalry with him were holding firm, for now, but all of them were looking at him expectantly.
Even he started in surprise as a voice appeared out of thin air,
"Greetings, Baron Mordan."
"W-Worrel? Is that you?"
"I am Baron Worrel, yes."
"Where are you?"
Almost instantly a small group of horsemen appeared just a few yards away. Mordan sensed several of his men prepare to flee. Of the four Mordan recognized only Worrel, who was on the finest warhorse Mordan had ever seen. Two of the others were retainers, and obviously warriors, but the fourth was a beautiful woman on a palfrey.
"Here I am, come to accept your surrender."
"Surrender? This was a single battle!"
"Indeed. But recall, when you demanded Lord's Battle I pointed out that I was granted a barony for defeating the Red Orc Chieftain on the field of battle. Besides, while your troops were busy here some of my closest friends visited your keep. Surrender and you can dine in my keep with your wife and your sons this very evening."
Mordan sagged in the saddle. Defeat on the battlefield and the taking of hostages - Worrel had fulfilled the rules of Lord's Battle. Mordan's lands and titles were now Worrel's.
Moments later Mordan's men were returning home, Mordan had no sword, and he was riding between the two retainers.
"I apologize, Mordan," said Worrel, "I failed to introduce you. This lady is my wife, Lady Gwenhyfar. She is a student of magic."
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Play Report and Important Points on Designing Low-Level Encounters
I met my lovely wife in August of 1990 just before I left for the Gulf War. The very first thing we did for fun was play the old WEG Star Wars RPG. I thought she was a long-time veteran of RPGs. it was actually her first RPG session, she had just memorized everything about the Star Wars universe.
A match made in heaven.
In the 24+ years since she was played all sorts of games, cutting her teeth and learning how to play from some of the best GMs on the planet. Over the years she's made some truly memorable characters, like:
- The Mysterious Amazon, a barbarian mistress of the spear who was one of the deadliest fighters in Lew Pulsipher's campaign world.
- Lady the Abbess Gabrielle, a paladin who dual-classed into cleric and went on to name-level.
- Stardust, the very best thief in my Blackstone campaign.
She has a strong preference for fantasy RPGs with AD&D 2e S&P being her flat-out, must have a campaign running, favorite. She prefers to play front-line fighters with cleric/paladin a close second and loathes playing mages.
And she has never, ever, not once, ever dungeon mastered a single game.
Until yesterday!
After a few weeks of prep (it is the Christmas season, so she's busy) she ran a simple encounter to get her feet set.
To prep the Wife used the 1st level dungeon random encounter tables and followed the random rolls to arm, equip, etc. the villains. She stated very clearly that this was a 'practice round' [i.e., no permanent death, no treasure, no experience].
She asked that we play only the Big Four (fighter, cleric, magic-user, thief) with no specialization, custom classes, multiclasses, etc.
The Players and characters:
Me: Thrain Ironhand, 1st level dwarven fighter with an 18/91 strength and 13 hit points. Bardiche, heavy crossbow, splint mail for protection.
Ja., the oldest son: Justinian the Great, 1st level human magic-user with Charm Person. A dagger and happy thoughts for protection.
A., the second oldest son: Legas, 1st level half-elven thief with really good pick pockets. Short sword and a bajillion daggers with leather armor.
S., the third son: Otto, a 1st level halfling thief who is as silent and stealthy as a shadow. Dagger, club, and leather armor.
N., the fourth son: Bill, 1st level human cleric with a fiery faith. Heavy mace, warhammer, chain and shield.
The setup was simple; we are old friends on our way to visit a remote abbey when we learn that a small hamlet had been raided and all the chickens had been stolen. We followed a trail of heavy bootprints and feathers to a small, remote cabin. The thieves crept up to see what was going on as all else hid nearby. The cabin had a single door in front, two heavily shuttered windows in back and two open windows in front. The thieves heard indistinct noises and smelled fried chicken. Otto decided to check the back windows, where he heard Ominous Chanting. Legas decided to look in one of the open windows in front-
and looked right into the eyes of one of the three hobgoblins eating friend chicken around a table.
No one was surprised so Legas dove into the room through the window, trying to keep the hobgoblins from blocking the door. Thrain, seeing, this, charged up and smashed open the door.
Battle began.
In the first round the hobgoblins (with broad sword, spear, and long sword) all missed Legas and Thrain missed. Justinian held his fire, watching the door to to back of the cabin. Otto tried to stealthily open a back window and failed. Bill stood by to step into melee as soon as Thrain could press in.
In the second round Thrain slew the broad sword wielder in a single blow and stepped up to engage the spearman. Legas missed and was cut down by the long sword wielder, alive but bleeding out with -1 H.P. Bill rushed in and engaged the long sword user. Otto failed to stealthily open the other shutter.
In third round Otto smashed open a shutter and saw a human cleric sacrificing a chicken at an altar to Maglubiyet as a hobgoblin with a spear rushed him. Otto threw his club at the cleric, hitting for minimum damage but disrupting the ritual. Otto promptly fled for the front.
Thrain wounded the spearman, the longsword user wounded Bill, and Bill missed. Justinian threw his dagger at the long sword user and missed.
Fourth round! Thrain missed. The spearman grazed Thrain. Bill missed. Otto arrived. The longsword wielder hit Bill.
Bill goes down, slumping over the body of Legas.
At this point Legas is at -3 H.P. and Bill is at -2 H.P., also bleeding out.
Otto steps up to fight the long sword user as Justinian scrambles to retrieve his only dagger from the corner.
Fifth round. The long sword wielder cuts down Otto, who falls next to Bill and Legas at -2 H.P.
Its looking like a TPK at this point.
Justinian flees out the front door as Thrain cuts down the spearman.
Sixth round. Thrain misses. The long sword wielder hits, bringing Thrain down to 5 H.P.
Legas is bleeding out at -5 H.P., Bill is bleeding out at -4 H.P., Otto is bleeding out at -3 H.P. The magic-user is ready to sprint away, the long sword wielder is fresh as a daisy, and there are reserves behind the door.
Seventh round. Thrain hits and kills the long sword wielder. The jerk. Justinian prepares his spell.
Eighth round. Thrain smashes open the door to the back room where the cleric has just finished strapping on his plate mail. Justinian hits the cleric with Charm Person and the foe blows his save. The last hobgoblin, seeing the devastation and that his master has gone all wobbly-headed, dives out a back window and flees.
The Wife rules that the charmed cleric saves the lives of the downed members of the party and we wrap up.
All in all it was a great first session. Varied enemies with different H.P., different weapons, etc. We all loved playing the session even when it was grimmest.
Notes from the DM on her first session
1) The storytelling was easy and fun for her, but the mechanics was more involved than she expected.
2) She realized how important reacting to the actions of the players is and that too much prep might result in trying to force the players down the "right" path.
3) It is shockingly easy to wipe out a party.
Notes on Making Low-Level Encounters
In the post-game discussion I went over my own insights and the things I have been taught by other GMs about low-level encounters:
1) The thing most likely to kill a low level party is the armor class of the enemy. Hobgoblins are A.C. 5 so the mage needed a 17 to hit them - that's one hit out of 5 attempts. Even Thrain, a dwarf with a total of +3 to hit (strength and racial bonus) needed a 12, hitting only 45% of the time. Even though 2 of the hobgoblins in the main combat only had 2 H.P. and the 'tough' one only had 6 they were so tough for 1st level n00bs to hit they almost wiped out the party.
2) The thing second most likely to kill a low level party is the number of attacks facing the party each round. Low level parties have the terrible combination of poor armor classes and low hit points. Each extra attack per round increases the odds that a character goes down that round.
3) Low Hit Die Monsters are, one-on-one, tougher than low-level characters. A hobgoblin has 1+1 HD for an average of 5.5 H.P. Only as tough as a first level fighter, right?
Wrong. His to hit roll is the same as a 3rd level fighter. A hobgoblin is, in effect, a 2nd level fighter.
4) The number of characters in the party != the number of combatants in the party. Yes, we all like to have something to do in battle. But this little skirmish was a perfect illustration of my oft-repeated maxims
A- Fighters are physical offense.
B- Magic-users are magical offense.
C- Clerics are magical and physical defense.
D- Thieves are scouting and intelligence.
These are all very, very true at low levels where players haven't had a chance to 'buffer' their roles with magic to add some flexibility. When the thieves got into front-line battle they died. While the cleric did his best to hold the line, he died. When preparing an encounter for low-level parties calculate 1 melee foe per fighter +1 melee foe per cleric +1 melee foe for everyone else.
For a tough challenge add a spell foe for each mage and a spell defender for each cleric.
Have fun!
A match made in heaven.
In the 24+ years since she was played all sorts of games, cutting her teeth and learning how to play from some of the best GMs on the planet. Over the years she's made some truly memorable characters, like:
- The Mysterious Amazon, a barbarian mistress of the spear who was one of the deadliest fighters in Lew Pulsipher's campaign world.
- Lady the Abbess Gabrielle, a paladin who dual-classed into cleric and went on to name-level.
- Stardust, the very best thief in my Blackstone campaign.
She has a strong preference for fantasy RPGs with AD&D 2e S&P being her flat-out, must have a campaign running, favorite. She prefers to play front-line fighters with cleric/paladin a close second and loathes playing mages.
And she has never, ever, not once, ever dungeon mastered a single game.
Until yesterday!
After a few weeks of prep (it is the Christmas season, so she's busy) she ran a simple encounter to get her feet set.
To prep the Wife used the 1st level dungeon random encounter tables and followed the random rolls to arm, equip, etc. the villains. She stated very clearly that this was a 'practice round' [i.e., no permanent death, no treasure, no experience].
She asked that we play only the Big Four (fighter, cleric, magic-user, thief) with no specialization, custom classes, multiclasses, etc.
The Players and characters:
Me: Thrain Ironhand, 1st level dwarven fighter with an 18/91 strength and 13 hit points. Bardiche, heavy crossbow, splint mail for protection.
Ja., the oldest son: Justinian the Great, 1st level human magic-user with Charm Person. A dagger and happy thoughts for protection.
A., the second oldest son: Legas, 1st level half-elven thief with really good pick pockets. Short sword and a bajillion daggers with leather armor.
S., the third son: Otto, a 1st level halfling thief who is as silent and stealthy as a shadow. Dagger, club, and leather armor.
N., the fourth son: Bill, 1st level human cleric with a fiery faith. Heavy mace, warhammer, chain and shield.
The setup was simple; we are old friends on our way to visit a remote abbey when we learn that a small hamlet had been raided and all the chickens had been stolen. We followed a trail of heavy bootprints and feathers to a small, remote cabin. The thieves crept up to see what was going on as all else hid nearby. The cabin had a single door in front, two heavily shuttered windows in back and two open windows in front. The thieves heard indistinct noises and smelled fried chicken. Otto decided to check the back windows, where he heard Ominous Chanting. Legas decided to look in one of the open windows in front-
and looked right into the eyes of one of the three hobgoblins eating friend chicken around a table.
No one was surprised so Legas dove into the room through the window, trying to keep the hobgoblins from blocking the door. Thrain, seeing, this, charged up and smashed open the door.
Battle began.
In the first round the hobgoblins (with broad sword, spear, and long sword) all missed Legas and Thrain missed. Justinian held his fire, watching the door to to back of the cabin. Otto tried to stealthily open a back window and failed. Bill stood by to step into melee as soon as Thrain could press in.
In the second round Thrain slew the broad sword wielder in a single blow and stepped up to engage the spearman. Legas missed and was cut down by the long sword wielder, alive but bleeding out with -1 H.P. Bill rushed in and engaged the long sword user. Otto failed to stealthily open the other shutter.
In third round Otto smashed open a shutter and saw a human cleric sacrificing a chicken at an altar to Maglubiyet as a hobgoblin with a spear rushed him. Otto threw his club at the cleric, hitting for minimum damage but disrupting the ritual. Otto promptly fled for the front.
Thrain wounded the spearman, the longsword user wounded Bill, and Bill missed. Justinian threw his dagger at the long sword user and missed.
Fourth round! Thrain missed. The spearman grazed Thrain. Bill missed. Otto arrived. The longsword wielder hit Bill.
Bill goes down, slumping over the body of Legas.
At this point Legas is at -3 H.P. and Bill is at -2 H.P., also bleeding out.
Otto steps up to fight the long sword user as Justinian scrambles to retrieve his only dagger from the corner.
Fifth round. The long sword wielder cuts down Otto, who falls next to Bill and Legas at -2 H.P.
Its looking like a TPK at this point.
Justinian flees out the front door as Thrain cuts down the spearman.
Sixth round. Thrain misses. The long sword wielder hits, bringing Thrain down to 5 H.P.
Legas is bleeding out at -5 H.P., Bill is bleeding out at -4 H.P., Otto is bleeding out at -3 H.P. The magic-user is ready to sprint away, the long sword wielder is fresh as a daisy, and there are reserves behind the door.
