Number Appearing

On the whole "close to the bones of AD&D" thing - one experiment that has always appealed to me is to treat the number appearing entry of things in the Monster Manual as absolute maximums. This is already the case with the most powerful creatures therein, they are unique. So do this with all of the monsters - since you can encounter 10-100 pilgrims according to their Men entry, that means there are but 100 pilgrims in the whole world. Ah, but wait! There's 5 alignment groups of pilgrims... so there's 500 pilgrims in the whole world! 400 elves & orcs, 4 dragons of each type (I only use green, black, red & white, so there'd be 32 dragons, 1 of each color and age...), 6 barbed devils, etc...

I know! Big deal! Still, this is a setting I would like to play with more. There's 1 lich, 100 sprites, 6 ogre magi... I'll append to this post later the total population list I culled from the MM (it's on a different computer) so I don't lose it.

The only way I'd diverge off the ridiculously strict read with a little Holmesian thing I've never been able to shake - the way that the alignment for many creatures is listed with options (dwarf LG or N, giants & dragons too... must revise my dragon # again... gah!) - more creatures in the Holmes book are listed as being possibly neutral, and I adopt that because I really like neutral! So this could boost the number of demi-humans, unless the differences are within the already established total population (are there 400 LG dwarves AND 400 neutral dwarves, or 200 of each?)...

Anyway - it makes for a small world, or creates the sense of it, because these numbers are smaller, but still not small. They do become more manageable and comprehensible to me though. And interesting points come up all over the place - in the issue of pets & guard animals. Dwarves, elves, goblins, gnolls - several demi-human and humanoid species have animals - stone giants w/cave bears, etc... Given the # Appearing for the cave bear, chances are that these are the only cave bears in the world. Another decision point comes up with the issue of the classed-types that show up with the Men groups - should these then be the only classed beings in the whole world? Should the PCs have to be drawn from this pool of pre-existing classed characters?

It definitely reinforces humanocentric AD&D, men far outnumber any other race. Again, I'll post the numbers in a minute.

EDIT:

1       aerial servant, beholder, demon prince, succubus, arch devil, 
        ice devil (11 HD), pit fiend devil (13 HD), djinni (7+3 HD), 
        dragonne (9 HD), efreeti (10 HD), elemental (8, 12, or 16 HD), 
        gelatinous cube (4 HD), ghost (10 HD), golem, homonculous (2 HD), 
        hydra (5 to 12 HD) , imp (2+2 HD), invisible stalker (8 HD), lich (11+ HD), 
        mimic (7 to 10 HD),morkoth (7 HD), neo-otyugh (9 to 12 HD), night hag (8 HD),
        nightmare (6+6 HD), pseudo-dragon (2 HD), quasit (3 HD),gynosphinx (8 HD), 
        sylph (3 HD)
1-2     cave bear (6+6), bulette (9 HD), barbed devil (8 HD), bone devil (9 HD),
        megalosaurus dinosaur (12 HD), otyugh (6 to 8 HD), purple worm (15 HD), 
        rust monster (5 HD), shambling mound (8 to 11 HD), giant constrictor 
        snake (6+1 HD), titan (17 to 22 HD)
1-3     black bear (3+3 HD), catoblepas (6+3), “typed” demon (8 to 11 HD), 
        erinyes devil (6+6), horned devil (5+5), gray ooze (3+3), medusa (6 HD), 
        spirit naga (9 to 10 HD), ochre jelly (6 HD), roper (10 to 12 HD), 
        giant amphisbaena snake (6 HD), water weird (3+3 HD), will-o-wisp (9 HD), 
        wind walker (6+3)
1-4     basilisk (6+1 HD), black pudding (10 HD), chimera (9 HD), 
        ceratosaurus dinosaur (8 HD), dragon (5 to 11 HD), ettin (10 HD), 
        storm giant (15 HD + 2-7), gorgon (8 HD), jackalwere (4 HD), 
        giant fire lizard (10 HD), werebear (7+3 HD), manticore (6+3 HD), 
        mind flayer (8+4 HD), nymph (3 HD), rakshasa (7 HD), giant scorpion (5+5 HD), 
        sea hag (3 HD), criosphinx (10 HD), hieracosphinx (9 HD), phase spider (5+5),
        umber hulk (8+8 HD), vampire (8+3 HD)
2-5     displacer beast (6 HD), giant owl (4 HD), owlbear (5+2 HD), 
        salamander (7+7 HD), giant poisonous snake (4+2 HD), giant spitting 
        snake (4+2 HD), unicorn (4+4)
1-6     anhkheg (3-8 HD), axe beak (3 HD), brown bear (5+5 HD), carrion 
        crawler (3+1), cockatrice (5 HD), dryad (2 HD) , ghast (4 HD), 
        cloud giant (12 HD + 2-7), green slime (2 HD), jackal (½ HD), giant 
        subterranean lizard (6 HD), ogre mage (5+2 HD), spectre (7+3 HD), 
        wyvern (7+7 HD), yeti (4+4 HD)
1-8     fire giant (11 HD + 2-5), frost giant (10 HD + 1-4), 
        stone giant (9 HD + 1-3), giant minotaur lizard (8 HD), minotaur (6+3 HD), 
        giant spider (4+4 HD), giant poisonous toad (2 HD)
2-8     carnivorous ape (5 HD), giant boar (7 HD), hell hound (4 to 7 HD), 
        wereboar (5+2), mummy (6+3  HD), satyr (5 HD), shrieker (3 HD), 
        winter wolf (6 HD)
1-10    hill giant (8 HD + 1-2)
1-12    wild boar (3+3 HD), huge spider (2+2 HD), giant toad (2+4 HD), troll (6+6)
2-12    griffon (7 HD), harpy (3 HD), giant lizard (3+1 HD), wraith (5+3 HD)
3-12    bombardier beetle (2+2 HD), fire beetle (1+2 HD), doppleganger (4 HD), 
        dire wolf (3+3 HD), worg wolf (4+4 HD)
2-16    gargoyle (4+4 HD) , hippogriff (3+3 HD), wight (4+3 HD)
4-16    blink dog (4 HD), brownie (½ HD), manes demon (1 HD), wild dog (1+1 HD)
3-18    boring beetle (5 HD), pteranodon (3+3 HD), giant killer frog (1+4 HD), 
        werewolf (4+3 HD)
1-20    giant eagle (4 HD), leprechaun (½ HD +1), treant (7 to 12 HD), giant wasp (4 HD)
2-20    flightless bird (1 to 3 HD), ogre (4+1 HD), shadow (3+3 HD), 
        large spider (1+1 HD), wolf (2+2 HD)
5-20    pixie (½ HD) 
2-24    giant centipede (¼ HD), ghoul (2 HD)
3-24    zombie (2 HD)
4-24    centaur (4 HD), wererat (3+1 HD)
3-30    skeleton (1 HD), stirge (1+1 HD)
5-30    lemure devil (3 HD)
6-36    bugbear (3+1 HD)
5-40    giant frog (1 to 3 HD)
10-40   larva (1 HD), lizard man (2+1 HD)
5-50    giant rat (½ HD)
10-60   triton (3 HD)
20-80   nixie (½ HD), sahuagin (2+2 HD)
1-100   giant ant (2 HD)
10-100  berserker men ((1+1 HD (d6)), cave men ((2 HD (d6)), 
        pilgrim men (1 HD (d6)), sprite (1 HD), troglodyte (2 HD)
10-120  tribe men (1 HD (d6))
20-200  elf (1+1 HD), gnoll (2 HD), hobgoblin (1+1 HD), bandit men (1 HD (d6)),
        brigand men (1 HD (d6)), merman (1+1 HD), 
30-300  nomad men (1 HD (d6)), orc (1 HD)
50-300  merchant men (1 HD (d6))
40-400  dwarf (1 HD), gnome (1 HD), goblin (1-1 HD), kobald (½ HD)

