Crawl! Mega-Edition, No.1, Launching Soon!

Crawl! Mega-Edition, No.1 - A Super-Sized version of the original zine compatible with DCC RPG.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to take to opportunity to tell everyone about Crawl! Mega Edition No.1. This will be a fancy, deluxe, collectors edition in a super comic book size. It will be making its way to next Tuesday, March 10th.

This will be my first crowdfunded project, so I want to keep it simple. There will be the standard cover and a campaign exclusive alternate cover by Doug Kovacs! The content will be exactly the same as the digital and the standard edition, just larger for aging eyes, and printed on soft-to-the-touch, heavy un-coated bond paper.

This project will also coincide with the return of the original physical printed zine, done in the usual traditional copy-machine format by my local copy-shop. These will be available immediately at the wallet friendly and accessible price of ONLY $5. But you might already have a version of this. The only difference is a slightly updated cover design.

Sign up with the link below. Crowdfunding will begin next Tuesday, and early backers can save 20%! So don't miss out.

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/29a422e8-bf87-42f6-91b8-481931622751/landing

Swords, Wizardry and Firearms!

Today is S&W Appreciation Day and following these announcements is my submission...

(Other participants can be found here [link]! But please come back!)
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Announcement One

As promised, I'm giving away 5 print copies of a zine that will be based on the stuff below, but a bit more expanded! All you have to do is reply with your comments, hate, rage or, what I'd prefer, your idea to add to the supplement. Maybe a specific item that fits the theme, maybe even magic complements? Whatever! Winners will be picked by random. Good ideas might earn you a copy if I use it (totally separate to the 5 prizes)! I also have TWO (2) PDF copies of Knockspell (1 or 2) to give away to one random commentator and one chosen submission, chosen by me (cause it's technically "my" copy.) Does that sound fair? You got until Monday (April 22nd)! The zine will take a bit to make, but remember we're talking about a hand-made physical zine. If you like this post, you'll like the zine. I promise, I'm pretty good at this.

Announcement Two

As part of Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day enjoy a 25% discount on Swords &   Wizardry Products (books, swag, etc.) from Frog God Games and downloadable PDFs from the Shop at d20pfsrd!

Today, April 17th, 2013, Only!

www.talesofthefroggod.com

Use the coupon code SWApprDay at: Frog God Games

shop.d20pfsrd.com

and SWAD252013 at the Shop at d20pfsrd.com 
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Without further ado...

Swords,Wizardry...

...and Firearms!
Firearm rules for Swords & Wizardry by Reverend Dak
Pistols, rifles and other guns, while not for everyone, they have been essential to some fantasy stories from Solomon Kane to the comic book series Skullkickers. The Weird Western and some Post-apocalyptic stories, such as Dark Tower, also feature elements of Sixguns and Sorcery. Then you have two Korean action movies, The Good The Bad The Weird (thanks +Alex Mayo)  and The Warrior's Way that also mixed elements of pulpy westerns with fantasy elements. So there is obviously an appeal, but there is also a negative stigma when it comes to guns. Are they right for a fantasy campaign? It’s really up to the gaming group to decide. If the group decides to add some form of firearms to the game, they have to decide how realistic or powerful they should be. Guns can easily change the nature of the game into a gun show, instead of the traditional display of swords and spells. One way to keep that from happening is to make these weapons more trouble than they are worth. Bullets can be unstable but plentiful, or they can be dangerous but extremely rare. If guns are a regular feature of the game, maybe a little bit of both. Regardless, elements of Fantasy mixed with the Weird Wild West can make for an interesting world of adventure.

Powerful Or Mundane?

If they’re powerful, they should be extremely rare. They should be treated like artifacts, and there should be dangerous rivals or factions trying to take them away from the adventurers. Imagine if the bad guys had the guns instead. With the tables turned, guns can make or break the game by annihilating a party. But if they are a staple of the campaign, it’s probably best to make them pretty mundane and not much different than any other missile weapon. But if that is the case, why have them at all? Consider limiting the weapons to only black powder, or non-automatic revolvers and bolt-action or lever-action long guns. If the group decides to make firearms powerful, apply any number of optional rules found below.