Seventh round. Thrain hits and kills the long sword wielder. The jerk. Justinian prepares his spell.
Eighth round. Thrain smashes open the door to the back room where the cleric has just finished strapping on his plate mail. Justinian hits the cleric with Charm Person and the foe blows his save. The last hobgoblin, seeing the devastation and that his master has gone all wobbly-headed, dives out a back window and flees.
The Wife rules that the charmed cleric saves the lives of the downed members of the party and we wrap up.
All in all it was a great first session. Varied enemies with different H.P., different weapons, etc. We all loved playing the session even when it was grimmest.
Notes from the DM on her first session
1) The storytelling was easy and fun for her, but the mechanics was more involved than she expected.
2) She realized how important reacting to the actions of the players is and that too much prep might result in trying to force the players down the "right" path.
3) It is shockingly easy to wipe out a party.
Notes on Making Low-Level Encounters
In the post-game discussion I went over my own insights and the things I have been taught by other GMs about low-level encounters:
1) The thing most likely to kill a low level party is the armor class of the enemy. Hobgoblins are A.C. 5 so the mage needed a 17 to hit them - that's one hit out of 5 attempts. Even Thrain, a dwarf with a total of +3 to hit (strength and racial bonus) needed a 12, hitting only 45% of the time. Even though 2 of the hobgoblins in the main combat only had 2 H.P. and the 'tough' one only had 6 they were so tough for 1st level n00bs to hit they almost wiped out the party.
2) The thing second most likely to kill a low level party is the number of attacks facing the party each round. Low level parties have the terrible combination of poor armor classes and low hit points. Each extra attack per round increases the odds that a character goes down that round.
3) Low Hit Die Monsters are, one-on-one, tougher than low-level characters. A hobgoblin has 1+1 HD for an average of 5.5 H.P. Only as tough as a first level fighter, right?
Wrong. His to hit roll is the same as a 3rd level fighter. A hobgoblin is, in effect, a 2nd level fighter.
4) The number of characters in the party != the number of combatants in the party. Yes, we all like to have something to do in battle. But this little skirmish was a perfect illustration of my oft-repeated maxims
A- Fighters are physical offense.
B- Magic-users are magical offense.
C- Clerics are magical and physical defense.
D- Thieves are scouting and intelligence.
These are all very, very true at low levels where players haven't had a chance to 'buffer' their roles with magic to add some flexibility. When the thieves got into front-line battle they died. While the cleric did his best to hold the line, he died. When preparing an encounter for low-level parties calculate 1 melee foe per fighter +1 melee foe per cleric +1 melee foe for everyone else.
Example: With the party above I would have calculated 1 hobgoblin for Thrain, one for Bill, and Justinian, Otto, and Legas would be just a single additional foe, for a total of 3 hobgoblins.Trust me, this will be enough.
For a tough challenge add a spell foe for each mage and a spell defender for each cleric.
Same Example: Tossing in a witchdoctor adds spell offense and spell defense.These are really rough guidelines and YMMV.
Have fun!
Monday, November 17, 2014
Monsters from the Id!!
I very recently wrote about the impact of certain divinations on campaign worlds. My conclusion was that Detect Evil and Detect Lie were either too limited or too high-level to have a large impact on a campaign but Know Alignment had the potential to change a great deal.
But it hasn't affected mine. I'll tell you why.
But, since it is me, I will talk about other things first.
I find that a great many DMs who play 1e (then or now) fail to properly use the encounter tables. The excellent game blog Hill Cantons touched on this some time ago, pointing out that in inhabited/patrolled areas 25% of all encounters were with patrols.
Another section of the rules on encounters almost never used is - psionic encounters.
Psionic encounters are mentioned in passing on the 1e DMG page 174 (which is a page I think very few people have actually read in full) and in detail on page 182. If you haven't read them I encourage you to do so when you have a moment.
Boiled down, the rules state that if you use psionics in your campaign every time there is a positive check for an encounter the DM must determine if
A) A psionic power was used in the turn previous to the encounter, or
B) If a spell that resembles psionics was used in the round before the encounter.
If either is true there is a 25% chance the encounter will be from the Psionic Encounter chart instead of whatever terrain chart would otherwise be used.
I have always allowed psionics in my campaigns and have enjoyed them, especially since in almost 40 years of DMing I have only ever seen 5 characters with psionics - they are just so very rare for the good guys and so much fun to use on the good guys. I have had many a DM tell me they don't allow psionics because they are unbalancing for the players to have. I disagree because I think the use of the psionic encounters chart makes psionics not just balanced but maybe for trouble than they are worth.
The reason I say that is many psionic powers have a duration and are used/useful over time rather than in instantaneous use. A psionic using Detect Magic is probably going to leave it one for a little while. Likewise for a psionic using Body Weaponry in a fight. This means that if you use psionics the chance you will have used them within a turn of an encounter check is, well, fairly high. Let's look at this a bit.
Assume your psionic individual lives in a village near a city in the heart of the kingdom on the plains (this is all to minimize the odds of an encounter). We will also assume she only uses her psionics during the day (also reducing her odds of an encounter) but that the powers she has [Detection of Good or Evil, ESP, and Precognition] are how she pays the bills as a fortune teller and, therefore, something she uses almost every day. With minimal encounter odds (1 in 20 for location, 1 check during the day for terrain, etc.) this means that she will have 4.5 encounters a year that could be from the psionic chart so, if she is careful, she will probably have 2 psionic encounters a year. We'll be generous and reduce this to one psionic encounter per year. What does that mean?
Bluntly, she's dead. Oh, sure, the encounter might be with a coatl who merely pauses for a moment on the Astral Plane to say 'huh, a psionic' before he swims along, or it might be yellow mold or tritons or something sure. But it will probably be an encounter with a brain mole, intellect devourer, cerebral parasite, or worse. Sometimes much, much worse. Demon prince worse. So, over the years, the odds of her being dragged screaming into the abyss approach 100%.
And remember, this is while minimizing the odds!. In the dungeon random encounters are checked every 3 turns! Assuming encounters are 1 in 6 any use of psionics means there is a roughly 33% chance it was within the 10 rounds before the check (and the longer the use the more this chance increases) we can assume that someone using psionics in the dungeon should expect 1 psionic encounter per 9 hours or so of routine psionics use.
I don't know about you, but to me these numbers make it look like psionics are something saved for emergencies!
Now, about point B)....
The spells on the list of those which 'resemble psionic powers' includes:
All spells that start with Tele-
All Charms
All Polymorphs
All Detects
And all Cures
As well as a fair few others, including (but not limited to) all Invisibilities, Heat Metal, Augury, and Feather Fall.
Wow. Let's look at this a little, OK?
Jerczy, Ahlissa, Brother Reynaud, and Andor were alert for the invisible assassin as they crept rhough the ossuary. A skilled thief, Andor strained his trained senses to hear the slightest sound. Jerczy's sense were honed from his barbarian upbringing. Br. Reynaud focused his attention on protecting the mage, Ahlissa. Ahlissa had cast Detect Invisibility almost 90 minutes before and continued to sweep for the man sent to prevent their quest from succeeding.
Without warning Ahlissa utters a soft cry, clutches her head, and slumps to the ground, sitting in the middle of the cavern. Jerczy and Andor searched for a target as Br. Reynaud checked their companion. She seemed perfectly healthy but her eyes were lifeless and her limbs limp. After a few moments he looked up,
"We must get her out. I will carry her."
As the cleric slung her over his shoulders Jerczy hissed to Andor,
"Do you see anything?"
"Nothing," replied the halfling, "the only creature in this cave besides us is that wee mole."
The party hurried back the way they came....
That's right - those long duration divinations that allow you to look for good, life, charms, invisible creatures, etc. also make it more likely that some horrible monster is going to suck your mind dry!
I know of at least one DM who disallows psionics in his campaign just because of the psionic encounters chart!
Personally, I have modified this list of spells so that cures and the clerical versions of detects aren't included and have made some other spells less likely to trigger the final scene from Scanners.
[please note - the last scene from Scanners is pretty grim and gory]
But it does point out two important things about some 'core ideas' that went into making AD&D.
One - the world is dangerous: as I have said before, there are hideous things from beyond the walls of reality waiting to drag you screaming from your beds.
Two, but a bit more subtle - divinations have consequences: whether the notice of a devil in the astral plane or that your target notices the viewing point of your crystal ball, the fact is that divinations are not telescopes or spy satellites, there is a sort of interaction possible and they are not passive but active and noticeable.
But it hasn't affected mine. I'll tell you why.
But, since it is me, I will talk about other things first.
I find that a great many DMs who play 1e (then or now) fail to properly use the encounter tables. The excellent game blog Hill Cantons touched on this some time ago, pointing out that in inhabited/patrolled areas 25% of all encounters were with patrols.
Quick aside: I recall being a young man and hearing other DMs lament how the PCs were 'too tough' at 5th-6th level and would often just loot villages, burn down temples, etc. I was always surprised. Once when guest DMing a different group I rolled a patrol encounter - the party (3rd-5th level) was rude and dismissive and actually attacked! As I recall the party was dead or captured in 4 rounds - and upset, accusing me of cheating! Turns out none of them had ever read the rules on encountering patrols and all of them, including the usual DM, thought it was just a bunch of 0-level NPCs. That was an important lesson to me - plenty of people never read the entire rule set.
Another section of the rules on encounters almost never used is - psionic encounters.
Psionic encounters are mentioned in passing on the 1e DMG page 174 (which is a page I think very few people have actually read in full) and in detail on page 182. If you haven't read them I encourage you to do so when you have a moment.
Boiled down, the rules state that if you use psionics in your campaign every time there is a positive check for an encounter the DM must determine if
A) A psionic power was used in the turn previous to the encounter, or
B) If a spell that resembles psionics was used in the round before the encounter.
If either is true there is a 25% chance the encounter will be from the Psionic Encounter chart instead of whatever terrain chart would otherwise be used.
I have always allowed psionics in my campaigns and have enjoyed them, especially since in almost 40 years of DMing I have only ever seen 5 characters with psionics - they are just so very rare for the good guys and so much fun to use on the good guys. I have had many a DM tell me they don't allow psionics because they are unbalancing for the players to have. I disagree because I think the use of the psionic encounters chart makes psionics not just balanced but maybe for trouble than they are worth.
The reason I say that is many psionic powers have a duration and are used/useful over time rather than in instantaneous use. A psionic using Detect Magic is probably going to leave it one for a little while. Likewise for a psionic using Body Weaponry in a fight. This means that if you use psionics the chance you will have used them within a turn of an encounter check is, well, fairly high. Let's look at this a bit.
Assume your psionic individual lives in a village near a city in the heart of the kingdom on the plains (this is all to minimize the odds of an encounter). We will also assume she only uses her psionics during the day (also reducing her odds of an encounter) but that the powers she has [Detection of Good or Evil, ESP, and Precognition] are how she pays the bills as a fortune teller and, therefore, something she uses almost every day. With minimal encounter odds (1 in 20 for location, 1 check during the day for terrain, etc.) this means that she will have 4.5 encounters a year that could be from the psionic chart so, if she is careful, she will probably have 2 psionic encounters a year. We'll be generous and reduce this to one psionic encounter per year. What does that mean?
Bluntly, she's dead. Oh, sure, the encounter might be with a coatl who merely pauses for a moment on the Astral Plane to say 'huh, a psionic' before he swims along, or it might be yellow mold or tritons or something sure. But it will probably be an encounter with a brain mole, intellect devourer, cerebral parasite, or worse. Sometimes much, much worse. Demon prince worse. So, over the years, the odds of her being dragged screaming into the abyss approach 100%.
And remember, this is while minimizing the odds!. In the dungeon random encounters are checked every 3 turns! Assuming encounters are 1 in 6 any use of psionics means there is a roughly 33% chance it was within the 10 rounds before the check (and the longer the use the more this chance increases) we can assume that someone using psionics in the dungeon should expect 1 psionic encounter per 9 hours or so of routine psionics use.
I don't know about you, but to me these numbers make it look like psionics are something saved for emergencies!
Now, about point B)....
The spells on the list of those which 'resemble psionic powers' includes:
All spells that start with Tele-
All Charms
All Polymorphs
All Detects
And all Cures
As well as a fair few others, including (but not limited to) all Invisibilities, Heat Metal, Augury, and Feather Fall.
Wow. Let's look at this a little, OK?
Jerczy, Ahlissa, Brother Reynaud, and Andor were alert for the invisible assassin as they crept rhough the ossuary. A skilled thief, Andor strained his trained senses to hear the slightest sound. Jerczy's sense were honed from his barbarian upbringing. Br. Reynaud focused his attention on protecting the mage, Ahlissa. Ahlissa had cast Detect Invisibility almost 90 minutes before and continued to sweep for the man sent to prevent their quest from succeeding.
