So I've been on this kick lately looking back at older role-playing games. There seems to be this magic point somewhere in the development of a game where too much makes the game unwieldy and too little makes it seem like there's something missing. Obviously D&D's switch point came with Advanced D&D. Star Frontiers, TSR's sci-fi RPG, had it's switch point with Zebulon's Guide to the Galaxy.
It seemed that the game started to "jump the shark" with the conversion of the rules to the Marvel Super-Heroes game mechanic, using a Universal Table with color results and "column shifts" for modifiers. It seemed to completely de-rail the simple percentage based mechanic of the earlier game. The addition of all the new armor types, weapons, and picky rules made the whole thing less satisfying than the original. I have the same problems with the upgrade to Knight Hawks. Sure this is an add-on to the game, but an important one that now allowed the players to pilot spaceships and engage in zero-G combat far above the planet surface - one of the draws of the Star Wars movies!
I've started going through the original rules for Star Frontiers, starting with the Basic Game and found those rules to be too simplistic. They gave little in the way of variation and seemed like more of a boardgame with freeform movement. The Expanded rules function as I remember, although back in the day we played like complete idiots trying to figure out sci-fi scenarios. Coming more from a Star Trek/Star Wars background, I had no true sci-fi knowledge which would have helped me greatly in coming up with scenarios. In the end I made my new campaign more like a Star Wars space opera than a true action scenario. It's hard to motivate people when they can buy weapons like laser pistols and steal what they need from others. In fact, most of our games ended up with the players being worse than the villains!
I'm still reviewing the rules and even looked into the newer d20 Modern/Future rulebooks. Just looking at the volume of rules one needs to know to run a car chase made me want to put these books away forever! If I can make the Star Frontiers rules work the way they should for what I need then that's good enough for me.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Moldvay Companion Rules: What Could Have Been
I've toyed with the idea of making a Moldvay/Cook version of the Companion Rules which were promised in the Expert Rulebook but never published. What would they contain? What other information could they possibly provide that was not in any other later edition?
My recent delving into the Original D&D box set has led me to believe that Moldvay/Cook D&D is simply the organized and cleaned up version of the original D&D rules. In fact, except for the Chainmail Rules references and alternate rules, the rulebooks read nearly identically! There is some difference with the demi-humans, but essentially it all works the same. I had no idea that class and race was so tied together in the older rules.
The other thing I noted was the pure simplicity and elegance that I've always admired in the Moldvay version actually began in the original D&D rules. There were no extra attacks, convoluted combat mechanics, or other nonsense that led to a huge tome of rules in later versions. I understand the need for clarification and structure, but the game loses something when every action has to be specified in rules, adjusted by a plethora of modifiers, and resolved using multiples rolls.
The Basic/Expert Rules had defined chapters which were kept the same for each - Chapter 3 in each book was for Spells, Chapter 6 for Monsters, etc. In keeping with this structure, a Companion Book should have the same format. But what should be added?
I've reviewed the OD&D lists of monsters and treasure and found that ALL of the items in the original rules were transferred into Basic/Expert. Only a few of the additional monsters and items from the Greyhawk Supplement made it into the rules, but the Thief class was most notable among these. It is interesting to note that although the Hobbit/Halfling class did not operate as a thief per se, they still got a stealth boost in the rules, as well as a level boost for all demi-human classes. A few of the level titles were altered or switched around in order to make all classes hit Name Level at 9th level. The general concept that one gains from this is that Humanoid HD max out at 9 HD for Medium humanoids, -1 HD for smaller humanoids (like halflings), and maybe +1 for Large humanoids (like ogres or gnolls). If one expands to 36 levels as suggested for the Companion Set, then you have to come up with challenges for characters for the next 22 levels. That's a lot of experience points with very little change in how the characters progress except maybe for spells available. Thief abilities are pretty nearly maxed out at 14th level! Fighters show no advancement, but might actually gain extra attacks at higher levels. What kind of creatures are expected to be encountered? Well, some of those questions were answered in the original D&D rules...
