• Adventures are very low margin product, and distributor cuts chop chop chops even deeper into that margin.

• However, as a sustainable business model, "Just get a few internet vendors to sell the stuff" doesn't seem to be pulling in the big bucks.

• Going into distribution with adventures means depending on Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry to get to the distribution destinations first, else I'll be sitting on shelves as a support product for a game that's not there.

One solution stands out: Make my own game. Which would of course be a retro-clone. But this would give me a higher-margin item (since full games seem to sell much more than adventures do) and a proprietary brand, which is good for business, and it would solve the problem of relying on other companies to be present in markets I want to be. If people carry my modules, chances are they'll be carrying my game, too.

The Paizo plan, basically.

Three problems with this:

• The world needs another clone game like it needs a hole in the head.

• It seems skeezy to make product decisions based on business need, instead of treating the creative and the financial portions of the business separately. I'll be "selling out."

• I'd then be in competition with Swords & Wizardry and Labyrinth Lord, and the scene doesn't need further fragmentation of that sort, nor do I want to cause any friction with either Finch or Proctor.

So if this is going to be done (and I have other priorities for some months yet), the product would have to be justifiable on a level beyond "It helps Jim's business." It would need to be a product that would be awesome on its own merits.

I'd talked about this some time back, but I always hoped it would be someone else that would actually do it.

But my idea would be to make an all-in-one box set. Rules, tutorials, dice, even a friggin pencil and graph paper. Everything you need to game, right there in the box, and accessible even to someone that's never played RPGs before and doesn't have anyone to show them how.

The present plan for the box:

• 1 Tutorial Booklet, introducing the rules and concepts, doing a "choose your own adventure" solo adventure, and basically using the Mentzer Basic intro as a guide to format

• 1 Rules Booklet. Character creation, combat and adventuring rules, spell descriptions, etc.

• 1 Referee Booklet, including monsters, treasure, adventure design

• 1 Beginner (for referees and players) Dungeon Adventure

• 1 Beginner Wilderness Adventure

• 1 Inspirational Reading Booklet

• Dice

• Reference Sheets

• Pencil + Pad of Graph Paper

It probably won't be cheap, but I won't go for extravagant either. I'll do saddle-stitched booklets, color covers for the booklets and adventures but black and white interior art. A5 sized box.

I'm putting this here instead of on the blog because right now this is just an idea, and not anything actually happening. And I'm looking for feedback and ideas about how to move forward. The priority for the next long while will still be adventures, with the full game idea being something that gets constructed little by little over time.

Thoughts?

The "second printing" of Death Frost Doom is identical to the first printing in every respect except:

3 typos corrected. Hopefully no new ones introduced.
Full-page images, including the cover, will now extend to the edge of the page instead of having a border.
The background area of the map has been blocked out, to address the numerous comments about the readability of the map. Not my ink being used anymore so what the hell.

The price will remain the same.

These rules are based on the Ritual Magic rules found in Ancient Auguries for Microlite74 and Hyborian Age D&D by Jason Vey, as well as some posts by Yakk on rpg.net. Credit where it's due because it's not all due to me.

These rules are for those other spellcasters. I could see it working for plot point style rituals. As well as spells pulled out of the depths of Conan d20, Call of Cthulhu d20 or the Black Libram of Natarus. Or Carcosa, for that matter.

It's unreliable and often ends poorly for the caster. Such is life. I mean, you wouldn't go performing heart surgery on yourself just because you had a book that showed you how. Would you?

My concerns are that it might be a little complex and a tad bit punitive. But I might be okay with that...

RITUAL MAGIC

Ritual Magic can be used by anyone with an 11+ in Wisdom (for Priestly magic) or Intelligence (for Arcane Magic). Wizards can research Arcane rituals from their spellbook, generally rolling equal to or below their INT mod on a d6. All other classes must use a library, scroll or a found spellbook -- generally needing to roll a 1/6. The DM can modify this roll up or down as he sees fit.

