Megadungeons need neutrals. There shoudl be a faction the players can interact with that isn't there solely to be defeated or isn't out solely to screw-over the PC's but isn't there as a first-aid kit or rescue squad. Megadungeons need Neutrals.
In most dungeon adventures we have Irredeemable Foes, Selfish Foes, Foils,Dumb Beasts, Feeding Horrors,Victims, Allies and Competitors. Not a lot of real variation in how Irredeemable foes are dealt with they are there to be defeated. Selfish foes are there to be thwarted or destroyed, the goal is still defeat at the hands of the PCs and most people are going to treat them the same as irredeemable foes (roll initiative and attack) sometimes a selfish foe can be bought off or tricked to help for a while but this is really just delaying the inevitable destruction at the PC's hands. Foils are a trickier manner, they usually pose a puzzle that must be solved if they can't be treated like an irredeemable foe, once the puzzle is solve they are usually of no remaining use to DM or PCs. After the foils we find ourselves with dumb beasts, they are there to eat you if you are too slow and stray into your territory but they aren't really bad guys; players will still treat them like irredeemable foes 99% of the time but onc eina while a player with a special ability will exploit and control a dumb beast (often reducing it to a piece of equipment in execution). Feeding Horrors aren't worth interacting with and are darned icky and want to eat the PCs, the PCs will generally avoid them like crazy or destroy them no greater interaction to be expected unless someone figures out how to get the feeding horror to eat someone else in the megadungeon. Next we have victims which are usually walk treasure and will be treated as cannon fodder if they aren't walking treasure. There is the rare and unlikely allies which players will lean on and exploit to no end and honestly if they are useful and capable why aren't they beating the PCs at their own game. Competitors will sometimes be mistaken for Allies, victims or Foils but when the players discover their true nature they will seldom last longer then a kobold holding a gp. That leaves us with neutrals.
The players have to be able to tell they are dealing with neutrals and not foes or competitors or you aren't going to get very diverse play out of the situation. The neutrals have to stand apart from the foes in some obvious fashion but should also be a fair bit different from allies/competitors.
One way to get the neutrals to stand out is to make them a breed apart. Throw in some obvious non-PCs that aren't a variation of an established monster race either. Moss Elves, Root Gnomes, Pebble Dwarves are cheap and easy way to go but one could go a step further and have Mole-men or mice people or something decidedly different from what the players are usually expecting in the first place. Many players are goign to hack first but yuo have a chance of a conversation coming up and then an opportunity for the players to discover they are dealing with neutrals.
The neutrals can of course serve as foes/foils/allies/competitors but they are really in the megadungeon to do their own thing. It's up to the players to define how they are going to relate to the PCs. Sure that might mean a hack-fest. But neutrals provide a faction to be bribed, hired, stolen from that just might encourage a wider range of role playign options beyond...fireball wand or stab them with a sword?
Get some neutrals into those megadungeons.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Land Measurements and a sim-economy.
I went off on a tear last time I brought up to topic of SIM economics. I threw out a lot of numbers and reveled in math and I'm going to do it some more. A lot of building a medieval economy (even a fake one) ties in with the land. Us modern folks still depend on the fruits of the land but most are removed from that to the point it isn't really part of our everyday language. We may use the term acre, but most folks don't really know what an acre is or have a real reference of how much land is required to feed us.
A lot of the old time measurements were tied to the land. That's what was worth measuring after all.
An Acre is a basic unit of land measurement. It really has no fixed dimensions but is an area of 4,840 square yards. An easily measured acre is one furlong long and one chain wide (660ft x 66 ft). The old definition of an acre is how much land a pair of oxen can plow in a halfdays worth of work , actually a whole day: Oxes are a pain to work with and must be fed and watered and rested to keep them healthy and fit for plowing so that half a day is really still a days work for the ox team.
There are 640 Acres in a square mile of land. I'll get back to that later.
Moving up from an Acre we find ourselves with an Oxgang (or bovate). An oxgang is how much land a single ox can plow in a season and still allow the crop to get sown. The actual area of an oxgang can vary by the demands and difficulties of the local terrain, for ease of math I'm going to go with 15 acres. Oxen weren't usually kept as lone animals as they were often kept in teams of eight oxen and a pair are normally used to plow which causes the identification of a unit of land that two oxen can plow in a season as a Virgate (or Yardland) of 30 acres. As the ox were kept in teams of 8 that gives us another unit of area known as a Ploughland (or Carucate) which is the land a full team of 8 oxen can plow in a season (120 acres).
