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Post by Morandir on Jul 4, 2012 22:02:39 GMT -6
I give out the first-level spells for free. After that you have to find books, either as treasure or by convincing more powerful MUs to let you copy spells. For copying I charge the same as to replace books, as listed on pg. 34. Interesting. So, would you have PCs find "custom" spell books (that is, with a la carte determined spells) or would you have them find "the" book of second level spells? The second method is somewhat inflexible, but still might give the game a somewhat unique feel. I do custom spell books, usually just rolled at random when I'm stocking dungeon rooms. If it's an NPC mage I typically just pick spells I think are appropriate.
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Post by Morandir on Jul 3, 2012 23:36:16 GMT -6
I give out the first-level spells for free. After that you have to find books, either as treasure or by convincing more powerful MUs to let you copy spells. For copying I charge the same as to replace books, as listed on pg. 34.
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Post by Morandir on Jun 18, 2012 21:58:48 GMT -6
No worries, I had never seen that list myself until I checked my copy after seeing your question!
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Post by Morandir on Jun 18, 2012 13:37:12 GMT -6
There's a section entitled "Suggested Point Values" on p.27 of my copy; I assume that's the right one?
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Post by Morandir on Jun 18, 2012 11:01:28 GMT -6
I want to play in this game. Awesome report!
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Post by Morandir on Jun 12, 2012 23:20:38 GMT -6
Not the most memorable, I'd agree, but EGG seemed to love his "modern folk transported to lost/magical worlds" stories.
One thing is that when reading the Wilderness Encounters section of the LBBs for the first time, I was reminded of the section in The Complete Enchanter where the characters are in the Faerie Queen world - a place filled with fantastic castles whose inhabitants are obsessed with knightly honor and jousting and all the like. I'm not sure if that was the actual inspiration or not, but it definitely stuck out to me.
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Post by Morandir on Jun 4, 2012 10:27:18 GMT -6
Fin, Sleep doesn't allow a saving throw (not mentioned at all in the 3LBBs, but clarified in Greyhawk), so allowing one would be the first step if you wanted to tone it down, I think.
Another would be to have it affect a smaller number of creatures. You could use 1d8/1d6/1 instead of the usual 2d8/2d6/1d6/1.
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Post by Morandir on Jun 1, 2012 11:10:56 GMT -6
I have Carcosa and several other worlds linked to my home game world through portals. They're mostly hidden and broken, but there is a chance of creatures from one place getting to another. Carcosans IMG just tend to assume that anything strange is either a mutant, or yet another random spawn of S-N.
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Post by Morandir on May 25, 2012 22:31:20 GMT -6
Those German magazine covers are pure awesome!!
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Post by Morandir on May 20, 2012 21:31:18 GMT -6
The Den and Taarna stories from the movie Heavy Metal immediately come to mind for me. This guy makes a great Sorcerer, IMO: russmooney.com/resume/images/heavymetal_1.gif [/img] To some extent I think of TES III: Morrowind as well; the sheer alien-ness of Vvardenfell, with armor made from giant bugs and towers grown from enormous fungi (not to mention the Telvanni cephalopod helm, which makes you look a bit like Cthulhu) seems to fit perfectly. Here's some examples of helms: Oh, and Fire and Ice of course.
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Post by Morandir on May 18, 2012 18:54:52 GMT -6
Wow. Exalt!
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Post by Morandir on May 18, 2012 13:01:07 GMT -6
I also imagine areas of Carcosa are teeming with fungi. As in the real world, poisonous mushrooms have evolved to mimic edibles, and certain species might be edible to local populations that have developed immunity, but deadly to foreigners. That's how I've always imagined the planet as well, and I tend to think of fungi as a major source of food for Carcosans who live in areas where it grows. And with all the radioactivity and mutations, who knows what sort of crazy psychedelic effects are produced by eating certain ones... The idea that some populations are immune to otherwise deadly local fungus is fantastic! I may have to use that this week.
