/osrg/ OSR General - Be Nice to Each Other Edition

Question of the Thread:
What makes your game better than the other anon's?

Remember these caveats.
>Following the rules and protecting the regulations is binding oneself without rope.
>Neglecting the written records with unrestrained ideas is falling into a deep pit.
>To advance results in ignoring truth; to retreat results in contradicting the lineage.
>Neither to advance nor to retreat is being a breathing corpse.

>>51342611
>OSR buddhism
I like it.

>>51342706
I blame whoever posted Gutei's Finger some threads ago.

>>51342759
I still can't believe how many people didn't get it.

>>51342609
I actually run it...
Yeah.

:(

>>51342824
what is the point? explain to me pls

>>51342854
>talk shit get hit

>>51342854
The key line is,
>"I attained my finger-Zen," he said, "from my teacher Tenryū, and in my whole life I could not exhaust it."

Gutei acquired his finger-habit the same way the boy did.
He's trying to nip the problem in the bud.

>>51342955
But who is Tenryu?
What is finger-zen?
Why do people achieve enlightenment when they see a finger?
What is a word of zen and why can't people utter it?

File: 01 - Ruinations.png (3MB, 1167x1654px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 1167x1654px

Self whoring my homebrew update again. Ruinations (Alpha 2.0), a post-apocalyptic take on LotFP (with bits from just about everything.)

This update sees a new d12 Skill system that accounts for ability modifiers, some class adjustments and a simple alternative character creation ruleset for creating a Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy game with Elves and Dwarves, Fallout and Rifles.

>https://www.docdroid.net/FrxCKOl/ruinations.pdf.html

A link to an old collaborative hexcrawl project

http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/grab-bag/synthexia/#0913

A neat format--each hex is hyperlinked to the description.

>>51343166
Roundabout - Yes

>>51343217
Who did the cover art?

>>51343257
That's the wrong meme, you want MACINTOSH PLUS - リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュー for these situations

>>51343166
>But who is Tenryu?
Koshu Tenryu was Gutei's teacher.
He was also wiser than Gutei.
>What is finger-zen?
A facade (or aplomb?) of wisdom.
>Why do people achieve enlightenment when they see a finger?
They don't, that's from thinking about why the finger is raised.
>What is a word of zen
A branch of Buddhism with strong Taoist influences.
>and why can't people utter it?
People who are "good at math" have just done lots of math.
People who are "good at reasoning" have just done lots of reasoning.
The best way to get good at something is practice.
Forcing people to look for insight trains them to be "good at finding insight."

File: 08-Untitled-4_900.jpg (371KB, 900x625px) Image search: [Google]

371KB, 900x625px

>>51343327
Philippe Caza, a fantastic French artist. The piece in particular is from the 70s.

Looking for a PDF of the Lotfp playtest doc. Anyone got it?

>>51343427
Doesn't exist. However you can get the gist of it from this blog's review:

>http://dragonsgonnadrag.blogspot.com/2016/03/initial-thoughts-on-lotfp-playtest.html

>>51343369
I was going for the TO BE CONTINUED effect.

>>51343402
>Speardude using giant bottlecap as a shield
Wow, pixies are fucking hardcore.

>>51343375
So the story is how Gutei, even though he supposedly found enlightenment (I mean, that's what it says in the story), was actually unenlightened and was a total dick and pretended to know the word of zen?
And was the kid enlightened or was that untrue as well?

File: Naturalis_Biodiversity_Center_-_RMNH.ART.825_-_Paulownia_tomentosa_-_Kawahara_Keiga_-_1823_-_1829_-_Siebold_Collection_-_pencil_drawing_-_water_colour.jpg (123KB, 1463x1920px) Image search: [Google]

123KB, 1463x1920px

Orientalism time.

>To the Prefect Wei Chih by Wang Wei
>Desolation of an abandoned city
>Void of a thousand miles of river and hill
>Far up in the sky an autumn sun
>Cries of wild geese that return
>Withered grass gleaming on the wintery bank
>Last foxglove littering the courtyard
>With this the evening of the year is come
>And I look at it all and hum 'The Sad Old Man'
>My friend is not to be seen there
>East of the desolate forest vast on the plain

D10 things that have delayed the Prefect

1: As the Empire slowly collapses the Prefects must travel to cities that are becoming abandoned to remove/destroy any precious artifacts so they are not taken by barbarians.
2: The Curse Of The Serpent River has befuddled their maps, trapping them in permanent travel.
3: The sun hangs red and heavy in the sky but will not fall beneath the horizon until the proper sacrifices and rituals are completed by the Prefect.
4: A massive seasonal migration of Grey Harpies flys overhead the chorus echoing through the land and causing a mirrored migration of enchanted followers. The Prefect and their caravan has been added to the horde.
5: The Mandate of Winter has begun exceeding its Seasonally Allocated Domains and has gently frozen the Prefect in place by the riverside.
6: Intoxicating flowers of rare and alien breed that can only be harvested once a decade have been sighted in the Courtyard Of The Eastern Sigh. The Prefect is caught in their stupor.
7: A mountain witch prognosticating on the coming year has kidnapped the Prefect and will read the future in their organs before the week is done.
8: Unable to reconcile their differences between political officers, the Prefect has avoided visiting the local. Corruption and lawlessness have spread as a result.
9: A misfiling in the Celestial Bureaucracy during transition from Dream States to the Waking World has rendered the Prefect and cohort invisible/immaterial.
10: The Wooded Desolation is dark and exceeds character count.

>>51343590
He was enlighted, but not when he was younger, and some yound kid started doing the same mistake he did when he was younger (finger-zen), so he cut his finger off

>>51343402
>Caza
GOAT taste, my bro. The third point of a triangle with Druillet and Mœbius desu

>>51343590
Gutei was enlightened by the time the story took place, but he took a bumpier road than he would have if he hadn't picked up that bad habit.
>And was the kid enlightened or was that untrue as well?
If nothing else, the kid became enlightened as to why Gutei habitually raised his finger.

>>51343590
My reading was that the kid learned that he wasn't wise just because he mimicked someone who was wise.

Maybe an easier to understand version would have a crabby old grognard quoting Gary Gygax every time someone asks for an explanation. Then the old grognard has a young player in his group who starts doing the same thing, and he starts to realize how annoying that is.

So the old grognard sucker punches the kid every time he tries to quote Gygax like gospel, instead of thinking for himself.

>>51335658
If someone says he's going to include misogyny, gore, mutilation, sex, and fetishes because he's a self-proclaimed transgressive and offensive artist fighting against censorship and desiring to broaden the horizons of the genre/medium but he lacks the guts to touch actually offensive and transgressive elements such as racism because that might hurt someone's feelings then he is both a poser and and a cuck.

And that's not even going to the hypocrisy behind not doing it yourself but still supporting Varg when he does it.

>>51343729
>Be Nice to Each Other Edition

>>51343682
So Gutei cut the child's finger off because he projected his own failure on the kid?

>>51343688
And the bad habit was mimicking his master, yes?
>If nothing else, the kid became enlightened as to why Gutei habitually raised his finger.
That doesn't seem to be the "enlightenment" that most Buddhist teachings refer to. Or is it?

>>51343977
>So Gutei cut the child's finger off because he projected his own failure on the kid?
He did it so the kid doesn't lose as much time as did with this finger bullshit

>>51343915
>Being Nice to Raggi
lol?

>>51343977
>projected his own failure on the kid?
He wasn't projecting, the kid objectively had the same shortcoming.

>the "enlightenment" that most Buddhist teachings refer to. Or is it?
It is. Enlightenment is just having a deep understanding of something.
There are spiritual implications to being enlightened about *everything* but enlightenment is generally on smaller scales.

>>51344024
>>51344104
Okay, wait. So the story is:

>Gutei can't into buddhism
>Master Tenryu comes to visit, raises finger
>Gutei is "enlightened" (not actually enlightened)
>Starts raising his finger and acting enlightened to everyone
>Actually achieves enlightenment at some point, but is still doing the finger thing
>Some kid starts mimicking him
>Because he knows that finger raising isn't what leads to enlightenment, Gutei cuts of the child's finger to teach him this
>Raises finger to the child, who now realizes that Gutei was bullshitting with the whole finger thing and that fingering isn't good for trying to achieve enlightenment

Am I correct?
If so, then I gotta ask:
Why did Gutei keep raising his finger after he achieved enlightenment, even though he knew that fingering would hinder the progress towards it?

>>51344130
Because old habits die hard.

>>51344152
So the moral of the story is that even though you might be super smart and enlightened, you might still have old and counterproductive habits which those who look up to you can start copying and become harmed by?

How does /osrg/ feel about semi-random starting equipment?

I really liked the idea when I saw it in games like Maze Rats or Into the Odd, and I'm considering implementing something like that in my next campaign. Has anyone else done something similar?

>>51342611
>To advance results in ignoring truth; to retreat results in contradicting the lineage.
What does this mean?

>>51344298

A lot of zen koans aren't supposed to "mean" something, they're supposed to surprise you into a specific state of mind as you try to grasp their slippery surface. Like Jedi mind tricks to wake you up from your everyday sleepwalking state.

File: 508aab9b09b4f47f6acaba28716093abfc5cda300fe9f8c3f5733d043390932b.jpg (9KB, 218x232px) Image search: [Google]

9KB, 218x232px

>>51343648
This is amazing stuff, anon

>>51344292
I don't know exactly how you define "semi-random", but I like rolling for equipment better than buying it with starting gold. In an OSR game, the initial shopping *easily* takes up the majority of chargen, so just dicing for stuff a couple of times (preferably on a table with some nice pictures) is vastly preferable. Even if it's like ten throws per character, it's faster.

>>51344358
I understand, I mean specifically what do "results" refer to in this context and is the line proposing it as desirable (in the way that 2 & 4 are not)?

>>51344238
The moral of the story is, "acting wise isn't being wise."
"Don't form bad habits" is an underlying theme.

File: BF-Equipment-Packs-r1.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51344292
I used these equipment packs last game I ran and told them to select 2 other items of choice if desired. I appreciated it quickening the chargen.

>>51344388
>I don't know exactly how you define "semi-random"
I like the idea of equipment generation being mostly random, but the players still having some amount of choice.

e.g. I was thinking that I would give each player a few options like, pick one of these backgrounds, and you get a few piece of starting gear based on that background. Or do it like Dungeon World and give each class a short list where you get to pick X things. THEN roll for random other equipment.

