Advanced Gaming & Theory: Supplemental

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Wizard's Weapons Fixed with the wave of a wand!

I've never been all that happy with the wizard class, specifically in regards to Weapon Proficiency. At

Level 20 they have Four slots. This is fine! This isn't my problem, the problem is that the 2^nd Edition AD&D Players Handbook picks these weapons for you.

Dagger
Staff
Darts
Knife
Sling

It adds that the weapons that require no training can be used, this would imply that nobody needs to be proficient in them, but whatever. The deal is that, for me personally, most of these five items are not things that I mentally associate with wizards.

Dagger, and staff: Okay, I can see that. But, where did all of that other stuff come from? The answer probably goes back to OD&D, a wizard's weapon does 1d4. I can get behind this! Regardless of what a wizard chooses, mixed with his god-awful THAC0, if a mage is proficient in a sword of some kind, it still does 1d4.

I know that in my own games, we identify staff as a quarterstaff and give it the damage of 1d6. Dudes like Little John were specialized in the quarterstaff and could dish out serious damage, while a wizard probably just dorks the other guy. The 1d4 rule makes more sense; Playing a wizard, I would except that ruling.

I don't know about you, but when I think of a wizard I don't see him attacking with a dagger or swinging a staff around. In my mind's eye it is always a wand. That is what I see! Now I'll admit that I have never read the Vance series of bookswhich the AD&D system is based on. I will also admit that the biggest inspiration to what I know about fantasy wizards was gleamed by collecting stickers in the 80's (it was a thing), and ain't no rainbow summoning wizard walking around carrying a dart. That said, would it break the game to give the wizard a wand? Now, I'm not talking about those weird wands of power found in the Dungeon Master's Guide, I'm thinking just a basic everyday wand that a wizard can use in melee.

Let's stat it out:

Item: Magic Wand

Cost: 10gp

Weight: 0 lbs.

Size: S

Type: P

Speed Factor: 2

Damage: S-M 1d4, L 1d3

It acts like a missile weapon.

ROF: 1

Short Range: 5 feet

Medium: 10 feet

Long: 15 feet

If you want, you can even have it augment spells, but you don't have to. Naturally, this could open up a new can of worms if you let it, and it might be interesting! But, you don't have to. You can just judge that it is a melee weapon, and that is all. A quick burst of magic that is regulated by the users crummy THAC0.

Alternatively you can rule that a basic magic staff can be constructed at 10^th level which has a longer range (10/20/30) and is required to augment spells of 5^th level and beyond.

Augmenting Spells shouldn't be overly powerful, maybe just reducing the casting time of spells with Somatic, or verbal/Somatic components only by 1. Or keeping the Somatic based spells as is but doubling the casting time if the caster doesn't have a wand.

Spells can also be developed specifically for wands. Now keep in mind that I suck at writing spells, if you can improve the wording do it. This stuff isn't play-tested either, but I really can't see how this can break the game.

CREATE WAND (Alteration)

Spell Level: 2^nd

Range: Touch

Components: V, M

Duration: Permanent

Casting Time: 3 days

Area of Effect: Special

Saving Throw: None

This spell can merge a magical component into a stick cut from a hardwood tree specifically for this purpose. The magical component can be collected from a magical and rare plant, and ground Ornamental stone of at least 10gp value. The magical component, over the course of three days which include regular breaks for eating, and resting, is verbally coaxed inside of the wand forming its core.

Once completed, a magic word is chosen to activate its basic power, as well as a specific flick which will cause a quick burst of magic which can be aimed at a specific target with a normal attack roll which inflicts 1-4 hp of damage. The target does not receive a saving throw, however magic resistance of any kind will always be immune to this attack.

WARNING: Augmenting spells which require the material components of stones, jewels, and/or gems which are consumed during casting tend to destroy the stones inside of the wand as well, rendering it useless forever more.

IMPROVED CREATE WAND (Alteration)

Spell Level: 4^th

Range: Touch

Components: V, M

Duration: Permanent

Casting Time: 3 days

Area of Effect: Special

Saving Throw: None

This spell can merge a magical component into a stick cut from a hardwood tree specifically for this purpose. The magical component can be collected from a creature of mystical origin (Phoenix Feather, Unicorn Hair, Ground Dragon Claw etc.) given to the caster by the creature in freewill. The magical component, over the course of three days which include regular breaks for eating, and resting, is verbally coaxed inside of the wand forming its core.

Once completed, a magic word is chosen to activate its basic power, as well as a specific flick which will cause a quick burst of magic that can be aimed at a specific target with a normal attack roll which inflicts 2-5 hp of damage. The target does not receive a saving throw, though Magic Resistance will function as normal.

