More Details on Dwarven Explosives

Picking up from the post about the Myth Dwarf class...

Dwarven grenades have a range of 40' (80' for Myth Dwarves, since their range increments are doubled for throwing weapons), and a blast size of 25' by 25'. Note that I use 5' squares/spaces for movement in my campaign. Small grenades do 3d6 damage when exploding, and large ones do 4d6. A Save vs. Breath will halve this damage. Being hit up an undetonated grenade does no damage.

Dwarven grenades, both small and large, are not used like regular throwing weapons. Instead, the thrower must make a Tinker check. If successful, the grenade goes exactly where the thrower intended (provided this place is within range) and explodes. If failed, the thrower rolls a d6. On 1-5, the grenade was not lit or thrown properly and becomes a dud. It is still thrown to the desired location, though, so another bomb or intense flame could set it off in the future. On a 6, the grenade blows up in the thrower's face - no saving throw for the thrower, but others within range get a Save vs. Breath for half damage. Exception: If a Dwarf fails a Tinker check to throw a grenade, no d6 is rolled. It is always a dud instead of a face-exploding disaster. Naturally, Dwarves can still find plenty of other ways to blow themselves up, like throwing grenades successfully at targets that are too close.

Yes, this means that as long as the grenade is thrown intact, it can never miss, but only fail to explode. Yes, I know this is completely unrealistic and not even very good at emulating the source fiction, since dwarves in the Myth games throw their bombs too near or far or off to the side all the time in the Myth games. I considered a bunch of different, more complex, and frankly better grenade rules before setting on this system because it is simple and easy to use and doesn't trip me up, and it possibly makes grenades more useful and far less likely to result in unintentional TPKs, which would probably make my players never want to play a dwarf again and thus make me sad because I love the dwarves in Myth. I'm thinking I should change these rules anyway, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Satchel charges do 6d6 damage, and have the same blast size as grenades. They are over-encumbering items. They are not thrown, but rather placed on the ground ahead of time. They can be detonated by another explosive, a thrown torch, flaming oil, a long fuse, etc. They are mainly used as traps, although they can also be put to use demolishing structures.

A Dwarven mortar is a big, over-encumbering, one-Dwarf artillery piece. Short range for a mortar is 100', medium is 200', and long is 600'. It costs 500sp and basically functions like a longer-range musket that does 6d6 damage. When attacking with a Dwarven mortar, a Dwarf does so with an attack bonus equal to a Fighter of the same level - this is only for Dwarven mortars, not other kinds of guns. If the attack hits, the target and anyone within a 25' by 25' square centered on the target take 6d6 damage, Save vs. Breath for half. It takes the same amount of time to reload a Dwarven mortar as it does to reload a musket. There is no misfire chance for a Dwarven mortar used by a Dwarf, and the normal misfire chance for a musket when used by anyone else. Firing the weapon does not require a Tinker check to avoid a dud.

Keep in mind that a player who dies by total immolation or some kind of powerful fire or heat attack while carrying dwarven explosives will, of course, explode in a chain-reaction, probably resulting in a TPK anyway as everyone caught in the blasts takes damage from every bomb the character was carrying. This kinda-sorta happened once - I'll provide the details if I ever get around to doing a write-up of our experience with the LotFP adventure Fuck for Satan.

Dwarven explosives are illegal to buy or sell, but legal to own, throughout the Cath Bruig Empire. Dwarves tend to be extremely protective of the secret alchemical formulas for their explosives, and it is illegal for Dwarves to teach these formulas to humans or other non-Dwarves without the express, written permission of the Dwarven government (or, in the rarest cases, the Cath Bruig Emperor himself). The penalty is exile from Dwarven lands, forfeiture of all dwarf-related property rights and inheritances, and a general pariah status among Dwarves everywhere. An exiled Dwarf who returns to Dwarven lands can be killed on sight. A human who is permitted to learn the formulas is sworn to abide by these same laws.