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Post by Morandir on May 18, 2012 12:49:05 GMT -6
And yes, Minecraft and Roblox are like Legos, but for grown-ups. ;D Hey, who says Lego isn't for adults?!? I still get sets for Christmas, and I'm 31... Someone seriously needs to do the pyramid from B4 in Lego.
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Post by Morandir on May 10, 2012 19:56:15 GMT -6
That is awesome! I love Minecraft, though I haven't played in a while. Back when I was running B4 I started recreating the pyramid from that module, but gave up early on because I'm lazy. What people can do with this game never ceases to amaze me.
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Post by Morandir on May 9, 2012 20:27:45 GMT -6
Those are pretty cool, thanks for posting that! Having some access to Clerical magic (as there's one Cleric in the group) will help things along.
The module includes a group that can serve as friendlies if the PCs run across them, which they probably will. IIRC at least one of the Elves still has a spell prepared, so it will be interesting to see how the Carcosans react to Vancian magic...
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Post by Morandir on May 6, 2012 22:57:19 GMT -6
...some of them, anyway.
While exploring my megadungeon they encountered a series of portals, one of which leads to Carcosa. Two of the PCs decided to go through while the other waited behind with the hirelings.
The problem is, that particular portal is one-way; the matching portal Carcosa-side is broken. For the time being, those two PCs can't return home.
As it was getting late anyway I explained the situation to the players and presented them with a choice: give the two PCs on Carcosa up for dead and roll new ones, or the remaining PC could go through the portal and they could adventure there (I told them it was another planet but nothing else).
They decided to leave it up to the PC who left behind, played by my wife. She's supposed to tell me what she's decided tomorrow.
I'll be using The Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer (the version in Fight On!) if they do head to Carcosa. The two PCs there are currently in sub-hex 1611.
So, does anyone have any tips/advice for running this particular module? I'm really excited about it, and want to make sure my players really get the full Carcosa experience. Purple guys with laser rifles riding dinosaurs should just about do it, I think...
Thanks for any help!
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Post by Morandir on May 2, 2012 15:42:39 GMT -6
Making pacts with otherworldly powers for longevity/staving off negative effects of power is totally in line with this sort of thing, I think, and would make for great game fodder!
It could also be a quicker route to learning; sacrifice a virgin to a demon, get a spell without having to pay the time/gp it usually takes.
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Post by Morandir on Apr 30, 2012 18:31:10 GMT -6
Premmy, that's some fantastic math work! And you're absolutely right; magic is risky, and inevitably leads to corruption. That's on purpose. Granted, I didn't know how long (or short, as the case may be) it would take.
The system is meant to be used in a game with no M-U class, where magic is very rare and known to be corrupting, and only those who are willing to take risks for a quick route to power use it. As Talysman said, it's not meant to be a trap. I would never suggest it for a standard D&D game where MUs are par for the course. I probably should have clarified that in my initial post.
In a game like this, a character may come across a spell like Charm Person in some mouldering tome and decide that it's absolutely worth it to spend one week and 10,000gp learning to cast it. This PC, even with an average Wisdom score, won't need to cast it many times to make some major changes in the game world. Being the power behind the throne is just a few die rolls away!
Of course if he fails, things may get bad...but perhaps it's worth the risk?
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Post by Morandir on Apr 29, 2012 23:05:58 GMT -6
Making that choice is the thing I really liked about WFRP 2e's magic system, and it seemed like the perfect thing to combine with Talysman's idea of using the research rules to learn spells. It presents the further choice of learning magic, or going on more adventures - do you want arcane power, or loot? I think the trade-offs balance well.
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Post by Morandir on Apr 25, 2012 11:37:04 GMT -6
Inspired by Talysman's post in the "Dropping the Magic User" thread, I wrote up this system for learning Sorcery in a game without a separate Magic-User class, with a few tweaks. The dice mechanic is borrowed from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Ed.
Sorcery
Characters may learn Sorcery by studying spending time and money to master spells found in various grimoires.
