I’ve tried to explain it, but I really can’t explain it better than they can. Here is the basic idea from the FAQ:

General Questions

• What is Patreon?

Patreon lets fans become patrons of their favorite artists and content creators. Unlike other fundraising services that raise for a single big event, Patreon is for content creators who create a stream of smaller works, like youtube musicians, bloggers, comic creators, etc.

• Who can be a content creator on Patreon?

Anyone! All you need to do is setup your creator profile on the site and then tell your fans about it.

• What are the benefits of Patreon?

As a content creator:

• Get funded for working on what you love
• Give back to your most passionate fans with rewards
• Continue growing your fanbase with our social tools

As a patron and fan:

• Support the artists and content creators that you care most about
• Get rewarded by your favorite artists with pre-sell concert tickets, personal gifts, hangouts or meet & greets, or anything else they can offer as a way to say thanks
• Spread the word so others can support your favorite artists and content creators

I see folks like Autarch with ACKS doing Kickstarter after Kickstarter and it works for them. They have about 115K for income in about 94 weeks. That’s just not bad, you know?

They are always making content, interacting with their fans, being human when criticized and most importantly, they make a great game.

So what would it look like if a game company made more content, more often? The closest thing that comes to a Patreon type of thing is dungeonaday.com Pay 60 or 120 USD and you get lots and lots of great content in an easy to digest format. Yet Patreon works differently…

Note: I am not knocking dungeonaday.com. They have a great business model, I only use them to show differences in business models.

Dungeonaday – buy a subscription, get everything. I assume that subscriptions are renewed yearly.

Patreon – Pledge a certain amount of money for a creative work, pay only for things you want. Cap your expenses if the artist you patronize is really prolific.

Neither one is a bad idea, just different.

So if it’s not Kickstarter and not Dungeonaday, what would a successful game creator on Patreon look like?

Well, there would have to be enough free content to get an idea of the type of games and game materials the game creator makes. Patreon provides a platform to do this, but some of the most successful content makers on the site also take advantage of personal blogs, YouTube and other sites.

A successful game creator would also need to interact with people interested in his/her games. Patreon provides a platform for this as well, but I would imagine the bare minimum would be a presence on Google Plus and Twitter.

So a game creator makes some cool stuff that you can get for free. What reason is there to pay money? Money would have to offer some kind of access, special content and/or varying degrees of creative control. I’ll talk about this more with a specific example.

Joe makes games. He decides to setup a website at joesgames.com He joins Google Plus and Twitter and begins to follow some other users. He also sets up an account on Patreon.com.

He could run a Kickstarter to get off the ground (like Autarch), but decides to write about games he loves and smaller games he has already written. He posts on his blog, patreon.com, and Google Plus. He gets to know some other gamers, participates in GAME BLOG DAY and interacts with others, as he is able, on Twitter and Google plus.

With cross-posting on Patreon.com, someone asks about the whole money thing. This gives him a chance to explain that he can create more games if folks become patrons of his work. Maybe the first patron posting nets only a dollar, but it is something, you know?

As he talks to others, he also explains that patrons get games early, help playtest and have the ability to get special items. He may even decide that to sell his games at DriveThru__ – but only after patrons already have the games for three weeks.

What about special items? For his role-playing games, he can make cool things like a Pocketmod book. Let’s say Joe has a maker friend, he could make a few minis (only about 10) or special tokens or other cool things. The special items don’t have a limit. He could get the folks at Artisan Dice to make a few custom sets of dice as giveaway to the largest patrons.

If a patron believes he is good enough, that patron could even request the creation of a specific game.

None of this prevents Joe from giving away stuff, selling inexpensive pdfs, selling printed copies through DriveThru or Lulu or even making box sets.

Sure it is not a guarantee. Joe may make crappy games that no one likes but him and his mom. Still, it seems entirely possible that this type of business model could work for someone.

What do you think?

The guidelines I follow are as follows:

• Start with Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User classes. Also include a tweaked Thief class.
• All skills of a class are handled per Thieves’ Skills (roll on d6 or roll d%)
• Limited Special Abilities are handled per Turn Undead table using various dice,’X’ number of times a day or Spellcasting tables.
• Other Special Qualities are “always-on” abilities (like Fighter’s Parry), Stronghold/Keep/Guild at name level.
• One other mechanic I use is a custom mechanic for handling psionic combat. I hope to adapt it to handle things like wizards’ duels, clerics’ tests of faith and sanity checks.
• There are no abilities unlocked at certain levels with the exception of name level. This is why the Thief is tweaked to always be able to Read Languages, though he or she will have a limited chance at 1st and 2nd levels.
• Hit Dice are d3,d4,d6,d8 and d10.
• Name Level occurs at Up to level 13 for d3, Up to level 11 for d4, Up to level 9 for d6 and d8, Up to level 7 for d10.
• Extra hit points after name level are +1 for d3,d4,d6 and +2 for d8,d10
• One and only one ability score is used to provide a bonus to XP.
• One +2 bonus to a type of Saving Throw bonus.
• I have a custom system for weapons allowed. I allow anyone to throw flaming oil and use slings.