Ritual Magic: Material Costs
All spells have a material cost equal to their level(squared) * 50 gold pieces. This must be paid up front prior to casting the ritual. The materials spent cannot be recovered after the ritual is complete, even if the ritual fails. Some Rituals (defined by the DM) may cost more or less than this.

Ritual Magic: Casting Time
If the ritual is of a type and level that the caster can normally cast, the ritual takes 10 minutes to cast. If the ritual is not of a type (arcane/divine) the ritualist can cast or is higher than the highest level spell the caster can successfully cast, the ritual takes 10 minutes + 10 per level above the caster's max spell level.

Ritual Magic: Initial Hit Point loss
There is also a hit point cost for drawing the magical power to cast a Ritual…

• Rituals that are less than or equal to the caster's highest level spell minus FIVE eat up 1 hit point.

  Tanadark the Stormy is a 9th level magic-user who finds a DM-created ritual that will light up the location of a hidden ancient tomb on a huge underground fresco that maps the city above. The DM determines that this is equivalent to a 1st level spell -- considering that Indiana Jones could pull it off. Tanadark is hardly taxed by this trivial matter and only loses 1 hit point working the ritual.

• Rituals that are less than of equal to the caster's highest level spell but aren't five levels under burn 1 hit point per level.

  Sara Silvertoe is a 3rd level Elf who is casting Speak With Animals (a 2nd level Cleric spell) as a Ritual. She normally can't do things like this but she found a Scroll and you know what they say about giving an Elf a scroll… Casting the ritual will cost her 2 hit points.

• Rituals that are higher than the caster's highest level spell but not three or more levels higher take up 1d4 hit points per level.

  So Martin the Hedge Mage (a 0-Level NPC) wants to cast Augury, a 2nd Level Cleric spell as a Ritual. To do so he'd have to roll 2d4 and hope for a low roll because he only has 4 hit points! Time to take on an Apprentice!

• Rituals that are three levels or more higher than the caster's highest level spell gobble up 1d6 hit points per level.

  Tegwin the Ambitious is a 3rd level Specialist who is attempting to cast a 6th level ritual he found in a spellbook in a dungeon. He's truly ambitious because just casting that sucker will cost him 6d6 hit points! Prior to casting the spell, Tegwin decides to put some flyers up to bring in some of the local damsels for a few etiquette lessons. I suspect at least one of them won't be coming back...

Ritual Magic: Sites of Power
The die type of the hit point loss associated with the initial casting of the ritual can be lowered by one due to a variety of favorable circumstances such as being cast at a particular spot or under a particular phase of the moon or astrological event.

Ritual Magic: Sympathetic Magic
Effects can also be cast remotely using sympathetic magic. If a caster has an item belonging to the target, he can cast the ritual against the target from anywhere in the world by boosting the effective level of the ritual by one. The more important the item to the target, the easier it is to target him.

Ritual Magic: Assistants
The hit point drain of ritual magic can be shared by any number of willing ritual assistants but each assistant is cumulatively only half as effective as the last. So 2 of an assistant's hit points count towards 1 point of the cost. 4 of a second assistant's hit points count towards 1 point of the cost. 8 of a third assistant's… and so on.

The order of assistantship is determined first by spellcasting ability, then by the applicable attribute (Wisdom/Intelligence) to the spell being cast. So there's no ability to "stack" the assistantship by the number of hit points a potential assistant has. They'll fall into the progression by these criteria.

If an assistant falls unconscious or dies, it will not upset the ritual. As long as the primary caster remains viable, the ritual may continue.

Ritual Magic: Sacrifices
Oh, you know we had to go there...

Beings of a non-Chaotic alignment with human or better Intelligence can be offered as sacrifices during the Ritual. Each sacrifice adds an additional 10 minutes on the casting time. A sacrifice will result in a pool of hit points equal to 10 plus the creature's level of hit dice. These hit points are drained by the ritual cost before any hit points are lost by the caster or his assistants. A sacrifice that is a female virgin (of the Sword & Sorcery variety) increases this pool by 3. A sacrifice that is willing increases it by another 3. So a nubile zero-level virgin that willingly offers herself to sacrifice nets 16 hp. The equivalent of an 6th level character!

