tomaO2
2018-07-16, 03:46 AM
My search brought up a total of 3 threads mentioning it in the title. It's clearly not a popular book. Still, I was rummaging around, found my old Dungeoneer and Blacksand books and decided to give them a look.
What's this about Allansia? I'm really annoyed that there is a 5th book in the advanced series that I never got. I'm really curious about the final mission and new rules, but the cheapest copies online are going to cost around 200 bucks... Seems like this second edition thing doesn't have the adventure either.
I've been thinking about trying to get some of the older books and see if my nephew might pick up on it like I did back in the day. There is nothing quite like the Fighting Fantasy style books anymore. That makes no sense to me, there should be a market for solo game books, even if it's not as big as it was during the 80's and 90's.
Anyway, I've been feeling creative, so I looked through the old books and added my concept of fixing character creation.
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STATS: The old rules made it a straight 15 per stat increase. I'm modifying it a bit. All stats can be upgraded by 1 point for every 10 ability points until 8 Skill/ 18 Stamina/ 8 Luck, at which point it costs 15 points for every increase. After 10/23/12, it increases again to 20 points per additional increase.
SKILL STAT: One thing that I hear is a lot of people feel that a high skill is too powerful in the game. I have decided to hit this with the nerf bat. First off, skill tops out at 10 (total of 11 for rogue class). In addition, when you are are required to make a default skill roll in place of a special skill you don't have. If you don't know a skill you must roll a flat 7 or under to succeed, or roll your skill or less, if skill is lower than 7. If your skill is 11+, you need to roll an 8 or under. A roll of 9 or higher always counts as an automatic fail, regardless of how high your skill is though.
STAMINA STAT (magic): Stamina is basically unchanged. However, what IS different is how it relates to magic. One of the broken bits of the books is casting the stamina spell. The point that is lowered comes after the restoration, meaning that a healer can erase all damage after every fight. An obviously broken ability.
My solution to something like a stamina hack is to switch to magic points. That seems to be what they did in this second edition version that I have not read, but I bet my idea is a bit different, because, instead of having a set amount that drains, you start at 0 magic points, and when you can cast spells it adds the spell cost up, and you can keep casting, as long as the total number remains less than, or equal to, current stamina. Final spell can put magic point total above current stamina.
If you have cast 10 points worth of spells, and then get injured, dropping you to 9 stamina, you can't cast anymore, but if you managed to heal up 4 points, and restore stamina to 13, you can cast again. Magic points resets to 0 after a good night's rest. Healing magic, as before, can't be used during combat.
LUCK STAT: Luck is changed so that you can spend them, in addition to simply using them for luck rolls. You can automatically succeed in any non combat roll by spending a luck point. Luck is not allowed to be used when against another person though, such as for a combat or diplomacy roll. At GM's discretion, players may also roll for luck to gain a clue as to how to proceed in a scene, or to point out a danger. In addition, having a 13+ luck gives a bonus to the caster class.
In combat, while you are not allowed to use luck in order to hit, you still can increase damage by 2. Again, just spend a point to do so. This can help out weaker skilled characters hit harder when they can actually land a hit.
SPECIAL ABILITIES (aka: special skills): Special Skill has been renamed to special ability, to stop confusion with the skill stat. Abilities have been given a nerf bat. The original rules had putting a point in an ability makes you immediately stronger in that skill than your skill. Now you are equal to skill, and not having any skill points at all gives you a penalty to the roll. If you have an ability of 12+ you still automatically fail with a roll of 12.
In addition, having a starting character gain a number of ability points the same as his initial skill doesn't sit right with me, so I decided that 9 points is given at the start of character generation, regardless of skill, and an extra 1-4 bonus points is given, depending on the class, along with another point for having a high stamina and luck, respectively.
WEAPONS: Instead of giving every individual weapon its own damage table to roll on, I have divided them by weight categories instead, light, medium, and heavy. All weapons in the same category roll on the same table (for more detail scroll to the bottom of post). Daggers, staves, hatchets, throwing knives, etc, are light weapons. Swords, quarterstaffs, axes, bows, etc., are medium weapons. Great swords, heavy clubs, battle axes, longbows, etc., are all heavy weapons.
Heavy weapons are restricted to characters with a stamina of 23+, medium weapons are restricted to characters with a stamina of 16+, while light weapons are free to all. For the most part, light weapons are completely inferior to others, but they do have one advantage. If you are fighting with a light weapon, you can switch to a different light weapon (example: from daggers to throwing knives) without spending a turn doing nothing.
RANGED COMBAT: When being fired upon by a missile weapons. You may use the main combat skill as normal. If you win the roll, you dodge the shot. Magic, specifically, needs the dodge skills to avoid, however. Caster rolls to cast, if cast successful, the attack will hit unless dodged. Dodge may also be substituted when a character doesn't wish, or is unable, to use a weapon skill.
CLASSES: I also feel that there needs to be some templates, I'll call them warrior, rogue, and caster.
Each class gives a bonus point to one stat. Warriors get a +1 to stamina, because they are the physically strongest, and the most focused on fighting. Rogues get a +1 to skill, because they are the generalist class. Casters get a +1 to luck, due to luck being the stat most strongly related to magic.
The second difference is how each class buys abilities at the start of the game. Rogues can put up to 3 points extra for any abilities at character creation. Warriors can put 4 points for any physical ability but have a limit of only 2 points for mental one. Casters are the opposite, and can can only put 2 points in physical special ability (magic ability counts as mental).
After character creation, the general cap for all abilities is +4. To go beyond this, the character must be trained by a character with a +5 or more in an ability. Warriors can to this with two physical abilities, while a caster can do this with two mental abilities. Rogues can only do this with a single ability, but it can be either mental or physical.
Additionally, each class has bonus abilities.
WARRIOR BONUS: Gains 1 point that must be put in either the "Extra Attack" ability, which allows him to attack two seperate targets per round (when outnumbered), or in the "Toughness" ability, which lowers damage taken when wounded. May not take both abilities at character creation, but can gain them afterwards.
CASTER BONUS: Gains 1 point that can be put in either the Magic (arcane) ability, or the Magic (divine) ability. Either choice gives him an additional 3 points that can only be used for spells. May only ever have one of the two at any point.
ROGUE BONUS: Rogues are given an additional 3 ability points, to be spent however he wants.
Extra Attack (warriors only): Many stronger enemies can attack 2+ heroes, when outnumbered. This skill works exactly the same way. Extra attack allows you to use an extra attack using any weapon special that you have learned that is equal to, or lower than, your extra attack. When fighting three or more opponents, lower attack skill by 1 for every additional enemy the character is fighting. This skill can also be used to protect one nearby ally from fighting a single opponent. This skill applies to melee combat only. A protected character may not use melee attacks. That said, a protected character may still use ranged abilities. After putting in 5+ points, this special allows two attacks, even when only against a against a single enemy. May not also have 5+ in Toughness, if this is done.
