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	<title>Lord Kilgore &#187; Labyrinth Lord</title>
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	<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com</link>
	<description>Last seen entering the Lost Caverns some years ago. . .</description>
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		<title>Kicking off a Campaign</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/kicking-off-a-campaign</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/kicking-off-a-campaign#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:36:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Five Colors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wizards & Warriors]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2780</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are the stages our homebrew game (now called Wizards &#038; Warriors) has gone through in the past year: Tweaked Labyrinth Lord game Heavily house ruled Labyrinth Lord game Modified Labyrinth Lord game with new write-ups for monsters and spells New game based on Labyrinth Lord/B/X with a lot of OD&#038;D influence on presentation New [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Here are the stages our homebrew game (now called Wizards &#038; Warriors) has gone through in the past year:</p>
<ol>
<li>Tweaked Labyrinth Lord game</li>
<li>Heavily house ruled Labyrinth Lord game</li>
<li>Modified Labyrinth Lord game with new write-ups for monsters and spells</li>
<li>New game based on Labyrinth Lord/B/X with a lot of OD&#038;D influence on presentation</li>
<li>New game based on Labyrinth Lord/B/X/OD&#038;D but with 5 Color magic</li>
<li>New humans-only game based on LL/B/X/OD&#038;D but with 5 Colors for everything</li>
<li>New 5 Colors game that sort of resembles LL/B/X/OD&#038;D with a fair amount of classic Traveller influence</li>
</ol>
<p>It was this seventh stage that freed us from the shackles of trying to pretend it was still just a modified version of D&#038;D. Yes, the play will still resemble oldschool D&#038;D, but the rules are not going to be constrained by attempts to &#8220;remain true&#8221; mechanically. I think the oldschool D&#038;D spirit will still be there, and I even suspect that someone listening in on a session might not quite realize that we aren&#8217;t playing early 1980s D&#038;D.</p>
<p>Either way, late last week I decided I was sick of always WORKING ON a new game and decided it was time to PLAY a new game.</p>
<p>So over the weekend my kids and I got in a short session of a new campaign, and here is what I&#8217;m using for our initial setting:</p>
<div id="attachment_2782" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://www.lordkilgore.com/wordpress/u/2011/03/bone-hill-image-400x281.jpg" alt="L1: The Secret of Bone Hill" title="bone hill image" width="400" height="281" class="size-medium wp-image-2782" /><p class="wp-caption-text">L1: The Secret of Bone Hill</p></div>
<p>I&#8217;ve already made a lot of headway converting NPCs and monsters to our new system (and have worked out more details of that system while doing so) and am looking forward to getting more done.</p>
<p>My current plan is to use the Restenford area as a sort of base for a sandbox-type setting, with a number of other oldschool D&#038;D modules placed here and there, along with some one-page dungeons and a number of my own creations. For instance, up the road from Restenford is a keep, and beyond the keep are what the locals call the Borderlands. Also, rumors of a certain ghostly tower can be heard whispered in the dark corners of the Dying Minotaur Inn, and tales from those who have ventured into the Borderlands tell of an ancient ruined city inhabited by&#8230;.well, the PCs haven&#8217;t heard those rumors quite yet.</p>
<p>Why not the Forbidden Jungle? Well, to be honest, I&#8217;m having trouble convincing my current players (mostly my own family) that it&#8217;s a fun place to adventure. I&#8217;m now wondering if I should work on developing the Forbidden Jungle using Labyrinth Lord (+/- AEC). We&#8217;ll see about that, as well.</p>
<p>I do plan to incorporate at least parts of the other stuff developed for the L series into the campaign at some point, but we&#8217;ll have to see what effect the players have on the area before deciding exactly how and when.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>NPC Cleric Spells &#8211; FREE</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/npc-cleric-spells-free</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/npc-cleric-spells-free#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:06:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kreations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2755</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since I&#8217;ve been moaning about our ever-morphing homebrew game so much lately, I thought I&#8217;d put up something actually useful for a change. So here&#8217;s a free PDF with random spells for NPC clerics. Roll a d10, check the table, and play on without needing to spend time figuring it all out. Particularly helpful to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since I&#8217;ve been moaning about our ever-morphing homebrew game so much lately, I thought I&#8217;d put up something actually useful for a change. </p>