The units of land and how important they were are part of the language that defines the land, economy and population. A person who occupied, worked or was responsible for aVirgate of land would be know as a Virgater. A person rsponsible for 1/2 that much land would be know as a Bovater. The tax levied on a carucate was called a Carucage.
The Carucage is the taxation levied on a single household as defiend for manorial property and taxation purposes.. So a Caricate of 8 Bovates (120 acres) is how much land is needed to support a household. This land was also known as a Hide.
A Knight's Fee of five hides is enough land to support a fully equipped knight. This Scutage , being the money that could be raised from 5 hides of property is what it takes to support 1 Knight in a traditional feudal setting. A person would be allowed to work that land by supplying the Knight or the coin that would hire a knight from the proceeds of those 5 hides.
A Fief is the holding that allows Knights to be maintained. A fief could of course be smaller then a Knight's Fee and could be as small as a a Hide (or Caricate) as that land is intended to support a household.
So in an ideal situation a typical Fief would have 5 Caricates (for a total of 600 acres). This land is supposed to be enough to support a Knight, support his family, keep him armed and stable a warhorse in addition to paying other taxes, duties and expenses the Knight would incur.
600 acres to a Knight's Fee (or Fief) is awfully close to a square mile. For campaign economy building purposes I'm going with 5 hides to a square mile for ease of accounting.
Those 5 hides have to support: A Knight, his wife, children, other family members, retainers, servants and farmers along with warhorse, other steeds and oxen to work the land.
Above the Hide there are other units of land. There is the hundred (which is measured at a size of 100 Hides). This is the land adequate for 100 households. A hundredman (or hundred elder) would be responsible for administering the territory and maintaining the troops drawn from it which could number 100 soldiers or 20 knights. A hundred could be split into 10 tithings of 10 families. Within each of the hundreds there is ideally a formal meeting place where then men of the hundred meet to discuss local matters and a hundred court of sorts could be held.
Above the hundred we have the Shire. A shire was administered by a Shire-Reeve (or Sheriff). A shire can vary wildly in size and may or may not be considered a County. A shire need no be manged by or owned by a Count.
A hundred (which supports 100 households) will cover 20 square miles as that is the area of 100 hides. the shire will have no fixed definition here. A hundred is able to support 100 soldiers or 20 knights, the knights families, their retainers, staff, farmers, warhorses, other steeds and oxen.
For ease of accounting later in life of this rpg sim-economy I'm going to have each hundred ideally support 50 soldiers and 10 Knights (1/2 of the total possible of each alone)
How many knights and soldiers can then be supported on the Hexes of the average RPG map?
How much land does a hex actually cover? Measured in a width (W) from hex edge to hex edge the area a hex covers is W x W x .86.
For later ease of reference here are common hex sizes with area and hides along with Knights and soldiers (50% total knight possible and 50% total Soldiers possible) for each hex.
Hex Size....area in square miles....Hides .... Knights/Soldiers
5............... 21.5 .............................. 107 ....... 10/50
6............... 30.96............................ 154 ...... 15/75
8............... 55 ................................ 275 ....... 27/ 135
10.............. 86 .............................. 430 ....... 43/215
12.............. 123.84 ........................ 619 ....... 61/305
20............. 344 ............................. 1720 ..... 172/860
24............. 495.36 ........................ 2476 ..... 247/1235
30............. 774 ............................. 3870 ..... 387/1935
These figures by hex are only possible in good temperate clear hexes. In areas of more difficult terrain reduce the population possible. Possibly: In Areas of hills reduce Hides to 2/3 the area. I cool areas reduce the number of Hides by 3/4 again. In Forested Areas reduce the Hides to 1/3. In Mountainous or Swamp land reduce to 1/6 if occupied at all.
It's going to take a little work to get this working with my 4cp-large loaf of bread calculations from the earlier post. That will lamentably have to wait for yet another post.
A lot of the old time measurements were tied to the land. That's what was worth measuring after all.
An Acre is a basic unit of land measurement. It really has no fixed dimensions but is an area of 4,840 square yards. An easily measured acre is one furlong long and one chain wide (660ft x 66 ft). The old definition of an acre is how much land a pair of oxen can plow in a halfdays worth of work , actually a whole day: Oxes are a pain to work with and must be fed and watered and rested to keep them healthy and fit for plowing so that half a day is really still a days work for the ox team.