>>51344466
I think you're reading "results" as a noun, when it's actually being used as a verb in koan.

>advancing = ignoring the truth; retreating = contradicting the lineage

>>51344388
>In an OSR game, the initial shopping *easily* takes up the majority of chargen
Agreed. It's fundamentally uninteresting for me at this point even without considering the likely possibility that all the time spent on poring through equipment lists can be undone in a single bad roll during that PC's first jaunt. Though rather than semirandom I prefer fixed loadouts for characters in the interest of chargen speed. I even wrote a few for the S&W Complete classes:

http://pastebin.com/WdtVhwAC

>>51344535
Oh. In that case I like it fine, but I find it inferior to fully random starting equipment from class-specific equipment tables. (Well, "fully random" with the caveat that it's hardly truly random since the tables are curated).

As >>51344607 points out, all time invested on equipment often turns out to be a total waste, so I like to deemphasize it (and indeed all player choice) in generating characters.

>>51344531
>>51344607
I appreciate the examples, guys! I was curious to see how other people had implemented the idea, 'cause this is gonna be my first time running OSR.

>>51344708
I see your point. I'll definitely take that into consideration.

>>51344607
>>51344388
>>51344292
Microlite20's and B4's Fast Packs.

Plz don't laugh at me.

Would RuneQuest 2 be considered part of the "Old School"? It was released around the same time as AD&D.
Or does OSR only refer to retroclones of D&D?

>>51345129

It's cool, friend. OSR is just D&D and retroclones, though. The term comes originally from OSRIC, which was a clone of 1e AD&D, where "Old School Rules" was a euphemism for the trademarked brand.

>>51345129
>Would RuneQuest 2 be considered part of the "Old School"?
No, and
>Or does OSR only refer to retroclones of D&D?
Yes. Or, well, it also refers to the original old editions themselves. A lot of retroclones only or mainly exist as excuses to serve those with adventures.

>Plz don't laugh at me.
Don't worry, you're all polite and shit.

>>51342611
Great. More pretentious OSR bullshit. Speak simply.

>>51344358
Yes. They're supposed to make you feel smug and pretentious.

File: suzuki.jpg (12KB, 268x264px) Image search: [Google]

12KB, 268x264px

>have a peek in OSR
>dharma combat
>mfw

>>51345262
>/osrg/ OSR General - Be Nice to Each Other Edition

>>51345316

He got lost on the way to the No Fun Allowed edition.

>>51345129
Actually yes, it is old school. But it isn't "OSR"
I hope that makes some sense.

honestly this whole Buddhism conversation kinda highlights how much of a bullshit nonsensical philosophical system it is

>>51345129
>>51345211
In practice, most OSR content revolves around TSR editions of D&D. But if somebody has something interesting to say about Runequest or Tunnels and Trolls, or whatever, I'd like to hear it.

more_like_guidelines_than_rules.jpg

Are there any supplements for egyptian themed settings? I'm pretty sure I could make a compendium of all creatures that would fit by digging through everything, but it seems like such an obvious setting that I'm positive someone else has already done it.

>>51342403
Why does Kevin Crawford write such mediocre ripoff RPGs but design excellent subsystems?

>>51345883
He's an excellent exponent of OSR design. That's exactly why.

File: bloodmummystomb2.jpg (81KB, 600x500px) Image search: [Google]

81KB, 600x500px

>>51345541
>it seems like such an obvious setting that I'm positive someone else has already done it.
You'd think that, but TSR never touched it, save for a few expies. Judges' Guild stole deities but other than that kinda left it alone.

A lot of Egyptian lore (along with Aztec) underlies Tekumel, so that's a good place to start. You can also hit up Dark Sun for some interesting desert critters.

I know there's a few Egypt-themed modules, just need to do through my collection and see what I can find. Off the top of my head, "The Charioteer's Tomb" is up for free on RPGnow, and "The Diamond of Hishep Ratep" is somewhere in the trove (the LotFP section?)

>>51346029
>Judges' Guild stole deities but other than that kinda left it alone.
Isn't Dark Tower Egypt-based? And Temple of Ra Accursed by Set definitely is.

What, in /osrg/'s opinion, are the best low-level OSR adventure modules?

What adventure would you run if you were just getting your usual group together to for a pickup game? Would you run a different adventure if you were introducing a group of new players to OSR for the first time?

>>51346029
Doesn't Forgotten Realms get a Egypt transplant from our Earth at some point? Ravenloft also has an Egypt-themed domain.

>>51345541
I'd be more interested in a Mali Empire setting than an Egyptian setting

If you want inspiration for an Egyptian setting, I'd recommend the tomb of Psusennes the First (the "silver pharaoh")
It's the only completely intact tomb found by archaeologists the outer portions of Tuts tomb was robbed twice
He reigned for 46 years (versus Tut's 9) during a much more prosperous time in Egypt's history than Tutankhamun
So in addition to having a lot (orders of magnitudes) more stuff than Tut's tomb, Psusennes was buried with *nicer* stuff

But Tutankhamun's tomb was found in 1922, while people were (coincidentally) interested in Egyptian history
While Psusennes' tomb was found in 1940, while people were wondering why France still had an archaeology budget during World War 2

>>51346382
>Would you run a different adventure if you were introducing a group of new players to OSR for the first time?
The Keep on the Borderlands, there is a reason the cover says:
>It has been specially designed for use by beginning Dungeon Masters

>>51346402
yeah it was in FR10 I think. Can't remember if it just used the original monster manual for all its encounters of if you needed another supplement.

What are the traits of an old school RPG compared to a modern one?

>>51346714

See this primer >>>>51331392 (warning: may contain smug)

>>51346527
>Keep on the Borderlands
I'm already having flashbacks to the last few threads.

>>51345883
Dunno, to me his subsystems pretty much define his games. Liked all of them.

Also Spears of the Dawn makes for a great combo with the World of the Lost.

>>51346714
>Mechanically?
Combat notwithstanding, most activities don't have rules and (usually) aren't resolved with die rolls.
You just say, "I'm doing this" and the referee says, "sure, that sounds reasonably doable."

>Thematically?
Old school assumes a Swords and Sorcery vibe (knight-types notwithstanding; every man, woman, and child is a thief. life is cheap. magic is spooky).
New school tends to assume Heroic Fantasy (big damn heroes) or High Fantasy (good versus evil. fate of the world. magic is common-place).
It's also assumed that you'll be dungeon delving (or hex crawling) instead of questing. There's no focus whatsoever on "narrative."

>>51346871
Hey, speaking of which... what's the deal with N2 - The Forest Oracle?

>>51346891
>Liked all of them.
I wouldn't go that far but most of them are very good.

My issue is like, beyond doing two or three good subsystems for a game he doesn't seem to put a lot of effort in. It might be that he needs a co-writer for setting stuff, but eh.

>>51346987
He does seem to me to make "concept" games -- "What if I made an OSR game for single PCs", "What if I made an OSR Exalted" and so on. I think that attitude really lends itself to a way of thinking where you write a couple (possibly brilliant) core mechanics and then half-ass the rest to get it out the door, for instance, it used to be pretty common here in /osrg/ to recommend Scarlet Heroes (is that the name?) for its PC handling or its domain rules but advise disregarding the rest.

I think fundamentally this is because his thing he likes is "making gimmick games", not any particular one of those games. Like if his main thing was that he really liked the basic concept of Godbound and he continually worked on just that, I'm sure it would be a much tighter game, because he ultimately is a good designer.

This is just the vibe I get off him though.

>>51347144
Has anybody here played Godbound? I have it, and it looks cool, but I haven't run it yet.

>>51347165
I was going to run it for my group, but then is split up due to various issues.

>>51337997
Yes and no. I'm referring to two things:

1. Moldvay makes a reference to using treasure types to stock attended rooms, and many of the references aren't "wilderness only" but for lairs and that the treasure tables are intended for a lair full.
2. You get reduced XP for encounters that are too easy, treasure XP and all. I am sure the wiseasses will say "Sure, that's a rule in OD&D, 1e AD&D, and BECMI, but where does it say that in B/x?" Whatever.

>>51346831
>>51346919
Thanks for these. Though I still have some questions.

How would a DM be able to distinguish between player and character knowledge? I thought that skills for knowledge and spotting would be useful in modern RPGs because they help to show that the character is in a different world, and would be aware of things that the player doesn't know, like history or the weakness of a monster.

Second, how would a DM keep track of player improvement over time? It makes sense to allow a player to try a new trick in combat if they're ingenious enough to think of it, but how would you determine how skilled they are at doing it? For example, any fighter can swing a sword reasonably well, but how would you know when he's capable of doing the dropping attack described in the PDF?

And last, can you still have games where the goal is to kill monsters instead of avoid them and get treasure? Could treasure be removed as a motivation entirely and still have it be old school?

>>51346382
Give them the CoC

>>51347327
>And last, can you still have games where the goal is to kill monsters instead of avoid them and get treasure? Could treasure be removed as a motivation entirely and still have it be old school?
Hoo boy, that one's gonna divide people. Personally I'd say probably not; the gold-for-XP rule is extremely elegant and in a way the bedrock that the OSR playing style rests on.

>>51346048
>Temple of Ra Accursed by Set definitely is.
Yeah, it's one of the ones I was trying to find. For some reason I thought it was a TSR module. Still, it's an interesting delve with some cool shit going on.

>Dark Tower
Has about as much to do with Egypt as Stargate:Atlantis did. Very standard "Euro"-delve, although some of the elements of the Tower of Set could be lifted for an Egyptian campaign (the Children of Set in particular).

I've gotta go take care of some errands for the wife, but I'll be back later with some more ideas.

>>51347312
>1. Moldvay makes a reference to using treasure types to stock attended rooms
Oh yeah, I forgot that Basic does have a line to that effect. I think there's something kinda vaguely implying the same sort of thing in BECMI.

Still, that's not really how it was meant to work, though. And it gives extremely weird results, like 1d6 goblins who can potentially have tens of thousands of GP in gems -- especially with the RC treasure tables.

>>51347327
>How would a DM be able to distinguish between player and character knowledge?
That's up to the referee. The two schools of thought are:
• you know everything reasonable for adventures*, plus anything you note (with referee approval) at character generation
• you know everything needed for daily life, plus any activity your OOG knowledge allows you to reasonably explain

*in OSR, each level of each class has a title. Level ONE (1) Fighting-Men are "Veteran"

>Second, how would a DM keep track of player improvement over time?
They don't get better at it, unless it's tied to a statistic that increases with character level (THAC0, etc.)
If you do it habitually and the referee were generous, they might say "write '+1 to-hit attacks for attacks while falling' on your character sheet" at some point.

