Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi

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XP Guidelines for Old-school D&D

Here’s a guideline I've been working on for XP to be awarded per session in 1st edition AD&D. Before we continue, please note that this guideline is not a milestone system by another name. Rather, I've introduced it into my own Greyhawk campaign in order to provide: (1) a baseline against which I can check whether the XP actually being awarded in an adventure, in accordance with the DMG, is commensurate with the challenges being faced and the desired rate of advancement; and/or (2) a recommended XP to be awarded per session to ensure a graduated rate of advancement based on the average party level. Here, average party level is worked out by adding the levels of all party members; e.g., a party of seven characters, consisting of three level 5s, two level 6s, one level 7 and one level 8 would have an average level of 6 ((5+5+5+6+6+7+8=42)/7= average level of 6). As a rule of thumb, I'd treat multi-classed characters as being one level higher than their highest level.

RuneQuest, RoleMaster and the Podcast

As you might have noticed, I haven't written anything new recently due to some minor trials and tribulations, but I'm still here. In fact, I managed to release the first episode of "Season 4" of my podcast, which details the topic of spell-switching (previously mentioned on this blog) among other topics. Besides that, I've been reading my Character Law rules book for Rolemaster Classic, as well as going over material, old and new, for Rune Quest (which I intend to run this year). I haven't played Rolemaster in about 30 years, and to be frank, I thought that the level of crunch and reliance on complex tables would be a serious put off for me today, as these days I tend to eschew crunch in favor of simplicity. Rolemaster Classic is a revised version of the 2nd edition of the game, which is the one I used back in the day, and I must say I'm quite impressed with the quick reference layout, options and numerous examples. Despite the complexity of the rules, the

Expanded Arcane Spell Acquisition Rules for Advanced Old-School Essentials

Old-School Essentials (OSE) and 1980s "basic" D&D restrict magic-user spell acquisition to mentoring and research, as described here: https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Spell_Books Notably, magic-users cannot learn new spells from scrolls or spell books that they obtain, as is the case in AD&D. At my group's OSE table, however, we've adopted the Advanced Rules for this part of the game, and have rejected the common idea that magic-users obtain a new spell upon advancing a level. As such, I've hammered out some rules of thumb for spell acquisition with the player running the magic-user . Returning to the Classic Rules for a moment, we know that researching a new spell costs 1000 gp per spell level (taking 2 weeks per spell level), whereas recreating a lost spell book requires that each spell be rewritten at the cost of 1000 gp per spell level (taking 1 week per spell level). Presumably the costs involve materials for special inks, p

Old-school D&D Magic - Spell Switching

We're currently making some rules changes relating to spell acquisition and magical research in our Old-School Essentials and AD&D games. The most notable of these changes would allow spellcasters to switch spells during play. According to the Dungeon Masters Guide for 1st-edition AD&D, it takes 15 minutes per spell level to memorize each spell at the beginning of the day. I intend to use this time requirement to allow players to switch spells that have not been cast . This means that spellcasters faced with a problem during an adventure can hit their spell books or meditate in order to prepare the right spell for the job. It is my belief that, without this, many limited-utility spells simply will not be memorized or come into play, and that players are less likely to come up with interesting magical solutions to their immediate problems. I feel this doesn't undermine the "feel" of Vancian magic, nor does it provide unlimited access to magic. After all, once

Initiative in 1st-edition AD&D / OSRIC - Fundamentals & Fixes

Anyone who is familiar with the 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons will know that there is much more to the combat round than first meets the eye. Those coming to AD&D from original or basic versions of the game won't easily grock the game's combat, nor will those coming from later editions. This is largely, but not solely, due to the disordered presentation of the rules. I don't intend to get into the minutiae of AD&D combat here, but if you're interested, a comprehensive reordering of the rules (with references) can be found at: https://idiscepolidellamanticora.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/addict.pdf In this post, I'd like to take a look at the simple d6 initiative mechanic with reference to OSRIC (which in my opinion is a remarkable revision/reiteration of the 1st edition rules (and too often unfairly maligned)). Most older editions of, or variations on, D&D simply require each side to roll a d6 to determine the order of initiative, with t

The Road Goes Ever On

Here's the latest episode from my podcast as I wrap up "season 3". https://anchor.fm/menion/episodes/The-Road-Goes-Ever-On-e1ek52t