idrahil
Level 6 Magician
The Lighter The Rules, The Better The Game!
Posts: 398
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Post by idrahil on Feb 15, 2013 22:58:32 GMT -6
I was thinking of adding alchemy or herb lore for players in my campaign, primarily so that they can create alternate (and numerous) methods of healing and curing of poison and disease.
Rather than hiring an alchemist for 1000 to make potions and such, is it overpowering or silly to have a simple d6 method of searching for herbs and making salves and ointments?
I also think I want to add alot of Healing Potions to my treasure hordes and even personal treasure of sentient foes.
My reasons for thinking this way are because: I have decided I don't want to go a route of quick, rest healing (Recover 1-6 HP for resting 15 minutes). I had thought of going life or wound points to cover hps going to 0 (Sort of like Dragons Age video game) but in the end, I am thinking I would prefer to keep HPs and HD as is and just add more magical healing (and the herb based stuff).
Thought from those of you more used to old school style play?
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Post by Stormcrow on Feb 16, 2013 11:39:17 GMT -6
Allowing players to roll dice to find special healing herbs in the wild is okay... if you allow that everyone in the world can do it. It's a special feature of your fantasy world.
If your own campaign is to more closely resemble the D&D world as presented, then finding special herbs would be a special ability. Alchemists have this special ability, of course, but the classes in the books do not. You could add it to one or more classes if you want, but you're giving away a freebie.
I'd be more inclined to simply distribute more healing potions if I wanted to give my players more access to fast healing, or to let them find a more powerful healing device.
And keep in mind that once your players have amassed a fortune, you're going to want to find ways to drain their coffers. Paying for hirelings like alchemists is a good way to do this.
P.S.: I only noticed after posting this that it's in the Delving Deeper forum. Sorry if this contradicts something in those rules.
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idrahil
Level 6 Magician
The Lighter The Rules, The Better The Game!
Posts: 398
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Post by idrahil on Feb 16, 2013 12:13:02 GMT -6
Thanks for the response, I post mainly in the Delving Deeper forum because that has been my first exposure to original gaming. From what I gather, it's pretty close to the original rules (Someone had hosted OD&D rules in html form on their website on Dragonsfoot).
I hadn't considered the idea of draining funds from the players using the Alchemist.
So, I think I'll make some sort of check for everyone and a better results for magic-users in order to find plants that do maybe 1d4 healing or some such.
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Post by Malcadon on Feb 16, 2013 13:06:06 GMT -6
I always liked the idea of Magic-users cross-training as Sages. After all, they do a lot of research to know what they know, and those non-magical skills should pay-off when not chucking spells.
That is, a Magic-user could start off knowing [2+Int adj] categories in his chosen Major Field, and he would also know [1+Int adj] Minor Fields in the other fields of study. As the character gains levels, he would acquire additional knowledge of a Minor Field, a category within his Major Field, or even learn a whole new Major Field! Like magical research, learning new fields will take time and money.
The benefit, is that the players can have a chance at answering complex questions that are beyond the players' understanding -- although, I would lower the odds for the PCs, as they would ask *LOTS* of questions, and they maybe less inline to hiring a dedicated Sage.
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Post by waysoftheearth on Feb 16, 2013 22:47:02 GMT -6
The game, out of the box, can be pretty tough on inexperienced and/or unlucky players. One way to take a bit of the edge off it is to allow for additional healing, and there's certainly nothing wrong that! The abundance of heals is probably one of the most commonly house ruled mechanics in the game. There are plenty of options open to the ref, including; . The one turn of rest required in every six turns of exploration revives 1-6 hit points. If you don't rest, you don't recover! . An uninterrupted night of bed rest (at an inn, for example) restores all temporary damage, allowing player to re-roll all hit dice. . Scrolls and potions of curing are available cheaply (to clerics only!) as part of the cleric's starting gear; say 10gp and 25gp per item, respectively. Or, if you want to make these permanently available, then charge 10gp or 25gp per level of the cleric. Thus, the higher level clerics contribute more to "the church" in order to help prop up their lower lever clerics. . Some non-magical commodity such a particular herb (e.g., Middle Earth's "Kingsfoil"), Ambrosia, or even clean water has refreshing properties. How commonly this commodity can be had will have a significant impact on the flavour of the game. However, one should not forget that handing the "healing reins" over to all players may, or may not, diminish the appeal of the cleric class. FWIW -- here is an excellent site on healing in Middle Earth, much of which is non-magical or pseudo-magical in nature. Great for inspiration
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Post by aher on Feb 18, 2013 3:48:13 GMT -6
I wanted to draw your attention to this thread in the Men & Magic sub-board, which also deals with rapid rejuvenation of hit points. I presented a few ideas on the matter over there already. You definitely want to keep your players poor, and forcing them to hire alchemists, chirurgeons, barbers, læces, monks, and witches to perform various kinds of therapy is a good way to accomplish this goal. I also discussed a half dozen therapeutic uses for pickle brine--your PCs need it more than they need healing potions. ;D In that same thread, sirravd mentioned that he uses an alchemist class in his campaign, and so you might want to pick his brain as well.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2013 17:29:17 GMT -6
My major campaign is basically simplified Pathfinder. PF includes an alchemist class, but the class is very dry and flavorless - it does nothing other than make bombs and cast transmutation spells via extracts.
My alchemist can also create a potion, either an 'official' one like 'cure light wounds' or a new potion ('I want a potion that allows the drinker to taste poison for three hours!'). This works something like spell research. The alchemist can also spend a week researching alchemy in general; depending upon the amount of money he spends and his Intelligence + level (and the difficulty of research, from 1-5, he chooses), he can get various effects including blowing himself up, poisoning himself, getting horribly sick, permanently raising some ability score, finding a shortcut to the manufacture of some potion, etc.
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idrahil
Level 6 Magician
The Lighter The Rules, The Better The Game!
Posts: 398
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Post by idrahil on Feb 18, 2013 17:43:56 GMT -6
Ways, that site on LOTR medicine is great! Aher, thanks for the heads up, that thread has good ideas and thoughts too.
Sirravd, that sounds pretty cool and I think I will have a toned down form of field alchemy as an ability of Magic-Users with major potions going to NPC Alchemists.
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