House Rules and Other Thoughts for my first Crusade

[Kaiser_Kris]

I've been nominated by my friends pretty much unanimously to run a Castles and Crusades campaign, which is a big honor, but also a fairly big responsibility. I've definitely got some RPG experience, but I'm not an old hand by any means.

I've got a setting that I've been monkeying around with for several months that should work, though of course I'll have to make sure that I can get a few early adventures going with that. I'll probably *not* be starting characters at first level, but probably 2nd or 3rd level instead.

So, if I can have pretty much any thoughts/advice, etc, on how to proceed with things. I've got a bit of time to plan out before I have to go run my first-ever game. I know, technically, I should probably use a printed adventure, but world-building is my first love.

House Rule Ideas

* Some XP awards for roleplaying. Not *huge* ones, and less a nightly competition than a, 'wow, that was amazing' thing.

* Bonuses for awesome, awesome description, which I believe is a major part of the Storyteller system. In other words, if what you are suggesting is sufficiently cool and well-described (though in a timely fashion, of course, don't take 5 minutes to describe a single action), perhaps you will get a +1 or +2 bonus.

* Profession and Craft training outside of the SIEGE System. The SIEGE System, I think, is most robust when it comes to day-to-day things for an adventurer. A non-trained person should NOT be able to make or repair armour, for example. This is more of an option thing. For example, if someone was an amateur fletcher (1st-3rd level char), I might say that they don't really need to take too much notice of their ammo, because they can make arrows. A medium level character might be able to provide ammo for the entire team in such a fashion, in bolts and arrows. A high level character might be able to, with the right materials and a little time, produce +1 arrows, which can either be used or sold.

* Armour that degrades after extended combat. That 8 bonus AC plate mail is not going to be 8 AC after a week of hellish combat, it's likelier to be more like a 6. A PC who is an armourer might have the ability to repair armour, and the service should be easy enough to obtain in towns.

* EV goes right out the window. It's easily the worst part of C&C as it exists now. I think being logical about it is enough.

* It's a small group I have, four players, and fairly unlikely to end up with a classic fighter/rogue/cleric/wizard combination. I am toying around with the option of having a pool of cheap, readymade NPC companions they can take for specific missions. But, be warned heroes, some of these people might decide to steal your gold, or even betray you! On the other hand, others might prove to be lifelong friends and allies and who knows, perhaps One Day, they might show up as the Cavalry on a particularly dire day.

* Seriously thinking of some heavy tweaking of the Fighter. I am pretty much in love with Baldur's Gate II, and its implimentation of combat styles for fighters, which I think reflects perfectly what I feel is the Fighter's primary virtue over other fighting classes- flexibility. The idea of Fighters specializing in a style, whether it be Single Weapon, Sword and Shield, Two-Handed Fighting, Two-Weapon Fighting or Ranged Combat appeals to me greatly. So at 3rd level, perhaps, the Fighter chooses a style, and at 9th-10th level, the Fighter gets to put either another point in that style or learn a new style.

Single Weapon Combat- The Fighter that chooses to fight with a single weapon and no shield, seems to me to be making a choice for dexterity and trusting in his tactical striking ability more than anything else. I am thinking that the practicioner of this style should get a slight bonus to their movement speed (5, perhaps) at the first level, and then, as they become more confidant, a +1 bonus to hit when using a single one-handed weapon.

Sword and Shield Combat- The Fighter that chooses to trust in the combination of a sword and shield is choosing defensive strength over raw offensive power. The Shield already grants a raw AC bonus, but what I am thinking is, like in BGII, a larger bonus against projectiles. An advanced master of this style should be extremely hard to damage with arrows, bolts and sling bullets. Perhaps at the first 'level', they would gain a +1 bonus AC against regular missiles, which would increase to +2 later on.

Two-Handed Combat- The Fighter who chooses to forgo a shield and use a single large weapon is making a choice to do the maximum damage, all else be damned. The bonus here would be a simple damage bonus. +1 at the first level and +2 at the second level, using a two-handed weapon.

