House Rules
Overall Philosophy
I want this campaign to be very long term, building slowly to a grand world-shattering climax, although not necessarily following the path of Elric in the novels. There will be many other, minor events and encounters along the way, some of them deadly, but overall the movement is towards a grand resolution. That may take years to achieve, but I want it to be gripping as well as playable, and each of the characters will have something to add to the plot lines, even though they may not be aware of it. This goes for any new characters if the older ones die.
The corollary to all of this is that the game is less immediately dangerous in the usual Stormbringer sense. Damage is lessened as is magic. I want the latter in particular to feel like a major element; to be mysterious, powerful and unpredictable.
With all of this in mind, I have modified the game a little to even things out between the characters and to provide a less immediately deadly environment.
Character Generation
Characters in Stormbringer can be famously mismatched, with a vast range from maimed Nadsokor beggars right through to powerful Melnibonean noble sorcerers. I use stats as something of an equaliser, as follows. Each player rolls the statistics in order, from Strength through to Dexterity, using a base 2D6+6 roll. This ensures that no character will be ludicrously useless, while still preserving a decent range of results. In addition, a character receives one extra roll of 2D6+6 which can be used to replace a stat that started out lower.
Hit points will be equal to Constitution, plus one for every five points of Size. Half of this, rounded up, will be the Major Wound level, and this is the number of hit points each location will have. In other words, I am synthesising Stormbringer and Runequest, but without the ludicrously low hit points a location would have in the latter system. Stormbringer's major wound table assumes that a serious injury can occur when a character receives half of their hits in a single blow, and the table provides various location-specific effects. It seemed obvious to put the two together. It also gives more flavour to any hurts that are taken, which can only add to the storytelling feel I want for the game, at minimum cost in terms of added complexity.
A character's damage bonus will be +1 point for every five Strength, rather than a variable (and potentially high) die roll. This evens out the damage while still making it respectable. The aim is to increase player survivability, because it applies equally to their opponents. I don't want any of the players to be taken out too early by a lucky swipe. The chance for this should still exist, but I want it to be less than usual for reasons of character continuity. Characters in Stormbringer are not often known for survivability.
Skills
These will be rolled on 1D20, as will any stat rolls. This has the major advantage of harmonising the main dice system in the game. My players are currently aged 11, 13 and 14, so this matters!
Character History
I use my venerable copy of Central Casting to flesh out the characters with interesting stories from their childhood and adolescence. These will all provide me with useful hooks at various times, and they also add to the characters' starting abilities over and above the usual range. Some of the odd little powers, events and personages produced have turned out to be very interesting. For example, in the latest adventure (at the time of writing this, anyway) the others in the party realise that Sir Blanque is somehow able to see in the dark as though it were daylight. On another occasion, Marion was heard to say something about almost having died from a serious disease a few years ago, but now seems immune to all forms of disease. Ehlessa is very well educated for a woman from the Weeping Wastes, and has an extremely high starting Power statistic. And as for Destiny, there must be some reason a young Melnibonean noblewoman has left Imrryr to travel the Young Kingdoms...
Long Term Story Arc
The basic idea behind the campaign is the ancient struggle between Law and Chaos, flavoured with many other issues such as the enmity between Pan Tang and Melnibone, not to mention possible interventions by the elemental rulers. There is also of course a whole range of ongoing political and strategic implications, which is why I started the story the way I have. Unlike tabletop wargaming, which is another passion of mine, role-playing provides an opportunity to get right into the subtleties of strategic plots and political machinations. The idea is for the players to feel that they are making a difference, and aren't just bit-players in the machine of history. Their actions will matter.
Demon Summoning
I decided that the rules for summoning aren't quite chaotic enough, because of the basic 1st edition idea that the summoner totals their stats to provide a pool of points for their summoned creature's abilities. Instead, I thought it might be more fun to have a number of dice (d8, of course) that gives the points, with the caster's POW rating providing the total number of dice available.
Example
Destiny is summoning her very first demon. She wants to bind a demon of protection into her shield for use against a very powerful demon door. There are some standard stipulations as follows. Every demon that will be taking physical form needs to have at least one die in its stats, even if those are useless. Destiny needs this to be a standard demon, which means that it will have 3d8 POW, to be rolled at the point of binding. It comes out as follows:
STR 1d8
CON
SIZ 3
INT 1d8
POW 3d8
DEX
CHA 1d8
Special ability: Wardpact against demon doors (costs 8 dice!)
