For Gold and Glory - Actual Play Report #1

This is the first Actual Play report of one of my Play-by-Post games over on the RPG.net forums. For Gold and Glory is a game I'm running using the Dark Dungeons rules and I chose to run an adventure (and maybe some more later) rather than running a sandbox game. I chose to start with my favorite adventure - The Sunless Citadel, originally published for D&D 3.0. I'm basically converting it on the fly, but 95% of the monsters in the adventure are available in the Dark Dungeons book and the traps are pretty much straight out of the adventure. This campaign started back in September and we've got almost 350 posts so far, with no sign of slowing down any time soon. 

In case you missed it, I fucking love this adventure.

So, first up, here's the initial cast of characters:
Anich Larinson - 1st-level Fighter, played by Phil6294
Rowan Porter - 1st-level Thief, played by m111
Quartz Graystrike - 1st-level Dwarf, played by Sabermane
Penlin the Mighty - 1st-level Magic-User, played by thirdkingdom
Father Suril Troar - 1st-level Cleric, played by CaliberX

The adventurers, a mix of locals and roaming folk, met up in a tavern (how original, right?) in Oakhurst. While most were responding to a call for adventurers needed to take care of a local goblin tribe, Father Suril was a local priest, determined to go out to the fabled Sunless Citadel in search of his nephew, one of a band of adventurers who had gone missing in the Citadel.

A merchant approached the party and revealed the full reasons why Oakhurst put out the call for adventurers - a goblin tribe living in the bowels of the fallen fortress would ransom a single perfect apple once a year. The apple would cure any ailments, though occasionally the goblins would attempt to sell a white, sickly apple instead - where the red apple would bolster whoever ate it, the white apple would steal the life from the poor victim. Another party of adventurers, including the merchant's son and Father Suril's nephew, went into the Citadel over a month prior to the party's arrival and never returned.

Long story short, after much promised reward, the party set off for the Citadel the next morning. After a few hours walking out to the ruined Citadel, with no encounters along the way, the party reached a deep ravine surrounded by broken pillars with a rope leading down. After some debate over what to do, Penlin the Mighty grew tired of waiting, cried "Observe my decisive action as I grow bored of standing about!" and swung down on the rope to a ledge down below, only to be promptly attacked by giant rats. The rest of the party quickly followed, with the notable exception of Father Suril (who preferred to use his sling from above), and two rats were slain and the third fled. Fortunately, despite being bitten, Penlin and Quartz managed to avoid contracting a deadly plague from the rats.

After some minor patching up of wounds later, the party continued down a battered set of stairs from the ledge, leading into a ruined courtyard, beyond which laid the Sunless Citadel itself - a blasted keep that had fallen into the ravine centuries before. Deciding to press forward to the entrance, the group nearly had its first death - Rowan tumbled into a pit trap, bashing his head on the ground and dropping to zero hit points. A fortunately-timed critical save vs. death ray later and he was back up to one hit point.

After pulling Rowan out of the pit (and grabbing some loot from a goblin corpse found within), the party moved on, entering the Citadel. Their first sight was a group of slaughtered goblins, one of which was pinned to the wall with a spear. Moving on from that room, the party killed another giant rat and chose to ignore for the moment a stone door carved with an elaborate dragon.

After that, the group of intrepid adventurers made it to another room with a broken cage, a smoky firepit, and a huddled tiny humanoid covered in rags and weeping - a beleaguered kobold known as Meepo, Keeper of Dragons...

More to come soon! That covers about 150 posts up to the first week of October. We've got another two months and 200 posts to go, and hopefully I'll get that covered here in the next few days. If you guys found this at least a little interesting, please let me know - if not, I'd love to know that too and I'll go back to my other gaming content. Thanks!

XCOM Musings

I've been playing a ton of XCOM: Enemy Within in the last few weeks, so naturally, I've been pondering an XCOM tabletop game. There are two aspects to XCOM: EW - the tactical squad combat and the strategic global management/tech upgrade aspect.

Admit it, you'd buy a game with this art on the book cover. Pic from here.

For the tactical combat, I don't foresee that being too difficult to port over to a tabletop game. There are plenty of games out there that can handle lethal tactical combat. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of an extremely simplified D&D 4E - something built off the 13th Age system, maybe. The big key here is that it's got to have a level-up system to replicate XCOM ranks and it's got to be absolutely lethal to simulate how often XCOM soldiers are killed. A plus would be quick character creation, for the same reason.

