CLERICS!

In this thread on the Delving Deeper google+ page, Simon Bull talks about alternative level titles for clerics. I'm not a fan of the cleric, as I've indicated before. I like the idea of a crusader/holy warrior/demon hunter, etc, but the implementation of the class doesn't work for me. I have some ideas on that point. They definitely make some implications about setting, so may not be everyone's cup of tea. At any rate, new level titles were in order to better reflect what I'm thinking for clerics.

Level Titles

1    Novice (of the Order of . . .)
2    Chaplain
3    Brother-Sergeant
4    Knight-Errant
5    Brother-Knight
6    Justiciar
7    Knight-Commander
8    Knight-Marshall
9    Prior

A Novice is one who is newly initiated into an Order. They are given martial instruction, and are trained in the doctrine of the Order. They are not schooled in the Rites of the Order at this time, however. Novices are only one step above the laity, and are a level between rank-and-file troops and non-comms. Most initiates never rise above this level in the hierarchy.

Chaplain is an arduous rank within the Order. It is something of a crucible. Chaplains are expected to demonstrate leadership, knowledge of the doctrines of the Order, as well as the dogma and canon of the faith. They lead the laity in prayer and perform many common functions, such as marriage, baptisms, and presiding over funerals. They are also indoctrinated into the mysteries of the Rites, and are expected to learn how to apply them to further the goals of the Order. Chaplains rarely venture out of their priory, and many clerics remain Chaplains for their entire lives, content to tend the needs of the laity.

Brother-Sergeants lead units of Novices and lay-troops in battle. They are expected to function as part of the greater whole and must exhibit deep understanding of battlefield tactics. They also typically lead the Novices under their command in prayer and minister to their religious needs.

In order for a cleric to advance through the ranks of a militant order, he must prove himself worthy. Up to this point in his advancement he has shown that he possesses the ability to follow orders as a Novice, compassion, humility, and perseverance as a Chaplain, and the ability to lead and minister his soldiers as a Brother-Sergeant. Now comes the time when he must venture into the wider world as a Knight-Errant. He sallies forth, spreading the virtues of his order by his example. Sometimes a Knight-Errant sets out upon a specific charge, such as locating a holy relic or defeating an enemy of the Order. Many simply wander, spreading their faith, drawing potential Novices to the Order. This "time in the wilderness" is crucial to their development in the Order. Clerics who lack self-direction and the strength of their convictions rarely progress beyond this point.

Once having proven himself as a Knight-Errant, the cleric advances to Brother-Knight. He returns to the Priory and gains his spurs. Brother-Knights are the heavy cavalry of the Order. They are also dispatched individually or in small units for specific objectives.

As Novices and Chaplains clerics are steeped in the doctrine and canon of the faith. The bulk of their experience and training from there is predominantly martial. Having proven himself a peerless champion of the faith on the battlefield, now the cleric must show himself a champion of the Order's justice. As a Justiciar, the cleric travels a circuit of the towns and villages under his Priory's charge, dispensing justice. Secular courts hear cases involving everyday matters, but in cases that somehow intersect with the purview of the faith, it is the Justiciar that sits in judgement. With his time as a Justiciar, the cleric has proven his worth in all aspects of Priory life and prudence in his conduct in the faith.

The next step is Knight-Commander. The Knight-Commander leads squadrons of Brother-Knights on the field of battle. This is the first step to becoming Prior.

A Knight-Marshall commands all the military forces of a Priory. Obviously, there is only one Knight-Marshall in a Priory. They are responsible for the well-being of the Novices, Brother-Sergeants, Brother-Knights, and Knight-Commanders under their command. They are expected to plan and prosecute large scale military actions.

Finally, there is the Prior. The entire Priory and all its inhabitants are his charge. Additionally, he is responsible for the religious needs of all the laity within the demesne of his Priory. He is also the final arbiter of canon justice within the demesne.

