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Post by clownboss on Dec 6, 2017 11:23:26 GMT -6
Back when I was studying thoroughly D&D rules, I put stuff like these in a Word document to remember them. Here is how I interpreted the weapon classes rules myself, although if you'll pardon, contains some vocabulary that I like sticking to. Every time I look at this table, the rules become clear as day:
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Post by clownboss on Dec 2, 2017 8:54:50 GMT -6
The first time I've read it(pre-D&D), I assumed #1, you can cast each of the spells just once. No particular reason for it, I just assumed spells were meant to be precious since so many of these spells are completely game-changing in a blink of an eye.
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Post by clownboss on Nov 6, 2017 16:41:27 GMT -6
Would this at all be possible? Figuring out how generic small animals like wolves, lions, bears, etc. would fight in Man-to-Man rules was a ground for turning gears for me. I have at least a basic indication that most animals would have an armor class of 8 or 7, but how would we factor out their inate dexterity and stabbing/cutting power of their maws and appendages? The first thing I tried, by instinct, is to try to equate them to Man-to-Man weapons, just as how horses were given the equivalency of mace and flail attacks in CHAINMAIL because of their kicking hooves.
Snakes and Scorpions 1hp Attacks as: Dagger(Teeth) Armor Class: 9
Wolf 1 HD Attacks as: Dagger(Teeth) Armor Class: 8
Ape(Gorilla) 1 HD Attacks as: Mace(Fists, slaps), or slings(Throws rocks) Armor Class: Unbarded horse
Crocodile 1 HD Attacks as: Can't penetrate any armor, but can bite and crunch(unarmored) legs on a succesfull roll of 7 Armor Class: 5
Boar 2 HD Attacks as: Flail(Charge) Armor Class: Unbarded horse
Lions and other large cats 2 HD Attacks as: Battle axe(claws) + Dagger(Teeth) Armor Class: Unbarded horse
Bear 2+1 HD Attacks as: Two swords or two morning stars, 50/50 chance Armor Class: Barded horse
You can see that none of these animals stretch beyond 2HD for hit points unlike a lot of other guys who give them stats, because I firmly believe generic animals should be just as vulnerable as humans in real life, so a lot of these would have near to 1HD of equivalency.
But how would we do those giant creatures that far exceed the size of common animals? How exactly would a Giant Spider or a Wyvern attack, for example? We could just as easily give Spiders pikes for legs, or two battle axes for bites(an axe for each jawline) and Wyverns would get spears for tails. I assume mummies would attack with either their blunt fists(so mace), or claws(I would assume hand axe or sword). Medusas would probably be just a whole bunch of daggers for snake bites, if we can interpret her clawing a player as completely fruitless.
Dragons would... hmm, I guess you can interpret dragon claws each as a lance(so perhaps four lances per a paw), or use them as a massive paw slap. In which case every slap would be treated as a flail*number of Hit Dice. Or how bout for a single bite you would need to roll 8 polearms?
Of course, you can see this causes a lot of other troubles. The implication you need to roll 8 polearms for a dragon bite not only means one of those 8 dice throws will most definitely hit, but it trivialises the possibility of simply dodging a dragon's attack. Just because an attack didn't meet a number does not mean it connected in the first place, and many of these systems already put too much faith in an animal's precision of attack and their general accessibility to a character's vital spots. All things considered, wolves have very small maws. And how exactly can crocodiles attack you, other than just trying to nibble your feet?
As this subject very quickly delves into messy and self-contradictory thought you just get tired of, it is completely possible that most players would just stick with the alternate combat rules for giving animals attacks since they don't have weapons - indeed, it might have been the very purpose and reason the alternate combat was made for in the first place, as a catch-all for those situations where weapons and armor won't fit particular combat rules. But to me it just doesn't seem believable that a single 1HD wolf with a tiny maw would be on an even playing field with a lvl 1 fighter wielding a greatsword.
How would you do it? How do you provide your generic animal battles in OD&D, which combat system do you use, and what sizable challenge or hit dice do you endow them with? What stats would you give them, and how do you think Gary and Dave meant for these animal encounters to unfold?
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Post by clownboss on Oct 27, 2017 3:29:00 GMT -6
I see. Thanks. I guess AD&D will be a whole other world for me when I get to read it.