Toughness (warriors only): Passive skill. Effect increases with number of points put in. -1 to damage rolls when taking light damage when you put one point in. Two points gives a damage reduction when taking light/medium damage. Three points gives damage reduction to light/medium/heavy damage. Four points also lowers damage taken from magic by 1 (minimum 1 point). After putting in 5+ points, character is now able to lower damage taken by a straight -1, when the total damage taken is 2+. May not have 5+ in Extra Attack, if this is done.
Magic-Arcane (casters only): Required to use magic gained by your own power. After character creation, all spells must be learned from another character that knows the spell. Choosing arcane magic means you cannot learn spells that directly increase/restore stats, unless your ability is 5+ (it costs an additional point when doing so).
NOTE: Player is not required to lower skill stat for putting 1 point into magic. However, each additional point added, at character generation, will lower skill by an equivalent point.
NOTE: If a caster has a luck of 13+, he is brimming with arcane energy, and can learn/cast without additional restrictions or cost.
Magic-Divine (casters only): Required to use divine magic. As divine magic is granted by gods, you can learn any allowed spell of 4 points, or less, praying all night in a temple for your god, and making the proper donation. Higher level spells must still be taught, however. Choosing divine magic means you cannot learn spells that directly lower skills/stats, unless your ability is 5+ (it costs an additional point when doing so). Depending on the god you follow, there may be additional spell/behavior restrictions.
NOTE: Player is not required to lower skill stat for putting 1 point into magic, each additional point added, at character generation will, however, lower skill by an equivalent point.
NOTE: If a caster has a luck of 13+, he is brimming with divine energy, and can learn/cast without additional restrictions or cost (unless the spell is forbidden by his god).
Minor Magic (casters/elves only): An ability available for both arcane and divine casters, as well as elves. Can be learned after character creation.
COMMONER: Counts as an NPC class. It's the basic version, with no special bonuses, abilities, or magic. Limit of 1 point for combat abilities, assuming the character has any skill in them. Can have additional points in non-combat abilities, however, and can have up to 4 abilities at 5+. Most characters count as this, from guards, to merchants, to monsters (like goblins).
This gives some strong roles. Warrior types can stick near the caster types and protect them or become damage tanks. Rogues become the skill monkeys, who are generally better at fighting one on one, but can be overwhelmed more easily in battle. Casters have greater freedom to cast their spells now that they aren't draining stamina. I'd also change the critical failure which is also known as the "Oops Table" so that minor spells of less than 4 points can't just kill the caster. Just double the stamina cost and make it so the caster can't cast for the next turn as punishment instead.
Then there are stats. I feel like stats should have a greater role in things, rather than just being high or low.
- Skill is the most annoying one, so I'd limit it to being a maximum of 9 points for starting players, plus bonus points from the class chosen. The advantage of being able to instantly increase every special you possess, along with being able to increase your success rolls whenever using an unknown special once your skill gets to 11+, is enough of an advantage on it's own.
- Stamina is stated as meaning the character is strong but that doesn't come across very well in the game, so I'm changing that. Instead of saying that a thief needs to use dagger or a caster needs a staff, I'd say that weapons are determined by your power level. Therefore, a character with a stamina (strength) of 15 or lower, can only use light weapons like daggers and staves, a stamina of 16-22 allows normal weapons like bows, and swords, and a strength of 23+ can wield the strongest weapons, like the battle axe and two handed sword. The racial weapon changes to match this reality. A normal human gets a sword, but a weak human gets dagger instead. Additionally, only characters with a 24 stamina are allowed the strength special, which comes free, allowing them a +1 damage. This takes a broken skill and makes it a fair reward for having a really high stamina. Low stamina characters are forced to use the weaker light weapons, reducing damage output somewhat. It's all about hitting harder, or more often.
- Luck should also get some benefits for being high. Awareness special skill is now only available to characters with a luck of 12. Casters that get luck up to 13 no longer have to suffer restrictions of not being able to cast direct healing/damage spells or be forced to pay extra for doing so. This gives two paths towards full spell mastery. Either spend 5 points in magic, and deal with the extra stamina cost of the opposing spells, or get 13 luck. Magical beings will also pay more attention to characters with 13+ luck, which can be a good or bad thing, depending.
STAT POINT BUY: I'll say it straight out, I don't think it's fair to roll dice to figure out your starting skills, so my default is going by a point by instead. Starting stats for all new characters is 9 skill, 21 stamina, and 9 luck. These numbers can be modified. If you want to increase a stat above the listed number, then it costs two points from a different one. Max starting stats are 10 skill, 23 stamina, and 12 luck, while the minimum starting stats are 7 skill, 15 stamina, and 7 luck. The stat bonus from your chosen class is added after this selection is done.
With the +1, rogues can get a max 11 skill, warriors a max 24 starting stamina, and casters a max starting luck of 13. I really feel that a point buy system with advantages for focusing on maximizing a single stat would have had helped to smooth out the gameplay. If you are allowed to do more damage as a stamina 24 character (stamina 24 giving +1 to damage), then the fact that you hit less often due to a low skill balances this out, especially since only warriors can have a 24 stamina to start. For a warrior, having a 24 stamina, means that your skill and luck are both lowered to 7. Alternatively, to gain 12 luck, a rogue might lower stamina to 15 to pay for it. This forces him to use a light weapon, such as a dagger, as his main, instead of a medium class weapon, like a sword.
STAT ROLL: For players that insist on rolling dice, you now roll a single die for skill and luck. The face up result is one result. Once you write it down, flip the die upside down, and that is your other result. Total luck and skill always will equal a total of 7 points. Add 6 to the rolls to find their totals, and then choose which goes where, keeping in mind that you can't have an initial skill of 11+ (example: You roll a 5; the bottom of a 5 result is 2; 5 +6 =11; 2+6=8; skill may not be 11+, so skill=8 and luck=11). Stamina is rolled, as normal, with 2d6. Add 12 to roll to find total. That puts a stop the the whole 12/24/12 nonsense.
DEMI-HUMAN RACES: Originally, players that take elf/dwarf races just have to add points into three seperate skills. I keep this intact, and add further variation. First off, a racial ability not only trumps a class restriction, but the character is allowed to boost THREE abilities to 5+, as long as at least one of these abilities are racial skills. Therefore, an elf mage can still put up to 4 points in bow at the start of the game, even though it's a physical skill, and even increase it to 5+ later on. Likewise, an elf warrior can use minor magic, even though this is usually restricted to mage class.
