9 - 2016 - rpg punk

Warrior 4.0 BFRPG LotFP edition

The Warrior class combines elements of the classic Fighter, Barbarians, Rangers, Monks, and Knights. The reason for this is because I don’t think individual “prestige” classes are necessary and just make character creation more confusing and difficult, especially for players new to the game or role playing games in general.

This class gives the player options to build, over time, the character they want.

Hit Dice: d8
Saves: As a first level fighter. These do not improve with level; they improve with the following table.
Bonus to Hit: +1 at first level, and every level after.

Pick or roll twice from the following list. Do this at first level and every level after.

Weather Resistance:Bonus of +1 to any save against extreme temperature or inclement weather.
Primal Attraction: Use both Charisma and Strength modifiers for Morale and Reaction rolls.
Defensive Stance: +1 to Armor Class, -2 to hit. Re-rolling this gives another +1/-2
No need for armor: You have a +1 to AC and a +1 to damage in melee when you are not wearing armor, other than a helmet and/or shield. Re-rolling this grants an additional +1/+1.
Favored Enemy: Choose an animal, monster, or sentient species. You get a +1 to hit and +1 to damage against that specific type of creature, every time this is rolled. You are also -2 on Reaction rolls with creatures of that type every time this is rolled. You can pick anything from mosquitoes to bears to dragons to humans.
Two-Weapon fighting: You can hit with weapons in both hands. Your off hand has a -2 to hit, with no Strength bonus applicable. Re-rolling this gives a +1 to hit with the off hand.
You have an extra attack/action per round.
Fists of Steel: Your punches and kicks inflict +1 damage
Increase Hit Die by one type. In other words, your d8 is now a d10. Hit points are not re-rolled.
Intimidate: +1 to Charisma checks to instill fear against others. Intimidated opponents will cower or flee.
Attribute Bonus: +1 to any attribute, up to species maximum.
Save Bonus: +1 to all saves.
Bonus of +1 to a skill. So instead of 1 in 6, you have a 2 in 6.
Taunt: +1 to Charisma checks to taunt an opponent. Taunted opponents will attack against their own better judgement. Taunting counts as a non-attack action.
Ranged Bonus: Pick a specific ranged weapon type (short bow, heavy crossbow, sling, etc). You can attack twice as fast with that weapon. Re-rolling means 3x as fast.
Use two-handed weapon one handed. If re-rolled, you can wield a two-handed weapon in your off hand, as well.
Mounted bonus: You have a +1 bonus to damage with melee weapons while mounted, and can ride without a saddle or gear with no penalty. +1 damage whenever this is re-rolled.
Berserker Rage: When angry, you can enter into a trance-like state of fury. This grants a +2 to hit and damage, but a -4 to AC. The trance lasts for your Constitution in rounds, or until every living thing in sight is dead. Re-rolling this grants a +4 to hit and damage, but a -8 to AC.
Offensive Stance: +1 to hit, -2 AC. Re-rolling this gives another +1/-2
Animal Domination: With a Reaction roll you can befriend a wild animal who will now act as a retainer. The animal can not have been attacked by you or your allies in the past. Asking the animal to risk harm to itself requires another reaction roll. Failure means it will run away. Only one animal can be dominated at a time. Re-rolling this means an additional animal can be dominated.

Skills and Saving Throws

I’m always trying to think of ways to streamline and simplify rules and mechanics. Well, that’s not really true, usually I’m trying to think of something else (Should gorilla-men who live in treehouses and dump their waste to the forest floor have any special immunities or bonuses to save against the spores and disease of the fungus-people who collect the waste?) and then I get on a mental tangent and spend the rest of the day wondering why only Thieves have skills and why they are use a percentage die system while every other dice mechanic in the damn game is a d6 or d20.

More systems means more complication and more distractions during the game as players stop and ask which die they roll for a particular thing, and I find that terribly annoying. On the other hand, using a single die or mechanic for every single thing is boring and usually ends up with dice pools and all the bullshit and headaches that entails.

