Toys for Geomancers

For those unaware, a fella goes by the name of Bloated Blowfish created a new class of magic user called the Geomancer not all that long ago.

Personally, I'm a big fan of this class and have been using it.  As a matter of fact,  I have three characters that are Geomancers now.

You can download the PDF that details the Geomancer class if you like.

It's been fun playing the Geomancer, but this Christmas, I am giving Geomancers some toys, er tools they can use.

Magic items help make using a magic using class more interesting.  When the spells slots run out, you gotta have the toys for backup.  Until now, Geomancers don't have toys with them in mind.

Because Geomancers use magic in gems and stones rather than from the typical ways 1E magic users do, I've tried to be very specific to magic items that "accessorize" the Geomancer.

Geo's can only use a limited few weapons, staffs, daggers, oils and slings.  So, I've come up with some staves and a dagger that fit right into their repertoire.

I gave them some cool Boom Dust and I'm working on some new stones/gems and spells for them as well.  some of them that specifically work with these magic items.

You can see the details for all of these items on their page at my Wiki-Mage site.

To run down a list of them here though, we have:

• Stone Dagger, a dagger that can hold a magic gem or stone in it's pommel
• Staff of Gem Wielding, a staff that allows better control of a stones power and some bonuses.
• A "Master" Staff of Gem Wielding that is even awesomer than a regular Staff of Gem Wielding.
• Belt of Attunement, this gives the Geo someplace to store gems and stones as well as gives some bonuses.
• Boom Dust, remember those 4th of July poppers that kids throw down at the sidewalk? Yeah, just bigger and badder.

 Those are just the beginning.   I am also working on adding gems and stones with powers.

Monsters of Myth, an OSRIC monster compendium

After looking through the Monsters of Myth PDF again, I had to smile a bit and even simply shook my head at some entries.

Overall, it's an interesting book.  Many of the monsters are just plain silly in my opinion.  Some stretch the imagination just a tad too far.  A few are actually pretty good.

One of the monsters I found in it that I liked a lot were the "Jotun" Giants.  I like my Norse mythology and recognized the giants of Jotunheim right away.  There's even a possibility I might find a way to use them in a future adventure or two.

All in all, I give the Monster's of Myth a C+.  There a fewer "serious" monsters in there to make it really useful in my one person's opinion.

Having said that, it is fun to look through it just to find one of the few real gems that it has to offer.  Even a bit more fun to just read some of the sillier entries.

Memorizing Magic and Clerical "Freecasting"

I was just reading an old thread on DF and found the most interesting idea.  Allowing Clerics to "freecast" instead of having to memorize their spells.

Essentially, the cleric still has only x number of spells per level as usual, but instead of choosing and memorizing them in the morning, they can cast any spell they have knowledge of on the spot.

To me, this does help alleviate Clerics being used as walking band-aids because they are not so pressured to spend all of their memorized spells on nothing but healing spells.  Also, it can allow greater choice and usage of other not-as-commonly used spells to be used as needed.

Once their number of spell slots is used up, they're back to relying on staves, wands, scrolls, etc.. if they have them.

I like this idea a lot.

It also came up questioning whether a similar change could be made to Mages without breaking them in the Btb system.

Perhaps one thing that could be done with Mages is to allow them to cast any spell in their spellbook on the spot BUT...

Using the % to know spell as per their INT score, memorized spells would have a higher percentage of success, say 85%.  All other spells cast spontaneously would cost the Mage an extra round to concentrate  or look it up and they must roll their chance to know % in order for it to be successful.

This would encourage Mages to still focus on memorizing spells yet provide them an opportunity to cast spontaneously for something that was needed on the spot.  All in all though, they are still limited by casting only as many spells as they are allotted per level.

Like the above Clerics, they would rely on staves, wands, scrolls and potions once the number of spell slots had run out.

Something else about Clerics while I'm here. I have always taken the image of the cleric as something of a fighting priest.  I have a Knight Templar type in mind here.  These aren't just churchy scholars we're talking about here.  These guys go out and kick butt in the name of their deity.

