There has been constant change. There have been a few stops and many restarts. I don’t consider any of this a problem. Instead, I see it as normal to the development process.

I consider the starting point to be my restating of the goals of the project. I also laid down a few ground rules to guide development. Looking back, I am happy with the progress considering my lack of large blocks of time. (Large blocks means more than 20 minutes at one sitting.)

The Arcanist class, my attempt at a skill-based Mage, has undergone several transformations. I feel good about where the class and the spell-building system used for this class are right now. I have a working copy of the spell building system and it seems to work fairly well. I may even translate the 3.0 SRD if I have time.

The Skill System was the biggest change. Rolling under a d20+d10 presents some interesting possibilities. In my goal to streamline sub-systems, this system guides non-weapon proficiencies and Rogue Skills. It also appears in the spell-building system. It may be a personal weakness that I keep this subsytem. We’ll see what happens with the class builds!

Overall, I’ve tried to develop the entire game in three different ways: I tried sketching it in M20 first, reorganizing the rulebooks, and just editing LLAEC and changing the parts that don’t fit. I believe that I have the definition of magic finalized, so I do not expect large changes in Player information at this point.

For the GM, though, the cycle may be pretty severe. I want to have lots of information and tools. While magic may be in good shape, the random tables and “how-tos” have yet to be created.

I expect to have it finished in 2012. I’d like to believe that it will be sooner rather than later, but who knows what tomorrow may bring.

I hope that whatever your secret project and/or labor of love is that you will be able to finish it in the coming year. Good luck!

As far as gaming goes, I tend to be behind. I just discovered that Paizo is licensing a MMO game.

This is hardly news to anyone. Personally, I wish Paizo well. I hope folks really like it.

Seeing that this happens from time to time, I keep hoping that someone will license Labyrinth Lord or Swords and Wizardry into a MUD. I wish it would be as simple as downloading Pennmush and creating rooms. I imagine it would take a bit of programming to get the standard classes.

Still, it’s a frontier untouched by the OSR so far…

I still remember the unofficial MUD list circulated in college. Once I got XWindows running on my Amiga in my dorm room, I could rely on a bit of good gaming, especially during finals when the brain was fried.

I know that the OSR is more than just nostalgia. It’s just that the idea of an LL MUD MUSH would be the ultimate in retro.

Then again, maybe putting all the rules in an HTML Help file is the ultimate retro.

I promise to have something more useful next time.

If you need invites, let me know. I got a bunch.

Thanks to everyone that linked the trailer of the upcoming John Carter of Mars. (I linked to the Apple trailer instead of the one on YouTube.) Since it is Disney, I’m not sure what to expect. Until then, all I can say is BARSOOM!

I have received a review copy of Azamar, a game based on the OpenD6 rules. The folks at Wicked North Games developed their own SRD called Cienma6 and then created Azamar as a fantasy setting on top of it. Seeing Azamar reminds me of what I loved about D6 when I first saw it a couple years ago. I’ll get into more detail in another post, but it reminds me of Talislanta in scope and diversity. I’ve really enjoyed reading it so far. When I think about RPG material I like, it has to meet two criteria: I want to play it and it has stuff I can re-use in my campaign. Azamar meets both of these criteria very well.

I think I’ve worked out the spell and augmentation systems for the Arcanist. The spell list is heavily inspired by OpenQuest sorcerers, 2e psionicists, a smattering of Wizards from TFT and magic items from Tekumel. Developing this class has helped me to define some of what differentiates Andras and 2e. It has also stretched the class creation system I plan to include in the GMs guide. Not only can you re-create the standard classes, but invent an off-the-wall magic wielding class!

Zolotta Publishing will quit publishing Tekumel books after its current inventory runs out. Many fans of Tekumel books have inquired about digital publishing and/or assuming the rights to publish the books. We’ll see what happens next.

Savage Worlds Deluxe is out and I have a copy. I am excited about it in many ways. The biggest way pertains to advice about running the game without miniatures. I don’t use minis at all. I have a big pad of blotter paper and I may scribble some sketches of a room or corridor, but nothing with enough detail that a player begins to study the scale of the drawing and start to argue exact distances. If the action moves from the mental landscape to the real world, it’s not fun for me anymore. It’s a personal preference, not a criticism. Many of my gaming friends love minis and tactical planning, etc. If I had the money, I’d be painting them and building huge armies to display in my basement.