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Post by clownboss on Oct 26, 2017 11:57:59 GMT -6
^ That's what I was wondering about. The 3LBBs mention NOWHERE any sort of trainer, so this is completely new to me. I always figured that once you've hit the necessary number of XP and go to bed - Boom, you're level 2.
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Post by clownboss on Oct 26, 2017 5:51:02 GMT -6
"No training necessary to gain a level."
What did Gary mean by this? In the original rules, not the house rule.
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Post by clownboss on Oct 24, 2017 2:19:03 GMT -6
Go through the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and see how many spells Gandalf actually casts. It's minimal! Yes, but that's not what really matters, is it? The important thing is Gandalf can make ships out of weed smoke! Whoa! That's a perfect list of cantrips btw, and I thank you muchly for the heads up.
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Post by clownboss on Oct 23, 2017 8:38:58 GMT -6
If we were to start our campaign as sternly as possible, and give our Magic Users just one or two(perhaps even NONE) known spells at the beginning of his career, there arises a question of justifying their invitation into a party. What band of fighters would ever want a dork who not only can barely fight, but also has nearly no palette of magic at his disposal, despite being a learned and dedicated apprentice of wizardry for presumably many years? Surely even he must've picked up a thing or two over the years.
That's why I was thinking of giving lv1 Magic Users a slightly wider range of magical abilities, that almost count as spells, but really are not, as they do not meet practical use(that are needed in dungeon expeditions, at least). You can think of these as 0-level magic.
Imagine having a Magic-User that can: - Light a feint spark that can catch fire - Make inoffensive fireworks that flash for just a second - Make a rope or thread coil, untangle, or tie a knot over itself instead of doing it by hand - Influence a coin or dice to turn a certain way(you can see some Jedi parallels here) - Dry up his clothes if he gets soaked with a gust of wind, or use instantaneous dry-cleaning - Blow off dust from a desk or a room floor - If he is feeling like a prankster/traitor, blow a gust of wind on a companion's torch then run off - Roast a chicken with no oven or fire required(needs a minute of concentration) - Substitute an unpleasant odor with a finer smell - Turn a fruit piece sweet instead of sour - Create a magical invisible ink, or make invisible ink visible on a parchment - Create fine artistic renderings with ink of an animal sketch or a map, after one seemingly clumsy swipe with a feather
And other such ideas. What do you think? I think it will give a lot more to a mage's credibility, and a level 1 spell-caster's enjoyment, if he were capable of doing just a slight bit more than being able to stick to just one underutilised level 1 spell. Of course, how many of these 0 level spells he may cast in a day will also be left up to a referee's discretion.
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Post by clownboss on Sept 2, 2017 7:37:19 GMT -6
Question also pertains to OD&D. I think it is important to know how to resolve this in both games.
Back in CHAINMAIL, when I read the rule "can not shoot into melee" I interpret it as:
"Your unit of archers got charged by some enemy melee warriors? Sorry, you can't shoot your arrows at them for this turn because they've lost their nerve/are drawing melee weapons, so you will have to fight them in melee instead for this turn, as if your archers are LF melee units." They are "entering into a melee", and therefore they can't shoot arrows, or "shoot into a melee".
That's how I always took it, but if that's the wrong way to interpret it, then that means that my archers can shoot arrows at anybody who charges at them, so that's a relief. I didn't know it meant "You can't shoot a volley at a bunch of warriors duking it out, although you physically could, but why would you? You'd kill your own troops!"
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Post by clownboss on Sept 2, 2017 3:30:11 GMT -6
Stupid question, but I need this addressed.
Let's say your character has a bow and arrows. He wants to shoot it into an enemy, but one of your friendly PCs is also swordfighting with this enemy, which makes aiming and shooting at the right target understandably difficult. Is the ranged attacker still allowed to shoot? At what penalty? Is there a risk of friendly fire?
