S&W- The Save Skill System

One thing I've been tooling with is a skill system for S&W. While skills may be antithetical to many gamers' view of S&W, the game does invite GM's to house rule it to their hearts' desires, and having started my gaming career with AD&D 2e, I'm used to at least a rudimentary skill system, and I fully admit that when I ran 1st edition, I imported 2e's NWP system to my games.

One thing I love about S&W is the saving throw mechanic. Instead of a huge list of various types of saves, you just have one general saving throw. This means that you can have players roll STR saves, DEX saves, INT saves, and CHA saves. Need to see if your party's M-U remembers som ancient text? Have him make an INT save to see if he can recall the relevant information.

For my skill system, I'm thinking that any time a skill's usage comes into question, the player would roll a saving throw tied to the ability that would best suite the situation, and if they have a skill that would help, they would get a flat +2 to that save.

Each character would start out with 3 skills, plus their INT modifier. Being a fan of Unknown Armies' skill system, where players just make up whatever skills they want (so long as the GM permits), I'll probably do that, though no combat skills (like, Longsword use or Shield use) would be allowed.

So, for example, you could have a fighter who has skills for Gambling, Interrogating, and maybe Finding Good Taverns. When the fighter comes to a new city, he could roll a Charisma Save and add +2 for Finding Good Taverns.

This would keep things fairly rules-light, and allow individual players to make their characters unique outside of how they role-play them. Personally, I don't mind having two fighters in my group who, mechanically, are very similar, but having played mostly with gamers who are used to newer games, it might help me gain some ground with my groups.

Dragon Age: Battle Standards

Thanks to college, my free time is pretty limited, but for some reason, having a large workload in front of me tends to inspire me to get more fun stuff done then when I have nothing to do (hence the lack of posting those posts I claimed I was going to post).

So, in my down-time, I've been working on a set of mass combat rules for Dragon Age, using d20 Chainmail and Warhammer Fantasy Battles as inspirational material. Large battles are a core element in Dragon Age- the battles at Ostagar and Denerim were key moments in the video game, and in The Stolen Throne, Ferelden and Orlesian forces clashed every few chapters.

I won't be posting it today, as I'm incredibly busy, but at some point this weekend or next week I should have the basic structure of it up here. I likely won't get a chance to playtest it any time soon, but I'm hoping I'll get a chance to, seeing as how I've promised my college gaming group some Dragon Age.

Bestiary of Thedas- Basilisk

"Few men, if any, know the true origin of these hideous beasts. It has been said that they are creatures tainted by the Darkspawns' corruption. It has been theorized that they were the experiment of some foolhardy Tevinter mage. It matters not where they come from, however. What matters is that they are very rare, and very dangerous.

You will, by the Maker's grace, be lucky if you never encounter a basilisk. They are fell creatures, filled with a wickedness that cannot be comprehended by learned minds. They are cunning as beasts, and though they do not speak, records show that they have some form of human-like intelligence. Legends exist in multitude of their petrifying gaze; the moment they lock eyes with you, all your will is sapped, and you find that you have no control of your own body. If you should find yourself faced with a basilisk, do not look it in the eyes.

There have been no reported basilisk sightings in Ferelden, thank the Maker, and supposedly they dwell in the warmer climes, in Rivain and Antiva. According to various texts found in the towers of the Circle Mages, the scales of a basilisk make fine armor, and their eyes can be used in various enchantment rituals." ~From the Journals of Bregain Winterson, vol. 2

Health: 50

Speed: 8

Defense: 12

Armor: 3

COM: -3

CON: +3 (Stamina)

CUN: +2

DEX: +2 (Acrobatics)

MAG: +2

PER: +2 (Smelling)

STR: +3

WIL: +0

Weapons

-Fangs: Attack +3, Damage 2d6+3

-Spells

Magic

Spellpower 12

Known Spells

-Mind Blast

-Daze

New HeroQuest Heroes

I adore HeroQuest. It is, hands down, my favorite boardgame. Here are some of the Heroes I've written up since acquiring my own copy (which took years and the help of eBay).

