Prime Requisites Again

[Starbeard]

Just some musings:


I was reading M&M last night, and took the time to go over the section on prime requisites several times.

As others have noted before around here, the text, when read literally, equally supports both of the common interpretations on how to handle prime requisites:

1. Characters don't reduce or alter scores, but having high ability scores in the other two PRs may help boost them into a higher experience bonus bracket. Support for this includes:
   • Multiple phrases like "…can use it in their prime requisite areas" and "for purposes of gaining experience only."
   • No actual mention of literally reducing or altering any scores.
2. Characters must reduce their other PRs in order to increase their own PR. Evidence includes:
   • B/X handles it this way.
   • Page 11 cryptically explains that scores can bump your PR "insofar as this does not bring that category below average, i.e. below a score of 9."
   • The sample character on page 10, the Magic-User Xylarthen, "would have progressed faster as a Cleric," but this would not actually be true if we used interpretation 1—in that case, he would have received a +5% bonus regardless of class (adjusted PR 14 as a cleric, adjusted PR 13 as a magic-user).

Personally, I've been trying out a third road: scores are not altered, but your effective PR score is +1 for each other PR you have at 13+, and +2 for each other you have at 15+. For example, if a fighting-man has 11 Strength, 14 Intelligence and 13 Wisdom, then his adjusted Prime Requisite score is 11+1+1 = 13, enough for a 5% bonus. I've done the numbers with this method and come up with the following percentages, assuming PCs are rolling up 3d6 down the line, no adjustments, and choose their class before they roll:

• +10% bonus: 14.95%
• +5% bonus: 19.35%
• No bonus: 45.73%
• -10% bonus: 13.43%
• -20% bonus: 6.54%

On the surface it gives the impression that most PCs will have no bonus, but keep in mind that you choose your class after you roll, so the chances of having a bonus in some class becomes much higher. I'm not sure how I feel about that, since I'd like experience bonuses to be on the rare side.


In fact, I'm wondering if I should try ditching PR modifiers entirely. Even just remembering to calculate the prorated xp each time is enough for me to want to toss it out. I already dislike the PR score swapping in my B/X games, it's awkwardly fiddly and crunchy for an otherwise extremely quick character creation system, so for the most part I disallow it. The focus on Prime Requisites and xp bonuses just seems to take away from the game more than it adds. In my mind, the consequences of a high or low PR should already be apparent in the character, without having to double-dip using xp modifiers. For example:

• Fighters already live and die by their CON score. I'd rather give my fighter +1 to hit dice and guaranteed system shock survival than +10% xp any day of the week. Really, without the Greyhawk bonuses, CON might well be the fighting-man's PR, since it's generally more useful for them than STR.
• INT determines your ability to know languages, which is a skill set of underused importance (all speaking non-human monsters—which if we go by the book's terminology should include NPC demi-humans—only have a 20% chance of knowing Common). Magic-users who can read and communicate will do well, and those who can't probably won't. You can also take inspiration from AD&D by tying INT to how many spells the magician may learn. Again, I'd rather have extra spells in my book than +10% xp.
• Clerics really have no benefit or penalty for high or low WIS scores. If you use WIS to modify saving throws, or perhaps allowing it to modify turning rolls, then that would solve the issue. A mere +1 on saving and turning throws is more useful than +10% xp.

Another option is to adjust the xp requirements to reach the next level, rather than to adjust the actual xp award. A fighting-man with a +10% bonus only needs 1800xp instead of 2000 to reach 2nd level. The player writes it down once, and after that you simply record xp gains like anyone else.


Thoughts, gripes, preferences, solutions?

[sixdemonbag]

Also, don't forget that only Fighters can use DEX. DEX is essentially a Fighter PR since only Fighters can fire missiles and is not used by the other classes at all until GH.

[Starbeard]

Quite true, if you remove the thief then the fighter is really the only ranged combatant by default, and therefore the only one making use of the dexterity modifiers. Technically a magic-user can throw daggers, but the range is so short that it hardly ever goes well. Clerics might equip a sling, but rarely if ever actually use it, and I've never even seen anyone equip a cleric with throwing hammers.

[sixdemonbag]

That's a good point about thrown weapons. I probably shouldn't completely discount that.

I'm not a Chainmail expert, so I'm not sure what exactly constitutes "missile fire." In the text, it only mentions: crossbowmen, longbowmen, and archers for mass combat. For individual fire, I can find: short bow, longbow, crossbow, and composite bows. The mass combat rules mention that throwing axes and spears may be used as missiles, but neither of those can be used by M-U's or Clerics. The fantasy rules mention stones (for Hobbits) and fireballs and lightning bolts (for Wizards.)

Then again, we know that M-U's were allowed to throw daggers in ye olde days so it's confusing. I suppose I've always looked at any DEX bonus as an exclusive Fighter class feature but that might be much too strict in my thinking.

As to your other PR questions, I like to actually change the scores just to make it easy. But, like you, we always forget to apply XP bonuses and most of the time we don't bother since they are so small and at most they separate PC's by a single level and that's only for a single session.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not really worth the effort. In fact, we've moved to mostly session-based XP for our longterm campaigns for many of the same reasons you mention, but we still enjoy tracking XP for gold and monsters for shorter dungeon-crawl campaigns for those times when it's fun to "keep score." For a consistent group of players and PCs, it's not really necessary though, since everyone will share XP equally and level up at (roughly) the same time.

All that said, I really like your new scheme. I've never seen anything like that before. Very creative!