Thursday, October 26, 2023
The Merchant: A Thief Sub Class now available!
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Demesnes & Domination Addenedum
Hey folks! I just uploaded an addendum to Demesnes & Domination to a shareable google drive. This addendum adds two additional concepts, the Demesne Bonus and the Adventuring
Bonus. These bonus increase along with the player character's level
- The Demesne Bonus is used to modify the Influence reaction roll and for Diplomacy. The bonus reflects the character's renown as a ruler of a domain. However this comes with the increasing chance of a Class Complication, which function as an event that requires the player characters to take action due to their status within the milieu.
- The Adventuring Bonus is sued too provide a minor bonus to a specific class ability based on the player's class once they reach 9th level.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pqTXz-z8NeOnmQgVY7MNI-TtPgsHbA6_/view?usp=drive_link
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
One Year of Demesne Turns
In Demesne & Domination on page 32 I wrote about using a sequence of Demesne Turns as it's own game. For those that don't have their copy readily available, i will reproduce it here:
The Demesne Turn as a Metagame: The Demesne Turn procedure provides
the structure to allow for a passage of time while allowing the player characters
to make decisions that could affect the campaign setting. A referee
can choose to link together multiple demesne turns to allow longer stretches
of time to pass by within the campaign. This allows for the Demesne Turn to
function as its own metagame. When engaging in demesne turns in this way,
players are still required to give input to their decisions while collecting taxes
and engaging in Demesne Downtime. Depending on generated events, the
procedures such as Delegating Tasks and Quick Mass Combat can be used
to quickly determine the results of certain events. Other events that might
pop up such as obligations or reputation encounters might require engaging
with those events as a sub game, such as participating in a tournament. Any
significant passage of time should always be meaningful and consequential,
so the referee is encouraged to use this procedure when jumping forward in
time.
So I decided to do an exercise where I have a year pass in a campaign setting with a stronghold controlled by two player characters. The following is the notes I wrote where I logged each demesnes Turn and the events that transpired in the Village of Grünburg overseen by the player Characters Victoria the Valiant and Travis the Transmuter. This was as very fun solo game i played which made me think about the game setting in a new way. I definitely can see using demeses turns as a metagame could be a fantatsic way to give background to a settlement or any landowning NPCs or even if the PCs are granted a stronghold and walk into a castle and settlement with ongoing issues. Anyways, enjoy my Demesne Turn as a metagame solo play notes!
Example of Demesnes Turn as a Metagame:
Stronghold controlled by two Player characters
Victoria the Valiant (F11- Str 16, Int: 9 Wis: 10, Dex: 11, Con: 10, Cha: 13, XP: 480,000) and Travis the Transmuter (MU9- Str: 10, Int: 17, Wis:12, Dex: 8, Con: 9 Cha: 12, XP: 300,000). Victoria was granted her stronghold at level 9 by Baroness von Stadler (f13, opinion score of 8), and was given 4 hex miles total (three plains, one forest) to control. She was given a pre-existing Large round tower as her stronghold, which belongs to a now disgraced knight (Sir Ivan F:9). The stronghold has hit points equal to 3,000. The settlement has a garrison of 80 zero-level fighters.
Victoria has two henchmen: F1, T3
Travis also has two henchmen: MU1, F2
The Settlement they control is the village of Grünburg with a current population of 2,250 with a morale score of 8. the passive treasure made each demesnes turn is at a rate of 1gp per villager. The Stronghold has a treasure collection of 10,000 gp along with 4 magic items (generate later). Any Demesne Encounters will be rolled with a d6
This example of The Demesnes turn will begin in the first month of spring and will be generated procedurally to determine how the next year will play out.
Turn 1 (Spring): Pop 2,250, Morale 8, treasure 10,000gp
- Morale check is 7, resulting in a population growth of 1d4 x20 (40), becoming 2290
- gain 2,290 gp
- Demesnes Encounter; roll d6, a 6 is rolled which results in a Reputation Encounter due to this being the main settlement the party manages. A d8 is rolled which results in a Envoy Arrives event. The generated Envoy is from: Liege Lord (result of 1), with the purpose of Quid Pro Quo (result 5), and the envoy's demeanor of suspicion (result 4)
The referee rules this encounter as: The Envoy is sent from Baroness von Stadler with a request of sending two henchmen to lead an army of reserves from Victoria and Trevor's stronghold in exchange for more land. The envoy seems to suspiciously eye the condition of the stronghold and Trevor's magical activities.
- Obligation check: the d12 result is 12, meaning Victoria has an obligation to their liege lord so this means Victoria HAS to provide the requested services otherwise gain a penalty. Victoria and Trevor both decide they can spare two henchmen and each send off their f1 henchmen each with a levy of 50 Normal men, for a total population decrease of 100 people for 2 months starting on the next demenses turn. They choose to send levies of normal men instead of the garrison so the garrison can be protection for the stronghold if needed.
