AMLA, Graf, etc

Yes, I would be very happy to see my email on the blog. I know AMLA didn't have anything to do with the original D&D A1-4 modules but when I added this 'parent company' to the mix it made an interesting game turn into a real spy mission. Uncovering facts and trying to figure out if the main company even knew about the financing of the slave lords or if this was just some junior baron executive using the company funds to try to make a little extra profit on the side. Where are the company headquarters? Who do you have to talk to? Who is the head of the company? At this point you can take your campaign in virtually any direction. Modules become easy to introduce. You don't have to have a catch or lure. The players are practically torturing and killing to get to the next adventure and add one more piece to the puzzle.

A whole book about non lethal traps :-0. I wonder where that came from? Catching adventurers for slaves? What a great idea!! I'm ordering my copy today.

AMLA has saved many a beloved character in the past and has, for the most part, been an outstanding company in my campaign. The best part about using these names and ideas is that very few players today have ever heard of Dragontree. I know this is probably not good news for you (sales I mean),

But for dungeon masters like me these books are GOLD! Unless you know what you are looking for you can't find these things. It's not like you can go the local bookstore and just order a copy to figure out how to avoid these traps. Also putting these items in at random into a module not only makes play interesting but if you do have the sneaky player who has purchased a copy of the module and is going just by the information in it there can be some nasty surprises in store for them. The maps they have are now complete but dangerous to follow. Kind of like having a map made by a party many years ago and now some new residences have moved in.

Just from memory I added a floating, flaming, horned skull to a module. You should have seen the array of spells, arrows, flying axes and other missile weapons flying toward this thing. All so the local mage could invite them to a special dinner. When it spoke its invitation and floated off I could not believe the reaction. It was not in any monster manual nor was it described in any other adventure, tome, or dungeon masters guide they had ever seen. I got comments like "Thats it?!?!? Were invited to dinner???" and my favorite "What do you mean that wasn't a monster??!!!!"

Can you tell me any more about GRAF or your character? I know I probably have to get the books.

I envy the games you must have been involved in. It sounds to me like there was a lot of imagination going on there. I am collecting as many of the books as I can and I will check out the blog today. For now I would like to thank you for giving me a way to point my players' imagination in a direction outside the 'normal' realm of just rules and dice throws and to be prepared because not all things are monsters. Just because you can't detect a curse in the bigmouth sword (that still radiates very strong magic) does not mean its not there.

Book of Artifacts????

I am what you might call an OLD school player. I have been playing D&D for about 27 years (my god, has it been that long?!?!?). When I first started playing I was looking for any kind of way to try and spice up my adventures for my friends. Then one day I went into my local hobby store and saw the Dragontree books. So what did I do? Like a novice adventurer I picked up the most interesting looking book and started reading it. It was the Book of Artifacts. I was instantly immersed in a world of Dungeons and Dragons that was unlike any other I had ever seen. Spell casting arrows (that were really funny to throw into an adventure at just the right moment) and bigmouth swords that got you into more trouble than out of. Or best of all was this Amazon Company that seemed to be interested in trade (or maybe behind some of the more sinister parts of the main D&D world). Who did finance the Slave Lords (modules A1-4)? I know that some of my uses were probably not what you intended but it sure kept my players interested.

So the years went by. My friends stopped playing. I went to college. But still these books were on my shelf. Collecting a little dust. Every now and then I would take one down and reread it. Over time I lost track of the most interesting book I had ever owned. Now, years later, I have a group of friends who want to play. I volunteered to be Dungeon Master. I started pulling out my old books and getting some new ones (now where is that old book of artifacts?). It had been so long that I didnt even remember who printed it. Getting most of my things from Ebay I was looking through this list of items and something clicked. What was that? A book from Dragontree press? Yes!!! Spell books and adventures. Cool! But. . . But . . . Where is it? The Book of Artifacts?