The strategic element could be a little more difficult. In the video game, there's only one player to make all those decisions - in a tabletop game, there are generally going to be at least two (three if you count the GM). There are also a lot of aspects to make decisions about: choosing which abduction mission to go on, tech upgrades, research options, items to buy, what countries to send satellites to, etc. Making these decisions as a group has the potential to be divisive unless there's a clear role for each player. So, I'd call one player the Head Scientist, one the Chief Engineer, one the Strategic Lead, and one the Tactical Lead. Each would get a quarter of XCOM's budget to take actions for their section.

The Head Scientist would make decisions on things like research options, autopsies, and tech upgrades. The Chief Engineer would make decisions on what buildings to add to the base and Foundry upgrades. The Strategic Lead would make decisions regarding satellites and which missions to take on, and the Tactical Lead would make decisions on what equipment to purchase and equip soldiers with, along with choosing which XCOM soldier would be the squad leader on the various missions. This way, every player has a strategic role to play alongside controlling a character during tactical missions.

Options for the four strategic roles could be something like this:
Head Scientist - purchase scientists to shorten research time, choose research projects, and run autopsies and interrogations.
Chief Engineer - hire engineers to speed up Foundry upgrades and build times, build base facilities.
Strategic Lead - purchase satellites, run intel scans searching for Exalt, sell surplus at the Gray Market, make decisions on what missions to take.
Tactical Lead - hire soldiers, purchase equipment, choose squad leaders, choose Officer Training School options.

Now, I realize that this limits the game to four players plus a GM, but I don't really see that as a problem. I'm thinking XCOM would be less of a roleplaying game than it would be just a really good boardgame with a tactical combat module bolted on. It would certainly be possible to add a lot of roleplaying elements into it, what with playing the soldiers as well as the XCOM HQ roles.

I may not make this game, but it's fun to think about. So, what are your thoughts on an XCOM tabletop game? What would you do different?

All Things Arcane - Arcane Grafts

Grafts are one result of mad wizards trying to magically cross several animals. Grafting is the act of adding body parts, either new or replacements, from other creatures. Golem limbs, giant scorpion tails, chameleon skin, ghoul claws – all are available through grafting.

However, there are downsides to grafts, mainly the chance of not surviving the process. Characters who undergo grafting must succeed on a saving throw vs. death to survive the experience. Characters take a -1 penalty to this saving throw for each graft they already have. In addition, the character takes 2d6 points of damage due to incisions and the arcane solutions needed to graft the new parts. Afterward, healing damage takes place normally, but the character will need to take at least a week of rest for the graft to heal and become fully functional.

Get a few grafts and before you know it, your
character looks like this.

To create a graft, characters need things: an arcane surgeon to perform the graft, someone to be grafted, an acceptable body part to graft, and costly ritual components. The arcane surgeon must be of 7^th level or higher and be a Magic-User, Warlock, or Artificer. To obtain body parts suitable for grafting, the arcane surgeon must have access to a specimen of the appropriate type. If the specimen is dead, there is a 1-in-6 chance that the body part is too damaged to use. However, if the specimen is alive, the body part is always useable, though the arcane surgeon will have to remove it, which generally either kills or cripples the specimen. Suitable magic (a hold monster or similar spell) may assist in removing the body part intact. Certain specimens may hold multiple grafts of the same kind – for example, a massive dragon may be able to provide two or three sets of scales for the Dragon Scales graft.

Each graft has an associated cost to perform the ritual. The character or arcane surgeon spends this cost on ritual components – healing solutions, numbing balms, cleaning agents, spell components, etc.

Grafts

Demon Claw

Specimen: Any demon

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: A demon claw replaces the character's hand. The character can use the hand as a melee weapon dealing 1d6. On a strike with the claw, the victim takes another 1d6 damage unless they pass a saving throw.

Demon Heart

Specimen: Any demon

Cost: 10,000gp

Effect: A demon heart gives replaces the character's actual heart (requiring a saving throw to avoid death during grafting). It gives the character +2 hit points per HD, a +2 on saving throws vs. magic effects, a reddish cast to their skin, and the character takes half damage from fire. In addition, the character gains an affinity for blood and violence and gains a more volatile temper due to the fiendish influence of the heart.

Dragon Breath Gland

Specimen: Any dragon

Cost: 10,000gp

Effect: A dragon's breath gland gives the character a breath weapon. The shape and type of the breath match that of the dragon specimen. Range is reduced to twenty feet in its largest dimension. The breath weapon can be used three times per day and deals 1d6 damage per HD of the character.

