I stumbled upon an interesting finding while trying to establish a timeline for the Hommlet/Temple of Elemental Evil backstory. Apparently, the timeline for Greyhawk back in the Folio days was set at 576 CY - this being the starting point for any campaigns set in the Flanaess. However, I take this point to reference the year 1976 A.D. when Gary Gygax ran his D&D campaigns in the world of Greyhawk. Further references in the module T1 seem to indicate that the year was now 579 CY, which coincides with the module's publication date of 1979 A.D. Future product releases in the Greyhawk campaign in 2nd edition and 3rd edition apparently kept this timeline advancement, so that the year in the "real world" advanced with the year in the fantasy world.
By this estimation, the timeline in Greyhawk should be 613 CY and Hommlet should have advanced by 34 years. A lot can happen in 30 years. In our lifetime we've gone from the invention of the personal computer to the ubiquitous social media devices. We've advanced travel and technology to undreamt levels. Look how far we advanced between the 1940s and the 1970s. In a world of magic, however, this may not be the case. Surely, the castle fortifications begun by Burne and Rufus in the module are completed by this time and the population of Hommlet has likely increased. The fate of this community is tied to the existence of the Temple of Elemental Evil and its growth is likely dependent upon when and if the place was finally shut down by adventurers.
Assuming that the Temple and its forces were wiped out the second time then the community is no doubt returning to a time of happiness and prosperity, growing stronger each day. If the adventure was never played through or the adventurers sent to deal with the demoness were unsuccessful, then a resurgence of evil in the region would likely cause delays and troubles and the village may have suffered worse attacks or been destroyed by the rise of evil. Assuming that the players moved on and did not return, then Hommlet might be an empty ghost town or worse, a suburb of evil Nulb - a hideout of villainy on the edge of a noble holding between several powers of Good in Greyhawk. Allowing such a blasphemy to continue unchecked may occur since the forces of Veluna and Furyondy have to deal with threats on multiple fronts, and a distraction such as the Temple may have to go unanswered for years. At some point, though, the cancerous evil needs to be addressed.
This got me thinking about other adventures in Greyhawk. Obviously the G and D modules occurred BEFORE Hommlet, in 578 (according to publishing dates), and they are referred to in the T1 Background section as the "sharp check dealt to Lolth." It has been established in conversations with Mr. Gygax that the ToEE was supposed to be organized around Lolth being the demon summoned in the Battle of Emridy Meadows, not Tzuggtmoy, who was later used since Q1 was already in production by another author as a sequel to the G and D Series (a project approved by Gary).
In my opinion, Q1 needs to be rewritten to better emulate the chaos and evil of the Abyss and demonkind. T2 needs to be reworked as well to better fit the paradigm of Elemental Evil. In my conversions, I've been reworking some of the creatures and encounters added to the Temple to showcase the new Monster Manual II, and removing some of the influence of other authors to the glory of Gygaxian Greyhawk. Not that these adventures are bad, but the writing style is very different.
I might be interested in starting another Greyhawk 3rd edition adventure set in a much different, 40 years older Flanaess, taking into account all the backstory that has affected the campaign world since the beginning. Its important to keep these modules as historical references, but the adventures of the modern age need to be more akin to the rules of the modern age. Progress is inevitable and nothing remains the same.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Autumn Nostalgia Returns
The beginning of the school year always gets me nostalgic for my old D&D days - playing for hours and having the time of my life. I've been looking back at past campaigns and binders full of gaming materials just sitting there on shelves, hopeful but neglected. I don't know why I keep all this stuff; it's fairly obvious that I'm probably not going to run any of it again. My current campaign in AD&D has been running for about 13 years now and has generated two full binders of material with a third in development.
Should I scrap the lot of it or try to preserve it for some possible future return?
Most of the binders hold reworked versions of rules or modules converted from one edition to another. My Harn campaign from back in the 1990s hasn't been touched in decades - literally! All the materials I bought for that game sit in binders on my shelves. All the 3rd edition D&D books (which take up an entire small bookcase) sit idle and stare at me while I play World of Warcraft or work on my AD&D material. I'm not really sure what will happen when AD&D ends - will I simply give up on human interaction altogether? Computer games are grabbing my attention more and more now and keeping me from all the things I have to get done. But these are a poor substitute for a game that allows you to do anything you want. Scripted adventures are OK the first go around, but there is very little fun in repeating the same quests over and over. And I suck at pvp games.
