Simplifying THAC0 (and attack matrices)

I usually prefer ascending AC to descending AC, but I never thought THAC0 was particularly complicated.

You don't even need subtraction to use THAC0. 

Just roll 1d20, add AC and modifiers, and beat THAC0. Done. 

Delta has already done most of the work. I also found this post by @contrarian, which inspired most of what I'm writing here - and provided most of the images.

One thing I dislike are attack matrices, because I feel there is no need to check a table for that. If you need a "to hit" number, a single digit will do.

With that said, there ARE some interesting aspects of the AD&D matrices. But they could easily be reduced to this:

* Roll 1d20+AC+modifiers.

* Add your level if you're a fighter-type, half your level if you aren't.

* If you roll 20 or more, you hit.

And... that is it, basically. 

We still have to deal with negative AC, but we'll get there.

Let's see. This is the original DMG table:

Notice that 20s are repeated SIX TIMES, making many kinds of armor practically identical. 

This six-point spread is huge; in OD&D and B/X, for example, it is as big as the difference between UNARMORED and PLATE!

Here is an optional rule that allows you to roll higher than 20 on the d20, but requires a natural 20.

I dislike this table because it makes negative AC too powerful against a fighter of amazing strength and magic weapons. And STILL treats AC -2 identically to AC -7 in some cases.

However, the idea that you ALWAYS have a small chance to hit - even negative AC - is nice.

How often do your 1st-level PCs fight monsters with negative AC? Not often. 

BUT: I'm guessing the multiple 20s are there to allow, say, an army of NPC archers to fight a dragon, which makes sense.

How can we achieve the same effect without the tables? Well, you could simply add +5 to your roll if you hit AC 0 BEFORE considering the negative AC. 

But, again, this makes many types of different armor identical in practice.

So, my idea is that negative AC is not added to your roll (count it as zero), but subtracted from your damage. 

Maybe a powerful attacker can CHOOSE between subtracting AC from the roll or from the damage (sometimes, you NEED to take the "less damage" option).

Now AC 0 is different from -1 or -2, etc.

Gygax considered something vaguely similar is Isle of the Ape.

(Of course, we could go even further. Since you need 20 or more to hit, each point over 20 could be translated to damage (something that AD&D also suggests for fighter that hit automatically). But now we are getting further away from the original. Anyway...)

Here are a few additional considerations:

- Should clerics, thieves, and MUs use the same table? 

Yes. Clerics are too tough and thieves too weak already. For MUs, if really doesn't make a difference - your level 10th MU will use its 10d6 fireball rather than 1d4 dagger.

- But shouldn't a MU keep the same attacking capabilities until level 6? 

Not really. Gygax indicates a smoother curve for Fighters - why not do the same for other classes?

- What about backstabbing?

Since this is mentioned in the matrix, I will suggest thieves/assassins simply add their level to backstabbing damage (maybe a minimum if +4). This encourages them to attack with small weapons, and gives them a little boost every level. The books indicate that the only part of the damage that is multiplied is the weapon dice, not Str or magical bonuses. 

So, a thief with a magical shortsword (say, 1d6+2) dealing quintuple damage would roll 5d6+2. This is about 19.5 on average. 1d6+19 is just slightly higher than that, and the thief deserves the boost.

- What about monsters?

Treat them as fighters. Much easier but not that much different.

- But I want THAC0!

Here you go. Expand to level 20 or whatever you want.

- But I want something EVEN CLOSER to the original matrices!

In that case, check the original post by @contrarian. Great stuff!

Also, let me know about any other objections to my solutions!

The campaign spreadsheet

We used to joke about needing a spreadsheet to run certain games, but, come to think of it, this can work WONDERS for your campaigns - especially if you're playing online, of course.

I'm a bit of an Excel nerd. Not that I know much about it - I just use it for everything, especially to manage my calendar, passwords, goals, new year resolutions, links, and so on.

I have been saving my campaign stuff in text format (see here), plus various PDFs, but I'm certainly using excel (or OpenOffice, etc.) for my next campaign.

The first sheet to consider is a campaign timeline. This it's both a schedule (of future events) and a diary. The diary is basically "set in stone"; the players have access to it (you can have a second column of unknown/secret events to yourself). The schedule is basically a list of things you have planned or rolled in advance: an earthquake on November 16, the Dark Lord is planning an invasion on the October 1st, etc. As the players move closer to the events, they can see some signs and even potentially alter it.

The second sheet to consider is your GM screen. Anything you'd put in your "GM screen": random tables, critical hits, a list of random names, THAC0  tables, etc.

I'd keep random encounters in their own sheet. I've been using my own Random Wilderness Encounters PDF, but come to think of it, it might be useful to be able to edit encounters. Maybe discard some used ones (and roll them again) You could even prepare some encounters in advance, make a d10 table, and replace them as you go.

Then you might have a glossary of sorts: places, people, monsters, and so on. You might list them alphabetically (adding a column to specify "type": location/NPC/ etc) or create different sheets for each.

Characters could have their own sheet too, especially in systems that require math for character building (for example, to figure out skill points for the 2e thief).

You can probably add a sheet of random ideas in the end: links, modules you might want to check, tables you don't use often, and so on.

Now, one might wonder: why not use a .doc or wiki instead?

Well, you can. But spreadsheets may have at least two additional perks.

First, spreadsheets can do math. For example, I can quickly add a formula to know how many HP each PC will have on each level (if I'm playing 5e, for example).

Second, they can roll dice. 

I'm not an expert at all; I know that "=RANDBETWEEN(1,20)" automatically rolls a d20, and so on. You could create an entire line of formulas to make all the six or seven rolls you need for a random encounter in just a click or two (I could have saved so much time!).

Well, this is just a brainstorming post. Unfortunately, I have little actual practice with campaign spreadsheets.

Hopefully, I can just give you my spreadsheet when I start my next campaign. But if there is one like that out there... let me know! It will save me some work!

Create a sandbox map in 7 easy steps (or 10)

I've written several posts on similar subjects; they are mentioned below. This is a compilation of sorts.

You only need a piece of paper and pen to start - I'm not getting into "hex maps" for now.