Without warning Ahlissa utters a soft cry, clutches her head, and slumps to the ground, sitting in the middle of the cavern. Jerczy and Andor searched for a target as Br. Reynaud checked their companion. She seemed perfectly healthy but her eyes were lifeless and her limbs limp. After a few moments he looked up,
"We must get her out. I will carry her."
As the cleric slung her over his shoulders Jerczy hissed to Andor,
"Do you see anything?"
"Nothing," replied the halfling, "the only creature in this cave besides us is that wee mole."
The party hurried back the way they came....
That's right - those long duration divinations that allow you to look for good, life, charms, invisible creatures, etc. also make it more likely that some horrible monster is going to suck your mind dry!
I know of at least one DM who disallows psionics in his campaign just because of the psionic encounters chart!
Personally, I have modified this list of spells so that cures and the clerical versions of detects aren't included and have made some other spells less likely to trigger the final scene from Scanners.
[please note - the last scene from Scanners is pretty grim and gory]
But it does point out two important things about some 'core ideas' that went into making AD&D.
One - the world is dangerous: as I have said before, there are hideous things from beyond the walls of reality waiting to drag you screaming from your beds.
Two, but a bit more subtle - divinations have consequences: whether the notice of a devil in the astral plane or that your target notices the viewing point of your crystal ball, the fact is that divinations are not telescopes or spy satellites, there is a sort of interaction possible and they are not passive but active and noticeable.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Good, Evil - I'm the Guy with the Gun
My 150th post!
Sorry for the light posting, but (as mentioned often before) this is a very busy time of year for me.
So a question came up recently from an email correspondent. To wit, how much would Detect Evil and Know Alignment change laws and society?
Tough question. Let's look at some spells and their descriptions and see what we can figure out.
Detect Evil seems fairly straightforward. 1e says,
And OSRIC says,
So Detect Evil isn't 'bad guy radar', but more a 'shambling horror detector' combined with (mentioned earlier) an 'evil intent sensor'.
So it seems that Detect Evil, while obviously useful, isn't going to change the laws or society very much at all. While very useful for paladins and clerics trying to locate a ghoul or avoid an ambush it has little practical use in day to day life.
Taking a little detour, we need to also look at the Fourth level spell Detect Lie. What I find fascinating here is that the existence of this spell implies, strongly, that Detect Evil can't detect when you are lying! Since the spell description in the DMG on Detect Lie mentions that the spell can not detect 'evasions' but only direct lies and the level of the spell is very high this implies that lies are evil but subtle enough to the point a specific spell is needed and, even then, only direct falsehoods can be detected.
It seems obvious that Detect Lie would have a huge impact on the law: interrogations could, in the hands of skilled interrogator with this spell, quickly identify lies (if not necessarily revealing the truth!) But, of course, you need a 7th level+ cleric (or an 8th+ level religious brother) and a typical medieval kingdom 1s going to have, oh, at most five people who can cast the spell, and all of them are going to be rather prominent members of the community, i.e., either very busy, very expensive, or both. And they would have to give up access to spells like Exorcise to learn Detect Lie instead. Oh, and getting two different people to cast it to confirm each other might be effectively impossible, so it might boil down to a mere claim by the caster!
So while Detect Lie might make a big difference in very important matters (the death of a king, the theft of an artifact, etc.) it will be very unlikely to be available for routine work.
So - very little impact on laws or society.
Finally, we are at Know Alignment which, the rules say,
Now, I have heard many a person say that casting Know Alignment on MPCs is 'rude', or 'improper', or 'forbidden', but I was never sure where this came from. The 1e DMG says on page 35,
This will change society and the law, at least a little. It will be much, much more difficult to insert a mole into an organization, replace someone with a doppleganger, etc. if routine use of these divinations is a part of your campaign.
Although it explains a lot about the use of assassins to spy from the 1e DMG! With their use of alignment tongues, disguises, etc. I have always assumed that the spying charts is also the chance the assassin successfully dodges these spells.
This also makes items like Rings of Mind Shielding and Amulets of Proof vs Etc., Etc. more valuable.
So at first glance it seems obvious that Know Alignment should have a huge impact on your campaign world.
My next article will explain why it won't!
Sorry for the light posting, but (as mentioned often before) this is a very busy time of year for me.
So a question came up recently from an email correspondent. To wit, how much would Detect Evil and Know Alignment change laws and society?
Tough question. Let's look at some spells and their descriptions and see what we can figure out.
Detect Evil seems fairly straightforward. 1e says,
"This is a spell which discovers emanations of evil, or of good in the case of the reverse spell, from any creature or object. For example, evil alignment or an evilly cursed object will radiate evil, but a hidden trop or an unintelligent viper will not."
And OSRIC says,
"This spell allows the cleric to discern emanations of evil (or good, in the case of the spell’s reverse) within the spell’s area of effect, a beam-like pathway. The spell detects evil, not danger, so it will be useless to discover such things as a mindless trap or a poisoned wineglass."But! The DMG (1e) (of course) says on page 60,
"Only a know alignment spell can determine the evil or good a character holds within... ...Characters who are very strongly aligned... and are of... at least 8th [level]... might radiate evil..." [emphasis added]It goes on to say,
[paraphrase] 'Aligned undead, creatures such as Ki-rin, and the like will radiate evil or good; aligned magic items will likewise radiate evil or good'.So, combined with the rest of the section, Detect Evil can only detect active evil intent unless the target is really, really bad. A vampire lurking in wait for a victim? Bam! Strong, malignant evil detected! A goblin frying up a mouse fritter? Detect Evil isn't going to pick him up. A goblin waiting in ambush? Faint, lurking evil. Why faint? it's only a wee goblin.
So Detect Evil isn't 'bad guy radar', but more a 'shambling horror detector' combined with (mentioned earlier) an 'evil intent sensor'.
So it seems that Detect Evil, while obviously useful, isn't going to change the laws or society very much at all. While very useful for paladins and clerics trying to locate a ghoul or avoid an ambush it has little practical use in day to day life.
Taking a little detour, we need to also look at the Fourth level spell Detect Lie. What I find fascinating here is that the existence of this spell implies, strongly, that Detect Evil can't detect when you are lying! Since the spell description in the DMG on Detect Lie mentions that the spell can not detect 'evasions' but only direct lies and the level of the spell is very high this implies that lies are evil but subtle enough to the point a specific spell is needed and, even then, only direct falsehoods can be detected.
It seems obvious that Detect Lie would have a huge impact on the law: interrogations could, in the hands of skilled interrogator with this spell, quickly identify lies (if not necessarily revealing the truth!) But, of course, you need a 7th level+ cleric (or an 8th+ level religious brother) and a typical medieval kingdom 1s going to have, oh, at most five people who can cast the spell, and all of them are going to be rather prominent members of the community, i.e., either very busy, very expensive, or both. And they would have to give up access to spells like Exorcise to learn Detect Lie instead. Oh, and getting two different people to cast it to confirm each other might be effectively impossible, so it might boil down to a mere claim by the caster!
So while Detect Lie might make a big difference in very important matters (the death of a king, the theft of an artifact, etc.) it will be very unlikely to be available for routine work.
So - very little impact on laws or society.
Finally, we are at Know Alignment which, the rules say,
"...enables the cleric to exactly read the aura of a person - human, semi-human, or non-human. This will reveal the exact alignment of the person. Up to 10 persons can be examined with this spell.""This will reveal the exact alignment..." That is very, very clear, isn't it? There are a fair bit more people who can cast Know Alignment - at least 20 and, if you are using Religious Brothers and counting higher level casters, more like 100! So a fair number of people are going to be able to determine if you are a bad guy or not.
Now, I have heard many a person say that casting Know Alignment on MPCs is 'rude', or 'improper', or 'forbidden', but I was never sure where this came from. The 1e DMG says on page 35,
"...it is considered poor manners to enspell [a potential henchman] in any way (except possibly in the case of Know Alignment..."So it seems obvious that senior officers, etc. should expect to have their alignment checked at least at the time of employment. Indeed, I personally assume any spellcaster or group that can cast spells like Know Alignment, Detect Charm, Detect Curse, etc. will cast them on their henchmen and hirelings from time to time.
This will change society and the law, at least a little. It will be much, much more difficult to insert a mole into an organization, replace someone with a doppleganger, etc. if routine use of these divinations is a part of your campaign.
Although it explains a lot about the use of assassins to spy from the 1e DMG! With their use of alignment tongues, disguises, etc. I have always assumed that the spying charts is also the chance the assassin successfully dodges these spells.
This also makes items like Rings of Mind Shielding and Amulets of Proof vs Etc., Etc. more valuable.
So at first glance it seems obvious that Know Alignment should have a huge impact on your campaign world.
My next article will explain why it won't!
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
How I Made NPCs Work For My Campaign
In the previous week or so I have spoken about the the background guys with levels; not the guys you specifically place as a game master; not the followers of high-level characters; none of the important NPCs but the 'other NPCs'. I talked about my theories as to their frequency, level, impact on the military, impact on economics, and impact on magic in your campaign.
I worked out a great deal of these numbers many years ago when I was trying to take my primary campaign to new levels of depth. All of the numbers seemed supported by what the PHB and DMG both said and implied. While obviously critical and impactful they still left all the heavy lifting up to me. It made perfectly good sense to me that the unsung, unspecified NPCs would be important without being critical.
And I didn't like it. Let me explain why by describing what I like in my campaigns.
I personally think AD&D starts to break down above, oh, 8th-10th level. You can absolutely play above those levels but the margin of error gets smaller - the difference between the party strolling through unchallenged and a TPK gets more and more narrow each level past 8th, in my opinion. Sure, you can switch over to politics and intrigue, but this can be done 'away from the table' and the table can be reserved for lower-level play. This is why I like jazz band adventuring; you can keep it mixed up.
For these reasons I prefer game play to mainly be below 9th level.
I also strive to make magic special; some spells are hard or impossible to find, permanent magic items are far from common, and high-level casters are a Big Deal. But low level players with no magic items and very limited spells feel, well, cheated or slighted. A +1 sword is a big treasure to a 2nd level party and making limits too low can make the players feel unappreciated. This seems like a great fit for the 'other NPC' numbers where potions and scrolls are going to be relatively common but a sharp drop-off in quantity as power goes up. By placing the NPCs capable of making big items myself I can fine tune these levels the way I like.
Unfortunately, it negatively impacts my desire to have an active Good church as a unifying force that knits demi-humans together, especially humans, and help shield fragile humanity from the horrors from beyond the walls of reality that threaten them at every turn. After all, there are a ton of clerics and magic-users among gnomes, elves, etc. and humanoids likewise have a high number of shamans, witch-doctors, etc. I wanted a similar role in human kingdoms which meant that I needed a lot more clerics.
And while I want magic to be special I was struck by the idea that the vast majority of humanity would never encounter any kind of spell caster, especially arcane casters. Yes, I like and want 5th+ level magic-users to be impressive, but I also looked at European folktales that often depicted a minor wise woman or hedge wizard common enough that in an emergency a peasant could track one down. So I needed a lot more magic-users, too.
In other words, I wanted many more leveled NPCs without it increasing the amount of magic items in the campaign and without it making PCs less special.
One of the first things I tried was to greatly increase the number of 1st level NPCs and then have them 'drop off' faster. While I had originally used the 'adjust for location' entry in the DMG to mean that leveled NPCs naturally congregated in the places PCs look for them and, thus, were actually only 1 in 1,000 what if I just take the initial entry at face value and have 1 in 100? Suddenly the number of leveled NPCs shot up tenfold to 7,800! If we use the assumption that 50% are 1st level, 25% 2nd, etc., this would mean over 650 1st level magic-users and about the same number of 1st level clerics.
That would certainly give me the larger numbers of low level clerics and magic-users!
Unfortunately, it also means that there will be about 50 clerics and magic-users capable of making scrolls and potions! There will also be more clerics that can Raise Dead, more wizards that can cast Fireball, etc. While I get the low-level numbers I want this solution really wipes out the PCs as special - they won't stand out as special until, oh, 13th-15th level.
It would also give me a population of about 2,500 1st level fighters. That is a huge difference and, if they are employed, begs the question of 'why isn't the entire standing army made up of only 3rd level fighters?'. You also end up with enough higher level spell casters to have an 8th or 9th level magic-user AND cleric in every large town and a caster capable of making permanent items in every city. The massive 8.2 million person empire would be guaranteed to have an archmage, a high priest, and a handful of guys of even higher level, meaning that the world would have plenty of people capable of casting Wish every day.
When I first did that math I thought,
'From the little I know, that looks like Forgotten Realms.'
So what if we assume 50% are 1st level, 30% are 2nd, 15% are 3rd, and then the rest are spread out between 4th and 7th?
The big problems (thousands of fighters, too many spell casters) remain even though the PCs certainly do stand out much faster! While avoiding the 'there are plenty of guys making magic items' problem it makes the 'why isn't the army just all 3rd level?' a bit worse, actually. And we haven't even spoken of things like, oh, 343 paladins
What is to be done, if anything?
What I eventually did was to create a 'third way' of getting what I wanted.