Human PCs who do learn these formulas can make Dwarven explosives if they are of the appropriate level (1 for small grenades, 4 for satchel charges, etc.), but it takes them 1d6 days each to make the first three of each type of bomb, since it takes some time to get the hang of the process.

I am considering adding more restrictions to the ability of other classes to make bombs.

Myth Classes - Dwarf

This class represents the dwarven demolitionists, mortar troops, pathfinders, etc. from the Myth computer games. It is a combination of the Dwarf and Halfling.

• It takes 5 additional encumbering items for the Dwarf to gain the first point of encumbrance, as with the Dwarf in LotFP.
• The Dwarf continues to add their constitution bonus to their HP gained per level, as with the Dwarf in LotFP.
• The Dwarf has an extra +1 bonus to their dexterity and constitution modifiers.
• The Dwarf has an extra +1 bonus to AC when not surprised, as with the Halfling in LotFP.
• The Dwarf cannot use large weapons, and can only use medium weapons two-handed, as with the Halfling in LotFP.
• The Dwarf does not have access to the extra combat option of the Fighter (Press, Defensive Fighting, and the better Parry option).
• The Dwarf cannot put more than their level+2 Skill Points maximum into any skill. Until Level 6, the Dwarf can only put Skill Points into Architecture, Search, Stealth, and Tinkering. The Dwarf cannot put Skill Points into Sneak Attack.
• When attacking with a thrown weapon, the range increments for the weapon are doubled for the Dwarf. For example, a dart thrown by the Dwarf would have a short range of 20', a medium range of 40', and a long range of 60'.
• The Dwarf can craft various explosives much like how Clerics and Magic-Users can craft magic items in LotFP. The Dwarf can make small grenades at Level 1 and above, satchel charges at Level 4 and above, large grenades at Level 7 and above, and mortar shells at Level 10 and above. The Dwarf can only make one of these types of explosives per day. Small grenades cost 50sp to make or 100 to 200sp to buy, and the Dwarf can make 1d6 of them per day. Satchel charges cost 100sp to make or 180 to 330sp to buy, and the Dwarf can make 1d2 of them per day. Large grenades cost 80sp to make or 150 to 300sp to buy, and the Dwarf can make 1d4 of them per day. Mortal shells chost 120sp to make or 200 to 350sp to buy, and the Dwarf can make 1 of them per day. When making explosives, the Dwarf must make a successful Tinker check for each explosive item or else it will be a dud. A dud can be fixed with a successful Tinker check for half the cost of making a new item of the same type, in lieu of making one new explosive item that day.
• Small grenades do 3d6 damage, large grenades do 4d6 damage, and both satchel charges and mortal shells do 6d6 damage (Save vs. Breath for half damage from any of these weapons). More details on Dwarven explosives will be given in a future post. EDIT: Additional rules are HERE.

Level	EXP	HP	Paralyze	Poison	Breath	Device	Magic	Skill Points
1	0	1d10	10	8	13	9	12	4
2	2,200	+1d10	8	6	10	7	10	+2
3	4,400	+1d10	8	6	10	7	10	+1
4	8,800	+1d10	6	4	7	5	8	+2
5	17,600	+1d10	6	4	7	5	8	+1
6	35,200	+1d10	4	2	4	3	6	+2
7	70,400	+1d10	4	2	4	3	6	+1
8	140,800	+1d10	2	2	2	2	4	+2
9	281,600	+1d10	2	2	2	2	4	+1
10	422,400	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+2
11	563,200	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+1
12	704,000	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+2
13	844,800	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+1
14	985,600	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+2
15	1,126,400	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+1
16	1,267,200	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+2
17	1,408,000	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+1
18	1,548,800	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+2
19	1,689,600	+3	2	2	2	2	4	+1
20	+128,000/lvl	+3/lvl	2	2	2	2	4	+2 on even levels, +1 on odd levels

Myth Classes - Warrior

This class represents the warriors, bowmen, berserks, etc. from the Myth computer games. It is a combination of the Fighter and Specialist (as evidenced by the saving throws below).

