Luck is probably my favorite GURPS advantage. I've said many times that if you don't take Luck, and your character dies, it's your fault for not taking Luck.
For those who don't play GURPS or Dungeon Fantasy RPG, the way Luck rolls is that, once an hour you get to reroll a bad roll, twice, and then take the best of the three attempts. (And there are more expensive versions that work more often.)
That's simple enough, if the player makes the roll. You try to parry the boss monster's attack, you roll an 18, you know this will result in both a failed parry and a fumble, you don't like that outcome, you announce that you're using Luck, and you hope to roll better on one of the other two tries.
It's a bit more complicated if the GM makes the roll in secret, but the player knows what the GM is rolling for. Like, if you have Weather Sense and want to predict the weather for tomorrow, and it's important to get this right, the rule is pretty clear. "When the GM rolls in secret (e.g., to see if you notice something), you may state that you’re using your Luck ahead of time, in which case the GM will roll three times and give you the best result." So, if you happened to roll great the first time, you didn't need the Luck and wasted a use, but better safe than sorry.
Where it gets tricky is when the player doesn't know the GM is rolling dice at all. For example, the Per-based Traps roll to detect a hidden trap is a passive roll: it happens whenever the PCs come near a trap. But if the GM tells them that he's rolling to detect traps, then if the PCs fail that roll, they will probably immediately switch to an active roll to detect traps again, or go the other way to avoid the trap they shouldn't know about. So, they need to not be told. But if you don't tell them, how do they benefit from Luck?
I see a few options here:
- If you don't know the GM is rolling, you don't get to use your Luck on that roll. Harsh, but simple and following the rules.
- Tell the GM to always use Luck on secret rolls. Simple and following the rules, but it means you'll probably burn your Luck on rolls that don't matter very much, or rolls that would have succeeded without it.
- Leave it up to the GM's best judgment. "Hey, if a secret roll goes really badly, use my Luck." Though this implies that Luck works if you don't know about the roll, which may or may not be true. So this requires a generous GM.
- Give the GM some specific rules. "If I fail on a secret roll that would have succeed on a 14, use my Luck." Or "if I critically fail on a secret roll, use my Luck." This implies that Luck not only works if you don't know about the roll, but that you can trigger on the details of a roll you don't know about. This requires a more generous GM.
The Whiterock game features a PC with both Luck and really good Perception who likes to scout ahead, so this will come up constantly. I need to make a decision before our next game on Friday.
GURPS / Dungeon Fantasy RPG campaign set in Castle Whiterock megadungeon
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2018-04-30
2018-04-29
Spending Earned Character Points in Dungeon Fantasy RPG
Last time I talked about awarding bonus character points in DFRPG in general, and in the DF Whiterock game in particular. Once players have some points they're going to want to spend them, so I need to come up with rules for that too.
Let's start with the default assumptions built into DFRPG. It says that anyone can spend points at the start of a game session, but only Knights buying melee weapon skills and spellcasters learning spells from scrolls can spend points mid-session. It says that improving traits you already have just costs the points, and that you can only buy new things from your template unless the GM gives permission to buy something off-template, which might require Exceptional Training. And that (if the optional training expenses rule is used) it costs $40/point to buy new things on-template (with only the first point needing training for skills), $80/point or more to buy new things off-template.
DF Whiterock doesn't require strict templates, so the on-template vs. off-template rules won't apply. Also, I don't like requiring training for things the PC seems to have already picked up on their own. So, I want to go with something like this:
- With the exception of Knights learning melee skills and spellcasters learning spells from scrolls, character points may only be spent in Town. (That will usually but not always mean at the beginning of the session.)
- If you already have points in the ability and want to improve it, and you used that ability at all in recent adventure sessions, you can just pay the points. You don't need training; you learned from actual experience in play.
- If you don't have points in the ability but it's something that you used at default, for real, when it mattered, in the actual adventure, I'll usually let that count as learning from actual experience in play, too. For example, in our first session, Garreth quite effectively bashed a lock using a club. He doesn't have Forced Entry, but if he wants to put a point in Forced Entry, he can.
- That also applies to advantages. If you're running around in a dungeon dodging blows from monsters, that's on-the-job training for Combat Reflexes. If you sometimes fail to dodge and need to make HT checks, that's on-the-job training for Fit.
- If you want to learn a new skill that you haven't practiced during an adventure, whether because you didn't get around to it, or because it's one that doesn't work in any way by default (like spells and some advantages), or because it requires something you didn't have (like deep water or a horse or some gems) then you need to find a trainer in Town. Price may vary widely.
- Learn new things gradually, one level at a time.
- Don't pile all your points into one thing. The character with one weapon skill or offensive spell at 30 and not much else is boring.
Let's start with the default assumptions built into DFRPG. It says that anyone can spend points at the start of a game session, but only Knights buying melee weapon skills and spellcasters learning spells from scrolls can spend points mid-session. It says that improving traits you already have just costs the points, and that you can only buy new things from your template unless the GM gives permission to buy something off-template, which might require Exceptional Training. And that (if the optional training expenses rule is used) it costs $40/point to buy new things on-template (with only the first point needing training for skills), $80/point or more to buy new things off-template.
DF Whiterock doesn't require strict templates, so the on-template vs. off-template rules won't apply. Also, I don't like requiring training for things the PC seems to have already picked up on their own. So, I want to go with something like this:
- With the exception of Knights learning melee skills and spellcasters learning spells from scrolls, character points may only be spent in Town. (That will usually but not always mean at the beginning of the session.)
- If you already have points in the ability and want to improve it, and you used that ability at all in recent adventure sessions, you can just pay the points. You don't need training; you learned from actual experience in play.
- If you don't have points in the ability but it's something that you used at default, for real, when it mattered, in the actual adventure, I'll usually let that count as learning from actual experience in play, too. For example, in our first session, Garreth quite effectively bashed a lock using a club. He doesn't have Forced Entry, but if he wants to put a point in Forced Entry, he can.
- That also applies to advantages. If you're running around in a dungeon dodging blows from monsters, that's on-the-job training for Combat Reflexes. If you sometimes fail to dodge and need to make HT checks, that's on-the-job training for Fit.
- If you want to learn a new skill that you haven't practiced during an adventure, whether because you didn't get around to it, or because it's one that doesn't work in any way by default (like spells and some advantages), or because it requires something you didn't have (like deep water or a horse or some gems) then you need to find a trainer in Town. Price may vary widely.
- Learn new things gradually, one level at a time.
- Don't pile all your points into one thing. The character with one weapon skill or offensive spell at 30 and not much else is boring.
2018-04-28
Awarding Bonus Character Points in Dungeon Fantasy RPG
Now that the first session of DF Whiterock is done, I need to figure out how to give out bonus character points. (Of course I thought about it before starting the campaign -- but eventually you have to make a choice and stick with it.) I have noted before that this is designed to be a zero-to-hero game, starting at only 150 points instead of the usual 250 for Dungeon Fantasy, but with advancement also expected to be faster. So, whichever system I come up with, it should be pretty generous.
The DFRPG default rules for giving out character points are on Exploits page 92. There is a detailed list of session awards based on winning battles, overcoming various non-combat challenges, and finishing an adventure. (The GM has to decide what counts as an adventure, though. If the game hops from small dungeon to small dungeon, maybe each dungeon. For a multi-level megadungeon, maybe each dungeon level. For a quest-based game, maybe each quest finished or story arc.)
The other obvious place to look is GURPS Basic 4th Edition Campaigns, page 498, which says the GM can give out any number (which doesn't need stating because of Rule Zero: the GM can always do whatever) but recommends 0-5 points (most commonly 2-3) per session, based more on roleplaying than mission success, plus possibly bonus points roughly equal to about that given in a session upon concluding a major thing. Not a whole lot of detail, but the basic ideas are solid: give some every session, maybe give more when the PCs complete a major thing, and vary the points based on how well they play.
Another good set of rules are the ones for Felltower, which are about loot, exploration, roleplaying, awesome bonus, and most valuable PC.
Finally, there's what I did last time I ran Whiterock (for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy rather than DFRPG, but they're almost the same game): pull a number out of the air every session. Pull a larger number out of the air in sessions where the PCs complete a major goal.
So, the first question is, do the players know the precise rules for earning character points and have something concrete to aim for, or does the GM keep them secret? ("Secret" could mean well-defined rules that the GM just doesn't share with the players, or it could mean the GM makes up the rules on the fly.) Both the DFRPG rules and Felltower rules are player-facing, but there's still a great deal of leeway for the GM. (What counts as a boss monster vs. a worthy monster? Which areas are secret bonus zones?) So the difference between these two may not be as large in practice as it looks in theory.
Another question is whether all PCs who participate get the same number of points, or some get more than others. The GURPS 4E system that gives points mostly based on roleplaying is naturally going to reward the better or more careful roleplayers more. The Felltower system explicitly has one MVP per session, who gets a bonus point, so if the same character is MVP a lot, they might start to pull away. The DFRPG system feels more party-oriented, so all members of the party who show up probably progress at the same rate.
If there are NPCs in the party, do NPCs advance or not? And how fast? GURPS (but not DFRPG) has rules for Allies, who are purchased based on a percentage of the allied PC's points, and advance proportionally to their PC. For other NPCs, it's not clear. Last time I ran a game featuring non-purchased NPC allies, I arbitrarily gave them half as many points as the PCs, rounded down, purely to keep NPCs in secondary roles and the PCs in the spotlight, while still letting the NPCs improve a bit to be less of a drag on the party. ("Sixth level of the dungeon and you still can't hike? Maybe we should just leave you home.") I think we have enough players that we shouldn't need NPCs in the party this game, though, so I can probably ignore this.
Here's what I'm thinking:
- Aim for about 5 points per PC for a normal session. Only if the player and PC were involved in the session. So participation will be key to advancement.
- If the party clears a major area (which may or may not directly correspond to a dungeon level), a bonus in the 5-point region will be given to everyone who was involved in the entire effort. Since earning such a bonus will probably require multiple play sessions, I may do some scaling, such that if a player and PC were there for 4 of the 5 sessions during which an area was explored, that PC might get 4 bonus points instead of 5.
- Various 1-point bonuses may be possible for doing various cool things, but they won't be common or known to the players in advance.
- When the PCs reach a more difficult portion of the adventure, the starting points given to new PCs will be increased a bit, so they're not so outclassed by the most active and experienced PCs. I don't want to give an exact formula yet.
The first session of Whiterock didn't achieve anything bonus-worthy yet (though the party is in a good position that may help lead to future bonuses), so I'm giving the 4 PCs 5 points each. I think that will be a pretty common result.
Next time, rules for spending character points.
The DFRPG default rules for giving out character points are on Exploits page 92. There is a detailed list of session awards based on winning battles, overcoming various non-combat challenges, and finishing an adventure. (The GM has to decide what counts as an adventure, though. If the game hops from small dungeon to small dungeon, maybe each dungeon. For a multi-level megadungeon, maybe each dungeon level. For a quest-based game, maybe each quest finished or story arc.)
The other obvious place to look is GURPS Basic 4th Edition Campaigns, page 498, which says the GM can give out any number (which doesn't need stating because of Rule Zero: the GM can always do whatever) but recommends 0-5 points (most commonly 2-3) per session, based more on roleplaying than mission success, plus possibly bonus points roughly equal to about that given in a session upon concluding a major thing. Not a whole lot of detail, but the basic ideas are solid: give some every session, maybe give more when the PCs complete a major thing, and vary the points based on how well they play.
Another good set of rules are the ones for Felltower, which are about loot, exploration, roleplaying, awesome bonus, and most valuable PC.
Finally, there's what I did last time I ran Whiterock (for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy rather than DFRPG, but they're almost the same game): pull a number out of the air every session. Pull a larger number out of the air in sessions where the PCs complete a major goal.
So, the first question is, do the players know the precise rules for earning character points and have something concrete to aim for, or does the GM keep them secret? ("Secret" could mean well-defined rules that the GM just doesn't share with the players, or it could mean the GM makes up the rules on the fly.) Both the DFRPG rules and Felltower rules are player-facing, but there's still a great deal of leeway for the GM. (What counts as a boss monster vs. a worthy monster? Which areas are secret bonus zones?) So the difference between these two may not be as large in practice as it looks in theory.
Another question is whether all PCs who participate get the same number of points, or some get more than others. The GURPS 4E system that gives points mostly based on roleplaying is naturally going to reward the better or more careful roleplayers more. The Felltower system explicitly has one MVP per session, who gets a bonus point, so if the same character is MVP a lot, they might start to pull away. The DFRPG system feels more party-oriented, so all members of the party who show up probably progress at the same rate.
If there are NPCs in the party, do NPCs advance or not? And how fast? GURPS (but not DFRPG) has rules for Allies, who are purchased based on a percentage of the allied PC's points, and advance proportionally to their PC. For other NPCs, it's not clear. Last time I ran a game featuring non-purchased NPC allies, I arbitrarily gave them half as many points as the PCs, rounded down, purely to keep NPCs in secondary roles and the PCs in the spotlight, while still letting the NPCs improve a bit to be less of a drag on the party. ("Sixth level of the dungeon and you still can't hike? Maybe we should just leave you home.") I think we have enough players that we shouldn't need NPCs in the party this game, though, so I can probably ignore this.
Here's what I'm thinking:
- Aim for about 5 points per PC for a normal session. Only if the player and PC were involved in the session. So participation will be key to advancement.
- If the party clears a major area (which may or may not directly correspond to a dungeon level), a bonus in the 5-point region will be given to everyone who was involved in the entire effort. Since earning such a bonus will probably require multiple play sessions, I may do some scaling, such that if a player and PC were there for 4 of the 5 sessions during which an area was explored, that PC might get 4 bonus points instead of 5.
- Various 1-point bonuses may be possible for doing various cool things, but they won't be common or known to the players in advance.
- When the PCs reach a more difficult portion of the adventure, the starting points given to new PCs will be increased a bit, so they're not so outclassed by the most active and experienced PCs. I don't want to give an exact formula yet.
The first session of Whiterock didn't achieve anything bonus-worthy yet (though the party is in a good position that may help lead to future bonuses), so I'm giving the 4 PCs 5 points each. I think that will be a pretty common result.
Next time, rules for spending character points.
DF Whiterock Session 1: Follow That Cat
Date:
2018-04-27Weather:
Cool, with light rainPlayer Characters:
Garreth (Zuljita), Half-Orc Fighter, 150 points
Durkerle (M.C. Warhammer) Dwarf Cleric, 150 points
The Redcap (Humabout), Gnome Bard, 150 points
Significant NPCs newly met or first mentioned:
Quintus, Human Wizard and Alchemist
Lady Chauntessa, Human Sorceress and Inn Owner
Rufus, Human Druid
Dodger, Cat Familiar
Brie, Half-Elf Bard
Arien, Human Drunk
Ulan, Human Stableboy
Lord Granger Flitwick, Human Noble
Lyssa, Human Apprentice Wizard
The potential heroes were sitting around the Inn of the Slumbering Drake in Cillamar, listening to a bard named Brie, hoping for interesting work to turn up. In barged Quintus the aged alchemist and alleged wizard, followed by a big black cat. Quintus got the serving ladies to summon Lady Chauntessa, owner of the Inn, and then told everyone in the Inn that the cat was his apprentice Lyssa's familiar, that Lyssa was missing, that Lyssa was never separated from her familiar, that something horrible had therefore probably happened to Lyssa, and that the cat almost certainly knew more, if anyone in the Inn could speak to it.
Disappointingly, nobody in the Inn could speak Cat. Chauntessa suggested Rufus, a local druid, who lived in a grove about a mile outside town. She sent Ulan, a stableboy who knew the way and could run, and asked that anyone else who would also run fast accompany him so that he'd be taken seriously. Failing to take the hint about speed, all of the PCs decided to go, including the slow dwarf and the very slow gnome. The cat went too.
After some minor harassment by a guard at the King's Gate who didn't much like Half-Orcs, Ulan led the party to Rufus's grove. Rufus was cooperative and cast Beast Speech. He then was able to relay Dodger's story: Lyssa had been gathering alchemical ingredients in the woods a few miles east of Cillamar, when she was abducted by evil humans and shoved into a wagon with cages and manacles under covers, clearly some kind of organized kidnapping operation. Dodger followed them all the way to the ruins of Castle Whiterock, a two-day wagon ride away. The slavers then turned Lyssa over to some orcs, who tied her up and gagged her, then threw her into a slave pen with some other kidnapped people, under the ruins of the castle. Dodger then slipped back out and ran all the way back to Cillamar to get help. Rufus also mentioned that Lady Chauntessa was known to have an interest in Castle Whiterock, and that the party should check with her before heading out.
After the group made it back to the Inn, Quintus implored anyone who could to follow Dodger back to the Castle and free Lyssa. Lady Chauntessa also encouraged them to hurry, and provided some provisions for the journey, but had no significant information. Redcap had some questions about payment, but Quintus convinced the party that there was no time for dickering and that they would be appropriately rewarded when Lyssa was safe, and they didn't press the point.
The party then began a long and intricate process of moving items from one bag to another and bags from one person to another in an effort to make the party able to march a bit faster. While they were playing with their inventory, they heard the local drunk Arien mention that the exact same thing that happened to Lyssa had happened to him, but he had eventually escaped, and nobody believed the story. Lord Granger Flitwick rolled his eyes, having heard this story before, but Durkerle and Redcap both thought the story sounded pretty good. Durkerle went as far as casting Compel Truth, but unfortunately the spell failed horribly, causing Arien to start singing a childhood nursery rhyme, then pass out in his beer.
The group set off on a long walk toward the ruined castle, late in the afternoon. They spent the first night outside without a fire, in cold rain, on the edge of a small forest. Redcap had a one-Gnome tent and a sleeping fur, and invited Dodger in, but the rest were fairly miserable with only their shields for shelter.
