AD&D DMG cover to cover - Part III, pages 23-37 (alignment, money, armor, hirelings, henchmen)

We are reading the original DMG - the ultimate DM book! - but from a B/X and OSR point-of-view.

Check the other parts of this series here.

In part III we will tackle:

ALIGNMENT 23
— ALIGNMENT LANGUAGE 24
— CHANGING ALIGNMENT 25
MONEY 25
— PLAYER CHARACTER STARTING MONEY 25
— PLAYER CHARACTER EXPENSES 25
— VALUE AND REPUTED PROPERTIES OF GEMS AND JEWELRY 25
— NOTE REGARDING THE MAGICAL PROPERTIES OF GEMS, HERBS, et al 27
ARMOR, ARMOR CLASS, & WEAPONS 27
— TYPES OF ARMOR AND ENCUMBRANCE 27
— DEXTERITY ARMOR CLASS BONUS 28
— WEAPON TYPES, “TO HIT” ADJUSTMENT NOTE 28
HIRELINGS 28
— STANDARD HIRELINGS 28
— EXPERT HIRELINGS 29
HENCHMEN 34
— LOYALTY OF HENCHMEN & HIRELINGS, OBEDIENCE, AND MORALE 36

ALIGNMENT

This part describes what the various alignments mean. It contains a simple explanation; law/chaos are groups vs. individuals, and good/evil is respect for human rights versus might makes right. Neutrality means balance. It doesn't really put an end to the discussion (I'm not even sure that this it's possible),  and it is not perfectly faithful to Anderson nor Moorcock, but it's a good start.

It adds a few notes on planes and their alignments, and stresses the importance of keeping tracks of PC's actions and change their  alignment accordingly. "It is of utmost importance to keep rigid control of alignment behavior with respect to such characters as serve deities who will accept only certain alignments".

Next, we have a section on alignment language that aims to avoid player abuse, once again, and one more section describing the penalties for changing alignment. 

Makes me wonder - if alignment is so prone to player abuse, maybe we should try some other approach?

I am not a big fan of alignment, nor do I think this solves most questions (such as nepotism, euthanizing evil creatures, unjust laws, individual rights against the group, etc.) - see " additional reading" for my take on alignments. 

This is still better and clearer than most modern takes.

MONEY

The section on money starts by saying "the amount of funds which each player begins with is kept low to prevent the game from becoming too easy". I think I'm seeing a trend here. Then, we have player character expenses ("not less than 100 gold pieces per level of experience per month") - possibly for the same reason. You must consider the maintenance of henchmen, strongholds, taxes and tithes. I'm not sure I'm particularly interested in running a game about accounting, and I certainly dislike dealing with taxes.

Next, we have a whole page on gems - their size, color, value, quality, and so on. It also describes their magical properties, and adds some fantastical examples ("Star Ruby: translucent ruby with white “star” center") that I didn't know (but they actually exist!). I find this extremely flavorful and interesting. It is by no means essential to your games, but very cool. This is top-tier "random table" stuff.

ARMOR, ARMOR CLASS & WEAPONS

A detailed account of various types of armor and shields, and some notes on Dexterity as it relates to AC. Can basically be used as written for B/X, if you care for this much detail. There's also an important note about a subject we've been discussing lately:

WEAPON TYPES, “TO HIT” ADJUSTMENT NOTE
If you allow weapon type adjustments in your campaign please be certain to remember that these adjustments are for weapons versus specific types of armor, not necessarily against actual armor class. In most cases, monsters not wearing armor will not have any weapon type adjustment allowed, as monster armor class in such cases pertains to the size, shape, agility, speed, and/or magical nature of the creature. Not excluded from this, for example, would be an iron golem. However, monsters with horny or bony armor might be classed as plate mail if you so decide, but do so on a case-by-case basis. Naturally, monsters wearing armor will be subject to weapon type “to hit” adjustment. 