Two-Weapon Combat- The Fighter that chooses the tricky road of using two weapons must overcome significant barriers, but it is more than worth it for those that do master it. At the first level, rather than -3/-6, the penalty becomes -2/-5, and then at the second level, -1/-4.

Ranged Combat- The Fighter that chooses to specialize in ranged combat relies on their sharpness of vision, forgoing the often-greater immediate damage of melee combat in favor of being a skillful supporter from the back rank. At the first level, they gain a +1 to hit with a specific type of ranged weapon, at the second level, a +2 to hit.

This is something I'm pondering more than committed to, but I like the idea of the Fighter having the choice of a 'style' of combat in addition to their Weapon Specialization. They lack the 'cool' abilities that the other 'tough' classes have. They should, and need to be utter beasts on the raw battlefield.

* I am considering revamping the pre-4th printing Barbarian and presenting him or her as a Berserker. Any suggestions on doing so are welcome.

* I think I'll be using 4d6, drop the lowest for stat generation. I want these characters to be notably better than the 'average' person, and point buy can be a little cold.

* I'll probably allow multiclassing and class and a halfing, but keep reasonable restrictions based on story and such. Paladins should never, ever, ever multiclass with anything. Same with Monks. Theirs is a demanding path that requires true dedication. Anyone who has any game experience of those new rules, your imput is welcome.

* Generally, I'm aiming for somewhere in the middle between the classic 'low magic' and 'high fantasy' scenarios. One where wizards are not unusual as an idea, but fairly rare as an actual occupation. Clerics are fairly common on the ground, though, and most sizeable towns will have a Temple for basic healing services.

* I have a few wider storylines in mind, and I might hang little feelers for all of them and see what gets the greater reaction from the people. One being a little more intrigue/politics-heavy and the other being a pretty classic Campaign Against Great Evil.

* A small 'gift' for each character that is personally significant to them. One that might come handy in the future. Nothing huge. A silver dagger, a trained hawk, things like that.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

It looks like you've got some great ideas going so far. If they're things that work for you, and that your players like, then by all means, run with them. I do some of these things already in my own campaign.

[Kaiser_Kris]

Sir Osis of Liver wrote:
It looks like you've got some great ideas going so far. If they're things that work for you, and that your players like, then by all means, run with them. I do some of these things already in my own campaign.

Which ones? I'm really curious if anyone's playtested the 'degrading armour' thing. It makes sense to me, as a realism rule that would actually add a lot to gameplay. And I like the idea of, every so often, the PCs having to visit a city for mundane things, keeping their ears to the ground and hearing rumours and such, or possible jobs while there.

I'm also pondering messing with one of the biggest quirks of fantasy gaming- and one that sticks in my craw. Common. Humans do not speak one language, they speak numerous languages. I'm thinking of reimagining Common as a trade/diplomatic language that is widely, but not universally spoken. So people, y'know, need to make Wisdom checks (I think that would be appropriate) to get the drift of when the peasant is frantically trying to say something in his obscure dialect of a southwestern language.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I give bonuses for good RP (my adventures really try to favor that), as well as inventive use of the surroundings. If the players come up with ways to, for example, use my traps as ways of getting through big encounters, that's a huge bonus.

[Dagger]

I think your house rules all sound reasonable. I don't see any problems there.

When you run C&C for the first time, you'll find some areas that are purposefully left to the CKs adjudication. This is good and bad. The good part is that it frees you up to run "your game". The bad is that a first time CK needs to make rulings they may not be comfortable with. That said, I would make sure you have some guidelines established ahead of time for mundane things such as:

How long does a torch last?

How much sleep do characters need and what happens if they don't get enough?

Can you sleep in armor? Which kinds? How long does armor take to put on and take off?

How much do hirelings cost?

How much does it cost to buy scrolls and potions?

How long can a character hold their breath?