[1e] Implicit setting WIP

(I'm considering this page a work in progress. More citations and such later, and I tend toward discursiveness anyway)

Plenty of people[1] at various times have left their ideas about this before now, and I have always found it a totally fascinating idea. To tease enough small detail out of just the MM, PHB, & DMG to build a campaign environment that is somehow as "close to the bone" of the AD&D rulebooks as one could possibly create. I can't even sure that it would be a setting I would have much interest in playing in or running - but it is an interesting thought experiment that many of us have spent some time with.

These details range widely - from the implications of specific game rules (like Gold spent = experience points, the Cleric class almost certainly necessitating the presence of gods or god-like things & alignment, etc) to the spinning of fantastic causal chain constructions of the social reality of life in "D&D land" (DMG pg 106 the Humanoid Racial Preference Table, the selection of possible NPC personality features).

It rests on some fundamental/pseudo-fanatical SOPs like:
1. Pedantic, literal reading of minute detail and cataloging thereof. Sometimes a joy in itself - a very difficult endeavor to sustain (for me anyway).

2. An ability to focus mostly/only on details of fine granularity. Example - the assumption that magical artifacts exist in the first place vs what the presence of The Throne of the Gods implies, range and varieties of Men subtables in the Wilderness Encounter section (though Gygax has said that those were intended as "primitive examples" that DM's would certainly rework to fit their own campaigns. (Oh God! Am I going to have to find that one in the Enworld monstrosity? No!)

As an example, these are the points of interest I draw out of the first entry in the first AD&D book - Aerial Servant:
conjured by clerics
can be found roaming the astral and ethereal planes ("natives"?)
move twice as fast as the invisible stalker (suggestive of conjuration 'arms race' between clerics and magic users in the past?)

[1]
Scott's from Dragonsfoot (2006) --- I find this really inspiring.
Amazing "speculative analysis" by Scottsz of WG4

P.S
I spent some time using the Internet, trying find an attribution for the phrase "There is no such thing as discovery, only recognition or re-discovery" - but that is a paraphrase. Hence the difficulty of citation...

A few random things

1. Liz Danforth is selling the original art for City of Terrors, the actual piece that became the cover. Wish I was a collector!

2. More things on Ebay myself (link to the right) (Bushido, V&V, Aftermath, Rolemaster, D&D)

3. Schoolin' & studyin' is kicking my ass!

4. The Tricks, Empty Rooms, and Basic Trap Design book over at Hack & Slash is a fantastic read and resource.

5. Requisite Joesky content (Thul sa doom Thul sa doom Thul sa doom)
An evil cult for 1e

99 PILGRIMS (CE – Cult of the Three Dooms)
Clerical Leadership
CHANTRY PRIESTS
1 3rd level and 6 2nd level clerics
1 5th level and 3 4th level clerics
All clerics below 6th level serve in the chantries.
CHAPEL PRIESTS
2 6th level cleric
These clerics occupy the chapel
PROPHET OF THE DARK CHAMBER
1 8th level cleric
This cleric occupies an isolated underground chamber
Exceptional characters:
fighter: 3 (lvl 7, 7, 1) A pair of twins, the 7th level fighters, and a gnome 1st level
assassin: 1 (lvl 5)
thief: 3 (lvl 7, 5, 2)
magic user: 1 (lvl 7)
Deity:
Called the Three Dooms, it appears at times as a withered & one-eyed dwarf, a
healthy mature human male with a third monstrous arm extending from the chest,
or as a heavily hooded and robed crone who can reveal a third eye. Its
presence among the cultists is in the form of Raugak, a type IV demon (using
much illusion, project image, and polymorph self). It acts as an intercessor
between the cult and a greater power in the Abyss. It is loathe to Gate in brethren, as it does not want to share the bounty of its current worship. Raugak lairs in the darkness beneath the chapel, indoctrinating the cult's prophet into the deeper mysteries of its Master's Dooms (i.e. driving him insane).

 Raugak (Type IV demon) 
 AC -1          SA spells and powers
 MV 9/12        SD +1 or better to hit
 HD 11 (51 hp)  MR 65%
 A 1-4/1-4/2-5  INT 14

Refer to OGL if required.

When Cloud Giants Go Bad

(in response to Grognaria's call to arms)
Tell us about your orcs... well orcs are made by giants. Powerful giant shamans know how to turn the livestock that pesky humans keep into beast-men. A good way to keep the frontiersmen away. They do the same with boars that men chase, dogs that bay at the edges of their villages... I pictured the orcs as mostly simian featured with jutting jaws and big bottom teeth (I think from my favorite orc lead figure of the day).

It's been a very long time since I played, but back then I had an elaborate magical evolutionary tree. In short, when the world began, there were Dragons, the Fae, and Giants. Assume the usual "ages pass in cycles of animosity and lassitude, mankind rising unnoticed by the Big 3", as they were in a kind of a magical arms-race of evolution. At this point, another player gets involved in this life creation racket: wizards.

So the only race that wasn't created by magic is the humans. I might try to dig through old notes to find the ridiculously complicated causal chain of life... I remember that dragons made dwarves & kobalds from rocks, fae made goblins & elves from fairy dust(?), giants made orcs & gnomes from animals.

The arms race side of it was this: A dragon makes a dwarf. Dwarf meets a Fairy and gets changed to a brownie. Or dragon made a kobald instead. The kobald meets the wrong cloud giant and is transformed into a griffon... Each of the 'client races' could be further transformed by the opposing 'creator races'.