HIRELINGS

The cost and description of various types of hirelings, including experts (alchemists, armorers, spies, and, of course, gem-cutters). The most interesting part here, in my opinion, is the list of troops and their organization. For example:

Captain: A captain is nothing more than a capable leader, a fighter of 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th level (according to the d10 score, 1-4 = 5th, 5-7 = 6th, 8-9 =7th, 0 = 8th) but NOT capable of working upwards. A captain can command as many scores of troops as he or she has levels, i.e., 4th level enables command of 80 men, 5th level enables command of 100 men, etc. In addition, the level of the captain dictates the number of lieutenants which can be controlled. This is exclusive of serjeants and any auxiliary types such as servants, cooks, etc. The monthly cost of a captain is 100 gold pieces per level.

This makes high-level fighters a lot more interesting in mass combat - and they get a clearer place in society. Even tough these are not PC fighters ("NOT capable of working upwards"), they both indicate the potential capabilities of fighters and also sketch how an old school "warlord" class could look like (my version is a lot simpler, but not as focused on mass combat).

Likewise, the book contains a very detailed (two pages long!) description of another expert, the sage. Again, extremely interesting and could perfectly be a class of its own. It would be a fine addition to B/X and AD&D games. As most things you'll find is this book, it is unnecessarily complex, but full of inspiration.

HENCHMEN

Henchmen are individual adventurers, not merely laborers, employees or experts. They have PC classes, go to dungeons with the PCs and get a share of treasure, so they get more attention/detail. This section describes their classes, levels, races, costs, and hiring process. Their personality traits are described in other part of the book (PERSONAE OF NONPLAYER CHARACTERS). The organization is still strange, but at least we know where to look.

This section finishes with an entire page of modifiers to henchmen loyalty, obedience and morale. Each individual entry is interesting - I specially like the idea, for example, that while most creatures prefer to follow lieges of similar alignment, chaotic creatures make bad leaders and followers in general. However, keeping track of all these things looks like a nightmare. I prefer the much simpler 2d6 checks of B/X. Anyway, here is a good summary:

What have we learned today?

 

Once again - "lots of cool tables, but everything seems a bit unnecessarily complex, sometimes redundant". We have gems that we can use as written if you want that kind of detail, various troops for mass combat games, and two potential new classes waiting for a B/X adaptation: the commander and the sage.

Coming next... TIME! SPELLS! (prepare yourself: part IV is my favorite part of the DMG so far!)

Contains affiliate links. By purchasing stuff through affiliate links you're helping to support this blog.

Additional reading (on alignment):

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-alignment-part-i-alignment-origins.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2017/05/languages-alignment-or-otherwise.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2017/07/dark-fantasy-basic-one-page-hacks-and.html

Polyglot dwarves and elves - dungeon dialects

In B/X, ALL elves and dwarves speak six languages each. It is one language more than the smartest human wizard (well, unless you're using something like Old School Feats to become a linguist...).

Is EVERY dwarf a polyglot? This doesn't make sense... 

Unless...

What if these are similar dialects? Dwarves speak "Dwarvish, Gnomish, Goblin, Kobold". You can see dwarves and gnomes (their cousins) sharing a language, right? What if goblins and kobolds learned with them? This is the language of the (short) underground people.

What about elves? They speak "Elvish, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, Orcish". Sounds strange, since those are monsters in B/X terms. 

Orcs are "ugly, bad-tempered, animalistic humanoids who live underground and are active at night. Sadistic bullies who hate other living creatures and delight in killing." in the OSE SRD.

Hobgoblins are "Larger and nastier relatives of goblins. Dwell underground, but commonly seek prey above ground.".

And gnolls are "Lazy, humanoid hyenas of low intelligence that live by intimidation and theft. Legends say that gnolls were magically created by a wizard who crossbred gnomes and trolls."

Now, this doesn't make ANY sense... 

Unless short species have tighter social connection than taller species. Which sounds a bit ludicrous.

Or, we can rationalize it saying that gnolls, hobgoblins and orcs spent their waking hours outside... only sleeping in caves, etc. Or that orcs are warped elves (as in Tolkien). And trolls are related to elves somehow (as in Poul Anderson). And hobgloblins are... well, a mix of elves and goblins?

But it is all a bit unintuitive and forced.

And I didn't even mention alignment languages until now.

Languages in B/X is one of those idiosyncrasies - like immunity to ghoul paralysis - that works in Basic (there are few monsters, you can speak with some of them), barely works in Expert (now there are more than a hundred monsters) and break if you're expanding the game even further.