1 - Place the starting point. This is usually a starting village, city, or stronghold. If you're using a piece of paper, make it near the center. You can put it near the edge if there is something in the edge discouraging the PCs from going off map - for example, sea, tall mountains, or "back to civilization" (if the goal is exploring the unknown lands). See the map below - you can use something similar, and start your game anywhere in the East coast (even Florida, near the edge). You can cut it in half keeping only the East coast and Midwest. 

2 - Separate land from sea - just draw the outline of your main continent, add some islands if you want.

3 - Add "mountain lines", representing the tallest altitudes. Put a big range of tall mountains to a random direction. Add a smaller mountain range, with hills etc., somewhere else., for variety.

4 - Add rivers. They look like trees with lots of "branches" and trunks on the sea. They run to the sea. They do not cross mountain lines.

5 - Add cities. Most cities are near the water (rivers or seas). In D&D-ish worlds, there are probably few cities and lots of areas inhabited by monsters instead. You do not need to map every village.

6 - Add vegetation. You already have mountains, hills and rivers. Just scatter some big forests, swamps, deserts, plains, etc. I don't usually bother with much realism here. Deserts are usually next to mountains (mountains can stop humidity, so you'll often have desert on one side as humid/lush conditions on the other). Vegetation needs water, especially swamps.

7 - Name some regions (no borders needed): "here be goblins" (or "goblin territory"), and do the same for "giants", "dragons", "drow", "slavers", "franks", etc. These "vaguely known" areas can be different human kingdoms, monster territory, or anything else you want to add to you game (e.g, "poisoned swamps", etc.). Use flavorful titles rather than specific names ("Dark forest" rather than "Hullbeck forest"), unless the name is obviously referring to something mythic or historical (Cimmeria, Albion, etc.).

And there you go! You map is ready! Here is my current example (using hextml, but again, you don't need to). Belarte is the starting city. Mektlan is Tamoachan (recommended!). Ilmare is Illmire (recommended!). Savakir is DCC #66.5 (also recommended!). I wrote down "goblin territory" somewhere up north, but it wasn't included in the beginning.

Now, a map is not ALL you need to run a sandbox campaign. So I'll leave you a couple of extra steps that will get you most of the way there.

8 - Detail the starting area. You need some additional detail on the starting area, since the PCs will be more familiar with it. Keep on the Borderlands is a classic campaign starter, but not one I can recommend as I haven't used it. I used BFRPG's BF1 Morgansfort, and I like it - it is FREE! You just have to assign all the relevant locations to somewhere in your map.

9 - Prepare some random tables. It should be obvious by this point that I do NOT encourage you to randomly generate the map, as I've never seems a randomly generated map that looks better than what anyone can do following these simple steps. Besides, mountains can be seen from  A HUNDRED MILES away or more; it is absurd to suddenly enter an hex and find a mountain. What you need here is random encounter tables, plus some random tables to add villages, lairs, castles, ruins, and landmarks if you want to do so. I am using this for random encounters, but I still have to find or create some table for locations. I also encourage you to use random events.

10 - Ask PCs where they want to go. They find some random stuff on the way, and when they arrive you should have something prepared. I use classic modules: I use B10 - Night's Dark Terror for "goblin territory" - I really like this one! You can use G1-3 for giants, maybe Desert of Desolation for deserts, etc. Or use the BFRPG versions.

In old school D&D, it is assumed the PCs are searching for gold & glory, so there is enough motive to go around the map. If they need further motivation, you might have to prepare some hooks, backstories, etc.

Additional reading:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-mythic-underworld-controversy-and.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/08/easy-worldbuilding-with-pareto-price.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/09/random-ticking-clocks-simplified.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/09/amarod-i-creating-sandbox.html

Unused parts - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?

Lately, I've been reconsidering the amount of work I put in my campaigns.

As an example, let's talk dungeons. No matter if you create your own, use a published module or random tables, I expect you to have a minimum knowledge of the thing you're running.

The problem is an interesting dungeon has lots of content - and, while the players will probably never see half of it, the GM has to at least give it some consideration.

It is not just the ignored rooms and secret doors that were never found - it is also the NPC with relevant information that the PCs immediately attack, the writings in languages no one speaks*, random encounters/events that do not happen, maybe even the villain monologue that gets interrupted, etc. 

[*For example, I ran Tamoachan the other day and it has SEVERAL writings and dialogues in "Olman" or whatever. Nowhere in the adventure summary I found any warning for the GM about that. I might have missed it. I used both the 1e and the 5e version].

This is what I call this "unused parts".

It seems that the DM will always have a lot more work than the players - the fun part, for me, is that during the actual game (my favorite part) I can sit back and see what the PCs do, as a neutral referee, without having to author anything.

While I love the sandbox format, I think it encourages "unused parts". A sandbox needs huge unexplored parts, and the freedom to allow PCs to go where they want. I takes the GM a lot of work to create or get acquainted with an entire setting.

Here is an example from X I've seen today (from @ericbabe3):

The PCs decide to follow the main corridor, found the treasure behind a secret door, and left. All the work the GM had choosing this module and reading it beforehand was wasted. 

I definitely LIKE the fact that the PCs can do that.

But how to deal with all those unused parts?

Let's see.

- Force them on the PCs (quantum ogre). This is just putting each encounter/trap/room you want to have in your game in front of the PCs, no matter which door they choose. I dislike this - it makes PC's choices meaningless and ruins any sense of surprise for me, the GM, as I know exactly what will happen.

- Randomize everything (random ogre). Roll 1d6 to put a random trap in front of the PCs, no matter which door they choose. Like the example above, it makes PC's choices mostly meaningless, and you still have a few traps/encounters that will simply not happen.

- Talk to the players beforehand. In my sandbox, the PCs can go anywhere, but I need at least a vague idea on where they are going. I've scattered several dungeons around the map, but I can't read - let alone remember - each one. So I just ask before the next session about where the PCs intend to go.

This is harder to do with dungeons. Depending on the size of your dungeon and your sessions, maybe you can read only a few levels beforehand.