Looking at the core classes, they breakdown as follows.

Cleric:

d6 tops off at 9th level
Wisdom provides bonus to XP
Weapons Restriction: Blunt Weapons + oil and sling.
Limited Special Abilities: Turn Undead, Cast Spells per table,
Special Quality: Stronghold at name level.

Fighter:

d8 tops off at 9th level
Strength provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: NONE
Limited Special Abilities: NONE
Special Qualities: Multiple Attacks, Parry, Stronghold at name level.

Magic-User:

d4 tops of at 11th Level
Intelligence provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: Small list of weapons + oil and sling. No armor.
Skill: Knowing Spells, Making Magic Items
Limited Special Abilities: Casting spells per spell table
Special Quality: Tower at name level.

Thief:

d4 tops out at 10th level
Dexterity provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: One-handed weapons Leather Armor only.
Skills: Climb Walls, Delicate Tasks and Traps, Hear Sounds, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Open Locks, Read Languages
Limited Special Abilities: NONE
Special Qualities: Backstab (always-on), Read Magic (gains at name level)

The biggest changes from S&W Complete is that the Thief gains the ability to Read languages any time, but cannot read magic until 10th level.

It’s not so much a change, but since there is no explicit rule, I have the Magic-User able to make magic items any time. One part of my rationale is due a house rule I have about XP gained on money spent. Making magic items gives M-U’s a reason to spend money.

And Now for Something Kinda Different

So how does this work with custom classes? It is not as limiting as it may appear. Notice that no one has an “X” number of times ability. There’s all kinds of ways to modify spell tables (half the spells of an M-U, change the spell levels possible, custom spell lists, etc.) In other words, there are many possibilities, but a limited number of ways to express them.

For an example of how these fit together, let’s look at the Hewcaster:

Hewcaster:

d4 tops of at 11th Level
Intelligence provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: Small list of weapons + oil and sling. No armor.
Skill: Knowing Spells
Limited Special Abilities: Casting spells per spell table, Extracting Essence per Turn Undead table, Making Elixirs per spell table.
Special Quality: Alchemists’ Lab at name level.

If I wanted a Barbarian, I’d do this:

Barbarian:

d10 tops off at 7th level
Constitution provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: Two-handed weapons only
Limited Special Abilities: Rage up to level times a day
Special Qualities: Multiple Attacks (Crom count the dead!), Stronghold at name level.

+2 to Saving Throws from spells and spell-like effects

If I wanted a Psionicist, I’d do this:

Psionicist:

d6 tops off at 9th level
Charisma provides bonus to XP
Weapons Restriction: Small list of weapons + oil and sling. No armor.
Skills: Learning Psionic Techniques, Grapple Incorporeal Foes
Limited Special Abilities: Uses Psionic Abilities per table, Psionic Attacks per table
Special Quality: Psionic defense (always-on), Academy at name level.

+2 to Saving Throws from Charm and other mind-effecting spells.

For an Assassin:

d4 tops out at 11th level or d3 tops out at 13th level
Intelligence provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: One-handed weapons Leather Armor only. Can use shields.
Skills: Climb Walls, Delicate Tasks Disguise Self, and Traps, Hear Sounds, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Open Locks, Read Languages
Limited Special Abilities: NONE
Special Qualities: Backstab (always-on), Make Poison, Read Magic (gains at name level)

+2 to Saving Throws from poison and paralysis

For a Ranger:

d8 tops off at 8th level
Strength provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: NONE
Skill: Tracking
Limited Special Abilities: NONE
Special Qualities: Bonus damage to Giant and Goblin types (always on), Alertness (always on), Casting spells per spell table at Name Level, Use of Healing, Scrying and Travel based magic items at Name level, Fortress at name level.

+2 to Saving Throws from spells that alter the senses or sense of balance.

For a Bard:

d4 tops out at 9th level
Charisma provides bonus to XP
Weapon Restriction: Any weaponsa and shields, but Leather Armor only.
Skills: Hear Sounds, Hide in Shadows, Lore (Identify Magic Items, know the location of dungeon, etc), Move Silently, Read Languages, Read Magic
Limited Special Abilities: Casting spells per spell table
Special Qualities: Psionic Defense (always on), Guild at Name Level

+2 to Saving Throws from charm and mind-affecting spells.