There are 640 Acres in a square mile of land. I'll get back to that later.
Moving up from an Acre we find ourselves with an Oxgang (or bovate). An oxgang is how much land a single ox can plow in a season and still allow the crop to get sown. The actual area of an oxgang can vary by the demands and difficulties of the local terrain, for ease of math I'm going to go with 15 acres. Oxen weren't usually kept as lone animals as they were often kept in teams of eight oxen and a pair are normally used to plow which causes the identification of a unit of land that two oxen can plow in a season as a Virgate (or Yardland) of 30 acres. As the ox were kept in teams of 8 that gives us another unit of area known as a Ploughland (or Carucate) which is the land a full team of 8 oxen can plow in a season (120 acres).
The units of land and how important they were are part of the language that defines the land, economy and population. A person who occupied, worked or was responsible for aVirgate of land would be know as a Virgater. A person rsponsible for 1/2 that much land would be know as a Bovater. The tax levied on a carucate was called a Carucage.
The Carucage is the taxation levied on a single household as defiend for manorial property and taxation purposes.. So a Caricate of 8 Bovates (120 acres) is how much land is needed to support a household. This land was also known as a Hide.
A Knight's Fee of five hides is enough land to support a fully equipped knight. This Scutage , being the money that could be raised from 5 hides of property is what it takes to support 1 Knight in a traditional feudal setting. A person would be allowed to work that land by supplying the Knight or the coin that would hire a knight from the proceeds of those 5 hides.
A Fief is the holding that allows Knights to be maintained. A fief could of course be smaller then a Knight's Fee and could be as small as a a Hide (or Caricate) as that land is intended to support a household.
So in an ideal situation a typical Fief would have 5 Caricates (for a total of 600 acres). This land is supposed to be enough to support a Knight, support his family, keep him armed and stable a warhorse in addition to paying other taxes, duties and expenses the Knight would incur.
600 acres to a Knight's Fee (or Fief) is awfully close to a square mile. For campaign economy building purposes I'm going with 5 hides to a square mile for ease of accounting.
Those 5 hides have to support: A Knight, his wife, children, other family members, retainers, servants and farmers along with warhorse, other steeds and oxen to work the land.
Above the Hide there are other units of land. There is the hundred (which is measured at a size of 100 Hides). This is the land adequate for 100 households. A hundredman (or hundred elder) would be responsible for administering the territory and maintaining the troops drawn from it which could number 100 soldiers or 20 knights. A hundred could be split into 10 tithings of 10 families. Within each of the hundreds there is ideally a formal meeting place where then men of the hundred meet to discuss local matters and a hundred court of sorts could be held.
Above the hundred we have the Shire. A shire was administered by a Shire-Reeve (or Sheriff). A shire can vary wildly in size and may or may not be considered a County. A shire need no be manged by or owned by a Count.
A hundred (which supports 100 households) will cover 20 square miles as that is the area of 100 hides. the shire will have no fixed definition here. A hundred is able to support 100 soldiers or 20 knights, the knights families, their retainers, staff, farmers, warhorses, other steeds and oxen.
For ease of accounting later in life of this rpg sim-economy I'm going to have each hundred ideally support 50 soldiers and 10 Knights (1/2 of the total possible of each alone)
How many knights and soldiers can then be supported on the Hexes of the average RPG map?
How much land does a hex actually cover? Measured in a width (W) from hex edge to hex edge the area a hex covers is W x W x .86.
For later ease of reference here are common hex sizes with area and hides along with Knights and soldiers (50% total knight possible and 50% total Soldiers possible) for each hex.
Hex Size....area in square miles....Hides .... Knights/Soldiers
5............... 21.5 .............................. 107 ....... 10/50
6............... 30.96............................ 154 ...... 15/75
8............... 55 ................................ 275 ....... 27/ 135
10.............. 86 .............................. 430 ....... 43/215
12.............. 123.84 ........................ 619 ....... 61/305
20............. 344 ............................. 1720 ..... 172/860
24............. 495.36 ........................ 2476 ..... 247/1235
30............. 774 ............................. 3870 ..... 387/1935
These figures by hex are only possible in good temperate clear hexes. In areas of more difficult terrain reduce the population possible. Possibly: In Areas of hills reduce Hides to 2/3 the area. I cool areas reduce the number of Hides by 3/4 again. In Forested Areas reduce the Hides to 1/3. In Mountainous or Swamp land reduce to 1/6 if occupied at all.