- Minimum prep. Just do the bare minimum:  give a quick glance to the module and read the entirety of the room IF the PCs get there. This is what I've been doing, but it has led to some confusion on occasion, when the module is not clear enough and I'd need more time to understand. For example, I was once running a module that gave the PCs an "Amulet of the Phoenix" that was simply not described anywhere. I had to improvise in a case of life or death (that deserves a post in the future). Later I found out there was a "Talisman of the Phoenix" or something in the magic item list.

Another example: There are huge unmapped areas in my sandbox that are simply called "giant territory", "goblin territory", and "undead territory". No dungeons in most of these areas - I'll detail them when the PCs get closer, but they at least have a vague idea on what to expect and can make meaningful choices.

- Zooming in an out. Another way to think of this is "zooming in and out". Ideally, modules should be prepared in such a manner. You should be able to get the clear picture from a sentence or two, preferentially in bold, and the have other paragraphs describing what may happen if the players do X or Y.

Any important secrets or details must also be emphasized/ marked to make sure the GM will not miss them.

Likewise, for a overland map, with hexes or otherwise, you could have brief descriptions of each are and then a more detailed description - with a corresponding map - later on.

I know there are several attempts to do that in OSR games. I never read a module that really stands out in this manner, but I'm always searching! Have you? 

- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This is especially important if you're creating your own stuff.

Reduce: make it terse, keep prep to a minimum. Don't fill all the details, just create whatever you want to inspire you. "This room has two sleeping ogres, Torg and Gurps, not aggressive but starting to get hungry".  If the PCs kill them while they sleep, you haven't wasted much details.

Reuse: have recurring NPCs and factions, and let they repeat their tactics/traps/behavior sometimes. Let the PCs go back and forth in your wilderness maps. PCs usually need a home base that will be more detailed than other cities. 

Some times, the PCs will enter the same dungeon multiple times (although it is useful to consider how the dungeon changes as they come and go). In my latest "haunted castle" adventure, the undead simply rose again every night.

Recycle. Traps/rooms/encounters that are cool and unused can be kept for later. This is not a "quantum ogre" thing. The PCs must have the option of ignoring it again. You have to deliberately change where the thing is placed, and you have to do it carefully -  the new place must make a last some sense.

Let me know in the comments if you have any other methods to deal with unused parts!

Spell points revisited

When I wrote Alternate Magic, I tried to keep it very compatible to BX / OSE. 

Here is what I've been using. A spell costs 1 SP per spell level.

As I've mentioned there, the goal was: "At low levels, this is nearly identical to the existing rules. At high levels, casters gain some versatility (they can cast the same spells more often) but they can memorize and cast fewer spells."

Lately, I'm finding this system makes high-level casters even more powerful in some aspects. In my defense, I still think they are OP to begin with, as I've said many times in this blog.

Am I overthinking this? Maybe SP are just not compatible with fireballs. Maybe LotFP was right in simply removing it.

Anyway, here is where I am now:

My PCs are about level 7-8 currently.

A 7d6 fireball destroys pretty much any random wilderness encounter. If you're checking once a day, the MU can always have TWO of them. But I'm using spell points, which makes things much worse.

Likewise, Cure Light Wounds (the baseline Lvl 8 cleric has 3 every day, plus 2 CSW - about 7d6+7 healing) can cure most non-lethal wounds. Using SP gives the cleric even more healing power.

Fortunately, I nerfed the cleric in other ways (a level 7 BX cleric should have raise dead; I use the BECMI progression instead).

(And boosted fighter/thieves. The B/X fighter and thief would have about +5 to hit, plus a magic sword, while the cleric gets raise dead, better saves, and also beats the thief at AC and HD).

Anyway, I still LIKE spell points, but in my next campaign I'm probably limiting them to 2 SP per level for MUs and 1 SP for clerics. Both learn one new spell per level.

So, a 8th-level cleric can still cure a lot of wounds (8d8+8 HP), but he can do nothing else that day. 

A 7th-level MU has four fireballs - still a lot, but after that there is not much else he can do.

(I allow MUs to use swords, they might need it).

What is more, they don't recover all SP overnight. Like wounded fighters they need a few days of rest. 

I've been using "you recover one fourth of maximum HP per day, round up", something I got from SotDL, so maybe use that for SP too.

Anyway, this is not perfectly compatible to B/X (or OSE), as it makes casters a lot weaker. But I think this is necessary to make the game grittier and more balanced.

If you prefer the original feel (MUs start weak and get incredibly powerful), you can keep the original table. For a dark fantasy or S&S feel, this is probably better.

30-mile hexes

I've considered several hex sizes before. Today I will think about 30-mile hexes.

Look at this map (source):

The hexes are about 31-miles each (31 miles across, with sides about 17.32 miles).

Good enough so they can fit all major cities and the shape of Italy is still recognizable.

You'd need to add several random villages and things (ruins, caves, castles, lairs, etc.) to each "empty" hex.

The whole country could be described in 150 hexes or so - sounds reasonable to run an entire campaign., maybe giving at least one page to each hex. And EVERY hex could have one or two interesting features.

At this size, I think you could just give the map to your players. If your setting is anything like medieval Italy, it wouldn't be hard to know the general direction of Verona or Genova. 

Rome fits in an hex, but does not FILL it.

You lose some interesting detail; the map doesn't show you Venezia (Venice) as an island, nor the Lago di Garda (the largest lake in Italy - with an area of 143 square miles, it would fill one or two 6-mile hexes).

According to google maps, you can cross the entire country (from Bova Marina to to Milano, for example) on foot in 302 hours (1310 km, 814 miles).

Apparently, "Google Maps uses average walking speed of 5km/h to calculate walking times" - which is 3.1 MPH.

This is NOT a straight line, and while there are many more roads in modern days, ancient Rome had several, as you can see in this interesting site:

https://orbis.stanford.edu/

OSE says "the number of miles a character can travel in a day is determined by dividing their base movement rate by five. For example, a character whose base movement rate is 120’ could travel up to 24 miles in a day."

Of course, if you travel 24 miles a day, you might as well use 24-mile hexes (although maintained roads will increase travel speed by 50%).