I think I was riffing off of TITAN - in which your pieces could muster recruits based on the terrain of the space they occupied. I liked the wizards too, but they kinda had the shit end of the stick. The old races had much latitude in what they could do to a wizard. Unseen servants, intelligent magic items, familiars, permanent spells - these things could be transformed into esoteric creatures (say, save or fire giant turns your ring of spell storing into a salamander). It meant that magic users would have to divest themselves of much of their adjuncts and accoutrements when facing the magic using varieties of these older races.

It was interesting - way too much trouble to go through to contextualize the presence of the minotaur(giant curse), otyugh (fairy curse), and ogre magi(dragon curse). I'll dig around and see if I can't come up with the tables I made for this a long time ago...

Wilderness Monsters by Season

To make up for the Hottie Elf Chick madness sweeping through the ranks of us old fogies, here's an encounter table based on the current season. Yes, it's d76. Oh well.

	Spring (C)	Summer (L)	Fall (C)	Winter (L)
1	Green Dragon	Red Dragon	Black Dragon	White Dragon
2	Elf (CG)	Dwarf (LG)	Elf (CG)	Dwarf (LG)
3	Dwarf (N)	Elf (N)	Dwarf (N)	Elf (N)
4	Dryad	Dryad	Efreet (N)	Djinn (N)
5	Ettin	Efreeti (LE)	Ettin	Ghost
6	Gargoyle	Gnome (LG)	Gargoyle	Gnome (LG)
7	Ghoul	Goblin	Ghoul & Ghast	Goblin
8	Gnoll	Goblin & Hobgoblin	Gnoll	Goblin & Hobgoblin
9	Gnome (N)	Hobgoblin	Gnome (N)	Hobgoblin
10	Dwarf & Gnome (N)	Dwarf & Gnome (LG)	Dwarf & Gnome (N)	Dwarf & Gnome (LG)
11	Elf & Gnome (N)	Hell Hounds	Elf & Gnome (N)	Gorgon
12	Grey Ooze	Black Pudding	Harpy	Hell Hounds
13	Harpy	Hydra	Hydra	Kobald
14	Jackalwere	Kobald	Jackalwere	Goblin & Kobald
15	Gnoll & Jackalwere	Goblin & Kobald	Gnoll & Jackalwere	Hobgoblin & Kobald
16	Leprechaun	Hobgoblin & Kobald	Lizard Man	Goblin, Hobgoblin &Kobald
17	Lizard Man	Goblin, Hobgoblin &Kobald	Werebear	Lamasu
18	Werebear	Lammasu	Werboar	Wereboar
19	Werewolf	Lizard Man	Werewolf	Manticore
20	Berserker	Wereboar	Berserker	Berserker
21	Nomad	Manticore	Nomad	Dervish
22	Brigand	Bandit	Brigand	Bandit
23	Pilgrim (N)	Dervish	Pilgrim (N)	Pilgrim (N)
24	Pilgrim (CG)	Nomad	Pilgrim (CG)	Pilgrim (LG)
25	Pilgrim (CE)	Pilgrim (N)	Pilgrim (CE)	Pilgrim (LE)
26	Merchant	Pilgrim (LG)	Merchant	Merchant
27	Spirit Naga	Pilgrim (LE)	Spirit Naga	Nightmare
28	Minotaur	Merchant	Minotaur	Nymph
29	Nymph	Night Hag	Night Hag	Orc
30	Ogre	Orc	Ochre Jelly	Ogre Magi
31	Ogre & Gnoll	Ogre Magi	Ogre	Pilgrim of & Ogre Magi
32	Orc	Pilgrim of Geryon & OgreMagi	Ogre & Gnoll	Pilgrims of & Rakshasa
33	Orc & Ogre	Pixie	Orc	Ogre Magi & Goblins
34	Shadow	Pilgrims of & Rakshasa	Orc & Ogre	Ogre Magi & Hobgoblins
35	Gynopshinx	Rakshasa & Hobgoblins	Purple Worm	Ogre Magi, Goblins &Hobgoblins
36	Giant Spider (CE)	Gynosphinx	Giant Spider (CE)	Ogre Magi & Bugbears
37	Sprite	Rakshasa, Goblins &Hobgoblins	Roc	Ogre Magi, Goblins,Hobgoblins & Kobalds
38	Stirge	Rakshasa	Satyr	Remorhaz
39	Giant Toad	Stirge	Stirge	Slyph
40	Treant	Giant Toad	Giant Toad	Ice Toad
41	Troglodyte	Wight	Treant	Wight
42	Troll	Wolf	Troglodyte	Wolf
43	Will-o-wisp	Dire Wolf	Troll	Dire Wolf
44	Vampire	Wraith	Vampire	Winter Wolf
45	Wolf	Rakshasa	Shadow	Roc
46	Dire Wolf	Shedu	Will-o-wisp	Wraith
47	Yeti	Skeleton	Skeleton & Shadow	Shedu
48	Skeleton	Skeleton & Zombie	Skeleton	Skeleton
49	Skeleton & Zombie	Spectre	Skeleton & Zombie	Skeleton & Zombie
50	Skeleton & Shadow	Criosphinx	Skeleton & Shadow	Spectre
51	Shadow & Zombie	Hippogriff	Shadow & Zombie	Criosphinx
52	Androsyphinx	Stone Giant	Androsphinx	Yeti
53	Hieracosphinx	Fire Giant	Hieracosphinx	Griffon
54	Griffon	Barbed Devil	Hippogriff	Frost Giant
55	Blue Dragon	Horned Devil	Cloud Giant	Ice Devil
56	Hill Giant	Ankheg	Storm Giant	Brownie
57	Ankheg	Basilisk	Centaur	Blink Dogs
58	Basilisk	Brownie	Chimera	Bugbear
59	Bugbear	Blink Dogs	Bugbear	Cockatrice
60	Bulette	Pilgrims of Dispater	Cockatrice	Pilgrims of Dispater
61	Centaur	Pilgrims of Geryon	Pilgrims of Jubilex	Pilgrims of Geryon
62	Chimera	Displacer Beasts	Pilgrims of Orcus	Doppleganger
63	Pilgrims of Jubilex	Pilgrims of Dispater &Barbed Devil	Djinn	Displacer Beasts
64	Pilgrims of Orcus	Pilgrims of Geryon &Horned Devil	Doppleganger	Pilgrims of Dispater &Horned Devil
65	Djinn	Fire Giant & Hobgoblin	Displacer Beasts	Frost Giant & Hobgoblin
66	Hill Giant & Orc	Fire Giant, Hobgoblin &Goblin	Frost Giant & Orc	Frost Giant, Hobgoblin &Goblin
67	Hill Giant, Ogre & Orc	Stone Giant & Orc (N)	Frost Giant, Ogre & Orc	Pilgrim of Geryon & OgreMagi
68	Hill Giant & Gnoll	Stone Giant & Dire Wolf	Frost Giant & Gnoll	Pilgrim of Dispater &Ogre Magi
69	Hill Giant & Bugbear	Pilgrim of Dispater &Ogre Magi	Frost Giant & Bugbear	Pilgrim of Geryon & IceDevil
70	Hill Giant, Bugbear &Gnoll	Brownie & Pixie	Frost Giant, Bugbear &Gnoll	Pilgrim of Dispater & IceDevil
71	Hill Giant & Ettin	Wraith & Shadow	Hill Giant & Orc	Goblin & Bugbear
72	Basilisk & Gargoyle	Spectre & Shadow	Hill Giant, Ogre & Orc	Wraith & Shadow
73	Troll & Troglodyte	Dryad & Pixie	Hill Giant & Gnoll	Spectre & Shadow
74	Pilgrims of Orcus &Shadows	Gnome & Pixie	Hill Giant & Bugbear	Ghost & Shadow
75	Centaur & Sprite	Spectre & Shadow	Hill Giant, Bugbear &Gnoll	Brownie & Gnome
76	Treant & Sprite	Wraith & Shadow	Hill Giant & Ettin	Yeti & Wolf