It's going to take a little work to get this working with my 4cp-large loaf of bread calculations from the earlier post. That will lamentably have to wait for yet another post.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
PARS FORTUNA:Basic- my first look
John M. Stater of The Land of Nod has released Pars Fortuna: Basic.
Pars Fortuna is OSR-compatible fantasy RPG based on the Swords&Wizardry rules. The roots of it's development are intriguing: what would an RPG look like if many of the elements in it were randomly generated? Player classes, spells, monsters and magic items are in the main randomly created as the author has of course contributed ideas from elsewhere and used his own fertile imagination to give detail and life to the randomly created ideas.
Pars Fortuna:Basic is of course a basic set (and freely available as a PDF). It provides all the rules necessary to get a look at the larger game (to come as of this blogging) and to play with a subset of features (it's a pretty extensive subset).
Characters ability scores are created in the classical OS manner: 3d6 are rolled for each of 6 attributes. They are the standard mix of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Most scores provide a simple penalty for a attribute of 8 or less and a bonus for a score of 13 or higher with Intelligence and Charisma getting more detail.
Character Classes are actually Character Races in these rules and players get 4 to choose from. Each character race is presented as a racial character class with enough information to fit them into a campaign and with 1-4 level of stats. The races are unusual and diverse: The Bo'al are a race of Engineers where adventurers are primarily students driven to seek out the architectural and engineering secrets in ruins and dungeons. Carkol are a small race pangolin like chanters that seek adventure to gain security and comfort from the profits they gain in adventuring. Caledjula are a race of tall statuesque tricksters witt he ability of flight that are drawn to adventure by fancies and impulse. Ilel are a race of militant human-like clone warriors. A diverse mix to be joined by 8 more in the full version of the game.
To flesh out characters and give each a little individuality every character has a boon which provides them with unique abilities, knacks or skills. Knacks and Skills are the simple skill system used in pars-fortuna: a knack makes one a little better at a task and a skill allows one to make a saving throw to possibly succeed at a task or perhaps to avert disaster when attempting something. At this point in the reading I'm a little fuzzy on who gets to cast spells.
Next up is equipment which characters get to select by spending their 30-180 gp. Armor is divided into broad and clearly defined as of light, medium and heavy armor and along with shields they range in an ascending AC score of 10 for an unarmored man to 17 for one in heavy armor with a shield. Melee weapons are presented in a broad fashion as well but some weapon types get an extra mechanical advantage over their damage score. Some of the weapon rules are curious but in the main they provide a range of reasons for choosing one weapon over another.
Missile weapons go from thrown axes to bows and handguns. The equipment section includes a pretty typical assortment of dungeoneering gear and there is an unusual mix of riding beasts included. Hirelings are accounted for and given brief but useful treatment in this section.
The next chapter covers Playing the Game. Characters earn exp for defeating foes and discovering treasure. Challenges and Saves Throws are briefly covered and then we get the Combat Rules. Combat resolution uses a stepped phase to determine resolution based on relative speed of combatants and declared action. In a round: The ref determines if anyone get's a bonus attack or move, magicians decide what spell they are casting, missile attacks are made by both sides, Quick combatants move and attack, normal speed characters move and attack, slow characters move and attack, magicians cast spells, second volley of missile fire, those who "held actions" get to go and repeat. When two groups ae acting in the same step a roll is made for first strike with advantage going to those with longer weapons, those of high dexterity and winners of the previous round. there are a host of simple modifiers to combat that will allow players to engage in a variety of tactics and maneuvers without getting weighed down by the rules. Grappling which is a bear in many games is adequately described in one paragraph. There's a list of defined conditions so folks will know what's up when a character is aged, blinded, exhausted , etc ... . Death, Healing and Morale are all briefly and clearly covered following the combat section. If one rests for a full turn after a combat they regain half the hp they lost in the combat thus regaining the luck, divine favor, fighting prowess that is often wound up in HP.