- The player characters decide to engage in downtime activity, with Victoria gaining 8,000 xp (1d8 x1000) and Trevor gaining 7,000 xp (1d10 x1000)
Turn 2 (Spring): Pop 2,150, morale 8, treasure 12290 gp
- Morale check is 8, resulting in population growth of 1d4 x20 (20), now becoming 2,180
- gain 2,150 gp in taxes
- Demesnes Encounter: roll d6; 5 is rolled which results in no encounter
- Obligation check: 1d12, with a 9 being rolled and result with no obligation requested this turn
- the player characters continue to engage with Demesnes Downtime with Victoria gaining 5,000 xp and Trevor gaining 8,000 xp
Turn 3 (Spring): Pop 2,160, morale 8, treasure 14,450 gp
- Morale check is 7, resulting in population growth of 20 with the population now becoming 2,190
- gain 2,190 in taxes
- Demesnes Encounter: 1-2 on a d6 will result in an encounter, and 6 will be a reputation encounter: a 2 is rolled. The referee rolls a d6 on the Demesnes Encounter table resulting in a 6 which is a Human Threat. The referee rolls an additional d4 and gets a 1 which is Bandits. This encounter immediately decreases the population's morale by -1, bringing it down to 7.
- Obligation check: 1-2 results in taxes. since a 12 was already rolled, there isn't a chance for another service result for eleven more demesnes turns. the result of the d12 roll is 4, so no taxes will be collected yet.
- The player Characters must confront the bandits. The referee uses their preferred game rules to determine the number of bandits in the lair. the referee determines there are 30 bandits that must be dealt with before the next Demenses Turn otherwise the settlements morale will decrease to 6. This can be done as a quest or it can be done using the Quick Mass Combat table to quickly resolve the situation. the players decide that they will use the hired job table to quickly calculate the results. Before going, the players hire 50 mercenaries and personally lead them to the bandits. The referee determines the morale to be 10 (8 for mercs, +1 for Victoria's charisma bonus, and +1 for being more than 20% larger fighting force). The party rolls a 4, (3 and 1) and they succeed. The referee uses the Results listing on page 44 to determine the casualties. The Player Party lose 30% of their hired mercenaries and the bandits lose 60% of their numbers. The bandits flee but leave their treasure type A hoard behind resulting in 12,000 gp value of treasure. The player characters split the treasure equal, both gaining 6,000 xp
Turn 4 (Summer): Pop2,190, Morale 7, treasure 26,450 gp
- Holdover: the Levies of men who marched off on obligation with the two henchmen return. Use the Quick Mass Combat roll to determine the results of their battle. the referee determines they had a Morale of 7 and rolls a 4 (2,2) resulting in a pyrrhic victory. Only 60% of the levies return (60 people total) with Victoria's henchman captures and Trevor's henchman being killed in action.
- Morale check is 7 (6,1) causing an increase in population growth of 80 and the returning 60 people results in the population becoming 2,330
- Gain 2,330 gp
- Demesnes Encounter: 1 on a d6 results in a demesnes encounter and a 6 is a reputation encounter. A 5 is rolled, so there isn't any encounter
- Obligation Check: 1-3 on a d12 results in being taxed. A 2 is rolled, causing the player characters to pay 400 gp plus 2,330 gp for the taxes totalling in 2,730 gp.
- The Player Party put out a call to recruit more henchmen for each of them. Victoria sends her other henchmen to deliver a message for paying off the ransom to return her captured henchman. the cost of ransoming a Henchman is equal to their XP level and level 1 henchmen are 1/2 xp value of 2nd level which means the first level henchman that was captured has a ransom cost of 1,000 gp. The success of this henchman task will be determined by Delegating Tasks on pg. 39 at the beginning of the next demesnes turn. Victoria stays in the stronghold and gains 5,000 xp. Trevor begins researching and developing a new spell called Move Earth which the referee determines is a 6th level spell and costs 1000 gp to research and will take six weeks before determining if it was a success. Victoria gains 2,000 xp and Trevor gains 3,000 xp from demesnes downtime.
Turn 5 (Summer): pop 2,330, Morale 7, treasure 16720
- Holdover: The referee makes a check for Delegating tasks to determine the results of the ransom retrieval. The referee determines the difficulty to be 8. The results are 6, 2 meaning the attempt was a success! Victoria's henchmen return without a problem. VIctoria and Trevor's call for henchmen results in Victoria attracting 8 more henchmen and Trevor attracting 7. Unfortunately they lack enough housing for them all to stay. The Round tower they have consist of four floors that each have a 700 square foot area (30 ft diameter) where each PC have a floor who they share with two henchmen (each henchman requires 200 square feet) and the two remaining floors allow for 7 more henchmen to fit in. Trevor takes on five henchmen and victoria takes on three, with the remaining leaving the settlement. The player characters can generate their henchmen using the guides on pages 65 and 66. If using the Demesnes & Domination addendum, the players can add their Demesnes Bonus to the die roll on the henchman level table.
- Morale Check is a 5 (4,1) causing an increase in population. The population grows by 20, resulting in a current population of 2,350
- Gain 2,350 gp in gold
- Demesne Encounter: a 1-2 on a d6 will yield a demesne encounter and a 6 will result in a reputation encounter. a 3 is rolled, so no encounter happens.
- Obligation check will yield Taxation on a 1 on a d12 roll. A 5 is rolled, so no taxes requested of the Player Characters
- Victoria invests in constructing a Barracks for 10,000 gp to house extra retainers. She has 100 local commoners from the settlement to aid with construction. She also hires an engineer for 750 gp per month to aid with the construction. The total amount of time it will take to construct the barracks is 100 days, or four demesnes turns starting this turn. Trevor is still working on researching his spell which will be resolved at the beginning of the next demesne turn's holdover events. Victoria gains 4,000 xp and Trevor gains 2,000 xp from demesnes downtime.
