What D&D Meant

Screenshot from Champions of Krynn

In the Early 90s

I started playing D&D in the early 90s, when I was around 11 years old. I actually started with Dangerous Journeys, which is really unusual, but I found that huge tome in a bookstore in the fantasy/sci-fi section (back when it was only a few shelves in a B. Dalton’s). I soon moved on to D&D – or what we called D&D, if we called it anything.

For us, D&D was a hodgepodge stitched together from disparate elements into something that I’m not sure Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson would have recognized. Here were our “core rulebooks” when we first began:

• Dangerous Journeys by Gary Gygax
• Dragonlance Adventures for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
• Champions of Krynn Manual
• Death Knights of Krynn Manual
• Dark Queen of Krynn Manual

Those last three were ‘Gold Box’ games released in the early 90s. You’ll note, of course, that none of the books listed are part of the core rule-set of any edition of D&D. We used the Gold Box game manuals for some of the rules around character classes and leveling, since they were all based in the core AD&D rules. Parts of Dangerous Journeys got wedged into what we played as-needed – there is a robust character creation system in DJ, for example, that provides more interesting results than AD&D did. We also used Dragonlance Adventures for basic setting material and some special rules for that setting, but as you can see, we did not yet have copies of the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, or Monster Manual.

We had come to D&D through being fans of the Dragonlance novels, tearing our way through the Chronicles, and then Legends, and then Preludes and so on. But we didn’t even always play in Krynn – we used and hacked and adapted the resources we had for whatever purpose we had in mind. This was “D&D.”

I think this was the case for many groups, back in the day. Since 3.X, I think that the assumption of what constitutes D&D has become much more standardized, but I feel like earlier editions were more often cobbled together from hand-me-downs and whatever you might stumble across in a bookstore. There was no game store anywhere near us (at the time, walking or biking distance) and even if there was, our parents were primed to see “Dungeons & Dragons” as threatening and vaguely occult. But they knew we loved fantasy and sci-fi novels, so whatever silly game of pretend we were playing was no threat.

So, when you first started, especially if you are old like me, what was “D&D?” What resources did you have for roleplaying? Was it off the shelf core books, or did you cobble it together like we did? Let me know in the comments.

Premature Cthulhu Hack

So, turns out Sandy Petersen, one of the original designers of Call of Cthulhu, decided to share his expert opinion with regard to genomes and trans persons. Of course, he has absolutely no expertise, and could have easily just kept his trap shut. But he didn’t.

In response, I’m sharing my hack of Call of Cthulhu. It’s an improvement on the base rules, as well as a simplification, adding in a Mothership-style stress mechanic to deepen the way Sanity works. It worked really well for a few sessions of a game I ran not long ago. At the same time, this is not in any kind of polished state. These are drafts I fixed up a bit before I uploaded them.

coc-hack-rules-reference-sheet-0.91Download

coc-hack-character-creation-worksheet-0.9Download

coc-hack-characer-sheet-fillable-0.7Download

All of this is intended to be Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike, Non-Commercial.

Enjoy!

D&D 5E: “Race” as Cosmetic with Flexible Traits

Thinking through some further house rule ideas for D&D 5E, maybe even enough for a second edition of the Hoard of House Rules. I have seen some relatively complex solutions to the race problem in D&D, and a simple option occurred to me. A lot of what’s interesting about races, I think, are the cosmetics. This especially seems to be true for tieflings, so often featured in fan art. But I digress. For those who are motivated by the minutiae of racial bonuses, you have the RAW to go with. Enjoy! For those who don’t care much but want to be maybe a cool lizard person or angel-person, these ideas are for you.

First, treat every character as a human. Then add whatever cosmetic changes you want – feathers and a beak, scales and a shell, gossamer diaphanous wings, spiky rainbow hair and spiral ibex horns, whatever. Assume that all starting characters get +2 to one ability score and +1 to another ability score. You can also choose whether you have darkvision for 60′, but I’m using my house rule that darkvision always comes with sunlight sensitivity. In addition to those (and a starting native language), you can choose three of the following (or more if your DM says so, as long as everyone has the same options):

• A starting feat
• Replace the +2 and +1 with +1 to all ability scores
• Resistance to a single damage type
• Amphibious, and you have a swim speed of 20′
• Wings that allow you to glide at your movement speed
• Advantage on specific proficiency rolls (like dwarven stonecunning or wild elf stealth)
• An additional proficiency plus an additional language
• One supernatural knack like speaking with small burrowing animals
• One cantrip
• A strong build that doubles your carrying capacity
• Any other single racial trait that you discuss with your DM

These traits can be accounted for any way you wish – physiology, culture, training, etc. but no racial essentialism because two characters with the same race might be quite different from one another. Here are some examples that don’t replicate the RAW but I think retain the spirit and remain interesting:

• Dwarf: +2 Constsitution, +1 Wisdom, darkvision and sunlight sensitivity, one feat, resistance to poison damage, proficiency with one tool and Dwarvish
• Elf: +2 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence, one feat, proficiency in Wisdom (Perception) and Elvish, bonus cantrip
• Human: replace the +2 and +1 with +1 to all ability scores, one feat, proficiency in a skill of your choice and a bonus language
• Tiefling: +2 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, darkvision and sunlight sensitivity, one feat, resistance to fire damage, proficiency in Charisma (Intimidation) and a bonus language of Abyssal or Infernal
• Tortle: +2 Strength, +1 Wisdom, Amphibious, resistance to bludgeoning damage (for your shell), strong build

Remember that the ability score bonuses can go wherever you want, those are just my initial thoughts. Alright, there you go. Feel free to use this.

