Even More Ways to Kill and Be Killed in Classic D&D

I find myself coming back time and time again to mucking around with the weapons chart. Usually it is attached to some inexplicable tinkering urge, this time it's a product of the extensive equipment lists I have been putting together for the Domain Game (which will be presented sometime this week).

Notes on the chart:

Urban cost is within 30 miles of a city or town. Rural is outside that range. All prices are in gold unless otherwise noted.

All weight is in pounds.

Str/Dex is the minimum Strength and Dexterity to wield the weapon. If these requirements are not met -2 to hit (fighters -1).

For tech levels see the Rules Guidelines for the Domain Game.

Weapon	Damage	Urban Cost	Rural Cost	Weight	Str/Dex	Tech Level
Arbalest*	1d10	60	90	8	12/8	5
Axe, battle	1d8	6	9	6	11/8	2
Axe, battle (2H)	2d4	6	9	6	9/7	2
Axe, great (2H)	1d10	12	18	14	13/8	3
Axe, hand	1d6	3	3	3	7/7	1
Club	1d4	5sp	5sp	3	-/-	1
Crossbow, heavy	1d8	25	40	8	8/8	4
Crossbow, light	1d6	16	24	4	7/7	3
Dagger	1d4	3	3	1	-/7	2
Dagger, silver	1d4	30	45	1	-/7	3
Dart	1d4	5sp	7sp	.5	-/9	2
Flail	1d6	3	3	5	8/6	4
Flail, heavy (2H)	1d8	8	12	10	12/8	5
Hammer, light	1d4	2	2	2	6/6	2
Hammer, war (2H)	1d6+1	7	10	5	11/8	5
Javelin	1d6	1	1	2	7/10	1
Lance, light	1d6	7	10	10	9/9	3
Lance, heavy	1d8	10	15	14	12/10	5
Longbow	1d8	40	50	3	12/11	5
Mace	1d6	5	7	3	7/7	2
Morningstar	1d6	5	7	6	7/7	4
Pick, heavy (2H)	1d8	8	12	6	12/8	5
Pick, light	1d6	5	8	3	8/8	4
Pike**	1d6	4	6	8	7/7	3
Pole Arm (2H)	1d10	7	12	15	12/8	5
Quarterstaff (2H)	1d6	2	2	4	6/6	1
Scimitar	1d8	15	22	4		3
Shortbow	1d6	25	25	3	7/9	2
Sling	1d4	2	2	5	-/9	2
Spear	1d6	3	3	6	6/6	1
Spear (2H)	1d6+1	3	3	6	5/5	1
Sword, long	1d8	10	15	4	11/9	3
Sword, bastard	1d8	20	30	6	12/10	5
Sword, bastard (2H)	1d8+1	20	30	8	11/10	5
Sword, short	1d6	7	10	2	7/7	2
Sword, rapier	1d6+1	12	18	3	9/11	6
Sword, two-handed	1d10	15	25	15	12/10	5
Trident (2H)	1d6	4	6	4	6/6	3

* A powerful, steel-bowed crossbow. Fires every third round.

** Can be used from the second rank.  

The Half-Ogre: a Classic D&D/LL Racial-Class

Half-Ogre

Requirements: STR 14, CON 14, CHR <9

Prime Requisite: STR

Hit Dice: 1d10

Maximum Level: 9

Half-ogres are the ungainly and unlikely products of miscegenation between undiscriminating humans and beastly, terrifying ogres.

Although quite short in respect to their ogre parent, they stand tall amongst the race of men; often reaching seven and a half feet in height. Because of their great size, they tend to be stronger and more durable then their pure-human cousins and are able to thus carry weight at one encumbrance category less than their human counterparts. For example, a half-ogre carrying 81-160 lbs. can schlep all that gear at the 60'/turn movement rate of other characters carrying 61-80 lbs.

Half-ogres have rather swarthy and dull skin tones only made worse by poor skin care. A few human-raised exceptions will have sufficiently learned enough about alternately washing their faces in cold and warm water with a clean, exfoliating towelette to have raised their maximum Charisma score to 9. Their hair is across the board hopeless, however, and will invariably be lank, greasy, and dark.

If the character is raised by ogre kinfolk he will speak ogre, orc, and troll, but only with a pronounced lisp.

Half-ogres can see quite well in the dark with dark vision up to 60'.

Half-ogres fight and save as fighters of the same level. They can use any weapon or armor, but are inordinately fond of two-handed weapons--especially those with sharp, fangy bits.

