Vecna = Vance

In games of Dying Earth, (player character)magicians must resist their Arrogance attribute in order to share spells with other magicians.

There must be a good way to work this into D&D.

Initiative

(Moving some older posts from my shared Iron Rations blog)

"Round-by-round initiative was key to the whole combat action system though. Everyone declared their actions, THEN initiative happened. That injected a whole element of uncertainty into the game. Did you plan to boldly advance towards the altar or hang back near the door where you could restrict the enemy? If you decided to advance and the other side got the initiative you could end up in a heap of trouble, but hanging back could seriously hamper your ability to achieve some goal or other. Switches of init between the two sides also promoted the possibility of sudden reversals of fortune and gave combat an uncertain and rather chaotic caste. And of course the whole thing raised heck with magic users, especially if they were planning on using any of the longer casting time high level spells."

Dungeon Ideas from Rpg.net

* Libraries
* Lunatic asylums, hospitals and sanitoria
* Prisons
* Fortresses, military installations, docks, hangars
* Places to keep very, very valuable things - Like museums
* Opera houses
* Gigantic war-machines
* A siege-world/land where vast fortifications, earthworks and trenches cover the area where an Iliad-style generational siege once took place, now abandoned and infested with fell creatures.
* City sprawl submerged in flood and fire; current city sits on top ( in places ) two to three diff levels of ancient buildings. 2,000 year old aquaducts still run, cutting and weaving through a plan centuries old. Would be very easy to envision flooded submrged aquaducts pushing out debris and dirt in such an environ, clearing out blocks of ancient ruined city through abandoned sewers. A perfect home for cultists and what ever evils they summoned, deep beneath the city above?
* Crashed/Sunked Ship
* A previous civilization's holdfast/retreats, built in anticipation of an apocalyptic invasion of monsters/demons
* The catacombs of Paris, before they were turned into giant ossuaries, were limestone quarries - the stone that was used to build parts of Paris was quarried far beneath its foundations.

(Old Rules for) Rotes

Rotes represent the tutelary incantations taught taught to Magician and other spellcasters during training sessions with their mentor and other masters. These spells and rites form the core of the magical skills during segments of the practictioners expanding knowledge and can easily be called back during times of need.

Rotes can be cast without preparation or prayer. They still expend the requisite energy of a prepared spell of the same level. If call spells of that level have been cast, the practitioner has no energy left to cast the rote. Note that rotes require the same casting time, somatic and material components, or any other requirement of a normal spell, except for the lack of preparation.

Example: Amrikol is a 3rd level magician. He therefore knows all the First and Second level rote spells. While exploring a dungeon, Amrikol and his companions run out of torches. He can cast the 1st level Rote spell "Light" by sacrificing the Sleep spell he prepared that morning. He has already cast his single prepared 2nd level spell, so he could not have cast a 2nd level Rote.

Sample 1st Level Magician Rotes: Affect Normal Fires, Detect Magic, Light, Mending, Protection from Evil, Read Magic, Shield, Ventriloquism

The Function of Saving Throws

An excellent explanaion of Saving Throws by The Man in the Funny Hat:

1E save categories are a combination of the SOURCE of the effect being saved against and the effect itself, then it looks at your class to determine what your chances to avoid/mitigate those effects are. Rate of improvement in any given category for a class tends to be a jumpy and irregular. Adjustments to saves are very few. 3E doesn't care what the source is - it looks only at the end effect, then it assigns all effects into one of three categories. There are only two rates at which those categories can then improve, good and poor. All classes have one good save, one poor save, and then one which will either be one or the other of those. At low levels your governing STAT will be the biggest factor in determining your chances of successfully saving in those three categories, and only at mid-higher levels will your class be the bigger factor. Other adjustments to saves from protective spells, items, Caster level/spell level of the source, and specific class features are numerous and outweigh both stat and general weighting due to class.

1E is actually simpler, has few adjustments (look up the number and roll), but it's also irregular in progression and generally idiosyncratic/not-very-intuitive. 3E, though it uses fewer categories and is superficially more intuitive, is actually deeply more complicated and rather strongly de-emphasizes class as the determining factor of success in favor of ability scores, items, and a wide variety of adjustments.

