[Revised] Rules

[Mr Darke]

This is where the rules and rules revisions will be held. Rather than make an initial long post I will keep the original updated as I cement the new rules in. This way you can see the final versions and, if you want, the evolution of them. Hopefully, this will lead into a document that can be downloaded if you want the rules changes or additions for your game. That all said...


The Foundation

I am using the Rules Cyclopedia as the base document for a couple of reasons. First it is a nice and complete version of the game that exists in one book and has almost everything needed to run an OD&D game. Second it is easily adaptable to change and remains compatible with OD&D. Which is something I want as I will be adding in material from OD&D to the RC in the way of classes, races and some rules to make it closer to a continuation of OD&D. 



Initial Rules Changes

The initial rules changes to just the core RC are as follows: 

*Fighter types use 1d8 for HP all other classes use 1d6

*Thief and Thief like skills operate on a d6 system rather than percentages

*Race and Class have been separated but the Elf class may remain but renamed


Projected Changes

What follows are things I will slowly be including to bring more OD&D to the RC

* The rest of the classes from OD&D updated and adapted to the RC paradigm

*The rest of the races from OD&D updated and adapted to the RC paradigm

*Conversions of 'lost' monsters and spells from OD&D to RC


The Thought Experiment


This is partially an execution of a thought experiment where OD&D was continued on rather than turned into the various 'Classic' or 'Basic' lines. In this thought idea the what if factor was that OD&D would remain in print but would be revised and updated at regular intervals. Beginning with Holmes the first streamlined and clarified D&D would have been released. Molvay would have done another pass with updates from the intervening years culminating in Frank Mentzer's work on the project which would be what I am trying to build. 

Now that said, we know that did not happen but I am kind of playing what if along with wanting to make an updated version of the original game using my favorite version of the Classic game. Maybe odd but that's me. 

Updating

As stated before, this post will be updated as new rules are added and discussed and will serve as the only post you need to read if you just want the rules. It will be revised from time to time so make sure you have what you need. I do enjoy the discussions so feel free to chime in. 

[Deleted]

That looks like a good, solid beginning. I look forward to seeing more of your ideas.

[Hexenritter Verlag]

Mar 4, 2018 10:27:22 GMT -5 Mr Darke said:

*Thief and Thief like skills operate on a d6 system rather than percentages

*Race and Class have been separated but the Elf class may remain but renamed

Mr Darke,

I'd love to see the system you are using for the d6 based Thief as I am looking for one & I am not completely solf on the one for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

How are you working at splitting race & class? Are you giving humans a boon & are using racial level caps?

[Mr Darke]

I cheated on the race separation and used the races from BFRPG. I felt that they were done fairly well and only needed a slight adjustment or two to work. So a copy of BFRPG is suggested but not needed as I hand copied the races from the book. As for limitations Humans can be any class (which will play in more when the other classes are added) and can advance farther than Demis. However I am not sure on how level limits will work just yet. I understand the mechanic of it but never was the biggest fan.

The thief system gives a 1st level thief a base 2 in 6 chance on all abilities. At certain levels it increases by 1 to a max of 5 in 6. I am thinking of having this modified by DEX but if a thief has an 18 dex in Classic they auto cap at 5 in 6 but that may not be bad as they just have natural talent. Some people are just better than others at things. Of course non thieves get a base 1 in 6 on certain checks that may be adjusted by ability bonus/penalty.

I feel this variation, which I have seen somewhere else, fits the OD&D ideas better than percentages and gives a starting thief a bit better chance in the beginning. Also if this works I will be using this for classes like the Ranger and Assassin and replacing all percentage based abilities with the D6 idea. Again this feels closer to the ideas presented in the LBBs better in my opinion.

[Hexenritter Verlag]

Mar 5, 2018 13:35:49 GMT -5 Mr Darke said:

I cheated on the race separation and used the races from BFRPG. I felt that they were done fairly well and only needed a slight adjustment or two to work. So a copy of BFRPG is suggested but not needed as I hand copied the races from the book. As for limitations Humans can be any class (which will play in more when the other classes are added) and can advance farther than Demis. However I am not sure on how level limits will work just yet. I understand the mechanic of it but never was the biggest fan.

The thief system gives a 1st level thief a base 2 in 6 chance on all abilities. At certain levels it increases by 1 to a max of 5 in 6. I am thinking of having this modified by DEX but if a thief has an 18 dex in Classic they auto cap at 5 in 6 but that may not be bad as they just have natural talent. Some people are just better than others at things. Of course non thieves get a base 1 in 6 on certain checks that may be adjusted by ability bonus/penalty.

I feel this variation, which I have seen somewhere else, fits the OD&D ideas better than percentages and gives a starting thief a bit better chance in the beginning. Also if this works I will be using this for classes like the Ranger and Assassin and replacing all percentage based abilities with the D6 idea. Again this feels closer to the ideas presented in the LBBs better in my opinion.

Cool about the race & class the BFRPG ones are good.

Like you I am not a fan of the percentile Thieve's Skill system. I was considering D6 for Thieves (maybe like yours) but have other skills done as roll under Stat. I am not sure if I should go the LotFP rout (like yours) with all skills being d6 based but I am not opposed to it. I am the type of guy who likes stats to mean something beyond simple modifiers.

[The Archivist]

RC is  a good base, everything is handy and then steal bits from whither and yon. 

[Mr Darke]

Some updates on the rules, yes these are more modern but I like the ideas that are there. 


Unified System: The basics of this are there in the stat bonuses. In this system you use the modifier to add to the die roll to hit a target number or above, fairly basic. However the TNs are set based on difficulty. They stage in the increments of 12, 15, 18 and 21 and improvements by level to die rolls are minimal or non-existent. Thief skills operate on this paradigm and may see improvements based on level. 

Certain abilities of other classes could be tried but it ups the difficulty by two or three steps (Helpful when no one wants to play a thief). Die rolls are not always needed. 

Saves: Saves are made off of the ability score rather than the save system. Certain classes will receive bonuses to some saves. Monster saves run off a S&W whitebox formula of 20-HD=TN. They may get a mod based off their THAC0/To Hit bonus in certain conditions. 

Other: I will be experimenting with the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic from 5e to remove strings of modifiers. I liked this idea in 5e and many have tried it. Race and class separation are on hold until I get a better feel...it has been over 20 years since I last used it.


 Also I am seeing less need to add in certain OD&D classes as I feel the archetypes in the RC are fine. Rangers can be made by skill choices, assassins are just focused thieves, druids are just nature priests and so on. My players feel the same way. The only real class change I am seeing is with the halfling. I feel that there needs to be some form of thief skills in the class but am unsure on implementation. 

Some of this is not too terribly O.S. but, they are things I have used with success and even the hard core grogs in my group have liked them.