The next day, the group continued walking through the forest, until they were ambushed by a couple of bandits, right after fording a stream. They were well-hidden in a tree branch, and planned tried to jump down onto the point-Elf Seépravir and club her with surprise, but they completely failed to execute the plan. The first one missed her completely, broke his leg from the fall, and was out of the fight. The second one almost hit her but didn't account for her ability to Levitate back over the stream, also took some damage from the fall, realized he was outnumbered, ran away, and then went down due to a very well placed thrown knife from Garreth. Redcap killed the knifed bandit with his sickle, while the party interrogated the one with the broken leg. The PCs commenced a good-dwarf, bad-gnome routine, with Redcap wanting to do terrible things to the prisoner and Durkerle wanting to heal his wounds and send him back to Cillamar to repent his sins, with an extra silver piece in his pocket. The dwarf won the argument, his Major Healing spell fixed the broken leg, he threw in a free meal he'd just made with Create Food, and the bandit was grateful enough to warn Durkerle of two more ambushers a bit further into the woods. That was enough to make the remaining two bandits break and run. Meanwhile, a raven harassed Dodger, but no damage was done and the bird flew away. The total profit from the fight was two suits of light leather armor (one immediately used by Garreth), two daggers, two clubs, and 2 copper coins. Minus the silver coin that Durkerle paid the surviving bandit.
The PCs continued their trek toward the dungeon, eventually reaching the top of a hill and seeing the ruins of the white castle on the next big hill over, overlooking a small lake. It would still take a few hours to get there, so they decided to camp out another night in a gully near the castle, and attempt a pre-dawn ambush against hopefully sleepy enemies. It wasn't raining anymore, but two nights of sleeping rough in cold weather took its toll, and everyone except Redcap and Dodger (comfortable in Redcap's tent and sleeping fur) was down 1 FP until they could get more restful sleep.
They awakened a bit before dawn, Seépravir cast her medley of scouting spells (Hush, Infravision, Keen Vision, Lighten Burden), and then they followed the switchbacks of the wagon trail up the hill. It eventually led to a tunnel into a sheer rock face, with the castle entrance inside the tunnel. After a brief discussion, the group decided (for meta-game reasons) that it was probably safer to go through the tunnel than for Seépravir to Levitate over the cliff. They did so, and eventually found a door. After much searching for traps, they continued on down the tunnel to another door, this one with a 1' square panel in the center of it. Both the door and the panel were locked. Redcap tried picking the lock, and failed. Plan B was Seépravir casting Silence on the door, and then Garreth beating on the lock with a club. This plan worked remarkably well; despite Garreth's lack of Forced Entry skill, it only took him two whacks to break the lock.
Gazing through the hole where the lock had been, Seépravir saw another room, some kind of gatehouse, with murder holes and a trap door in the ceiling, a ladder leading up to the trap door, and double doors on the other side. While she was minutely inspecting the room for other dangers, Redcap got bored and decided to just open the door. This annoyed Seépravir enough that she tried to Levitate Redcap to keep him out of trouble, but the spell failed. Garreth was visibly pained by the lack of cooperation, but fortunately no enemies noticed, and the group eventually moved into the gatehouse room. Where Seépravir noticed three covered pit traps on the floor, between the party and the other doors.
And that's where the would-be heroes stopped for the (real-world not game-world) night. The meta-game pact to return to Town after each session was overruled, since they just got to the castle and didn't want to repeat that walk.
GM's comments:
The whole first session was taken to find the quest and get to the dungeon. Which seems a bit excessive. The time was consumed by a combination of factors: talking to people in the Inn, finding Rufus the Druid and getting him to translate Dodger's story, a lot of fiddling with inventory to try to get the party from Move 2 to Move 3, a lot of very cautious travel and camping, a rather underwhelming combat, an interrogation, and then some very careful sneaking up to the castle.
The PCs will probably make that trip many more times, and it will probably take a fraction as long in the future: they'll know the way, and either something interesting will happen (like the ambush) or it won't.
They had a lot of intra-party conflict, mostly over how to treat the surviving prisoner. Redcap wanted to murder him, Garreth was mostly okay with that, Seépravir wanted to pump him for information and didn't care beyond that, and Durkerle wanted to save his soul. Somehow Durkerle won. The group was clearly four individuals with their own opinions, not a cohesive team. Which kind of made sense, since it was their first mission together. But will they get better at working together, or will they keep squabbling?
This session was played using text only rather than voice, due to a combination of one player's preference and two players' technical difficulties. I'm not sure which I prefer. Text is a lot of typing, and sometimes it takes a while to get all the players to answer "yes" to a simple question. On the other hand, voice invites technical problems and also people speaking over each other. And text provides the ability to scroll back -- if someone needs to take a short break when they're not the focus of the action, they can do so and not miss anything. And text leaves a great log. So, I think we'll vote again at the start of the next session on which to use.
This session used 3 Roll20 maps: one of the Inn of the Slumbering Drake, one of some random woods with a stream where the ambush happened, and then the entrance to Castle Whiterock proper. The biggest Roll20 annoyance for me was needing to copy player tokens from one map to another. (There might be a copy-all paste-all command, but I don't know it, so it was [copy, switch map, paste, switch map] times five, each time we switched maps.) Also, there were some glitches with dynamic lighting leading to some accidental dark areas on the Whiterock map. Hopefully I'll get those sorted out before the next game.
I wanted players to return to town after each session, but it would have been silly this time, because they were right at the entrance to the castle, uninjured (except for three of them being down 1 FP due to bad sleep), and with the time pressure of needing to save Lyssa before something bad happened. So, if we end up adding or subtracting any players next week, I'll need to do some handwaving. That's fine. Any added PCs were clearly late volunteers sent by Quintus and Chauntessa who made better time than this group, due to faster Move and less careful travel and not getting ambushed. And any players who don't show up will have their characters assigned to guard the group's back, or possibly (if Redcap) something worse. (They do all have Sense of Duty: Friends and Companions, so probably not that much worse. The threat to leave him Levitating and Silenced was probably just a joke. Probably. Actually, if that didn't cause an extra -2 for 2 more spells on, Seépravir might not have been kidding.)
Next time: the party actually attempts to breach the castle.
2018-04-27
What Kind of Dungeon Fantasy RPG Party Do You Get With 150 Points and Freeform?
Looks like the first session of DF Whiterock is tonight. We have seven players interested, but only five of them have PCs ready to go (maybe with some tiny tweaks remaining), so looks like we'll be rolling with five PCs the first week. So what kind of characters did the players come up with?
Well, they're a very diverse group species-wise: one each of Human, High Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, and Half-Orc. (I was really happy that someone made a Gnome, because nobody ever plays Gnomes. And I was happy that someone made a Half-Orc, because nobody ever plays Half-Orcs, but the negative Town reactions to Half-Orcs are mildly annoying for everyone, so not quite as happy.)
And they're pretty diverse in terms of professions too: we have a fighter, a wizard, a cleric, a martial artist, and a bard. (Because they had fewer points to work with and I didn't require strict templates, they're all a bit different than you'd expect if you're used to stock Dungeon Fantasy characters, but they basically fit those niches.)
I gave a few hints, besides general Dungeon Fantasy advice like Have a Cleric: speak a lot of languages because languages will matter, try to have a small character because fitting into small spaces might matter, buy your Special Order items now if possible because Cillamar is a small town and odd items might not always be available for sale later, if you have a Druid make sure they have Beast Speech because speaking to animals might matter. The players seem to have taken that advice to heart, except nobody made a Druid. (Yet?)
Over the course of a week-long Session Zero in Discord, the players shared their character concepts with each other, made suggestions, and sometimes actually acted on the suggestions. I think this worked really well. I wouldn't say all the characters are hyper-optimized, but they're all well-designed and interesting.
I gave everyone a free extra language at Accented, and they coordinated so the group speaks a wide variety. (Everyone has Common, and then Elven, Dwarven, Gnome, Orc, and Halfling are also known.) Amusingly, not one but two PCs are illiterate, so they won't do as well with written languages as with spoken ones. Also, some of the non-humans speak Common better than their mother tongue, which probably makes their mothers grumpy.
The most obvious effect of not requiring strict templates is that if you don't force the Wizard to take -3 to Perception, they get a ridiculous Per as a side effect of their ridiculous IQ. (And our Wizard doubled down on IQ; I expected that giving fewer points would result in lower-IQ more-Magery, but that didn't happen.) So the Wizard does a pretty good job of filling the Scout / Thief niche of finding hidden enemies and traps and secret doors. (But not other Scout skills like filling opponents with arrows, or other Thief skills like disabling traps and opening locks.) But you'll notice that the group lacks a Scout or a Thief, so that's fine. The Wizard is also halfway to being a Bard by virtue of being a High Elf (Attractive appearance, Voice, Musical Ability), so there may be dueling banjos at some point. The Martial Artist, with her high DX, also appears ready to fill some of the Scout and Thief roles, with ranged attacks and (maybe?) learning some Lockpicking or Trap disarming. So, there's more than one way to skin a dungeon.
From my point of view, the team's big weakness is a lack of big tough front-line fighters. They only have one who kind of fills that role, and he doesn't have any armor yet. Nobody bought Wealth or put any character points into extra cash, so nobody could afford much DR, so they're all a bit vulnerable. Of course the upside is that if they defeat even a mook with DR1 Light Leather Armor, that's actually an upgrade for someone, if it fits.
Other weaknesses include the lack of Druid spells, the lack of a Heroic Archer, and the lack of a Thief. But you just can't fill all the niches with 5 lower-point PCs, so this is fine. If they survive they'll learn new abilities with their earned character points and get better, and if they don't survive the players will get to make new PCs.
Overall, I'm very happy with the characters, and the pre-game player cooperation. I have no real worries about PC design or party cohesion. My main worries going into the session are technical and revolve around Roll20. Are my maps too big and slow? Did I leave a gap somewhere that will give away a secret? If we decide to go text-only, can I type fast enough to keep the players engaged? I guess we'll find out tonight.
Well, they're a very diverse group species-wise: one each of Human, High Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, and Half-Orc. (I was really happy that someone made a Gnome, because nobody ever plays Gnomes. And I was happy that someone made a Half-Orc, because nobody ever plays Half-Orcs, but the negative Town reactions to Half-Orcs are mildly annoying for everyone, so not quite as happy.)
And they're pretty diverse in terms of professions too: we have a fighter, a wizard, a cleric, a martial artist, and a bard. (Because they had fewer points to work with and I didn't require strict templates, they're all a bit different than you'd expect if you're used to stock Dungeon Fantasy characters, but they basically fit those niches.)
I gave a few hints, besides general Dungeon Fantasy advice like Have a Cleric: speak a lot of languages because languages will matter, try to have a small character because fitting into small spaces might matter, buy your Special Order items now if possible because Cillamar is a small town and odd items might not always be available for sale later, if you have a Druid make sure they have Beast Speech because speaking to animals might matter. The players seem to have taken that advice to heart, except nobody made a Druid. (Yet?)
Over the course of a week-long Session Zero in Discord, the players shared their character concepts with each other, made suggestions, and sometimes actually acted on the suggestions. I think this worked really well. I wouldn't say all the characters are hyper-optimized, but they're all well-designed and interesting.
I gave everyone a free extra language at Accented, and they coordinated so the group speaks a wide variety. (Everyone has Common, and then Elven, Dwarven, Gnome, Orc, and Halfling are also known.) Amusingly, not one but two PCs are illiterate, so they won't do as well with written languages as with spoken ones. Also, some of the non-humans speak Common better than their mother tongue, which probably makes their mothers grumpy.
The most obvious effect of not requiring strict templates is that if you don't force the Wizard to take -3 to Perception, they get a ridiculous Per as a side effect of their ridiculous IQ. (And our Wizard doubled down on IQ; I expected that giving fewer points would result in lower-IQ more-Magery, but that didn't happen.) So the Wizard does a pretty good job of filling the Scout / Thief niche of finding hidden enemies and traps and secret doors. (But not other Scout skills like filling opponents with arrows, or other Thief skills like disabling traps and opening locks.) But you'll notice that the group lacks a Scout or a Thief, so that's fine. The Wizard is also halfway to being a Bard by virtue of being a High Elf (Attractive appearance, Voice, Musical Ability), so there may be dueling banjos at some point. The Martial Artist, with her high DX, also appears ready to fill some of the Scout and Thief roles, with ranged attacks and (maybe?) learning some Lockpicking or Trap disarming. So, there's more than one way to skin a dungeon.
From my point of view, the team's big weakness is a lack of big tough front-line fighters. They only have one who kind of fills that role, and he doesn't have any armor yet. Nobody bought Wealth or put any character points into extra cash, so nobody could afford much DR, so they're all a bit vulnerable. Of course the upside is that if they defeat even a mook with DR1 Light Leather Armor, that's actually an upgrade for someone, if it fits.
Other weaknesses include the lack of Druid spells, the lack of a Heroic Archer, and the lack of a Thief. But you just can't fill all the niches with 5 lower-point PCs, so this is fine. If they survive they'll learn new abilities with their earned character points and get better, and if they don't survive the players will get to make new PCs.
Overall, I'm very happy with the characters, and the pre-game player cooperation. I have no real worries about PC design or party cohesion. My main worries going into the session are technical and revolve around Roll20. Are my maps too big and slow? Did I leave a gap somewhere that will give away a secret? If we decide to go text-only, can I type fast enough to keep the players engaged? I guess we'll find out tonight.
2018-04-26
Using Real-World Weather and Time In a Fantasy Game
Just got a question from a player about what the weather's like now in the game world, which determines whether the PCs should have winter clothing and sleeping furs. I decided that actually generating random weather and keeping track of an in-game calendar with seasons sounded too much like work, so I'm going to steal an idea from Peter's Felltower game and use real-world seasons and weather from a location that could stand in for Cillamar. (This also implies that game time mostly moves at about the same speed as real-world time. So if we play every Friday, the PCs typically get a week of downtime in town between game sessions. And if things in the real world force us to miss a weekly session, the PCs probably stayed in town for an extra week too.)
The Kingdom of Morrain is kind of far north and kind of hilly, so at first I thought maybe somewhere in Eastern Canada would make a good match. But I'm an American and I'm more familiar with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather.gov site than with the equivalent in Canada, so I went with Syracuse, New York. For those who haven't been there, Syracuse is inconveniently cold and snowy in the winter, but not usually Drop Dead Instantly If You Go Outside Naked Without A Warmth Spell cold. (Sometimes, but not usually.) It's mostly pleasant in the summer, with some hot days and humid days and thunderstorms mixed in. There are a lot of cloudy days year round, so it's not the place to live if you need sun to be happy, but the natives of Cillamar, like the natives of Upstate New York, are mostly used to that.
The game is starting in late spring, which is convenient for the PCs, because it means a long time until they likely have to deal with snow. And by the time winter rolls around, the (surviving and/or replacement) PCs will probably have more money and character points.
The Kingdom of Morrain is kind of far north and kind of hilly, so at first I thought maybe somewhere in Eastern Canada would make a good match. But I'm an American and I'm more familiar with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather.gov site than with the equivalent in Canada, so I went with Syracuse, New York. For those who haven't been there, Syracuse is inconveniently cold and snowy in the winter, but not usually Drop Dead Instantly If You Go Outside Naked Without A Warmth Spell cold. (Sometimes, but not usually.) It's mostly pleasant in the summer, with some hot days and humid days and thunderstorms mixed in. There are a lot of cloudy days year round, so it's not the place to live if you need sun to be happy, but the natives of Cillamar, like the natives of Upstate New York, are mostly used to that.
The game is starting in late spring, which is convenient for the PCs, because it means a long time until they likely have to deal with snow. And by the time winter rolls around, the (surviving and/or replacement) PCs will probably have more money and character points.
2018-04-25
Using GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Rules to Play in a Dungeon Fantasy RPG Game
I wanted the Whiterock campaign to be new-player friendly, so one goal was to ensure that players only needed the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game box set, not a huge collection of GURPS books. But we found an interested player who has a bunch of GURPS books, but not the DFRPG box set. How much of a problem is this?
Well, DFRPG is pretty much GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, streamlined and condensed. For the most part, it's a subset of existing GURPS rules (Basic Set, Magic, Low Tech, Dungeon Fantasy 1-3, Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1-2), repackaged in a slimmer, cheaper, prettier, less intimidating way. (And there's new material too, but most of the new material is not needed for a player making a character.) So, if you have the unabridged version, things are mostly compatible. You'll just have access to a lot of material that this game isn't using, that you have to read around.
So the trick becomes describing exactly which options from the giant toolbox that he has are in play in the smaller toolbox we're using.
I think one helpful tool here is GCS because it has good data files for DFRPG, that show what traits are allowed in DFRPG by default. Of course that doesn't include full descriptions, but for the ones that are the same as in GURPS Basic Set or Dungeon Fantasy, they're mostly pretty close. If the trait is new in DFRPG then the player is going to need to ask the GM what it does, and then the GM can explain it.
The Whiterock game isn't using strict templates (partly because they're 250 points, and partly because I thought giving players more options would be fun), so we don't really have to worry about the exact composition of those. The Dungeon Fantasy 1 templates are pretty close to the DFRPG templates, so good enough for inspiration.
So, I think we'll be okay, but I'm curious to see how much back and forth it will take to get a rules-legal DFRPG PC using only the previous GURPS DF rules. If we can do it in a couple of passes, that's a good sign that the compatibility is strong. I'll try to remember to add an edit or comment later, to say how it went.
Update: We have six interested players so far. I've said we need at least three PCs to start, preferably four. We have one PC I consider done and approved (though the player can still tweak if desired), three I consider almost done, one that the player seems to be almost finished with but hasn't submitted for approval, and one not done yet. A couple of the players have GURPS books but not the DFRPG box set, and they seem to be doing okay making valid DFRPG characters with help from GCS and the other players. So, I think the theory that GURPS DF and DFRPG are close enough that players can bridge the gap is working out.
Also, having a Discord server for your game is great, as it serves as kind of a constant asynchronous Session Zero in the background, assuming you have players who hang out on Discord at least some of the time. Highly recommended for any kind of online game. (Of course any other kind of persistent chat channel works too; Discord just seems like a good choice right now, as it's free and cross-platform and popular among gamers and doesn't require much technical skill to use.)
Well, DFRPG is pretty much GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, streamlined and condensed. For the most part, it's a subset of existing GURPS rules (Basic Set, Magic, Low Tech, Dungeon Fantasy 1-3, Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1-2), repackaged in a slimmer, cheaper, prettier, less intimidating way. (And there's new material too, but most of the new material is not needed for a player making a character.) So, if you have the unabridged version, things are mostly compatible. You'll just have access to a lot of material that this game isn't using, that you have to read around.
