Crimson Blades 2...

[simonw]

...is coming

[Deleted]

Looking forward to seeing what you've changed

[Mike]

What's it all about Alfie?

[simonw]

....has arrived

[stevemitchell]

Hi Simon. I must ask the inevitable question: where and when will a print copy be available?

[simonw]

Feb 14, 2016 16:20:16 GMT -6 stevemitchell said:

Hi Simon. I must ask the inevitable question: where and when will a print copy be available?

It should be on LULU, in a week or two.

[stevemitchell]

Sounds great; thanks!

[The Fiendish Dr. Samsara]

I've given it a quick read-through.  Maybe too quick as I am only noticing one difference, which appears to be a greater change than it really is: the TN stays 5+ and instead of decreasing as the player levels up, the player gets to roll more dice.  In  other words, the combat mechanic now applies to skills, summonings, etc.  Turns out, when you crunch the numbers*, this doesn't really change much; it slightly improves the odds for the actors, but only slightly, as well as being theoretically without cap. But, other than that and a much improved cover, I'm just seeing the stuff from the supplement folded into the main book.  Please correct me if I'm missing something.






*And by you I mean someone else who did it for me.

[simonw]

You no longer track XP - levels now increase per completed adventure. AC is gone to be replaced by Defence Class (DC) and Damage Reduction (DR), where Defence Class starts at a base and increases slightly by class/level and for high Dex. DR solely depends on armour worn. Persuade, Notice & Lore are gone to be replaced by the general attribute check rule that any character can attempt most general class abilities (climb, stealth, notice, haggle etc.) by rolling a die. Some class abilities cannot be attempted (certain Wayfarer ones, for e.g.) by someone not of that class and you only ever get one die if its not your class ability. Weapon damage is now done differently - heavy weapons do single blows with all successful HD counting as one hit against one target, whereas medium and light weapons count successful HD as separate hits. This makes heavy weapons very crucial against heavily armoured foes. For fighters this means they are best off carrying a heavy weapon and a medium weapon so they have both options. Heavy weapons also automatically carry damage over to the next target if you floor your first target (kinda like having a "cleave" feat). There are a few changes to classes, a few new interior illustrations from Peter Frain (the cover artist), a few more adventure ideas and a fuller adventure. These are the main things but there are also a few other tweaks here and there that wouldn't really be noticeable on a casual read through.

[The Fiendish Dr. Samsara]

Ah! I notably had not gone over the Combat section yet. And it must say something about my poor memory that I thought armour had performed both functions before.

Hmn, I'm curious then what prompted you in that direction. I have never seen it done that way. I have to say that the whole relationship between Hit Points and armour is the thing about Ye Auld Game that most exercises me. I never quite feel that any method is really philosophically sound (which is quite different from functionally sound; the mechanics of D&D are perfectly functional).

And, out of curiosity, did you ever play around with having Abilities rated 1-6 rather than 3-18?

[simonw]

When you are using Xd6 to hit, AC is very limited and there were quite a few considerations to make the combat work. I was never entirely happy with AC as it was in the first edition (or in Woodland Warriors - which might get a make over now). I never did think about making the Str, Dex etc. rated 1-6. I kinda like the 3-18 range. It gives the game a certain familiarity.

[The Fiendish Dr. Samsara]

Definitely familiar. I was just thinking that there would be a certain symmetry since the core mechanic is (mostly) 1d6. And I often feel that the 3-18 doesn't do all that much i.e. why bother to distinguish between 9, 10, 11, and 12 if they all do the same thing? I could see something simple like:

1: -1 mod
2-5: 0 mod
6: +1 mod

This would be more or less OD&D or S&W, but cleaner. And, of course, a mod of 1 is a much bigger deal in your game than in one based on a d20. Or one could lean more AD&D such as:

STR Score / Dam / To hit / Things
1: -1 / -1 / -2
2: -1 / 0 / -1
3: 0 / 0 / 0
4: 0 / 0 / +1
5:+1 / 0 / +1
6:+1 / +1 /+2

Just thinking out loud, really.

