[Update] Irons in the Fire

How it felt cutting the
umbilical cord.

With the birth of my daughter and my son being in his Terrible Twos, my life is once again in turmoil. I hope we!re going to reach a point where we adapt or no longer give a crap about the current situation in a few months. In the meantime I'll spend my limited free time with the following:

• Mordschlag: Since we're done with Death's Dark Shadow and on the threshold of a new chapter, it is about time I analysed player feedback and overhauled the mechanics. One thing everyone agreed on was that they like random hit locations rolling for damage. I'm also thinking about reintroducing some of WFRP1e's lost characteristics and introducing a more freeform skill system.
• Eremus: Because I got extremely bored of running Old-School Essentials and wanted to referee something that isn't D&D, I converted the Eremus campaign to Mythras. In-game the changes were explained by a cataclysmic event that started messing up the setting. After four sessions we decided to finish the campaign using Mythras. I had the opportunity to run the campaign's penultimate adventure again after a major overhaul on Kalandorok Társasága using OpenQuest. It was a blazing fast and endlessly amusing session.
• Dragonbane: I'm aching to give this game finally a shot. I have a lot of issues with some of its design decisions, but I fucking love this game and its community. I'm planning to run a conversion of Legendary Duck Tower as a Jaquays memorial game once I'm done with one of the above campaigns. Once have some actual experience, I'll definitely write a proper review for Dragonbane.

I don't dare to plan more for this year. I'll do my best to blog about all the above though, so get ready for more house rules, conversion notes, and even less reviews.

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[Homebrew] Getting Shitfaced

Advanced Taverns & Tankards

While browsing through my Google Drive folders, I found a bunch of house rules from the past - some for campaigns we actually played, some for campaigns that never launched. One of the recurring unused homebrews was a bunch of rules for drinking yourself under the table, which were originally written for Delving Deeper¹, then revamped for Swords & Wizardry, before finally getting lost for years. Now the time has come to convert it to Old-School Essentials so we can finally give it a proper shot on Sunday's session.

The character's Drink Threshold is equal to 1 + CON modifier (minimum 0). It shows how many servings of alcohol the character can drink within an hour before its effects start to kick in. One serving equals a mug of ale, or a glass of wine, or a shot of spirits. After reaching the threshold the character must make a Save vs Poison for every further drink, with no penalty for the first one, but a cumulative -2 for each drink after that.

After the first failure the character becomes tipsy, receiving a small penalty (-1 on d20 rolls, -5% on percentile rolls) for every action. After 1-2 hours of rest he becomes sober again.

After the second failure the character becomes slightly drunk, receiving a medium penalty (-2 on d20 rolls, -10% on percentile rolls) for every action. He is also braver and more tolerant to pain, resulting in +1 hit point for every hit dice. After 1-2 hours of rest he becomes tipsy again.

After the third failure the character becomes drunk. He is incapable to do anything effectively (-4 on d20 rolls, -20% on percentile rolls), but is always eager to prove the opposite. He is fearless and shrugs of pain easily, resulting in +2 hit points for every hit dice. After 1-2 hours of rest he becomes slighty drunk again.

After the fourth failure the character passes out, usually after saying good bye to his lunch. He is incapacitated and totally unaware of  his surroundings. He will sleep for 4-8 hours before becoming sober again and he must make a System Shock roll to avoid losing one point of a random characteristic permanently.

If the character reaches at least the slighty drunk stage, he will have a hangover the next day. The length of the hangover depends on how drunk he was. For slightly drunk it lasts for an hour, for drunk it lasts for a  day, for passed out it may last for 1-3 days. During hangover the character is fatigued and sick, acting as if he had lost half his levels. Druids and alchemists might know cures that can shorten the length of hangover. The Remove Disease spell cures hangover, while Remove Poison nullifies the effects of alcohol.

We'll see how they work out in practice. They seem a bit lenient, but this is for an age of hardy people and less refined alcoholic drinks. Cheers!

¹ I have absolutely no clue if it was written from scratch, or was based on already existing rules. The levels do remind me of HackMaster 5e, but it's been a while since I've read those and my books weren't available when writing this post. If anyone finds any similarity to other drinking rules, please let me know.

[Homebrew] It's a Kind of Magic

The magic-user's choice.

Abandon hope all ye who enter here! These heretic house rules were written in the blood of massacred sacred cows. They haven't been properly playstested, because our Old-School Essentials campaign has been in stasis since the plague, when the highest level character just hit level 4. The reason for experimenting with spell points and throwing out memorization is as old as the hobby: most of my players are ambivalent, or at best neutral towards spell slots. I also tampered with clerics, so they have magic at level 1, and don't get both level 3 and level 4 spells on the same level. We'll see how these rules work out in the end, though so far my players liked them and I'm not that worried that it will horribly upset balance or break the game. Or maybe I just don't give a fuck anymore after running DCC RPG for years.

