Towards a Supers RPG

One of the most challenging things about doing a superhero game within the mechanical structure of D&D is the radically different assumptions about combat. Where D&D grew out of a medieval war game where the consequence of combat is death, the superhero genre rarely deals out death, just incapacitation.

5e spells suggest a way to mechanically differentiate what Champions calls Killing Attacks from Normal Attacks. The 5e spell Sacred Flame auto-hits but allows the target a saving throw to avoid damage. Fire Bolt requires a to-hit roll that determines whether or not the target takes damage. Since the latter is the normal D&D mechanic for determining death of a target, that will model the Killing Attack, and the auto-hit/saving throw will emulate the normal superhero combat mechanic.

This allows for an interesting mechanical smorgasbord in terms of attack and defense. Each attack power gets to specify which attribute is used for a saving throw:

• Strength
• Dexterity
• Constitution
• Intelligence
• Wisdom
• Charisma

It also gets to designated what type of damage it does:

• Acid
• Bludgeoning
• Cold
• Fire
• Force
• Lightning
• Necrotic
• Piercing
• Poison
• Psychic
• Radiant
• Slashing
• Thunder

Defense would include Resistance to the various types of damage, Damage Reduction for various types of damage, and the good ‘ol Armor Class.

This leaves a huge (maybe even too big?) amount of space for players to come up with all kinds of weird ways to explain why a Lightning attack targets Charisma.

Alternatively, the type of damage could pre-determine what kind of saving throw is required:

Strength: Cold, Fire
Dexterity: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing
Constitution: Acid, Poison
Intelligence: Lightning, Thunder
Wisdom: Force, Psychic
Charisma: Necrotic, Radiant

Note how the latter limits choices on how special effects function and how arguments can be made why one type of damage also belongs with another type of saving throw...which is why I hesitate even though it would make things "easier" mechanically.

RPG Dreamin': Re-thinking 5e Skills

Have you ever had a dream where you are in a game shop and you find a really interesting game that you want to buy but then wake up and realize that the game actually doesn’t exist? I have.

Recently, I had this very vivd dream of seeing a stack of RPG supplements in the form of cheap comic books printed on newspaper quality stock. Each supplement promised invaluable information on how to add various cheesy 80s cartoon characters and worlds to the RPG experience: He-Man, Space Ghost, Thunder the Barbarian, etc. They cost two bucks each and I was really interested. When I found the actual ruleset, it was also a comic book, also two dollars, but someone had ripped pages out of it. Then I woke up.

In my half-awake haze of coming out of a dream state, it occurred to me that what I had dreamt about was not something all that new: Basic Roleplaying, Fudge, and GURPS have gone down this path for decades now. The big difference is that while the main rule-books of these three games are tomes of hundreds of pages, my dream envisioned a comic-book sized rulebook of maybe 32-64 pages. While I don’t think this is practical or even possible, I can’t help but think someone could get close.

Then my hazy brain started to have a conversation with itself that went along these lines:

You know, I just finished up a pretty good game that is under 64 pages…

Yeah, but that’s a fantasy RPG what about modern stuff like guns? Or superhero stuff?

Yeah, a lot of those 80s cartoons were riffs off of superhero concepts.

So, if this comic-book sized game could do superheroes, it could do exactly what you wanted in your dream, right?

Yeah…

So let’s see if the 5e SRD could do superheroes!

Yeah! This could work!

Back when I was playing RPGs with my high school buddies, those words, “This could work” were dreaded words. It meant that our party was about to push the limits of both our characters and the DMs ability to accommodate whatever outlandish idea we had come up with. It either broke the campaign or it was awesome.

So, in order to test these dangerous waters, I decided to start with my least favorite part of any universal system: skills. I dislike them because they are rules-heavy and tend to tell players what they cannot do rather than what they can. Unfortunately, they come with the territory with RPG settings like cyber-punk, space, and even superheroes.

Since I have had the idea of stripping down the SRD to its mechanical core, I remembered something rather interesting about Champions: it has a bunch of skills that are not tied to any ability. In other words, it doesn’t matter how smart, dumb, strong or weak you are, this skill is going to work or not work because of skill. While interesting, this still informs players that they can’t do stuff unless they have that skill on their character sheet. So, what if I took the spirit of this idea — skills are not tied to a specific ability score — and went the opposite direction. What if a player could use any ability score with a skill?

Here is the basic premise: Skills should be cinematic rather than mechanical. In other words, rather than having dice rolling being the primary reason why a character succeeds or not, have the player’s creativity be the primary mover in any given situation. Let me illustrate by taking a few skills from the SRD and applying non-traditional ability scores to them:

Stealth

Strength: Use the angles of the ceiling to hang from an otherwise impossible place where no one would think to look.

Constitution: Hold really still in a small place until no one is looking.

Intelligence: Analyze the position of the surveillance cameras and/or guards to determine where all the blindspots are.

Wisdom: Read the guards and determine what kind of distraction would create the most confusion.

Charisma: Walk through like I’m supposed to be there.

History

Strength: Intimidate the librarian until she tells you the information you need.

Constitution: Find a place where people talk and hold-out until I overhear something important.

Dexterity: Climb that tree/lamp post/building that will get me the vantage point to figure out who is in that painting.

Wisdom: Who is the most likely person to know the information I need?

Charisma: Charm the information out of the professor over a coffee.

Not every situation is going to allow for every ability score to be used. I can’t think of a way Wisdom or Charisma could help to climb a sheer wall when running away from some monsters, for example. What I love about this idea, though, is that it gives players the freedom to try. What I also love about this idea is that it frees up the Referee to simply allow the PCs to succeed when they come up with good cinematic ways to use skills, or to levy what they see as reasonable DCs for ideas that are just outside the box.

I will also grant that some of the above descriptions better fit other skills; however, that is an exercise in telling players what they can't do, and that is exactly what I don't want a skill system to do.

Proficiency then, rather than being simply a bonus to a roll, is permission to be truly heroic in the ways that that skill gets used. Think Jeff Goldblum’s character in Independence Day. There is no way anyone should be able to write a virus that crashes the alien’s computer system. Yet, he does and we go along for the ride because it is so much fun.

The Holmesian Druid Revisited

My last post on a Holmesian Druid got some very interesting responses that I have been meaning to respond to, but I have been laid up in bed for the last several days feeling rather awful and was in no shape to either write or even think straight enough to give a decent response.

Since I want to address several points from those comments and since I have ignored my blog for the last several days, I thought that the discussion deserved its own post.

Firstly, whenever I post stuff with the Holmes+Cook tag I am continuing a long standing thought experiment about what my version of D&D would have looked like if the only sources I had were Holmes and Cook where Holmes had precedence over Cook (in a reversal of what it says in Cook). Therefore, when I try and figure out how to do a subclass in this context, I am largely confining myself to these two rulesets as written and my own proclivities.

Secondly, I am an old-school Champions player. I actually played editions 1-3, still own editions 2 & 3 and, in general, it is the RPG system I have played more than any other outside of all the various versions of D&D. One of the basic (and brilliant) assumptions of Champions is that the powers of superheroes are too numerous to try and make an RPG work. Therefore, all powers are described strictly as mechanics. This leaves players the freedom to skin those mechanics however they want. An 8d6 energy blast can be a ray gun, a sonic blast, dragon breath or whatever you fancy. Therefore, when I look at RPGs, I tend to disassociate mechanics from their descriptors.

Thirdly, I am a Christian. In Holmes, there are several implicit Christian ideas. This encourages me to do what I already love to do: look at RPGs through the lens of Christianity and to use both Scripture and the history of the Church to find ideas that can be applied to RPGs.

When I look at the mechanics of the four classes in D&D here is what I find:

• Fighters are good at combat. Therefore, subclasses ought to specialize in certain aspects of combat at the cost of other aspects of combat.
• Magic-users are good at spell-casting. Therefore, subclasses ought to specialize in certain types of magics at the cost of being good at other types of magic.
• Thieves are good at mundane aspects of the game. They get extra chances at surprise and opening doors, for example. Therefore, subclasses ought to specialize in certain aspects of the mundane at the cost of others.
• Clerics are mechanically the most complex of the classes because they are okay at combat and okay at spell casting. The one mechanic that differentiates them from any other class is Turning. Therefore, subclasses ought be able to use the Turning mechanic for different special effects at the cost of affecting the undead.

