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.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
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.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Against the Giants: Mystara Style!
After 13 years of waiting, I'm finally getting to play G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief in 1st edition AD&D with a group of people who have NEVER experienced this Gygaxian classic adventure! It took forever to get them to agree to do this, but once I explained the XP and treasure that accompanies high level adventuring, they decided to go for it. They planned for 2 whole weekends before setting out from Specularum north to the Black Peaks and the town of Threshold. I set the steading in the mountains south of the road between Threshold and Verge in the Known World setting of the Basic/Expert set.
The party is comprised of:
Eraergon "Eric" Patheney, 10th level half-elf druid
Chow-Lin, 10th level Ethengarian human magic-user
Falim ibn Abdul Akbar, 7th level Ylari human ranger
Myriam the Scholar, 8th level Ylari human cleric of the Eternal Truth
Katerina Katrina, 6th level Traladaran human Thief (henchman)
Hamlin Hoefurrow, 6th level halfling fighter (henchman)
Gustav Strata, 5th level dwarven fighter (henchman)
Stefan Defoe, 5th level Darokinian human fighter (henchman)
female lantern bearer hireling
10 light crossbowmen hirelings
1 crossbowman sergeant hireling
2 pack mules
Yep, that's a classic party of 20(!) individuals and 2 mules. I have NEVER had such a large group enter a module before, and this should be exciting.
I got them to the secret cave without much fuss. They spent two whole sessions setting up their cave, reconnoitering the steading using polymorph/shapechange, invisibility, and scrying, tracking ogres leaving the steading and counting up possible numbers of giants inside. I talked them out of waiting around outside to take out the giants, since that would have ended in disaster. They eventually agreed to enter the place in the pre-dawn hours and hopefully catch the giants unaware and asleep.
The 1st actual session of them entering the place occurred 2 weeks ago, near the end of the night. They entered the cloak room and took out the sleeping giants both downstairs and in the guard tower. They ended that session thinking this would be a cakewalk.
Last week's session saw them taking out the sub-chief in his own bedroom (somewhat short battle) and using tactics for like the first time ever. The giantess in the bed they polymorphed into a mule and left her in the bed. They moved on north down the corridor and found the giant's nursery, but they backed out and left the kids asleep. The next barracks room they entered contained 10 sleeping giants. They cast silence on them and then systematically killed them in their sleep (none woke up). They were making good progress, all the way to the trophy room on the east side, when they opened the chief's chamber door and pissed off his guardian cave bear! That woke up chief Nosnra who grabbed his weapon and headed for the secret door. While the others were dealing with the bear, the chief called out for help and ran to the wolf pen doors to get the dire wolves on the intruders. The party druid charmed the cave bear but the racket has roused the chief's wife who burst through the southern door with her pet cave bear.
We ended the session with the party in the trophy room + the charmed cave bear (which the druid spoke to). The chief was heading to the outbuilding to rouse the barracks and send them into the battle while the wolves were sent in to deal with the intruders. Several other giants may have heard the alarm. The chief's wife is pissed at being woken so early and she'll likely take it out on the party somehow. I intend on keeping the chief alive and safe through this whole ordeal, perhaps sending him down to the second level. I've learned my lesson with this group, not to give them an inch. They like "no save" spells and can eliminate most threats through ranged attacks. The magic-user is likely to use up her last charge on the Staff of Power she obtained last adventure so I won't need to worry about that item anymore. :)
This could be a TPK, or at least teach them not to try and circumvent the way the module is written. If they had simply entered the place when the feast was occurring they would have had a much easier time of killing the giants, in my humble opinion. They have wands of cold, fire, conjuration, paralysis, a staff of power, a djinni bottle, several 5th level spells among the spellcasters, and a host of healing abilities. I really think that entering the place with a dwarf and halfling fighter was also key since they have better AC against giants.
Can't wait to play this combat out!
The party is comprised of:
Eraergon "Eric" Patheney, 10th level half-elf druid
Chow-Lin, 10th level Ethengarian human magic-user
Falim ibn Abdul Akbar, 7th level Ylari human ranger
Myriam the Scholar, 8th level Ylari human cleric of the Eternal Truth
Katerina Katrina, 6th level Traladaran human Thief (henchman)
Hamlin Hoefurrow, 6th level halfling fighter (henchman)
Gustav Strata, 5th level dwarven fighter (henchman)
Stefan Defoe, 5th level Darokinian human fighter (henchman)
female lantern bearer hireling
10 light crossbowmen hirelings
1 crossbowman sergeant hireling
2 pack mules
Yep, that's a classic party of 20(!) individuals and 2 mules. I have NEVER had such a large group enter a module before, and this should be exciting.