Dragon Scales

Specimen: Any dragon

Cost: 7,500gp

Effect: Dragon scales bond to the character's skin over most of the body. They give the character a -1[+1] bonus to AC and the character takes only half damage of the damage type dealt by the dragon specimen's breath weapon.

Ghoul Claws

Specimen: A ghoul

Cost: 7,500gp

Effect: Ghoul claws replace the character's hand. They allow a character to make a 1d6-damage melee attack, and if the attack's target fails a saving throw, they are paralyzed for 1d6 rounds.

Giant Scorpion Tail

Specimen: A giant scorpion

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The scorpion tail is grafted to the end of the character's spine. It allows the character to make a tail attack that deals 1d6 damage and forces a saving throw. A failed saving throw means the target takes half the damage (rounded down, never less than 1) again due to the powerful scorpion venom.

Or maybe even like this.

Giant Squid Tentacle

Specimen: A giant squid

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The squid tentacle attaches to the character's shoulder or hip. The tentacle gives the character a tentacle attack that allows the character to grapple an enemy for one round, giving it a -2 penalty to all actions and AC on a successful attack roll.

Golem Arm

Specimen: An iron golem

Cost: 7,500gp

Effect: A golem arm replaces the character's original arm. The arm may be used as a shield and allows the character to make a melee attack equivalent to an attack with a mace. The arm cannot be used both as a weapon and a shield in the same round.

Griffon Wings

Specimen: A griffon

Cost: 10,000gp

Effect: Griffon wings are grafted to the character's back and shoulders. The character may fly at normal speed for a number of minutes per day equal to the character's Constitution score. A heavily-encumbered character cannot fly.

Lizardman Tail

Specimen: A lizardman

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The tail is grafted to the character's spine. It gives a character the ability to swim at double their normal speed and a +2 to any saving throws related to balance.

Minotaur Horns

Specimen: A minotaur

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The horns are grafted affixed to the character's skull, giving them a gore attack that deals 1d6+1 damage. A successful attack also knocks an opponent off their feet, if they are the same size or smaller than the character.

Ogre Arm

Specimen: An ogre

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The ogre's arm replaces that of the character. The character gains +1 to Strength and adds +1 to damage from melee attacks made with weapons wielded with that arm.

Shark Gills

Specimen: A shark

Cost: 3,000gp

Effect: The shark's gills are implanted into the character's neck. The character can breathe underwater indefinitely. However, the character needs to keep the gills moist – a wet rag wrapped around the neck would work. Dried gills cause intense pain to the character, preventing them from concentrating on difficult tasks such as spellcasting or picking locks.

Shark Teeth

Specimen: A shark

Cost: 2,500gp

Effect: The shark teeth replace the character's original teeth. The character gains a bite attack that deals 1d6 damage to a target. The target must succeed on a saving throw or take half that damage again the next round, due to teeth breaking off in the wound. The character constantly sheds and regrows teeth every few days, and cannot speak clearly enough to cast spells.

Spider Silk Gland

Cost: 3,500gp

Specimen: A giant spider

Effect: The spider's silk glands are implanted into the character's wrists, allowing the character to spin a web (similar to the Web spell) or create thirty feet of silken rope once per day.

GM NOTES: This material hasn't been playtested yet. I was playing XCOM and figured it would be really interesting to modify D&D characters the way XCOM soldiers can get genetic modifications using alien technology. I know that there were graft rules buried somewhere in D&D 3.5, but I wanted something I could use for the old-school games I'm running now. I wrote this up with Swords & Wizardry in mind, but it should work just fine for most, if not all, old-school games. For cost, I just had to wing it - I couldn't find anything about magic item costs in S&W, and I was thinking these are kind of like permanent magic items. So as with anything OSR-related, use at your own risk and feel free to tweak, add new grafts, and please, if you use them at your table, let me know how it went and how the rules worked for you!

Online Gaming - Play-by-Post Edition

I do a lot of gaming via forum posts. Right now, I'm playing in a 13th Age game, a Pathfinder game, and a Dark Dungeons game. I'm also running a Dark Dungeons game and an ACKS game. Over the past few years, I've had a tough time getting offline gaming groups together due to moving around, not knowing many gamers in some of the areas I've lived, and scheduling, so most of my gaming has been done online. I've played probably a dozen games over the past three years and run maybe half a dozen (including the ones I'm running now).