A wand constructed of a creature which has the same alignment as the caster, will act as a wand+1, +3 against targets which are natural enemies of the creature regardless of magic resistance. A target of the same alignment as the creature may not be effected at all.

NOTES

The only problem that I really see with this is the lack of expendables. I tend to just charge a monthly living fee to players, having a wand puts them in at least the Middle-High Living Class, if they drop below Middle Class the wand can become damaged and break on the roll of a 1.

A wand can also break if it becomes subjected to a Saving Throw, if this is the case it falls under Wood, thin on the Item Saving Throws table.

A wand is also ruined if it is subject to Dispel Magic.

A wand cannot be used if the caster is unable to speak, flick their wand, or if magic doesn't function in that area. Areas of wild magic can also cause some weird things to happen.

Wand attacks work exactly the same as missiles, targets gain bonuses for taking cover, and if the armor vs weapon type is used, damaged is halved. It is also dangerous to fire a wand into a melee, see the rules for how to run it.

A basic wand may be commercially available or the player had to buy one from his instructor.

A captured or found wand must be attuned to the finder. The captured or found wand functions normally until either a natural 20 or a 1 is rolled. 20 indicates that the wand is attuned to the user, if it was captured the wand now belongs to the new owner. If a 1 is rolled before a natural 20, the wand rejects the new owner and no longer functions, if not, in the case of an improved wand, outright cursing them. Of course attuning oneself to a found or captured wand can be done through practice, the player just keeps rolling until a 20 or a 1 is rolled. Alternatively, an improved wand can be a bit more difficult, a limited amount of time (maybe 10 tries) can be attempted against a specific target, (INANIMATE OBJECT= AC 10?) failure to hit within that window results in the wand ignoring you.

A cursed wand always rebounds on the user with the roll of a 1. Always strikes a random person on a successful hit, and only hits the specific target if a 20 is rolled. The user of a cursed wand refuses to see that it is a problem until the curse is broken.

Finavryn brought up a similar idea on the OD&D Discussion Forum, writing a cantrip spell he calls ZAP, which can be found HERE

New AD&D Crossbow Rules (variant)

http://www.themcs.org/weaponry/crossbows/crossbows.htm

I've got a lot to do this week, what with Spring here, as well as a fresh copy of Robert J. Kuntz's new book to read. This week, I've decided to take it easy.

I like weapons that function differently from one another, it is a total AD&D 2e thing. We can make the rules as complex or as simple as we like. One of the things that bugs me about the system is, as the title says, The Crossbow.

The Crossbow was a terror on the battlefield, and was, at the time, considered to be much like the nuclear bomb is today. It was an unfair advantage. Bowmen had to spend hours honing their craft, it is a weapon of skill, while the crossbow was not. Anybody could pick up a crossbow and use it to kill other men.

What the crossbow lacked in distance, it made up for with accuracy. It's kind of like a shotgun today, you don't need to be a good shot with a shotgun, you just aim the barrel in the general direction of what you don't want to be there anymore, and when it gets close enough, you pull the trigger.

This factor really isn't all that apparent in the AD&D Weapons table. There are multiple ways that we can go about fixing this:

You can have the weapon always fire against AC 10.
This weapon was slow to load, but the power behind it was pretty impressive, much better, I feel, than the damage listed in the book. We can alter this, either up the damage die used, or if max dmg is rolled, roll the same die again and add that to the total. The problem, however, with this solution is that the die in question is fairly easy to influence, a d6 would give you much better results than the d4, or you can roll the d8 but have it only give you results of 1-4.

I do think that the damage needs to be altered, I'm not sure why it was set so low. DEX does make it more accurate and more dangerous, but I think that the best solution might be focusing on its ease of use.

One doesn't need to spend a Prof. point on this weapon, those that do are actually now specialized in that weapon, and anybody can specialize in it at least once, fighters can spend multiple slots specializing in it further.

I also think that the Range might be set a tad too high, I don't see how a heavy crossbow could reach 250 yards and still be able to hit. Maybe it could, I've honestly never shot one, but I am kind of in the camp of cutting those numbers in half. It would remove the hand crossbow from play, but I think that I'd be happier with play-testing this system.

Thoughts?

System Neutral 1d100 Non-Encounters Table

I, like many of you, enjoy crafting my own Random Encounters lists, but since I don’t really enjoy Hack & Slash games, I alter them so that they are open to interpretation. I detest having back to back combat encounters, especially random ones; so, say on game day, the party is out in the wilderness looking for a dungeon to loot, and I find that a Random Encounter happens, and the result is a bandit attack, I’ll run it, and once the combat ate a half an hour of my life, I still have to check Random Encounters 2 more times, and one of them rolls positive, and now the party is supposed to be attacked by a stray war party of orcs! Well, I won’t run it; instead I say that they come across an empty camp where the orcs had recently been, or something else to avoid the combat.

