A thousand years since the fall of the Bright Empire, civilisation rises anew. Shining kingdoms spring forth to drive back the terror of Chaos and bring a new dawn to the world. But dark forces lurk in the shadows, ready to strangle this rebirth - and some say the darkest shadows lie in the hearts of Men...
A game of 'classic' Moldvay Basic D&D (no prior rules knowledge required!) inspired by Game of Thrones (more the tv show than book) - nobles, intrigue, blood & all that.
The PCs are typically nobility and their retainers, initially (August 2013) escorting Princess Dahaeris of the Grand Kingdom, youngest daughter of King Trionos XIII, to her upcoming marriage at Castle Westguard, last outpost of civilisation in the barbaric Southlands, then to remain there to aid the local lord in establishing Order across the Southland.
Characters are created on the day (initially 3d6 in order, swap any two rolls), but it's worth thinking about what kind of archetype you might like to play - a cunning noble courtier, a royal-born bastard, a grizzled guard captain, a mysterious Elven vizier, a taciturn scout or charming spy, are a few possibilities. The chosen background will give you +3 to two of your attributes (STR, DEX etc) and determine your initial social standing.
BX: Beyond the Westwall.
A thousand years since the fall of the Bright Empire, civilisation rises anew in the West. The Grand Kingdom looks beyond the sheltering Westwall mountains to the fallen lands of the Bright Empire. But evil still lurks in the wastelands. Renegade lords, savage humanoids, evil slavers, insane Chaos cultists, and the mysterious Dark Ones all threaten the return of Law to the Southland.
A Moldvay Basic D&D game. You are escorting Princess Dahaeris of the Grand Kingdom through the Westwall mountains to her forthcoming marriage at Castle Westguard…
PCs are created at the table. Attribute checks using roll-under-stat on 1d20 is the main mechanic.
Attributes: 3d6 in order, swap any two, then choose a listed Background such as Courtier, Guard Officer, Scout etc that gives +3 to a pair of stats, max 18. That way you have a couple decent stats and a defined role, but probably fragile enough to want to avoid combat where possible.
Rules & Style Notes
1. To have PCs want to avoid combat and to keep it quick & deadly, I'm using regular 1st level hit points, except you get at least half max at 1st level (d8 > min 4 hp from die, adjusted by CON mod). Most NPCs will be 'Normal Men' with 1 to 4 hp depending on role, eg a small child or old woman would have 1 hp, a mostly sedentary princess gets 2 hp, levy soldiery might have 3 hp, while the royal guardsmen have 4 hp.
2. I'm using AD&D style dying rules - 'unconscious at 0, die at -10'; with Basic D&D damage ranges you almost never get an instant kill (even STR 18 guy with 2-handed sword maxes at 13 damage; though if he had a +1 sword he could potentially do 14 dmg and cut a 4 hp enemy soldier in half with one blow).
0 to -2 hp unconscious but stable, below -2 hp it requires a first aid WIS check or healing magic to stabilise, so characters at -8 or -9 hp will still often die.
3. I'm quite excited by Moldvay Basic's potential to run a game where 1st level enemies like 1 hd Orcs are scary threats, and a 3rd level Swordmaster Fighter is a holy terror. I will be house-ruling a bit on magic:
a) Elves use the Cleric spell list to make them more Tolkienesque, and can turn undead likewise - "Elves do not fear the ghosts of Men".
b) Magic-Users who start play with 'Read Magic' as their starting spell can begin with 1st level spell scrolls, at 50 gp/scroll.
4. XP - I'll award XP for non-combat stuff of course, and advancement geared to a typical Moldvay expected rate of 3-5 sessions/level.
5. Attribute checks using roll under stat on d20 are the main mechanic, eg roll equal or less than CHA to persuade someone, or equal/under WIS to follow a trail.
6. Attributes are 3d6 in order, can swap any two, then choose a listed Background such as Courtier, Guard Officer, Scout etc that gives +3 to a pair of stats, max 18. That way PCs should have a couple decent stats and a defined role, while most will still be fragile enough to want to avoid combat. High status PCs will begin with maximum starting gp for gear (180gp) - they may have additional land holdings etc 'off stage', and will have access to plenty of mundane equipment as part of their mission, so this money is for personal weapons, armour, spell scrolls (50gp), potions (100gp), a favoured steed (riding horse 25gp, war horse 75gp) etc.
7. Movement Speed
No armour, light armour (leather): 40’ – 8 squares, 20’/4 squares fighting withdrawal
Medium armour (chain): 30’ – 6 squares, 15’/3 sq fw
Heavy armour (plate): 20’ – 4 squares, 10’/2 sq fw
8. Retainers - your PC may begin play with a number of Normal Man retainers up to the limit set by your CHA score. I'll be using Paizo NPC cards to quickly generate characters - for retainers the player can choose a card, the GM then creates a character based on the card...
The game itself will use Conley's 'Southland' from Points of Light, with the PCs escorting Princess Dahaeris of the Grand Kingdom through the Westwall mountains to her forthcoming marriage at Castle Westguard, but rather than a pre-plotted game it will be player directed along with a bunch of NPCs, rumours, random encounters etc, and we'll see what happens.
Sample Backgrounds
Guard Commander +3 STR +3 CHA
Royal Scout +3 DEX +3 WIS
Vizier +3 INT +3 WIS
Courtier +3 INT +3 CHA
Royal Cousin +3 WIS +3 CHA
Spy +3 DEX +3 INT
Bodyguard +3 STR +3 DEX
Herald +3 CON +3 CHA
Others as agreed with GM.
Level Demographics
0 - 'Normal Man' - most people
1 - Veteran, or unusually skilled
2 - Elite, eg a 2nd level Fighter is an elite Warrior
3 - Master, eg a 3rd level Fighter is called a Swordmaster or similar
4+ - Hero. Characters of 4th or higher level are rare, and many are semi-legendary.
The most powerful Heroes of the modern age are of around 6th-7th level, though tales of Super-Heroes (Level 8+) exist in the ancient legends, such as King Thongar the Mighty, the Slayer of Kaladrac, or Arch-Priest Baelor of Willow Vale who defeated the Master of the Desert Nomads, the Champion of Bafomet.
No comments:
Post a Comment