Thus, the idea that a cleric channels the divine, life-giving force of God to repel and dispel the undead is a special effect — a way to skin the mechanic of Turning. The mechanic itself merely suggests that the cleric can affect 2d6 creatures of a certain type.

Thus, when I look at the druid, I do not see a paleolithic pagan that had some import in the pre-Roman Celtic world. I see someone like Daniel, several of the martyrs or the likes of St. Francis of Assisi who could look in face of fierce animals and either make friendly, have them go on their way or even become life-long companions. The mechanic of Turning is a great way to express this, because not all Christians who went into the arena avoided death by lion, etc.

St. Ignatius the God-bearer
depicted getting mauled by lions in his icon

As Scott Anderson suggested, the special effect could involve being able to have a conversation with the animals where the level of success could indicate how involved or detailed that conversation could get up to where ‘D’ indicates that the animal could function as a henchman.

In other words, the mechanic of Turning allows for cleric subclasses to express a plethora of special effects that emulate various miracles of the saints. We just have to decide which miracles are appropriate and which types of targets are applicable.

I will add that, like many of the commenters on my last post, I don’t have a lot of love for the druid class as presented in D&D in all of its forms. I have played a druid exactly once and I just remember being frustrated at every turn. Thus, one of the things that I keep in mind when I create or re-skin a character class is whether or not I would want to play one. A druid that uses the Turning mechanic to interact with animals is a druid I would play.

FASERIP

While there seems to be a general buzz over the release of the new Swords & Wizardry White Box compatible sci-fi RPG White Star by James M. Spahn, I find myself far more excited about another old-school retroclone that has recently been made available: FASERIP by Gratis Games.

Some background: in terms of hours playing RPGs, superhero games come a close second to fantasy in my life. Of the various systems, my favorite historically is Villains & Vigilantes for two reasons: I love the character generation system and the longest running and most successful superhero campaign I ever ran used this ruleset. The most hours logged, however, belongs to Champions. While I am a huge fan of random character generation, most folks who play superhero games generally have a very good idea of what they want to play and Champions does one of the best jobs of giving players that kind of control over character generation.

The most fun I have ever had playing a superhero game, however, is with Marvel Superheroes. It terms of actual system mechanics, this is by far my favorite system for playing a superhero-type of game. It does an awesome job of making me feel like I am playing a character straight out of a comic book.

Historically, however, I have never liked the character generation system nor the idea that campaigns took place inside the Marvel Universe. PCs varied in power so dramatically that it was often impossible to sustain a campaign because players would feel left out and powerless to make any impact on the game. I have never been a fan of parading around in someone else’s universe, let alone my least favorite comic book universe.

FASERIP solves both of these problems. It obviously has to divorce itself from Marvel, as does any ruleset that seeks to emulate the system. The real strength of FASERIP, however, is its character generation system. While still maintaining a random generation system, it ensures that all PCs will be of a similar power range. It also empowers the player to customize what has been handed them via a random dice roll.

Another really interesting touch that I appreciate is a section on non-traditional campaigns and how to handle them using the FASERIP system. Included are a Shadowrun-type setting, a fantasy-type setting and a sci-fi alien taking over the world-type setting. This has got my non-playing Gamer ADD revving up. Expect some FASERIP meditations coming soon.

Tharks!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but some really interesting info has recently been unearthed about the Known World which was originally published in Cook’s Expert Edition and which eventually became known as Mystara. Lawrence Schick (author of White Plume Mountain), who helped Moldvay create the Known World, has been kind enough to share with us a bunch of info about what the Known World looked like prior to publication. You can find the awesomeness here (with a big shout out to James Mishler):

• http://www.blackgate.com/2015/02/07/the-known-world-dd-setting-a-secret-history/
• http://adventuresingaming2.blogspot.com/2015/02/mystara-original-known-world.html
• http://adventuresingaming2.blogspot.com/2015/02/mystara-lawrence-schick-answers-qs-on.html
• http://adventuresingaming2.blogspot.com/2015/03/mystara-another-round-of-qs-answered-by.html

One of the most fascinating things about this whole exercise is the inclusion of various non-human/demi-human races from literature not penned by J.R.R. Tolkien — Tharks and Kzinti, for example. The latter were meant to be a PC race and ended up in D&D as Rakasta and Tabaxi. The tharks, on the other hand, were just too strange and were always going to be a monster-type that attacked everybody. Well, as those who are familiar with my playing style, I like weird. Therefore, I am really interested in working on a campaign to take place within the Original Known World and for that I want to give players an opportunity to play a thark.

To that end, I need to start with Champions (of which I played 1st-3rd editions). I am a big fan of Champions because of the way it approaches the special effects of super-heroes. Rather than try to come up with rules to cover every type of ranged attack found in comic books, they reduced everything to mechanics. It was then the player’s job to describe these mechanics with special effects. For example, a 10d6 ranged attack could be ice, fire, laser, an elongated fist punch, chunks of rock, etc. If one takes the same approach with the demi-human classes found in the ACKS Players Companion, all kinds of goodness can be found there.

For example, here is how a basic dwarf is expressed mechanically in ACKS:

• They require a minimum Con of 9
• They cannot use TH swords or longbows
• They cannot use arcane magic
• They have a +1 to surprise rolls in a given situation (underground)
• They speak four bonus languages
• They can spot traps
• They have bonuses to saving throws (+3 vs. Breath and +4 to everything else)
• They are limited to a 13th level maximum

If one divorces these mechanics from the "special effect" of being a dwarf, it is possible to apply all of these mechanics to other non-human and demi-human races, thus allowing us to create PC classes for all kinds of races from whatever source material we want.

These mechanics, for example, could easily be used to describe tharks. The no TH swords and longbows could be explained as a cultural bias. Or, better yet, one could expand that limitation to all TH weapons, explaining that such a fighting style is inefficient with four arms. If you throw in the fact that wearing heavy armor also interferes with their fighting style, there are two available slots for bonuses to represent having four arms:

• They can wear two shields, giving a total of +2 to AC.
• They can use the two-weapon fighting style (which normally gives a +1 to hit) while wearing shields. This fighting style also gives them a +1 to damage.
• For flavor, tharks could get a -1 reaction roll with all other races, but a +1 with other tharks.

Otherwise, they fight and save as fighters and can use any weapon that doesn’t require a TH fighting style.

Requirements: CON 9
Prime Requisite: STR
Hit Dice: 1d8
Damage Die: 1d8
Maximum Level: 13 

XP       Level
2500         2
5000         3
10000       4
20000       5
40000       6
800000     7
160000     8
270000     9
400000   10
530000   11
660000   12
790000   13

So, you want to play a thark in the Original Known World of B/X? There you go, compliments of the guys over at Autarch via the ACKS Players Companion.

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 12

A Call for Comments

I realize that this particular project has not garnered a lot of comments; however, I am asking for feedback on this particular entry. As will become clear, this category requires a lot of interpretation. I don't know that I am happy with what amounts to a rough draft on this category, so I hope that those of you out there who bother to read this will help by chiming in below with your own point of view. Thanks.

Enchant

This is the single most challenging spell category of any that I have found using the Oe rule set. Not only are the mechanics all over the place, but their descriptions are vague and deviate from what has come to be the norm in later editions. The spells:

Charm Person (1)
Affects humanoids. If successful, target is "completely under the influence" of caster until dispelled. Range = 12"

Sleep (1)Affects a variety of creatures depending upon HD. Max = 2d8 creatures of 1+1HD or less. Max HD affected = 4+1 HD (one creature). Range = 24"

Hold Person (3) [2]
Affects 1-4 persons (with a -2 to the save if targeting only 1 person) with a "greater effect" than Charm Person. Duration = 6 turns + spell caster. Range = 12" Cleric version has Duration = 9 turns & Range = 18"

Charm Monster (4)
Same as Charm Person, but affects monsters and charms 3d6 creatures of 3 or fewer HD.

