“The flames shut them up. The assembled castellans and leaders from all the keeps in the borderlands considered Marcus’ words.”
I know it’s not perfectly grammatical, but neither was the module title. I’d have trouble resisting saying “keeps on the borderlands” here . . .
““I could use a break, honestly,” Quintus said, scratching his bald head.”
Hey now. Despite having my character’s hair burned, frozen, etc off on at least 3 separate occasions, Quintus did in fact have hair later in the campaign.
The name Viktor changes to Viktir, varies between them, and then settles on Viktir. One way or another.
Some more copyediting notes:
“She stood amongst her flock in the courtyard and my friends began to mount the domesticated pegasi”. Should be “pegasus”.
“transition from dungeon-raider to domain ruler occurs organically through play rather than being pre-ordained”. Should be “preordained.”
“winged mounts such as a pegasi further opens new vistas”. As mentioned, delete “a”, change to “open”; also, transpose “further” and “open”.
PS–I’m an editor. Don’t have time to go through this more than piecemeal right now and post as I notice things, but if you want a full editing before going to print, get in touch and we’ll see what we can work out.
Michael
- Retainers: Specialists:
There seems to be some overlap here between syndicates, thief followers, and hirable specialists. Also, there is no assassin in the specialist section on hirelings, yet presumably a character could go to the thieves guild and hire one. How does one deal with a syndicate spying for a PC and a specialist retainer spy spying for a PC? You mentioned an issue in your reply to me with thieves not being recruitable as retainers (“thief mercs” as you called them) other than at name level and therefore something that needs to be worked out–making sure that that the relationship between specialists (like the spy) and a syndicate thief npc hijink and perhaps assassinations, should be worked out as well.
As of right now there are two different spying mechanics in ACKs. - reincarnate. If you are reincarnated as a werewolf are you permanently in hybrid form or can you turn into a human? If you turn into a human, do you look like the person you were before you were reincarnated as a werewolf or are you a different person? If you are the same person do you lose your class? Are you not then really reincarnated, rather you’ve been resurrected with the curse of lycanthropy?
- vampires and creating undead. Is your intention for hybrids and created undead to serve the same purpose (except when used on yourself to make yourself a lich). Do you create vampires in order to put them in dungeons as well, or is there another purpose?
3a) When encountering intelligent undead in a dungeon are you suppose to roll for reaction or are they, “automatically hostile” as you put it for when you create them? Should created hybrids be automatically hostile or should a reaction roll apply to them as well toward their creator? Can created undead be “tamed” or controlled like created hybrids? - when a GM rolls for treasure and then rolls again to determine if some of that treasure is in the form of goods, is he not in effect taking XP away from the players? Random roll turns up with 2000gp in treasure, GM rolls again and 500gp is in the form of casks of fine wine. In this case, what purpose is served by not granting 2000xp? I don’t mean to belabor the point, I’m just trying to further understand your intention. Love the rules, am looking forward to the game!
Illusionist: Most of it is already there. There’s a decent selection of illusion, phantasm, and hallucination spells, and spell research could fill in the gaps (Phantasmal Terror, Phantasmal Force Sustained, etc.). The only thing missing is a Black Lore style proficiency based on illusions, like…
Phantasmagoria: Illusory effects created by the character are exceptionally realistic, giving a -2 penalty on saving throws to disbelieve. Any time an illusion cast by the character would be dispelled by contact or damage, a successful Save vs. Spells maintains the illusion. Due to extensive experience with illusions, the character recognizes all types of phantasmal and illusory images as such on a successful Save vs. Spells when first encountered.
Making something like that available without messing up the mage proficiency list may be complicated, though.
I don’t see much in the rules on rolling to disbelieve illusions other than in the Hallucinatory Terrain description, and implied in the Illusion Resistance proficiency. I wonder if that should be mentioned somewhere.