These are basic adventuring rules that are purposefully not addressed in the C&C rules. I think most of the people on this forum probably answer those questions by looking to various editions of D&D and AD&D. I just wanted to bring that kind of stuff up so you didn't get tripped up mid-game when the players throw you a curveball. When I first started running C&C, I found it handy to have an AD&D DM's Guide with me to use for guidance when these types of situations came up.
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Rusty

[Omote]

Kaiser_Kris wrote:
* I'll probably allow multiclassing and class and a halfing...

Class and a halfling? That sounds like an AMAZING campaign!
It sounds like you have put a lot of thought into this, and I'm sure this will preparedness will come out in-game to your players. All of your homegrown ideas sound just fine. Enjoy you Crusade and please feel free to keep us up to date on your campaign progress.

~O
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Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

[Kaiser_Kris]

Dagger wrote:
I think your house rules all sound reasonable. I don't see any problems there.

When you run C&C for the first time, you'll find some areas that are purposefully left to the CKs adjudication. This is good and bad. The good part is that it frees you up to run "your game". The bad is that a first time CK needs to make rulings they may not be comfortable with. That said, I would make sure you have some guidelines established ahead of time for mundane things such as:

How long does a torch last?

How much sleep do characters need and what happens if they don't get enough?

Can you sleep in armor? Which kinds? How long does armor take to put on and take off?

How much do hirelings cost?

How much does it cost to buy scrolls and potions?

How long can a character hold their breath?

These are basic adventuring rules that are purposefully not addressed in the C&C rules. I think most of the people on this forum probably answer those questions by looking to various editions of D&D and AD&D. I just wanted to bring that kind of stuff up so you didn't get tripped up mid-game when the players throw you a curveball. When I first started running C&C, I found it handy to have an AD&D DM's Guide with me to use for guidance when these types of situations came up.

I sadly don't have access to an AD&D guide. I've got 4th ed PDFs and could easily borrow my friend's 3.5 materials, though. But since you've posed them, I might as well offer what my instinctive answers are.

1.) Two hours or so for a regular torch.

2.) Six hours flat minimum for non-elves. Elves trance for four hours instead. Eight hours is ideal. Six hours 'resets' all your daily abilities, but you need eight hours to get daily healing. If they totally miss sleep for one day (or have some, but insufficient sleep for a little while) but have normally rested well otherwise, maybe a -1 to checks? If they're consistently and totally sleepless for a few nights, -2 instead?

3.) Only if it's light armour. Padded and leather armours should be fine in a gameplay sense, if uncomfortable-ish. But there's no way you should be able to sleep in chainmail or plate. As for putting on or taking off armour, between ten minutes and half an hour-ish? Also, I think plate mail would require the help of another person to put on, which could easily just be the wizard or rogue in your group.

4.) Hirelings for labour purposes will have standard wages. I'll work them out, in accordance to the danger they're being put in. The average 'peasant' in this setting only makes about 10 gp or so in a year. For regular, not extremely dangerous labour services with an adventurer, perhaps something like 1-2 gp/week (there is SOME risk involved after all, and travel away from home if they have one). A more dangerous labour job might require 5-10 times as much per week. If the hero wants to hire a 'mook' (0-level warrior type), I would imagine 1-2 gp/day for urban work and maybe 5 times that much for 'outside' work, with bonuses for long trips and special danger. Hirelings with special skills (say, a 1st level class character) would be much more expensive, but also are often adventurers and can bargain for cuts. Adventurers are much more willing to work for flat sums than wages, but they might be quite stiff (100 gp for pretty much anything). Assistants with skills comparable to the PCs (which might be needed in some cases) are handled seperately, basically. Some might join for 'free', many for a cut of profits made from the dungeon raid and others for wages.

5.) I'll have to do research on that and get back to you, but minimally 100-150 gp for a low level healing potion, and much more for scrolls that can cast spells. Perhaps?

6.) Barbarians can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to their constitution score. Barbarians are supposed to be especially awesome in that regard. I'd say that regular folks should be able to do about half that. Perhaps Monks can do 1/2 Con score + Con bonus, which usually would make them significantly better in this regard than other classes, but still put most Barbarians ahead of them.