The Witch Hunter

Stats:

· Attack: 2

· Defend: 2

· BP: 7

· MP: 3

· Starting Weapon: Shortsword, Pistol

Witch Hunter’s Pistol: Witch Hunters have a revolver with six shots. Each shot is represented by a Bullet Token. A player can spend a Bullet Token as an Action to fire the revolver.

The Pistol: 4 Attack dice, Range 8.

The Mercenary

Stats:

· Attack: 2

· Defend: 2

· BP: 7

· MP: 3

· Starting Weapon: Shortsword

Gold-Greed: When drawing treasure, the Mercenary can draw twice, discarding one.

The Grail Knight

Stats: As Elf

Chivalry: A Grail Knight may spend a Mind Point to make a Defense roll for an ally he is adjacent to.

The Cleric

Stats: As Elf

Clerical Magic

Clerics know 4 Divine Spells. They have 6 Spell Tokens. To cast a spell, a player spends a Spell Token as an Action.

· Cure Wounds: This spell may be cast on any one Hero, including yourself. The angels smile upon you, and restore up to 4 lost Body Points. You can never be healed for more BP than you start with.

· Deathbane: All Undead monsters in the same room you are in (that you can see) take 1 BP of damage.

· Guidance: When you cast this spell, choose an ally. They can make an action immediately after you cast this spell.

· Guardian Angel: Choose an ally. They get a re-roll token. At any time they may spend that token to re-roll a failed dice roll. Note that if the character does not spend the re-roll token within 6 turns, they lose it.

The Elven Wardancer

Stats: As Dwarf

· You may attack diagonally.

· If you have a second one-handed weapon, you may attack twice.

· You may not wear chainmail or platemail.

The Duelist

Stats: As Dwarf

Duelists may not wear chainmail or platemail. They can’t use two-handed weapons.

Duelists have 4 Skill Tokens. To use a Duelist Skill, a player spends a Skill Token.

· Lunge: You roll an extra movement die, but you must move towards a foe.

· Parry: You may roll your Attack in place of your Defense dice when being attacked.

· Riposte: When an enemy attacks you, you get a free attack against them after they roll.

The Thief

Stats

· Attack 2

· Defend 2

· BP 5

· MP 4

· Starting Weapon: Shortsword

· Starting Armor: None

· Starting Equipment: Tool Kit

Thief Skills

· Trap Breaker: When disabling traps, roll twice and choose the better result.

· Dodge: You can spend a Mind Point to re-roll Defense

Incoming Articles

I haven't posted here recently, primarily due to my Dragon Age game going up in smoke. This wasn't due to any group in-fighting or anything nearly as tragic and sinister as that, but because of the old nemesis of GM's everywhere- burnout. Having not GM'd a game in well over a year, I was seriously rusty, though my players all say they saw nothing wrong with my game.

I'm now comfortably on the other side of the screen, plotting a new campaign, though I sadly won't be running it for my current group. I'm returning to college in a month, and have somehow managed to garner some interest with the group there (they are slightly notorious for not liking new things).

I don't want Planet Strike, tiny and obscure as it is, to wither and die, however. Far from it. I'm planning several articles for the next week or two, which will hopefully inspire me to write more.

So, here's what's to come;

Alignment Rules for Swords & Wizardry: They've been done to death by several other blogs, but I have my own stuff I'm tinkering with that I'd like to put out there.

Retro Review; Dragon Warriors: I don't own the shiny new Magnus Opus printing of DW, but I do have the old paperback books, and I plan on reviewing them now that I have time away from the GM's screen.

Novel Review; The Stolen Throne: As Dragon Age is more or less my go-to system for fantasy adventures at this point, and I'm in love with the setting, I'll be putting a review of the first novel, The Stolen Throne, out in, oh, a week or so.

Bestiary of Thedas: The selection of monsters in Box 1 of Dragon Age is fairly slim, so I plan on expanding it a bit. I'll probably be breaking the cannon of the setting a bit, but it's my game, so if I want Owlbears roaming the Brecilian Forests, than damn it all, I'll have them.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I had the strangest idea for an RPG earlier today.

Vampire; the Requiem, with leather jackets, psychobilly music, motorcycles, pompadours, hot rods, and stupid B movie monsters.

