In Green Devil Face #4, James Raggi published a short article suggesting a simple method of using spell points in D&D as a replacement for the traditional Jack Vance-style "fire and forget" rules. In short, spells that do not scale in effect with the caster's level (which I'm calling "Set Cost" spells) cost a number of spell points equal to the spell's level, while spells that do scale in effect with the caster's level ("Variable Cost" spells) cost a number of points equal to the level of the spell plus the caster level "strength" at which the spell operates. For example, if you want to cast Magic Missile as if you were a fifth-level magic-user (regardless of your actual level), the spell would cost you 6 spell points, because you are casting a first-level spell with a strength of 5.
How many spell points do you get? Well, a PDF of Green Devil Face #4 only costs $5 at the time of writing this post, and the article is only one page, so I'd feel bad giving away James Raggi's whole system for free here without his permission. (I mean, I already gave most of it away.) If you don't already own it, why don't you either buy it or ask a friend who owns a copy to let you read it? If you toss the poor bastard a few bucks, I'm sure your cash will go to a good cause, like buying obscure metal albums, or commissioning beautiful artwork that'll never actually end up in a book but will end up on Tumblr, or putting scratch and sniff stickers in Covered in Sick.
In case anyone wants to give this system a shot while playing Lamentations of the Flame Princess, I thought a list of spell point costs (including the "type" of cost - Set or Variable) for all of the spells in the Rules & Magic book might serve as a handy resource. So, here you go. I'm tempted to try this in combination with my Final Fantasy 1 classes.
Spells marked with "^" are ones with descriptions that I could see being interpreted as either Set or Variable Cost. I listed these spells in the categories which I personally thought were more appropriate, but I could see how some disagreements may arise. For example, if a spell behaves differently depending on the Saving Throw or HP of the caster, I could see how one might argue that the spell should be Variable Cost because the caster's Saving Throws and HP are level-dependent. However, I would personally count these spells as Set Cost (in most cases) because they are not directly based on the caster's level itself, but rather on other characteristics that happen to vary with one's level.
As usual, spells marked with "*" are reversible.
1 Point - Set Cost
Charm Person
Command
Detect Evil*
Detect Magic
Floating Disc
Hold Portal
Identify
Magic Aura*
Mending
Purify Food & Drink*
Read Magic
Shield
2 Points - Set Cost
Delay Poison
Enthrall
ESP
Heat Metal
Knock
Levitate
Light, Continual*
Magic Mouth
Wizard Lock
2 Points - Variable Cost
Bless
Bookspeak
Comprehend Languages*
Cure Light Wounds*
Enlarge*
Faerie Fire
Feather Fall
Invisibility to Undead*
Light*
Magic Missile
Message
Protection From Evil*
Remove Fear*
Sanctuary
Sleep
Spider Climb
Summon^
Turn Undead
Unseen Servant
3 Points - Set Cost
Dispel Magic (both versions)
Explosive Runes
Remove Curse*
Sacrifice*^
Secret Page
Speak With Dead
Strange Waters II^
Suggestion
3 Points - Variable Cost
Audible Glamour
Augury
Change Self
Detect Invisible
Force of Forbidment
Forget
Heroism
Invisibility
Locate Object*
Mirror Image
Phantasmal Force
Ray of Enfeeblement
Resist Cold
Resist Fire
Silence 15' Radius
Speak With Animals
Stinking Cloud
Wall of Fog
Web
4 Points - Set Cost
Charm Monster
Detect Lie
Dig
Dimension Door
Extension
Mnemonic Enhancer^
Neutralize Poison*
Plant Growth
Polymorph Others
Seven Gates^
Wall of Ice
4 Points - Variable Cost
Army of One
Clairvoyance
Cure Disease*^
Detect Illusion
False Alignment
Fly
Gaseous Form
Gust of Wind
Haste*
Hold Person
Howl of the Moon
Invisibility, 10' Radius
Magic Vestment
Phantasmal Psychedelia
Protection From Normal Missiles
Water Breathing*
Water Walk
5 Points - Set Cost
Commune^
Contact Outer Sphere
Dispel Evil
Feeblemind
Passwall
Quest
Transmute Rock to Mud*
Wall of Stone
5 Points - Variable Cost
Confusion
Creation, Minor
Cure Serious Wounds*
Divination
Globe of Invulnerability, Minor
Hallucinatory Terrain
Invisibility, Improved
Polymorph Self
Protection From Evil, 10' Radius*
Protection From Normal Weapons
Shadow Monsters
Speak With Plants
Spell Immunity
Wall of Fire
Wizard Eye
6 Points - Set Cost
Contingency
Disintegrate
Forbiddance
Geas
Heal*
Legend Lore
Lucubration^
Mind Switch
Move Earth
Stone to Flesh*
Tongues*
6 Points - Variable Cost
Airy Water
Animate Dead
Chaos
Cloudkill
Creation, Major
Cure Critical Wounds*
Faithful Hound
Hold Monster
Insect Plague
Interposing Hand
Magic Jar
Secret Chest
Stone Shape
Telekinesis
Teleport
True Seeing*
Wall of Force
Wall of Iron
7 Points - Set Cost
Bestow Spell Ability^
Control Weather
Earthquake
Holy Word*
Instant Summons
Prismatic Spray
Simulacrum
Vision
7 Points - Variable Cost
Animate Dead Monsters
Anti-Magic Shell
Barrier
Death Spell
Find the Path*
Glass Eye
Globe of Invulnerability, Major
Phantasmal Supergoria
Projected Image
Shades
Speak With Monsters
Suggestion, Mass
Veil
Weird Vortex^
Word of Recall
8 Points - Set Cost
Antipathy/Sympathy
Clone
Demand
Permanency^
Symbol
