What is best in (game) life?

Of course when it comes right down to it, the best sessions are when the battles are incredibly horrible and savage.  When there is only 1 player character left, he has 1 hit point, and all the others are unconscious from battle wounds, but the enemy is dead, horribly.

I remember one battle like that from our Aquila (Brown Trousers) C&C game.  It was near the end (session 26) and Andrew was DMing.  It was a hideous battle, but my character Thunderic used every last ounce of his mojo and killed the demon leader with a critical hit.   While the campaign itself had left its tracks by that time, it was a damned fine battle.

The Slipstream adventure I GMed for Marlon, Bob and Jason was pretty much the same thing.  Jason was left standing alone after defeating the dreaded batmen of space, with all the other guys wounded and bloody.  That was freaking awesome.

The viking assaults on Smerkenberg were pretty cool too, lots of NPC's to die on both sides, and some really savage beatings taking place.

I think the thing I've got to keep in mind if I want sessions like that is to keep AC inflation strictly under control.  I've set things up so that there are a lot of hit points, but need to keep it so that even schmucks can at least hit the heroes 10% of the time.  I remember that in the Conan game, once the players got heavy armor, it sucked a lot of the fun out of it.   Suddenly, only guys using great swords or bardiches had any chance of hitting the PC's and so there was less risk and danger.  A similar thing happened with Knights of Orion when Marlon's guy's armor/toughness got too high.  To hit him, the bad guys needed weaponry that would instantly obliterate anyone else.   Keeping long-term balance in mind is more important for armor/protection more than anything other items. 

If you look at the AD&D 1e combat tables, you'll see that "20" is repeated 6 times.  It is not a strict progression, like in 3e, 4e or even OD&D.  There is an optional rule that says that every 20 above the first is a "natural 20".  But, I don't think I'll use that rule (most people do indeed use it).  Anything that increases the number of hits on both sides, the better.   Suffer, bleed for your gold!

The Beginning of The Northern Marches

I was re-reading the logs of the first few sessions of the Northern Marches campaign.  This was the frst D&D 3rd edition campaign we ran, back in 2000-2002.  It was our longest running campaign and bore some looking at.

The review reminded me of several important features of that campaign.  I feel that it had a good atmosphere because the environment had a natural flow to it.   The NPC's didn't come into existence and then immediately disappear.   The Master of Ludwig, the way-station between the major barony and the town of Baltburg, had his own agenda, the people in Ludwig all had names and characters.   Sir Malcom, their first patron, didn't just disappear after the mission he sent them on.   One of the players crossed Tobar, who was leader of the sell-swords guild and couldn't hire mercenaries himself thereafter.

The enemy plot was on a timeline, and if the players didn't act, the enemy didn't wait for them to bust in at a convenient moment.   There wasn't a fixed solution to stopping the plot.  There wasn't a "boss fight", the evil steward Morvik was kind of a wimp anyway who they killed by stealth.

As a player, I'm happiest when I feel like a "dude on an adventure" rather than a "character on a show."  That's the kind of experience I'm shooting for as a DM, as a result.  The two keys for getting that for me are permanence of surrounding and attention to time passage.

Gear Book

If you have comments about the Gear Book draft I sent out, post them as comments to this post.  I guess I have one question for you all, should I put the prices for NPC's casting spells (from the DMG) with campaign notes into the gear book too?

Monday Grab-bag

• Tearing off the band-aid:  immediately after posting this, I'm going downstairs and chucking the toadmen.  No more shilly-shallying.
• Gear Book draft:  I'm going to e-mail everyone on the Lords of Hack list a PDF of the current draft of the Gear Book for the Badlands.  Some of it is familiar from Return of the Trolls, but I've tried to key it more directly to the AD&D players handbook list and work out from there.  I've also tried to give direct game effects to a wide variety of tools (and musical instruments).
• Near future focus:  I want to start thinking about what makes a good session.  I think I want to look at some old logs and decide what the best sessions have in common and how I can use structure to support more of the best kind of sessions.

Victory over History!

The mojo was with me this weekend.  I glue, primed and painted my bag of 30 Saxon spearmen. Now, after all these years, I've worked my way through all of the Old Glory historical miniatures I had bought during their 40% off blow-out, way back in the before-time.

I've just about decided to throw the science fiction toad men away.  They'd be cool if they were anything close to the right size.  I have about 30 of them, most with back-pack laser guns, and a few on rocket-cycles.  But, they're only about 10mm in size, coming to about knee-high to a Saxon spearman.

Once I deal with the toad men, I'm free.  All of the remaining unpainted lead I'll have will have been given to me rather than bought by me.  

Entertainment Update

My newest acquisition from Comic Store West:   "The Monarch" official Venture Brothers Action Figure.

Quick Reviews of new TV series:

S#&%$ My Dad Says with William Shatner:   S#&%$  is right on the money.

Hawaii 5-O:  it has the correct theme song, there's lots of action, and the guy says "Book 'em Dann-O", well, what more could one even think to ask for?