These are the guys the little churchy fellas call in when things need to be handled more aggressively than just praying over the issue holding each others hands.  (because of this,  I have never gotten the multi-class fighter/cleric.  To me, that is what the Cleric is all about.

I don't just see these guys as walking band aids to begin with.  If a Knight Templar could have magic powers to use given to him by his deity, he would be wanting the spells that let him call down the fire from the sky and drive the enemy down before him.

Once the battle was over, he might want to have some healing spells to help his comrades for fighting so bravely at his side and to aid innocent bystanders caught up in the cross-fire, so to speak.

If some of the enemy got away or there was someone who sent the ones he just whooped up on, some spells that would allow him to track down those next on the list would be of value as well.

I think I am going to try my spell use changes in a few games here to see how they work out.

Sandboxers to one-shots and everything in between

Reading forums and interacting with other rpgers is can make for great food for thought.  You don't have to agree with everyone or anyone.  You don't have to take in what others say as something you absolutely must do.  It is very thought provoking to see and hear what others are doing in their games though.

A lot, and I do mean a LOT, of people are sandboxers.  These are folks who play in ongoing games that are made to be conducted in a series of scheduled sessions and provide a general game world as the basis and the DM has a variety of options for players to follow up on.  This allows for more choice, options and randomness in general I think.

Then you have the "one-shots".  These are game sessions in which a specific adventure will be played through, generally in one or two sessions and options are limited to what has been prepared for the specific adventure.

I don't think one is better than the other or one is more right or wrong than the other.  What I do think is that the AD&D 1E core books and rules contained within them are geared more specifically to one-shot gaming.  To be able to put up a game in a relatively short time and play it thorough in one or two sessions.  This allows for "pick up" games to happen more readily, taking advantage of a few people who happen to find the time, interest and opportunity to play a game on short notice.

Having said that, one great Plus about the core books is that they include room for world creation and sandboxing.  The writer (Gary Gygax) was a sandboxer of great notoriety.  Thus, he made sure that outside of one-shots, he made sure the game could grow into something more than a published adventure module.

There is no doubt that beyond the one-shot game, the hard and fast "rules" become more akin to guidelines allowing the DM to personalize and give distinction to their gaming experience.

At home,  I practically refuse to even consider running a one-shot game.  Oh no, this is my world and I will explore every single inch of it the way my players and I best see fit.  Oh yes, there will be house rules and custom made monsters and NPC's.  There will be hand-waves of BtB specifics and whatever else it takes to bring my world to life.

On the other hand, I am considering going outside of my house to do some gaming, AD&D 1E of course.  In that situation, there is no world yet.  These are people I am only just or have yet to make their acquaintance.  Because of that, I intend to stick very close to playing BtB. 

This gives all of us new to each other a common ground to begin playing.  We will most likely play one-shots to begin with, not knowing what kind of consistency we will be able to expect from the others in the group.

I hear and read of people playing games at conventions and special events and I know that these are referred to in the books themselves.  All in all, it's the best way to get a group of strangers together to play the same game that another group of strangers is playing on the other side of the country or even in another country.

Speculating,  I can see a group of us getting more familiar with each other and deciding that as a regular group that we want to cross that line of formality and establish a game world of our own, ending up somewhere between the one-shots and a full blown sandbox.  Initially this might begin with making one house rule that we all agree on and drawing up a general gameworld and still using published modules and playing them as though they are places in our gameworld.

What a terrific, flexible and creative game AD&D is.

Cleaning House, Part Two

After camping in a cold room and burning trash and debris to stay warm, the group has finally decided to move on to exploring the rest of the structure.

They follow the twisted corridor back to the hallway that this tunnel split from and not quite remembering which direction they had come from, turned right.

They followed a series of twists and turns only to emerge in the hallway that they had originally entered the building with.  However, this time, they weren't alone.

Four large beetle looking creatures are scurrying toward the adventurers.  Each one about two and a half foot long and perhaps 2 foot high.  Antennae wavering madly and mandibles clacking in excitement over the discovery of food.  in the head of each overgrown insect were a few glowing pieces that seemed to burn like coals and give off a reddish glow from them.