Elves and dwarves may never learn the racial skills of the other race. A dwarf may never learn minor magic, bow, or forest lore, and an elf may never learn dark seeing, axe, or underground lore.
Additionally, both races have minor stat changes. A dwarf gains a +1 to stamina and -1 to luck. An elf gains a +1 to luck and a -1 to stamina. This is applied at the same time as the class stat bonus. This means that a dwarf could end up with a 6 luck, and an elf could have a 14 stamina.
Humans have the advantage of not being forced to put points into certain abilities, and have no stat caps.
All the changes, taken together, gives a lot of incentives for different setups. You could take the barbarian from Dungeoneer and turn him into a dedicated shaman, rather than a warrior that can cast spells. He'd be a human caster with 7 skill, 23 stamina, and 8 luck. Only 1 point into priest, so he doesn't take an additional skill penalty. Let me compare this to the original setup
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Original Axel (hero)= 8 skill (9-1)/ 21 stamina/ 8 luck /// 2+9+2= 13
|9 skill points| no designated/extra skill points
Starting Skills (9): two handed sword 10 (2)/ sneak 10 (2)/ wood lore 10 (2)/ magic 9 (1)/ strength 10 (2)
Starting Spells (3): Fear, stamina, luck.
New Axel (caster/shaman; +1 luck)= 7 (-0) skill/ 23 stamina / 8 (+1) luck /// 1+11+2=14
|9 ability points | Class Bonus: 1 point into magic (divine). Priest. Follows Fourga, god of Pride
Starting Abilities (10): Two handed sword 8 (2)/sneak 8 (2)/ wood lore 10 (4)/ magic (divine) 7 (1)/ dodge 7 (1)
Starting Spells (3): Fear, stamina, luck.
He got much weaker than before, I would have loved to put more points in his weapon skill but casters can only put 2 points in physical special skills now. This probably needed to happen though, because his original version was also overpowered. In the original, having the strength skill increases damage by 1, which makes me ask why anyone would avoid putting at least one point into this ability, and his weapon had a 50% chance of doing 3 damage per hit, before the strength bonus! That's absurd, my answer is that you need the requirement of 24 stamina to gain access to it now, an amount only available, at start, to warriors. I have decided to leave him as a magic user, so that he could become the party healer.
In order to keep his ability to use heavy weapons, he has a stamina of 23+ now. This will be allowing him to cast his limited spells fairly frequently, but the failure rate will be higher, due to his lower skill. Even so, he's still not weak, and I feel his damage output is more reasonable at this point. I mean, the original him used the strongest sword, got a +1 damage per hit and could heal himself?
I think it's fair to say that gets a nerf. Getting to 23 stamina is hard, and he has to lower his skill to 7, and luck to 8, to pull it off. This answers the question of why doesn't everyone use a two handed sword, when it's the best non enchanted weapon in the game.
He now counts as a priest, instead of a magic user. He follows the god of pride. I'd rather go with the god of courage, but it doesn't allow the fear spell. Magic skill is just 7, but it's not costing stamina to cast anymore, and no more massive oops table for low level spells either. Instead of the oops table, I feel that doubling cost, and making it so he can't cast for 1 combat round, is enough of a penalty for a fumble. Therefore, it doesn't matter too much if he misses casting it a few times. One point goes into dodge.
I really like this new build. I think it's interesting to go with a healer with such a massive ability to inflict damage.
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Original Gordo (hero)= 9 skill/ 17 stamina/ 12 luck /// 3+5+6= 14
| 9 skill points | no designated/extra skill points
Starting skills (9): dagger 10 (1)/ climb 10 (1)/ con 12 (3)/ sleight 11 (2)/sneak 11 (2)
New Gordo (human rogue; +1 skill/ +2 special skills)= 10 (+1) skill/ 15 stamina/ 12 luck /// 4+3+6=13
| 9 ability points | Class Bonus: +3 into anything | Stat Bonus: +1 awareness from 12 luck |
Starting Abilities (13): dagger 10 (1)/ climb 10 (1)/ con 12 (3)/ sleight 11 (2)/ sneak 11 (2)/ hide 10 (1)/ lock picking 10 (1)/ throwing dagger 10 (1)/ awareness 10 (1)
The defining trait of Gordo is his luck stat. In order to get a 12 luck, he sacrificed a LOT of his stamina. In the new rules, stamina of 15 or less means you are only allowed light weapons, which is another reason why you might not want to lower stamina this much. However, the original Gordo also used daggers, so now we have an explanation as to why he would use an inferior weapon. Given my new rule on light weapons not needing a round to switch, he does have the benefit of being able to go from throwing knifes to daggers at an instant. I gave him the throwing knife skill as a result. He benefits a lot from having a warrior guard him, because he can assist by using his throwing skill while being protected.
In terms of the sheer number of special skills, the new version shines. Instead of 9 points, he gets 13 points to spend. This total includes the awareness bonus for free from his high luck score. Awareness is widely considered to be one of the more broken skills in the game, so I think it's a reasonable reward for speccing in luck. Plus, luck is more powerful now because you can substitute it for skill rolls when you really need that edge, along with giving extra damage for the crucial attacks, which help to take the edge off the lower damage output.
Overall, the new version has a lot more utility, given that he has access to more skills (9 total), including throwing weapons. You can really see the difference in a rogue character vs a caster or warrior.
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Original Jerik (hero)= 10 skill/ 20 stamina/ 10 luck /// 4+8+4= 16
| 10 skill points|no designated/extra skill points
Starting Skills (10): sword 13 (3)/ crossbow 11(1)/dodge 12 (2)/ ride 12 (2)/ world lore 12 (2)
New Jerik (human warrior; +1 stamina)= 9 skill/ 22 (+1) stamina/ 9 luck/// 3+10+3=16
| 9 ability points | Class Bonus: +1 point into Extra attack.
Starting Abilities (10): sword 12 (3)/ crossbow 9 (1)/dodge 9 (1)/ ride 9 (1)/ world lore 9 (1)/ Extra Attack 12 (3)
Original Jerik has the highest total stats of all the characters. At a total of 16, he's 2 points higher, overall, than the others, who mostly end up with 14 points, before magery. His skill is also the highest, which means he has the most points to spend. While this combo makes for a good rogue, I decided to make him a warrior instead, so he ends up a fair bit weaker. I decided to focus having this character's defining trait being his high stat total, rather than his high skill, which greatly drops his ability score.
Skill wise, he's weaker, no question. Extra attack is useful, but it only works on specials that are equal or lower to it, so I have to divide between it and swords equally, making it a skill sink. This was the most focused fighter of the group to begin with though, so I feel this new version takes Jerik to where you want to go with him. I don't feel the new version is lacking in comparison to the rest.