<p>So here&#8217;s a free PDF with random spells for NPC clerics. Roll a d10, check the table, and play on without needing to spend time figuring it all out. Particularly helpful to avoid the temptation to &#8220;stack the deck,&#8221; so to speak, when choosing spells because the DM has an idea what&#8217;s about to happen in the game. This way the clerics PCs run into will have spell lists that resemble what normal clerics would normally have and not <em>hold person</em> three times because the DM want to immobilize the party. Well, usually not; I think I&#8217;ve got a good mix.</p>
<p>This uses the spell progression chart and spell list from Labyrinth Lord&#8217;s core rules; the progression is the same in the Advanced Edition Companion, but none of the extra AEC spells were used here. The result is something very similar to, but not exactly the same as, the spell progression and selection in other oldschool versions of the game.</p>
<div id="attachment_2756" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 230px"><a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/wordpress/u/2011/02/NPC-Cleric-Spells.pdf"><img src="http://www.lordkilgore.com/wordpress/u/2011/02/cleric-core-thumb.jpg" alt="NPC Cleric Spell Lists for Labyrinth Lord Core" title="cleric core thumb" width="220" height="300" class="size-full wp-image-2756" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">NPC Cleric Spells<br />Free PDF</p></div>
<p>Be sure to check out the other <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/kilgore-kreations-free">free Kilgore Kreations</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Choosing a Direction</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/choosing-a-direction</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/choosing-a-direction#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:38:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Five Colors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forbidden Jungle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilgore edition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Swords & Wizardry]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2696</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Readers have probably figured out that I am quite streaky when it comes to posting here, ripping off a post a day for stretches lasting weeks or even months, then going almost totally silent for periods just as long. That is no way to run a web site, and I apologize. I knew when I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Readers have probably figured out that I am quite streaky when it comes to posting here, ripping off a post a day for stretches lasting weeks or even months, then going almost totally silent for periods just as long. That is no way to run a web site, and I apologize. I knew when I started this that I didn&#8217;t really have time for it, and I was right.</p>
<p>Anyway, my game playing, sadly, runs in the same sort of cycle. When other demands aren&#8217;t hogging all of the discretionary time (and then some), we usually make an effort to play more and, as a result, I end up creating all sorts of new material and posting some of it here.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, I&#8217;ve waffled on just what we&#8217;re going to play when we have time, and just how we&#8217;re going to play it. My initial plan to play Labyrinth Lord by the book and Swords &#038; Wizardry White Box heavily house-ruled gave way to reality and the lack of time to play two different systems, let alone one that required a lot of tinkering. So we decided to go All Labyrinth Lord All the Time, with the idea that we&#8217;d incorporate a number of house rules and ideas that we had planned to use in our modified S&#038;W White Box game.</p>
<p>My guess is that what happened to us happens to many gamers. Once we started tinkering, we couldn&#8217;t stop. A plan to make some adjustments led to the need to create modified rule outlines and accompanying tables, and once we crossed the line into creating our own material we failed our save vs. &#8220;houseruling.&#8221;</p>
<p>Our separate experiment with Five Color Magic resulting in a desire to incorporate this system into our game, and at that point, needing a fully-written player&#8217;s guide, we were looking at a totally separate system. Which is what I had been trying to avoid.</p>
<p>So here we are in 2011 and I am again looking at the options and wondering how to proceed.</p>
<p>Do we play a mostly-by-the-book Labyrinth Lord? If so, with or without the excellent Advanced Edition Companion? The advantage here is that it&#8217;s virtually 100% compatible with nearly everything else out there, including most OSR clone material and original TSR D&#038;D material.</p>
<p>Do we play a heavily-modified Labyrinth Lord? If so, do we worry about our modifications breaking easy compatibility with standard LL? Giving thieves d6 hit dice or letting clerics use swords is no big deal. Re-organizing all spellcasters into five color-based classes or changing all monsters to use a one-roll lower-damage attack is. This is closer to what we want but not nearly so compatible.</p>
<p>Or do we play our homebrew Five Color Wizards &#038; Warriors game, with two only two classes and five versions of each? We are 90% done with the rules guide, and we&#8217;re liking what we see. The problem, of course, is that no one else plays this game. The only ready material that exists is what we&#8217;ve written, and a lot of what I create won&#8217;t be terribly useful to blog readers, at least not as-is.</p>