Preparing Spells

Spell casters don’t have to memorize spells. Users of arcane magic can cast any spell within their spellbooks, while users of divine magic can cast any spell from their spell lists.

Spell Points

Instead of spell slots, spell casters use spell points (SP) to cast magic. Casting a spell costs 1+spell’s level spell points. Recovering spell points requires a night of good rest.

Spell caster classes have the following amount of spell points:

• Illusionists, Magic-users: level x 4 SP.
• Clerics, Druids: level x 3 SP.
• Bards: (level-1) x 2 SP.
• Rangers, Samurai: (level-7) x 2 SP.
• Paladins: (level-8) x 2 SP.

Spells become available at the following levels :

Maximum spell level by class
Lv	Ill, MU	Cl, Dr	Brd	R,S	P
1	1	1	-	-	-
2	1	1	1	-	-
3	2	2	1	-	-
4	2	2	1	-	-
5	3	3	2	-	-
6	3	4	2	-	-
7	4	5	2	-	-
8	4	5	3	1	-
9	5	5	3	1	1
10	5	5	3	2	1
11	6	5	4	2	2
12	6	5	4	3	2
13	6	5	4	3	3
14	6	5	4	3	3

Spellburn

When running out of spell points, spellcasters can burn their own hit points. The chance of success is equal to the chance of copying spells (OSE Advanced Fantasy Genre Rules p. 50.) with a penalty of (missing spell points x 10%). The caster spends the remaining spell points to cast the spell, then takes damage equal to the missing amount of spell points.

Success: The spell is successfully cast.

Failure: The spell fails, roll on the table below.

Healing: Spellburn damage temporarily reduces the maximum hit points, which can only be recovered through natural healing.

Spell Mishaps

When spellcasting fails during spellburn roll on the following table to see what happens. In case of thieves failing with scrolls the spellburn damage is 1d6.

Spell Mishaps
1d20	Result
1-2	Spell fails, no further harm done.
3-4	Etheric backlash doubles spellburn damage.
5-6	Etheric explosion, in a 100’ radius everyone suffers the spellburn damage.
7-8	Caster stunned for spellburn rounds.
9-10	A random spell of manifests. Its level is equal to the amount of spellburn damage taken.
11-12	Spell backfires at caster! If the spell is harmless, be creative with the result, or choose another spell of the same level.
13-14	Reversed spell! If the spell has no reverse, be creative with the result, or choose another spell of same level.
15-16	Temporary loss of random ability score equal to spellburn damage. With each day of rest 1 point of the ability score returns.
17-18	Caster unable to cast spells for spellburn turns.
19-20	Caster knocked out cold for spellburn turns.

[Homebrew] Our BX/OSE Combat House Rules

The following hodgepodge is a glimpse at the house rules we use in our Old-School Essentials campaign Portals of Eremus. Some of them were borrowed from other games and supplements, others are my own. Some of them have been already used in previous campaigns, others were first introduced for Eremus. The goal was to spice up B/X combat without making the process too cumbersome. Only time will tell if they succeed at that or not, but so far they worked fine for us - especially the weapon properties!

If you are looking for complicated combat rules, you are in the wrong place.
Check out Player's Option(TM): Combat & Tactics instead.

Death and Dying

At 0 hit points the player character loses consciousness and begin to bleed out, losing 1 hit point per round until healed. Death is instantaneous when the current hit points reach half the character's Constitution score (round up) in negative. E.g. a character with CON 17 dies when reaching -9 hit points.

After regaining consciousness, the wounded character needs a full week of bed rest. Until completely rested the character moves at half the normal rate, cannot carry heavy items, and receives penalties in combat.

Being reduced below 0 hit points leaves the character with a hideous permanent scar.

Disarming

When attempting to disarm a successful hit doesn't cause damage, but forces the defender to make a saving throw versus petrification or lose the weapon being held.

Distance: The weapon falls at the owner’s feet if it is of the same size as the attacker’s weapon, or lands 1d10 feet away if smaller. Recovering the weapon takes a round.

Limits: Weapons held in two hands cannot be disarmed. Disarming can only be used against weapons of the same length or shorter.