Trap the Soul
8 Points - Variable Cost
Animate Artwork
Duo-Dimension
Grasping Hand
Invisibility, Mass
Magic Sword
Part Water
Phase Door
Power Word Stun
Prismatic Sphere
Prismatic Wall
Remote Surveillance
Reverse Gravity
Spell Turning
Statue
Vanish
Witchlamp Aura
9 Points - Set Cost
Imprisonment*
Temporal Stasis
Time Stop
9 Points - Variable Cost
Charm Person, Mass
Maze
Mind Blank
Polymorph Any Object
10 Points - Variable Cost
Power Word Kill
Shape Change
Some Thoughts:
I would be tempted to change the cost of some spells - Continual Light, Disintegrate, Earthquake, and Heal strike me as perhaps being too easy/cheap to cast - but honestly, I should probably try this system out before I start tinkering with it that heavily. I'm reluctant to ruin the simplicity of the method of determining spell costs. If I do end up changing anything, I think it would be a lot easier to just remove or rewrite the spells I don't like, instead of trying to adjust their costs to my satisfaction.
Some spells would probably become either a lot more or a lot less useful under this system. This could be good or bad, depending on your preferences. I think Lucubration and Mnemonic Enhancer would have to be thrown out entirely, since spells are no longer "memorized." The DM could just replace it with a new spell, of course.
Now that I'm paying attention, it's strange to see which of the default LotFP spells are designed to scale with the caster's level and which are not. I would have expected Dig or Hold Portal to have some level-based effects, for example. I suppose that PCs could spend the time and money researching Variable Cost versions of Set Cost spells, should the DM allow it.
Unless I missed it, the article doesn't say how long one must rest, study, and/or pray in order to regain lost spell points. Since individual spells are no longer memorized, I would imagine that the rules for regaining spells in the Rules & Magic book no longer strictly apply. This can easily be taken care of with a house rule. For example, the DM could rule that every hour of study (for magic-users) or prayer (for clerics) restores 10 spell points, or that every hour of sleep restores 10 spell points (up to the character's maximum).
The only major problem I have with this system at the moment is that the random selection of spells at character creation could result in magic-users starting out without any spells they can actually cast besides Read Magic, which strikes me as unfair (and not in a good way). Maybe the DM could allow magic-users the option of re-rolling whenever they start out with a Variable Cost spell. Of course, the magic-user could choose to just keep one or more Variable Cost spells at character creation so they don't have to learn them later, or so they can just scribe them onto scrolls once they get a bit of money.
Has anyone out there given this a shot? Is anyone considering it? Are there any interesting implications to this system that I might have missed?
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Friday, May 26, 2017
No Humans Allowed: LotFP House Rules for a Demi-Human-Only Game
I've seen people cut the demi-human classes (Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling) out of Lamentations of the Flame Princess, I've seen people separate the concepts of race and class in the style of AD&D (I've written about that, myself), and I've seen people reskin the demi-human classes as human ones. What I haven't seen, outside of the always-inspiring blog Goblin Punch, is the elimination of the human classes.
Let's say you want to run a campaign in a world where the human race went extinct, or never existed in the first place, or has yet to properly develop, or whatever. Something with the Tolkien Dial and the Fairy Tale Meter cranked up to 11 (but probably still super weird and horrifying, because this is LotFP we're talking about). If you stick with the concept of race-as-class, I would take that to mean dropping the Fighter, Specialist, Cleric, and Magic-User. Here's how I might change the three basic demi-human classes so that the big smelly oafs aren't missed.
Everything is the same as in Rules & Magic unless stated otherwise.
Dwarf
But What About Cleric Spells and Healing?
You can handle the removal of Clerics in a few different ways:
Let's say you want to run a campaign in a world where the human race went extinct, or never existed in the first place, or has yet to properly develop, or whatever. Something with the Tolkien Dial and the Fairy Tale Meter cranked up to 11 (but probably still super weird and horrifying, because this is LotFP we're talking about). If you stick with the concept of race-as-class, I would take that to mean dropping the Fighter, Specialist, Cleric, and Magic-User. Here's how I might change the three basic demi-human classes so that the big smelly oafs aren't missed.
Everything is the same as in Rules & Magic unless stated otherwise.
Dwarf
- Starts with a Base Attack Bonus of +2, which increases by 1 per level to a maximum of +10, like the Fighter.
- No longer applies CON Bonus to maximum HP gained beyond Level 9.
- Begins with 2 points in Climb and 2 points in Tinker at Level 1. These increase to 3 points at Level 4, 4 points at Level 7, 5 points at Level 10, and 6 points at Level 13.