It was Simon's thoughts on this matter that started me thinking, so a big Thank You to the estimable Mr. Bull.

Delving Deeper Compendium

It's here! Actually it came in yesterday morning, but I was at work. This is a very initial impression. I plan to expound upon it, but for now, these are my thoughts.

First and foremost, this is v4 of the Reference Rules. I haven't noted any significant changes from the v3 rules. In point of fact, for anyone that pays any attention to this project, the changes have been available for some time. The project's author, Simon Bull, is very good about posting his ideas on his blog and on Delving Deeper's Google+ community.

I will say that I am undecided about the cover. It is a very nice piece, but I'm not sure it survived the reduction to booklet size very well. There are a lot of little details in the piece, and it is black and white. I'm absolutely certain that at a larger size, such as maybe 8.5x11, it would look fantastic. As it is, to me it looks good, but too dark and too "busy". I hate to be critical about a game I love so much, but that's my honest feeling about the cover.

Speaking of the cover, the stock seems a little "light". I routinely cover all my softback game books with clear shelf liner. I definitely recommend that here. It added just the right amount of weight to the cover.

I ordered this because I respect Simon's work on these rules, his respect for the original rules that his are derived from, and his scholarship in these matters. I have two sets of the v3 rules printed, and didn't intend to order anything until the Reliquary finally comes out. I felt like giving my feedback was the least I could do to support Simon's work, though. I'm very happy to order this, offer my thoughts, and get some of my houserules posted this weekend. We'll see how that part goes. I do have some ideas, but actually getting them typed up and posted. Well, therein lies the rub.

Delving Deeper v3 Random Wilderness

Well, thanks to the tireless efforts of the esteemable Mr. Simon Bull, I now have all three volumes of v3 of the Delving Deeper Reference Rules. I'll talk more at length about the new version in another post (maybe). For now, I wanted to talk about a very specific portion of the rules and share a little something.

On pages 20 and 21 of Volume II: Delving and Exploration, there are two tables for randomly determining a wilderness environment. I am always intrigued by such things. I am very enamored of the idea of randomly generating certain "facts" and imagining the ties that bind them together. So, I generated a small region, and without further ado . . .

I like it. In case you're interested, here's how I did it:

I started with a blank hex map and randomly generated the far-left column. From there I just went column by column, top to bottom. If a roll made zero sense, I ignored it, but otherwise I followed the table pretty close. Of course, most hexes were adjacent to more than one other hex, so I used that to inform my decision if I chose to ignore the roll.

Once I had all the terrain generated I then went hex by hex rolling on the terrain features table. For rivers and trails, i marked each hex as they occurred and "stitched" them together whenever it was all done. This did involve connecting rivers and trails through hexes in which they were not indicated, but that's how shit gets done.

Once I had everything generated, I drew the map in GIMP. There is a script and brush set called hexGIMP that is available for free download. It includes more terrain than just that generated by the tables, so I used a little DM license in those cases.

I plan to further flesh this out using the D30 Sandbox Companion, but I've made such plans before that have come to naught. So, we shall see.

Edit: The red skull/crossbones I used when the table indicated "lair", however, when fleshing out, I intend to view these more as "something interesting".

Delving Deeper Reference Sheets

At long last I have completed my Delving Deeper Reference Sheets. These are done in the style of the little reference sheet booklet that came with the white box. They are meant to be printed double sided and folded. I wouldn't recommend stapling, though, because I find they work better when you can pull them apart as needed. As a matter of fact, I would suggest that when (if) you print them out, don't just send them to the printer all at once. I tried to group things in such a way that they made sense even once folded, but my attention span doesn't support that sort of thing for long periods. So, look them over and decide for yourself what should be on the back of what. Here is a sample of one of the sheets:

Hopefully these will be of use. Oh, by the way, all the tables concerning classes and characters came from v3 of the Reference Rules. The rest are from v2.