And more importantly, how would this be resolved in CHAINMAIL? Especially in the 1:20 combat rules, where a unit of archers shoots at two armies that have just collided and are about to enter melee.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 14, 2017 15:24:39 GMT -6
I didn't know which dimensions to use, so I used an ordinary man-sized base. 0.75'' per side. I don't know how baggage looked like or how it was utilised during gameplay.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 14, 2017 12:09:56 GMT -6
Where are the laden carts to carry the baggage? You used laden carts? Oh okay, I guess I'll draw one in the next update. Although there are still the wagon counters from earlier which can also be used as substitute.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 14, 2017 11:37:50 GMT -6
Not a lot this time.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 12, 2017 9:56:42 GMT -6
-Halfling -Sprite/Pixie -Dwarf(hates Goblins) -Gnome(same as Dwarf but hates Kobolds instead) -Goblin(hates Dwarves) -Kobold(hates Gnomes) -Hobgoblin -Elf/Fairy -Orc -Giant Orc -Hero/Anti-Hero -Ranger(a Hero with a +1) -Superhero -Wizard(five different types) -Wraith -Lycanthrope -Balrog -Ogre/False Troll -True Troll -Giant -Treant -Red Dragon -Blue Dragon -White Dragon -Roc -Air Elemental/Djinn -Earth Elemental -Fire Elemental/Efreet -Water Elemental -Basilisk/Cockatrice -Giant Spider -Giant Wolf/Dire Wolf -Wight/Ghoul -Zombie
That's 34 units in total, with added room for interpreting the various types of Wizard. If you consider each wizard unique, then that would be 38.
Other monsters suggested in the book that don't have specific stats info: -Black Dragon -Green Dragon -Purple/Mottled Dragon -Wyverns and Chimeras are implied to be completely identical to the Red Dragon -Griffons and Hippogrifs are implied to be completely identical to the Roc -Various giant insects as per referee's decision
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Post by clownboss on Aug 11, 2017 16:11:18 GMT -6
^ I am currently cooking up an OD&D campaign, and I am actually including close equivalents of all the peoples mentioned in Chainmail, because I want to have an occasion to use them. Worlds will collide. Meanwhile, here's my newest update! Baggage! Loot, moolah, swag, whatever you want to call it. While I was making the Polish card, I've realised they had seperate melee and bowed Light Horse, so to mark a difference, I made a hasty edit with a generic LH bowman. In the rest of this update, I hope you're ready for the Eastern European fever!
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Post by clownboss on Aug 8, 2017 3:59:10 GMT -6
Nik, the Human Cleric
Str 9 Int 10 Wis 12 Con 8 Dex 7 Cha 15
That's right.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 6, 2017 14:49:01 GMT -6
The rest of the Asian factions are now complete! The Japanese gave me an awful lot of trouble in terms of how I was supposed to interpret the relationship of the samurai, the longbowmen and the medium horse, and this was the best I could come up with. It's very counter-intuitive to have mounted samurai have a lower morale rating than foot samurai, but you can say it also provides a certain kind of depth and importance in using dismounted samurai. Or you could just say their horses are easily frightened : P Here is the samurai unit, which I've also made in several variations depending on how it's equipped. I'm aware historic samurai rarely used swords in large-scale battles, but as is with horned vikings, I am willing to let my suspension of disbelief for an awesome wargame. I am sorry I am so persistent with giving fabricated compositions, Gronan. But to me, at least, they provide a design element that needs to be accounted, and they also inform a loose guideline of how I envisioned the factions would be played like. At least these ones and some of the following I'm going to make have some grounding in what Gary wrote about them, so I hope they won't be... entirely inaccurate. You have my promise that once the correct compositions are determined, I will edit every single post I made here with updated images. And good news! I picked up one of the Osprey books, specifically Saxons, Normans and Vikings, in my anticipation of recreating the Battle of Hastings at some point.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 4, 2017 12:29:07 GMT -6
That's understandable. I'm still very shy of moving beyond 100 points per armies, but sooner or later I will have to lead battles with 200-300 points as a kind of standard.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 4, 2017 0:51:04 GMT -6
All these games so far were played in 1:20.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 3, 2017 12:53:49 GMT -6
Chainmail Battle 04: Arms CrossIn this scenario, a crew of red units is trying to get a caravan across, when suddenly they are ambushed by blue crossbowmen from atop a hill. The objective of the scenario is for both players to capture/control the caravan and lead it to its respective side off the edge of the table. The caravan falls under the influence of whichever unit is within a 1'' radius of the caravan. If units of both factions enter the 1'' radius, the caravan simply halts.
