I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.

- William Blake

Thursday, July 17, 2025

RPGs vs. Wargames - Zooming in and out

I have written about this before. Today I'm not discussing if RPGs are wargames or not. I'll just notice that there's a tension between the wargame and RPG perspectives, and will discuss how it manifests in Chainmail (wargame) and D&D (RPG).

The main difference is one of scope:

- Wargames are (traditionally, although there are exceptions) focused on battles between dozens to thousands of people; each player controls many people.

- In RPGs (traditionally, although there are exceptions), each player (except the GM) plays a single character/"role".

D&D was spawned from Chainmail (in OD&D, Chainmail appears as required material), among other games, and we can see the shift in focus as the game progresses. There is a "zooming in" of sorts.

Here are a few examples.


Alignment

Originally, alignment was about factions/teams. In modern D&D it is linked to personal philosophy, outlook, and behaviors. This shift creates some confusion and is discussed here.

Weapons

Chainmail had very important weapon versus armor rules that couldn't be ignored. Maces are better against plate, and daggers are a lot better against unarmored people. There are magic weapons, but not many details, you can get a bonus due to a generic "magic sword" or "magic arrow", for example.

When you get to D&D, the focus starts shifting to individual weapons. Magic weapons get more detailed (flaming swords, then vorpal swords, mace of disruption, etc.) and swords get deeper personalities and stats of their own. This tendency will continue through editions, with an ever-growing number of singular magic weapons.

The weapon versus armor table, on the other hand, is included in AD&D but often ignored in actual play (even by Gygax). In 2e, it gets simplified, and from 3e onward is nearly forgotten. The individual weapon is more important than weapon type. 

Ability scores and other stats

Chainmail does not use ability scores or many individual stats. Most creatures are defined by type/HD, AC, and attacks. In  OD&D, ability scores are present but not as important, and there are cases when Dexterity 7 is equal to Dexterity 14 in most circumstances; class and level are way more important. But soon "ability checks" become popular, and ability tables gain more detail; there is an effort to make each single point important. In modern (post-2000) D&D, ability scores are almost as important as class and level.

One interesting anecdote is how some classic D&D characters get names that are jokes/puns, simple anagrams of their player's names, or derived from class and level - the famous "Melf" is a "Male elf" abbreviation. Compare this to Drizzt, for example; a rebel drow that is opposite to whatever drow originally represented.

Hit points and level

In Chainmail, creatures are defeated or not with one or a few "hits". Hit points are created precisely because players get attached to their characters. This causes a "hit point inflation" eventually. Individual advancement, which doesn't quite exist in Chainmail, becomes an important focus of the game.

Dungeons and the battlefield

Wargames are often set in open spaces. Tight dungeons require a tighter focus. In old school D&D, this tension is often resolved by giving weapon range and movement different meaning indoors and outdoors (from feet to yards IIRC), which I find to be an elegant solution, but it later editions simplify things to make them equal despite the environment - often assuming that you're in tight environments anyway and even focusing on "grids" and "squares", especially in 4e.

Large battles

Large battles are assumed in Chainmail. In early D&D, the fighter gets some tools to fight hordes of weak creatures; this is expected. In modern D&D, this becomes somewhat of an special case. By 4e, you get "minion" rules to facilitate large battles. 

Individual monsters

In modern D&D, even lowly monster get endless variations, so that these creatures can also be individuals. The stat-block get bigger. By 3e, creatures have ability scores of their own. You also get more detailed rules on how to interact with them on an individual basis, maybe negotiating and so on. Most intelligent monster will have names, personalities and particular interests, which were not as relevant in old school D&D.

In conclusion

Wargames and RPGs are not necessarily incompatible, and some believe that RPGs are a subset of wargames. 

I do believe some "hybrid forms" or tools that allow you to "zoom in and out" are fun and will give you that "Appendix N" feel; Conan is sometimes in dungeons and single combat, and sometimes fighting or ruling over hordes and kingdoms.

Realizing there is a tension between the two perspectives may be useful to choose what rules to apply to your own games.




Check these out, or take a look at my picks from 2024

This time I'm a bit curious about Adventure Anthology for Shadowdark. Let me know if there are other books to check!

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Sunday, July 13, 2025

GP instead of XP?

This is another crazy D&D idea I've heard while researching for the last post: ditch XP entirely, just pay the GP (for training, carousing or whatever) and you level up.

For example, any fighter that has acquired 2.000 gp can simply "buy" a level. There is no need for XP anymore.

The usual limits apply: only one level per "adventure", and maybe there needs to be some risk involved.

Some possible implications that I like:

- First, you eliminate the entire XP subsystem, thus making the game a bit simpler and ditching things  that take some math like monster XP.

- A level 5 party loses a magic-user they probably have enough funds to hire a new level 5 MU, but it will COST them. This doesn't mean they are getting someone off the street and training him to be a magician, but maybe they are paying someone's debt to their tutor, or money to take care of family while they travel, or passage from a distant land, or bribe to their former employer/patron/etc., or even specialized information on where to find someone experienced and brave enough for your expedition.

- This assumes the new MU is a PC and that the amount paid guarantees at least an honest attempt at loyalty, but the new PC is now part of the group and will share treasure equally. Hiring someone for work that is temporary or less risky would be a lot cheaper. Notice that the money is gone, not in the pockets of the new PC!