<p>The freedom to create your own professional-looking material is a blessing and a curse. Back when the options to &#8220;publish&#8221; your own stuff was limited, my willingness to tinker was was limited to a few sheets of houserules that I&#8217;d photocopy. Things are so much better now that you can incorporate your changes directly into the text of the rules and print them up nicely, but that capability removes a reason to minimize your alterations.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s the best way? Whichever way gets you the game you want to play the most and gets the most use.</p>
<p>For us, that looks like our homebrew game.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll always have the option to play another system, of course, but we&#8217;re going to throw our effort into this. Our playing has languished and that needs to change. I think our little creation gives us the best chance to do that, so that&#8217;s the plan.</p>
<p>What I post on the blog will probably remain fully-compatible with standard systems so as to be most useful to readers. I&#8217;m also left with the dilemma of how to proceed with the Forbidden Jungle. I&#8217;ve got a fair amount of work into it already and it&#8217;s looking pretty good (if I may say so myself), and I know that there are at least a few readers interested in seeing more FJ material. But how to make that material most accessible to those not playing my own little game? Not to mention the possibility of considering it for publication some day.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll see.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong>: I should add that the dilemma of &#8220;which game to play&#8221; is sometimes a contributing factor in our lack of playing. Without a clear direction, our effort has sometimes been splintered between things and we haven&#8217;t settled down and just done it. Time to do so.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>16</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Five Color Magic Text Doc</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/five-color-magic-text-doc</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/five-color-magic-text-doc#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:24:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Five Colors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kreations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2527</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It occurred to me that nearly everyone who wants to give Five Color Magic a try in their own game will want to tweak it a bit. So I uploaded a .doc version of the lists for you to mess with: Click here to download Five Color Magic in .doc format]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It occurred to me that nearly everyone who wants to give <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/five-color-magic">Five Color Magic</a> a try in their own game will want to tweak it a bit. So I uploaded a .doc version of the lists for you to mess with:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Five-Color-Magic-Text-Doc.doc">Click here to download Five Color Magic in .doc format</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Turning Undead</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/turning-undead</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/turning-undead#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:27:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rules]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We continue to work on our modified Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition game and I think I&#8217;ll have a serviceable player&#8217;s handbook ready for use by the end of the week. One of the many tweaks we&#8217;ve made is to the turning undead function. I love the turning undead ability of clerics, but I have always [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We continue to work on our modified Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition game and I think I&#8217;ll have a serviceable player&#8217;s handbook ready for use by the end of the week. One of the many tweaks we&#8217;ve made is to the turning undead function. I love the turning undead ability of clerics, but I have always thought that it was over-powered, particularly once they start vaporizing skeletons and zombies willy-nilly. So we&#8217;ve changed it up a little to still allow for that while toning things down a notch.</p>
<p>Interestingly, a <a href="http://dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&amp;t=41948">current thread on Dragonsfoot</a> is discussing this topic and someone posted a <a href="http://dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=871698#p871698">bit from Gygax on turning</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>So many of the very most interesting &#8220;monsters&#8221; were subjected to that rude capacity of turning/destroying that I initially bestowed upon the cleric class that I did indeed come to rue the initial benison gven to that class. My plan for a revised edition of AD&amp;D was such as to limit that power somewhat while adjusting things for the capacity of undead to withstand &#8220;turning&#8221; so as to make things more challenging for PCs without emasculating the power of the cleric.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>I was actually thrilled to read this, as it reinforces my belief that turning needed tweaking and that my solution is viable.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s what we&#8217;ve done:</p>
<table style="height: 411px;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="510">