Confusion (4)
Affects 2d6 +1 per caster level above 8th. Causes affected creatures to randomly determine their action during combat. Targets with 2 or fewer HD are automatically affected. Targets with more HD must save every turn for the duration of the spell or be confused. Duration = 12 turns. Range = 12"

Feeble Mind (5)
Affects only other Magic Users. Renders them "feeble-minded" until dispelled. -4 to the save. Range = 24"

Hold Monster (5)
Same as Hold Person, applicable to monsters.

Quest [5]
Similar to Geas, but the target will suffer a curse (determined by caster with Referee supervision) if the quest is ignored. Duration = until quest is complete. Range = ?

Geas (6)
Target must complete a given task. Ignoring the Geas ultimately causes weakness and death. Duration = until task is complete. Range = 3"

Mechanics

There are a few surprises here, which tend to add more confusion than clarify things. I find this descriptor of Hold Person absolutely fascinating, because as someone who came into the hobby via the Holmes edition and 1e, I have always understood it to be some variation of a paralyzing spell. Here, it seems to indicate a more effective version of Charm Person (though what is a "greater effect" than being "completely under the influence?"). This is a prospect that really excites me, because it opens up possibilities. This led to me to seeking out how other editions describe these spells, of which the 1e DMG notes on Charm Person are by far the most helpful:

Remember that a charmed creature’s or person’s priorities are changed as regards to the spell-caster, but the charmed one’s basic personality and alignment are not.

This allows for the possibility that though the victim may be "completely under the influence" it does not change the basic character of that victim. In turn, this allows for "greater effect" to mean changing aspects of that basic character (such as a survival instinct that would counteract freezing in the middle of a combat to allow an enemy to stick you in the gut with a sword).

As exciting as this revelation is, however, there is very little mechanically that is consistent within this spell category. Sleep, for example, is over all mechanically more powerful than Hold Person (greater number of targets, greater range and potentially a greater duration). In turn, Hold Person is mechanically potentially more powerful than Confusion ("greater than completely under the influence" is more powerful than causing random behavior). In addition — again mechanically — Quest and Geas are not that much more powerful than Charm Person. Although they grant some devastating consequences for not obeying, the enchantment comes to an end once one command is fulfilled. In addition, the targets are free to ignore the command (as long as they are willing to accept the consequence) and to go about the command in a disobedient manner. Charm Person is effective until it is dispelled.

In other words, no matter what progression I choose to use for a Champion-style version of this category, it will little resemble the original source material. With this in mind, I am simply going to proceed with mechanics stripped out of the source material to create a base spell and largely ignore trying to duplicate that source material because it is largely an impossible task.

• Duration = until task is complete, 6 + caster level turns (12 turns), until dispelled
• Range = 3", 12" (18"), 24"
• Area Effect = 1 person/creature ≤ 4+1 HD, 1 person/creature of any HD, 2d6 + 1/per caster level above 8 creatures
• Special = saving throw penalties/automatic success, curse or withering death if command not followed.
• Target = humanoid, monster

Base Spell: Target must make a save or be compelled to carry out one command by the caster. Target is free to carry out this command in a manner that reflects their basic personality and alignment. Duration = until the task is complete. Area Effect = 1 person of 4+1 HD or less. Range = 3". Target = humanoid.

The following add 1 level:

• Duration = 6 + caster turns (and thus possibly more than one command).
• Range = 12"
• Area effect = 1 person/creature of any HD
• Save at penalty -2
• No save for creatures with less than 1/3 of caster level (1/2HD at 2nd level, 1 HD at 4th level, 2 HD at 7th level, etc.)
• Target = monster
• Target's basic personality & alignment are subject to change at the will of the caster

The following add 2 levels:

• Duration = until dispelled
• Range = 24"
• Area Effect = 2d6 creatures + 1 per level above 8
• Save at penalty -4
• Some kind of withering disease or curse affects the target when they do not fulfill the command(s) of the caster.

Example spell Feeble Mind

6th level spell. Target must make a save at -4 (+2 levels) or be compelled to carry out a single command of the caster. If the target refuses, their Int will be reduced to 3 (+2 levels). Magic Users will lose all memorized spells. Duration = until task is complete. Area Effect = 1 person of any HD (+1 level). Range = 3". Target = humanoid.

Again, please take the time to critique. I appreciate it.

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 11

Movement

Apologies for not getting on with this project for a number of weeks. As I noted in my last post, things have been busy around here lately and the last few spell categories are not as easily dealt with as previous categories. To the spells:

Levitate(2)
Vertical movement (horizontal only possible by other means). Duration = 6 turns + caster level. Range = 2"/caster level. Move = 6"/turn
Fly(3)
Both vertical and horizontal movement. Duration = 1d6 + caster level turns. Range = self Move = 12"/turn
Dimension Door (4)
Limited teleport. Duration = instant. Range = 1". Move = up to 36" with no chance of misjudging.
Teleport(5)
Instant transportation from place to place. Duration = instant. Move = any distance as long as the destination is known. Any uncertainty might result in death (teleport into a solid object). Range = self
Pass-Wall (5)
Opens a hole in solid rock. Duration = 3 turns. Range = 3"

Mechanics

There are two "types" of movement: axial (horizontal, vertical) which travels through various mediums (air, solid) and teleportation which instantly transports to a specific spot. This begs the question as to whether or not these should be two entirely different categories or the same category with two different base spells that share similar mechanics. Given that the latter allows for more mechanical variety (and thus more spell possibilities) I am going proceed with two different base spells.

Duration = 3 turns/6(1d6) turns + caster level or instantaneous
Speed = 6" per turn/12" per turn/36"/unlimited
Range = self/1"/3"/2" per caster level
Medium = Air/Liquid/Solid (not relevant for teleportation spells)
Axis = Vertical or Horizontal/ both Horizontal and Verticle (not relevant for teleportation spells)

Using these mechanical progressions works very well with teleportation spells, but runs into problems with axial spells. Given these progressions Fly is a 4th level spell and Levitate ends up being a 5th level spell. The primary culprits are range and the necessity to differentiate the vertical only movement of Levitate. If the base spell is 0 level and requires at least one level-up purchase, this gets Fly to 3rd level. In order to get Levitate back to a 2nd level spell, the ranges of 1" and 3" must be eliminated. This, however, puts Pass-Wall at a 4th level spell. Frankly, I don't mind so much, because it is essentially duplicating Dimension Door with a different special effect.

Base spell (teleportation): 1st level. Duration = instantaneous. Range = self. Teleport 6" with no chance of misjudging.

The following add one spell level:
Teleport 12" with no chance of misjudging
Range = 1"

The following add two spell levels:
Teleport 36" with no chance of misjudging
Range = 3"

The following add three spell levels:
Range = 2" per caster level

The following add four spell levels:
Teleport anywhere as long as destination is known. Any uncertainty might result in death.

Example spell Blink
2nd level spell. Duration = instantaneous. Range = 1" (+1 level). Teleport 6" with no chance of misjudging.

Base spell (axial): 0 level (must purchase at least one addition) Duration = 3 turns. Speed = 6". Range =self. Medium = Air. Axis = Vertical or Horizontal

The following add one spell level:
Duration = 1d6 + caster level turns
Speed = 12"
Range = 2" per caster level
Medium = Liquid
Axis = Both Horizontal and Vertical

The following add two spell levels:
Speed = 36"
Medium = Solid

Example spell Dolphin Steed
3rd level spell. Duration = 1d6 + caster level turns (+1 level). Speed = 12" (+1 level). Range = self. Medium = Liquid (+1 level). Axis = Horizontal

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 10

Sustenance

These are the spells I removed from the Change Environment category:

Purify Food & Water [1]
Make poisoned and/or spoiled food & water safe to consume. Affects enough to feed up to 12 men.

Create Water [4]
Creates enough water for 12 men and their mounts. The quantity doubles for every caster level above 8.

Create Food [5]
Creates enough water for 12 men. The quantity doubles for every caster level above 8.

Mechanics

The only anomaly is the fact that Create Water specifically mentions mounts whereas Create Food does not. Interestingly, this is corrected in B/X. I will follow suit and assume Create Food also creates enough for mounts as well. Additionally, since some of the potential spells will be less than forth level, I am going to change the "doubles for every caster level above 8" to "+ caster level x2." This will approximate the same effect while allowing it to span across a wider range of caster levels.

Base spell: 1st level. Purify poisoned/spoiled food and water enough for 12 men.