So the trick becomes describing exactly which options from the giant toolbox that he has are in play in the smaller toolbox we're using.
I think one helpful tool here is GCS because it has good data files for DFRPG, that show what traits are allowed in DFRPG by default. Of course that doesn't include full descriptions, but for the ones that are the same as in GURPS Basic Set or Dungeon Fantasy, they're mostly pretty close. If the trait is new in DFRPG then the player is going to need to ask the GM what it does, and then the GM can explain it.
The Whiterock game isn't using strict templates (partly because they're 250 points, and partly because I thought giving players more options would be fun), so we don't really have to worry about the exact composition of those. The Dungeon Fantasy 1 templates are pretty close to the DFRPG templates, so good enough for inspiration.
So, I think we'll be okay, but I'm curious to see how much back and forth it will take to get a rules-legal DFRPG PC using only the previous GURPS DF rules. If we can do it in a couple of passes, that's a good sign that the compatibility is strong. I'll try to remember to add an edit or comment later, to say how it went.
Update: We have six interested players so far. I've said we need at least three PCs to start, preferably four. We have one PC I consider done and approved (though the player can still tweak if desired), three I consider almost done, one that the player seems to be almost finished with but hasn't submitted for approval, and one not done yet. A couple of the players have GURPS books but not the DFRPG box set, and they seem to be doing okay making valid DFRPG characters with help from GCS and the other players. So, I think the theory that GURPS DF and DFRPG are close enough that players can bridge the gap is working out.
Also, having a Discord server for your game is great, as it serves as kind of a constant asynchronous Session Zero in the background, assuming you have players who hang out on Discord at least some of the time. Highly recommended for any kind of online game. (Of course any other kind of persistent chat channel works too; Discord just seems like a good choice right now, as it's free and cross-platform and popular among gamers and doesn't require much technical skill to use.)
2018-04-22
DF Whiterock Is Now Looking for Players
DF Whiterock is now looking for players. We have 3 so far, and could use a few more. The game could start as soon as Friday April 27 if we have enough players with completed approved PCs by then. Or possibly a week or two later if it takes time to get everyone ready.
The game will run on Friday evenings roughly 8 pm to midnight US-Eastern time.
Chat at dripton#2784 on Discord if interested, or if you need more info.
Edit: The game is full for now, with 6 players with PCs, 1 more player without a PC, and 1 on the waitlist. Not looking to add anyone else right now until I get a better feel for attendance. But if anyone asks nicely on Discord I'll put them on the waitlist and then contact them as slots open up.
The game will run on Friday evenings roughly 8 pm to midnight US-Eastern time.
Chat at dripton#2784 on Discord if interested, or if you need more info.
Edit: The game is full for now, with 6 players with PCs, 1 more player without a PC, and 1 on the waitlist. Not looking to add anyone else right now until I get a better feel for attendance. But if anyone asks nicely on Discord I'll put them on the waitlist and then contact them as slots open up.
A Very Brief Introduction to the Kingdom of Morrain and the Town of Cillamar
I was planning on just dropping the players into the game without too much background info dumping up front, because most players tune out during that. But I got a request for some, so here's a very brief introduction to the setting.
--
The Kingdom of Morrain is a small Northern backwater kingdom, with a few towns squeezed into some nice fertile valleys, between some very rough terrain that forms natural borders. It's independent of the larger nations nearby largely due to geographic isolation (think Switzerland, except with humans and elves and gnomes instead of German- and French- and Italian-speakers). The foreboding Ul Dominor mountains lie to the East (imagine the Alps, except with monsters and dwarves instead of ski resorts). The weather is a bit hot in the summer, inconveniently cold and snowy in the winter, and spring and fall don't last long (think Eastern Canada). Valfors Bay lies to the north and has access to the ocean, when it's not frozen. The capital, Galaron, is on Valfors Bay to the north. (Think Archangel, before icebreakers.)
Morrain has natural resources: lumber in the large forests, gems and silver in the hills, fish in the bay, and some good farmland in the valleys. But the elves are touchy about the environment and influential enough that the woods are mostly left intact; Morrain only cuts enough trees for local use. The gems and silver are exported, though.
Morrain is pretty much a strict monarchy, too small to have developed many layers of nobility. Fortunately for the subjects, it's been ruled by good kings who seem to care about their people for several generations. The current king is Mirias Stormwarden, who sits in Stormkeep in the city of Galeron. The standing army is small, and mostly mans a series of border watchtowers, but the militia is large, well-trained, and loyal. (Think Switzerland again.) No foreign human kingdom has invaded Morrain in a long time, but monster incursions are a constant threat.
Cillamar is a small town in the hills in the eastern part of the kingdom, less than a hundred miles from the Ul Dominor mountains. It was almost completely destroyed by dragon attack a few hundred years ago, turning it into a ghost town. It's been mostly rebuilt over the last century, but there are still scorched ruins nearby, leaving no doubt that the dragon was real. It's ruled by Lord Mayor Franz Mentzer, on behalf of the King, from the Lord's Gate Citadel in the southeast of town.
Some rich silver veins were found nearby about five years ago, turning Cillamar into a boom town once word got out, with prospectors and miners (mostly human, some dwarven and gnome) showing up daily to try to strike it rich. Also, wars in the neighboring kingdoms have led to a steady flow of incoming refugees over the past few summers. The quick population growth has led to the old ruins in the south part of town growing into a poor, crime-ridden slum called The Warrens.
The population boom in turn has brought merchants, and thieves to prey on the merchants, and guards (both private and the town's Lantern Guard) to stop the thieves. It's a happening place, and a destination for adventuring types to seek their fortune. They tend to congregate at the Inn of the Slumbering Drake, which is safer than the sketchy holes in the wall of the Warrens, but cheaper and more fun than the fancy inns that appeal to nobles and merchants.
--
The Kingdom of Morrain is a small Northern backwater kingdom, with a few towns squeezed into some nice fertile valleys, between some very rough terrain that forms natural borders. It's independent of the larger nations nearby largely due to geographic isolation (think Switzerland, except with humans and elves and gnomes instead of German- and French- and Italian-speakers). The foreboding Ul Dominor mountains lie to the East (imagine the Alps, except with monsters and dwarves instead of ski resorts). The weather is a bit hot in the summer, inconveniently cold and snowy in the winter, and spring and fall don't last long (think Eastern Canada). Valfors Bay lies to the north and has access to the ocean, when it's not frozen. The capital, Galaron, is on Valfors Bay to the north. (Think Archangel, before icebreakers.)
Morrain has natural resources: lumber in the large forests, gems and silver in the hills, fish in the bay, and some good farmland in the valleys. But the elves are touchy about the environment and influential enough that the woods are mostly left intact; Morrain only cuts enough trees for local use. The gems and silver are exported, though.
Morrain is pretty much a strict monarchy, too small to have developed many layers of nobility. Fortunately for the subjects, it's been ruled by good kings who seem to care about their people for several generations. The current king is Mirias Stormwarden, who sits in Stormkeep in the city of Galeron. The standing army is small, and mostly mans a series of border watchtowers, but the militia is large, well-trained, and loyal. (Think Switzerland again.) No foreign human kingdom has invaded Morrain in a long time, but monster incursions are a constant threat.
Cillamar is a small town in the hills in the eastern part of the kingdom, less than a hundred miles from the Ul Dominor mountains. It was almost completely destroyed by dragon attack a few hundred years ago, turning it into a ghost town. It's been mostly rebuilt over the last century, but there are still scorched ruins nearby, leaving no doubt that the dragon was real. It's ruled by Lord Mayor Franz Mentzer, on behalf of the King, from the Lord's Gate Citadel in the southeast of town.
Some rich silver veins were found nearby about five years ago, turning Cillamar into a boom town once word got out, with prospectors and miners (mostly human, some dwarven and gnome) showing up daily to try to strike it rich. Also, wars in the neighboring kingdoms have led to a steady flow of incoming refugees over the past few summers. The quick population growth has led to the old ruins in the south part of town growing into a poor, crime-ridden slum called The Warrens.
The population boom in turn has brought merchants, and thieves to prey on the merchants, and guards (both private and the town's Lantern Guard) to stop the thieves. It's a happening place, and a destination for adventuring types to seek their fortune. They tend to congregate at the Inn of the Slumbering Drake, which is safer than the sketchy holes in the wall of the Warrens, but cheaper and more fun than the fancy inns that appeal to nobles and merchants.
Making a Balanced Dungeon Fantasy Party Without Templates
One nice thing about mandatory templates is that they make it easy to (partly) describe your character in one word. And then the GM can say "bring a Wizard, a Cleric, a Thief or Scout, and a Knight or Swashbuckler or Barbarian, and you should be fine." Of course all Wizards are not the same, as their spell selection varies widely. And not all Clerics take Turning. And a Berserk Barbarian in heavy armor plays completely differently than a sane Barbarian in light armor. But it gives you a starting point.
Without templates, we have to fall back to talking about collections of advantages and skills, which is harder. But let's give it a try.
Here are some things that I think every member of a Dungeon Fantasy party should have:
- Luck. Luck is the only thing that will save you from a monster that does huge damage rolling a critical hit. If you're not a super-experienced GURPS player, just spend 15 points for Luck on every character you make, and tell all the other players you have it, so they know to remind you to use it when a horrible die roll happens to you. (If you are a super-experienced GURPS player, you can break this rule, but I will still laugh at you when it gets your PC killed.)
- Stealth. There are 3 kinds of characters: super-stealthy PCs, mildly stealthy PCs, and loud PCs who summon all the wandering monsters and get the whole party killed. Not everyone can be super-stealthy (unless you want to make the all-Thief game), but everyone can put a few points in Stealth to make an honest attempt to not give the party away. Also, Incompetence: Stealth is the worst quirk ever, and I'd like to apologize for taking it once.
- Hiking. Everybody walks sometimes, and if you can't keep up, you slow everyone down.
- Climbing, because everyone needs to be able to make the easy climbs. (The good climber or flier can set ropes to help the bad climbers, but they need to be able to climb a little.)
- Move 4 or better. Again, the party moves at the speed of its slowest member. Also, if you're encumbered down to Move 3, you can't outrun anything faster than green slime, and if the party needs to run away, they either need to stay behind with you and die with you, or leave you as Monster Chow and feel bad. Even 4 is kind of marginal; having the slowest member at Move 5 is better. Note: if you're Move 3 but can quickly get to Move 4 by dropping something that you're willing to drop, that's not so horrible. Extra encumbrance from a quick-release backpack or buckler is better than extra encumbrance from armor.
- Riding. This is a bit situational because you can't always afford horses, and you don't always have a safe place to keep horses, and you're not always going far enough to want horses. But if you can and you do and you are, then everyone wants Riding. (Pro-tip: if your IQ is much better than your DX, you might want to take Animal Handling instead and default Riding from it.)
- A shared spoken and written language, so you can talk to each other and write notes to each other. (You usually get this for free so it's not a big deal. But think twice before making an illiterate or mute character.) Bonus points if everyone shares a language that's not Common, so you can talk without as many enemies understanding you.
- Gesture, so you can sign at each other. One point is a lot better than default. Not every party does gestures for silent tactical communication, but they should.
- Swimming, because otherwise you will drown when you fall into water. (You might still drown with Swimming, but a point goes a long way.)
- Some kind of active defense roll over 10, for a fighting chance when things attack you. It's best if Parry isn't your only decent defense, since missile weapons exist.
- At least DR 2 over most of the body, for basic survival when your active defenses fail.
- HT of 11 or better, so you have a decent chance of staying up if you get poisoned or take a Major Wound. 11 isn't great, but at least you'll make it over half the time, if there's no penalty.
- HP or 11 or better, so you can take a hit without it being a Major Wound, a bigger hit without it being a consciousness check, a really big hit without it being a death check, etc. 11 is pretty marginal but it's better than 10. I want to say 13 but I know there are Wizards out there who would be offended.
- Will of 11 of better, so you have a decent chance of resisting mind control spells and Fright Checks.
- DX of 11 or better, so you have a decent chance of resisting certain traps, making it across hazardous terrain, etc.
- Some defense for Close Combat, either unarmed skills or weapons with range C or Blink to get you out of there. Some attacks that work in Close Combat would be nice too.
- Something useful to do in combat when your own attacks don't work, because you're out of FP or the monster has lots of DR and no eyes, or something. Tactics skill to boost your ally's attack rolls is a nice one.
Here are some things that I think multiple members of every Dungeon Fantasy party should have:
- Healing. If you only have one Cleric and she gets hurt, who heals the healer? At least a couple of people should have First Aid or healing potions.
- Decent Per-based Traps, for finding traps (and it also works on secret doors, though so do Vision and Observation). If only one person has it, even at a high level, they'll miss the roll once in a while, and some traps are lethal. Having two PCs covering each other means you need two missed rolls at the same time.
- Decent Search, for the same reason. You do not want to miss the small piece of great treasure because the GM rolled a 17 on a hidden roll. If you always have two people roll Search and you're both decent at it, that will probably never happen.
- Decent ranged attacks. If you only have one Scout and you get attacked by flying monsters with ranged attacks, and they take down the Scout, you're probably dead.
- The ability to penetrate big DR. If you're fighting a monster with DR 12 and only one PC can ever penetrate DR 12 (without a miracle like a critical hit that does triple damage or bypasses all armor), it's going to be a long day. There's more than one way to penetrate big DR: big damage from big ST and big weapons, weapons with armor divisors, spells that ignore DR.
- Rumor-finding. If the GM has hints for you, you need to be able to dig them up. And different skills based on different attributes (Carousing, Research, etc.) are useful here, so it's common to split this up.
- Knot-Tying. PCs are always trying to use rope for something. If you're the best climber or the flier, you definitely need this; the person who's not at the top of the cliff can't tie the knot for you.
And here are some things that I think at least one member of every Dungeon Fantasy party needs:
- Wizard spells, lots of them, at a good level.
- Cleric spells, lots of them, at a good level.
- Really good ranged damage. Enemies that have vulnerable eyes and vitals should not be allowed to live long enough for the rest of the party to get a turn.
- Really good melee damage. At least 3d, preferably more. Low damage with lots of skill and Extra Attack sounds good, until you fight something with big DR and all 3 of your well-aimed blows bounce off it.
- A reaction bonus. Sometimes you need to make NPCs like you, so you can't all be ugly and mean.
- The ability to appraise each kind of common item. Merchant, Connoisseur (art), Analyze Magic, etc. Otherwise you're trusting the person you want to sell stuff to to tell you what it's worth.
- The ability to deal with swarms effectively. (1-2 HP per turn is not very effective.)
- The ability to deal with diffuse monsters effectively. (1-2 HP per turn is not very effective.)
- The ability to deal with spirits effectively.
- The ability to deal with nasty undead effectively, which probably means Turning.
- Good Lockpicking. (Lockmaster spell also works, but Meteoric locks exist.)
- Forced Entry, for when Lockpicking fails. (Bonus points if you have a Silence spell so you can bash things without bringing all the orcs to the yard.)
- Good DX-based Traps. Finding traps is more important, but sometimes you need to disarm them, not just avoid them.
- A way to scout ahead really effectively. Really good Stealth, or Invisibility, or Wizard Eye.
- Continual Light.
- Some torches and flint and steel, for when you hit a No Mana Zone.
- Dispel Magic.
- Levitation. Sometimes Climbing just isn't enough.
- Really high Per to avoid surprise.
- Really high ST to move that giant obstacle out of the way, or get that heavy treasure home.
And, finally, here are some skills that not every Dungeon Fantasy game needs, but I recommend for Whiterock in particular:
- Tracking.
- Area Knowledge. (This isn't in DFRPG, but I'm house ruling it in from GURPS. It's IQ-E, and I'm making it for the local area by default, no specialization.)
- History. (This isn't in DFRPG, but I'm house ruling it in from GURPS. It's IQ-H and I'm making it for the local area by default, no specialization.)
- Languages, both spoken and written. Maybe even Gift of Letters / Gift of Tongues, in case you really need one you haven't learned. (We're using the D&D 3.5 languages, and the full GURPS language rules are house ruled in, so you can take languages at Broken, Accented, or Native.)
- Physiology (various).
- Hidden Lore (various).
- The ability to get information from prisoners. Interrogation, Intimidation, Detect Lies, etc.
- Being Small (SM-1 or better yet SM-2) in case there are any tiny little passages that need exploring.
That's a really long list, and I'm sure I missed a few. And it's hard to afford everything on a limited point budget. But I hope this uncovered something that someone forgot about.
Without templates, we have to fall back to talking about collections of advantages and skills, which is harder. But let's give it a try.
Here are some things that I think every member of a Dungeon Fantasy party should have:
- Luck. Luck is the only thing that will save you from a monster that does huge damage rolling a critical hit. If you're not a super-experienced GURPS player, just spend 15 points for Luck on every character you make, and tell all the other players you have it, so they know to remind you to use it when a horrible die roll happens to you. (If you are a super-experienced GURPS player, you can break this rule, but I will still laugh at you when it gets your PC killed.)
- Stealth. There are 3 kinds of characters: super-stealthy PCs, mildly stealthy PCs, and loud PCs who summon all the wandering monsters and get the whole party killed. Not everyone can be super-stealthy (unless you want to make the all-Thief game), but everyone can put a few points in Stealth to make an honest attempt to not give the party away. Also, Incompetence: Stealth is the worst quirk ever, and I'd like to apologize for taking it once.
- Hiking. Everybody walks sometimes, and if you can't keep up, you slow everyone down.
- Climbing, because everyone needs to be able to make the easy climbs. (The good climber or flier can set ropes to help the bad climbers, but they need to be able to climb a little.)
- Move 4 or better. Again, the party moves at the speed of its slowest member. Also, if you're encumbered down to Move 3, you can't outrun anything faster than green slime, and if the party needs to run away, they either need to stay behind with you and die with you, or leave you as Monster Chow and feel bad. Even 4 is kind of marginal; having the slowest member at Move 5 is better. Note: if you're Move 3 but can quickly get to Move 4 by dropping something that you're willing to drop, that's not so horrible. Extra encumbrance from a quick-release backpack or buckler is better than extra encumbrance from armor.
