Skills in my OD&D Game

One thing that stands out to me as I read the Little Brown Books is that the Thief class that appears in the Greyhawk supplement should have been called the Dungeoneer. While most of the skills can be found in an archetypal burglar, there isn't much practicality in taking a burglar into a dungeon environment. There won't be too many pockets to pick or windows to sneak into. And so I think that the skills that were given to this class were expected to come from years of hunting for treasure in these forgotten and God forsaken places, not for larceny.

Other material I've read (which I can't pinpoint right now, so I can't cite anything) suggest that the thief/dungeoneer class was created so that there could be a mechanical process for using the skills that would have otherwise been performed by any wise adventurer. In other words, these are things that players were expected to be doing with their fighters, clerics and magic users, but demanded hard rules on performing these tasks and being good at them.

I've decided that in my OD&D game there will be no thieves, but rather every character has a capacity for being skilled in certain dungeoneering tasks. There is no reason why a fighter can't also be a talented pickpocket or a magic-user unable to pick locks.

My solution is that during character creation a player must select three of the six skills for their character. The player must roll the skill’s target number or higher on a d20 to succeed. The target numbers for each skill increase as the character gains levels.

Skills can only be used once by a player in any situation. For example, a failure to pick a lock doesn’t mean that the character didn’t just succeed on that one attempt. It means that the lock itself is beyond the character’s abilities and could not be unlocked until the character learns more about the lock itself (i.e. gains a level).

Level	Pick Locks	Disarm Traps	Pickpocket	Sneak	Hear Noise	Climbing
1	18	18	17	17	17	5
2	17	17	16	16	17	5
3	16	16	15	15	14	5
4	14	14	14	14	14	5
5	13	13	12	12	14	5
6	12	12	10	10	14	5
7	10	10	9	9	11	5
8	8	8	8	8	11	5
9	6	6	6	6	11	5
10	4	4	4	4	11	5
11	2	2	2	2	8	5
12	NA	NA	NA	NA	8	5
13	NA	NA	NA	NA	5	5
14	NA	NA	NA	NA	5	5

(By the way, these target numbers are rough conversions of the percentile and d6 rolls in Greyhawk. I converted them to d20 for simplification.)

Pick Locks: This skill allows the character to disengage mechanical locks on doors or containers. It may also be used to tinker with very simple mechanism. A roll of 1 will result in the lock mechanism breaking but remaining engaged, thus making it unpickable by anyone. The character must have a lockpicking tool to use this skill.

Disarm Traps: This skill allows the character to disarm or intentionally spring traps without harming themselves. A roll of a 1 will result in the trap springing and hitting the character for full effect. This skill cannot be used to find hidden traps. Much like the Pick Locks skill, this skill can be used to tinker with simple mechanisms.

Pickpocket: This skill allows the character to carefully remove something from the pockets of a target. The target must not be expecting this theft and must not be focusing on the character (or at least not on the character’s hands). This skill may also be used for general sleight of hand. This skill check may be rolled by the Referee to keep the result a secret to the player.

Sneak: This skill allows the character to hide and move silently, without drawing the attention of others. The environment must provide some sort of cover, such as shadows or large objects, as this is not a magical invisibility skill. Every turn a character moves silently requires a separate skill check. The character must not be wearing noisy armor to use this skill. This skill will usually be rolled in secret by the Referee as the character will not immediately know if they are sufficiently hidden from any threat.

Hear Noise: This skill represents extremely keen senses rather than simply the ability to hear. A success would provide the character with information based on barely audible sounds in the environment, such as distant footprints or the faint sound of rushing water. This skill may be rolled secretly by the Referee.

Climbing: This skill allows the character to climb a surface without normal hand holds and without climbing equipment. It does not apply to surfaces that are unnaturally flat, like a wall of unbroken, polish marble. A failure will result in the character falling from a distance of the referee’s choosing. A character cannot use this skill if they are wearing armor heavier than leather or have extremely large or heavy objects on them.