The following add one spell level:

• Quantity adds (caster level x2) men.
• Quantity adds mounts.
• Substitute "create water" for "purify poisoned/spoiled food and water."

The following add two spell levels:

• Substitute "create food" for "purify poisoned/spoiled food and water."

Example spell Banquet
4th level spell. Create food (+2 levels) enough for 12 + (caster level x2) men (+1 level).

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 9

I haven't been posting much this week for two main reasons. I've been trying to tackle a tough spell category and I've been watching the World Cup. I've been watching this sporting spectacle since 1982, my wife grew up in Europe (thus likes football, not American football) and my father-in-law is in town. Thus, the World Cup is on, whether any one wants it or not. I can't really explain why I love this event so much. I don't watch soccer at any other time. I rankles my innate sense of justice every time the referee messes up a call (which is often — just see the disallowed goals for the U.S. this year). More so than any other sport, it is dominated by a few teams (only two finals in history haven't included Brazil, Germany or Italy and both included Argentina). Despite this, I find it a beautiful spectacle that is tremendously exciting to watch — especially in the Group Stage. Plus, it is only once every four years...

Change Environment

I have been dreading doing this particular category since I conceived of this project, because it is a tangle of mechanics that forced me to make several choices. The first was to remove Purify Food & Water, Create Water and Create Food from this list. All three spells had consistent mechanics between themselves, but did not translate well to the rest of this category. The remaining spells:

Light (1)[1]
Creates a circle of light with a 3" diameter. Not equal to full daylight. Duration = 6 + caster level turns.

Continual Light (2)[3]
Creates a light where ever the caster wishes in a 24" diameter circle. Duration = until dispelled. Range = 12" Cleric version is equal to full daylight, Magic user version is not.

Water Breathing (3)
Makes water breathable. Duration = 12 turns. Range = 3"

Telekinesis (5)
Objects up to a weight of (200gp x caster level) may be moved by mental force. Duration = 6 turns. Range = 12"

Transmute Rock to Mud (5)
Transmutes any kind of rick into mud up to 30 square inches. Movement through mud is reduced by 90%. Reversible. Duration = permanent until dry (3d6 days). Range = 12" Takes 1 turn to take effect

Cloud Kill (5)
Creates a poisonous vapor in a 3" diameter cloud that is deadly to all with less than 5HD. Duration = 6 turns (may be dispelled by strong winds). The cloud may be moved 6"/turn with the wind. SInks to the lowest possible level.

Lower Water (6)
Lowers the water level of a river or similar body of water by 50%. Duration = 10 turns. Range = 24"

Part Water (6)
Parts 10' deep water. Duration = 6 turns. Range = 12"

Move Earth (6)
Moves hills and/or ridges. Takes 1 turn to take effect. Duration = 6 turns. Range = 24" Terrain is moved at a rate of 6" per turn.

Control Weather (6)
Can change current weather into any of the following: Rain, Stop Rain, Cold Wave, Heat Wave, Tornado, Stop Tornado, Deep Clouds, Clear Sky.

Mechanics:
Here are some of the mechanics suggested by these spells:

• Duration: 6+ caster level turns / Permanent until dispelled (or natural forces deteriorate the spell effects).
• Area Effect: 3" diameter / 24" diameter / 30 sq in. (Mtn/lake/river.)
• Range: none. 3" / 12" / 24"
• Effect: Minor Change (light) / Major Change (has mechanical affect — daylight — that affects a certain category of creature).

The problems begin with Continual Light. It has a greater area effect (+1 level), greater duration (+1 level), greater range (+1 level) and for clerics, it has a mechanical effect with full daylight (+1 level). All told, continual light ought to be at least a 4th level spell for Magic Users and a 5th level spell for Clerics! Since the main difference between Light and Continual Light is the duration, I must either bump up Light to meet the other mechanical differences or bump down Continual Light. Since bumping up Light makes it far more powerful than I think anyone would care for, I will choose to do the latter. This eliminates one step in the Area Effect mechanics. This brings us to the Cleric version, which is the equivalent to full daylight. This affects game play mechanically in that creatures who take penalties for being in daylight are affected as well as being deadly to creatures like vampires. In order to maintain the Cleric version of Continual Light, there have to be two levels of effects. Light as a minor environmental change that can affect gameplay (characters can see in darkness) but doesn't have a mechanical effect (-1 to hit) or is deadly to a certain type of creature. A major environmental change would have one or both. If both, the said categories are small. If one or the other, they categories of creatures can be larger.

Water Breathing is the next challenge. Since the base of this spell category is Light, all spells must have an area effect, Water Breathing does not. Its 3" range nicely corresponds to the 3" diameter of the base area effect; however, this renders it a 2nd level spell — it has a base duration (12 turns approximates 6 + caster turns) and a Major Effect (water breathing, which has a mechanical effect for a large group of creatures) (+1 level). This opens up the possibility of creating a 3rd level water breathing spell with a permanent duration. Which leads me to Cloud Kill. It has a base area effect, a base duration and a Major Change (+1 level). Even if I add a spell level in order to independently move the spell effect around, that still renders it a 3rd level spell. Now you know why I have been dreading this spell category.

What this tells me is two things: I need to add a level step for the Effect of the spell and I need to allow for a relatively easy way to dispel permanent durations (the spell affects the water not the character, so that once the character leaves that body of water, the spell is dispelled, for example). Thus, for a Major Change there would be two level steps. The first would be a mechanical effect that affects a specific group (i.e. creatures affected by full daylight). The next step would affect a general group of creatures (i.e. non-water breathers or creatures with less than 5HD). This gets Water Breathing up to a 3rd level spell and eliminates the possibility of permanently being able to breath water. This only gets Cloud Kill to 4th level, even with a level added for independent movement. Frankly, I think I am okay with that.

Here are the rest of the spells in this category according to these mechanics:

• Telekinesis: base duration, base area effect, range 12" (+1 level), Major Effect [general group] (+2 levels), moves independently of caster (+1 level) = 5th level spell.
• Transmute Rock to Mud: duration = permanent (+1 level), area effect = 30" sq. (+1 level), range = 12" (+1 level) Major Effect [general group] (+2 levels) = 6th level spell.
• Lower Water: base duration, area effect = river (+1 level), range = 24" (+2 levels), Major Effect [general group] (+2 levels) = 6th level spell.
• Part Water: base duration, area effect = body of water 10' deep (+1 level), range = 12" (+1 level), Major Effect [general group] (+2 levels) = 5th level spell.
• Move Earth: base duration, area effect = hill or ridge (+1 level), range = 24" (+2 levels), Major Effect [general group] (+2 levels), moves independently of caster (+1 level) = 7th level spell.
• Control Weather: duration = permanent (+1 level), area effect = 30" sq. (+1 level), range = 24" (+2 levels), Minor Effect = 5th level spell.

I am actually fairly pleased. There are differences between these levels and their originals, but this is mostly due the the lack of balance in those originals (Lower Water vs. Part Water, for example). In most cases, one simply has to change one mechanic (usually range) to bump the spell up or down to match its original spell level. In the case of Change Weather, I would allow it to affect a specific group mechanically, thus making it a 6th level spell.

Base Spell: Make a minor change in the surrounding environment (light, temperature, etc.). Duration = 6 + caster level turns. Area Effect 3" diameter. Range none.

The following add 1 spell level:

• Duration = permanent (but can be easily be dispelled)
• Area Effect = 30" sq./a single small geographic feature
• Range = 12"
• Effect = affects a specific group mechanically
• Spell effect may be moved independently of the spell caster

The following add 2 spell levels:

• Range = 24"
• Effect = affects a general group mechanically

Example Spell Air Water
4th level spell. Duration = permanent [dispelled when caster leaves the water] (+1 level), Area Effect = 3" diameter, Range = none, Effect = makes water in the diameter breathable (+2 levels)

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 8

Communication

This category was actually quite straight forward:

Read Magic (1)Read magical incantations. Duration = short (one or two readings)
Read Languages (1)Same as Read Magic but for "directions" especially treasure maps.
Speak with Animals [2]Communicate with any form of animals. Duration = 6 turns Range = 3"
Speak with Plants [4]Communicate with any kind of plant. These will follow simple commands of the spell caster. Duration = 6 turns. Range = 3"
Commune [5]Allows three questions to be asked of a divine power. Veracity & knowledge near total. Usable only once a week.
Contact Higher Plane (5)Seek & gain knowledge from creatures of other planes. Only "yes" or "no" questions. The number of questions asked and their veracity increases chance of insanity.