- Riding. This is a bit situational because you can't always afford horses, and you don't always have a safe place to keep horses, and you're not always going far enough to want horses. But if you can and you do and you are, then everyone wants Riding. (Pro-tip: if your IQ is much better than your DX, you might want to take Animal Handling instead and default Riding from it.)
- A shared spoken and written language, so you can talk to each other and write notes to each other. (You usually get this for free so it's not a big deal. But think twice before making an illiterate or mute character.) Bonus points if everyone shares a language that's not Common, so you can talk without as many enemies understanding you.
- Gesture, so you can sign at each other. One point is a lot better than default. Not every party does gestures for silent tactical communication, but they should.
- Swimming, because otherwise you will drown when you fall into water. (You might still drown with Swimming, but a point goes a long way.)
- Some kind of active defense roll over 10, for a fighting chance when things attack you. It's best if Parry isn't your only decent defense, since missile weapons exist.
- At least DR 2 over most of the body, for basic survival when your active defenses fail.
- HT of 11 or better, so you have a decent chance of staying up if you get poisoned or take a Major Wound. 11 isn't great, but at least you'll make it over half the time, if there's no penalty.
- HP or 11 or better, so you can take a hit without it being a Major Wound, a bigger hit without it being a consciousness check, a really big hit without it being a death check, etc. 11 is pretty marginal but it's better than 10. I want to say 13 but I know there are Wizards out there who would be offended.
- Will of 11 of better, so you have a decent chance of resisting mind control spells and Fright Checks.
- DX of 11 or better, so you have a decent chance of resisting certain traps, making it across hazardous terrain, etc.
- Some defense for Close Combat, either unarmed skills or weapons with range C or Blink to get you out of there. Some attacks that work in Close Combat would be nice too.
- Something useful to do in combat when your own attacks don't work, because you're out of FP or the monster has lots of DR and no eyes, or something. Tactics skill to boost your ally's attack rolls is a nice one.
Here are some things that I think multiple members of every Dungeon Fantasy party should have:
- Healing. If you only have one Cleric and she gets hurt, who heals the healer? At least a couple of people should have First Aid or healing potions.
- Decent Per-based Traps, for finding traps (and it also works on secret doors, though so do Vision and Observation). If only one person has it, even at a high level, they'll miss the roll once in a while, and some traps are lethal. Having two PCs covering each other means you need two missed rolls at the same time.
- Decent Search, for the same reason. You do not want to miss the small piece of great treasure because the GM rolled a 17 on a hidden roll. If you always have two people roll Search and you're both decent at it, that will probably never happen.
- Decent ranged attacks. If you only have one Scout and you get attacked by flying monsters with ranged attacks, and they take down the Scout, you're probably dead.
- The ability to penetrate big DR. If you're fighting a monster with DR 12 and only one PC can ever penetrate DR 12 (without a miracle like a critical hit that does triple damage or bypasses all armor), it's going to be a long day. There's more than one way to penetrate big DR: big damage from big ST and big weapons, weapons with armor divisors, spells that ignore DR.
- Rumor-finding. If the GM has hints for you, you need to be able to dig them up. And different skills based on different attributes (Carousing, Research, etc.) are useful here, so it's common to split this up.
- Knot-Tying. PCs are always trying to use rope for something. If you're the best climber or the flier, you definitely need this; the person who's not at the top of the cliff can't tie the knot for you.
And here are some things that I think at least one member of every Dungeon Fantasy party needs:
- Wizard spells, lots of them, at a good level.
- Cleric spells, lots of them, at a good level.
- Really good ranged damage. Enemies that have vulnerable eyes and vitals should not be allowed to live long enough for the rest of the party to get a turn.
- Really good melee damage. At least 3d, preferably more. Low damage with lots of skill and Extra Attack sounds good, until you fight something with big DR and all 3 of your well-aimed blows bounce off it.
- A reaction bonus. Sometimes you need to make NPCs like you, so you can't all be ugly and mean.
- The ability to appraise each kind of common item. Merchant, Connoisseur (art), Analyze Magic, etc. Otherwise you're trusting the person you want to sell stuff to to tell you what it's worth.
- The ability to deal with swarms effectively. (1-2 HP per turn is not very effective.)
- The ability to deal with diffuse monsters effectively. (1-2 HP per turn is not very effective.)
- The ability to deal with spirits effectively.
- The ability to deal with nasty undead effectively, which probably means Turning.
- Good Lockpicking. (Lockmaster spell also works, but Meteoric locks exist.)
- Forced Entry, for when Lockpicking fails. (Bonus points if you have a Silence spell so you can bash things without bringing all the orcs to the yard.)
- Good DX-based Traps. Finding traps is more important, but sometimes you need to disarm them, not just avoid them.
- A way to scout ahead really effectively. Really good Stealth, or Invisibility, or Wizard Eye.
- Continual Light.
- Some torches and flint and steel, for when you hit a No Mana Zone.
- Dispel Magic.
- Levitation. Sometimes Climbing just isn't enough.
- Really high Per to avoid surprise.
- Really high ST to move that giant obstacle out of the way, or get that heavy treasure home.
And, finally, here are some skills that not every Dungeon Fantasy game needs, but I recommend for Whiterock in particular:
- Tracking.
- Area Knowledge. (This isn't in DFRPG, but I'm house ruling it in from GURPS. It's IQ-E, and I'm making it for the local area by default, no specialization.)
- History. (This isn't in DFRPG, but I'm house ruling it in from GURPS. It's IQ-H and I'm making it for the local area by default, no specialization.)
- Languages, both spoken and written. Maybe even Gift of Letters / Gift of Tongues, in case you really need one you haven't learned. (We're using the D&D 3.5 languages, and the full GURPS language rules are house ruled in, so you can take languages at Broken, Accented, or Native.)
- Physiology (various).
- Hidden Lore (various).
- The ability to get information from prisoners. Interrogation, Intimidation, Detect Lies, etc.
- Being Small (SM-1 or better yet SM-2) in case there are any tiny little passages that need exploring.
That's a really long list, and I'm sure I missed a few. And it's hard to afford everything on a limited point budget. But I hope this uncovered something that someone forgot about.
2018-04-21
Freeform Characters and Dungeon Fantasy RPG Template Privileges
Dungeon Fantasy RPG uses mandatory templates by default. Each template comes with a selection of attributes that you can buy with points. Some also some with some special abilities that are free if you take the template and unavailable if you do not, which I'll call "privileges" for this post.
In a game with mandatory templates, privileges are straightforward. You're either a Knight, and you get the Knight's privileges of being able to buy melee skills at any time and being able to buy HP up to 1.5 times your ST. Or you're not, and you don't.
But without mandatory templates, who counts as a Knight? In the Five Easy Pieces Pyramid article, Sean Punch says that characters built with that system never qualify for special privileges. They've lost that in exchange for flexibility. I don't want to be quite that harsh, but pretty close.
Whiterock is going to allow freeform character construction. Freeform characters don't have to use templates. And Whiterock is a 150-point game, so it's not possible to take everything on a 250-point template even if you wanted to. But I'll say that if a PC is an almost strict subset of a DFRPG template when built, that PC qualifies for that template's special privileges, forever.
Let's look at how much freedom by-the-book DFRPG characters get. Most of the positive points are spoken for: you have to buy things off the template. But DFRPG Adventurers 14 says that "some disadvantages are mandatory, but the ones chosen on tables aren't." So taking different disadvantages doesn't disqualify you from a template. And quirk points are mostly free; you can spend them on whatever you want except other templates' special traits.
This game requires taking a free language at Accented, so that doesn't make you not-templated. (Otherwise nobody could qualify for a template that doesn't have languages on it.) And nothing you got from a racial template makes you not-templated either: if you make an Elf Barbarian, the Magery 0 you get from being an Elf doesn't make you not a Barbarian.
So, that's the first way to qualify as a template: if you're a strict subset of a character you could have made with that template by strict DFRPG rules, you're in. And once you qualify this way, you qualify forever, even if you start spending earned character points on stuff outside the template. (This is the "you started as a First Level Barbarian so you'll always be a Barbarian" house rule.)
The second way to qualify for a template won't matter for a long time, because it costs a lot of earned character points. But if any PC ever manages to have enough of the positive things from a 250-point DFRPG template to have been built that way, it qualifies for the privileges of that template. So, for example, if you have ST 12, DX 12, IQ 14, HT 12, Clerical Investment, Power Investiture 3, 45 points from the Cleric advantage list, enough points in the big list of Cleric skills, 20 Cleric spells, etc, you count as a Cleric and can now buy Will up to 25. Even if you have tons of non-Cleric stuff too. (This is the "you Dual-Classed your way to Cleric" house rule.)
So, you count as a full member of a template either if you're an almost-strict subset of the 250-point version of that template when you first make the character, or if you're an almost-strict superset of the 250-point version of that template after earning and spending a lot of character points. That gives a small bonus to players who want to fit into a defined niche. The template privileges aren't that important, though, so flexible freeform characters are still great.
In a game with mandatory templates, privileges are straightforward. You're either a Knight, and you get the Knight's privileges of being able to buy melee skills at any time and being able to buy HP up to 1.5 times your ST. Or you're not, and you don't.
But without mandatory templates, who counts as a Knight? In the Five Easy Pieces Pyramid article, Sean Punch says that characters built with that system never qualify for special privileges. They've lost that in exchange for flexibility. I don't want to be quite that harsh, but pretty close.
Whiterock is going to allow freeform character construction. Freeform characters don't have to use templates. And Whiterock is a 150-point game, so it's not possible to take everything on a 250-point template even if you wanted to. But I'll say that if a PC is an almost strict subset of a DFRPG template when built, that PC qualifies for that template's special privileges, forever.
Let's look at how much freedom by-the-book DFRPG characters get. Most of the positive points are spoken for: you have to buy things off the template. But DFRPG Adventurers 14 says that "some disadvantages are mandatory, but the ones chosen on tables aren't." So taking different disadvantages doesn't disqualify you from a template. And quirk points are mostly free; you can spend them on whatever you want except other templates' special traits.
This game requires taking a free language at Accented, so that doesn't make you not-templated. (Otherwise nobody could qualify for a template that doesn't have languages on it.) And nothing you got from a racial template makes you not-templated either: if you make an Elf Barbarian, the Magery 0 you get from being an Elf doesn't make you not a Barbarian.
So, that's the first way to qualify as a template: if you're a strict subset of a character you could have made with that template by strict DFRPG rules, you're in. And once you qualify this way, you qualify forever, even if you start spending earned character points on stuff outside the template. (This is the "you started as a First Level Barbarian so you'll always be a Barbarian" house rule.)
The second way to qualify for a template won't matter for a long time, because it costs a lot of earned character points. But if any PC ever manages to have enough of the positive things from a 250-point DFRPG template to have been built that way, it qualifies for the privileges of that template. So, for example, if you have ST 12, DX 12, IQ 14, HT 12, Clerical Investment, Power Investiture 3, 45 points from the Cleric advantage list, enough points in the big list of Cleric skills, 20 Cleric spells, etc, you count as a Cleric and can now buy Will up to 25. Even if you have tons of non-Cleric stuff too. (This is the "you Dual-Classed your way to Cleric" house rule.)
So, you count as a full member of a template either if you're an almost-strict subset of the 250-point version of that template when you first make the character, or if you're an almost-strict superset of the 250-point version of that template after earning and spending a lot of character points. That gives a small bonus to players who want to fit into a defined niche. The template privileges aren't that important, though, so flexible freeform characters are still great.
Lighting in Dungeon Fantasy RPG
There was some discussion on Mook's GURPS Discord server about light sources for Dungeon Fantasy PCs, and my thoughts were a bit long for chat, so this looks like a good place.
The lighting rules are on DFRPG Exploits page 19. To summarize, some light sources make a semicircle of light in front of the bearer, while others make a tight beam of light in the direction they're pointed. All have a limited range. Also, some light sources need a hand to hold them, while others do not. Some work underwater or in strong wind; others go out. Some work in No Mana or No Sanctity zones; others do not.
Also, the need for light varies. It's possible that some rooms are brightly lit, though this is going to be the exception rather than the rule in deep dungeons. More common is going to be dim lighting (so if you don't have a light source you're going to take darkness penalties on everything, unless you have enough Night Vision to ignore them), or no lighting (so if you have no light sources you will probably be eaten by a grue).
I think that how strongly the GM enforces the lighting rules depends both on how harsh the GM wants to be, and how easy it is to enforce them. In face-to-face games, I think it's most common to mostly handwave light sources: as long as someone is carrying some kind of light source, everyone in the general area takes no darkness penalties. But if you're playing online with a virtual tabletop that does dynamic lighting, it's really easy to enforce lighting more precisely, so it becomes more important for (almost) everyone to have a light source.
So, what should DFRPG PCs do? First, assuming they have a Wizard or a Cleric (and they should), that player should be strongly encouraged to take the Continual Light spell. It's amazing because it lasts 2-12 days and doesn't count as a spell on. Ideally, they should have a Wizard and a Cleric, both with Continual Light. The combination of Continual Light and Luck (the advantage almost everyone should take, especially spellcasters, because critical failures with spells can get ugly) means that you can essentially make all the 6-point Continual Lights you need in town (or, if it's a really long hike to the dungeon, in camp outside the dungeon), and not really have to worry much about critical failure. Ideally each PC would have at least two, one cast by a Wizard (so it works in No Sanctity Zones) and one cast by a Cleric (so it works in No Mana Zones).
And what should you cast Continual Light on? A lantern earns style points, and (if you remember to bring oil and flint and steel) provides a nice mundane backup if something happens to your magic, but it consumes a hand. A hand is a terrible thing to waste. So, unless you have more hands than you need (I'd link to a Peshkali meme but I'd have to start one first), I'd put it on a hands-free item instead. If you always want to keep your light on, anything that's strapped on and hard to lose seems like a good choice: your helmet or breastplate, for example. (A weapon or shield is slightly worse because you might drop it, though if you have a backup light source, maybe that's okay.) Most PCs would probably prefer to make their light switchable, so maybe putting it on a necklace that can be tucked under armor, or a ring that can be stuffed into a pouch, makes more sense. Unless you have a long weapon like a greatsword or staff, or an even longer utility item like an 11-foot pole, and want to put the light on the end of it to light things up farther away. It's your call.
Now, remember that Continual Light only has a 4-yard range of full light, then a -3 darkness penalty out to 12 yards, then nada. So 3 points in Night Vision is a pretty sweet advantage: you get rid of that -3 penalty and attack at full effectiveness out to 12 yards. I don't want to say "mandatory" for Scouts and the kind of Wizards who use Missile spells, because you only have so many points, but on the list to consider. The vast majority of attacks in dungeons are going to be at less than 12 yards, but just in case you get to take some long-range shots in a huge dark room, you might consider putting Continual Light on some arrowheads or sling stones. Now only the first shot is into the dark, and (assuming you managed to put it within a few yards of your enemies), it will serve as a nice spotlight afterward. (Also, your GM might give you a bonus to find your ammunition after the battle if it's glowing brightly. Pretty sure my Scrounging is at default, but even I can find a lit flashlight in the dark pretty well.)
As a minor note, GURPS Magic has Continual Mage Light, which is like Continual Light except only mages can see it. DFRPG does not have this spell, but if you're a Wizard in a game where it's allowed, it might be worth spending a couple of points to have a light source that you can see and most monsters can't. Of course your less magically inclined buddies need the lame version, and that might accidentally get them targeted a bit more often than you, but then they probably have more armor than you, so that's probably totally fair.
This goes without saying, but even if you have Continual Light, better yet both flavors of Continual Light, you might get trapped in the dungeon for a long enough time for the spells to expire, or hit the dreaded No Mana And No Sanctity Either (Mu-ha-ha!) Zone. So keep a torch in your backpack, and a way to light it. You don't expect to ever use it, but just in case.
There's a 62-point NPC template in Dungeon Fantasy 15 Henchmen called Torchbearer. In a world with hands-free Continual Light spells, I have a hard time imagining hiring someone just to hold the light. Unless you're not a very nice person and think that whoever holds the light gets attacked first and you'd rather that not be you. Or, more charitably, if that person has other jobs like treasure-hauler or stretcher-bearer and holding a light source is just a little bonus job you give them so they can feel useful in combat without actually fighting and getting themselves hurt. Anyway, in the unlikely event you hire a torchbearer, maybe give them a bull's-eye lantern so they can spotlight enemies 10 yards away, out of full brightness range of Continual Light. It might actually matter once. And hirelings appreciate having fancy equipment.
Another thing I wanted to discuss was realistic vs. player-friendly viewing field of view in virtual tabletops like Roll20. I've played in games where PC tokens can see 360 degrees, and games where PC tokens can only see 180 degrees (unless modified by Peripheral Vision or No Peripheral Vision), and games where the GM adds extra cameras away from the tokens to make it extra-easy for players to see what's going on even when their PCs can't. Limited focus of view is definitely more realistic, but it makes players constantly want to spin their tokens, which is annoying and distracting, like those players in shooter video games who hop-hop-hop all the time. So I lean toward giving players 360 degree vision while knowing their PCs still get reduced defenses against side attacks and no defenses against non-runaround back attacks. And that feeds back into lighting, because if you're going to give PC tokens 360-degree vision, you might also want to give them 360-degree lighting to make that useful. Or maybe not; maybe only giving 180-degree lighting for semi-circular light sources will remind players that they don't really know what's behind them unless they have a rear guard facing backwards, projecting a light that way. Ultimately it's the GM's choice how to do the view and lighting, and the players' job to react to it with solid tactics. For the Whiterock game, I think I'll start with 360-degree vision and 180-degree lighting and see how that goes. (Of course some players might just put a second Continual Light on their back...)
The last subject I want to touch on is that stealthy PC who doesn't want to be lit up, because they have visions of successful surprise rolls and backstabbing for bonus damage. Unfortunately, none of the PC races in DFRPG have Infravision or Dark Vision, so if it's pitch black, you're out of luck unless you have a friendly Wizard to cast one of those on you as a spell. (Note that Infravision is only 1 point to maintain, so if your Wizard has it at 15, he's your new best friend, though it's -1 to all his other spells for having a spell on, so ask very nicely. Dark Vision is 2 points to maintain, so probably not going to happen unless your Wizard has Magery 6 and having spells at 20 is affordable.) If you don't have someone to cast one of those spells for you, your next best bet if you want to get well away from the not-so-stealthy party is going to be really good Night Vision and a really dim light that you hope nobody notices. (Like a 2-point Continual Light pebble that you mostly squeeze in your fist but let just a wee bit of light leak out.) Or if you can't do that, maybe you just stay near enough to your party to use their light and don't carry any light yourself, and hope everyone notices the bright and loud ones while you stay in the shadows. (Or, hey, if you're dreaming, get that Wizard to learn Invisibility at 20 and make you invisible all the time. Probably hard to find another player who's willing to devote that much of his PC's life to buffing your PC, but if your GM allows Allies...)