It would be a game about undead superheroes with fangs, zero morality, and lots of kitschy horror imagery. I imagine the player characters would be a vampire gang, and the primary antagonists would be other vampire gangs, or the vampire police, with occasional battles against Frankenstein's monster and werewolf gangs.

I think I just might write this up.

Lack of Posts

I haven't been as active here as I've wanted to be. I've been floundering about searching for a summer job, which has made me frustrated and pretty damn lazy in my free time (which is far too much).

However, in the coming week I plan to have two more session summaries of my Dragon Age campaign, some more home-brewed Dragon Age rules and magic items, and a very, very rough outline for the Mass Combat system I've been tinkering with for my favorite RPG's (DA, D&D, and oddly enough, WFRP; it may be based on a tabletop wargame, bit it's certainly grim and gritty enough that traditional rank-and-file combat doesn't fit it well).

Hopefully I can get the motivation to get this all together, and better yet, get a job.

New Dragon Age Spells

Here are a few spells I've written up for DARPG. I haven't had time to playtest any of them yet, but I figured I might as well post them, since they are more or less done. I like the spell selection in the Player's Guide well enough, but I feel it's a little on the thin side, and I personally like having more options when it comes to magical spells in my RPG's.

Some of them are pretty obviously converted D&D spells, but then, several DARPG spells have some similarity to D&D spells, which makes sense given Bioware's game design pedigree.

Charming Voice
School: Spirit
Spell Type: Enhancement
Mana Cost: 3
Casting Time: 1 Minute
TN: 11
Test: Willpower (Self Discipline) vs. Spellpower
Charm Voice allows the caster to influence the minds of a number of targets equal to what they roll on their Dragon Die while casting the spell. If the spell is successful, the caster gains a +2 bonus to communication tests with the targets, plus an additional +1 for every 2 Mana Points spent on top of the cost of the spell, unless they successfully make a Willpower (Self Discipline) test against your spellpower.
The effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Magic score.
Note that only intelligent targets can be affected. Animals and darkspawn don’t have any sense of reason close to that of mortals, so Charming Visage simply does not work on them.

Cloak of Shadows
School: Spirit
Spell Type: Enhancement
Mana Cost: 3
Casting Time: 1 Minute
TN: 11
Test: None
You cloak yourself in darkness, adding your Magic score to any Dexterity (Stealth) tests you make for the next hour, as well as a +2 to your Defense.

Sleep
School: Spirit
Spell Type: Attack
Mana Cost: 5
Casting Time: Major Action
TN: 12
Test: Willpower (Self Discipline) vs. Spellpower
Choose a number of targets equal to what you rolled on your Dragon Die to cast this spell. Those targets make a Willpower (Self Discipline) test against your Spellpower, with a +1 bonus to their roll. If they succeed, nothing happens. If they fail, they fall asleep for 1d6 turns, and lose their actions. For each round they are sleeping, they may make a Willpower (Self Discipline) test against your spellpower to wake up. Being attacked or moved will immediately wake a target up.

Fear
School: Entropy
Spell Type: Attack
Mana Cost: 4
Casting Time: Major Action
TN: 12
Test: Willpower (Morale) vs. Spellpower
You emit a horrid, throaty howl, called up from the darkest places of the Fade. The very sound of it fills your foes with pure dread. Any enemies you are currently in combat with must make a Willpower (Morale) test against your Spellpower or be routed.

Illusory Images
School: Creation
Spell Type: Utility
Mana Cost: 3
Casting Time: Major Action
TN: 11
Test: None
You create a number of swirling illusory copies of yourself equal to what you rolled on your Dragon Die to cast this spell, rounded up to create an even number (you and your copies). When being attacked, the GM will randomly determine if your attacker hits you or one of your copies.
When a copy is attacked, it disappears in a cloud of smoke.

Lashing Winds
School: Primal
Spell Type: Attack
Mana Cost: 3
Casting Time: Major Action
TN: 12
Test: Constitution (Stamina) vs. Spellpower
You assault your foe with the fury of the storm. If your target makes a Constitution (Stamina) test against your Spellpower, they only take damage. If they fail, they lose their next turn in addition to taking damage. They take 1d6 + Magic damage from this spell.

