I've reached that time in my gaming career when I've pretty much explored all I wanted to explore and used enough game systems to find all the flaws they contain. There is no one perfect version of the game I love (D&D) although there are a few that come close. Although it is human nature to dwell on details, I find that the best games are the ones that gloss over the details and exist with their own set of rules which are meant to be immutable regardless of reality.
I'm mainly having a problem resolving issues with my conversion of Thuin/Sturmgard to Basic/Expert D&D. The alignment thing and several other sticking issues have me thinking that it's not worth the effort to convert if I have to compromise too much. That and all the backstory of the campaigns I've run leads me to just say "screw it."
So if I don't keep anything I've done in the past, how should I proceed? I've tried to run campaign-generic settings in the past and they require little effort to set up, but inevitably questions arise as to deities, leaders of kingdoms, important NPCs in the area, etc. Now I could cop out and allow anything the players desire in the world, making it a mish-mash of various settings (dragonlances, Norse deities, greyhawk-style clerical orders, Forgotten Realms variety moon elves, etc.) but I think that cheapens the experience. Basic/Expert rules are run more generically and allow the player to come up with their own details about their character.
So, I've been thinking about a completely new campaign. The problem here is that I have 30 years of previous campaign materials covering roughly a dozen binders or so (for D&D alone) and several computer files. Surely something must exist someplace for me to start from and work with. My problem is that I tend to snatch info from one source and then expand greatly upon it, essentially making a campaign out of a one-shot. I did this with Greyhawk I campaign, Greyhawk II campaign, and my current Mystara campaign. My Thuin campaign emerged from a desire to return to original AD&D and mutated into a 2nd edition mess. Nothing I've done in D&D 3.5 has amounted to very much and I eventually gave up trying and reverted to using pre-published adventures loosely woven together into a patchwork campaign which imploded in the end.
I've been enamored of the brutal "dogma D&D" style of late. One of the forums I read has had a campaign thread listing the adventures of the "Companions of the Bling," a sort of Tolkienesque tribute campaign where low-level characters try to survive the random starter dungeons generated by a computer program while attempting to make name level and start their real quest (the destruction of the One Ring). The characters are all modeled after Lord of the Rings characters, but the rules as written are obeyed to the letter - no house rules, no holds barred, and no mercy. Hit points are rolled as is. Ability scores are generated using 3d6 in order rolled, no re-rolls. Characters have to qualify for race and class as usual. They are all generally poor but the lack of resources and danger has led to a surprising level of role-playing among the players, and the reports are amazing to read. Many characters don't survive their fist encounter and those that do become cherished members. When such members later perish, great pains are taken to either retrieve them with overpriced magic or else bury them with loving care. Almost all of these characters are cherished and supported by the other players as well. Even the NPCs are treated with more dignity, especially those that are particularly helpful to the party's survival!
I can really see this as a great way to play the game more casually and yet build details of a campaign world. I would keep religion more generic (Light vs. Dark) and stick obsessively to the rules as written without adding pages of house rules. Basically, if the action is not covered in the rules, don't even try it. Accept the rules as written and agree to abide by them at all times and in all circumstances. So what does this mean for a campaign setting?
Demi-humans are considered to be classes in Basic/Expert. They are also limited in the level they can attain. Most also require much more experience points than the other classes. Therefore, humans will more likely survive to see the higher levels. I think that having an endgame in place for the characters who reach level 14 is also necessary. It is my belief that the unpublished Companion Rules would have added in all the AD&D material to the mix - a direction that would have been unnecessary given the rules published at the time. Adding psionics, more classes, more races, and/or strange rules just serves to complicate an otherwise cohesive set of rules. Ending spells at 6th level of power actually makes some sense to me. Not complicating matters by adding in druids, paladins, assassins, rangers, or illusionists also makes sense. Simply play the base character the way you think they should be played. Granted, druids had abilities that made them vastly different, but you can't have everything.
I could see this as a fun exercise that can last a good long time. A long dungeon spanning the first three levels of play, followed by a series of wilderness/dungeon adventures, leading to name level adventures, and later land development for the characters really could be quite fun. I would need players that don't see the game as a progressive waste of time, but rather as an enjoyment of the journey. Many early characters would be lost, and probably a few later characters would also be lost, but each character would be kept and cherished throughout the campaign.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Inventory Tracker: Character Object
I'm really new to object-oriented programming (OOP) but I'm trying to see how it could be accomplished in a programming language I know and understand a little, namely C. I've worked up a list of all the "objects" I would need for the program to work. The overhead on the memory side is going to be taken up by the graphical needs for all the icons and storage for important data. Ideally I would love to have ALL the info required to run a game attached to this program, but for now inventory is my main concern.
OBJECT 1: CHARACTER
This is the main object of the system, and each user should be able to store multiple instances of other objects on this unique object. All data will be saved with this unique object name (Character Name). This object will have some predefined (drop-box) entries, and some user-input data used to determine what other objects can be equipped in certain slots. Specifically these are:
More or less, the D&D game assumes that a character is man-sized (roughly 6'0") and weight (roughly 180 pounds for an average male). Those races shorter than this can only carry a fraction of the maximum allowance. Those whose strength is not typical for their race also have adjustments to what they can carry. All of this eventually affects movement rate so it is important to note.
We have established in our game that the encumbrance of a normal human of average strength is 500 coins of gear (roughly 50 lb) with no penalty to movement. Penalties from armor supersede this amount regardless of what is carried. Therefore, if the fighter is carrying nothing more than a few pounds of gear and his weapons, but is wearing chain mail armor, then his base move is 9" by default, regardless of strength. When the encumbrance penalty exceeds the movement penalty of the armor, then the movement rate decreases. So if the same fighter picks up enough loot to be down to 9", he is still only moving at 9" because his armor only allows him to move so fast.
Encumbrance drops by fourths. Therefore, an average strength adult male human carries up to 500 coins without penalty (12" movement), up to 1000 coins with reduced speed (9" movement), and up to 1500 coins with severely reduced speed (6" movement). Although it is not written in the game anywhere, I max out the load one can carry at their own body weight (3" movement). It seems silly that someone the size of Arnold Schwartzenegger could carry more than his own body weight for any length of time and still fight off attackers! This above value is adjusted for strength, which allows for someone to carry more than they normally could. The problem here is that SIZE of the character was never integrated into this formula. A smaller person (male or female) could not possibly carry the same amount as someone much larger than they are. Similarly, a halfling or gnome has no right carrying as much as a human could, seeing as they weigh less than half the weight to begin with. This is why I tend to limit maximum weight carried as body weight and adjust according. I would say that scaling the carrying capacity to the body weight of the character is the way to go. So an average character may only carry a percentage of his own weight and still move at full movement.