>where the goal is to kill monsters instead of avoid them
No.
>Could treasure be removed as a motivation
Maybe.

What's the best intro scenario for a group to give them an idea for LotFP?
I want a scenario they can play quickly to try and get and understanding of what's it about so they can decide if they want to stay on.

>>51347327
>How would a DM be able to distinguish between player and character knowledge? I thought that skills for knowledge and spotting would be useful in modern RPGs because they help to show that the character is in a different world, and would be aware of things that the player doesn't know, like history or the weakness of a monster.
The DM can just make a ruling on whether a player character knows a certain thing or not. A cleric would for example know of a lot of obscure religious stuff, and would know more the higher their level is.

>Second, how would a DM keep track of player improvement over time? It makes sense to allow a player to try a new trick in combat if they're ingenious enough to think of it, but how would you determine how skilled they are at doing it? For example, any fighter can swing a sword reasonably well, but how would you know when he's capable of doing the dropping attack described in the PDF?
The DM makes a ruling based on the information they have at the time, and then tries to stick to that ruling.

>And last, can you still have games where the goal is to kill monsters instead of avoid them and get treasure?
I'd say no. The D&D rules really aren't made for constant successful battling, so I think another system entirely would be better for that kind of stuff.

>Could treasure be removed as a motivation entirely and still have it be old school?
Maybe, as long as that positive feedback loop is kept intact. I don't see what treasure would be replaced with though.

>>51347543
Tower of the Stargazer if you want to be nice.
Death Frost Doom if you want to be meaner.

>>51345541
I would suggest starting with your own research into ancient egypt. There's lots of popular histories out there.

There might be a GURPs supplement along those lines, for which you might check the pdf thread. GURPs splats are usually full of well researched detail.

>>51347327
>How would a DM be able to distinguish between player and character knowledge?
It depends on the kind of knowledge. In the case of monster weaknesses, like fire against a troll, forget it, it's pointless, don't even try. It's ridiculous to see players try to feign not knowing about the fire thing and then "coming up with it at the last moment". It adds nothing. For this kind of purpose, just use new monsters instead, and use trolls when you want trolls because they look cool or you want that race between fire and regeneration (or when you just want to scare the piss out of players -- in short, use that stuff to your advantage).

If the player's like, an expert tracker or top geologist, the veil of fiction creates a handy divider between the player and character knowledge. "Is this schist or gneiss or what?" "You have no idea, you're a 19-year-old mercenary, a veteran of the Lombard wars, how would you know."

So in either case, it's not really a problem in practice. The former can be if you decide to get asshurt about it, and the latter can be if your players decide to get asshurt about it, but realistically, no rules could fix that.

>>51347327
>Could treasure be removed as a motivation entirely and still have it be old school?

Arguably, though you'll need to think about what you're replacing it with, and what that behaviors that incentivizes in players. For an example, check out Wolfpacks and Winter Snow, where treasure doesn't exist because caveman, and instead you adventure in large part to find new locations to expand your tribe.

>>51347415
>>51347523
>>51347544
Thanks for the responses. I ask because I'm interested in creating my own game system, and as someone who only experienced 3.5 and 5 D&D, I wanted to find a way to create a balance between a setting that makes combat scary for players, but also rewarding to win by managing resources and strategizing. So I came to this thread to learn more.

PCs would also potentially gain access to new items through adventuring, but the goal of the PCs would most likely be to kill monsters because they are a danger and they hate them, not to obtain money or because someone ordered them to do it. So that's why I asked what would happen if money wasn't a focus.

>>51347815
>Wolfpacks and Winter Snow
Oh fuck yeah, good point. Totally slipped my mind. That does have rewards for killing beasts and making shit out of them as well, doesn't it? And it seems to work great.

It's much more carefully done than just "regular D&D but with the XP for smacking gobbos in the face" though, which was what I was envisioning.

>>51347696
>There might be a GURPs supplement along those lines
http://www62.zippyshare.com/v/JvtrZaTG/file.html

>>51347415
>>51347327
>How would a DM be able to distinguish between player and character knowledge?
Often, you don't. It's an element of player skill. If the player knows that trolls can't regenerate fire damage, then his character knows it.

It's more difficult if, say, the group is split up, or one character perceives something that the others don't. If you really must isolate who gets what info, I have had players whose characters aren't present step out while we handle a turn.

>Second, how would a DM keep track of player improvement over time?
Some of those "maneuvers" should be situational. The guy was in just the right place at the right time that your swinging chandelier attack worked marvelously. Nobody becomes a trained specialist in chandelier swinging.

Just one anon's opinion, but I generally just get more generous with players as they level up.

Yes, the level five fighter should be able to swing from a rope or scare a couple bandits through sheer badassery. The level one guy will have to roll for it.

>And last, can you still have games where the goal is to kill monsters instead of avoid them and get treasure?
Sure. It's your game. Unless you're a purist, "Old School" is really just "rough compatibility with oldschool content", whether it was written in 1984 or 2015.

Start your party at level three so they're durable enough to do more fighting, and set 'em loose to hunt the king of the dire wolves. His pelt is worth 10,000 gold pieces to the right buyer, but it's illegal for anyone but royalty to wear it. The beast's bile can be brewed into a potent Protection from Cold potion.

File: Gary Gygax - Master of the Game.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51347878
>So I came to this thread to learn more.
c >>51343375

Talking about playing isn't one-tenth as useful to you as playing.
Getting the mindset is important, but *play* a few OSR systems before you start homebrewing.
Also, reinventing the wheel is a fool's errand. But you're welcome to learn that on your own.

Oh! And here's a book you should read.

File: Brofist_through_the_internet.jpg (13KB, 284x275px) Image search: [Google]

13KB, 284x275px

>>51347915
>http://www62.zippyshare.com/v/JvtrZaTG/file.html
thanks mate

>>51346714
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BllIODb81Q8

>>51348060
Crappy music?

File: cave.png (676KB, 693x720px) Image search: [Google]

676KB, 693x720px

>>51348079
Thread edition be damned, fuck off.

File: evil_wizard_by_edriss-d3nfyk6.jpg (377KB, 800x964px) Image search: [Google]

377KB, 800x964px

What are your favorite OSR spells?

>>51348150
Charm Person
Sleep
Magic Mouth

>>51348150
Any of the wackier Maze Rats combos tickle my fancy. Enlightening Crow anyone?

File: Man Assaulted Over Dice.png (229KB, 543x491px) Image search: [Google]

229KB, 543x491px

>>51348079

>hating on Leslie Fish songs

Hand in your nerd card, sir!

Also thanks to the dude who linked it. That song's hilarious, I hadn't heard it before. "Gamers" is also awesome.

File: @#$%.png (169KB, 461x429px) Image search: [Google]

169KB, 461x429px

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFa2_2I3zH4

>>51348241
>I hadn't heard it before
Hey, speaking of which... any chance you know where I can find tracks from Cold Iron?
The only songs I've been able to find are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8CkSw4hVog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gYvS8L0nDY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW-u15cvfQs

Also, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEwxguHUi_U
which is also a Kipling poem but isn't part of the album.

File: Some Level 1 Spells.png (518KB, 1167x1654px) Image search: [Google]

518KB, 1167x1654px

>>51348150
>inb4 Raggi's incredibly unwieldy Summon spell

I've always liked OD&D's Charm Person spell which (as far as I can make out) just recruits the monster as a henchman who subsequently has a loyalty like everyone else.

For the wider OSR, I really like Carcosan Sorcery, but it would be ridiculous to single out a specific spell there, since it's aggressively programmatic; it's all about the system, and how it's constructed.

Finally Sleep is probably the iconic old-school spell, and the one that (especially in Basic, where there's no save) sees the most play. Not one of my personal favorites, but it needs mentioning.

Bonus content: those level 1 spells /osrg/ made one time.

>>51348241
Leslie Fish has an atrocious voice, and her songs are infinitely better if you just read the lyrics because then you don't have to put up with it. Folk is shit music, anyway.

>>51348325

>Raggi's incredibly unwieldy Summon spell

Yeah, it's unwieldy, but considering it's practically a nuclear option that you'd only break out in dire need, which will either save you or kill you, I think it's fine.
Rules you use all the time must be streamlined; rules you use once in a good, long while because it's either that or eat a TPK can be complicated and that's okay, in my book. It builds up the suspense.

File: Carbide-Lantern.jpg (34KB, 320x256px) Image search: [Google]

34KB, 320x256px

>>51347878
>create a balance between a setting that makes combat scary for players, but also rewarding to win by managing resources and strategizing.
Mid level D&D does this rather well.

Generally, death is not as scary as losing your favorite shit, losing XP or levels, or being wounded to the point of sucking.

Question for the general--

How much of a hardass are you about light sources? What kind of light sources are available in your game?

Do continual light spells or the like ever come into play? I reread Fellowship of the Ring recently, and it occurs to me that a "dungeon crawl" like the journey through Moria would be pretty ridiculous without Gandalf and his staff lighting the way.

Would you ever throw in something like a carbide lantern?

>>51348712
If you have a light source, you can see everything reasonably well.
If you want to look at something closely, your either need to muck about or use a second light source.

It's mostly torches, because everyone hogs their lamp oil for molotov cocktails.
Running of light sources is a de facto TPK.

AD&D 1e or 2e?

>>51348818
B/X

>>51348818
2e, with whatever bits of 1e you want stapled on.

File: tumblr_md4tqecv8n1qa1iiqo1_540.jpg (169KB, 540x740px) Image search: [Google]

169KB, 540x740px

>>51347543
>What's the best intro scenario for a group to give them an idea for LotFP?
>I want a scenario they can play quickly to try and get and understanding of what's it about so they can decide if they want to stay on.
A Stranger Storm in the Grindhouse Tutorial book (if you can find it). Also, the farmhouse in Better Than Any Man.
Both are short, tight adventures suitable for a one-night stand, but without particularly insane lethality, and just a little bit of mindfuck to go with them. They don't really tie into anything, and both are good "plug and play" adventures to get used to the system.

Stargazer and DFD are slightly longer, and set up long-term consequences for your campaign. DFD is more immediate, while ToS has longer-term implications more suitable for springing on the party a couple years later.