I like to keep it simple, yet interesting.

So I was thinking about the Prime attribute system in Castles and Crusades. It was created to simplify saving throws and skills by making them attribute checks. A Prime atribute means you have to roll 12 or better, a Secondary attribute means you have to roll an 18 or better. The GM also has modifiers (difficulty levels) that they can throw at your roll but that’s the gist of it.

The problem is that I’ve run Castles and Crusades before, and the players were constantly confused as to which attribute was prime and what they roll and what their bonus was and… the campaign fizzled. I thought maybe it was my fault, I didn’t explain the system well enough… blaming myself, really.

It wasn’t me though. The SIEGE system (what C&C calls their mechanic) is cluncky and weird and doesn’t work all that well when you look at it closely.

Sure, some skill might be under one of your Prime attributes, but since you’re the wrong class, you don’t get to add your level to it. Or, you are the right class, but you don’t have the right Prime attribute so you suck at something you should be good at. And why does every system want to front-load badassness into every character at 1st level? I remember back in the day all these hipster scumbags shitting on Rifts for front-loading characters and now every game does it. First level characters should be shit, and they should become slightly less shit as they gain experience.

Especially if you aren’t playing a superhero RPG.

When is someone going to publish a perfect system that I won’t have to rewrite?

Anyway… here is Saves and Skills

I believe characters should be built over time, hence the entire point of experience points and levels. Some games and players don’t use xp or levels. This isn’t for you.

Saving throws

Basically the same as C&C, but the terminology is removed because it is unnecesary.

To save, roll 18 or higher on a d20. Include all applicable modifiers. The GM (me) can add modifiers to indicate the difficulty of the situation. For example, the HD of a spellcaster is added to the dificulty of any saves against that spellcaster’s magic. Or an invisible trap will be harder to detect than an obvious hole in the ground.

If your character is a…

Warrior: You get +6 to Strength based saves
Magic User: You get +6 to either Intelligence or Wisdom saves (Player’s choice)
Specialist: You get +6 to Dexterity based saves

All characters get to choose two other attributes. The saves from each of these attributes have a bonus of +3.

Every level your character goes up, you get a +1 to ALL saves.

Skills

Skills doesn’t just mean the special skills of the specialist. Skills are pretty much anything not covered by a saving throw. For that reason, I’m not including a skill list.

To successfully roll a skill, you have to roll an 18 or higher on a d20.

Warriors and Magic Users focus on fighting and magic. Therefore they are not as adept at things not involving those two things.

Warriors and Magic Users add attribute modifiers to applicable skills.
This gives Warriors and Magic Users a 10% chance of success at first level, not including attribute bonuses.
Warriors and Magic Users have the possibility of selecting a “Class Skill,” which gives a particular skill the bonus of +1 per level of the character.

Specialists are all about skills. That’s the strength of the class!

Specialists receive a +3 to all skills, in addition to applicable attribute modifiers
Specialists receive a bonus of +1 per level of the character to all skills.
This gives the Specialist a 25% chance of success at first level, not including attribute bonuses.

Special note about Languages

Regardless of class, the Intelligence modifier indicates how many languages the character can speak and read, in addition to their native language.
There is no maximum number of Languages a character can know.
The Language skill is used to determine if the character knows a particular language when it is encountered for the first time. It is rolled as any other skill.

Magic Users 2.5

Much like the Fighter, I’ve smooshed all the magic classes together into a single class. Except for Illusionists, because I don’t like Illusionists and they have no place in the setting I’m developing. Also Bards. Bards can suck it.

While the title of this class is Magic User, you can write in whatever you want on your character sheet; Wizard, Cleric, Druid, Summoner, Magus, whatever. You will notice that Clerics do not automatically know every spell of a given level. Why should they? They need to study and memorize prayers and keep a prayer book just like a Wizard needs to study and memorize spells and keep a spell book.