[Treebore]

Dagger wrote:
I think your house rules all sound reasonable. I don't see any problems there.

When you run C&C for the first time, you'll find some areas that are purposefully left to the CKs adjudication. This is good and bad. The good part is that it frees you up to run "your game". The bad is that a first time CK needs to make rulings they may not be comfortable with. That said, I would make sure you have some guidelines established ahead of time for mundane things such as:

How long does a torch last?

How much sleep do characters need and what happens if they don't get enough?

Can you sleep in armor? Which kinds? How long does armor take to put on and take off?

How much do hirelings cost?

How much does it cost to buy scrolls and potions?

How long can a character hold their breath?

These are basic adventuring rules that are purposefully not addressed in the C&C rules. I think most of the people on this forum probably answer those questions by looking to various editions of D&D and AD&D. I just wanted to bring that kind of stuff up so you didn't get tripped up mid-game when the players throw you a curveball. When I first started running C&C, I found it handy to have an AD&D DM's Guide with me to use for guidance when these types of situations came up.

A lot of these are covered in the d20 SRD on line, available for free, and easy to copy/paste from and into your house ruels document.

Sleep, for spell casters is covered in the C&C PH, cost of potions and scrolls is covered in the M&T.

Torch:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goo ... .htm#torch

Getting in and out of armor:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/arm ... OutOfArmor

Sleeping in armor:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/arm ... inginArmor

For C&C I define medium armor as AC 4 to 6, and heavy as AC 7+.

Hireling costs (not as detailed as I like, but good starting point):
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goo ... ingTrained

Holding breathe:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/Swim.htm
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Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[RLW]

Kaiser_Kris wrote:
Which ones? I'm really curious if anyone's playtested the 'degrading armour' thing. It makes sense to me, as a realism rule that would actually add a lot to gameplay. And I like the idea of, every so often, the PCs having to visit a city for mundane things, keeping their ears to the ground and hearing rumours and such, or possible jobs while there.

Yeah, I'm in favor of having armor degrade, too. If you treat 20 as a critical hit, that's one way to work it into the rules: one possible consequence of a critical hit is a one-point reduction of AC. At the player's discretion, the damage may go to his shield, if he's carrying one -- a large shield is reduced to a medium shield in effectiveness and a medium to a small. Damaged armor may be repaired to a maximum of one less than its original AC.

[Kaiser_Kris]

RLW wrote:
Yeah, I'm in favor of having armor degrade, too. If you treat 20 as a critical hit, that's one way to work it into the rules: one possible consequence of a critical hit is a one-point reduction of AC. At the player's discretion, the damage may go to his shield, if he's carrying one -- a large shield is reduced to a medium shield in effectiveness and a medium to a small. Damaged armor may be repaired to a maximum of one less than its original AC.

Sounds like an interesting idea.

I was pondering the idea of players being able to, perhaps, choose a 'bonus' they're going for if they score a critical hit. Do you want to do maximum normal damage, or regular damage + AC reduction, or possibly regular damage and knock the villain down or break his/her weapon?

[anglefish]

Kaiser_Kris wrote:
* It's a small group I have, four players, and fairly unlikely to end up with a classic fighter/rogue/cleric/wizard combination.

My 0.2 cents: You might want to consider my "adding class levels vs. class abilities" SIEGE guideline. (which I think is implied in the main book, but don't quote me.)

Essentially, if a PC is trying something they get to add their class levels unless it directly competes with an ACTIVE PC's class ability.

For an example in our game, the Druid is the best tracker in the wild because we don't have a Ranger. He gets to add his class levels to a Wisdom roll. In the city, our Rogue-1/2Fighter is the best tracker.

I found that this can cover a lot of "missing" class abilities like Tracking and Traps while making humans more attractive as race selection.

Doesn't help with healing spells, though.

[Kaiser_Kris]

anglefish wrote:
My 0.2 cents: You might want to consider my "adding class levels vs. class abilities" SIEGE guideline. (which I think is implied in the main book, but don't quote me.)