I know there are a lot of gamers who play online, using forums, Google+ hangouts, Roll20, or IRC/other text chat, so I figured I'd write up a few thoughts on the pros and cons of Play-by-Post (PbP) gaming. I'll also post some advice I have for playing PbP games.

Pros

1. Preparing for a PbP game isn't as intensive on the GM. You may not have less stuff to do as a PbP GM, but due to the pace of most games, you've got more time to do it. Things take more time in PbP, especially when you may only get one post a day from each player, which gives the GM more time to prepare.
2. It's much, much easier to improvise. Because of the time factor, if the PCs do something unexpected, it's usually totally fine for the GM to sleep on it rather than make an immediate decision. This generally leads to decisions and rulings that are more thought out.
3. No more worries about stopping play to look up a rule. The GM (and generally, all the players) have plenty of time between posts to look up a rule or create a suitable house-rule, in contrast to a face-to-face or real-time online game where you'd have to interrupt play to search through books and PDFs.
4. It's much less time-intensive. As a GM, the longest I've ever spent on a post was thirty minutes for a game-opening post, which I consider to be prep rather than active play. The longest I've spent on an active play post (combat, roleplaying, etc.) was about fifteen minutes where I was responding to multiple players at the same time. As a player, even with combat actions, I haven't spend more than five minutes or so on a post.
5. Scheduling isn't a problem. If all the players and GM have time for one post per day, there's almost no time taken out of everyone's daily schedule. It's much easier than setting aside three or four hours every week for five or six people to get together and play.

Cons

1. PbP is slow. Really slow. Like, one combat in Dark Dungeons can take four days to play out. That kind of slow. In a 4E game, one combat can take upwards of a week or so.
2. Player/GM interest can wane rapidly. Between the slow pace and waiting on everyone else to post, it can be really easy for a player or GM to just lose interest in a game. I always take an extra two or so players when I do my game recruiting to combat player drop-out.
3. Games die very easily. Sometimes it's a GM losing interest, sometimes it's multiple players, and sometimes it's something as simple as the GM or a couple players taking a break for a couple days (holidays, vacation, whatever reason) for a game to go on hiatus and just never come back.

Advice

Most of my advice for PbP gaming is similar to what I'd give for a regular game, with a couple PbP-specific additions. Remember, this is what works for me and is mostly focused on OSR games. Take it with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary, etc.

1. As a player, get involved. Offer to help keep the game wiki updated, offer to help map dungeons, whatever you need to do to keep interested. The more you invest in a game, the more you'll want to keep playing.
2. Let the GM make all dice rolls. It speeds the game way up and simplifies things, especially for combat. A three- or four-post back and forth discussion between the GM and a player on what dice need rolled, especially for situations where success or failure will lead to another roll, is much more time-consuming than a player including a request for a die roll in their post and the GM making that roll and any related rolls and including the results of the roll(s) in their next post.
3. Give out XP boosts. For OSR games, give out a lot of XP. Advancement in certain games takes a really long time, and in PbP, that time is even longer. To mitigate that, give out extra XP, either through story awards (The party helped the kobolds achieve a common goal instead of murdering them? Here's some extra XP!) or reaching certain goals (The group survived the dragon attack with no deaths? Everyone gets a 10% bonus on XP for that encounter.).
4. For GMs, either keep your posts short or format details using a list. People generally aren't going to want to read big blocks of text to try to find what's fluff and what's actually relevant detail. Instead of working details into a paragraph, put them in a list to make them immediately stand out and so the players know it's relevant information.
5. Have separate In-Character and Out-of-Character threads. IC threads are used for in-game roleplaying and relevant rolls. Out-of-Character threads are for anything else - metagame discussions, character build advice (if your game has character builds), brainstorming, etc.

Campaign Prep - Creating a Starting Town Using ACKS

NOTE: If you're currently playing in my Adventures in the Nentir Vale campaign on RPG.net, please don't read any further.

I got my ACKS game going this week, so I figured I'd write up a blog post about creating the starting town, Nenlast. I've set the game in the Nentir Vale, the implied setting of D&D 4E, but I've changed Nenlast quite a bit from the way it was described in the Abyssal Plague novels.

So first up, I knew that Nenlast is described in the 4E DMG as a small fishing village, so I decided to run with that. It's small, so for population I decided on roughly 200 people. Large enough to warrant a wall and a militia, but small enough to keep fairly simple in terms of organizations and locations within the town. According to the ACKS rules, 200 people would make Nenlast a market class VI town and include a pretty small number of leveled NPCs.