Anyway, that is 34 days to cross Italy on foot.

This will probably result in around a dozen encounters - most of them avoidable or uneventful.

Most expeditions will NOT require you to cross the entire country, of course.

What I'm thinking is that hex travel requires a huge map to be meaningful.

And MAYBE it requires RE-USING hexes. Getting lost, searching several hexes for a landmark, etc.

In my current campaign, the hex map only made sense when the PCs went exploring beyond the limits of the know regions, where there are no more cities or roads.

Herein lies an important distinction others have mentioned: do you want a map for EXPLORATION or TRAVEL? 

Maybe these should be distinct procedures.

Another thing to consider is "Medieval Europe x Old West USA", and which influenced D&D hexcrawling the most. 

I reckon Europe is too dense for most D&D settings. Mapping the USA would require more than 120,000 6-mile hexes, or around 5,000 30-mile hexes (Europe is of a similar size, but in the 1400s-1500s the population of Europe was more than 10-20 times bigger).

Maybe you should consider this BEFORE choosing hex size...

For now, I'll say that big hexes look better for travelling, and you can always sub-divide them as needed when PCs go exploring (or settling in) a particular area.

Additional reading:
https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/04/how-big-is-6-mile-hex.html
https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2019/06/osr-sienas-6-mile-hex.html

Make your own D&D skill system!

The various D&D skill/ability systems vary in how much they rely on ability scores and level; some abilities (e.g., forage in B/X) are unrelated to both things.

We could discuss endlessly about which way is better. I like a mix of both. Should a 15th level fighter be equal or better at foraging or knocking down doors than a 1st-level fighter?

Well, you can decide for yourself. Here is how.

Give a rating, from 0 to 5, to assess how important you think ability scores are. Do the same for levels - the sum should be 5 most of the time. For example, if you think ability scores are much more important than levels, you can rate abilities 4 and levels 1.

Simply multiply your ability score and your level for the number you chose, sum it up, and you have your percentile of exceeding.

For example, if you have Strength 12, Level 5, your chance to knock down a door would be 53% (12x4+5x1).

Note that you could choose in a case-by-case basis, e.g.:

- Open doors is mostly strength, but pick locks requires more levels/skills.

- Picking locks could be Dexterity improved by only 1% per level for all classes except thieves, that get 5% per level. Same for forage and rangers.

- For tasks that are too easy or too difficult, just double or halve the percentages.

This requires some adjudicating and math, but it is overall a decent solution because:

- It is quite instinctive and easy to grasp.

- Every ability point and every level matters.

- Heroes get better at EVERYTHING, if only slightly.

- It replaces thieve's skills quite well and also gives a clear answer to "what if you're not a thief"?

- Adds no complexity to the character sheet.

I'm tempted to say each level gets you at least 2% better at (basically) everything, with each ability point giving you 3% as a starting rule.

(Even better, for some old school flavor, each score could be paired with a percentile; Figgen, pictured above, has Strength 13/55%, but we'd probably need to write down some skill percentages. Or just allow "trained" PCs to "flip" the dice, so they can count a 73 as a 37, for example, which gives the thief spectacular odds, or use some kind of "advantage" system, or just add 25% chance if trained, etc).

I'm also tempted to create a whole system out of this, with fighters improving their attacks 5% per level, plus percentile magic and saving throws... but I probably won't.

So, anyway, if you needed a new skill system (we have a few dozens, and we only needed one...), you've got it.

Additional reading:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/10/you-cant-solve-bx-skills-and-checks.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/10/skills-another-thing-that-old-d-got.html

Skills - another thing that old D&D got (mostly) right?

When I was still interested in contemporary D&D, I noticed that there are only a few skills that are not necessarily equivalent to ability scores. 

- Nature.

- Arcana.

- History.

- Medicine.

- Sleight of Hand.

- Perception? (mentioned here).

Forget Sleight of Hand for now; an agile PC picking pockets or opening locks is a strong archetype, despite the fact these are completely different skills in reality.

An indeed, in AD&D a thief with high Dex gets some bonuses to both picking pockets and locks.

Nature would include things like foraging, hunting, orienting, and tracking. In old school D&D, the first three are just X-in-chances, unrelated to ability scores (or class, level, etc.). AD&D adds tracking to rangers, but not much else.

Perception would include things like hear noise and finding traps. Modern D&D ties this to Wisdom, but there is no reason to think a wise cleric is more perceptive than a quick-thinking warrior or a sly thief.

The AD&D thief gets no Dex (or Wis) bonus to hear noise, but curiously gets a Dex bonus to find traps... A mistake, IMO.

Then there is Arcana and Medicine. These are not skills in B/X or AD&D - they are just things the mage and cleric are supposed to do (although using spells instead of skills).

Finally, there is no skill for lore - players discover that by themselves, not characters.

I don't have much of a conclusion here. Except that, maybe, some skills work nicely with ability scores, while others could simply IGNORE ability scores. 

In a modern game, having two types of skills would look strange - in contemporary D&D, for example, basically ALL d20 rolls include some ability score (attacks, saves, checks/skills). I'm not sure I'd do it myself. But it is something to consider, as it seems to work quite well in old-school D&D.

Martian Community Hexcrawl

As you might know, I've been a bit obsessed with Barsoom lately. 

While I haven't managed to write my own version of the setting so far, I've been invited to an interesting project, the Martian Community Hexcrawl. Here is part of the blurb:

This is a game jam for us to all to contribute hexes to an OSR-compatible hexcrawl  set on a science-fantasy, sword-and-planet style-”Mars”. After the game jam ends, a compilation of everyone’s work – with the caveat that I will edit it and may reject some submissions for not meeting the criteria – will go on sale. All accepted contributors will get 1 share of the 1st month’s sales profits for each 1 hex that they contribute. After that point, any further sales will go to me as the editor. Everyone retains the rights to do whatever they want – including republishing – with their own work, as well as rights to use the other contributor’s work IF AND ONLY IF they are doing so in the context of releasing their own version of the Martian Community Hexcrawl with at least 50% of the word count of their version being specific to their version. 