I don’t have to change much about Shayakand to conform to these rules, but I am hopeful that it can help me figure out the system of psionic magic called Shaping.

Lastly, a link I keep forgetting to make permanent on my site, the list of retro-clones, some not related to D&D.

Anyway, that’s what is percolating here. Next post really should be the Azamar review. I am testing it to see if I understand some of the finer points so that I can sound half-way intelligent in my review.

I have fixed the issue so that only RPG articles will appear in both places. Although it is well after the fact, I hid my Statis-Pro post in the RPGBA feed before making the correction to the feed itself. My apologies for any annoyance this created.

Although the Joesky tax technically doesn’t apply, here is something to actually add RPG content:

When thinking about spell points for the Arcanist, I originally looked to the Magus Divlantia section of the Net AD&D Players Supplement (written sometime in 1995 and edited in 1996). The formula for starting points is (((2*INT)+CON)-30) /4. The formula for points gained every level was (((2*INT)+CON)-30) /7. In the example of the Arcanist I gave earlier, I had assumed an INT of 16 and a CON of 12. Following the formulas, he started with 4 points and gained 2 points every level.

In the end, I simplified to INT bonus + CON bonus + 2 as the initial points and INT bonus + CON bonus every level after that. It calculates the same as the other formula. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid of a little math. It just is simpler for newer players to use numbers already on the character sheet and perform simple addition.

I still believe I need to tweak it to generate more points. If a different idea tests well, I’ll be happy to post about it here.

If you want to test it out, basically download the OpenQuest developers kit and look at chapter 9 about sorcerors. Use that spell list and Magnitude table for spells. Use the simplified formula above to calculate spell points. I would post it if I had it written in a better format than some crawled notes on a printout.

In Andras, I mentioned the Arcanist Class a while ago, and then instantly regretted its poor execution. Testing has proven to be positive for the new and improved Arcanist that is based  on OpenQuest’s Sorcery rules (with a touch of Battle Magic). OpenQuest’s skill-based and spell point sorcerers are working out pretty well. The only difficulty lies in determining spell points. I can’t seem to find that happy medium that prevents lower level Arcanists from being too powerful and allows higher level Arcanists to be greatly feared. The idea of basic spells that can be increased by expending more points is exactly what I wanted. The Magnitude table of effects provides a compact way to describe what powering up a given spell will do. The spell list is complete and allows Arcanists to be very distinctive spellcasters in the D&D world. Throw in a dash of Gygaxian Spell Names, and it could be something fun for your OGL game.

One of the spells in OpenQuest is Animate (Substance). This is actually a category of spells because an OQ Sorcerer has to learn a different spell for each substance. For example, Animate Earth is a different spell from Animate Wood. In an attempt to flesh out the Arcanist class more, I came up with an Arcanist that specializes in the Animate (Substance) and Form/Set categories of spells. For simplicity of reference, let’s call him Tim (or more properly in lingwa de planeta, Faihonaboh). So far, I have Animate Earth, Animate Stone, Animate Bone, Animate Steel, Animate Water, Form/Set Earth, Form/Set Stone, Form/Set Darkness. He also has the Create Magic Point Store and Create Spell Matrix spells.

The important skill Tim possesses is sculpting. A successful skill roll for sculpting allows him to form various minions to do his bidding. Not all of them are humanoid in shape, so some of his constructions perform unique tasks. For example, the stone spheres of various sizes work to take intruders off their feet. The more humanoid shaped minions can hurl un-animated spheres as weapons. Why is this important? Once major limitation of the animate spells is that only one or two animated objects can be controlled at a time. That’s why he can created a number of spheres that can alternatively be animated or thrown by other animated object. Form/Set Steel allows him to repair swords and shields. The Animate Steel spell allows him to animate suits of armor. The Animate Earth spell allows him to manipulate earthen embankments in all kinds of bizarre ways like having a giant hand come out of the earthworks can throw would be attackers or defenders.