Team Red: 100 points
9 LF retainers 2x5 HF guards REINFORCEMENTS(active from 3rd turn): 12LH REINFORCEMENTS(active from 7th turn): 10AF with pikes
Team Blue: 100 points
2x4 Crossbowmen REINFORCEMENTS(active from 5th turn): 10HF, 15HF, 5MH, 2HH
Rules accounted in this session: All of the above plus Cavalry charge morale check, introduced first ranged units.
The crossbowmen led the ambush from a hillside. Sadly, I think I made a stupid mistake of having the crossbowmen be unsupported, and I vastly overestimated their capabilities. I also shouldn't have split them into two units, as their firepower would not be enough to make a dent in the red guardsmen. The red HF climbed up the hill and proceed to mow down the crossbowmen (who I assume can also fend themselves in melee as normal LF). Red's LF got thinned to five, but he decided to hightail and get the caravan across at any cost. Meanwhile, red's cavalry reinforcements enter the frey in turn 3, intent on crossing the river. The surviving crossbowmen retreat into the forest and the HF follow them in an all-out manhunt. Even if units are disordered in the forest, I assume they are still capable of doing melee. The crossbowmen, on the virtue of being light, manage to outrun the HF, as the blue reinforcements also arrive and are crossing a bridge. Sadly, by this point the caravan had more or less run off free, with a grand survivor of just one red Light Foot leading it off the edge of the map! Never underestimate the road bonus, kids. By this the red player has already won, but we both decided to continue the battle just to see how the big battle that's being prepared goes. The big clash happened and both cavalries managed to hold firm against the cavalry charge check. However, all of blue's cavalry were pushed back due to post-melee morale, and hit back into the infantry which at the time was still crossing the choke point that was the bridge. If blue had only managed to cross the bridge and red didn't have the extremely fast light horse, it would've been a different story. Back on the hillside the red heavy foot actually managed to pin a heavy horse down! The odds were clearly in Red's favour. Meanwhile, the medium cavalry was wiped away after a flank attack, and the main body of Blue's infantry also suffers a terrible fate as bodies start to pile up. By this point, I surrendered. I was indeed the Blue player, and Red enjoyed his two-fold victory, although disappointed his unit of AF never even got to see any battle! This was a worthwhile match to see the effectiveness of ranged units, but next time I should really consider how to adequately prepare them and back them up.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 22, 2017 12:16:20 GMT -6
I think the Osprey books are fantastic Mike, but I'm afraid I just don't have time to read through them at this moment. I'll gladly see to it if I happen to get into a part of my life where historical knowledge, or Chainmail games, do start becoming a big part of my life. My chief concern right now is to finish the units and the cards, so I can then devote my time and schedule to planning games for OD&D. I didn't even meant to provide so many graphical elements, but one thing led to another, so... By the way, I'll be taking a 10-day holiday out to the country, and I am uncertain if I will be capable of providing updates during that time, but in case my posts die out, you will know what's holding me. Was thinking I would finish the three Asian factions until today, but right now I only managed to get the Chinese done. On the other hand, I think my absence would provide an amzing opportunity for you people to provide feedback in regards to how unit compositions and ratios ought to be fixed, and if you're still aiming to compile your lists after retouching the Osprey publishings Mike, I would love to see them. After the Chinese, I'm aiming on making the Koreans, Japanese, Russians, Magyars, Poles, Tartars(sic), Mongols, the Spanish, and as cream on the top, the English and the Scots. Most of these already have compositions provided in the book which I intend to follow to the letter, but additional information, especially on the Spanish, English and the Scots would be very helpful. So here's the last of my stuff for now. Do I have an order for one BASILICA BOMBARD? And here are yer peasants, the weakest of the standard melee units. Lastly, the first of my Asian factions, the Chinese, unique unit feature being the repeating crossbowmen: The Asian factions make me want to draw regular troops such as the Heavy Foot and Light Foot in their Asian variants, but I have to refrain, otherwise I'm never going to be done with these updates. @_@
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Post by clownboss on Jul 21, 2017 0:15:21 GMT -6
That is absolutely correct, hence the immense moral weight of handling misinformation. At least I may be secure in the knowledge I always knew ring and barded armours were a myth. I actually never heard of that crane theory before, or that it had ground among legitemate historians. Colour me surprised. I just simply thought it was... never a problem for knights to mount? It's something they would still be well-trained for, even for such a pampered social elite. Would a Hollywood actor want to look bad by not earning his driver's licence to show off his sweet new Ferrari?
