Adventure Conqueror King v17 Rules Discussion

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Hello everyone -
Version 17 of the rules is now available for distribution. Version 17 is the version of the rules we’ll be running at GenCon.
This version is the first version to reflect the input of our community of patrons. The good news is that it means you should see some rules that reflect our discussions. The bad news is that this means some of the rules do not have the benefit of 18 months of playtesting. Please give them a careful look!
Major Changes:

  1. We added a narrative at the beginning that puts gameplay into perspective.
  2. The Dwarven Fighter has been renamed the Dwarven Vaultguard. He now has a max level of 13.
  3. The Bladedancer now wears leather armor, but takes a +1 initiative bonus and a bonus to AC that increases with level.
  4. Proficiencies section has been re-written to add clarity. Some proficiencies have been re-named. Math errors and oversights in the proficiency lists have been addressed.
  5. Character Death, Heirs, and Reserve XP rules have been moved to the Experience section in Section 5, Adventures.
  6. Rules for drawing on the power of congretations and blood sacrifice as a source of divine power have been added to give clerics a reason to recruit worshippers.
  7. Fighters and explorers gain a +1 morale bonus to retainers and mercenaries starting at 5th level, to encourage mid-game recruitment of loyal bands.
  8. Rules for establishing Chaotic domains of beastmen have been added.
  9. Rules for establishing Syndicates of hideouts have been added.
  10. Rules for getting caught committing hijinks have been added.
  11. Rules earning experience from campaign activities have been added.
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Bump! Download it.

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I just finished reading the intro narrative. I was surprised to see a character who is apparently named after a Greyhawk god (Farlaghn/Fharlanghn). I am probably worrying about nothing, but might it be a good idea to change the name, just to avoid any potential problems?
On a vaguely related note, I kind of chuckled when I saw the magic sword that was named after a Tolkien character (Bellësar/Ellesar)…

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Hmmm… Farlaghn was the name of Greg Tito’s character in the campaign. I hadn’t made the connection to the Greyhawk god at all.
Bellësar means “sword of fire” in Classical Auran. I constructed a language for the setting so that all the names had a meaning and history. The resemblance to Ellesar is actually semi-random. Classical Auran was designed to use some sounds from Latin mixed with Quenya, but beyond the use of similar sounds and syllables the resemblance was not intentional.
Aura audarium essa eaya zidani en dëmo bausani.
Oh Aura, city of the dawn, you are the land of the free and the home of the brave.

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I like the intro narrative, that does a nice job of setting the scene.
Bard: “At will, the character can perform music that can serenade members of the opposite gender (as a charm person spell)…” It looks like bards are the only class predefined as heterosexual. Having known a few bards, this is not without some irony. Another way to avoid universal charming, still keep some logic to the scene, and throw that whole issue under the table would be to limit serenading to members of the same race. Captivating would be another good word for it.

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Maybe this is overly pedantic, but would it have a huge game impact if coins weighed 1/100th of a pound instead of approximately 1/10th of a pound? I realize that the “stone” isn’t a precise measurement of weight, but rather a general measurement of bulk and heft… but a coin that weighs 1/10th of a pound is about three times the weight of the heaviest historical coins, and about ten times the weight of the average historical coin. Carrying 1000 coins per stone would be more historically satisfying, and would also increase the amount of treasure characters could carry before they really needed to worry about how much it weighs.
I haven’t looked at the rules closely enough to see if this would have some sort of undesirable cascade effect, but it’s a historical nitpick that has bothered me in a certain line of RPGs ever since I first learned about numismatics (and I’m not even interested in numismatics).

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An updated overview of the v17 proficiencies available by class is available here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlFJwHeFC6pjdE1Zdjd3dEM3VlE5Y3VkendUUnFneGc&hl=en_US

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I like the narrative.