Note that he doesn’t have the blacksmith skill, so he can’t really manufacture weapons and armor, only perform minor repairs. According to the Andras proficiency system, anything can be attempted by rolling 3 or under with a d20. With a 15% chance of success, this prevents him from becoming a wholesale weapons and armor manufacturer. Maybe, I could allow making a steel shield, but nothing like a sword and definitely not chain mail.

Those are just the military purposes, but other are available as well. A small stone structure can be animated to assist the occupant. In other words, tables spontaneously form from the floor for mealtime, create an opening for a window, wall-up the door, etc. You could even have the house get up and walk away to a new location. Animated stone ladders can be used in a scroll repository. Being fairly small, it would use only one or two spell points to raise/lower or move around. Oddly enough, you could even get your steel cutlery to chop vegetables and help prepare meals.

With so many spells, I figure that Tim has reached 80 percent with his Arcane Skill. This translates to rolling a 16 or under with a d20. Just like 2e, though, this represents casting in an extraordinary situation. When Tim can take his leisure to cast a spell, he do the equivalent of taking a 10. I also figure that he is around 12th level or so.

Based on my current point system, he has 26 points to invoke spell effects. Invoking any of the Animate spells for a human sized creature takes 14 points, but lasts as long as he maintains concentration. The stone spheres take only 2 points to animate for the larger ones and 1 point for a smaller one. This doesn’t include the form/set costs because we’re assuming that the objects he wants to animate have already been created. This seems like he is limited in spells at this point, but the effect of Create Spell Matrix, allows him to store animate spells in certain objects. This means he could create a few of these devices in advance to animate pre-made objects. With the sculpting skill, he could certainly create any number of statutes, humanoid and otherwise. With the Animate Steel spell, he could also use empty suits of armor. Using a few Spell Point stores, he could also spontaneously animate and form/set any other figures he may need.

Still, despite the ability to store spell points in advance, the points feel too low for a 12th level spellcaster. I have the feeling that the arcanist should be able to animate and form/set at least one human-sized object before draining his power points. I like the flexibility of the arcanist at this point, but I’m having trouble with the points to use. I still need to settle on a table that determines what a 1 point effect does compared to higher point effects. I have a good idea based on weight, but want something that would include length, area, information and other variables. Any thoughts are welcome.

In 2e, a system was presented, but it states very plainly in the beginning that existing classes cannot be re-created using this system. In fairness, the same was true for Crabuagh’s Customized Classes In Dragon #8. In some ways, it never felt right that I couldn’t just re-create existing classes.

After a few months of experimenting with various systems, the conclusion is that the xp numbers are largely arbitrary. That may not be a surprise to anyone, but I thought that there might be a way to get reasonable close to the numbers, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

Oddly enough, I can reach the numbers exactly for Basic Fantasy. Just not anything similar to 2e.

In the various experiments, there was a tension between the value of combat prowess versus the value of magical access. If combat was undervalued, the warrior group gained levels rapidly and the rogue group tended to have too many skills for the same xp levels. If magic was undervalued, there was little incentive to be a magic-user.

So as I wind down to a final version of the class generator, I find that Priests and Psionicists have the same XP progression level. Personally, I like that because I tend to characterize Psionic characters as anti-clerics. In other words, in function, they appear to generate magic in the same way, the difference is the source. Priests gain power from a deity and a psionic character gains power from within. It serves to make the psionic characters a persecuted group and also allows for deities to grant more anti-psionic miracles.

However, when the specific mythoi options for priests are used, their progression is a bit faster in my customized class system than a standard cleric. The main reason is that a specific mythos priest has access to half of the miracles that a cleric can access. In 2e parlance, that 8 schools with major access and 1 school with minor access versus 3-4 schools with major access and 1-3 schools with minor access.

The effect is not as pronounced with mages versus specialty wizards because of the bonuses that specialists gain.

In case you are wondering, my system makes the standard 2e paladin need almost 3000 xp to reach second level. Needless to say, I’ll probably end up re-doing the paladin anyway. I want a battle priest/paladin/avenger class where alignment isn’t so much a restriction as the specific deity served.