Basic Firearm Rules

It’s important to remember that combat in Swords & Wizardry is abstract. Each attack roll represents a series of attacks, maneuvers, dodges and parries. So though a character may have been hit by an attack, it doesn’t always represent a bullet breaking skin. Normally, when hit by a high velocity slug, it would almost always cause devastating damage. But instead, they should be described as near-misses and flesh wounds until down to that last hit die of hit points.

Initiative and Order of Battle As Normal

Surprise and Initiative works like normal. Firearms follow the same attack rules as missile fire, they are fired during the Movement and Missiles Phase.

Hits Do 1 Die of Damage

Each firearm has its own damage die; typically d8 for handguns and d10 or more for longarms. For a standard attack, a hit does 1 die of damage. Damage is treated just like any other missile or melee attack, and can be healed as normal.

Aiming Gives a +2 Bonus To Hit and Does 2 Dice of Damage

The shooter may take a round to aim to increase the attack roll by 2 and hits will increase the damage by an additional die. But the shooter is vulnerable to normal attacks (including surprise attacks and critical hits, see below) while aiming.

Taking Cover, When Available, Is a Move and Gives a Bonus to AC

Taking cover is key to surviving a gun fight. Especially if guns are especially dangerous. The group should decide whether to make gun battles realistic and gritty, like a World War 2 movie, or to make them cinematic and showy, like The Matrix. In realistic gun battles, half the time the combatants are ducked and covered. While in more gun-fu style movies, gunplay is out in the open. If guns are mundane and common, the abstract nature of S&W combat is sufficient enough to assume cover. But if the more dangerous optional rules are used, cover is essential. For simplicity, if a target is actively hiding behind hard cover, no attacks can be made. If the target is firing back from behind some hard cover, the cover provides an additional 4 points (-4 [+4]) to AC. Firing from a firing port, murder hole or arrow slit can provide up to 8 (-8[+8]) points of AC, at the referee’s discretion.

Duels Are Deadly

High-noon on the dusty road, in the middle of town; it’s the typical setting of a one on one battle between two rival gunmen. It’s usually resolved with a single shot from the fastest gun. If two gunman agree to a duel, hit points are practically off the table and the winner is determined by who hits whom first.

Initiative is determined between the two duelists, using a d20, the roll is modified by the character’s level (and any other circumstantial modifiers, see below). The highest roll shoots first, and an attack roll is made as normal. If the attack hits, the damage is the number of damage dice equal to the PC’s level or a creature’s Challenge Level. For example, a typical handgun does d8 damage, so a 5th-level fighter that hits during a duel does 5d8 damage to his target. This represents an automatic critical hit and the inability to dodge (maneuver, parry, etc.). Let’s face it, duels are deadly against experienced adventurers. If the target survives, he can attempt to shoot back applying the same damage rules. If both duelists survive, combat rounds continue as normal combat. At that point damage is normal (typically one die), initiative is handled normally, and others may join the combat if they wish.

clicken to embiggen

Ammunition

For simplicity, rounds cost are dependant on how much damage they do. For black powder weapons, the costs include the necessary black powder.

Damage Cost* Weight

d6 or d8 5 sp 0.1 lb

d10 or d12 1 gp 0.1 lb

*Costs are for 10 rounds where firearms are mundane. In campaigns where firearms are rare, costs are for a single round.  

Magazines and quick-loaders cost 1gp for each if firearms are mundane or 1gp per round they carry in campaigns where firearms are rare.

Optional Rules

The following are rules to make guns more dangerous and gritty. The more powerful firearms are in the game, the rarer they should become. Firearms should remain unique and difficult to obtain. The following rules may supplement, replace or be replaced by existing house rules, such as Critical Hits and Fumbles.