You can handwave it, use it as written, or ignore it altogether (as I've seem frequently). 

However, having coherent languages improves immensely on world-building... as everyone who read Tolkien knows.

Dark Fantasy Basic tries to make some sense of language - including alignment languages, "common" and dialects. You can read the whole thing here. It doesn't deal with demi-human languages, however.

Well, my next book is likely to be about demi-humans... And I'm wondering if it should include some ideas on languages. For now, I think I'd just say that elves and dwarves speak only three languages by default - and the last three languages on either list can only be picked by high-Intelligence characters.

And "cousin" languages can communicate, albeit with some difficulty: dwarf/gnome, goblin/hobgoblin, and maybe even elf/orc... depending on your setting.

The individualism of modern D&D

I wrote a post about the origins of alignment a long time ago. It is one of my favorite posts in this blog. I thought I'd make it into a series, discussing alignment through all editions, etc., but nothing really occurred to me.

Now that D&D is trying to get rid of alignment (in the most recent books), I'd like to briefly go back to the topic. This post is not only about alignment, but it plays an important part.

In that post, I've mentioned that the move of alignments from "factions" to "individual behavior/philosophy" is part of a natural process as D&D moved from wargame (focused on armies) to RPG (focused on individual characters). 

Well, the move is nearly complete. Now even monsters aren't good or evil; tigers and demons must be judged on an individual basis.

But alignment is not the only change. If you compared early D&D to modern D&D, you'll see the "social" aspects were more important. You had hirelings, morale (i.e., if your team runs, you run), reaction rolls, and so on. Now, it is all about the single character. He might have a pet or sidekick, but he is always the star of the show (or ONE of they stars, like in the Avengers movies; although "solo play" becomes incresingly popular, and big tables more rare).

You can see it in monster statblocks too; in AD&D 2e, for example, you had information on diet, habitats, social organization; the number of monsters you'd find in an encounter or lair were also important. Now that is lost. The number encountered will be randomly determined, maybe level appropriate.

The "exploration" side of the game is also a bit weakened. Instead of, for example, finding a magic weapon by chance and carrying it around, you are specialized in certain weapons, so your character traits defines what weapons you'll carry.

Character complexity has grown exponentially. PCs now have feats, bonds, flaws; they are carefully built instead of randomly rolled. Deliberate character creation and development became an important part of the game.

Now we have have races, subraces, custom lineages, etc. (in addition to classes, subclasses, multiclasses). In some of the earlier versions, non-human PCs had level limits, since humans were the majority and they were the exception. Now, humans are only one - and maybe the most homogenous, since there is no "custom human" IIRC - of many different lineages.

(A recent example: Drizzt Do'Urden was once an outcast, a good-alingned rebel from an evil culture of "Dökkálfar", and now apparently part of a majority of good drow).

And, of course, the nonhumans become stranger and stranger - now you can play as a snake-man, undead, cyborg, and so on. The old limitations make no sense now - a dwarf can be a wizard, an elf can be a cleric, and so on.

 Like in 13th Age, each PC is unique.

It is not about humans exploring a strange world anymore - is about a group of strange people exploring, well... themselves? Or, most likely, they are exploring a world that has more internal coherence than the party. [For example, when playing Curse of Strahd, I've noticed that the PCs were some of the strangest being  around; the rest of the setting is what you'd expected from a "gothic horror valley".]

The importance of the party is also downplayed. To mention some games I enjoy, modern D&D is more like Skyrim or Dark Souls than Darkest Dungeon. While in DD only the fate of the party matters, in the other games you have to build a single character and try again and again until you succeed.

In the wargame period, characters would take one "hit" and they'd be dead, unless they were heroes or superheroes. I think it was Arneson who noticed people would get attached to their characters, and then hit point were made. I'm thinking that the next step is simply making PCs immortal - you can change your character when you get tired of it, and he/she only dies with the player's permission.

Well, is this good or bad?

The answer, obviously, is neither. It boils down to a matter of taste. You do not have to choose one way or another; you can play with these things. For example:

If you find alignment too restrictive, we could go the opposite way - adopt one or multiple "mien" from Troika* (e.g., Hungry, Confused,  Protective, Greedy, Conniving), one or multiple goals from Teratogenicon, or let behavior be described by any appropriate expression (chaotic, lawful, greedy, hungry, indifferent, territorial, aggressive, shy, etc.). Of course, each individual creature might be different - but having some way to start the process is useful.