I got them to the secret cave without much fuss. They spent two whole sessions setting up their cave, reconnoitering the steading using polymorph/shapechange, invisibility, and scrying, tracking ogres leaving the steading and counting up possible numbers of giants inside. I talked them out of waiting around outside to take out the giants, since that would have ended in disaster. They eventually agreed to enter the place in the pre-dawn hours and hopefully catch the giants unaware and asleep.
The 1st actual session of them entering the place occurred 2 weeks ago, near the end of the night. They entered the cloak room and took out the sleeping giants both downstairs and in the guard tower. They ended that session thinking this would be a cakewalk.
Last week's session saw them taking out the sub-chief in his own bedroom (somewhat short battle) and using tactics for like the first time ever. The giantess in the bed they polymorphed into a mule and left her in the bed. They moved on north down the corridor and found the giant's nursery, but they backed out and left the kids asleep. The next barracks room they entered contained 10 sleeping giants. They cast silence on them and then systematically killed them in their sleep (none woke up). They were making good progress, all the way to the trophy room on the east side, when they opened the chief's chamber door and pissed off his guardian cave bear! That woke up chief Nosnra who grabbed his weapon and headed for the secret door. While the others were dealing with the bear, the chief called out for help and ran to the wolf pen doors to get the dire wolves on the intruders. The party druid charmed the cave bear but the racket has roused the chief's wife who burst through the southern door with her pet cave bear.
We ended the session with the party in the trophy room + the charmed cave bear (which the druid spoke to). The chief was heading to the outbuilding to rouse the barracks and send them into the battle while the wolves were sent in to deal with the intruders. Several other giants may have heard the alarm. The chief's wife is pissed at being woken so early and she'll likely take it out on the party somehow. I intend on keeping the chief alive and safe through this whole ordeal, perhaps sending him down to the second level. I've learned my lesson with this group, not to give them an inch. They like "no save" spells and can eliminate most threats through ranged attacks. The magic-user is likely to use up her last charge on the Staff of Power she obtained last adventure so I won't need to worry about that item anymore. :)
This could be a TPK, or at least teach them not to try and circumvent the way the module is written. If they had simply entered the place when the feast was occurring they would have had a much easier time of killing the giants, in my humble opinion. They have wands of cold, fire, conjuration, paralysis, a staff of power, a djinni bottle, several 5th level spells among the spellcasters, and a host of healing abilities. I really think that entering the place with a dwarf and halfling fighter was also key since they have better AC against giants.
Can't wait to play this combat out!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Premise Behind Most D&D Modules
I've been gearing up for running G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief for about 13 years. My players are finally as close as I can get them. They established their base in the cave outside the Steading and are now using surveillance on the place to see what's going on and how they can approach this problem.
Here's the problem: They don't want to go in! They want to draw the giants out in the hope of taking them on in small groups and eliminating the steading by setting it aflame. Although this tactic is not unheard of, I could not stress enough how utterly wasteful such a tactic is. They think that eliminating the giants is more important than finding out who is the intelligence behind the attacks. How completely demoralizing for me. I was so psyched to play a good old fashioned dungeon crawl and they want to play siege warfare.
I suppose I may have led them on this path by allowing them all the gear and mercenary help they would require for free from the Duke. However, I envisioned them hiring henchmen, not soldiers. I kept asking them if they wanted to hire henchmen. They refused, instead taking up a 10 crossbowmen and 10 light hobilars with 2 sergeants. They thought they were approaching caves full of giants - they had no idea they would be finding a wooden fortress in the mountains. I allow the characters to make their own assumptions and plan their own attacks, only giving them warnings about how the system works in relation to their plans. If they attack the steading in the manner they are planning the party will be wiped from existence!
First off it is specifically stated that the steading will not burn. The timbers are so soaked with moisture that they will take enormous heat for extended periods to catch aflame. The druid's solution: wall of fire. We already house ruled the call lightning spell to be used once/round for 1 round/level with concentration maintained throughout the duration (still needs to be cast outdoors). I believe the druid is looking to cook the giants with lightning bolts as they emerge. With three gates, they can be surrounded and the dire wolves set upon them before they can get very many spells off. Even if the mage manages to get slow off in time, their deaths will simply be delayed, not prevented. If the entire steading is roused, the allies of the giants will likely participate in the attack - stone giants and a nasty cloud giant. These opponents are the deadliest. They are the most likely to make saving throws, the most likely to cause mortal damage, and the most likely to hit with boulders at range. The chief alone could eliminate all the henchmen with his ballista-crossbow. In the end it will end up being a rout at best and a total party wipe at worst. Either way my campaign will likely come to an end. I see no good that can come of this.
