New inspiration from old sources.

Most old school RPG players would be in agreement that  D&D takes its inspiration from Swords and Sorcery fiction and weird tales.  You don;t have to look further than Appendix N to prove this. However, the writers of those stories were inspired by other stories, many by old folktales. Today, most of us are familiar with the Brothers Grimm and their collection of tales.  While they may not directly inspire D&D style adventures, certain elements of their stories do creep into the game.  Certainly the monsters do, and certain magic items.  Other collections of folktales, such as 1001 Arabian Nights, influence fantasy RPGs, but none as much a Grimm's fairy tales.

What would you say if there were 50 more stories that the brothers missed?  How about 500?  It appears that scholars have recently discovered a collection of 500 new fairlytales.  It looks like some are just variations on old classics we already know, but there's a lot of material here that's new to us.  I can't wait to see this in print.

New game Questionnaire

The guys at Fear the Boot boot together a nice questionnaire that groups should fill out so that they have some idea of why the characters are working together and what they are trying to achieve, with the idea being that players work out a lot problems before adventuring begins, such as what the long term goals are, is there party conflict, are we good guys or bad guys, how do we know each other etc. Since I am very much a fan of troupe style roleplaying (I played a lots of Ars Magic and Vampire), I decided that instead of me dictating the rules of my old school game, I should come up with a questionnaire for prospective players.  So here's my first attempt at some questions.

On a scale of 1 to 5, how complex would you like the game to be?  (A 1 would be simpler than any published rules, a 5 would be more complex that 1e.)
If we were going to play an "official" D&D game, which version of the rules would you want to use? (OD&D, Holmes Basic, AD&D, Moldvay B/X, 2E, Rules Cyclopedia)
Is there a particular retro-clone that you would prefer to use? (Swords and Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, LOTFP, etc..)
On a scale of 1 to 5, how quickly would you like the characters to advance in levels? (1 being almost never advancing, 5 being ever couple of game sessions).
Should the characters start at level 0 or at level 1?
How much magic would you like in the game? (1 almost none, magic items and casters are extremely rare, 5 almost everyone uses magic of some sort, its part of everyday life.)
Are the PCs allowed to do evil nasty things, or are they essential "good guys"?
Should the focus of the adventure be in the dungeon, the wilderness, the town, or a mix?
Are you interested in trying some experimental rules, or you would you prefer to "play by the book"?

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG beta thoughts.

Just finished reading through the beta version of the rules for Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. There's a lot of cool ideas in there.  It certainly isn't a retro-clone, and it isn't going to play nice with existing 1E and B/X adventures, but if I was going to start a campaign from scratch I'd have to seriously consider trying these rules.  The magic system is awesome.  If you've ever considered using some sort of alternate magic system, you need to read this.

Another Crazy Idea

Recently I discovered Heroes of the Mythic Age and Small but Vicious Dog.  It got me thinking, could one devise a retro-clone hack that generally kept the characters at a low power level by changing character advancement from a traditional level based system, to some sort of skill based system. As an example, currently when a character levels they get a new hit die or extra hit points, better saving throws, better attack bonus, new spells and class abilities, and more proficiencies etc.  Instead of this system where the character improves in a variety of ways all at once, it would allow the players to spend xp to improve one of those items, which is similar to how WFRP handles character advancement.

While thinking about this I realized that trying to balance each improvement would be a lot of work.  Then a thought popped in my head. "Hey, 3e has these things called feats that are all supposed to be roughly equal, you could just use those".  I think this is one of those ideas best left unexplored.

Now for something completely different.

Sometimes I miss these guys.

How the game was played, Part II: Megadungeon

This post over at Roles, Rules, and Rolls got me thinking about my experiences with 2e.  Up until that point I had never encountered a megadungeon, but one of the first 2e games I got involved with was based in WGR1-Greyhawk Ruins.  Two things stand out about this campaign.  First, the rules were pretty much "by the book".  To my recollection, most of the 2e games I played used the rules as they were written. Of course this was long before there was a glut of material for 2e.  Secondly, or most importantly, this was what came to be called "the short people's campaign"  as the party was comprised almost entirely of dwarves, with a halfling thief and a gnome illusionist thrown in to round out the party.   It was also the largest group I ever gamed with, ranging from 8-10 players each session.  The game lasted several months, as the party slogged its way through the first several levels of the Tower of War.  The game broke up after one particular incident involving a new player and his unique character introduction.  He had special permission from the GM to play a half-elf, as we had begun to see the need for more variety in the party.  This had already caused a problem with some of the players, but nobody was ready for what came next.