What I did was - make some NPC-only classes. I certainly wasn't the first to do this but I don't personally know of anyone else who made NPC-only classes to solve these particular problems.
I approached the NPC classes from my needs and desires for the campaign. These included a desire to both increase the number of low-powered spell casters and avoid increasing the number of high-level spell casters, the number of magic-items/those who can make magic items, and all without reducing the impact of the PCs.
I also wanted to add in something between 'untrained peasant levy' and '1st level fighter'. I was always struck by the huge differences between 'some guy' and 'professional warrior' and the only thing in-between (mercenaries) look like 'some guy in armor'.
Lastly, I wanted to represent bandits, brigands, thugs, rakes, etc. as (like with fighters) more than 'some guy in leather armor'.
The NPC classes I made are;
Men-at-Arms ( in-between 0-level peasants and 1st level fighters) - maximum of 12th level or so
Religious Brothers or Sisters (the monks, nuns, parish priests, etc. that are religious without being clerics) - maximum level of 14th or so
Hedge Wizards (the local spell casters who can cast a few small spells but might not even be literate)
Scoundrels (tougher than a peasant, not as tough as a man-at-arms, often just dumb muscle)
These classes have limited spell power, combat power, etc. so that while tougher than a peasant they do not compare with player character classes.
But what frequency should they have from the general population? And how would that affect the number of NPCs with levels in 'PC classes' like paladin?
I figured this out by starting with one assumption and a particular goal.
The assumption is that of all NPCs with NPC classes 40% would be men-at-arms, 30% religious brothers, 20% hedge wizards, and 10% scoundrels.
The goal was to have enough religious brothers that about 80% of all villages would have a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level religious brother as a parish priest. I wanted this to reflect a vaguely Southern France in the 1200's feel to the Church of the campaign.
Since there are about 1,250 villages in Seaward that means I need about 1,000 religious brothers from 1st through 3rd level. Those would represent 87.5% of all religious brothers who, themselves, were 30% of all NPCs with NPC classes in the kingdom. Therefore, 1 in 200 NPCs will have NPC classes.
Trust me.
This means that there are;
1,560 men-at-arms
1,170 religious brothers
780 hedge wizards
390 scoundrels
This gives us about 1,020-1,025 religious brothers of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level, exactly my goal.
Now, men-at-arms are no competition with full-fledged fighters, but if you look at the numbers with the 'standard assumptions' that means there is a single 11th level man-at-arms in the kingdom. What impact does this have? well, going through the entire 'let's roll x number of followers' is still perfectly valid, but what if, oh, 50% of these men-at-arms are the standing army? 700 or so 1st level men-at-arms with a few sergeants, lieutenants, etc., most of whom are also men-at-arms and then the rest can fill in all of those positions as bodyguards, caravan guards, etc. This can suddenly fill in a fair number of the gaps we had earlier. Now these roles aren't 'peasants with armor' without being 'a 1st level fighter watching a toll road'.
Religious brothers are parish priests, deacons, religious monks, nuns, etc. and are not fighters nor even healers until higher level. They will be doing their jobs, tending to the spiritual and personal needs of the common man throughout the kingdom. Ever wonder why clerics aren't giving sermons, converting pagans, or holding Mass? Well, it isn't their role, that is what religious brothers do. Clerics are, instead, much more like the fighting monks they are meant to be.
Hedge wizards are not the powerhouses of illusionists or magic-users, but they can make little trinkets and cast small spells. Even if the higher-level hedge wizards (and some low level ones!) all head to the towns and cities there are enough 'left over' to put one in about every other village, each making a living from small magic and good will, none ever able to cast Fireball or Conjure Elemental.
The scoundrels will be guarding illegal casinos, manning smuggler's boats, etc. relying upon their few meager hit points to earn a living.
In short, despite their higher numbers their reduced power does not overshadow the PCS or make magic items more common. Heck, they even answer a fair few questions from earlier work. The NPC classes made the background of my campaign much more coherent.
But what about NPCs with levels in PC classes? Do they 'go away'? Well, no - of course not. They just became much rarer. I used another assumption - NPCs with levels in PC classes should be at least 1/10th as common so I just made them 1 in every 2,500 NPCs. This gives us;
NPCs with levels in PC classes (1st level)
Fighters - 55
Clerics - 27
Magic-users - 26
Thieves - 20
Rangers - 7
Paladins - 6
Druids - 5
Illusionists - 5
Assassins - 4
Monks - 3
NPCs with levels in PC classes (5th)
Fighters - 7
Clerics - 4
Magic-users - 3
Thieves - 2
Ranger - 1
Paladin - 1
An illusionist or an assassin or a monk
The highest level NPC with PC classes you are going to see is going to be, oh, 9th level (and probably a fighter).
If you compare these lists to the ones I did with the initial assumptions the differences are - interesting. Overall the impact is that low level parties are just a touch less unusual but PCs become distinctive and powerful at 4th and 5th level, not 7th+. By introducing these four NPC-only classes I was able to create a campaign world where the average peasant knows someone who can cast (minor) spells - a local parish priest, or a hedge wizard - while powerful spells are more rare.
If you look at the discussion of standing armies there are more fun surprises - the standing forces become marginally tougher at the level of the individual soldier (and make human armies more on-par with humanoid forces in general) while making name-level fighters more rare.
Lastly, as DM I still have total control over the level and location of any NPC capable of making magic items. With these simple guidelines I can easily expand my campaign with just a handful of tools and be confident that it will not impact the power level or feel of my world.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Economics of Having Levels
This week I have been discussing NPCs with levels and army sizes. While fairly specific to a 1e campaign these ideas can fit anything from Chivalry & Sorcery to Traveller or novels if you squint hard enough. That said, my first love is fantasy RPGs so this is my focus here, too.
So by running with a few assumptions made by looking at the DMG we see some interesting results in the details of NPCs with levels (linked above). For example, in a fantasy kingdom of three-quarters of a million people the highest level NPC wizard who isn't specifically placed by the DM should be no higher than about, oh, 7th level, 8th on the outside. That may seem low to many and it certainly is low, especially compared with, oh, Forgotten Realms!
On the other hand the total number of magic-users and illusionists in that same kingdom is about 150! Sure, half of them are 1st level, but that is still a lot of spell casters. If you look at the numbers I crunched on armies (also linked above) it means that you might very well have more arcane spellcasters than you do heavy cavalry.
We should assume that these arcane spellcasters are overwhelmingly in larger urban centers; the need for an education, access to esoteric ingredients, proximity to everything from libraries to bookbinders, and the fact that their training doesn't lend itself to tilling the soil may start the impetus, but the fact that most wealthy clients are also in cities and large towns probably cements the deal. I would personally assume that about 80% of all arcane spellcasters are in urban centers. The rest will be retainers to nobles or researchers, eccentrics, and villains off on their own.
But what do they do? Less than 10 of these arcane spellcasters will be capable of casting a spell of 3rd level or above, so we can probably rule out 'wizards as weapons of war' as an income stream - it simply isn't an option for most of them. We read in the DMG that it is certainly possible to pay spellcasters to cast spells (but not in combat!) so that is probably what they do. So while a player character might be desperate to get a starting spell such as Magic Missile or Burning Hands an NPC is probably just as eager for Comprehend Languages or Magic Aura because the latter spells are money makers. Among those NPC arcane casters capable of 2nd level spells Illusionary Trap and Wizard's Lock are probably much better for building a non-adventuring career than Ray of Enfeeblement. After all, there are probably plenty of wealthy merchants willing to pay for the former and substantially fewer interested in paying for the latter.
Magic-users are educated and literate; they may also earn a living as relatively prestigious scribes, tutors, and copyists. Roles as translators, researchers and even just (because of a relatively high intelligence) advisor may also be seen. These low level mages will almost certainly never be rich (which is probably what separates PCs from NPCs: ambition vs. risk avoidance ratios) but they have a good shot at a comfortable life as (essentially) a skilled artisan.
If you noticed the level maximums assumed, above, none of these NPCs will be high enough level to craft permanent magic items and only a very few for them (1 to 4) will be able to make potions or scrolls. This means that unless you have a large number of existing magic items changing hands there is no place for a shop that buys and sells just magic items in such a kingdom - the volume of trade would simply be far too low to support such a business.
On the other hand, the idea of merchants that cater to arcane spellcasters might very well make sense, especially in larger urban areas. This could range from a bookbinder who makes sure to have such things as blank codexes usable as spell books and rare inks on hand all the way up to a 'magical supply shop' that stocks blank standard and travelling spell books, arcane inks, rare feather quills, the most common spell components for low level spells, specialized equipment (such as portable writing desks and black candles), and even trinkets for familiars.
On the other hand, the concentration of clerics in urban areas, while existing, will be much less extreme mainly because the role of the cleric is to be spiritual leaders of all people. Thus while the large basilicas and cathedrals of larger urban centers will have more clerics the majority will be in villages. Druids will probably be 100% rural! In the same fantasy kingdom mentioned throughout there will almost certainly be an 8th level cleric and their may be one as high as 10th level. There will be somewhere between 135 and 140 clerics (or about 1 cleric per 5,800 people). About a dozen of these clerics will be able to cast Cure Disease or Remove Curse and there may be one who can cast Raise Dead.
Clerics have much less of a need for valuable components, inks, etc. than a magic-user and their other needs (ritual clothing, even a place to live) might be provided by their church, so their impact on the economy will not be as consumers. Instead, clerics will use their skills (literacy, influence) and charity to help the poor and downtrodden. While not as money-direct as arcane casters spending hundreds of gold pennies on ink or charging similar prices to cast Illusionary Trap on a rich merchant's payroll chest a dynamic cleric can reduce crime (via charity, leadership, and such) and invigorate the economy in the poorest quarters of a city by helping others focus on positive growth (those higher wisdom scores in action!) thus increasing tax revenue, decreasing expenses (less need for town watch and jails, etc.) and even reducing the need for those Illusionary Trap spells.
[note: this might cause unscrupulous mages to oppose clerical charity].
In this same vein, let's look at fighters, rangers, and paladins largely as a group. In the same fantasy kingdom there will be about 340 total leveled righters, paladins, and rangers (with over 80% being fighters), which is a pretty serious number. Why? Because if we accept the numbers for a standing army (from that article linked to waaaaay above) then the number of NPC fighter classes with levels is equal to about 1/2 the standing armies of the kingdom. So if there is a major war and there is a full levy at least a large fraction of these leveled NPCs will be available as combat troops.
Look at it this way - assume that the standard formula for orcish forces is, oh,
But all of these professional soldiers/adventurers aren't sitting around farming or doing calligraphy [note: no jokes about knees and arrows, please]. We should assume that they are earning their living fighting, guarding, patrolling, and exploring.
Suddenly we know where at least some of those high-level patrol leaders come from!
These soldiers are going to be spending money on armor, weapons, and horses. Heck, that many leveled NPC fighter types could keep 8 or 9 armorers employed full time! Toss in the standing army and noble troops and you realize soldiers alone could support about 30 armorers, 10 blacksmiths, 12 weapon smiths, 8 bowyer-fletchers, and 6 tailors full time. Add adventurers, distance between groups, DM allocated NPCs, and the desire to make a buck and there are probably no less than 100 skilled artisans employed in the creation and maintenance of the armor and weapons of the various soldiers in the kingdom. This will cascade into the need to provide these artisans themselves with everything from processed iron ingots to bird feathers.
Paladins are a quiet bunch who aren't big consumers of luxury goods. Rangers are typically rural and also focus on their mission. Fighters, though, will be spending their pay. Leveled fighters are going to be paid more than the standing army.
Since Gary tells us that 90% of these 'excess NPCs' are happy with their existing position. While these jobs probably range from being mercenary officers to bodyguards for the rich to caravan security and private watchmen let's assume that they are making roughly what they would make as a mercenary. That is about 124 sergeants, 92 lieutenants, and 9 captains [interestingly enough, there is no place in a band of mercenaries for a 4th level fighter. Are they all trapped in Decks of Many Things?]. Now, I know that PCs are expected to pay mercenaries in hard coin but these NPCs are almost certainly getting the majority of their pay in kind - room, board, clothing, maintenance, etc. This will probably be up to 90% of their compensation with just 10% of the value in actual pay.
This means all of these NPC fighters will be spending "only" 2,000 g.p. a month on ale, gambling, ale, trinkets for pretty girls, ale, lucky charms, and ale.
Hey, I was in the army myself. I know how pay is spent.
So as we can see the NPC warriors are going to have a huge impact on the kingdom's economy being directly responsible for the livelihoods of hundreds of artisans, publicans, servants, and such. They are also a key security element for private individuals and the kingdom as a whole.