- Now uses the Magic-User chart for Spells per Day.
- Begins with 3 random First-Level Spells and Read Magic, like the Magic-User.
- Begins with 3 points in Languages at Level 1. This increases to 4 points at Level 4, 5 points at Level 7, and 6 points at Level 10.
- Begins with 2 points in Sleight of Hand at Level 1. This increases to 3 points at Level 4, 4 points at Level 7, 5 points at Level 10, and 6 points at Level 13.
- Now has the same Combat Options (Press, Defensive Fighting, Parry) as the Fighter, Dwarf, and Elf.
- Stealth skill can now be used indoors as well as outdoors. Begins with 5 points in Stealth at Level 1. This increases to 6 at Level 10.
- Begins with 2 points in Climb, 2 points in Sleight of Hand, and 2 points in Sneak Attack at Level 1. These increase to 3 points at Level 4, 4 points at Level 7, 5 points at Level 10, and 6 points at Level 13.
But What About Cleric Spells and Healing?
You can handle the removal of Clerics in a few different ways:
- HP is regained through rest only. Demi-humans have long lifespans, so maybe lying around healing isn't as big of a deal to them. You could perhaps loosen the restrictions on what the PCs can do while resting, so that the players have more to do (shopping, research, playing politics, etc.) while healing up.
- Add Cleric spells to the Elf's spell list.
- Allow potions of certain Cleric spells (mainly healing ones) to be bought in town as part of the standard equipment list (and/or scatter them somewhat liberally throughout adventuring locations). You could reskin the potions as special herbs or magic berries or whatever if you so desire. Maybe these are sold by a specific race/class of NPCs who hold the secrets of making or harvesting them?
- Create a new PC race/class which can cast Cleric spells. Fairies? Gnomes? Bee People?
Monday, May 22, 2017
Metapost 2: Post Harder
A.K.A. Metapost 2.0: You Can (Not) Post
A.K.A. Metapost II: The Slowening
A.K.A. Metapost 2: Electric Postaloo
A series of bullshit events that occurred in late 2016 and early 2017, along with my own personal faults and struggles, have left me demotivated in the ol' blogging department, as you can see by my decreased output as of late. However, things have improved for Jess and I in the last two or three months, and I'm back from a fantastic belated honeymoon, so it's time to get back on the horse!
I still have plenty of things to check off my list from the original Metapost, but there are some other tasks that take precedence at the moment. Here's what's on my mind.
"Current" projects I need to get on with:
A.K.A. Metapost II: The Slowening
A.K.A. Metapost 2: Electric Postaloo
A series of bullshit events that occurred in late 2016 and early 2017, along with my own personal faults and struggles, have left me demotivated in the ol' blogging department, as you can see by my decreased output as of late. However, things have improved for Jess and I in the last two or three months, and I'm back from a fantastic belated honeymoon, so it's time to get back on the horse!
I still have plenty of things to check off my list from the original Metapost, but there are some other tasks that take precedence at the moment. Here's what's on my mind.
"Current" projects I need to get on with:
- I need to write out my interview questions for [REDACTED] and send 'em over, because he's graciously put up with my slow ass for a while now, and his work is really good (and if you ask me, tragically overlooked).
- I haven't forgotten about the A to Z VG RPG Inspiration series - I'm like a third of the way done with the C entry. I knew I was going to take my sweet time on this one, but geez, I'm sorry my time is THIS sickly sweet, folks.
- I also haven't forgotten that I was planning to do a read-through of Carcosa in the style of my Holmes Basic series of posts. I want to start that at some point.
- I've made no tangible progress this year on writing my first published adventure, as per my New Year's resolution. I'm not sure what I'd rather take a swing at first. I'll list some possibilities below.
- On Google+ I recently discussed the idea of using Prestige Classes as something to spice up the Fighter class in LotFP. I got some helpful feedback and cool ideas from +James Young and +Perttu Vedenoja, so I'd like to write a post on the topic.
- In The Magnificent Joop van Ooms, Raggi mentions the possibility of using Joop and his associates as PCs. I can think of some other NPCs in various adventures that might make for interesting PCs - so that's something to write about.
- More class tinkering: what if you wanted to run LotFP with demihumans only? I have some house rules for that. They could use some testing. EDIT: DONE
- In Green Devil Face #4, James Raggi wrote a system for using spell points, and it's caught my attention. I want to take a look at how this system might interact with the LotFP spell list. I wrote down how many points each spell in the Rules & Magic book would cost, and that could be a handy reference for anyone who wants to try these rules out. EDIT: DONE
- A sugar-and-candy-themed dungeon that some friends and I were sketching out a while back. I joking called this one "Death Frosting Doom," but I doubt I'd use that as the title of the finished product. Considering the ill effects of the over-consumption of sugar (both real and alleged), as well as the historical role of slavery in the European/West Indies sugar trade, there's plenty of room for horror in this topic, unfortunately. I probably have the most actual written notes on this one, but I haven't touched it in a while, plus I'm on the fence about how much historical tragedy I really want to incorporate in a fun fantasy adventure for use with elf games (albeit horror-tinged elf games). I think Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventures tend to pull of this kind of historically-grounded horror in a tasteful manner - they tend to be delightfully tasteless in other ways, but I think the historical stuff is generally done in a sufficiently respectful manner. I'm not sure everyone would agree, though, and I don't know if I'm up to the task of matching those standards yet. Anyway, even if I leave out the slavery and imperialism, there's still plenty to work with in terms of body horror when it comes to sugar.