The same goes for hit points and lethality. Do you want unique, carefully built PCs? Maybe you they shouldn't die in the first session. Do you prefer high lethality? Maybe players should be able to create new PCs quickly.

It is not about black and white, either. There are shades of gray. The extremes (for example, "nobody ever dies" and "at least one PC dies every session") are less popular than moderate versions.

I've played Ravnica campaigns in which I wanted the PCs to be strange; we had a great time. I certainly enjoy the weird creatures of Dark Sun and Tékumel. In Curse of Strahd, the strange PCs felt out of place, but I've found some alternatives). 

Now I'm starting a Shadow of the Demon Lord campaign (the sale is still on!). The game is fairly lethal, so I'm happy that character creation is really quick and starting PCs are really simple. I really like character customization to happen gradually, and Shadow of the Demon Lord is great at that (it has way more customization than some old school games, for example, but not as much in the beggining of the game like 5e).

Just try some different play-styles and see what suits you best!

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Lucky Number Seth

There is an entire post to be written about how wasteful is to use a die with 20 sides to only get two or three meanings (hit, miss, or critical hit)... but I'm not writing that today.

Today is just one example.

So, here is Set (or Seth), an Egyptian god of many roles... some of them related to chaos or defeating chaos. Which is fitting.

If a player character becomes a follower of Set, roll a d20. This is now the number of Seth.

Say you've got a 12. Every time you roll a 12 with that PC, Set intervenes. He has his own goals in mid... but if you have been a faithful follower, he is very much inclined to help you out. Of course, he has his own, sometimes inscrutable, motives.

Extrapolate from this little mechanic. The possibilites are endless. For example:

- For clerics, the usefulness is obvious. Yes, you can sin against Set from time to time... but better not roll his number while doing it!
- The DM rolls in secret, and tells the PC when Set intervenes. Maybe he only does it once until you've got the time to pray again. But did Set really intervene? Or would that 12 have killed the monster anyway?
- You could form a pact with a deity, and use this help until you fulfill it.
- Maybe you can worship two deities? Well, roll a new die. Now you have two lucky nubmers! But whose goals are you following now? And you better not roll the same number twice - you soul might get ripped apart by jealous deities...
- Of course, it works differently for non-clerics. Maybe once a day, etc.

And so on.

The absence of God

This setting idea was was partly inspired by reading Hell Is the Absence of God, although the result is nothing similar.

Lost Gods by Brom is a better source of inspiration for this. Yes, that Brom - did you know he is an impressive writer in addition to being an amazing artist? Check that one out, it has awesome depictions of the afterlife. I'll write a brief review later, I think.

Art by Brom - source.

Anyway, the idea reminds me of sword and sorcery settings... places with demons but no true gods in the modern sense. At least, that is what I feel when reading some stuff by Vance, Robert E. Howard and Clark A. Smith, for example, or settings like Tékumel and Dark Sun. Well, there are not many demons in Dark Sun IIRC, but they FEEL appropriate for some reason.

Here is how I summed it up in Dark Fantasy Settings:

---

The absence of gods

The rapture has come. The gods left, and with them the righteous. The rest of the universe was found wanting, and was abandoned. The problem is, nobody remembers it.

Humankind has a hole in their souls, but they don’t know why. There is no memory of the gods – the whole concept is alien. Altruism is almost unknown. Needless to say, there are no clerics or paladins, only different kinds of sorcerers. Temples are all fallen and desecrated – to most people, they look like ordinary ruins.

Demons are common throughout the land, but have no lower purpose other than gaining power, pleasure and gold. The word “demon” has lost its meaning. Humans treat them like a dangerous different people – the strong ones should be avoided (or worshipped, as they grant gifts), but some can be reasoned with, enslaved and even breed with humans. They also have no memory of the gods.

Bizarre monsters are also common. With no concept of natural order, there is also no separation between animal and monster. They are all bizarre beasts. No one cares to catalogue then, and everyone know you cannot predict what kind of creature you will find in your travels.