So here are my questions: Do you have any copies of the Book of Artifacts? Are you going to print any? Where can I get more information about the campaigns that these books were based on?

JW

In works -- Character Class: Yogi

Character Class: Yogi

Initiate (1)
Novice (2)
Student (3)
Ascetic (4)
Monk (5)
Faquir (6)
Adept (7) no gender contact restrictions / improper contact sends adept back to novice
Guru (8)
Master (9) shift illusion
Boddhisattva (10) does not shift illusion, shifts expectations / attitudes
Avatar (revert, prey to illusion, etc)

Yogis do NOT gain points by fighting but may lose points (and levels) for excessive violence.

Some illusions he may never see, never know what the party is talking about. He may also confuse the party by telling them "Everything is illusion." But if questioned, he can distinguish that some illusions are more illusory than others.
Can go without food for long times, but when he does eat, it must be vegetarian (or meat from animals that have died of natural causes). Similar restrictions on use of leather and similar animal products.
May require much hot tea, milk, and butter.



Initiate (1)
Gains +1 to charm and constitution
+1 if declaring attempt to disbelieve
+2 bonus on saves versus charm
+1 bonus on saves versus poison
can communicate with advanced (Monk and above) yogis using mental contact
can heal others of injury, poisons, etc at 1d6 points / round
can heal insanity (25% chance/attempt but only once per hour)
Novice (2)
Gains +1 to charm and dexterity (cumulative)
detect alignment / sense evil, anger, lust,
+2 if declaring attempt to disbelieve
can heal others of injury, poisons, etc at 2d6 points / round
can heal insanity (35% chance/attempt but only once per hour)
Sadhu (3)
Gains +1 to charm, dexterity and constitution (cumulative)
wanderer, only temporal weapon is buckhorn (antler), +3 to strike / 1d10 damage
able to redirect anger, hunger, lust, etc in others (including companions)
+4 if declaring attempt to disbelieve
can heal others of injury, poisons, etc at 3d6 points / round
can heal insanity (45% chance/attempt but only once per hour)
+1 on initiative, can hear attackers
Ascetic (4)
Gains +1 to charm, dexterity and constitution (cumulative)
able to block anger, hunger, lust, etc in others (including companions)
Disbelieve illusions, +5 to succeed
Detect illusions, +2 to succeed
Detect bluff / lies / fear
can heal others of injury, poisons, etc at 4d6 points / round
can heal insanity (55% chance/attempt but only once per hour)
+2 on initiative, can hear / smell attackers
Monk (5)
Gains +1 to charm, dexterity, constitution and wisdom (cumulative)
Levitation, and ability to generate body heat to keep himself warm and even melt snow -- but only when sitting in proper lotus position, and wearing nothing but a loin cloth. (He can also warm others, but may be forbidden to touch the opposite sex.)
May initiate new yogis
Detect bluff / lies / fear, +3 to succeed
can heal others of injury, poisons, etc at 5d6 points / round
can heal insanity (75% chance/attempt but only once per hour)
+3 on initiative, can hear / smell / feel attackers
Faquir (6)
Mystic rope, bed of nails, burial, levitation of self
Project illusions, -3 to disbelieve,
Detect illusions, +3 to succeed
Gains +1 to charm and wisdom (cumulative), no additional pluses to dex and constitution, intelligence and strength do not change
+4 on initiative, limited clairvoyance
Adept (7)
here and up they are gaining in wisdom and charisma, not dex and cons
levitation of objects
will never attack physically any other being
no sex contact restrictions / improper contact sends adept back to novice
can not lose initiative, full clairvoyance
Guru (8)
able to satisify anger, hunger, lust, etc in others (including companions)
levitation of others
summon gods
charm person, minuses to save
practice tantric sex
may be accompanied by one or more lower level yogis
immune to poisons
heal insanity (95%)
senses intentions of others, –5 to strike
Master (9)
dismiss gods, demons, ill spirits shift illusion
may be accompanied by one or more gurus (and all attendant yogis)
cures poisons
causes attacks to fumble, blocks intentions of others, 90% or better required to attack any Master
Boddhisattva (10)
enlighten gods, demons, ill sp;irits etc (change their alignment)
does not shift illusion, shifts expectations / attitudes
charm supernatural beings
may be accompanied by one or more masters (and all attendant yogis)
practice tantric sex
alters poisons
heal completely self or others
Avatar (11)
01-25% – blinded by self-illusion, reverts to novice, loses all bonuses, skills, etc
26-50% – reincarnated (fresh start as child)
51-75% – trapped on the god-realm, must contend with other gods, too busy to mettle in the affairs of men, elves, dwarves, etc.
76-00% – steps beyond worldly concerns entirely, physically translated (nirvana)