There are about 100 thieves among the 'excess' NPCs' (I count these in addition to any thief followers or guild members, remember) with one of them 7th level and maybe one as high as 10th. While many of the 1st and second level thieves are going to be 'freelance' (i.e., not in a guild) pickpockets, petty thieves, and such I personally assume a fair number are in those areas of thievery we don't see often performed by PCs - forgery, smuggling, con games, money laundering, and fencing stolen goods. Money launderers, forgers, and fences in particular can operate with a thieves guild without a) being in the guild or b) angering the guild. Smuggling happens 'in-between' where guilds control and con games are too varied to be more than a nuisance to organized crime/the guilds.
These thieves are going to have an outsize impact on any economy; smugglers often make people happy (cheaper goods) and governments angry (lower tax revenues); forgers make documents suspect; money laundering really upsets governments; fences really upset merchants. The collective impact of all this non-violent crime (more patrols, more private guards, experts to check the veracity of documents, etc.) is going to add just a bit to the costs of everything - taxes are a hair higher to cover smuggling, etc. At least some of the ale I mentioned earlier will be bought by soldiers hired to deal with crime, etc.
There are also about 20 assassins 'freelancing' in the kingdom. With their unique combination of skills they can be anywhere we see thieves or fighters and even some places we see magic-users; bodyguards, smugglers, mercenary lieutenants, even scribes and translators. With at least one 5th level assassin and a possibility of one as high as 10th level there is a surprisingly large amount of professional hit men lurking about. Their economic impact is going to mainly be from their 'day job' although the fees associated with assassination and spying will probably make them quietly rich (at least the successful ones).
The needs of thieves and assassins is going to drive a gray market in things like special equipment (small boats for smugglers, jeweler's tools for forgers, fenced goods, etc.) and a black market (thief tools, poison, stolen goods, blackmail evidence, etc.). There will also be an entire community and communications system hidden within the world of these rogues that may be able to learn things about or get message to people and places no one else can - for a fee.
As you can see, these NPCs 'floating around' in any campaign world are going to have a profound impact on the size and shape of the economy, as well as a host of other things.
I look forward to you comments.
So by running with a few assumptions made by looking at the DMG we see some interesting results in the details of NPCs with levels (linked above). For example, in a fantasy kingdom of three-quarters of a million people the highest level NPC wizard who isn't specifically placed by the DM should be no higher than about, oh, 7th level, 8th on the outside. That may seem low to many and it certainly is low, especially compared with, oh, Forgotten Realms!
On the other hand the total number of magic-users and illusionists in that same kingdom is about 150! Sure, half of them are 1st level, but that is still a lot of spell casters. If you look at the numbers I crunched on armies (also linked above) it means that you might very well have more arcane spellcasters than you do heavy cavalry.
We should assume that these arcane spellcasters are overwhelmingly in larger urban centers; the need for an education, access to esoteric ingredients, proximity to everything from libraries to bookbinders, and the fact that their training doesn't lend itself to tilling the soil may start the impetus, but the fact that most wealthy clients are also in cities and large towns probably cements the deal. I would personally assume that about 80% of all arcane spellcasters are in urban centers. The rest will be retainers to nobles or researchers, eccentrics, and villains off on their own.
But what do they do? Less than 10 of these arcane spellcasters will be capable of casting a spell of 3rd level or above, so we can probably rule out 'wizards as weapons of war' as an income stream - it simply isn't an option for most of them. We read in the DMG that it is certainly possible to pay spellcasters to cast spells (but not in combat!) so that is probably what they do. So while a player character might be desperate to get a starting spell such as Magic Missile or Burning Hands an NPC is probably just as eager for Comprehend Languages or Magic Aura because the latter spells are money makers. Among those NPC arcane casters capable of 2nd level spells Illusionary Trap and Wizard's Lock are probably much better for building a non-adventuring career than Ray of Enfeeblement. After all, there are probably plenty of wealthy merchants willing to pay for the former and substantially fewer interested in paying for the latter.
Magic-users are educated and literate; they may also earn a living as relatively prestigious scribes, tutors, and copyists. Roles as translators, researchers and even just (because of a relatively high intelligence) advisor may also be seen. These low level mages will almost certainly never be rich (which is probably what separates PCs from NPCs: ambition vs. risk avoidance ratios) but they have a good shot at a comfortable life as (essentially) a skilled artisan.
If you noticed the level maximums assumed, above, none of these NPCs will be high enough level to craft permanent magic items and only a very few for them (1 to 4) will be able to make potions or scrolls. This means that unless you have a large number of existing magic items changing hands there is no place for a shop that buys and sells just magic items in such a kingdom - the volume of trade would simply be far too low to support such a business.
On the other hand, the idea of merchants that cater to arcane spellcasters might very well make sense, especially in larger urban areas. This could range from a bookbinder who makes sure to have such things as blank codexes usable as spell books and rare inks on hand all the way up to a 'magical supply shop' that stocks blank standard and travelling spell books, arcane inks, rare feather quills, the most common spell components for low level spells, specialized equipment (such as portable writing desks and black candles), and even trinkets for familiars.
On the other hand, the concentration of clerics in urban areas, while existing, will be much less extreme mainly because the role of the cleric is to be spiritual leaders of all people. Thus while the large basilicas and cathedrals of larger urban centers will have more clerics the majority will be in villages. Druids will probably be 100% rural! In the same fantasy kingdom mentioned throughout there will almost certainly be an 8th level cleric and their may be one as high as 10th level. There will be somewhere between 135 and 140 clerics (or about 1 cleric per 5,800 people). About a dozen of these clerics will be able to cast Cure Disease or Remove Curse and there may be one who can cast Raise Dead.
Clerics have much less of a need for valuable components, inks, etc. than a magic-user and their other needs (ritual clothing, even a place to live) might be provided by their church, so their impact on the economy will not be as consumers. Instead, clerics will use their skills (literacy, influence) and charity to help the poor and downtrodden. While not as money-direct as arcane casters spending hundreds of gold pennies on ink or charging similar prices to cast Illusionary Trap on a rich merchant's payroll chest a dynamic cleric can reduce crime (via charity, leadership, and such) and invigorate the economy in the poorest quarters of a city by helping others focus on positive growth (those higher wisdom scores in action!) thus increasing tax revenue, decreasing expenses (less need for town watch and jails, etc.) and even reducing the need for those Illusionary Trap spells.
[note: this might cause unscrupulous mages to oppose clerical charity].
In this same vein, let's look at fighters, rangers, and paladins largely as a group. In the same fantasy kingdom there will be about 340 total leveled righters, paladins, and rangers (with over 80% being fighters), which is a pretty serious number. Why? Because if we accept the numbers for a standing army (from that article linked to waaaaay above) then the number of NPC fighter classes with levels is equal to about 1/2 the standing armies of the kingdom. So if there is a major war and there is a full levy at least a large fraction of these leveled NPCs will be available as combat troops.
Look at it this way - assume that the standard formula for orcish forces is, oh,
'for every 30 orcs there are 4 tougher orcs (meaner, tougher, etc.) and for every 120 orcs there is a leader of 2 HD' etc.'If were were to write up the army of this kingdom the same way it would read something like this,
'For every 14 members of the levy there is a veteran soldier (better trained, equipped, etc.) and for every 60 there is a 1st level fighter, ranger, or paladin. Additionally, there is an a fighter, paladin, or ranger of 2nd level or higher for every 120 levy troops. These are in addition to a core leadership of 8 5th to 7th level fighters.'Huh. When you look at it that way the leader ratios, combat abilities, etc. of human armies are actually not too bad, are they?
But all of these professional soldiers/adventurers aren't sitting around farming or doing calligraphy [note: no jokes about knees and arrows, please]. We should assume that they are earning their living fighting, guarding, patrolling, and exploring.
Suddenly we know where at least some of those high-level patrol leaders come from!
These soldiers are going to be spending money on armor, weapons, and horses. Heck, that many leveled NPC fighter types could keep 8 or 9 armorers employed full time! Toss in the standing army and noble troops and you realize soldiers alone could support about 30 armorers, 10 blacksmiths, 12 weapon smiths, 8 bowyer-fletchers, and 6 tailors full time. Add adventurers, distance between groups, DM allocated NPCs, and the desire to make a buck and there are probably no less than 100 skilled artisans employed in the creation and maintenance of the armor and weapons of the various soldiers in the kingdom. This will cascade into the need to provide these artisans themselves with everything from processed iron ingots to bird feathers.
Paladins are a quiet bunch who aren't big consumers of luxury goods. Rangers are typically rural and also focus on their mission. Fighters, though, will be spending their pay. Leveled fighters are going to be paid more than the standing army.
Since Gary tells us that 90% of these 'excess NPCs' are happy with their existing position. While these jobs probably range from being mercenary officers to bodyguards for the rich to caravan security and private watchmen let's assume that they are making roughly what they would make as a mercenary. That is about 124 sergeants, 92 lieutenants, and 9 captains [interestingly enough, there is no place in a band of mercenaries for a 4th level fighter. Are they all trapped in Decks of Many Things?]. Now, I know that PCs are expected to pay mercenaries in hard coin but these NPCs are almost certainly getting the majority of their pay in kind - room, board, clothing, maintenance, etc. This will probably be up to 90% of their compensation with just 10% of the value in actual pay.
This means all of these NPC fighters will be spending "only" 2,000 g.p. a month on ale, gambling, ale, trinkets for pretty girls, ale, lucky charms, and ale.
Hey, I was in the army myself. I know how pay is spent.
So as we can see the NPC warriors are going to have a huge impact on the kingdom's economy being directly responsible for the livelihoods of hundreds of artisans, publicans, servants, and such. They are also a key security element for private individuals and the kingdom as a whole.
There are about 100 thieves among the 'excess' NPCs' (I count these in addition to any thief followers or guild members, remember) with one of them 7th level and maybe one as high as 10th. While many of the 1st and second level thieves are going to be 'freelance' (i.e., not in a guild) pickpockets, petty thieves, and such I personally assume a fair number are in those areas of thievery we don't see often performed by PCs - forgery, smuggling, con games, money laundering, and fencing stolen goods. Money launderers, forgers, and fences in particular can operate with a thieves guild without a) being in the guild or b) angering the guild. Smuggling happens 'in-between' where guilds control and con games are too varied to be more than a nuisance to organized crime/the guilds.
These thieves are going to have an outsize impact on any economy; smugglers often make people happy (cheaper goods) and governments angry (lower tax revenues); forgers make documents suspect; money laundering really upsets governments; fences really upset merchants. The collective impact of all this non-violent crime (more patrols, more private guards, experts to check the veracity of documents, etc.) is going to add just a bit to the costs of everything - taxes are a hair higher to cover smuggling, etc. At least some of the ale I mentioned earlier will be bought by soldiers hired to deal with crime, etc.
There are also about 20 assassins 'freelancing' in the kingdom. With their unique combination of skills they can be anywhere we see thieves or fighters and even some places we see magic-users; bodyguards, smugglers, mercenary lieutenants, even scribes and translators. With at least one 5th level assassin and a possibility of one as high as 10th level there is a surprisingly large amount of professional hit men lurking about. Their economic impact is going to mainly be from their 'day job' although the fees associated with assassination and spying will probably make them quietly rich (at least the successful ones).
The needs of thieves and assassins is going to drive a gray market in things like special equipment (small boats for smugglers, jeweler's tools for forgers, fenced goods, etc.) and a black market (thief tools, poison, stolen goods, blackmail evidence, etc.). There will also be an entire community and communications system hidden within the world of these rogues that may be able to learn things about or get message to people and places no one else can - for a fee.
As you can see, these NPCs 'floating around' in any campaign world are going to have a profound impact on the size and shape of the economy, as well as a host of other things.
I look forward to you comments.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Peasants, Nobles, Mages, Normals, and Heroes - How Many NPCs have Levels?
A discussion my sons and I were having recently was - in 1e how many NPCs have levels and what are they? We have always assumed that player characters are 'over and above' NPC numbers, but we were curious as to what those numbers are. I'll walk you through what we did to see if you agree.
Please remember that my 1e campaign is a relatively low-level, low-magic world.
Let's see if we can figure out the assumptions made by EGG.
When you look at the DMG you see that the rules for henchmen talk about the numbers for leveled characters in "an active adventuring area" could be as high as 1 in 50 while is settled areas as low as 1 in 5,000! If we assume that those are the extremes we can guess that the total number is, oh, 1 in 1,000. This means that in a nation the size of the Kingdom of Seaward (my 1e campaign setting) my which has a population of about 780,000 there would be about 780 NPCs with levels.
It also looks like there are twice as many 1st level characters as 2nd level and twice as many 2nd level as 3rd level, etc. Yes, thuis is just an impression. It also looks like (based on notes in the Hirelings section) that most NPCs are 3rd level or below (up to third level = enlisted or NCO, 4th level+ = officer).
Since I am already waving my hands hard enough to flutter papers, let's assume 50% of all NPCs with levels are 1st level and each higher level is half as common.
So, this means that my breakdown of those NPCs in Seaward would look roughly like this
1st level - 390 NPCS
2nd - 195
3rd - 92
4th - 46
5th - 23
6th - 12
7th - 6
8th - 3
9th - 2
10th - 1
OK, while there are about 2,000 assumptions going on there, I can live with this. But what classes are they?
