20 Quick Questions for Heroes Against Darkness

20 Questions about my Heroes Against Darkness campaign from Brandon at Untimately:

1. Ability scores generation method?
The system supports 3d6, 4d6 drop lowest, point array and point buy:

Method 1: Normal Player Characters
Roll 3d6 six times, then choose which ability to assign each score.
This method gives an unadjusted cumulative total of 64.

Method 2: Epic Player Characters
Roll 4d6 (drop the lowest dice) six times, and then choose which ability to assign each score.
This method gives an unadjusted cumulative total of 73.

Method 3: Point Array
Assign the following scores to one each of the Ability Scores: 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.
This method gives an unadjusted cumulative total of 76.

Method 4: Point Spread
Spread a total of 75 points (or another agreed amount) amongst the six abilities.
No ability score can be less than 8 and no score can be more than twice as high as the lowest.

In our current campaign, the players used the 4d6 method. This led to some disparity, with both of the Warlocks having cumulative ability score totals of over 80 points.

2. How are death and dying handled?
Heroes Against Darkness has these pretty straightforward death and dying rules:
• Unconscious at 0 HP
• Dying from -1 HP
• No single attack can take a character to less than -5 HP
• Dying character loses 1 HP/round
• Stabilize a dying character with an ability test
• Death occurs immediately at -10 HP

The -5 HP clamp for a single attack is because character and enemy damage in Heroes Against Darkness scales at higher levels, so characters can end up taking enough damage to take them from quite alive to dead-dead without this rule.

3. What about raising the dead?
All of the magi classes have a spell variant that allows them to raise the dead:

• Warlock: L10 Reincarnate (Transfers character’s soul into new body)
• Healer/Hospiter: L8 Restore Life (Returns dead character to 1 HP)
• Canonate: L9 Resurrect (Returns dead character to 1 HP, but with Ability Scores temporarily lowered)
• Necromancer: L10 Reanimate (Returns dead character to 1 HP, but with Ability Scores permanently reduced by 1)
• Mystic: L10 Recall Soul (Returns dead character to 1 HP, Wisdom permanently reduced by 2)

These powerful spell powers also temporarily reduce the caster’s Wisdom score by the level of the spells target. The caster’s wisdom score then improves by 1 for each full rest.

In my campaign, characters who have died have been dead-dead. The other characters haven’t had access to the resurrection spells, so we’ve used character deaths (which occured in an almost TPK) to introduce new characters.

4. How are replacement PCs handled?
The recent character deaths wiped out most of the party, so we used that opportunity to introduce a whole new adventuring party that picked up close to where the old characters died and then went on to rescue the only survivor of the previous party from a band of orc raiders that he’d been sold to.

5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else?
Individual initiative for all characters and for groups of monsters.

6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?
Critical hits are worth maximum damage, critical fumbles aren’t in the game system (but the GM is always welcome to house-rule it).

7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?
Nope, helmets are an integral part of any set of armor. If you’re specifically not wearing a helmet I imagine your armor defense would be lower.

This is slightly reminiscent of ‘called shots’, where characters gain bonuses from trying to hit specific locations on an enemy’s body. I like to think that the character is always trying to damage the enemy as much as possible, so there’s no point to introducing specific ‘called shot’ mechanic (unless they’re trying to achieve something specific, like disrupting a bowman’s shot or something).

Having said that, Heroes Against Darkness has a few melee powers that replicate some of the mechanical effects of called shot. These powers are Careful Strike and Powerful Blow:

Careful Strike (Level 1)

Condition Target in melee range
Attack d20 + Melee Bonus +2
Against Armor Defense
Damage

Level 4:

Level 8:

Level 12:

Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus – 2
2d Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus – 4
3d Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus – 6
4d Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus – 8

Powerful Strike (Level 2)

Condition Target in melee range
Attack d20 + Melee Bonus -2
Against Armor Defense
Damage

Level 5:

Level 9:

Level 13:

Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus + 2
2d Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus + 4
3d Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus + 6
4d Weapon Damage + Melee Bonus + 8

Mechanically, these offer the sort of trade-offs of a called shot (extra damage for reduced hit chance or less damage for increased hit chance), but without the rigmarole of hitting a particular part of an opponent.

8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?
Nope, not in the rules. But as ever, GM discretion applies.

9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?
Depends on the encounter and the state of the player’s characters. Last night they ran away from a couple of spear-fang spiders when they were exploring an ancient beacon tower, having just survived a large fight with the spider queen and her minions.