Spells will either be condensed into a single list, or players can choose to go with one of the traditional lists. I’m seriously considering incorporating magic Circles from Palladium Fantasy. I think it would add something cool and different. On the other hand, it would also add a level of complexity, which is what I want to avoid. So ignore that bit for now.

Anyway…

Prime attribute: Player’s choice of Intelligence or Wisdom
Hit Die: d4
Abilities:

Starting Spells: 3 level one, 2 level two, 1 level three.
Cost to cast: 1 Hit Point per spell level, per level of current Encumbrance.
Note about Class Skills: unless chosen/rolled from the list below, the Magic User has a base of 18 on any skill check. Level bonus does not apply, although attribute modifiers do apply.

Humans choose two of the following abilities every level of experience, non-humans choose one:

Increase Hit Die by one type. So your d4 is now a d6. Hit points are not re-rolled.
Increase a Prime attribute by 1 point, up to racial maximum.
Natural Aptitude: Learn a spell equal or less than your own level. No research needed.
Decrease casting cost by 1 HP, after multiplication. Minimum casting cost of 1 HP. So, if you’re lightly encumbered and have this ability, your cost to cast a spell is 2 HP per spell level, -1.
Create Scroll (as per LotFP). Roll this again and the cost and time is reduced by 10%
Create Potion (as per LotFP). Same as number 5.
Your hand eye coordination is better than average: +1 to hit.
Enlarge: Range and Area of effect of spells is increased 25%
Power: Duration of spells is increased 25%, and damage is +1
Reach: Spells with a range of Touch can be extended 5 feet from the caster.
Cantrips: Learn two Level 0 spells. These cost 1 HP regardless of encumbrance level.
Saving Throw bonus: +1 to all non-prime saves.
Duck and Move: +1 to Armor Class
Retroactive Magic Detection: Detect magic used in past 24 hours in a 30 square foot area, with a Wisdom check. Roll this again and you can determine what spell was cast. Roll it again and you can detect if a magical creature or magic user of 5 HD or higher passed through. Roll it any more times and you get a +1 to your attribute check.
You automatically see the aura of any creature of 1 HD or less. Roll again and this increases to 2 HD or less.
Enchant Object: Magic rings, wands, talismans, etc. Same as number 5.
Pick or roll an ability from the Fighter or Specialist ability lists. This is your chance to multi-class!
Choose a class skill from the following list: Climb (STR), Decipher Script (INT), Listen (WIS), Swim (CON), Move Silently (DEX), Hide (DEX), and Language (INT). Class skills receive a bonus equal to your level, as well as attribute modifiers.
Choose a 1st level spell that you already know. You can cast this spell 1x per day at no hit point cost.
Counterspell: When another magic user casts a spell against you, or anyone within 10 feet of you, you can roll a save vs magic to counter it, and send the spell back at its caster. Every time you re-roll this, you get a +1 to your save.

Fighter 3.5

The Fighter class combines elements of the classic Fighter, Barbarians, Rangers, Monks, and Knights. The reason for this is because I don’t think individual “prestige” classes are necessary and just make character creation more confusing and difficult, especially for players new to the game or role playing games in general.

This class gives the player options to build, over time, the character they want.

Prime Attribute: Strength. Humans pick two more Prime Attributes. Non-humans
Hit Dice: d8
Abilities:

Bonus to Hit: +1 at first level, and every level after. The Fighter is the only class that gets a bonus to hit every level.
If human, pick or roll twice from the following list. Non-humans pick or roll one time.
Note about Class Skills: unless chosen/rolled from the list below, the Fighter has a base of 18 on any skill check. Level bonus does not apply, although attribute modifiers do apply.