Deciphering OD&D

When I haven't been working on my Star Wars White Star Campaign, I've been picking away at the original little books for D&D. I've been doing this for two main reasons. First, I want to learn more about this history of the game and this is the seminal rule set. Secondly, I want to figure out the best possible rule set for me and my players and Original Dungeons and Dragons has the fewest rules of all the editions. Since my players are not rules-minded people and I only have so much mental bandwidth I can devote to knowing all the rules for the game, OD&D seems like the best place to start.

You may have heard that the OD&D rules are hard to grasp at first. That they have terrible organization and make certain assumptions about the players and their knowledge of tabletop gaming, specifically with wargaming. This is all true, but I've found that the rules are not that hard to comprehend if you have the right guidance. After about a week of reading the rules and reading commentary on the rules, I am confident I could run a very successful game using only the rules as they appear in the three little books. He's what I used to get here.

First, download the original books from RPGNow. At least read the first book, Men and Magic, strait through. Don't look for explanations cheat sheets right away. The book is the size of the average zine, so you won't be in the woods for long.

Next, read Philotomy's Musings as a commentary to the original books. This will give you valuable insight into how the game is run using those weird, bare-boned rules. The author does a great job of addressing most every rule and explaining what Arneson and Gygax were thinking and why those rules work at the table.

Once you've done this, you can read through the free version of Swords & Wizardry Whitebox. This is not a true retroclone of the first set of rules as there are several key differences, but it's pretty close and you can easily see how all those rules spread out across Men and Magic would work together with better organization. You may also be more interested in this version of the rules after spending some time with OD&D.

I was planning on making a document that was just the rules from Men and Magic with better organization, but now I think that piecing together the rules for oneself is a valuable rite of passage. It has certainly helped me come to terms with how few rules D&D needs to still feel like D&D and it has strengthen my idea of what My D&D Game is like.

Slimes and Oozes of the Southern Claw

This was created as part of Displacerclaus in July.

An unrealistic and uncreepy representation of a Smile Slime.

The following list of slimes and oozes are native to the Southern Claw region, southwest of the great city of Vornheim. However, many enterprising and foolhardy scholars, game hunters and merchants have begun to export them to other lands. Most of these exportation attempts result in disaster and a subsequent infestation as the slimes have their way with indigenous creatures and populations.

The attributes of the slimes are minimalist with the intention of being easy to plug into your favorite D&D-type game. Only the aberrant characteristics are mentioned, so you will need to include any attributes that account for generally slimy and oozy behavior in your game of choice.  