The highest level of spell you can master and cast is equal to your Int -10 (so 11 Int for 1st level spells, 12 for second level spells and so on). Thus if you have an Int of 10 or less you cannot learn Sorcery.
You can only attempt to master a spell if your level is twice the level of the spell.
Mastering a spell uses the same rules as Spell Research from M&M. Thus spending one week and 8000gp would grant an 80% chance of mastering a Level 1 spell.
Spells known can be cast at any time, as long as a full night's rest is obtained. All spells have a verbal and somatic component. When casting, roll 2d6 for level 1-2 spells, 3d6 for level 3-4 spells, and 4d6 for level 5-6 spells. If doubles, triples, or quadruples are rolled, the Great Curse* is activated and the Ref will roll to see what happens. For doubles, the curse is minor; for triples, major; and for quadruples, catastrophic. If two sets of doubles are rolled, two minor manifestations of the Great Curse occur. Additionally, your Intelligence score is reduced by 2, 3, or 4 respectively. This may reduce the max spell level you are capable of casting (e.g. if your Int is reduced to 12, you may only attempt level 1 or 2 spells).
If any 1s are rolled, you must save vs. Spells or the spell fails and you permanently lose a number of Wisdom points equal to the number of 1s rolled. This may lead to insanity at the Ref's discretion.**
Intelligence points return at a rate of 1/day. Inhaling incense of the Black Lotus can restore all Int points lost in 8 hours; during this time the character is in a drug-induced stupor and can take no actions.
Scrolls may be scribed as detailed in Holmes. Potions/poisons may be crafted as described in the Ready Ref Sheets.
Example: Xylarthen, a 13th Level PC (Int 17, Wis 10), attempts to cast Animate Dead. As this is a Level 5 spell, he rolls 4d6, with the result 1, 1, 2, 6. This causes a minor manifestation of the Great Curse (doubles rolled) and reduces his Intelligence to 15. Additionally he must make a saving throw vs. Spells: a 5 is rolled (poor Xylarthen is having a bad day!). The spells fails and his Wisdom is permanently reduced to 8 (two 1s rolled). Xylarthen may attempt further spells, but cannot cast any Level 6 spells he may know until he restores his Intelligence to at least 16.
*For this I would use the "Tzeentch's Curse" tables from the Warhammer Fantasy RPG. **Again, WFRP has a great list of insanities that I would probably draw from here.
There are lots of ways to tweak this to make magic easier to learn or less risky, if the Ref so desired. As is, magic is tough; but seeing an army of the undead rise from the ground to do your bidding would be worth it!
Thoughts?
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Post by Morandir on Apr 24, 2012 20:40:50 GMT -6
A sturdy walled manor house (to protect from all the riff-raff, y'know) or Wizard's tower? No problem. In my current game, anything more than that would probably be interpreted as a challenge to the current Overlord's power, and he would react accordingly.
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Post by Morandir on Apr 22, 2012 23:08:11 GMT -6
Players have only encountered one dragon (a young-ish White) in my games; one of them got a lucky shot off with a Wand of Paralysis and brought it down. They tried to force it to lead them to its lair, but it escaped soon after.
In my current mega-dungeon there is an Ancient Red Dragon sleeping on level 8. He's been there for a century now (since ravaging and looting the city above), being tended to by a group of Serpent-men. I'm assuming that eventually someone will stumble across his lair, and then things will get fun...
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Post by Morandir on Apr 20, 2012 15:04:57 GMT -6
If I were to drop the magic-user, I wouldn't drop the spells. I'd do this: (1) Allow literate characters to use scrolls. (2) Literate characters can research spells they find in spell books; character level must be twice spell's level. (3) Research costs are the same as in the LBBs. (4) Characters that know a spell can write a scroll for that spell (100 GP/level.) (5) Spell fumbles for scrolls of spells you don't know, maybe even for scrolls in general. (6) NPCs can break these rules. No character starts out knowing magic, and trying to use it is risky. Sorcerers and wizards aren't trustworthy: you don't know what they can do. But you could, in theory, become one; it's just not a separate class. This is actually a really interesting idea, and I think it has a great S&S feel. Powerful magic users are those who have spent lots of time/money tracking down spells and learning to use them - or who have access to a library, perhaps because they're a priest of Set or part of a sorcerous cabal, or have, as Cameron suggests, have bargained with outside forces for blasphemous knowledge. If I wasn't in the middle of a campaign already, I'd definitely try this out!
