Fantasy Crawl!

Fantasy Crawl!

Nothing there yet. It's a blog I started originally to track my ideas for my Dungeon Crawl project. I'm thinking since this whole Wizards & Warriors idea fits that theme and idea better than it does Arcane Adventures, I think I might start posting there.

The biggest divergence of this project from that of Arcane Adventures is the end game. Where as Arcane Adventures was meant to really have that old school feel, and support the old school philosophy and principles, this new game really doesn't. Instead it definitely seems like it's gonna make a great standalone "game". I truly mean game. No pretense of Role Playing Game, or D&D clone, or anything like that.

As of right now it's looking like the whole point of Wizards & Warriors is going to be: kill the monsters, grab the loot, and buy magic items and gear to kill more. Very hack and slash. Very fun oriented, and very much more like a game. More along the lines of an expanded Dungeon! than a D&D lite kind of game.

Plus a fresh start is always nice.

New Beginnings

I'm Back! (I Think)

Wow it's been a while. Long story, haha. This is also going to be a long post. To sum it up really quickly; Life Happened. A lot of bad stuff happened, then a lot of good stuff, and now I'm just kind of waiting to see where life goes.

In the interim of all of this, I've played a lot of D&D and RPGs in general. I've read a lot, and ton plenty of research. Checked out alternative places for ideas, like I always do (video games, music, literature, etc). I have a great idea of want I want in my rules now, and have a plan I'm sticking too.

If you haven't seen Searchers of the Unknown, check it out. At first I was against the idea of removing classes from D&D, until I realized it solved almost all of the problems I had with it, and allowed me to use material from literally anywhere. There are some drawbacks, but in the end I actually think they're benefits.

So what is Arcane Adventures going to look like? First off I'm not sure I'll still call it that. I'm think I should, because the default "class" if you can call it that, will be the Adventurer. Furthermore the game will be all about Adventuring. However that's just the way I'll play it. The actual rules part is pretty much just going to be a hack slash game. I'm toying with "Wizards & Warriors", which I believe I've mentioned before. This is because any character type you'll play as far as combat, is going to fall somewhere in between a Wizard and a Warrior. Bards? Wizard and Warrior who focuses on healing and bonus spells. Cleric? A Wizard that focuses on healing spells. Druid? A nature Wizard. You get the point.

Lets get on to some specifics, shall we?

Class Abilities (No More)

One of the things I loved about old school D&D were all of the weird and unique class abilities. However this eventually became my scorn of the system. No one ever wanted to play the weird classes, they just wanted to play the optimum classes. Eventually I'd just play OD&D and let players make their classes as we played, giving them abilities as we agreed appropriate. This eventually led me to question why I even had classes at all. So voila, no more classes.

Actions like picking locks, finding traps, or surprise, are handled via spot rules, common sense, or role playing. You can see this in OD&D, and my last Arcane Adventures update. Wearing leather armor? Well you get a 3/6 chance of surprise. Have a lock pick? Cool you get a 2/6 chance to pick locks, and you don't make any noise.

I know this method removes a lot of combat flavor, but I don't really care. Certain features, like expanded critical ranges can be handled via equipment. In fact most combat abilities can be handled via equipment selection. I don't care to into specifics yet, I'll just start posting material soon.

What are Characters Then?

Just like Searchers, characters are just Armor Class, Hit Points, Attack Bonus, and Saving Throw. That's all you need. Players can decide their complexity by how much gear they collect and what it does. An example of this, the prime example, is spell scrolls (runes, potions, charms, wands, etc.). Let's be honest, D&D has almost always been a game about collecting magic items; so let's just cut to the chase.

Simplified Magic

All magic is simply handled through purchases. This can be "role played" or explained however you want. Heck, if you want to go really old school you can make your characters actually go collect and quest for material components. This has two really awesome benefits in my opinion.

Number one it "balances" (I know, shun the thought haha) magic with non-magic users. I know this means everyone can cast magic, but I don't think that's an awful thing. It's fantasy after all. What this does is means there is a cost to all magic. No more 6 Fireballs a day, just because. Now magic-users will have to spend some of that hard earned treasure to cast more spells. This forces players to actually think before they cast spells, because they aren't free anymore. It also gives a nice incentive to actually go adventure more.

Second this opens up all magic. No more Class Spell Lists. Just magic. Use the lowest level (or highest if you prefer) version of the spell. IE if Clerics and Magic-User both get a spell, you use whichever version is available first. Furthermore I'm strongly considering the idea of set spell stats. IE no more 1d6 per level. Simply 5d6 if it's a spell you would normally get at 5th level. This opens up spells from everywhere by the way. Rituals from 4th? Sure. Magic from the d20 Call of Cthulhu supplement? Of course. Force powers from Star Wars? You might need to figure out a cost, but toss them in there.

Backgrounds, Professions, and Races

An idea I'm toying with, but strongly avoiding, is the idea of some sort of background. I realize this was almost necessary for Races (though not really, once again just role play it). I'm consider something along the lines of; Lizard Man +1 AC; Warrior +1 Attack. Though something I'm leaning towards more is the idea of "Kits". Classes would just be backgrounds that determine your starting equipment. Wizard? Starts with Robes and a Wand. Knight? Chainmail and long sword. You get the point.

Play First, Role Play After

One of my biggest complaints was inconsistency. Why would a Giant Ram be stronger than a Dragon (just an example out of thin air)? Here's a better question, why should I care? Monsters are now just a pile of hit points, armor class, and damage. Maybe the Ram is magical. Maybe it's twice the size of the Dragon. Figure it out later, if you even care. Same with characters, same with magic, same with weapons, treasure, etc.

What Does it All Mean?

Most important to me, it means rules where you need them, not where you don't. In other words, combat is one of the few things you can't juts negotiate. There are few other situations like that in an Adventure, so why do we need so many rules? We don't, and that's one of the main tenets of the OSR. I'm just taking it to the extreme, nothing special really. What is special is the particular combination of rules I'm keeping means I get to use material from everywhere, EVERYWHERE.

Something else, that I desire, is a game where you don't have to role play. Of course you can role play all you want, and removing rules that restrict that role playing is great, and very old school. But what about those times you don't want to role play? Maybe your playing in public and your shy. Maybe it's not your thing. Maybe you got some buddies that just want to play a game. You can do that here. You can just kill stuff and get the treasure. While most people see that as shallow and boring, I see that as an opportunity for some fun.

Another interesting side effect is this establishes a certain feel, that I think is unique amongst tabletop RPGs. In fact I think this will end up feeling like a computer game more. It will feel more like games akin to Zelda, Moonstone, Sword & Sworcery, etc. Games that focus on the hero, on adventure, and exploration. Most importantly this is a game that can be played one on one (or even solitary, if so desired).

Since I've mentioned computer games, I'm thinking of even using computer graphics. Old school pixel graphics of course. This has a few benefits to me. I'm not a very gifted artist, but raster graphics I can do. It also gives my game a unique feel, and communicates the style of game I'm inadvertently emulating. It's also totally old school.

Well that's enough for now. Stay tuned for material, because right now I'm probably just going to blog everything.