1. Face Sucker Ooze: Init: +5; Atk grasp +4 melee; AC 10; HD 1d8; MV 50’, climb 30’; Stealth +4; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire and cold; Align: Neutral. This small but deadly ooze will stalk its prey for hours for a chance to take it by surprise. A successful melee attack results in the ooze firmly attached to its target’s face, creating a powerful vacuum between it and the target. Target must make a successful DC 15 Strength check to wrest free of the ooze. Each turn the ooze remains affixed, the target must make a Constitution check or suffer 1d6 damage. After three accumilative failed Constitution checks, the vacuum will become powerful enough to pull the target’s innards through its mouth, instantly killing it.
2. Gelatinous Polyhedral: Init: +X; Atk pseudopod +X melee (1dX); AC 10+X; HD 1dX; MV 5+1dX’, climb 5+1dX’; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Align: Neutral. Choose a polyhedral die at random. Ooze takes the rough shape of that die. All instances of X in the stat block are equal to the number of sides on chosen die.
3. Mint Jelly: Init: +5; Atk pseudopod +4 melee (1d8); AC 12; HD 2d8; MV 15’, climb 15’; Stealth +5; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to cold; Align: Neutral. Native to jungles and temperate forests, this slime stretches its body along the moss and fern covered ground and emits a sweet, refreshing scent in order to attract its prey. The slime can cover an area approximately 20 feet in diameter, but it will wait to strike until at least one target is in the center of its reach. Any creature within 10 feet of the mint jelly must make a saving throw vs Poison or be surprised when the jelly attacks.
4. Silver Slime: Init: +6; Atk pseudopod +6 melee (2d6); AC 16; HD 4d8; MV 50’, climb 30’; Resistant to slashing, piercing and cold; Vulnerable to fire and bashing; Align: Neutral. This slime resembles a living mass of mercury, having the ability to emulate slashing and piercing weapons with its pseudopod. When threatened by multiple attackers, the silver slime will take a shape not unlike a sea urchin, hitting any melee attackers who fail a Dexterity check with 1d10 of piercing damage.
5. Night Slime: Init: +5; Atk bite +2 melee (1d4); AC 10; HD 1d4; MV 60’, climb 40’; Stealth +6; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire and light; Align: Neutral. These nocturnal slimes are a nuisance for farmers and herders as they tend to prey on livestock in the darkest hours of the night, feeding by sucking blood through a long pseudopod tipped with a primordial mouth. Night slimes are solitary hunters but large colonies can be found in caves. When attacked, the Night Slime will emit a pheromone that will provoke any other slimes within 100 feet to swarm. Most colonies house 3d20 night slimes.
6. Mile Slime:  Init: +6; Atk pseudopod +6 melee (1d8); AC 14; HD 6d8; MV 30’, climb 30’; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire, cold and lightning; Align: Neutral. The mile slime is an efficient predator that covers the most amount of ground by stretching itself into many thin pseudopods radiating from a central location. It is most likely that an encounter with a mile slime will begin with an attack from only one of the whip-like arms, but another arm will appear in 1d6 rounds. Additional arms will continue to appear, often from many different directions, one after another until the hit points of the slime are depleted. At that point the arms will retreat, but it is unlikely that the slime itself is dead as only a small portion of its body has been present for the fight.
7. Stuffing Slime: Init: +5; Atk grasp +4 melee; AC 10; HD 1d8; MV 50’, climb 30’; Stealth +4; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire and cold; Align: Neutral. A relative to the face-sucker ooze, the stuffing slime has evolved a similar hunting technique with a decidedly opposite means of killing its prey. With a successful hit, the stuffing slime will fix itself to the face of the victim. A successful DC 15 Strength check is required to remove the slime. On a failed Strength check, the slime will begin to stretch its body into the cavity of the victim’s lungs and stomach. A DC 15 Constitution check is required for every round that the stuffing slime remains on the victim. After the third accumilative failed Constitution check, the victim’s insides have been filled and death occurs.  
8. Over Ooze: Init: +0; Atk pseudopod +4 melee (1d4); AC 10; HD 1d8; MV 15’, climb 15’; Stealth +5; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire and cold; Align: Neutral. Not much unlike your standard primordial ooze in composition, this slime has developed a specific hunting technique that sets itself apart. The over ooze will stretch its body into a net-like matrix upon the ceiling of a cave or dungeon. It then lowers hair-thin filaments to act as sensors. When two or more creatures are under the over ooze, it will drop from the ceiling, entangling all below it in an area up to 30’ in diameter. A DC 15 Strength check is required to break from the ooze. Bladed weapons provide a +2 to the escape attempt but the restriction of the net prevents the blades from harming the ooze enough to remove hit points. An attacker must be free from the ooze to deal damage.
9. Smile Slime:  Init: +0; Atk pseudopod +1 melee (1d4); AC 10; HD 1d6; MV 30’, climb 30’; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire, cold and charm spells; Align: Neutral. These small blue slimes are friendly and helpful in nature. In fact, helping sentient beings appears to be their primary motivation and it is believed by some monster ecologists that the slime literally feeds from the approval of higher beings. The slime takes a vaguely oval shape with what appears to be the shape of a grinning humanoid face protruding from its back. Upon encountering a sentient being, the smile slime will become docile and subservient. The face will most closely resemble its last “master” and the slime will be able to learn to communicate using facial expressions used by its master after 1d4 weeks in his service. Smile slimes are slow to engage in violence and will often find creative ways to help their master should he be threatened or wish harm upon another.
10. Blink Ooze: Init: +0; Atk digestive acid +8 melee (1d8); AC 12; HD 8d8; MV 5’; Resistant to slashing and piercing; Vulnerable to fire; Align: Neutral. Typically used as a security measure by paranoid wizards, a blink ooze will fill the entirety of a room but will remain invisible and intangible until triggered by any magic spell. Any subsequent spell casted will return the blink ooze to its pocket dimension. The intention in installing a blink ooze is that a spellcaster and any companions will be trapped in the middle of the ooze, slowly being digested by the creature, unable to perform the gestures needed to cast a spell to banish the ooze. Persistent effects from magical items do not count as spells in triggering the blink ooze.