For example, an average human male, weighing 180 pounds and standing 6'0" could carry a maximum of 1800 coin encumbrance. Divide this into fourths, so normal movement (12" base) is up to 450 coins. This is fine so long as the character is of normal strength. At the upper level of strength, say 18/00%, this adds about 3,000 more coins to the weight allowance. Assuming that this stronger person also weighs significantly more (about 250 lbs. or so), their carrying capacity would be 5,500 coins or 550 lbs! WAYYYY too much for any mere mortal to carry. Therefore, perhaps the strength chart needs to be fixed to reflect a more curved increase, topping out at some maximum regardless of strength. Again, I have no definite answers here, but I'm certain that no character can carry 550 pounds of gear and loot and still move! Sure, I've seen the World's Strongest Man competitions but those are held under "near optimal" conditions and the feats of strength require a few minutes at most. We're talking about lugging treasure and gear though dangerous conditions that are less than sub-optimal.
So, do I base encumbrance on body weight alone or modified by strength? It would seem that running around with 50 lbs. on your back and body is encumbering enough for even the mighty men of the military. It can be done, but it backbreaking work. Then again, greed is a great motivator!
I could always go with the formula developed for Villains & Vigilantes which also takes Constitution into consideration. That formula was ((str/10)^3 + (con/10)) * (half body weight). This amount was how much a character could lift and remain standing. Using the above example of 180 lb. man and Str 11 with Con 10, would give us ((1.1)^3 + 1.0) * 90 = 210 lbs. A similar man weighing 250 lbs. with an 18/00% strength and 18 constitution would be able to lift ((1.8)^3 + 1.8) * 125 = 954 lbs! My God, that's a lot of weight, but 1/4 ton is MUCH heavier than the current world record (580 lb by gold medalist Hossein R. of Iran who weighs 340 lb at 6'1" himself). SO apparently that formula won't work.
My gut tells me that lifting and carrying on your person that much weight leads to exhaustion quickly. So what should be the maximum weight one can carry and still move relatively freely? My guess is that moving around with only 55% of one's maximum press should be more than sufficient as a maximum. For the 180 lb guy, this means that they can carry about 100 lbs. and move at a crawl (that's 1000 coins). Using the "fourths" rule, unencumbered weight is up to 250 coins, medium load, is up to 500 coins, heavy load is up to 750 coins and overloaded would be up to 1000 coins. Does this work for the upper bounds of human strength? Assuming that each point of Strength above 10 adds roughly 10 pounds to the person's frame (+10 pounds per bracket of percentile strength), a person with 18/00% strength would weigh roughly 300 lbs and could carry about 1650 coins of weight. Breaking this down, that's up to 412 coins at unencumbered, 825 coins at medium, 1237 coins at heavy, and 1650 at maximum. Remember, maximum encumbrance means carry and still move (even at 3" rate). Obviously, such a person should be able to lift their own body weight in bench press.
Does this translate to the smaller races? Well, dwarves are built similarly to humans, and even weigh about the same, so yeah, this could work just fine the same for dwarves. Halflings weigh on average about 60 lbs. This means that an average halfling male standing 3'0" tall can carry only 33 lbs. and is considered overloaded at that point. This breaks down as up to 83 coins for unencumbered, 165 coins for medium, 248 coins for heavy, and up to 330 coins for overloaded. A max strength halfling (17 Str) probably only gain 3 lbs per point over 10, so their body weight would be around 75 lb. and carrying capacity at 41 lb. Breakdown for this would be unencumbered up to 103 coins, medium at up to 205 coins, heavy at up to 307 coins, and overloaded up to 410 coins. The same thing would apply to gnomes. That's not very much, but more in line with the current method of calculating encumbrance!
At the risk of sounding sexist, I will not break this out for women. However, I would assume that Gygax would not have women as equal to men if only because they are less naturally muscular. There are exceptions to be sure, and I'm sure that dwarven or half-orc women are equal in this regard, but women are also smaller in stature so their frames are not as strong. Also, seeing a 18/75% strength woman weighing close to 300 lbs seems excessive. I would say that women pack on only +5 pounds of muscle per point of Strength over 12 and that once they get to the upper brackets they are simply trading fat deposits for muscle weight so no extra weight gain at percentile strength. Small female gnomes and halflings probably only add in 1 pound per strength point over 12.
This is exhausting just thinking about it! Now I have to revamp my views and maybe talk to the others in the group to see what they think. Having an established chart on each character will likely help me decide if this makes sense or not. It will also help determine if this app is worthwhile. More at a later time!
OBJECT 1: CHARACTER
This is the main object of the system, and each user should be able to store multiple instances of other objects on this unique object. All data will be saved with this unique object name (Character Name). This object will have some predefined (drop-box) entries, and some user-input data used to determine what other objects can be equipped in certain slots. Specifically these are:
- Race: determines size and type of character
- Height: determines maximum size of weapons that can be wielded.
- Weight: used in determining maximum weight allowance.
- Strength: main determinant for weight allowance.
More or less, the D&D game assumes that a character is man-sized (roughly 6'0") and weight (roughly 180 pounds for an average male). Those races shorter than this can only carry a fraction of the maximum allowance. Those whose strength is not typical for their race also have adjustments to what they can carry. All of this eventually affects movement rate so it is important to note.
We have established in our game that the encumbrance of a normal human of average strength is 500 coins of gear (roughly 50 lb) with no penalty to movement. Penalties from armor supersede this amount regardless of what is carried. Therefore, if the fighter is carrying nothing more than a few pounds of gear and his weapons, but is wearing chain mail armor, then his base move is 9" by default, regardless of strength. When the encumbrance penalty exceeds the movement penalty of the armor, then the movement rate decreases. So if the same fighter picks up enough loot to be down to 9", he is still only moving at 9" because his armor only allows him to move so fast.