Fumbles

When the character misses by 10 or more on a natural 1 roll on the following table to see what happens:

1d20	Result
1-2	Just a minor inconvenience. Laugh it off.
3-4	Weapon slips. -2 to the next attack roll.
5-6	Weapon damaged. -1 to damage rolls until repaired.
7-8	Weapon stuck in something. It takes an attack to free it.
9-10	Weapon dropped or thrown. It lands 1d10 feet away.
11-12	Attacker slips. +2 to the next attack of the enemy.
13-14	Attacker stumbles. Free attack roll for the enemy.
15-16	Attacker falls. It takes a round to regain footing.
17-18	Attack roll against self. Classic.
19-20	Attack roll against nearby ally, or damage self when there is none in reach.

Grappling and Overbearing

When grappling each attacker makes an individual attack roll. Those attackers who hit roll their hit dice totals and compare their sum against the defender's hit dice total roll. E.g. two 1 HD orcs trying to pin a level 3 cleric roll 2d8 versus 3d6.

Attackers have higher total: The defender is pinned and can be executed or knocked out for 1d6 turns next round. Before that defender can try to break free, or another grappler can join the fray to pull the defender out.

Defender has higher total: The attackers are beaten back and stunned for a round.

Draw: No one manages to get the upper hand this round. 

Parrying

When parrying the character’s total melée attack bonus* is added as an Armour Class bonus that round. The bonus is only added against missile weapons if the character has a shield. The parrying character can't attack until next round.

Tripping

When attempting to trip a successful hit doesn't cause damage, but forces the defender to make a saving throw versus petrification or fall prone.

Regain footing: Can be done next round during the movement phase.

Limits: Must use weapons that can hook the victim’s leg. It’s impossible to trip creatures without leg. Creatures with more than two legs gain a +1 bonus to their saving throws per additional leg.

Weapon Properties

Crushing weapons (club, mace, staff, stone, torch, warhammer, etc.) get a +2 bonus to attack rolls against heavy armour (chainmail and above)**, unless the armour is of much harder material. E.g. a wooden club against plate mail does not get any bonus. A natural 20 that hits*** stuns the defender for 1d6 rounds. Another successful strike from a blunt instrument knocks the defender out for 1d6 turns.

Piercing weapons (arrow, bolt, dagger, javelin, lance, polearm, short sword, spear, etc.) impale foes on a natural 19-20 that hits. Impaled creatures suffer a damage roll from the weapon again when they do strenuous activity, or when the weapon is forcefully extracted. If the weapon is held by someone the victim is held at bay until the weapon is removed. Extracting the weapon forcefully costs an attack, while doing it carefully to avoid additional damage requires an entire turn.

Slashing weapons (battle axe, hand axe, polearm, sword, two-handed sword, etc.) can cleave, which allows a free attack against another foe within reach after killing someone. On a natural 20 that hits the weapon causes double damage. If the victim falls to 0 hp the attack tore off a random limb.

Some weapons can be wielded in different ways, changing the damage type. Depending on the weapon this can result in reduced damage, or the weapon handled as another weapon that’s more fitting for the situation - eg. attacking with a spear’s shaft counts as a staff.

* I assume attack bonus and ascending armour class.
** In case of monsters I use the following rule of thumb: hide and fur count as leather, scales count as chain, hard shell count as plate.

*** By this I mean the attack would hit even if the natural 20 wasn't automatic success.

[Homebrew] Improving Ability Scores

Bunch of apes earning pips to their Intelligence.

Old-school D&D and its clones don't offer much in improving ability scores besides magic. I don't have any issue with the rolled values being the peak of natural development, but in my campaigns I like giving my players options to increase them. Getting a +1 to something every x levels though is pretty damn boring, predictible, and uninspiring. In my Swords & Wizardry Wilderlands campaign I used a system inspired by HackMaster's percentile scores that increase with every level up. In my DCC RPG Terminus campaign I took the game's "Quest for it!" advice to heart and allowed the players to increase ability scores after reaching certain milestones. The system I use for my Old-School Essentials Eremus campaign is a mix of both: I allow a slight increase at level ups while also rewarding experimenting, research, and questing.

Improving an ability score needs a certain number of pips depending on its current value:

Improving ability scores
Current value	Pips to increase value
3-8	2
9-12	3
13-17	4

Pips are awarded for the following:

• Leveling up grants one pip to a Prime Requisite. If there are multiple Prime Requisites, choose randomly which one increases. If a Prime Requisite is 18 it can't be increased and the pip goes to another, randomly chosen ability score.
• Achieving certain deeds grant one to three pips to a corresponding ability score, depending on the difficulty and scale of the deed.