- A haunted forest/haunted cabin adventure in which some cruel supernatural force turns nature against those who intrude on the wilderness, a force of ambiguous origin which could be interpreted as anything from cosmic to satanic. Inspired by stuff like "The Great God Pan" and "The White People" by Arthur Machen, "The Events at Poroth Farm" by T. E. D. Klein, "The Willows" and "The Wendigo" by Algernon Blackwood, "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner, the illustrations of Lee Brown Coye, the illustrations of John Kenn Mortensen (A.K.A. Don Kenn), the Evil Dead series, Antichrist, Resolution, Valhalla Rising, The Witch, Marble Hornets, the Slender Man Mythos, and a whole heaping helping of awesome and terrifying posts over at Goblin Punch. Chaos Reigns.
- A mash-up of The Keep on the Borderland and The House on the Borderland. I'm in love with this idea, but I don't quite know how to go about using it yet. Do I want to actually re-write B2 itself into a new thing, or just make a sort of homage to it, or what?
- The Hateful Place one-shot or mini-campaign based on The Shining. EDIT: Done! Although I'd love to play "tHp" more in the future!
- Stay Frosty campaign based on Aliens and/or Doom.
- A new LotFP campaign with my home group. We just played our 60th session of our Lamentations of the Fallen Lords campaign (well, depending on how you count them), and I think this campaign may be drawing to a close soon, at least for a while. The next campaign is probably going to either take place on Earth in the 1600s, on Carcosa, or in the world of The Driftwood Verses (once it's released). EDIT: Or maybe I'll start with my "Separate Race and Class" house rules, Tomb of the Serpent Kings from Coins and Scrolls, the "Just Three Hexes" idea from Chicagowiz's Games, and these posts from Jacob Hurst on G+. We'll see!
- An online LotFP campaign with some friends who no longer live near me. It'll probably take place on Earth and focus on supernatural investigations and haunted houses. The PCs will probably be members of a club which exists at roughly the halfway point between occult detectives and traditional D&D adventurers. Think of it like a thieves' guild whose members are all amateur occultists and ghost hunters on the weekends - a heavily-armed Scooby Gang with sticky fingers and loose morals. I'm tentatively calling this one Mansions & Mindfucks.
- A campaign using BLUEHOLME and/or a mix of OD&D and Holmes Basic, starting with The Keep on the Borderlands and expanding into a wilderness hex map (from Avalon Hill's Outdoor Survival) chock-full of other classic D&D adventure modules.
Monday, May 15, 2017
Pocketmod Pre-Gens of the Eternal Sun
This is partly a follow-up to these posts.
I'm back from my belated honeymoon, so I should probably stop neglecting my blog now. I think I'll do another one of those "Metapost," er, posts soon to get the lay of the land, then hopefully pick a few projects at a time and actually stick with them.
Anyway, the other day I read this interesting post at Methods & Madness, and I rediscovered this awesome Pocketmod character sheet for LotFP over at MRAAKTAGON. And on top of that, I remembered a suggestion that I read a while ago about just letting players choose whatever ability scores they want instead of rolling randomly and winding up with scores that don't match what they want to do, character-creation-wise - which is probably not something I'd allow all the time, since rolling random stuff and working with the hand that fate deals you is often a fun feature of old-school play, but it's still an intriguing enough idea that I'd certainly consider it for some campaigns.* I absolutely do not remember where I read this idea, unfortunately, so if anyone has a source for that I'd really appreciate it.
So, I decided to mash these ideas together. I printed up some of the MRAAKTAGON Pocketmod character sheets, took some of my pre-gen characters (based loosely on the LotFP mascots) from here and here, changed some ability scores so that they all had a minimum of +10 in total bonuses and better matched how I imagined the characters would be as seasoned and successful adventurers/Early Modern supervillains, and boosted them all to level 3, with max HP and starting money. Why? Because I was curious what that would look like, and I was inspired by the posts above, and I think these might be fun to use in a one-shot or something, and also Because Fuck You, That's Why.
Some pictures:
And the actual stats and equipment, in case you're morbidly curious:
Flame Princess, Level 3 Lawful Fighter
Female, Needs 8,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 16 (+2) CON 18 (+3) DEX 14 (+1)
INT 13 (+1) STR 17 (+2) WIS 13 (+1)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 12, Breath 15, Device 13, Magic 16
I highly recommend checking out this Pocketmod character sheet at MRAAKTAGON. It's handy, well-organized, and fun to flip through, and I bet your players would be impressed if you whipped out some of these bad boys at a convention game.
*As a digression, here's a post in which I rant about nerds being judgmental to each other about what games they like and/or how they prefer to play the same games. I stuck it in a separate post because it got too long. You've been warned.