Once again, the henchmen section gives us a hint. According to it we should expect the NPC population to be:
35.2% Fighters
17% Clerics
17% Magic-users
12.5% Thieves
4.4% Paladins
4.4% Rangers
3% Druids
3% Illusionists
2.5% Assassins
1% Monks
Or to break down this list even further, the 1st level NPCs should look like this;
138 1st level Fighters
67 1st level Clerics
66 1st level Magic-users
50 1st level Thieves
17 1st level Paladins
17 1st level Rangers
12 1st level Druids
11 1st level Illusionists
10 1st level Assassins
3 1st level Monks
[note: I rounded up a few]
While this may look like a lot, this means that 1 in every 5,620 Seawardians is a 1st level fighter - that isn't shocking.
Let's look at 5th level and look just at the 'big four' (fighter, cleric, magic-user. thief) at first to get a rough idea. The rough numbers are;
10 5th level Fighters
5 5th level Clerics
4 5th level Magic-users
3 5th level Thieves
1 'left over' by rounding [note that I rounded Clerics up and Magic-users down].
If we use the 'expanded' percentages, it looks like this;
8 5th level Fighters
3 5th level Clerics
3 5th level Magic-users
3 5th level Thieves
1 5th level Paladin
1 5th level Ranger
1 5th level Druid
1 5th level Illusionist
1 5th level Assassin
1 5th level Monk
[by rounding up the 'marginal' classes we account for all 23 NPCs]
Well, that is interesting! Only 3 5th level magic-users in the Kingdom? Mentors might be hard to come by!
For the rarefied heights of upper levels we concluded we'd just use the table for henchmen in the DMG and let the dice roll as they may.
I really look forward to your comments about my 2,000 assumptions
Now, when we were discussing this we came to 2 main points;
1) this OBVIOUSLY can't include PCs!
2) NPCs placed by the DM probably shouldn't count, either.
Let's get back to assuming things from the DMG.
The section on henchmen says that a fair number of even 1st level guys are either not interested in the high risk life of adventuring or 'already in a situation they are satisfied with', i.e., a job that doesn't suck too hard. The percentage of those timid + happy leveled types out of the total appears to be as low as 50% in the oft-mentioned 'active adventuring area', as high as 98% in settled areas with it being about, oh, 90% as an average. So it looks like at any given time there are 13-14 1st level fighters that would be willing to become henchmen, if you can find them!
Conversely, this also points to 125 1st level fighters having employment in the kingdom.
Once long ago I was playing a 7th/7th Cleric/magic-user in Lew Pulsipher's campaign on an adventure and we rode into a town to ask questions. When my character introduced himself the headman swept off his hat, tugged his forelock, and treated my character with great deference, bordering on awe. When we were done I asked, out of character, what that was about. Lew's reply was simple and to the point,
That means your 5th level mage is probably mentioned in gossip; at 7th level he is spoken of (usually in hushed tones) in taverns, and at 9th maybe, depending, his name is used to frighten peasant children into behaving. Your 8th level cleric? The people will have certainly heard of the patriarch and he may face strangers approaching him for blessings and healing almost everywhere he travels.
On the other hand, there are also about 32 paladins, plus or minus, with a 5th level paladin in the mix and another as high as 10th (although that is unlikely); depending on how such things are arranged in the campaign there may be an abbey for just paladins in the kingdom. There is also at least one fighter of 8th or higher level and 8 5th level fighters - while the 5th level mage in the party is known, the fighter may be more obscure. At 9th level, however, he could very well stand out as being so famous and successful as to be elevated to the nobility.
There is a lot more to discuss on this topic, but I hope to get some feedback before I continue.
Please remember that my 1e campaign is a relatively low-level, low-magic world.
Let's see if we can figure out the assumptions made by EGG.
When you look at the DMG you see that the rules for henchmen talk about the numbers for leveled characters in "an active adventuring area" could be as high as 1 in 50 while is settled areas as low as 1 in 5,000! If we assume that those are the extremes we can guess that the total number is, oh, 1 in 1,000. This means that in a nation the size of the Kingdom of Seaward (my 1e campaign setting) my which has a population of about 780,000 there would be about 780 NPCs with levels.
It also looks like there are twice as many 1st level characters as 2nd level and twice as many 2nd level as 3rd level, etc. Yes, thuis is just an impression. It also looks like (based on notes in the Hirelings section) that most NPCs are 3rd level or below (up to third level = enlisted or NCO, 4th level+ = officer).
Since I am already waving my hands hard enough to flutter papers, let's assume 50% of all NPCs with levels are 1st level and each higher level is half as common.
So, this means that my breakdown of those NPCs in Seaward would look roughly like this
1st level - 390 NPCS
2nd - 195
3rd - 92
4th - 46
5th - 23
6th - 12
7th - 6
8th - 3
9th - 2
10th - 1
OK, while there are about 2,000 assumptions going on there, I can live with this. But what classes are they?
Once again, the henchmen section gives us a hint. According to it we should expect the NPC population to be:
35.2% Fighters
17% Clerics
17% Magic-users
12.5% Thieves
4.4% Paladins
4.4% Rangers
3% Druids
3% Illusionists
2.5% Assassins
1% Monks
Or to break down this list even further, the 1st level NPCs should look like this;
138 1st level Fighters
67 1st level Clerics
66 1st level Magic-users
50 1st level Thieves
17 1st level Paladins
17 1st level Rangers
12 1st level Druids
11 1st level Illusionists
10 1st level Assassins
3 1st level Monks
[note: I rounded up a few]
While this may look like a lot, this means that 1 in every 5,620 Seawardians is a 1st level fighter - that isn't shocking.
Let's look at 5th level and look just at the 'big four' (fighter, cleric, magic-user. thief) at first to get a rough idea. The rough numbers are;
10 5th level Fighters
5 5th level Clerics
4 5th level Magic-users
3 5th level Thieves
1 'left over' by rounding [note that I rounded Clerics up and Magic-users down].
If we use the 'expanded' percentages, it looks like this;
8 5th level Fighters
3 5th level Clerics
3 5th level Magic-users
3 5th level Thieves
1 5th level Paladin
1 5th level Ranger
1 5th level Druid
1 5th level Illusionist
1 5th level Assassin
1 5th level Monk
[by rounding up the 'marginal' classes we account for all 23 NPCs]
Well, that is interesting! Only 3 5th level magic-users in the Kingdom? Mentors might be hard to come by!
For the rarefied heights of upper levels we concluded we'd just use the table for henchmen in the DMG and let the dice roll as they may.
I really look forward to your comments about my 2,000 assumptions
Now, when we were discussing this we came to 2 main points;
1) this OBVIOUSLY can't include PCs!
2) NPCs placed by the DM probably shouldn't count, either.
Let's get back to assuming things from the DMG.
The section on henchmen says that a fair number of even 1st level guys are either not interested in the high risk life of adventuring or 'already in a situation they are satisfied with', i.e., a job that doesn't suck too hard. The percentage of those timid + happy leveled types out of the total appears to be as low as 50% in the oft-mentioned 'active adventuring area', as high as 98% in settled areas with it being about, oh, 90% as an average. So it looks like at any given time there are 13-14 1st level fighters that would be willing to become henchmen, if you can find them!
Conversely, this also points to 125 1st level fighters having employment in the kingdom.
Once long ago I was playing a 7th/7th Cleric/magic-user in Lew Pulsipher's campaign on an adventure and we rode into a town to ask questions. When my character introduced himself the headman swept off his hat, tugged his forelock, and treated my character with great deference, bordering on awe. When we were done I asked, out of character, what that was about. Lew's reply was simple and to the point,
"Your character can cast out demons and shoot fireballs. Every peasant in 100 miles knows who he is and what he can do. Of course they treat him with respect!"Let's look at those NPC numbers again and think about how PCs fit into such a low-level, low-magic world. There are only somewhere between 3 and, oh, 8 NPCs who have enough levels in magic-user to know and cast Fireball. Based upon spell availability, the chances of a mage with average Intelligence to learn a particular spell (typically on 55% for an NPC), even one as sought-after as this, and it is obvious that other than PCs there are perhaps 2 or 3 people in the entire kingdom who can cast Fireball (not counting NPCs placed by the DM).
That means your 5th level mage is probably mentioned in gossip; at 7th level he is spoken of (usually in hushed tones) in taverns, and at 9th maybe, depending, his name is used to frighten peasant children into behaving. Your 8th level cleric? The people will have certainly heard of the patriarch and he may face strangers approaching him for blessings and healing almost everywhere he travels.
On the other hand, there are also about 32 paladins, plus or minus, with a 5th level paladin in the mix and another as high as 10th (although that is unlikely); depending on how such things are arranged in the campaign there may be an abbey for just paladins in the kingdom. There is also at least one fighter of 8th or higher level and 8 5th level fighters - while the 5th level mage in the party is known, the fighter may be more obscure. At 9th level, however, he could very well stand out as being so famous and successful as to be elevated to the nobility.
There is a lot more to discuss on this topic, but I hope to get some feedback before I continue.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Making Magic Amazing Without Touching Mechanics
Years ago I was in a gaming circle with very regular games and with a fair number of guest DMs. One day my co-DM told me a group of his friends were visiting from another state and wanted to sit in. He also told me they had some simple requests;
1) Not to have the monster manual, DMG, or PHB read from
2) Not to be asked to look something up in the books
3) If there was a discussion on a rule that they be allowed to leave until it was resolved.
Why?
In the 12 years they had been playing as a group not one player had ever looked into a single book. These guys and gals were in their 30's and played twice a month like clockwork and had for almost 12 years but what they knew they knew from what the DM had given them either directly or from folktales and legends in the game.
The players had thought it up as a way to 'keep the wonder alive', and it worked. They were amazed with our magic items, like Boots of Elvenkind and Rings of Water Walking - they'd never seen or heard of them. There were no regenerating trolls in their campaign, so they were a shock!
But one thing that stuck with me was their spells; the elven fighter/magic-user (5th/5th) told us she was 'firing her elf bow'; she explained it was a spell taught to her by her clan. She described her character grasping a smoky, ghostly bow and drawing back the smoky wisp of a string and launching a phantasmal arrow with a single, glittering star as its arrowhead. 'If my heart is true' she said, 'it never misses'. It struck true and she did her damage - 1d10+5
Later the human mage said he was 'summoning the motes'. He cast the quick spell and described how a swirling mass of motes, each looking like a spark from a bonfire, descended from above and surrounded his target. He told us that each mote did 1 h.p. of damage but his concentration determined how many would strike. As he leveled up he got more adept at focusing them so now 4d4+4 motes would hit!
The players each had all of their spells as individual 3x5 cards with the DM's description of them in narrative form; they were (if I remember right) 'The High Clan's Elf Bow' and 'The Calling of Fiery Motes'.
Both spells are, of course, Magic Missile. Now, I love Magic Missile for a lot of reasons (there is a post in there) but this made me love it even more. Of course, when my character cast Magic Missile they'd never heard of it but liked the description ('I hold out my hand and a streak of pure magical forces shoots from 4 of my fingers, striking true of 1d4+1 each'). About 6 months later I finally met their DM and he confirmed that yup, they were Magic Missile. They had, once, tried to learn each other's spells and were sad she couldn't summon motes and of course he couldn't use the elf bow! They once fought an evil mage and tried to learn his spell Golden Lions (that caused miniature golden lions to race to the target and bite it) when they captured his spell book; they "couldn't learn" that spell, either because it was also Magic Missile.
As an aside, have you ever played Hero System, especially Champions? In the game a stream of fire, a lightning bolt, and a sonic scream might all be 8d6 Blasts; only the special effect differentiates the various powers. Hero does this best [its my blog and I say its best] but we can easily take this idea and apply it to a fantasy game.
But let's back up a bit.
I know I am not alone in emphasizing that magic isn't technology. And there is nothing wrong with,
Player: "I cast Fireball centered here"
DM: "Sure; roll damage while I make saves."
I mean - it is fast, it is easy. We all know what we are talking about.
But one of my favorite bits of writing from a game book is from the Complete Book of Necromancers by Steve Kurtz. If you haven't read this book, get it. Here is how he describes a spell,
But just as importantly, these little things can add a lot to the game and not just during play. Let me give you an example from the Seaward campaign.
Many, but not all, wizards belong to a Mage House. Mage Houses are roughly akin to clans or fraternities or similar where all the members can trace their 'magical line' from apprentice to master back to the founder of the House. So if you were the 5th son of a petty baron and were apprenticed to a member of House Relleth once you became a full mage (i.e, first level) you, too, would be a member of House Relleth just like any other mage who had been apprenticed by a House Relleth member.
Now the Houses differ a great deal; some are strict with bylaws, officers, secret halls, etc. while others are very informal and are often little more than an excuse to buy one another drinks. House Murrin has a lot of fighter/magic-users while everyone in House Atrell wears green. It is all over the place. But each major house and many minor houses have unique spells shared only with fellow house members.