To step in and explain the situation to the party goes against my principles as a DM. Almost ALL modules written for D&D were DUNGEONS. They were meant to be areas to enter and loot, not eliminate at the front door and sift through ashes for surviving items. I'll give them kudos for coming up with a plan to take as few casualties as possible, but that's not the way the game is meant to be played. Wilderness is little more than a means of getting from a safe place TO the dungeon, encounters and all. Very few adventures are strictly wilderness based, and even then lairs are akin to dungeons so the concepts remain true. They'll have to accept this fact and run the scenario as it was meant to be run. I WILL have my fun, damn it!
Here's the problem: They don't want to go in! They want to draw the giants out in the hope of taking them on in small groups and eliminating the steading by setting it aflame. Although this tactic is not unheard of, I could not stress enough how utterly wasteful such a tactic is. They think that eliminating the giants is more important than finding out who is the intelligence behind the attacks. How completely demoralizing for me. I was so psyched to play a good old fashioned dungeon crawl and they want to play siege warfare.
I suppose I may have led them on this path by allowing them all the gear and mercenary help they would require for free from the Duke. However, I envisioned them hiring henchmen, not soldiers. I kept asking them if they wanted to hire henchmen. They refused, instead taking up a 10 crossbowmen and 10 light hobilars with 2 sergeants. They thought they were approaching caves full of giants - they had no idea they would be finding a wooden fortress in the mountains. I allow the characters to make their own assumptions and plan their own attacks, only giving them warnings about how the system works in relation to their plans. If they attack the steading in the manner they are planning the party will be wiped from existence!
First off it is specifically stated that the steading will not burn. The timbers are so soaked with moisture that they will take enormous heat for extended periods to catch aflame. The druid's solution: wall of fire. We already house ruled the call lightning spell to be used once/round for 1 round/level with concentration maintained throughout the duration (still needs to be cast outdoors). I believe the druid is looking to cook the giants with lightning bolts as they emerge. With three gates, they can be surrounded and the dire wolves set upon them before they can get very many spells off. Even if the mage manages to get slow off in time, their deaths will simply be delayed, not prevented. If the entire steading is roused, the allies of the giants will likely participate in the attack - stone giants and a nasty cloud giant. These opponents are the deadliest. They are the most likely to make saving throws, the most likely to cause mortal damage, and the most likely to hit with boulders at range. The chief alone could eliminate all the henchmen with his ballista-crossbow. In the end it will end up being a rout at best and a total party wipe at worst. Either way my campaign will likely come to an end. I see no good that can come of this.
To step in and explain the situation to the party goes against my principles as a DM. Almost ALL modules written for D&D were DUNGEONS. They were meant to be areas to enter and loot, not eliminate at the front door and sift through ashes for surviving items. I'll give them kudos for coming up with a plan to take as few casualties as possible, but that's not the way the game is meant to be played. Wilderness is little more than a means of getting from a safe place TO the dungeon, encounters and all. Very few adventures are strictly wilderness based, and even then lairs are akin to dungeons so the concepts remain true. They'll have to accept this fact and run the scenario as it was meant to be run. I WILL have my fun, damn it!
Friday, March 8, 2013
1st Edition AD&D Initiative: Clarification
Another confusing issue in AD&D is the initiative roll, especially when some members of the party are not involved in melee with the monsters. The examples in the books are either flat out wrong according to the rules provided or so situation specific as to be practically useless.
At the core, initiative is pretty straightforward. A d6 is rolled for both sides of the combat (players and monsters), sometimes by the DM and sometimes by the players and the DM (depending on preference). I prefer to allow the party to roll their own initiative, but I keep track of it in the margins of my combat notes. If the combat is simply straight melee, then I don't worry about anything other than high roll goes first. It's the other actions that bog the game down.
When timing is important, actions during the melee round need to be broken down into segments. If a creature is only moving, then each segment they move 1/10 of their movement rate (so a 12" movement rate moves 12 feet each segment). A segment is 6 seconds long and there are 10 segments in a combat round (1 minute). The d6 works best since it can tell you when in that segment or round that you go.
Spells must be announced BEFORE the initiative is rolled. This is because casting begins on segment 0 of the round and proceeds for as many segments as the casting time. If a spell requires one segment to cast, it requires the entire segment to cast. This is important. Spells works outside the normal initiative roll; however, if two spellcasters are casting spells at the same time with the same casting time, the one with the winning initiative roll casts first (possibly disrupting the other's spell at the last possible second). Any successful attack or damage to a casting character or monster BEFORE the spell is complete disrupts the spell.