Combat Prowess and Critical Hits

I have this idea. It involves modelling an increasing fighting capacity beyond the improvements on the "to hit" matrix and improving hit points. I am calling it Combat Prowess. It also goes fist-in-glove with a basic critical hit system. In a nutshell, a critical hit is basically scored on a to-hit roll of a natural "20'. In this case the attack does maximum damage. The Combat Prowess options to follow improve on this.

Combat Prowess
Essentially, Combat Prowess is a pool of points that may be spent to modify attacks in various ways. The options available are limited by level, as is the number of times they may be used in a given turn. The options are:

Most of them are pretty self-explanatory. It is worth noting that any points used apply to only one attack in a given round. That is not to say that points may not be spent on more than one attack, however. So, if you spend 1 point for an additional attack, giving you 2 attacks, you may spend one point on each attack for a +1 to-hit on each. In this case, you would be using a total Prowess of 3 points.

Effect C,  -1 enemy "to hit", applies to a single enemy, but it does apply to all attacks from that enemy.

Effect D, +1 to critical range, improves the critical range. +1 improves the critical range to 19-20, etc. A critical hit will be indicated by any natural roll within the range.

Effect E, Additional attack, grants the combatant an additional attack. Additional attacks are not modified by Prowess unless points are allocated specifically for them.

Effect F, +1d6 on a critical hit, allows an additional d6 to be rolled and added to the damage total in the event of a critical hit. Note that Prowess must be allocated for this effect before the attack is rolled, so it is a bit of a gamble, though the bet may be hedged by also allocating Prowess to Effect D.

Effect G, +1 Initiative, is added as a general bonus in group initiatives. That is, all bonuses from all characters are added together, then divided by the number of characters to arrive at an average Initiative bonus. Of course, in an Individual Initiative situation, it is added directly and unmodified.

Prowess is gained differently for each class. The following table illustrates when each class gains points, which effects they are eligible to employ, and how many points may be allocated to a given effect each turn.

* The number of times a letter appears indicates the number of points that may be allocated to that effect in a given turn. For example, a 7th level fighter has 4 Prowess points, and access to effects B, C, and E. In any given turn he may spend 2 points on A, 4 points on B, 2 points on C, 2 points on D, or any combination not exceeding the total of 4 points.

I hope this isn't too confusing. It is one of those things where I know what I mean by all of it, but it isn't that easy to communicate. My goals here are twofold:

• Higher level fighters should be rightly feared. When a party goes into a brawl with a creature with 6 HD and a d4/d4/2d6 attack routine they are rightly fearful. So, too, should someone be when facing a 6th level fighter.
• I want players of fighter types to have some tactical options during combat. Even though fighters are my favorite class to play, it can turn to drudgery when a drawn out combat turns into a monotonous succession of nothing but "to hit" and damage rolls. To sit quietly waiting for the DM to shift his attention to you and your "turn" is over in all of three seconds is not very satisfying. It often leaves me feeling a bit powerless and at the mercy of the dice.

Lastly, I want to reiterate that I have no group, so these ideas are untested. I'm not a number-cruncher, I eye-ball these sorts of things and just do what "feels" right to me. As always, I welcome comments and feedback, especially from the mathematically inclined, who may have some insights into how these bonuses feather in with the "to hit" matrices and anticipated damage outputs, in the RAW.

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+.
  
  

Delving Deeper Reliquary

Delving Deeper Reliquary, the all-in-one version of Delving Deeper is available for download. It is in plain-text only. I dig the name, btw.

Damage by Class

This will be another pre-work rush job.

I am on a less-is-more kick again. My B/X reading led me back to Delving Deeper and I have been having some minimalist house rule ideas (a seeming oxymoron).