Mechanics

The only real mechanical question here has to do with the 3" Range of Speak with Animals and Speak with Plants. If Range becomes a mechanical factor in determining level, than they each should be one spell level higher. But since none of the other spells (especially the higher level ones) seem to have any range mechanics at all, it seems reasonable to assume the 3" range of Speak with Animals and Speak with Plants simply indicates the range one would normally be able to have a conversation.

Base Spell: Read or speak a language otherwise unknown to character (fauna only). Duration = 3 rounds/caster level

The following add one level:

• Duration = 6 turns
• May communicate with creatures that do not have obvious means of communicating (flora, for example).
• Targets are predisposed to do what the caster asks of them (bonus to the reation roll)
• The following add two levels:
• Target is from a higher plane of existance (requires communication with non-fauna creatures and a Duration = 6 turns). This comes in two forms, depending on the spell caster. Clerics get 3 questions that will be answered honestly. Magic Users get up to 12 questions, but these must be "yes" "no." In addition the caster runs the risk of not only being lied to, but of going insane. The fewer the questions, the more likely they answers are false. The more questions asked, the higher chance of insanity. Maybe used no more than once/week.

Example Spell Speak in Tongues

3rd level spell. Speak any humanoid language with a bonus to the reaction roll to every one who hears (+1 level). Duration = 6 turns (+1 level)

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 7

Dispel

This is the first time that I have been compelled to look at later editions. Although there have been some surprising mechanics (such as CLW taking one full turn to take effect) nothing so far has been either confusing or ambiguous. Until now, that is. Both Dispel Magic and Dispel Evil have a duration of 1 turn. I find this difficult to interpret. Is this a spell that lasts for 1 turn until one object/spell/creature is dispelled? Or can the caster dispel everything with in range for 1 whole turn? Or is the one thing that is dispelled merely dispelled for a duration of 1 turn? Both B/X and 1ed give Dispel Magic an area effect (20' or 30' cube) which acts instantly and has a permanent duration, but does not affect magic items. In other words, the intention of the spell is to instantly cancel-out a spell or spell-like effect. It is in this spirit that I will proceed. Here are the spells as written:

Knock (2)
Dispel a magically locked door. Range = 6"
Dispel Magic (3)
Dispel all magic spells and/or spell-like effects. Range = 12"
Dispel Evil (5)
Dispel evil magic and evil creatures. Area Effect = 3"r.
Antimagic Shell (6)
Shield that blocks magic in and out. Range = self Duration = 12 turns

Mechanics

There are several mechanics that suggest themselves:

• Dispel Type: Knock is a very specific dispel — it cancels out one magic spell effect. Dispel Magic is general. Dispel Evil also affects summoned/extra planar creatures.
• Area Effect: Base is none. 3"r. would be the next step.
• Range: Self/touch would be the base. Problems arise with the different ranges of Knock and Dispel Magic. If 6" and 12" are kept as different steps, Dispel Magic should be a 4th level spell. Since the area effect of 3"r. would always include the caster, I am going to use 12" for a range step.
• Shield: This allows for a shield that cancels out spells going both in and out.
• Duration: Although there is only one duration given (12 turns for Antimagic Shield), if there is only one step for duration, it would leave Antimagic Shield a 5th level spell. Thus, I am going to add another step — 6 turns.

Base Dispel Spell: 1st level. Cancels out a specific spell or spell-like effect instantly and permanently. Range = touch

The following add 1 level:

• Affects all magic.
• Range = 12"
• Area Affect = 3" r.
• Duration = 6 turns

The following adds 2 levels:

• Affects summoned creatures (a missed saving throw = banishment; save = morale check failure)
• Duration = 12 turns
• Creates a shield that blocks spells in and out

Example Spell Obfuscate
4th level spell. Creates a shield (+2 levels) that cancels out Detection Spells both going in and out of the shield. Range = touch. Duration = 6 turns (+1 level).

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 6

Conjuration/Summon

This project has been fascinating. It has made me reexamine some of my own assumptions and prejudices. For example, I was sure Insect Plague was a summoning spell. Upon examining the mechanics, however, I come to find that it really is a Charm spell with a summoning special effect. Ultimately, this is why I want to do this project — so that we all can have spells that reflect whatever special effect we want and still have a solid, consistent mechanical system behind those special effects. Without Insect Plague, I am left with three spells:

Animate Dead (5)
Duration = permanent until dispelled. Area Effect = 1d6 corpses Creature HD = approx. 1-6
Conjure Elemental (5)
Duration = concentration. Range = 24" Creature HD = 16
Invisible Stalker (6)
Duration = permanent until task is complete. Range = ? Creature HD = 8

Mechanics:

This category has five discernible mechanics:

• Duration. All are permanent, but there are two qualifiers — concentration and a given task. Thus, their are three possible durations.
• Range. Conjure Elemental has an explicit Range of 24". The others have no range.
• Area Effect: Animate Dead affects 1-6 corpses. There is no explicit area given here. I am going to choose to understand this a "general area" (sewer, swamp, lake, etc.)
• Creature Type: Conjure Elemental and Invisible Stalker both conjure extra-planar creatures whereas Animate Dead is dependent upon "creatures" that are already there.
• Creature HD. There are three categories. Animate Dead initially can summon a max of 6HD (Zombies being 1HD creatures), Invisible Stalkers are 8HD and Conjure Elemental specifies a 16HD creature. This suggests three ranges: 1-6HD, 7-12HD and 13-19HD.

Every spell assumes that the caster has control over the summoned/conjured creature. Given these mechanics, Invisible Stalker ends up as a 5th level spell and Conjure Elemental is 6th level — exactly the opposite as they appear in the LBBs; however, I am not going to quibble.

Base Conjure/Summon Spell: 2nd level spell. Summons 1 extant creature of a specific type with 1-6 (d6) HD. Duration = concentration. Range = none. Area Effect = none. Caster has control of the summoned creature.

The following add one level:

• Duration = fulfillment of a single task (no concentration necessary).
• Range = 24" (the creature can appear/be anywhere within 24")
• Number of Creatures = any number totaling the HD summoned (If 3HD are summoned, the base spell summons one 3HD creature. This allows those 3HD to be divided among a number of smaller HD creatures — three 1HD creatures or six 1/2HD creatures, for example). This is a general area effect (sewer, swamp, lake, etc.).
• Creature Type = extra planar (creature does not need to already be available)
• Creature HD = 7-12 (d6+6) HD

The following add two levels:

• Duration = permanent
• Creature HD = 12-18 (d6+12) HD

Example Spell Summon Rat Swarm:
3rd Level Spell. Duration = concentration. Creature Type = Rat (1/2HD). Creature HD = d6. Creature Number = 2 per HD Summoned (+1 level). This spell requires that rats already exists in the general area.

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 5

Transform

For Memorial Day weekend, I decided to try to and tackle one of the more daunting spell categories. Truth be told, "daunting" is an understatement. The more I fiddle with this, the more problems I either create or find. Levels are in () for Magic Users and [] for Clerics. The mechanics follow:

Infravision (3)Allows recipient to see in total darkness 40-60 feet. Duration = 1 day
Polymorph Self (4)Change into anything. Gain movement abilities, but not combat abilities. Duration = 6 + caster level turns
Polymorph Other (4)Change into anything. Gain all abilities, including combat; however, "not necessarily" the mentality and HP (a troll polymorphed into a snail would resist being stepped on). Duration = until dispelled.
Plant Growth (4)Cause normal bushes or woods to become impassable. Range = 12" Area Effect = 30" sq. (!) Duration = permanent unless dispelled by Dispel Magic
Turn Sticks to Snakes [4]Changes 2-16 sticks into snakes with a 50% chance that they will be poisonous. The snakes perform according to the caster's orders. Duration = 6 turns. Range = 12"
Animal Growth (5)Causes 1-6 normal sized animals to become giant-sized with appropriate attack abilities. Duration = 12 turns. Range = 12"
Reincarnation (6)Transforms dead character into a randomly determined living creature based on original alignment. Duration = permanent.
Stone to Flesh (6)Turns stone into living flesh. Used primarily to revive "stoned" characters. Reversible. Duration = permanent. Range = 12"
Death Spell (6)Instantly kills from 2-16 creatures with less than 7HD in a 6"x6" area. Range = 24"
Disintegrate (6)Causes any kind of material (except for magical) to disintegrate. Duration = permanent. Range = 6"

Please note: I moved Infravision, Death Spell and Reincarnation into this category.