rules for throwing a flaming chair?

Someone was talking about Tunnels & Trolls' simplified combat system and saying if you want to throw a flaming chair there is nothing to stop you.

My comment:


I'd rather see free-form play than rules for everything, but this seems a little extreme. Suppose next round someone wants to do something else with the flaming chair: how do we know where it landed or whether it fell apart or what? I guess you could roll for that retroactively next round, but I'd rather hear the results when it's first thrown.

Too extreme in the other direction imo would be looking up some special rules for that character having some relevant Feat (carpenter? fire-swallower?) etc; I'd rather have a few simple basic Attrbutes to roll for nearly any action:
Roll Dex with minuses to pick up the awkward unfamiliar object.
Made it? - Okay, you pick it up without catching yourself on fire.
Roll Int to deal with throwing it without breaking it or getting smoke in your own eyes.
Made it? - Okay you throw it more or less in the right direction.
[DM rolls for condition of the chair, whether it comes apart in flight anyway.]
Roll to Hit with minuses.
Made it? - Okay. [DM considers opponent's vulnerability to fire, rolls for his damage.] The opponent's robes catch fire, he flees, dragging the flaming chair behind him as it is entangled in his robes.

This gives us a vivid picture of what is involved, and gives plenty of chances for something to go wrong in a vivid way. But no one has to look things up in the book, because the DM is basically winging the plusses and minuses. If the character IS a carpenter or something, he can state that as he picks up the chair, and the DM will consider that while winging the adjustment to his Dex role.

So am I Old School, huh, huh?

Old School Homebrew

I'm beginning to think we're Old School Homebrew and proud of it.

By these sorts of definitions, anyway:
http://knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1546

The gods help the innocent....

... but it can take a while, and be a whole new quest....

In our play, we don't stop to look things up in books. If the DM makes a hasty ruling and something bad happens to a character, and the player later shows the DM it was quite wrong ... there's no reversal, no ret-con. What happened, happened. "Must have been some sort of glitch in the local mana, or some evil demon sabotage...."

What there is, is plenty of gods and temples and high powered magic users. In the next game, or between games, the injured party (or his survivors) can go looking for help and intervention till they find some. Which will have a price of its own, some new task or quest.

Whether the disaster was a mistake of the DM or of the player or plain bad luck -- anything can be repaired or restored eventually, if the player or the survivors care enough to keep trying.

(This has been described quite unfairly we believe, as 'You can keep throwing good characters after bad as long as you like.')

"Resolution Lag", or "What are you doing, 5,4,3,2...?"

Well, actually, "Resolution Lag" is when the DM is taking too long to decide what happened. We're fair, and the gods of Delos tend to help the innocent, sooner or later. But fairness, in a percentage and fumble world, can include a lot of random factors. When the game looks like bogging down (and people start opening rule books), we tend to assign some sort of percentage, roll for it, and get on with the action.

Another help to getting on with it, is deciding WHICH details to roll for first. For example, if someone is falling onto a field of Black Tentacles, how much impact damage they might protect him from becomes kind of moot if the tentacles win initiatlve and kill him before he reaches the ground....