Currently Kickstarting: Castles and Crusades Core Books

Troll Lord Games is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to reprint the three core books of Castles & Crusades: the Players Handbook, Monsters and Treasure, and the Castle Keepers Guide. For anyone interested in C&C, this is the perfect time to jump on.

Castles & Crusades is an excellent version of D&D that provides the feel of first edition AD&D with contemporary mechanics to keep things running smoothly. It's the game I found after getting frustrated with 4e and I've loved it ever since. I'm honestly surprised that C&C seems to get the least amount of attention of all the OSR games, considering how easy it is to convert material from all versions of d20 games into C&C.

Troll Lord runs a lot of Kickstarter campaigns and it would appear that they've gotten pretty good at them. Stretch goal addicts will find a lot to like about these campaigns, especially this current one.  Currently, the $99 tier gets you the three core books (2/3 of them in full color), a poster, two adventures and two dice (a d20 and d8). There are five other stretch goals on the horizon.

On of those stretch goals is an expanded Arms and Armor book. The C&C Players Handbook has one of the most detailed list of weaponry and armor that I've ever seen in an RPG book. The prospect of having a book that goes into details on the many unusual weapons would be very interesting. Honestly, I'm really pimping this campaign because I want this book that much.

Castles & Crusades on Kickstarter

Reading A Single Small Cut

A Single Small Cut by Michael Curtis is a short but effective encounter that is perfect for when the party inevitably needs to get to a church for healing or curse removal. It's a very simple and straight forward adventure based around a sinister magical item and the eldritch horror it summons. Because most of the adventure revolves around the artifact and the monster, there is almost no prep needed to run A Single Small Cut, making it a good choice for impromptu games or GMs with busy schedules.

One thing to note is that unlike many Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventures, this is not designed for level 1 characters or "characters of any level." A Single Small Cut is for characters of at least third level and for good reason. Sending characters of any lower levels into this church would basically just be sending them to their doom. And while doom should always be a possibility in these kinds of adventures, certain doom can take a lot of fun out of things.

Much like Death Frost Doom, the adventure ends by tossing out several adventure hooks, making it especially effective for jump-starting a lagging campaign.

A Single Small Cut on RPGNow.

Ravenloft is Now Available on DnD Classics

If you're looking for something to run this Halloween season, you can't go wrong with the classic Gothic-horror AD&D 1E module Ravenloft. You can grab it from dndclassics.com now for only $4.99.

Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque, vol. 3 Released

In time to make October extra spooky, Jack Shear has released his third volume of resources for running a Gothic-themed RPG and it makes me wish I were not committed to running a cyberpunk campaign. Once again Jack delivers the goods in the form of excellent random tables and setting details that will set your imagination sprinting. He's also thrown in a great deal of inspirational resources.

For shit's sake, he gives a option for bonuses based on phrenology! These are the options you didn't know your game needed but desperately does.

Download the free PDF or buy a hardcopy for the table.