Weather Resistance: Choose one; Arctic or Desert. Effects from cold or heat are reduced by 10%, rounding up. +10% whenever this is re-rolled or chosen.
Primal Attraction: You can use your Strength attribute instead of Charisma for anything requiring a Charisma check.
Defensive Stance: +1 to Armor Class, -2 to hit. Re-rolling this gives another +1/-2
No need for armor: You have a +2 to AC when you are not wearing armor, other than a helmet and/or shield. Re-rolling this grants an additional +2.
Favored Enemy: Choose an animal, monster, or sentient species. You get a +1 to hit and +1 to damage against that specific type of creature, every time this is rolled. You are also -2 on Charisma checks with creatures of that type every time this is rolled. You can pick anything from mosquitoes to dragons to humans.
Two-Weapon fighting: You can hit with weapons in both hands. Your off hand has a -2 to hit, with no Strength bonus applicable. Re-rolling this gives a +1 to hit with the off hand.
You have an extra attack/action per round.
Fists of Steel: Your punches and kicks inflict +1 damage
Increase Hit Die by one type. In other words, your d8 is now a d10. Hit points are not re-rolled.
Intimidate: +1 to Charisma checks to instill fear against others. Intimidated opponents will cower or flee.
Attribute Bonus: +1 to any Prime attribute, up to species maximum.
Save Bonus: +1 to all non-prime saves.
Choose one of the following as a Class Skill: Climb (STR), Listen (WIS), Swim (CON), Move Silently (DEX), Hide (DEX), Traps (INT), Poison (INT), Survival (WIS), Track (INT), Seamanship (WIS). Class skills take the place of attribute checks; attribute modifiers apply and class level applies. If the associated attribute is Prime, the skill check base is 12, otherwise it is 18.
Taunt: +1 to Charisma checks to taunt an opponent. Taunted opponents will attack against their own better judgement. Taunting counts as a non-attack action.
Ranged Bonus: Pick a specific ranged weapon type (short bow, heavy crossbow, sling, etc). You can attack twice as fast with that weapon. Re-rolling means 3x as fast.
Use two-handed weapon one handed. If re-rolled, you can wield a two-handed weapon in your off hand, as well.
Mounted bonus: You have a +1 bonus to damage with melee weapons while mounted, and can ride without a saddle or gear with no penalty. +1 damage whenever this is re-rolled.
Berserker Rage: When angry, you can enter into a trance-like state. This grants a +2 to hit and damage, but a -4 to AC. The trance lasts for your Constitution in rounds, or until every living thing in sight is dead. Re-rolling this grants a +4 to hit and damage, but a -8 to AC.
Offensive Stance: +1 to hit, -2 AC. Re-rolling this gives another +1/-2
Animal Domination: With a Charisma check at +1, you can befriend a wild animal who will now act as a retainer. The animal can not have been attacked by you or your allies in the past. Asking the animal to risk harm to itself requires another charisma check. Failure means it will run away. Only one animal can be dominated at a time. Re-rolling this means an additional animal can be dominated.

Armor and more on Encumbrance

Because of the specifics of the setting I’m working on, the large list of armors from Castles & Crusades, as well as the very small list of armors from Lamentations of the Flame Princess, do not work for what I want.

First, about armor and encumbrance. I detailed encumbrance in this post.

Shields and helmets are considered a standard item, for encumbrance purposes, so they take up a single item slot.

Helmets: While there are a dizzying array of helmet designs, they fall into the following categories. Helmets provide an AC bonus only against attacks specifying the head. Helmet AC is not added to regular AC. Cost is generic: I haven’t decided to go with a silver or gold standard yet.

Leather Cap: +1 AC, cost: 4
Metal Pot: +2 AC, cost: 5
Helm: +5 AC, cost: 10
Great Helm: +7 AC, cost: 20

Shields: Shields provide two defensive bonuses, and a special defense. The first is against melee attacks, the second is against ranged attacks, and the third is the Shields Will Be Broken Rule. This rule is that a shield may be sacrificed to take the full damage from a single attack. A Modification to the rule allows for the material the shield is made of. Wood shields are unusable after being sacrificed. Metal shields can effectively be sacrificed twice. This rule does not apply to the Buckler, which is too small (you’d be sacrificing your arm).