Monsters that were excluded from the Expert rules were those deemed too powerful for even Name level characters of some experience. These included the Lich, Ghost, Juggernaut, and Titans. Such creatures must be fearsome indeed if one should not face them at 14th level! Just how powerful they could be is unknown, but 20th level of magic-use is assumed for the lich, and the lich Asberdies in D1 should be considered the first appearance of such a creature in a D&D module (although the premise for his being there is sketchy at best). Most of the monsters in the Greyhawk Supplement and almost ALL the monsters in the Blackmoor supplement are NOT included in the Expert rules. Very few non-aquatic monsters were added in the Blackmoor rules, but Greyhawk added many of the iconic creatures we've all come to expect, like Beholders, Golems, and metallic dragons. All of these monsters are suitable for inclusion in the Companion Rules. The psionic creatures which seem to dominate the later rules should also be included: mind flayers, duergar, intellect devourers, etc.
A lot of spells were left out of the selections for Clerics and Magic-Users in the Basic/Expert version of the rules. Notably, clerics never get Dispel Magic, Magic-Users miss out on several spells that add some flavor and utility to the class, and no spell of 7th level or above is detailed for either class. Where does one get the inspiration for these spells? Go back to the source of course! I took all the spells listed in Men & Magic plus all the Greyhawk Supplement spells and compiled them into a master list. This expanded the 1st-6th level lists as well, but brought all the OD&D spells to Basic/Expert. Why these spells were omitted is unknown, but I read somewhere that Moldvay and Cook wanted to simply rewrite the original rules without the supplements.
As I've been re-reading the World of Greyhawk Boxed Set I noticed that the encounter charts included humanoids from the Fiend Folio published around the same time. Such creatures as norkers, ogrillons, and flinds were liberally added to the hosts of humanoids in the northern regions. Also added were oddball creatures such as quaggoths and qullans, the former being tied to the drow elves also detailed in that rulebook. So, looking back at the published modules from the early days one would need to also add in drow, kuo-toa, jermlaine, mind flayers (illithids), and svirfnebli to make all the Greyhawk creatures available.
Of the treasures, most of the lists are simply copied from one ruleset to the other. However, I noticed that the Greyhawk Supplement introduced the concept of "cursed items," those magic items that are detrimental or deadly to those assuming to be picking up a standard magic item. In fact, most of the omitted items were cursed! Many of the new items in the Greyhawk supplement deal with the new classes (Thieves and Paladins) which may or may not be involved in Companion rules. A Holy Sword +5 means nothing without a Paladin to wield it, and subclasses were not really involved in the early rulesets, only the expansions. However, since the Companion Rules are supposed to be supplemental materials to expand the campaign world, adding in a subclass to each of the main classes might not be a bad idea. But which ones?
Of the sub-classes, the Paladin was the first. introduced in the Greyhawk Supplement it was available for Fighters of 17 Charisma and of Lawful alignment. Later versions of this class added other stipulations or reworked it to only be available at Name Level and above. I don't know how I would work this class in. Rangers were an afterthought in a Dragon magazine article and don't really seem to be necessary in the Companion rules. Druids were added in Eldritch Wizardry but were seen as more of a cleric/magic-user hybrid. This class was originally listed as a new monster in the Greyhawk Supplement!. Assassins and monks were added in the Blackmoor Supplement, although they seemed to be made as more of a cultural nod to the Karate flicks and mafia movies of the time. Still these classes feature prominently in Greyhawk. The challenge is presenting these options to characters without changing the dynamics of play, game balance, or altering the simplicity of the rules. Also, when do you decide to stop adding things to the game? At what point is enough enough? What's the saturation mark? If adding all the stuff to resemble AD&D, why not just play AD&D?
I think it's better to focus on WHY D&D rules are superior. My analysis concludes that percentile Strength is unnecessary. No other ability score uses the mechanic. Making the range of 3-18 stand without exception is important, as is the standard ability adjustments. Keeping race as class is somewhat problematic, but when you explain that the best choice for each race is the class they assume anyway, then it makes more sense. The only exception to this is the Halfling - stuck at level 8 with fighting ability and no thieving skills. This is the only casualty in the argument and, as far as I'm concerned, has little impact on the game. The number of spells can use some expansion - as already stated I added in the spells from OD&D and Greyhawk Supplement. Adding in the extra magic items is fine, but limiting cursed items to a separate list that is rarely used seems much more fair to the players. Such items should not be routinely found - but they should exist for the DM to use in specific instances. Monster stats should remain easy and quick to use. Adding in the missing monsters from the supplements is fine, but no more than the number of monsters added in between the first two books.