Okay, so that’s a bunch of stuff that everyone already has in various forms or another, except the Hewcaster. Could I do a Monk class? Honestly, I would feel the need to add a martial arts sub-system to do classes like the Monk. I’ll give it a shot on the next post.

Thanks  Ashbrand and Ansaldo! Please let me know how you tweak the Needle, I love seeing what folks do with a setting.

I also want to thank the folks at the Sword and Wizardry Community on G+. It is a supportive place that encourages tinkerers like me and consistently has great ideas and conversations.

I’ve had more visitors to the site in the past three days than I usually get in a month. Outside of the Open D6 download page, the Eye of the Needle is the most popular post ever.

I just wanted to say thanks. The past few days have been on the melancholy side and all of this gives me a much needed smile.

The bulk of this post was written over two years ago. I felt the need to finish it as I still want to run a campaign in a place that has some of the ideas of Spelljammer, like flying ships and travel to other planets. I gave it the code name of Tiezerakan, but when I finish it, the name will be much easier to pronounce.

Anyway, here is a post dedicated to the May Blog Carnival.

Original Inspirational Notes for the Setting:

• Imagine two worlds connected by a 30 mile diameter tunnel.
• Specially crafted ships shorten the journey between worlds to three days but, the middle 1000 miles takes about 24 hours through a much more narrow corridor.
• Trading companies vie for power on both worlds,
• Illuminated glyphs provide the only light on the journey,
• A dozen religions war over the claim of the tunnel’s creator,
• Flying ships,
• A Cannular demiplanet,
• Lost artifacts, thieves and the Order of the Acicular Monks

Introducing the Needle

The Eye of the Needle is a location that goes back to a feature of Tiezerakan. In the Tiezerakan world,  every planet has a twin that is located on the opposite side of the Central Fire. (The Central Fire functions much like the Sun in our solar system.)

Specifically, a corridor exists that connects Tol and Lot, the two primary homeworlds of humankind. The corridor is called The Needle. While interplanetary travel exists, travel through The Needle requires only half the time of a more conventional route.

Physical Description:

The Tunnel exists on each world as a circle that reaches 30 miles in diameter. Long, narrow docks and landing areas radiate from the rim of the circle for miles in every direction. Huge cargo ships pour out of the circle regularly at all times of the day and night. Flitting across the tunnel’s maw are many smaller courier ships along with a few passenger ships. Despite all the traffic, accidents are extremely rare, a fact that marvels a first-time visitor.

Inside the tunnel is dark except for illuminated glyphs that run the entire length. The smallest symbols are about two miles high and wide, though most are estimated to be tens of thousands of miles long. Tunnelrats, as travelers in the Tunnel are called, use the various glyphs to map constellations that provide approximate distance traveled and a rough sense of time.

The Eye of the Needle is located in the middle of tunnel. It is believed to be exactly halfway between the planets of Tol and Lot. The size of the Eye is unknown, but it is visible for almost an entire 24 hour day while ships are traveling past it.

The Eye is considered a hindrance at best and a terror at worst. The size of the Eye requires ships that travel the tunnel to slow down considerably. The distance from the surface of the Eye to the edge of the Needle is a little less than seven miles. Ship attacks are common at the Eye. It is believed that several groups of organized bandits use the Eye as a base from which to launch attacks.

Traveling the Needle:

Travel through the Needle is done by specially designed craft of all sizes. The largest, are the cargo ships informally known as whales. These ships can reach almost 100 feet wide and often exceed 400 feet in length. Unlike most ether or water-based craft, no sails are required. Any decks are constructed only for the purposes of fighting pirates.

The smallest ships are personal ships for various priests that live on either side of the Needle. Each ship is unique, but often feature an observation deck for studying the symbols that adorn the tunnel walls. It is believed that these tiny vessels, often only eight feet wide, do not need to reduce their speed to navigate the Eye. (No one can confirm this.)

Societal Effect of the Needle:

Many faiths have temples built on the perimeter of the Needles’ openings on both planets. Dozens of deities (and a few titans) take credit for the creation of the Needle. Ships full of religious pilgrims regularly land on the surface of the tunnel seeking knowledge, enlightenment, or power to perform various rituals. It is common to encounter proselytizers offering true wisdom and the keys of wisdom through secret knowledge.

The gods and titans are not the only planar beings to take an active role in life around the Needle. Various demons and devils also hold sway over large chunks of land and a large number of citizens. Each faction is in search of powerful magicks or artifacts believed to be located within the Needle itself. Rumors of carriages that can ride the Needle’s walls fuel many quests into the tunnel to explore its surface.