No wonder they're in such high demand.

Multiple sacrifices may be offered. But each (as with assistants) is only half as effective as the last. So TWO zero-level virgins nets a hit point pool of 24 hit points (16 + 8). Not 32. And three would give 28, not 48. Any hit points in this pool that are not used up by the hit point cost are lost.

Ritual Magic: We Have a Caster Down
If the hit point cost is high enough that it renders the caster unconscious or dead, a mishap of the worst variety occurs -- equivalent to something very nasty at an equivalent spell level to the spell being attempted.

Ritual Magic: The Final Save
If the caster survives the hit point drain, he must roll a save vs. Magic. If successful, the spell is cast. If the roll is a 20, then extra oomph is given to the spell -- something beneficial and unexpected happens as a result of the casting. If the roll is a 1, a miscast is automatic.

If the roll fails, the caster can attempt to force the spell into being by taking a permanent step down the modifier ladder in CON. So from a +1 CON bonus to a 0 (or a 14 to a 12 CON). If this drops the caster to 0 CON, he dies. But the ritual is successful.

This is a hefty price for a reason. Rituals are capricious and bad for one's health. It's like smoking. With Cthulhu. Don't do it around children and pregnant women. And, for God's sake, open a window when you're done.

If the caster is unwilling to do this, then roll a d20, add the level of the ritual and consult the Mishap table below.

Ritual Magic: Miscast Table (roll 1d20+Ritual Level)

1. Spell fizzles, no effect
2. Spell fizzles, no effect
3. Spell fizzles, no effect
4. Spell fizzles, no effect
5. Spell fizzles, no effect
6. Spell fizzles, no effect
7. Spell fizzles, no effect
8. Spell fizzles, no effect
9. Spell fizzles, no effect
10. Spell fizzles, no effect
11. Spell appears to fizzle. But instead goes off in 1d3 rounds with double effect against random target.
12. Spellcaster stunned, loses next turn. Spell goes off in 1d3 rounds.
13. Spellcaster stunned, loses next turn
14. Random ally stunned, loses next turn
15. Random lower level spell is cast. Determine target at random.
16. Lose number of spell slots equal to ritual level or can't cast spells for rest of day
17. Everyone loses LVL hit points. Caster loses next turn as well.
18. All non-Chaotic combatants are stunned and lose their next turn
19. Drop one point in random attribute
20. Random same level spell affects random target
21. Random monster of LVL hit dice is summoned. Remains in area for LVLd4 rounds.
22. Drop one mod in random attribute
23. Caster polymorphed into monster of LVL+1d3 hit dice for LVLd4 rounds. Roll magic save or returns from polymorph with random attribute dropped one mod
24. Lost in Time and Space for LVLd4 rounds
25. Swarm of tiny aberrant flies or creatures appears and viciously attacks everyone in Lvl x 10' radius of caster. Roll save vs. magic or lose LVLd4 hit points. Swarm lasts for LVL rounds. Roll save each round.
26. Drop one mod in random attribute
27. Random monster of LVLx3 hit dice summoned. There for good. Deal.
28. LVL/2 of random party members roll vs. magic or are Lost in Space and Time forever
29. Spellcaster goes boom. Everyone in LVLx10' area takes total damage equal to all levels of the spellcaster's remaining spell slots added plus the level of the ritual in damage. Roll save vs. Breath Weapon to take 1/2 damage.
30. Catastrophe. A huge cataclysm. Crops die. Fire rains from the sky. The dead rise from the graves. Roughly equal to LVLd6 damage to everyone.

How to Use the Miscast Table
Roll a d20 and add the failed Ritual's level. Adjudicate results and mark off that option. The next time that result is rolled, use the next result higher instead. Continue until all the spell fizzles between 5 and 11 are filled in. Don't worry about the others, mark them off as they are rolled. Then erase all of them and start again.

Don't let the players in on what you're doing. Just let them think there is this incredibly complicated random table behind the screen that they must fear.