Half-Ogre Level Progression

Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d10)
0	1	1
2,300	2	2
4,600	3	3
9,200	4	4
18,400	5	5
36,800	6	6
73,600	7	7
147,200	8	8
294,400	9	9

Realms of Crawling Chaos: a Review Part II

After introducing the mix of new “monster” race classes, Realms of Crawling Chaos then turns to an assortment of other supplemental goodies. Again the dark fantasy flavoring and rigor in holding true to the source material continued hitting a sweet spot for me.

Take the five pages of well-described, setting-appropriate magic. While noting that LL spells hand-wave away material components, the entries make explicit use of them—especially appropriate since some of the new magic is not just the usual fire-and-forget Vanican spells but reflect the dark-magic-like effects of such things as alchemical formulae.

Admittedly, like many raised on the high crunch of AD&D, I tended more often that not to gloss right over components at the table,  but still I loved having that particular, arcane bit of flavoring. Knowing that whipping up a batch of the Fluid of Reanimation requires extract of eels and snake venom, salt pewter, and powdered iron adds something for sure. (It also feels like it provides some interesting motivation to create the basis for an interesting Alchemist class homebrew.)

Cthulhiod beasties are next, a big-ticket item in many old school games. Between a number of entries that recalled reading through the verboten section of the first printing of Deities and Demigods Guide (famously dropped in the later printings due to supposed trademark infringements), there are great statted-out, well-researched renditions of the Beings of Ib, the Colour out of Space, the Hound of Tindalos, Jellyfish from Beyond, etc. There also some interesting spins on old stand-bys like the Ghoul, Ghast, and Lamia.

The section on the Old Ones is again top-notch, much better and more expansive than the above-mentioned chapter in the DDG. Perhaps my one complaint is that a few of the ostensibly heavyweight entries look a little on the wimpy side combat-stat wise. Tsathoggua has a mere 80 hitpoints, for instance,  putting him in the potential ass-whoop range of a high-level party. But then again, I tend to be of the school of thought that is incredulous that any character of any level should be allowed a smack-down of celestial personages.

The artifacts section is a great mix of eldritch items like Cthulhu idols and strange alien technology, a nice addition to those looking to introduce more weird science into their games.

I was surprised to see a chapter on psionics—and appreciative of the honest note stating that these powers do not appear in Lovecraft's writing. Still it's a great, streamlined little system that I can see being a great boon for those who want to have this option for their campaign but are (justifiably) turned off about its presentations in D&D to date.

The last 20-odd pages are devoted to four appendices. The first two, “Reading Eldritch Tomes” and “Random Artifacts”, are both some of the strongest in the booklet and sure to be lifted in many campaigns. The third is a somewhat odd-placed list of psionic effects for Mutant Future and the final a nice, extensive list of suggested readings.

Your cosmic significance pictured here. 

Realms of Crawling Chaos: Review Part I

Realms of Crawling Chaos by Daniel Proctor and Michael Curtis. Goblinoid Games, 66 pages, PDF $4.95, Print $17.95 

No use mincing about trying to think of a clever lede, the new Labyrinth Lord supplement, Realms of Crawling Chaos, is simply quite good.

Perhaps I don't pay enough attention to the industry/product side of our side of the hobby—I will admit to a general glazing of the eyes when it comes to product announcements and other OSR boosteria—but this one seemed to rocket out of left field. With little fanfare less than a month ago, Dan Proctor of Goblinoid Games, announced what sounded like a trifecta for me: a dark Lovecraftian fantasy supplement for LL co-written by one of the better (if not best) current workhorses of classic-play D&D, Michael Curtis.

With a release date scheduled for a hazy late winter I filed away my enthusiasm to the back-end of my brain. But lo and behold last Saturday, Goblinoid announces that Chaos was not only imminent but had arrived.

Why so good?

The booklet certainly had the real potential for being a dog (and a rushed out to boot). For sure, it's not untrodden ground; the last two years have seen a tremendous amount of interest and working of Lovecraftian themes into old school campaigns—and a virtual one-man cottage industry has been marked out for horror-inflected fantasy by Lamentations of the Flame Princess last year.

Fortunately though Chaos starts off quite strong and holds the course throughout. The first section of the booklet presents a good thorough understanding of Lovecraft's writings—not the usual warmed-over Cthulhu mythos version courtesy of August Derleth and the many other imitators and revisers in his wake.

(I'm glad that the design theory here explicitly reflects more of the supplemental “pick-and-choose” attitude of many DIYers than the constant repackaging of whole systems: “This book is a book of ideas. It does not present a detailed and specific dark fantasy world. Instead, elements are presented that suggest a kind of world that the referee can create himself.”)