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td rowspan="2" width="36"><strong>Cleric Level</strong></td>
<td colspan="10" width="403"><strong>Turning Undead (d20) <sup>#</sup></strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="40"><strong>1 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>2 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>3 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>4 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>5 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>6 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>7 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>8 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>9 HD</strong></td>
<td width="40"><strong>Spec.</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
<td width="40">20</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
<td width="40">20</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
<td width="40">20</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
<td width="40">20</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>5</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
<td width="40">20</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>6</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
<td width="40">20</td>
<td width="40">&#8211;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>7</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
<td width="40">20</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>8</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
<td width="40">19</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>9</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
<td width="40">16</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>10</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
<td width="40">13</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>11</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
<td width="40">10</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td width="36"><strong>12</strong></td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">1</td>
<td width="40">4</td>
<td width="40">7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="11" width="439"><sup>#</sup> When   rolling to turn undead:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Rolling <strong>target number +12</strong> indicates that undead have been destroyed (save if 5+ HD)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Rolling <strong>target number +6</strong> indicates that undead have been driven off for 2d6 rounds</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Rolling target number or   greater indicates that undead are held at bay (5’ radius)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">A roll of natural ‘1’ always   indicates failure</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">3d6 HD of undead are affected   beginning with the weakest in terms of HD</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="height:15px;"></div>
<p>The result of this is that turning is not pass/fail but graded. Standard turning does not scare away undead but only holds them off. Rolling higher may drive them away as normal and rolling real high may destroy them outright (or take control of them if the cleric is evil/chaotic/Dark Sided).</p>
<p>This has only very limited play-testing so far, but the initial results have been good. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Roll to Advance PDF</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-pdf</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-pdf#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:34:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kreations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roll to advance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rules]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2108</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is a one-page PDF of the Roll to Advance system I introduced last week. Obviously, the one-page format does not allow for in-depth explanation or discussion of the system, but it does provide the basics needed to use it in play. This PDF currently uses the original racial modifiers despite the fact that I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Here is a one-page PDF of the <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/tag/roll-to-advance">Roll to Advance</a> system I <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">introduced last week</a>. Obviously, the one-page format does not allow for in-depth explanation or discussion of the system, but it does provide the basics needed to use it in play.</p>
<div id="attachment_2110" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 233px"><a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Roll-to-Advance.pdf"><img src="http://www.lordkilgore.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/roll-to-advance-thumb.jpg" alt="Roll to Advance PDF by Lord Kilgore" title="roll-to-advance-thumb" width="223" height="300" class="size-full wp-image-2110" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Roll to Advance - Free PDF<br />Click to download</p></div>
<p>This PDF currently uses the original racial modifiers despite the fact that I still suspect that they may be slightly too high.</p>