Encumbrance drops by fourths. Therefore, an average strength adult male human carries up to 500 coins without penalty (12" movement), up to 1000 coins with reduced speed (9" movement), and up to 1500 coins with severely reduced speed (6" movement). Although it is not written in the game anywhere, I max out the load one can carry at their own body weight (3" movement). It seems silly that someone the size of Arnold Schwartzenegger could carry more than his own body weight for any length of time and still fight off attackers! This above value is adjusted for strength, which allows for someone to carry more than they normally could. The problem here is that SIZE of the character was never integrated into this formula. A smaller person (male or female) could not possibly carry the same amount as someone much larger than they are. Similarly, a halfling or gnome has no right carrying as much as a human could, seeing as they weigh less than half the weight to begin with. This is why I tend to limit maximum weight carried as body weight and adjust according. I would say that scaling the carrying capacity to the body weight of the character is the way to go. So an average character may only carry a percentage of his own weight and still move at full movement.
For example, an average human male, weighing 180 pounds and standing 6'0" could carry a maximum of 1800 coin encumbrance. Divide this into fourths, so normal movement (12" base) is up to 450 coins. This is fine so long as the character is of normal strength. At the upper level of strength, say 18/00%, this adds about 3,000 more coins to the weight allowance. Assuming that this stronger person also weighs significantly more (about 250 lbs. or so), their carrying capacity would be 5,500 coins or 550 lbs! WAYYYY too much for any mere mortal to carry. Therefore, perhaps the strength chart needs to be fixed to reflect a more curved increase, topping out at some maximum regardless of strength. Again, I have no definite answers here, but I'm certain that no character can carry 550 pounds of gear and loot and still move! Sure, I've seen the World's Strongest Man competitions but those are held under "near optimal" conditions and the feats of strength require a few minutes at most. We're talking about lugging treasure and gear though dangerous conditions that are less than sub-optimal.
So, do I base encumbrance on body weight alone or modified by strength? It would seem that running around with 50 lbs. on your back and body is encumbering enough for even the mighty men of the military. It can be done, but it backbreaking work. Then again, greed is a great motivator!
I could always go with the formula developed for Villains & Vigilantes which also takes Constitution into consideration. That formula was ((str/10)^3 + (con/10)) * (half body weight). This amount was how much a character could lift and remain standing. Using the above example of 180 lb. man and Str 11 with Con 10, would give us ((1.1)^3 + 1.0) * 90 = 210 lbs. A similar man weighing 250 lbs. with an 18/00% strength and 18 constitution would be able to lift ((1.8)^3 + 1.8) * 125 = 954 lbs! My God, that's a lot of weight, but 1/4 ton is MUCH heavier than the current world record (580 lb by gold medalist Hossein R. of Iran who weighs 340 lb at 6'1" himself). SO apparently that formula won't work.
My gut tells me that lifting and carrying on your person that much weight leads to exhaustion quickly. So what should be the maximum weight one can carry and still move relatively freely? My guess is that moving around with only 55% of one's maximum press should be more than sufficient as a maximum. For the 180 lb guy, this means that they can carry about 100 lbs. and move at a crawl (that's 1000 coins). Using the "fourths" rule, unencumbered weight is up to 250 coins, medium load, is up to 500 coins, heavy load is up to 750 coins and overloaded would be up to 1000 coins. Does this work for the upper bounds of human strength? Assuming that each point of Strength above 10 adds roughly 10 pounds to the person's frame (+10 pounds per bracket of percentile strength), a person with 18/00% strength would weigh roughly 300 lbs and could carry about 1650 coins of weight. Breaking this down, that's up to 412 coins at unencumbered, 825 coins at medium, 1237 coins at heavy, and 1650 at maximum. Remember, maximum encumbrance means carry and still move (even at 3" rate). Obviously, such a person should be able to lift their own body weight in bench press.
Does this translate to the smaller races? Well, dwarves are built similarly to humans, and even weigh about the same, so yeah, this could work just fine the same for dwarves. Halflings weigh on average about 60 lbs. This means that an average halfling male standing 3'0" tall can carry only 33 lbs. and is considered overloaded at that point. This breaks down as up to 83 coins for unencumbered, 165 coins for medium, 248 coins for heavy, and up to 330 coins for overloaded. A max strength halfling (17 Str) probably only gain 3 lbs per point over 10, so their body weight would be around 75 lb. and carrying capacity at 41 lb. Breakdown for this would be unencumbered up to 103 coins, medium at up to 205 coins, heavy at up to 307 coins, and overloaded up to 410 coins. The same thing would apply to gnomes. That's not very much, but more in line with the current method of calculating encumbrance!
At the risk of sounding sexist, I will not break this out for women. However, I would assume that Gygax would not have women as equal to men if only because they are less naturally muscular. There are exceptions to be sure, and I'm sure that dwarven or half-orc women are equal in this regard, but women are also smaller in stature so their frames are not as strong. Also, seeing a 18/75% strength woman weighing close to 300 lbs seems excessive. I would say that women pack on only +5 pounds of muscle per point of Strength over 12 and that once they get to the upper brackets they are simply trading fat deposits for muscle weight so no extra weight gain at percentile strength. Small female gnomes and halflings probably only add in 1 pound per strength point over 12.
This is exhausting just thinking about it! Now I have to revamp my views and maybe talk to the others in the group to see what they think. Having an established chart on each character will likely help me decide if this makes sense or not. It will also help determine if this app is worthwhile. More at a later time!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Inventory Tracker for AD&D Characters
We run into the same problem every session we play: where are you keeping all those items you keep pulling out of your bags? I myself have been guilty of "hoarding syndrome", which has only gotten worse with the advent of computer games and virtual bag space. Players dislike having to account for all their gear and loot, with the limitations placed on them from Strength and general physical limits of volume and material strength. However, when the players are attempting to remove hauls of epic proportions from giant lairs, they NEED to account for the placement of every copper piece and stowed dagger!
In the interests of coming up with a better way to track all of this inventory, I recommend the creation of an Inventory Tracker for AD&D characters. Using some graphic object-oriented language and small images of containers and standard items, the player can use a computer or tablet to track all inventory quickly and easily, as well as total weight allowances and movement rates. This way, when I ask where something is located I can get a straight answer and not look through about 30 pages of past notes to determine that the item they thought they were carrying was sold off 5 sessions ago...