EDIT: Hey, the Flame Princess is presumably the leader of the group, right? You know, there's a little cartoon devil sitting on my shoulder and whispering in my ear that I didn't go "Because Fuck You, That's Why" enough with her ability scores. I mean, if I'm inflating everyone's scores to stupid levels, mostly just forthe sake of experimentation shits and giggles, and if she's the leader even among adventures this statistically above average, there must be something the others see in her to make it worth following her into hell all the time, right? You could chalk this up to her hypothetical player just being that awesome, but again, if I'm going full "munchkin" just for fun, I might as well keep going until I'm satisfied. Besides, ability score modifiers arguably don't actually affect things very much in LotFP, seeing as they only range from -3 to +3. So here's yet another stupid alternative stat block:
Flame Princess, Level 3 Lawful Fighter
Female, Needs 8,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 18 (+3) CON 18 (+3) DEX 16 (+2)
INT 13 (+1) STR 17 (+2) WIS 16 (+2)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 12, Breath 15, Device 13, Magic 16
I'm back from my belated honeymoon, so I should probably stop neglecting my blog now. I think I'll do another one of those "Metapost," er, posts soon to get the lay of the land, then hopefully pick a few projects at a time and actually stick with them.
Anyway, the other day I read this interesting post at Methods & Madness, and I rediscovered this awesome Pocketmod character sheet for LotFP over at MRAAKTAGON. And on top of that, I remembered a suggestion that I read a while ago about just letting players choose whatever ability scores they want instead of rolling randomly and winding up with scores that don't match what they want to do, character-creation-wise - which is probably not something I'd allow all the time, since rolling random stuff and working with the hand that fate deals you is often a fun feature of old-school play, but it's still an intriguing enough idea that I'd certainly consider it for some campaigns.* I absolutely do not remember where I read this idea, unfortunately, so if anyone has a source for that I'd really appreciate it.
So, I decided to mash these ideas together. I printed up some of the MRAAKTAGON Pocketmod character sheets, took some of my pre-gen characters (based loosely on the LotFP mascots) from here and here, changed some ability scores so that they all had a minimum of +10 in total bonuses and better matched how I imagined the characters would be as seasoned and successful adventurers/Early Modern supervillains, and boosted them all to level 3, with max HP and starting money. Why? Because I was curious what that would look like, and I was inspired by the posts above, and I think these might be fun to use in a one-shot or something, and also Because Fuck You, That's Why.
Some pictures:
And the actual stats and equipment, in case you're morbidly curious:
Flame Princess, Level 3 Lawful Fighter
Female, Needs 8,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 16 (+2) CON 18 (+3) DEX 14 (+1)
INT 13 (+1) STR 17 (+2) WIS 13 (+1)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 12, Breath 15, Device 13, Magic 16
(+1 Bonus for Magic Saves and +1 Bonus for Non-Magic Saves)
HP 33, BAB +4, Melee AB +6, Ranged AB +5
Melee AC 18, Ranged AC 19, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 14
Open Doors 3
Has Fighter Combat Options.
Heavily Encumbered (3 points)
Equipment: Rapier, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Flintlock Pistol, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, 50' Rope, Waterskin, Shield, Chain Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike, 258 silver pieces
HP 33, BAB +4, Melee AB +6, Ranged AB +5
Melee AC 18, Ranged AC 19, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 14
Open Doors 3
Has Fighter Combat Options.
Heavily Encumbered (3 points)
Equipment: Rapier, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Flintlock Pistol, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, 50' Rope, Waterskin, Shield, Chain Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike, 258 silver pieces
Alice, Level 3 Lawful Cleric
Female, Needs 7,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 11 (+0) CON 18 (+3) DEX 17 (+2)
INT 11 (+0) STR 16 (+2) WIS 18 (+3)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 11, Breath 16, Device 12, Magic 15
(+3 Bonus for Non-Magic Saves)
HP 27, BAB +1, Melee AB +3, Ranged AB +3
Melee AC 16, Ranged AC 16, Without Shield AC 16, Surprised AC 12
Open Doors 3
Knows all standard first-level Cleric spells.
Unencumbered (1 point)
Equipment: Rapier, Mace (Medium Weapon), Flintlock Arquebus, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Torch x10, Waterskin, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Wooden Spike x3, Wooden Holy Symbol, 328 silver pieces and 9 copper pieces
Female, Needs 7,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 11 (+0) CON 18 (+3) DEX 17 (+2)
INT 11 (+0) STR 16 (+2) WIS 18 (+3)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 11, Breath 16, Device 12, Magic 15
(+3 Bonus for Non-Magic Saves)
HP 27, BAB +1, Melee AB +3, Ranged AB +3
Melee AC 16, Ranged AC 16, Without Shield AC 16, Surprised AC 12
Open Doors 3
Knows all standard first-level Cleric spells.
