Things continue apace

So much for global warming. Summer has been a bust so far... cold and wet weather makes hanging out at the beach difficult.

However.... been plugging away on my AD&D campaign, but also doing some prep for my one-off B/X game. I think I'm gonna run them through B2 straight up... if we actually go beyond that, I think I'll run them at B7 Rahasia next (or maybe flesh out B1 for them), and then, if we're STILL running, either tackle B4 or X1. I'm really excited.

I've also started thinking about creating my own world... so far, I've been doing some thinking of some creation cosmology. I have come up with a rather unique take on things, that would not only explain halflings.... but make them more like the elves always end up being in other games. Maybe I'll start posting the bits and pieces of the story on here, when IO get it straight. It's quite good, is I say so myself. 8)

Happy Canada Day

I didn't win the One Page Dungeon contest. I didn't even show up on the radar. I'm not upset about this, but the anal-retentive perfectionist in me can't wait to see what DID win, because I HATE losing, and not getting any feedback on my entry will drive me crazy.

Otherwise, things continue apace... another school year in the books (thank GOD!), summer is finaly arriving, I'm working little by little on redoing B1 as part of my campaign (basically, I took the idea of Quasqeton being linked to the Caves of Chaos via a tunnel from RttHotB, drew up a whole bunch of caverns between the keep and Quasqueton, and drew upon the idea of the cult and bandits now using Quasqueton as a staging ground to go after the Keep). Lots of running around for the next couple weeks, then I plan to spend an uninterrupted month readin at my cabin. Life is good.

Narrowing things down

I spent tonight watching Best of Japan 2001 puroresu tapes, and norrowing down what house rules I'm going to try and implement in my upcoming campaign. Well, I also watched Pittsburgh hammer the Red Wings first, and even though I HATE Pittsuburgh (as a lifelong Flyers fan), I want them to beat Detroit and win the Cup. Go figure.

Anyway, here's what I'm going to work with...

* I'm still debating about coming up with a unified experience point table. Basically, if I do, then that means I'm using free multi-classing. If I don't, I don' think I'll allow any multi-classing. Right now, I'm leaning towards unified XP table, and free multi-classing.

* I'm also toying with the idea only allowing fighters, clerics, mages and thieves to multi-class. In other words, you can ony multi-class using the four core classes. Previously (I think), I put down my thoughts here on multi-classing, with who can be what, and restrictions, like you can't take a paladin level if you have a hief level, and stuff like that. However, this way makes it a LOT easier to keep track of.

* I'm still juggling what to do with non-core classes. I think I'll keep rangers and druids for sure, and probably paladins. No one ever plays bards, so I'm not worred about them, and as much as I love monks, I'm still debating how to fit them in. Since the ability requirements for most of the classes will make them hard enough to qualify for anyways, I'm thinking I will allow them, but only if you start as that class, and that means you can't multi-class them. I really want to just roll druids into a specialty cleric class (like illusionists and mages), but I'm not sure yet. Maybe I'll make druids as specialty clerics who follow the Old Faith, and ONLY those druids can be "druids".... other druids are simply specialty priests of nature deities, and get none of the "druid" abilities.

* I'm allowing my magic-users to use edged weapons of up to long sword size without penalty. I'm also going to allow them to wear padded, leather or.... elvish chain mail armour without penalty. I figure that if the elves are so attuned with magic, then you should be able to wear the unencumbering armour and cast spells as well. Clerics can use edged weapons if allowed by their faith... otherwise, they can only use common weapons (staff, club, flail at BEST... no mace, no morning star).

* Magic-users and clerics have two options for casing spells. If they choose the traditional (Vancian) route, then they have to select and memorize their spells each day, BUT they can have extra spells as determined by high INT or WIS. Spontaneous casters can use a "spell point" system to freely cast any spell which is in their spell/prayer book withough memorization, but they cannot use exra spells from high INT/WIS. I am also giving spontaneous casters a bonus: spontaneous mages can opt to attempt to counter opposing mages' spells (INT check to identify opposing spell; if they succeed, they can expend a number of spell points equal to the spell's level to counter it; if they fail the INT test, then they either can't identify the spell, or misidentify it, leading to guessing how many points to use, and wild surge hilarity ensuing), while spontaneous clerics may atempt "prayers of desperation" (casting spells not in their prayer book; WIS check to be allowed to cast it, failed WIS check means CON check or lose ability to cast further spells until rested). I'm really interested in seeing how this works out.