Refer to OGL if required.

3 temples

Temple of the Fire God
Priests wear luminous robes of silver and silk threads - at least two will be in the chapel at all times of day and night, occupied by devotions to the Fire God. It lives in a glass case behind the altar. Some priests are devoted to keeping the god placated that fire does not scourge the earth - other priests continue logical lines of progress from the introduction of fire and seek to spread 'civilization' - druids acknowledge and respect the power of the Fire God.

It is a powerful elemental being with an intelligence totally alien to the Prime Material Plane - it should be considered neutral. It has been bound in its glass prison for 300 years (though it itself marks no measure of time) and bestows powers on clerics (and druids, sorcerers, etc as applicable) without imposing stringent lifestyle and alignment restrictions on those who make contact with it - it is the priesthood that has grown for 4 or 5 generations that imposes rules. These include:

1st & 2nd level: 1 week devotion per month
3rd & 4th level: 1 week devotion per season
5th & 6th level: 1 week devotion per year

Order of the Fire's Light: loremasters, technicians
Order of the Blazing Flame: clerics, paladins

Healing spells granted by fire god leave scars
Turning undead manifests as a wave of heat and flame that does not harm the living.

Temple of Asanu
Priests are clad in red and black. Asanu is a powerful demon lord, the cult around it is a mystery religion, wherein murder is a common act of devotion. The priests are slavers, and they are bankers. The temple is often a safe house for assassins and contains an avatar of the deity - behind the altar is a fountain of a viscous brown poisonous fluid. Asanu can sense and speak through it, cast spells and powers through it, and cause it to attack like a 12 HD water weird (with poisonous bite, -3 to save).

Clerics of Asanu cannot use edged/pointed weapons, with the exception of a sacramental knife (d3 damage). They are expected to use this knife one time per level each year to take the life an good-aligned being - consigning them to become manes demons in Asanu's realm, or undead servants of the priesthood.

Healing spells cost x2 normal
Controlled and created undead at option of priesthood


Temple of the Thing in the Lake
The priests are garbed in blue and black. They are charged with keeping their god pacified. It is to be considered a neutral creature of alien intelligence. The powers the clerics (druids, sorcerers, etc) derive are real, though they seem to be only a side-effect of interaction with the being.

Service to the temple takes the form of a rigorous regimen of fasting and meditative trance. In this way, a cleric establishes their connection to the deity and also keeps it distracted, that it not stir from the depths.

1st & 2nd level: 1 day a week
3rd & 4th level: 3 days a month
5th & 6th level: 1 week a season
7th & 8th level: 1 month a year

Clerics may gain their spells through an hour's meditation, using water from the lake as a focus. This can be accomplished at lakeside, or using a translucent or transparent bottle of lake water. The holy water fount in the temple draws from the lake.

Undead destroyed in turning become normal water

5 more weird rooms

1.Walls of force form a tunnel through a larger room, filled with hideous demons that batter against the invisible barrier, desperate to consume the PCs. The demons are illusionary.

2.A hole in one wall (4' deep, 5' wide) emits a permanent gust of wind (as cast by 10th level magic user, i.e. 50% extinguish protected flames, 10' wide, 100' long. If this is in a small enclosed room, it will be filled with air turbulence)

3. A magical goat is staked to a post in front of the other way out. Missiles fired in (or into) this room vanish into thin air. If the goat is attacked, it breaks its tether and engages in melee (AC -1 HD 2 hp 10 A 1 D 5-8 attacks as 6 HD creature). If it is given food, it will let them pass. It will not try to stop anyone. However, it will bray loudly once they have passed. If it is untied from the post, it will attack the un-tier that round and then vanish. If the goat damaged the un-tier, a random magic ring is left behind.

4. 6 skeletons stand in an inward facing circle. In the center of the circle is a large cube of iron. This cube hums and pulses slowly with a faint green glow. The skeletons last command was to stare at the box. They do not attack unless attacked. They will follow the cube if it is moved, though it could be very heavy.

5. Two humanoid faces are carved into opposite walls facing each-other. Anything the PCs say in this room will be repeated by the faces - one will repeat the words in Dwarvish, the other in an unknown, sibilant language.

This was some ideas I was having for an AD&D environment, the player character options. All humans were of Monster Manual Men entry stock (bandit, berserker, etc...)

Apparently demi-humans cannot be single-classed and humans can multi-class. The score after the class is EXP required to level. Thieves only show up as a multi-class option. Clerics are not to be found, their spells likely split between druids and magic users.

DWARF CLASSES
Fighter/Thief 3250
Fighter/Assassin 3500

ELF, HALF ELF CLASSES
Fighter/Thief 3250
Fighter/Assassin 3500
Magic User/Thief 3750
Druid/Fighter 4000 (half elf only)
Fighter/Magic User 4500

GNOME CLASSES
Fighter/Thief 3250
Fighter/Assassin 3500
Illusionist/Thief 3500
Illusionist/Assassin 3750
Fighter/Illusionist 4250

HUMAN CLASSES
Assassin 1500
Druid 2000
Fighter 2000
Ranger 2250
Magic User 2500
Fighter/Thief 3250
Druid/Thief 3250
Fighter/Assassin 3500
Magic User/Thief 3750
Illusionist/Assassin 3750
Druid/Fighter 4000
Druid/Illusionist 4250
Druid/Magic User 4500

Things I like to remember:
Villages, Settlements, Encampments

1. Many villages will have dogs, or early warning analogue animals. Consider an elven predilection of giant eagles (!), gnolls w/hyenadon (!). Approaching a random village could result in being attacked, killing one of their dogs considered a crime – at least a fine.