Surprise Attacks May Be Critical

Firearm attacks during a surprise round, or the target is otherwise unaware of  the attack, will increase the chance of a critical hit by 2. That is, if the attack roll is a natural 18+ and the attack hits, the attack should be considered a critical hit (see below). All other surprise rules still apply. This rule does not apply to automatic fire.

Critical Hits and Fumbles Can Be Deadly

On a natural 20, an attack with a firearm should be considered a critical hit. A critical hit does damage equal to the attacker’s level or challenge level in damage dice. For example, a succubus with a pistol can do 9d8 damage on a critical hit!

A natural 1 may represent a misfire. The weapon may be permanently damaged (1% chance) and a 1 in 10 chance firer may be also be injured by a misfire or explosion, 2 dice damage (die type depending on ammunition used), save for half.

Firearms Are Complicated

Firearms will have a Rate of Fire (RoF) rating, reload time and weapon speed. These are not so important if guns are mundane, treat them as any other missile weapon. But as a way to make firearms inconvenient, especially if they’re extremely powerful, these factors may help keep them in check.

• Rate of Fire: A firearm with multiple RoFs may only fire once during the surprise round, but the chance of a critical hit should increase as per the Surprise Attack rule above. Automatic weapons are indicated by an (A).
• Reload: Reloading a firearm manually can take up to a minute. If quick loaders or magazines are available, reloading takes one round. Black powder weapons can take up to 3 rounds to reload.
• Weapon Speed: Weapon Speed is only a factor for individual initiative rolls, such as duels (see above). This value is added to the initiative roll or, if using Alternate Combat Sequence Method No. 3 the value is negative.

Automatic Weapons do 3 Dice of Damage

Weapons with a RoF that indicates an (A), instead of separate attacks, automatic weapons can affect multiple targets in a 10-foot square area. An automatic fire attack uses 10 rounds of ammunition. The attacker makes a single attack roll that’s compared to the AC of each target in the area. A hit causes 3 dice worth of damage, save for half. A critical hit (natural 20) does 6 dice of damage, save for half.

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...and Firearms! is compatible with the rules of Swords & Wizardry.

blah blah...It's all open content/OGL...

15. Copyright Notice

Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch

Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules, Copyright 2010, Matthew J. Finch

...and Firearms!, Copyright 2013, Reverend Dak.

Death and Dying, Revisited!

(keep death simple, stupid.)

Within days of writing these extensive set of rules (On Death and Dying), I realised they were just too much. So much that it defeated some of the tenets of OSR--fast & simple rules. It solved the problems, but replaced them with different problems. I over-thought it. I'll keep them posted for reference, but I decided to refine them even further. I'm keeping the basic principles, that death doesn't always happen from the initial blow (it does sometimes!) it comes from bleeding, shock and eventually infection. I want to reflect Constitution, Character Level, and a bit of luck. I didn’t want to change standard HP rules. I skipped infection because that's not what this game is about. These rules can be amended to Save or Die effects with a little work.

Instant Death

If a character takes their constitution score, plus level, in damage from a single attack, and it drops them below 0, they make a Saving Throw (vs Death) or die instantly. If they make their save, they're fallen.

Dying or possibly Dead

A character that is dropped below 1 hp has fallen, is considered dying and possibly dead. Every round that the character is not healed or treated increases the possibility of the character's death. The fallen PC keeps track of how many rounds pass while they are in this state.

Checking the Fallen

If another PC can get to the fallen PC during combat, the fallen PC can make a saving throw negatively modified by the number of rounds they have been fallen plus their constitution modifier. If the Saving Throw is successful, the character is still alive, but unconscious with 0 hp, and can be healed or treated.

Gaining Consciousness

Once per combat, a dying PC can try to make one last effort. They must first make a Saving Throw (vs Death). If they succeed, they can attempt one action at -4 then they fall unconscious with 0 hp. If they fail, the character is dead.