Buckler: +1 AC melee, +1 AC ranged, cost: 2
Small Shield: +1 AC melee, +2 AC ranged, cost: 3 wood, 9 steel
Medium Shield: +2 AC melee, +3 AC ranged, cost: 5 wood, 15 steel
Large Shield: +3 AC melee, +4 AC ranged, cost: 7 wood, 21 steel

Like any other item, armor uses up an item slot. No matter what kind it is, armor takes up a single item slot. Heavier armor, because of its weight, bulk, and restriction of movement, also has a further penalty.

There are three basic types of armor, and how they work with encumbrance is as follows:

Light Armor fills an item slot.
Medium Armor fills an item slot AND a point of encumbrance.
Heavy Armor fills an item slot AND two points of encumbrance.

A half suit, basically covering the chest and torso, or the classic chain/plate bikini, or the bracers/gauntlets, shoulder plates, shin guard combo all work the same, and are considered a half-suit for game purposes.

A half suit of Light armor takes up an item slot.
Half suit of Medium armor takes up an item slot.
Half suit of Heavy armor takes up an item slot, AND fills one point of encumbrance.

Now, on to specific types of armor available! The armor listed includes the Armor Class bonus for half and full suits, as well as the cost. These are guidelines, but cover most types of armor. While many other types of armor exist, they all effectively fall within these categories and use the same stats.

Light Armor:

Hide or Leather: +1 AC half suit, +2 AC full suit, cost: 5/10
Studded Leather: +2 AC half suit, +3 AC full suit, cost: 12/24

Medium Armor:

Chain or Scale: +3 AC half suit, +5 AC full suit, cost: 100/200

Heavy Armor:

Plate: +5 AC half suit, +8 AC full suit, cost: 300/600

Encumbrance; a Little Less Sucky

Encumbrance is probably the least used and most boring part of RPGs. I don’t think I’ve ever been a player in a game where encumbrance was ever an issue that really came up, as most games use complicated systems that suck the fun right out of the game, so no one ever bothers with them. Or they use a system based on Strength and how much you can lift and nothing else, making it silly and unrealistic. Castles & Crusades, at least in the 4th printing that I own, has a terribly convoluted and dare-I-say-it unplayable encumbrance system. I knew when I started this that it would be the very first thing I scrapped from the system.

Encumbrance doesn’t have to be so crappy, though.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess was the first game I ever played that had an encumbrance system that wasn’t terrible and was simple to implement.

So I’m porting that into this game.

In LotFP, you can carry any number of items. However, the more you carry, the more Encumbrance Points you accrue. It uses a system of equipment slots. Every sixth slot you fill grants an encumbrance point. Small items, like an arrow, can have many carried before filling a slot. Certain types of armor automatically count for encumbrance points.

Having so many encumbrance points affects your speed and, in the case of Magic Users, your ability to cast spells.

While Encumbrance doesn’t have to be continually tracked throughout play, the Referee is allowed to audit a player’s equipment at any time, with the player penalized accordingly if they are carrying too much stuff.

Add to this the importance LotFP places on hiring retainers, and it’s a very effective and simple system.

In a nutshell;

Carrying 6 or more items is a point.
Carrying 11 or more items is two points.
Carrying 16 or more items is three points.
Carrying 21 or more items is four points.
Oversized items, two-handed weapons, some armor = 1 point.
Giant sized items, some armor = 2 points

More on armor and how it affects encumbrance in the next post.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess, though, is designed for a more gritty, low-fantasy, setting. Not the high-fantasy, ridiculousness of Strathos. Some some changes are necessary.

Constitution Modifier applies to Encumbrance. This means that you receive extra item slots based on your Con mod, before you take an encumbrance point. On the other hand, having a negative Con mod means you can fill fewer slots before taking an encumbrance point.