Well, you can do that with a lot more than new spells, can't you? What if the version of Fireball taught by House Atrell, called Fierce Verdant Strike, is identical to Fireball except it is a burst of green fire and there is a strong smell of pinewood smoke after? What if House Murrin's variant of Hold Person, called Bind Foe, wraps the target is ghostly chains? What if any spell cast by a member of House Relleth caused tiny motes of light to float around the caster's head for a moment? These things are small but can be everything from backstory to clues ["That Lightning Bolt was blue! That means, the killer is a member of House Toneth!" ba-ba-BUUUUUM].
You don't have to use my Mage House idea for this to work. Every wizard in different and, as we know from EGG's comments on spell books from Dragon Magazine all those years ago, each caster treats each spell a bit differently. This could just be part of a caster's personality and innate gift for magic. Remember, magic isn't technology - it is OK for each caster's Magic Missile to be a little different because Magic Missile isn't made in a factory in Sheboygan, it is a magic spell that is cast a little differently by each caster. In a game.
So its pretty easy to take this to that next level where every spell caster feels unique because each spell looks unique. Those players I met way back when felt that their characters were cut from different cloth because one could cast Elf Bow while the other could Call the Motes. With very minor changes it is easy to do the same for each and every character without a ton of effort on your part.
Here are two examples from my campaign:
This is just a variation of Burning Hands that, to me at least, seems slightly more apropos for a fighter/magic-user. While standard Burning Hands might cause less damage to, say, a hell hound the Warding Blade would do less against skeletons. You could have a fighter/magic-user with Warding Blade, a magic-user with Burning Hands, and a magic-user/thief from the Northern Barbarian Tribes with SnowSpray (another variant) in the same party and each spell caster would have a unique 'feel' and be able to bring subtly different spells to bear, all without a great deal of work or true changes to mechanics.
You can do this with cleric spells, too, of course. For example;
That's just a Prayer gussied up a bit, obviously for a good cleric. An evil cleric might have a version where sounds of cackling witches and smells of brimstone distract good people and inspire the wicked to new heights of evil. One version of Know Alignment might give the caster a vision of two sets of scales on he can see while another will see auras of different colors whole a third might have an invisible imp whisper into his ear. Again, this can add a surprising amount to the game; the 'signature' of the cultists of the Plague Lord might be that all their spells that cause damage appear to inflict a disease while a cultist of the Demon Lord of Slime has an Inflict Light Wounds that looks like his hands are temporarily coated in green slime.
But, just like with magic-users, this can make each cleric feel unique.
And think of illusionists! In addition to "just" duplicating spells with illusions now they can mimic specific versions, even better imitate specific casters!
So think about this; it is a surprisingly drastic change in 'feel' for very little effort.
1) Not to have the monster manual, DMG, or PHB read from
2) Not to be asked to look something up in the books
3) If there was a discussion on a rule that they be allowed to leave until it was resolved.
Why?
In the 12 years they had been playing as a group not one player had ever looked into a single book. These guys and gals were in their 30's and played twice a month like clockwork and had for almost 12 years but what they knew they knew from what the DM had given them either directly or from folktales and legends in the game.
The players had thought it up as a way to 'keep the wonder alive', and it worked. They were amazed with our magic items, like Boots of Elvenkind and Rings of Water Walking - they'd never seen or heard of them. There were no regenerating trolls in their campaign, so they were a shock!
But one thing that stuck with me was their spells; the elven fighter/magic-user (5th/5th) told us she was 'firing her elf bow'; she explained it was a spell taught to her by her clan. She described her character grasping a smoky, ghostly bow and drawing back the smoky wisp of a string and launching a phantasmal arrow with a single, glittering star as its arrowhead. 'If my heart is true' she said, 'it never misses'. It struck true and she did her damage - 1d10+5
Later the human mage said he was 'summoning the motes'. He cast the quick spell and described how a swirling mass of motes, each looking like a spark from a bonfire, descended from above and surrounded his target. He told us that each mote did 1 h.p. of damage but his concentration determined how many would strike. As he leveled up he got more adept at focusing them so now 4d4+4 motes would hit!
The players each had all of their spells as individual 3x5 cards with the DM's description of them in narrative form; they were (if I remember right) 'The High Clan's Elf Bow' and 'The Calling of Fiery Motes'.
Both spells are, of course, Magic Missile. Now, I love Magic Missile for a lot of reasons (there is a post in there) but this made me love it even more. Of course, when my character cast Magic Missile they'd never heard of it but liked the description ('I hold out my hand and a streak of pure magical forces shoots from 4 of my fingers, striking true of 1d4+1 each'). About 6 months later I finally met their DM and he confirmed that yup, they were Magic Missile. They had, once, tried to learn each other's spells and were sad she couldn't summon motes and of course he couldn't use the elf bow! They once fought an evil mage and tried to learn his spell Golden Lions (that caused miniature golden lions to race to the target and bite it) when they captured his spell book; they "couldn't learn" that spell, either because it was also Magic Missile.
As an aside, have you ever played Hero System, especially Champions? In the game a stream of fire, a lightning bolt, and a sonic scream might all be 8d6 Blasts; only the special effect differentiates the various powers. Hero does this best [its my blog and I say its best] but we can easily take this idea and apply it to a fantasy game.
But let's back up a bit.
I know I am not alone in emphasizing that magic isn't technology. And there is nothing wrong with,
Player: "I cast Fireball centered here"
DM: "Sure; roll damage while I make saves."
I mean - it is fast, it is easy. We all know what we are talking about.
But one of my favorite bits of writing from a game book is from the Complete Book of Necromancers by Steve Kurtz. If you haven't read this book, get it. Here is how he describes a spell,
"Lady Ellandra came back on deck, this time shielded by a cold, blue aura. She began to speak in a soft and deadly whisper, her gaze fixed on the wildly shouting men on the pirate ship's quarter deck. Many of the rogues had climbed up into the rigging, where they fired arrows onto our ship. One of the bolts struck Ellandra square in the face, but it was brushed aside by her magical warding."
"As the Lady intoned the last syllable of her dreadful spell, a greenish vapor formed in the rigging above the pirate's quarter deck. Wailing resounded from the skyward cloud, like a distant chorus of lamentations. Ghostly images swirled in the haze. The billowing mist quickly descended onto the decks of Retaliator, and horrific screams rose in a deafening crescendo from the ghastly cloud, echoed now by the terrified men in its midst. Shriveled bodies plummeted from the rigging, each with a sickening thud, onto the decks below. One by one, the pirates'f lesh withered like burned paper, and the scant survivors beheld many more vaporous ghosts now swirling in the foul mist around them. And after the eternity of a few seconds, the howling cloud began to dissipate, leaving behind the wracked and twisted corpses of Retaliator's crew. The pirate ship sailed on, crewed only by the dead, fixed in its final course by a blasted corpse whose corrupted hands still clenched the helm."That was the Death Spell. But shouldn't a spell that kills scores of foes 'instantly and irrevocably' so that only a Wish can bring them back be scary?!
But just as importantly, these little things can add a lot to the game and not just during play. Let me give you an example from the Seaward campaign.
Many, but not all, wizards belong to a Mage House. Mage Houses are roughly akin to clans or fraternities or similar where all the members can trace their 'magical line' from apprentice to master back to the founder of the House. So if you were the 5th son of a petty baron and were apprenticed to a member of House Relleth once you became a full mage (i.e, first level) you, too, would be a member of House Relleth just like any other mage who had been apprenticed by a House Relleth member.
Now the Houses differ a great deal; some are strict with bylaws, officers, secret halls, etc. while others are very informal and are often little more than an excuse to buy one another drinks. House Murrin has a lot of fighter/magic-users while everyone in House Atrell wears green. It is all over the place. But each major house and many minor houses have unique spells shared only with fellow house members.
Well, you can do that with a lot more than new spells, can't you? What if the version of Fireball taught by House Atrell, called Fierce Verdant Strike, is identical to Fireball except it is a burst of green fire and there is a strong smell of pinewood smoke after? What if House Murrin's variant of Hold Person, called Bind Foe, wraps the target is ghostly chains? What if any spell cast by a member of House Relleth caused tiny motes of light to float around the caster's head for a moment? These things are small but can be everything from backstory to clues ["That Lightning Bolt was blue! That means, the killer is a member of House Toneth!" ba-ba-BUUUUUM].
You don't have to use my Mage House idea for this to work. Every wizard in different and, as we know from EGG's comments on spell books from Dragon Magazine all those years ago, each caster treats each spell a bit differently. This could just be part of a caster's personality and innate gift for magic. Remember, magic isn't technology - it is OK for each caster's Magic Missile to be a little different because Magic Missile isn't made in a factory in Sheboygan, it is a magic spell that is cast a little differently by each caster. In a game.
So its pretty easy to take this to that next level where every spell caster feels unique because each spell looks unique. Those players I met way back when felt that their characters were cut from different cloth because one could cast Elf Bow while the other could Call the Motes. With very minor changes it is easy to do the same for each and every character without a ton of effort on your part.
Here are two examples from my campaign:
Warding BladeLevel: 1
Range: 0
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 segment
Area of Effect: see description
Save: none
This spell summons a sword blade that slices through the air in front of the caster causing all creatures that are both in the casters front 120 degree arc and no further away than 3' to take 2 h.p. of damage per caster rank. This damage is treated as 'edged' or 'slashing'. The mystic sword, which vanishes instantly, can harm any creature and it cannot be dodged and never misses creatures in its arc.
The material component is a sliver of iron.
This is just a variation of Burning Hands that, to me at least, seems slightly more apropos for a fighter/magic-user. While standard Burning Hands might cause less damage to, say, a hell hound the Warding Blade would do less against skeletons. You could have a fighter/magic-user with Warding Blade, a magic-user with Burning Hands, and a magic-user/thief from the Northern Barbarian Tribes with SnowSpray (another variant) in the same party and each spell caster would have a unique 'feel' and be able to bring subtly different spells to bear, all without a great deal of work or true changes to mechanics.
You can do this with cleric spells, too, of course. For example;
Defende nos in ProelioLevel: 3
Range: 0
Duration: 1 round per level
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 6 segments
Area of Effect: 60' and special, see below
Save: None
When this prayer is completed all within 60' of the caster have the impression that there are people just outside of their vision; winged men in armor with bared swords filled with a terrible resolve. These creatures are caught out of the corner of the eye or in brief flashes. The righteous are filled with courage and calm, the wicked feel fear and doubt. All thosewithin 60' who are of good will to the caster gain a +1 bonus on all rolls to hit, damage, or to save. Conversely, enemies of the priest receive -1 on all rolls to hit, damage, or saves. The visions and effects end with the spell.
That's just a Prayer gussied up a bit, obviously for a good cleric. An evil cleric might have a version where sounds of cackling witches and smells of brimstone distract good people and inspire the wicked to new heights of evil. One version of Know Alignment might give the caster a vision of two sets of scales on he can see while another will see auras of different colors whole a third might have an invisible imp whisper into his ear. Again, this can add a surprising amount to the game; the 'signature' of the cultists of the Plague Lord might be that all their spells that cause damage appear to inflict a disease while a cultist of the Demon Lord of Slime has an Inflict Light Wounds that looks like his hands are temporarily coated in green slime.
But, just like with magic-users, this can make each cleric feel unique.
And think of illusionists! In addition to "just" duplicating spells with illusions now they can mimic specific versions, even better imitate specific casters!
So think about this; it is a surprisingly drastic change in 'feel' for very little effort.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Why Encumbrance Matters To Me
This past week I did a routine audit of character sheets and found that most of the players were ignoring encumbrance, so I directed them to clean up their sheets, get their encumbrance correct, or else I would just assign encumbrance levels until they did.
My oldest son, a stalwart and a hard worker, lamented how difficult it is and how much time and attention it takes.
Likewise, this very morning I read an RPG blogger talking about how they really, really dislike encumbrance rules.
I was a tactical soldier in an airborne unit based in Ft. Bragg for 6 years. I I have done hundreds of miles in ruck marches and was in land navigation competitions [think orienteering in rugged terrain with 80-100 lbs of equipment]. I became so adept at fitting necessary gear into tight space my kids say I have the Clever packer skill at 93%.
I know encumbrance.
I also know that it matters. Carrying too much weight slows you down. Carrying big, bulky objects slows you down. Travelling becomes much harder when you are carrying a heavy load. Horses are not motorcycles - too much weight slows them down and can hurt them, etc.
At the same time, there are serious reasons that soldier carry so much weight - you need things! Food, water, bandages, blankets, light sources, arrows, sling bullets, tools, components, rope - all could be very important. I am far from the first guy to point out that a core element of games, both modern and old school D&D in particular, is resource management. If you just handwave components then magic-users and clerics get easier and more powerful; if you handwave food and water you reduce or eliminate time limits of travel and exploration; if you handwave equipment you reduce or eliminate the use of all sorts of barriers, tricks, and delays.