What is needed:
I'm not exactly sure how this would be done. I have a smattering of experience with C scripting for Neverwinter Nights, but nothing of this magnitude. I would love to see the icons listed for World of Warcraft used in such an application since they have already made a myriad of multi-colored, generic icons for the thousands of objects in their game. Allowing the characters to select the icons they want may not be the way to go. Allowing the DM to predetermine all the standard objects in the Player's Handbook and some magic items, then import them to a waiting treasure cache on the player's side seems to be the more likely method, although I have no network programming experience and have no idea how to accomplish this.
In the interests of coming up with a better way to track all of this inventory, I recommend the creation of an Inventory Tracker for AD&D characters. Using some graphic object-oriented language and small images of containers and standard items, the player can use a computer or tablet to track all inventory quickly and easily, as well as total weight allowances and movement rates. This way, when I ask where something is located I can get a straight answer and not look through about 30 pages of past notes to determine that the item they thought they were carrying was sold off 5 sessions ago...
What is needed:
- A solid programming language that allows me to easily use drag-and-drop icons to move virtual items from one container to another, probably with stacking of similar items such as torches, coins, oil flasks, etc. with a means of adjusting quantities in a bundle.
- A library of established icons that are easy to identify as containers and items, including food items, bags, backpacks, pouches, saddle-bags, chests, coins, weapons, armor, gems, jewelry, etc.
- A paper-doll model of the character showing inventory slots and sub-slots, including spots for helms, rings, necklaces, armor, weapons, backpacks, pouches, bracers, belts, boots, gloves, eye-pieces, and even earrings. Opening a container would reveal a window with contents, total weight carried and remaining space options, etc.
- A mathematical model that allows all inventory equipped to subtract from available weight allowance, adjusted for current strength and fatigue levels.
- Addition of mount/mule storage for accounting of surplus party supplies, stowed treasures, and personal items such as spell books.
- The containers should have their own weight included in the total, and an adjustable amount of volume that can be used to fix each unique container's carrying capacity (once established this amount become fixed and immutable).
- Items held in place by other items have to be accounted for as well (i.e. a wand or scroll tucked securely under a wizard's belt, a quiver strapped to a backpack, a hood covering a helm, a sack covering a magic lantern, etc.)
- Ideally it would be great to have a player's version and a DM's version that monitors the player versions.
- Based on total weight carried, the character's current movement and burden penalties to combat would automatically be displayed. Allowances must be made for magic armor which has encumbrance but is not counted when determining movement.
- Weapon or item in hand should automatically display when any changes are made (i.e. dropped weapons, holding lanterns, material components, etc.)
I'm not exactly sure how this would be done. I have a smattering of experience with C scripting for Neverwinter Nights, but nothing of this magnitude. I would love to see the icons listed for World of Warcraft used in such an application since they have already made a myriad of multi-colored, generic icons for the thousands of objects in their game. Allowing the characters to select the icons they want may not be the way to go. Allowing the DM to predetermine all the standard objects in the Player's Handbook and some magic items, then import them to a waiting treasure cache on the player's side seems to be the more likely method, although I have no network programming experience and have no idea how to accomplish this.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Sturmgard Conversion: Deities in Basic/Expert
The original D&D settings usually used Earthly gods from Greek and Norse mythology - it wasn't until the Greyhawk Boxed Set and Forgotten Realms settings that original deities were developed for AD&D. Clerics were assumed to worship "the immortals" in B/X, a nebulous conglomeration of unnamed beings of supreme power. By keeping things ambiguous it allowed anyone to add their own flavor to the campaign.
I favor the more detailed approach of world-specific deities and used this model when I designed Thuin/Sturmgard. There are only a few Great Gods and a plethora of lesser gods and demi-gods. Some of the converted deities would resemble this:
LAWFUL
Talas (creator god, dragon lord of the skies and stars)
Aram (lord of paladins, god of righteous justice)
Arne (god of music, art, bards)
Bok (god of bravery)
Kara (goddess of healing and compassion)
Damon (god of the sun, light, and flame)
Dioclesis (Dolestrian principles of culture)
NEUTRAL
Chithara (earth mother)
Baranduin (beast lord)
Bathys (goddess of the seas)
Tomar (god of knowledge)
Kyndar (god of masculinity)
Nairn (goddess of femininity)
Rom (Romisarian principle of commerce)
Mollah (Algozin principle of freedom)
Xaal (goddess of secrets)
Riddlemaster (lord of balance and trials)
CHAOTIC
Spithre (god of chaos, magic)
Gorgus (lord of undeath)
Djun (god of war)
Vetch (god of insanity, jealousy, and criminal rage)
Nelvanna (Lady Ice, mistress of the frozen north)
Shuva (lady of the night, moon goddess)
There are more gods than this; these are only the few I can remember from the top of my head. The various cultures and demi-human races revere these deities under different names. The "principles" (Dioclesis, Rom, and Mollah) are forces empowered by one or more of the deities or by faith alone. I've always envisioned Mollah as a force empowered by a people's need to be free from oppression, a flaming ethereal giant that smites oppressors. This religion resembles early Christianity under the yoke of Imperial Roman rule. The Diocletian faith is representative of the Holy Roman Empire of Constantinople. The Romisarian faith probably resembles ancient Phoenician principles of commerce and the sacred Bond of the Business Deal.
The cosmology of Sturmgard is as a separate sphere in the multiverse, created by Talas for his own amusement. As such it is separate from the world cosmology of D&D and AD&D to some degree. There are accessways to the elemental planes, the positive material and negative material planes, as well as the Ethereal plane, but only Talas inhabits the border Astral Plane and protects his creations from the Chaos of the outer planes. Demons learned of this separate material plane long ago and tricked a mortal to invite them in. This resulted in the Demon Wars that very nearly ended the world. Since then the world's wizards are sworn to protect the planar boundaries and act as interdimensional border patrolmen, policing the use of magic to ensure that such mistakes never happen again.
Since Spithre ran amok in the early years and then after the Demon Wars, Talas has become more and more restrictive, to the point that magic is now failing. With the banishment of Spithre and the removal of the corruption of the demons the world's residual magical energy is being used up by the various magic-users across the globe. Only by releasing Spithre from his confinement can magic return to Sturmgard. However, doing so may unmake reality since it would prove the creator fallible. One of the main goals for high-level play is to convince Talas to reneg on his banishment of the Lord of Chaos, something that may spark new warfare across the world.