As a result of the religious influence, any management of the docks along the Needles’ openings is ineffective. Disputes between officials often involve nothing more than differing opinions of the interpretation of a specific symbol seen in the Needle. Bribes are fact of doing business. Trading companies pressure independent merchants into membership. Much of the violence on the docks results from attacks from one trading company against another.

Every conceivable good and service is available in shops surrounding the docks. Given enough time, any item can be purchased. Any service can be performed. Any item can be manufactured. If it exists, someone in this vast expanse either has it or knows how to get it quickly.

Playing the Needle:

Playing the Needle (or possibly threading the Needle) can revolve around many things, depending on what players want to experience with their characters.

The most straightforward way of playing this setting is having the characters be a crew on a merchant ship. They met as a result of being recruited as sailors on a merchant ship through the needle. The characters do not necessarily need to have lived anywhere near the Needle to be recruited. Regardless of their homeland, they meet on the deck of a ship ready to begin the voyage at dawn the next day.

Why be a pawn in a game of kings? Have the characters play owners of a trading company. Anyone having a priest character serves as a liason from one of the hundreds of temples that dot the rim of the eye. All of the characters have pooled their meager resources into purchasing a small ship and hiring themselves as the crew. They could end up stranded on the eye itself, decide to take the analogue of the Northwest Passage and fly around both planets, find an artifact or just about anything else you can dream up.

Why be make an honest living? Be pirates!

Solo characters could be a priest seeking knowledge about the glyphs or a monk learning to walk on the surface of the tunnel itself. Have the magic-user explore a curious item brought back from the sister planet.

Get strange – have the characters meet themselves on the other planet.

Epilogue:

Taking a quick break from Lorica to revisit an old post is fun. I hope to have another post like this for that setting later this month. Enjoy!

Combat Sequence

Building Mecha

So far, things are a bit bland. The only thing customized at this point are the names of the various mecha that I’ve generated stats for. Before moving on to critical hits, conducting battles, character classes and the Weird, here’s some ways to making these mech rules your own.

1. Personalize the Weapon Names

The d20 Future Mecha file available from WOTC provides weapons with evocative names like the M87 Talon Missile Launcher or the Thunderbolt Shock Rod. Here’s some random ways to come up with names:

Add a random letter and then d%

Pick a destructive name:

01 – abrogator
02 – annihilator
03 – crusher
04 – decimater
05 – demolisher
06 – eraser
07 – exterminator
08 – liquidator
09 – obliterater
10 – razer or razor

Synonyms for slug throwers:

01 – Mass Cannon
02 – Mass Driver
03 – Chaingun
04 – Railgun
05 – Coilgun
06 – Fountain
07 – Kinetic Energy Penetrator (or KEP)
08 – Gauss Rifle

Synonyms for Lasers

01 – Microwave Beam
02 – Particle Cannon
03 – Laser Cannon
04 – Energy Cannon
05 – Plasma Cannon
06 – Lightning Gun

Names for Missile Systems

01 – Starburst
02 – Kamikaze
03 – Bloomers
04 – Striker

Use old gun names

01 – arquebus
02 – hackbut
03 – blunderbuss
04 – musketoon
05 – ballista
06 – fire lance

2. Add your various factions/aliens

Standard mecha games have various houses, each with a particular style of battle and specialized mecha. If you make various houses, they could be limited to certain sets of light, medium and heavy mecha.

Aliens are bound to have a different physiology – at the very least, the size of the pilot compartment could be different. Other variations could include requiring two of each weapon (these aliens use two pilots with mirrored controls) or having mecha that are not bipedal.

3. Provide different vendors

Two or more companies make an ol’ reliable 100mm slug thrower, but which one is better? One vendor could make a 100mm model that is 10% lighter (weighs only 35 tons instead of 38), 10% cheaper (156,000 credits), 10% more/less damage (3d10+2 or 3d10-2) or a combination of these.

Another way to add vendors is to limit availability of the top-of-the-line 10% better equipment.

Of course the Loanzas from the Delta Sector gets pummeled. They use Nago-Kishi M-35 Razers! Everyone knows equipment from NK sucks. Good thing we got Kingston Railguns.

4. Add specialized systems

Someone is bound to invent better computer AI to punch lasers through shields. This could be equipment that provides a bonus to hit mecha with shields.

Introduce melee weapons (my favorite is a urumi that features whips similar to ones used by Red Omega from the comics).

Have a defensive system that dissipates laser damage (Anti-laser fog) in the same manner as Sandcasters mitigate missile damage.

5. Give slug throwers specialized ammunition

Why obliterate an opponent when you can send an EMP round to completely disable them? Makes salvage of a defeated mech that much more profitable.

That’s just a few ideas, I’m sure that you can come up with more.