Unencumbered (1 point)
Equipment: Rapier, Mace (Medium Weapon), Flintlock Arquebus, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Torch x10, Waterskin, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Wooden Spike x3, Wooden Holy Symbol, 328 silver pieces and 9 copper pieces
Étaín, Level 3 Chaotic Magic-User
Female, Needs 9,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 14 (+1) CON 18 (+3) DEX 18 (+3)
INT 18 (+3) STR 12 (+0) WIS 12 (+0)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 13, Poison 13, Breath 16, Device 13, Magic 14
(+3 Bonus for Magic Saves)
HP 23, BAB +1, Melee AB +1, Ranged AB +4
Melee AC 17, Ranged AC 17, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 12
Languages 4
Spells Known: Read Magic, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Sleep, Summon, Locate Object
Unencumbered (1 point)
Equipment: Spellbook, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Flintlock Pistol, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Torch x10, Waterskin, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Wooden Spike x3, Bottle x2, 405 silver pieces and 5 copper pieces
Female, Needs 9,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 14 (+1) CON 18 (+3) DEX 18 (+3)
INT 18 (+3) STR 12 (+0) WIS 12 (+0)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 13, Poison 13, Breath 16, Device 13, Magic 14
(+3 Bonus for Magic Saves)
HP 23, BAB +1, Melee AB +1, Ranged AB +4
Melee AC 17, Ranged AC 17, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 12
Languages 4
Spells Known: Read Magic, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Sleep, Summon, Locate Object
Unencumbered (1 point)
Equipment: Spellbook, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Flintlock Pistol, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Torch x10, Waterskin, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Wooden Spike x3, Bottle x2, 405 silver pieces and 5 copper pieces
Kendra, Level 3 Neutral Specialist
Female, Needs 6,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 16 (+2) CON 16 (+2) DEX 18 (+3)
INT 17 (+2) STR 15 (+1) WIS 11 (+0)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 16, Breath 15, Device 14, Magic 14
(+2 Bonus for Magic Saves)
HP 24, BAB +1, Melee AB +2, Ranged AB +4
Melee AC 17, Ranged AC 17, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 12
Languages 3, Open Doors 2, Search 3, Sneak Attack 3, Stealth 3, Tinker 3
Unencumbered (1 point)
Equipment: Specialist's Tools, Rapier, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, Waterskin, 50' Rope, Crowbar, Shovel, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Wooden Spike x3, Iron Spike x3, Bottle x2, Nails, Air Bladder, 411 silver pieces and 5 copper pieces.
Selena, Level 3 Chaotic Elf
Female, Needs 12,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 13 (+1) CON 18 (+3) DEX 14 (+1)
INT 18 (+3) STR 16 (+2) WIS 12 (+0)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 13, Poison 12, Breath 15, Device 13, Magic 15
(+3 Bonus for Magic Saves)
HP 27, BAB +1, Melee AB +3, Ranged AB +2
Melee AC 18, Ranged AC 19, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 14
Languages 4, Open Doors 3, Search 2
Has Fighter Combat Options. Only surprised on a roll of 1.
Spells Known: Read Magic, Identify, Speak with Animals
Heavily Encumbered (3 points)
Equipment: Spellbook, Sword (Medium Weapon), Dagger (Minor Weapon), Sling Bullet x20, Tinderbox, Torch x10, Waterskin, 50' Rope, Grappling Hook, Shield, Chain Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike x4, Bottle x2, Nails, Sling, 328 silver pieces and 5 copper pieces.
Female, Needs 6,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 16 (+2) CON 16 (+2) DEX 18 (+3)
INT 17 (+2) STR 15 (+1) WIS 11 (+0)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 16, Breath 15, Device 14, Magic 14
(+2 Bonus for Magic Saves)
HP 24, BAB +1, Melee AB +2, Ranged AB +4
Melee AC 17, Ranged AC 17, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 12
Languages 3, Open Doors 2, Search 3, Sneak Attack 3, Stealth 3, Tinker 3
Unencumbered (1 point)
Equipment: Specialist's Tools, Rapier, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, Waterskin, 50' Rope, Crowbar, Shovel, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Wooden Spike x3, Iron Spike x3, Bottle x2, Nails, Air Bladder, 411 silver pieces and 5 copper pieces.
Selena, Level 3 Chaotic Elf
Female, Needs 12,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 13 (+1) CON 18 (+3) DEX 14 (+1)
INT 18 (+3) STR 16 (+2) WIS 12 (+0)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 13, Poison 12, Breath 15, Device 13, Magic 15
(+3 Bonus for Magic Saves)
HP 27, BAB +1, Melee AB +3, Ranged AB +2
Melee AC 18, Ranged AC 19, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 14
Languages 4, Open Doors 3, Search 2
Has Fighter Combat Options. Only surprised on a roll of 1.
Spells Known: Read Magic, Identify, Speak with Animals
Heavily Encumbered (3 points)
Equipment: Spellbook, Sword (Medium Weapon), Dagger (Minor Weapon), Sling Bullet x20, Tinderbox, Torch x10, Waterskin, 50' Rope, Grappling Hook, Shield, Chain Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike x4, Bottle x2, Nails, Sling, 328 silver pieces and 5 copper pieces.