* - Where LVL is indicated on the Mishap Table, use the Level of the Ritual being cast.

Now that you've all endured my mad rhymes on to... The Ranger.

I wanted a class that sat squarely between the Fighter and the Specialist. Sort of a Fighter that could do stuff. Or a Specialist that could fight a little better. Hence, the Ranger.

I didn't want a class that would violate either the Fighter or the Specialist too badly. But I thought it wouldn't be too hard to "multi-class" the two and come up with something a little different.

Level | XP | Hit Points | Skill Points
1 | 0 | 1d6 | 2
2 | 1,800 | +1d6 | +1
3 | 3,600 | +1d6 | +1
4 | 7,200 | +1d6 | +1
5 | 14,400 | +1d6 | +1
6 | 28,800 | +1d6 | +1
7 | 57,600 | +1d6 | +1
8 | 115,200 | +1d6 | +1
9 | 230,400 | +1d6 | +1
10 | 345,600 | +2* | +1
11 | 460,800 | +2* | +1
12 | 576,000 | +2* | +1
13+ | 115,200/lvl | +2*/lvl | +1/lvl

Rangers get Parry at AC +4 and Defensive Fighting. Rangers do not get Press. But they can get a +8 to attacks with a bow after spending a round Aiming (instead of the normal +4).

Rangers cannot put points in the following Skills: Sleight of Hand, Sneak Attack and Tinkering. 

Rangers can put points into the Two Weapon Fighting skill regardless of what their Dexterity is. A Ranger cannot put more than 4 points in the Two Weapon Fighting skill.

A Ranger must choose a type of terrain: Swamp, Desert, Jungle, Forest, etc. A Ranger is at +1 to all skills for Foraging and Stealth in his chosen terrain. A party with a Ranger in it can only get lost on a roll of 2 on 2d6 in that Ranger's chosen terrain. A Ranger cannot choose "Dungeon" as a type of terrain.

Rangers also get a Track skill and receive a +1 when tracking in their chosen terrain.

Saving Throws
Level: Paralyze | Poison | Breath Weapon | Magical Device | Magic
1-4: 14 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15
5-8: 12 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13
9-12: 10 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10
13-16: 8 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 7
17+: 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6

###

House Rules for Two-Weapon Fighting

Two Weapon Combat
These rules replace the "Two Weapon Combat" rules on pg. 87 of the rules.

To get any benefit out of wielding a weapon in both hands, a character must have a Dexterity score of 11 or higher. A character receives a +1 to AC when wielding two-weapons and may choose which weapon to roll damage with on a successful attack.

A character with a Dexterity less than 11 should use the Two-Weapon Combat rules listed in the book.

Two Weapon Fighting (Skill)
A character with a 13 or higher in Dexterity may take the Two-Weapon Fighting skill. It starts out as 1/6 like other skills. The Two Weapon Fighting skill can never exceed the character's Dex bonus. So a character with a 17 Dexterity can have 1/6 or 2/6 in Two-Weapon Fighting. But not 3/6. To use, Two-Weapon Fighting roll a d6 along with the attack die. If the attack is successful, check the d6. If the d6 is a successful skill roll, add the result to the damage of the attack.

So a Specialist with 3/6 in Two-Weapon Fighting rolls an 18 on his attack roll and a "2" on his Two-Weapon Fighting skill roll. Assuming an 18 was a successful attack, he would add +2 to his damage.

One cannot use the Two-Weapon Fighting skill and benefit from the Two-Weapon Combat AC bonus in the same round.

It's not a Paladin in the traditional D&D sense. I didn't want to give a Fighting-Man spells. But I wanted a Holy Warrior-type who could go out and do some stereotypical Paladin things. Well, mostly Smite "Evil".

The Aegis of Faith power was inspired by this anime a buddy of mine watches. In it they have these guys called "Defenders" who can plant their shield and protect their buddies. That's pretty much what it's meant to do. But I figure one of these guys can plant anything (a sword, a polearm) or heck just stand there and look mean or something.