I favor the more detailed approach of world-specific deities and used this model when I designed Thuin/Sturmgard. There are only a few Great Gods and a plethora of lesser gods and demi-gods. Some of the converted deities would resemble this:
LAWFUL
Talas (creator god, dragon lord of the skies and stars)
Aram (lord of paladins, god of righteous justice)
Arne (god of music, art, bards)
Bok (god of bravery)
Kara (goddess of healing and compassion)
Damon (god of the sun, light, and flame)
Dioclesis (Dolestrian principles of culture)
NEUTRAL
Chithara (earth mother)
Baranduin (beast lord)
Bathys (goddess of the seas)
Tomar (god of knowledge)
Kyndar (god of masculinity)
Nairn (goddess of femininity)
Rom (Romisarian principle of commerce)
Mollah (Algozin principle of freedom)
Xaal (goddess of secrets)
Riddlemaster (lord of balance and trials)
CHAOTIC
Spithre (god of chaos, magic)
Gorgus (lord of undeath)
Djun (god of war)
Vetch (god of insanity, jealousy, and criminal rage)
Nelvanna (Lady Ice, mistress of the frozen north)
Shuva (lady of the night, moon goddess)
There are more gods than this; these are only the few I can remember from the top of my head. The various cultures and demi-human races revere these deities under different names. The "principles" (Dioclesis, Rom, and Mollah) are forces empowered by one or more of the deities or by faith alone. I've always envisioned Mollah as a force empowered by a people's need to be free from oppression, a flaming ethereal giant that smites oppressors. This religion resembles early Christianity under the yoke of Imperial Roman rule. The Diocletian faith is representative of the Holy Roman Empire of Constantinople. The Romisarian faith probably resembles ancient Phoenician principles of commerce and the sacred Bond of the Business Deal.
The cosmology of Sturmgard is as a separate sphere in the multiverse, created by Talas for his own amusement. As such it is separate from the world cosmology of D&D and AD&D to some degree. There are accessways to the elemental planes, the positive material and negative material planes, as well as the Ethereal plane, but only Talas inhabits the border Astral Plane and protects his creations from the Chaos of the outer planes. Demons learned of this separate material plane long ago and tricked a mortal to invite them in. This resulted in the Demon Wars that very nearly ended the world. Since then the world's wizards are sworn to protect the planar boundaries and act as interdimensional border patrolmen, policing the use of magic to ensure that such mistakes never happen again.
Since Spithre ran amok in the early years and then after the Demon Wars, Talas has become more and more restrictive, to the point that magic is now failing. With the banishment of Spithre and the removal of the corruption of the demons the world's residual magical energy is being used up by the various magic-users across the globe. Only by releasing Spithre from his confinement can magic return to Sturmgard. However, doing so may unmake reality since it would prove the creator fallible. One of the main goals for high-level play is to convince Talas to reneg on his banishment of the Lord of Chaos, something that may spark new warfare across the world.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Sturmgard Conversion: Alignment and the Afterlife
The Sturmgard Conversion is coming along nicely. One sticking point I have is with alignment. The original version of the game used only 3 alignments: Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic. Later versions of D&D adopted 9 alignments by adding in the Good-Evil axis. I'm not sure which I want to use for Sturmgard. I will be using Basic/Expert rules which are not tied terribly to alignment. However, using sub-classes with alignment restrictions poses a problem. Paladins, Rangers, Druids, and Assassins all have alignment requirements, something that seems rather difficult to pin in a 3-alignment system. After all, if the monsters are mostly Chaotic, that only leaves really 2 choices for PCs who are heroic (Lawful and Neutral). However, there are no "devils" in Basic/Expert, only demons. I've also complained frequently about the spells using Good/Evil as descriptors when alignments use Law/Chaos. They are similar but not the same. I was then thinking of using only Good-Neutral-Evil for alignments, but that seems a bit bland. I want to keep the simplicity of the system intact and not add in any unnecessary ingredients to confuse.
So what would a Sturmgard campaign with classic Basic/Expert alignments look like? Well, Druids are Neutral in any campaign, but Rangers and Paladins are Lawful only. Assassins in OD&D were listed as Neutral only (go figure) so that still works. Most of the "good" deities become Lawful, and Chithara remains Neutral. Spithre and Gorgus revert to Chaotic (but they were anyway). How do I convert the other alignments?
Well, it seems that if you take the nine-alignment chart with good alignments on top, neutral in the middle, and evil on the bottom, you come up with a 3x3 matrix. Separating them into three diagonal stripes from the upper right to the lower left gives you the zones of alignment conversion. Thus LAWFUL encompasses the alignments of LN, LG, NG; NEUTRAL encompasses the alignments of LE, TN, and CG; and CHAOTIC encompasses NE, CE, and CN. Having LE and CG in the same band as neutral can be explained in this way - LE is chaotic behavior with a lawful bent, thus equating to neutral; and CG is good behavior with a selfish bent, thus also balancing out to neutral.
What does this mean for the hosts of creatures in the Monster Manual? Well, devils and faeries become Neutral, as do elves. Dwarves become Lawful as do Halflings. All humanoids become Chaotic, including Orcs and Hobgoblins who would otherwise be considered Neutral since they are (erroneously in my opinion) listed as LE in the Monster Manual. Nothing says that humanoids can't be Neutral in alignment, it simply doesn't fit their modus operandi.
So, in a world without devils and high fay, what would the cosmos look like? Apparently there would be a heaven and an underworld, with some form of spirit plane more concerned with nature and the elements. In essence, the structure of the Inner Planes from Deities and Demi-gods fits this view. The Positive Material Plane identifies as Lawful Heaven, the Negative Material Plane as the Chaotic underworld, and the elemental and Ethereal Planes as the Neutral zones. What about Astral? I think that having the Inner Plane cosmos for Sturmgard works for the creation myth I've developed. Astral would equate to outer space, a transitive plane of vacuum that exists for the mind alone where Talas can be seen in the night sky. Using it may lead to other planes of existence separate from this cosmos - such as the D&D standard cosmology, the Forgotten Realms cosmology, Dark Sun or other campaign settings. In essence, the Astral plane separates universes from one another - it is the space in between the layers of reality.