Turn 6 (Summer): pop 2,350; Morale 7, Treasure 8320 gp
- Holdover: Trevor checks for his success at developing the spell Earthquake. The chances are 15 + 17(Int score) + 45 (MU level x 5) + 77% chance. Trevor rolls a d100 and gets 11, which results in a critical success. The Spell earthquake was developed but also accidentally made an additional spell. the referee rules that the spell is a 3rd level spell (1/2 the developed spell level) and chooses the spell for them. Victoria's construction chance for an incident is 1-on-a-d20 with a 4 being rolled resulting in no incident. The morale of the workers is currently 10 and the morale check yields a 5, maintaining the morale of the laborers.
- Morale is 7 and the check results are 7 (4, 3). The population grows 80 more people resulting in the population becoming 2,430 people.
- Gain 2,430 gp in taxes.
- Demesnes Encounter: 1-3 on a d6 chance; a 5 is rolled so no demesne encounter or obligation check.
- Obligation: chance of a 1-2 on a d12; a 3 is rolled so no taxes are requested this turn.
- Victoria is presiding over the domain and is overseeing the construction of the barracks to make sure they are to her expectations. one of trevor's new henchmen is a zero-level magic-user whom he invests into become a 1st level magic user which costs 1,250 in training. Victoria gains 8,000 xp and Trevor gains 7,000 xp in demesnes downtime.
Turn 7 (Fall): Pop 2,430; morale 7, treasure 9500 gp
- Holdover: Victoria's construction is still ongoing for this turn and next. The morale check is 7 so the morale of the laborers doesn't change and the incident check is an 11, so no incident happens this month. Trevor's henchman becomes level 1.
- Morale Check: Morale is 7 and a 5 is rolled causing the population to increase by 20 for a total population of 2,450 people.
- Gain 2,450 in taxes (current treasure of 11,950)
- Demesnes Encounter Chances of an encounter is a 1-4 on a d6 with a 6 being a reputation encounter. a 2 is rolled, resulting in the referee rolling a 2 on the Demesne Encounter Table. The result is Event: Travelling Entertainers. If the Player characters decide to pay for them, it will increase the settlement's morale by +1 and the construction laborers morale by +1. The cost of the entertainer's is 100 x the settlement size multiplier (page 18) which is 20 costing the player characters 2000 gp. The player characters decide to go for it.
- Obligation Check: there is a 1-3 on a d12 roll that the player characters owe taxes to their liege lord. a 12 was rolled however the player characters already provided a service to their liege lord six months ago so they are not expected to provide additional services for another six months.
- Victoria continues to oversee the domain and the Barracks construction which has this turn and next turn to finish. Trevor decides to research the true name of a 3HD demon to bond as a familiar which will cost him 2250 gp. Victoria gains 2,000 xp and Trevor gains 4,000 xp from demesne Downtime.
Turn 8 (Fall): Pop: 2,450, Morale 8, treasure 6950 gp
- Holdover: Barrack laborer morale is 11 and a 4 is rolled so the morale stays the same. However, a 1 is rolled on the construction incident. The incident is a Labor Dispute. The referee determines its the local mason guild requires more money due to them having a supply chain problem for adequate stone caused by the regional conflict the player characters sent their Henchmen and 100 normal men to. Victoria decides to pay an additional 50% to keep the remaining construction time on track. This will cost an additional 5,000 gp (1/2 of the original cost.) Trevor's chance to learn the true name of a 3HD demon is 62%: 15 + 17 (Int) + MU level (9 x 5% = 45) - Creatures Hit Die (3 x 5% = 15%). The roll is 79, so it is a failure.
- Morale Check: Current morale is now 8, and the rolled result of the check is 4 (3, 1) so the population grows by 40 with a new total population of 2,490.
- Gain 2,490 gp in taxes (current treasure amount is 4440 gp)
- Demesne Encounter chance is 1 on a d6 and a reputation check is a 6 on a d6. a 2 is rolled so no encounter happens.
- Obligation Check is a 1-4 on a d12 to pay taxes. The roll results in a 4 requiring the PLayer characters to pay taxes.
- Victoria and Trevor discuss if they should pay taxes due to the financial strain it will put on their current treasure amount. If they don't pay their taxes, then their liege lord's opinion of them (currently 8) will decrease by 1d4. However they need to expand their holding to include more land so the population can grow otherwise their settlement will take a penalty to their morale. The player characters decide to not pay taxes this turn. Victoria gains 3,000 xp and Trevor gains 5,000 xp from demesnes downtime.
Turn 9 (Fall) : Pop: 2490, Morale 8, treasure 3690 gp.
- Holdover: The Barracks has finished construction! Baroness's Option of the player party is now 5 (the referee rolled a 3 on a d4 and subtracted it from the previous opinion score of 8.) Victoria assigns one of her fighter henchmen to the barracks.
- Morale check: Current morale is 8 and a 6 (5,1) is rolled. the population grows by 20 with a population now at 2,510.