2. The current ‘mood’ of villagers can change the tenor of approach drastically. Are they hostile because they are harried by bandits and assume the worst of wandering adventurers? Are they in the middle of some twee celebration because the crop was good? There are stories of powers moving disguised though times of festival, if not all of the time.

3. On the subject of disguise, think about things that can polymorph. Some wizards, many demons and devils. Magic ogres, maybe powerful dragons (I’m not so much a fan of that). What do you want the odds to be in a population of 500, that there’s d12 dopplegangers or d6 ogre magi or something?

4. On the subject of disguise again (I know, a tangent…), how about the invisibles? Not so many of those. Nevertheless, let the sprites go invisible, and again with the magic ogres…

5. I like villages at a headcount of 100-500 (d6x100, 6 is 1), which is to say populations of that size. Nomadic cultures produce independent populations based on a dispersion percentage. Same with merchants. These tend to be much smaller on average, but the potential for truly huge hordes exists also.

6. I have always sucked at role-playing settlements, I prefer to make it more gamey. Rolling a d6 to determine how many internal divisions there are in a group if necessary. These divisions can be used to determine the temperament of the group as a whole. If they are balkanized (roll of 6) and antagonistic in general, the community will ‘feel’ different than if they are all ‘of one mind’ (roll of 1). The number of divisions could be used for patrol size, alignment division, kinda a lot of things on the fly.

7. I tend to think of village economies as being largely centered around one resource or feature for convenience. All villages will have some provision for water. D6, 6 is 1 yields an agricultural bump. Treat 6 as whatever you want, to increase the presence of resources, 5 for very developed locations.
A. <200 Agriculture
B. 200 Fortification
C. 250 Raw Material (wood, stone)
D. 300 Goods/Production/Manufacture
E. 350 Trade Route/Temple/Cultural Importance
F. 400 Agriculture & Fortification + one of C, D, or E
G. 450 Agriculture & Fortification + two of C, D, or E
H. 500 Agriculture & Fortification + C, D, and E

8. I like the idea that maybe 1 in 10 random villages are “class sanctuaries”. Instead of multiplying by 100, the die thrown for population is multiplied by a number keyed to the class in question.
A. X10 10-50 Clerics (potentially Cultist/Pilgrim, Paladin, Ranger, Assassin, Monk)
B. X10 10-50 Druids (potentially Cultist/Pilgrim, Berserker, examples of any other basic class, certainly animals)
C. X10 10-50 Fighters (potentially Bandit/Brigand, Berserker, Merchant)
D. X5 5-25 Magic Users (potentially anything!)
E. X5 5-25 Thieves (potentially Bandit/Brigand, Merchant, Assassin)
I like the idea – generates cleric temple & druid wyrd spots, wizard covens, thief gangs, strongpoints of arms. Could be used for quick & dirty level advancement, contacts, etc.

AD&D thought of the day

1st level magic user. Plenty of fun as is, however, I've been thinking about a way to let starting wizards make temporary magic items. How's this...

1. cast a Nystul's magic aura on an object, lasts 1 day/level
2. cast a Find Familiar (doesn't count against the 'once a year' stipulation). Casting time is 1-24 hours. The familiar is bound to the object with the aura on it.
3. cast whatever spell you want the object to store or use after that.

It will have as many charges as the caster's intelligence-level (diminishing returns)

kinda cute.

AD&D Druids 2

Telecanter asked "So, any ideas on mechanics or guidelines to emphasize this view of druids in play?" to last post, and as usual, some half and quarter -formed ideas at best. Druids and bards both have proven to be character classes I have much difficulty 'fitting in' - finding an interpretation I'm comfortable with - probably because they are the ones that imply a closer relation to earth history and culture than the others, so there's more baggage attached to them that way than I should bother thinking about...

The only tinkering I've done with the druid class was for Tunnels and Trolls, a system I have an easier time inventing with. Essentially, though, all I did was port over the 1e druid and throw a few more spells into the mix (spells to compel truth, to enforce pacts and agreements (kinda geas-light), and a couple of others that downplayed the nature side of the character type, played up their ability to act as judges)

So, ideas on playing up the traditional social roles of druids (in a totally fantastic 1e society/world anyway!)...

By the book, every druid will have a charisma of 15 or more. Perhaps the druid should start off with henchmen - traditionalists who rely on the character for guidance. At 15 charisma, maximum henchmen is 7, so maybe d4 or d6 henchies? Some players like having henchmen, some don't - and there's obviously some other issues with this, namely - that's potentially a pretty powerful gang for a 1st level character to command!

But this could be used to show from the start that druids are social, and could serve as a sort of foreshadowing to the intricacies of advancing through the ranks of the druidic 'church'.

The church? The whole hierarchy of druids thing. Without going into the difficulties involved in trying to play the 'organization' by-the-book, consider that each 12th level druid will have 'an entourage of three underlings'. The 12th level druid with the least experience points has an entourage of 3 1st level druids. I assume that as these low level druids rise in experience, they are passed to those 12th level druids with more experience than their previous supervisor. Perhaps then, the freshly rolled druid begins the game with a 12th level "patron"?

Well - for what purpose(s) does this organization exist? Are there more druids in the world than can be accounted for in the organization? Open questions. Let's assume that the answer is no for the time being, that all druids exist in underling/supervisor relations. Doing the mathematics to find out how many druids exist should be possible, but it not the kind of thing I want to go into right now (ever?) - I guess it seems more important to me to try to define the goals and purposes of those who follow The Great Druid. What druids in general strive for is spelled out somewhat (paraphrasing: "..to strengthen, protect, and revitalize... living, growing things."), but how specifically.

The biggest chicken-bone to me, at this point, becomes druids vs clerics. While I don't like the idea that druids are just "clerics but different", the problem that comes up is they know that the gods exist. So how do they get along with clerics? Would not (at least some of) the gods hold a druid's refusal to worship them as an affront? What has prevented wrathful, emotional gods in a pique from wiping druidism of the face of the green earth? Does the druid see a cleric's miracle cynically, or do the gods and their worshipers fit into the 'natural order of things' (as a druid sees it)?

Obviously, as much as a cleric is powered by something (gods & demons, etc) so to is the druid (nature & elements (?)), and if clerics and druids are to co-exist, the nature of their relationship, and the messy cosmological questions that arise need to be addressed.

In a way, Moorcock's multiverse seems a good place to find a 1e druid, dedicated to Balance with a capital B, pacting with Beast & Elemental Lords...

Sorry - no real suggestions worth much here, just a bunch of questions mostly. I'll have to keep working on this more...

AD&D Druids

I don't like the idea that druids have 'patron deities' in the same way as clerics. No thanks - that's cleric stuff (and not much to my liking for them anyway). This was one of my beefs with the Greyhawk setting - though there's plenty of other things I do like about the setting.