After setting the population, I made some decisions on locations I wanted to have available: an inn, a disreputable tavern, some sort of church, a graveyard/cemetery, a place of governance, a couple of shops, and the docks. I wrote out some descriptions of these locations along with NPCs that might be found there, then moved on to the next step in the ACKS rules: criminal organizations.

Such a small town, in the ACKS rules, will have a correspondingly small criminal faction. In this case, I decided to have the town's known criminals consolidated into a gang known as the Crimson Hands. I incorporated The Drunken Boar, the disreputable tavern I'd created, and made it the gang's hangout. The tavern's owner, Belloc, became the gang's leader and that was that. Total gang membership is only 16 (8x 0^th level ruffians, 5x 1^st level, 2x 2^nd level, 1x 3^rd level boss).

I figure the Crimson Hands are small fish who think they're a lot scarier than they really are. The gang leader and a couple of his lieutenants might be a threat to some adventurers, but for the most part, the gang consists of level-0 normal people that probably won't want to get in a lethal fight with armed and armored adventurers.

Once I finished up the basics on the Crimson Hands, I wrote up a few tavern rumors for the PCs can follow up on. It's a hexcrawl/dungeon crawl game, so I won't be using many, if any, published adventures. I figured these rumors were pretty decent stuff for a low level party to be interested in taking a look at.

I'm working on a map of the town, so hopefully that'll be finished up and posted later this week.

Locations in Nenlast

Black Trout Inn

Famed around the Nentir Vale for its beer-battered trout, the Black Trout Inn is owned and run by Red Toran. Small compared to inns in larger towns such as Fallcrest, the Black Trout Inn has a core group of regular customers who like to sit and chat about the day's events during most evenings.

Chapel

Rather than having multiple churches dedicated to individual deities, Nenlast has only a small chapel with individual altars or statues for most of the pantheon: Erathis, Pelor, Avandra, Bahamut, Melora, Ioun, and Kord. The chapel is overseen by Korlas, a priest dedicated to Erathis, though there are a number of other priests of various deities. The Raven Queen is not represented at the chapel, but there is a small shrine to her at the entrance to the graveyard.

Docks

Easily the most bustling area of Nenlast on most days, the docks are where the village's small fleet of fishing boats and rafts are moored. Near the docks is a beach where the ice-fishing shacks are kept during the summer.

Erkar's General Store

Most popular for its wide selection of bait and tackle, Erkar's General Store sells just about any necessity for life on the shores of Lake Nen, including archery gear and leather products. Erkar carries some of the most basic spell components, but it's a small selection that he doesn't really cater to, as most mages prefer to buy from the Sapphire Tower

Ironheart Smithy

The Ironheart Smithy is run by the Ironhearts, a family of dwarves living in the only completely-stone building in Nenlast. The Ironhearts are known for their no-frills, high-quality craftsmanship and blades that are very durable and solid. Most iron and steel products can be bought at the Ironheart Smithy, including swords, axes, and armor. The smithy is run by Kora Ironheart, who boasts that she is the best smith in all of the Nentir Vale.

The Drunken Boar

The only competitor of the Black Trout Inn, The Drunken Boar is a tavern in a rather run-down state. Run as a front for the local thieves' guild, the Crimson Hands, The Drunken Boar is a home for the town drunks, ruffians, and other disreputable folk.

Moon Tower

Named for the silver crescent moon painted on the door, Moon Tower is where Nenlast's few mages congregate. Owned by a doddering, half-senile old mage by the name of Cromlen, Moon Tower is a combination magic shop and residence. While Cromlen's powers have waned in the last decade or so, rumors abound of arcane secrets and trinkets held within the tower.

Important NPCs

Lord Mayor Thure Karn

Red Toran, proprietor of the Black Trout Inn

Korlas, priest of Erathis
Erkar, proprietor of Erkar's General Store

Kora Ironheart, master smith at the Ironheart Smithy

Belloc, chief of the Crimson Hands and owner of The Drunken Boar

Tavern Rumors

1. Goblins have been plaguing the Old Hill Road, besieging trade caravans. The Lord Governor of Nenlast has set a bounty of five silver pieces for goblin ears, and an extra bounty of 100 gold if presented with proof that the goblins are no longer a threat.

2. Rumor has it that there's a nest of owlbears in a cave just inside Winterbole Forest, five miles out of town. Everyone knows owlbear eggs are a delicacy, and their pelts make for the best leather in the Vale.