I like to keep my lists fresh, limit what monsters appear on it, and have plot points present in the R.E. Tables as well, but I have developed a Table that can be used along with your own Random Encounter Tables which I have found helps with creating that Simulation feel.

This table is best used with a dedicated playmap where the point is to explore the wilderness for the hidden lair, dungeon, or main objective of the game. It assumes that a base of some kind is also on the map which the party has to return to to replenish expendables and make preparations to explore different sections of the map.

1d100 Non-Encounters Table
01-11 Water	67-70 Edible (10% pois.)	87-88 Occup. Cabin	98-99 DM’s Choice*
12-22 Cave	71-74 minor injury	89-90 Dead wild.	00 DM’s Choice*
23-33 wild. Sign	75-78 Hazard	91-92 Wonder
34-44 Shack	79-82 Landmark	93-95 Mine
45-55 Camp	83-86 Trap	96-97 ruins	*treasure
56-66 Anim. annoy

I place a reference to this table in a Common Wilderness entry in my Random Encounter Table, so it gets used, and as you can see, it just generates quick ideas which are all open to interpretation. It simulates that X factor of luck in the wilderness.

WATER

It is typically assumed that the party has drinkable water, or that they will find it while out in the wilderness. This can mean that they find some, or it can mean that they lost theirs. It can be a canteen that is found on the road, a lake too small to appear on the map, a chance to catch fish, or bath or whatever they want to do. It is designed to simulate travel, and make it memorable. This is something that stands out when the characters think back to their journey.

CAVE

If you want, many of these things can easily be converted into quick combat scenerios, but they don’t have to be. This may be a cave, or it may be something else. It represents shelter, something to get the party out of the elements, heal their wounds, or maybe cause some new ones. It can be something that is easily investigated, a place for food or water, whatever you want to do with it.

WILD. SIGN

This is typically a hint for what is on the Wilderness Random Encounter Table, you can either roll against it, or just pick something. It can be poop, an old camp, a dead one, signs of a previous attack, it should be a hint of some kind. If the party wants to follow a trail, they can. I don’t know about you but I do put some dangerous stuff in the Very Rare sections of my Random Encounters lists, this result can set off some alarmbells and give some much needed Intel to the players. If you want to, you can even have this lead to the enemy, or to an ambush because the enemy put this trail here on purpose.

SHACK

Hunters, trappers, and whoevers build and abandon these things all the time. They can be emergency cabins, or contain some supplies. They can be places to rest for the night, or to fortify so that the party can move deeper into the wilderness. They can even be rotten and ready to cave in or infested with lice, whatever you want.

CAMP

This can be a safe camp where the party meets other explorers, or finds a lost party. It can be signs of a camp where something was left behind. Something or somebody was once here, maybe a whole lot of somethings?

ANIM. ANNOY

For the most part, we ignore the normal animals of the area, thinking of them as none issues. This entry brings these ignored nuisances to life, from mice eating the food, to a raccoon taking off with the warriors lucky dagger. This stuff isn’t nice, we can have something chew a hole in a backpack, a snake finding a nice warm nest in a PCs boot, bugs infesting everything, the point isn’t to harm the player characters, but annoy the crap out of them. Maybe a bird won’t shut up when the characters are trying to sleep, keeping them up all night so they are exhausted in the morning and suffer movement restrictions the next day? As long as it doesn’t take more than 1 hp it’s all fair game.

EDIBLE (10% Pois.)

It is assumed that the spell casters are picking up spell components, this can be quickly established, or it can be edible plants that save the party from having to eat dry rations . . . again. I’m sure that those wild mushrooms are safe! You can use the Poison percentage or ignore it. It can also be annoying like nettle or poison oak. We don’t want our Players feeling too awesome out there!

MINOR INJURY

This probably requires a Savingthrow, failure could either mean an injury or just a minor injury. This works best as an annoyance as well, maybe a simple cut gets infected, a sprained ankle, or the warrior not paying attention cuts himself while sharpening his sword. The sufferer is vulnerable, and has penalties. The best course of action is to return to the safety of base, unless a healer is present to do something about it.

HAZARD

In its purest form, this simply means that the it forces a decision, the current way is either totally blocked, or is obviously very dangerous. Maybe it is a very long, and very dubious bridge of questionable integrity? Maybe it automatically costs the party 1d4 days just to traverse this one hex? Quicksand, thin ice, something obvious which can be avoided if the party go back or change directions; it’s all up to you. While the hazard can cause death or injury, it can also cost time as well.