Anyone can participate, and there are already a few very cool hexes for you to check out.

It's been a while since I participated in community projects, but I really like the idea. I'll see if I can come up with something to add to this project... in any case, check it out and see if you can contribute too!

Three-dimensional growth and thieves

 As I've mentioned before, mages gets better in three "dimensions" as they level up.

- They get more spells.

- They get better spells.

- The spells they already have (e. g., magic missile) become more powerful.

To do something similar, the fighters need:

- Better attacks (i.e., bigger "to-hit" bonus).

- More attacks.

- The attacks get better (i.e., more damage per attack).

Not hard to do at all, especially if they get magic swords and other weapons.

(Although these things are not exactly the same - spells can attack and open doors and deceive and carry stuff, while attacks can only attack. OTOH spells are limited by spell slots while attacks are not, although the MU gets more slots as he levels).

But what about thieves? I guess they should get:

- More skills.

- Better skills.

- Improve the skills they already have.

This is a bit harder to do. 

The B/X thief gets better at their skills. They do get a couple of extra skills as they level up (reading languages and casting from scrolls - which don't get better), but these are rare (the MU gets new spells every level).

Giving thieves "skill points" like LotFP is helpful - now they can distribute them freely between "new skill" and "get better at skills you have" (well, to be precise, they don't really get new skills, since every skill starts with a 1-in-6 chance, but... it could be done if you add new skills to the game that you can only access through "points").

Still, while you get better chances of success, your successes are always the same. 

So, you get better chances of hiding or climbing - but you don't usually get to hide more people nor do you climb faster as you level up. You open locks more often, but not any faster, etc.

This is "fixed" in modern versions of D&D, but not B/X or AD&D.

One easy way to change that is adding "critical successes" of some kind for thieves' talents.

For example:

If you're using 1d100, "doubles" are now criticals. For example, if you can climb twice the distance or at twice the usual speed, and if you hide you can attack once and remain undetected.

Conversely, you could just add modifiers to these skills. "Attack and hide" imposes a -30% penalty, for example.

Even better, you could use some kind of synergy for thief skills, allowing some skills to affect others.

Single attack/damage roll (kubular), but divided in half

I think I discussed that idea at the time, but I didn't write down this exact implementation. Read that post before this one! This method has several advantages over the usual D&D method.

Here is the deal: no more damage rolls.

Just roll 1d20 plus modifiers and subtract AC, then divide by two: this is the total damage (minimum 1).

Modifiers include attack bonus and weapon rating (WR).

WR usually goes from -3 (unarmed) to +3 (heavy 2H-weapon).

A dagger has +0 WR; other weapon are easy to figure out (d6, d8 and d10 become +1, +2, +3).

Improvised weapons, gauntlets, etc, have a WR of -1 or -2.

Lets assume ascending unarmored AC 11 (like BFRPG).

A dagger hit deals an average of 3 damage against unarmored targets, a bit over the original (nice!).

A 2H-sword, OTOH, deals 3.77 damage on a hit, but hits more often than in the original BFRPG; the DPR (damage per round) is about 2.45, a bit HIGHER than the usual 2.25.

What about heavy armor? Say, Plate mail is AC 17 in BFRPG. 

To hurt someone in plate with bare hands, you need a natural 20 (realistically, you'd be more likely to hurt your hand... add some grappling rules to your game!).

A dagger will only deal 1.5 points of damage. 

A 2H sword deals an average of 2.5 damage (originally 4.5), but again the DPR is 0.8, not far form the original (0.9).

I'd definitely combine it with some "armor defeating" rules for maximum effect. E.g., cutting weapons deal 1 point of additional damage if they hit, maces get +2 to-hit against chain or heavier, axes are +1 against everybody, etc.

The sandbox railroad

Can a sandbox be a railroad?

Despite numerous definitions, sometimes I think of sandbox as "you can go anywhere in here" and railroads as "you can ONLY go this way".

But last week the PCs were exploring an unknown area of the hex map, looking for a ruined castle of legend. 

They were surrounded by forests, and had no exact clues about the location of the castle (only that it is "near the river" and a couple of clues they can find in the way), so they just wandered around a bit, looking for more information, "opening" new hexes.

(BTW, Hextml has this cool "fog of war" effect that can help you manage that).

They still haven't found the castle; I decided that it is big enough that they will see it if they cross the right hex.

So, you could say they are in a sandbox... they can go anywhere, but... until they find the castle, there is no difference. There is just more forest and rolling for random encounters.

This is not exactly a railroad, but the result is the same no matter the direction they go (again, until they find the castle).

Let me illustrate this:

Lets say the green area is a forest, brown is mountain, blue is sea.

In an hex map, if you're going from "B" to "A", you can try different ways - assuming you cannot simply draw a straight line because you don't know the EXACT location of B.

But it doesn't make a difference. It is all forest. Same speed, same chances of getting lost, same random encounters.

In fact, even if the PCs suddenly decide to go THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, to C, or if they get lost and wander into the mountains of the North, or travel South until they see the ocean... you STILL know exactly what is going to happen in the next week or so (if that's the distance from A to B).

Of course, this does not feel like a railroad if you have interesting, preexisting, features in EACH hex (which I don't).

Random features and random encounters, however, do not change the railroad "format" of this experience. If you roll to find out there is a cottage or an ogre in the new hex, it still doesn't matter if the PCs went North or South: the result would be the same.

Anyway, I don't think this is an actual railroad, because, while the PATH seems identical, the destination is different. The PCs haven't had their choices negated. Their choices are irrelevant for this week (they literally have a random encounter with an ogre whichever direction they go), but ultimately they'll arrive in a different destination.

But this is an interesting aspect to consider. There are SEVERAL dungeons scattered across my sandbox, and I'm always a bit worried that the PCs choose to go to a dungeon I'm not entirely familiar with (I cannot memorize all this stuff, TBH). 

I don't want to "force" them into a dungeon , but I'd really like to spend at least half an hour reading it before they enter.

The fact that I know exactly what happens on the way to the dungeon - NO MATTER WHICH WAY - might be an interesting tool to give me time to prepare. 