- Gain 2,510 gp from taxes with a current treasure now being 6200 gp
- Demesnes Encounter chance of a 1-2 on a d6. A 1 is rolled, resulting in an encounter. the referee rolls on the Demesnes Encounter table and rolls a Domestic Conflict: Violence against a Person/group/property. The referee rules that there is a nearby dwarven blacksmith who was attacked on their way to the player character;s settlement to sell their goods. The settlers are upset this happened and their morale decreases by -1 each month starting next month unless the problem is addressed and fixed within this demesne turn month.
- Obligation: Since there was an obligation encounter last demesne turn, the chances reset to 1 on a d12 this turn even though the player characters refused to comply with the request. The referee rolls a 7 so no obligation is made.
- Victoria and Trevor need to parlay with Baroness Stadler for more land even though she has a lower opinion of them now. in addition, they must deal with this unseen robber. The referee a d12 on the Human column on the Hostile encounter table on page 138 to determine the offender. The attacker was a bounty hunter who attacked the wrong person based on incorrect information. The referee decides to spin this into the bounty hunter was intentionally given false information. This is a good setup for an adventure which the referee can run but for the sake of this exercise, we will do a series of checks to resolve the conflict. First, the party must track the bounty hunter down. The referee rules that the first week of gathering information on them is a 1 on a d6 and the range increases by +1 per passing week. week one they roll a 4, week 2 they roll a 5, week 3 they roll a 3. They finally track down the bounty hunter. the reaction the bounty hunter has is a 6 (try again) so attempt to force him to talk to them resulting in another 6, but this time two 3s are rolled meaning a Try Again But.. result so the player characters bribe the mercenary with 1,000 giving them a +1 to the next reaction check resulting in a 9 which the referee has the bounty hunter give the information on who hired the bounty hunter to attack the dwarf. the referee rolls a d8 on the Faction group table on page 58 and gets an 8, which is Special meaning Criminal Group/Magic User/Monster/etc. So the referee rules that a local criminal syndicate hired the hit and must confront them. Trevor and Victoria discuss that they could lock up the bounty hunter in their dungeon so the settlement knows justice has been done since the bounty hunter did do the crime but is also innocent for being tricked into doing it. The player characters decide that they will capture him and use him as an example. The referee rules that the bounty hunter refuses to go willingly. The Player characters act out combat and accidentally kill the bounty hunter. Oops! they drag him back to their stronghold and make a show of it so the settlement knows justice was served. The bounty hunter had 4,500 treasure with them in their camp so Victoria and Trevor add it to the stronghold treasure and split the xp from the gold evenly with each gaining 2,250 xp this turn. There is still the lingering issue of a crime syndicate nearby, and the player characters can choose to investigate the dwarf's connection to them if they desire. However the primary offender of the violence was shown to the masses to be brought to justice within one demesne turn so the settlement does not incur a morale penalty.
Current xp: Victoria: 520,250 and Trevor: 344,250
Turn 10 (Winter): Pop 2,510; Morale 8; Treasure is 10700 gp
- Holdover: The Mystery of the violent attack against the dwarven blacksmith is fresh in the player characters minds. Barrack Checks:
- Morale Check: Morale is 8, and the roll is a 4 (2,2) resulting in no change in population.
- Gain 2,510 gp in taxes; treasure is now 13210 gp
- Demesnes Encounter chance of 1 on a d6 since there was an encounter last turn. a 1 was rolled, resulting in another demesnes encounter. Monstrous threat seeking a new lair. The referee rolls on their game's wilderness encounter table and generates a DRAGON (!!!). The referee determines it is a Green Dragon.
- Obligation: the chance of an obligation is a 1-2 on a d12 this turn and the referee rolled a 1. The players are expected to pay their taxes which they will do. The taxes equal 2910 gp.
- The player characters decide to confront the green dragon and hope to negotiate that the dragon won't attack the player character's holding or settlements. The referee determines if the player characters offer it magic items, it would help with the negotiations. The PLayer characters decided to give away two magic items they are not using. The referee has the player characters travel to the location and determines that the players see the green dragon stalking them from a distance and lands as they approach the location of the dragon's lair. the referee rolls a reaction check and adds +1 to the roll and gets a 9, resulting in the dragon agreeing to being neutral towards the player characters and their domain...for the time being.
Turn 11 (Winter): Pop 2,510; morale 8; treasure is 10,300 gp
- Holdover: Barracks Check:
- Morale Check: a 6 is rolled, but two 3s were rolled so no change in population
- Gain 2,510gp in taxes (now 12,810)
- Demesnes Encounter: 1 on a d6 and a 6 on a d6 for a reputation roll. The referee rolls a 5, no encounter
- Obligation: 1-3 on a d12, the referee rolls a 4; no obligation
- The players decide to travel to their Liege Lord's stronghold to negotiate getting more land. They travel to the stronghold and when asked about gaining more land. Since the baroness has a disapproval of the player characters, the reaction roll gains a -1 penalty. the referee rolls a 10 where the referee determines that they gain 1d3 more hexes (Victoria can have a max of 7 mile hexes granted to here at her level and already has 4.) The referee rolls a 2, so the player characters now have a total of 2 more hex miles, one is planes and the other is forest.