Lumina, the magic user fired off a magic missile and wounded one, then turned and ran back into the tunnel the group had come out of.  The others, weapons in hand, began to attack the over-large insects.

Trying to stay out of range of the fierce looking mandibles, Calli stabbed at one of the beetles and though striking it, she hadn't apparently done much damage to it.  Thelonius the Monk whipped his quarter staff with a purpose and manged to strike a killing blow to one of the smaller creatures, leaving three.

Luna the half-elf swung with her bastard sword heavily and landed a crushing blow on another, breaking through it's carapace and killing it instantly.  Now only two of the things were left.

One of the remaining beetles managed to get too close to Thelonius though in the dark and the noise, gripping it's mandibles tightly around his upper leg.  The secretions from the beast burned into his thigh like an acid and the grip seemed to nearly crush the thigh, causing the monk to fall nearly totally unconscious.

Calli thought to try an acrobatic move and leap over a beetle and strike directly down upon it but her leap took her too far and she missed it entirely, landing roughly on the ground behind it.  The beetle turned and scurried rapidly to get to Calli but got a leg stuck in a floor crevice, halting it's movement mere inches from Calli and frantically worked to extricate itself.

The other beetle made for Luna and, combined with the slimy floor and Luna's prod with her sword, the beetle was slammed into a wall and a loud crack could be heard as well as a sort of mewling indicating the creature had been hurt somehow.

During the altercation, the Lumina crept back to rescue the the monk and bandage his wound as best she could, stopping the bleeding and potentially saving his life.

Taking advantage of the stuck leg, Calli hacked at the large bug and manged to kill it as it finally freed itself to no avail.  Luna concentrated on the beetle she had shoved into the wall, creeping up on it warily and, sidestepping a swipe of it's head with clicking mandibles, finished the beast with a mighty stroke any male would have envied.

Desirous to check their wounds and take stock of their situation, the group headed outdoors again to make a camp and plan to re-enter the building again as soon as it was feasible.

Random Treasure Hunting, Level 5 Dungeon

Another game is started with my son playing solo with:

• Grim, a 5th level fighter as his Active PC.  
• Grimlock the 5th level Magic User.
• Carn who is a 4th level Illusionist who was found robbed at the roadside with nothing to his name but his limited spellbook. 
• Xico the 4th level Cleric of Quetzalcoatl has decided to accompany the group in exchange for a chance to gain glory and treasure for his temple.
• "Virgil", the Gnome 4th level thief.

Grim and Grimlock were following up on a rumor of an old storehouse in which a questionable treasure might have been hid.  Their previous associates from earlier adventures were in town, Virgil and Xico and decided to come along for some adventure and old times sake.

Along the way to the storehouse, they came across  a man that had been recently robbed and had everything but his Illusionists spellbook taken from him.  This is Carn and he offered to do whatever he could to aid them on their adventure if they would let him earn a share to get back on his feet again.

After arriving at the storehouse within the next few hours, the group discovered that it was empty as if it had been completely abandoned years before.  This didn't match up to the reports that people had been seen bringing cartloads of something to and from the location as recently as 4 months ago.

Toward the end of their search, a stairway was discovered that had been hidden which led to an underground pathway which they descended rapidly.

Grimlock, in his excitement, used an easy cantrip to create some light so as to see and the group followed him straight ahead to explore, planning to come back and investigate the corridor leading to the left later.

They followed the hallway about 30 feet until it stopped and turned to the right.  Following that though only led them to a dead end after about 50 foot.  They headed back to the stairway and investigated the the other hallway to the right of the stairs they came down.

The corridor led them about 40 feet in that direction, then turned suddenly to the left for another 45 feet.  A solid oaken door stood in front of them.  Grim, tested the door by pushing it to see if it would open.  It did groan a bit as it swung the little bit.

Exuberant, Grim slammed the door wide open and the Magic User Grimlock strode into he room with him as the others filed in behind them.  Quite surprised, the group found that six Troglodytes were camping in the room and had heard the first creaking of the door and were now waiting for the adventurers.

Carn the Illusionist turned around immediately being unarmed and hid behind the door.  Grimlock the Magic User realized he was unprepared by focusing on the light incantation and tried to light a torch to free himself up.