Rhona, Level 3 Neutral Dwarf
Female, Needs 8,800 XP for Level 4
CHA 12 (+0) CON 18 (+4) DEX 18 (+3)
INT 12 (+0) STR 18 (+3) WIS 13 (+1)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 10, Poison 8, Breath 13, Device 9, Magic 12
Female, Needs 8,800 XP for Level 4
CHA 12 (+0) CON 18 (+4) DEX 18 (+3)
INT 12 (+0) STR 18 (+3) WIS 13 (+1)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 10, Poison 8, Breath 13, Device 9, Magic 12
(+1 Bonus for Non-Magic Saves)
HP 42, BAB +1, Melee AB +4, Ranged AB +4
Melee AC 17, Ranged AC 17, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 12
Architecture 3, Open Doors 4
Has Fighter Combat Options. It takes 5 additional items to gain the first point of encumbrance.
Lightly Encumbered (2 points)
Equipment: Sword (Medium Weapon), Hatchet (Minor Weapon), Quiver with 20 Bolts, Sling Bullet x20, Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, Waterskin, 10' Chain, Mallet, Heavy Crossbow, 10' Pole, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike, Wooden Spike x6, Nails, Bottle x2, Wolvesbane x5, Sling, 405 silver pieces.
And here's a Pre-Gen package (or wagon-load) of extra stuff they should be able to afford if they pool their sweet, sweet level 3 money together:
HP 42, BAB +1, Melee AB +4, Ranged AB +4
Melee AC 17, Ranged AC 17, Without Shield AC 17, Surprised AC 12
Architecture 3, Open Doors 4
Has Fighter Combat Options. It takes 5 additional items to gain the first point of encumbrance.
Lightly Encumbered (2 points)
Equipment: Sword (Medium Weapon), Hatchet (Minor Weapon), Quiver with 20 Bolts, Sling Bullet x20, Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, Waterskin, 10' Chain, Mallet, Heavy Crossbow, 10' Pole, Leather Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike, Wooden Spike x6, Nails, Bottle x2, Wolvesbane x5, Sling, 405 silver pieces.
And here's a Pre-Gen package (or wagon-load) of extra stuff they should be able to afford if they pool their sweet, sweet level 3 money together:
- One Coach (Would that have 2 axles? See Encumbrance rules for Mounts, Rules & Magic p.39)
- 2 Mules to pull the Coach
- Riding Gear x2
- Iron Ration x126 (3 weeks of food for 6 people)
- Animal Feed x44 (22 days of food for 2 Mules)
- Garlic x10 (to occasionally flavor the rations and keep vampires away)
- Fishing Gear
- Bedroll x6
- Regular Tent x3
- Silver Holy Symbol (for Alice)
- Sword (Medium Weapon) x3 (for the Flame Princess and Selena)
- Spear x2
- Halberd (Polearm)
- Garrote
- Whip
- Blowgun (currently out of darts)
- Great Club (Great Weapon) (for Rhona)
- Mancatcher
- Cestus
- Flintlock Pistol x3 (2 for Alice, 1 for Selena)
- Shot Bag x3 (300 shots)
- Powder Horn x6, containing 300 shots of Gunpowder
- 12 Apostles x4 (for the Flame Princess, Alice, Étaín, and Selena)
- Quiver containing 20 Bolts
- Sling Bullet x40
- Lantern
- Flask of Lantern Oil x50
- Torch x100
- Wooden Spike x100
- 10' Pole x2
- 50' Rope x3
- Grappling Hook
- Manacles
- Fancy Clothes x2 (one set for Étaín and one for Kendra)
I highly recommend checking out this Pocketmod character sheet at MRAAKTAGON. It's handy, well-organized, and fun to flip through, and I bet your players would be impressed if you whipped out some of these bad boys at a convention game.
*As a digression, here's a post in which I rant about nerds being judgmental to each other about what games they like and/or how they prefer to play the same games. I stuck it in a separate post because it got too long. You've been warned.
EDIT: Hey, the Flame Princess is presumably the leader of the group, right? You know, there's a little cartoon devil sitting on my shoulder and whispering in my ear that I didn't go "Because Fuck You, That's Why" enough with her ability scores. I mean, if I'm inflating everyone's scores to stupid levels, mostly just for
Flame Princess, Level 3 Lawful Fighter
Female, Needs 8,000 XP for Level 4
CHA 18 (+3) CON 18 (+3) DEX 16 (+2)
INT 13 (+1) STR 17 (+2) WIS 16 (+2)
Saving Throws: Paralyze 14, Poison 12, Breath 15, Device 13, Magic 16
(+1 Bonus for Magic Saves and +2 Bonus for Non-Magic Saves)
HP 33, BAB +4, Melee AB +6, Ranged AB +6
Melee AC 19, Ranged AC 20, Without Shield AC 18, Surprised AC 14
Languages 2, Open Doors 3
Has Fighter Combat Options.
Heavily Encumbered (3 points)
Equipment: Rapier, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Flintlock Pistol, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, 50' Rope, Waterskin, Shield, Chain Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike, 258 silver pieces
Honestly, I think I largely agree with +Beloch Shrike about ability scores. As ridiculous as these ability scores may seem on the face of things, will they really translate into vastly higher survivability or power at the table? I'm not sure.
Part 4 is HERE
HP 33, BAB +4, Melee AB +6, Ranged AB +6
Melee AC 19, Ranged AC 20, Without Shield AC 18, Surprised AC 14
Languages 2, Open Doors 3
Has Fighter Combat Options.