The Magic section includes a new spell casting system where magicians risk harm to themselves by frequent casting of their more powerful spells. Magicians keep spell books of those spells they learn and must refresh their memories with a hour of study a day or casing their spells is difficult, otherwise they retain access to all the spells they know and may cast them. Material components are required to cast spells with all low level spells (called "cantraps") of level 1-3 using a focus for each spell that isn't consumed in spell casting. All magicians are able to dispel their own spells at will and may attempt to dispel another magicians spell with effort. Lot's of magic could be flying in Pars Fortuna but it's risky to the spell caster. There are 60 spells of levels 1 to 3 presented in the basic rules and these are a diverse and creative lot that provide a lot of meat and potatoes to this OSR variant. Curiously 3rd level spells are detailed but characters must be 5th level or higher to learn them.
Monsters follow and we get a number of unusual low level monsters. A few seem borrowed from elsewhere but the majority are unique. They are presented by monster types of Beast, Construct, Folk, Magical Folk, Monsters and Spirits. Some are silly some are rather good definitely useful and not all just barely warmed over leftovers of older games.
Treasure and Magic Items is a real gem in Pars Fortuna basic. We get coins and jewelery for common treasures followed by three types of common magical items: potions (the least unique thing in the game), Talismans (one use protective items), Writings (a really superior and simple treatment of books and scrolls). Then there are the other magical items each of which is meant to be a unique one of a kind item. In the basic rules we get 4 each of Magic Armor, Baubles, Cubes, Rainments, Shield, Staff, Sword, Magic Melee, Magical Missiles and miscellaneous. A character may have but 4 of these unique items at one time. The magic items are evocative, some have a downside along with the benefits they provide. This treatment of magic items is a delight and really sets Pars Fortuna apart from the magic item giveaway show of many RPGS where a +1 sword is just another +1 sword, in Pars Fortuna that +1 sword may be "Bennai, the Leper's Blade" and has powers unique to itself.
I really enjoyed Pars Fortuna:Basic on my first read. There are some matters of confusion I have and there is a little bit of sloppy editing (part of that clearly being a sole author working on a basic and full rule-set at the same time), there are a couple spots where the rules and tables conflict but nothing game breaking. Some of the weapons tweaks are of dubious reality (you can throw an axe with one hand in the real world,I've done it competitively) but do provide playable differentiation. The magic system looks prone to abuse in one shots and better written for campaign play. The races are odd and this will throw some folks off but I really can't understand folks looking for something new being thrown off by something new. Pars Fortuna started as a fun experiment and it looks like the John M. Stater has certainly breathed a lot into random dice rolls and given us a lot to add to campaigns. Pars Fortuna has provided something an OSR game has to in my opinion "a whole lot of new". I know I'll be picking up the full rules when they become available and can't imagine why any fan of D&Desque/OSR games wouldn't give the Pars Fortuna:Basic pdf a look (it's cool and free).
Pars Fortuna is OSR-compatible fantasy RPG based on the Swords&Wizardry rules. The roots of it's development are intriguing: what would an RPG look like if many of the elements in it were randomly generated? Player classes, spells, monsters and magic items are in the main randomly created as the author has of course contributed ideas from elsewhere and used his own fertile imagination to give detail and life to the randomly created ideas.
Pars Fortuna:Basic is of course a basic set (and freely available as a PDF). It provides all the rules necessary to get a look at the larger game (to come as of this blogging) and to play with a subset of features (it's a pretty extensive subset).
Characters ability scores are created in the classical OS manner: 3d6 are rolled for each of 6 attributes. They are the standard mix of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Most scores provide a simple penalty for a attribute of 8 or less and a bonus for a score of 13 or higher with Intelligence and Charisma getting more detail.
Character Classes are actually Character Races in these rules and players get 4 to choose from. Each character race is presented as a racial character class with enough information to fit them into a campaign and with 1-4 level of stats. The races are unusual and diverse: The Bo'al are a race of Engineers where adventurers are primarily students driven to seek out the architectural and engineering secrets in ruins and dungeons. Carkol are a small race pangolin like chanters that seek adventure to gain security and comfort from the profits they gain in adventuring. Caledjula are a race of tall statuesque tricksters witt he ability of flight that are drawn to adventure by fancies and impulse. Ilel are a race of militant human-like clone warriors. A diverse mix to be joined by 8 more in the full version of the game.