7. Fighters and explorers gain a +1 morale bonus to retainers and mercenaries starting at 5th level, to encourage mid-game recruitment of loyal bands.
1. Love it. Question. If a 5th level fighter is leading a band of mercenaries, but both the fighter and the mercenaries are hired by the 9th level lord....do the mercenaries not get a +1 morale? 2. This ability reminds me that men under direct command of an 'army commander' receive a +1 to all throws in CM. Or an ability to force morale checks on enemies after a charge a la 'superheroes'. I'm curious to see what trade offs a hero may have in the ACK's wargame. Is there a benefit to staying with a body of troops instead of wandering off alone on a battle field? THIEF: 1) does MS/HS increase surprise chance? If you are MS/HS do you gain automatic surprise? If so, the statement in the thief write up about being able to backstab (from behind?), "...either by surprise or by moving silently and hiding in shadows" is redundant. Also, shouldn't it be moving silently *and/or* hiding in shadows? No need to hid in shadows if you're approaching from behind I would think. My feeling is surprise is 2 in 6. +1 for hiding and moving apiece for a total of 4 in 6 with both. Does a failed MS/HS mean you can't roll for surprise? If that's the case, a fighter in plate armor (2 in 6 or 33%) has a better chance of surprising a goblin than a 1st level thief (5% HS) 2) Find Traps. Ok. I see later on in the book you describe non-thief characters checking for traps. How does this work with "players" checking for traps? A 10' pole traditionally was a means by which a player searched for a trap, does the 18+ proficiency throw non thieves have a "material component" of a 10' pole? Do you use the 10' pole with player skill or a proficiency throw? The next paragraph describes a trap triggering by walking on it on a 1 in 6. Perhaps a paragraph describing "player skill" with things like 10' poles in finding traps. Originally thieves were the only class with a meta-game find traps ability, while everyone else relied on player skill, "I poke the floor plate with the 10' pole, etc" as opposed to the thief who could just roll a d% and find out. I think you should mention that this is still an option for players for finding and disarming traps and an option for thieves too, just because a character fails his disarm (or search), doesn't mean player skill can't disarm it. SPEARS: doesn't say they get double dmg when set against a charge like the pole arm does in the equipment write up. Although it's mentioned in the combat section. BOWS: Any benefit for having an arrow knocked and readied? PROFICIENCIES: 1. I love how you can make a paladin or a "chaos knight" just by picking certain proficiencies. (lay on hands, detect evil, command undead, etc). A real "sub" class. It would be neat to see a few to turn a generic magic user into more of an illusionist. 2. weapon focus: Does this ability boil down to +1 dmg 5% of the time? Isn't that the math behind rolling 2 damage die and picking the best one? ARCANE SPELLS 1) How do you pick your 1st level spell? I recommend the game master chose an NPC wizard from the area the PC comes from and consult his book of 1st level spells and then roll randomly for which one he gave to the PC. After all, with ACKs, we know exactly how many wizards are in any given city and what level they may be, why not utilize this information at the start of play? If there is a semi-retired PC wizard, then a new PC mage might be able to pick his own first level spell as kind of a "heir/legacy" bonus. 2) fireball: Still 20 feet? Or do you mean something other than a radius of 10'. flamestrike: you use diameter here 10' I think ACKs should pick radius or diameter and stick with it you mix it up throughout the spell descriptions, actually, is there any benefit to having some spells as circles and some squares? For game purposes (like the 5' lightning bolt) would there be a benefit to having fireball described as, "filling a #x# area instead of saying a radius of X'? I have no idea. 4) reincarnate. What are the stats of a werebear/wolf/rat in human form? MOVEMENT 1) Should "charging" be listed in the "time and movement" section? 2) character movement and encumbrance table. charging isn't here, not sure if it's needed, but thought I'd mentioned the possibility. GETTING LOST you mention cardinal directions. No mention of using hex paper for outdoor travel, though you mention graph paper for dungeon exploration? Getting lost could be a simple d6 roll and the party exists through that face, since you're giving options for such things, why not include both cardinal and hex options. MERCENARY TYPES BASE MORALE "men at arms" does this mean 1st level fighters? Perhaps include that in parenthesis. EXPERIENCE FROM TREASURE "no xp for trade goods or equipment unless sold." 1. What happens if I find a cask of wine worth 300gp, sell it. And then go buy a cask of wine worth 300gp. Do I get the item and the XP? What's the rational here? 2. What happens if I pay my retainer his 300gp salary with the wine? Or sell the wine and pay his 300gp salary? 