No, druids retain the old ways - which is to say a belief system (and source of power) more cthonic, deistic... to them, the forces of the universe are not anthropomorphic - I like to consider them to be perhaps more Nietzschean (in the "beyond good and evil" sense), not seeking a balance between good/evil, law/chaos - just disregarding them as meaningful constructs whatsoever. Where druids interact with society, I like to play them as chroniclers and overseers of oaths and pacts - where they are rulers they apply reason evenly, but rarely are rulers.

In my effort to not be quite so consumed by the internet and to read physical books more regularly again, I lit upon a book called "The Druids" by Peter Berresford Ellis which was a good read, an attempt to examine the role(s) druids played in their time, while admitting the representation historically skewed by Roman conquerers and Christian converters... I thought it was an interesting read. In general it portrayed druids as taking on a number of important social roles, moreso than overtly religious duties (though reliable details of druidic cosmology/philosophy/etc are few and far between).

(I could not find much critical assessment of this book on the web, but here's a page that someone put up - a review which I find myself largely in agreement with.)

The AD&D druid has always been one of my favorite classes to play, but one I've always wanted to find a better fit for when thinking about settings and campaigns and such. Still working on it.

Title? OK: delicious avacado

Sometimes you just have to get away from the internet for a while - at least, sometimes I do. Otherwise I begin to get obsessive (in a less-than-optimally-healthy way) - so I've had a blog-sabbatical, and I feel refreshed. Got back to reading real books, and man did I get some good ones - Moorcock's Byzantium Endures, the first book of The Black Company, M. A. R. Barker's Man of Gold, Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee (who is our greatest living author if you ask me - his works, regardless of subject, have never failed me). Currently reading Moondust (talking to the astronauts who walked on the moon) and Under the Black Flag, "the romance and reality of life among the pirates". Next up is one I'm particularly excited about Ardneh's Sword by Fred Saberhagen - apparently a bridge story between Empire of the East and his Swords series... some of my favorite stuff!

Several gamish things have transpired while I've been unblogged. Acquired Rob Kuntz's Bottle City (and it is magnificent!) and the Ready Ref Sheets (finally). Thanks to a tip from Tavis I signed up for Paperbackswap a while back, and it's come through with the Rolemaster Companion II (in fantastic condition) and a late printing of the original cover AD&D Monster Manual (in bad shape, but FREE!). So at this point, I've regained all the 1st edition AD&D books that I want - Huzzah!

Started running a couple of friends through a dungeon a while back, but we haven't had time for any sessions recently. It was going well though, and hopefully we'll be able to restart in the near future. I talked them into testing out a dungeon, the kind of dungeon that is on the other side of a cursed scroll that teleports the reader and party somewhere obtuse. It's been a while since I ran AD&D, so I used the sessions to identify some of my rough spots, started to figure out how I want to handle things (initiative, higher level spells and some powerful magic items, etc... things I never really had the chance to adjudicate BITD).

Now I'm working on a small 'setting' - sort of a mini campaign area. It's been fun building things from scratch - generating a lot of information randomly and then building connections between them. The whole thing started out when I decided to generate some intelligent magic swords. I ended up with a powerful Holy Avenger that spoke several bizarre languages, and so to justify the sword's esoteric linguistic capabilities, designed its history. This established the presence of some powerful evil monsters (namely manticores and ogre magi). Anyway, I've been working on really fleshing out the populations in this area and it has been a lot of fun putting faith in the dice and establishing some story-threads afterwards.

The first Trollszine was published and proved to be a popular download. Felt great to have that come out - I have to admit that the whole Outlaw Press meltdown left me feeling very much like withdrawing from the internet gaming world - it was just such a let down and filled with personal acrimony and, frankly, that's not the kind of thing I need in the main distraction I have from real life (which all too often already has enough negativity to deal with). I got really wrapped up with that, and I think I needed to take a step back - so that's what I did.

If it wasn't for Joesky the Dungeon Brawler and Vaults of Nagoh, I don't know what I'd do!

Take care!
-G

AD&D early magic items

Another long table - didn't want to post it here. So here's the ubiquitous PDF.

This one is two-hundred elements, each a magic item that is worth less than 1000 experience points as per the DMG (using some items from UA also). Made it for myself to use - I don't like placing magic items personally, rather let chance decide - but hate fudging a roll of 17 on Miscellaneous Magic Table I...or the folding boat...

While on the subject - I have never understood the experience point reward for magic items. The only thing I can think of is that it was a method to ramp characters up from low levels. XP for gold? I'm OK with that (particularly with carousing, spell research, etc...) - but the magic item providing experience still sort of bugs me on some level. Particularly this: as the power of the magic item increases, so does the experience reward. Then, when you get those items that are the top of the heap (artifacts & relics) - THERE'S NO EXPERIENCE REWARD!

Have always been tempted to reinterpret the experience reward for magic items as a minimum required experience to use the item. This makes a little more sense to me - that one cannot even use a Staff of Power (an extreme example - experience point value: 12,000) until 3rd level. This would mean that a fighter couldn't use a +1 sword until they'd got some 400 experience under their belt the hard way.

Tempting...tempting...but I think that recrafting the tables to suit my campaign is better than imposing arbitrary limitations on what characters can do. Am I learning to say yes?

Maybe. Kinda.

now that that's off my chest

some more AD&D class rambling...
On a logical level thieves, assassins and monks make more sense to me as sub-classes of fighter -
paladins and rangers as subclasses of cleric and druid respectively. But I don't like the division of magic into divine/arcane, so I think that the cleric & magic user should be merged into one class, with a few permutation subclasses:
Magic User (learns magic user & cleric spells)
- Illusionist (learns magic user & illusionist spells)
- Druid (learns magic user & druid spells)
and heretical though it is (they can cast spells after all...)
- Paladin
- Ranger

This is, mind you, just logical ordering

Breaking AD&D character classes to itty bitty bits

Why not? It's the kind of question one usually asks after the fact.

So one night a while back I made a table whose elements in a few hours went beyond d100 range, but stayed far shy of d1000. I stopped somewhere in the 150-160 number, listing out discreet elements of the AD&D character classes. An heretical idea had seized me - instead of picking a class, players make 2-5 rolls on this table, and these elements would define the class. Magic user that can disguise like assassin? Cross your fingers and roll! With the right five rolls, the generated class could conceivably fight like fighter, spell like a cleric AND a magic user, sneak like thief, and get druid level powers (as their career of near assured success continued).

So yeah, the table got huge. Throw'd in race-specific stuff, spell-like powers, magic resistance, starting wealth and magic items, etc... I started getting bored. And then I started trying to write it up as a table. Too many elements for d144 (d12 tens, d12 ones)... oh, I should edit it down... I think I got tired.