The laying out of the essential points of H.P. Lovecraft's writings is a valuable kick-off in helping GMs try to weave in the difficult-to-do-well color and tone. Devoting several pages to detailing the significance of each of these core themes—The Insignificance of Man, The Vastness of the Universe , An Uncaring Natural World, The Reality of Man as an Animal, Superior Otherworldly Beings, Science as a Double Edged Sword—is an excellent introduction to the cosmic horror of Lovecraft unfiltered.

Especially helpful is a further two pages discussing how to blend these themes in at varying comfort levels with the usual fantasy rpg tropes we all know and love (even if we pretend to be bored by them).

While the cover and interior art by Sean Aaberg and Mark Allen is a little uneven at points—on the whole it's more well-done, dark, and evocative than not. Layout is the crisp, two-column standard we have come to expect from Goblinoid—as is the usual competent, no-frills editing.

Turning into the supplemental rules proper, Chaos gets even more interesting. A variety of new PC races is presented in both the racial-class form of Classic D&D (err...LL core) and the uncoupled race and class way of first edition AD&D (LL/AEC). Racial class seems particularly appropriate here IMO given the peculiar tainted-blood, eugenics-lining--and at times, sadly, racist--perspective of HPL.

Curiously all the new races are “monster” ones—creatures typically more likely on the receiving end of a PCs sword rather than swinging one alongside them.

If you ever wanted to play a creepy neck-waddled, slack-jawed character with the “Innsmouth look” here's your chance: Fish Blood, half-human/half-Deep One, headline the list. The racial class is an appropriate fighter-cleric mix (Esoteric Order of Dagon, yes please). Best of all is the write-up of the creeping taint of the Deep Ones as you progress in levels:

“At 4th level (or middle age, whichever comes first), sea bloods begin to dream about the cities under the sea, and horrid rituals performed in the name of Cthulhu and Dagon. A compulsion is seeded to go to the sea, and to bask in the cool water among the great cities under the waves. When sea bloods reach the maximum level attainable in their race/class (or become elderly, whichever comes first), the referee will roll 1d6; the result is the number of months before the character’s transformation is sufficiently complete and the compulsion is too strong to resist the call to go and live in the sea as an immortal deep one.”

Yowsers.

Next you have the option of playing a Subhuman--not the UK hardcore band--but a mix of the human and Voormis, the furry ape-like critters that once peopled frigid Hyperborea. This one comes off just a bit duller than it sounds, especially for the racial class which is essentially just another demi-human fighter in drag. 

Same goes for the White Ape that comes next (though bonus points for being a straight-up man-eating beastie sans the human blood). The White Ape-Hybrid, however, who combines the abilities of both fighter and thief swings back into the fun-class-to-try category.


At any rate, limitations aside they are a welcome fresh addition to the bog standard races of yore.

Part two of our review will duly appear tomorrow. 

Goblinoid Releases Free Text Downloads of Labyrinth Lord Editions

In a coup for inveterate rules home-brewers, Dan Proctor has released free downloadable text versions of all three editions of Goblinoid Games' LL editions: Labyrinth Lord (the core Classic D&D clone), Advanced Edition Companion (the AD&D 1st-ed. clone), and Original Edition Characters (0-ed. clone).

The downloads can be found here.

One of the reasons I continue to support LL (besides inertia) is the line's relative modesty and openness to customizers. For one, I plan on using these text versions to their utmost limits--cutting and pasting the various bits I have accumulated as house rules over the past two years directly in and using the laid-out charts and tables as template for my own changes.

I hope others do the same in the mad charge of DIY creativity that I predict for this year.  

Buried Secrets of Stonehell, a Review

Stonehell Dungeon Supplement Two: Buried Secrets, 20-page PDF, $2.99 from Lulu 

A good review should answer one simple question: is this product worth my time and money? I'll give you the punchline before the long wind-up for Michael Curtis' recently-released second supplement to Stonehell mega-dungeon: yes. Hell yes.

For sure, it's a rare occasion that I actually buy, let alone use, a published adventure these days. It's not that I consider myself such a master of the difficult art of crafting an adventure that I don't need a little help now and again. Nor is that I have some high-falutin' ideological trip in favor of homebrewing. (I steal elements like a fiend from a manic range of sources and have had great fun with refs that run mostly modules.)

It's just that no matter how much I may enjoy reading a particular author's work I have a hell of a time making the squares fit in the round holes of my campaign. With all the work of filing off the serial marks, reworking contexts, familiarizing myself with reams of detail, and blending it all into the sandbox enough that the players would buy it's existence, I invariably feel that I was better off just writing up the damn thing from scratch in the first place.

