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Category: OSR Project (Page 20 of 22)

Psionic Attack/Defense Modes

July 4, 2010 /

One of the things I really enjoyed about Psionics was psionic combat. I didn't like the method presented in the 1e PHB, but I did enjoy the Attack/Defense Modes. Although the bonuses and penalties weren't symmetrical, I always pictured it as a Rock, Paper, Scissors with no more choices. Had I known the rules, I probably would have used it as a mechanic to resolve psionic combat.

I knew that 2e expanded the numbers of powers and introduced MAC and MTHAC0. The guys and I wondered why this was necessary. After all, there is no Magical Armor Class nor To Hit Magical Armor Class 0. Spells got a saving throw, why not psionics?

In thinking about psionics in the OSR Project, I happened upon a good nugget of information that can provide some much needed OGL material. It turns out that under the 3.0 version of the SRD, psionic attack and Defense Modes were still in use. Better yet, the matrix of attack vs. defense mode were converted to use with saving throws already. Sure they were Will saves, but after an hour with some 'what if' scenarios, I was satisfied with the results. This bit of good news means that I have a way to describe and roughly stat the attack/defense modes from the srd. (I get nervous about how much the serial numbers are really filed off when I describe things, sometimes.)

One thing I had to add, though. Seeing as 2e Psionics (I mean Skills and Powers option, not the Psionics Handbook) had each attack mode represent a dice, I felt the need to add one more. No, I didn't add a d20 attack mode, I added a d2 attack mode. It's called Socrum's Needle. It is akin to the Slow Blade in the DUNE series. When a high level psionic scoffs at what he perceivesto be a small minded warrior with meager psionic talent, he had better hope that the warrior does not have the needle. It is available only to those with wild talents and it functions as a straight attack roll instead of a saving throw. It's main purpose is to open the mind of high level psionicists.

In my universe, you got to give the underdog a way to fight without relying on a natural 20.

Hopefully, I'll have a beta document up soon.

The Madness Continues

June 28, 2010 /

The more I consider the OSR project, the more I realize why we were able to run Spelljammer when none of us had a copy of the 2nd Edition Rules.

We didn't use any of the optional rules from 2e.

No skills, no endless kits, no player's options, nada. We used the 1e PHB, 1e DMG, 1e MM, MM2, Fiend Folio, 1e Outer Planes, 1e Oriental Adventures and every Spelljammer Monster supplement we could find.

I'm joining a 2e group this month, and it didn't take me long to realize that 2e was *not* what I ran. The only thing from 2e I used was thac0. The only reason I knew about Thac0 was that it appeared for all the Spelljammer monsters.

So, considering the fact that I didn't really use as much of an amalgam as I thought I did, I considered just adding house rules to OSRIC or the AEC for Labryinth Lord. Yet, I redefine thac0, I add a system for creating classes and monsters, my Fighters are different, Thieves/Rogues have tremendous variety in what they can do. Psionics are not the same as 1e or 2e, but are two distinct classes. One is handled like another spellcaster, the other is more like d20 psions. There's an alternate non-vacanian spell casting system. I incorporate some of the Oriental Adventures stuff, especially martial arts styles. Then there's the whole issue of Manueverability Class and how we didn't go from A to E...

There's enough differences that it's a bit more than an add-on to a 1e clone, but nothing like a 2e clone.

So, for now, I'm shooting for a project under the working title of The Odd Omnibus - an Extraordinary Companion for Early Editions. I'm going to write it in a similar vein as the AEC for Labyrinth Lord. It may not be popular, but it will at least be positioned as an add-in instead of Yet Another Retroclone.

Armor Class and BAB

June 26, 2010 /

I'm one of those people that didn't have an issue with descending armor class. Maybe I should have, I dunno.

I also have nothing at all against the d20 mechanic and ascending armor class.

So what do you do in a retroclone? Do you follow the spirit of the old ruleset and have a To Hit table like OSRIC and Swords & Wizardry? You could use the table and manually write a "To Hit Armor Class 0" on the character sheet.

You could go the route of Dark Dungeons and use something like thac0 and a to hit table and come up with Attack Rank. Attack Rank A =  thac0: 20, Attack Rank B = thac0: 19 and so on until you reach Attack Rank S = thac0: 2. It takes until Attack Rank X to be thac0: 1 and then it descends again throughout Attack Rank Z to Attack Rank XX. Again, you can pretty much convert an Attack Rank into a thac0, cross out the Attack Rank letter on the character sheet and substitute a thac0 number.

You could go the Basic Fantasy route and just use Base Attack Bonus and ascending armor class. In this case, you take your old material, perform a 10-AC conversion and make appropriate notes throughout that penalties to target's AC are really bonuses to attackers' to hit roll.

Which one?

For now, I plan on using a Successful Attack Target Number or SATN. (considering the consternation created by thac0 discussions, I think the acronym is a perfect fit!)

The forumla will work like this:

Roll 1d20 +modifiers + target's AC >= SATN is a hit.

The beauty of this system is that when I see thac0 in my old modules, I treat it as the SATN. Thanks to the additive property of equality, the result is the same. Don't believe me? Look it up on any thac0 discussion. Also, let's follow this example:

Brad, a 2nd level Fighter has a thac0 of 19. He is attacking a goblin with an AC of 6. With a STR of 15, he receives a +1 to Hit.

Roll is 13. Add bonus to hit to increase the total to 14. Take thac0 (19) and subtract the armor class: 19-6 = 13. The roll of 14 is greater than 13, so the attack is successful.

now try this:

Brad a 2nd level Warrior has a SATN of 19. He is attacking a goblin with AC of 6. With a STR of 15, he receives a +1 to hit.

Roll is 13. 13 + 1 (STR Bonus) + 6 (Target AC) = 20. This is larger than the SATN of 19, so the attack is successful.

On the GM side of the screen, 2nd Edition monsters appears with a thac0. The GM does the same calculation as the players when rolling for the goblin.

The other thing this mechanic allows (you know essentially keeping the thac0), is that this allows fiddling with monsters. More on that later.

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