There's recurring board-debate on such pressing issues of class-as-mechanically-immutable-archetype vs. 'why caint my wizard wear a sword?', etc, etc. My response would be to have 2-5 rolls made on some refined version of this sprawling, half-baked list, to see exactly which classes have their turfs (turves?) tread upon.

I largely forgot about it, and then found it today while cleaning up. Enjoy. It's just a list...
fiddly fiddly fiddly!

1. +1 to hit with blunt weapons
2. +1 to hit, +1 damage with one melee weapon
3. +2 damage with one melee weapon
4. +1 damage with missile weapons
5. Gain use of weapon not normally allowed (or +1 to hit with 1 weapon if weapon use unrestricted)
6. +1 to hit with missile weapons
   
7. +1 dexterity reaction/attacking adjustment
8. +1 to hit with one melee weapon
9. Turn undead as cleric of same level
10. +1 constitution hit point adjustment, +10% system shock/resurrection survival
11. +1 to hit with spears/polearms
12. Disarm at +2
13. +1 damage with one melee weapon
    
14. Turn undead as cleric of level/3
15. Turn undead as cleric of level/2
16. Has d3 doses of poison and +2 on saves vs poison
17. Has d6 doses of poison
18. +2 to hit with one melee weapon
    
19. Backstab as thief (if already a thief, may use assassination table when appropriate)
    
20. Infravision (30', or +30' if already has infravision)
21. +1 dexterity defensive adjustment
    
22. +1 wisdom magic attack adjustment
23. +1 to hit with on type of melee weapon (axes, swords, polearms, etc)
24. All saving throws at +1
25. All saving throws at +2
26. Immune to disease
    
27. Immune to poison
28. Immune to petrification
29. “Lay on hands” as a paladin
30. Surprise as a ranger
31. Dodge missiles as a monk (if a monk, saving roll at +2)
32. Track as a ranger at half listed chances (if a ranger, add 5% to chances)
33. Track as a ranger (if a ranger, add 10% to chances)
34. Open lock and find/remove traps as thief of same level (if a thief or monk, add 10% to chances)
35. Read languages as a thief (if a thief/assassin/monk, add 10% to chance)
36. May use assassination table at ½ listed chance (if assassin, improve chance by 5%)
37. Disguise as assassin (if an assassin, reduce chance of detection by ½)
38. Infravision (60' or +60' if already has infravision)
39. +1 to hit against one type of creature
40. AC improved by 4 when fighting one type of creature
41. +1 to hit and AC improved by 2 when fighting one type of creature
42. Secret concealed door detection as elf
43. Surprise as elf
44. +1 (+5%) to reaction rolls
45. +2 (+10%) to reaction rolls
46. +2 to hit with thrown weapons
47. +1 to hit, +1 damage with thrown weapons
    
48. Knows 1 additional language per 4 points of intelligence
49. +1 to hit with melee weapons
    
50. Half chance of getting lost
51. +10% improvement to climb walls*
52. Herbal lore allows location and preparation of minor toxins and physicks
53. +d4 hit points
54. +2 hit points
55. +d6 hit points
56. +4 hit points
57. Internal clock allows unerring sense of passage of time
58. Earth detections as a dwarf (if already a dwarf, improve all chances by 10%)
59. Earth detections as a gnome (if already a gnome, improve all chances by 10%)
60. Reduce final price of weapons purchased by ½
61. Reduce final price of armor purchased by ½
62. Reduce final price of animals, equipment and supplies by ½
63. Improve initiative by 1
64. Does barehand damage as a monk of level-2 (if already a monk, +1 to hit barehand)
65. Does barehand damage as a monk of level-1 (if already a monk, +1 to hit barehand)
66. Does barehand damage as a monk of own level (if already a monk, +1 to hit barehand)
67. +1 to hit with missile weapons, may extend range of missiles by 25%
68. Improve AC of armor worn by 1
69. May use a shield against 1 more attack than normal.
70. Natural Horseman
71. Outdoorsman
72. Encumbrance penalties halved
73. May use a shield as a off-hand weapon (treat as a club)
74. +10% pick-pockets*
75. Add open hand attack damage to a successful hit with a melee weapon
76. +5% Move Silently and Hide in Shadows*
77. +10% Move Silently*
78. +10% Hide in Shadows*
79. Re-roll any fumble. If second roll hits, no damage is done, but fumble is ignored.
80. Heal at x2 normal rate
81. +10% Hear Noise*
82. No off-hand penalty applied while using two weapons
83. +1 on saves against any source of heat/fire or cold
84. +2 on saves against any source of cold
85. +3 on saves against any source of cold
86. +2 on saves against any source of heat/fire
87. +3 on saves against any source of heat/fire
88. +2 on saves against any source of heat/fire or cold
89. +2 on saves against any source of electricity
90. +3 on saves against any source of electricity
91. +2 on saves vs poison
92. +1 on save vs poison per 5 constitution
93. Decrease chance of surprise by 1 and gain +4 to hit against surprised opponents
    
94. Number of henchmen x1.5, loyalty base +10%
95. Regenerate 1 hit point per minute unless killed (must be inactive to regenerate)
96. +1 to strength damage adjustment
97. Shields used reduce armor class by 2 steps
98. Blunt weapon and impact damage (including falls) to character are halved
    
99. If reduced to half or less hit points, to hit and damage at +1
100. If reduced to half or less hit points, AC improved by 1
101. AC improved by 1 against 1 attacker/round
102. AC improved by 2 against 1 attacker/round
103. AC improved by 1 against up to 2 attackers/round
104. Photographic Memory
105. Unaffected by mind-influencing spells
106. +1 damage per level against one type of creature
107. +1 damage per 3 levels against one class of creature
108. Invisible to scrying
     
109. Knows one 1st level magic user or illusionist spell, and gains 1 1st level spell per day
     
110. Knows two 1st level magic user or illusionist spells, and gains 1 1st level spell per day
     
111. Knows one 2nd level magic user or illusionist spell, and gains 1 2nd level spell per day
     
112. May cast spells as a cleric (if cleric, one additional spell/day)
113. May cast spells as a cleric of ½ level (if cleric, one additional spell/day )
114. May cast spells as a druid (if druid, one additional spell/day)
115. May cast spells as a druid of ½ level (if druid, one additional spell/day)
116. May learn and cast spells as a magic user (if magic user, may retain memory of one spell cast/day)
117. May learn and cast spells as a magic user of ½ level (if magic user, may retain memory of one spell cast/day)
118. Has Magic Resistance equal to charisma + (level x 2)
     
119. Has Magic Resistance equal to wisdom + (level x 2)
120. Saves versus spells, rods, staves and wands at +1
121. Saves versus spells, rods, staves and wands at +1 per 6 points of wisdom
     