Turn 12 (Winter): pop 2,510; morale 8, treasure 12,810 gp.
- Holdover: Barracks check:
- Morale Check: the referee rolls a 10, resulting in a population decrease of 60. Current population is now 2450
- Gain 2,450 gp in taxes
- Demesnes Encounter: 1-2 on a d6. the referee rolls a 6, which is a reputation encounter. The encounter is Courtier Comes to Court. The Courtier is a representative of a Magic-User with Neutral Intentions. The referee rules that the magic-user is from a powerful necromancer 25 miles away and seek to assist the player characters and develop a friendly relationship with this necromancer
- Obligation: 1-4 on a d12, the referee rolls a 5, no obligation this turn
- The PLayer characters decide to let the courtier stay and aid Trevor in learning the true name of a 3HD demon. The magic user is only 1st level but trevor can use them and his other Magic-user henchmen to aid with the research. Victoria invests in training the 80 zero-level fighters that make up the settlement henchmen to become first level. This will normally cost 800 gp, but the barracks allows for a reduction in cost to be 400 gp.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Inspired Reading for your OSR game
One of the most enjoyable aspects of developing Demesnes & Domination was researching the late medieval era which is described as 1300-1500 or so. This was important to move the expectations of the game away from the wild-west feel of how Gygax made AD&D feel. Why? Well, if you're going to include a castle in your game it should have purpose and a castle only has purpose as a symbol of power in setting that has some structure of the power dynamics of middle ages otherwise it has no other roll in a game besides saying "I have a stronghold!" The following list is composed of two sections: one is resources written for an rpg enthusiast audience and the other is non-hobbyist books but are interesting and engaging reads about the late middle ages for the general reader.
1) Medieval Demographics Made easy by S. John Ross is a fantastic (and free!) pdf about understanding settlements in the middle ages. city Adventures are oftentimes the most difficult to plan and set up, but this document really helped me understand what to actually expect in a settlement and how to make it feel alive for my players. There is also a website where the content of this pdf was turned into a generator!
2) Fief and Town by Lisa J. Steel are two pdfs I purchased and have used as a primary source of information within the mode of thinking of a referee. Town is a fantastic elaboration on the concepts introduced in Medieval Demographics made Easy and gives plenty of context with famous cities in Western Europe in the middle ages. Fief is extremely good as well, elaborating on the feudal system and the role of a landowner (and their stronghold) within a Western European society. seriously, these books are incredible resources as a general starting place for any hobbyist looking to understand the middle ages but don't know where to start!
3) Codex Guide to the Medieval Baltic: Volume 1 by Codex Integrum is a fantastic source book of North Central Europe around 1450. Its illuminating in how it breaks down cultural, economic, religious, martial, and the mundane within the context of the cultural melting pot of the time. I've purchased this twice, so i can have it on my self and on my phone and I don't regret it. This book is meant to provide support for the publisher's own Codex Integrum game system which look likes a d20 variant with far too much complexity built into this combat to emulate historical fencing using feats and such. While I'm not impressed by their game system per say, the writers know what they are talking about when it comes to the context of the late medieval world around the Baltic region. There is a Volume 2 that really gets into religion and the occult that is also very interesting but isn't available in print so i haven't spent as much time with it as i wish.
Part 2: Medieval Resources for the General Reader
1) The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer is a fun and easy read that really gets into the weeds of the humdrum of 14th century England and does a good job at explaining the mindset of the medieval commoner. There is endlessly good bits of information that I have found invaluable to running my own campaigns. This writer has a fun whimsy that feels very British, not just for his topic but also the terminology and focus on Chaucer and his world. if you ever wanted to understand the impact of the black death or the western schism but without the burden of heavy reading, this book is a good starting point.
2) A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara W Tuchman is a good companion to The Time traveler's guide to medieval England. This book is a large volume that focuses on France during the 14th century and i feel is more cleverly written. This book is very dense but entirely entertaining. In my opinion, this book is best enjoyed as a audio book with the narration by Wanda McCaddon who adds a lot of personality, humor, and charm to an already enjoyable (if dense) work.
3) The Medieval Underworld by Andrew McCall is a great starting place to learn about such charming topics as Bandits, Crime, lepers, darker side of the Church and Nobility, Sin, and more. Fantastic fodder for any role playing game! Each topic is broken down into its own chapter with examples from history to help ground the perspective of these topics. Good Stuff
4) Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages by David Nirenberg is if anything, an important book that anyone should read about the vicious circle of punishment, hate and oppression. This book focuses on communities of Jews, Muslims, and any who didn't neatly fit within the Western European Catholic-oriented society.This book illuminates the context of these communities and how they were oppressed in minor and major ways and the laws of society that allowed it to continue. if anything, the prevalent bigotry of the western world that still looms today has roots in the topics covered in this book. So why mention this bleak academic book? Because 1) It's important to combat bigotry in society and ourselves so to understand that, we need to look at the society that allows it to perpetuate so we do our best to do better 2) Oppression is dynamic and multifaceted so to create societal obstacles for players to overcome in a game, it should be given context and its best to learn that context from history to prevent us from falling into tired and uninformed tropes.