Maybe most surprising of all may be the fact that psionic powers are the most expensive form of magic.

I hope to have the generator ready in spreadsheet, pdf and php format soon. If anyone is interested, I will be happy to share the current working spreadsheet. I would upload it to the site, but it changes daily as I crunch numbers.

There is discussion going around the OSR blogosphere about shields. I happened upon the discussion at Jeff’s site where he mentions J.D. Higgins elegant solution. Further comments discuss Trollsymth’s shields shall be splintered rule and Stuart from Robertson Games‘ revision of the AC table.

THAC0 Forever brings up the fact that 2e lists four different kinds of shields and his solution reflects varying AC benefits based on the type of shield. The effect reflects shield benefits in the 2e PHB:

Bucklers are+1 AC, protected from one attack per round.
Small shields are+1 AC, protected from two frontal attacks per round.
Medium shields are+1 AC, protected from any frontal and flank attacks in a round.
Body shields are+1 AC melee and +2 against missiles, protected from any frontal, flank and side attacks in a round.

Since one the goals of my 2e-inspired clone is faster combat, I don’t like these options as I am getting into facing issues and arguments about what is and isn’t a flank attack. As such, I am thinking more along the lines of JD’s solution.

In the 2e PHB, there are a lot more armors. A couple are dubious historically, namely ring mail and splint mail. There are also two extra versions of plate mail, field and full. Both are accurately described as very expensive and difficult to get into. For adventurers, an extra +1 or +2 AC for those that can afford these made-to-fit and hugely expensive armors makes them less practical. To add even more complexity, bronze plate is also listed.

So, the chart will reflect all the various kinds of armors except bronze plate mail. Field and full plate are included only for completeness, I really wouldn’t allow any PC to use field and full because of the time required to put these suits on.

Much of the chart remains the same at the 2e PHB. The differences are that leather, padded, studded leather and hide armors got a +3 benefit from shields. Splint, Ring, Scale and Chain mail (along with Brigandine) only received a +2 AC benefit. Banded and all plate mails only recieved a +1 AC benefit.

Bucklers can only provide a +1 AC bonus maximum. They also are not subject to the shields must be splintered rule.
Small shields provide normal bonuses as listed above and can be used once to grant a saving throw against an Evocation spell or breath weapon. A shield can also absorb all damage from a non-magical attack. After granting the benefit, the shield is unusable and the AC bonus is lost.
Medium shields provide the normal bonuses listed above and can be used twice to grant a saving throw against an Evocation spell or breath weapon. It can also be used to absorb all non-magical damage as stated above twice. A medium shields can only provide two benefits (like saving throw versus fireball once and absorb all non-magical damage from an attack once). After granting two benefits, the shield is unusable and the AC bonus is lost.
Tower shields are like above, but grant four benefits.

Magic shields grant their plus in AC bonus and one addition benefit per plus under the shields shall be splintered rule.

My two cents. What do other folks, especially 2e players think?

I thought about them again today in part because I was recently in my hometown during the time of year for harvesting soft-shell crabs. Without going into the process too deeply, the idea is to catch crabs close to molting and place them in a make-shift aquarium until they shed their shell. During the process, the crab will usually increase in size by 33%.

This triggered three ideas for the as-of-yet-unnamed-clone:

1. Alter the stats to include a 33% growth rate per molting
2. Give a few shamans the ability to create golems from their old shells.
3. Create a module that features them as a function of mass combat rules

I also wanted to give my crabmen a new name, Portán, mostly to differentiate them from the old stats. The Portán are similar in some ways, but generally have more intelligence (barely), grow larger, and practice their own form of primitive magic.

Portán

Frequency: Rare
No. encountered: 2d6
Size: Medium (5 ft tall) to Large (11 feet tall)
Move: 90 ft, swimming 60 ft
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 3 – 6
Attacks: 2
Damage: 1d4 – 1d10 / 1d4 – 1d10
Special Attacks: None*
Special Defenses: None
Magic Resistance: Standard
Lair probability: 30%
Intelligence: Average
Alignment: Neutral

The special attack refers to the special ability to create golems from discarded molts. Portán shamans do not know any other spells.

