Packed with Expansions

Last night some of the guys and I got together to chat more about our homebrew RPG. Most of our time was devoted to the wonderful map provided by Sporkchop. We discussed races and lore and pantheons of gods. But the unanswered question was scale and climate. How big? What are the degrees of latitude and temperature for that matter.

From what you can see here, the far north is pushing polar latitudes of above 70. Most of the story takes place in the temperate climes of 45-55 degrees latitude. The southern ocean has always been Mediterranean in my mind.

To give an idea of scale and climate

The guys wanted to know what else I had in store as far as an expanded world. I have thought about this far ahead.

This expanded world map shows the "New World" of the Westlands, although I'm not yet decided on how far west they will be. The red wastes of the Skarr'd Lands in the east and the crater where Nemesis, the hateful lord of destruction and chaos, was imprisoned by Lukus, the god of light and order. To the southeast is the broad desert and dunes of the Grimalkin catfolk. And in the tropical jungles of the south reside the honor-obsessed Draken and their wild lizardling cousins.

Armor Bits & Pieces

Building on the sheets previously posted, I've come up with more details to how the various bits and pieces give characters an advantage or penalty.

The 3 main pieces of armor worn are Helmet, (Body) Armor, and Leggings (tasset, fauld, cuisse). This really only comes into play if using a targeting system, like with the body part die. You of course don't have to go into that much detail. You can simply say a player takes a hit, damaging their armor, but reducing actual injury to their person.

If you want to go into further, you can add more protection to the "exposed" areas by adding individual pieces of armor: pauldron/torque, bracers, guantlets, and greaves. If a player takes a targeted hit to Arm, it is anything above the elbow. A hit to Hand is anything below the elbow. A hit to Leg strikes above the knee. A hit to Foot is anything below the knee. Doing specific hits like this means players must discard, repair, or replace damaged armor. Of course this is a lot of extra tracking and spending that can be tossed aside if you're just wanting a bare bones style of combat and armor class.

Pauldrons with heavy breastplate

Gauntlet with medium scalemail or chainmail

Bracers with light/leather armor

Greave or standard boot and upper leg armor

Greave 2 or complete leg (heavy) armor

As for the pros and cons of additional armor, allow me to explain. Let's say you're a dwarf "tank" fighter, clad head to toe in heavy armor. You carry no shield because you wield a two-handed battleaxe or warhammer. You routinely take hits because you don't have a way to block. You could say that you deflect blows with the haft of your weapon, but likely you'd still take a hit to your hands doing so. So there you are, scrapping and brawling in your tunnels against goblins, orcs, duergar, etc.

Bad news first. You're super slow because your armor and large weapon weigh you down. You take a penalty of -3 or -4 to your Speed. Good news: you get a bonus to Constitution/Fortitude/AC equal to the penalty you endure for Speed. If you're just going to stand there while your enemy whacks at you with his sword, you've got to be able to take a licking and keep on ticking. After all, you are a dwarf.

You're a human fighter in medium/normal (non-plate) armor. You use a sword and shield. You protect your hands with gauntlets, but you don't have pauldrons. On the off chance that you take an Arm hit, it deals +2 damage because you were struck directly with no armor to reduce the hit. Because you're a "standard" race with "standard" overall armor, you don't take any penalty to your speed. Let's say you get a +2 bonus to unarmed attacks if your sword is dropped or knocked away. Bashing an opponent in the teeth with a metal glove is going to hurt considerably more than being punched with a bare fist. You can shield bash opponents to stagger them backwards one square. If your shield is damaged/broken and discarded, you can switch to a hand-and-a-half grip on your sword dealing +1 damage.

A final example: you're a lightly armored ranger primarily using your bow for distance attacks. You wear leather bracers to steady your aim/draw, dealing +2 damage to projectile attacks. Speaking literally and historically, that is why archers wear a stiffened leather bracer on their forearm. Because you're lightly armored, you're fast on your feet, gaining +2 to your Speed. However, because you don't wear metal armor, if you get into close combat, hits are going to do +1 damage. Technically, in the illustration above, the ranger character is wearing leather pauldrons and a leather skirt, but that is purely for aesthetics - they don't give any protection. In my mind a ranger is going to accept minimal armor coverings because it would encumber them as they stalk the woods. The light suede covering on arms and legs is just to protect against scratches and scrapes from thorns and twigs as they move through the underbrush.