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Original Aspen (hero)= 8 skill (10-2)/ 17 stamina/ 11 luck /// 4+5+5= 14
| 10 skill points | put a point in bow, wood lore, and magic.
Starting Skills (10): Bow 11 (3)/ Hide 9 (1)/ Wood Lore 10 (2)/ Awareness 10 (2)/ Magic 10 (2)
New Aspen (elf rogue; +1 skill +1 luck; -1 stamina/ +3 specials)=11 (+1) skill/ 16 (-1) stamina/ 11 (+1) luck /// 5+4+5=14
| 9 ability points | Class bonus: +3 ability points | Demi-Human: put 1+ points in bow, wood lore, and minor magic.
Starting Abilities (12): Bow 11 (1)/ Hide 11 (1)/ Wood Lore 11 (1)/ Minor Magic 11 (1)/ Swim 11 (1)/ Climb 11 (1)/ jump 11 (1)/ dodge 11 (1)/ etiquette 11 (1)/ bargen 11 (1)/diplomacy 11(1)/ Sword 11 (1)
New Aspen has some major changes to her character, no longer is she a primary caster. That said, elves do gain the minor magic skill. Rogues are not normally allowed to learn this skill otherwise. I also decided that she would have the highest skill of the starting characters. Stamina is at 16 to allow the use of medium weapons. She no longer has awareness, but she does have a slew of other skills, that are all higher than before. She also is given social skills, making her a good face for the party. Of particular note is her having a sword skill. With the new rules, not having a point dedicated to a special means a default skill roll of 8. The number 8 is also the highest you can succeed for an unskilled roll, even if skill goes higher.
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Original Grimbold (hero)= 9 skill/ 22 stamina/ 7 luck /// 3+10+1=14
| 9 skill points| put a point in axe, underground lore, and dark seeing.
Starting Skills (9): Axe 12 (3)/ Dark Seeing 11 (2)/ Unarmed 10 (1) /Trap Sense 10 (1)/ Underground Lore 11 (2)
New Grimbold (dwarf warrior; +2 stamina -1 luck)= 8 skill/ 24 stamina/ 7 luck /// 2+12+1= 15
| 9 ability points| Class Bonus: 1 point for toughness | demi-human: put 1+ points in axe (upgrade to battle axe), underground lore, and dark seeing | Stat Bonus: +1 strength.
Starting Abilities (11): Battle Axe 10 (3)/ Dark Seeing (1)/Unarmed 8 (1) / Trap Sense 9 (1)/ Underground Lore 8 (1)/ Strength 8 (1)/ Sneak 8 (1)/ Toughness 9 (2)
Grim takes over from Axel for strongest character.
For a player that wants to go for a pure stamina build, nothing beats a dwarf. Certainly, a 24 strength has desirable properties, but you also have to sacrifice a fair bit to get it. For a human, non-warrior, like Axel, luck and skill had to both drop to the minimum of 7 in order to get a stamina of 23. Grimbold, a dwarf warrior, manages to keep skill at 8 and can manage to get up to the full 24 stamina. Hopefully, the trade seems fair.
Grom has 2 points in toughness, allowing him to get a -1 when rolling to suffer a damage from light/medium weapons. This gives him survivability if he's ahead of the others, scouting around, which he can do, thanks to his darkseeing. Given this roll for scouting, I gave him a point in sneak as well. Darkseeing is not a skill that I've ever seen needing rolls, so now it is a flat one point for the ability, and you may not add more to it.
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Original Brandas (hero)= 6 skill (9-3)/ 18 stamina/ 11 luck /// 3+6+5=14
| 9 skill points| no racial template
Starting Skills (9): Dodge 7 (1)/ Languages 8 (2)/ Sleight of Hand 7 (1)/ World Lore 8 (2) /Magic 9 (3)
New Brandas (human caster: arcane)= 7 skill (9-2)/ 19 stamina/ 11 (+1) luck /// 3+7+5=15
| 9 skill points| Class Bonus: +1 point in magic-arcane
Starting Abilities (10): Dodge 7 (1)/ Languages 8 (2)/ Sleight of Hand 7 (1)/ World Lore 8 (2) /Magic 9 (3)/ Bow 7 (1)
This character has a slight gain in terms of stats. The number of abilities, along with their rating, are exactly the same as before, with the sole exception being that one point was put into bow, so he now has a ranged combat option when not casting. Given the changes in magic, namely that magic no longer drains stamina, I feel that Brandas has surprisingly gotten the single biggest boost of the 6. Not worrying so much about killing yourself allows the caster to have a more free hand with his spell casting (I'm ignoring the stamina hack when I say this), although he still must be careful since magic points can only be reset to 0 after a good night's rest.
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With this we have two characters in each class and specific roles for them. Axel is a stamina focused priest, while Brandas is an offensive focused wizard. Gordo handles the stealth while Aspen is the highest skilled of the group, along with being the face of the party. Grimbold is a fully strength focused warrior that can also scout ahead, and Jarik is an all rounder.
I feel that my new rules really adds to the team, and I can make more and more characters using my rules that will be balanced in strength with the listed ones. There's more room to customize, and you don't have to worry about falling noticeably short with anyone else. I feel pretty good about how I have tweaked the rules. Sad that I have no one to play with though. Just another personal exercise.
I also want to go over the damage system. There are too many charts for weapons, you only need three. Heavy, medium and light.
up to 1
Die roll -| up to 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 or more
----------|---------|---|---|---|---|---|--------------
Light-----| 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3
Medium----| 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3
Heavy-----| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4
If initial stamina is 24 or higher, +1 damage.
If unarmed, fist does 1 damage per hit (or 2, if stamina is 24+)
If using enchanted weapon, +1 to roll
If using missile weapon -1 to roll
If using improvised weapon, -1 to roll (-2 total, if using an improvised missile weapon)
If hitting an unarmoured enemy +2 to roll.
I really like this, as it works on a simple sliding scale, all that is different is where you start.
Fists count as being as strong as an improvised light weapon,
I should also include big bite setting, which you can also just fit in to the single chart.
1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
If light, start on position 1.
If medium, start on position 2.
If heavy, start on position 3.
Sometimes you come across a monster, when this happens, start on position 5.
I like the damage roll, and this streamlines how it works. Why have every weapon with its own setup? I don't think you need that level of detail.
Mighty blows are way too strong. A single double 6 can kill you? No thanks. Another one of the bits I got from descriptions of second edition was that mighty blows were double max damage (typically 4-6 points), plus -1 to skill. That seems reasonable
Maybe a limit on teaching. To teach, maybe you need 3 points in a special. This limits players trading skills around too easily.
