Ruminations on OD&D: Hit Points

There is a thread over on OD&D Discussion concerning how hit points are rolled. Essentially, there are four methods (I think):

• Keep a running, static total, adding the roll of each hit die as it is gained;
• Reroll all hit dice at each level, keeping the new total if it is higher;
• Reroll all hit dice at some predetermined point each day, such as after a night's sleep;
• Reroll all hit dice at the beginning of each combat

I like the "reroll" methods. I've always hated getting hosed on some shit-ass HD rolls. Plus, as a referee, I don't like feeling like it is absolutely vital that I hand out max hp at 1st level. It's a minor annoyance, but sometimes they are the most annoying.

Anyway, this segues into something I have been ruminating on. There are a lot of rationalizations for certain OD&D rules. We all know the ones about hit points representing fatigue, favor of the gods, and luck. While damage represents being taxed to your limits, minor scrapes and bruises, exhaustion, etc.

A big part of OD&D is resource management. Hit points are a key resource to be managed. But, if they represent the things we rationalize them to represent, and damage is per its rationalization, I believe the healing rules are way out of whack. At the healing rates as written a single attack, with a lucky (unlucky?) damage roll could take almost a week to heal. A week to get over being tired and a few minor scrapes and close calls.

I'm sure at this point this may seem like I've kit-bashed two posts. Maybe I have, I don't know. I'm just wondering how to tie in rerolling hit points either each day or each combat would work in conjunction with some "accelerated" healing rules. Like maybe throw the running damage total right out the window, along with the running hit point total, and start fresh each combat/encounter. Would it seriously unbalance things? Would it rob the game of part of its drama, like when your hit points are really low and you're trying to tip-toe out of the dungeon and back to town?

So maybe the "reroll every morning" is the better way. So, how would that work with pre-existing damage? Is it only your max hit points that are affected?

At any rate, I need to rethink healing in light of what damage is supposed to represent. I think getting a certain amount, maybe a percentage of current max, at the end of a combat would work. That could represent the "fatigue loss" being recovered once the character has a chance to collect his breath. One thing's for sure (at least as anything is "for sure" in my head) is that I don't want the book keeping that goes with calling hit point damage fatigue, and keeping track of "wounds" separately. Akrasia's house rules feature that, and while I love the idea on paper, I don't want to deal with it at the table.

I welcome any and all thoughts on this subject. 

The Value of Hit Points

This has been rattling about in my head for a week or more, but I never remember to post it. Until now . . .

While I do understand the math of "more hit points" being an advantage, I never truly appreciated it as something that made Fighting-Men better fighters. I recently saw the light whilst watching a marathon of The Unit.

Two men were engaged in a fist-fight. One was younger and clearly more capable. The other was older, and while a seasoned fighter, wasn't the man he used to be. Both men were basically beating the shit out of each other, but the punishment was more telling with the older man. Eventually the younger man gained the upper hand, even though the older man was landing solid blows.

Watching this, and putting it into an OD&D perspective, I was reminded that OD&D combat is about results. The fundamental truth is this: statistically speaking, the better fighter will still be standing at the end of the fight. Period. It is that simple. So, maybe we have similar, or even identical, chances to-hit, but if I have more HD (and therefore hit points, presumably), I should win.

I feel like I should expound on this further, but I can't really see what that would serve right now. So, let's just leave it at this, shall we?

Delving Deeper Barbarian

This is an idea I've been contemplating for a while. It is based on the Barbarian from White Dwarf #4, along with the skill system suggested by the Thief.

The Barbarian

HD as Fighter
Same XP and Attack Column as Cleric
Any weapons, excepting crossbows
Any armor (Chain imposes a -1 penalty to certain skill rolls, Plate imposes a -2)

• +2 bonus to the following saving throws: normal elemental effects (such as desert heat or arctic cold), poison, and disease
• Should a barbarian fail a saving throw vs Fear, he flies into a fit of rage, attacking the cause of the fear with a +2 to-hit and damage. This attack is single-minded, ignoring any other threats. During this rage, the barbarian's AC is increased by 2.
• Barbarians are canny fighters, and difficult to hit. AC is one better, no matter what armor is worn.
• A barbarian's opponents are oft-times unprepared for the suddeness and ferocity of his initial attack. If the barbarian has initiative, his first attack is devastating. Consult the following table:

Level	To-hit bonus	Damage
1-4	+2	Double
5-8	+2	Triple
9+	+3	Quadruple

• Barbarians are very cagey and alert to danger. If awake and alert, they are at -1 to be surprised, and at 6^th level and above, they are never surprised.
• Barbarians are consummate outdoorsmen. As such they possess the following skills:

  Tracking

  
  

  Survival (Finding water, suitable shelter site/materials, fire making)

  Foraging (Hunting*, edible plants)

  Stalking (Hiding and Moving Silently)*

  
  

  *Affected by the armor penalty, if applicable.

  
  These skills are successful on a d6 roll of 3+. However, this only applies to the barbarian's “home environment”. In other environments, they are successful on rolls of 5+.
  
  

Ruminations on OD&D: The Endgame

It isn't hard to do an internet search (I prefer DuckDuckGo, sorry, Google) and find all sorts of forum posts, blog posts, and pontification about the ballyhooed "endgame". They run the gamut between lamenting its loss, to praising various clones for bringing it back to full glory. This post isn't like that. This is just a couple of ideas for integrating the endgame into the ongoing campaign/world. I'm not going to pretend they're original or profound, they're just my take.