So, when one dies and is Lawful, they go to the Heavens (positive material plane) where they join with the Light. Chaotic creatures descend to the Hells (negative material plane) where they become shadows. Neutral creatures merge with the spirit planes (ethereal and elemental planes) and this is why elementals sometimes form animal shapes or humanoid shapes. In other consequences, Elves are more attuned to this Neutral philosophy and thus cannot be raised from the dead, although they can be reincarnated. Perhaps the cycle of life already takes into account alignment in the D&D system. Assume the following - living Lawful creatures can be raised from the dead as normal; living Neutral creatures can be reincarnated into new forms; and Chaotic creatures once dead can only be reanimated as undead. A resurrection spell is able to bring anyone back to life in the form they inhabited regardless of alignment. This has interesting implications. First, the curse of undeath applied to a non-Chaotic creature means that their soul is not recoverable. Hence, once you are turned into a ghoul, wight, zombie, skeleton, wraith, mummy, vampire, etc. you cannot be brought back from that state (short of a wish, that is). Neutral creatures reincarnated into a form that is not viable for adventuring (animals, monsters, etc) effectively end that character's career, but the chance of coming back as someone usable remains. The problem is the loss of all Experience Points. There is no resurrection survival chance in Basic, so the chance of being able to bring someone back from the dead is 100%. Perhaps having the character make a Constitution check on d20 would be more appropriate, but would suck if their Constitution is too low.
One has to consider also the cost involved in bringing the dead back to life. Gygax originally set the Raise Dead spell at 5th level meaning a cleric needs to be a minimum of 9th level to cast it. Animate Dead I believe is a 5th level magic-user spell, later a 3rd level cleric spell. Resurrection is a 7th level cleric spell and probably only available at like 14th level or higher for clerics. Does this mean that any character below 9th level (Name Level) is not really viable for such magics? Should there be a level where using such magic is considered viable? It seems to me that 1st-3rd level characters are too fragile to even consider raising from the dead. Once a character breaks that boundary to 4th level then, and only then, are they considered to be viable for resurrection. The prohibitive cost of such a casting means that only the very successful would have enough ready cash to use. Without training costs, wealth tends to pile up in the base town without much use. Magic items are meant to be found, not bought. So all that loot can be used as an insurance policy against death. So what happens to the loot when low level characters die? One suggestion is to name a next of kin (the next character rolled as replacement). Another is to redistribute the treasure to the surviving party members. This could mean an increase in XP, but since there was no danger involved in its gain I don't think XP is appropriate to be awarded for someone else's redistributed hoard.
I'll have to contemplate these issues a bit more before finalizing the decision.
So what would a Sturmgard campaign with classic Basic/Expert alignments look like? Well, Druids are Neutral in any campaign, but Rangers and Paladins are Lawful only. Assassins in OD&D were listed as Neutral only (go figure) so that still works. Most of the "good" deities become Lawful, and Chithara remains Neutral. Spithre and Gorgus revert to Chaotic (but they were anyway). How do I convert the other alignments?
Well, it seems that if you take the nine-alignment chart with good alignments on top, neutral in the middle, and evil on the bottom, you come up with a 3x3 matrix. Separating them into three diagonal stripes from the upper right to the lower left gives you the zones of alignment conversion. Thus LAWFUL encompasses the alignments of LN, LG, NG; NEUTRAL encompasses the alignments of LE, TN, and CG; and CHAOTIC encompasses NE, CE, and CN. Having LE and CG in the same band as neutral can be explained in this way - LE is chaotic behavior with a lawful bent, thus equating to neutral; and CG is good behavior with a selfish bent, thus also balancing out to neutral.
What does this mean for the hosts of creatures in the Monster Manual? Well, devils and faeries become Neutral, as do elves. Dwarves become Lawful as do Halflings. All humanoids become Chaotic, including Orcs and Hobgoblins who would otherwise be considered Neutral since they are (erroneously in my opinion) listed as LE in the Monster Manual. Nothing says that humanoids can't be Neutral in alignment, it simply doesn't fit their modus operandi.
So, in a world without devils and high fay, what would the cosmos look like? Apparently there would be a heaven and an underworld, with some form of spirit plane more concerned with nature and the elements. In essence, the structure of the Inner Planes from Deities and Demi-gods fits this view. The Positive Material Plane identifies as Lawful Heaven, the Negative Material Plane as the Chaotic underworld, and the elemental and Ethereal Planes as the Neutral zones. What about Astral? I think that having the Inner Plane cosmos for Sturmgard works for the creation myth I've developed. Astral would equate to outer space, a transitive plane of vacuum that exists for the mind alone where Talas can be seen in the night sky. Using it may lead to other planes of existence separate from this cosmos - such as the D&D standard cosmology, the Forgotten Realms cosmology, Dark Sun or other campaign settings. In essence, the Astral plane separates universes from one another - it is the space in between the layers of reality.
So, when one dies and is Lawful, they go to the Heavens (positive material plane) where they join with the Light. Chaotic creatures descend to the Hells (negative material plane) where they become shadows. Neutral creatures merge with the spirit planes (ethereal and elemental planes) and this is why elementals sometimes form animal shapes or humanoid shapes. In other consequences, Elves are more attuned to this Neutral philosophy and thus cannot be raised from the dead, although they can be reincarnated. Perhaps the cycle of life already takes into account alignment in the D&D system. Assume the following - living Lawful creatures can be raised from the dead as normal; living Neutral creatures can be reincarnated into new forms; and Chaotic creatures once dead can only be reanimated as undead. A resurrection spell is able to bring anyone back to life in the form they inhabited regardless of alignment. This has interesting implications. First, the curse of undeath applied to a non-Chaotic creature means that their soul is not recoverable. Hence, once you are turned into a ghoul, wight, zombie, skeleton, wraith, mummy, vampire, etc. you cannot be brought back from that state (short of a wish, that is). Neutral creatures reincarnated into a form that is not viable for adventuring (animals, monsters, etc) effectively end that character's career, but the chance of coming back as someone usable remains. The problem is the loss of all Experience Points. There is no resurrection survival chance in Basic, so the chance of being able to bring someone back from the dead is 100%. Perhaps having the character make a Constitution check on d20 would be more appropriate, but would suck if their Constitution is too low.