The largest area of expansion should be planar adventures. Adding in creatures such as demons (Chaos), Faeries (Neutral), and angels (Law) might be the path to go. Since there is little difference in alignments in this version, having devils may be confusing since they are a lawful form of evil. Of course, mixing demons and devils into one category greatly increases the forces of Chaos. I've been toying with the idea of making the Ethereal Plane a land of spirits (i.e. Spirit Realm) since it is typically a haunt of the recently dead and some creatures can see into the "spirit plane" of the ethereal. Astral then becomes the only transitive plane and making it look like Outer Space seems more appropriate than a silvery wasteland. Deciding what other extraplanar creatures to include then becomes a matter of picking and choosing from various supplements.
This project can come to a meaningful conclusion and maybe even self-publication. I just need to weed out those concepts that make the game too complicated and add in just enough variety to keep the game challenging and exciting for 22 levels after the Expert set. Perhaps coming up with Legendary Classes (to symbolize the new classes) and other perks for higher-level characters is the way to go. After all, giving a +5 Holy Avenger to a low level paladin may unbalance any game, but allowing a new paladin to evolve at higher levels seems appropriate for using such a powerful weapon. Perhaps making these the "prestige" classes of Companion and setting the minimum requirement for 15th level and above seems the way to go.
My recent delving into the Original D&D box set has led me to believe that Moldvay/Cook D&D is simply the organized and cleaned up version of the original D&D rules. In fact, except for the Chainmail Rules references and alternate rules, the rulebooks read nearly identically! There is some difference with the demi-humans, but essentially it all works the same. I had no idea that class and race was so tied together in the older rules.
The other thing I noted was the pure simplicity and elegance that I've always admired in the Moldvay version actually began in the original D&D rules. There were no extra attacks, convoluted combat mechanics, or other nonsense that led to a huge tome of rules in later versions. I understand the need for clarification and structure, but the game loses something when every action has to be specified in rules, adjusted by a plethora of modifiers, and resolved using multiples rolls.
The Basic/Expert Rules had defined chapters which were kept the same for each - Chapter 3 in each book was for Spells, Chapter 6 for Monsters, etc. In keeping with this structure, a Companion Book should have the same format. But what should be added?
I've reviewed the OD&D lists of monsters and treasure and found that ALL of the items in the original rules were transferred into Basic/Expert. Only a few of the additional monsters and items from the Greyhawk Supplement made it into the rules, but the Thief class was most notable among these. It is interesting to note that although the Hobbit/Halfling class did not operate as a thief per se, they still got a stealth boost in the rules, as well as a level boost for all demi-human classes. A few of the level titles were altered or switched around in order to make all classes hit Name Level at 9th level. The general concept that one gains from this is that Humanoid HD max out at 9 HD for Medium humanoids, -1 HD for smaller humanoids (like halflings), and maybe +1 for Large humanoids (like ogres or gnolls). If one expands to 36 levels as suggested for the Companion Set, then you have to come up with challenges for characters for the next 22 levels. That's a lot of experience points with very little change in how the characters progress except maybe for spells available. Thief abilities are pretty nearly maxed out at 14th level! Fighters show no advancement, but might actually gain extra attacks at higher levels. What kind of creatures are expected to be encountered? Well, some of those questions were answered in the original D&D rules...
Monsters that were excluded from the Expert rules were those deemed too powerful for even Name level characters of some experience. These included the Lich, Ghost, Juggernaut, and Titans. Such creatures must be fearsome indeed if one should not face them at 14th level! Just how powerful they could be is unknown, but 20th level of magic-use is assumed for the lich, and the lich Asberdies in D1 should be considered the first appearance of such a creature in a D&D module (although the premise for his being there is sketchy at best). Most of the monsters in the Greyhawk Supplement and almost ALL the monsters in the Blackmoor supplement are NOT included in the Expert rules. Very few non-aquatic monsters were added in the Blackmoor rules, but Greyhawk added many of the iconic creatures we've all come to expect, like Beholders, Golems, and metallic dragons. All of these monsters are suitable for inclusion in the Companion Rules. The psionic creatures which seem to dominate the later rules should also be included: mind flayers, duergar, intellect devourers, etc.
A lot of spells were left out of the selections for Clerics and Magic-Users in the Basic/Expert version of the rules. Notably, clerics never get Dispel Magic, Magic-Users miss out on several spells that add some flavor and utility to the class, and no spell of 7th level or above is detailed for either class. Where does one get the inspiration for these spells? Go back to the source of course! I took all the spells listed in Men & Magic plus all the Greyhawk Supplement spells and compiled them into a master list. This expanded the 1st-6th level lists as well, but brought all the OD&D spells to Basic/Expert. Why these spells were omitted is unknown, but I read somewhere that Moldvay and Cook wanted to simply rewrite the original rules without the supplements.