After the Battle

If a fallen character, that hasn't already been checked during combat, is checked after the battle is over, has a slight chance to be alive. The fallen PC makes a Saving Throw (vs. Death) with a -10 modifier. If they succeed, they're unconscious with 0 hp. If they fail, the fallen PC is found dead.

Natural Healing

If the PC makes their saving throws, and survives the night, natural healing occurs.

Posted via email from Dak, D.M.

On Death and Dying (or It Ain't Over Until It's Over.) #OSR #ODND #SNW

One of the biggest complaints in OSR is there aren't enough Hit Points at first level to accurately reflect that even the average man won't die from a single sword wound, much less a knife. Another infamous complaint are Save or Die effects from spells, poisons and traps. The most popular method to solve the hp problem is to give more hps at first level. But I don't think bumping-up hps accurately reflects that most people die of their wounds after the battle. Typically they die from bleeding out, shock, or in some cases, infection. A better way of reflecting this is to incorporate some sort of dying mechanism. Negative hps are one way of representing this effect, saving throws are another. Constitution is also a factor that should be included to simulate general stamina and health. While higher levels express experience and battle hardiness. Occasionally the dying can do last ditch efforts, like one final kill or crawl to safety. Only rarely does a person die instantly, and typically only after taking a massive amount of damage from a critical hit (such as a sneak attack) or a lethal trap.

The following is a series of rules that emulates death occurring after injury while allowing small heroic efforts before dying. It takes in consideration all of these factors without changing starting hp. It uses what every character can benefit from; Levels, Hit Dice and Constitution. It makes use of several Saving Throws and can be amended to any Save or Die effects.

Instant Death

Any damage that results in losing more Hit Points below zero, equal to their Constitution, must make a Saving Throw or it results in the character's immediate death. If the Save is successful, the character is still dying. For example, a Thief with 4 hp, with a Constitution of 10, springs a trap that does over 14 points of damage will need to make a Saving Throw or be immediately killed.

Dying

If a character fails a Save against instant death, or when they are struck down to less than 1 hp, they are immediately dying. They can't move or take any actions. The dying character immediately rolls one Hit Dice (1HD) and adds their constitution modifier. They will die in this many rounds if they are not treated or healed. This is rolled anew each and every time the character fails a Save or Die or drops below 1 hp. For example, a Fighter with a d8 Hit Die would roll 1d8+Con Modifier. The Fighter will die in this many rounds if not healed.

Gaining Consciousness

Dying characters are effectively unconscious, although a Saving Throw can be made to determine if they're awake and lucid. When that's the case, they can cry for help, as the moans of the dying are typical on a battlefield. If they are conscious they can also attempt single actions. Each check or attack that the dying character attempts will be at a -4 penalty, will then require a Saving Throw. Failure of the Saving Throw results in the character falling unconscious and 1d4 rounds closer dying. Which will result in death if they don't have any rounds left. For example, a Mage that is conscious but dying in 3 rounds decides to cast one last spell. The Mage would cast the spell at -4, then make a Saving Throw. If the character fails, he would fall unconscious, roll a 1d4 and be that many rounds closer to death. If the d4 results in a 3 or more, he would immediately die.

Stabilizing The Dying

During combat, another character can attempt to stabilize a dying character as their action. But it's not foolproof. The dying PC gets a Saving Throw, +2 if the aiding character has healing class abilities. A successful save results in the character no longer dying but is still unconscious. They can attempt to regain consciousness and perform any single action as per Gaining Consciousness above. A failed save means the PC continues dying. Any healing, magical or otherwise, returns hps starting at 0. The character will be conscious and no longer dying. A conscious but dying character can attempt to stabilize themselves, but they still suffer a -4 penalty for the attempt and risk falling unconscious and begin dying again, as above.