Non-Lethal D&D Part 2: Consequences

A while ago I wrote a little about non-lethal D&D, reinterpreting hit points as morale rather than meat. I thought through some of the consequences of this change, and I think it’s a great idea, especially for games with younger players, or those who don’t want a lot of the killing that comes with D&D (but don’t want to play a different game, of course).

I had some more thoughts on non-lethal D&D, about consequences of falling to 0 hit points. I actually would love more rules for different kinds of conflicts – fighting to capture, or fighting to drive away – that games like Mouse Guard handle so well. But we’re going with D&D’s system, which assumes that a fight goes until one side runs out of hit points. In our case, that means one side runs out of morale, or willingness to continue fighting. I can see three possible consequences of this: collapse to the ground, flee in terror, or surrender. Simple enough, but here are a few mechanics to go with each.

Collapse to the Ground

You fall prone and drop any weapon or shield you were holding, unable to continue. You can still defend yourself, and are assumed to take the Dodge action each round, so any attacks against you suffer disadvantage (and are clearly evil, to be blunt). Either you are utterly exhausted, or paralyzed with fear, full of abject despair. If given the chance, you can still choose to flee or surrender.

Flee in Terror

You throw down anything in your hands, as it might slow you down, and shed any gear you can easily shed. You move and take the Dash action away from danger each round until you are safe. At your discretion, you can also Dodge or Disengage if those actions seem most likely to keep you alive. You might hold onto a shield to deflect any incoming attacks, but fleeing is your priority.

Surrender

You throw anything in your hands to the ground, raise your hands, and throw yourself on the mercy of your attackers. If they sought to capture you, you are captured. You are unable to take the Attack action, though you can still choose to flee if your surrender is not accepted, but surrender is much more interesting than being killed, so a DM should err on the side of NPCs and monsters accepting surrender.

Am I forgetting something important? Is there anything you would add?

D&D 5E: “Race” as Species, Culture, and Training

Race in D&D is fraught. Inevitable sarcastic blog comments notwithstanding (which yes I’ll delete), it’s clear. Wizards of the Coast has made their own efforts to rewrite “race”, and I’ve been working on my own. I’m taking as my starting-point that race as such has no place in D&D, as it is a social construct and doesn’t even really apply to any creatures in D&D settings.

Race as Species

Sometimes, race means species – that is, the phenotype of a given intelligent species and how this phenotype impacts game mechanics. Some species are aquatic, or aerial, or terrestrial. Some are very large or very small. Some are mammals, some reptiles or amphibians, and others are insects.

Size is the first consideration, and here I’m using my house rules for character size because if we’re going to have PCs of different sizes I want that to matter more than it does in 5E RAW.

If the species is large, then they gain +1 hit points per level (or increase hit dice one step), take a -1 to Armor Class, and pay 4x as much for food, lodging, equipment, etc. The weapons they wield deal an additional damage die (when sized for them). They have disadvantage on attacks against small or smaller creatures, and small or smaller creatures have advantage on attacks against them.

If they are medium, then no changes to the usual rules. They have advantage on attacks against huge or larger creatures.

If they are small, then they take a -1 to hit points per level (or their hit die is reduced one step). They also get a +1 to Armor Class. Their weapons deal normal damage, but their upkeep – cost of living, food and water needs and so on, are 1/2 usual. They have advantage on attacks against large or larger creatures.

If they are tiny, then they take -2 to hit points per level (or their hit dice are reduced two steps). They get a +2 to Armor Class. Their weapons deal damage that is one die step lower. They have advantage on attacks against medium or larger creatures. Their upkeep costs 1/5 normal.

The next question is whether the species is terrestrial, aquatic, or flying.

A terrestrial creatures starts with a movement rate of 30′ if medium or large, and 25′ if small and 20′ if tiny.

An aquatic creature is assumed to be amphibious. They start with a swim speed of 30′ and the ability to breathe water, but suffer a level of exhaustion if they go more than 24 hours without being submerged in water.

A flying creature starts with a fly speed of 30′, and are vulnerable to bludgeoning damage.

Next is the question of whether a species is diurnal or nocturnal. Diurnal creatures have no modifications – they are the norm. Nocturnal creatures include those adapted to live underground. They have darkvision out to 60′ and are also have sunlight sensitivity (my house rule is that the two go together).

Next is physiology – choose an effect of the species physiology. Either choose +5 to base movement, +1 to an ability score of your choice, resistance to a particular category of damage like fire or poison. You can also select a trait taken from a published race, like the goliath’s Stone’s Endurance.

Race as Culture

Sometimes, race means culture. Decide whether your character comes from an urbanized culture or a hunter-gatherer culture. Even if they don’t come from a city, the distinction between these two options are between cultures that build cities and cultures that do not.

If the character is from an urban culture, then they gain a bonus Proficiency in History, Persuasion, or Religion.

If the character is from a hunter-gatherer culture, then they gain a bonus Proficiency in Nature or Survival.

The next distinction is for cultural specializations. For example, the dwarven ability of Stonecunning applies to a sub-set of Proficiency checks. This is a situational bonus, and should be more narrow than a whole Proficiency. Take inspiration from published races.

Race as Training

Finally, choose an ability score and add +2 to it. This will usually represent a key ability score for the character’s class, and represents additional talent and training that they’ve received.