Metagaming the Sandbox

In the next game, I'd like to try to gain some of the advantages of sandbox play: the sense of freedom and surprise that comes with the style, the contributions that players make to the game world and the organic growth it produces, the anger and desire for revenge that pops up totally unbidded by the DM against the most unexpected of enemies, the real feeling of risk that occurs.  While at the same time, I'd like to avoid the sometimes awkward beginning of each game session where players decide exactly what they want to do and I waste time trying to give some adventure hooks in a naturalist, organic fashion.

I think what I may do, is provide all of the adventure hooks explictily up-front in a meta-game fashion.  Just provide a list of dungeons, lairs and quests available and some quick background on possible risks and rewards.   That way we can get to the action faster and get more accomplished.  I need to make sure there are at least 3 or 4 different, real choices (not one that all lead to the same adventure). 

I still want the players to be able to what they want,  (like when Jason slaughtered Chuck's mentor or when Bob hatched his feud with Wulfgar in Return of the Trolls), but I want some of the advantages of pre-planned dungeons, without going to the extreme of the fixed, multi-level mega-dungeon.

HERBS

When I was updating my gear book for AD&D purposes, I found the herbs garlic, wolfsbane and belladona on the gear list under Herbs in the PHB.  It took a little bit of work to find just what exactly they did in the game.  I wondered if there were other herbs to add to the list.  There is a list in the DMG appendices that gives commonly ascribed properties to herbs.  I took that list and fleshed it out a bit and gave some definite game effects to some chosen herbs.   Here's what I've come up with thusfar: (I do need to add Black Lotus to the list somehow)

Herb	Cost	Use
Belladona	4sp	25% chance to avert lycanthropy, within 1 hour of bites (see MM)
Chaulmoogra oil	1gp	50% chance to wash off green slime (1 pint flask)
Cigar	1sp	10% chance to drive ladies from the room
Comfrey Root	1gp	25% chance to cure 1 hp of damage. Increases natural heal rate by 1/3 of a point per day (must have a dose every day)
Felwort	8sp	25% chance of second save vs. paralysis
Garlic	5cp	Holds off vampires (see Monster Manual)
Goat’s Rue	1sp	25% chance to cure rot grubs
Herbal Bandage	25gp	Roll wisdom or less on d20, will cure 1d6 hit points of battle damage (1 use per battle, takes 1 turn to apply, 1 turn to take effect)
Pipeweed	5cp	10% chance to drive ladies from the room (pipe required)
Standard Bandage	1gp	Roll wisdom or less on d20, will cure 1d2 hit points of battle damage (1 use per battle, takes 1 turn to apply, 1 turn to take effect)
Tamarind	5sp	25% chance to avert mummy rot, within 1 hour of hit.
Tea Leaves	2gp	25% chance of allowing second saving throw vs. poison
White bryony	10sp	25% chance to allow a second saving throw vs. yellow mold spores. A handkerchief treated with it, held over mouth and nose, gives a +4 on saving throws vs. yellow mold spores.
White lotus	50gp-R	Allows a re-roll of saving throw against poisons
Wolfsbane	10sp	Causes werewolves to make morale check; Helps treat lycanthropy (see DMG)

Cost is for 1 use or treatment of the remedy.  Only one attempt can be made for each remedy.

Spending Money to gain experience points

For the new campaign, I'm intending to use a system whereby characters gain experience points, not for treasure taken, but rather for treasure spent.  This is similar to what Dave Arneson published in his "First Fantasy Campaign" and presumably what he used in the original Blackmoor game.  His was a bit simpler, and perhaps a bit more lurid.

I used a system similar to the one below for Return of the Trolls, and it was one of my favorite features of the game.  Here's a version edited for AD&D:

SPENDING FOR EXPERIENCE POINTS

Winning and spending treasure is a key aspect of gaining experience points.  Characters get experience points equal to the value of treasure, when that treasure is spent or allocated.   If the spending is clearly detailed and described, then the experience points are awarded on a 1 to 1 basis (1 experience points per gold piece).  If the spending is merely broadly described, then the award is at a 50% rate (1 experience points per 2 gold pieces).  For example: if a generous character says “I give the money to the poor”, that would get him 50%.  However, if he says “I buy the orphans 1 blanket, 1 bowl, 1 spoon, 2 sets of clothes, and a pair of shoes each, and buy a barrel of flour and a barrel of beans for them to eat” and itemizes the purchase, then that would get him 100%.

Maximum Expenditure: A character can receive experience points for spending money equal to a maximum of 1000 times his current level during any one in-game month, or during or between any one game session.  This maximum may be waived by the GM if there is a compelling reason.

Things that never grant Experience points for spending:

Personal Armor, Weapons and adventuring gear

Daily Food, rations, lodging or upkeep

Mystical Protection or other spells cast for hire to aid the character

Fines, wergild, tolls or taxes

Basic Upkeep for henchmen and hirelings

Money spent to make or purchase spells or magic items

Things that always grant Experience points for spending:

Funeral expenses for comrades, kinsmen or henchmen

Building, furnishing or improving the character’s home

Character Traits:  each character must pick 1or 2 character traits when the character is created.  Each trait allows the character to spend money for Experience points on certain definite things.  When a character reaches 4^th level he may add another trait, and when he reaches 9^th level, he may add a fourth. 