I don't envision Paladins as being all that into the religious structure. Or even touched by the gods in that way that Clerics seem to be. I see them as either a highly specialized Fighter with a mystical bent (ala Jedi), the inheritors of some ancient fighting style (like the "Defenders" in that anime or Armigers in Iron Heroes) or maybe some poor schmoe that actually did cross paths with a god, like a Hexen or something.

Maybe they're part of a power structure that crumbled and they're desperately clinging to the old values -- like Ronin. Maybe they've just been given the power and opportunity to make right the wrongs they inflicted on the world (like Hexen or My Name is Earl).

Whatever the case, I'm certain that "Paladin" is the wrong word for them. But if I would have said "LotFP: Defender" I doubt anyone would have cared...

Level | XP | Hit Points | Smite Evil | Aegis of Faith
1 | 0 | 1d8 | 2/6, 2/day | 2/6
2 | 2,000 | +1d8 | -- | --
3 | 4,000 | +1d8 | -- | --
4 | 8,000 | +1d8 | 4/day | 3/6
5 | 16,000 | +1d8 | 3/6 | --
6 | 32,000 | +1d8 | -- | --
7 | 64,000 | +1d8 | 6/day | --
8 | 128,000 | +1d8 | -- | 4/6
9 | 256,000 | +1d8 | 4/6 | --
10 | 384,000 | +2* | -- | --
11 | 512,000 | +2* | -- | --
12 | 640,000 | +2* | -- | 5/6
13+ | 128,000/lvl | +2*/lvl | --

Paladins get Parry at AC +4, Press and Defensive Fighting.

Smite Evil works just like Sneak Attack, except the Paladin can turn it on at will against an evil opponent a certain number of times per day. The Paladin must announce he will be using "Smite Evil" before rolling the attack. Yes, a missed attack uses up one of your Smite Evils for the day.

Aegis of Faith is also a skill. The Paladin can forego an attack in a round and use his Aegis of Faith. With a successful skill roll, all "evil" enemies take a penalty to their attack rolls against the Paladin and any of his allies a within 10' semicircle of the Paladin.

Think of the Paladin as the "line of scrimmage". All those who advance in front of him or outside the 10' semicircle lose the protection of the Aegis. Those who remain beside him or behind him stay protected.

This magical effect has no duration. It lasts a single round. The Paladin can continue to hold his Aegis of Faith by re-rolling the skill in subsequent turns but he will not be able to make a second Aegis roll in any combat in which he fails an Aegis skill roll.

For both abilities, "evil" is defined by the same criteria as found in the "Protection From Evil" spell.

Saving Throws
Level: Paralyze | Poison | Breath Weapon | Magical Device | Magic
1-4: 14 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 15
5-8: 12 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 13
9-12: 10 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 10
13-16: 8 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7
17+: 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6

So does this mean anyone can fight two handed?  Do they get two attacks each round, but only one of them is allowed to hit?

Tell!

Me, I'm 34 now, I lived in the US (Connecticut, Georgia, Florida) before moving to Finland. I started gaming either in December 1983 or 1984, can't remember which it was, with the Mentzer red box. After moving to Atlanta to go to school in 1992, I drifted out of gaming since it just seemed everyone wanted to play Vampire or Magic and I wasn't interested.

In the early 00s I wanted to get back into gaming, but nothing at the local game store caught my interest. So I thought I'd make my own RPG. After most of the writing was done, I got online to find that, well, there were websites and forums dedicated to RPGs. Surprise! This was 2003, I think? Maybe 2004?

When I moved to Finland, I decided I was going to play old school D&D, so I re-bought the books and got a group. Aside from a 4-5 month HERO System game, I've been playing the old D&D versions, or one of the clones, since March/April 2006.

Also since that time, I've toyed around with amateur publishing projects, some to good effect, some which were ill-considered disasters. In July 2009 I decided getting a normal job wasn't for me so I started my own publishing company, hoping that I've learned from my earlier mistakes.

Things are looking pretty good so far.

You?