Many magic items have activation times. Potions need 1 segment to drink and 2-5 segments to take effect. Spell scrolls are cast as spells using the casting time (protection scrolls have a reading time listed). Some rings, wands, staves, and rods have multiple activation times depending on the power used. Some miscellaneous magic items have activation times as well. These are all treated as beginning on segment 0 and occurring at the end of the segment indicated.
Now, how do you determine when a person goes in the round? Easy, look at your opponent's die roll. If the party won initiative, they go on the segment of the monster's initiative roll. The monster's losing initiative goes on the party's higher initiative roll. Say the party won initiative with a 4 and the monster's got a 2, the party would generally attack on segment 2 and the monsters on segment 4. So in essence, the party is rolling to see when the monster's go and the DM rolls to see when the party goes!
Tied initiatives resort to using weapon speed factors for attacks. The die roll itself is still used for undefined abilities like turning undead and missile fire. We use the 2nd edition version of multiple attacks since it makes more sense: the first attack comes in initiative order, and subsequent attacks occur at the end of the round in initiative order. (The actual method of multiple attack routines per the DMG indiactes that when you have 2 attacks in the round, the attacker goes FIRST and LAST.) Hasted creatures always attack first, and slowed creatures (including zombies) always attack last. Tied attacks that fall on the same segment are simultaneous. Spells cast with the same casting time on a tied initiative both occur simultaneously.
Let's look at a few combat examples using characters from my home campaign....
PARTY
Chow-Lin, 10th level human magic-user with several spells remaining
Eraergon ("Eric"), 10th level half-elven druid with scimitar +1 and several spells remaining
Falim, 7th level human ranger with dancing falchion and jambiya
Myriam, 8th level human cleric with mace +1 and several spells remaining
Hamlin, 6th level halfling fighter henchman with short sword of speed +1 and bullet sling
MONSTERS
2 ogres wielding huge battle axes
1 hill giant wielding club
2 dire wolves
On round one, Chow-Lin declares to cast magic missile (casting time 1 segment) at the giant. Eric casts heat metal (casting time 4 segments?) on one of the ogres. Falim declares a charge at the other ogre, Hamlin is slinging at a dire wolf, and Myriam is casting spiritual hammer (casting time 5 segments?) at the other wolf. The ogres are charging to attack, as are the dire wolves, and the giant is picking up boulders for throwing. Initiative is rolled and the results are Party 3, Monsters 4. Since Falim and the Ogres are charging, these attacks occur at the end of movement. Falim moves at 12' per segment and the ogres are moving at 9' per segment. If the encounter occurred only 40' away then they will clash at segment 2 since charging ignores initiative and the longer weapon strikes first (in this case the ogres). One of the ogres intercepts Falim. The dire wolf attacking Hamlin also arrives on segment 2 due to 18' movement per segment. The other dire wolf is charging Eric. The other ogre charges on to Myriam. Since the ogres and wolves were charging they get to attack at the end of their move. Here is the breakdown, segment by segment.
ROUND ONE
1: Chow-Lin's magic missile spell hits the giant for 15 points of damage.
2: The ogres attack Falim (hitting for 10 points) and Myriam (missing). The dire wolves attack Hamlin (hitting for 6 points) and Eric (hitting for 4 points). As a result, Hamlin must now switch weapons and Eric loses his heat metal spell. Since Falim charged also he gets to go at the end of this segment (after the ogre) and swings for a hit causing 12 points of damage.
3: The giant hurls one boulder at Chow-Lin, hitting for 9 points of damage.
4: Hamlin switches weapons from sling to short sword. Eric can do nothing since he lost his spell.
5: Myriam spell comes off (since she was not interrupted) and her spiritual hammer now is cast upon the ogre attacking her. She misses this round.
6-10: Nothing else happens.
This round we have melee with Falim vs. Ogre 1, Myriam vs. Ogre 2, Hamlin vs. Wolf 1, Eric vs. Wolf 2, and missile/spell combat between the giant and Chow-Lin. Chow-Lin declares a slow spell (3 segment casting time) on the ogres and wolves (but the giant is just out of range) and Eric and Myriam are drawing weapons so they will automatically lose initiative. Hamlin has a hasted 1st attack and a normal sword attack, so he will go first. Initiative is rolled - Party gets a 5, Monsters get a 2.
ROUND TWO
FIRST: Hamlin attacks his wolf for 7 points of damage.
1:
2: Myriam's spiritual hammer attacks her ogre and hits for 4 damage. Falim strikes at his ogre hitting for 15 points of damage, killing it. Hamlin's normal strike hits for 5 points of damage.