<p>A number of readers have expressed interest in trying this in their games. I would LOVE to hear feedback from those that do, particularly about adjustments that you&#8217;ve made and your experiences with the multi-class methods.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Roll to Advance (pt 5) &#8211;Wrap-Up</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-5-wrap-up</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-5-wrap-up#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:59:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roll to advance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rules]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2079</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the conclusion to the series of posts on our Roll to Advance alternative experience and advancement system for our fantasy RPG. In short: At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is the conclusion to the series of posts on our <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Roll to Advance</a> alternative experience and advancement system for our fantasy RPG. In short: <strong>At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, the PC advances to the next level. </strong> Accumulated XP, awarded at a rate of 1 (one) per gaming session, provide a positive modifier to this roll. Traditional experience point awards and tracking are eliminated. We&#8217;re using it in our modified Labyrinth Lord game, but it should work similarly in any old-school version of the game.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Part 1</a> introduced the system and outlined its basic operation. <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes">Part 2</a> looked at the specific numbers for each of the standard character classes. <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races">Part 3</a> discussed demi-human races and the penalty paid by these characters, plus the elimination of the racial level limits. <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class">Part 4</a> looked at two options for multi-classed characters using this system. Today I&#8217;ll offer a few final thoughts and point out some feedback from readers.</p>
<p>In the limited time we&#8217;ve used this system, it has performed more or less like we expected. We haven&#8217;t had a lot of characters level up yet, but then we don&#8217;t get to play as often as we&#8217;d like, either. I expect with more use I will have better ideas about how to do things or at least some tweaks to try.<br />
<span id="more-2079"></span></p>
<p>With one d20 roll becoming of such paramount importance, game masters might want to specify a special die for the roll to advance attempts. We&#8217;ve chosen a particularly ugly purplish d20 for the task. That way when we fail to level up we can just hate the sickly thing and then get on with our lives. I will have to run it through Delta&#8217;s <a href="http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2009/02/testing-balanced-die.html">Testing a Balanced Die</a>, though, just to be sure.</p>
<p>Something that I maybe should have spent a little more time on in the first post is the obvious fact that a lot of serious gamers will not like the idea of ditching traditional XP tracking and replacing it with a die roll, even using a system like this which is meant to mimic the advancement rates of the standard system. At one time I would have dismissed this, too. But now I&#8217;ve become a lot more laid back in my gaming and think that this system not only simplifies book-keeping, it&#8217;s <em>fun</em>. This is a game, after all.</p>
<p>I do happen to like the &#8220;XP for Gold&#8221; rule, and in fact awarded 3 or 5 XP for every gold piece until we began using this system. Despite buying the idea that XP for gold represents a measure of &#8220;success,&#8221; I wasn&#8217;t happy with the amount of treasure that I needed to hand out to get characters sufficient experience to advance. That was working fine but, being a tinkerer, I decided to fix what wasn&#8217;t really broken and ended up coming up with a system that doesn&#8217;t track in-game results at all.</p>
<p>Something I meant to include in the post on multi-classing is the following level comparison of some various classes and multi-classes in my simulator after 10, 20, and 50 sessions:</p>
<table style="height: 102px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="460">
<col span="5" width="64"></col>
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td width="64" height="20"></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Elf</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Elf</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Elf</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Human</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Ftr</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Ftr/MU</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Ftr/Thf</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Ftr/Thf</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td width="64" height="20"><strong>10 sessions<br />
</strong></td>
<td width="64">2 or 3</td>
<td>1 or 2</td>
<td>1 or 2</td>
<td>prob 2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td width="64" height="20"><strong>20 sessions<br />
</strong></td>
<td width="64">3 or 4</td>
<td>prob 2</td>
<td>2 or 3</td>
<td>3 or 4</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td width="64" height="20"><strong>50 sessions<br />
</strong></td>
<td width="64">prob 6</td>
<td>prob 4</td>
<td>4 or 5</td>
<td>5 or 6</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="height:15px;"></div>