To flesh out characters and give each a little individuality every character has a boon which provides them with unique abilities, knacks or skills. Knacks and Skills are the simple skill system used in pars-fortuna: a knack makes one a little better at a task and a skill allows one to make a saving throw to possibly succeed at a task or perhaps to avert disaster when attempting something. At this point in the reading I'm a little fuzzy on who gets to cast spells.
Next up is equipment which characters get to select by spending their 30-180 gp. Armor is divided into broad and clearly defined as of light, medium and heavy armor and along with shields they range in an ascending AC score of 10 for an unarmored man to 17 for one in heavy armor with a shield. Melee weapons are presented in a broad fashion as well but some weapon types get an extra mechanical advantage over their damage score. Some of the weapon rules are curious but in the main they provide a range of reasons for choosing one weapon over another.
Missile weapons go from thrown axes to bows and handguns. The equipment section includes a pretty typical assortment of dungeoneering gear and there is an unusual mix of riding beasts included. Hirelings are accounted for and given brief but useful treatment in this section.
The next chapter covers Playing the Game. Characters earn exp for defeating foes and discovering treasure. Challenges and Saves Throws are briefly covered and then we get the Combat Rules. Combat resolution uses a stepped phase to determine resolution based on relative speed of combatants and declared action. In a round: The ref determines if anyone get's a bonus attack or move, magicians decide what spell they are casting, missile attacks are made by both sides, Quick combatants move and attack, normal speed characters move and attack, slow characters move and attack, magicians cast spells, second volley of missile fire, those who "held actions" get to go and repeat. When two groups ae acting in the same step a roll is made for first strike with advantage going to those with longer weapons, those of high dexterity and winners of the previous round. there are a host of simple modifiers to combat that will allow players to engage in a variety of tactics and maneuvers without getting weighed down by the rules. Grappling which is a bear in many games is adequately described in one paragraph. There's a list of defined conditions so folks will know what's up when a character is aged, blinded, exhausted , etc ... . Death, Healing and Morale are all briefly and clearly covered following the combat section. If one rests for a full turn after a combat they regain half the hp they lost in the combat thus regaining the luck, divine favor, fighting prowess that is often wound up in HP.
The Magic section includes a new spell casting system where magicians risk harm to themselves by frequent casting of their more powerful spells. Magicians keep spell books of those spells they learn and must refresh their memories with a hour of study a day or casing their spells is difficult, otherwise they retain access to all the spells they know and may cast them. Material components are required to cast spells with all low level spells (called "cantraps") of level 1-3 using a focus for each spell that isn't consumed in spell casting. All magicians are able to dispel their own spells at will and may attempt to dispel another magicians spell with effort. Lot's of magic could be flying in Pars Fortuna but it's risky to the spell caster. There are 60 spells of levels 1 to 3 presented in the basic rules and these are a diverse and creative lot that provide a lot of meat and potatoes to this OSR variant. Curiously 3rd level spells are detailed but characters must be 5th level or higher to learn them.
Monsters follow and we get a number of unusual low level monsters. A few seem borrowed from elsewhere but the majority are unique. They are presented by monster types of Beast, Construct, Folk, Magical Folk, Monsters and Spirits. Some are silly some are rather good definitely useful and not all just barely warmed over leftovers of older games.
Treasure and Magic Items is a real gem in Pars Fortuna basic. We get coins and jewelery for common treasures followed by three types of common magical items: potions (the least unique thing in the game), Talismans (one use protective items), Writings (a really superior and simple treatment of books and scrolls). Then there are the other magical items each of which is meant to be a unique one of a kind item. In the basic rules we get 4 each of Magic Armor, Baubles, Cubes, Rainments, Shield, Staff, Sword, Magic Melee, Magical Missiles and miscellaneous. A character may have but 4 of these unique items at one time. The magic items are evocative, some have a downside along with the benefits they provide. This treatment of magic items is a delight and really sets Pars Fortuna apart from the magic item giveaway show of many RPGS where a +1 sword is just another +1 sword, in Pars Fortuna that +1 sword may be "Bennai, the Leper's Blade" and has powers unique to itself.