Spectral Chains
School: Entropy
Spell Type: Attack
Mana Cost: 3
Casting Time: Major Action
TN: 12
Test: Constitution (Stamina)
You wrap your target in magical chains, rooting him to the floor, unless they make a Constitution (Stamina) test against your spellpower.. For a number of turns equal to what you rolled on your Dragon Die, your target can’t make any move actions (Move, Run, or Charge), nor can they use the Skirmish or Seize the Initiative stunts. They can still take actions, such as attacking and readying weapons.

Some Swords & Wizardry House-Rules

I love Swords & Wizardry to death, but I do have some house rules for it. Here's what I currently do with the rules when I run it.

Section 1: Ability Scores

Personally, I prefer the Ability Score modifiers as presented in B/X D&D. As such, here’s my chart.

Score	Modifier
3	-3
4-5	-2
6-8	-1
9-12	0
13-15	+1
16-17	+2
18	+3

Section 2: The Thief

I know some gamers don’t like including Thieves in S&W, or in OD&D. I kinda like them. I like having a class that’s not devoted to spells or swords, and if that means having specialskills that allow players to disarm traps and pick locks, hey, why not? I’ve kitbashed my own Thief class together from the several ones I’ve seen online.

Hit Dice: d6

Prime Requisite: Dexterity 13+ (5% XP bonus)

Attacks as: Cleric

Weapons: Thieves may use any one-handed weapon, as well as bows

Armor: Thieves can wear only leather armor

Starting at 1^st level, thieves have access to a special suite of skills. Other characters may attempt to use these skills, but they may only use the base chance for success. Further, only thieves may use their ability score modifiers with the skills. A levels 3, 5, 7 and 9, thieves get 3 skill points to distribute amongst their skills. For every time a skill point is distributed into a skill, the base chance to succeed is improved by 1. No skill can be rated better than 5+. A thief with a skill of 5+ is considered to have utterly mastered that skill.

To attempt using a thief skill, a player rolls 1d20 and adds the appropriate modifiers. If the number rolled is equal to or greater than their rating in the skill being used, they succeed.

When attacking an enemy from behind, or an enemy that has not acted yet or is unaware, a thief gets +3 to-hit and deals maximum damage.

Level	Experience	Hit Dice	Saving Throw	Skill Points
1	0	1	14	5
2	1,500	2	13	-
3	3,500	3	12	+3
4	6,500	4	11	-
5	14,00	5	10	+3
6	30,000	6	9	-
7	60,000	7	8	+3
8	110,000	8	7	-
9	165,000	9	6	+3
10	225,000	+2 hp	5	-
11	290,000	+4 hp	4	-
12	360,000	+6 hp	4	-
13	430,000	+8 hp	4	-
14	500,000	+10 hp	4	-
15	570,000	+12 hp	4	-
16	640,000	+14 hp	4	-
17	710,000	+16 hp	4	-
18	780,000	+18 hp	4	-
19	850,000	+20 hp	4	-
20	920,000	+22 hp	4	-
21+	+70,000	+2 hp/level	4	-

Thief Skills
Hide in Shadows	Move Silently	Pick Pockets	Disable Traps	Climb Walls	Hear Noise
17+	19+	16+	19+	10+	10+

Skills	Ability Modifier
Hide in Shadows	DEX
Move Silently	DEX
Pick Pockets	DEX
Disable Traps	DEX
Climb Walls	STR
Hear Noise	WIS

Section 3: Hit Points

I don't like having all HD as d6+x. As such, here's what I have for each class' Hit Die...

Class	Hit Die
Fighting-Man	d8
Cleric	d6
Magic-User	d4
Thief	d6

Further, I give 1st level characters max HP, because there's nothing more bothersome than rolling up a Fighting-Man and only having 1 HP.

Section 4: Magic

Magic-Users cast spells using Magic Points. Magic-Users have a number of Magic Points equal to 2 plus their Intelligence bonus. At each new level, they gain more Magic Points equal to their Intelligence bonus.

Magic-User spells cost a number of Magic Points equal to their level.

Otherwise, the rules of casting and knowing spells are the same, with one more exception; Magic-Users know a number of 1st level spells at character creation equal to 1 plus their Intelligence bonus.