Example 1: Sheila the Barbarian has a +2 Con modifier. This translates to her being able to fill 7 slots of items before accruing an encumbrance point.

Example 2: Brxrfrx the Mushroom has no Con modifier. It can fill up to 5 slots of items without accruing an encumbrance point.

Example 3: Trent the Wizard has a -2 Con modifier. He can only fill up to 3 slots of items before accruing an encumbrance point.

Okay, but what does it mean to accrue and Encumbrance Point? How do they affect the game?

Zero or One encumbrance points = Unencumbered. This has no effect on your character.
Two encumbrance points = Lightly encumbered. Speed is reduced 20%.
Three points = Heavily encumbered. Speed is reduced by 40%, and Magic Users cannot use magic. Characters suffer a -1 penalty to all combat rolls and skill checks, as well as dexterity based saves.
Four points = Severely encumbered. Speed is reduced by 80%. Characters suffer a -3 penalty to all combat rolls, skill checks, and Dexterity based saves.
5 points = Overencumbered. The character cannot move.

Example 4: Trent the Wizard is carrying a spell book (1 item slot), a pen and ink set (1 item slot), a dagger (1 item slot), a weeks worth of rations (1 item slot) and a staff (two-handed weapon: 1 encumbrance point), making him Lightly Encumbered. Why? Because he has filled 4 item slots (remember, he can only fill three slots without accruing a point) and has a two-handed weapon. That totals 2 encumbrance points.

While all of this makes sense to me, I know that it doesn’t necessarily make sense to anyone reading this. So I am happy to answer any questions.

Fighters like it Rough

This is a rough draft of some stuff I’m considering. Hence the title. My previous post about fighters is here, and I just want to give a shout out to Zak, since his posts on Barbarians and Fighters inspired much of this.

I’m still messing around with formatting posts. I like to add pics to give a visual presentation of the ideas I’m trying to convey. Sometimes I think I overdo it, though.

This is essentially an idea to combine Fighters and Barbarians and Monks and Knights and Paladins into a single, all encompassing, class.

Fighter
Prime Attribute: Strength
Hit Die:

d8: Roll or pick 4 abilities from the list
d10: Roll or pick 3 abilities from the list
d12: Roll or pick 2 abilities from the list
All: Roll or pick twice from the list when you level up.

Special: Trade 1 ability to learn 1 spell of any level below your own. If this is chosen at character creation, the spell is a level 0 or 1. If chosen after level one, the spell must be one known by someone willing to teach you. This grants the ability to cast a spell, it does not automatically give you a spell. The cost to cast such a spell is 3 HP per level of the spell.

Abilities:

Weather/Element Resistance: Wearing a chain mail bikini in shin deep snow doesn’t bother you.
Animal Domination: Big, scary, wild animals take a liking to you and do what you want them to do.
Primal Attraction: have you seen those Frazetta paintings? Or in the following case, Brom? Through charisma, pheromones, or whatever, other people are attracted to you. No matter how ugly you are or how much gore you’re splattered with.
Defensive Stance: +1 AC, -2 to hit. This can be taken multiple times
Armor costs 1 less encumbrance
Unarmored AC bonus: for the barbarian types
Tactics: Intelligence check to give allies +1 to all combat rolls for first round of combat.
Two weapon fighting: penalty for off-hand attacks is reduced
Extra attack
Improved unarmed combat: +1 damage with bare fists
Giant-killer: +1 hit and damage against creatures at least 1 size level bigger than you
Intimidation: Charisma +1 vs opponent’s Wisdom or Fear
Strength bonus: +1 to strength up to racial max
Pain tolerance: +1 vs pain saves
Saving throw bonus: + to all saves
No Fear: +1 vs fear saves
Skill point
Taunt: Charisma check +1 vs opponents Wisdom
Ranged weapon bonus: Faster reloads, trick shooting, etc
Use two handed weapon one-handed (like Guts in Berserk!)
Mounted fighting bonus (Knights, Lancers, Mongols, etc)
Berserker rage
Offensive stance: +1 to hit, -2 AC. This can be taken multiple times
Improvised Weapon