4. If I drink (carousing) the whole cask of wine, can I give 270 xp to my "heir's" reserve xp fund? Or do I need to do #1 so I can get the XP for my main PC first? Why can't I just do #4. Why do I have to sell the wine, to buy wine, to put xp in my heir's reserve xp fund? 5. can I stock pile goods and items (hard for thieves to steal) and sell them years later when I need cash to build a castle, and get xp for them then? Is there an expiration date for experience? MOVEMENT 1. 2d6x10 is dungeon encounter. Man in plate moves 20' per round. This means probably around 1/2 the time a man in plate cannot complete a charge in one round. 2. How often can a charge move be made? 3. ACKs says you can't normally "run" in combat mode. If a plate armored fighter needs to get 90' to a row of goblins with arrows his options are: move 20' over 5 rounds/charge for 2 rounds?/run for 1 round and...? SUBDUAL dragon subdual and subdual listed in combat options are slightly different. Neither effects, nor takes into account morale, which I think is odd. SUNDER When is it ever a good idea to make an attack at -8. Why is it harder to sunder the sword in the hand of someone wearing plate armor than sundering the sword of someone wearing leather? NECROMANCY Is a reaction roll required of a newly created intelligent undead creature? Any benefit for being on friendly terms in life? ATTORNEY Rank "2" is missing the the #2. CREATING A SYNDICATE There is mention of lower level PC's becoming domain lords, yet in syndicates it's assumed retainers must be 9th level to run a hideout. There is also (I think) an assumption that once a PC lord has too many holdings, he will install his retainers as his vassals, Does this mean that a 9th level fighter cannot install his 6th level retainer as lord over an expansion in his domain, if thief syndicates require retainers to be 9th level? I'm confused. Must vassal lords be 9th level, just as leaders of hideouts? What is the fighter version of the "underboss"? XP FOR CASTLES/RESEARCH/ETC hmm...I feel funny about this. It seems like double dipping. I like the idea either you don't get XP from gold, but you get XP from anything you spend gold on, or you get XP from gold, but not the things you make. I'm not sure how I feel about getting XP from gold and then getting XP from things you make with that gold. 1. Since only 9th+ level fighters get followers, lower level characters who establish domains don't get XP for castle construction (though low level wizards get xp for spell creation). I can't see anyone wanting to start a domain early. A 5th level fighter isn't going to have the GP to build much of a castle, why not give him XP for it? 2. Who would want to take over someone elses castle, if building your own can earn you 15,000-60,000xp? You only get xp for building a castle, not "taking one" right? If you take one and loose it, do you still lose it's GP value in XP? 3. If Quintus the Wizard gets out of a dungeon with a haul of 30,000gp, he gets 30,000xp. But He also gets another 12,000xp for turning that 30,000gp into a sword. So, 30,000gp is worth 42,000xp and a sword+2. Now, I like the idea of his apprentice getting XP from making the scrolls, because he's using Quintus' money (I assume). 4. Stealing: Ok, a followering gets 300xp from stealing a cask of wine and the PC gets 60xp. This is better than the PC who finds a cask of wine in a dungeon...
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Undercrypt, thanks for the proficiencies table, I love spreadsheets!
DDogwood, in the White Sandbox campaign coins are as big as they are because coinage is Lawful and the gods made the ideal coin for what seemed reasonable to them. It’s like if the Imperial system was based not on “a foot” but the size of Abraham Lincoln’s foot: somewhat awkward for ordinary mortals. I’m interested to hear Alex’s actual logic here, though, and not a deus ex machina explanation.
I think this also relates to a question raised here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?585515-Adventurer-Conqueror-King&p=14199392#post14199392 - “Have you done anything about the relative worthlessness of precious metals? (I.e. How little a pound of gold is worth in D&D.)”