* I'm going to use my skill check / proficiency system. Characters can determine their starting proficiencies, bu after that, pretty much ANYTHING they want to attempt will be governed by skill checks (with appropraite modifiers). Proficiencies will basically operate as skill check modifiers. When a characetr has succeeded at enough skill check of a certain "proficiency", then they get a level in that profinciency. Easy as pie... I hope.

There's what I'm using so far. I'm also thinking of timkering with the spells available for mages and clerics, making for a very low magic feel (only having maybe 6-12 commonly known spells/prayers per level, and making all other harder to acquire, especially named spells). I also want to make my magic items a little more unique, so every weapon has SOME sort of history or legend attached to it (even the lowliest sword +1... maybe it's more of a masterwork-type item).

Slow down

As with everyone else, it seems, I've been slacking on the posting lately. Nothing major... just trying to get out and walk more on the (few) warm days, oh, and I've been playing DAWN OF WAR 2 like it's crack. 8) But, I finished the campaign now, and I'm back to working on my campaign... been working on the blown-up map of the hex I'm using. Right now, I'm using Kellri's Old School Encounters and inspiration from FIGHT ON! #3 to draft the details in short form about other locations on the map. I've drawn up some catacombs that I have to populate that will connect the Caves of Chaos to Quasequeton, and I have to populate Quasqueton, but then I should be ready to go. 8)

A question of scale

So, I finally sat down in earnest and started working on my Yeomanry campaign. First off, I poked around with Return to the Keep and In Search of the Unknown a little. I have decided that the connecting tunnel mentioned between the Caves of Chaos and Quasqueton exists, but I have decided that it runs through lots of natural caverns, which housed other bugaboos, who have prevented said tunnel from being used very much. I'm also going to use these caverns to explain just what happened to the two heroes from B1.

I've also been doing some wilderness mapping, but here's my hitch.... I'm using the Living Greyhawk metaorg map of the Yeomanry as my guide (minus the location of Slerotin's tunnel and Dark Gate... these don't exist). Each of the hexes on this map is said to equal 30 miles. I started mapping by drawing a gigantic blown-up approximation of the starting hex (where I am placing the Keep, the Caves, Quasqueton and a small starting town), but I'm having trouble with my scale. I'm using a numbered hex map to represent the larger hex, but I can't wrap my head around the scale. Is 1 hex = 30 miles mean 30 SQUARE miles? Or that each hex is 30 miles North to South in distance? Right now, I have it so that, if I assume that each large hex is 30 miles N-S, then my smaller hexes are each about 1.25 miles. I went with that, but then I kind realized... I think this is WAY wrong, because it makes that hex HUGE. BUT, if I consider 1 hex = 30 SQUARE miles... then that doesn't leave a hell of alot of room in each hex for extras.

My original plan was to map out about 8 of the larger hexes in detail, and use that as a "sandbox" for my game. But now, I'm not so sure. Anyone got any advice?

(Cross-posted to the CANONFIRE site, for help from the 'Hawkers. 8)

My Own Private Appendix

If everyone else is doing it, why can't I?