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Post by clownboss on Jul 19, 2017 11:16:12 GMT -6
Man, that Genoese crossbowman sure is giant, isn't he? Once I finish my entire collection of custom units, I will have to perform some re-adjustments regarding size for all of these figures before I make a downloadable pack.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 19, 2017 10:53:36 GMT -6
Thanks everyone! Please be well, Mike. This update is centered all around levies. Here is first a generic levy unit that is applicable in every situation. Point of contention being if they are all assumed to be armed with pikes or not, which is why I left it as a figure that could be interpreted either way. Next we have Italians... pre-unification. So how do you make a cohesive faction system that encompasses a thousand years of complicated history between several sovereign and vassal city-states centered around a peninsula? You just can't. Which is why the Italians are probably more suited on a nation-to-nation basis, but I tried my best to concoct a fantasy scenario where all Italian states somehow banded together and provided all the best arms of their collective fighting power. As such, Italians get not one, not two, but three unique units. You can tell I'm very biased towards Florence in the provided heraldry. Wonderful city. Lastly we have the County of Flanders. I've made two variants of their levies, one armed with goedendags, and others armed with... well, longer goedendags, but they're stand-ins for halberds/pikes. With this, I now have enough generic units to provide my second starter sheet which includes basic pikemen, levies, crewmen, wagons, and light and heavy catapults. The .pdf of it can be downloaded here. Once again, this is meant to be printed on an A3 sheet with 300dpi.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 15, 2017 14:21:44 GMT -6
That unique turn sequence used in C&R was also utilised in TSR's Warriors of Mars. I think that's common knowledge, but I'd throw that in anyway.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 11, 2017 14:32:59 GMT -6
It's plainly stated in the manual you can hold baronies with your own land holdings and underlings, and that you can play as literally any creature, including dragons. I'm sold.
I think OD&D, more than any other edition, makes it clear it is a battle of wits between the player and the referee, and the rules are obviously made to be bent as extremely as possible.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 11, 2017 13:46:29 GMT -6
I think, if I may, that giving no information is better than dubious information. I really like your markers and want to support your work, but truthfully your army cards are quite inaccurate. The way I see it, dubious information prompts people to take action and correct it. Sooner or later, some idiot such as myself is going to cause a mess, and it is good that the mistakes should be addressed and cleaned up as soon as possible, so that the community as a whole can learn from it and reap the benefits from this knowledge. I was anticipating people fearing I spread misinformation and being a bad influence on kids, and I understand the concern and the moral weight of doing so. However, this is a set which I intend to finish, and so I will keep all the visual elements consistent. I'm making these markers and cards for personal use, because nobody has made them before, and it is only right if I share them with everyone to use the tools as they see fit. I think it's important adding a dose of accessibility and reference points to an already exclusive hobby, and since nobody has given numbers on how the units must be organised, then I will. I wouldn't mind at all if people dismiss and ignore them, but I'm certain there's someone out there who would like these cards and would want to make use of them, so power to them. They can also look up the 'notable battles' section should they want to learn from more historic circumstances. That aside, I would like to thank you kindly for the compliment. Meanwhile, here's some new content. I'm giving you the Army Commander figure in two variants, mounted and foot: And also I'm introducing the Saracens(Arabs), in the first instance of something of a troop description from Chainmail, although even then, there is a saddening lack of percentages.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 11, 2017 3:29:31 GMT -6
Um, hate to be harsh, but you're mixing periods like crazy there. Gendarmes don't appear before the 15th century, for instance. It's bound to happen, which is why I'll gladly hear revisions. I can not devote my time to studying history while I'm drawing, as I want to finish these figures as quickly as possible, so until I get statistics presented to me, I will continue to make things up. But I did take that possibility into account which is why the first army(the pre-arquebusier one) features lanceless gendarmes, which are essentially just weaker Heavy Horse troops. Therefore their lack of lance proves to be a huge detrement in the composition. You could just substitute them for any Heavy Horse or Medium Horse should you so desire.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 10, 2017 15:42:43 GMT -6
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Post by clownboss on Jul 7, 2017 9:18:57 GMT -6
Whoa, what's this? I didn't know there was a Gygax wargame before Chainmail...
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