A bit of notice: the rules and names of things are intentionally bland. After the rules, I’ll talk a bit about implementing these rules in a game along with a few more examples in another post.

Along every step of the creation process, you will need to keep track of the cost, the weight and the energy usage of components. Cost is measured in credits (Kr) and weight is measured in tons (t). Energy usage is not measured in any standard units, they are only important during mecha creation. If the DM chooses, he or she could use gigawatts.

The first step in mecha creation is to determine its overall body size. Essentially, pick the number of structural points your mech will have. Each structural point will weigh 1 ton and cost 50 credits. After determining structual points, you must purchase at least one pilot’s compartment. Each compartment consumes 3 power, weighs 3 tons and costs 300 Credits.

The next step will be to choose an engine. Each engine is rated by its energy output. The energy generated is used to power weapons and movement of the mech. Choose an engine and note its costs. Here is the table of available engines below:

In general, the more powerful the engine, the more massive and more expensive it will be. This is usually the most expensive part of a mech.

The third part is purchasing energy shields.

Again, the more AC Bonus desired, the more power and money required.

The next step is choosing your armaments. As I said earlier, these descriptions are pretty bland. Damage done is measured in terms of Structural Points

Weapons come in five categories: Slug Throwers, Recoilless Guns, Missile Systems and Lasers are the four offensive weapon systems. SAMD’s are defensive weapons designed to knock down/avoid damage from missiles.

Mass Driver Cannons aka Slug Throwers

Slug throwers are a class of weapon that hurl a solid object at a target. Usually, the slug is taken from depleted uranium or other super-dense material. The main advantage of slug throwers is that slugs are not easily deflected by shielding. The main drawbacks of slug throwers are their huge power consumption, mass and cost. Still, most mecha have at least one, however small. A slug thrower weapon has 10 rounds of ammo included in its mass when purchased.

Recoilless Guns

Like slug throwers, recoilless guns hurl a solid object at a target. However, due to its construction, it is a much lighter weapon. Unlike conventional slug throwers, it allows some of the propellant force to escape from the back of the gun. Recoilless guns are also much lighter than slug throwers. The trade-off  however, is that they do not have the range or damage capacity of slug throwers. A recoilless gun has 10 rounds of ammo included in its mass when purchased.

Missile Launchers

Missile Launchers hurl multiple projectiles at a target. Due to their guidance systems, they usually make erratic flight paths to avoid anti-missile defense systems. The result of a successful strike with missiles are several simultaneous hits at different places on a target. The number in parenthesis next to a missile indicates the amount of ammunition included in the missile launcher. For example LR(6) is a Long Range Missile Launcher that can fire six times before running out of ammo.

Lasers

Lasers are energy weapons designed to strip away layers of metal on a target. Lasers can be diffused by shielding, but recent advances in technology still make them potent threats on the battlefield. Lasers are relatively inexpensive and powerful weapons that have the longest range of any weapon to date. A laser can be fired as long as the mech has enough power to fire it.

Sandcaster Anti-Missile Defense System

Sandcasters represent the cutting-edge in missile defense, despite having a basis in ancient weapons. When missiles are detected, the sandcaster hurls a lot of material designed to explode and/or misdirect missiles to prevent them from striking a mech. Each SAMD is rated for the amount of missile damage it prevents.

After assembling all the parts, total the power consumption and subtract it from the Engine Rating. Write down this number, which I’ll call the Excess Energy. Total the mass of every part of the mech. Divide the Excess Energy by the Total Mass of the mech to determine the Base Movement Rate. All results are rounded down. No mecha can have a Base Movement Rate above 12.

Finally, come up with a name for your new class of mecha.

Creating a Mech

Walking through the process, let’s create a mech:

1. Purchase Structural Points: Lighter Mecha have 40 to 60 structural points. Medium mecha have between 60 and 80 structural points. Anything over 80 is considered to be a heavy or assault mech. Let’s create a mech with 75 Structural Points.

Structural Points: 75 Weight: 75 tons Cost: 4,750 Credits
Pilot Compartment: 1 Weight 3 tons Power Usage: 3 Cost: 300 Credits

2. Select an Engine: Based on the weapons chosen, the engine may change. For now we’ll choose a pretty big engine to power the mech, an engine with a 2000 rating.

Engine Rating: 2000 Weight: 45 tons Cost: 1,000,000 Credits

3. Select Shields: Medium Mecha see a lot of combat. Good shielding is important.

Armor Class Bonus: 8 Weight: 2 tons Power Usage: 45 Cost: 40,000 Credits

4. Pick some weapons. Most mecha have a mixture of weapon systems. A slug thrower or recoilless gun, lasers, missiles and a SAMD. Sometimes, though, different mecha switch out more missiles for slug throwers.