The lighting rules are on DFRPG Exploits page 19. To summarize, some light sources make a semicircle of light in front of the bearer, while others make a tight beam of light in the direction they're pointed. All have a limited range. Also, some light sources need a hand to hold them, while others do not. Some work underwater or in strong wind; others go out. Some work in No Mana or No Sanctity zones; others do not.
Also, the need for light varies. It's possible that some rooms are brightly lit, though this is going to be the exception rather than the rule in deep dungeons. More common is going to be dim lighting (so if you don't have a light source you're going to take darkness penalties on everything, unless you have enough Night Vision to ignore them), or no lighting (so if you have no light sources you will probably be eaten by a grue).
I think that how strongly the GM enforces the lighting rules depends both on how harsh the GM wants to be, and how easy it is to enforce them. In face-to-face games, I think it's most common to mostly handwave light sources: as long as someone is carrying some kind of light source, everyone in the general area takes no darkness penalties. But if you're playing online with a virtual tabletop that does dynamic lighting, it's really easy to enforce lighting more precisely, so it becomes more important for (almost) everyone to have a light source.
So, what should DFRPG PCs do? First, assuming they have a Wizard or a Cleric (and they should), that player should be strongly encouraged to take the Continual Light spell. It's amazing because it lasts 2-12 days and doesn't count as a spell on. Ideally, they should have a Wizard and a Cleric, both with Continual Light. The combination of Continual Light and Luck (the advantage almost everyone should take, especially spellcasters, because critical failures with spells can get ugly) means that you can essentially make all the 6-point Continual Lights you need in town (or, if it's a really long hike to the dungeon, in camp outside the dungeon), and not really have to worry much about critical failure. Ideally each PC would have at least two, one cast by a Wizard (so it works in No Sanctity Zones) and one cast by a Cleric (so it works in No Mana Zones).
And what should you cast Continual Light on? A lantern earns style points, and (if you remember to bring oil and flint and steel) provides a nice mundane backup if something happens to your magic, but it consumes a hand. A hand is a terrible thing to waste. So, unless you have more hands than you need (I'd link to a Peshkali meme but I'd have to start one first), I'd put it on a hands-free item instead. If you always want to keep your light on, anything that's strapped on and hard to lose seems like a good choice: your helmet or breastplate, for example. (A weapon or shield is slightly worse because you might drop it, though if you have a backup light source, maybe that's okay.) Most PCs would probably prefer to make their light switchable, so maybe putting it on a necklace that can be tucked under armor, or a ring that can be stuffed into a pouch, makes more sense. Unless you have a long weapon like a greatsword or staff, or an even longer utility item like an 11-foot pole, and want to put the light on the end of it to light things up farther away. It's your call.
Now, remember that Continual Light only has a 4-yard range of full light, then a -3 darkness penalty out to 12 yards, then nada. So 3 points in Night Vision is a pretty sweet advantage: you get rid of that -3 penalty and attack at full effectiveness out to 12 yards. I don't want to say "mandatory" for Scouts and the kind of Wizards who use Missile spells, because you only have so many points, but on the list to consider. The vast majority of attacks in dungeons are going to be at less than 12 yards, but just in case you get to take some long-range shots in a huge dark room, you might consider putting Continual Light on some arrowheads or sling stones. Now only the first shot is into the dark, and (assuming you managed to put it within a few yards of your enemies), it will serve as a nice spotlight afterward. (Also, your GM might give you a bonus to find your ammunition after the battle if it's glowing brightly. Pretty sure my Scrounging is at default, but even I can find a lit flashlight in the dark pretty well.)
As a minor note, GURPS Magic has Continual Mage Light, which is like Continual Light except only mages can see it. DFRPG does not have this spell, but if you're a Wizard in a game where it's allowed, it might be worth spending a couple of points to have a light source that you can see and most monsters can't. Of course your less magically inclined buddies need the lame version, and that might accidentally get them targeted a bit more often than you, but then they probably have more armor than you, so that's probably totally fair.
This goes without saying, but even if you have Continual Light, better yet both flavors of Continual Light, you might get trapped in the dungeon for a long enough time for the spells to expire, or hit the dreaded No Mana And No Sanctity Either (Mu-ha-ha!) Zone. So keep a torch in your backpack, and a way to light it. You don't expect to ever use it, but just in case.
There's a 62-point NPC template in Dungeon Fantasy 15 Henchmen called Torchbearer. In a world with hands-free Continual Light spells, I have a hard time imagining hiring someone just to hold the light. Unless you're not a very nice person and think that whoever holds the light gets attacked first and you'd rather that not be you. Or, more charitably, if that person has other jobs like treasure-hauler or stretcher-bearer and holding a light source is just a little bonus job you give them so they can feel useful in combat without actually fighting and getting themselves hurt. Anyway, in the unlikely event you hire a torchbearer, maybe give them a bull's-eye lantern so they can spotlight enemies 10 yards away, out of full brightness range of Continual Light. It might actually matter once. And hirelings appreciate having fancy equipment.
Another thing I wanted to discuss was realistic vs. player-friendly viewing field of view in virtual tabletops like Roll20. I've played in games where PC tokens can see 360 degrees, and games where PC tokens can only see 180 degrees (unless modified by Peripheral Vision or No Peripheral Vision), and games where the GM adds extra cameras away from the tokens to make it extra-easy for players to see what's going on even when their PCs can't. Limited focus of view is definitely more realistic, but it makes players constantly want to spin their tokens, which is annoying and distracting, like those players in shooter video games who hop-hop-hop all the time. So I lean toward giving players 360 degree vision while knowing their PCs still get reduced defenses against side attacks and no defenses against non-runaround back attacks. And that feeds back into lighting, because if you're going to give PC tokens 360-degree vision, you might also want to give them 360-degree lighting to make that useful. Or maybe not; maybe only giving 180-degree lighting for semi-circular light sources will remind players that they don't really know what's behind them unless they have a rear guard facing backwards, projecting a light that way. Ultimately it's the GM's choice how to do the view and lighting, and the players' job to react to it with solid tactics. For the Whiterock game, I think I'll start with 360-degree vision and 180-degree lighting and see how that goes. (Of course some players might just put a second Continual Light on their back...)
The last subject I want to touch on is that stealthy PC who doesn't want to be lit up, because they have visions of successful surprise rolls and backstabbing for bonus damage. Unfortunately, none of the PC races in DFRPG have Infravision or Dark Vision, so if it's pitch black, you're out of luck unless you have a friendly Wizard to cast one of those on you as a spell. (Note that Infravision is only 1 point to maintain, so if your Wizard has it at 15, he's your new best friend, though it's -1 to all his other spells for having a spell on, so ask very nicely. Dark Vision is 2 points to maintain, so probably not going to happen unless your Wizard has Magery 6 and having spells at 20 is affordable.) If you don't have someone to cast one of those spells for you, your next best bet if you want to get well away from the not-so-stealthy party is going to be really good Night Vision and a really dim light that you hope nobody notices. (Like a 2-point Continual Light pebble that you mostly squeeze in your fist but let just a wee bit of light leak out.) Or if you can't do that, maybe you just stay near enough to your party to use their light and don't carry any light yourself, and hope everyone notices the bright and loud ones while you stay in the shadows. (Or, hey, if you're dreaming, get that Wizard to learn Invisibility at 20 and make you invisible all the time. Probably hard to find another player who's willing to devote that much of his PC's life to buffing your PC, but if your GM allows Allies...)
2018-04-20
Low-Point Dungeon Fantasy RPG Option 4: Freeform
I want starting PCs in the Whiterock campaign to use about 150 points + 25 disadvantage points and 5 quirk points, which doesn't fit the 250-point templates in DFRPG: Adventurers, so I've been looking at various other templating options that scale down in power. I looked at Dungeon Fantasy on the Cheap, Dungeon Fantasy 15 Henchmen, and Five Easy Pieces. And now I want to talk about the thing that originally drew me to GURPS many years ago: freeform point-based character generation without templates.
Traditionally, in GURPS, the GM sets a point limit and a disadvantage limit, and says which traits are allowed and which are off-limits, and then the players go make whatever characters they want within those limits. (Or sometimes the GM gives an incomplete set of rules up front but reserves veto power for characters he finds annoying or abusive, and the rules emerge over time.) No classes, no templates, just points. This can be a bit overwhelming to some players, because the GURPS books are big and there are a lot of choices. So templates were invented to constrain choices, speed character generation, and (sometimes) to funnel PCs into stereotypical niches. I think templates are great if they're optional; if they help you, use them, and if they don't, don't. But the Dungeon Fantasy line is unusual in recommending that the templates be mandatory, and I'm not sure that's such a great idea. I don't think real people fall into narrow niches, and I don't think good characters in heroic fantasy usually fall into them either, and I think mandatory templates throw away one of the great things about GURPS.
And I believe it's entirely possible to make perfectly good DFRPG characters without templates. The DFRPG books are smaller than the GURPS books, since they're aimed at just one genre. And making templates optional doesn't mean players can't use them if they want; it just means that if they want to remove Mimicry (Bird Calls) from their Scout and add Lockpicking instead, that's okay.
So I think the best answer to which 150-point templates to use is "whichever you want, or none if you prefer." The freedom is a bit more work for the players, who have more options for their characters when building them and when coordinating with the other players. And it's a bit more work for the GM, who has to review and approve beyond "yep, it fits the template."
So, if we let players do anything (within the point limits and allowed traits and GM veto), the next question is whether we give any bonuses for using a template. One option would be to charge an Unusual Background cost for not using a template. Another would be to reserve some abilities only for characters that (wholly or perhaps just mostly) match a template. And the final option would be to not bother, and just let characters buy what they like. (Of course there are still traits that are prerequisites for other traits: you need Magery 1 and and IQ 12+ and Haste to learn Great Haste, you need Chi Talent and Disciplines of Faith to take Chi abilities, etc. It's just that you can take your prereqs a la carte rather than committing to a 7-course meal.) I think I'd rather go without restrictions, unless the players either ask for them or give me sufficiently horrible characters to review that I feel the need to impose some.
So, I think these are basically the final rules I want to go with, for now:
- DFRPG rules only, except when we specifically allow a GURPS rule as a house rule
- 150 points
- 25-point disadvantage limit. (Reduced primary and secondary attributes count against this. Disadvantages from a racial template do not count against this. Removing positive traits from a racial template counts as a disadvantage.)
- Sense of Duty: Friends and Companions [-5] is a campaign disadvantage that does NOT count against the limit.
- 5-point quirk limit. At least 2 of these quirks must be filled in before the start; you can leave the others blank at first but must define them in the first few game sessions.
- Valid races: Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, High Elf (from Dungeon Fantasy 3), Wood Elf, Half-Elf, Half-Orc
- One free Language at Native, spoken and written, per the usual DFRPG rules
- Another free Language at Accented (from GURPS), spoken and written.
- Use gcs and submit a gcs file to the GM for review. Name it like <CharacterName><NumberOfPoints>.gcs. For example, Sheliak at 154 points is Sheliak154.gcs
- If you want to play but don't want to make a character, the GM will have some pregenerated characters available.
- Equipment is per the usual DFRPG rules. Just about anything in DFRPG: Adventurers will be available at the start. Note that Cillimar is a small town, so special orders, magic items, etc. may be harder to find later.
I hope that's enough on character generation rules. Next time I'll try to give some advice on creating a balanced party without mandatory templates.
Traditionally, in GURPS, the GM sets a point limit and a disadvantage limit, and says which traits are allowed and which are off-limits, and then the players go make whatever characters they want within those limits. (Or sometimes the GM gives an incomplete set of rules up front but reserves veto power for characters he finds annoying or abusive, and the rules emerge over time.) No classes, no templates, just points. This can be a bit overwhelming to some players, because the GURPS books are big and there are a lot of choices. So templates were invented to constrain choices, speed character generation, and (sometimes) to funnel PCs into stereotypical niches. I think templates are great if they're optional; if they help you, use them, and if they don't, don't. But the Dungeon Fantasy line is unusual in recommending that the templates be mandatory, and I'm not sure that's such a great idea. I don't think real people fall into narrow niches, and I don't think good characters in heroic fantasy usually fall into them either, and I think mandatory templates throw away one of the great things about GURPS.
And I believe it's entirely possible to make perfectly good DFRPG characters without templates. The DFRPG books are smaller than the GURPS books, since they're aimed at just one genre. And making templates optional doesn't mean players can't use them if they want; it just means that if they want to remove Mimicry (Bird Calls) from their Scout and add Lockpicking instead, that's okay.
So I think the best answer to which 150-point templates to use is "whichever you want, or none if you prefer." The freedom is a bit more work for the players, who have more options for their characters when building them and when coordinating with the other players. And it's a bit more work for the GM, who has to review and approve beyond "yep, it fits the template."
So, if we let players do anything (within the point limits and allowed traits and GM veto), the next question is whether we give any bonuses for using a template. One option would be to charge an Unusual Background cost for not using a template. Another would be to reserve some abilities only for characters that (wholly or perhaps just mostly) match a template. And the final option would be to not bother, and just let characters buy what they like. (Of course there are still traits that are prerequisites for other traits: you need Magery 1 and and IQ 12+ and Haste to learn Great Haste, you need Chi Talent and Disciplines of Faith to take Chi abilities, etc. It's just that you can take your prereqs a la carte rather than committing to a 7-course meal.) I think I'd rather go without restrictions, unless the players either ask for them or give me sufficiently horrible characters to review that I feel the need to impose some.
So, I think these are basically the final rules I want to go with, for now:
- DFRPG rules only, except when we specifically allow a GURPS rule as a house rule
- 150 points
- 25-point disadvantage limit. (Reduced primary and secondary attributes count against this. Disadvantages from a racial template do not count against this. Removing positive traits from a racial template counts as a disadvantage.)
- Sense of Duty: Friends and Companions [-5] is a campaign disadvantage that does NOT count against the limit.
- 5-point quirk limit. At least 2 of these quirks must be filled in before the start; you can leave the others blank at first but must define them in the first few game sessions.
- Valid races: Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, High Elf (from Dungeon Fantasy 3), Wood Elf, Half-Elf, Half-Orc
- One free Language at Native, spoken and written, per the usual DFRPG rules
- Another free Language at Accented (from GURPS), spoken and written.
- Use gcs and submit a gcs file to the GM for review. Name it like <CharacterName><NumberOfPoints>.gcs. For example, Sheliak at 154 points is Sheliak154.gcs
- If you want to play but don't want to make a character, the GM will have some pregenerated characters available.
- Equipment is per the usual DFRPG rules. Just about anything in DFRPG: Adventurers will be available at the start. Note that Cillimar is a small town, so special orders, magic items, etc. may be harder to find later.
I hope that's enough on character generation rules. Next time I'll try to give some advice on creating a balanced party without mandatory templates.
2018-04-19
Low-Point Dungeon Fantasy Option 3: (Less Than) Five Easy Pieces
Still looking at good ways to run a Dungeon Fantasy RPG campaign at less than the default of 250 points + 50 disadvantage points + 5 quirk points. The last two posts have talked about the low-cost templates from Eric Smith's Dungeon Fantasy on the Cheap, and the 125-point templates from Dungeon Fantasy 15 Henchmen. Now I want to take a serious look at Five Easy Pieces, but with only three 50-point modules instead of five.
Five Easy Pieces is an article from Pyramid #3/113 by Sean Punch. I already reviewed it in a previous post , so I won't go into detail again. What I want to focus on now is how well it holds up if you only use fewer than five modules. Because three 50-point modules plus 25 points of disadvantages (minus any that were already used if you picked the Monk or Cleric modules) plus 5 quirks sounds like a flexible and pretty easy way to make a character.
As an experiment, let's try to make a low-points Scout. The 250-point DFRPG Scout template combines the ideas of being great at shooting things with a bow, being generally skilled in the wilderness, moving quickly, and being perceptive. So we'll first try to find the modules that include those things, and then try to find the best combination of three of them. (Or one at level two and another at level one.)
The bow stuff is clearly the Master Archer module. It's got Heroic Archer and Bow and Fast-Draw skills, and then a choice between DX or Weapon Master (Bow). (There's more archery-related stuff but the core things consume all the points, so the others will have to wait for disadvantage or quirk points.) We're definitely taking at least one level of it, and might take it twice if we can afford to, or really want to focus on the ranged combat part of the role rather than the outdoor or scouting-ahead parts.
The outdoor skills are the Outdoorsy module. Outdoorsy also includes the ability to increase Per and Basic Move. If we want to make a scout with great outdoor skills, Outdoorsy is a no-brainer. But for a dungeon crawling Scout, spending 20 points on Outdoorsman 2 and then 20 more on mostly-outdoor skills, with only 10 points left for Per and Move, might not be a bargain.
Per is also in the Cerebral and Rogue modules, so if we don't go Outdoorsy, maybe pick one of those instead. The Cerebral module feels a bit too bookish to afford for a low-point Scout, since it mandates putting 20 points in IQ, and nothing else in there besides Per is a core Scout skill, so let's reject that one. Rogue actually looks pretty good: the first 30 points can go in obviously great things like DX and Per and Move and Combat Reflexes and Luck; no problem spending those. And the last 20 go in skills. Some of those skills are ones a Scout really wants, like Climbing and Observation and Search and Scrounging and Stealth and Traps. And some of the others are really good if you don't have a Thief who knows them better, like Lockpicking and Merchant. I think that for a mostly-underground game, I like Rogue better than Outdoorsy. Having that option is really nice, and the reason why you might use Five Easy Pieces in a 250-point game.