Other shorts:
Tales of the Scarecrow - cool gimmick, but fucks over the players (especially Clerics) pretty hard. Deliberately encourages the players to fuck each other over, as well. Too lethal for low-level characters IMO.

Better than Any Man - I've ranted on this before, but suffice to say the main problem with the module is the way it handles its time limit. As a sandbox, it's excellent. As a thing that wipes out all its adventuring locations and forces the players to move on out of a massive geographical area after about 4-5 sessions, it's bullshit. Lotsa good stuff to loot though, and it's free.

Doom Cave etc. - Stupid, messy, squicky, and kinda funny (in a "ahahaha oh God I can't believe someone put that in a module" way). It's pretty gonzo and there's a lot of randomness, but it's still playable

Fuck For Satan - Parody adventure, mostly intended as a swinging middle finger. It's still got a few amusing ideas. Honestly, I wouldn't pay for it
The Grinding Gear - Tomb of Horrors lite (tm). Less assholishly lethal, still a meatgrinder

Scenic Dunnsmouth - Really goddamned cool, but tougher than most 1st-level char's can handle. Ties into DFD

>>51345129
The Old School Renaissance is actually the TSR D&D Circlejerk Starring B/X With Guest Appearances By OD&D And AD&D And Introducing House Rules In Her RPG Debut.

>>51348818
Both. Bonus points if you also use all three psionics systems simultaneously.

>>51347464

Its stated repeatedly that the lair treasure tables are intended for wilderness sized encounters.

My stance is that although the intent is very unclear, and I can see elves, giants, hippogriffs, etc. as encountered in the wilderness, I have doubts that liches, demons, etc. are supposed to have wilderness lairs as opposed to dungeon lairs that often.

I mean, I guess its POSSIBLE that all monsters listed with lair treasure types have wilderness, non dungeon lairs and that it exclusively refers to such, but I doubt it.

>>51348712

>How much of a hardass are you about light sources?

Sorta. Exactly how does one even think about surprising enemies when there is a bobbing light in the darkness approaching?

>>51348818
2e isn't Old School.

>>51349075
>all three psionics systems
>three
They butchered quite a few things cutting it away from NWPs and stapling it onto THAC0, but Skills and Powers was the same system Complete Psionics Handbook.

>>51349357
S&P psionics does have a number of significant changes, including the end of Metapsionics. Its its own thing.

>>51348787
>Running of light sources is a de facto TPK.
What about races with dark vision like dwarfs?

>>51349357
>2e isn't Old School.
>this meme again
2E is as Old School as you want it to be, you just have to fiddle with the options.

>>51349380
>including the end of Metapsionics
It kept all the Metapsionic powers, it just lumped them into other disciplines.
It also screwed up the tables, because that book's editing is balls.

>Its its own thing.
The only that was "it's own" was the rules for psionic combat, which seem to be emulating 1e.
Which is the worst psionic combat in any edition. It's somehow worse than Eldritch Wizardry.

>>51349457
I don't play with subhumans (or at least, not with subhuman PCs). If I did,
I'd probably pull a Philotomy and say, "infravision is of no use in The Mythic Underworld!"
Or force them to retreat with combat penalties for the humans, I guess.

>>51349569

>It kept all the Metapsionic powers, it just lumped them into other disciplines.

I know, but that alone is worth calling it a separate system. MTHAC0 is also a radical enough departure for it to be considered its own system.

>>51348975
Thanks a bunch. I think I'll use the farm house from BtaM

I have a campaign already geared up with DFD, Dunnsmouth, a Seculsium, and the Diamond of H-R if they like it.

Fuck I really want to just run a retro clone by the books but I don't like spell slots.

There isn't just a 'one spell slot per level, each spell is first level' sort of system I can just use?

>>51349618
>There isn't just a 'one spell slot per level, each spell is first level' sort of system I can just use?
Don't know about that, but there are spell point systems floating about.

>>51349137
Moonglow is a cool spell.

>>51346919
>what's the deal with N2 - The Forest Oracle?
I think it's supposed to be one of those 'so bad it's good' hipster in jokes.

File: Islands.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

Trying to figure out OpenOffice (I tried LibreOffice first, but it's made by some sort of devil that hates human life and refused to even do as simple a thing as paste with retained properties, so fuck LibreOffice) and made this PDF of a table I posted before. Sorry to shit the thread up with it, but can someone check that the font embedding worked and everything?

>>51348818
1e all the way. Give me that crazy Gygax flavor (and Assassins).

File: 1200px-LaTeX_logo.svg.png (24KB, 1200x500px) Image search: [Google]

24KB, 1200x500px

>>51349721
Why would you do that to yourself?

>>51349793
I just to learn how to make PDFs without wading through an ocean of shit, Anon. Not learn how to resurrect Donald Knuth with an illegible, shitty-looking ritual anyone can recognize the style of from the neighboring hex.

>>51349721
Did you try messing about with Paste Special?

>>51349793
>Why would you do that to yourself?
Oh, and in a more direct sense: because when I asked /osrg/ about free apps to make PDFs in, OO and LO were the ones they suggested. (They claimed LO was the better one, but the only difference I could see was in the amount of awful cruft dangling everywhere. Why would there be a little blue tab reading Header popping up every time the cursor even approached the top of a page, seemingly deliberately placed to be accidentally clicked on each time? Who would ever want that?! I can only assume I was pranked, which I hereby admit to falling for, hopefully to the amusement of those anons.)

>>51349887
Yes. It offered me exactly one option: unformatted text.
When I pasted literally the same copied text in OO it worked correctly right away with the regular paste.

File: Capture.png (49KB, 228x212px) Image search: [Google]

49KB, 228x212px

>>51349721
>can someone check that the font embedding worked and everything?
Looks fine to me?

One nitpick though: Having an untitled section looks weird. Jimmy rustling weird.
#10 should be titled, "It's not an island." with the description, "It's a solitary maniac."

>>51349557
>you just have to fiddle with the options.
You've just described every system ever.
Also doesn't fix the New School player/DM advice.

>>51348325
>Candlefist
This is dope. Why doesn't /osrg/ do worthwhile stuff like this more often?

File: 1669 - English Town Watch.jpg (140KB, 946x950px) Image search: [Google]

140KB, 946x950px

>>51349607
>Thanks a bunch.
Always glad to help.

>I think I'll use the farm house from BtaM
Cool. I've used it myself three or four times. It can be a good place to seed rumors or names that tie into the next couple adventures, as well.

>I have a campaign already geared up with DFD, Dunnsmouth, a Seculsium, and the Diamond of H-R if they like it.
Slinging in a Samson or a Van Kaus (as the merc leader?) might make a good option here. Seed it with a map or a journal entry or two about him fleeing the family home in order to escape the Ancient Shame and all that.

When I roll up a Seclusium, I usually generate 2-3 local polities and the relationships between all of them. It might not hurt to make Dunnsmouth/Dunnford/Dunnwich be one of those (and generating all three towns usually makes the module much more coherent). Having something Liquid Time or Duvan'ku-related in the Seclusium will help tie the whole thing together, and let you send the players on wizard-missions if you so please.

>>51349960
>Why would there be a little blue tab reading Header popping up every time the cursor even approached the top of a page, seemingly deliberately placed to be accidentally clicked on each time?
That only happens if you click on the white space above your document text.

Upload some of the text, I want to see if that still happens on mine.

>>51349971
Yeah, that looks right. Thanks, Anon!

And sorry about your jimmies. I'd take your advice about the numbering thing, but I just grabbed some text I had on hand that was on topic for the thread, so I don't really care about making this particular PDF look good. (I wrote it for an anon who was going to run a game on a big river, but I don't think anybody liked or maybe even read it when I originally posted it as a pastebin link, so it's probably not worth wasting any real effort on sprucing up.) I'll remember that for later, though!

File: Arms of House Cockhammer.jpg (34KB, 328x316px) Image search: [Google]

34KB, 328x316px

>>51349618
>There isn't just a 'one spell slot per level, each spell is first level' sort of system I can just use?
Well, Vaginas Are Magic! is supposed to ship with the latest version of the LotFP playtest rules. It's up for pre-order on the site if you want to wait until June. Or you can hough up a tenner for the Gardening Society membership adn then buy something in print format from Raggi, that'll have the current playtest edition.

>>51349980
>Why doesn't /osrg/ do worthwhile stuff like this more often?
We spend most of our time doing pic related over heartbreakers instead.

>>51350069
>That only happens if you click on the white space above your document text.
I wasn't clicking it.

>Upload some of the text, I want to see if that still happens on mine.
I originally posted it here, you can still grab it. https://notehub.org/knq2g

>>51349980
>Why doesn't /osrg/ do worthwhile stuff like this more often?
We do at least some stuff almost every thread. Look at Anon with the sweet orientalism here, for instance: >>51343648 Or the last thread's secret doors.

>>51350104
>I wasn't clicking it.
That's not what happens on mine, what version were you using? I have to click in the headspace of the document to get it to show up, and then I can click anywhere that's not the headspace to get it to go away again.

I fixed the problem by selecting the copied text, right-clicking, and selecting 'Clear Direct Formatting'. And, for some reason, when I went Ctrl+A to grab the whole webpage and dump it in, I didn't even have to do that.

That's really weird.

>>51349618
Check out the DCC magic system. A lot of people here don't like it, but it might be up your alley.

>>51349618
Beyond the Wall does that! There's no spell levels, with most of the spells scaling with character level, and you can cast one spell per level per day. You also have cantrips (no limit, but require a int or wis check, and failure means it either goes wild or burns out your remaining magic for the day, player choice) and rituals. And multiclased characters either have spells, or cantrips and rituals. It's a good system.

>>51350228
>what version were you using?
Whichever one was the newest when I downloaded it a couple weeks ago. (Yeah, I was slow to start with this. I had life and shit.)

>That's really weird.
Yes, especially since I also just A-copied and that worked in every other word processor I have installed.

>>51349980
>tfw the candlefist spell is the only worthwhile contribution I've made to /osrg/ and OSR in general
I'm glad you enjoy it anon.

>>51350280
I was using an older version (5.0.6.X), so maybe that did it. I'll see if it still works in 5.1.6.2.

So I've been thinking about a variant which keys ability scores to races, classes, and saving throws in a unified way.