10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no?
Nope, but temporary ability draining could be interesting.

11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?
Nope, there’s no Save-Or-Die. Death is only through loss of HP, not through absolute binary spell powers.

12. How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?
Barely.

13. What’s required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?
Well, the system offers the GM the discretion to require training or any other requirement before the characters gain levels. New spells and martial powers are automatically gained.

I personally allow the characters to gain levels at a short rest.

14. What do I get experience for?
Experience is gained for overcoming challenges, which might include:
• Beating or otherwise overcoming monsters
• Solving puzzles
• Disarming or avoiding traps
• Overcoming adversarial NPCs
• Completing quests

15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?
This is up to the GM. Ability tests for the character’s perception are the usual way that I run these, which involves a d20 dice roll plus their intelligence bonus (intelligence modifier + ½ level bonus).

16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?
Not encouraged or discouraged, daily costs are listed for various hire rates. Morale is at the GM’s discretion.

17. How do I identify magic items?
Using the Identify Magic spell:

Identify Magic (2 Anima) (Level 2)

Spell Effect Discern magical enchantments of an object or area.
1 enchantment per caster level (lowest level enchantment first).
Casting Time 10 minutes
Range 1 object or area

18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?
Yes, but in my campaign they’re rare. Potions can be bought, if you can find someone to sell them to you.

19. Can I create magic items? When and how?
Scrolls, Potions, and Wands can be created from spells. The spell powers for creating these are introduced at levels 3, 7, and 7, respectively. As with the resurrection spells, creating these sorts of magic items actually temporarily reduce the caster’s wisdom score.

20. What about splitting the party?
Up to the players. They’ve done a little bit when some players have been missing for a week, but generally they’re well-drilled to keep the party together.


Check out the full rules for Heroes Against Darkness over at the downloads page: Heroes Against Darkness – Game Rules.

RPG Monster Art Kickstarter Drive Almost Done!

The monster art Kickstarter that I’ve pledged to has only a few hours to go, and it’s almost reached its fourth stretch goal.

So if you’re interested in contributing to the drive so that you can get artwork for your own RPG system or just want to get some sets of the stand-up minis for your games, then jump over there and kick in a bit to put the drive over its next stretch goal:

Monster Stock Art Kickstarter Drive

I’m still not affiliated with the drive, but I have pledged to it.

To Haste or Not to Haste?

I’ve been working on the spell lists of the Healer class (these are the guys who specialize in physiological magic, that which affects a target’s physical body), and this has prompted me to ponder the inclusion of a Haste spell. Haste is a spell that has a long and storied history in D&D, and in some editions it’s been one of the game’s most broken spells.

Delta’s D&D Hotspot: Spells Through the Ages — Haste

The D&D 3rd edition version of haste has the following description:

“The transmuted creature moves and acts more quickly than normal. This extra speed has several effects. On its turn, the subject may take an extra partial action, either before or after its regular action. The subject gains a +4 haste bonus to AC. The subject loses this bonus whenever it would lose a dodge bonus. The subject can jump one and a half times as far as normal. This increase counts as an enhancement bonus. Haste dispels and counters slow.”

In addition to the extra partial action (attack, move or spell) and AC bonus, the spell has a casting range (25 feet + 5′ per 2 levels) and duration (1 round/level).

Here’s some commentary from the awesome TV Tropes:

“Another Tabletop Games example: The haste spell in Dungeons And Dragons version 3.0. Originally redesigned the way it was to “show off” the new action rules, designers learned the hard way that there was such a thing as an action “economy” in their resulting game… and whoops, they broke it. Nerfing this spell was arguably one of the primary reasons for the creation of 3.5.

To make this one step worse, the “speed” armor enchantment permanently duplicated the haste spell and was cheap which wouldn’t have been so bad except then the Arms and Equipment Guide established that armor enchantments could be added to bracers of armor which could be worn by characters who don’t normally get to wear armor. Every mage in his right mind bought a pair as soon as he could afford them, as an item that grants +1 armor bonus, +4 dodge bonus, AND lets you cast twice as many spells per round without having to ever take the action to cast Haste is a steal at 16,000 gp.”