Weapon: M-Class VIII Laser Weight: 9 tons Power Usage: 24 Cost: 179,000 Credits
Weapon: Long Range Missiles(3) Weight: 16 tons Power Usage: 2 Cost: 40,000 Credits
Weapon: Long Range Missiles(3) Weight: 16 tons Power Usage: 2 Cost: 40,000 Credits
Weapon: Short Range Missiles(2) Weight: 25 tons Power Usage: 3 Cost: 50,000 Credits
Weapon: Short Range Missiles(2) Weight: 25 tons Power Usage: 3 Cost: 50,000 Credits
Weapon: SAMD-4  Weight: 16 tons Power Usage: 16 Cost: 52,000 Credits

This mech has incredible firepower at short range and is capable of delivering some damage at a distance. The lack of a slug thrower may be considered a weakness, but don’t tell the mech pilot that!

5. Do some Math: The total power usage of all the parts of the mech is 115.

The engine rating is 2000. 2000 – 115 provides an Excess Energy of 1885. The total mass of the mech is 232 tons. Dividing 1885 by 232 produces 8.125 which is rounded down to 8.

6.  Name the mech: I’ll call it Karich

Statistics for the Mech

Name: Karich SP 75; AC 1[18]; Atk Laser (4d10), 2 LR Missile Launchers (1d10 * 4 , 3 shots each), 2 SR Missile Lauchers (1d20 * 6 , 2 shots each); Move 8; Save Per Pilot; Cost: 1,455,050 Credits; Special: 60 points Missile defense

 Gee, Thanks for the Math

I get it, there’s a bit to track with this system. To help with Mech Creation, the following link is a LibreOffice spreadsheet that will help you create mecha easily and produce statblocks.

Lorica Stats Mecha Creation

Enjoy!

As I am making my way through all the posts offered during the S&W Appreciation Day, this little booklet struck me almost immediately. This is one of those utilities that triggers something in my brain that says, this is EXACTLY what I want to do in my game.

I want every sword and magic item to be  unique because it makes a game setting more evocative. Then I sit down and attempt to do that and I think, just randomize the list in the S&W Complete book and be done with it. (I tried that, and it doesn’t map to a randomizer in a spreadsheet very well at all.)

So when I happened upon this system that works for swords, staves, and frankly, just about any other magic item except potions, I immediately set to work on creating some swords.

Goldcloud

AL:N INT: 7 EGO: 4
Languages: Telepathic with wielder

+1 wooden blade forged by visitors from the future with a grip made of stone, +2 vs. sea creatures

Silence in 10′ radius when sword is drawn from its scabbard.

Its name is revealed only when it is immersed in sea water for 1 round.

Varinius

AL: N INT: 10 EGO: 11
Languages: Common, Giantish, Forgotten Language

+2 steel blade forged by a mad wizard with a grip made of copper.

Disable robot types for d6 turns (save allowed).
Emits light on demand per the Light spell

Its name (which means “versatile”) is inscribed on the blade in a long forgotten language.

Gwrtheyrn

AL: L INT: 11 EGO: 3
Languages: Common, Giantish, Goblin

+2 steel blade forged by ancient aliens with a grip made of wood, +3 vs. dragons

When placed on the ground for one turn, it will point to the nearest dungeon exit
Sword can be set against a charge to deal damage like a pike
The wielder is immune to paralysis and petrification
The sword can Read Magic per the spell

Its name (which means “supreme king”) is lost to mortal men.

If you want a good name generator that provides the meanings of names, go to Behind the Name Random Renamer. The site also has an anagram generator that could be useful as well.

I have lots of machines made and a good process to make them. Four of them, stated for S&W, are included in this post.

Tonight, I have a combat sequence.

It is short, sweet and based directly on Alternate Method No. 3 from Swords and Wizards Complete. The following text is entirely OGL. Sec 15 for the purposes of this post is:

Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules, Copyright 2010, Matthew J. Finch
Lorica – Swords and Wizardry with Big Shiny Machines, Copyright 2013, John Payne

Combat Sequence for Lorica

Note: this is a based on the Alternate Combat Sequence Method No. 3 in the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules.

The combat round is divided into 10 segments of 6 seconds each. Each individual machine rolls a d10 for initiative. The result represents which segment of the first round the machine moves or takes any other action. A roll of 0 (zero) represents the 10^th segment, the last segment of a combat round.

Every subsequent round, the machine moves (or takes an action) at intervals of six segments. The machines base movement rate and/or hull points remaining modify the 6 segment interval. In general, faster and healthier machine can sometimes attack more than once in a combat round.