NEW IDEAS: Change it so that you need to be unarmed for casting. Meaning you must wait 1 round to sheath normal/heavy weapon, but can cast without delay if using light weapons.
What's this about Allansia? I'm really annoyed that there is a 5th book in the advanced series that I never got. I'm really curious about the final mission and new rules, but the cheapest copies online are going to cost around 200 bucks... Seems like this second edition thing doesn't have the adventure either.
I've been thinking about trying to get some of the older books and see if my nephew might pick up on it like I did back in the day. There is nothing quite like the Fighting Fantasy style books anymore. That makes no sense to me, there should be a market for solo game books, even if it's not as big as it was during the 80's and 90's.
Anyway, I've been feeling creative, so I looked through the old books and added my concept of fixing character creation.
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STATS: The old rules made it a straight 15 per stat increase. I'm modifying it a bit. All stats can be upgraded by 1 point for every 10 ability points until 8 Skill/ 18 Stamina/ 8 Luck, at which point it costs 15 points for every increase. After 10/23/12, it increases again to 20 points per additional increase.
SKILL STAT: One thing that I hear is a lot of people feel that a high skill is too powerful in the game. I have decided to hit this with the nerf bat. First off, skill tops out at 10 (total of 11 for rogue class). In addition, when you are are required to make a default skill roll in place of a special skill you don't have. If you don't know a skill you must roll a flat 7 or under to succeed, or roll your skill or less, if skill is lower than 7. If your skill is 11+, you need to roll an 8 or under. A roll of 9 or higher always counts as an automatic fail, regardless of how high your skill is though.
STAMINA STAT (magic): Stamina is basically unchanged. However, what IS different is how it relates to magic. One of the broken bits of the books is casting the stamina spell. The point that is lowered comes after the restoration, meaning that a healer can erase all damage after every fight. An obviously broken ability.
My solution to something like a stamina hack is to switch to magic points. That seems to be what they did in this second edition version that I have not read, but I bet my idea is a bit different, because, instead of having a set amount that drains, you start at 0 magic points, and when you can cast spells it adds the spell cost up, and you can keep casting, as long as the total number remains less than, or equal to, current stamina. Final spell can put magic point total above current stamina.
If you have cast 10 points worth of spells, and then get injured, dropping you to 9 stamina, you can't cast anymore, but if you managed to heal up 4 points, and restore stamina to 13, you can cast again. Magic points resets to 0 after a good night's rest. Healing magic, as before, can't be used during combat.
LUCK STAT: Luck is changed so that you can spend them, in addition to simply using them for luck rolls. You can automatically succeed in any non combat roll by spending a luck point. Luck is not allowed to be used when against another person though, such as for a combat or diplomacy roll. At GM's discretion, players may also roll for luck to gain a clue as to how to proceed in a scene, or to point out a danger. In addition, having a 13+ luck gives a bonus to the caster class.
In combat, while you are not allowed to use luck in order to hit, you still can increase damage by 2. Again, just spend a point to do so. This can help out weaker skilled characters hit harder when they can actually land a hit.
SPECIAL ABILITIES (aka: special skills): Special Skill has been renamed to special ability, to stop confusion with the skill stat. Abilities have been given a nerf bat. The original rules had putting a point in an ability makes you immediately stronger in that skill than your skill. Now you are equal to skill, and not having any skill points at all gives you a penalty to the roll. If you have an ability of 12+ you still automatically fail with a roll of 12.
In addition, having a starting character gain a number of ability points the same as his initial skill doesn't sit right with me, so I decided that 9 points is given at the start of character generation, regardless of skill, and an extra 1-4 bonus points is given, depending on the class, along with another point for having a high stamina and luck, respectively.
WEAPONS: Instead of giving every individual weapon its own damage table to roll on, I have divided them by weight categories instead, light, medium, and heavy. All weapons in the same category roll on the same table (for more detail scroll to the bottom of post). Daggers, staves, hatchets, throwing knives, etc, are light weapons. Swords, quarterstaffs, axes, bows, etc., are medium weapons. Great swords, heavy clubs, battle axes, longbows, etc., are all heavy weapons.
Heavy weapons are restricted to characters with a stamina of 23+, medium weapons are restricted to characters with a stamina of 16+, while light weapons are free to all. For the most part, light weapons are completely inferior to others, but they do have one advantage. If you are fighting with a light weapon, you can switch to a different light weapon (example: from daggers to throwing knives) without spending a turn doing nothing.
RANGED COMBAT: When being fired upon by a missile weapons. You may use the main combat skill as normal. If you win the roll, you dodge the shot. Magic, specifically, needs the dodge skills to avoid, however. Caster rolls to cast, if cast successful, the attack will hit unless dodged. Dodge may also be substituted when a character doesn't wish, or is unable, to use a weapon skill.
CLASSES: I also feel that there needs to be some templates, I'll call them warrior, rogue, and caster.
Each class gives a bonus point to one stat. Warriors get a +1 to stamina, because they are the physically strongest, and the most focused on fighting. Rogues get a +1 to skill, because they are the generalist class. Casters get a +1 to luck, due to luck being the stat most strongly related to magic.
The second difference is how each class buys abilities at the start of the game. Rogues can put up to 3 points extra for any abilities at character creation. Warriors can put 4 points for any physical ability but have a limit of only 2 points for mental one. Casters are the opposite, and can can only put 2 points in physical special ability (magic ability counts as mental).
After character creation, the general cap for all abilities is +4. To go beyond this, the character must be trained by a character with a +5 or more in an ability. Warriors can to this with two physical abilities, while a caster can do this with two mental abilities. Rogues can only do this with a single ability, but it can be either mental or physical.
Additionally, each class has bonus abilities.
WARRIOR BONUS: Gains 1 point that must be put in either the "Extra Attack" ability, which allows him to attack two seperate targets per round (when outnumbered), or in the "Toughness" ability, which lowers damage taken when wounded. May not take both abilities at character creation, but can gain them afterwards.
CASTER BONUS: Gains 1 point that can be put in either the Magic (arcane) ability, or the Magic (divine) ability. Either choice gives him an additional 3 points that can only be used for spells. May only ever have one of the two at any point.
ROGUE BONUS: Rogues are given an additional 3 ability points, to be spent however he wants.
Extra Attack (warriors only): Many stronger enemies can attack 2+ heroes, when outnumbered. This skill works exactly the same way. Extra attack allows you to use an extra attack using any weapon special that you have learned that is equal to, or lower than, your extra attack. When fighting three or more opponents, lower attack skill by 1 for every additional enemy the character is fighting. This skill can also be used to protect one nearby ally from fighting a single opponent. This skill applies to melee combat only. A protected character may not use melee attacks. That said, a protected character may still use ranged abilities. After putting in 5+ points, this special allows two attacks, even when only against a against a single enemy. May not also have 5+ in Toughness, if this is done.