This broken version of the spell was nerfed in D&D version 3.5:

“Haste: The transmuted creatures move and act more quickly than normal. This extra speed has several effects. When making a full attack action, a hasted creature may make one extra attack with any weapon he is holding. The attack is made using the creature’s full base attack bonus, plus any modifiers appropriate to the situation. (This effect is not cumulative with similar effects, such as that provided by a weapon of speed, nor does it actually grant an extra action, so you can’t use it to cast a second spell or otherwise take an extra action in the round.) A hasted creature gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves. Any condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses. All of the hasted creature’s modes of movement (including land movement, burrow, climb, fly, and swim) increase by 30 feet, to a maximum of twice the subject’s normal speed using that form of movement. This increase counts as an enhancement bonus, and it affects the creature’s jumping distance as normal for increased speed. Multiple haste effects don’t stack. Haste dispels and counters slow. Material Component: A shaving of licorice root.”

Here the possibility of casting extra spells and the AC bonus are adjusted, offering just an extra attack to fighters (no extra spells) and the AC bonuses are reduced to +1.

Now, Heroes Against Darkness has a more codified action economy than any of the pre-4th D&D editions. But as Haste changes that action economy, I have to be careful of the unintended consequences of these sorts of powerful effects.

Hasten (2 Anima)

Spell Effect Target can use one move action as a major action each round
Target Single target
Duration End of target’s next turn
Range Touch or self

While each of the components of a spell (range, duration, effect, targets, damage, healing, miss effects, effect area, etc) have costs, the entire 2 Anima cost of this spell is entirely due to the spell effect that allows the caster to use a move action as a major action.

As the spell stands, it offers the target one extra major action, which is either a melee attack or a spell. The trade-off here is that the additional major action replaces the character’s move action, so it’s not all apples. Versions of the Haste spell in various D&D issues have given the target(s) additional attacks

I’m wary of increasing spellcaster power too drastically with this spell, so I’ve adjusted another rule, from this:

Rule: Magi cannot spend more than Level + 1 Anima on a single spell.

To this:

Rule: Magi cannot spend more than Level + 1 Anima in a single round.

I’m also thinking about the impact of a Haste-style spell of longer duration:

Impel (? Anima)

Spell Effect Target can use one move action as a major action each round
Target Single target
Duration 1 round + 1 round per caster level
Range Touch or self

This scaling variant of the spell gives the target (possibly) another major action every round for multiple rounds. The value of this extra action to the character and the appropriate anima cost are up for consideration and debate.


Check out the full rules for Heroes Against Darkness over at the downloads page: Heroes Against Darkness – Game Rules.

Sixteen Steps to Being a Good Player

Once you’ve mastered the seven steps to becoming a good role-player, you also need to master the steps to becoming a good player. Here are a few ideas from my GM experiences (in no particular order):
1. Keep your character sheet up to date.
2. Don’t argue, nitpick or pixelbitch with the GM.
3. Don’t play like it’s a solo adventure, let everyone else have their turn.
4. Pay attention.
5. Put away your f-ing phone.
6. Don’t hog the attention.
7. Know and use your character’s abilities/powers/spells/skills.
8. Be creative and describe what you’re doing.
9. Don’t be afraid to try something that isn’t written on your character sheet.
10. Know the rules.
11. Try to bring your character to life.
12. Don’t meta-game.
13. In combat, take your turns quickly.
14. Don’t confuse player knowledge with character knowledge.
15. Try to make a character that’s compatible with the other party members.
16. Try to build on what the GM and the other characters are doing, rather than undermine.


Check out the full rules for Heroes Against Darkness over at the downloads page: Heroes Against Darkness – Game Rules.

Seven Steps to Good Role-Playing

By definition, role-playing is when players take on and direct the actions of their character or alter-ego in a game. Role-playing comes to the fore in Heroes Against Darkness when the players’ characters have role-playing encounters, which run the full gamut from the mundane to potentially deadly:
• Negotiate a price with a shopkeeper
• Gain information from a known criminal associate
• Befriend an influential game character
• Fast-talk out of (or in to) trouble
• Win a duel of wits in a high society setting
• Pretend to be someone of higher or lower status
• Find out the lore of a region, sect or family
• Gain admittance into a powerful guild
• Mount a defense against false criminal charges
• Bribe a low or high official
• Talk your way out of the lair of an ornery dragon
• Negotiate the return of a ransomed individual
• Seduce a busty wench or handsome rake
• Infiltrate a criminal organization

Role-Playing 101

Role-playing isn’t like combat, where player ability scores and powers are combined with dice rolls to determine the outcome. To role-play, the player’s task is to bring their character to life. Here are a few ideas to get started role-playing.