Maybe I could even roll/prepare half a dozen encounters beforehand (I'm currently using this) and know exactly what is coming in the next session - regardless of the direction the PCs take.

Random ticking clocks - simplified!

When PCs go back to civilization, roll 1d100. If the result is  lower than the number of days passed since they left, an interesting event might have occurred. If the result is EQUAL than the event happens in the day they arrive! If the result is higher, there is no event for now (but it can happen in a few days...).

If there is an event, roll 1d100 again and check the table below:

1-10. A random important NPC dies. Roll for motive: old age, accident, disease/infection, adventure/travel, battle, assassination/execution.

11-15. A random important NPC is diseased/maimed.

16-20. Extreme weather (heat, cold, storms, floods, drought - according to season and place).

21-22. Mass heresy.

23-24. Natural disaster (earthquake, volcano, tornado, tsunami - according to season and place).

25-26. Ominous cosmic spectacle (comet, eclipse, etc.).

27-30. Famine.

31-33. Fire.

34-37. Plague.

38-42. Important birth or marriage.

43-45. Arrival of an important NPC/creature.

46-49. Rebellion.

50-55. Random encounter with a creature from nearby territory.

56-60. Invasion (roll random encounter, multiply NA by 1d6).

61-52. Internal strife/feud.

63-65. War with nearby community. 

66-67. Foreign invasion.

68-70. Shortage of essential supplies.

71-72. Mass hysteria/paranoia.

73-75. Robbery.

76-77. Exceptionally good harvest.

78-79. Supernatural event.

80-81. Tyranny – draconian laws.

82-83. Anarchy – laws are ignored.

84-86. Inflation.

87-89. Important NPC decides to leave place/function.

90. Meteor strike.

91-100. No event.

Roll 1d6 to measure severity. 1 is mild, 6 means total disaster.

A natural disaster of severity 6 may kill/displace 1d100% of the town's population.

Let me know which other entries I can add to the list!

---

How did we get here?

As if often happens, my first attempt at creating a new house rule ended up being more complex than I'd like.

In response to my last post and questions, I got a couple of good "random disaster" lists that are relevant - one in Oriental Adventures, the other in the RC.

The Rules Cyclopedia lists "Dominion Events" on page 142. It mentions 1d4 events per year, and lists both natural (tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.) and unnatural (rebellion, assassination) ones.

Here is a brief excerpt:

The other source mentioned was Oriental Adventures, which also has a pretty good list. 

My list is a combination of the two, reducing them to the entries is found most interesting. 

Ideally, I'd turn that into 100 entries, each with a bit more detail. Most entries should be mild to avoid wiping up the place every year. OTOH, I want to keep boring/subtle stuff to a minimum.

Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to improve the table!

One thing to notice is that some entries will be notice by the PCs while travelling - comets, earthquakes, etc. So maybe I should roll beforehand.

Well, this will do for now... I'll run a game this week and the clock is ticking!

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Note: some Classic D&D modules and OSR stuff are included in the current setting sale. I definitely recommend checking out Night's Dark Terror if you haven't. I'm tempted to buy Night Below for myself.

Random ticking clocks

I'm having a hard time with making the passage of time consequential to my current campaign. The PCs take their time to do everything. Without ticking clocks, I think this will always be the case - PCs will retreat and recover all their HP and spells before pressing forward.

Well, I could set arbitrary consequences for the passage of time, but since I prefer to be a referee than an author during the game, I want to have these things considered beforehand.

There must be multiple tables for random events in any number of RPGs, but I simply don't remember any. So here are some ideas. 

1 - Aging and death 

There are some rules in AD&D (which one could use for PCs), but I want something more straightforward. In a medieval, dangerous environment, I think giving every NPC at least 2% chance of random death per year. In theory, elderly people might have bigger chances than that (say, 4% you're over forty, 5% over 50, 6% over 60, then probably 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% if you get to be  a hundred), but people of any age can be randomly eaten by a monster, slain in war or affected by a plague. 

Maybe the risk of debilitating accidents/disease is similar.

The death of a ruler can lead to a peaceful succession... or war and anarchy.

2 - Random monsters

PCs roll for random encounters every day while travelling. It is likely that villages will be randomly attacked form time to time - maybe 10 to 30% chance every month, depending on the surrounding terrain? (BTW, may if you roll 1-3% the entire LAIR attacked the city). If this happens, you can roll an encounter as usual and evaluate what happens. For example: 

- No losses, the city is too fortified to be bothered by a dozen kobolds. 
- Some losses, a group of 40 orcs would certainly leave a mark. There is a chance of death or debility for each important NPC in town. 
- Total loss, the city is taken by an enemy force. 
- Obliteration. There is no way the city could defeat 3 aggressive dragons or storm giants. 

The best part is that the PCs will be very likely to look for revenge... could be the begging of a cool adventure.

3 - Natural disasters

Small natural disasters are accounted in part 1. Big earthquakes, tsunamis, eruptions, plagues, etc., are less likely. 1% per year sounds reasonable. Maybe roll once for every region that could be affected.

4 - Pillaging

If there is rumor of treasure, it is very likely that some other party will hear it eventually. Maybe 10% of chance per month that another expedition tries to plunder it... whether they succeed or not is another matter.

5 - Campaign-specific events 

This would be optimal, of course - if you already established a threat, the PCs have a meaningful choice - do they deal with it, or risk waiting and seeing what happens? You definitely should write some for you setting, as these are probably the most important and noteworthy events you can have. If EVERY relevant location has a list of specific dangers, that is even better!

However, I don't want these to be the ONLY ticking clocks in the setting.

Do things always get worse?

Well, most people die eventually, but that includes inimical NPCs. You might roll for the likelihood of new towns emerging, etc., but in most fantasy settings the evil forces are always pressing until the story ends. And I like my fantasy DARK, with danger and ruin in every corner.

STRICT TIME RECORDS

Needless to say, you need STRICT TIME RECORDS for this to work.

Putting it into practice

How do I like the idea in principle, this would require a lot of dice rolling, usually to no effect, and has little nuance (e.g., if you only check once a year, it doesn't really matter if the PCs are out for a month or two). 