3. An old wizard's tower has fallen into ruin outside town. It's rumored to be haunted and the wizard's treasures are said to still lay within. The tower is perpetually shrouded in mist, and none have been brave enough to enter in years.

4. Legend has it, an island known as the Fang on Lake Nen is home to an old smuggler's den that may still hold a cache of valuables left there long ago. Most sailors in Nenlast think the Fang is cursed with bad luck and won't go anywhere near it, however.

5. The teens of Nenlast insist that the local graveyard is haunted. They say that, if you spend the night in the graveyard during a full moon, a restless spirit will appear. The identity of the spirit is always changing – some say it's a half-elven woman, while some insist it's a full-blooded orc warrior (though why an orc would be buried there is another mystery altogether).

6. A local farmer, Old Man Hatchet, is willing to pay good gold to enterprising folk willing to clear any unwanted beasts from a cave on his property. Purportedly, the cave contains some sort of giant rodent or insect – Old Man Hatchet's sight is failing and his account varies from telling to telling.

Creating a Character - Adventurer, Conqueror, King System

With my Swords & Wizardry Eberron game still a ways off, I've decided to run a game of ACKS on the RPG.net forums. I haven't GMed or played ACKS yet, but I figured I'd just jump in the deep end and go for it. From what I've read, it isn't incredibly different than other OSR systems, at least at low levels. I did enact a couple basic house rules that I use for just about any Play-by-Post game I run: the biggest one is that I'll allow 1st level casters to select their first spell rather than selecting it for them as the rules suggest. Anything other than that gets rolled. But enough of that, it's time to get on with character creation.

Step One: Roll ability scores in order. For PbP I use Invisible Castle, but for this I'll just use my regular dice. I'm also only going to roll one set, as opposed to the five sets I roll and let my players choose from.

STR 12
INT 16
WIS 12
DEX 13
CON 9
CHA 12

...Huh. I think these dice might be loaded. Good thing this is just a test character. After a quick glance through the Player's Companion, I'm going to go with Warlock for a class. I like the idea of a caster aligned with hellish powers (of course, I've also been reading Erin M. Evans's Brimstone Angels, so that might be influencing my choice).

Hit Points: 4

I'm rolling awesome tonight, apparently. Next up, Proficiencies. All characters start with Adventuring, then they get one General and one Class, and extra General Proficiencies according to INT. This character has a +2 bonus from INT, so that's three General. I'm going to go with Loremastery, Knowledge (Occult), Survival, and Leadership. Loremastery and Knowledge (Occult) to explain the Warlock powers, Survival to make sure he can survive in the wilderness for a while, and Leadership because any decent Warlock is going to need minions to serve him.

Spells: He can cast one per day, but with his INT score, he can have three in his repertoire. I'm going with Sleep, Spider Climb, and Burning Hands. Sleep is, as with most OSR games, easily one of the most powerful low-level spells, as it apparently allows no save against it. Spider Climb is pretty thematic and creepy, and Burning Hands is both damaging and thematically appropriate.

It looks like alignment and gear are all that's left to choose, and I'm going to choose the easy way and just snag the gear from the Corrupt Scholar template for the Warlock. Oh, and I need to choose a name: Malevoc Infernis is a good Warlock-y name, I think.

With no further adieu, here's the final character sheet:

I also like that the whole character sheet fits on one piece of
notebook paper.

Overall, not a bad character, I think. Plus, even with having to look up the rules and flip between the PDFs of ACKS and the Player's Companion, it only took me about half an hour or so to make a character. I'm sure that time could be cut significantly with A) more familiarity with the system, and B) only using a core book rather than both.

I'll get a more comprehensive review up once I've run the game a bit and given it a more thorough read-through, but for the moment, I think that picking up the ACKS core book and Player's Companion was money well-spent.

Running Eberron Using S&W White Box

I've been pondering running an Eberron game using Swords & Wizardry White Box and I've run into a fairly big snag: racial class restrictions.

No real meaning behind this pic other than that
I really, really like this art work. Pic from WotC.

The White Box has rules for the various non-human races about what classes they can take and the levels that can be attained in those classes. The problem is, Eberron was written and published using D&D 3.5, which didn't have rules like that. It's completely normal in Eberron to have things like half-orc druids, dwarven wizards, halfling clerics, and any other odd-ball race/class combination. It's also expected that those kinds of characters should be gaining experience at the same rate as the rest of the party so that the characters can continue adventuring together without there being a big permanent power disparity.