LANDMARK

When driving across country we always see things that stand out, but this can really work in the players favor, especially if they are lost or hopelessly lost, this can instantly change that status, or at least reveal to them that they are actually walking in circles. Players may update this on their map and travel directly their without encounters if you want to be really nice. This should typically be something that works in their favor. Perhaps even allowing them to double their movement rate for that day is enough?

TRAP

This isn’t necessarily a trap in the literal sense, it could be! But I usually use it as a hazard that is bumbled into and treat it exactly like I do a trap in a dungeon setting, however this one is natural. Maybe it results in a minor injury, maybe death? Something like quicksand can be marked on the map and used against an enemy if the players think about doing that, so update the map.

OCCUP. CABIN

Again, interpret this how you will. If your party is in trouble, maybe a Ranger lives here? Somebody or something lives here, it can be good or bad. It may not even be an actual cabin, just a glen. It is up to the party if they want to make an ally or an enemy.

DEAD WILD.

Just like we did with wild. Sign, this definitely implies something off our your list that is dead. If you have an unusual monster that is only hit by specific things, you can use this to give them a clue as to what it is. I also like to refer my wilderness chart back to my civilized chart and vice versa, this could be interpreted as a lost patrol or missing explorer. The body may be looted already, or it can have treasure. Maybe the person isn’t quite dead yet and can be saved? Or the monsters methods of killing can be exposed. This can be really really good Intel for the party.

WONDER

Just like a landmark, only better. Describe a scene of beauty and awe that is native to the terrain. This is something that will stay with the character for the rest of his days, maybe it is even divine in nature? Maybe it is something that will always be there and you can put on your map? A fairy spring where all wounds are healed? A mysterious Dwarf who sings strange songs and can permanently enchant a blade? Maybe it is just something that doesn’t involve any mechanics at all, but just stands out as special? Whatever it is, present it with a sense of mystery and wonder. This should always be positive.

MINE

Not always a mine, just a place of work within the wilderness. It could be monstrous industry, demihuman, or even human, who knows? Maybe it is a lost and abandoned mine? Maybe it is a lumber camp that was abandoned because of monsters? This once was civilized but taken back . . . or not. It can be a place for the players to trade, get information, or get themselves killed in. It could just be a trail which allows the party to move faster for a little while, it simulates finding some kind of habitat in the wilderness. It could also be something that is used by the enemy and if the players are able to take it away and shut it down then the enemy will be that much weaker for it.

RUINS

I like leaving remnants of distant and more powerful days being left behind. Be it elven, dwarvish, or some even older creature that is no more. This can be mystical in nature or it can be mundane. Perhaps it gives the players a view for miles, allowing them to fill out all of the hexs surrounding the area? Or maybe it has some spell effect going on? Maybe it turns spells wild, or magically dead? Something is here, something old and of a lost technology. Maybe it is occupied by monsters, maybe it isn’t? Maybe the great sword of yore was placed here years ago, but it is gone because the main badguy found it and that is the secret to his power? It’s your world, you tell me.

DM’S CHOICE

I use these two slots for very specific things. Perhaps there are rumors about a lost castle, but you don’t know where it is either, the only way to find it is to roll it up. This can be a map that you recycled from a published adventure, or one of your own that you rekey. It can be something weird, like an ancient ship found in a forest and the players will never know how in the world it got there. These are definite X-Factors, that are very lucky finds. I always have something with Treasure in these spots, but you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. I always fill these spots in prior to play, and look forward to rolling them, but I rarely do.

You can scrap this whole thing and make it your own, but I have found that the less precise you get, the more you actually get out of it. Nothing is stopping you from turning a combat encounter into a none combat encounter. While this list was designed with Hex exploration in mind, it can be altered to do whatever you want it to. It should break up combat, and maybe even utilize some of those fancy skills or noneweapon proficiencies that the PCs paid slots for?

You can even use this during prep, identifying some of those hexs in advance. Do whatever you want with it, it’s yours and it is system neutral.

Player Map of Asylum

Bleak house came with a forced perspective map; I don't know about you, but I hate those things. I had originally redrafted it to graph paper, but the players wanted a map too, so I made this and thought, why not share?

One Lazy Room

Have a room in your dungeon that you don't know what to do with? How about creating the laziest room ever? Once the characters walk through the door, they are greeted with a bizarre sight; describe the room that you are playing Dungeons and Dragons in. The characters see their players sitting at a table, they can see their lips moving, but they can't hear what they are saying.

Now, here is the gag: The characters can pick one object from your gaming room, and take it with them. Once they take an object, they disappear and return to just an empty room in your dungeon. We can then design an enchantment for the object and how many times that they can use it before the object disappears.