5) The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World by Patrick Wyman is an interest look into western Europe at the end of the 1400s on the cusp of the early modern era. The topics here cover the rise of exploration and its terrible legacy, the rise of capitalism, and the centralization of the modern state from the decentralized medieval society. This book feels like an extension of the author's podcast of which i am a huge fan of.
Part 3: Other Resources
1) Martial Culture in Medieval Towns blog is an academic blog following the research into the culture of central Europe during the 1400s, with a main focus on Switzerland and the grander region that encompass the Holy Roman Empire. Some of the authors on this research blog have a book coming out this autumn which i am very much looking forward to.
2) Tides of History podcast by Patrick Wyman as I mentioned earlier. this podcast has focused on different eras of history, which the earlier portion focusing on the late medieval world. Each episode is about an hour long and focuses on interesting topics such as The Italian Wars, the Hussite wars, Mercenaries, and fun episodes written from the prospective in the Day-and-the-life of a medieval individual. It is a fantastic starting point for anyone who wanted a bite-sized understanding of major late medieval topics like The War of the Roses or the hundred Years War.
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Design Notes: The Swashbuckler
In Demesnes & Domination, I included a fighter variant called the Swashbuckler which I originally designed and released as a basic fantasy class years ago. In fact, this is the class that got me into thinking about tinkering with game rules or looking under the hood to understand game mechanics more and leading me to dive deep into game design. I've always been interested in the idea of a specialized fighter that fights unarmored and is nimble, mostly due to my own background in fencing. I originally included it in my first release; Fantastic Wizardry; but I have since updated it based on more play testing and for streamlining the mechanics a bit more so it can be more generic for any Basic-adjacent games that float around in OSR circles. I'm highlight it here because I crammed the class into the book in a little more than half of page 133, getting smushed in right after the jester class. due to page count and lay out, I wasn't able to include the illustration I made for the class so I'm going to reproduce the class here! Enjoy!
The Swashbuckler
Swashbucklers are fighters who are extremely talented in the ways of weapon combat. They are individuals who have studied the lethal geometry and tempo of combat to outwit any opponent that comes their way. Swashbucklers seek having their abilities challenged, finding thrill and purpose in dueling while dancing the fine line between life and death. Swashbucklers don’t see a need to be slowed down by armor, for their quick reflexes and instincts are better protection than the finest armor.
Class Requirement: Swashbucklers must have a minimum Dexterity of 9 and a Charisma score of 9.
Prime Requisite and Class Progression: A Swashbuckler’s prime requisite is Dexterity and have the same saves and attack progression as a Fighter.
Weapon and Armor Limitations: Swashbucklers cannot use any armor except for a shield, otherwise they lose their class abilities while armored.
Class Abilities
Alertness: Swashbucklers are only surprised on a 1-on-a-d6 roll when they have a weapon drawn.
Duelist: The Swashbuckler adds their unmodified attack bonus in addition to their Dexterity modifier to their armor class. Swashbucklers lose this ability if they wear any armor heavier than a shield or if they aren’t armed. Weapons with an enhancement bonus stacks with this as well. In addition, Swashbucklers reduce any -4 penalty from performing combat maneuvers to -2 as long as they aren’t wearing armor.
Nimble: Swashbucklers aren’t hindered by difficult terrain and are able to move their full speed on any surfaces the referee deems difficult as long as they aren’t wearing armor heavier than a shield.
Tumble: When making a saving throw that deals half damage on a success, the Swashbuckler instead takes no damage at all on a success. If falling from a substantial height, the swashbuckler can make a 1 on a d6 roll to only take 1/2 damage. The success range is modified by the swashbuckler’s positive dexterity modifier, if any.
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Demesnes & Domination Released!
This blog was originally created to be an idea board of gaming mechanics and themes to help me develop this book but i ultimately kept most of the work off of this blog due to streamlining the process of editing and re-evaluating game mechanics. I am planning using this blog more for upcoming rules I'm currently testing in my own game sessions so please stay tuned!
Coming up, I am working on Seafaring and Water exploration and adventure which I don't even mention in Demesnes & Domination but was cut because It will be larger in content than a two to four page spread. This has already proven to me a fun project just due to researching what naval travel, shipping, and warfare looking like in the late middle ages which i feel like is a lesser known facet of the era. Most RPGs with boats tend to lean more into a commonly assumed stereotype of Pirates and Galleons but that is informed from a 1700s perspective while I'm focusing specifically on the late-medieval era.
On the back burner, I have Horror-themed content Ive developed for a Ravenloft game a couple years ago that I have been reflecting on and expanding as well. So stay tuned for that content to trickle onto this blog as well
Anyways! Demesnes & Domination was designed and laid out for print so It is available on DrivethruRPG as being available in Paperback and hardcover which each provide a free pdf copy. For those that prefer just a pdf that is also available to buy. Im currently getting Demesnes & Domination ready for global distribution through Lulu so stay posted for that as well!
You can get your copy of Demesnes & Domination here!
Friday, April 30, 2021
Duels in your OSR game
Dueling in a roleplaying game usually feels like it will be more tedious than it’s worth implementing. Cavegirl Games wrote some dueling rules in this post using their own simplified dueling rules rooted in their experiences with LARPing and reenactment. While these rules are interesting, I find these rules finicky for my needs when playing OSR games. However the author’s attempt to create something unique and lightweight is worth noting. I really like this idea conceptually, but it stills feels somewhat clunky and lacks a sense of suspense that should come from dueling with someone since dueling is inherently risky to do.