I really enjoyed Pars Fortuna:Basic on my first read. There are some matters of confusion I have and there is a little bit of sloppy editing (part of that clearly being a sole author working on a basic and full rule-set at the same time), there are a couple spots where the rules and tables conflict but nothing game breaking. Some of the weapons tweaks are of dubious reality (you can throw an axe with one hand in the real world,I've done it competitively) but do provide playable differentiation. The magic system looks prone to abuse in one shots and better written for campaign play. The races are odd and this will throw some folks off but I really can't understand folks looking for something new being thrown off by something new. Pars Fortuna started as a fun experiment and it looks like the John M. Stater has certainly breathed a lot into random dice rolls and given us a lot to add to campaigns. Pars Fortuna has provided something an OSR game has to in my opinion "a whole lot of new". I know I'll be picking up the full rules when they become available and can't imagine why any fan of D&Desque/OSR games wouldn't give the Pars Fortuna:Basic pdf a look (it's cool and free).
Friday, November 12, 2010
Expanded Experience Rolls
Expanded Experience rolls to differentiate between the variety of character types available in Mutant Future.
Pure Human and Replicants
1-10..... +1 Damage with hand held melee weapons
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-30... +1 STR
31-40... +1 DEX
41-50... +1 CON
51-60....+1 INT
61-70....+1 WIL
71-85....+1 CHA
86-95....+5% Technology Roll Modifier
96-100.... +1 to hit with favored weapon (pick a weapon)
Mutant Human
1-10..... +1 Damage with hand held melee weapons
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-35... +1 STR
36-45... +1 DEX
46-55... +1 CON
56-66....+1 INT
66-80....+1 WIL
81-90....+1 CHA
91-100... Improve Mutation
Mutant Animal
1-10..... +1 Damage with natural attacks
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-30... +1 STR
31-45... +1 DEX
46-60... +1 CON
61-70....+1 INT
71-80....+1 WIL
81-90....+1 CHA
91-100... Improve Mutation
Basic Android and Synthetics
1-10..... +1 Damage with hand held melee weapons
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-40....+1 INT
41-60....+1 WIL
61-80....+1 CHA
81-100....+5% Technology Roll Modifier
Mutant Plant
1-10..... +1 Damage with natural attacks
11-40... +1 attack per round
41-50... +1 STR
51-60.. +1 DEX
61-70... +1 CON
71-75...+1 INT
76-80....+1 WIL
81-90....+1 CHA
91-100... Improve Mutation
Pure Human and Replicants
1-10..... +1 Damage with hand held melee weapons
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-30... +1 STR
31-40... +1 DEX
41-50... +1 CON
51-60....+1 INT
61-70....+1 WIL
71-85....+1 CHA
86-95....+5% Technology Roll Modifier
96-100.... +1 to hit with favored weapon (pick a weapon)
Mutant Human
1-10..... +1 Damage with hand held melee weapons
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-35... +1 STR
36-45... +1 DEX
46-55... +1 CON
56-66....+1 INT
66-80....+1 WIL
81-90....+1 CHA
91-100... Improve Mutation
Mutant Animal
1-10..... +1 Damage with natural attacks
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-30... +1 STR
31-45... +1 DEX
46-60... +1 CON
61-70....+1 INT
71-80....+1 WIL
81-90....+1 CHA
91-100... Improve Mutation
Basic Android and Synthetics
1-10..... +1 Damage with hand held melee weapons
11-20... +1 attack per round
21-40....+1 INT
41-60....+1 WIL
61-80....+1 CHA
81-100....+5% Technology Roll Modifier
Mutant Plant
1-10..... +1 Damage with natural attacks
11-40... +1 attack per round
41-50... +1 STR
51-60.. +1 DEX
61-70... +1 CON
71-75...+1 INT
76-80....+1 WIL
81-90....+1 CHA
91-100... Improve Mutation
Mutation Degree
Everyone having the same mutations can be a drag in mutant future one easy way to offset this is to differ mutations by degree. A mutant having Terminal Albinism, Developed Energy Ray and Amazing Damage Turning is different from one with Recessive Albinism, Vestigial Energy Ray and Underdeveloped Damage Turning.
For each mutation a character has roll it's degree (don't record the score just the Mutational Degree.