The Trogs attacked them, taking full advantage of the surprised characters, using large bones and wooden tree limbs as clubs.  The press of the Trogs was too great and Grim the Fighter was unable to move his sword enough to hit the enemy.

Finally, Carn the Illusionist came back in the room to use a Light spell, freeing the magic user's effort to light a torch. This gave the magic User a chance to prepare a Magic Missile spell and send three missiles to attack three of the six Trogs.

Xico grabbed his mace and the little gnome thief tried to take advantage of his small stature and the relative low smarts of the troglodytes to use his backstab move and end the fight for some of these things early.

Early on in the battle, Xico's grasp on his mace came loose and slipped out of his grip as he prepared a mighty blow to a Troglodyte.  unfortunately, the mace hit his ally, Virgil the thief, causing him some injury and resulting in some testy words cast his way.

Back and forth the battle raged with both Trogs and adventurers taking and giving equally well.  Soon though, the little thief was knocked unconscious by a massive blow and the poor illusionist was an easy target maintaining his Light spell and was hurt badly as well, knocked out cold.

Leaving only the Fighter, the Magic User and the Cleric, they managed to rally and make some very good, and lucky, hits on the troglodytes while taking only minimal damage from the remaining two of them.

It took only another round of battle for the adventurers to slay the last Trog and drag their comrades back into the stairwell to rest.  Taking advantage of this lull, Xico the Cleric recognized the bravery in which the Illusionist, being armed with only a few meager spells, had come back to give them what aid he could and paid the price for it.  The small gnome, though being a thief, was not a bad person as he knew from previous adventures so was willing to honor both brave souls by using a spell to heal their wounds.

The group decided to go back up to the main level and make a camp a bit away from the building to regain their strength before returning to investigate.

Questioning Percentile Dice

Two ten sided dice.  One dice is a different color from the other and equals the "tens" spot.  The other equals the "ones" place.

If we say that there is a percentage needed in order to determine if something IS going to happen, you start from the bottom up.  So, say there is a 25 percent chance you might successfully throw a rock at a fleeing orc.  roll the percentile dice and if the result is 1 to 25, you have hit that orc.  Great work.  If you roll anything 26 or more ("00" being 100), you missed.

It seems to me, that most things are written to favor the chance of it happening.  But what of an option being expressed in the negative?  For example, what if the option is giving that you have a chance to know how to read a scroll?  There is a 25% chance you will know how.  That option is expressed in the positive.  You "will" know how to do it within 25 percent.

But let's say that even if you do have a successful knowing of the spell, a followup option says that there is also a 25 percent chance the spell will be messed up , mispronounced, etc... and fail.

In both cases you could make the case that if viewed in the positive ie.  the result "will" happen in a roll of 25 or less.  You would expect to start the roll at the bottom meaning, if the roll is 1 to 25, the result occurs.   Any number rolled over the 25 is a negative or does "not" occur.

OR, I have seen it shown that having a 25% chance to know means there is a 74% chance to "not" know and the dice is then interpreted that any result of 1 to 75 indicates not knowing the spell.

Or in the case of spell failure, A 25% chance of spell failure or a 75% chance the spell will not fail and rolling a 1 to 75 indicates the spell succeeded. Anything rolled over 75 indicates spell failure.

As for me,  I don't like the wavering view.  It makes me seasick.

I have it that anything requiring a percentage roll starts from 1 to achieve it.  Regardless of positive or negative result.

So, if the roll is a 50% chance to yank a stone gargoyle off from over a doorway, then the roll will be 1 to 50 indicates pulling it off  (success) and anything 51 and over is a failure, it did not come off.

If there is a 35% chance that a PC gets bit on the butt by a flying fish while at the lakeside, then a roll of 1 to 35 indicates getting bit (success) and anything 36 and over is not bit (failure).

I think the reason some folks like to flip flop the odds is because they think they will get a better result if the result they want to have happen will happen on the low end of the roll.

Other folks obviously can and will do what they want with percentile dice, but at my table, that's how we roll.  (heh heh)