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I caught a typo in the narrative (page 4):
“Being able to afford mounts markedly expands the characters’ scope of exploration; winged mounts such as a pegasi further opens new vistas.”
I think that deleting the “a” before “pegasi” and changing “opens” to “open” would fix this sentence.
Also, in the section on crossbreeds, it is stated that “Magical crossbreeds are not automatically under the control of the caster. He must tame, train, or charm them.” A mage wouldn’t necessarily be required to spend time and money training the creature, right? Surely he could just unleash his unspeakable creation on the world to wreak havoc?

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I enjoyed the opening narrative very much. It was a welcome addition. It would be great to see something like that open the book in an artful way, with the meta-narrative (text in red) having parenthetical references to page numbers where sections or specific spells/items are noted.
Mechanics: Bargle touched on a number of my questions regarding XP, so I will wait to see those points addressed before expanding much further. I will say that I appreciate the attention to balance in the proficiency chart with regard to XP. The chart linked here definitely needs to be incorporated into the proficiencies section.
Crossbreeding is a stellar idea. I think the language needs to be less ambiguous in the write-up. Also, for consistency’s sake (and perhaps so you don’t get sued), you might want to change “DM” to “GM” in the entry “Type” under the Crossbreeding section.

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Also, I noticed when building a character this afternoon that on p. 11 (Section 2), no. 3, there is reference to Adjusting Ability Scores, but I cannot find that section. The closest related thing I noticed is two pages later, at the top, under the heading “Class and Ability Scores.”
I’m not sure if you are going to add a section on adjustments (not sure that it’s necessary really), but if not, making the language more consistent would help here.
Additionally, someone should use the word find feature to look for “DM,” because I’m seeing that crop up instead of GM in a few different places now.

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I’m trying to make a character again, and am having trouble finding where the rulebook tells one how to determine starting spells for arcane casters. The Spells section is very clear on how to determine how many spells a mage or spellsword knows, but I’m not seeing anything which ones characters know at 1st level. Is the player supposed to roll d12 to randomly determine it? Do you get to pick and choose?

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Bard: “At will, the character can perform music that can serenade members of the opposite gender (as a charm person spell)…” It looks like bards are the only class predefined as heterosexual. Having known a few bards, this is not without some irony. Another way to avoid universal charming, still keep some logic to the scene, and throw that whole issue under the table would be to limit serenading to members of the same race. Captivating would be another good word for it.
ALEX: In retrospect, the Bard should probably be able to charm those who are sexually attracted to him, rather than vice versa - i.e. a male bard could charm a straight woman or a gay man. I’d hate to limit it by race as that precludes human-elf, man-nymph, etc.

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aybe this is overly pedantic, but would it have a huge game impact if coins weighed 1/100th of a pound instead of approximately 1/10th of a pound? I realize that the “stone” isn’t a precise measurement of weight, but rather a general measurement of bulk and heft… but a coin that weighs 1/10th of a pound is about three times the weight of the heaviest historical coins, and about ten times the weight of the average historical coin. Carrying 1000 coins per stone would be more historically satisfying, and would also increase the amount of treasure characters could carry before they really needed to worry about how much it weighs.
ALEX: It does have some impact, although it’s not game-breaking per se. Here are the major implications:
*Coins are worth much more, pound-for-pound. This makes encumbrance less of an issue. To make encumbrance an issue again, you need to use more silver and copper coins.
*Dragon hoards are physically much smaller in size. To make dragon hoards bigger, use more silver and copper coins.
*The Alternative Treasure table needs to be redone because they provide treasures that correlate to both the value and weight of heavier coins.
ALEX: I would recommend that if you use lighter coins, you switch to a silver standard but leave prices the same. A sword that costs 10 gold pieces would cost 100 silver pieces. Then the treasure tables should each be downgraded by one notch while being multiplied by ten, with copper being downgraded to the lead piece.
ALEX: I personally simply have assumed that precious metals are more abundant in a fantasy world because of extensive delving by dwarves and use of elemental magic.

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I noticed when building a character this afternoon that on p. 11 (Section 2), no. 3, there is reference to Adjusting Ability Scores, but I cannot find that section. The closest related thing I noticed is two pages later, at the top, under the heading “Class and Ability Scores.”
ALEX: The section called “Adjusting Ability Scores” was deleted and incorporated into “Class and Ability Scores”. I need to update p.11, sec 2, no 3. Thanks!
“Being able to afford mounts markedly expands the characters’ scope of exploration; winged mounts such as a pegasi further opens new vistas.”
I think that deleting the “a” before “pegasi” and changing “opens” to “open” would fix this sentence.
ALEX: Thanks!
in the section on crossbreeds, it is stated that “Magical crossbreeds are not automatically under the control of the caster. He must tame, train, or charm them.” A mage wouldn’t necessarily be required to spend time and money training the creature, right? Surely he could just unleash his unspeakable creation on the world to wreak havoc?
ALEX: That’s correct. I need to make that clearer.
Additionally, someone should use the word find feature to look for “DM,” because I’m seeing that crop up instead of GM in a few different places now.
ALEX: Thanks! Will do.
I’m trying to make a character again, and am having trouble finding where the rulebook tells one how to determine starting spells for arcane casters. The Spells section is very clear on how to determine how many spells a mage or spellsword knows, but I’m not seeing anything which ones characters know at 1st level. Is the player supposed to roll d12 to randomly determine it? Do you get to pick and choose?
ALEX: Wow, I can’t believe we didn’t include this in the rules. It’s up to the GM - he can choose, let the player choose, or roll randomly (1d12).