This represents a simplified modern fencing tactical wheel. The higher action on the tactical wheel beats the prior action. Once you get to the Counter-time action, a direct action will beat it and the whole cycle begins again. It isn’t unlike something like rock-paper-scissors in a sense, but obviously fencing is far more dynamic and is structured around setting up actions to hit your opponent and is less of a random chance. I also assigned numbers to the actions, giving us a range of 1-4 to further help with remembering the sequence. Finally, I’m basing my dueling rules on unarmored duels between two individuals. With that said, the following are the Dueling rules for my OSR games:
The Duel: Using combat rounds, each opponent selects their action secretly by either writing down their action or rotating a d4 to represent the desired number behind a screen (or hand). Then the selection of both opponents is revealed simultaneously. If someone chooses a number one step above their opponents, then they roll damage. Any selection that is two numbers higher results in a miss. Any identical selections results in both opponents hitting each other simultaneously. Once the round is finished, start the sequence over again until the duel is resolved to the desired outcome.
Two caveats for these rules:
- The Number that wins must be the next number, which means a 2 beats 1, 3 beats 2, 4 beats 3, and 1 beats 4. If someone selected a 3 and the opponent selected 1, then the resolution is no one was hit. Why? Because I see this as a failed set up for their action*. I want there to be an option to just MISS the target instead of someone is always getting hit with each duel round. This builds tension as well.
- If both opponents select the same action then they both deal damage to each other. Why? Well, when two fencers do the same action against each other, it usually results in both people getting hit. If both combatants do a direct attack at the same time, they both will hit each other. You prevent this by parrying their attack. Normal D&D combat represents this with successful hits from both sides in a combat round, so it should also mechanically be an option when dueling.
The range is much smaller than rolling a d20, with a 1-in-4 chance of hitting, getting hit, doubling, or missing and there isn’t anything that will help the player’s odds to get an advantage unless the referee include it. So summarize: there is a 50% chance of the duelist taking damage when dueling, 25% of hitting but not getting hit, and a 25% chance of no one getting hit per round. Again, dueling is RISKY. You might still feel like this is still up to random chance, and you’re not entirely wrong. However, you as a player can attempt to read the poker face of the referee who is playing your opponent OR the other player (if you’re into PVP) and try to discern their thoughts if they are keeping a poker face. You can potentially psych the other opponent out and make them yield, or maybe you will yield instead as you see the duel working against you. You’re both taking a risk engaging in a duel, and there will always be the chance of harm when engaging in any fight. This is why Duels would normally be prevented, even up to the moment of a duel where there might be a last minute settlement that was negotiated.
Players should role play the negations of the terms of the duel. Most scenarios for minor offenses would be to first blood drawn or a couple of exchanges, but more egregious actions will demand more consequential results. The negotiations can include what’s at stake, what would be deemed a win condition, what weapons are used (if any), when and where the duel will take place. Duels can be legal or illegal depending on the location or context of the duel as well so the referee should consider the implications of doing a duel within their campaign.
Notes:
- Numbering the different actions in order allows us to instead roll a d4 if we feel like allowing elements of chance to happen, or to create a more “neutral” way to have a referee play as an NPC. However the rules are focused on both parties selecting a number each round to allow for a more mental game of psyching out each other instead of it devolving into disconnect dice rolls. The idea of selecting a desired action allows the player to feel more invested in the fight and allows THEM to read their opponent, whether it be the referee or another player in real time as state earlier. With that said, Rolling can be fun as well and has its place if the player really feels like flexing some bravado, then they can certainly roll sometimes although that is inherently risky. Only rolling defeats the goal of these rules.
- Natural healing in OSR games is SLOW and having dueling rules where there’s a high chance of direct damage being rolled should make players consider the risks of engaging in such activity. There is less in place to protect you from harm.
- This method also allows to use the variable weapon damage dice rolls with more purpose. Dueling with polearms seems more risky than dueling with short swords! Dueling with asymmetrical weapon pairings can make things extremely dangerous
- If you’re a high level fighter, you might think that you’re missing out on your probably better to-hit number as a fighter with a higher class level than the person your dueling. However, this is where your hit die determined hit points will really stand out. You being able to take more “hits” represents your superior defensive actions preventing serious wounds and higher endurance to keep fighting. But there is still that chance that a 2HD NPC fighter with 10 hit points could defeat your 5th level fighter with 25 hit points!
- You can also use this to simulate a boxing match or tavern fight, just use unarmed damage and make it non-lethal. First people to 0hp is knocked-out.
- On the same note; if a player wants to flip a table, grapple or knock over an opponent in a duel, it counts as a Direct Action. The results of a successful action is up to the referee.
- There a lot of roleplaying potential within here, with players narrating what they are doing and saying to their opponent. Referees might even allow a player to “tick” their number up or down one step after revealing their actions based on what they are doing within the context of the duel, such as fighting from higher ground. Or have an option to roll a d4 and have to take the new result. Ultimately, it’s up to the referee!