Basic Move is also in the Physical module, which is 40 points in ST and DX and HT and then 10 more points in more physical attributes or advantages. Physical is obviously good; the only question is whether we can afford it. I think it's a tossup between a second level of Master Archer or a level of Physical. While shooting things with a bow even better would be awesome, I think I'd rather go for attributes up front and skills later, because a level of DX is 20 points, and it's hard to avoid spending points earned in play for long enough to save that many. And if you die with unspent character points, d'oh! So, let's say one level each of Master Archer and Rogue and Physical.
Master Archer: Heroic Archer [20], DX +1 [20], Bow [8], Fast-Draw (Arrow) [1], Armoury (Missile Weapons) [1]
Physical: ST +1 [10], DX +1 [20], HT +1 [10], Basic Move +1 [5], Fit [5]
Rogue: DX+1 [20], Per +2 [10], Acrobatics [1], Carousing [1], Climbing [1], Forced Entry [1], Jumping [1], Lockpicking [1], Merchant [1], Observation [1], Scrounging [1], Search [1], Shadowing [1], Stealth[4], Traps[4], Urban Survival[1].
Now we need to pick disadvantages and quirks, and then spend the extra points they get us. This campaign is probably going to have a 25-point disadvantage limit, plus the campaign disadvantage Sense of Duty: Friends and Companions [-5], which doesn't count against the limit. And then 5 quirks. So that's 35 more points.
Let's go with Honesty (9 or less)[-15], Vow (Own no more than can be carried) [-10], and that Sense of Duty [-5]. And five quirks that I won't bother detailing right now [-5].
With 35 more points to spend, let's pick up Luck [15] and Combat Reflexes [15] from Rogue, and put the last few points in small things from Master Archer: Signature Gear (Bow) [1], Weapon Bond (Bow) [1], Strongbow [1], and Acute Vision 1 [2].
Is this a playable low-level Scout? ST 11, DX 13, IQ 10, HT 11, Basic Speed 6, Move 7, Per 12, Vision 13, Luck, Combat Reflexes, Fit, Heroic Archer, Bow 15 (effectively 16 with Weapon Bond), Fast Draw-14 (with the +1 from Combat Reflexes), and Strongbow lets our Scout fire a ST 13 bow. (ST 13 gives 1d thr, so that's 1d+2 with a $200 Longbow or 1d+3 with a $900 Composite Bow. I want that extra point of damage, so I probably blow $900 on the best starting bow, then take a point out of one of those Rogue skills that another party member has covered to get more starting cash, so I can afford armor and a backup weapon.) Decent Stealth and Per-based Traps, and one point each in a bunch of (mostly DX- and Per-based) utility skills.
This character obviously has a lot of weaknesses. With Will 10, he's in trouble if there are any fright checks or mind control spells. With only 11 HP, he's pretty squishy. (It would be nice to add some light armor and pick up DR 2 or so to get slightly less squishy.) And he has no unarmed or melee skills, just Bow and more Bow. But he can run pretty fast and shoot pretty well while running, and if they can't catch you they can't engage you in melee. Just in case they do anyway, he has pretty good Dodge. (Which is key because that's the only defense he has.) He has decent Per rolls, especially Vision, and some points in Traps and Search and Observation, so he can find hidden traps and secret doors and treasure. And with decent DX and Per, he can improve quickly as he earns character points.
This is only one character, but it gives me some confidence that you can make a playable character with Less Than Five Easy Pieces, and it's pretty fun doing so. So I'm leaning toward allowing this option. Next time I'll take about one more option for low-point DFRPG characters: freeform characters with no templates needed. And then maybe try to make a decision on which option(s) to use.
Five Easy Pieces is an article from Pyramid #3/113 by Sean Punch. I already reviewed it in a previous post , so I won't go into detail again. What I want to focus on now is how well it holds up if you only use fewer than five modules. Because three 50-point modules plus 25 points of disadvantages (minus any that were already used if you picked the Monk or Cleric modules) plus 5 quirks sounds like a flexible and pretty easy way to make a character.
As an experiment, let's try to make a low-points Scout. The 250-point DFRPG Scout template combines the ideas of being great at shooting things with a bow, being generally skilled in the wilderness, moving quickly, and being perceptive. So we'll first try to find the modules that include those things, and then try to find the best combination of three of them. (Or one at level two and another at level one.)
The bow stuff is clearly the Master Archer module. It's got Heroic Archer and Bow and Fast-Draw skills, and then a choice between DX or Weapon Master (Bow). (There's more archery-related stuff but the core things consume all the points, so the others will have to wait for disadvantage or quirk points.) We're definitely taking at least one level of it, and might take it twice if we can afford to, or really want to focus on the ranged combat part of the role rather than the outdoor or scouting-ahead parts.
The outdoor skills are the Outdoorsy module. Outdoorsy also includes the ability to increase Per and Basic Move. If we want to make a scout with great outdoor skills, Outdoorsy is a no-brainer. But for a dungeon crawling Scout, spending 20 points on Outdoorsman 2 and then 20 more on mostly-outdoor skills, with only 10 points left for Per and Move, might not be a bargain.
Per is also in the Cerebral and Rogue modules, so if we don't go Outdoorsy, maybe pick one of those instead. The Cerebral module feels a bit too bookish to afford for a low-point Scout, since it mandates putting 20 points in IQ, and nothing else in there besides Per is a core Scout skill, so let's reject that one. Rogue actually looks pretty good: the first 30 points can go in obviously great things like DX and Per and Move and Combat Reflexes and Luck; no problem spending those. And the last 20 go in skills. Some of those skills are ones a Scout really wants, like Climbing and Observation and Search and Scrounging and Stealth and Traps. And some of the others are really good if you don't have a Thief who knows them better, like Lockpicking and Merchant. I think that for a mostly-underground game, I like Rogue better than Outdoorsy. Having that option is really nice, and the reason why you might use Five Easy Pieces in a 250-point game.
Basic Move is also in the Physical module, which is 40 points in ST and DX and HT and then 10 more points in more physical attributes or advantages. Physical is obviously good; the only question is whether we can afford it. I think it's a tossup between a second level of Master Archer or a level of Physical. While shooting things with a bow even better would be awesome, I think I'd rather go for attributes up front and skills later, because a level of DX is 20 points, and it's hard to avoid spending points earned in play for long enough to save that many. And if you die with unspent character points, d'oh! So, let's say one level each of Master Archer and Rogue and Physical.
Master Archer: Heroic Archer [20], DX +1 [20], Bow [8], Fast-Draw (Arrow) [1], Armoury (Missile Weapons) [1]
Physical: ST +1 [10], DX +1 [20], HT +1 [10], Basic Move +1 [5], Fit [5]
Rogue: DX+1 [20], Per +2 [10], Acrobatics [1], Carousing [1], Climbing [1], Forced Entry [1], Jumping [1], Lockpicking [1], Merchant [1], Observation [1], Scrounging [1], Search [1], Shadowing [1], Stealth[4], Traps[4], Urban Survival[1].
Now we need to pick disadvantages and quirks, and then spend the extra points they get us. This campaign is probably going to have a 25-point disadvantage limit, plus the campaign disadvantage Sense of Duty: Friends and Companions [-5], which doesn't count against the limit. And then 5 quirks. So that's 35 more points.
Let's go with Honesty (9 or less)[-15], Vow (Own no more than can be carried) [-10], and that Sense of Duty [-5]. And five quirks that I won't bother detailing right now [-5].
With 35 more points to spend, let's pick up Luck [15] and Combat Reflexes [15] from Rogue, and put the last few points in small things from Master Archer: Signature Gear (Bow) [1], Weapon Bond (Bow) [1], Strongbow [1], and Acute Vision 1 [2].
Is this a playable low-level Scout? ST 11, DX 13, IQ 10, HT 11, Basic Speed 6, Move 7, Per 12, Vision 13, Luck, Combat Reflexes, Fit, Heroic Archer, Bow 15 (effectively 16 with Weapon Bond), Fast Draw-14 (with the +1 from Combat Reflexes), and Strongbow lets our Scout fire a ST 13 bow. (ST 13 gives 1d thr, so that's 1d+2 with a $200 Longbow or 1d+3 with a $900 Composite Bow. I want that extra point of damage, so I probably blow $900 on the best starting bow, then take a point out of one of those Rogue skills that another party member has covered to get more starting cash, so I can afford armor and a backup weapon.) Decent Stealth and Per-based Traps, and one point each in a bunch of (mostly DX- and Per-based) utility skills.
This character obviously has a lot of weaknesses. With Will 10, he's in trouble if there are any fright checks or mind control spells. With only 11 HP, he's pretty squishy. (It would be nice to add some light armor and pick up DR 2 or so to get slightly less squishy.) And he has no unarmed or melee skills, just Bow and more Bow. But he can run pretty fast and shoot pretty well while running, and if they can't catch you they can't engage you in melee. Just in case they do anyway, he has pretty good Dodge. (Which is key because that's the only defense he has.) He has decent Per rolls, especially Vision, and some points in Traps and Search and Observation, so he can find hidden traps and secret doors and treasure. And with decent DX and Per, he can improve quickly as he earns character points.
This is only one character, but it gives me some confidence that you can make a playable character with Less Than Five Easy Pieces, and it's pretty fun doing so. So I'm leaning toward allowing this option. Next time I'll take about one more option for low-point DFRPG characters: freeform characters with no templates needed. And then maybe try to make a decision on which option(s) to use.
2018-04-18
Low-Point Dungeon Fantasy RPG Option 2: Dungeon Fantasy 15 Henchmen
As I mentioned last time, I'm looking at different ways to run a Dungeon Fantasy RPG game with PCs starting at 150 points plus 25 points of disadvantages and 5 points of quirks, versus the default 250 + 50 + 5.
The second source of lower-point Dungeon Fantasy templates for GMs too lazy to make their own is the most official one: Dungeon Fantasy 15 Henchmen, by Peter V. Dell'orto and Sean Punch. It features 10 125-point templates: Agent, Apprentice, Archer, Brute, Cutpurse, Initiate, Killer, Sage, Skirmisher, and Squire. (It also features 5 62-point templates, but that's probably going below the First-Level D&D novice adventurer power level I'm looking for, into Zeroth-Level Dungeon Crawl Classics Funnel Victim power levels.) Note that 125 + 50 + 5 is about the same power level as 150 + 25 + 5, so these 125-point templates are just about right for my purposes. All I need to do is tell the players to only spend half as many points on disadvantages.
So, do they work for lower-powered PCs? I think so. The templates have different names than the ones in DFRPG, but that's merely a cosmetic issue. It's pretty obvious which low-powered templates fill the roles of which high-powered templates, and if it's not, there's a sidebar that makes it clear. So the question becomes, are these templates good for starting PCs? Are they fun?
Let's take a quick look at the Apprentice template as an example. ST 10, DX 11, IQ 13, HT 11, FP 12, and the pre-Wizard version (there are other kinds of Apprentices) has either Magery 3, or Magery 2 and 10 spells. That's 125 points spent, leaving 21 points for attributes/advantages/spells and 26 points for primary/secondary/background skills. That feels like a pretty solid pre-Wizard to me. As with the DFRPG templates, you're forced to put some points into skills that might not be your first choice, rather than just more spells. Like the core classes in college that you didn't want to take, it probably builds character.
So, should we just go with the DF15 templates? The advantage is that they're well-designed, well-defined, and well-tested, with minimal house rules needed. (I haven't used the DF15 templates for PCs before, but I have used them for NPCs, both henchmen/hirelings and enemies, and I've been happy with them.) The disadvantage (unless you're Steve Jackson Games or the authors) is that all the players would need to own a copy of DF15, in addition to DFRPG. It's only $8 for the PDF, though, so this probably won't be a huge deal.
I think the DF15 templates are a legitimately solid option, but I still want to look at two more before making a final choice: Five Easy Pieces from Pyramid, and classic GURPS freeform characters without templates.
The second source of lower-point Dungeon Fantasy templates for GMs too lazy to make their own is the most official one: Dungeon Fantasy 15 Henchmen, by Peter V. Dell'orto and Sean Punch. It features 10 125-point templates: Agent, Apprentice, Archer, Brute, Cutpurse, Initiate, Killer, Sage, Skirmisher, and Squire. (It also features 5 62-point templates, but that's probably going below the First-Level D&D novice adventurer power level I'm looking for, into Zeroth-Level Dungeon Crawl Classics Funnel Victim power levels.) Note that 125 + 50 + 5 is about the same power level as 150 + 25 + 5, so these 125-point templates are just about right for my purposes. All I need to do is tell the players to only spend half as many points on disadvantages.
So, do they work for lower-powered PCs? I think so. The templates have different names than the ones in DFRPG, but that's merely a cosmetic issue. It's pretty obvious which low-powered templates fill the roles of which high-powered templates, and if it's not, there's a sidebar that makes it clear. So the question becomes, are these templates good for starting PCs? Are they fun?
Let's take a quick look at the Apprentice template as an example. ST 10, DX 11, IQ 13, HT 11, FP 12, and the pre-Wizard version (there are other kinds of Apprentices) has either Magery 3, or Magery 2 and 10 spells. That's 125 points spent, leaving 21 points for attributes/advantages/spells and 26 points for primary/secondary/background skills. That feels like a pretty solid pre-Wizard to me. As with the DFRPG templates, you're forced to put some points into skills that might not be your first choice, rather than just more spells. Like the core classes in college that you didn't want to take, it probably builds character.
So, should we just go with the DF15 templates? The advantage is that they're well-designed, well-defined, and well-tested, with minimal house rules needed. (I haven't used the DF15 templates for PCs before, but I have used them for NPCs, both henchmen/hirelings and enemies, and I've been happy with them.) The disadvantage (unless you're Steve Jackson Games or the authors) is that all the players would need to own a copy of DF15, in addition to DFRPG. It's only $8 for the PDF, though, so this probably won't be a huge deal.
I think the DF15 templates are a legitimately solid option, but I still want to look at two more before making a final choice: Five Easy Pieces from Pyramid, and classic GURPS freeform characters without templates.
Low-point Dungeon Fantasy RPG Option 1: DF On The Cheap
For the Castle Whiterock campaign, I'm pretty sure I want to run a Dungeon Fantasy RPG game at 150 points plus 25 disadvantage points plus 5 quirk points, as opposed to the 250 points plus 50 disadvantage points plus 5 quirks default. (It's a "zero-to-hero" game, and the lower starting point totals are the "zero" part of that.) That means the default templates won't work as-is. I think there are four reasonable options to consider, and I'll run through all of them.
The first option I want to look at is an 2010 article by Eric B. Smith called Dungeon Fantasy on the Cheap. Note that this is for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, not DFRPG, but the two are very similar and the idea still works. What Eric noted was that most of the DF templates have a lot of points in attributes, and it's easy enough to mostly just reduce attributes and keep the rest of the templates mostly intact. The advantage of doing it that way is that the PCs are still using basic DFRPG templates, just modified ones, so the game's flavor is pretty much the same, except for power level. Another advantage is that the article is online for free (thanks Eric!) so we don't have to worry about any players not having access to it.
The only problem is that Eric's article has modifications for 100-, 150-, and 200-point PCs. We really want a 125-point version. (I know, I said 150 above, but note that I'm cutting the disadvantage limit by 25 points, compared to stock DF. When figuring the power level of a campaign, you can pretty much just add the disadvantage and quirk points available to the positive points. 125 + 50 + 5 is 180, and 150 + 25 + 5 is also 180.)
Let's use the Knight template as an example. The 100-point Knight has ST 12 [20], DX 11 [20], IQ 10, HT 11 [10], Born War Leader 1 [5], no High Pain Threshold, and 20 points of other advantages. The 150-point Knight has ST 12 [20], DX 12 [40], IQ 10, HT 11 [10], Born War Leader 2 [10], High Pain Threshold [10], and 35 points of other advantages. (There is also some messing around with subtracting from Basic Speed, but I'm going to ignore that because that counts against the disadvantage limit, and I'd really like to leave disadvantage choices up to the players.) So the 50-point difference is 20 points of DX, 5 points of Born War Leader, 10 points of High Pain Threshold, and 15 points of other advantages. So, to make a template halfway in between, we use the 100-point version and give 25 extra points that can be spent on any of those. (I'd personally choose the DX, but I think it's probably better to leave it up to the player.)
So, if we go with Eric's templates as a solution, I think using his 100-point templates, only giving -25 points of disadvantages, and then awarding another 25 points to be spent on anything on the full version of the template works pretty well, to end up with 150 point + 25 disad points + 5 quirk point templates.
I kind of like this option, because it preserves the flavor of the DFRPG game, doesn't require buying more books, and is pretty easy for new players because of templates. But the need to triangulate between the 100- and 150-point templates might be a bit tricky, so if we go this way, I probably need to formally write up the in-between templates. But before doing that work, I'll run through three other options for low-point DFRPG: the 125-point templates from Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen, the modules from Pyramid #3/113 article Five Easy Pieces, and old-school-GURPS-style freeform character design without templates. Stay tuned.
The first option I want to look at is an 2010 article by Eric B. Smith called Dungeon Fantasy on the Cheap. Note that this is for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, not DFRPG, but the two are very similar and the idea still works. What Eric noted was that most of the DF templates have a lot of points in attributes, and it's easy enough to mostly just reduce attributes and keep the rest of the templates mostly intact. The advantage of doing it that way is that the PCs are still using basic DFRPG templates, just modified ones, so the game's flavor is pretty much the same, except for power level. Another advantage is that the article is online for free (thanks Eric!) so we don't have to worry about any players not having access to it.
The only problem is that Eric's article has modifications for 100-, 150-, and 200-point PCs. We really want a 125-point version. (I know, I said 150 above, but note that I'm cutting the disadvantage limit by 25 points, compared to stock DF. When figuring the power level of a campaign, you can pretty much just add the disadvantage and quirk points available to the positive points. 125 + 50 + 5 is 180, and 150 + 25 + 5 is also 180.)
Let's use the Knight template as an example. The 100-point Knight has ST 12 [20], DX 11 [20], IQ 10, HT 11 [10], Born War Leader 1 [5], no High Pain Threshold, and 20 points of other advantages. The 150-point Knight has ST 12 [20], DX 12 [40], IQ 10, HT 11 [10], Born War Leader 2 [10], High Pain Threshold [10], and 35 points of other advantages. (There is also some messing around with subtracting from Basic Speed, but I'm going to ignore that because that counts against the disadvantage limit, and I'd really like to leave disadvantage choices up to the players.) So the 50-point difference is 20 points of DX, 5 points of Born War Leader, 10 points of High Pain Threshold, and 15 points of other advantages. So, to make a template halfway in between, we use the 100-point version and give 25 extra points that can be spent on any of those. (I'd personally choose the DX, but I think it's probably better to leave it up to the player.)