<p>This is using the single-level option and actually strengthens my suspicion that the demi-human adjustment level might be a little high. Timeshadows <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races/comment-page-1#comment-1602">pointed out some misgivings</a> about the idea in a comment and <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races/comment-page-1#comment-1606">proposed alternate tables for elves and half-elves</a> in a follow-up. Here are the numbers she suggested:</p>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="192">
<col span="3" width="64"></col>
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td width="64" height="20"></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Elf</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Half-Elf</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="19">
<td height="19"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>5</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>11</strong></td>
<td>5</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>12</strong></td>
<td>6</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="height:15px;"></div>
<p>Now, I&#8217;ll say right off that I think these are a bit low. However, it demonstrates how easy it is to customize the system for your campaign and your sensibilities. And, as noted in the original post, if you don&#8217;t like the idea of demi-humans paying &#8220;extra&#8221; for their abilities and long lives, go ahead and stick with the level limits and ignore racial modifiers when rolling to advance. Simple.</p>
<p>Another suggestion from the comments was <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance/comment-page-1#comment-1570">this</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>You might wish to consider having a bonus XP and allow players to vote for whomever did the best role-playing that night. That also might foster more imaginative play among at your table.</p></blockquote>
<p>This might not be a bad idea, sort of along the lines of how the NHL awards the &#8220;stars of the game&#8221; after it&#8217;s over. Could lead to grandstanding in an attempt to pick up precious XP, and players who are a little more reserved or don&#8217;t want to talk in squeaky elf voices might be at a disadvantage. But I can see it being a lot of fun with the right group. (For what it&#8217;s worth, I can see doing this with regular XP in the standard system, as well.)</p>
<p>Another slightly related idea was to <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance/comment-page-1#comment-1584">possibly award XP for &#8220;spectacular achievements.&#8221;</a> Stupendous maneuvers, amazing clutch shots, or wildly unorthodox approaches (that succeed) could all be awarded with a bonus XP. Taking it even a step further, some truly momentous moves could possibly allow a “spectacular advancement check” right then and there. Maybe, just maybe, some moves are so overwhelmingly awesome that the character goes up in level immediately. Now, I&#8217;m not necessarily endorsing this. But I think it shows how the basic roll to advance system can be tweaked to fit any style of game.</p>
<p>Also brought up was the idea that maybe the single-level multi-class scheme (where levels for each of the classes are NOT tracked separately) <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class/comment-page-1#comment-1625">could be adapted for a standard experience and advancement system</a>. I&#8217;ve got no doubt that it could be without too much work. The question was asked how to convert the simple &#8220;subtract 12&#8243; modifier to standard XP charts, and my answer is this: That &#8220;subtract 12&#8243; number came from what I decided &#8220;seemed about right.&#8221; There isn&#8217;t any secret mathematical formula to anything in this system. I simply took numbers that looked right, simulated the heck out of them, and adjusted them until they looked like they&#8217;d get me the results I wanted. So go ahead and try the same thing with regular XP charts. Add the two classes together and subtract a certain number (or maybe a certain percentage) and see if it seems right.</p>
<p>Because if you look at the original game, you&#8217;ll see that the original designers didn&#8217;t use too many secret mathematical formulas. They just did what they thought seemed right. And, despite what was probably an awful lot of trial and error, those numbers have stood up fairly well.</p>
<p>Finally, here is a different roll to advance system over at <a href="http://9and30kingdoms.blogspot.com/2009/12/random-advancment.html">The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms</a>. Reading through the <a href="http://9and30kingdoms.blogspot.com/search/label/xp">follow-up posts</a>, I can see that it isn&#8217;t exactly what I&#8217;m wanting. But I wish I had been aware of it earlier, as there are some good ideas there. I must also admit that I do believe I had seen Geoffrey&#8217;s simple d20 advancement system comment (quoted in the post) somewhere, though it is a bit too random for my tastes.</p>
<p>I hope that this series of posts has been worthwhile and that at least a few players will consider using the system. If anyone does, I would LOVE to get your feedback, particularly the tweaks you&#8217;re almost certain to apply as you adopt it into your game. I certainly don&#8217;t expect many to adopt this wholesale, and maybe no one will really get into it at all. But I hope it&#8217;s been an interesting read and has stoked some fires of creativity along the way.</p>
<p><em>I plan to put together a quick PDF summary of the numbers for this system so that those who want to give it a try have a handy reference. It should be up in a couple of days. In the meantime, I look forward to even more feedback from readers.</em></p>