She has 20 dice for her demon, because her own POW is 20; the total above comes to 15 dice. She has to roll randomly for SIZ to get the minimum of 3 for her shield, and fortunately it takes only one roll. She then dispenses the other five dice between CON and DEX. In a sense this doesn't matter because this is intended to be a relatively weak shield with one use only - to get rid of the demon door in an old Melnibonean tower.
She then rolls at the point of binding for her demon's POW, which is only 9 on three dice. Converting the standard resistance table gives her a chance of 21 on a D20 to bind it, and she rolls a four. This means she easily succeeds, but doesn't gain any permanent POW because it wasn't a critical success. She then presses her shield against the demon door, which evaporates on contact. Her final action is to free the demon in her shield.
Technically, she could have persuaded the demon to give her a single service, but that would have meant the permanent sacrifice of her precious shield. Also her skill is only 4, so she decided to take the risk of a POW struggle; in the end it worked out fine.
In this variant, a random special ability costs two dice, and a specified power takes four. A sorceror can own a number of bound demons equal to half Power, rounded down. It seemed a bit daft for demons to be affected by something so human as Charisma.
Converting from DD
Or AD&D or xyzD&D 3.75 recurring- whatever. I'm familiar enough with the various iterations of that system to be able to convert a module quite quickly to Stormbringer. Basically, I use a base score of ten plus level to determine stats and skills; this enables me rather efficiently to come up with a reasonable challenge for the player characters. So, for example, the High Priestess of the Sahuagin is a 6 Hit Dice monster, so she has stats of 16 and a base skill score of 16, plus whatever weaponry bonuses she carries. This gives her Hit Points of 19/10 in my iteration of the system, with the second number denoting major wound level. I usually give the creature a Dodge of five less, so in this case she hits with her high priestess quarterstaff of office at 16, with a parry at 16 and a dodge of 11. Or, in other words, 80% weapon skill or 55% dodge.
This works for combat, hit points and so on. There is, though, the tricky business of spells, which are so important in D&D. Basically, I use fudge. For a clerical priest type, it's a form of divine intervention, honest, with a POW rating determined as above by the NPC's stats. For Magic Users I either make them worshippers of something nasty, give them some rune casting abilities to fit in a bit more with the Young Kingdoms milieu, or a combination of both. Whatever works in the heat of the moment.
Gods and Elan
I have decided not to link the player characters directly to only one of the major powers in the Young Kingdoms, because my long term plans for the campaign will probably require them to be relatively free agents. I'll modify if necessary, of course, but I don't them being Agents in the standard way.
They are, though, acquiring the friendship of several powerful beings as a result of their various actions. Straasha is developing a bit of soft spot for them, especially Sir Blanque, because of all the damage they have been doing to Pyaray and friends, and now they have the favour of Eequor. I've decided that the way to do this is to give them Elan points specific to the Lord or Lady who likes them when the appropriate moment comes. This means that Destiny now has some Elan with Eequor, and at one point Straasha will do the same for Sir Blanque. I still have a very cunning plan for Marion...
Berserk Rage
Some (usually Chaotic) creatures or certain types of people have a propensity to go nuts in combat in a way that is excessive even for those stressful circumstances - think of the fabled Norse berserkers, for example. Someone or something in a berserk rage ignores all except major wounds or outright killing blows. Even if their hit point total is exceeded by a combination of several cumulative lesser wounds, they ignore them and keep fighting. At the end of the combat they will collapse and, if medical or supernatural healing assistance is unavailable, they will succumb to their wounds at that point, expiring happily. They attack with twice the number of blows they would normally receive, and their damage bonus and attack bonus are both doubled; defensive bonus is reduced to zero. They still have their defensive skills, but all of their intense concentration is on offence. They can remain berserk for a maximum number of rounds equal to their CON, but once they come out of it they take subdual damage equal to the number of rounds they have been subject to the effect. The combination of this plus any minor wounds often means that they go unconscious in the immediate aftermath of a major fight. If all foes are slain, and he/she/it is still standing, the berserker needs to make a stat roll against INT or keep attacking anyone else in the vicinity - including friends. There are are rumours of chaotic artefacts that inflict this condition on their users (the death of Rackhir, anyone?).