First off, "name level" characters who construct strongholds attract followers. Why not base part of a campaign around that? Once the characters establish themselves, say 3rd level or so, they can offer their services to a name-level NPC who has established a stronghold. Perhaps this NPC is just starting out, so to speak. His stronghold is small and he is looking to expand. The PCs can pledge their service, and the NPC can send them on "missions". He can offer them support services, like healing and magic item identification, in exchange for finding whatever loot he desires. Maybe their liege is a cleric who sends them on a mission to recover the shrine idol stolen by bandits. The PCs would return the idol, and perhaps a tithe of other treasures recovered, and keep the rest.

I wouldn't base an entire campaign around this concept, but for a few levels, it could bring a logical structure to things. Plus, if the PCs have been honorable in their oath, when they reach name-level they will have a powerful friend and ally who can help them establish their own domain. Which brings me to . . .

Point the second. Once the PCs reach name-level, I think it would provide a nice break from the high-level game to have followers become PCs every now and then. Have each player fully create a follower, and sometimes have a session or three using the party of followers. If the campaign continued long enough, one day those followers will establish their own strongholds. I know it sounds ambitious, but the setting would develop strongholds, villages and towns, and politics very organically if it could be pulled off.

Rethinking a Rumination

Very recently, I posted about archetypes. I had something of an epiphany yesterday. Most of my thinking and rules tinkering occurs in a vacuum, since I have no group. So, when I pontificate on a topic, such as the idea of many different classes, it is essentially based more on principle than practice. It finally dawned on me that my thinking on classes comes from such a place.

My best friend and gaming buddy used to run his own brew of AD&D 1st, with bits of 2nd thrown in, and a heavy dose of house rules. He also had a lot of classes unique to his world that he had made up. Whenever you would sit down with him to make up a character, his guideline was "Any class is available, from 1st, 2nd, Dragon, whatever. If you have one you made up, run it by me." He wasn't worried about how the classes balanced against each other. If somebody wanted to play a class that was a little weak in actual play, that was their choice.

So, yesterday it hit me: a plethora of choices doesn't automatically restrict player options. Just because there is a ranger class shouldn't mean that other players can't track. Paladins do not have to be the only class that can Lay on Hands. If a players wants to make up a fighter and we can work out some backstory where he has some divine gift of healing, we can do that. If he wants to play a full-on Divine Warrior, he should be able to do so.

We do this for fun. As a player, I would not have found it fun in the least if I had told my friend "I have an idea for a druid for your new campaign" and he said "Well, ok, we'll start with a cleric. I'll try to work something in where you can quest for the shapechange ability, and I'll look over some of the druid spells and work them into the cleric list. How does that sound?" I would have said "It sounds like I'm playing a cleric. Nevermind."

As a corollary to this thought, it hit me that I don't play/referee enough for balance inconsistencies to actually manifest at the table. So, maybe some house rules isn't especially balanced. I can't tie myself up in knots over it, because it's likely I will never know, since I'll never generate a large enough play-experience example to chart it. So, maybe my latest monster design is actually too tough to appear on the 1st level of the dungeon. Well, oops. Maybe you should start running.

More on Magic users

One of the perils of stream-of-conscious writing is that things get left out. I fancy myself some sort of Mozart of the blog, putting out a completed post in a single pass, no editing required. Of course, I know that's total horseshit, but we all have our delusions. Anyway . . .

There are a couple of more setting-centric thoughts about magic users that didn't make it into the recent relevant post.

I envision magic users in my setting as more adventurous than their "standard" brethren. With a more restrictive spell system, with a more limited number of acquisition options, they are forced to venture into the wild places in search of spells. They are also forced to be more pragmatic and seek more mundane solutions to many of their problems. Thus, they are slightly more robust and more capable in a fight.

• They may use any one-handed weapon
• They may wear leather armor, but still may not use shields
• Their hit points are slightly better, adding +2 on the even levels, rather than +1

It seems like there was something else, but now it eludes me. Oh well, there's always another post.

Late to the Party (again)

As usual, I'm late to the party where new games are concerned (actually where everything is concerned, but we all have our crosses to bear). Here I am speaking specifically of Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures.

At this point I can tell you very little about it. For the paltry sum of $7.99 it can be had at Drive Thru RPG. That gets you the core rules plus a bestiary. There are also several free add-ons available, so you can get it all bundled into a single download (I did).

My limited exposure leads me to believe that character generation is a focal point of the designers. They have developed something reminiscent of a lifepath type system. Not as in-depth as a true lifepath system, but it definitely smacks of one. Certain points in character generation also inform the creation of the characters' home village. So, it is created right alongside them, which, if well done, would definitely invest the players in the nascent campaign from inception. Very groovy.

It is definitely based on D&D, with the expected attributes and other descriptive factors, such as class/level, hit points, etc. From my horribly brief perusal it seems to be based on a blend of B/X, with the unified attribute bonuses a la Moldvay, and 3.x, with ascending AC and BtH. It does have the Five Saving Throw scheme, but includes the Three-Fold Save scheme from 3.x as an optional rule.

It also includes some ideas unique to it. There is a section on True Names, which I find endlessly fascinating and underused. I can't comment on it beyond its inclusion, but the fact that is there is a good start. Reviews indicate that the magic/spell system is somewhat different, so that may be fun.

All in all, this should provide, at the very least, some new ideas and an interesting read. I would say that I'll post more about this at a later time, but we all know how those promises play out. So, I won't say it.