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Post by Morandir on Apr 19, 2012 21:17:21 GMT -6
I love that pic; every time I see it I want to volunteer for a manned Mars mission, should one happen in my lifetime.
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Post by Morandir on Apr 18, 2012 19:07:00 GMT -6
Spells in my game cap out at 6th level. The 1st-level spells in M&M are "standard," and every starting MU has them in his spell book. I also use the new spells in TheGreyElf's "Secrets of Acheron" but those have to be researched or found as treasure.
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Post by Morandir on Apr 17, 2012 22:44:42 GMT -6
In the past, I've run games without clerics using the following rules:
1. After each combat, 1/2 of the HP lost during that combat are recovered. 2. Once per day, a character can recover 1d6 HP by imbibing a strong drink (wine or the like). 3. Healing occurs at a rate of (Character Level +1 if Con 15+) points/day.
It always worked out well, and it was interesting to see a D&D game where one player wasn't expected to be a medic.
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Post by Morandir on Apr 13, 2012 20:33:05 GMT -6
I've read The Shadow People and enjoyed it quite a bit. I had plans to pick up SotL but let it slip. Now, I absolutely must read it. Thanks for pointing this out!!
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Post by Morandir on Apr 10, 2012 18:19:03 GMT -6
...I have one of those, and that's a brilliant idea. I'm going to try that next week and see how it works!
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Post by Morandir on Apr 4, 2012 21:26:40 GMT -6
Encouraging the PCs to interact with the factions makes for great fun; when I ran B4 the PCs decided to ally themselves with the Magi of Usamigaras and had great fun launching raids on the bases of the other two factions.
Dealing with PC death can also be an issue, if new characters simply appearing out of thin air bothers you (as in, "Seriously, another guy just randomly wandered in from the desert? Sure..."). If it doesn't - it didn't bother me at all - then great. Otherwise Philotomy's idea of starting the module with several NPCs tagging along who can serve as replacement characters works well.
Altogether this is one of my favorite modules ever. Philotomy's musings and his write-ups of his B4 game are what got me started in old-school gaming, so I had a blast when I finally got around to running it myself. I hope you do the same!
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Post by Morandir on Mar 11, 2012 21:54:34 GMT -6
I've actually taken inspiration from this for my latest campaign, in the interest of speeding things up just a bit. PCs and monsters have wounds based on their HD; F-M get 2+HD, Clerics and MUs get 1+HD, and monsters just get HD. This way all PCs are guaranteed to survive their first hit.
If the bonus is at least +3 (like that of a Troll), I give another wound. A Con bonus grants an extra wound at first level and every three levels thereafter, the reason for both being that the average roll on 1d6 is 3.5, so an extra 3 HP in the standard system should grant an extra wound. The one at first level is basically a freebie tossed at the players for a bit of extra survivability.
Certain more powerful monsters get more wounds; a Very Old dragon, for example (say 12 maxed HD, so 72 hit points) would require an average of 20.57 hits to kill in the standard system, so I'd give it 21 wounds.
All hits deal one wound per die, so most attacks deal one wound and those few who deal 2 dice would deal 2 wounds. For anything else, I'd just divide the normal average damage by 3.5 and use that.
When someone hits 0 Wounds, I roll on the Arduin critical hit chart to see what happens. So you might survive, but probably won't. One PC died as a result during the game.
I've only used this for one session, but it worked out fairly well. Combats are definitely a lot quicker since there's no possibility for a string of low-damage hits on a high-HP creature/PC. Still, I'm unsure about continuing; I like uncertainty in my games and this removes one element of that. I may use it a few more sessions and see how things go.
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