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Why is it harder to sunder the sword in the hand of someone wearing plate armor than sundering the sword of someone wearing leather?
ALEX: Time for an essay! The book “From Sumer to Rome”, a study of ancient warfare, has some empirical testing that shows that most ancient weapons could not penetrate the strong points of ancient armor. In other words, a gladius didn’t cut through a breastplate. To harm an armored target, you had to aim your blows to where his armor wasn’t. “From Sumer to Rome”, then, confirms the Gygaxian thesis that armor should be represented by making you harder to hit. It’s empirical evidence that D&D got it right, and most other “realistic” games are getting it wrong.
Now, let’s expand on that. We know that hit points aren’t necessarily physical damage. They also represent ‘near misses’ that only your elite skills avoided, being worn down, etc. And in D&D armor makes it harder to do those things to you, too. So the built-in assumption to the game is, again, that if you’re fighting an armored opponent, your ability to wear them down, batter them, etc is less. It’s harder to do.
So that leads us to the idea of doing special moves, like a sunder or a disarm. All of these special moves require skillful placement of blows. A person wearing armor can ignore a lot of ‘clever’ moves that a less armored character cannot. For instance, if you’re unarmored, it’s a lot easier to disarm you by targeting a blow at your hand then if your hand is covered with a gauntlet of steel. If your legs have no armor, it’s a lot easier to force you back by swinging at your legs, than if your greaves and tassets wll protect you from my wild swing.
So as a result, all of our special maneuvers in ACKS require a hit v. AC, rather than a 3.5-style “touch attack”. I think the 3.5 “touch attack” was a ruinous design decision that ignored one of the basic assumptions of D&D.
As a silly example, grab two nerf weapons between friends. One friend can only be hurt if you hit him in the armpit, groin, or neck (platemail). The other can be hurt if you hit him anywhere (no armor). Now, each of you try to force back the other with some melee attacks. Try to disarm the other by slashing at his arms. Etc.

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Awesome.

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BARGLE AND OTHERS - Thank you for your exhaustive comments. This level of review is very helpful in making the game better. It has been a huge effort to institutionalize “how we do things” and your feedback really helps me see where I’ve done a good job explaining things and where I haven’t, and where I’ve just damn missed things. THANK YOU!