- when a GM rolls for treasure and then rolls again to determine if some of that treasure is in the form of goods, is he not in effect taking XP away from the players? Random roll turns up with 2000gp in treasure, GM rolls again and 500gp is in the form of casks of fine wine. In this case, what purpose is served by not granting 2000xp? I don’t mean to belabor the point, I’m just trying to further understand your intention. Love the rules, am looking forward to the game!
ALEX: Bargle, you mad genius, I think you’ve solved the dilemma. PCs get full XP for gold, gems, jewelry, and alternative treasures. Other items need to be sold to count as treasure.
Been reading bits of the rules. Some notes:
Is there a specific reason the rules on Languages and initial languages are in the description of the Intelligence stat? A more logical place (I think) would be to put them somewhere in the start of Section 3: Proficiencies (maybe name it Proficiencies and Languages?) At the moment, all the other stats just get a bit of description on what they do, the paragraph on languages interrupts the flow of reading about “which stat does what”.
There is some inconsistency in the language about dual-wielding weapons. (example: the fighter mentions “… dual wielding a weapon in each hand” (p.14) - does that make four weapons? 
) Also, wielding two weapons seems a little underpowered to me, at the moment. Perhaps give a choice (when dual wielding) to either get a +2 to hit, or a +2 AC?
The rules for falling damage are only mentioned in the Thief’s Climbing Walls skill, while “falling damage” is mentioned several times in other spots as well (without detail on what it does). Also, the only rules on drowning I could find rules are in the Killer Whale monster description on p.205. Fire damage rules are only mentioned in the text on oil flasks (p.97).
I like what I’ve been reading thus far !
@hermand The dual wielding balances nicely with the other options.
Dual wielding = +1 to hit.
Medium weapon & shield = +1 AC.
Two-handed medium = +1 damage(1d6-3.5 average to 1d8-4.5 average).
Two-handed large = another +1 damage over medium(1d8 to 1d10) but you loose 1 imitative.
The +2AC would be especially overpowered, and a bit unrealistic, as it would make it twice as effective in defense to offhand a dagger than to use a shield.
- XP for subdued/captured monsters/beastmen/men. If I “defeat” 3 orcs worth 30xp. I now have 30xp from defeating them, 30gp from their treasure, so I have 60xp and 30gp and 3 orcs. Can I sell those orcs to a wizard for for 30gp bring my total xp and treasure from 3 orcs to 60xp and 60gp?
I think this might have been discussed tangentially before, how much are “orc parts” worth to a wizard? is this the sell price from subdued/captured monsters? You mentioned a wizard paying adventurers 50gp per ogre skull in the text of ACKs, but presumably there is an actual fixed cost to ogre parts, should selling captured monsters be addressed in terms of their worth in magical experimentation?
quote" " …For instance, a mage might offer 50gp per ogre skull to adventurers exploring the maze he has created…"
how does that 50gp fit into the economy of monster parts, should/does this example from the book comport with the actual value of ogre skulls?
The bit about being slain at 0hp in the Hit Points section still need amending to maybe ‘mortally wounded or slain’ to account for the roll on the mortal wounds table.
Age and Aging: There are several references to character age - spells and effect which can age you, ways to prolong lifespan, etc. - but I can’t seem to find any specified life spans for anyone other than the elf (under Monsters, “upwards of two centuries”). I can guess, obviously, though I wonder about the dwarves. I also don’t see any specific effects of old age; elves always appear in the prime of life, presumably humans and dwarves (and the various other humanoids) aren’t that lucky. With the scope of the game expanding to the level of empires and months-long or years-long construction efforts, the perils of old age seem particularly relevant.
Crossbreeds: How many crossbreeds can you create at a time? I’m guessing one, since that’s how Necromancy seems to work, but it’s not specified. Once you’ve got a breeding pair (or if crossbreeds are dominant in crossbreed/progenitor offspring) you’re in business, yes? I’m seeing time as the primary obstacle to the crossbreed army (with taming/training a close second).