Infection

Outside of combat a stabilized character can still die if they don't receive proper healing or treatment. The character must make a Saving Throw every hour or risk infection until properly healed. If aided by another character, this Saving Throw can modified by +2 if the aiding character has healing class abilities. If they fail any of these Saving Throws, the character suffers from sepsis. The infected character immediately rolls one Hit Die and adds their constitution modifier. They will die in this many turns if they are not finally treated or healed. No Saving Throws.

Natural Healing

If the character makes all their Saving Throws and survives a night, natural healing occurs per standard rest and healing rules.

Notes & Assumptions

These house rules were designed with Sword & Wizardry's single Saving Throw in mind. For other games, the Saving Throws would typically be versus Death or Poison, depending on the rules. Not all OSR systems have Save or Die effects, so some of these rules may not work or apply. Typically these rules only apply to Player Characters, since the DM has discretion when it comes to NPC survival.

Posted via email from Dak, D.M.

Quick and Dirty Ability Checks (D&D house-rule) #OSR #ODND #DCCRPG

I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of skill checks. It's crunch in my ice-cream that I don't like. One of the things that differentiate, to me, "modern" and "old-school" is how a simple thing like a search is attempted. A d20 roll is just not engaging or interesting to me. It created a bad habit in gaming, "I search the room," rolls a d20. It encourages impatient players, who just want to cut to the chase (or Encounters with a capital E.) That is not D&D that I want to play. So I had to figure out what to do when it comes to what most players habitually do, search this, climb that, open this, get around that. In my attempt to engage the players. I have been encouraging my players to be deliberate about their actions, how they do it and how long they are willing to try it. I've been trying out My Quick and Dirty Ability Checks for S&W and DCC and it's been working really well. The first trick is to determine if a roll is necessary at all. Then if it is, then determine the difficulty. Then determine if an element of luck (or fate?!) is involved.
It works like this. The Players describe how and what their character are doing. If it's not life or death, or at the very least dangerous for someone, then go ahead let them do it. Pretty simple. But if there is a chance of failure, I use these magic numbers based on difficulty and compare it to an appropriate Ability Score:

• EASY: LESS than 6 fails.
• ROUTINE: LESS than 9 fails.
• MODERATE: LESS than 13 fails.
• HARD: LESS than 16 fails.
• IMPOSSIBLE: LESS than 19 fails.

You'll notice there is direct correlation with those numbers and ability modifiers, but I wanted to use actual scores for the checks. So if a character wants to pry open a standard door, I'll deem it being HARD and ask for their strength. If they're strong enough, it opens. No rolling, just deliberate actions from the players and outcomes based solely on GM's discretion.
If there is an element of luck and/or danger, only then do some dice come in play. I roll an appropriate number of d6s, and compare the totals to ability scores:

• EASY: 1d6
• ROUTINE: 2d6
• MODERATE: 3d6
• HARD: 4d6
• IMPOSSIBLE: 5d6

The bell curve is intentional. If the total is equal-to or more than their ability score, it is a failure. (Higher the better for the DM!) This works excellently for group checks. If the group is sneaking past some Unamed Spawn from Hell's Ending (Hard!) I'd roll 4d6 (only once!) and compare it to the PCs Ability Scores. Let's say I roll a 15, I'd then ask if anyone has a Dex (or Agility) of 15 or less? If someone does, they get spotted.
Another example came into play last week when a group of PCs were climbing out of a steep tunnel that had been greased but had knotted ropes. Since there was an element of danger (Routine), I rolled 2d6. I rolled a 6. Everyone with 6 or less slips, those that failed their save fell. Two died from the damage, one didn't. Quick and Dirty.
Putting the dice in the hands of DM does two things, it forces the players to be creative and role-play and the DM has more discretion on success or failure. Don't add or subtract ability modifiers, they're already factored in. Do factor in circumstances and Class/Monster Abilites by increasing or decreasing the difficulty. Sneaking past some sleepy Gate Guard would be ROUTINE, while sneaking past The Multi-eyed Crawling Eye of Oblivion would be HARD if not IMPOSSIBLE.

Posted via email from Dak, D.M.