At last we come to leggings and greaves. To me, leggings are there as a "just in case" against Leg/Foot hits. I think these would primarily come into play if you're a mounted fighter. If you're sitting higher on a horse, it's likely that an enemy with an axe or sword is only going to be able to reach your lower half. To work this into gameplay, you could change any Hand/Arm targeted hits into Foot/Leg hits. The opponent certainly cannot reach your head, so any Head rolls hit your body instead. Strikes to your torso remain possible and deal normal damage to your (body) armor. However, if your enemy has a ranged weapon or pole-arm, the strikes remain as rolled. If your opponent is mounted as well, there are no hits at all to lower body - everything goes against Head, Body, Arm, and Hand.

I'll have to work out whether fully armored knights are wandering about. I rather doubt it because to do so would be slow, awkward, and exhausting. Sure, a hardy dwarf can trump around in armor that would totally tucker out a mere human. You can modify this by having a character with really high Strength or Fortitude, but they would be lessened in other attributes like Dexterity and Speed.

Character Armor Sheets

I like the idea of having a visual reference for armor, equipment, weapons, etc. For me it just really helps the immersion factor if you have a basic visual queue.

I was shooting for something like this from Grant Gould's Blade Raiders.

This is what I came up with.

These are the quick and dirty versions of armor sheets. As you can see, there are spaces for jewelry as well.

I may need to space things out a bit more so there is room for a brief description of the item. At the time I drafted these I was thinking more along the lines of a name for the item and its bonus - like a Ring of Wielding that does +2 attack damage, or a Helmet of Fortitude that adds to AC or Will checks/saves.

Because these were ridiculously easy to whip up, and they're very basic and adaptable, I don't mind in the least if people want to take and use them. Credit or a mention would be nice to increase blog traffic, but I'm not going to beg : )

Next up, I may take a stab at crafting a basic weapons sheet and possibly magic - although it's not really my realm of expertise.

Character Skill Ranks

Originally written for my main blog, Realmwright, I figured this draught would probably go down smoother on this, my gaming blog.

*BTW, I found my body part d12 under the couch today. I should have figured the cat would have something to do with its disappearance.

I get email updates from the Hack & Slash blog and this one in particular had a great idea: a class called Artifex (Latin for specialist) instead of "Thief". It got me thinking, what if instead of numeric level [+ class], you went in named ranks?

Just off the top of my head I put together this ranking:

Level 1 = Beginner - you have no particular skill (or business) doing something, you just feel like it on a hunch. You couldn't possibly sell what you've crafted because it will likely break from your own personal use.

Level 2 = Amateur/Newling - you have managed a "successful" go at it without seriously injuring yourself. You might get a hot meal and a roof over your head as payment, but it still won't put any coin in your pocket.

Level 3 = Novice - you won't get laughed at declaring yourself one, but you may not get a lot of takers either. If you can find someone to tutor you, you are an Apprentice. 

Level 4 = Moderate/Mediocre/Middling - other people recognize you for this ability, but you're still nothing special. Save enough coin and in a year's time you might be able to build a forge, shop, etc. so you don't have to work at the kitchen table.

Level 5 = Average/Ordinary - you can get it done and collect some decent coin for doing so. You spend some wages to hang out a shingle (an "open" sign) and hope that people come to do business.

Level 6 = Experienced/Craftsman - you are the guy in town that people come to when they need something done. You don't have to advertise, word-of-mouth gets you referrals. At this level you can apply to guilds/unions. Successful entry usually requires completion of a task, for which payment is acceptance and you level up to Guild Professional. This means that you can generally find work anywhere and if the town has a guild house you can stay there instead of paying for commercial lodging. It can be anywhere from significantly less (30-50%) or completely free.

Level 7 = Professional - someone somewhere else whom you've never met is aware of your handiwork and seeks you out. Maybe they send you a missive to come work for them. If you belong to a guild you are referred to as a Guild Professional. If you are not in a guild, but under the employ of a Master, you are a Journeyman. Guild Professionals and Journeymen cannot hire Apprentices, but an unaffiliated Professional can.

Level 8 = Masterful/Master - maidens swoon at your feet, kings clamor for you to be their court whateverer. It's a cushy gig where you sit back and let the money roll in so you can roll in it. You can have 2 Apprentices at this level, or 1 Professional who shares a percentage of their profit with you. If you don't yet belong to a guild, they try to get you to join to bolster each others' reputation. If you join a guild, you instantly lose any Apprentices/Professional in your employ. A Master holds a high place in their respective guild, but this leads to competition with others of the same rank. If you're brought into a guild, you have lower seniority than existing Masters - hence why they recruited you, bumping them one step closer to the leadership and wealth of being the Guildmaster.
*A note: Guilds can have no more than 3-5 Masters. Generally at the count of 4, 1 will leave to found a new chapter of the guild in another town.