I suspect I am not alone in this.

Curtis' work is consistently the rare exception. From his Dungeon Alphabet to last year's release of the first five levels of his megadungeon, Stonehell, he seems to be one of the few gaming writers that truly get his cranky, quirky DIY ref audience. We don't want to drive the car off the lot--and perhaps trick out details like spinners—we want kits of varying levels of completeness that will help us build the thing from the bottom up in our garages.

It sounds counter-intuitive that a published mega-dungeon product could fit this bill, but it does. Using a two-page riff off the blog-vaunted haiku one-page dungeon format he created a product that hit a sweet spot for me: enough detail and flavor to find much to borrow while reducing the running details to a manageable stripped-down level.

For sure you could play it straight as one-big stand-alone campaign dungeon straight out of the box, or you could—like me—look at each of the level's one-page map quadrants as custom sub-levels I can blend directly into a level or two of my own creations.

The highly distinctive flavor of each of the quadrants only enhance that modular, plug-in and play value for me. I felt like I hadn't bought a book of a large dungeon that I would read and discard, but a useful collection of 20 mini-dungeons (and several above ground locations).

The new supplement expands on this collection nicely with three new adventuring areas, two designed to be outlier areas topside of the dungeon and another as a sub-level. All three can easily be separated and plugged into most old school D&D campaign worlds with little to no work.

[Mild spoilers ahead. Be warned.]

The format is mostly similar to the parent product. Layout is clean and crisp with lots of text-heavy bang for your buck (in fact, no interior art at all). The three areas are presented with the same one-page maps, but the text room descriptions stray from Curtis' terse two-page limit. None of the descriptions are longer than three short paragraphs (which is right on the line of my own tolerance level) and do allow for presenting a few unusual situations and puzzles.

Content wise, I enjoyed all three areas. The vermin-ridden, lost-cult caverns of Nest of Ortogg struck me as the strongest entry of the bunch, followed by the debris-choked (with a science-fantasy twist) environs of Modnar's Cellar. The Sanctuary of Chtonia is a little on the light side in terms of it's content (which likely makes sense given it's role as a possible safe-space sub-level), but is bolstered by a well-presented, interestingly-motivated duo of NPCs that dominate the area.

Adding more value to the product is the continuation from Stonehell of adding new monsters, spells, deities, and magic items custom tailored to each area. All three areas nicely have these curve balls.

All in all a nice addition to my gaming table. For frugal GM's, Stonehell's first supplement can be downloaded for free here.

The Mountebank Class, Take Two

Work on revisions to my variant classes continues apace (new ones coming down the pike too). That scamp the Mountebank has been reworked: carte-blanche illusionist spellcasting is replaced with a set of special abilities. Level advancement has been lowered to reflect the change—and to be more in line with the metrics of the system I posted the other day.

Special thanks for feedback and inspiration to Mack and Brad from the tabletop group and to Jonathan Becker for some cross-fertilization. And big play-testing thanks to the Siggy Tomb Raiders group our ongoing revolving GM Skype group): Scott, Dan, Bill, and of course Brent (aka Guanillo).

Mountebank

Requirements: INT 13, DEX 13, CHR 13

Prime Requisite: CHR

Hit Dice: 1d4

Maximum Level: None

The mountebank is the consummate con artist of the medieval-fantasy world. By use of smooth talk, sleight of hand, and magical illusion the mountebank stays one step of the law—and earns a decent living in the mean time. Because of their specialized skill set they are often also employed as spies.


As a sub-class of the thief, they are allowed to wear leather armor and use any weapon. They are also allowed to pick pockets, move silently, hide in shadows, listen at doors, and back stab as per a thief of the equivalent level. They can further use disguises as per the assassin class. All saving and combat throws are made on the thief table.

They are also able to use a new skill, sleight-of-hand, at the level they can pick pocket--plus an additional 15 percent. Sleight of hand allows the mountebank to move, switch out, or otherwise manipulate without being noticed a hand-sized object.

They are restricted to only using magic items open to thieves until ninth level at which time they can also begin to use items available to illusionists.

At ninth level, the mountebank attracts a crew of 2d6 grifters, con-men, and other ne'er do wells (1^st level mountebanks) as followers.

Mountebanks cannot be lawful or “good” in alignment.

Beginning at first level, a mountebank can use their smooth fast-talking and arcane powers to create semi-magical effects. All abilities are dependent on the character being able to talk in a language understandable to the target.