Here's my question, do you consider it DESIRABLE or UNDESIRABLE that clerics, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes all have great saving throws in the same area (poison/death and magic)?

My idea is something like:

Hold/Pins Strength/humans/fighters
Counts webs, grapples, overruns, tentacles, hold spells (even if most conceive of this as mental/paralysis rather than a physical barrier), etc. Very hard save to make unless you have a high str, are human, or are a fighter.

Death/Poison Constitution/short demihumans/clerics
Self explanatory, but doesn't count paralysis. As normal in OSR, is one of the easier saves to make.

Illusions Intelligence/gnomes/barbarians. Intentionally small niche. Very, very small chance of making these saves unless you have a high intelligence, or are a gnome or barbarian.

Traps/Ambushes/Items Dexterity/halflings/thieves. Another very purposefully small niche, very, very small chance of making these saves unless you're a high dex char, a halfling, or thief.

Paralysis/sleep/charm Charisma/paladins/elves. Borderline impossible save to make for most characters (normally you don't get to save vs sleep at all, and you get a bonus vs charm if you've taken damage from the enemy side)... however, it requires multiple hits from a carrion crawler, ghoul, etc. to paralyze to make up for it.

Spells Wisdom/casters/short demihumans. Only counts stuff in not one of the other categories. Medium difficulty.

I was considering that short demihumans NOT get expansive saves as normal, but death/poison and spells are less useful here.

>>51350363
Eh, don't sweat about it too much for my sake, anyway.

>>51350363
It still works in 5.1.6.2.

Mystifying. It might be because I've upgraded mine through the versions for quite a while now, while you had a fresh install, so there's some difference in the settings.

Oh well.

File: pottery.png (103KB, 1501x818px) Image search: [Google]

103KB, 1501x818px

>>51346919
>N2 - The Forest Oracle

>>51349721
>OpenOffice
My dude, you're setting yourself up for heartbreak. Expect it to just suddenly stop working after a few months.

>>51350437
What did he mean by this?

>>51350327
You're welcome! I'm definitely stealing it for a pyromancer class I'm brewing up for one of my players.

>>51350524
It's an EN World thread discussing the module.
They were lambasting the shitty encounters.

>>51350369
> variant which keys ability scores to races, classes, and saving throws
That sounds mucky and undesirable.

>>51350524
He's imitating the incredibly poor way the encounters in N2 are written. It's hyperbolic for the joke's sake, but if you've read the actual thing you can see exactly what he's ribbing.

>>51350369
I thought we'd all tacitly agreed to stop trying to deliberately trigger Bingo Anon.

>>51348325
Is there a template or something for this formatting?

>>51350369

When you say it's tied to races, classes, and saving throws, how do you mean? Can I triple-dip a high-dex halfling thief to get crazy high trap saves, or is this just "you qualify for good saves if you're one of these three?" I can see there would be drawbacks to either, with the former encouraging min-maxing and a very narrow character selection, and the latter encouraging weird combos to get broad save improvements. (Pick a high strength halfling barbarian to get good saves in holds, death, illusions, traps, and spells)

File: TSR 9084 - N2 - The Forest Oracle.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51350914
>Pick a high strength halfling barbarian to get good saves in holds, death, illusions, traps, and spells
That DOES feel thematically correct.

File: LotFP 1.png (165KB, 1167x1654px) Image search: [Google]

165KB, 1167x1654px

>>51350910
Yo. I threw that thing together in photoshop. This is what I used. The font is IM Fell DW Pica.

File: LotFP - Class.png (506KB, 1167x1654px) Image search: [Google]

506KB, 1167x1654px

>>51351247
And one for custom LotFP classes.

File: bait_by_sstarkm-daf4a7a.jpg (733KB, 1000x773px) Image search: [Google]

733KB, 1000x773px

How many homebrews get posted in the OSR threads? I feel like I see a lot.

>>51351315
1d3+1 per thread.

>>51351315
There's always a few.

Rolled 3 + 1 (1d3 + 1)

>>51351344

Let's see what we're in for this thread.

>>51351344
1d4-1 is more like it.

File: anyone else here into extra arms.jpg (278KB, 1280x905px) Image search: [Google]

278KB, 1280x905px

>>51351385
Hmm. I'd say I never see less than 2,
But you're right, it weights to the low end

>>51351380
Now roll 2d6 for each.

1 - New Class
2 - New Class
3 - New Class Options
4 - New Class Options
5 - New Monster(s)
6 - New Monster(s)
7 - New Save Type(s)
8 - New Spell(s)
9 - New (Magic) Item(s)
10 - New Spot Rule(s)
11 - New Spot Rule(s)
12 - New Full System

>>51351380

Well I guess that's an invitation to post everyone's homebrews?

File: 1483253572680.jpg (612KB, 1024x1536px) Image search: [Google]

612KB, 1024x1536px

>>51351437
I know from OSRG we have

Wolfpacks & Winter Snow
Ruinations
The Rogue's March
Lamentations of the Prom Queen (?)

the OSR needs a solid Cyberpunk system.

File: Science Fiction planet towers.jpg (647KB, 1920x1200px) Image search: [Google]

647KB, 1920x1200px

>>51351573

Or any Sci-Fi that's good, for that matter.

>>51351635
What's wrong with the ones that currently exist?

File: ugly mad baby.jpg (127KB, 726x483px) Image search: [Google]

127KB, 726x483px

>>51351666

Well Satan, I don't know what they are and I've never been introduced to their rules or settings, and do to the fact I have very specific and somewhat unfair tastes in Sci-Fi myself I doubt they would be able to satisfy me.

Secondly as a GM that's not actually good enough to make any ruleset into something manageable; It's easy enough to steal a combat system or character class advancement or a few cool monsters or items from a fantasy game and insert it into my own, but I have little to no experience doing it for Science Fiction so instead of trying to learn or embrace the challenge I'll just continue to bitch and moan about the lack of systems that I am not well versed in anyway.

>Pic related, me
We clear? Good. Maybe you can help.

>>51351725
Not that Anon, but did you check the Trove?

>>51351725
>don't know what they are
Machinations of the Space Princess
Stars Without Number
White Star

There's three.

File: [Shitposting Loudly].gif (496KB, 500x363px) Image search: [Google]

496KB, 500x363px

>>51351796

NUUUOOOO I WANT YOU TO SPOONFEED ME WAHHHHHHHHHHH

>>51350010
Thanks

I'm having the Va Kaia be cultists and the wizard from the seclusium the one that got the 12 DFD clerics together.

But I will definitely take those ideas into consideration.

File: tumblr_o6uovrdeTL1qe866ho1_1280.jpg (764KB, 1128x808px) Image search: [Google]

764KB, 1128x808px

>>51351876
>the wizard from the seclusium the one that got the 12 DFD clerics together.
Huh, that actually makes a lot of sense. Gives the players someone to go to once the fewments hit the windmill, too. Or at least something to scavenge looking for clues..
Consider it stolen, that's an excellent idea.

>>51351380
Occultesque-anon here, I'll be posting the PDF of my small, system-neutral adventure here in an hour or so once I've had a chance to proofread it.

So there's at least one piece of homebrew a-cooking

>>51352439
I'm rewriting the Time Cube so it can be used to go back in time. Gonna make it the solution to the DFD apocalypse, force them to go back and fix their fuck ups..

>>51352565
>force them to go back and fix their fuck ups
By killing and replacing their time doubles? Add some "doppelgangers" to the original room.

>>51352661
That would be good.
Maybe change the painting in the cabin to be a picture of them all killing themselves? To plant the seed in their mind? Could put other painting in the Seclusion and in H-R's tomb.

>>51352694
>painting of party killing selves as hint to kill selves

I like this

File: comic371.png (252KB, 650x1018px) Image search: [Google]

252KB, 650x1018px

>>51352694
Be nice about it though.
If their past-selves are still alive when their future-selves die, let them switch characters.

File: TheCaveUnderTheWell 1.0.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

Occultesque.com guy here. The first official post for my blog is done, so I figure you guys might enjoy a chance to check it out. Posting the PDF here for convenience. We've got innocent, blind old ladies, eyes sprouting on random objects, fungus-controlled fish, metallic slimes, friendly ghosts that walk around with their backs turned and something lurking beneath the well, sucking people's luck away.

>>51350914

>When you say it's tied to races, classes, and saving throws, how do you mean? Can I triple-dip a high-dex halfling thief to get crazy high trap saves
The former.

The example in AD&D is a triple dipped dwarf cleric with high con for crazy good saves in magic and death/poison.

Well in default D&D:

1. Dwarves, gnomes, and halflings have save bonus type A to death + magic saves.
2. Elves have bonus type B and C to sleep/charm and ghoul paralysis respectively.

So the idea there is that, honestly, sleep/charm/paralysis kind of deserve their own save category, imo, as they're as big a deal as poison/death and certainly come up in my experience more than petrification/polymorph.

>(Pick a high strength halfling barbarian to get good saves in holds, death, illusions, traps, and spells)

Fine by me, slow + no magic items for quite awhile in exchange for good saves and limited weapon range is a reasonable tradeoff, would you not agree? This isn't to say I inherently agree with halfling barbarians, or the barbarian class at all.

What I am curious about is whether people find it desirable that halflings, gnomes, dwarves, and clerics all share a similar forte. In the default system, poison + death + rods/wands/staves + spells are basically the same as "great in all saves" since the others barely ever happen.

>>51353039
Interesting.

I think you have some cool ideas:
>the monster that drinks luck
>the eyes manifesting around town
>hints in the form of the blind hermit and the man with his eyes gauged out
>the reflections that try to trap you with eye contact
>the fungus-fish (which seem sadly under-developed)

But the "dungeon" itself is very linear, and my first impression is that it doesn't offer many interesting challenges. There is little in the way of truly dangerous combat and little player choice in how to proceed through the dungeon.

Altogether, it's a neat concept that I would definitely consider stealing to use as a point of interesting in a hex-crawl or something. But I don't think I'd run it quite as-is. The dungeon is a little... uninspired? For my tastes, at least.

>>51350914
Also, I don't immediately have a problem with characters having a very well focused set of save bonuses -- it feels right to me that ubiquitous human fighters (with possibly high str) have a good save category, against a common genre of disabling attacks, and likewise that there is a way to make a character (halfling thief with possibly high dex) that is actually rather good with traps and ambushes.

Not all of the correspondences are things I think are that amazing (barbarians and paladins are the only classes types I could think of that have some precedent for being resistant to illusions & mind effects for example).