Mutation Degree modifiers
Strength modifies a physical mutation's mutation degree roll
Will Power modifies the a mental mutation's mutation degree roll
Attribute
3.........-3
4-5...... -2
6-8... .. -1
9-12..... 0
13-15.. +1
16-17.. +2
18+.... +3
Beneficial Mutation Degree Roll
3 or less.... Latent
4-6............ Vestigial
7-9............. Underdeveloped
10-15......... Developed
16-20......... Superior
21+ ...........Amazing
Drawback Degree Roll
3 or less........Terminal
4-6...............Severe
7-12..............Chronic
13-18............Acute
19-20...........Dormant
21+.............. Recessive
Descriptions of Degrees
Latent, the mutation is present but not currently usable by the mutant. A latent mutation may improve ob exposure to mutagens. On a failed save of intensity > 1/2 a mutant's CON reroll the mutation degree.
Vestigial, The mutation may be used once per day. All variables are absolute minimum. If mutation is usually always active it is usable for but an hour a day. Using the mutation causes 1d6 pts of damage due to the stress involved.
Underdeveloped, mutation is only 1/2 as effective as described in rules. Using the mutation (for those with activation or limited uses) causes 1 pt of damage due to the stress involved.
Developed, as described in rules.
Superior: Usable twice as often. Fixed scores are improved by 1. Damage causing mutations receive a bonus of 2 pts per die.
Amazing, mutation is twice as effective in all capacities.
Terminal, drawback is twice as bad as standard.
Severe, drawback is half again as bad as standard.
Chronic, drawback acts as described in standard rules.
Acute, each day there in a 50% chance the mutation is active and hampering the mutant.It becomes active for 2d6 days following any mutagenic exposure.
Dormant, mutation will be active for 24 hours following exposure to radiation (successful or failed save)
Recessive, mutation may become active on exposure to radiation.Make a new Degree Roll on a failed save vs radiation with a -3 modifier.
For each mutation a character has roll it's degree (don't record the score just the Mutational Degree.
Mutation Degree modifiers
Strength modifies a physical mutation's mutation degree roll
Will Power modifies the a mental mutation's mutation degree roll
Attribute
3.........-3
4-5...... -2
6-8... .. -1
9-12..... 0
13-15.. +1
16-17.. +2
18+.... +3
Beneficial Mutation Degree Roll
3 or less.... Latent
4-6............ Vestigial
7-9............. Underdeveloped
10-15......... Developed
16-20......... Superior
21+ ...........Amazing
Drawback Degree Roll
3 or less........Terminal
4-6...............Severe
7-12..............Chronic
13-18............Acute
19-20...........Dormant
21+.............. Recessive
Descriptions of Degrees
Latent, the mutation is present but not currently usable by the mutant. A latent mutation may improve ob exposure to mutagens. On a failed save of intensity > 1/2 a mutant's CON reroll the mutation degree.
Vestigial, The mutation may be used once per day. All variables are absolute minimum. If mutation is usually always active it is usable for but an hour a day. Using the mutation causes 1d6 pts of damage due to the stress involved.
Underdeveloped, mutation is only 1/2 as effective as described in rules. Using the mutation (for those with activation or limited uses) causes 1 pt of damage due to the stress involved.
Developed, as described in rules.
Superior: Usable twice as often. Fixed scores are improved by 1. Damage causing mutations receive a bonus of 2 pts per die.
Amazing, mutation is twice as effective in all capacities.
Terminal, drawback is twice as bad as standard.
Severe, drawback is half again as bad as standard.
Chronic, drawback acts as described in standard rules.
Acute, each day there in a 50% chance the mutation is active and hampering the mutant.It becomes active for 2d6 days following any mutagenic exposure.
Dormant, mutation will be active for 24 hours following exposure to radiation (successful or failed save)
Recessive, mutation may become active on exposure to radiation.Make a new Degree Roll on a failed save vs radiation with a -3 modifier.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Castle Two
Another Castle.
This map has arrow slits with the locations highlighted on the outside of the walls to the direction they face.
No numbered areas this time.
This map has arrow slits with the locations highlighted on the outside of the walls to the direction they face.
No numbered areas this time.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Small Castle Map
A un-keyed Castle Map for a small castle.
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I may fill this in for a future post but if anyone else feels like doing so I'd sure like to see what you come up with.
The original map was drawn in pencil and scanned. The additional floors were done in photoshop as was the type. No doors are drawn on the map as i wasn't sure if I would be going with an active castle or a ruin.
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I may fill this in for a future post but if anyone else feels like doing so I'd sure like to see what you come up with.
The original map was drawn in pencil and scanned. The additional floors were done in photoshop as was the type. No doors are drawn on the map as i wasn't sure if I would be going with an active castle or a ruin.
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