Necromancy: Presumably, you can perform the ritual on yourself, killing yourself at the conclusion when you make the magical research throw. The appeal of the best-case 85% chance is probably dependent on the effects of aging as well. The existence of the lich type of undead is heavily implied (mention of phylacteries, the farmer paying taxes to the lich-king) but the details aren’t specified anywhere (presumably that’s one version of the successful self-necromancy rite).
The Perils of Burning Oil: Twenty level one mages stand around a wicker man. Each one lights a flask of oil and attempts to throw it at the wicker man. Chance of seeing at least one mage die of self-immolation: Slightly more than 62% due to fumbles.
" " …For instance, a mage might offer 50gp per ogre skull to adventurers exploring the maze he has created…"
monsters are worth their XP if sold, either alive, or chopped up. Although they are cheaper and lighter chopped up. As an alive ogre probably weighs 60 stones, but a dead ogre makes 1.4 parts weighs only 5 stones.
Answering my own question here concerning a wizard offering 50gp for ogre skulls. Ogre parts are worth 215xp and produce 1.4 parts. Leaving off the fraction 1 ogre = 1 part, therefore the ogre skulls should be worth 215gp on the open market! pg. 129 precious merchandise: monster parts 300gp. 300gp divided by 215xp (ogres xp value)= 1.4
Lets say The party kills 10 ogres, 7 females (which fight as bugbears), and 5 young (which fight as goblins.) Goblins are only worth 5xp and bugbears 100xp.
PARTS:
chieftian 4 parts 1220gp (1220xp/300gp=# of parts)
champion 1.5 parts 460gp
ogres 7 loads (35 stones) 2150gp
females 2 loads (10 stones) 600gp
young .08 loads (5xp young require 60 ogre babies to make 1 load) perhaps 24gp for the lot.
Total gp worth of monsters 4,455gp
of parts: 14 weighing 70 stones.
So, the way I see it, the party has 14 ogre parts (skulls), each worth 318gp. The wizard doesn’t appear to be giving them a very good deal at first blush.
Let’s say the players have a wagon drawn by 2 horses. Their moorage and stabling fees (pg. 126) are 3gp per day. This cost then will be between 3gp-63gp depending on how soon they can unload the parts.
Lets assume worse case so -36gp in moorage/stabling.
customs is 2d10%, lets say 11% or 490gp total.
market price 4d4x10% lets go slightly under average 80% -900gp
Total value of 14 parts is 3,028gp (216gp per part).
haha! How did I get back to the xp value of ogres!? Anyway, the wizard is giving the players a raw deal and they shouldn’t take it. 14 ogre skulls for 700gp? No way!
But wait! The wizard asked specifically for ogre “skulls” There are 24 skulls in the above example (but only 14 parts…) 24x50gp=1,200gp. Better but still not worth it (unless the players don’t want to trek to a city to sell the parts.)
question: Why would a wizard by ogre skulls, or do ogre skulls = ogre parts and therefore in killing 24 ogres, only 14 skulls made it out “intact” as it were from the slaughter?
question2: baby ogres. 60 young ogres make 1 load of monster parts. Are fractions of parts worth anything on the market? I put 5 ogre young at 25gp, is this right?
Creating a Syndicate, the change in management example has what appears to be math errors.
EXAMPLE: Viktir, a 14th level thief with CHA 13, assassinates Rollio, a 12th level thief with CHA 16 and four followers. Viktir claims Rollio’s four followers for himself, so the GM secretly rolls to see how Rollio’s followers respond to the change in management. Each die roll will be at +3 (because Viktir is nine levels higher than Rollio) +1 (from Viktir’s CHA) -2 (from Rollio’s CHA), for a total of +2.