Essentially, if a PC is trying something they get to add their class levels unless it directly competes with an ACTIVE PC's class ability.

For an example in our game, the Druid is the best tracker in the wild because we don't have a Ranger. He gets to add his class levels to a Wisdom roll. In the city, our Rogue-1/2Fighter is the best tracker.

I found that this can cover a lot of "missing" class abilities like Tracking and Traps while making humans more attractive as race selection.

Doesn't help with healing spells, though.

Well, there's a few ways to sneakily get around the healing spell thing potentially. Though I might ... see if our neophyte would like to try out a cleric. It's not that hard to imagine a fighter or a ranger, especially one with decent scores in the right attributes, being able to do a little combat medicine. Even if it's only 1d4 once a day. At early levels, until they have the cashflow for Potions Aplenty, that's nothing to sneeze at.

[anonymous]

Treebore wrote:
Torch:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goo ... .htm#torch

Getting in and out of armor:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/arm ... OutOfArmor

Sleeping in armor:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/arm ... inginArmor

For C&C I define medium armor as AC 4 to 6, and heavy as AC 7+.

Hireling costs (not as detailed as I like, but good starting point):
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goo ... ingTrained

Holding breathe:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/Swim.htm

Shop around: there's no reason at all to suppose d20 System rules are any better than any other source or that they somehow work better because of a common ancestor with C&C.

[serleran]

I tend to use this for a torch:

Torch -- deals 1d2 damage with a successful hit, as a weak club. When lit, it deals 1d2 + 1d3 fire damage and the opponent must make a save or become engulfed in fire (assuming flammables are present; in large quantity, the save may be failed automatically) and the torch, if it fails its own save, burns out; damage over time continues for 1d3 rounds, at 1d3 damage each round or the victim can douse itself and end it, but this counts as the action for the round. A torch produces enough light to see up to 45 feet in darkness, and will burn for 6 hours -- the burning torch is visible up to 1800 feet in the absolute best conditions. Saves for or against the torch are considered a difficulty of 0.
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[Treebore]

Tenser's Floating Disk wrote:
Shop around: there's no reason at all to suppose d20 System rules are any better than any other source or that they somehow work better because of a common ancestor with C&C.

I do shop around, its just these are the easiest and FREE ones to find quickly, I have yet to see if the Pathfinder SRD covers the same thing.

Say whatever you want about 3E, but it was the best written set of comprehensive rules D&D had yet seen in a Players Handbook and DMG.

The 1E DMG is still my favorite, but that is more because of its tables, than anything to do with how well written the rules contained therein are.

For clarity and being comprehensive and only in the core books, 3E was the best.

Still wasn't nearly enough to keep me playing it, though.
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[Kaiser_Kris]

Sabreclaw:

No Encountered: 1-4

Size: Medium

HD: 3 (d8)

Move: 50 ft.

AC: 16

Attacks: 2x Claw (d6)

Specials: Motion/Blood Vision, Feint

Saves: P

Int: Animal

Alignment: Neutral

Type: Aberration

Treasure: Nil

Motion/Blood Vision: Sabreclaws are capable of seeing either the motion of enemies, or smelling their blood. Move Silently is useless upon them, but any effort to stay still will work unless the character is wounded.

Attack Feint: Sabreclaws are capable of dividing up their movement either before or after their attack round, or both before and after. For example, each round, they can move 20 of their 50 feet, attack, and then move back 30 feet.

The Sabreclaw is considered to be one of the most ferocious and vicious creatures on the steppe, and even seasoned adventurers tend to be leery of the highly effective predators. Looking like the unholy cross of an insect and a wild boar, Sabreclaws are so called because of the vicious claws on the edge of their forward limbs. Usually found in small packs, Sabreclaws are only as intelligent as beasts such as wolves or lions, but are considered to be even more dangerous. Occasionally, Orcs and especially the specially bred Black Orcs that have recently appeared, use Sabreclaws as a sort of hellish companion.