The most dangerous creature in these lands, however, are the Nephilim. Nobody knows that they are the angels that failed to save this world from judgement and damnation. These ancient, immensely powerful beings have a few clues and recollections on what happened before… However, none dare see the whole picture. Some gouged their own eyes out to avoid seeing how damned the lands have become. Other chained themselves for fear of destroying everything, or twisted their own limbs into tentacle aberrations. Many disfigure themselves to avoid the pain of remembering they were created in the image of perfection, while other carved their guilty into their own flesh. All became insane.

Maybe, if someone could put all the pieces back together, they could pray for one of the gods to look back on this damned world…

---

As I've said above, this is from my book Dark Fantasy Settings. It contains shorts essays and many tables to generate grim settings. You can find it by clicking on the link above. If you like this, you'll find more stuff like this on my Dark Fantasy line. 

It is also a great way to support this blog!

Hope you enjoy it! Thanks!

DARK FANTASY: SETTINGS, MAGIC ITEMS, and SALE!

So here are my two newest books: Dark Fantasy Magic Items and Dark Fantasy Settings.

They are on sale for US$ 0.95 and 50 cents for a limited time!

 

These are collection of tables and short essays to inspire the creation of dark fantasy settings and magic items. As always, the focus is on dark fantasy tropes: flawed heroes, terrible villains, corrupting magic, ominous ruins and damned wastelands.

Here are some examples from each book.

Settings:

d20	What is missing?
1	Gods. They died, left, became corrupted, etc. (see the “Dark Fantasy Religion” book for more ideas)
2	Water. In this deserted world, human life is cheap and water is expensive.
3	Food. Everyone are starving, and the number of cannibals is growing.
4	Sun. The sun is dying. It might have turned red already.
5	Light. It is always night, and torches are scarce.
6	Heat. This winter is harsh and lasts for decades. The whole world is covered in snow.
7	Civilization. Civilization has fallen, and barbarians live amongst the ruins.
8	Technology. The primitive humankind cannot tell the devices of the ancients from magic.
9	Sight. The whole world is surrounded by fog. Hard to see, easy to get lost.
10	Magic. The slow death of magic will bring doom upon the world.
11	Metals. Metals are scarce. Wood, bone and obsidian are used in its place.
12	Memory. Everyone seems to be forgetful, and the old ways are falling into oblivion.
13	Empathy. It is every man and woman for themselves now, and the devil take the hindmost.
14	Order. Nobody is in charge, and everything is permitted.
15	Transport. There might be peace somewhere, but no ways to get there.
16	Sanity. Everyone is crazy, but each in their own way.
17	Stability. Everything changes rapidly. Cities move around. Buildings grow and collapse like trees.
18	Souls. Most common people are born with no soul, although this isn’t always obvious.
19	Exit. No one can leave The Great City. Beyond the walls is hell, or worse.
20	Hope. Everything is going downhill, and nobody cares.

Magic items:

d20	Appearance
1	Deep and dark like the night sky. You cannot see the stars move, but they do.
2	Looks as if it was made of contained fire, without heat.
3	A sea of desperate faces float around with open mouths, making no sound.
4	Its parts seem to flow slightly within, like water.
5	Luminescent. It glows in the dark but provides no light for you.
6	It contains one or more eyes that occasionally seem to blink.
7	Made to resemble flowers and plants, with a sweet, slightly narcotic smell.
8	Reflective, like a perfect mirror.
9	Ultrablack – darker than your pupils, and makes the light around them a bit weaker.
10	Beautifully prismatic, like a cross between a rainbow and the aurora borealis.
11	Old bloodstains that can never be cleaned.
12	Incredibly fancy. Decorated with precious stones or metals.
13	Resembles (or contains the image of) an animal, demon, monster, child, etc.
14	Has small pulsating protuberances that resemble cists.
15	Made of living, flayed flesh, or human skin. Might bleed if damaged. / Made of bones.
16	Smooth, squishy and wet, resembling octopus’ skin. / Semi-transparent, like hardened glass or crystals.
17	Covered in scales of a dragon or great lizard. / Engraved with glowing runes.
18	Decorated with large feathers of extinct birds. / Perfectly polished metal.
19	Rubbery and flexible, but still very resistant. / Radiant, like a beam of light or “laser sword”.
20	Covered in the strangely colored fur of an unknown beast. / All bent and twisted.