<p><strong>Roll to Advance</strong>:<br />
Pt. 1 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Intro and Basics</a><br />
Pt. 2 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes">Classes</a><br />
Pt. 3 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races">Races</a><br />
Pt. 4 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class">Multi-Classed Characters</a><br />
Pt. 5 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-5-wrap-up">Wrap-up and Feedback</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Roll to Advance (pt 4) &#8211;Multi-Classed Characters</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:59:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roll to advance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rules]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2056</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to part four of our series of posts on our Roll to Advance alternative experience and advancement system for our fantasy RPG. In short: At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Welcome to part four of our series of posts on our <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Roll to Advance</a> alternative experience and advancement system for our fantasy RPG. In short: <strong>At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, the PC advances to the next level. </strong> Accumulated XP, awarded at a rate of 1 (one) per gaming session, provide a positive modifier to this roll. Traditional experience point awards and tracking are eliminated. We&#8217;re using it in our modified Labyrinth Lord game, but it should work similarly in any old-school version of the game.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Part 1</a> introduced the system and outlined its basic operation. <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes">Part 2</a> looked at the specific numbers for each of the standard character classes. <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races">Part 3</a> discussed demi-human races and the penalty paid by these characters, plus the elimination of the racial level limits. Today we&#8217;re looking at multi-classed characters.</p>
<p>To say that I&#8217;m not really a big fan of multi-classed characters would be a bit of an understatement, at least as they&#8217;ve been run before. And the dual-class option available to human characters in several editions of the game is even worse. So I&#8217;m taking this as an opportunity to made widespread changes to the multi-class system. This new approach looks like it will work quite well in our game, but others may not be fans. So I&#8217;m offering two options. No doubt there are others. My recommendation would be to decide upon one of these (or another) and stick with it rather than allowing multiple methods of multi-classing. But that, of course, is up the to players in each campaign.</p>
<p><strong>The first alternative</strong> would be for the player simply to choose which class he or she wants to attempt to roll to advance at the end of each session. This is quick, easy, and will give results similar to the traditional method of multi-classing. Accumulated XP could be used toward either class, and a limit could be placed on how far apart the classes could be. Say, no more than three levels may separate them. Alternatively there would be no limit. Nothing would stop a player from making a 10th/1st level fighter/magic-user.</p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>Example</strong>: A magic-user/thief may elect to roll to advance in level in </em>either<em> magic-user </em>or<em> thief, but not both. If the magic-user/thief reaches level 5/2, she may not attempt to advance further in magic-user until she gains at least one more level in thief unless there is no limit on the gap between classes. Attempting to advance to 6th-level magic-user would require a 28, while advancing to 3rd-level thief only requires an 18. XP used to gain levels in one class are used and may not be applied toward the other class after a later session.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>When creating the character, roll both hit dice and divide by two. When rolling hit dice upon advancing, roll the die appropriate to the class being advanced and divide by two. Fractions could be retained to be used later, dropped, or rounded up. Another option would be to round the larger die down and the smaller die up.<br />
<span id="more-2056"></span></p>
<p>Something that I think is cool and fun about this approach is that the player has control over exactly what sort of character they work for. I can see the 10th-level fighter/1st-level magic-user being interesting to play, if there is no limit to the gap between classes, and it could be used to re-create characters from literature. In fact, this would not be all that different from the somewhat odd approach taken with elves in the original (pre-supplement) D&amp;D where the player had to choose each day which class to play and earn experience for, except that all earned abilities from both classes would always be available. A problem with this, though, would be a 1st/10th fighter/magic-user who would be able to use the weapons and armor of a fighter while only bothering with the rolls to advance of a magic-user.</p>
<p><strong>The second approach</strong>, the one we&#8217;re trying out now in our own game, does away with tracking separate levels for multi-classed characters. A fighter/cleric begins at 1st level, then advances to 2nd level, then to 3rd, and so on. The abilities in each class equal those of a single-classed character, and abilities in both classes go up a level upon a successful roll to advance.</p>