Maybe I could invert the reasoning. Let's say, a certain event happens, on average, every 100 days. So when the PCs get to town, they roll 1d100 and compare to the number of days they have been away to see if something happened. With online dice rollers, you could roll 1d356,1d777 or whatever. Even better, you could automate this online. Otherwise, you need some math... and time. 

Let me hear some ideas. I'm sure there is a simple way to do this. My ideal result - maybe using perchance.com or something similar - would be randomly generate a table like that: 

- NPC 1 dies on day 357.
- NPC 2 dies on day 758.
- NPC 3 dies on day 23. 
- The city gets attacked by a monster on day 37. 
- Natural disaster hits on day 8756.

So, if you spent a couple of months away, you have a dead NPC (IF there are three relevant NPCs in town) and a monster attack. If they spent exactly 36 days away, they are in for a surprise (but this is unlikely). 

After they leave town, you can ignore unused results and "restart" the count.

Is there anything like this in any game you know? Any ideas on how to make this easier?

Continued here:

http://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/09/random-ticking-clocks-simplified.html

Additional reading:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/08/time-scales-rounds-days-weeks.html

D&D 2024 is FREE

There is finally a free version so anyone can check this out:

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules

As I've said before, I'm unlikely to play it, but I can still take a deeper look at the free version. Today, just a few impressions from a brief glance.

First, it is really nice to have a free version available.

I think the system looks a bit better and crunchier. Lots of additional options in the PHB.

Some obvious errors such as darkness/concealment didn't get corrected.

Apparently the "outlander" background is no more, which I found odd; please correct me if I'm wrong. 

Also it seems now certain classes are "forced" into certain backgrounds, but you can pick any race/species as they no longer affect abilities. Dwarves, halflings and humans have the same speed now.

The martial classes get some much-deserved toys to play with. But there are no significant improvements. 

For example, this style was already bad and they've made it WORSE:

Great Weapon Fighting

Fighting Style Feat (Prerequisite: Fighting Style Feature)

When you roll damage for an attack you make with a Melee weapon that you are holding with two hands, you can treat any 1 or 2 on a damage die as a 3. The weapon must have the Two-Handed or Versatile property to gain this benefit.

This one was sub-par and now it is mandatory for anyone with the soldier background (which seems to be the go-to "martial" background):

Savage Attacker

Origin Feat

You've trained to deal particularly damaging strikes. Once per turn when you hit a target with a weapon, you can roll the weapon's damage dice twice and use either roll against the target.

Of course, the combination of these two bad traits makes them EVEN WORSE, as savage attacker makes it less likely that you will apply your meager damage bonus form GWF.

They are probably assuming you will compensate in other ways (other feats, for example).

The fighter is slightly improved.

I wrote extensively about 5e weapons and armor before (if you care about this stuff, check these links), so I'll add a couple of extra comments on that.

The armor types are still a headache for OCD players, with some light armor being heavier than some medium armor, etc.

The weapon properties are a cool addition. But they make combat a bit more complicated and are not particularly sensible. I prefer my own.

The longsword and the mace have the same "sap" trait, for example. The shortsword (and many other weapons with the "vex" trait) curiously seem to only function if you have more than one attack, which is odd. The greatclub is still basically useless because quarterstaff - but at least it has a function (pushing people). The pike still weights 18 lb with the same reach as the 6 lb glaive.

But, overall, I give them props for trying.

"Light" and "Heavy" weapons still mean big and small, regardless of weight.

Muskets and pistols are part of the weapon list, no longer optional DM stuff.

Crafting rules: nice and simple but also seem to indicate everyone who can craft anything makes 5 gp a day, so they can all afford a "wealthy" lifestyle. Otherwise they can probably save enough money to get a "wish" spell in a big city once every few decades, which is interesting but not game-breaking. OTOH raise dead costs only 2500 gp - a couple of years of saving money and living in modest conditions.

The bloodied condition from 4e is back, which is nice.

Overall, this is not what I'm looking for. I'm a bit flabbergasted by the number of small problems I could find in a brief glance.

However, I'm still curious about the system and other people's impressions. Did they improve the ranger, monk and barbarian? Are spells significantly different? Did they fix or break anything else? What else do you like or dislike? Let me know in the comments!

Black Sword Hack

Somebody recently created an SRD of this game. You can see it here.

There is no need to review it since you can see it for yourself, so I'll be brief.

The system is a very simple "roll under ability, only players roll". There is a "doom die" system that is interesting but looks like it could be replaced by fatigue/stress.

I suspect any of my readers will take interest in this game, since it related to some of the most frequent topics here: dark fantasy, minimalism, sword and sorcery, D&D.

And it has some great ideas and tables you can basically incorporate in any D&D game.

BSH feels a bit vague and incomplete at times; I'm not sure I'd use it as written without adding a few parts (say, a random encounter table and more traveling rules). But since the game is under a CC license, anyone can add their own twists and even publish it, BTW. Congrats to the authors for doing that!

Overall, it is a great game that I definitely recommend checking out. 

If you want to buy the full game with art, etc., you can get it here:

https://www.themerrymushmen.com/product/black-sword-hack-ultimate-chaos-edition/

Corrupt + Evil = good? (factions)

A quick thought about factions.

In my current campaign, I have two "empires" fighting for a land that is divided into several unaligned clans. The PCs are within the eastern empire and assume these are the "good guys", despite my (too subtle) hints that they can be brutal invaders.

They heard tales about the western empire and it looks undeniably evil. But I didn't want to turn this into a "good versus evil" game. What am I missing?

One thing might be the absence of selfish, corrupt traitors in the OTHER side.

The PCs met several bad people on THEIR side (although they haven't always realized that). But the opposition seem too orderly; everyone is a zealot for their evil cause (well, most of them are undead...).

Against such a determined enemy, there is not much to do - except fighting.

Now, if we add some opportunists to the opposition... the PCs have someone to deal with. Evil, despicable maybe, but someone who can be reasoned with.

Not simple turncoats that "become" good like Han Solo or even Lando, but irredeemable foes that can still be USEFUL.