>>51353315
That's honestly the intention, I tried to keep it small and mostly idea-filled. It a few ideas to steal, maybe a location to borrow and some doodles.

File: N2.png (46KB, 780x65px) Image search: [Google]

46KB, 780x65px

Are you a bad enough dude to save the Downs from the curse?

>>51353351
If I say "yes," will I drop 200gp in the excitement?

>>51353372
On a roll of 5-6.

>>51353372
Only if you are neither tarrying nor running.

>>51349618
If you want that result, you can just play odnd but limit spells to first level.

Get rid of magic missile, or limit it to a single dice of damage, and be careful with effects that scale with level.

This is what I do. I'm big on gandalf, fan, so I fell wizards should be limited to less flashy effects, and even stuff like creating fire should be a risky preposition. It creates a game where anyone can learn magic, but there are no mages.

File: 1481941576985.jpg (141KB, 750x600px) Image search: [Google]

141KB, 750x600px

>>51351380
>>51351385

1d6-1, because I only use d6 in my homebrew

>>51349618
Beyond the Wall, as somebody suggested. Also The Nightmares Underneath works like this.

You can also plug Wonder & Wickedness but I guess that wouldn't be "by the book".

>>51353646
All weapons 1d6?

File: My_Dm_is_blind.png (345KB, 1633x629px) Image search: [Google]

345KB, 1633x629px

>>51353865
knife d6, rock d6
most weapons 2d6 (sword, mace, flail
big weapons 3d6 (2 hand sword)
giants 5d6 damage

>>51353913
>rock d6
Seems overpowered.

>>51353962

Well, you can't expect the dm to just let you HAVE rocks. That's the sort of thing you'd have to quest for.

>>51353913
You know, since this manga is about a loli living in a nerd colony who lets all of them fuck her, I can't help but think the same thing would happen to a lot of female adventurers in otherwise all male party after being stuck in a dungeon or the wilderness for awhile.

File: Necropraxis Levelless Spellcasting.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51349618
Try this on.

>>51353865
Not that Anon, but I do something similar:
All weapons 1d6, "weaker" weapons get more hits in or drain more concentration, or take more dodging, or whatever.
To-hit rolls are 3d6, with Armor Class determined using the CHAINMAIL man-to-man table.

>>51354175

>To-hit rolls are 3d6, with Armor Class determined using the CHAINMAIL man-to-man table.

Excellent taste. I ran a short campaign with the m2m table's modifiers used; halberds, for example, are hella strong. I actually think these modifiers may have been intended to some degree, due to how magic swords are just so much more frequent, and superior in plus, to other weapons; it doesn't make much sense to me that magic swords would be both stronger in base properties and in magic properties.

I found ghouls, for example, to be really nicely strong monsters in that they didn't get weapon vs ac modifiers to hit, so despite not having the best stats they are very good anti-PC beasties.

Sometime, I wanna do a whole campaign using expanded m2m and expanded fantastic combat.

how many shots do you think PCs (or enemies) should get prior to melee combat in most cases, on average? 0 shots? 0.5? 1? 2?

>>51354301 It should depend on distance. If you're asking, "what should the distance be?"
• it should be max (or near max) if the PCs are clever enough to arrange the fight at that distance
• it should be max (or near max) for all but a few enemies if the PCs have fallen for a trap/amush
• otherwise it should be random, but typically close enough for just 1 round of missiles (or less)

>>51354301
I dunno if it's balanced or whatever, but I usually just let it work so that the inciting group rolls to shoot once, and then the returning group can roll to shoot once, and then normal initiative is rolled and combat begins.

>>51353646
Alright, let's make it an even 1d5-1.

File: cBfwfvN.jpg (909KB, 2036x1536px) Image search: [Google]

909KB, 2036x1536px

>>51354206
wait, chainmail is 2d6. I have it right here.

>>51354507
Typo.

>>51354654
In your post or in my book?

File: Goblins_are_made_not_born.png (198KB, 794x872px) Image search: [Google]

198KB, 794x872px

>>51354173
>magic

>>51354687
My post. Your book is diamonds.

>>51354821
>goblins_come_from_the_moon.JPG

>>51345541
I have some egypt PF adventure modules that I have never read.
https://mega.nz/#!d5NBnIaT!R_4858jbcGvFiX6T4K-vh_IZl65bKmEPXqU9i85tz6I

File: Deep Cave, Texas - alternate entrance.gif (2MB, 284x252px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 284x252px

>>51353039
>>51353348
Put a second cave at the ravine, with goblins
Connect the Fish Pit to the Mirror Hall (tight squeeze)
Connect the Fish Pit to the Lair (viewhole: sight, magic, and missles only)
Creature flees to the Mirror Hall if attacked from the Fish Pit

Boom! Slightly less linear.

>>51351487
>Lamentations of the Prom Queen
????
HIgh school OSR?

>>51354507
Oh what I did was converted it to d20, keeping same probabilities, and I assumed the 3d6 would be using a converted scale + 3d6 instead of d20 for a more even distribution.

2d6 Chainmail could also be interesting. I was thinking of expanding the Fantasy Combat table using the stuff from Dungeon!...

>>51351487

>Lamentations of the Prom Queen (?)

Sounds VERY sexual.

>>51355301
More like Slasher Flick: The OSR.

>>51355763
>Sounds VERY sexual.
No, that's the Anti-Hymenation of the Prom Queen. Different game.

File: Feel.png (53KB, 645x773px) Image search: [Google]

53KB, 645x773px

>tfw this WAS the week you were going to start your blog
>this WAS the week you were going to start running an OSR game
>Run out of all creative juice and feel like a failure

>>51356094
That's what modules are for dude.

>>51356094
>tfw this WAS the week you were going to start your blog

was it going to have a fiery condemnation about how new games are CASUAL SHIT for BABBYS and how the only REAL GAME FOR MEN is 3LBB using Chainmail combat resolution?

>>51355973
To this day I have never been able to figure out any purpose for fuckin subsystems in an RPG. The only exception is in which fuckin is fairly important in Hackmaster, because your stats are fucking rancid, but can be gradually improved, and your kids largely inherit your stats, so successive generations of adventurers could one day produce a pretty cool dude.

>>51356185

No. It was going to be where I post all my new rules and encounter lists and monsters and setting info but I ran out of steam working on 50 things list and now I've wasted my whole week off pretty much.

>>51356185
Real game for men is 2d6/6x jizzgoblins only and you have to earn the right to play real characters.

>>51356272
What were you going to condemn as CASUAL SHIT?

But yeah that could be cool.

>>51354507
>I have it right here.
Where did you get iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

>>51356541
>print it
>punch the edge for the plastic ring thing

>>51356649
That's disgustingly distinct from piracy.
And I bet it doesn't even have balrogs.

>>51356849
>not having three different versions of Chainmail

>>51356883
If one of you faggots would link to a good place to buy a print copy, I'd have at least one.

File: WM101-200 Chainmail 2e.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51356900
>a print copy
Print copies are overrated.

File: 2008 Chainmail 3rd Edition (2nd Printing).pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51356914
I can't post the 7th printing, but that's post-Balrog anyway.

>>51343217
I liked what I saw so far. I've used it once with the Monster's Alphabet to give it more mutational goodness

>>51356914
>>51356927
Pulled and pulled. Thanks, Anon!

I suddenly have a horrible feeling I would've found these in the Trove, wouldn't I?

>>51356963
Probably. The 7th printing's TSR6002, if you see that product nr. about.

What are the differences between Chainmail editions, anyway? Are there any important ones?

>>51357002
https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/chainmail.html
Seems to be mostly cosmetic, apart from the rules updates from Domesday #3 which were incorporated into 2e.

>>51350437
I know it's a joke, but it hurts SO much...

>>51354507
How does the Fantasy combat work? And the Hero/Superhero stuff?

>>51358192
Hero and Superhero became fighter levels.
The table is a 2d6 (if I recall) to kill. (This is before hit points)

>>51358192
>How does the Fantasy combat work?
Cross reference attacker and defender on the table; attacker rolls 2d6 against the value given. If the score is higher than the value, the defender is killed. If it's equal, the defender's pushed back one move.

>And the Hero/Superhero stuff?
In Chainmail, a Hero and a Superhero are individual unit types you can choose, same as wizards. They're tough and tough as FUCK respectively in Man-To-Man, but as you can no doubt see, fairly squishy in Fantasy Combat.

In OD&D, of course, the Hero is a level 4 Fighting-Man and a Super-Hero is level 8.

I still don't really get how Chainmail does man-to-man combat. Is it really the case that a simple man can kill a super hero in one hit if he rolls well on initiative and attack? Seems like that would lead to anticlimactic situations, or one player would just send out men one-by-one to try to kill the super hero through sheer tenacity.

>>51358979
>Is it really the case that a simple man can kill a super hero in one hit if he rolls well on initiative and attack?
What? No. Not at all. Not even remotely.
In fact, in pure Chainmail combat, a single normal man has literally *no way* to kill a Super-Hero. A Super-Hero must sustain *eight simultaneous hits* (i.e. in one round of combat) from normal men in order to perish! In practice I believe this means bulldozing him with heavy horse and not much else.

That's actually one reason why OD&D adds hit points -- to prevent goblins and similar rabble from just not being a threat at all anymore once you hit level 4 (or arguably, level 3, when a Fighting-Man fights as a Hero-1 on the FCT).

>>51356541
Had it my whole life. I'm 60.

Want pics of any particular page?

>>51359163
That's like the way age of mythology does things. Their HERO CLASS units are super cool, and wreck mythological units like hydras and mummies, but they only have like a 60% chance to beat ordinary cavalry or spearmen.

>>51359921
The inside cover?

What are some games where the conceit is the party is a group of Bad People (buglers, bandits, murders of innocents, etc)?

File: oiuoig.jpg (548KB, 1536x2048px) Image search: [Google]

548KB, 1536x2048px

>>51360166
Here you go

>>51360398
Dnd can be that

>>51360398
literally anything?

The games are just systems for resolving various challenges really

>>51360398
>implying adventurers aren't brigands,bandits, and murders of innocents
>implying all the "evil" humanoids attacks against the "poor humans who dindu nuffin" aren't retaliations for humans diving into their lairs and stealing their shit

>>51360398

Give Blades in the Dark a go, it has excellent mechanical support for that. (Your gang even has its own sheet)

>>51359921
Oh, shit. That's cool!

