3d6 table for starting equipment

[Necropraxis]

I put together a table for starting equipment at the bottom of this post:

untimately.blogspot.com/2012/07/od-equipment.html

Basically, it allows you to equip a character with a single 3d6 roll. It maintains a few constraints (like always providing a light source, always providing a melee weapon), and tries to be smart about buying the best armor within budget.

It respects the GP values in Men & Magic, and tries not to diverge too much from what seems like common interpretation (the only really big divergence, I think, is including the possibility of scrolls at a cost of 100 GP, but it is easy enough to ignore those entries if you don't like the idea of giving out scrolls at first level).

I'm not 100% happy with my thief column (the entries are a bit same-y and padded to some degree with things like silver arrows), so I may still tweak that at some point. I also made sure to include enough thief entries without missile weapons, as Greyhawk and Gygax are sort of ambiguous about what missile weapons should be allowed to thieves.

Thanks also to all who responded to the last few topics I started here, as they were very helpful for creating this table.

[owlorbs]

Cool! I was able to squash it onto a legal size doc.

[Jonathan Miller]

This is totally awesome. Not sure what else to say right now. Very useful work.

I do have one question. You mention in your blog post that every item on the equipment list has a use. Is the use of belladonna and wolvesbane ever defined in the game? The Vampires entry in Monsters & Treasure mentions the use of garlic against vampires, but the Lycanthropes entry says nothing about wolvesbane. According to Medline Plus (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/531.html), belladonna is a poison, and the same seems to be true of wolfsbane. Perhaps these herbs were intended not as weapons against monsters, but rather as ingredients for poisons which could be concocted by PCs?

[Necropraxis]

Jonathan, yeah that's what I was thinking regarding belladona. That's why I included it in the sample "skulk" package. You're right, I don't think that wolvesbane is elaborated anywhere in the rules, but just based on the name I think it is supposed to be useful against werewolves (especially given the other equipment entries like silver tipped arrows). But the exact effect would require a ruling. I would probably treat it something like a weaker scroll of protection against lycanthropes (maybe give the monsters a saving throw or something). Now that you mention it is a poison, I would totally allow that use too.

Belladonna is given details in the Ready Ref Sheets (it slows the target), but unfortunately there is no entry for wolvesbane that I see.

[Necropraxis]

Here are some ideas for wolvesbane:

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110807125104AAcBsIB

[kesher]

I've had players crush up wolvesbane and smear it on weapons for temporary effect against werewolves...

[makofan]

I had a player grappling with a wererat who stuffed wolvesbane down its throat, and I ruled the lycanthrope must make a Save vs Poison (which it failed)

[kesher]

Has the phrase "grappling with a wererat" ever been said before in the history of the world? I think not...

Untimately, that table is stone-cold awesome.

[makofan]

And yes, I am going to use that table for the rest of my life. Thank you!

[Necropraxis]

Jul 20, 2012 22:11:51 GMT -6 Jonathan Miller said:

TIs the use of belladonna and wolvesbane ever defined in the game?

I just came across this passage in the original Monster Manual (page 63):

Any humanoid creature bitten by a lycanthrope for damage equal to or greater than 50% of its total potential, but not actually killed (and eaten), is infected by the disease of lycanthropy. If the person is carrying belladonna there is a 25% chance that this will cure the affliction if eaten within one hour. Note that this infusion will incapacitate the person for 1-4 days and there is a 1% chance of the poison killing the creature. Otherwise a cure disease spell from a 12th level patriarch must be placed upon the creature within 3 days or it will become a lycanthrope in 7-14 days.

I'll probably use that. Maybe change the 25% chance to a save versus poison or spells, since I hate remembering ad hoc percentages like this and love the saving throw mechanic more that just about anything else.

It also tells us the effect of belladonna if used as a poison (though it differs from the effect listed in the Ready Ref Sheets (page 15), which is 9 rounds onset followed by being slowed, all actions at half rate).

[Zenopus]

Holmes Basic adds a line to the entry on Lycanthropes:
"All were-creatures are repelled by wolfsbane".
This could be implemented in different ways: saving throw, morale check(s), protection radius, penalties to attacks, etc.

I'm guessing Holmes added this himself, since it uses the standard spelling of "wolfsbane" rather than the D&D version of "wolvesbane" (which is how it spelled in the Holmes equipment list). Holmes also left belladonna off the equipment list, possibly because it was unexplained in the rules.

[blackbarn]

Thanks for this table, Brendan. I snagged it off your blog when you first posted it and we've been using it in our game. It really saves time and gets new PCs started quickly.