Level 9 = Exceptional/Extraordinary - you get oohs and aahs and mostly name your own price. You are paid handsomely for doing what you excel at. If you belong to a guild the equivalent is Guildmaster.

Level 10 = Phenomenal - it's questioned whether or not you're a mortal because you are near divine in your abilities. Surely this power cannot be wielded by a mere human...orc, elf, whatever. A bonus and/or drawback to this is that if there is a particular god of this realm/skill - let's say smithcraft - they can either bless you as Chosen, or seek to hurt you because they're jealous of the attention you are drawing away from them, i.e. you're Cursed.

Coming on the heels of the above post, Hack & Slack followed up with another awesome addition: Prestige Classes

Doing Shots

Friday night I found that I appear to have lost my body part d12. I don't know if it's officially "lost" because I haven't scoured the mess of paper that is my drawing table, which serves as an almost daily reminder that I really need to get organized and back into doodling.

Until I find it I'll have to make do with making new. As such I have drafted a few quick tables of how to turn a plain old die into anatomical damage.

d10 or d12
1. Head - your noggin is the primary don't-get-hit-here.
2. Right arm - you'll notice the right side is all even numbers.
3. Left arm - hence the left side is all odd numbers.
4. Right hand
5. Left hand
6. Right leg
7. Left leg
8. Right foot
9. Left foot
10. Torso - your torso is the largest target, therefore the largest number.

This covers everything. Since we're thinking our game will be based on a d10 system (thereby making it easier for beginners/young'uns), I cut it down to 10 instead of 12. But if we/you want to keep it d12, 10 could be chest, 11 is stomach, and 12 is full body, as is the case on my currently unaccounted for die.
I don't exactly like the idea of full body damage because it means one bad roll could kill your character flat out. Either that or they're seriously crispified by dragon fire and unrecognizable to even their own mother. As such, figuring in a little extra danger and plain likelihood, 11 can be another head shot and 12 is another torso hit.


Along the same lines I decided to make a facial scars table. After all, what adventurer is going to live that lifestyle and get away entirely unscathed? This table can be broken down to a simple d6 or detailed up to a d10.

d6
1. Cranium - a scar anywhere else on the head other than the face.
2. Right side of face - very general: cheek, jawline, near the eye, etc.
3. Left side of face
4. Forehead - get it, fourhead?
5. Nose - maybe the barmaids like a guy with a bent beak.
6. Chin - in truth you cut yourself shaving, but the story sounds much better that an assassin was trying to cut your throat, but keen reflexes saved you.

d8
7. Missing left eye
8. Missing right eye

d10
9. Missing all or part of left ear
10. Missing all or part of right ear.

If your dude is a grizzled veteran with decades of battles under his belt, or say he's a barbarian half-orc that thinks helmets are for sissies, roll a 2d6/8/10 and see how ugly things get. S'okay. Chicks dig scars, right?

How to Think As/Like a Player/DM

Hack & Slash is a constant font of gaming knowledge. This is yet another treatise on how to think as/like a player and just as important how to think as/like a DM.

Some gaming buds and myself get together maybe one Friday a month to throw dice and nerd out. Several weeks ago it was mentioned that maybe we ought to do a Kickstarter of our own. Last night we spent about 2 hours chatting and beginning to figure the bones of it. I hope it remains a lasting interest because it was my want to design a game - inspired by Blade Raiders - that got me gaming with them in the first place.

It seems the general concensus of our first discussion is that we want it to be quite simple, and hopefully by that same respect, rather customizable. The idea is that the target age group, about 12-16 or so, can do "choose your own adventure" style single-player adventures, or get together with a DM as usual. We don't want a bunch of thick, clunky, convoluted rulebooks with table after table of numbers. I can't say it's a shared viewpoint of all gamers, but for me personally I want to get down to playing through a story, not consulting the book at every turn. I think if you need a "rules lawyer" you can't see the forest for the trees. Am I right?

Other Homebrew 3

I always like to wander other homebrews for ideas and inspiration.

Here's another I've found.

Kingdom of Shendenflar