So I keep looking back at all the stuff I have and wondering what the hell to do with it and the rest of my existence. I still have no permanent home to call my own, no family to raise, nothing to look forward to each morning, and a soul-sucking job. I need to get the hell off Long Island and soon!
Should I scrap the lot of it or try to preserve it for some possible future return?
Most of the binders hold reworked versions of rules or modules converted from one edition to another. My Harn campaign from back in the 1990s hasn't been touched in decades - literally! All the materials I bought for that game sit in binders on my shelves. All the 3rd edition D&D books (which take up an entire small bookcase) sit idle and stare at me while I play World of Warcraft or work on my AD&D material. I'm not really sure what will happen when AD&D ends - will I simply give up on human interaction altogether? Computer games are grabbing my attention more and more now and keeping me from all the things I have to get done. But these are a poor substitute for a game that allows you to do anything you want. Scripted adventures are OK the first go around, but there is very little fun in repeating the same quests over and over. And I suck at pvp games.
So I keep looking back at all the stuff I have and wondering what the hell to do with it and the rest of my existence. I still have no permanent home to call my own, no family to raise, nothing to look forward to each morning, and a soul-sucking job. I need to get the hell off Long Island and soon!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Creature Catalog and Cosmology in B/X D&D
In a nostalgic mood last night, I decided to pick through the new monster listings in the few B/X modules published before TSR moved to Mentzer BECMI. I found a quite a few gems, although I was disappointed in the lack of modules from this version of the game. In essence, my only sources were B3: Palace of the Silver Princess, B4: the Lost City, X1: the Isle of Dread, and X2: Castle Amber. All the other modules were published in 1983 with the new Mentzer rules (and horribly produced I might add).
This got me reignited for another go at what Companion D&D would have included. Obviously, the Creature Catalog produced for D&D in the 1980s was exactly the same as what I worked on but also included creatures from ALL the BECMI material published at the time. Keeping with the mindset that later products were too whimsical for my tastes, I wanted to see how I could interpret the rest of the modules in terms of Moldvay/Cook rules. Modules B5 through B12 are much too involved with the Easley-illustrated Mentzer sets. Some of these modules are quite boring or seem to be too far reaching. The worst of the bunch is B8 which seems to be totally disconnected from anything in the D&D multiverse and introduces almost completely different game mechanics, including so many monsters that do not appear in the original rules. A few new monsters are ok, but replacing ALL the monsters is like making it a new game.
The Expert series (X3 through X13) are somewhat tied to the Known World setting, although many of these explore areas beyond those mapped on the original, as if the design team for the GAZ series chased all plotlines outside of their boundaries. Amusingly enough, it's very hard to place an adventure in a setting where EVERYTHING is developed and explained. Therefore, by filling in all the empty hexes, these products practically eliminated any possibility of setting adventures in their borders (except maybe for internecine warfare)! The modules X4 and X5 are the exceptions as they build up a new enemy from beyond the deserts in the west (The Master) in a way that works well, if a little too loosely defined.
I'm tempted to add in all the material from the original D&D rulebooks and supplements to increase the monster and magic item lists. However, I want the simplistic feel and uncomplicated nature of the game to shine through - so all the elegant D&D elements without any of the Advanced nonsense present in AD&D. I prefer a three-phase afterlife featuring Lawful Heavens, Neutral Spirit Realms, and Chaotic Hells. I dislike the Spheres concept of BECMI, although some of their definitions are kinda cool for the ethereal and astral realms. I see the Ethereal Plane as a transition plane for the Inner Planes enclosed by the Material Plane. Beyond the Material Plane is a the Astral Plane, a vast void of stars (essentially outer space) where travel is performed using the mind and the other planes are actually planets orbiting distant stars, with layers being planets in the same star system. Various gates bring the players to and from these planes (planets). Some planes may be little more than collections of matter, liquids, or gases. In fact, this works very well for defining the inner planes. A large gaseous cloud would represent Air, a vast sphere of ocean defines Water, a rocky desolate planetoid with numerous cracks, crevices, tunnels and caves represents Earth, and the interior of a sun or molten core of a planet could represent Fire. A pulsar could represent Positive Energy and a black hole represents Negative Energy.