I think that should be:
EXAMPLE: Viktir, a 14th level thief with CHA 13, assassinates Rollio, a 12th level thief with CHA 16 and four followers. Viktir claims Rollio’s four followers for himself, so the GM secretly rolls to see how Rollio’s followers respond to the change in management. Each die roll will be at +2 (because Viktir is two levels higher than Rollio) +1 (from Viktir’s CHA) -2 (from Rollio’s CHA), for a total of +1.
“Once you’ve got a breeding pair (or if crossbreeds are dominant in crossbreed/progenitor offspring) you’re in business, yes?”
Doesn’t creating a crossbreed automatically destroy the progenitor creatures? In other words, the original owl and bear didn’t survive the procedure that gave us the owlbear. (This would imply that if you want to create a new species, rather than one unique crossbreed, you’d have to do the whole process twice, and hope to heck that the results of both experiments are able and willing to mate…)
So had a little time and took a first look at the rules today. Still a lot to go through, but I see a lot of positive things. The B/X roots really show too. So I’ll just mention a couple initial things I noted and maybe a few more later:
- Merchandise and demand modifiers
First let me say that I really like this section overall. Great ideas here.
It struck me though that the sole function of the Demand modifier, if I understand correctly is determining price. It will be either a negative or positive number multiplied by 10 to determine a percentage change in the base price.
Cool.
Most of the factors are in the neighborhood of 1 or 2. Okay. So what is this add 4d4 for? That’s a range of 4-16 – meaning a random dice roll will often be far more relevant than the tables and charts measuring the other adjustment factors right? Should that actually be 1d4? - Proficiencies – Okay I’m all for skill systems; used a skill/Education system in Dragons at Dawn and I think ACKS makes a nice homage to EPT by dividing the types of skills/proficiencies into class pools.
But as for Gaining Proficiencies, I think it is a real shame that proficiencies are handed out like awards for level advancement. Really. Awful idea for a game that otherwise takes seriously the notion of character development through interaction with the campaign world. I’d seriously beg you guys to drop that idea, it is just way too artificial. Please go back and take a look at Arneson’s education system in AiF. Having the players actually plan ahead and manage their characters growth/proficiencies through a learning based system makes so much more sense in a game that takes into account the wider scope of player/game world interaction as ACKS does. If it helps, you can freely borrow ideas from D@D and D@D Supplement I on this, but I mostly just built off of AiF. - Growing the Domain.
The bit on population growth just doesn’t work for me. If it were tied to a specific realm in the setting, okay, but as a general rule it’s too narrow. Population demographics are too tied up in socio-cultural norms to be presented this way, not to mention issues of health, migration and family structure. Keeping in mind that there will be GM’s who will not be using the Auran setting, I’d suggest the rule for population growth not be a rule at all, but a bracket guideline and a caveate regarding the cultural dependence of family growth. So the GM may be told to choose a rate of growth for a given population in a hex depending on the kind of details imagined about them and comparing that to a couple examples, like “In the zuzu empire, the typical peasant family will generally grow by one child every three years,” etc. etc.
The Second paragraph - Limits of Growth - on the other hand, seems pretty reasonable. Only thing there maybe is that I’d rather see the upper limit being a variable based on possible resources both locally and through trade, rather than a fixed 120 per sq mi.
Hello! Thanks for the feedback.
- The 4d4 is a fluctuation on the base price of the merchandise in the region. 4d4 has an average value of 10, which will mean a base price of 100% of value. It avoids a situation where the price of Good X is always P in City A and always P2 in City B. I used 4d4 because its a die combination that yields results very close to its mean. It has much less variance than, e.g., 3d6.
- I find it hard to criticize the use of proficiencies for level advancement when vastly more important criteria, such as spells per level, or hit points, or attack throw, are all based on level. If, for example, study can help you become better at Craft-Blacksmith, why not at swordplay? Or learning to hurl fireballs? Or picking locks? I can certainly an argument for getting rid of classes and levels entirely - heck, there are MANY things in ACKS which were inspired by Traveller – but I’d personally feel the design was inelegant if it used class and level for all things except this one bundle of things.