I want this campaign to be very long term, building slowly to a grand world-shattering climax, although not necessarily following the path of Elric in the novels. There will be many other, minor events and encounters along the way, some of them deadly, but overall the movement is towards a grand resolution. That may take years to achieve, but I want it to be gripping as well as playable, and each of the characters will have something to add to the plot lines, even though they may not be aware of it. This goes for any new characters if the older ones die.
The corollary to all of this is that the game is less immediately dangerous in the usual Stormbringer sense. Damage is lessened as is magic. I want the latter in particular to feel like a major element; to be mysterious, powerful and unpredictable.
With all of this in mind, I have modified the game a little to even things out between the characters and to provide a less immediately deadly environment.
Character Generation
Characters in Stormbringer can be famously mismatched, with a vast range from maimed Nadsokor beggars right through to powerful Melnibonean noble sorcerers. I use stats as something of an equaliser, as follows. Each player rolls the statistics in order, from Strength through to Dexterity, using a base 2D6+6 roll. This ensures that no character will be ludicrously useless, while still preserving a decent range of results. In addition, a character receives one extra roll of 2D6+6 which can be used to replace a stat that started out lower.
Hit points will be equal to Constitution, plus one for every five points of Size. Half of this, rounded up, will be the Major Wound level, and this is the number of hit points each location will have. In other words, I am synthesising Stormbringer and Runequest, but without the ludicrously low hit points a location would have in the latter system. Stormbringer's major wound table assumes that a serious injury can occur when a character receives half of their hits in a single blow, and the table provides various location-specific effects. It seemed obvious to put the two together. It also gives more flavour to any hurts that are taken, which can only add to the storytelling feel I want for the game, at minimum cost in terms of added complexity.
A character's damage bonus will be +1 point for every five Strength, rather than a variable (and potentially high) die roll. This evens out the damage while still making it respectable. The aim is to increase player survivability, because it applies equally to their opponents. I don't want any of the players to be taken out too early by a lucky swipe. The chance for this should still exist, but I want it to be less than usual for reasons of character continuity. Characters in Stormbringer are not often known for survivability.
Skills
These will be rolled on 1D20, as will any stat rolls. This has the major advantage of harmonising the main dice system in the game. My players are currently aged 11, 13 and 14, so this matters!
Character History
I use my venerable copy of Central Casting to flesh out the characters with interesting stories from their childhood and adolescence. These will all provide me with useful hooks at various times, and they also add to the characters' starting abilities over and above the usual range. Some of the odd little powers, events and personages produced have turned out to be very interesting. For example, in the latest adventure (at the time of writing this, anyway) the others in the party realise that Sir Blanque is somehow able to see in the dark as though it were daylight. On another occasion, Marion was heard to say something about almost having died from a serious disease a few years ago, but now seems immune to all forms of disease. Ehlessa is very well educated for a woman from the Weeping Wastes, and has an extremely high starting Power statistic. And as for Destiny, there must be some reason a young Melnibonean noblewoman has left Imrryr to travel the Young Kingdoms...
Long Term Story Arc
The basic idea behind the campaign is the ancient struggle between Law and Chaos, flavoured with many other issues such as the enmity between Pan Tang and Melnibone, not to mention possible interventions by the elemental rulers. There is also of course a whole range of ongoing political and strategic implications, which is why I started the story the way I have. Unlike tabletop wargaming, which is another passion of mine, role-playing provides an opportunity to get right into the subtleties of strategic plots and political machinations. The idea is for the players to feel that they are making a difference, and aren't just bit-players in the machine of history. Their actions will matter.
Demon Summoning
I decided that the rules for summoning aren't quite chaotic enough, because of the basic 1st edition idea that the summoner totals their stats to provide a pool of points for their summoned creature's abilities. Instead, I thought it might be more fun to have a number of dice (d8, of course) that gives the points, with the caster's POW rating providing the total number of dice available.
Example
Destiny is summoning her very first demon. She wants to bind a demon of protection into her shield for use against a very powerful demon door. There are some standard stipulations as follows. Every demon that will be taking physical form needs to have at least one die in its stats, even if those are useless. Destiny needs this to be a standard demon, which means that it will have 3d8 POW, to be rolled at the point of binding. It comes out as follows:
STR 1d8
CON
SIZ 3
INT 1d8
POW 3d8
DEX
CHA 1d8
Special ability: Wardpact against demon doors (costs 8 dice!)