Mountebank Special Abilities

Level	Effect	Duration
1	Flim Flam, raises Charisma to 18	1 turn, +1 per level
2	Hustle, lower or raise a price in a commercial transaction by 10-40%	Immediate.
3	Charm Person, same as Magic User spell	1d4 hours, +1 per level
4	Hypnotism, same as Illusionist spell	1 round, +1 per level
5	Manufacture Flash Powder, causes blindness, one batch a day with appropriate materials (150gp)	Immediate
6	Charm Person twice a day	See above
7	Hypnotism twice a day	See above
8	Charm Monster, same as Magic User spell	1d4 hours
9	Suggestion, same as Magic User spell	6 turn, +1 per level
10	Implant Emotion, same as Illusionist spell	Same as spell

Mountebank Level Progression

Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d4)
0	1	1
1,565	2	2
3,125	3	3
6,251	4	4
12,501	5	5
25,001	6	6
50,001	7	7
100,001	8	8
200,001	9	9
300,001	10	+1 hp only *
400,001	11	+2 hp only *
500001	12	+3 hp only *
600,001	13	+4 hp only *
700,001	14	+5 hp only *
800,001	15	+6 hp only *
900,001	16	+7 hp only *
1,000,001	17	+8 hp only *
1,100,001	18	+9 hp only *
1,200,001	19	+10 hp only *
1,300,001	20	+11 hp only *

*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored.

New Ways to Kill and be Killed in LL or B/X

Futzing with combat is one of the more common temptations in old school house rules. I, for one, seem to go in a six-month cycle of wanting more and more detail only to turn full circle and move back to the most stripped down and quick (and by the book). Our current house rules (flavored a bit by LotFP) are somewhere in my medium zone, a place I hope to stay.

So with no further ado some of the new weapons, armor, combat options, and the ever loveable Death and Dismemberment chart (adopted and modified in a chain from Robert Fisher to Norm of Troll and Flame to myself). You'll note that the HC version of the latter table is a bit more on the deadly side than others.

New Combat Options

The fighting classes have a few more options in combat. An eligible character has two more attack options to use in melee in place of a standard attack: an all-out attack and a defensive attack. An all-out attack gives a +1 to hit, but costs the player a +2 AC penalty on the next round of attacks on him/her.

A defensive attack conversely gives the character a bonus of -1 on AC at a cost of -2 for the attack. Fighters alone get one other special attack, a shield pummel, in lieu of a standard attack. A fighter equipped with a large shield can inflict 1d4 of fatal or bludgeoning (non-fatal) damage on a successful hit using the shield pummel option. Fighters equipped with a small shield inflict 1d3.

New Weapons and Armor

Weapon	Cost	Damage	Weight
Rapier	15 gp	1d6+1	2 lbs.
Spiked Gauntlet	5 gp	1d3	2 lbs.
Dirk	4 gp	1d4+1	1 lbs.
Pike*	6 gp	1d6	6 lbs.

* The pike is a two-handed spear about 15-20 feet long. A pike-equipped character can strike from the second rank of a party and can be set to receive a charge. It is extremely awkward weapon in cramped underground quarters however.

Armor	Cost	Armor Class	Weight
Hides/Fur	20 gp	7	3 lbs
Bronze Breastplate	80 gp	5	20 lbs.
Field Plate	1250 gp	2	50 lbs.
Large Shield	10 gp	-1	10 lbs.
Small Shield	20 gp	-1	5 lbs.

Death and Dismemberment Chart

Roll d10 after PC reaches 0 or lower hit points For each subsequent hit while below the 0 hp mark the player must make a roll with a -1 for each time he has rolled on the chart previously in the encounter. The GM can also adjudicate positive or negative modifiers according to circumstance.

1d10
0 or lower	Grisly Death. Body so spectacularly destroyed that only a resurrection or wish spell can bring it back to life.
1 to 2	Just Plain Dead. Dead as per the usual rules.
3 to 4	Fatal Wound. Character dies in 1d12 turns unless magical healing is applied. Character is completely incapacitated and will remain an invalid for 3d6 weeks . Scarring makes for -1 to Charisma.
5 to 6	Severed or Mangled Limb or Digit. Roll randomly or GM pick for which limb or digit (can also eyes, ears, or nose). Unconscious for 3d6 rounds. Character requires 3d4 weeks of healing before being able to adventure.
7 to 8	Broken Bone. Roll randomly or GM picks limb. 3d4 weeks to heal bone. Also Unconscious for 2d6 rounds.
9	Unconscious for 2d6 rounds.
10 or higher	Stunned for 1d4 rounds. Unconscious for 2d6 rounds if not wearing helm.