  1. Love it. Question. If a 5th level fighter is leading a band of mercenaries, but both the fighter and the mercenaries are hired by the 9th level lord…do the mercenaries not get a +1 morale?
    ALEX: The mercenaries would get the +1 morale, because the 5th level fighter is leading them.
  2. This ability reminds me that men under direct command of an ‘army commander’ receive a +1 to all throws in CM. Or an ability to force morale checks on enemies after a charge a la ‘superheroes’. I’m curious to see what trade offs a hero may have in the ACK’s wargame. Is there a benefit to staying with a body of troops instead of wandering off alone on a battle field?
    ALEX: Yes, there are several benefits from being with a body of troops. Among them is the benefit that you provide to the body of troops (morale bonus) as well as some protection from being attacked. Basically, if a body of troops impacts an independent hero, the troops can all gang up on the hero. If a body of troops impacts a body of troops with a hero, the troops fight the troops, not the hero.
    THIEF:
  1. does MS/HS increase surprise chance? If you are MS/HS do you gain automatic surprise? If so, the statement in the thief write up about being able to backstab (from behind?), “…either by surprise or by moving silently and hiding in shadows” is redundant. Also, shouldn’t it be moving silently and/or hiding in shadows? No need to hid in shadows if you’re approaching from behind I would think. My feeling is surprise is 2 in 6. +1 for hiding and moving apiece for a total of 4 in 6 with both. Does a failed MS/HS mean you can’t roll for surprise? If that’s the case, a fighter in plate armor (2 in 6 or 33%) has a better chance of surprising a goblin than a 1st level thief (5% HS)
    ALEX: Here’s how I break it down:
  2. If combat hasn’t started yet, and you are successfully hidden, you have surprise automatically. (Attack before rolling initiative).
  3. If combat hasn’t started yet, and you successfully move silently behind a creature, you have surprise automatically. (Attack before rolling initiative).
  4. If you don’t successfully hide, or move silently, then you have the normal chance to surprise (2 in 6, adjusted based on class, race, etc.)
  5. If combat is already happening, and you hide, you could backstab a creature that moves past you, but it wouldn’t count as if you had gained surprise for the overall encounter – you’d just be able to backstab the one creature. (Attack occurs during your turn on the initiative order).
  6. If combat is already happening, and you are behind a creature, and you move silently up on it, you could backstab it, but again, it wouldn’t count as surprise. (Attack occurs during your turn on the initiative order).
    Do you guys think this needs to be explained specifically? Perhaps it should go in the GM section.
  7. Find Traps. Ok. I see later on in the book you describe non-thief characters checking for traps. How does this work with “players” checking for traps? A 10’ pole traditionally was a means by which a player searched for a trap, does the 18+ proficiency throw non thieves have a “material component” of a 10’ pole? Do you use the 10’ pole with player skill or a proficiency throw? The next paragraph describes a trap triggering by walking on it on a 1 in 6. Perhaps a paragraph describing “player skill” with things like 10’ poles in finding traps. Originally thieves were the only class with a meta-game find traps ability, while everyone else relied on player skill, “I poke the floor plate with the 10’ pole, etc” as opposed to the thief who could just roll a d% and find out. I think you should mention that this is still an option for players for finding and disarming traps and an option for thieves too, just because a character fails his disarm (or search), doesn’t mean player skill can’t disarm it.
    ALEX: I generally provide a bonus to any die roll based on the extent that the player skill has effect. So, for instance, imagine a room has a secret door (18+ to find) with the switch activated by pressing the red ruby in the eye of a dragon mosaic. If the player says “I search for a secret door,” it’s 18+. If he says “I search the mosaic to see if it has a secret door,” maybe I’d give +2. If he says “I press on the stones in the mosaic to see if that does anything” I’d give a +6. If he says “I press on the red ruby in the eye of the dragon,” well he gets +18, i.e. he succeeds. But this works both ways. If a trap has a random chance of being set off, but the player specifically describes doing the exact thing that sets it off, then it’ll go off. Do you guys think this needs to be explained specifically? Perhaps it should go in the GM section.
    SPEARS:
    doesn’t say they get double dmg when set against a charge like the pole arm does in the equipment write up. Although it’s mentioned in the combat section.
    ALEX: Good catch!
    BOWS:
    Any benefit for having an arrow knocked and readied?
    ALEX: Yes. Third paragraph under INITIATIVE: “Likewise, if a combatant has a missile weapon readied at the beginning of round and is not engaged in melee, he can fire at a closing opponent on the closing opponent’s number even if the combatant rolled lower for initiative.”