So, if we go with Eric's templates as a solution, I think using his 100-point templates, only giving -25 points of disadvantages, and then awarding another 25 points to be spent on anything on the full version of the template works pretty well, to end up with 150 point + 25 disad points + 5 quirk point templates.
I kind of like this option, because it preserves the flavor of the DFRPG game, doesn't require buying more books, and is pretty easy for new players because of templates. But the need to triangulate between the 100- and 150-point templates might be a bit tricky, so if we go this way, I probably need to formally write up the in-between templates. But before doing that work, I'll run through three other options for low-point DFRPG: the 125-point templates from Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen, the modules from Pyramid #3/113 article Five Easy Pieces, and old-school-GURPS-style freeform character design without templates. Stay tuned.
2018-04-17
Player Character Races and Languages in Whiterock
Castle Whiterock is an old D&D adventure, so the setting is built around allowing the "traditional" D&D races: Human, Dwarf, Elf (Wood and High), Gnome, Half-Elf, Halfling, and Half-Orc. Dungeon Fantasy RPG supports all of those except High Elves. GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3 has High Elves, and the template looks fine for DFRPG, so I think we're set.
Which of these are recommended? All of them are playable if you pick a profession that matches the race's strengths, though I think Gnomes are kind of overpriced and Half-Orcs can be difficult to play in town. Because the Whiterock game will start at 150 points - 25 disads - 5 quirks, less than the normal DFRPG campaign, the costs will matter more.
Human: You don't have to spend any extra points. You'll fit right in, since Cillamar is majority Human. You won't have to spend any more time thinking about this.
Dwarf: You spend 20 points, but you get a lot of good stuff: HT +1, Lifting ST, Night Vision, Pickaxe Penchant, Poison Resistance, and Tough Skin. If you want to hit things with an axe or mace or pick or crowbar and wear armor, not a bad choice. The drawbacks are the -1 Move and the "wasted" points for FP +3 if you're not a caster. Not quite a no-brainer for any role, but solid for a Fighter (any sort) or Cleric. Greed is a pretty major disadvantage, but pretty much every adventuring party seems to have someone with it anyway, so it usually fits in.
Wood Elf: You spend 20 points, but you get DX+1 which is worth 20 points. You get ST -1, boo. You get Forest Guardian 2, which is +2 to Bow and some other good stuff. You get Sense of Duty (Nature), which can be a huge disadvantage in some situations, but probably won't matter that much if you're in a dungeon rather than a wilderness. Basically, if you want to play a Scout, this is a good choice: you're getting full value for Forest Guardian, so the Magery 0 and Appearance are almost free. If you want to play an Scout who also casts Wizard spells, this is a great choice.
High Elf: Like the Wood Elf, but with IQ +1, which goes better with the Magery 0. High Elves make very good Wizards. They also make very good Bards. If nobody plays a Bard, a High Elf Wizard's +3 to reactions from Appearance and Voice and high IQ for buying social skills might make them the de facto face of the party anyway.
Gnome: SM -1 is good; you are harder to hit. (You will sometimes have to remind the GM of this, though.) Widget-worker gets you +2 to Traps and Lockpicking, which is nice for a Thief, but 20 points and no primary attribute bonuses make this an expensive template. The FP +3 is nice for a spellcaster. There are some small places in dungeons and caves that small characters can squeeze into. I like Gnomes, but I think playing one might be hard because they're not very optimized.
Half-Elf. Meh, you pay 20 points to get DX+1, and trade a small reaction penalty for Magery 0. If you're going to use the Magery 0, not bad. Otherwise, only if you really want to play one.
Halfling: DX+1 and HT+1 on a zero-point template are awesome. SM -2 is really nice; every time you get hit you get to look at the GM in disbelief and ask "Did you remember the -2?" and sometimes you'll find you didn't get hit after all. Halfling Markmanship gets you +2 with most ranged weapons. Yes, ST-3 is horrible, but you got 30 points of DX and HT for zero points, so you could dump those 30 points back into ST and be even. I think the Halfling is competitive with the Wood Elf for a Scout. The Move -1 isn't good, true, but that's only 5 points. Fitting into small places can be useful in dungeons, hint. Silence is good. The only thing keeping Halflings from being perfect Scouts is that they can't see in the dark. I hope someone plays a Halfling, since they're pretty good and I never see them played.
Half-Orc: HT +1 and a bunch of pretty good stuff (Night Vision, Rapid Healing, Resistant to Disease and Poison) in exchange for the annoying disadvantage that everyone in town hates you. I never see anyone pick Half-Orcs. If you do, it's not a bad template, but it's a roleplaying challenge. Why are you hanging out with the other PCs? Do you try to come into town with them and risk getting evicted, or do you camp outside?
On a related topic: In addition to the free Native language everyone already gets in DFRPG, I'm giving everyone another language at Accented for free, because I find Dwarves who don't speak Dwarven sad, as do their parents. So I expect Elves and Dwarves and Gnomes and Halflings to have Native Elven or Dwarven or Gnome or Halfling, Accented Common. (Accents are fun, but if you don't want an accent, you can buy up your Common to Native cheaply.) Half-Elves and Half-Orcs probably speak one of their parent languages at Native and the other at Accented. Humans speak Native Common and get a free language at Accented.
Here's The Language Table we're using, from D&D 3.5. You can ignore the rules stuff on the left, but the table of languages on the right is helpful.
The obvious PC languages are Common, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome, Halfling, and Orc. It's not out of the question for a starting PC to know Draconic (not because you're likely to have met a dragon, but because Kobolds and Lizardmen also speak it, and it's taught in Wizard School), Goblin, Gnoll, or Sylvan. (Or Druidic, if you're a Druid, but I suspect nobody will play a Druid in a megadungeon game.) The weirder languages might require Unusual Background or Fast-Talking the GM. Languages are a good thing to coordinate among PCs; if everyone speaks Common (as they almost certainly should), it's probably good to have a diverse choice of other languages so the party can speak to as many beings as possible.
Which of these are recommended? All of them are playable if you pick a profession that matches the race's strengths, though I think Gnomes are kind of overpriced and Half-Orcs can be difficult to play in town. Because the Whiterock game will start at 150 points - 25 disads - 5 quirks, less than the normal DFRPG campaign, the costs will matter more.
Human: You don't have to spend any extra points. You'll fit right in, since Cillamar is majority Human. You won't have to spend any more time thinking about this.
Dwarf: You spend 20 points, but you get a lot of good stuff: HT +1, Lifting ST, Night Vision, Pickaxe Penchant, Poison Resistance, and Tough Skin. If you want to hit things with an axe or mace or pick or crowbar and wear armor, not a bad choice. The drawbacks are the -1 Move and the "wasted" points for FP +3 if you're not a caster. Not quite a no-brainer for any role, but solid for a Fighter (any sort) or Cleric. Greed is a pretty major disadvantage, but pretty much every adventuring party seems to have someone with it anyway, so it usually fits in.
Wood Elf: You spend 20 points, but you get DX+1 which is worth 20 points. You get ST -1, boo. You get Forest Guardian 2, which is +2 to Bow and some other good stuff. You get Sense of Duty (Nature), which can be a huge disadvantage in some situations, but probably won't matter that much if you're in a dungeon rather than a wilderness. Basically, if you want to play a Scout, this is a good choice: you're getting full value for Forest Guardian, so the Magery 0 and Appearance are almost free. If you want to play an Scout who also casts Wizard spells, this is a great choice.
High Elf: Like the Wood Elf, but with IQ +1, which goes better with the Magery 0. High Elves make very good Wizards. They also make very good Bards. If nobody plays a Bard, a High Elf Wizard's +3 to reactions from Appearance and Voice and high IQ for buying social skills might make them the de facto face of the party anyway.
Gnome: SM -1 is good; you are harder to hit. (You will sometimes have to remind the GM of this, though.) Widget-worker gets you +2 to Traps and Lockpicking, which is nice for a Thief, but 20 points and no primary attribute bonuses make this an expensive template. The FP +3 is nice for a spellcaster. There are some small places in dungeons and caves that small characters can squeeze into. I like Gnomes, but I think playing one might be hard because they're not very optimized.
Half-Elf. Meh, you pay 20 points to get DX+1, and trade a small reaction penalty for Magery 0. If you're going to use the Magery 0, not bad. Otherwise, only if you really want to play one.
Halfling: DX+1 and HT+1 on a zero-point template are awesome. SM -2 is really nice; every time you get hit you get to look at the GM in disbelief and ask "Did you remember the -2?" and sometimes you'll find you didn't get hit after all. Halfling Markmanship gets you +2 with most ranged weapons. Yes, ST-3 is horrible, but you got 30 points of DX and HT for zero points, so you could dump those 30 points back into ST and be even. I think the Halfling is competitive with the Wood Elf for a Scout. The Move -1 isn't good, true, but that's only 5 points. Fitting into small places can be useful in dungeons, hint. Silence is good. The only thing keeping Halflings from being perfect Scouts is that they can't see in the dark. I hope someone plays a Halfling, since they're pretty good and I never see them played.
Half-Orc: HT +1 and a bunch of pretty good stuff (Night Vision, Rapid Healing, Resistant to Disease and Poison) in exchange for the annoying disadvantage that everyone in town hates you. I never see anyone pick Half-Orcs. If you do, it's not a bad template, but it's a roleplaying challenge. Why are you hanging out with the other PCs? Do you try to come into town with them and risk getting evicted, or do you camp outside?
On a related topic: In addition to the free Native language everyone already gets in DFRPG, I'm giving everyone another language at Accented for free, because I find Dwarves who don't speak Dwarven sad, as do their parents. So I expect Elves and Dwarves and Gnomes and Halflings to have Native Elven or Dwarven or Gnome or Halfling, Accented Common. (Accents are fun, but if you don't want an accent, you can buy up your Common to Native cheaply.) Half-Elves and Half-Orcs probably speak one of their parent languages at Native and the other at Accented. Humans speak Native Common and get a free language at Accented.
Here's The Language Table we're using, from D&D 3.5. You can ignore the rules stuff on the left, but the table of languages on the right is helpful.
The obvious PC languages are Common, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome, Halfling, and Orc. It's not out of the question for a starting PC to know Draconic (not because you're likely to have met a dragon, but because Kobolds and Lizardmen also speak it, and it's taught in Wizard School), Goblin, Gnoll, or Sylvan. (Or Druidic, if you're a Druid, but I suspect nobody will play a Druid in a megadungeon game.) The weirder languages might require Unusual Background or Fast-Talking the GM. Languages are a good thing to coordinate among PCs; if everyone speaks Common (as they almost certainly should), it's probably good to have a diverse choice of other languages so the party can speak to as many beings as possible.
2018-04-13
Review: Five Easy Pieces, from Pyramid #3/113
I was recently posting about GURPS Dungeon Fantasy / Dungeon Fantasy RPG character generation options, and a couple of people suggested the recent article Five Easy Pieces, by Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch, from Pyramid 3/113. So let's take a close look.
The basic templates in both GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and Dungeon Fantasy RPG are 250 points plus 50 points of disadvantages. (Plus another 5 points of quirks, but the quirk points are not spent in the templates, so those are available for the player to spend elsewhere.) The basic idea of Five Easy Pieces is that instead of picking one 250-point template, you pick 5 50-point modules and combine them to make your own template.
All of the modules cost 50 points. Most of them are just 50 points of positive abilities: attributes and advantages and skills. A couple (the Priest and the Monk) are instead 60 points of positive abilities and a 10-point disadvantage. None of the modules are exact lists canned of abilities; they all have choices, like "+1 to this attribute plus 30 points distributed among this list of abilities." So they're very similar to the DFRPG templates, just smaller.
Some of the modules can only be taken once, some twice, and one (the Rogue) can be taken three times. (Levels 2 and 3 of templates are not exactly the same as level 1; they're similar in flavor and sometimes reuse some of the optional abilties, but sometimes level 2 adds new abilities.)
So if you grab the right 5 modules, you can mostly (but not exactly) rebuild the DFRPG templates. Like, Brute Warrior 2 plus Leader 1 plus Physical 2 gets you pretty close to the Knight template. Not quite there, because the DFRPG templates spend your 50 disad points, where the modules (mostly) do not. So if you choose modules with no disads, you can take 50 disad points and have another 50 points to spend. You're only supposed to spend those on abilties already in your 5 modules, not on other things.
DFRPG gives some special privileges only to certain templates, like Knights being able to spend character points on melee weapon skills at any time, and doesn't charge points for those special privileges. The article makes it clear that if you build your character using modules, you do not get any of those special privileges, only the normal abilities you actually pay points for. You're a Cerebral Lore-Master Mage, not a real Wizard, so you can't buy IQ past 20, sorry. (Don't worry; you'll never have enough points to buy your IQ past 20 anyway before you get eaten by a Purple Worm, so this is mostly academic.)
Finally, the idea of "lenses" to add 50 points of another template's abilities, first seen in Dungeon Fantasy 3, is repeated here, saying that if you save up 50 points, you can add another module. So rather than needing to make special lenses for every combination of templates, it's a bit simpler this way.
So, do I like it? Well, it looks mechanically sound. (It's from Kromm. Kromm is the GURPS Line Editor. Of course it's sound.) And it's certainly more flexible than the base DFRPG templates. If you've always wanted to play an AD&D-style cleric/fighter/magic-user, you can do it. (Of course you might not be very effective at any of those things, compared to a specialist, because you're spreading your points so thin. Life is tradeoffs.)
And the other cool thing that the article doesn't directly mention is that it lets you easily modify the starting power level of your campaign in increments of 50 points, without redesigning all the templates, or throwing away templates entirely and going freeform. I wrote previously about maybe going with 150 points + 25 disads + 5 quirks for the Whiterock campaign. It would be pretty easy to do that power level with this system, just use 3 modules per PC instead of 5. ("Three Easy Pieces.") Then spend your 25 disad points (minus any that were already used in your modules) on more abilities from those 3 modules. Done.
The thing I don't like is that the modules kind of throw away the idea of strict templates for niche protection, but then turn around and impose strict modules instead. You can be a crazy mismatch like Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue, but you'd better only spend your points from disads within those modules, because a Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue is fine but a Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue with Magery 1 is crazy talk. You obviously need to be a Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue Mage to have Magery 1. I can see the argument for niche protection, especially in a large party. I can see the argument for flexibility. I don't think you can argue for both at the same time out of opposite sides of your mouth, like this article is doing. So, if I were to use this more flexible system, I'd take it a bit further. Spend your starting module points within those modules, but spend your other points on whatever, as long as it makes some sense. You want to take Swimming without buying the entire 50-point Outdoorsy module? Go right ahead.
Fortunately, even if you don't agree with every single thing in this article, you can take the parts you like and change the parts you don't and be happy. Kromm will probably not come to your house and yell at you for playing wrong. So, I think this article was worth the $8 the Pyramid cost, and the Pyramid has a bunch of other good stuff too.
Do I thinkFive Three Easy Pieces is a good fit for Whiterock? Kinda. I like the idea of having players build their own templates using these pre-written modules more than I like scaling down all the DFRPG templates to 150 points. But I think I also like the idea of making templates optional and letting players just build characters. So, I think I won't make a final decision until Session Zero, so players can weigh in. I do plan on making some pregen characters / NPCs for the game though, and will use this system for those to get some real experience with it.
The basic templates in both GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and Dungeon Fantasy RPG are 250 points plus 50 points of disadvantages. (Plus another 5 points of quirks, but the quirk points are not spent in the templates, so those are available for the player to spend elsewhere.) The basic idea of Five Easy Pieces is that instead of picking one 250-point template, you pick 5 50-point modules and combine them to make your own template.
All of the modules cost 50 points. Most of them are just 50 points of positive abilities: attributes and advantages and skills. A couple (the Priest and the Monk) are instead 60 points of positive abilities and a 10-point disadvantage. None of the modules are exact lists canned of abilities; they all have choices, like "+1 to this attribute plus 30 points distributed among this list of abilities." So they're very similar to the DFRPG templates, just smaller.
Some of the modules can only be taken once, some twice, and one (the Rogue) can be taken three times. (Levels 2 and 3 of templates are not exactly the same as level 1; they're similar in flavor and sometimes reuse some of the optional abilties, but sometimes level 2 adds new abilities.)
So if you grab the right 5 modules, you can mostly (but not exactly) rebuild the DFRPG templates. Like, Brute Warrior 2 plus Leader 1 plus Physical 2 gets you pretty close to the Knight template. Not quite there, because the DFRPG templates spend your 50 disad points, where the modules (mostly) do not. So if you choose modules with no disads, you can take 50 disad points and have another 50 points to spend. You're only supposed to spend those on abilties already in your 5 modules, not on other things.
DFRPG gives some special privileges only to certain templates, like Knights being able to spend character points on melee weapon skills at any time, and doesn't charge points for those special privileges. The article makes it clear that if you build your character using modules, you do not get any of those special privileges, only the normal abilities you actually pay points for. You're a Cerebral Lore-Master Mage, not a real Wizard, so you can't buy IQ past 20, sorry. (Don't worry; you'll never have enough points to buy your IQ past 20 anyway before you get eaten by a Purple Worm, so this is mostly academic.)
Finally, the idea of "lenses" to add 50 points of another template's abilities, first seen in Dungeon Fantasy 3, is repeated here, saying that if you save up 50 points, you can add another module. So rather than needing to make special lenses for every combination of templates, it's a bit simpler this way.
So, do I like it? Well, it looks mechanically sound. (It's from Kromm. Kromm is the GURPS Line Editor. Of course it's sound.) And it's certainly more flexible than the base DFRPG templates. If you've always wanted to play an AD&D-style cleric/fighter/magic-user, you can do it. (Of course you might not be very effective at any of those things, compared to a specialist, because you're spreading your points so thin. Life is tradeoffs.)