Here's the skinny: attacks come in one of three "modes"

• Weapon/Shield -1 AC
• Two Weapons  Roll 2 damage dice, keep the one you want
• Two-handed/Heavy Weapon  +1 to-hit

Furthermore, Fighters use a d6+1 for damage, regardless of weapon. Clerics and thieves use a d6, and magic-users use a d6-1. Anyone can use any weapon, but only Fighters can employ magic weapons to their fullest.

That's it for now. More to follow.

Random Thoughts

I have several small ideas fluttering around, none of which warrants its own post. However, taken as a whole . . . they are still pretty inconsequential, let's be honest. So, this is one of my "notes to self" posts.

Swords & Wizardry Complete (SWC)

I came up with the Ranger for DD, and started thinking about some more conversions of classes from the supplements. There were some I was willing to drop in pretty much whole, from certain sources. I am happy enough with the Paladin from SWC, as far as Paladins go, so I pulled that out and  . . . well, now I'm sucked into SWC.

I have loved Swords & Wizardry since I first laid eyes on it. Even when I have fixated on the things I don't like about it, I still love the game. SWC is so gonzo to me. It really harkens back to the late 70's, when all the supplements were out, we had Strategic Review, and The Dragon first took flight. There was a crazy mix of ideas, some were brilliant, some not so much. Some were out-right horse shit. They all drove the game in crazy new directions, though. It was like building a soap-box racer. Then deciding it would be great fun to rig a lawn mower engine to it. A cup holder and better seat was next. Then, finally, somebody gets the idea to put wings on the damn thing.

SWC somehow captures that gonzo, free-wheeling, anything goes spirit of those times. Yet, it doesn't implode. Let's face it, not all of those crazy ideas (even the brilliant ones) really worked. Some of them worked great, until they were asked to work with some of the other crazy ideas, then they became an unholy mess. Not so in SWC. It isn't perfect (I'm still less than thrilled that the Fighter's class ability is completely dependent on high stat rolls), but it is easily house ruled.

Thieves

I think there is a problem with the Delving Deeper Thief. It starts off too competent. All of the thief skills succeed 67% of the time. A lot of grumbling is done about the "Greyhawk" thief being almost irrelevant at low levels, and I suppose this alleviates that. I really liked it at first, then it hit me. There is no sense of accomplishment when playing a DD thief. Even with the option of improving his skills, something is lost when you go from succeeding almost all the time to succeeding virtually all the time. Sure, it sucks to have a 10% chance to pick a  lock at 1st level. Yet, there is a growing sense of achievement that comes with earning that 67% chance of doing something, rather than having it handed to you.

Not to mention the old argument about the class being self-justifying, anyway. What could be more self-justifying than making certain activities the purview of a specific class, then setting it up so that characters of that class begin the game with such a high degree of competence?

Ascending Armor Class

When I am in an old school mind-set, nothing rankles me more than AAC. Logically, I know it makes sense. It is easy to use, and it obviates big to-hit charts. This came up for me as I'm sitting here this morning contemplating making a referee screen for SWC. There are three rather large to-hit tables for characters and one for monsters. It would take up quite a bit of space just for those. If I embrace AAC, it would only take up a few lines. Plus it has the advantage of tweaking the bonuses slightly to further differentiate classes' fighting abilities. It still disrupts my old school groove, though.

DD Ranger

Ok, here's a first draft of a Ranger for Delving Deeper. I based it on the Thief, which I like a lot. Without further ado . . .

Same HD, XP, and attacks as Fighter
No shields
Only Leather or Chain armor (Chain imposes a -1 penalty to certain skill rolls)
No scaling damage bonus (one of my house rules)

Skills @d6 3+
All function only in natural environments.

• Tracking (includes hiding ranger's own tracks)
• Navigation
• Survival (Finding water, suitable shelter site/materials, fire making)
• Foraging (Hunting, edible plants)
• Herbal Healing (as Lay on Hands IF access to herbs)
• Stalking (hiding and Moving Silently)

Favored Terrain
All Rangers perform best in terrain they are most familiar with. The terrains correspond to those found in the Wilderness Encounter tables (pages 19 and 24 of the Referee's Guide). They are Swamp, Woods, Plains, Crags, Desert, Arctic, and Jungle. Personally, I don't think Town is appropriate, though Necropolis might be, for some sort of undead-stalking ranger.