    PROFICIENCIES:
  1. I love how you can make a paladin or a “chaos knight” just by picking certain proficiencies. (lay on hands, detect evil, command undead, etc). A real “sub” class. It would be neat to see a few to turn a generic magic user into more of an illusionist.
    ALEX: I’m open to ideas!
  2. weapon focus: Does this ability boil down to +1 dmg 5% of the time? Isn’t that the math behind rolling 2 damage die and picking the best one?
    ALEX: I think you have just pointed out that this proficiency is under-powered. Perhaps I need to make it do maximum damage or double damage on a roll of a 20.
    ARCANE SPELLS
  1. How do you pick your 1st level spell? I recommend the game master chose an NPC wizard from the area the PC comes from and consult his book of 1st level spells and then roll randomly for which one he gave to the PC. After all, with ACKs, we know exactly how many wizards are in any given city and what level they may be, why not utilize this information at the start of play? If there is a semi-retired PC wizard, then a new PC mage might be able to pick his own first level spell as kind of a “heir/legacy” bonus.
    ALEX: I usually roll 1d12 for the player plus an additional 1d12 per INT bonus, but I didn’t include this in the rules anywhere. Sigh.
  2. fireball: Still 20 feet? Or do you mean something other than a radius of 10’.
    flamestrike: you use diameter here 10’ I think ACKs should pick radius or diameter and stick with it you mix it up throughout the spell descriptions, actually, is there any benefit to having some spells as circles and some squares? For game purposes (like the 5’ lightning bolt) would there be a benefit to having fireball described as, "filling a #x# area instead of saying a radius of X’? I have no idea.
    ALEX: You’re right, we should pick radius or diameter. I’ll clean this up.
  3. reincarnate. What are the stats of a werebear/wolf/rat in human form?
    ALEX: I don’t think I understand the question?
    MOVEMENT
  4. Should “charging” be listed in the “time and movement” section?
  5. character movement and encumbrance table. charging isn’t here, not sure if it’s needed, but thought I’d mentioned the possibility.
    ALEX: Maybe . It’s same speed as running. I could mention that characters can charge into combat at the same speed that they run.
    GETTING LOST
    you mention cardinal directions. No mention of using hex paper for outdoor travel, though you mention graph paper for dungeon exploration? Getting lost could be a simple d6 roll and the party exists through that face, since you’re giving options for such things, why not include both cardinal and hex options.
    ALEX: Good point.
    MERCENARY TYPES BASE MORALE
    “men at arms” does this mean 1st level fighters? Perhaps include that in parenthesis.
    ALEX: It actually just means average mercenary. I can see why the 1st level title for fighters is confusing. Good point!
    EXPERIENCE FROM TREASURE
    “no xp for trade goods or equipment unless sold.”
  1. What happens if I find a cask of wine worth 300gp, sell it. And then go buy a cask of wine worth 300gp. Do I get the item and the XP? What’s the rational here?
    ALEX: The rationale is to prevent abuse in situations where items are found that could be considered to have an imputed value but aren’t really treasure and shouldn’t be worth XP. The intent is that they can’t just arbitrarily claim “stuff” as having “value” based on its theoretical sale value in the absence of a buyer. For example, if the party claims a farmhouse with a field of wheat, they can’t claim XP for the value of the field based on the value of all that wheat. It’s also the case that many things will have a bid-ask spread. The cask of wine they could buy for 300gp, they might only be able to sell for 150gp, because they aren’t guild-certified vintners. But, for the sake of simplicity, if the players are in an environment where trade goods are “as good as gold” you can bypass the step of selling them and just give them the XP for the goods.
    ALEX: I can see that I’ll need to re-write this a bit. Perhaps I should simply say that XP is earned for treasure, and that GM needs to determine whether particular goods constitute treasure based on their value and fungibility.
  2. What happens if I pay my retainer his 300gp salary with the wine? Or sell the wine and pay his 300gp salary?
    ALEX: If you pay the retainer with wine (and he accepts it – GM’s discretion) then you’ve sold the wine and get XP. If you sell the wine and pay his 300gp salary, you’ve sold the wine and get XP. Perhaps I should update it as “sell, trade, or consume.”
  3. If I drink (carousing) the whole cask of wine, can I give 270 xp to my “heir’s” reserve xp fund? Or do I need to do #1 so I can get the XP for my main PC first? Why can’t I just do #4. Why do I have to sell the wine, to buy wine, to put xp in my heir’s reserve xp fund?
    ALEX: I wouldn’t say you did. I’d handle that as follows – 300XP for the wine to your adventurer; 300XP to your “heir’s” reserve XP fund for wasting it. I’ll clean up this language a bit.