Mechanics

For the sake of discussing this category, I am assuming that the base Transform spell has the following stats:

Gain one non-combat trait (i.e. infravision). Duration = 6 + caster level turns. Range = touch.
Looking at all the spells in this group, there seems to be suggested a progression on Duration — 6 turns, 1 day, permanent. Having three possible durations, however, means that it is impossible to have Plant Growth a 4th level spell — it is ranged (+1 level), has an area effect (+1 level) and a permanent duration (+2 levels) for a total of +4 levels or 5th level. Following this logic, Infravision ends up as a 2nd level spell (its only modifier from the base is Duration = 1 day for +1 level). If we get rid of the 1 day duration (returning Plant Growth to 4th level), Infravision becomes a 2nd level spell with a permanent duration. In addition, even though there seems to be a nice discernible group of effects (one non-combat characteristic; all non-combat characteristics; combat characteristics; inanimate to animate; animate to inanimate), without a Duration = 1 day option, spells like Flesh to Stone would only be 5th level — duration = permanent (+1 level), affects all non-combat & combat characteristics (+2 levels) and animate to inanimate (+1) level for a total of +4 levels or level 5. Either way, Infravision is still a 2nd level spell. If we reduce the base Transform spell to only affect inanimate objects (thus adding another level to Infravision and restoring to 3rd level) it makes higher level spells higher than 6th level. Thus, I will move forward with three possible durations and Infravision as a 2nd level spell.

On a positive note, with the exception of Death Spell and Disintegrate, Range is consistently Touch or 12"; however, problems again arise with Area Effect and number affected. These are all over the place, with the most extreme being 30" sq. (Plant Growth, which is primarily used to make a terrain impassable). Otherwise, they affect a specific number of targets — 1-6 or 2-16. I will opt for the happy medium of 2-12 and use the 6"x6" area suggested by Death Spell.

More problems arise with the three examples of the "animate to inanimate" spells. All are 6th level spells, but have different ranges, area effects and even durations:

• Flesh to Stone: Range = 12"; affects one target; permanent until dispelled
• Death Spell: Range = 24"; affects 2-16 targets; permanent (reversible via raise dead)
• Disintegrate: Range = 6"; affects one target; permanent

Death Spell is significantly more powerful, even though it only affects creatures less than 7HD. But, even if it is ignored for purposes of figuring out range and area effect and the base range for the others is assumed to be the same (12"), there is no apparent way to reverse or dispel Disintegrate (Flesh to Stone can be dispelled via Stone to Flesh). Given that this spell category is ripe for abuse and in order to smooth out this discrepancy, I am going to say all Transform spells can be reversed or dispelled.

Reincarnation offers up the next hurdle. It is, in essence, the reverse of the three spells above, but does not have the range. According to the developing model, it should be a 5th level spell — duration = permanent (+2 levels), Gain all non-combat traits + combat traits (+2 levels). I would see this as a problem, save for the fact that a mere Dispel Magic can now kill the reincarnated character.

One of the largest problems with this group is with the two Polymorph spells (shocking, I know). Polymorph Other is significantly more powerful than Polymorph Self despite the fact that both are 4th level spells. If two characters were polymorphed into dragons, one by each spell, one would have a breath weapon and attack as a dragon, while the other would have no breath weapon and attack with their normal attack dice. The first would be a dragon until the polymorph was dispelled and the latter would revert to their original form 6 + caster level turns later. This discrepancy is reflected by my working model for this group. Polymorph Self should be a 3rd level spell: the caster gains all non-combat traits (+1 level) and is able to transform into inanimate objects (+1 level) for a total of +2 levels, or 3rd level. Whereas Polymorph Other stats out as 5th level: Duration = permanent (+2 level), target gains all non-combat and combat traits (+2 levels), for a total of +4 levels, or 5th level.

In other words, when trying to make sense out of this category, I have a tough choice: allow the high level spells to exist and thus lowering the spell level of some of the lower level Transform spells (and open up the game to abuse) or keep the lower level spells at their original level, but eliminate the higher level spells as written. For now, I am willing to try the former in order to keep the flavor of the higher level spells, but this category must come with a huge caveat and close scrutiny by the Referee.

Base Transform Spell: Gain one non-combat trait (i.e. infravision). Duration = 6 + caster level turns. Range = touch. EDIT: as can be seen in the comments, Roger the GS of Roles, Rules, and Rolls has pointed out that having the base Transform spell only affect living creatures solves a good deal of the potential abuse problems.

The following add one spell level:

• Duration = 1 day
• Range = 12"
• Gain all non-combat traits — you look like a dragon and can fly like a dragon, but you don't have a breath weapon and you use the same combat dice you always do.
• Affects 2-12 targets in a 6x6" area.
• Traits affect combat (requires Gain all non-combat traits) — you look like a dragon and fight like one too.
• Ability to transform non-living inanimate objects into living objects or vice-versa. (requires Gain all non-combat traits) — when a caster turns himself into a non-living object this is not an instant kill; however, when cast upon another target, it is.

The following add two levels:

• Duration = permanent.

Note: all effects of Transform spells can be reversed and dispelled.
EDIT: What follows is a warning to those who (like I once did) think that Transform ought to be able to affect non-living objects.

As an example of the abuse this might very well produce, I give you Turn Lead into Gold:

1st level spell. Transform lead into Gold (one non-combat trait). Duration = 6 + caster level turns. Range = touch.

So, the Referee has to be creative or authoritarian about this. I prefer the former — in a world where Turning Lead into Gold exists (and where a mere Dispel Magic spell can destroy an entire fortune), merchants would have developed means to detect the authenticity of the currency they trade in. Any gold that radiates of magic would be deemed worthless and transactions would require a wait time of at least one day in order to wait out the Durations of lower level spells. In fact, now that I am thinking about it, this opens the door to a whole subculture in a fantasy setting based around the movement of currency . . .

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 4

Detection

The next category in my queue is the Detection Spells. Mechanics are in ():

Detect Magic (1)[1] ("Limited" Range, "Short" Duration)
Detect Invisible (2) (Duration = 6 turns, Range = 1"/ level of caster)
Locate Object (2)[3] (Duration = instant, Range = 6" + 1"/level of caster)
Detect Evil (2)[1] (Duration = 2 turns [6 turns], Range = 6" [12'"])
ESP (2) (Duration = 12 turns, Range = 6", Blocked by lead/3' material)
Find Traps [2] (Duration = 2 turns, Radius 3")
Clairvoyance (3) (Duration = 12 turns, Range = 6", Blocked by lead/3' material)
Clairaudience (3) (Duration = 12 turns, Range = 6", Blocked by lead/3' material)
Wizard Eye (4) (Duration = 6 turns, Range = 24", Moves 12"/turn)
Please note: After looking at the mechanics, I decided to remove Infravision from this list and add ESP.

This is the most difficult category I have tackled thus far, because spell level, range and duration are all over the place. Part of this variance is due to the Cleric versions of these spells, so I am going to ignore them. If then, the base Detection spell has a range of 1"/level and an instantaneous duration, we can determine that a duration of 6 turns and a range of +6" each add one spell level. Given this, a base Detect spell can do one of the following:

• General characteristic (Magic, Evil, Invisible)
• Specific Object (Locate Object, Traps, Thoughts)

This is when things get muddied. ESP has a duration of 12 turns and a range of 6" which means that it should be a 3rd level spell. It does put a limitation on the range — the spell can be blocked. Thus, the base spell can optionally start with a 6" range if it can be blocked by a common element and a wall 3' wide and bigger; however, there doesn't seem to be a functional difference between ESP, Clairaudience and Clairvoyance. I am going to assume that ESP can only target one person at a time, whereas Clairaudience and Clairvoyance can target an area. This means that the base Detection spell is directional. Find Traps becomes the model for the area effect Detection spell — 3" radius.