- Come to think of it, starting an adventure because you need to pay a debt is very pulpy. Or having someone pay to free you from slavery, etc.


- A rich baron may train one or more sons to become level 2 fighters, but after that they probably need some adventuring. Maybe the investment has only an 50% chance of actually working. Some sons will never become warriors/priests/wizards despite the training! It is a risky investment, but it may buy you loyalty!

- Multi-classing? Nope, now you just pay for training in your new class... but you ALSO get a 50% chance of failure. Not all fighters are meant to become wizards! Maybe its better to hire a new wizard...

- Come to think of it, this would be a cool way of getting retainers (not hirelings).

- This also explains why high-level PCs have followers and titles. They spent much gold and probably are owned many favors.

- Adventurers are no longer assumed to own large amounts of gold; instead, they acquire treasure and spend it. High-level adventurers will still be rich but not necessarily as rich as before. 

- If they have a regular non-adventuring job, maybe they get paid 1% of their "worth" per month or 10% per year. Without adventuring (or a good patron), it would takes years for someone to level up. But if you only need a few additional GP to level up, you could just get a job in the city watch for a short time!

- If that is too harsh, just let semi-retired adventurers to gain a level each year if they have no other business to attend to. This must be combined with ageing rules...

-  Could treasure lost allow you to level up? For example, if you have to let a treasure chest sink to save a damsel in distress. The idea sounds a bit absurd but very pulpy.

It seems to me that it would work very well. But at the same time it hurts our simulationist sensibilities; it feels like getting XP for fighting monsters, for example, makes more sense. Maybe we must keep an alternative method of leveling, such as defeating monsters above your level.


In any case, let's finish with a random table!

Where did the money go? 

1. Debts owed to dangerous loan sharks
2. Bribing city officials to erase a criminal record
3. Paying off a bounty quietly to avoid capture
4. Covering apprenticeship fees for magical or martial training
5. Paying a mentor for ongoing instruction
6. Funding room and board during training or travel
7. Purchasing expensive spell components or reagents
8. Repairing or upgrading weapons and armor
9. Securing travel—wagon, ship, teleportation
10. Buying you out of indented servitude
11. Helping a severely ill, homeless or troubled family member
12. Donating to a temple or guild
13. Expensive sacrifice to the character's deity
14. Compensating your former group for a previous commitment
15. Buying a nobility title, citizenship or license to carry weapons and travel freely
16. Settling family debts or obligations back home
17. Covering a party’s group expenses to earn trust
18. Making offerings to spirits, demons, or patrons
19. Hiring informants or spies for local intel
20. Investing in a personal business or long-term goal

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Super simple XP system, take 2

My "super simple" system ended up sounding a lot more complicated than I intended. 

After trying to create a formula to match monster XP with gold XP, I realized that just using the formula below might be enough for my goals.

- 1 XP = 1 GP.
- 1 HD = 100 XP.
- PERIOD.

That is all. Forget PC level, forget dungeon level, just use the original formula in its simplest form.

But why?

In old school D&D, most of the treasure comes from gold. But, as noticed in Delta's blog, if you exclude/change a few outliers (dragons, medusae, men), the amount of XP you get from gold is not that far from the amount you get from fighting monsters.

I have some reservations about the analysis; it seems to ignore wilderness encounters, for example, which happen quite a lot in my games and AFAICR do not give random treasure. But he certainly went I lot deeper than I'll go here.

I am happy with the idea that monsters should have no more than 100 GP for each HD. If the gold is much bigger or smaller than that, well, just adjust the gold to something more reasonable.

Dragons with their hoards and breath weapons are a fair exception. Maybe medusaes are a fair exception too; they have two ways to kill you immediately!

But why are men outliers in Moldvay? 

Maybe I'd just rule that they just do not have underground lairs. For example, a bandit's treasure is in their camp, with an average of 80 bandits, and maybe a few leaders. That would be easily 8.000 XP at least, and their treasure type (Type A) is worth 18.000 GP on average, so maybe just halve it. A brigand's lair is a lot stronger and might justify the full Type A treasure. Likewise, merchants have type A treasure but their caravans are almost as large as a bandit's lair, and so on.

This is also a great rule of thumb to create your own dungeons - place 100 GP for each monster HD, and more if you have traps etc. Most "official" adventures I've run have too much gold IMO.

This means that PCs rely much less on GP to level up, which also means they'll level up faster and get stronger before they are too rich. 

I'm not sure if this is perfect for you but it suits my preference for grittier, pulpier adventures, where even mighty heroes are not necessarily swimming in gold.

Will that make PCs fight anything that moves to get XP? I doubt it. As you see, simply avoiding the monster will still give the PCs the treasure XP with none of the danger. 

But if there is an incentive problem, just give a few XP for monsters avoided and limit XP gained by unnecessary fights. No XP should be awarded for slaying random peasants!

Finally, the fact we are not dividing XP by current level makes leveling up a bit faster (which is compensated by reducing the treasure). I don't mind. A level 5 fighter that single-handedly defeats a bandit camp deserves to get to level 6, and so on.

I love minimalism. The simplest solutions often end up being the best ones.

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