One has to consider also the cost involved in bringing the dead back to life. Gygax originally set the Raise Dead spell at 5th level meaning a cleric needs to be a minimum of 9th level to cast it. Animate Dead I believe is a 5th level magic-user spell, later a 3rd level cleric spell. Resurrection is a 7th level cleric spell and probably only available at like 14th level or higher for clerics. Does this mean that any character below 9th level (Name Level) is not really viable for such magics? Should there be a level where using such magic is considered viable? It seems to me that 1st-3rd level characters are too fragile to even consider raising from the dead. Once a character breaks that boundary to 4th level then, and only then, are they considered to be viable for resurrection. The prohibitive cost of such a casting means that only the very successful would have enough ready cash to use. Without training costs, wealth tends to pile up in the base town without much use. Magic items are meant to be found, not bought. So all that loot can be used as an insurance policy against death. So what happens to the loot when low level characters die? One suggestion is to name a next of kin (the next character rolled as replacement). Another is to redistribute the treasure to the surviving party members. This could mean an increase in XP, but since there was no danger involved in its gain I don't think XP is appropriate to be awarded for someone else's redistributed hoard.
I'll have to contemplate these issues a bit more before finalizing the decision.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Sturmgard - Finalizing Plans for Basic
I'm in the beginning stages of the Thuin Conversion Project. I'm basically taking the skeleton of my old campaign and fleshing it out as a Basic/Expert Campaign module written in Old School fashion as a true dungeon adventure. The world is getting a facelift as well, being converted to a more old school format to function as both a Basic Dungeon and Expert Wilderness setting. I'm changing some names, adding in OD&D sub-classes, and separating race and class. In essence, all the changes that make D&D into AD&D without all the wacky and unnecessary rules of AD&D. Spells will be simple and quick, combat should run fast and easy, and the party can enjoy a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl without the need to worry about exterior plots, exorbitant training costs, or unnecessary restrictions to their enjoyment. I hope to get a full group to play test the dungeon soon. I've kept the 1st level map and changed some of the monsters to more closely fit the Basic rules, but I've completely reworked the lower levels as something different. The premise of the adventure remains intact and could have world repercussions if the party passes the "Test of the Riddlemaster" (adventure name).
I'm removing most of the names and references to Thuin, keeping the NPCs the same with some alterations (mostly cosmetic), and perhaps converting the PCs from the Thuin campaign into NPCs to interact with the PCs as trainers or healers. The campaign will NOT be sponsoring half-breed races of any sort (no half-elves or half-orcs allowed). Races allowed are Human, Dwarf, Elf, Hobbit, and possibly Gnome. Classes include Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Magic-User, Illusionist, Thief, Assassin, and Bard. Monks have no place in this campaign. Multi-classing functions similar to the way Elves were made to function in D&D. In essence, you have ONE level to advance, but you need to add together the level requirements for all your classes to make a level. Therefore, if you were a Fighter/Magic-User you would need 4,500 XP to make 2nd level. I may or may not work with level limits, instead charging demi-humans a 10% penalty for their special abilities. Therefore, a single class dwarf Fighter would require 2,200 XP where a human Fighter requires only 2,000 XP for 2nd level. Multi-classed demi-humans have no 10% penalty to XP, since they will be slowed enough in their advancement. I was toying with allowing only humans to benefit from XP bonuses, but I decided not to go that route since I would be enforcing abilities rolled with 3d6 and assigned in the order rolled. This makes those sub-classes rare and valuable. In fact, I want to run the entire game as written in the Basic/Expert rules, with only the minor adjustments listed above. The setting of Sturmgard is meant to be "flavor" for the munch and crunch of the adventure itself - focus on the dungeon!
I'm removing most of the names and references to Thuin, keeping the NPCs the same with some alterations (mostly cosmetic), and perhaps converting the PCs from the Thuin campaign into NPCs to interact with the PCs as trainers or healers. The campaign will NOT be sponsoring half-breed races of any sort (no half-elves or half-orcs allowed). Races allowed are Human, Dwarf, Elf, Hobbit, and possibly Gnome. Classes include Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Magic-User, Illusionist, Thief, Assassin, and Bard. Monks have no place in this campaign. Multi-classing functions similar to the way Elves were made to function in D&D. In essence, you have ONE level to advance, but you need to add together the level requirements for all your classes to make a level. Therefore, if you were a Fighter/Magic-User you would need 4,500 XP to make 2nd level. I may or may not work with level limits, instead charging demi-humans a 10% penalty for their special abilities. Therefore, a single class dwarf Fighter would require 2,200 XP where a human Fighter requires only 2,000 XP for 2nd level. Multi-classed demi-humans have no 10% penalty to XP, since they will be slowed enough in their advancement. I was toying with allowing only humans to benefit from XP bonuses, but I decided not to go that route since I would be enforcing abilities rolled with 3d6 and assigned in the order rolled. This makes those sub-classes rare and valuable. In fact, I want to run the entire game as written in the Basic/Expert rules, with only the minor adjustments listed above. The setting of Sturmgard is meant to be "flavor" for the munch and crunch of the adventure itself - focus on the dungeon!
Giants Proceeding Well
The "Against the Giants" campaign I started a few months ago is going well. We're into a few sessions and the party is running strong and finally making off with sufficient quantity of loot to progress at the level they should be. The ranger is kicking ass as predicted and the planning of the druid is paying off as they are systematically taking out the giants and ogres in hit-and-fade runs.
The first entry to the steading involved a lengthy reconnaissance of a couple days using spells and abilities to locate the major players in the steading and how best to attack. It seemed that the giant security was lax so the party took advantage of this and entered the place during early morning when most of the place was asleep. They entered the main door and began taking out sleeping giants. They found the sub-chief awake in his chamber and, using silence spells to mute the combat, took him out easily, polymorphing his concubine in the bed into a mule. They then explored the eastern half of the place, eliminating 10 sleeping giants in a barracks room with a well-thought out plan (none of the giants awakened, even though I rolled the 1 in 20 chance) and then maneuvered through the other rooms by guile and stealth. When they came to the chief's room they encountered his pet bear on guard at the door and this alerted the chief to danger. The chief managed to escape out the secret door and summon the wolves to attack the intruders. This large battle was amazing, ending in the death of one of the hired crossbowmen and all of the combatants except the chief's wife who retreated to the safety of her room. The chief himself went to rally the troops but there were few left to pose a threat.
After taking out the wolves the party went north to find the chief. They instead came to the outbuilding where the other sleeping giants were just starting to rise for late breakfast. The party stumbled into the place but managed to catch at least one barracks room unawares with a fireball before launching into a melee. Some spell mistakes were made (like casting hold monster on the giant in the doorway - preventing most attacks from both sides) but the party worked well together, displaying their new high-level abilities and spells.