3: Chow-Lin casts slow on the wolves and ogres, making them attack every other round and last from now on.
4:
5: The giant tosses a boulder at Chow-Lin who is separated from the melee but fails to hit. The boulder rolls harmlessly away behind the melee.
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
LAST: Eric strikes with his scimitar at an ogre and hits for 4 points of damage. Myriam draws out her weapon but misses. The slowed ogre and wolves attack now: all miss their targets.
The 3rd round Falim has no target and must cross to the giant. He cannot charge again this turn. Hamlin is attacking Wolf 1, Eric is attacking the Wolf 2, Myriam is attacking Ogre 2, and Chow-Lin has decided to cast magic missile at the giant again. Combat continues at this point with the ogre and wolves attacking last and everyone else going on initiative.
As it states in the DMG, most attacks will come on segments 1-6. High level spells will usually go last, and low level spells will come early in the round. Spellcasting in combat is very tricky and it's good to have a backup plan when creatures come at you fast. The above example is rather complex but can be seen to work within the guidelines of the rules.
So initiative is not so scary after all and can be resolved fairly easily if the participants simply take their time. The rules as written make things overly complicated and should be reduced to this version in order to make the game run more smoothly. It may be ADVANCED D&D but that doesn't mean you should need a computer to figure out how to run combat!
At the core, initiative is pretty straightforward. A d6 is rolled for both sides of the combat (players and monsters), sometimes by the DM and sometimes by the players and the DM (depending on preference). I prefer to allow the party to roll their own initiative, but I keep track of it in the margins of my combat notes. If the combat is simply straight melee, then I don't worry about anything other than high roll goes first. It's the other actions that bog the game down.
When timing is important, actions during the melee round need to be broken down into segments. If a creature is only moving, then each segment they move 1/10 of their movement rate (so a 12" movement rate moves 12 feet each segment). A segment is 6 seconds long and there are 10 segments in a combat round (1 minute). The d6 works best since it can tell you when in that segment or round that you go.
Spells must be announced BEFORE the initiative is rolled. This is because casting begins on segment 0 of the round and proceeds for as many segments as the casting time. If a spell requires one segment to cast, it requires the entire segment to cast. This is important. Spells works outside the normal initiative roll; however, if two spellcasters are casting spells at the same time with the same casting time, the one with the winning initiative roll casts first (possibly disrupting the other's spell at the last possible second). Any successful attack or damage to a casting character or monster BEFORE the spell is complete disrupts the spell.
Many magic items have activation times. Potions need 1 segment to drink and 2-5 segments to take effect. Spell scrolls are cast as spells using the casting time (protection scrolls have a reading time listed). Some rings, wands, staves, and rods have multiple activation times depending on the power used. Some miscellaneous magic items have activation times as well. These are all treated as beginning on segment 0 and occurring at the end of the segment indicated.
Now, how do you determine when a person goes in the round? Easy, look at your opponent's die roll. If the party won initiative, they go on the segment of the monster's initiative roll. The monster's losing initiative goes on the party's higher initiative roll. Say the party won initiative with a 4 and the monster's got a 2, the party would generally attack on segment 2 and the monsters on segment 4. So in essence, the party is rolling to see when the monster's go and the DM rolls to see when the party goes!
Tied initiatives resort to using weapon speed factors for attacks. The die roll itself is still used for undefined abilities like turning undead and missile fire. We use the 2nd edition version of multiple attacks since it makes more sense: the first attack comes in initiative order, and subsequent attacks occur at the end of the round in initiative order. (The actual method of multiple attack routines per the DMG indiactes that when you have 2 attacks in the round, the attacker goes FIRST and LAST.) Hasted creatures always attack first, and slowed creatures (including zombies) always attack last. Tied attacks that fall on the same segment are simultaneous. Spells cast with the same casting time on a tied initiative both occur simultaneously.
Let's look at a few combat examples using characters from my home campaign....