Wizard Eye increases the range of Clairvoyance x4 and introduces the idea of moving the focal point of the spell. Buying a 12" range (2 levels) with a +1/caster level puts the range at 19" when a Magic User (at 7th level) can first cast a 4th level spell, thus approximating the 24" range. The duration of 6 turns adds another level and assuming that the eye has a 3" field of vision gives us a 4th level spell. This leaves the idea of a mobile focal point in question; however, mechanically it is meaningless. Functionally, there is little difference between the way Clairvoyance and Wizard Eye function. In the end, the moving "eye" is a special effect rather than a game mechanic.

Base Detection spell: Directionally detect a general characteristic or a specific object. Duration = instantaneous. Range = 1"/caster level or 6"+1"/caster level if spell will not work through a common element (i.e. lead) and cannot penetrate a wall 3' thick.

The following with add one spell level:

• Range = 6"+1"/caster level
• 3"r. Area Effect
• Duration = 6 turns (max 12 turns)

Example Find Traps:
2nd level spell. Detect Trap. Duration = instantaneous. Range = 1"/caster level. 3"r area effect (one level).

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 3

Illusion

The next category is the Illusion Spells. Here are the OD&D spells with their mechanics in ( ):

Phantasmal Forces (Illusion, Duration = Concentration or until touched, Range 24")
Invisibility (Single person invisible (cannot attack), Duration = until broken, Range = 24")
Invisibility 10'r. (Single person invisible (cannot attack), Duration = until broken, Range = 24", Area Effect)
Massmorph (Group of people disguised as trees. Duration = until dispelled, Range = 24" Area Effect)
Hallucinatory Terrain (Illusion, Duration = until dispelled or touched, Range 24", Large Area Effect)
Projected Image (Fully Functional Illusion of Magic User, Spells cast appear to originate from Illusion, Duration = 6 turns, Range 24")

Mechanics:
When examining these spells, I was struck by the mechanical description of Phantasmal Forces: "vivid" illusions of "nearly everything." There is no limitation upon which senses are engaged — rather we are allowed to imagine "nearly everything." This suggests that Invisibility means that the spell affects all of the senses. Given that higher level spells have area effects, the "nearly" qualifier on Phantasmal Forces must mean approximately the space occupied by one person.

Duration for these spells is also interesting. They are almost all "permanent" until dispelled. Lower level spells are dispelled by touching them (or by attacking). Higher level spells may be interacted with without being dispelled.

Range and Area Effect are also modifiers.

Base Illusion Spell: Vivid illusion approximately the size of one person. Duration = concentration until touched for more complex illusions; Until dispelled or when the person affected by the illusion attacks for simple illusions (Invisibility, for example). No Range.

The following add one spell level:

• Giving the spell Range = 24"
• Giving the spell a 10'r. Area Effect (up to 20'r.)
• Permanency (can be interacted with without being dispelled)

The following will add three levels, requires Permanency, and can only have a duration of 6 turns:

• The illusion can physically interact with the world around it — any damage done will be according to the attack capabilities of the spell caster.

For example — Phantasmal Killer:

4th level spell. Illusion of a phobia inspired abomination. No Range. Permanent until dispelled up to 6 turns (one level). Can physically interact with environment and attack to do damage as per the spell caster (three levels).

Healing

Now, onto what one might assume to be the first Cleric only category: the Healing Spells. What follows are the OD&D spells with their mechanics in ( ):

Cure Light Wounds (1d6+1 HP healed. Takes one turn(!))
Remove Curse (Just as the name suggests. When cast on a cursed item, it turns that item into a mundane, non-magical item)
Cure Disease (Just as the spell name suggests (instantly, I presume))
Neutralize Poison (Counters the harmful effects of poison. Duration = 1 turn)
Cure Serious Wounds (Same as CLW but with 2d6+2)
Raise Dead ("Cures" death. Only works on PC races (though not halflings!), has a time limit (4 days, with an additional 4 day per level of caster beyond 8th), and does not work on those with a low Constitution (I'm assuming a negative modifier, here). There also seems to be a range factor here, because the cleric "points his finger")

Mechanics:

Going in, I thought this was going to be a bit boring, mechanically; however, upon a closer inspection, there is quite a bit of variation. The most intriguing for me is that CLW takes one turn to accomplish. Since other spells take effect immediately, this suggests a mechanic for instantaneous effect. Neutralize Poison seems to be more of a preventative spell, rather than a curative — cast it on someone about to trigger a trap so as to counter whatever poison is there. Thus, the duration of 1 turn and cannot save someone who has already failed a save or die roll. Raise Dead suggests a ranged mechanic for healing spells; however, this means that "curing" death is a 4th level spell. Thus, I will require an additional modifier when "cure death" is used, insuring that it will always be a 5th level spell. Finally, it is of interest that Remove Curse is available to Magic Users at one spell level higher.

Base Healing spell requires 1 turn to take effect and can cure any one of the following:

• 1d6+1 hp
• Disease
• Curse*
• Poison (though not someone already dead) This also adds one level (for a minimum spell level of 2)

The following add 1 level:

• Make the spell Ranged*
• Make the spell take effect immediately.*
• Duration = 1 turn (requires immediate effect)*

The following add 3 levels:

• Cure an additional 1d6+1 hp
• "Cure" death — requires one other modifier

*These are available to Magic Users; however Cure Curse requires 2 levels instead of 1.
For example — Ray of Hope:

3rd level spell. Cure 1d6+1 hp (one level), Ranged (one level), takes effect immediately (one level).

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 2

Buff Spells

The next category I'd like to tackle (because it's one of the easiest mechanically) is the Buff Spells. Here are the OD&D spells with their mechanics in ( ):

Protection from Evil (+1 Save, -1 to be hit, no range, 6 turns [MU] 12 turns[Cl])
Bless (+1 Morale, +1 Attack, 6 turns)
Protection from Evil 10'r. (+1 Save, -1 to be hit, no range, area effect, 12 turns)
Protection from Normal Missiles (immunity to normal missiles, 12 turns)
Haste (+50% move, area effect, ranged, 3 turns)
Slow (1/2 move, area effect, ranged, 3 turns)

Examining these mechanics there are two anomalies.

1. The first is that there are two different durations for Protection from Evil. As I see it, there are two ways to deal with this. One would ignore it and have the base duration be 6 turns. The other way would be to have clerics get a boost with duration, but take a penalty with area effect. Neither is a perfect solution; however, the former is simpler, so I will use it.
2. The other is that the base duration for Haste/Slow is 3 turns (as opposed to 6 & 12); however, the area affect of these spells is 6x12" which translates as 60 ft x 120 ft! Since this is exponentially larger than 10'r. (thus difficult to quantify) and a remnant from Chainmail (thus intended to affect whole units of battlefield troops) I am going to ignore both the 3 turns and reduce the area effect to 10'r. It does suggest a future consideration of spell level reducers; however, that very likely would produce more min/maxing than I am comfortable with.

Therefore, the base Bluff Spell affects a specific group/attack (i.e. evil), has no range and has a duration of 6 turns.

Any two of the following will be one spell level:

• +1 Save
• +1 AC
• +1 Morale
• +1 Attack

The following add an additional spell level:

• Affect a general group
• Area Effect 10'r.
• Ranged
• Duration +6 turns
• +50% move
• 1/2 move

Finally, this will add two spell levels:

• Immunity to one specific type of mundane attack (i.e. normal missiles, piercing melee attacks, normal fire, etc.)

As an example of a Buff Spell we can do Protection from Fire:

3rd Level Spell. Duration 6 turns. No Range. Immunity to normal fire attacks (two levels) and +2 saves vs. magic fire (one level).

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 1

On to the task...