So for this Eberron game, I'm going to be completely abolishing class and race restrictions. That's easy, but here's the problem: the only real bonus for humans in S&W is an absence of class and race restrictions. Humans can take any class and advance to any level, but that's all they get. So, the problem I'm facing is finding a way to keep humans viable characters. After all, why play a human fighter if you can play a dwarven fighter and get bonus stuff that the human characters don't get?

At first I thought dragonmarks could be a way to buff humans, but other races also get dragonmarks, albeit with less variety. But, it's a good start. Humans may be slightly more likely to manifest a dragonmark than the other races.

Here's my solution: humans get 10% bonus experience on top of bonus experience from high ability scores and an additional 10% chance to manifest a dragonmark. The XP bonus will give the humans a bit of a buff, but it won't be nearly as bad as limiting other races (like the halflings' limitation of 4th level as a fighter). It may not be perfect, but hopefully it'll be a reason to interest my players in humans.

Swords & Wizardry White Box - Druid

With my D&D Next Mines of Madness game and my Swords & Wizardry Nentir Vale campaign both dead on arrival (due to stuff coming up for players and scheduling problems), I've decided to go full steam ahead on an Eberron campaign using Swords & Wizardry White Box. The problem is, I need a ton of stuff converted over to White Box to run Eberron, so that's what I've been working on. I'll include a detailed list of stuff I need to convert and how far along I am on those conversions in my next post, but rest assured, it's a fairly long list.

Fortunately, I've got the Druid class completely finished as of today. I may be adding in an alternate Wild Shape ability that can replace Wild Empathy, but for the moment, it's ready to playtest. I've included several new spells that seemed to fit fairly well with the Druid's primal nature, most of which I've adapted from S&W SRD spells.

Image Source: Paizo

I looked at the Druid in the S&W SRD, but it was a little too complex for S&W White Box, and I wanted something a bit simpler. This is my first shot at it though, so if I can find a group to playtest it with, I may be changing it in the future. As I said earlier, I'll almost certainly be adding a Wild Shape ability to replace Wild Empathy, but I figured that the ability to command animals was appropriate for the Druid. I may also add an animal companion at some point, as I really like that feature of 3rd Edition Druids.

Druid

Intimately connected with the natural world, Druids are primal spellcasters who have taken vows to protect and defend nature.

Level	Exp. Points	Hit Dice	Save	Spells
				1	2	3	4	5
1	0	1	15	1
2	1,500	2	14	2
3	3,000	3	13	2	1
4	6,000	3+1	12	2	2	1
5	12,000	4	11	2	2	1	1
6	24,000	5	10	2	2	2	1	1
7	48,000	6	9	2	2	2	2	2
8	96,000	6+1	8	3	3	2	2	2
9	192,000	7	7	3	3	3	2	2
10	384,000	8	6	3	3	3	3	3

Druid Abilities

Spellcasting: Druids cast primal spells much like clerics do; however, they receive their spells from nature itself rather than a specific deity or deities. Each day, they spend an hour either at dawn or dusk to prepare their spells. They do not require a spellbook as they know their spells innately.

Weapon and Armor Restrictions: Druids may use leather armor and shields. They may use any weapon that is not primarily composed of metal, with the exception of a sickle (equivalent of a short sword).

Attacks: Druids use the Cleric attack chart for their attack rolls.

Animal Empathy: Druids have a natural affinity for animals, giving them the ability to attempt to influence an animal's behavior much in the same way that Clerics turn undead. To attempt to control an animal, roll 3d6 and consult the Animal Empathy chart. Succeeding on the check (rolling higher than the number given) results in the animal surrendering to the Druid; it will not act aggressively toward the party (unless provoked), but it will not obey commands. A result of – on the chart means that the Druid cannot attempt Animal Empathy on an animal of that HD at that level. A result of C on the chart means that the animal will obey simple commands from the Druid for 10 minutes per level. A Druid may only command a single animal in this way at any one time.

A Druid may communicate with a controlled animal (but only a controlled animal) as if under the effects of a Speak with Animals spell.