  4. can I stock pile goods and items (hard for thieves to steal) and sell them years later when I need cash to build a castle, and get xp for them then? Is there an expiration date for experience?
    ALEX: No….
    MOVEMENT
  5. 2d6x10 is dungeon encounter. Man in plate moves 20’ per round. This means probably around 1/2 the time a man in plate cannot complete a charge in one round.
  6. How often can a charge move be made?
  7. ACKs says you can’t normally “run” in combat mode. If a plate armored fighter needs to get 90’ to a row of goblins with arrows his options are: move 20’ over 5 rounds/charge for 2 rounds?/run for 1 round and…?
    SUBDUAL
    dragon subdual and subdual listed in combat options are slightly different. Neither effects, nor takes into account morale, which I think is odd.
    ALEX: Good point. I think it’s an OGL holder-over from before I added our subdual rules.
    SUNDER
    When is it ever a good idea to make an attack at -8.
    ALEX: Mostly for high-level fighters who are virtually guaranteed to hit. i.e. If I am an 11th level fighter (Attack Throw 4+) dual-wielding a +3 and +1 sword (+1+3+1 to hit) and wearing gauntlets of ogre power (+3 to hit), my base attack throw is -4.
    NECROMANCY
    Is a reaction roll required of a newly created intelligent undead creature? Any benefit for being on friendly terms in life?
    ALEX: If they were willing, the intelligent undead would have the same reaction roll they did before they became undead. If they were unwilling, they’d be hostile. I’ll make this explicit.
    ATTORNEY
    Rank “2” is missing the the #2.
    ALEX: Thanks!
    CREATING A SYNDICATE
    There is mention of lower level PC’s becoming domain lords, yet in syndicates it’s assumed retainers must be 9th level to run a hideout. There is also (I think) an assumption that once a PC lord has too many holdings, he will install his retainers as his vassals, Does this mean that a 9th level fighter cannot install his 6th level retainer as lord over an expansion in his domain, if thief syndicates require retainers to be 9th level? I’m confused. Must vassal lords be 9th level, just as leaders of hideouts? What is the fighter version of the “underboss”?
    ALEX: A 6th level retainer can certainly be a vassal-lord. A 6th level thief can also be an underboss. The underlying issue here is that I don’t provide any way to get thieves other than as followers… You can build a castle, recruit peasants, and hire mercs without regard to followers/level just by spending gold, but I haven’t provided that thieves could hire the equivalent of “thief mercs.” I’ll fix that.
    XP FOR CASTLES/RESEARCH/ETC
    hmm…I feel funny about this. It seems like double dipping. I like the idea either you don’t get XP from gold, but you get XP from anything you spend gold on, or you get XP from gold, but not the things you make. I’m not sure how I feel about getting XP from gold and then getting XP from things you make with that gold.
    ALEX: Tavis has had major success with this theory in his campaign.
  8. Since only 9th+ level fighters get followers, lower level characters who establish domains don’t get XP for castle construction (though low level wizards get xp for spell creation). I can’t see anyone wanting to start a domain early. A 5th level fighter isn’t going to have the GP to build much of a castle, why not give him XP for it?
    ALEX: I suppose there’s no reason not to, but I have a vague feeling it would cause a problem I’m not seeing.
  9. Who would want to take over someone elses castle, if building your own can earn you 15,000-60,000xp? You only get xp for building a castle, not “taking one” right? If you take one and loose it, do you still lose it’s GP value in XP?
    ALEX: It’s the same reasoning as “why would I want to steal someone else’s magic sword, if making my own magic sword earns me XP?” Building castles is hard and expensive.
    ALEX: You wouldn’t lose XP for losing a castle you didn’t get XP for, no.
  10. If Quintus the Wizard gets out of a dungeon with a haul of 30,000gp, he gets 30,000xp. But He also gets another 12,000xp for turning that 30,000gp into a sword. So, 30,000gp is worth 42,000xp and a sword+2. Now, I like the idea of his apprentice getting XP from making the scrolls, because he’s using Quintus’ money (I assume).
    ALEX: Quintus gets 12,000xp for turning that money into a sword, yes. But it takes him weeks to do so. In the meantime, his friends have gone out adventuring again. While adventuring, they found even more gold and got even more XP. Quintus, meanwhile, has a sword he can’t even use!
  11. Stealing: Ok, a followering gets 300xp from stealing a cask of wine and the PC gets 60xp. This is better than the PC who finds a cask of wine in a dungeon…
    ALEX: Hah! See above.
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MOVEMENT

  1. 2d6x10 is dungeon encounter. Man in plate moves 20’ per round. This means probably around 1/2 the time a man in plate cannot complete a charge in one round.
    Yes, that’s right. Sometimes it sucks to be in plate armor…