Addendum to Wizards and Clerics and Shit

After further review, I have come up with the following changes to Magic Users


by Ramon Perez

Hit Points and the cost of spell casting are as follows:

d4: Zero level spells = 0 HP, Other spells cost 2 HP -1 per spell level
d6: Zero level spells = 1 HP, Other spells cost 2 HP per spell level
d8: Zero level spells = 1 HP, Other spells cost 2 HP +1 per spell level

In other words, if you’re a d4 Hit Die Wizard, and cast a level 3 spell, it will cost 5 hit points. If you’re a d6 HD Wizard, and cast a level 3 spell, it will cost 6 hit points. If you’re a d8 HD Wizard, a level 3 spell will cost 7 hit points.

The number of spells a character starts with also varies by hit die.

d4: Starts with 4 zero level spells, 2 first level spells, and 1 second level spell.
d6: Starts with 3 zero level spells, and 2 first level spells.
d8: Starts with 2 zero level spells, and 1 first level spell.

Spell progression in Strathos is limited in that new spells are not automatically learned. New spells can be gained by purchasing them from a more experienced magic user, converting a spell scroll or book, making a deal with a higher (or lower) being, or figuring them out through research and trial and error.

A Magic User can trade 3 spells of any level to gain a single Fighter or Specialist ability. This is only possible during character creation, and not available after the character has been used in play. This is my crappy version of multi-classing.

Magic Users suffer penalties to encumbrance (NOTE: I use Lamentations of the Flame Princess’ encumbrance system):

Armor of +2 or higher uses 2x the amount of encumbrance slots.
Weapons inflicting more than d6 in damage use 2x the amount of encumbrance slots.
If the Magic User is more than lightly encumbered, all spell casting costs double the amount of hit points than normal. This makes having loyal (or paid) retainers/servants a necessity.

Magic Users saving throws are based more on individual character concept than set-in-stone class mechanics

A traditional Wizard would have Intelligence as a Prime attribute, with associated saves having that benefit.
A traditional Cleric would have Wisdom as a Prime attribute.
A Bard would have Charisma as a Prime.
Other builds can be argued if necessary.

Wizards and Clerics and Shit

Army of God, by Draegg

I have never been a fan of “Vancian” magic systems. I’ve never read Vance, and never even heard of him until less than a decade ago. I’m sure some nerd’s head just exploded somewhere. I don’t really care.

Maybe in its original context it was hip and cool and edgy and neat. But Vancian magic hasn’t been any of those things in the 25 years I’ve been gaming. It isn’t fun; it’s an arbitrary handicap. It isn’t balancing, and even if it was, fuck that; balance is bullshit. And the worst part of it is that in spells are written down in spell books and have components you must possess… But you still forget them after casting.

(Yes, I know Gygax or Arneson or some Steven in Dragon magazine explained exactly why this is the case back before I was born. I’m sure that explanation made perfect sense, too. I don’t care. You will not convince me that it isn’t a ridiculously bad system)

So what’s the alternative? Point-based systems? Well, I’ve always preferred point based systems over the, “oops I forgot my livelihood,” spell slot system of Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve looked at many alternatives created by many people over the years, and none of them gelled with me.

The problem with point based systems is that while it offers the player character more choice and freedom, it also makes for more book keeping and an additional stat to keep track of.

So, I’ve been working on something different.

Wizards and Clerics and Druids and Witches and Sorcerers and Warlocks and Wu Jin and whatever the hell you want to call your magic users all work pretty much the same way.

First step: Choose to be a magic user.
Second step: Choose your hit die.

Waaaaait… what? Choose your hit die?

Yep, choose a d4, d6, d8, d10, or d12.