Animal HD	Druid Level
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9+
1	10	7	4	C	C	C	C	C	C
2	13	10	7	C	C	C	C	C	C
3	15	13	10	7	C	C	C	C	C
4	17	15	13	10	7	C	C	C	C
5	-	17	15	13	10	7	C	C	C
6	-	-	17	15	13	10	7	C	C
7	-	-	-	17	15	13	10	7	C
8	-	-	-	-	17	15	13	10	7
9-11	-	-	-	-	-	17	15	13	10
12-18	-	-	-	-	-	-	17	15	13

Druidic Circle: At 9^th level, a Druid who chooses establish a sacred grove or other natural feature (cave, oasis, etc.) attracts loyal followers who swear druidic oaths to uphold the Circle and the natural order. A typical Druidic Circle also includes some kind of stronghold, keep, or other defensible location.

Druid Spell List

(Spells marked with * are new spells detailed below)

Level 1

Cure (Cause) Light Wounds

Detect Chaos (Law)

Detect Magic

Faerie Fire*

Protection from Chaos (Law)

Purify (Putrefy) Food and Drink

Level 2

Bless (Curse)

Find the Path

Hold Person

Locate Plants*

Speak with Animals

Warp Wood*

Level 3

Cure (Cause) Disease

Light (Dark), Continual

Locate Object

Plant Growth

Remove Curse

Level 4

Cure (Cause) Serious Wounds

Neutralize Poison

Protection from Chaos (Law), 10' Radius

Speak with Plants

Sticks to Snakes

Level 5

Commune with Nature*

Control Winds*

Create Food and Drink

Insect Plague

Passplant*

Wall of Fire or Ice

New Druid Spells

Commune with Nature

Spell Level: D5

Range: Caster

Duration: Three questions

Commune with Nature functions as the Commune spell. However, rather than consulting a higher power, the Druid communes directly with the spirit of nature. It is inadvisable for Druids to cast this spell more than once per week. At the Referee's discretion, a Druid may cast a double-strength version of this spell allowing for six questions (with a correspondingly longer duration) once per year. Commune with Nature may only be cast outdoors.

Control Winds

Spell Level: D5

Range: Centered on caster

Duration: 5 minutes + 1 minute per level

The caster can control all wind within a radius of 240 feet. The caster can make the winds tumultuous and violent like a hurricane, or completely calm and still, or anything in between. Exceptionally strong winds may require a saving throw to avoid being knocked prone or blown around.

Faerie Fire

Spell Level: D1

Range: 60 feet

Duration: 1 hour

Faerie Fire causes an object to glow with an eerie fey light, roughly as bright as a torch. The area illuminated can be up to 10 square feet plus 2 square feet per level. The spell can be used to determine the size of a partially-hidden object or to illuminate an enemy. In areas of darkness, illuminating an enemy may grant a +1 bonus to attacks versus that enemy.

Find the Path

Spell Level: D2

Range: Caster

Duration: 10 minutes

Find the Path shows the most direct route to a specific destination that the caster knows the location of, or shows a specific direction. For example, a Druid may use Find the Path to find the most direct route to Frostfang Peak (though that route may lead through uninhabitable or inhospitable areas). Find the Path does not necessarily show the best route, only the most direct.

Locate Plants

Spell Level: D2

Range: 60ft. + 10ft. per level

Duration: 1 minute per level

Locate Plants functions as the Locate Objects spell, but only in relation to a specific type of plant. For example, the caster may choose to have the spell locate an oak tree. The caster must have seen a specimen of the plant specified at some point prior to casting the spell.

Passplant

Spell Level: D5

Range: Touch (first plant)

Duration: One hour per level or until exit

Passplant allows the caster to step into one tree or similarly-sized plant and exit from another plant of the same kind. The plant must have a girth equal to or larger than the caster's own. The caster may stay within the plants, but will be ejected from whichever plant they happen to be within when the spell's duration runs out. The type of plant determines both the maximum distance the caster can travel with a single casting of the spell, as noted in the table below. The caster may travel between multiple plants, but can only travel between plants of the same kind and only up to the maximum distance allowed for that kind of plant.

Type of Plant	Maximum Distance (feet)
Oak, Ash, Yew	3,000
Elm, Eucalyptus	2,000
Other deciduous	1,500
Any coniferous	1,000
Other plant	750

Warp Wood

Spell Level: D2

Range: 60 feet

Duration: Permanent

The spell allows the caster to warp, bend, and twist wood as if it were clay. The spell affects a volume of 2 inches by 4 inches by 5 feet per two levels – roughly the volume of a quiver of arrows or a spear. However, it is important to note that for certain tasks such as springing a leak in a boat or springing open a wooden door may only require warping of a small volume of wood.