The ranger benefits from operating in his favored terrain as follows:

• Rolls d8 for skill rolls, still needing 3+
• Damage +1 every odd-numbered level vs creatures listed under favored terrain in encounter table (does not include PC races)
• Knowledgeable about creatures inhabiting favored terrain (per encounter table), also includes natural flora and fauna
• Only Surprised on rolls of 6

Given reasonable exposure to new terrain types (which may include experience with similar terrain at the Referee's discretion), the ranger may add a new terrain to his list of favored terrains at levels 3, 6, 9, and 12. Alternatively, the ranger may elect to improve his skills in an already mastered favored terrain. In that case he may move "up" a die type. 

So, for example, a ranger whose favored terrain is Woods gains 3rd level. The only other terrain the character has adventured in has been Desert, and he has no intention of returning. The player elects instead to improve his skills in Woods and will now roll d10 (still needing 3+). 

Note that this only improves the abilities listed under Skills, the Damage and Surprise rolls remain unchanged.

That's it. It's a pretty rough write-up, I know, and it is entirely possible I've missed some things. Please let me know if you notice anything I left out or unclear, along with any other thoughts/comments.

Delving Deeper in Action

A rare and marvelous thing happened last night. I was able to have a game with my two teenagers. Their previous experience was limited to a friend's campaign, which was a blend of 1st/2nd Editions, along with copious house rules. There was a brief attempt and 3E, along with a dubious flirtation with 4E. So, they are completely unaccustomed to the old school paradigm.

They had a great time. It was their first time keeping a map, but my son took right to it. They were a bit hesitant at first, not having Perception stats to check, or being able to rely on other rolls to help them out. By the time we broke, though, they were getting a bit more comfortable engaging with the system.

The most amusing moments were when my daughter (playing a magic-user) decided to open a chest. It was trapped with paralyzing gas, and she failed her save. So, my son (playing a fighter of questionable intellect) decided to press ahead and leave her lying there before the chest. He emptied the chest before departing the room, however. His intent wasn't to abandon her, just to scout ahead some and see if the paralytic would wear off. Naturally, my daughter was incensed by this, especially since there was a bit of loot in the chest and they didn't know how long the paralytic would last or if it would wear off at all.

Well, it did wear off, the two of them linked back up and continued their exploration. I had pretty much thrown together a simple dungeon, with the design idea of including some old school iconic elements. Thus is was that my son's character tumbled head-long into a pit trap in the middle of the corridor. My daughter thought that was the cue for her revenge. She smiled a big smile, looked over at the map, and said she wanted to go back to "this room", leaving her brother in the pit.

I calmly asked her, "Which room?" Again she pointed at the map and said "this one". I informed her that the map was in the pit with her brother and as far as I was concerned she was telling me she wanted to a point in thin air. She got a foiled villain look on her face and we got a big laugh.

All in all, it was great fun. I realized that all my gaming career I have basically played old school, but not with a system that really supports it. I may have lots of ideas that strike me as shit-hot, or I read a new system that just fires my imagination, but when the dice start hitting the table, I default to those old paradigms (that word again).

My house rules played pretty well. They both rolled much better then I ever have with 3d6 and were able to play the characters they wanted to. My son, the fighter, selected Two-handed and Dual Weapon as his fighting styles, relying primarily on Dual Weapon. It didn't strike me as over-powered, since there were rounds where he did miss altogether.

From a referee point of view, I had forgotten what it was like to describe "empty" dungeon rooms on the fly. They would open doors to rooms I didn't have an encounter for and want to know what was in the room, as they should. But, since I had thrown the dungeon together only about 3 hours before we played, the empty rooms were really empty as far as my write-up was concerned.