Once both rooms were taken care of they decided to leave and replenish their strength. Stefan (one of the henchmen) actually leveled from the haul so he and the wounded returned to Threshold. On the trip back a freak random encounter had them meet a ki-rin who healed the wounded men to full health. Only Stefan is missing the current activity while training.
Some time was spent waiting for Falim and the other hirelings to return and more reconnaissance missions were performed. During one of these the party learned that the cloud giant emissary left in disgust over the inability of Nosnra to capture the intruders.
The second foray into the steading ended in the slaying of numerous ogre guards posted at the gates during another early morning run. They then went directly to the chief's chamber where he was found sleeping with a concubine. The party would have taken him out easily but the giantess woke and alerted the chief to danger as some wandering ogres on patrol came across the rest of the party in the hall outside. The chief was still slain by the druid and ranger, and the combat outside was silenced by the cleric. This giantess was also polymorphed into a mule to keep her from alerting the others.
The party took all the jewlery on the ogres and the chief's jewelry from his room. They also found some gems on the ogres and some potions in their room. They managed to kill off the remaining giant in the northern chamber and frightened the giantesses, keeping them from leaving the room. So far, they have not killed a single giantess - some form of chivalry keeping them from doing so! Or it could be that most of the females refuse to fight (so far). I had most of the rest of the giants retreat to the safety of the lower level, so they will be unpleasantly surprised to find them below!
They found the stairs down but refuse to leave unknown quantities in the upper level. So they spent some time investigating the other rooms to make sure that they were empty. They seem confused about the fact that the giants might be working with tactics (given to them by their masters), but that's how the module is supposed to be so it seems that it's working thus far. I'm not sure how I want this one to play out. I'm guessing I'll leave this up to the players how deep they wish to progress. I'm willing to run the whole series of G and D modules, but I would highly modify Q1 since I disagree with the tone of the module and the entire premise for the adventure is shaky at best. I much prefer to leave gods and goddesses alone in the outer planes and make the players deal with demons instead.
My take on Q1 would be to have the party end up captured by the drow priestesses and forced to eliminate the threat of the Elder Elemental Cult from the vault with help from the least of the drow houses. Success means that the party 'may' gain their freedom and one of the drow houses would be eliminated - thus creating more chaos as they war with each other to gain favor and higher position. In this way the Elder Elemental God becomes the enemy, not Lolth, and any extraplanar adventures happen in his realm, not the Abyss. Demons, evil elementals, and other nasty villains and high-level drow would still be encountered, just not Lolth.
The first entry to the steading involved a lengthy reconnaissance of a couple days using spells and abilities to locate the major players in the steading and how best to attack. It seemed that the giant security was lax so the party took advantage of this and entered the place during early morning when most of the place was asleep. They entered the main door and began taking out sleeping giants. They found the sub-chief awake in his chamber and, using silence spells to mute the combat, took him out easily, polymorphing his concubine in the bed into a mule. They then explored the eastern half of the place, eliminating 10 sleeping giants in a barracks room with a well-thought out plan (none of the giants awakened, even though I rolled the 1 in 20 chance) and then maneuvered through the other rooms by guile and stealth. When they came to the chief's room they encountered his pet bear on guard at the door and this alerted the chief to danger. The chief managed to escape out the secret door and summon the wolves to attack the intruders. This large battle was amazing, ending in the death of one of the hired crossbowmen and all of the combatants except the chief's wife who retreated to the safety of her room. The chief himself went to rally the troops but there were few left to pose a threat.
After taking out the wolves the party went north to find the chief. They instead came to the outbuilding where the other sleeping giants were just starting to rise for late breakfast. The party stumbled into the place but managed to catch at least one barracks room unawares with a fireball before launching into a melee. Some spell mistakes were made (like casting hold monster on the giant in the doorway - preventing most attacks from both sides) but the party worked well together, displaying their new high-level abilities and spells.
Once both rooms were taken care of they decided to leave and replenish their strength. Stefan (one of the henchmen) actually leveled from the haul so he and the wounded returned to Threshold. On the trip back a freak random encounter had them meet a ki-rin who healed the wounded men to full health. Only Stefan is missing the current activity while training.
Some time was spent waiting for Falim and the other hirelings to return and more reconnaissance missions were performed. During one of these the party learned that the cloud giant emissary left in disgust over the inability of Nosnra to capture the intruders.
The second foray into the steading ended in the slaying of numerous ogre guards posted at the gates during another early morning run. They then went directly to the chief's chamber where he was found sleeping with a concubine. The party would have taken him out easily but the giantess woke and alerted the chief to danger as some wandering ogres on patrol came across the rest of the party in the hall outside. The chief was still slain by the druid and ranger, and the combat outside was silenced by the cleric. This giantess was also polymorphed into a mule to keep her from alerting the others.
The party took all the jewlery on the ogres and the chief's jewelry from his room. They also found some gems on the ogres and some potions in their room. They managed to kill off the remaining giant in the northern chamber and frightened the giantesses, keeping them from leaving the room. So far, they have not killed a single giantess - some form of chivalry keeping them from doing so! Or it could be that most of the females refuse to fight (so far). I had most of the rest of the giants retreat to the safety of the lower level, so they will be unpleasantly surprised to find them below!
They found the stairs down but refuse to leave unknown quantities in the upper level. So they spent some time investigating the other rooms to make sure that they were empty. They seem confused about the fact that the giants might be working with tactics (given to them by their masters), but that's how the module is supposed to be so it seems that it's working thus far. I'm not sure how I want this one to play out. I'm guessing I'll leave this up to the players how deep they wish to progress. I'm willing to run the whole series of G and D modules, but I would highly modify Q1 since I disagree with the tone of the module and the entire premise for the adventure is shaky at best. I much prefer to leave gods and goddesses alone in the outer planes and make the players deal with demons instead.
My take on Q1 would be to have the party end up captured by the drow priestesses and forced to eliminate the threat of the Elder Elemental Cult from the vault with help from the least of the drow houses. Success means that the party 'may' gain their freedom and one of the drow houses would be eliminated - thus creating more chaos as they war with each other to gain favor and higher position. In this way the Elder Elemental God becomes the enemy, not Lolth, and any extraplanar adventures happen in his realm, not the Abyss. Demons, evil elementals, and other nasty villains and high-level drow would still be encountered, just not Lolth.
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