Third step: Roll attributes, choose equipment, pick spells.

That’s it! You’re done!

Okay, it’s a little more complicated than that. Going back to to choosing your Hit Die, the HD represents what kind of magic user you want to be.

If your hit die is…

d4, then you start with 1 additional spell, in addition to Ability/Attribute bonus. Spells cost 1 HP per level of spell to cast. Zero level spells cost 0 HP, making them “at will.”
d6, Spells cost 1 HP per level to cast, Zero level spells cost 1 HP.
d8, Spells cost 2 HP per level of spell to cast, Zero level spells cost 1 HP, start with 1 less spell.
d10, Spells cost 3 HP per level of spell to cast, Zero level spells cost 2 HP, start with 2 less spells.
d12, Spells cost 4 HP per level, Zero level spells cost 3 HP, start with 3 less spells.

You may be asking, “Why?”

Well, this allows the player to have a sorcerer-supreme type of wizard in the classic sense; few hit points, lots of magic. It also allows for the battle-priest type of the classic cleric. It allows for the tough outdoorsy druid. It allows for a barbarian shaman with a couple of ringer powers. You could choose to be a gigantic muscle man who uses a couple low level spells to help him win body building contests. It leaves a whole lot of room for the player, rather than force them into an archetype.

The higher the hit die, the less practiced of a magic user the character is, so the fewer spells they have and the harder it is to cast those spells. They were too busy working out, hunting critters, punching things, or standing under waterfalls to spend a lot of time practicing magic. Or they just didn’t have an aptitude for it, but Dad paid for the education, so they had to learn a little bit. Maybe they worship a warrior goddess who grants some powers but considers reliance on magic to be for weaklings.

The backstory is up to the player.

Spell lists are whatever the player wants to fit their character concept. I’m building a spell list combining AD&D, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and Castles & Crusades, with some Palladium Fantasy thrown in there for the Strathos setting I’m working on.

Spells costing hit points was something I’ve thought about implementing for a while, and then I bought Maze of the Blue Medusa and the NPCs all spend HP to cast spells, and it sold me on the idea. It gives a point-based feel, without an addtional stat to keep track of, and makes magic more interesting by increasing its rarity due to the personal effects of wielding it.

I don’t like the “Clerics can cast any spell of an available level,” while Wizards can only cast spells they know. That doesn’t make sense to me. A cleric’s life is about their religion and belief system. Their spells should reflect the values of their god(s), religion, or religious sect/order. Since cleric spells are complicated prayers that call upon higher powers to act on the cleric’s behalf, they should be learned and passed on the same as wizard spells. Clerics have hymnals and prayer books and scrolls and prayer beads and holy symbols and altars and incense and drugs and alcohol for the same reason wizards have spell books, laboratories, crystal balls, wands, staves, pointy hats, robes with the cosmos printed on them, etc. It is for studying and recalling knowledge to perform magic.

So, if you choose d4 HD, you get a bonus spell, you get freebie spells, and your spells are very cheap to cast. You are rewarded for playing a weak, easily killed character.
With a d6 HD, you’re kind of like the “average” magic user, with no special bonuses or penalties.
At d8 HD, you’re entering Fighter territory, but with a magical edge.
With d10 and d12, your magic abilities are severely hampered, and you have a lot of potential Hit Points, but what spells you can cast will eat up those HP pretty fast.

Fighting type characters get their own special abilities, so don’t think of a d12 magic user as a Barbarian bad-ass with magic powers, cause it is not. Far from it, actually.

One thing I forgot to mention was Ability scores for magic users. In D&D, Wizards get extra stuff from Intelligence, Clerics from Wisdom. In Castles & Crusades, those would be the Prime Attributes. Same thing here. If you have a player that wants to be a Bard, and you haven’t kicked them out of your group yet, they can choose Charisma for their Prime Attribute for their bonus spells.

Let me know if I missed something glaringly bad or something is poorly written.