Delving Deeper played beautifully. It got out of the way, and at the points we had to engage the system, it played so much like the LBBs that I had absolutely no issues. I did forget where the Cleric Turning Undead table was, but that was my problem. I had a great time running it, just making up rolls for whatever needed a roll as it was needed. Just like the old days.

The kids definitely want to keep it going. I hope we do, and I'll do my part. I want to introduce more old school elements and eventually work our way up to a true mega-dungeon (especially one of the "mythic" variety as discussed in Philotomy's Musings). Thanks to all concerned with the design and production of Delving Deeper.

Delving Deeper House Rules - Addendum

I forgot to mention a few things in my haste to post.

Armor and Dexterity

Armor modifies the chance of success of all forms of combat and most of the thiefly talents, based on its weight. Light -1, Medium -2, Heavy -3. Characters with a Dexterity of 15+ may ignore one point of the penalty. Additionally, Fighters may ignore one point when engaged in combat. Thieves may ignore one point in pursuit of thiefly activities.

Thiefly talents and the non-thief

Any class may attempt the thiefly talents, except for backstabbing, deciphering treasure maps and magic-user scrolls. The roll to succeed is still 3+, but the non-thief must roll on d4. (Note: I know this is still a 50% chance of success, on the surface. However, when you consider the non-thief classes, the fighter and cleric typically go about armored, thus they won't be able to succeed most of the time, unless the character in question has a DEX of 15+. That leaves magic-users. If you consider the manual dexterity required by their art, coupled with their implied intelligence, they should have some chance when trying their hand at illicit activities.) It is possible that failure by a non-thief is more hazardous than failure by a true thief.

Clerics

Clerics begin knowing the Sword and Shield fighting style.

Delving Deeper

During my lull in activity the free pdf of Delving Deeper finally came out. I had been waiting for it for a long time, since I am such a fan of the LBBs. I have to say, it does not disappoint. I should qualify that: if you want a good, true clone of the LBBs, it does not disappoint. It doesn't make any truly radical digressions from the source material. It merely makes it more understandable and usable by beginners.

Anyway, this isn't intended as a review. The pdfs can be downloaded free here, so go grab them and see for yourself. They are awesome. One thing, though: these are "no art" pdfs, which in a strange way fits with the nostalgia of the early edition experience. Sure there was artwork in the LBBs but it was akin to studyhall doodling and rarely bore any correlation to the topic discussed on the page it occupied. I tended to ignore it for the most part, and the no-art of DD plays right into that.

Some House Rules

These are some ideas that have been rattling around my brain for a few weeks. Getting DD made me want to get them written up (however roughly). I'm going to share them here. I've done countless OD&D house rules, but these strike me as different. These are more subtle and (I think) more in line with OD&D power levels. Please let me now what you think. Obviously they can be used with any version of OD&D.

General

Stat Determination

Roll 3d6, assign where desired. Repeat for remaining stats.

Hit Points

Re-rolled at each level. If the new roll doesn't exceed the previous total, keep the previous total. Note that this is per level, and so applies even when a +1 or +2 is indicated on the class table.

Classes

Fighters

Fighters begin knowing two fighting styles. They add an additional style at levels 3 and 6. There is no benefit to taking a style more than once.

Fighters add +1 to all damaged caused. This increases by +1 at 4th level and again at 8th level.

Clerics

Clerics add +1 to their rolls to turn undead if their WIS is 15+.

Magic-users

Magic-users with an INT of 15+ have a +1 bonus which may be used in two ways.

It may be subtracted from a targets Saving Throw;

It may be used to increase a level-dependent variable of a cast spell. For example, a 5th level magic-user could cast a Fireball that does 6d6 damage.

The bonus may only be applied once per spell cast. So in the above example, he could cast a 6d6 Fireball, or a standard 5d6 Fireball, but force his target to subtract -1 from his Saving Throw roll.