What follows is a rough draft for categorizing all of the spells that exist in OD&D according to Men & Magic. The spell level is listed after the spell name with Magic Users spells in ( ) and Cleric Spells in [ ]. I am assuming that shorter lists will be easier to break down mechanically, so some of these lists (Change Environment, for example) may have to be revised. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

BARRIER

Hold Portal (1)
Wizard Lock (2)
Wall of Fire (4)
Wall of Ice (4)
Wall of Stone (5)
Wall of Iron (5)

BUFF

Protection from Evil (1)[1]
Bless [2]
Haste/Slow (3)
Protection from Evil 10'r. (3)[3]
Protection from Normal Missiles (3)

CHANGE ENVIRONMENT

Light (1)[1]
Purify Food & Water [1]
Continual Light (2)[3]
Water Breathing (3)
Create Water [4]
Create Food [5]
Transmute Rock to Mud (5)
Cloudkill (5)
Lower Water (6)
Part Water (6)
Move Earth (6)
Control Weather (6)

COMMUNICATION

Read Magic (1)
Read Languages (1)
ESP (2)
Speak with Animals [2]
Speak with Plants [4]
Commune [5]
Contact Higher Plane (5)

CONJURE/SUMMON

Conjure Elemental (5)
Insect Plague [5]
Invisible Stalker (6)

DAMAGE

Fireball (3)
Lightning Bolt (3)

DETECTION

Detect Magic (1) [1]
Detect Invisible (2)
Locate Object (2) [3]
Detect Evil (2) [1]
Find Traps [2]
Clairvoyance (3)
Clairaudience (3)
Infravision (3)
Wizard Eye (4)

DISPEL

Knock (2)
Dispel Magic (3)
Dispel Evil [5]
Anti-Magic Shell (6)

ENCHANT

Charm Person (1)
Confusion (4)
Charm Monster (4)
Feeblemind (5)
Quest [5]
Geas (6)

HEAL

Cure Light Wounds [1]
Remove Curse (4)[3]
Cure Disease [3]
Neutralize Poison [4]
Cure Serious Wounds [4]
Raise Dead [5]

ILLUSION

Phantasmal Forces (2)
Invisibility (2)
Invisibility 10'r. (3)
Massmorph (4)
Hallucinatory Terrain (4)
Projected Image (6)

INCAPACITATE

Sleep (1)
Hold Person (3)[2]
Hold Monster (5)

NECROMANCY

Animate Dead (5)
Magic Jar (5)
Reincarnation (6)
Death Spell (6)

TELEKINESIS

Levitate (2)
Fly (3)
Telekinesis (5)

TELEPORT

DImension Door (4)
Teleport (5)
Pass-Wall (5)

TRANSFORM

Polymorph Self (4)
Polymorph Other (4)
Plant Growth (4)
Turn Sticks to Snakes [4]
Animal Growth (5)
Stone to Flesh (6)
Disintegrate (6)

OD&D Magic Champions Style

I asked a question the other day as to whether or not anyone had tried to break down the OD&D spell list into quantified mechanics ala Champions superpowers. I did this because I have been contemplating doing exactly that, but didn't want to duplicate any work already done (it is a rather daunting task, especially with some of the higher level spells). Thanks to all those who answered, but it seems that if someone has done such a thing, those who read this blog don't know about it.

I'm interested for a couple of reasons. It allows a lot of freedom for players — when special effects are up to player creativity, it can expand the idea of 'what is magic' in ways that D&D has never conceived. It also makes magic adaptable to all kinds of genres and settings.

The first step in this process is to come up with a list of categories that describe the various spells in OD&D, regardless of spell level. For example, both sleep and hold person incapacitate their targets. The next step is to break down the various mechanics of these spells to determine what mechanical variables each category has and how many spell levels each mechanic is worth.

As an exercise, let me tackle one of the easiest categories in OD&D: damage dealing spells. Surprisingly, there are only two spells that directly deal damage to their targets: fire ball and lightning bolt. Both of these spells can be broken down into three mechanics:

1. damage of 1d6/ level
2. area effect (total of 4 one inch squares)
3. ranged

Since both spells are 3rd level, each mechanic costs one level. In the case of area effect and ranged , it is easy to construe what a spell would look like sans these mechanics: a target of one creature and a touch attack. The damage, however, requires some interpretation. Since damage is linked to the spell caster's level, I am going to assume that a lower damage slot ought to as well. Thus, a lower damage level could be 1d4/level or 1d6+level. At lower levels 1d4 is not worth wasting a spell on and at higher levels, it will always average above 60% of the damage done by 1d6/level. In my opinion, this is too powerful. On the other hand, 1d6+level is a good hardy spell at lower levels and at high levels starts to average around 30% of what 1d6/level does. This seems to me a good balance.

Thus, players are now free to create a plethora of damage dealing spells ranging from 1st to 3rd level with all sorts of special effects. As an example, let's take three 1st level spell concepts from later editions of D&D:

• Magic Missile: ranged, single target, damage = 1d6+level of caster
• Shocking Grasp: no range, single target, damage = 1d6/level
• Color Spray: no range, area effect, damage = 1d6+level of caster

The beauty of this, to my mind, is that we are not limited to the special effects of existing spells. The three spells above could be anything we want to imagine: the three above could just as easily be called Arrow of St. Sebastian, the Hand of the Necromancer, and the Aura of Pain.

Unfortunately, not all of the mechanics of OD&D spells are this easy to dissect. Hopefully, I'll have more to share in the future.

A Question

I've been meditating on spells in OD&D and the way Champions handles superpowers. The latter focused on mechanics and assigned a point value to each mechanic. Special effects — how those mechanics actually looked like in the game world — was entirely up to the player. Is there anyone or anywhere that tried to do this with a D&D spell list?

Life Isn't Fair: Lessons from V&V and White Wolf

And Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had" (Luke 21:1-4; Mark 12:41-44).

One of the problems with scientific objectivism is that when applied to statements like "all men are created equal" it has a very difficult time justifying them. Objectively a quadraplegic is not equal to an NFL football player. Life isn't fair. We do not all begin life with the same hand of cards; however, in context of Christ, it is not the hand we are dealt, but rather the way we play the hand that matters. In the eyes of God, the poor widow played brilliantly with a very bad hand; whereas the rich played very poorly with fabulous hands. In other words, being a great human being is not dependent upon having having a bunch of gifts handed to us on a silver platter. Doing the best we can with what gifts we have — playing the hand of cards as best as we can — is what makes us great. In my own experience, this has been reflected in my gaming, none more so than with Villains and Vigilantes and Mage: the Ascension.

Like many gamers, I played a lot of White Wolf in the 90s. I played several campaigns and though I enjoyed them and the company of those I played with, none of them ever really inspired me until my GM pulled a fast one on us during a Mage campaign. He wanted us to have an appreciation for the motivations and situations of our enemies. Thus, during the second session of our campaign, he handed us the character sheets of the party of Technologists who were trying to deal with the same situation our original characters were. We spent the whole session playing our own adversaries.

We all screamed and complained and threw a fit — it just wasn't fair. We'd spent all that time creating our characters and now we weren't allowed to play them. Here's the rub: we all had more fun playing the Technologists than we did playing our own characters. We more easily got into character, we were more creative with our powers, and things just seemed to click. When we had to go back to playing those characters we thought we wanted to play, and so laboriously poured over using a point-based system, everything fell flat. We stopped gelling, our creativity tanked, and our characters no longer felt right. We actually began to look forward to playing the characters imposed upon us by our GM. The characters we made for ourselves were like the rich giving to the temple — we had everything we wanted in our characters. When confronted with characters we didn't want, we had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. By pushing ourselves beyond the character, to try and find fun despite the character, we gained much more than having the characters we thought we wanted.

Over the years, I've played a lot of Champions, probably more so than any other RPG other than D&D; however, it isn't my favorite superhero RPG. That distinction goes to Villains and Vigilantes. I just can't begin to explain how much I love all those random tables I get to use during character creation. I can never get the character I want using those tables, but I can tell you that the best super hero characters I ever played were a result of those tables (I even used them for my Champions games). Being dealt an odd hand always forced me to be a better player, to be creative with the hand I was dealt, and it always seemed to create a better gaming experience than I ever got with a point build.

This is why I am very comfortable (and even prefer) rolling for stats, and rolling for them in order. If a game doesn't have some kind of random character generation system, I'm not really all that interested. Give me the randomly generated gonzo mutant weirdo over the well constructed point built character any day. The gonzo mutant weirdo will push me as a player, push my creativity, and push the game into directions hitherto untold and unexplored. The end result is a better game, because that game will be a lot more fun.