Heavily Encumbered (3 points)
Equipment: Rapier, Dagger (Minor Weapon), Flintlock Pistol, Shot Bag (100 shots), Powder Horn x2 (both full, 100 shots of powder), Tinderbox, Lantern, Flask of Lantern Oil x2, 50' Rope, Waterskin, Shield, Chain Armor, Backpack, Sack x5, Steel Mirror, Candle, Ink, Paper, Chalk, Whistle, Soap, Iron Spike, 258 silver pieces
Honestly, I think I largely agree with +Beloch Shrike about ability scores. As ridiculous as these ability scores may seem on the face of things, will they really translate into vastly higher survivability or power at the table? I'm not sure.
Part 4 is HERE
A Digression on the "Stop Having Fun" Guys and Similar Phenomena
This isn't directed at anyone in particular. I suspect I'm preaching to the choir, here, but I wanted to make my position clear on this subject. (The post title is from TV Tropes.)
Just because I love old-school and OSR-type games doesn't mean I don't also like a lot of new-school stuff, too. There are all kinds of awesome games and gaming styles out there. To quote myself from a few posts in the LotFP fan group on Facebook:
"OLD TSR FAN: How about we admit that older versions of D&D had a lot of good ideas that worked just fine, but that don't get enough credit for it and don't get used anymore even though they work just fine?
Also, I've seen a lot of OSR folks admit that so-called "storygames" are just fine, and if you want to play those, good for you. I personally don't see why someone who plays Chess can't also play Mancala. Lately, I've been in the mood to either run or play LotFP, a mix of Holmes Basic and OD&D, Stay Frosty, The Hateful Place, Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, and Kult. And I'm a video game fanatic. So I don't like hearing this one-true-way crap that some people spout.
[...] I've been glancing through old TSR modules a bit lately and finding a lot to like. (The layout could be more convenient, but there are lots of cool ideas, and I think I'd enjoy running a lot of the ones I've seen.) But when someone is then like 'And that's why nothing released after 1995 (or whatever) is ever worth playing, period,' I'm all like 'Actually, I used to have a blast with 3.5, and in hindsight we actually did play in a pretty old-school fashion in many ways without even realizing it, so how about you shut your mouth before you say something else stupid?' The elitism is what really gets to me, I suppose."
Just because I love old-school and OSR-type games doesn't mean I don't also like a lot of new-school stuff, too. There are all kinds of awesome games and gaming styles out there. To quote myself from a few posts in the LotFP fan group on Facebook:
"OLD TSR FAN: How about we admit that older versions of D&D had a lot of good ideas that worked just fine, but that don't get enough credit for it and don't get used anymore even though they work just fine?
NEW SCHOOL D&D FAN: How about we admit that the older versions weren't perfect and the newer editions have introduced some stuff that is easier to use or that makes more sense?
[...] I've been glancing through old TSR modules a bit lately and finding a lot to like. (The layout could be more convenient, but there are lots of cool ideas, and I think I'd enjoy running a lot of the ones I've seen.) But when someone is then like 'And that's why nothing released after 1995 (or whatever) is ever worth playing, period,' I'm all like 'Actually, I used to have a blast with 3.5, and in hindsight we actually did play in a pretty old-school fashion in many ways without even realizing it, so how about you shut your mouth before you say something else stupid?' The elitism is what really gets to me, I suppose."
And that's my rant about that. The OSR is my favorite thing going on in RPGs, and I've come to love old-school gaming, but it's okay to like other stuff, too, and even to pull ideas from other sources and try them out in games that are otherwise old-school. The constant experimentation is, after all, one of the best things about the OSR, if you ask me. It's one of the best things about RPGs in general, really.
I think the key to changing the rules of, and pulling outside content into, one's RPG campaign successfully is to do so with intent, and then to test the results of the alterations against what you intended to accomplish. If you don't get the desired effect (or get undesirable side-effects), you could tweak things, or try something else entirely, or even decide that what you accidentally created is interesting enough on its own merits to just go with it, even though it didn't match your intent.
But the reason for a change should be kept in mind. Even a silly reason is a reason. I just think that a little thoughtfulness goes a long way if there's any particular kind of mood or spirit or tone or je ne sais quoi or whatever that you and your players are reaching for.
Anyway, I'd generally be up for some D&D 3E or 4E if someone else wanted to be DM. I just don't think I'd personally want to run the former anytime soon, or the latter at all. D&D 5E also sounds pretty cool, but I haven't read the rules yet. And there are so many RPGs out there besides D&D and the games it has inspired, and I want to play more of them.
Or at least read some of the books.
But the reason for a change should be kept in mind. Even a silly reason is a reason. I just think that a little thoughtfulness goes a long way if there's any particular kind of mood or spirit or tone or je ne sais quoi or whatever that you and your players are reaching for.
Anyway, I'd generally be up for some D&D 3E or 4E if someone else wanted to be DM. I just don't think I'd personally want to run the former anytime soon, or the latter at all. D&D 5E also sounds pretty cool, but I haven't read the rules yet. And there are so many RPGs out there besides D&D and the games it has inspired, and I want to play more of them.
Or at least read some of the books.
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