Base Modifier to the 6-segment interval

8 – Base Movement Rate

Other Modifiers to the 6-segment interval

At three-quarters hull points: +1

At one-half hull points: +3

At one-quarter hull points: +5

Add the modifiers to the base number of 6 segments to see how many segments it will be until the machine can take action again. For example, a light machine with a base movement rate of 10 at full hull points will take its next action in 4 segments. The standard 6 segments is adjusted down by 2 segments ( 8 – base movement rate of 10) . There is no adjustment for full hull points.

The overall result of this system is to allow lightly-armored and faster machines (or opponents) to make more attacks, over the course of the combat, than those who are heavily armored or wounded. To balance this out, very fast machines quickly lose their advantage when hit. For example, the fastest machines in these rules (STADES and STADES II) have a Base Movement Rate of 12, but only 50 hull points. One hit from a 125mm Mass Drive Cannon will likely change their interval rate from 2 segments to 5.

Standing Rules for Combat

• Regardless of a machines interval rate, missiles can only be fired once per combat round.

• On the first segment of every round, before any other action is taken, all anti-missile defense systems fire for machines equipped with them. The effects of anti-missile systems last for the entire combat round.

Movement

Normal Movement is Base Movement Rate * 300 yards per round or Base Movement Rate * 10 miles per hour.

Combat Movement is Base Movement Rate * 150 yards per round.

Using a Hexmap

This system makes each hex 150 yards. It’s a bit of an odd size, but it works for me. Let me know what you think. I tend to avoid using a map and/or minis if I can help it. Still, it is useful to determine distances for some weapons and relieves the DM from having to mentally guesstimate those distances.

Stat Blocks for Machines

Scouts (fastest)

STADES

HP: 50; AC 4 [15]; Atk Long Range Missiles (1d6*4), Short Range Missiles  (1d8*6), Form II Laser (1d12); Move 12; Mass 104 tons; Cost  798,600 Kr ;Special: SAMD-1 (Missile Defense 14).

STADES Mk. II

HP: 50; AC 4 [15]; Atk Long Range Missiles (1d6*4), Short Range Missiles  (1d8*6), 50mm Recoilless (2d6); Move 12; Mass 105 tons; Cost  782,400 Kr ;Special: SAMD-1 (Missile Defense 14).

Light Combat

Loanza

HP: 60; AC 3 [16]; Atk Short Range Missiles  (1d12*6), 125 mm Railgun (4d10), Form III Laser (2d8); Move 8 ; Mass 152 tons; Cost  1,032,800 Kr ; Special: SAMD-2 (Missile Defense 24).

Medium Combat

Centus

HP: 90; AC 1 [18]; Atk Short Range Missiles  (1d12*6), 2 * Long Range Missiles (2d8 * 4), 100 mm Recoiless (4d6), Form VII Laser (4d8); Move 6 ; Mass 234 tons; Cost  1.277,800 Kr ; Special: SAMD-5 (Missile Defense 84).

Heavy Combat

Onager

HP: 90; AC 0 [19]; Atk 2 * Short Range Missiles  (1d20*6), 2 * Long Range Missiles (1d10 * 4), 275 mm Railgun (9d12), Form IV Laser (2d10); Move 4 ; Mass 354 tons; Cost  1,795,300 Kr ; Special: SAMD-4 (Missile Defense 60).

One way of physically defining a catalyst is to imagine a cloth bag filled with a coarsely ground powder. To make an elixir, the hewcaster spreads the powder on a stone and says a few incantations. Over the course of ten minutes, the stone will appear to become roiling liquid while maintaining its shape. Near the end, a small piece, a bit smaller than a chicken egg, will separate from the larger stone. Both pieces will stop moving. All of the catalyst powder will be on the larger piece of stone.

The powder can then be poured back into the bag from the stone. Absolutely no powder is lost by making an elixir. The only way the hewcaster loses powder is if he or she spills some on the ground.

Thinking of catalysts this way make an elixir less of a potion and more of a lozenge. The imbiber puts the elixir in their mouth and it quickly dissolves into a liquid and consumed. As a matter of convenience, I assume the stones are not easily broken unless the hewcaster hurls them at a target.

As an aside, if may be worth it to allow a hewcaster the ability to use a sling. It can provide some range without giving him or her any other advantage. If a hewcaster throws an elixir at a target, he or she must make an attack roll anyway…

Another way of defining the catalyst is to imagine it as a short length of cord or rope. Once wrapped around the hewstone, the spell caster puts on a pair of gloves to safely handle it. Picking it up, he or she tilts one corner of the stone toward a container and liquid drips from the stone into the container.

This makes elixirs just like potions, but requires the hewcaster to carry around a bunch of empties. This seems prohibitive at higher levels or extended campaigns. Still, the DM can hand wave the whole thing. Who knows, maybe the hewcaster was a glass blower before pursuing magic.