- I see where you are coming from. That said, the growth rates for domains actually have more to do with an assumption of immigration into the domain than anything else; they are supposed to represent new peasants wanting to come and live under the heroic adventurer in his new frontier town. When you get to 1,000 families growth then goes basically flat (1% of 1,000 families per month, yielding 10 families; -1d10 families per month, with exploding 10s, meaning an average loss of 10 families) unless you invest in attracting new peasants.
- okay
- Well the knowledge of a proficiency doesn’t just download into the brain from a central computer or deity or something, it has to come from some kind study and practice. Of the things you site, the gain from leveling up is a matter of personal experience but why couldn’t a character boost that through advanced study? - Swordplay - sure! why can’t a character go spend 6 months studying from the sworddancers of Ginazz to gain an edge in combat with scimitars or some such? Or a thief, take up an apprenticeship with lightfingers Harry to learn some delicate tricks they never would have quite mastered on their own? As for wizards gaining new spells with each level, isn’t that more a function of growing inner ability to master magic rather than a simple case of Book-larnin’? Same idea with HP, attack throws etc.
- Ah, I see. Hmmm, if migration is the primary factor of growth in a hex, does that bring up issues of depopulation elsewhere or is it meant to be the case that the migrants are drawn from excess population in other areas?
While I was putting together the key for the Boderlands map I noticed I had a hard time finding the encounter rolls per day for wilderness adventuring. I found the following passage under the “Dungeon Wandering Monsters” header in section 10:
Therefore, when the characters are in a dungeon the Gamemaster will roll 1d6 every 2 turns, and a result of 1 indicates that a wandering monster is encountered. This check is only made 3 to 4 times per day of game time in wilderness adventuring. As mentioned in a previous section, when monsters appear in a dungeon they will be 2d6 x10 feet away from the characters, and when in the wilderness monsters will be encountered at 4d6 x 10 yards away.
Perhaps the wilderness encounter chances/distances could be moved or repeated under the “Wilderness Wandering Monsters” heading just down the page where such info is absent?
Greengoat - Section 10 isn’t really complete. It’s just OLG rules from Labyrinth Lord at present. We have a complete wandering monster table we’ll be including. Your suggestion of mentioning wandering monsters in the wilderness is a good one.
Aldarron -
Re proficiencies: All good points. I ultimately prefer to keep the game class and level focused - it’s more aesthetically pleasing to me. I think it would easy for a GM to house rule a way for players to earn proficiencies from studying if they’d like. Autarch’s motto is “every campaign is a law unto itself” and we expect any rules set to be highly customized by individual judges.
Re migration for growth: You have touched on an issue of profound complexity that I am currently still working through. It’s easiest to see in the context of market prices. If an adventurer is assumed to be buying and selling in a market that is much larger than his transaction, market prices make sense. But when the adventurer is so powerful that his transactions dominate the market, market prices should change based on his actions. Likewise, migration-based growth works well when the adventurer’s domain constitutes a small fraction of a large empire. But when the domain is empire-sized, complexities arise. A third problematic area is hiring mercenaries - hiring all the mercenaries in an area should cause new mercenaries to move there for the hot job market. But what if the player hires all the mercenaries in the empire?
I haven’t decided to what extent I should focus my attention on extrapolating to the extremes, or if the sweet spot of play is going to be in the barony to kingdom range, and I can safely ignore the complexities that occur when the adventurer BECOMES the market/world.
BLIZACK: Doesn’t creating a crossbreed automatically destroy the progenitor creatures? In other words, the original owl and bear didn’t survive the procedure that gave us the owlbear. (This would imply that if you want to create a new species, rather than one unique crossbreed, you’d have to do the whole process twice, and hope to heck that the results of both experiments are able and willing to mate…)
Magical crossbreeding destroys the progenitor creatures, yes.