She has 20 dice for her demon, because her own POW is 20; the total above comes to 15 dice. She has to roll randomly for SIZ to get the minimum of 3 for her shield, and fortunately it takes only one roll. She then dispenses the other five dice between CON and DEX. In a sense this doesn't matter because this is intended to be a relatively weak shield with one use only - to get rid of the demon door in an old Melnibonean tower.
She then rolls at the point of binding for her demon's POW, which is only 9 on three dice. Converting the standard resistance table gives her a chance of 21 on a D20 to bind it, and she rolls a four. This means she easily succeeds, but doesn't gain any permanent POW because it wasn't a critical success. She then presses her shield against the demon door, which evaporates on contact. Her final action is to free the demon in her shield.
Technically, she could have persuaded the demon to give her a single service, but that would have meant the permanent sacrifice of her precious shield. Also her skill is only 4, so she decided to take the risk of a POW struggle; in the end it worked out fine.
In this variant, a random special ability costs two dice, and a specified power takes four. A sorceror can own a number of bound demons equal to half Power, rounded down. It seemed a bit daft for demons to be affected by something so human as Charisma.
Converting from DD
Or AD&D or xyzD&D 3.75 recurring- whatever. I'm familiar enough with the various iterations of that system to be able to convert a module quite quickly to Stormbringer. Basically, I use a base score of ten plus level to determine stats and skills; this enables me rather efficiently to come up with a reasonable challenge for the player characters. So, for example, the High Priestess of the Sahuagin is a 6 Hit Dice monster, so she has stats of 16 and a base skill score of 16, plus whatever weaponry bonuses she carries. This gives her Hit Points of 19/10 in my iteration of the system, with the second number denoting major wound level. I usually give the creature a Dodge of five less, so in this case she hits with her high priestess quarterstaff of office at 16, with a parry at 16 and a dodge of 11. Or, in other words, 80% weapon skill or 55% dodge.
This works for combat, hit points and so on. There is, though, the tricky business of spells, which are so important in D&D. Basically, I use fudge. For a clerical priest type, it's a form of divine intervention, honest, with a POW rating determined as above by the NPC's stats. For Magic Users I either make them worshippers of something nasty, give them some rune casting abilities to fit in a bit more with the Young Kingdoms milieu, or a combination of both. Whatever works in the heat of the moment.
Gods and Elan
I have decided not to link the player characters directly to only one of the major powers in the Young Kingdoms, because my long term plans for the campaign will probably require them to be relatively free agents. I'll modify if necessary, of course, but I don't them being Agents in the standard way.
They are, though, acquiring the friendship of several powerful beings as a result of their various actions. Straasha is developing a bit of soft spot for them, especially Sir Blanque, because of all the damage they have been doing to Pyaray and friends, and now they have the favour of Eequor. I've decided that the way to do this is to give them Elan points specific to the Lord or Lady who likes them when the appropriate moment comes. This means that Destiny now has some Elan with Eequor, and at one point Straasha will do the same for Sir Blanque. I still have a very cunning plan for Marion...
Berserk Rage
Some (usually Chaotic) creatures or certain types of people have a propensity to go nuts in combat in a way that is excessive even for those stressful circumstances - think of the fabled Norse berserkers, for example. Someone or something in a berserk rage ignores all except major wounds or outright killing blows. Even if their hit point total is exceeded by a combination of several cumulative lesser wounds, they ignore them and keep fighting. At the end of the combat they will collapse and, if medical or supernatural healing assistance is unavailable, they will succumb to their wounds at that point, expiring happily. They attack with twice the number of blows they would normally receive, and their damage bonus and attack bonus are both doubled; defensive bonus is reduced to zero. They still have their defensive skills, but all of their intense concentration is on offence. They can remain berserk for a maximum number of rounds equal to their CON, but once they come out of it they take subdual damage equal to the number of rounds they have been subject to the effect. The combination of this plus any minor wounds often means that they go unconscious in the immediate aftermath of a major fight. If all foes are slain, and he/she/it is still standing, the berserker needs to make a stat roll against INT or keep attacking anyone else in the vicinity - including friends. There are are rumours of chaotic artefacts that inflict this condition on their users (the death of Rackhir, anyone?).
Comments
Post a Comment