Toughness (warriors only): Passive skill. Effect increases with number of points put in. -1 to damage rolls when taking light damage when you put one point in. Two points gives a damage reduction when taking light/medium damage. Three points gives damage reduction to light/medium/heavy damage. Four points also lowers damage taken from magic by 1 (minimum 1 point). After putting in 5+ points, character is now able to lower damage taken by a straight -1, when the total damage taken is 2+. May not have 5+ in Extra Attack, if this is done.
Magic-Arcane (casters only): Required to use magic gained by your own power. After character creation, all spells must be learned from another character that knows the spell. Choosing arcane magic means you cannot learn spells that directly increase/restore stats, unless your ability is 5+ (it costs an additional point when doing so).
NOTE: Player is not required to lower skill stat for putting 1 point into magic. However, each additional point added, at character generation, will lower skill by an equivalent point.
NOTE: If a caster has a luck of 13+, he is brimming with arcane energy, and can learn/cast without additional restrictions or cost.
Magic-Divine (casters only): Required to use divine magic. As divine magic is granted by gods, you can learn any allowed spell of 4 points, or less, praying all night in a temple for your god, and making the proper donation. Higher level spells must still be taught, however. Choosing divine magic means you cannot learn spells that directly lower skills/stats, unless your ability is 5+ (it costs an additional point when doing so). Depending on the god you follow, there may be additional spell/behavior restrictions.
NOTE: Player is not required to lower skill stat for putting 1 point into magic, each additional point added, at character generation will, however, lower skill by an equivalent point.
NOTE: If a caster has a luck of 13+, he is brimming with divine energy, and can learn/cast without additional restrictions or cost (unless the spell is forbidden by his god).
Minor Magic (casters/elves only): An ability available for both arcane and divine casters, as well as elves. Can be learned after character creation.
COMMONER: Counts as an NPC class. It's the basic version, with no special bonuses, abilities, or magic. Limit of 1 point for combat abilities, assuming the character has any skill in them. Can have additional points in non-combat abilities, however, and can have up to 4 abilities at 5+. Most characters count as this, from guards, to merchants, to monsters (like goblins).
This gives some strong roles. Warrior types can stick near the caster types and protect them or become damage tanks. Rogues become the skill monkeys, who are generally better at fighting one on one, but can be overwhelmed more easily in battle. Casters have greater freedom to cast their spells now that they aren't draining stamina. I'd also change the critical failure which is also known as the "Oops Table" so that minor spells of less than 4 points can't just kill the caster. Just double the stamina cost and make it so the caster can't cast for the next turn as punishment instead.
Then there are stats. I feel like stats should have a greater role in things, rather than just being high or low.
- Skill is the most annoying one, so I'd limit it to being a maximum of 9 points for starting players, plus bonus points from the class chosen. The advantage of being able to instantly increase every special you possess, along with being able to increase your success rolls whenever using an unknown special once your skill gets to 11+, is enough of an advantage on it's own.
- Stamina is stated as meaning the character is strong but that doesn't come across very well in the game, so I'm changing that. Instead of saying that a thief needs to use dagger or a caster needs a staff, I'd say that weapons are determined by your power level. Therefore, a character with a stamina (strength) of 15 or lower, can only use light weapons like daggers and staves, a stamina of 16-22 allows normal weapons like bows, and swords, and a strength of 23+ can wield the strongest weapons, like the battle axe and two handed sword. The racial weapon changes to match this reality. A normal human gets a sword, but a weak human gets dagger instead. Additionally, only characters with a 24 stamina are allowed the strength special, which comes free, allowing them a +1 damage. This takes a broken skill and makes it a fair reward for having a really high stamina. Low stamina characters are forced to use the weaker light weapons, reducing damage output somewhat. It's all about hitting harder, or more often.
- Luck should also get some benefits for being high. Awareness special skill is now only available to characters with a luck of 12. Casters that get luck up to 13 no longer have to suffer restrictions of not being able to cast direct healing/damage spells or be forced to pay extra for doing so. This gives two paths towards full spell mastery. Either spend 5 points in magic, and deal with the extra stamina cost of the opposing spells, or get 13 luck. Magical beings will also pay more attention to characters with 13+ luck, which can be a good or bad thing, depending.
STAT POINT BUY: I'll say it straight out, I don't think it's fair to roll dice to figure out your starting skills, so my default is going by a point by instead. Starting stats for all new characters is 9 skill, 21 stamina, and 9 luck. These numbers can be modified. If you want to increase a stat above the listed number, then it costs two points from a different one. Max starting stats are 10 skill, 23 stamina, and 12 luck, while the minimum starting stats are 7 skill, 15 stamina, and 7 luck. The stat bonus from your chosen class is added after this selection is done.
With the +1, rogues can get a max 11 skill, warriors a max 24 starting stamina, and casters a max starting luck of 13. I really feel that a point buy system with advantages for focusing on maximizing a single stat would have had helped to smooth out the gameplay. If you are allowed to do more damage as a stamina 24 character (stamina 24 giving +1 to damage), then the fact that you hit less often due to a low skill balances this out, especially since only warriors can have a 24 stamina to start. For a warrior, having a 24 stamina, means that your skill and luck are both lowered to 7. Alternatively, to gain 12 luck, a rogue might lower stamina to 15 to pay for it. This forces him to use a light weapon, such as a dagger, as his main, instead of a medium class weapon, like a sword.
STAT ROLL: For players that insist on rolling dice, you now roll a single die for skill and luck. The face up result is one result. Once you write it down, flip the die upside down, and that is your other result. Total luck and skill always will equal a total of 7 points. Add 6 to the rolls to find their totals, and then choose which goes where, keeping in mind that you can't have an initial skill of 11+ (example: You roll a 5; the bottom of a 5 result is 2; 5 +6 =11; 2+6=8; skill may not be 11+, so skill=8 and luck=11). Stamina is rolled, as normal, with 2d6. Add 12 to roll to find total. That puts a stop the the whole 12/24/12 nonsense.
DEMI-HUMAN RACES: Originally, players that take elf/dwarf races just have to add points into three seperate skills. I keep this intact, and add further variation. First off, a racial ability not only trumps a class restriction, but the character is allowed to boost THREE abilities to 5+, as long as at least one of these abilities are racial skills. Therefore, an elf mage can still put up to 4 points in bow at the start of the game, even though it's a physical skill, and even increase it to 5+ later on. Likewise, an elf warrior can use minor magic, even though this is usually restricted to mage class.
Elves and dwarves may never learn the racial skills of the other race. A dwarf may never learn minor magic, bow, or forest lore, and an elf may never learn dark seeing, axe, or underground lore.