The tactics chosen each round implies the player’s footwork, blade position, etc. that is assumed with traditional D&D combat in the form of AC and To Hit number, but removing many of the variables that would happen in most combat scenarios involving groups of people or fighting in a variety environments. A referee might start allowing the player to notice trends in the fight, such as how their opponent moves before doing a specific action. This could allow the referee to drop hints, such as “your opponent is moving their blade the same way they last time they did a parry” to allow the player an increased chance of success. This is of course optional but allows for a more narrative guide for more informed decision making with the game mechanic. If a referee wants to include environmental factors; like jumping onto a table or kicking over a stool as an action; they can use this as a way to prevent their opponent from selecting one of the four options or even do their full weapon damage on a successful hit at the cost of the player losing one of the 4 options on the next round at the referee’s discretion.
 |
| Duel between a Man and a Woman |
Dueling context: Dueling usually represents unarmored combat meant to be done until reaching an agreed upon outcome. Duels are used to resolve an otherwise unsolvable conflict between two individuals. A duel can be denied outright, since they are optional and potentially not worth the risk. However, a referee might give the challenge some mechanical weight such as denying a duel would decrease the morale of henchmen. Dueling could be used as a way to decrease the cost of someone’s service “if you best me in a boxing match, I’ll only charge you half since you’re so tough” or as a way to proves one’s might when trying to hire a henchman. Duels can have a judicial basis as well with the court ordering the terms of the duel, which could lead to interesting implications within a campaign. Keep in mind, duels to the death are EXTREMELY risky, and oftentimes people would just duel until blood is drawn without the intent to truly maim someone. Late medieval and early modern Europe had all kinds of laws governing (or banning) reckless dueling because it was so dangerous and never worth it. With that said, you can choose to duel until someone is hit, or until someone is worn down to half their health and make a morale roll to see if they yield. Duels can be secret, or public event that draws crowds. Other party members could use this as an opportunity to gain more gold by picking pockets, setting up bets, requesting tithes from onlookers for the souls of the fighters, or general charging admission to a fight much like a pay-per-view match. Duels can also be done in a non-lethal capacity to emulate friendly fencing. Any successful hits just aren’t counted against their hit points and are thus not rolled for damage. But you can keep track of “points” this way if they are engaging in a competitive game. Just something to consider!
Optional Variation: Even though I originally wrote my dueling rules as representing unarmored duels, they CAN (and did) include wearing armor sometimes. However, if both opponents are wearing plate armor, then in my mind it sort of negates the advantage one might have against the other, allowing you to still use the rules I came up with to emulate dueling in armor with polehammers. If you REALLY want to include an attack roll and want to factor in armor being worn, then you could use the following modifications:
Both opponents still secretly select your chosen action on a range from 1-4 by rotating a d4 or writing it down. They will also be revealed simultaneously. Then both opponents will roll to hit simultaneously, depending on the results of the selections.
1) Direct attacks you roll normal to hit, and prevents a counter-time action being rolled
2) A parry is rolled to CANCEL out their opponents attack roll and if they succeed then you roll to hit as the riposte with a +4 bonus to hit. If the parry misses, you don’t roll the riposte
3) A feint is rolled normal with a -4 to hit but if it’s parried you roll to hit again with a +4 bonus to hit and prevent the riposte being rolled.
4) A counter-time action prevents a Feint being rolled
Any hits are then rolled for damage and the sequence begins again. If both opponents select the same action, then they both roll one to-hit roll simultaneously without any additional modifications.
The above rule modification isn’t ideal for most dueling and defeats the point of dueling being tense and scary but it could have its place in your game such as doing a tourney with armor and heavy weapons. If players are looking for something with more nitty-gritty mechanics you honestly cannot do better than the Man-to-Man combat rules in Chainmail. But for something more seat-of-the-pants dueling with tension I feel like my original take on dueling rules is a good emulation of a gameable way to include duels in an OSR game.
References for images taken from here
Fencer end notes: You might be asking yourself “what the heck do these terms mean?” Lemme explain
- Direct Attack: a simple, single attack like a cut or thrust with your weapon with intent to hit.
- Parry and riposte: A parry stops a direct attack from your opponent, giving you a chance to attack back (riposte) safely while your opponent’s weapon isn’t a threat to you.
- Compound Attack: Feints and similar actions that set up your opponent to waste their attempt to parry your weapon so you can strike in an opening made while they attempt to parry or perform another action.
- Counter-time Action: Counterattacks and similar actions that attack directly into an opponent’s attack or set up to hit first. This can also include more complex counter-time actions that can counter a counterattack. However, I’m grouping any attack against a threat that can stop the opponent’s actions or interrupt them as a counter-time action for the sake of the game. These higher concept tactics can be defeated with a simple, direct attack used to interrupt them.
Normally, the tactical wheel has 6 or 7 parts to it, but I lumped everything into these more simplified tactical wheel. It’s worth stating that the dueling rules here fail to capture the real intention of fencing and feeling out your opponent behavior by reading their body language and seeing their trends due to how RPGs primarily exist in our imaginations. This is where the referee’s narration can help. The mental game of fencing will still be somewhat emulated here by trying to psych out your players when you are dueling them.
* For example: if you attempt to counterattack someone who is planning on parrying, then you end up doing a direct attack that they are expecting anyway. If you do a direct attack and disengage when they attempt to parry, then you technically did a feint.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)