Key to understanding saving throws in D&D is understanding their origin of the save in wargaming. The effect being saved against is first and foremost looked upon as a foregone conclusion. Explosion goes off next to you - you're dead. Dragon breathes on you - you WILL take X damage. Spell is cast upon you - the effect WILL manifest. For spells, it doesn't even matter what the level of the caster is or what the level of the SPELL is. The chance to save is based on the victims class and the type of effect. The saving throw is then granted as a last-ditch attempt to either reduce the severity of the effect or perhaps just avoid it altogether. AD&D says, "The precise reasons why your save is set at the level it is aren't even all that important since it's all about what class your character is." 3E looked at things rather differently. The effect being saved against is NOT really a foregone conclusion. The whole process is a much more fiddly determination of success in a direct contest between caster or item and the target. Caster level/spell level sets the initial chance of success, THEN it's adjusted a zillion ways by the category of the final effect, the class of PC, his defensive spells, skills, items, circumstance bonuses, etc. etc., yada, yada, yada.

Fun Fact! [Empire of the Petal Throne Edition]

Instead of the "Monster Summoning" series found in D&D, the original Empire of the Petal Throne has a similar bonus spell called "Creatures." Both spells summon a number of low hit die monsters to do the caster's bidding for a short period of time. Unlike the original, the "Creatures" spell are created.

Proficiency Stream of Consciousness

Goals:
1. Make weapon choices matter, or at least interesting.
2. Keep classes distinguishable.
3. Support or improve and fun but challenging attack probability.

In AD&D, classes can select from a distinct list of weapons to become proficient in. Having the proficiency allows you to attack without penalty. The non-proficiency penalty is determined by class.

In 4th Edition D&D, each class grants you proficiency in a group of weapons. Using a weapon you're proficient in allows gives you a bonus specified by that weapon. A wizard can use a two-handed sword, but doesn't get the bonus that all fighters (automatically being proficient) would have.

Tactical Simulation Ruleset proposes:

1. Classes get the number of weapon proficiencies and can select from the same list of weapons as in AD&D.
2. Using a weapon you are proficient in grants a flat bonus based on your class, for example:

Fighter: +2
Cleric: +1
Thief: +1
Magic-user: +0

3. Use of weapons not on the class' proficiency options invokes the non proficiency. penalty as listed in AD&D.

Example:
* A fighter, proficient in long sword, using a long sword: +2
* A fighter, not proficient in long sword, using a long sword: +0
* A thief, proficient in long sword, using a long sword: +1
* A thief, not proficient in long sword, using a long sword: +0
* A magic-user, unable to be proficient in long sword, using a long sword: -4

Tactical Simulation Rules: Fatigue

Fatigue
Hit points reflect your physical health, as well as stamina, luck, grace, and training. As such, the majority of "hit" do not reflect actual wounds of any significance. To reflect this, after any combat or strenuous action, a character can be brought back to their "fatigued" level, meaning 50% of their total hit points by resting one turn (10 minutes).

Example: Hrothgar has 40 hit points at full strength. After a vicious fight with a neiberlung, he was reduced to 14 hit points. By resting for a turn after the battle, he will be raised to 20 hit points. While fighting a marshtroll, he takes a wound, but survives at 10 hit points. Resting again will raise him back to 20 hit points. Additional days of rest or magical healing will be required to restore him to the full 40 hit points.

Training and Gaining Levels

Upon gaining sufficient XP for a new level, the character can "immediately" roll for new hit points. All other class abilities and improvements require training.

- Training takes one week of time, regardless of level.
- The "Trainer" must be at least one level higher than the character he/she is training.
- Upon reaching "Name Level", the character must spend the same amount of time and money, but does not need a trainer.
- Training costs [Current Level x 1000 GP]. Loans can be made, and *some* trainers will accept goods or services in lieu of coins. The fee for characters reaching 2nd level is waived cause Shawn is a nice guy.
- Magic-users and Illusionists automatically gain one new spell upon completing training. This can be of any level they can cast, does not require a Spell Learning Test, does not require a fee to scribe into the spellbook, BUT must be from the Player's Handbook.

Wizard Spells, 1st Level, 1st Draft

Spells
Alarm, Armor
Burning Hands
Charm Person, Comprehend Languages
Dancing Lights, Detect Magic
Enlarge, Erase
Feather Fall, Friends
Grease
Hold Portal
Identify
Jump
Light
Magic Missile, Melt, Message, Mount
Nystul's Magic Aura
Protection from Evil, Push
Run
Shield, Shocking Grasp, Sleep, Spider Climb
Taunt, Tenser's Floating Disc
Unseen Servant
Wizard Mark, Write

Rituals
Find Familiar
Read Magic