Additionally, both races have minor stat changes. A dwarf gains a +1 to stamina and -1 to luck. An elf gains a +1 to luck and a -1 to stamina. This is applied at the same time as the class stat bonus. This means that a dwarf could end up with a 6 luck, and an elf could have a 14 stamina.
Humans have the advantage of not being forced to put points into certain abilities, and have no stat caps.
All the changes, taken together, gives a lot of incentives for different setups. You could take the barbarian from Dungeoneer and turn him into a dedicated shaman, rather than a warrior that can cast spells. He'd be a human caster with 7 skill, 23 stamina, and 8 luck. Only 1 point into priest, so he doesn't take an additional skill penalty. Let me compare this to the original setup
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Original Axel (hero)= 8 skill (9-1)/ 21 stamina/ 8 luck /// 2+9+2= 13
|9 skill points| no designated/extra skill points
Starting Skills (9): two handed sword 10 (2)/ sneak 10 (2)/ wood lore 10 (2)/ magic 9 (1)/ strength 10 (2)
Starting Spells (3): Fear, stamina, luck.
New Axel (caster/shaman; +1 luck)= 7 (-0) skill/ 23 stamina / 8 (+1) luck /// 1+11+2=14
|9 ability points | Class Bonus: 1 point into magic (divine). Priest. Follows Fourga, god of Pride
Starting Abilities (10): Two handed sword 8 (2)/sneak 8 (2)/ wood lore 10 (4)/ magic (divine) 7 (1)/ dodge 7 (1)
Starting Spells (3): Fear, stamina, luck.
He got much weaker than before, I would have loved to put more points in his weapon skill but casters can only put 2 points in physical special skills now. This probably needed to happen though, because his original version was also overpowered. In the original, having the strength skill increases damage by 1, which makes me ask why anyone would avoid putting at least one point into this ability, and his weapon had a 50% chance of doing 3 damage per hit, before the strength bonus! That's absurd, my answer is that you need the requirement of 24 stamina to gain access to it now, an amount only available, at start, to warriors. I have decided to leave him as a magic user, so that he could become the party healer.
In order to keep his ability to use heavy weapons, he has a stamina of 23+ now. This will be allowing him to cast his limited spells fairly frequently, but the failure rate will be higher, due to his lower skill. Even so, he's still not weak, and I feel his damage output is more reasonable at this point. I mean, the original him used the strongest sword, got a +1 damage per hit and could heal himself?
I think it's fair to say that gets a nerf. Getting to 23 stamina is hard, and he has to lower his skill to 7, and luck to 8, to pull it off. This answers the question of why doesn't everyone use a two handed sword, when it's the best non enchanted weapon in the game.
He now counts as a priest, instead of a magic user. He follows the god of pride. I'd rather go with the god of courage, but it doesn't allow the fear spell. Magic skill is just 7, but it's not costing stamina to cast anymore, and no more massive oops table for low level spells either. Instead of the oops table, I feel that doubling cost, and making it so he can't cast for 1 combat round, is enough of a penalty for a fumble. Therefore, it doesn't matter too much if he misses casting it a few times. One point goes into dodge.
I really like this new build. I think it's interesting to go with a healer with such a massive ability to inflict damage.
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Original Gordo (hero)= 9 skill/ 17 stamina/ 12 luck /// 3+5+6= 14
| 9 skill points | no designated/extra skill points
Starting skills (9): dagger 10 (1)/ climb 10 (1)/ con 12 (3)/ sleight 11 (2)/sneak 11 (2)
New Gordo (human rogue; +1 skill/ +2 special skills)= 10 (+1) skill/ 15 stamina/ 12 luck /// 4+3+6=13
| 9 ability points | Class Bonus: +3 into anything | Stat Bonus: +1 awareness from 12 luck |
Starting Abilities (13): dagger 10 (1)/ climb 10 (1)/ con 12 (3)/ sleight 11 (2)/ sneak 11 (2)/ hide 10 (1)/ lock picking 10 (1)/ throwing dagger 10 (1)/ awareness 10 (1)
The defining trait of Gordo is his luck stat. In order to get a 12 luck, he sacrificed a LOT of his stamina. In the new rules, stamina of 15 or less means you are only allowed light weapons, which is another reason why you might not want to lower stamina this much. However, the original Gordo also used daggers, so now we have an explanation as to why he would use an inferior weapon. Given my new rule on light weapons not needing a round to switch, he does have the benefit of being able to go from throwing knifes to daggers at an instant. I gave him the throwing knife skill as a result. He benefits a lot from having a warrior guard him, because he can assist by using his throwing skill while being protected.
In terms of the sheer number of special skills, the new version shines. Instead of 9 points, he gets 13 points to spend. This total includes the awareness bonus for free from his high luck score. Awareness is widely considered to be one of the more broken skills in the game, so I think it's a reasonable reward for speccing in luck. Plus, luck is more powerful now because you can substitute it for skill rolls when you really need that edge, along with giving extra damage for the crucial attacks, which help to take the edge off the lower damage output.
Overall, the new version has a lot more utility, given that he has access to more skills (9 total), including throwing weapons. You can really see the difference in a rogue character vs a caster or warrior.
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Original Jerik (hero)= 10 skill/ 20 stamina/ 10 luck /// 4+8+4= 16
| 10 skill points|no designated/extra skill points
Starting Skills (10): sword 13 (3)/ crossbow 11(1)/dodge 12 (2)/ ride 12 (2)/ world lore 12 (2)
New Jerik (human warrior; +1 stamina)= 9 skill/ 22 (+1) stamina/ 9 luck/// 3+10+3=16
| 9 ability points | Class Bonus: +1 point into Extra attack.
Starting Abilities (10): sword 12 (3)/ crossbow 9 (1)/dodge 9 (1)/ ride 9 (1)/ world lore 9 (1)/ Extra Attack 12 (3)
Original Jerik has the highest total stats of all the characters. At a total of 16, he's 2 points higher, overall, than the others, who mostly end up with 14 points, before magery. His skill is also the highest, which means he has the most points to spend. While this combo makes for a good rogue, I decided to make him a warrior instead, so he ends up a fair bit weaker. I decided to focus having this character's defining trait being his high stat total, rather than his high skill, which greatly drops his ability score.
Skill wise, he's weaker, no question. Extra attack is useful, but it only works on specials that are equal or lower to it, so I have to divide between it and swords equally, making it a skill sink. This was the most focused fighter of the group to begin with though, so I feel this new version takes Jerik to where you want to go with him. I don't feel the new version is lacking in comparison to the rest.