PARTY
Chow-Lin, 10th level human magic-user with several spells remaining
Eraergon ("Eric"), 10th level half-elven druid with scimitar +1 and several spells remaining
Falim, 7th level human ranger with dancing falchion and jambiya
Myriam, 8th level human cleric with mace +1 and several spells remaining
Hamlin, 6th level halfling fighter henchman with short sword of speed +1 and bullet sling
MONSTERS
2 ogres wielding huge battle axes
1 hill giant wielding club
2 dire wolves
On round one, Chow-Lin declares to cast magic missile (casting time 1 segment) at the giant. Eric casts heat metal (casting time 4 segments?) on one of the ogres. Falim declares a charge at the other ogre, Hamlin is slinging at a dire wolf, and Myriam is casting spiritual hammer (casting time 5 segments?) at the other wolf. The ogres are charging to attack, as are the dire wolves, and the giant is picking up boulders for throwing. Initiative is rolled and the results are Party 3, Monsters 4. Since Falim and the Ogres are charging, these attacks occur at the end of movement. Falim moves at 12' per segment and the ogres are moving at 9' per segment. If the encounter occurred only 40' away then they will clash at segment 2 since charging ignores initiative and the longer weapon strikes first (in this case the ogres). One of the ogres intercepts Falim. The dire wolf attacking Hamlin also arrives on segment 2 due to 18' movement per segment. The other dire wolf is charging Eric. The other ogre charges on to Myriam. Since the ogres and wolves were charging they get to attack at the end of their move. Here is the breakdown, segment by segment.
ROUND ONE
1: Chow-Lin's magic missile spell hits the giant for 15 points of damage.
2: The ogres attack Falim (hitting for 10 points) and Myriam (missing). The dire wolves attack Hamlin (hitting for 6 points) and Eric (hitting for 4 points). As a result, Hamlin must now switch weapons and Eric loses his heat metal spell. Since Falim charged also he gets to go at the end of this segment (after the ogre) and swings for a hit causing 12 points of damage.
3: The giant hurls one boulder at Chow-Lin, hitting for 9 points of damage.
4: Hamlin switches weapons from sling to short sword. Eric can do nothing since he lost his spell.
5: Myriam spell comes off (since she was not interrupted) and her spiritual hammer now is cast upon the ogre attacking her. She misses this round.
6-10: Nothing else happens.
This round we have melee with Falim vs. Ogre 1, Myriam vs. Ogre 2, Hamlin vs. Wolf 1, Eric vs. Wolf 2, and missile/spell combat between the giant and Chow-Lin. Chow-Lin declares a slow spell (3 segment casting time) on the ogres and wolves (but the giant is just out of range) and Eric and Myriam are drawing weapons so they will automatically lose initiative. Hamlin has a hasted 1st attack and a normal sword attack, so he will go first. Initiative is rolled - Party gets a 5, Monsters get a 2.
ROUND TWO
FIRST: Hamlin attacks his wolf for 7 points of damage.
1:
2: Myriam's spiritual hammer attacks her ogre and hits for 4 damage. Falim strikes at his ogre hitting for 15 points of damage, killing it. Hamlin's normal strike hits for 5 points of damage.
3: Chow-Lin casts slow on the wolves and ogres, making them attack every other round and last from now on.
4:
5: The giant tosses a boulder at Chow-Lin who is separated from the melee but fails to hit. The boulder rolls harmlessly away behind the melee.
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
LAST: Eric strikes with his scimitar at an ogre and hits for 4 points of damage. Myriam draws out her weapon but misses. The slowed ogre and wolves attack now: all miss their targets.
The 3rd round Falim has no target and must cross to the giant. He cannot charge again this turn. Hamlin is attacking Wolf 1, Eric is attacking the Wolf 2, Myriam is attacking Ogre 2, and Chow-Lin has decided to cast magic missile at the giant again. Combat continues at this point with the ogre and wolves attacking last and everyone else going on initiative.
As it states in the DMG, most attacks will come on segments 1-6. High level spells will usually go last, and low level spells will come early in the round. Spellcasting in combat is very tricky and it's good to have a backup plan when creatures come at you fast. The above example is rather complex but can be seen to work within the guidelines of the rules.
So initiative is not so scary after all and can be resolved fairly easily if the participants simply take their time. The rules as written make things overly complicated and should be reduced to this version in order to make the game run more smoothly. It may be ADVANCED D&D but that doesn't mean you should need a computer to figure out how to run combat!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
1st Edition AD&D Surprise: Not So Difficult
While learning AD&D at the tender age of 13, we made a lot of bad assumptions about the game and how the dice worked. Probability was new at the time and the elegance that Gygax used in creating a fast-paced and exciting game sometimes went over our heads. Surprise was one of those things. In retrospect, the concepts are not that hard to understand, just not explained as elegantly as the mechanic itself.
The Dungeon Master's Guide I feel makes a number of assumptions: 1) you've played wargames in the past; 2) specifically you've played original D&D with the Chainmail rules; 3) you've used the alternate rules in the Greyhawk Supplement before; and 4) you understand the convention of dice and probability as relates to most situations. Having never played miniature battles in my life, the conventions explained in the AD&D DMG were mysterious at times and assumptions made matter-of-factly made little or no sense to me. To make matters worse, the editing errors added another bit of confusion into the mix (the surprise segment table in the PHB or DMG is in error on one of the lines). My first gaming experience using surprise was non-standard at best (vs. drow in the underdark) so it's no wonder we got it all wrong.