Alternately, the Spirit Realms of Eastern Mythology and religions featuring mutable creatures that exist by will alone could represent the mutable elements of the Inner Planes. The Ethereal Plane becomes a misty barrier between the land of the Material and the land of the Immaterial, between realms of Souls and realms of Spirits. The Heavens become those planets in the Astral plane that are considered enlightened and paradises, while the Hells become those planets barely able to support life or are dangerous places to exist. Souls would be ejected from the Material Plane and sent to a corresponding Afterlife in the Astral Plane where they are reincarnated in a new form based on how they lived their lives. The oldest and most powerful inhabitants of the outer planes are the Immortals who use soul energy to power their activities. They foster others on the Material Plane to gather more worship and thus more soul energy.
This version of the game can work but I need to define lots of terms, determine what happens at the upper levels of the class structures, and how this all links together.
This got me reignited for another go at what Companion D&D would have included. Obviously, the Creature Catalog produced for D&D in the 1980s was exactly the same as what I worked on but also included creatures from ALL the BECMI material published at the time. Keeping with the mindset that later products were too whimsical for my tastes, I wanted to see how I could interpret the rest of the modules in terms of Moldvay/Cook rules. Modules B5 through B12 are much too involved with the Easley-illustrated Mentzer sets. Some of these modules are quite boring or seem to be too far reaching. The worst of the bunch is B8 which seems to be totally disconnected from anything in the D&D multiverse and introduces almost completely different game mechanics, including so many monsters that do not appear in the original rules. A few new monsters are ok, but replacing ALL the monsters is like making it a new game.
The Expert series (X3 through X13) are somewhat tied to the Known World setting, although many of these explore areas beyond those mapped on the original, as if the design team for the GAZ series chased all plotlines outside of their boundaries. Amusingly enough, it's very hard to place an adventure in a setting where EVERYTHING is developed and explained. Therefore, by filling in all the empty hexes, these products practically eliminated any possibility of setting adventures in their borders (except maybe for internecine warfare)! The modules X4 and X5 are the exceptions as they build up a new enemy from beyond the deserts in the west (The Master) in a way that works well, if a little too loosely defined.
I'm tempted to add in all the material from the original D&D rulebooks and supplements to increase the monster and magic item lists. However, I want the simplistic feel and uncomplicated nature of the game to shine through - so all the elegant D&D elements without any of the Advanced nonsense present in AD&D. I prefer a three-phase afterlife featuring Lawful Heavens, Neutral Spirit Realms, and Chaotic Hells. I dislike the Spheres concept of BECMI, although some of their definitions are kinda cool for the ethereal and astral realms. I see the Ethereal Plane as a transition plane for the Inner Planes enclosed by the Material Plane. Beyond the Material Plane is a the Astral Plane, a vast void of stars (essentially outer space) where travel is performed using the mind and the other planes are actually planets orbiting distant stars, with layers being planets in the same star system. Various gates bring the players to and from these planes (planets). Some planes may be little more than collections of matter, liquids, or gases. In fact, this works very well for defining the inner planes. A large gaseous cloud would represent Air, a vast sphere of ocean defines Water, a rocky desolate planetoid with numerous cracks, crevices, tunnels and caves represents Earth, and the interior of a sun or molten core of a planet could represent Fire. A pulsar could represent Positive Energy and a black hole represents Negative Energy.
Alternately, the Spirit Realms of Eastern Mythology and religions featuring mutable creatures that exist by will alone could represent the mutable elements of the Inner Planes. The Ethereal Plane becomes a misty barrier between the land of the Material and the land of the Immaterial, between realms of Souls and realms of Spirits. The Heavens become those planets in the Astral plane that are considered enlightened and paradises, while the Hells become those planets barely able to support life or are dangerous places to exist. Souls would be ejected from the Material Plane and sent to a corresponding Afterlife in the Astral Plane where they are reincarnated in a new form based on how they lived their lives. The oldest and most powerful inhabitants of the outer planes are the Immortals who use soul energy to power their activities. They foster others on the Material Plane to gather more worship and thus more soul energy.
This version of the game can work but I need to define lots of terms, determine what happens at the upper levels of the class structures, and how this all links together.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Problems with Campaign Conversion
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.
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)