Artistic: the character loves beauty and artworks of all sorts.

Sources of Experience points: any paintings, statues, tapestry or pottery of artistic quality that are purchased or looted and displayed at character’s home.

Collector: the character collects a certain class of object.

Sources of Experience points:  each separate, unique example of the class of object you choose. If items stolen from you, must be replaced before further XP can be gained for collection.

Compassionate:  the character is pre-occupied with alleviating suffering of the people around him.

Sources of Experience points: money that is spent to feed, clothe, house or heal the poor

Competitive: the character needs to be better than other people whenever possible.

Sources of Experience points: money spent to get an obvious, noticeably better version of something someone else has or has done.

Equestrian: the character loves horses and everything associated with them

Sources of Experience points: money spent on horses and their equipment, if a horse is killed or stolen, the character looses the value lost.

Fashionable:  the character loves to look good. 

Sources of Experience Points: Money spent on the highest quality clothing, cosmetics, perfumes, furs, jewelry and accessories.  With the exception of jewelry and perhaps some furs, they should be thrown away after a few months.

Gambler:  the character loves to gamble

Sources of Experience Points: money lost while gambling.

Generous: the character gets great enjoyment out of spreading his wealth around to his friends

Sources of Experience points: presents (but not cash) given to NPC friends, allies and henchmen provide experience points.  To get 100% award, it must be a special, appropriate gift.  GM may allow presents to fellow PC’s but can disallow if any abuses take place.

Glorious: the character is constantly seeking to increase his fame in his chosen profession.

Sources of Experience points: monuments, statues and carved memorials to the character’s great deeds and paying minstrels and bards to immortalize and spread the fame of the character.

Hedonistic: the character is focused on physical pleasures.

Sources of Experience points: money spent on feasts, banquets, entertainments, fine wine, mead or pleasurable companionship.

Hunter: the character loves hunting and the chase, and all its trappings

Sources of Experience points: buying hunting dogs, building a hunting lodge, hiring huntsmen or trackers, financing a hunting expedition, buying falcons or hunting hawks.

Lordly: the character is focused on ruling over land and people, and the amount of territory and subjects he has.

Sources of Experience points: gifts to warrior henchmen, hirelings and followers (but not ordinary gear), building fortresses or walls, purchased lands and halls, improvements to lands.

Loyal: the character is focused on his oaths and his duties to his lord and/or his vassals.

Sources of Experience points: paying ransom for lord or men, gifts of land to men, providing for the family of slain men or lord.

Miserly: the character wants to hoard treasure and dislikes spending more than absolutely necessary.

Sources of Experience points: treasure stored in a secure location (treasure house, buried in secret).  If the money is stolen or spent, he loses the experience points.  If special items are stolen, he cannot gain experience points from spending until they are recovered.  Miserly characters should always gain 100% for all treasure horded.

Patriotic: the character is passionate about his country, home-town, tribe or province.

Sources of Experience points: any money spent defending or improving the defenses of the community in question.

Religious: the character is driven to promote his gods

Sources of Experience points: building a shrine, temple or monastery of some sort, appropriate sacrifices, based on religion in question.  Gifts to a religious organization.

Scholarly: the character is driven to collect books, ancient artifacts, and other pieces of ancient lore.

Sources of Experience points: any books, artifacts, or ancient records with valuable knowledge that are purchased or looted and stored in a safe location.  Experience points is lost if the items are stolen.

Uxorious: the character likes the ladies

Sources of Experience points: presents given to desirable women in the pursuit of one’s interest.

Lords of Hack campaigns

After going through my various computer files, I compiled a list, as best I could, of all the campaigns we've played in our every-other Sunday Lords of Hack group since I first came back to town in 1999.  A few of the campaigns I've been unable to find the logs for, but has puzzled together where they must have come in the sequence.

Lords of Hack Campaigns

Campaign	System	Begin Date	End Date	Notes
First One	AD&D 2e	Summer 99	March 2000	Logs missing
Melvek Wilds	RC D&D	April 2000	July 2000
Northern Marches	D&D 3e	August 2000	March 2002
Vikings	D&D 3e	April 2002??	May 2003??	Logs missing
Draw Outlaw	D20 Homebrew	June 2003	August 2003
Space Bastards	D20 Homebrew	September 2003	February 2004
Conan	D20 Conan	March 2004	November 2004
Traytor’s Raiders	D20 Traveller	December 2004??	January 2005??	Logs missing
Six Dales	Homebrew D&D	February 2005	August 2005
Knights of Orion	Savage Worlds	October 2005	July 2006
Uthax	Savage Worlds	August 2006	October 2006
Brown Trousers (Aquila)	Castles and Crusades	November 2006	January 2008
Fulton Horizons	Savage Worlds	April 2008	June 2008
Irongate	D&D 4e	July 2008	May 2009
Gatavia	Return of Trolls	June 2009	April 2010
Slipstream	Savage Words	June 2010	present