The most important decision about surprise is if it exists. Obviously the chance for surprise is going to almost universally apply to the player characters since they are the invaders into the realm of the unknown. Creatures in the dungeon will almost never require light sources, are aware of the noises usual to their environment, and some can even sense intruders mentally or through special abilities. Magical wards being tripped , traps being set off, doors being broken down, etc. all lead to 0% chance for surprise for the monsters. On the off chance that the characters are able to mask their presence somehow (invisibility, all using infravision to see, demi-humans or thieves sneaking about, etc.), then the monsters MAY be surprised. Planned ambushes are another problem, however. A wandering monster is typically the only instance of surprise most commonly occurring in a play session. So step 1 is determining who is aware and who can be surprised. As stated, surprise is usually unilateral and almost always against the players.
Step 2 is rolling to see if surprise occurs. In essence, the elegance of the roll is that 1d6 is used for both the chance to be surprised AND the number of segments of surprise. It's my belief that this is only stated for STANDARD 2 in 6 surprise; non-standard surprise where the surprise is given as a percentage or on a different die type needs to be handled by the DM. It is my belief that there should never be more than 2 segments of surprise [EDITED], as supported by the existence of "complete surprise" (see later article on surprise segments). In any case, only roll for the party that can be surprised, modifying the roll based on whether the monsters or players have a better or worse chance of surprising. For example, a ranger is only surprise 1 in 6. A bugbear can surprise 3 in 6. Assuming that only the ranger can be surprised, the bugbear has 1 in 6 chance better than normal so the ranger is surprised 2 in 6.
Step 3 is determining how long surprise lasts. If normal 2 in 6 chance for surprise exists, simply use the die roll to determine the number of segments. If a 1 is rolled, the surprise lasts 1 segment. If a 2 is rolled the surprise lasts for 2 segments. During a surprise segment, a character or monster is allowed its normal number of attacks, missile fire at 3x rate (not used by this DM), and can cast fast spells requiring 1 or 2 segments as required. Activation of magic items requiring 1 or 2 segments may also be used. The side that is surprised cannot perform any actions so long as they are surprised. Dexterity reaction adjustments reduce or increase surprise for the individual only. If a person has a +1 reaction adj. and his party is surprised for 1 segment, then he is not surprised and rolls for initiative as usual. A person with a -1 reaction adj. would be surprised for 2 segments; note that a penalty can never create surprise, it only modifies existing surprise.
Now, the controversy has to do with the terms surprise and complete surprise. These terms were used in the DMG with no explanation given. It has always meant to me that surprise is 1 segment and complete surprise was 2 segments. But nothing in the books supported this definition....until I re-read module G3. In the adventure there are some wererats on the 2nd level that are stated as always attacking with surprise (6 in 6), then gives a range of segments based on a die roll (1-3 = surprise, 4-6 = complete surprise). Now, according to the examples given, normally that would indicate 6 segments of surprise since 100% surprise is the same as reading 6 on a d6. However, there are a lot of creatures in the G-D-Q series with better than normal chances of surprise and a reduced chance of being surprised. How many segments should they get? The answer is to use the convention written into G3. Assuming the roll of an additional d6 with each surprise check, one die would represent the chance for surprise, and the second would indicate the number of segments of surprise (1 or 2). This could apply to ALL surprise checks, including monks percentile chance and odd monsters with increased or decreased chances of surprise. It all makes sense.
For another example, refer to the module T1, a very low level module that is meant as an introduction to AD&D. Most of the monsters in the moathouse have an increased chance of surprise and almost no chance of being surprised. In particular, the spider in the tower has a 5 in 6 chance of surprise. Should that mean that the spider gets 5 attacks on a hapless victim if the party rolls a 5? I think not. No more than 1 or 2 segments of surprise should exist, modified by Dexterity for the individual. After all, a spider attacking a 1st level character would have a good chance of killing them in the 1st encounter - not a good way to introduce AD&D to a neophyte!
So, the concepts are not that difficult to understand once you know where it all comes from. Better examples and clarified steps would have helped immensely. I'm so glad that I now have a handle on this concept and feel confident to house rule it when necessary.