As I've been re-reading the World of Greyhawk Boxed Set I noticed that the encounter charts included humanoids from the Fiend Folio published around the same time. Such creatures as norkers, ogrillons, and flinds were liberally added to the hosts of humanoids in the northern regions. Also added were oddball creatures such as quaggoths and qullans, the former being tied to the drow elves also detailed in that rulebook. So, looking back at the published modules from the early days one would need to also add in drow, kuo-toa, jermlaine, mind flayers (illithids), and svirfnebli to make all the Greyhawk creatures available.
Of the treasures, most of the lists are simply copied from one ruleset to the other. However, I noticed that the Greyhawk Supplement introduced the concept of "cursed items," those magic items that are detrimental or deadly to those assuming to be picking up a standard magic item. In fact, most of the omitted items were cursed! Many of the new items in the Greyhawk supplement deal with the new classes (Thieves and Paladins) which may or may not be involved in Companion rules. A Holy Sword +5 means nothing without a Paladin to wield it, and subclasses were not really involved in the early rulesets, only the expansions. However, since the Companion Rules are supposed to be supplemental materials to expand the campaign world, adding in a subclass to each of the main classes might not be a bad idea. But which ones?
Of the sub-classes, the Paladin was the first. introduced in the Greyhawk Supplement it was available for Fighters of 17 Charisma and of Lawful alignment. Later versions of this class added other stipulations or reworked it to only be available at Name Level and above. I don't know how I would work this class in. Rangers were an afterthought in a Dragon magazine article and don't really seem to be necessary in the Companion rules. Druids were added in Eldritch Wizardry but were seen as more of a cleric/magic-user hybrid. This class was originally listed as a new monster in the Greyhawk Supplement!. Assassins and monks were added in the Blackmoor Supplement, although they seemed to be made as more of a cultural nod to the Karate flicks and mafia movies of the time. Still these classes feature prominently in Greyhawk. The challenge is presenting these options to characters without changing the dynamics of play, game balance, or altering the simplicity of the rules. Also, when do you decide to stop adding things to the game? At what point is enough enough? What's the saturation mark? If adding all the stuff to resemble AD&D, why not just play AD&D?
I think it's better to focus on WHY D&D rules are superior. My analysis concludes that percentile Strength is unnecessary. No other ability score uses the mechanic. Making the range of 3-18 stand without exception is important, as is the standard ability adjustments. Keeping race as class is somewhat problematic, but when you explain that the best choice for each race is the class they assume anyway, then it makes more sense. The only exception to this is the Halfling - stuck at level 8 with fighting ability and no thieving skills. This is the only casualty in the argument and, as far as I'm concerned, has little impact on the game. The number of spells can use some expansion - as already stated I added in the spells from OD&D and Greyhawk Supplement. Adding in the extra magic items is fine, but limiting cursed items to a separate list that is rarely used seems much more fair to the players. Such items should not be routinely found - but they should exist for the DM to use in specific instances. Monster stats should remain easy and quick to use. Adding in the missing monsters from the supplements is fine, but no more than the number of monsters added in between the first two books.
The largest area of expansion should be planar adventures. Adding in creatures such as demons (Chaos), Faeries (Neutral), and angels (Law) might be the path to go. Since there is little difference in alignments in this version, having devils may be confusing since they are a lawful form of evil. Of course, mixing demons and devils into one category greatly increases the forces of Chaos. I've been toying with the idea of making the Ethereal Plane a land of spirits (i.e. Spirit Realm) since it is typically a haunt of the recently dead and some creatures can see into the "spirit plane" of the ethereal. Astral then becomes the only transitive plane and making it look like Outer Space seems more appropriate than a silvery wasteland. Deciding what other extraplanar creatures to include then becomes a matter of picking and choosing from various supplements.
This project can come to a meaningful conclusion and maybe even self-publication. I just need to weed out those concepts that make the game too complicated and add in just enough variety to keep the game challenging and exciting for 22 levels after the Expert set. Perhaps coming up with Legendary Classes (to symbolize the new classes) and other perks for higher-level characters is the way to go. After all, giving a +5 Holy Avenger to a low level paladin may unbalance any game, but allowing a new paladin to evolve at higher levels seems appropriate for using such a powerful weapon. Perhaps making these the "prestige" classes of Companion and setting the minimum requirement for 15th level and above seems the way to go.
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