I think the series is now complete! I'm really happy on how things turned out. And I still have other stuff up my sleeve...  Stay tuned!

The day the characters killed a baby

I'm currently playing Curse of Strahd. It certainly has its dark moments. However, the most appalling thing that happened in one of my games was in a different campaign. I was always a bit hesitant to tell this story here but... here it goes.

What was it? Well, you've seen the title of this post.

Anyway, during the height of the "Game of Thrones" TV show popularity, I did the whole "Shadows of Westeros" campaign.

The PCs were big players in the seven realms, a few years after Robert Baratheon took the throne (i.e., a decade before the begging of the books/show). The fought in Pike, went to tourneys, met the laughing lion, etc. It was fun!

One of the PCs had his whole family slain by a scheming bannerman (allegedly, for supporting the Targaryens against Bob Baratheon). In the end, they stormed his castle and managed to kill him. But they forgot to ask if he had a wife before storming the castle. Oh well, they finished the job.

Then they heard a baby cry.

The campaign ended immediately after that, in the same, session. Maybe it was partly because I couldn't stomach what the PCs did, they became villains IMO, but also the PCs got sentenced, killed, or sent to the wall (which was EXACTLY the plan of the their "ally", who encouraged then to attack the scheming bannerman by surprise). The whole "season" was ending anyway.

I didn't condemn the players, though; it was probably my own fault for trying to give the game that GoT vibe.

And, well, these things happen in Westeros; even ordinary peasants commit atrocities as you can see in Martin's latest book. But is not a type of campaign I enjoy.

Anyway.

Somebody asked a question about GoT campaigns on reddit, and I told this story. This was the most popular reply:

"So, how much xp for the babe?"

I have to admit, it made me laugh.

Moral of the story: The PCs will often surprise you... and you won't necessarily like it! ;)

DARK FANTASY: two new books (Religion & Places) and a sale

I published two small (10 to 12 pages each) PDFs today.

Here they are: Dark Fantasy Religion and Dark Fantasy Places.

One is currently PWIW; you can get it for free for a limited time. The other is currently $0.99.

Any feedback (and re-sharing, etc.) is greatly appreciated.

 

These are collection of tables and short essays to inspire the creation of fantastic religions and places. The focus is on dark fantasy tropes: flawed heroes, terrible villains, corrupting magic, ominous ruins and damned wastelands.

They are mostly system-less, to be used with any game of your choice.

Here is one example of table you'll find in DFR. It answer the question "Where are your gods now?".

d20	State
1	Slain by its foes (demons or even mortals).
2	Abandoned humankind (or only the wicked) to its own fate for its sins.
3	Dead from old age, or turned to ash, stone, etc.
4	Imprisoned by dark forces in the depths of existence.
5	Evil or inimical to humankind. They hate our guts.
6	Non-existent, just wishful thinking form puny mortals.
7	Uninterested in this world, is building a better one.
8	Unknown, the whole concept is alien to this setting.
9	Walking the earth as mortals after falling from godhood.
10	Terrorizing the world as gigantic monsters.
11	Gathering followers in order to regain power.
12	Forgotten to all but a select, half-crazy few.
13	False, just powerful immortals or normal humans behind the curtains.
14	Insane, playing dice games with the universe.
15	A projection of our hopes and fears made manifest.
16	Gaolers keeping us from seeing the truth and becoming gods ourselves.
17	Sleeping in the depths until the day of judgment comes.
18	Incomprehensible to mortals, cannot be please, placated or reasoned with.
19	Unborn. One day they will come to save us… hopefully.
20	Disappeared mysteriously.

In addition, the Dark Fantasy Basic - Player's Guide in on sale, for $3.74.

Which means you can get the whole collection for less than 6 dollars:



Future plans: I want to publish a few "Dark Fantasy Settings" soon, in a similar way. Then I'll publish my big monster book... I'm aiming for a BIG book, print+PDF, for every system - specially DFB and 5e!

If all goes well, by the end of 2020 I'll publish a complete version of DFB - i.e., PHB + DMG + MM, with lots of new stuff.

If you like any of these ideas, let me know! We aim to please!