>>51359990
It's kind of the opposite of that way then, isn't it? In Chainmail a hero-type can wreck up fuckloads of spearmen but is likely to be stomped into paste in one round of combat by a balrog.

File: 1437878137.jpg (81KB, 440x309px) Image search: [Google]

81KB, 440x309px

>>51360663
I think was he's getting at is Heroes don't lawnmower through normal men.
They're no Battle of Stamford Bridge vikings, but they basically just hold their ground forever.

>>51342403
What does D&D tournaments consist of? Have any of you tried it recently? What book are the rules in?

File: IotF.png (1MB, 1843x875px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 1843x875px

>>51360398
Fucking mine, apparently. Soon as they saw the sale price for slaves in the Retainers section of the rulebook it was Circle Trade time.

File: Breugel - Mad Meg.jpg (225KB, 1024x741px) Image search: [Google]

225KB, 1024x741px

>>51361267
>What does D&D tournaments consist of?
Grab some books, play rounds of modules with pre-made characters, and "advance" with the winners of previous rounds to the next floor or module. Winners usually got product (like signed copies of the tournament modules, rulebooks, zines, and the like).

>Have any of you tried it recently?
Not in a loooong fucking time. Don't really enjoy them, to be honest.

>What book are the rules in?
You can find them in many of the early tournament modules, such as G1-G4. Most individual tournaments had different scoring mechanisms, depending on the particular skills the organizer wanted to emphasize (Gary liked thinking around traps and getting magic items, for example).

Basically, I'd just go through the trove and snag some early low-number modules, especially early AD&D ones, and check out the tournament rules section. The original Temple of Tharizduin (the non-TSR one) was a tourney module, but I don't know if it's in the trove. So's that one with the tomb of Camazotz and the sleeping gas, although fucked if I can remember the name right now..

File: 1905 - Wilhelm Bernatzik - Artemis Dreaming the Gates of Paradise.jpg (91KB, 600x797px) Image search: [Google]

91KB, 600x797px

>>51360398
>the party is a group of Bad People (buglers..
>Buglers

https://youtu.be/sX4RVaR0H3I?t=50s

As a military man, I heartily endorse this sentiment.

How do you guys handle aging in your games? Do you have characters lose stats? Lose levels? Do you just rule that people eventually grow old and feeble after they retire?

In my game, I use the experience tables as-written for odnd, and I have characters lose level for each 3 years over 40, 2 years over 50 and 1 year over 60 in age.

Wizards don't die or weaken from old age, though they still get older in appearence.

Elves don't die of old age, and never grow old in appearance.

>>51361627
I generally don't have enough downtime to muck about with ageing (everybody dies or retires within a few months), but I could see level drain working pretty well.
Attribute drain either doesn't matter or stings like a bitch, depending on your attributes.
XP penalties (with no level drain) seem nice and thematic... but I suppose that's the functionally identical as attribute drain?

A few threads back, another Anon (maybe you?) mention ed replacing level drain effects with magical ageing.

>Wizards don't die or weaken from old age
Don't some spells magically age the caster/target? Or was that a 2e thing?

>>51361455
>that one with the tomb of Camazotz and the sleeping gas, although fucked if I can remember the name right now
Lost Tamoachan/Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan?

It still pisses me off that they dropped the N in Tamoanchan.

>>51361627
Unless they're getting hit with Energy drain in the form of aging, I've yet to see a character last long enough for that to really matter. Instead of levels, I just basically use the LotFP or AD&D tables - gain a little mental stats, lose some physical stats every so often unless you make a Death save.

>>51361267
>What does D&D tournaments consist of?
Rules lawyering, aspergers, and railroading.

>>51361829
so you're the anon who has vampires and shit age characters?

File: 9061 (not actually TSR) Lost Caverns of Tsojconth (original from Gygax).pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51361734
Yeah, that's the one. And it wasn't Tharizduin, it was Tsojconth. I'm bad an my rememberings today, apparently.

>>51361720
>another Anon (maybe you?) mention ed replacing level drain effects with magical ageing.
Well, I'm not the anon you're addressing, but I certainly did mention it a while back (I'm >>51361829 )
It's not the only thing - I also do Con drain, magical sleep, and other attribute damage (DEX/STR from cold, etc). Magical ageing is fun because it's fluffy, and a semi-permanent, visible penalty that isn't as irritating to track as, say, XP drain. I also allow wizards to burn years of their life to power spells. It's one of those things that doesn't seem too bad to characters in the early levels, so they're only to happy to age 1d6 years instead of lose half their Con score at first. Once that resource starts running out, though..

The Arcane means of reversing it are also incredibly immoral (Tyrone Rugen's Machine, and/or essence of Glefling, anyone?). So unless you get a hookup with an understanding deity, a Mage is going to drag himself down fast and hard if he gets too used to playing with his own life essence as a tool. Again, it's thematic and colorful, and it conveys that sense of desperately running from the mistakes of youth that I like in my mages.

On the other side of the fence, Clerical healing can only undo >unnatural< aging, although you can get a re-roll on a failed natural aging save with a restoration spell. Clerical spells are more reliable and less morally suspect, but you're still gonna go the way of all flesh unless you somehow transcend it. Or your body will slumber incorrupt when your spirit gets called back, and you get called a saint, so.. win/win?

>>51361292
Jew Pirates?

File: 1665- Kirscher - Sigils of False Alchemists.jpg (351KB, 955x764px) Image search: [Google]

351KB, 955x764px

>>51362236
>Jew Pirates?
There was a lot of alcohol involved. They tried to kidnap a jeweler and nick into the banker's quarter after a bit of friendly neighborhood arson during a religious riot. Also one of the characters is an angry drunken Spaniard who used to work for the Inquisition, so the pic was partly to nettle his player.

>>51356250
I dont remember that from hackmaster, but now that you bring it up I am going to have to steal that.
I adore generational campaigns.

>>51362824
Interesting. thought it might an ironic reference to jews running the slave trade.

File: BtaM - The Reminder.png (631KB, 1353x956px) Image search: [Google]

631KB, 1353x956px

>>51362974
>I dont remember that from hackmaster, but now that you bring it up I am going to have to steal that.
>I adore generational campaigns.
Well, Raggi stole this from Lovecraft, so theoretically you could even jack the new, better stat body with your old character.

>>51363406
>fearing that it is a trap created by one of her ancestors to possess her
Doesn't that stop being a concern once you have enough Generation Gaps floating around?
She casts it once a day, every day, right?

Actually, since their genetically identical... are your targets targets?
Say, you're a target. And you cast it. *Your* target is genetically identical to the person who targeted you.
If your target read a trap meant for you, would it activate?

File: Screenshot_2017-01-23_23-32-00.png (41KB, 641x220px) Image search: [Google]

41KB, 641x220px

Pic related, wtf /tg/? Are these numbers for real? How do you even begin to track tens of enemies?

How would you all recommend organizing my crap for a campaign? The last few times I ran a game, it was over roll20 but I'm itching to start a S&W Complete campaign IRL.

File: Capture+_2017-01-17-12-59-33.png (194KB, 587x552px) Image search: [Google]

194KB, 587x552px

>>51364248
Those numbers have A LOT to do with that % In Lair

You don't roll up a band of 30-300 Orcs, you roll up a camp.
Then you subdivide them into bands and put some of them (in this case 50%) in the lair, and the rest out scouting/raiding
The exact rules for the subdivision are in the monster write-up (under Ecology?)
Orc camps are either ruled by a name level human Magic-User or a Balrog, IIRC?

If you roll the encounter you also dice against % In Lair to see come across the lair or if scouts come across you
If you come across the lair, you'll see them WELL before they see you
So you can set up ambushes or raids, or whatever or retreat

>How do you even begin to track tens of enemies?
Pic very much related.

>>51359163
Sorry for the late reply, but where on what page does it say that in the Chainmail rules? I have no experience at all with wargames and I haven't found any guides online so I'm having a really tough time getting it.

>>51364248
Dungeons and Dragons was originally a mod of a wargame.
TSR was originally a self-publisher attached to a wargaming club.
Their main product was originally CHAINMAIL.

>How do you even begin to track tens of enemies?
Tens is fine, combat in OSR is very lightweight.
At hundreds, you set down your RPG books and switch to CHAINMAIL.

>>51356250
Tell me more about hackmaster, is it any good?

>>51364688
>is it any good?

I suppose it could be considered good if you like rape-Orcs and other edginess.

File: Pogany - Valkyries.jpg (152KB, 540x662px) Image search: [Google]

152KB, 540x662px

>>51364248
>How do you even begin to track tens of enemies?
1) I have a shitload of dice. Throw a couple handfuls and sort them behind the screen into groups of the right number of hit-dice. Tick 'em down as the critter takes hits.
2) If you're doing 1HD or less, it's really damned easy to just use an average spread and only roll the remainder. So if, say, you're rolling 50 1d8 monsters, you throw down 6 of each HP total and roll two more dice.

3) I use a d100 to determine which monster gets hit in a melee, and keep track of who's fighting whom only once the actual hits start landing.

4) Roll attack dice en-masse. It's just easier.

5) If some monsters have different weapons, and you're using either of the first couple methods, you can use a colored marker to draw a box around each group of enemies by weapon type. If players are prioritizing by weaponry, that makes it easier to track what they're hitting.

>>51365019
Do orcs not rape and pillage in your setting?

>>51365141
In the canon D&D settings there's no reason for orcs to rape anything but other orcs since Gruumsh et al have told them to kill every other race. Half-orcs were a mistake.

And my favored version of orcs are strongfat anthropomorphic boars with almost no sexual dimorphism who would find a human about as sexually attractive as a human does a chair. Only really fat or THICC if you're a meme-loving fuck would be considering attractive to have sex with.

>>51365141
Orc raiders are definitely a thing in my setting. Typically in lean times they will kill and eat whatever they can and capture any food and a few prisoners to eat later, while more successful raiders will just focus more on rape and pillage of any valuables and livestock, and leave some humans to be raided again in the future.

File: CHAINMAIL - Hero and Super Hero.png (104KB, 440x369px) Image search: [Google]

104KB, 440x369px

>>51364444
Not that Anon, but it's in the their unit type write-ups.
Super Heroes don't explicitly take eight hits, but they are "twice as powerful."
The combat tables say they Defend as if 8 men (where Heroes defend as 4).

Hey lads. What house rules or things I could do to make 5e more punishing like some osr rules?