The Dungeon Master's Guide I feel makes a number of assumptions: 1) you've played wargames in the past; 2) specifically you've played original D&D with the Chainmail rules; 3) you've used the alternate rules in the Greyhawk Supplement before; and 4) you understand the convention of dice and probability as relates to most situations. Having never played miniature battles in my life, the conventions explained in the AD&D DMG were mysterious at times and assumptions made matter-of-factly made little or no sense to me. To make matters worse, the editing errors added another bit of confusion into the mix (the surprise segment table in the PHB or DMG is in error on one of the lines). My first gaming experience using surprise was non-standard at best (vs. drow in the underdark) so it's no wonder we got it all wrong.
The most important decision about surprise is if it exists. Obviously the chance for surprise is going to almost universally apply to the player characters since they are the invaders into the realm of the unknown. Creatures in the dungeon will almost never require light sources, are aware of the noises usual to their environment, and some can even sense intruders mentally or through special abilities. Magical wards being tripped , traps being set off, doors being broken down, etc. all lead to 0% chance for surprise for the monsters. On the off chance that the characters are able to mask their presence somehow (invisibility, all using infravision to see, demi-humans or thieves sneaking about, etc.), then the monsters MAY be surprised. Planned ambushes are another problem, however. A wandering monster is typically the only instance of surprise most commonly occurring in a play session. So step 1 is determining who is aware and who can be surprised. As stated, surprise is usually unilateral and almost always against the players.
Step 2 is rolling to see if surprise occurs. In essence, the elegance of the roll is that 1d6 is used for both the chance to be surprised AND the number of segments of surprise. It's my belief that this is only stated for STANDARD 2 in 6 surprise; non-standard surprise where the surprise is given as a percentage or on a different die type needs to be handled by the DM. It is my belief that there should never be more than 2 segments of surprise [EDITED], as supported by the existence of "complete surprise" (see later article on surprise segments). In any case, only roll for the party that can be surprised, modifying the roll based on whether the monsters or players have a better or worse chance of surprising. For example, a ranger is only surprise 1 in 6. A bugbear can surprise 3 in 6. Assuming that only the ranger can be surprised, the bugbear has 1 in 6 chance better than normal so the ranger is surprised 2 in 6.
Step 3 is determining how long surprise lasts. If normal 2 in 6 chance for surprise exists, simply use the die roll to determine the number of segments. If a 1 is rolled, the surprise lasts 1 segment. If a 2 is rolled the surprise lasts for 2 segments. During a surprise segment, a character or monster is allowed its normal number of attacks, missile fire at 3x rate (not used by this DM), and can cast fast spells requiring 1 or 2 segments as required. Activation of magic items requiring 1 or 2 segments may also be used. The side that is surprised cannot perform any actions so long as they are surprised. Dexterity reaction adjustments reduce or increase surprise for the individual only. If a person has a +1 reaction adj. and his party is surprised for 1 segment, then he is not surprised and rolls for initiative as usual. A person with a -1 reaction adj. would be surprised for 2 segments; note that a penalty can never create surprise, it only modifies existing surprise.
Now, the controversy has to do with the terms surprise and complete surprise. These terms were used in the DMG with no explanation given. It has always meant to me that surprise is 1 segment and complete surprise was 2 segments. But nothing in the books supported this definition....until I re-read module G3. In the adventure there are some wererats on the 2nd level that are stated as always attacking with surprise (6 in 6), then gives a range of segments based on a die roll (1-3 = surprise, 4-6 = complete surprise). Now, according to the examples given, normally that would indicate 6 segments of surprise since 100% surprise is the same as reading 6 on a d6. However, there are a lot of creatures in the G-D-Q series with better than normal chances of surprise and a reduced chance of being surprised. How many segments should they get? The answer is to use the convention written into G3. Assuming the roll of an additional d6 with each surprise check, one die would represent the chance for surprise, and the second would indicate the number of segments of surprise (1 or 2). This could apply to ALL surprise checks, including monks percentile chance and odd monsters with increased or decreased chances of surprise. It all makes sense.
For another example, refer to the module T1, a very low level module that is meant as an introduction to AD&D. Most of the monsters in the moathouse have an increased chance of surprise and almost no chance of being surprised. In particular, the spider in the tower has a 5 in 6 chance of surprise. Should that mean that the spider gets 5 attacks on a hapless victim if the party rolls a 5? I think not. No more than 1 or 2 segments of surprise should exist, modified by Dexterity for the individual. After all, a spider attacking a 1st level character would have a good chance of killing them in the 1st encounter - not a good way to introduce AD&D to a neophyte!
So, the concepts are not that difficult to understand once you know where it all comes from. Better examples and clarified steps would have helped immensely. I'm so glad that I now have a handle on this concept and feel confident to house rule it when necessary.
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