The golems are created by filling the old shells full of mud and animating them. The stats would be the same except:

• No 11 foot tall golem would be found. After reaching that height, a portán will die shortly before or during any molting.
• Move is 60ft and Swimming 30ft.
• As golems, the creatures are immune to charm and sleep spells as well as psionics.

When I get the mass combat rules hammered out, we’ll see these guys again.

For many years, it was believed that Tol, the home planet, was the center of the universe. Once humans built ships to explore the skies, it soon became very evident that this was not the case. The center of the universe is called the Central Fire or the Hearth depending upon whom you ask. Many clerics and church officials focus more on the Hearth as the lands of the Gods. Other, less religiously inclined folk, focus more on the Central Fire as a gateway to the Elemental Plane of Fire. Travel to the Central Fire has been limited as will be detailed later.

Beyond the stars is a sphere of fire called the Outer Fire. The Outer Fire is fed from the Central Fire, those the mechanism for this is not clear. Beyond the Outer Fire, it is believed that there are other spheres with planets, stars, and other central fires.

Between the Outer Fire and the Central Fire, exists the planets, the moon and the stars of the night sky. Except the sun and stars, the planets and the moon have a twin that revolves around the Central Fire exactly half a revolution away. Tol, the home planet is closest to the Central Fire. Unlike other planets, the underside of Tol has a long narrow passageway that connects to its twin planet, presumably going through the Central Fire, itself. The passageway has been called The Needle. It serves as the most reliable trade route to Tol’s twin planet. Travel through the Needle requires no special protections from fire or need for extra air.

The twin planet, Lot has been explored extensively. In many ways, Lot is almost identical to Tol except that the denizens of Lot never considered extraplanetary travel.

Outside Tol, the home planet, Bulan the Moon orbits around the central fire. The moon is inhabited by a race of intelligent giants. The twin of the Moon, Ay is similar to Bulan in every way. The giants that inhabit Bulan and Ay believe that they are descendant from the Titans.

Outside Bulan/Ay lies the Sun named Caiya. Caiya is about 20 times larger than Tol and is entirely composed of a glass/quartz material. It reflects the light and heat of the Central Fire. Nothing lives on the surface of Caiya, though some believe that the interior may be inhabited.

Outside Caiya, the Sun, lies Raksa/Civah. Raksa is a tropical planet full of dense jungles. It is primarily the home to elves. Civah, it’s twin, is a colder planet marked by snow for almost half the year followed by very warm summers. Mostly dwarves, gnomes and halflings make residence there. Both planets are very rich in resources and are frequent destinations for traders.

The other planets that make up the system are:

Saokin/Zohr – Zohr is an arid planet known for its magic. Saokin is considered a resort planet. It also houses the main financial center of the sphere with several trading companies headquartered here.

Peran/Muhari – Muhari is a vast swamp. Peran is the name given to a cluster of asteroids. Both planets are pirate strongholds.

Besa/Boyuk – Little is known about these planets now. Besa serves as the battleground for wars of all kinds. Boyuk is uninhabitable.

Sinsin/Uzu – Icy planet twins believed to have access to the elemental plane of water.

That’s just the barest thumbnail sketch of the sphere. As always more later.

I’m re-working the PDF. I forgot to include the Casting Time for all the spells. I also didn’t provide descriptions for several spells that were “identical to the level X Cleric spell of the same name.” The word ritual appears in odd places.

So, I’m working on the revision. It will hopefully become something a bit more useful.

On a different topic, I will not reach Z before the end of April, or even May. I have to finish Shayakand work which has stalled for the past three months due to real life. I hope to spot more frequently, but I can’t do everyday anymore. I promise that the post titles will not be something like T is for Time. I’ll have normal blog post titles.

Here are some of the upcoming alphabet posts provided in the forbidden format:

C is for Combat – A post about the Combat rules

D is for Dragons – Some new dragons

E is for Equipment

M is for Magic – Options of being a spell caster

P is for Proficiencies – the entire proficiency system in one place

P is not for Paladin because I won’t have one, at least not called a paladin, anyway.

T is for Tiezerakan – Outer Spaaaaaaaaaaace!