If the DM would like the used hewstones to have some kind of mark to distinguish them from unused ones, run a variation of the first idea. In this scenario, the catalyst is a triangular piece of rock with a thick groove cut out of the long edge. The catalyst can slide over the corner of the hewstone and says a few choice incantation. After about 10 minutes, the catalyst is removed taking a piece of the hewstone with it. That fragment of the hewstone falls out of the catalyst and becomes an elixir.

With this method, the hewcaster can now more easily go through a stockpile of stones to determine which hewstones can be used to make elixirs and which ones need to go back to the lab for spell research purposes.

To really throw a wrench at your players, make all three processes work so that there is a chance that a found hewstone may or may not work to make an elixir.

1. to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.
2. to sever (a part) from a whole by means of cutting blows.

In short, a hewcaster severs the essence of a creature or object and uses it to research spells, create potion-like magic items called elixirs and ultimately create hideous creatures that sear the mind. He is part magic-user, part alchemist, and part mad scientist.

Taking Essence and Making Hewstones

Aside from spells, the hewcaster can take the essence of any creature or object. What is essence? Essence is made up of the qualities of a creature or object that make it distinct. For example, the essence of a bear consists, in part, of its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. It also includes furry skin, claws, sharp teeth eye color, physiological structure and large size. More than that, it includes the need to hibernate in the winter, a taste for salmon (or other fish) and all the memories it has. With enough thought, I’m sure you could come up with more characteristics of a bear not mentioned here.

Now that I’ve defined what essence is, what does the hewcaster do with it? At first, if the hewcaster is successful in taking the essence of a creature or object, the essence forms into a solid object called a hewstone. A hewstone is a smooth, rectangular-shaped rock that is about one foot long, seven inches wide and two to three inches thick. In this form, the essence can be kept indefinitely.

Back in the laboratory, the hewcaster can study its contents to research new spells, learn more about the type of creature from its essence, or learn about the specific creature’s essence. Using the example of a bear mentioned before, the hewcaster could research new spells based on the characteristics of a bear, learn more about bears in general (like what they like to eat, what happens to their when they hibernate, etc), or learn about the specific habits and memories of the specific bear whose essence is trapped in the hewstone.

Elixirs

The new ability of the hewcaster is to create elixirs. Elixirs function like potions in that drinking one will grant the imbiber some magical effect. Elixirs are different from potions in that applying it to a target will do the same thing. This means that it is possible to throw an elixir at a target and use it as a weapon.

Elixirs are made by a hewcaster when he or she employs a catalyst to draw power from a hewstone. Catalysts come in five types. Each catalyst is able to draw different aspects of essence to produce certain effects.

Referring to the bear example once again, taking a hewstone with the essence of a bear and applying a Body Catalyst will create an elixir that grants a physical characteristic of a bear. This could be as straightforward as creating an elixir that grants the strength of a bear or as subtle as making an elixir that makes the target fur-covered.

Of course, the effects of an elixir need not be positive. Making an elixir that grants the intelligence of a bear will change the target from its current intelligence to the intelligence of a bear. Doing that to a human (especially a magic-user) will lower the target’s intelligence. (Then again, using the same elixir on an animated statue or golem would make it more intelligent.)

One major difference between a spell and an elixir is that a hewcaster can make an elixir in a short amount of time (about 10 minutes) with the right materials. However, the hewcaster can only handle a limited amount of exposure to essences and catalysts before suffering great risks to mind and body. As a hewcaster increases in level, he or she can make more elixirs.

Final Notes about Hewstones

A hewstone can only be used to make an elixir once. Catalysts can be used up to 50 times to make elixirs. A hewstone that has been used to make an elixir can still be used to research spells. It will not, however, be useful in making another elixir. Such an attempt will destroy the hewstone and harm the hewcaster along with most of his or her equipment.

A hewstone with the essence of a magic-user can be used to create an elixir that grants the ability to cast spells generally or cast a specific spell. Any spells cast from these types of elixirs do not count against the allowable spells per day. One way of using an elixir to grant spell casting powers is to allow a thief or fighter to hurl a couple of spells. Another way to use spell casting types of elixirs is to allow a hewcaster to cast 8th and 9th level spells.

Why a Hewcaster is Neutral at Best

The downside of a hewcaster is that the act of taking a creature’s essence will change the target into a horrible cypher beast. A cypher beast is a pale, four-legged creature with a huge maw, four clawed limbs and little else. The transformation lasts for only a couple of days.

After Nine Hundred Words, Finally the PDF

Details of the hewcaster class can be found in the hewcaster pdf. I’ve also attached an open text document for modification here: hewcaster.odt.