The latter includes eating powerful creatures, interacting with alien objects, performing esoteric trials, succeeding at difficult tasks, dealing with deities and demigods, visiting hard to reach landmarks, training with legendary masters, and so on. A few examples from my campaign:

• Eating a giant's flesh increases Strength.
• Impaling yourself to a tree for nine days increases Wisdom.
• Looking into the black monolith without going insane increases Intelligence.
• Taking bath in the thermal pools of the Moon increases Constitution.

I keep the possible achievements secret, thus the player characters have to learn them from rumors, mentors, journals, or by experimenting. Sometimes if the player character does something amazing or surprising, I hand out one on the fly and add itt to my list.


There are a few limits of course:

• The maximum ability score is still 18.
• Performing a deed is only worth a pip for the first time.

So far this method worked fine for us. I'm not afraid that it will create game-breaking characters on the long, because the importance of ability scores and their modifiers is diminished at higher levels, and there are plenty of opportunities for my players to decrease their ability scores.

[Homebrew] The Portals of Eremus Have Opened

Like all good campaigns it started in a tavern.
By session #3 they stepped on the moon.

In August our HackMaster campaign ended with a glorious TPK, after which we decided to give the game some rest - it was fun, but it was becoming a bit tiresome, plus we were in the mood to play something else. My best and longest campaigns so far were my two Wilderlands of High Fantasy campaigns (using Swords & Wizardry Complete and D&D5e), and my homebrew Terminus campaign (using DCC RPG). Following the old wisdom "let the shoemaker stick to his last" I decided to run something akin to those: a gonzo kitchen sink sandbox inspired Wilderlands, Arduin, Tékumel, Wizardry 6-8, and the various Might & Magic games.

"I hope it won't be AD&D though" said one of my players after I told them my idea. Once again my plans to use my dream mix of AD&D 1e + 2e + house rules were delayed indefinitely. I rarely let my players have a say in what I'm going to run, but this time I had to agree with him, because I both wanted to minimize preparations and introduce some new players to the game, thus something lighter seemed beneficial. Enter Old-School Essentials, which I managed to upgrade last minute to the print version in the pledge manager, which closed on the night of the aforementioned TPK. After I got the pdf I began to revamp old materials, write new stuff, convert content from other games, draw shitty maps, outsource said maps to someone more skilled, and so on.

This isn't even my final form!

Thus Eremus was born, a continent on Anachron IV, a planet terraformed eons ago by the primogenitors to be a paradise on the galactic fringe. Then they fucked it up during their great war, and vanished without a trace, leaving behind the soldiers and creatures they summoned from across time and space to wage their battles. After a long dark age the survivors began to rebuild civilization.

The campaign which I named Portals of Eremus takes place millennia later, during the tumultuous centuries following collapse of the Tritonian Empire, which ruled over the entire region before it fell apart during the Succession Wars. The players are adventurers seeking fame and fortune in the Contested Lands, where barbaric kings began to raise kingdom upon the ruins of past nations.

We use a heavily modified and expanded version of OSE. Without going into details, the following resources are in use, more or less (sometimes an entire book, other times a few articles only):

• OSE Rules Tome
• OSE Advanced Fantasy Genre Rules
• OSE Druid and Illusionist Spells
• Theorems and Thaumaturgy Revised Edition
• The Complete Vivimancer
• On Downtime and Demesnes
• Broodmother Skyfortress
• Deities and Demigods
• Unknown Gods Revised and Expanded
• Petty Gods Revised and Expanded Edition
• Judges Guild Ready Ref Sheets
• The Arduin Grimoire Trilogy
• various articles from Echoes From Fomalhaut, Fight On!, and other fanzines
• various blogposts from around the OSR community
• a shitton of house rules and homebrew content

Plenty of house rules are work in progress, under playtest, even totally untested. Nothing is set in stone, and if they won't work out as intended they will be changed, retconned, or thrown out. Not that I care too much about balance, but usability and simplicity are paramount. If we keep forgetting to use something, then it wasn't interesting in the first place and should be thrown out. Some highlights of my house rules document:

• crapton of races for the wandering circus feel
• monk, samurai, techno class conversions
• a deck o' stuff table that keeps growing
• learning skills and talents by training
• improving ability scores by questing
• smoother THAC0 and save charts
• expanded secondary skill list
• spell point based spellcasting
• spellburn and spell mishaps
• expanded weapon qualities
• dungeon fortune cookies
• combat maneuvers
• psychic powers

I will go into the details in future posts. I will also consider writing session reports, but time and time again they have proven to be something I can't keep up with on the long. For now, enjoy the Holidays, and this overview map by Gábor Csomós (author of the excellent The Lost Valley of Kishar).

Work in progress overview map of Central Eremus

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