Ignoring things like, oh, how many torches you need also makes a lot of spells useless. If the cleric never needs to consider a Light, or Create Food and Water, or the wizard never needs to think of Floating Disc or Tiny Hut why do those spells exist? What are they for? And this is yet another way you make your spell casters more powerful in combat - the cleric can take all healing and combat spells, the mage can take all combat spells because, well, they don't eat, sleep, or get cold and can always see.
If you do make them account for everything you can add a lot of tension to the game very simply.
Example: Krellor was worried; somehow the map was wrong. He knew it was wrong for one simple reason - they couldn't get out. He had originally been angry with Mellie, the young cleric. he was really glad he hadn't said anything, though; after 2 days of following the left wall they not only hadn't found the way out they had taken at least 3 different routes. Somewhere in the maze of rooms and corridors was a trick wall, door, or corridor that kept moving on them.
Kurrie, the scout, had lost his grin and was looking downright scared. Alazaar, the mage, was starting to slow down and even the shaven-headed monk Xing was obviously suffering. They had been without food for 3 days, now, and the brackish water from the puddle was almost gone, too. If they didn't find the way out soon they might die of thirst in these twisting halls. Krellor had relented this 'morning' and they group was alternting left and right in hopes of avoiding whatever deviltry was trapping them here.
Perhaps as troubling as the lack of food and paucity of water, they were down to just 3 inches of candle in Mellie's lantern - the feeble light barely allowed them to creep through the halls. Once it went out they would be almost totally blind - and as good as dead.
Kellor habitually checked his weapons belt as he prepared to round a corner. As he paused he heard a noise from the corridor; with a gesture Mellie closed the shutter on the lantern. The lost adventurers waited as a glow appeared from around the corner and the sound of orc voices grew.
When the orcs rounded the corner Kurrie, Xing, and Krellor fell on them ferociously and with total surprise. The slaughter was over in moments and Kurrie began rifling through their gear.
Three flasks of oil was good. An entire smoked ham and a sack of dried cherries was better. The full waterskins on all 6 of the dead orcs was best. Kurrie habitually grabbed the few coins these low-level guard had on them as the party carefully ate and drank a little. Too much at once would make them sick. After 20 minutes of rest interspersed with a few small bites and spare sips Mellie refilled and lit her lantern before tucking the candle stub away.
Maybe their luck had changed. Maybe they would get out. At least they had another day or two to try.
That was from an actual adventure I ran that the players still talk about much later.
Keeping track of this stuff, while time consuming, can be both a source of game tension AND a tool for character development.
Example: As beautiful as the sight of the first rays of the sun sparkling off the snow-capped mountains was, Aurelius missed the abbey. The warm bed, the food, the wine. But most of all, the library. All that knowledge, all that wisdom. He liked nothing more than to immerse himself in the rows of books until he was too exhausted to read another page.
But as a prefect he had certain responsibilities. The bishop had asked him to join the paladin Tamarind and his companions in a quest to end the attacks on the western villages. Aurelius had smiled, agreed, and inwardly bemoaned whatever streak of madness had compelled him to travel with Tamarind when both of them were newly ordained. Aurelius' reputation as an 'adventurer' may have earned him a swift promotion or three, but it also kept him from his beloved books.
There was Tamarind, now, riding alongside the trail, checking on all of his companions. A good man, Tamarind, truthful, brave, and honorable. He saw Tamarind pull up next to Aurelius' acolyte, Willit.
"How fare you, young Willit?"
"Very good, Sir Tamarind."
"Excited?"
"Oh, yes, sir! When we return I am to be tonsured as an adept!"
"Keep it up, and soon I shall be reporting to you!"
"Oh, no Sir Tamarind! A knight like yourself reporting to someone like me?"
"A knight, but yet a paladin who must answer to the priests, isn't that right Father Timms?"
Aurelius' other assistant, riding nearby, chuckled and said,
"Mayhaps I have the authority, but the temerity? That I do not have!"
At Noon Aurelius' two assistants supervised his servants as they set up a field table for Aurelius, Tamarind, and the companions to eat their meal. Others set up a blanket on the grass nearby for the servants' meal. The companions were all good company: Orion, the famous wizard from the West; the dwarven warrior called only the Smiter; the lovely halfling maiden and scout Mellificent; Fandor, the ranger from the Great Wood; Tamarind; and Aurelius. After their quick meal of cold meats, cheese, and small beer the servants quickly loaded the gear back onto Aurelius' cart, mounted their own mules, and they resumed.
At evening the servants erected Aurelius' pavilion and prepared a meal. As the companions dined the servants gathered wood, built another fire, erected Aurelius' sleeping tent, and prepared their own shelters and meal.
An hour before dawn Aurelius said the travelling Mass with Father Timms and Brother Willit assisting. Afterwards the servants quickly struck camp and prepared everything for the road.
Tamarind and Aurelius are both characters from campaigns I have played in. Tamarind is a typical paladin; water and thin gruel for breakfast, lunch is a meal in the saddle, dinner might be a sapare hot soup and some hardtack. He has a prudent amount of gear but otherwise the Lord will provide.
Aurelius has 2 henchmen, a valet, 5 teamsters, 2 porters, a linkboy, a cook, 3 grooms, and 7 light cavalrymen as hirelings. His people all travel on horse or mules or in the cart he brings along in addition to his pack horse. He carries tents, a pavilion, field tables and chairs, silverware and place settings, tools, rope, spare clothes, manacles (in various sizes) blank books, vials, jars, and boxes for samples, etc., etc., etc. All in addition to a mix of fresh and preserved food, water, wine, and brandy.
His henchmen and hirelings typically build and guard a camp for the extra equipment with the servants making things ready for the party's return. On at least one adventure one of the henchmen led 2 guards and a teamster back to town with a wagon to completely replenish supplies while the adventurers were still underground.
Sure, these are extreme examples, but show that if you want to use encumbrance it can be a lot more than just book keeping on a character sheet.
My oldest son, a stalwart and a hard worker, lamented how difficult it is and how much time and attention it takes.
Likewise, this very morning I read an RPG blogger talking about how they really, really dislike encumbrance rules.
I was a tactical soldier in an airborne unit based in Ft. Bragg for 6 years. I I have done hundreds of miles in ruck marches and was in land navigation competitions [think orienteering in rugged terrain with 80-100 lbs of equipment]. I became so adept at fitting necessary gear into tight space my kids say I have the Clever packer skill at 93%.
I know encumbrance.
I also know that it matters. Carrying too much weight slows you down. Carrying big, bulky objects slows you down. Travelling becomes much harder when you are carrying a heavy load. Horses are not motorcycles - too much weight slows them down and can hurt them, etc.
At the same time, there are serious reasons that soldier carry so much weight - you need things! Food, water, bandages, blankets, light sources, arrows, sling bullets, tools, components, rope - all could be very important. I am far from the first guy to point out that a core element of games, both modern and old school D&D in particular, is resource management. If you just handwave components then magic-users and clerics get easier and more powerful; if you handwave food and water you reduce or eliminate time limits of travel and exploration; if you handwave equipment you reduce or eliminate the use of all sorts of barriers, tricks, and delays.
Ignoring things like, oh, how many torches you need also makes a lot of spells useless. If the cleric never needs to consider a Light, or Create Food and Water, or the wizard never needs to think of Floating Disc or Tiny Hut why do those spells exist? What are they for? And this is yet another way you make your spell casters more powerful in combat - the cleric can take all healing and combat spells, the mage can take all combat spells because, well, they don't eat, sleep, or get cold and can always see.
If you do make them account for everything you can add a lot of tension to the game very simply.
Example: Krellor was worried; somehow the map was wrong. He knew it was wrong for one simple reason - they couldn't get out. He had originally been angry with Mellie, the young cleric. he was really glad he hadn't said anything, though; after 2 days of following the left wall they not only hadn't found the way out they had taken at least 3 different routes. Somewhere in the maze of rooms and corridors was a trick wall, door, or corridor that kept moving on them.
Kurrie, the scout, had lost his grin and was looking downright scared. Alazaar, the mage, was starting to slow down and even the shaven-headed monk Xing was obviously suffering. They had been without food for 3 days, now, and the brackish water from the puddle was almost gone, too. If they didn't find the way out soon they might die of thirst in these twisting halls. Krellor had relented this 'morning' and they group was alternting left and right in hopes of avoiding whatever deviltry was trapping them here.
Perhaps as troubling as the lack of food and paucity of water, they were down to just 3 inches of candle in Mellie's lantern - the feeble light barely allowed them to creep through the halls. Once it went out they would be almost totally blind - and as good as dead.
Kellor habitually checked his weapons belt as he prepared to round a corner. As he paused he heard a noise from the corridor; with a gesture Mellie closed the shutter on the lantern. The lost adventurers waited as a glow appeared from around the corner and the sound of orc voices grew.
When the orcs rounded the corner Kurrie, Xing, and Krellor fell on them ferociously and with total surprise. The slaughter was over in moments and Kurrie began rifling through their gear.
Three flasks of oil was good. An entire smoked ham and a sack of dried cherries was better. The full waterskins on all 6 of the dead orcs was best. Kurrie habitually grabbed the few coins these low-level guard had on them as the party carefully ate and drank a little. Too much at once would make them sick. After 20 minutes of rest interspersed with a few small bites and spare sips Mellie refilled and lit her lantern before tucking the candle stub away.
Maybe their luck had changed. Maybe they would get out. At least they had another day or two to try.
That was from an actual adventure I ran that the players still talk about much later.
Keeping track of this stuff, while time consuming, can be both a source of game tension AND a tool for character development.
Example: As beautiful as the sight of the first rays of the sun sparkling off the snow-capped mountains was, Aurelius missed the abbey. The warm bed, the food, the wine. But most of all, the library. All that knowledge, all that wisdom. He liked nothing more than to immerse himself in the rows of books until he was too exhausted to read another page.
But as a prefect he had certain responsibilities. The bishop had asked him to join the paladin Tamarind and his companions in a quest to end the attacks on the western villages. Aurelius had smiled, agreed, and inwardly bemoaned whatever streak of madness had compelled him to travel with Tamarind when both of them were newly ordained. Aurelius' reputation as an 'adventurer' may have earned him a swift promotion or three, but it also kept him from his beloved books.
There was Tamarind, now, riding alongside the trail, checking on all of his companions. A good man, Tamarind, truthful, brave, and honorable. He saw Tamarind pull up next to Aurelius' acolyte, Willit.
"How fare you, young Willit?"
"Very good, Sir Tamarind."
"Excited?"
"Oh, yes, sir! When we return I am to be tonsured as an adept!"
"Keep it up, and soon I shall be reporting to you!"
"Oh, no Sir Tamarind! A knight like yourself reporting to someone like me?"
"A knight, but yet a paladin who must answer to the priests, isn't that right Father Timms?"
Aurelius' other assistant, riding nearby, chuckled and said,
"Mayhaps I have the authority, but the temerity? That I do not have!"
At Noon Aurelius' two assistants supervised his servants as they set up a field table for Aurelius, Tamarind, and the companions to eat their meal. Others set up a blanket on the grass nearby for the servants' meal. The companions were all good company: Orion, the famous wizard from the West; the dwarven warrior called only the Smiter; the lovely halfling maiden and scout Mellificent; Fandor, the ranger from the Great Wood; Tamarind; and Aurelius. After their quick meal of cold meats, cheese, and small beer the servants quickly loaded the gear back onto Aurelius' cart, mounted their own mules, and they resumed.
At evening the servants erected Aurelius' pavilion and prepared a meal. As the companions dined the servants gathered wood, built another fire, erected Aurelius' sleeping tent, and prepared their own shelters and meal.
An hour before dawn Aurelius said the travelling Mass with Father Timms and Brother Willit assisting. Afterwards the servants quickly struck camp and prepared everything for the road.
Tamarind and Aurelius are both characters from campaigns I have played in. Tamarind is a typical paladin; water and thin gruel for breakfast, lunch is a meal in the saddle, dinner might be a sapare hot soup and some hardtack. He has a prudent amount of gear but otherwise the Lord will provide.
Aurelius has 2 henchmen, a valet, 5 teamsters, 2 porters, a linkboy, a cook, 3 grooms, and 7 light cavalrymen as hirelings. His people all travel on horse or mules or in the cart he brings along in addition to his pack horse. He carries tents, a pavilion, field tables and chairs, silverware and place settings, tools, rope, spare clothes, manacles (in various sizes) blank books, vials, jars, and boxes for samples, etc., etc., etc. All in addition to a mix of fresh and preserved food, water, wine, and brandy.
His henchmen and hirelings typically build and guard a camp for the extra equipment with the servants making things ready for the party's return. On at least one adventure one of the henchmen led 2 guards and a teamster back to town with a wagon to completely replenish supplies while the adventurers were still underground.
Sure, these are extreme examples, but show that if you want to use encumbrance it can be a lot more than just book keeping on a character sheet.
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