[The Fiendish Dr. Samsara]

I rather like that change re normal vs. heavy weapons.  That's a rather elegant solution to an issue that always crops up in simplified damage iterations of Ye Auld Game.  Kudos!

I'm not noticing changes to classes.  Any hints?

And, although this has nothing to do with the new edition, I was really struck again by how much I like the Wayfarer class.  You elegantly re-imagined a lot of the Monk-stuff into this much looser framework.  Plus, it seems a really great way to represent a character like Jhary-a-Conel (sans Whiskers, but she's clearly a unique companion to the Companion and not a class feature).  That would go a long way to explaining at least one character's reason to be in an adventuring party: Fate brought me here from another world and I guess I'm supposed to help this hero-dude out.   I would consider letting them use weapons other than a staff because of Jhary, though.  

[simonw]

Feb 19, 2016 16:02:38 GMT -6 The Fiendish Dr. Samsara said:

I rather like that change re normal vs. heavy weapons.  That's a rather elegant solution to an issue that always crops up in simplified damage iterations of Ye Auld Game.  Kudos!

I'm not noticing changes to classes.  Any hints?

And, although this has nothing to do with the new edition, I was really struck again by how much I like the Wayfarer class.  You elegantly re-imagined a lot of the Monk-stuff into this much looser framework.  Plus, it seems a really great way to represent a character like Jhary-a-Conel (sans Whiskers, but she's clearly a unique companion to the Companion and not a class feature).  That would go a long way to explaining at least one character's reason to be in an adventuring party: Fate brought me here from another world and I guess I'm supposed to help this hero-dude out.   I would consider letting them use weapons other than a staff because of Jhary, though.  

I uploaded the wrong pdf - when I've caught any typos and stuff, I'll upload the newer one - it has a change to thieves sneak attack and wayfarers unarmed attacks based on the new weapon damage rules. I can't remember the others off hand.

With regard to wayfarers, yes they were envisaged as kind of monks with a "companion to champions" twist - and yes, maybe if you wanted a "Jhary-alike" you could allow them to use other weapons (and have a winged cat).

[Malcadon]

Feb 18, 2016 9:48:53 GMT -6 The Fiendish Dr. Samsara said:

Definitely familiar. I was just thinking that there would be a certain symmetry since the core mechanic is (mostly) 1d6. And I often feel that the 3-18 doesn't do all that much i.e. why bother to distinguish between 9, 10, 11, and 12 if they all do the same thing? I could see something simple like:

1: -1 mod
2-5: 0 mod
6: +1 mod

This would be more or less OD&D or S&W, but cleaner. And, of course, a mod of 1 is a much bigger deal in your game than in one based on a d20. Or one could lean more AD&D such as:

STR Score / Dam / To hit / Things
1: -1 / -1 / -2
2: -1 / 0 / -1
3: 0 / 0 / 0
4: 0 / 0 / +1
5:+1 / 0 / +1
6:+1 / +1 /+2

Just thinking out loud, really.

With that, it would be easier to rate the attributes by the adjustment, much like with BoL, leaving what would normally be used as the (3-18) score as just whet you need to roll when determining attributes. Plus, the attributes adjustments are uniformed compared to the first edition rule-set. Basically:

Roll	Score
3–7	-1
8-13	+0
14-17	+1
18+	+2

...or something to that effect.


Although, attribute scores still play a factor in combat and gaming in general. Namely the use of Dexterity in determining initiative order.

I can also see it used to compare characters in matched ability. For example, if two characters engage in an action that amounts to a game of arm wrestling or tug o'war, the strongest (highest Strength) wins outright, only needing a simple tie-braking roll if they are equally strong.

[simonw]

Now available in print!

Crimson Blades 2 LULU

[simonw]

Crimson Blades now includes a D20 version - if you've bought the pdf already from RPGNow, you'll get the D20 download for free. If you haven't bought it already, you can get them both for the same price.