• The Warrior's base attack bonus increases per level as a Fighter.
• The Warrior can use Press, Defensive Fighting, and Parry as a Fighter.
• The Warrior can use Skills and Skill Points as a Specialist. The Warrior is the only class that can put Skill Points into Sneak Attack.
• Cleave: When using a melee attack, if the Warrior does more than enough damage to an enemy to kill it and there is another enemy within melee range of the Warrior, the Warrior may roll to attack that enemy as well. If this second attack hits, the target takes the excess damage above what was needed to kill the first target (unless the enemy's special defenses or immunities would prevent this damage). For example, if the Warrior stood next to two enemies with 4 HP each and killed the first enemy with an attack doing 7 points of damage, the Warrior could immediately make a to-hit roll against the second enemy to do 3 points of damage, since it only took 4 of the 7 available damage to kill the first enemy.
• Splintering: If the Warrior rolls a natural 20 on a to-hit melee roll against a human or humanoid opponent that is wielding a non-magic shield, that shield is broken and no longer provides an AC bonus. If the Warrior rolls a natural 20 on a to-hit melee roll against a human or humanoid opponent that is not wielding a shield of any kind but is wearing non-magical armor, the armor is damaged and provides one less point of AC. The Warrior can opt not to use this effect (to preserve shields and armor for looting, for example).
• Double-Shot: When attacking with a shortbow or longbow, a Warrior can choose to fire two arrows in one round of combat if the Warrior takes no other action that round. Both shots will suffer a -5 penalty to hit.
• Beneficial Alcoholism: Once per day, the Warrior can drink a single, full-sized serving of alcohol (such as wine, rum, or ale) and recover HP as if drinking a Cure Light Wounds potion. This increases to twice per day at Level 5, three times per day at Level 9, and four times per day at Level 13. The normal effects of intoxication still apply.
• Clout: At Level 9 or above, the Warrior gives all allies in combat a +2 bonus to attack rolls and resulting damage. The Warrior cannot give this bonus to themselves, but can receive this bonus from another Warrior. Multiple allied Warriors cannot "stack" this bonus higher than +2.
• At Level 10 and above, the Warrior's constitution bonus is no longer added to the HP gained per level.

EDIT: I forgot to add that the Beneficial Alcoholism and Clout abilities were borrowed from/inspired by some NPCs in Kelvin Green's excellent LotFP adventure Forgive Us.

Level	EXP	HP	Paralyze	Poison	Breath	Device	Magic	Skill Points
1	0	1d8	14	12	15	13	14	4
2	2,000	+1d8	14	12	15	13	14	+3
3	4,000	+1d8	14	12	15	13	14	+2
4	8,000	+1d8	12	12	10	11	14	+3
5	16,000	+1d8	11	12	10	11	12	+2
6	32,000	+1d8	11	12	10	11	12	+3
7	64,000	+1d8	10	8	9	9	12	+2
8	128,000	+1d8	10	8	9	9	12	+3
9	256,000	+1d8	9	8	9	9	10	+2
10	384,000	+3	8	6	7	7	10	+3
11	512,000	+3	8	6	7	7	10	+2
12	640,000	+3	8	6	7	7	10	+3
13	768,000	+3	6	4	5	5	8	+2
14	896,000	+3	6	4	5	5	8	+3
15	1,024,000	+3	6	4	5	5	8	+2
16	1,152,000	+3	6	4	5	5	8	+3
17	1,280,000	+3	5	4	5	5	6	+2
18	1,408,000	+3	5	4	5	5	6	+3
19	1,536,000	+3	5	4	5	5	6	+2
20	+128,000/lvl	+3/lvl	5	4	5	5	6	+3 on even levels, +2 on odd levels