Tip 1: Role-Play Traits

The character creation steps in the full rules of Heroes Against Darkness include a list of character traits that can be applied to all characters. When in a role-playing encounter, try thinking about how a character with that trait would behave. Is the character:
• Boisterous in a serious situation?
• Devout amongst heathens?
• Profligate when celebrating?
• Foolhardy in the face of danger?
• Exaggerator when making promises?

Tip 2: Role-Play Vices and Virtues

In addition to Traits, a character’s Vices and Virtues offer a window into their behavior. For example, is the character:
• Proud or humble?
• Envious or kind?
• Lazy or diligent?
• Greedy or charitable?
• Gluttonous or temperate?
• Lustful or chaste?
• Wrathful or forgiving?

Tip 3: Role-Play Rights and Wrongs

Another aspect of a character is their rights and wrongs. These represent the character’s moral compass, how they would behave in the face of difficult situations.
Would the character:
• Take a job that endangers innocents?
• Distrust an authority figure?
• Seek revenge for a previous wrong?
• Ignore the plight of someone in distress?
• Steal from a rich merchant or a pauper?
• Kill someone of their own race?
• Go against the interests of their family or clan?
• Cheat at a game of chance?

Tip 4: Role-Play Background

The final element of the character details that the player can use to aid in role-playing is their background. All characters are born and raised differently, so each character’s background will give them a unique frame of reference in any situation. Does the character’s background make them:
• Distrustful of all authority?
• Unable to function properly in social situations?
• Scorned by people of higher caste?
• Fearful of magi?
• Avoid attention from officers of the law?

Tip 5: Role-Play Ability Scores

After mining the character’s background, morals and personality, the next aspect for role-playing is the character’s physical and mental capabilities. Is the character:
• Physically strong and imposing? (Strength)
• Dexterous and swift? (Dexterity)
• Fit, athletic and vigorous? (Constitution)
• Spiritual, centered and calming? (Wisdom)
• Intelligent, convincing and insightful? (Intelligence)

Tip 6: Role-Play Class

Along with the character’s ability scores, their class also offers strong role-playing opportunities:
• Noble and honorable (Warriors, Hunters, Hospiters)
• Fiery and temperamental (Berserkers and Warlocks)
• Sneaky and subtle (Rogues and Necromancers)
• Insightful and manipulative (Mystics)
• Pious and respectful (Canonates and Healers)
• Blunt and straightforward (Barbarians)

Tip 7: Role-Play Charisma

If all else fails, the character’s charisma ability score is a good indication of whether they perform well in role-playing situations or whether they’re more likely to alienate and infuriate others.


Check out the full rules for Heroes Against Darkness over at the downloads page: Heroes Against Darkness – Game Rules.

Inconsistent Mechanics: D&D Essentials Magic Missile

If 4th Edition D&D went to all of the trouble of replacing saving throws with defenses on a consistent basis, then why the hell did they undermine this good work by making the Essentials Magic Missile auto-hit?

Furthermore, this is a double-bad move, because it totally undermines the point of minions. Minions only have 1 HP because there’s a chance that they’ll be missed (about) half of the time. When you introduce a power that hits all the time, then you break the underlying assumptions on which minions are built, and you break your own rules.

If I ever break my own rules, please let me know.

The Sundered Tower Solo Adventure

The alpha version of the first solo adventure for Heroes Against Darkness, The Sundered Tower, is now up on the rules page (which I probably should rename to the Downloads page).

The solo adventure has pregen characters, a gamebook section, five combat encounters (each with their own maps) and a bunch of ability tests. It’s still alpha at the moment as it’ll go through a bit of playtesting before we call released.

As ever, drop me an email or comment with any feedback.

You can find The Sundered Tower and the full rules over at the downloads page: Heroes Against Darkness – Game Rules.

Comparison of Death in Various d20 Systems

Here’s an interesting off-site article that compares the various death and dying mechanics in a bunch of d20 derived systems:

Untimately: The Varieties of Fatal Experience.

For the record, Heroes Against Darkness has these pretty straightforward death and dying rules:
• Unconscious at 0 HP
• Dying from -1 HP
• No single attack can take a character to less than -5 HP
• Dying character loses 1HP/round
• Death occurs immediately at -10 HP

The -5 HP clamp for a single attack is because character and enemy damage in Heroes Against Darkness scales at higher levels, so characters can end up taking enough damage to take them from quite alive to dead-dead without this rule.