My own version of the famed Appendix N

* JRR Tolkien's THE HOBBIT and LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy
* Weis and Hickman's DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES trology and "Test of the Twins" trilogy
* TSR "Endless Quest" books, esp. RETURN TO BROOKMERE and DUNGEON OF DREAD
* Stephen King's THE STAND and SALEM'S LOT
* Homer's THE ODYSSEY
* Milton's PARADISE LOST
* Leiber's Fafhnard and the Grey Mouser novels, esp. SWORDS AGAINST DEVILTRY
* Terry Brooks' Shannara books, especially WISHSONG OF SHANNAR and THE SWORD OF SHANNARA
* H.P. Lovecraft
* Robert E. Howard
* Miyamoto Musashi's THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS
* William Gibson, especially IDORU, BURNING CHROME, ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES and SPOOK COUNTRY
* Norman Spinrad's LITTLE HEROES, DEUS EX and BUG JACK BARRON
* George Alec Effinger, esp. his Marid Audran novels
* Bruce Sterling, esp. HEAVY WEATHER and ISLANDS IN THE NET
* Brian Daley's Han Solo novels, esp. HAN SOLO AT STAR'S END
* Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy of STAR WARS novels, esp. HEIR TO THE EMPIRE
* Michael Stackpole's X-WING: ROGUE SQUADRON novels
* Robert Anton Shea's THE ILLUMINATUS TRILOGY
* Neil Gaiman, esp. AMERICAN GODS, ANASI BOYS, SMOKE & MIRRORS and FRAGILE THINGS
* the original STAR WARS trilogy of movies
* BLADE RUNNER
* TRON
* STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
* STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail
* ROBIN HOOD, PRINCE OF THIEVES
* Disney's ALADDIN and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
* GOODFELLAS
* the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA tv series
* MILLENNIUM tv series
* THE X-FILES tv series
* LOST tv series
* THE PRETENDER tv series, esp. the first two seasons
* DARK SKIES tv series
* the first season of DARK ANGEL tv series
* Toho GODZILLA movies
* Kurosawa's THE SEVEN SAMURAI, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS and RAN
* BRAVEHEART
* MONGOL
* BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF
* the ILLUMINATI game
* the ARKHAM HORROR boardgame
* Queensryche's OPERATION: MINDCRIME and RAGE FOR ORDER albums
* Front Line Assembly's TACTICAL NEURAL IMPLANT album, esp. the video for "Gun"
* KMFDM's ANGST, NIHIL and XTORT albums
* Radiohead's THE BENDS and OK COMPUTER albums
* NIN's BROKEN and THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL albums
* Pop Will Eat Itself's DOS DEDOS, MIS AMIGOS album
* the art of M.C. Escher
* the art of H.R. Giger
* Chris Claremont and John Byrne's run on THE UNCANNY X-MEN, esp. "Days of Future Past"
* Mike Grell's run on GREEN ARROW, and JON SABLE, FREELANCE
* Mark Waid and Alex Ross's KINGDOM COME
* Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's original WOLVERINE mini-series
* Marvel's old STAR WARS, SHOGUN WARRIORS and GODZILLA comics

Examining XPs

So, as part of my home rules, I was doing some number crunching today with XPs. As I've said before, I'm thinking of making a single XP table, much like there is in 3E. So, I sat down tonight and crunched the numbers, through 20th level. What did I find? MAN, there's some WHACKY XP requirements for levels in 2ed. For instance, clerics and druids (which are, more or less, a specialty cleric), are pretty much on a parallel until you hit 6th level. Then, things start going whacky. It suddenly becomes AWFULLY expensive to be a cleric - to the point where, by 12th level, you could have 3-12th LEVEL DRUIDS for the XP cost of 1-12th LEVEL CLERIC. However, things swing back in line pretty quick, as within 2 levels, Druids have made up that gap, and within 3 levels, you could now have 2-15th level clerics for the cost of 1-15th level druid. Plus, druids kinda get screwed once they get to Heirophant levels, where their numbers go WAY out of line. Also, thieves are cheap in every sense of the word.

I did some averages for all classes, core classes, and alternate classes (considering paladin, ranger, druid, bard, and monk and assassin from THE SCARLET BROTHERHOOD as alternate classes), and got some interesting results. It's actually CHEAPER, on average, to be a "specialty" class until 13th level. Then, the XP creep finally catches up with you. All in all, druids and thieves REALLY screw any attempts at averaging out an XP table, because druids are unnaturally cheap at early levels, and thieves are just plain cheap. You would think, if you were going to use the XP for gold rule, that thieves should maybe be MORE expensive, since they would benefit from this the most.

For instance, at 40,000 XP, you could have a 6th level fighter, paladin or ranger, well on their way to 7th level, about one and a half 6th level clerics or monks (1 cleric/monk who is a little short of 7th level, or a 6th level cleric/monk and a 5th level assistant), two 6th level druids (or a 7th level druid nearing next level), one 6th level wizard, or two 6th level thieves, bards or assassins (or one 7th level thie/bard/assassin). At 1,000,000 XP, you could have a 12th level fighter, an 11th level ranger or paladin very near to leveling up, a 12th level cleric or monk, THREE 12th LEVEL DRUIDS (or one druid halfway between 13th and 14th level), a 12th level wizard close to leveling up, or TWO 12th LEVEL THIEVES AND AN 11th LEVEL THIEF (or one thief just under 15th level). Just think... you could have 3 TIMES THE AVAILABLE SPELLS by having three 12th level druids, or THREE BACKSTABBING MACHINES by having three high level thieves. It seems a little... unfair.

For some reason, thieves and druids are WAY out of line here.

The thing I found the most is how odd it is that the XP tables start out as routinely doubling for most classes, but then at some point,it simply become adding a set amount on top of the previous level. In a way, it encourages outrageously high level characters, because when you reach the top level, it starts to plateau, instead of an even exponential increase (is it even an exponential increase? I teach English, not math).