Thieves

Each time a thief adds a new hit die, he also improves in his illicit skills. At levels 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12 the player selects one of the eight thiefly skills listed on page 14 of the Adventurer's Handbook. He now rolls a d8 when using that kill. The roll needed to succeed is still 3+.

Combat

Fighting Styles

There are four fighting styles a character may be proficient in:

Sword and Shield

Two Weapon

Two-handed Weapon

Missile

Sword and Shield is the standard. Note that it refers to any one-handed weapon and not just swords. This style allows the combatant to subtract his shield's bonus from his opponents to-hit roll.

Usable by Fighters and Clerics.

Two-weapon refers to the skill with wielding a weapon in each hand. The player rolls 2d20 when attacking and keeps the more favorable result. Note that only one of the attack rolls actually counts, even if they are both good enough to hit.

Usable by Fighters only.

Two-handed Weapon is the use of a larger, heavier version of a standard weapon, which requires two hands to wield properly. When such a weapon hits, rolls 2d6 for damage and keep the better result. Any weapon may have two-handed variant which may be used with this style.

Usable by Fighters only.

Missile refers to any thrown or mechanically propelled weapon. Proficiency in this style confers a +1 to-hit and damage.

Usable by Fighters and Thieves.

Armor

Armor is considered either Light, Medium, or Heavy for rules purposes. The Armor Classes are Light 7, Medium 5, Heavy 3. Construction material is irrelevant in determining AC, thus you can have Heavy Leather that is AC3. Construction material may be considered where specific types of damage are concerned, such as an electrical attack against someone in chainmail. These will need to be considered on a per case basis.

Magical armor subtracts its bonus from the enemy's to-hit roll. The armor class itself remains fixed.

Hit Points and the One Minute Combat Round

I was watching Troy this afternoon. It led me to the following train of thought.

Many aspects of OD&D (and, by extension, the more modern titles based on it) are much maligned. Of course, on of the hot-button issues is hit points. It has been discussed ad infinitum what hit points actually represent, as well as what their loss represents.

Another aspect that isn't particularly maligned, but is probably one of the most house-ruled is the one-minute combat round. It is quite often said to be completely unrealistic that combatants could swing swords at each other for five or six minutes straight, or longer. There is another aspect to the hit point/combat round that had completely eluded me until I was watching the movie.

It was the big showdown between Achilles and Hector. They swung, they dodged, they dipped, dodged, and dove. Hector tripped over a rock. Achilles narrowly avoided a sucking chest wound. Obviously, all of this was wearing down their hit points. I may have even posted about it before. I know I did a movie-hit point post, but I can't remember the movie and I'm too lazy to go back through my posts, so there. Anyway . . .

I'm currently hip deep in Delving Deeper, a most excellent OD&D clone, and freely available here. It finally clicked with me that there is a distinct correlation between the rather modest number of hit points and the one-minute round. An 8th level fighter is a fearsome opponent in OD&D, but still only has, on average, 28 hit points, lacking any adjustments. With a CON bonus, he would have a whopping 36 hit points. He could conceivably be smacked down, by a comparable opponent, in 6-8 rounds.

My point here is that I think the one-minute combat round started getting a little hoary when hit point inflation started taking hold. An 8th level fighter with an 18 CON would have the aforementioned 36 HP in OD&D. The same fighter in B/X would have, on average, 60 HP (8 x 4.5 per d8) + (8 x 3 CON bonus). in AD&D the same fighter would have 76 hit points on average. That's more than double the OD&D fighter.

Now, I know somebody out there is saying "But what about variable weapon damage and monsters' attack schemes?" Sure, an AD&D fighter faces more damage potentially than the OD&D fighter, but I seriously do not believe the damage threat doubled right along with hit points. So, it is my contention that the one-minute combat round is perfectly acceptable in OD&D, where there just aren't enough hit points to drag fights out for too long.