GM:  Ok, the party comes around the corner of the hallway, and sees this guy.  Describe your character.
Newb:  You see an elven figure with dark purple skin and white hair.  In his hand....
Party full of Dwarves (in unison):  A Drow!!!
Trigger-happy Dwarf:  I shoot him in the head with my heavy crossbow!
GM: Roll to hit
Newb:  But, but....
Trigger-happy Dwarf:  Natural 20! (I saw the roll.  Everyone did.  It was a 20)
Newb: Huh?!
GM: Are you wearing a helmet?  How many hit points do you have?
Newb:  What? Uh, no helm, I'm wearing a hood.  Why are you shooting at me?!
Trigger-happy Dwarf:  Too late now.
GM:  Let me see you character sheet son.
Newb:  (Cries) But I'm a good Drow.
Dwarf #2:  The only good Drow is a dead Drow.
Dwarf #3: Well, I guess that makes him a good Drow after all!

The new player's friends weren't happy either, and it did break up the game, but it was soooo worth it.

Creating Magic Items. Part I

One of Untimately's 20 questions was about the creation of magical items.  This is one of the areas where my tastes probably differ from most old school players.  I actually like item creation as it exists in 3e, with some  modifications. Under 1e, wizards have to wait until 11th level to create items, and under 2e they have to wait until 9th.  In 3.x, Wizards can get the scribe scroll feat at level 1, brew potion at level 3, and create wand at level 5.  This seems like it would be a total game changer at first glance, but I find that incorporating the 3.x item creation feats (these 3 in particular) into an old school game can serve to balance out the Magic-User at low levels.

There is some controversy with the 3.x item creation feats (beyond the level they can be purchased), most of which stems from the rule that requires the expenditure of XP in order to create the item.  Frankly, the XP cost is so small that I just ignore it.  For the more powerful magical items I think the idea makes sense (ie Sauron forging part of his power into the One Ring), but not for simple things like scrolls.  The other controversy that has come up in games I've been involved in is the creation of permanent items, liked a sword +1, or a ring of protection, or a bag of holding.  Under 3.x, characters can start making these sorts of items as low as level 3!.  I agree that having characters running around at level 3 creating permanent magic items could be a problem, but  rather than forcing magic-users to wait until a higher level to create these items, I just make the creation of such items more difficult than what the 3.x srd states.  But that will be another post for another day.

To me, the most important item creation feat is Scribe Scroll. By allowing low level Magic-Users to scribe scrolls, you no longer have to worry about them not being able to cast enough spells per day.  Every Magic-User should have at least 1 scroll of every spell that they know.  They are fairly cheap and quick to make.  In my game I even make most low level (level 1-3 spells) scrolls available for purchase.  The limiting factor for PC M-Us is that they have to have the spell they wish to scribe prepared.  So a level 1 M-U can either cast 1 spell or scribe 1 scroll a day.

At this point I should mention something that many GMs overlook when dealing with scroll and potion use in combat.  I don't recall very specific rules for using scrolls and potions during combat in early editions of the game, but 3.x simply requires a Move Action to ready the scroll or potion, and a Standard Action to use it.  While I don't have an problem with how using the scroll or potion is handled (unless the character is being attacked), I think that allowing characters to freely ready whatever scroll or potion they want in the middle of combat is overly generous.  Ever tried to find that exact thing you need in you bookbag or purse?  I don't have any hard and fast rules for this yet, but if a player is carrying around a bunch of scrolls or potions, they better explain how they are organizing them or it is going to be difficult to find the correct one during combat.

Which brings us to wands.  I don't want Harry Potter taking over my D&D any more than you do.  However I like the idea wizards having access to a low level combat spells (like ray of frost or a 1st level magic missle) that they can use pretty much at will.  I've been toying with the idea of giving M-Us a wand of Ray of Frost (d3 damage, ranged touch attack to hit, no save) as standard starting equipment. In my 1e games the low level M-Us just ended up throwing darts or daggers, so I don't think the cheap low level wands would unbalance things.

I've still got some mixed feelings on potions.  Creating a scroll doesn't really require a lot of material, just some paper, ink and quills, and a quiet place to write. Potions really need a laboratory.  I like the idea of low level potions being readily available to PCs (for a price), but I don't see most low level PCs having access to a lab.