Asked the dnd 5e general, but I'd also appreciate you anons input.

>>51366062
Why are you set on playing 5e if you want something completely different?

>>51365920
I see, thanks for the help. The layout of the Chainmail rules is killing me but I'm liking the game.

>>51366062
I'm with >>51366187 you might as well be asking how to run oldschool games with 3.PF

That said, making PCs die at 0 HP, making PCs roll their 1st-level hp, reducing XP granted by combat by 50% or more, awarding 1 XP per 1 GP or equivalent acquired.

>>51366062
You'll need more than just punishing rules for making it OSR, but:

* Make the rests longer, about 6-8 hours for a short rest and a day for a long one.
* Remove death saves, or make it 1 death save, or let the crits force death saves. Lingering injuries from DMG are okay too.
* You could roll 3d6 for ability scores but since in WotC D&D you require at least moderately good scores to have an actually playable character I wouldn't recommend it.

Congrats, it's more punishing now. To make it more OSR:

* Import the rules for light and encumbrance from wherever. I'll recommend LotFP because when I found the OSR those particular rules clicked for me.
* XP for GP, reduce or get rid off XP for defeating monsters. That's the hard part because 5e doesn't really have anything to spend your gold on. Think about what players could invest in, maybe make it a campaign goal.
* Some of the Ranger, Druid and Cleric abilities and spells trivialise the wilderness travel and survival aspects, if something except dungeons is of interest to you.

>>51366062
I don't know much about 5E, but if they implemented that bounded-accuracy stuff it should be easier than with 3E (which is just a lost case), anyway.

Quick ideas:
• Tap down everyone's HD by one die size, minimum d4
• Change (for the love of GOD) saves so they're entirely level-dependent, not affected by either good stats OR, crucially, the level of the person casting/firebreathing/death-raying at you
• Give out XP at a rate of 1 XP/gp gained from dungeons and brought safely back to civilization. Do not give out XP for anything else.
• Delay the Cleric's spellcasting or whatever else he has by one level. No magical healing on level 1.
• Remove anything like a Concentration skill: if a spellcaster gets whapped, he loses his spell, period. If in melee, you can't cast.
• On that note, force everyone to declare their actions in a declaration phase *before* rolling initiative (I assume 5E uses per-round initiative) and before anything happens or takes effect.

>>51366062
>>51366390
Oh yeah, and:
• No death-save type mechanic if there's one of those, and no negative HP. Down to 0, boom, you're out.
• Then (crucially) stop designing encounters to be balanced, except in a vague and general way like "level 1 characters should be able to handle level 1 of the dungeon, even if this involves sneaking around often and fleeing at least sometimes".

>>51364688
Depends if you like second based systems as opposed to turn based ones, but the way it handles combat and overall progression is pretty enjoyable.

>>51366062
Whenever PCs come up against intelligent (or semi-intelligent) monsters, dice for the monster's reaction.
The monster will usually lead with force or coercion, but it doesn't always have to.
And poor coercion can easily give way to negotiation.

And encourage PCs to explain how they go about things (trap disarmament or searching, mostly), rather than dicing for them.
If they want to dice for things, by all means let them (it's what your system is trying to do).
But if the PCs describe something that *should* work, just let it. Or dice with very generous bonuses.

>>51366342
>because when I found the OSR those particular rules clicked for me.
TSRs "weight in gp" makes perfect sense to me. Admittedly, the weight OF gp is wonky.
But the idea there is: while you bring consumables to dungeon delve, the goal is (broadly speaking) to come up with more than you went down with.
A bit more specifically, you want to come up with as much gold as you are physically capable of carrying.
All the weight is in gp because if you start carrying "too much" you are going to consider what to drop to carry more gp.
While you could (theoretically) over-encumber yourself without carrying gp, in practice it just doesn't happen.

What's your favorite monster, common or otherwise?

>>51366489
Deepspawn.

>>51366489
Kobolds

>>51366489
I really like bugbears. And clichéd as it is, I'm fond of the old-school dragons, with their horrible, unfair breath weapons.

File: Reading a monster manual.gif (2MB, 360x203px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 360x203px

>>51366489

Kind of shitty opinion here but I like monsters who are 'weaker' then other monsters of their HD, but have a unique or interesting ability that offsets it.

Like imagine a monster that's 2 HD but has no bonus to attack or low AC or low morale or something. It's a shitty monster BUT it always goes first in combat, or is never surprised. Something like that.

Can't think of any legit examples off the top of my head so I just invent them mostly for my game. I think monsters who break the rules anyway (like a really weak but unkillable monster; how do you stop it from chasing you?) are the most interesting type. To be fair however they are only interesting if you have regular monsters to put up a fighting challenge before subverting them with the weird ones.

I know BFRPG is considered pretty OSR-ish, but is it compatible with OD&D and/or BD&D modules (assuming I use S&W's rules or similar to give the monsters ascending AC)?

>>51366863
BFRPG is entirely OSR dude, it's just B/X that goes to 20.

Converting stuff between systems is really fucking easy if you know even a little bit about the systems and have the slightest bit of common sense.
Quit worrying about compatibility so much.

>>51366489
Owlbears. Love 'em

So, a couple questions for you, /osrg/:

1. Does Crypts & Things require you to consult other S&W books or is it a standalone system?

2. Is it good?

File: Lillen - 1922 - Snakes inna cup.jpg (222KB, 1280x602px) Image search: [Google]

222KB, 1280x602px

>>51366742
There's a Jetshark in Traveller. Always loved that fucking thing.

>>51366489
>What's your favorite monster, common or otherwise?
Dinosaurian lizardmen. I read a Choose-your-own-adventure book when I was like eight that had one of the consequences of a temporal fuckup be intelligent lizardmen taking over for humans. When I found out about the California and Grand Canyon lizardmen cavern conspiracy theories, I made them a permanent part of pretty much every cosmology I create. The final parts of the Randolph Carter novels and The Shadow Out of Time just fixed it.

I also like the idea of auto-mummification, although I go a different direction from the one Zak took in Blue Medusa - I like the idea that they've dreamed a refuge world into existence and hid their own people there millenia ago. They're buried around the world, and fragments of their dreams infect humans. The Feathered Serpent, Qelong, Seth, all are fragments of Lizardmen dreams slithering into human minds.

God help you if some of them wake up.

>>51366489
I was always partial to the Living Wall from the 2e Monstrous Manual.

Kind of silly in hindsight, but it sticks out to me as one of the first monsters I really "got", that wasn't just a big tough guy, or a funny looking spellcaster, or a dragon. Really struck me as spooky at age 10 or whatever.

>>51366742
I think Rust Monster fits what you're talking about. Troglodytes might too, with their Stink.

OK, I'd really like to try the Ten Foot Polemic death dice rule.

I get how the death dice work, but I'll be fucked if I can find the actual table you use to roll them.

Can anybody help me out?

>>51367215
Haven't read it.
It identifies as a "modified version" rather than a supplement, so I'd be amazed if it didn't stand alone.

File: Crittable.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51367588
From the article:
>Hit points:
>>HP is more like Not Getting Hit Points, when you take HP damage you’re actually avoiding serious injury.
>>You never go into negative HP, instead you start accruing Death Dice and rolling on the Hack & Slash “On a Table for Avoiding Death”, which is more brutal than it sounds.

"On a Table for Avoiding Death" is a link to this PDF

>>51367588
Me and my group tried that rule system once. We ended up not using it since it took up too much time and became too messy.
Anyway, shouldn't the table pdf be at his blogpost where he explains the system?

>>51367287
>There's a Jetshark in Traveller. Always loved that fucking thing.

Well, sort of, it's in a Judge's Guild module. Their stuff is considerably more silly, gonzo, dungeon-crawly and non-canon than most publishers that made stuff for Traveller. (Though in its defense, the jet shark is much easier to justify than some of their creations, like the Thriwi, which is just a Kiwi bird with three heads, IN SPAAAACE.)

File: knight_by_igorlevchenko-d8qsdne.jpg (196KB, 1024x1448px) Image search: [Google]

196KB, 1024x1448px

>>51366420
On death and dying:
I run an osr homebrew (mainly odnd, with some adnd tables) and I like the idea of being knocked unconscious before you die, so I use snw's rule.

You're die if your hitpoints fall below 0 minus your level.

so level 1, you're alive but unconscious at -1
level 10 you're alive but unconscious at -10
etc

>>51367761
>>51367932
Thanks gents

Yeah, it looks a little byzantine (especially spread across several blogs entries and tables), but most of the work is on the GM's side of things, and I enjoy having a (gruesome and horrible) alternative to "welp, you're dead" when people hit 0hp

>>51366390
Take everyone's hit dice down one size, minimum d4, and do NOT add con bonus times level. Seriously this gets ridiculous very quickly (+30 hp at level 10????????). Just att con bonus to hitpoints once.

Yeah you heard me
once, buddy.

Osr had +1 to hp per level from con, and you got it at 15 con!

One of my biggest problems with 5e is the massive hitpoints inflation. I've had a game where my wizard stabbed a monster to death with a dagger. TOok 10 rounds.

I'm working on a PDF that will basically contain D&D as I play it (which is basically a mishmash of a few clones with a few houserules I found online that I like), clearly enough and with enough detail that someone who's never played OSR before (though I'm leaving out the "what is an RPG section" since it's not meant to be published) could use it. The purpose is to print and spiral-bind like 5-6 copies so I can let my players have one handy for character generation, understanding how everything works in terms of how long torches last, that kind of thing. It won't contain monsters or anything that players shouldn't have access to during game-time.

But I have NO idea what to put for my brief description of what the wisdom stat actually represents. "Wisdom represents how wise your character is" is obviously circular. But it doesn't seem to represent how pious you are in any clear way. Willpower is closer, but still not quite there.

Help me out?

>>51367287

Hypothetically, if I wanted to get my hands on a pdf of Blue Medusa where would I look, if indeed such a thing even exists?

It's not in the trove..

>>51366390
>On that note, force everyone to declare their actions in a declaration phase *before* rolling initiative
Is this something people actually do? I always thought it was a neat concept, but I've never heard of / seen it in practice.

>>51368070
Now that I think back on it, the system was definitely fun. It created many memorable scenarios where I handed the player a handful of dice and told him to roll to see how fucked he was. It was just that the actual looking up part took a bit too long. Not sure how it would be done but a more elegant version of the system just might be pretty neat.