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Original Aspen (hero)= 8 skill (10-2)/ 17 stamina/ 11 luck /// 4+5+5= 14
| 10 skill points | put a point in bow, wood lore, and magic.
Starting Skills (10): Bow 11 (3)/ Hide 9 (1)/ Wood Lore 10 (2)/ Awareness 10 (2)/ Magic 10 (2)
New Aspen (elf rogue; +1 skill +1 luck; -1 stamina/ +3 specials)=11 (+1) skill/ 16 (-1) stamina/ 11 (+1) luck /// 5+4+5=14
| 9 ability points | Class bonus: +3 ability points | Demi-Human: put 1+ points in bow, wood lore, and minor magic.
Starting Abilities (12): Bow 11 (1)/ Hide 11 (1)/ Wood Lore 11 (1)/ Minor Magic 11 (1)/ Swim 11 (1)/ Climb 11 (1)/ jump 11 (1)/ dodge 11 (1)/ etiquette 11 (1)/ bargen 11 (1)/diplomacy 11(1)/ Sword 11 (1)
New Aspen has some major changes to her character, no longer is she a primary caster. That said, elves do gain the minor magic skill. Rogues are not normally allowed to learn this skill otherwise. I also decided that she would have the highest skill of the starting characters. Stamina is at 16 to allow the use of medium weapons. She no longer has awareness, but she does have a slew of other skills, that are all higher than before. She also is given social skills, making her a good face for the party. Of particular note is her having a sword skill. With the new rules, not having a point dedicated to a special means a default skill roll of 8. The number 8 is also the highest you can succeed for an unskilled roll, even if skill goes higher.
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Original Grimbold (hero)= 9 skill/ 22 stamina/ 7 luck /// 3+10+1=14
| 9 skill points| put a point in axe, underground lore, and dark seeing.
Starting Skills (9): Axe 12 (3)/ Dark Seeing 11 (2)/ Unarmed 10 (1) /Trap Sense 10 (1)/ Underground Lore 11 (2)
New Grimbold (dwarf warrior; +2 stamina -1 luck)= 8 skill/ 24 stamina/ 7 luck /// 2+12+1= 15
| 9 ability points| Class Bonus: 1 point for toughness | demi-human: put 1+ points in axe (upgrade to battle axe), underground lore, and dark seeing | Stat Bonus: +1 strength.
Starting Abilities (11): Battle Axe 10 (3)/ Dark Seeing (1)/Unarmed 8 (1) / Trap Sense 9 (1)/ Underground Lore 8 (1)/ Strength 8 (1)/ Sneak 8 (1)/ Toughness 9 (2)
Grim takes over from Axel for strongest character.
For a player that wants to go for a pure stamina build, nothing beats a dwarf. Certainly, a 24 strength has desirable properties, but you also have to sacrifice a fair bit to get it. For a human, non-warrior, like Axel, luck and skill had to both drop to the minimum of 7 in order to get a stamina of 23. Grimbold, a dwarf warrior, manages to keep skill at 8 and can manage to get up to the full 24 stamina. Hopefully, the trade seems fair.
Grom has 2 points in toughness, allowing him to get a -1 when rolling to suffer a damage from light/medium weapons. This gives him survivability if he's ahead of the others, scouting around, which he can do, thanks to his darkseeing. Given this roll for scouting, I gave him a point in sneak as well. Darkseeing is not a skill that I've ever seen needing rolls, so now it is a flat one point for the ability, and you may not add more to it.
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Original Brandas (hero)= 6 skill (9-3)/ 18 stamina/ 11 luck /// 3+6+5=14
| 9 skill points| no racial template
Starting Skills (9): Dodge 7 (1)/ Languages 8 (2)/ Sleight of Hand 7 (1)/ World Lore 8 (2) /Magic 9 (3)
New Brandas (human caster: arcane)= 7 skill (9-2)/ 19 stamina/ 11 (+1) luck /// 3+7+5=15
| 9 skill points| Class Bonus: +1 point in magic-arcane
Starting Abilities (10): Dodge 7 (1)/ Languages 8 (2)/ Sleight of Hand 7 (1)/ World Lore 8 (2) /Magic 9 (3)/ Bow 7 (1)
This character has a slight gain in terms of stats. The number of abilities, along with their rating, are exactly the same as before, with the sole exception being that one point was put into bow, so he now has a ranged combat option when not casting. Given the changes in magic, namely that magic no longer drains stamina, I feel that Brandas has surprisingly gotten the single biggest boost of the 6. Not worrying so much about killing yourself allows the caster to have a more free hand with his spell casting (I'm ignoring the stamina hack when I say this), although he still must be careful since magic points can only be reset to 0 after a good night's rest.
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With this we have two characters in each class and specific roles for them. Axel is a stamina focused priest, while Brandas is an offensive focused wizard. Gordo handles the stealth while Aspen is the highest skilled of the group, along with being the face of the party. Grimbold is a fully strength focused warrior that can also scout ahead, and Jarik is an all rounder.
I feel that my new rules really adds to the team, and I can make more and more characters using my rules that will be balanced in strength with the listed ones. There's more room to customize, and you don't have to worry about falling noticeably short with anyone else. I feel pretty good about how I have tweaked the rules. Sad that I have no one to play with though. Just another personal exercise.
I also want to go over the damage system. There are too many charts for weapons, you only need three. Heavy, medium and light.
up to 1
Die roll -| up to 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 or more
----------|---------|---|---|---|---|---|--------------
Light-----| 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3
Medium----| 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3
Heavy-----| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4
If initial stamina is 24 or higher, +1 damage.
If unarmed, fist does 1 damage per hit (or 2, if stamina is 24+)
If using enchanted weapon, +1 to roll
If using missile weapon -1 to roll
If using improvised weapon, -1 to roll (-2 total, if using an improvised missile weapon)
If hitting an unarmoured enemy +2 to roll.
I really like this, as it works on a simple sliding scale, all that is different is where you start.
Fists count as being as strong as an improvised light weapon,
I should also include big bite setting, which you can also just fit in to the single chart.
1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
If light, start on position 1.
If medium, start on position 2.
If heavy, start on position 3.
Sometimes you come across a monster, when this happens, start on position 5.
I like the damage roll, and this streamlines how it works. Why have every weapon with its own setup? I don't think you need that level of detail.
Mighty blows are way too strong. A single double 6 can kill you? No thanks. Another one of the bits I got from descriptions of second edition was that mighty blows were double max damage (typically 4-6 points), plus -1 to skill. That seems reasonable
Maybe a limit on teaching. To teach, maybe you need 3 points in a special. This limits players trading skills around too easily.
NEW IDEAS: Change it so that you need to be unarmed for casting. Meaning you must wait 1 round to sheath normal/heavy weapon, but can cast without delay if using light weapons.