122. Saves versus spells, rods, staves and wands at +2
123. Saves versus spells, rods, staves and wands at +1 per 4 points of wisdom
124. Saves versus magic user and illusionist spells at +4
     
125. 50% magic resistance vs spells and powers of creatures from other planes
126. Saves versus cleric and druid spells at +4
127. May learn spells from one other class
128. May learn spells from two other classes
129. Sixth sense – cannot be surprised
130. Saves vs spells, rods, staves, and wands at +1. Saves versus spells cast by character at -1
131. Operates as a thief (if already a thief, +5% to all skills)O
132. perates as a thief at ½ level
133. May cast Remove Curse 1/day
     
134. May cast Dispel Magic 1/day
135. May cast Animal Friendship 1/day
136. Ethereal Sight for 2d10 minutes, 1/day
137. Saves against spells cast by this character are at -1 **
138. Saves against spells cast by this character are at -2 **
139. Magic Resistance of those targeted by character's spells is halved **
140. Magic Resistance of those targeted by character's spells is ignored **
     
141. May save vs death at +1/level to ignore spell disruption effects **
142. Spells cast have double area of effect/number of targets when applicable **
143. Touch range spells have range 5', ranged spells add 50' to range **
144. Self range spells have range touch, touch range spells have range 5' and ranged spells add 50' to range **
145. Duration of spells cast is doubled when applicable **
146. If magic user/illusionist, may wear leather armor. If druid, may wear chain. If other, improve AC by 1
147. Has d3 potions
148. Has a scroll
149. Has a magic sword
150. Has a miscellaneous magic weapon
151. Has a magic wand
152. Has a magic staff
153. Has a magic rod
154. Has a magic ring
155. Has a miscellaneous magic item
156. Has magic armor or shield
157. Double starting gold
     
158. Begins the game with d3 henchmen (up to maximum)
159. Begins the game with d6 henchmen (up to maximum)
160. Begins the game with 2d6 henchmen (up to maximum)

!EDIT! Ugh! A PDF! Improved? I dunno, but even a little longer...

Setting Info

< OLD LINK REMOVED >
A timeline
Some history-lite
Cursory geography
A crude map (WIP!)

Still in the 'setup' phase. Players are submitting ideas and information, so it is still a work in progress. I'm trying my damnest to keep kinda quiet about what this looks like under the hood, and it's difficult because there's really cool things happening in here. Emergent patterns and such. Once the first turn starts, I'll have to start posting the words of the town criers, border edicts and travellers' stories...

One thing is certain, which seems to be much a truism in human internet-based text gaming - the initial plan never survives!

<*> I thought I'd get a couple of people, maybe a slow trickle. Nope!
<*> I was gonna randomly assign players to NPCs I already had in place. It immediately became apparent that that would not be the case across-the-board.
I am not complaining about this - the stuff being submitted is making the setting so much more interesting - so many ideas I would have never come up with. And here's where the 'emergent behavior' thing got really freaky (as in cool). Different players unaware of each other coming up with character and 'kingdom' ideas independantly, that work together very well...different hooks that seem easily related to each-other...etc

One thing that has remained pretty consistent is a sort of 'omni-game' approach. Players are using different systems for game detail of their characters as they see fit. I'm sticking to 1e AD&D as a 'lingua franca', and using it for a lot of the implementation details on my side of things, but there's 2e-isms, some T&T-isms,
and some other stuff from I don't know where!

In real world, I went to the college youngins game club this evening for their first meeting of the semester, and met with three guys that responsed to the flier I put up in a few places last week (like outside the game club's meeting room on campus for one!). One of them was somewhat aware of internet OSR stuff, they all seemed at least somewhat interested (I kinda half-assed pitched Swords & Wizardry/OSRIC aka "Old D&D" - I've never been much of a salesman...but), we're supposed to get together next week to start. In Search of the Unknown.

Quasqueton aside, they're gonna be walking into an amazing environment. Thank you overlords! I can't wait to get the internet ball rolling, so that the players can see what's going on too.

Instant Endgame

I've been kicking an idea around for a while now - or better, a bunch of ideas have been kicking me around, I'm finally getting fed up with it. I started up a free forum some time ago, thinking to myself that it would be good to start running a bunch of play-by-post games there.
Have not yet started any, though I've populated and emptied, populated and emptied it a few times with different setting info and introductions and whatnot.

Never stuck - so I never opened it up for perusal or membership.

I've been running a 'sandbox' style PBP game at Vin's Trollbridge for a while now (roughly 6 months) and enjoying the hell out of it - first time I've been able to run T&T in too many years. Been dwarfing it up in noisms' Warhammer FRP for just as long. So I think that I've become somewhat accustomed to the peculiarities of online play.

So - what to do with the forum space I set aside for running games? I still don't know exactly, but my thoughts on the matter are turning ever more frequently to 3 ideas.

1. An Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1e, mostly BtB, no UA) game with this premise: Characters are loaded on a boat at the behest of some Lord or King, who sends them to clear a wild island, to make it safe for further colonization.

2. A fantasy wargame. Rest assured, I do not intend to implement the 'game' presented in Galloway's Fantasy Wargaming book...(has anyone actually played this?) - no, I've been thinking instead that it would be interesting to have the players take on name-level roles, to determine their retainers and forces, fortifications and incomes and such, and play something more in the spirit of play-by-mail - where players have default orders, issue orders for their realm, and also decide on actions for their character as appropriate. Have no idea what game system to use for this - tempted to use Tunnels and Trolls, as it is the game I have the easiest time adapting to suit any purpose, but Rolemaster or AD&D could be serviceable also...with a dash of Diplomacy...

3. The Wizards War. Legends of many worlds tell of a time that wizards of great power came to conflict and brought wrack and ruin to each-other, wrought artifacts of awesome power, etc, etc, etc - 2 & 3 could really be the same game...

I dunno. I like the idea of refereeing a game where players are not necessarily co-operative, and maybe play-by-email is more conducive to this style, so that orders sent in remain private, and only published results offer information on the game-state.

Any interest, suggestions, thoughts, ideas, etc, are appreciated.
Cheers!

pregenerated spellbooks

Added a link to a PDF of pregenerated spellbooks for 1e AD&D Magic Users. There are 6 spellbooks for each point of intelligence, making a d6 easy to determine which is found or available. Kellri's got this stuff in spades, but here's another for the sake of wheel reinvention...also put up some tables to help generate some NPC details if you need to determine an elf's class, or an assassin's race, or a fighter's alignment...

alignment table re-do

I like this better.

d%
01-16	Neutral Evil	58-69	Lawful Neutral
17-24	Lawful Evil	70-76	Chaotic Good
25-31	Chaotic Evil	77-84	Lawful Good
32-43	Chaotic Neutral	85-00	Neutral Good
44-57	True Neutral

Think I'll lay off the alignment for a while.