As an example, let's suppose that the PCs run into a 10th-level druid. Everything about him is by-the-book (HD, to hit scores, saving throws, armor and weapon restrictions, etc.) except the whole spell-list is thrown-out. Instead, the druid gets powers as determined by rolling on the Special Abilities table of the RECG:

I roll a 21%, indicating that the druid gets 7 powers from the list. Here goes:

1. Charging attack: The druid may enter melee with a charge, doing double normal damage with melee weapons.

2. Mimicry: The druid is able to change his shape to be any inanimate object of roughly human size. He uses this ability to lure victims close so he may attack with surprise.

3. Immune to Most Spells: The druid is immune to all but the following four spells: soul bind (C9), storm of vengeance (D9), geas (C6, W6, I6), and discern location (C8).

4. Takes only half damage from crushing attacks.

5. Only magic weapons and weapons made out of bronze can affect the druid.

6. Damage Heals Only by Natural Healing: Any damage inflicted by the druid can be healed only through natural rest. Magical healing (spells, potions) of less than seventh level in power will not cure it. All other damage a character takes can
be healed by the usual means.

7. Transform Rock to Mud: The druid is able to transform rock into soft mud. Walls so transformed will collapse, pillars and boulders turned into goop, and floors will effectively turn into deadly quicksand. The druid can transform 50 square feet of rock. If the ability is used to cause direct damage to characters, those characters must make a save to avoid the effect.

I much prefer the above to a typical spell-list.

Report them in this thread and this first post will be the combined list of things that didn't come out quite right.

Rules Book

Page 6: The Experience Points needed for Level 16+ Fighters should be "+128,000/lvl."

Page 22 - 23: A character earns 1 XP for every eligible gp recovered during an adventure.

Back Cover: Plate Mail AC should be 18, not 17.

For instance, I say I picture someone took of the map that comes with it, and it looked like a bunch of brown and blue hexes of differing shades with what looked like nothing inside of them.  Does the map contain anything?

Does the final release product contain any updates of the free download files?  There definitely appears to be a lot of vagueness on quite a few things in it:  for instance, it says Elves are both Fighters and Magic-Users, but it only talks about its Magic-User abilities in its class description.  Also, what kind of limitations of equipment are there?

One question I suppose is more of a suggestion on design:  I notice that Fighters start off with a +2 attack bonus while everyone else gets +1, and unarmored opponents have an AC of 12.  Why not set the base AC to 11 and give Fighters +1, while everyone else gets no bonus?  Or does that have to do with 0 lvl characters getting no bonus, and 1st level characters of any class are suppose to be better fighters than?

* Someone actually opened the corpse in the workshop to see what was up with it. The party was nearly destroyed by the flailing intestines, which threw them into walls and choked them. Only by pinning down both ends did they manage to slay it.

* And then, even though he was very hurt, one of our clerics decides to look in one of the obviously magic mirrors. He fails his save, his reflection grins and steps out and then slits our cleric's throat. The reflection looks at the party and says, "What?" After a tense minute, everyone shrugs and lets the reflection join the party.

* The wizard managed to fool our specialist into looking through the telescope with the Star Crystal in it by convincing the specialist that he would see the wizard's treasure that way. (I played the wizard as angry at first, but then as sly, as he split up the party and told them lies.) Pissed that the wizard killed one of their own, the party makes a plan. They bring the telescope's large main lens down the levitation shaft and shatter it in front of the wizard. Stunned for a second, they surprise him with a full-bore attack. Since you can't cast a spell if you've already been hurt in the round, they manage to kill him, which amazed me. One unlucky initiative roll, and they'd have been toast, but they went three rounds winning initiative and wrecked him. It goes to show that the most powerful wizard is vulnerable if he gets in a melee.

I haven't bought Grinding Gear but I understand it's low level. Is that the better option? I don't have to stick with Jim's stuff, but DFD struck me as an ideal foil to the 4e sessions I've been running recently and you can't beat the tone.

Sorry for the naive questions but I'm pretty rusty.

Thanks,

Jeff

Using knowledge of classic D&D, I guess it makes sense that they do. In that case, do halflings get to increase their abilities like a specialist?