Come to think of it, adding some corruption and backstabbing to the "evil" side might be an important aspect of dark fantasy. In "epic" fantasy, it seems you only leave the "dark" side by joining the good guys.

Of course, making deals with mercenaries, opportunists and sadists has a price - and they are likely to turn on you later on.

In having a hard time coming up with examples other than Elric, who uses the help of the Lords of Chaos until they finally turn on him (or vice-versa).

In addition, dark fantasy may include people that ARE good fighting for the dark side BECAUSE they have an oath etc. to fulfill. But these are people the PCs are not likely to reason with, no matter how noble they are.

Amarod (I) - Creating a sandbox

I started my current sandbox campaign in late 2022. 

I'm using Dark Fantasy Basic with a few updates.

We play a bit more than a couple of hours every couple of weeks, so it went slowly... but the system is simple and I hand-wave some stuff, so things hopefully are not too slow.

As it approaches a (possible?) ending, I thought I'd make a brief recap - but this post also has some advice on how to build your own sandbox campaign, including sharing some of my mistakes.

The first thing you have to do is to draw a map. This is really easy - I do NOT recommend random generators here. 

I used (and recommend) Hextml. It allows you to expand the map as you go. The PC map currently looks like this:

MY map in Hextml is a bit bigger, but the PCs haven't explored much of it. Their map was even smaller when they first arrived in Belarte (the capitol) by boat, from a distant land that is NOT part of the campaign.

My advice here is start small and add more stuff as the PCs explore.

I wanted to try an hexcrawl, but I'm thinking maybe a pointcrawl would be better, with an old-looking map. 

In any case, as you can see I eventually wrote down the distances in the map (6d = 6 days, and so on) to make things easier. There are few roads beyond Aplos, so they are currently back to counting hexes.

I wrote a brief story of the region (Amarod), which is very simple: an ancient (western) empire fell, now the land is full of warring clans, but the (eastern) new empire is invading these lands. The PCs are mercenaries trying to make a buck, owning no allegiance to either "side", but taking advantage of the eastern invaders relative safety.

These are some important aspects of most D&D settings: ancient empires, ruins/dungeons, a social order that is between stable and flexible, factions and shades of gray.

The second step is scattering a few dungeons, caves, towers and villages around. In my case, I used various BFRPG modules plus Doom of the Savage Kings, The God That Crawls, etc. Mektlan is Tamoachan - the PC's latest exploit.

I did not have all these modules memorized, of course, which caused some issues. Read this post - it contains some important sandbox experience IMO.

Using mostly 1st-level modules was sub-optimal; when they got to level 3 or so, things quickly became too easy. In a future campaign I might start them at level 2 or 3 so the curve is less steep.

I assigned the area around Belarte as "safer", meaning encounters are less likely.

Now, I could say that PCs were free to roam around... but they'd be lost. So I offered them a few rumors and quests about nearby places, and several NPC expeditions they could join. 

It kinda worked. By level 3 or 4, they were planning their own expeditions and hiring their own guides without me having to offer anything.

I recommend starting with three suggestions per session. Some of them should be time-sensitive, but I haven't really implemented a system for that. This deserves further reflection, as the PCs have been treating time as an endless resource ("let's rest for three days to recover", "we will come for the goblins some other day", etc.).

NPC guides and hirelings are very useful, but RUNNING them was a hassle. Now I leave this mostly to the players.

So far, we have the PCs basically going around exploring rumors and places. As they went, I wrote down questions about the consequences of their actions:

1) What will happen in the village of Marval after the priest’s death?  A: A new priest (Father Ostid) has been appointed, you don’t know him well yet.

2) Did Polgrim and  Wolson - the NPCs who went with you to the church in Marval - talk to anyone about what happened? Remember they left when you planned to attack the evil priest.

3) Who sent a letter to the priest saying “the Lord suspects nothing”, signed only with the letter S?

4) Are the kobold ruins empty now the PCs have cleared most of them?

5) What will happen to the Jarl of Savakir (and his seer) now that the beast is dead?

Also some notes, such as "The PCs became heroes in Peranegra after defeating the local elves", etc.

One mistake is that I should have written MORE notes. Maybe every session. It would help me to get a clear picture of the events potentially unfolding.

I've been answering this questions as the adventure advances. Again, the question of TIME deserves reflection. The answer may be different depending of how long it takes for the PCs to go back to any location.

I organize ALL of this in discord channels. The players have access to maps, NPCs, questions, etc. One channel is exclusively for momentary concerns (monsters, dungeons, etc.), other channel is for dice rolls. The list of text channels goes more or less like this:

# general

# rules

# setting maps

# local maps

# adventures (momentary concerns)

# PCs and NPCs

# rolls

# questions

The map channel contains a summary of known cities and events. Each entry after the first was added as they visited new places.

Belarte: the largest port, where you arrived. Lord Belarte. 

Peranegra: famous for its pigs. You expelled the elf king who kidnapped children, and you are well-liked there. Lord Figworth (count). 

Marval: a small town with a church that has a giant slime underneath. You threw an evil priest down there. 

Savakir: a town surrounded by palisades. You killed the local monster but fled because the Jarl was chasing you. Bernier (the Jarl) and Sylle Ru (seer). 

Ilmare: a swampy city with rumors of monsters and bandits roaming the area, as well as abandoned mines. Lord Montegel. 

Mektlan: a cursed place with ruins of an ancient buried pyramid. 

Glani: a prosperous city in the region, but occasionally attacked by native clans. Duke Darvon. 

Aplos: the largest city in the region, famous for its large cathedral, with somewhat labyrinthine streets. Cardinal Godebert lifted Pete’s curse and spoke about the Heretic. You rescued the Cardinal during the siege of Glani.

To sum it up, if you want more advice: TAKE NOTES and KEEP THINGS ORGANIZED.

Anyway, that is what I've got for now. Let me know if you have any questions so I can expand this further in an eventual part II!

UPDATE: I just realized I was missing one important channel: #calendar. KEEPING TIME is extremely important. See here:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/09/random-ticking-clocks-simplified.html