And the other cool thing that the article doesn't directly mention is that it lets you easily modify the starting power level of your campaign in increments of 50 points, without redesigning all the templates, or throwing away templates entirely and going freeform. I wrote previously about maybe going with 150 points + 25 disads + 5 quirks for the Whiterock campaign. It would be pretty easy to do that power level with this system, just use 3 modules per PC instead of 5. ("Three Easy Pieces.") Then spend your 25 disad points (minus any that were already used in your modules) on more abilities from those 3 modules. Done.
The thing I don't like is that the modules kind of throw away the idea of strict templates for niche protection, but then turn around and impose strict modules instead. You can be a crazy mismatch like Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue, but you'd better only spend your points from disads within those modules, because a Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue is fine but a Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue with Magery 1 is crazy talk. You obviously need to be a Cerebral Finesse Warrior Crusader Rogue Mage to have Magery 1. I can see the argument for niche protection, especially in a large party. I can see the argument for flexibility. I don't think you can argue for both at the same time out of opposite sides of your mouth, like this article is doing. So, if I were to use this more flexible system, I'd take it a bit further. Spend your starting module points within those modules, but spend your other points on whatever, as long as it makes some sense. You want to take Swimming without buying the entire 50-point Outdoorsy module? Go right ahead.
Fortunately, even if you don't agree with every single thing in this article, you can take the parts you like and change the parts you don't and be happy. Kromm will probably not come to your house and yell at you for playing wrong. So, I think this article was worth the $8 the Pyramid cost, and the Pyramid has a bunch of other good stuff too.
Do I think
More options for a new Dungeon Fantasy campaign
General spoiler warning: Please don't post spoilers about Castle
Whiterock in the comments. If you think there's any chance you might
want to play in this campaign, please avoid reading Castle Whiterock, or
the preview PDF for Castle Whiterock, or reviews of Castle Whiterock,
etc. Reading this blog is fine though; anything I post here is
considered to be common knowledge in the campaign.
Last post, I talked about options I'm thinking about when planning a new Dungeon Fantasy RPG campaign, focused on character generation. This time, I'll continue with choices that I suspect will matter in the critical first few sessions of the game, when we find out if the players like it or not and want to keep playing.
- Real life sometimes gets in the way of gaming. Not every player can make it to every session. I think it's important to recognize this, and design a game that works even if a couple of players miss a session, rather than canceling the session when that happens. So I would like to encourage all the PCs to go back to town at the end of every session, rather than camping in the dungeon, so that if some players can't make it every session, their PCs just stay in town, with no continuity problems from PCs zapping in and out, or PCs being run (probably badly) as NPCs. (Idea stolen from Peter at Dungeon Fantastic.) I hate to completely take away player choice, though, so rather than flat-out telling the players they can't stay in the dungeon between sessions, I'd want to just make it the Obviously Correct Choice using various in-game carrots and sticks. What's the best mix of rules to get the behavior I want here? Character points per delve rather than per session, limit one delve per session, will probably suffice. Of course it's also important for the GM to not hit the players with a 2-hour combat one hour from the end of the session.
- The Castle Whiterock box set includes the nearby town of Cillamar, and details it pretty well. Both GURPS DF and DFRPG mostly abstract Town into a mostly boring place where you buy and sell stuff and get healed up and then get back to the dungeon. I'm pretty sure I'd like the town to be in play as more than a few die rolls, but I don't want to make it so interesting that the PCs spend half of every session in town. So I need to try to hand out some detail every session, but also try to limit the amount of time spent in town and encourage the PCs to head for the dungeon.
- Castle Whiterock is a decent hike away from Cillamar, which means the possibility of some wilderness adventure and wandering monster encounters on the way there and back. The harder it is to get there and back, though, the more of each game session might be consumed on travel, and the earlier the PCs need to leave the dungeon to know they can make it home by the end of game time. Another possibility is that the trip to the dungeon and back starts out a bit wild, but mostly gets tamer over time, as the PCs trek back and forth over it a lot, wipe out most of the threats, and advance in power so the remaining former threats aren't so scary. Or perhaps the PCs will have the opportunity to discover better means of travel as the game progresses.
- To restock, or not to restock. A dungeon that restocks itself feels morerealistic lifelike. On the other hand, if the dungeon restocks too fast, and the players go back to town every session, they might keep half-clearing Level One over and over and never reach the deeper levels. So I probably want to err on the side of slower rather than faster restocking -- it happens, but if the PCs proceed at a reasonably brisk pace, they'll mostly be clearing new ground rather than re-clearing old ground. Of course every good megadungeon needs multiple entrances so the PCs don't have to spend too much time walking over the same ground -- but will the players find them?
- Wandering monster frequency. The DFRPG rules specify some wandering monster frequencies, which are a nice starting point, but sometimes a random fight really gets in the way of a goal the players are trying to accomplish. Other times, the PCs spend too much time dilly-dallying rather than doing anything, and a wandering monster is just what they need to make something happen. So let the dice decide, or GM fiat? I'll probably wing it. Also, sometimes wandering monsters are monsters from the key that just happen to be in a different location, so meeting a wandering monster doesn't actually mean an extra encounter, just a different one.
- How do we speed up combat so that we have a chance of finishing a huge megadungeon? First, obviously, avoid a lot of optional rules that add complexity. No shield damage, no bleeding (except maybe as a rare monster special ability), no extra effort in combat, etc. Second, maybe also throw away some rules that not everyone thinks of as optional, like rolls on the critical hit table and most rolls for random hit location. (If you want to hit the face, take your -5 penalty to aim for it.) Third, add some time-saving rules like No Nuisance Rolls on Fast-Draw (Arrow) for the Scout who fast-draws arrows constantly. But I think the most important rule is player discipline: if it's your turn, go now. Think on other people's turns; act on your turn. Pick a Trademark Move and if in doubt, use it. Lack of action will be interpreted as a Do Nothing. Of course this goes double for the GM, who runs the most characters so has the most opportunity to waste time. Most Oozes aren't big thinkers; it shouldn't take more than a second for the GM to decide which character it's oozing at this turn. Finally, not every encounter requires combat; it should be possible to evade or negotiate sometimes, saving time and healing potions.
- What online tool should we use for maps and die rolls? Roll20 seems like the obvious choice to me. It's not perfect, but it's free for players, freemium for GMs (most features are free, dynamic lighting and scripting cost money), it's web-based and thus portable and easy for less technical players to get working, and it's popular enough that a lot of players already know it. Plus I've already done the first few levels of maps in Roll20.
- Are my Roll20 maps too big? Do I need to chop them up into more, smaller maps? I probably need to recruit a few friends to run some tokens around on my Roll20 maps and let me know how they perform, so that Actual Players have a good first session.
- Should the game be text-only, voice, or voice and video? I'm flexible here, so it's mostly up to the players. I suspect most players prefer voice to text-only, so probably voice, but if we get a bunch of text-only diehards, okay, I'm willing to see if I can type fast enough to keep them happy. I doubt we need video, and it complicates things for people with slow connections, but if everyone wants to try it, okay. I'd prefer not to spend time on things like recording the sessions that distract from GMing; if one of the players wants to and the other players are cool with it, fine.
- What do we use for voice? GURPS has a great community on Discord, so that seems like the right choice. It also works well for between-games chat. Not sure whether to setup a new Discord server or ask for a room or two on Mook's GURPS Discord server, but that's a minor detail.
- How are character points awarded? Flat amount per session (easy), based on roleplaying (old-school GURPS), based on combat and exploration and finding bonus areas and stuff (DFRPG), based mostly on treasure (old-school D&D), or just give huge "level-ups" to everyone at once when they reach arbitrary milestones (new-school D&D)? Player votes for MVP to get an extra point? Penalties for getting allies killed or not playing disadvantages? There are a lot of options here, but my thinking is that since it's probably a zero-to-hero game, it will be more points per session than most players are used to, so they'll probably be okay with it regardless. I tend to lean toward simple, like usually giving all the players the same number of points for a session depending on about how well they did, and not sweating the details too much because there will be more points next time. Being able to hand out points quickly at the end of the session makes players happy, as it gives them more time to figure out how to spend them, so I don't want to do anything that requires too much computation.
- How many points do new PCs who join the campaign in progress get? If I want the game to be friendly to a rotating cast of players, then letting new PCs join with some extra points beyond the starting level makes sense. On the other hand, it's kind of mean to the veteran players if their hard-earned experience doesn't really mean anything because the new recruits are instantly just as good. So somewhere in between, like new PCs might get 90% of the points of the least-powerful returning PC, perhaps with a minimum value based on the current dungeon level.
- Is money actually useful? Of course it's useful at first, to buy basic starting equipment and avoid starving. But, assuming the PCs reach the point where they have the best everyday equipment they can carry, are "special order" non-magical items for sale? Scrolls? Potions? "Basic" magic items like Swords with Puissance +1 on them? More interesting magic items? Hirelings? Skilled hirelings? Is expensive training required to advance? Or does money mostly not matter except as a way to keep score, with the good stuff being found rather than bought? I mostly find bean-counting boring in RPGs, so my bias is toward doing less of it. The best stuff is in the dungeon, not in town. Go find it. But at least basic items and healing potions can be found in town.
- How do we track character point awards and spending over time? What about equipment and money? Google Sheets seems okay for this. I guess it's a discussion with the players about whether they're okay with the other players knowing what's on their sheets, so we can use one big sheet for the whole party, versus keeping things private so every PC needs their own tracking sheet.
- The sandbox vs. railroad balance. I have a megadungeon and I want to run it rather than make another dungeon every time the players get wanderlust, which is a certain amount of railroading. ("The adventure is here. Elsewhere is boring. Please go here.") I have an introductory hook to lure the PCs into the dungeon. I have a few NPCs with quest-giving possibilities. But, really, I hope the PCs mostly find their own motivation rather than needing to be told what to do.
- Challenge level. Is the adventure the adventure as written, with the chips falling as they may, or should it be modified on the fly to suit the current group of players and PCs? I originally ran this adventure for my family, who have low to medium levels of GURPS-Fu. If it attracts some really good GURPS players this time, are they going to just run over the challenges? If that happens and then I scale up the challenges to match, and then one day the most skilled players stay home, is that a likely total party kill for the less experienced players, as they just trudge merrily through the dungeon without remembering to probe everything with an 11-foot pole? I guess a little too easy is better than a little too hard, but tastes vary, so it's key to get feedback from the players between sessions. (Not during sessions. During sessions, stay in character.)
I'm sure there are more, but that's a good start of things I'm thinking about. If this sounds like a game you'd like to play in, stay tuned, and I'll start looking for players in a few weeks, probably early May.
Last post, I talked about options I'm thinking about when planning a new Dungeon Fantasy RPG campaign, focused on character generation. This time, I'll continue with choices that I suspect will matter in the critical first few sessions of the game, when we find out if the players like it or not and want to keep playing.
- Real life sometimes gets in the way of gaming. Not every player can make it to every session. I think it's important to recognize this, and design a game that works even if a couple of players miss a session, rather than canceling the session when that happens. So I would like to encourage all the PCs to go back to town at the end of every session, rather than camping in the dungeon, so that if some players can't make it every session, their PCs just stay in town, with no continuity problems from PCs zapping in and out, or PCs being run (probably badly) as NPCs. (Idea stolen from Peter at Dungeon Fantastic.) I hate to completely take away player choice, though, so rather than flat-out telling the players they can't stay in the dungeon between sessions, I'd want to just make it the Obviously Correct Choice using various in-game carrots and sticks. What's the best mix of rules to get the behavior I want here? Character points per delve rather than per session, limit one delve per session, will probably suffice. Of course it's also important for the GM to not hit the players with a 2-hour combat one hour from the end of the session.
- The Castle Whiterock box set includes the nearby town of Cillamar, and details it pretty well. Both GURPS DF and DFRPG mostly abstract Town into a mostly boring place where you buy and sell stuff and get healed up and then get back to the dungeon. I'm pretty sure I'd like the town to be in play as more than a few die rolls, but I don't want to make it so interesting that the PCs spend half of every session in town. So I need to try to hand out some detail every session, but also try to limit the amount of time spent in town and encourage the PCs to head for the dungeon.
- Castle Whiterock is a decent hike away from Cillamar, which means the possibility of some wilderness adventure and wandering monster encounters on the way there and back. The harder it is to get there and back, though, the more of each game session might be consumed on travel, and the earlier the PCs need to leave the dungeon to know they can make it home by the end of game time. Another possibility is that the trip to the dungeon and back starts out a bit wild, but mostly gets tamer over time, as the PCs trek back and forth over it a lot, wipe out most of the threats, and advance in power so the remaining former threats aren't so scary. Or perhaps the PCs will have the opportunity to discover better means of travel as the game progresses.
- To restock, or not to restock. A dungeon that restocks itself feels more
- Wandering monster frequency. The DFRPG rules specify some wandering monster frequencies, which are a nice starting point, but sometimes a random fight really gets in the way of a goal the players are trying to accomplish. Other times, the PCs spend too much time dilly-dallying rather than doing anything, and a wandering monster is just what they need to make something happen. So let the dice decide, or GM fiat? I'll probably wing it. Also, sometimes wandering monsters are monsters from the key that just happen to be in a different location, so meeting a wandering monster doesn't actually mean an extra encounter, just a different one.
- How do we speed up combat so that we have a chance of finishing a huge megadungeon? First, obviously, avoid a lot of optional rules that add complexity. No shield damage, no bleeding (except maybe as a rare monster special ability), no extra effort in combat, etc. Second, maybe also throw away some rules that not everyone thinks of as optional, like rolls on the critical hit table and most rolls for random hit location. (If you want to hit the face, take your -5 penalty to aim for it.) Third, add some time-saving rules like No Nuisance Rolls on Fast-Draw (Arrow) for the Scout who fast-draws arrows constantly. But I think the most important rule is player discipline: if it's your turn, go now. Think on other people's turns; act on your turn. Pick a Trademark Move and if in doubt, use it. Lack of action will be interpreted as a Do Nothing. Of course this goes double for the GM, who runs the most characters so has the most opportunity to waste time. Most Oozes aren't big thinkers; it shouldn't take more than a second for the GM to decide which character it's oozing at this turn. Finally, not every encounter requires combat; it should be possible to evade or negotiate sometimes, saving time and healing potions.
- What online tool should we use for maps and die rolls? Roll20 seems like the obvious choice to me. It's not perfect, but it's free for players, freemium for GMs (most features are free, dynamic lighting and scripting cost money), it's web-based and thus portable and easy for less technical players to get working, and it's popular enough that a lot of players already know it. Plus I've already done the first few levels of maps in Roll20.
- Are my Roll20 maps too big? Do I need to chop them up into more, smaller maps? I probably need to recruit a few friends to run some tokens around on my Roll20 maps and let me know how they perform, so that Actual Players have a good first session.
- Should the game be text-only, voice, or voice and video? I'm flexible here, so it's mostly up to the players. I suspect most players prefer voice to text-only, so probably voice, but if we get a bunch of text-only diehards, okay, I'm willing to see if I can type fast enough to keep them happy. I doubt we need video, and it complicates things for people with slow connections, but if everyone wants to try it, okay. I'd prefer not to spend time on things like recording the sessions that distract from GMing; if one of the players wants to and the other players are cool with it, fine.
- What do we use for voice? GURPS has a great community on Discord, so that seems like the right choice. It also works well for between-games chat. Not sure whether to setup a new Discord server or ask for a room or two on Mook's GURPS Discord server, but that's a minor detail.
- How are character points awarded? Flat amount per session (easy), based on roleplaying (old-school GURPS), based on combat and exploration and finding bonus areas and stuff (DFRPG), based mostly on treasure (old-school D&D), or just give huge "level-ups" to everyone at once when they reach arbitrary milestones (new-school D&D)? Player votes for MVP to get an extra point? Penalties for getting allies killed or not playing disadvantages? There are a lot of options here, but my thinking is that since it's probably a zero-to-hero game, it will be more points per session than most players are used to, so they'll probably be okay with it regardless. I tend to lean toward simple, like usually giving all the players the same number of points for a session depending on about how well they did, and not sweating the details too much because there will be more points next time. Being able to hand out points quickly at the end of the session makes players happy, as it gives them more time to figure out how to spend them, so I don't want to do anything that requires too much computation.
- Is money actually useful? Of course it's useful at first, to buy basic starting equipment and avoid starving. But, assuming the PCs reach the point where they have the best everyday equipment they can carry, are "special order" non-magical items for sale? Scrolls? Potions? "Basic" magic items like Swords with Puissance +1 on them? More interesting magic items? Hirelings? Skilled hirelings? Is expensive training required to advance? Or does money mostly not matter except as a way to keep score, with the good stuff being found rather than bought? I mostly find bean-counting boring in RPGs, so my bias is toward doing less of it. The best stuff is in the dungeon, not in town. Go find it. But at least basic items and healing potions can be found in town.
- How do we track character point awards and spending over time? What about equipment and money? Google Sheets seems okay for this. I guess it's a discussion with the players about whether they're okay with the other players knowing what's on their sheets, so we can use one big sheet for the whole party, versus keeping things private so every PC needs their own tracking sheet.
- The sandbox vs. railroad balance. I have a megadungeon and I want to run it rather than make another dungeon every time the players get wanderlust, which is a certain amount of railroading. ("The adventure is here. Elsewhere is boring. Please go here.") I have an introductory hook to lure the PCs into the dungeon. I have a few NPCs with quest-giving possibilities. But, really, I hope the PCs mostly find their own motivation rather than needing to be told what to do.
- Challenge level. Is the adventure the adventure as written, with the chips falling as they may, or should it be modified on the fly to suit the current group of players and PCs? I originally ran this adventure for my family, who have low to medium levels of GURPS-Fu. If it attracts some really good GURPS players this time, are they going to just run over the challenges? If that happens and then I scale up the challenges to match, and then one day the most skilled players stay home, is that a likely total party kill for the less experienced players, as they just trudge merrily through the dungeon without remembering to probe everything with an 11-foot pole? I guess a little too easy is better than a little too hard, but tastes vary, so it's key to get feedback from the players between sessions. (Not during sessions. During sessions, stay in character.)
I'm sure there are more, but that's a good start of things I'm thinking about. If this sounds like a game you'd like to play in, stay tuned, and I'll start looking for players in a few weeks, probably early May.