<p>Hit dice for this single-level multi-class option alternate, with the larger hit die being rolled on odd-numbered levels and the smaller hit die being rolled on even-numbered levels.</p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>Example</strong>: A  starting fighter/cleric of 1st level rolls a fighter hit die (d8 in Labyrinth Lord) during creation and has all the abilities of a both a 1st-level fighter and a 1st-level cleric. After a few sessions, the player successfully rolls to advance to 2nd level.  At that point the player rolls a cleric hit die (d6 in LL) to increase hit points and gains all the abilities of a 2nd-level fighter and a 2nd-level cleric. Upon gaining 3rd-level, the player will roll another fighter hit die, and so on.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>The required roll to advance in this single-level scheme is calculated by taking the two target numbers for the two separate classes and deducting 12. Triple-class characters deduct 24. Several of the more common multi-class combinations are listed below:</p>
<table style="height: 265px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="510">
<col width="24"></col>
<col span="8" width="47"></col>
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="23">
<td width="24" height="23"><strong><br />
</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Clc/</strong><br />
<strong>MU</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Clc/</strong><br />
<strong>Thf</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>F/</strong><br />
<strong>MU</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Ftr/</strong><br />
<strong>Clc</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Ftr/</strong><br />
<strong>Thf</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>MU/</strong><br />
<strong>Thf</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Clc/</strong><br />
<strong>Ftr/</strong><br />
<strong>MU</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Ftr/</strong><br />
<strong>MU/</strong><br />
<strong>Thf</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>24</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>29</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>28</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>27</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>34</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>32</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>30</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>30</td>
<td>41</td>
<td>39</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>37</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>33</td>
<td>31</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>47</td>
<td>45</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>40</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>40</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>39</td>
<td>52</td>
<td>51</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>44</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>44</td>
<td>40</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>42</td>
<td>58</td>
<td>56</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>49</td>
<td>41</td>
<td>49</td>
<td>44</td>
<td>41</td>
<td>46</td>
<td>65</td>
<td>62</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>53</td>
<td>45</td>
<td>52</td>
<td>47</td>
<td>44</td>
<td>50</td>
<td>70</td>
<td>67</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>56</td>
<td>48</td>
<td>56</td>
<td>50</td>
<td>48</td>
<td>54</td>
<td>75</td>
<td>73</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>61</td>
<td>51</td>
<td>61</td>
<td>54</td>
<td>51</td>
<td>58</td>
<td>82</td>
<td>79</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>11</strong></td>
<td>65</td>
<td>54</td>
<td>65</td>
<td>58</td>
<td>54</td>
<td>61</td>
<td>88</td>
<td>84</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>12</strong></td>
<td>69</td>
<td>58</td>
<td>68</td>
<td>61</td>
<td>57</td>
<td>65</td>
<td>93</td>
<td>89</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="height:15px;"></div>
<p>As the numbers increase at higher levels, the deduction of 12 per additional class becomes an increasingly smaller proportion of the total. This represents the growing difficulty in mastering more than one discipline when compared to a single-classed character who does not have to split his or her attention.</p>
<p>Remember that demi-human characters will have to add their racial modifier to this number at each level if using the system which eliminates level limits.</p>
<p>Speaking of racial modifiers, I&#8217;m thinking that in our game we will open up at least some of the multi-class options to human characters. The final decision on this is still to be made, though, and it is the sort of thing that will probably vary from campaign to campaign in any event.</p>
<p>A final word about a special multi-class combination: the Bard. In our game, bards are going to be multi-classed fighter/thief/illusionists with some additional musical abilities. Exactly how this is going to be worked out, I don&#8217;t quite know yet. But the potential is there with this system.</p>
<p><strong>NEXT</strong>: A final summary and wrap-up, including discussion of some of the feedback I&#8217;ve received so far.</p>
<p><strong>Roll to Advance</strong>:<br />
Pt. 1 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Intro and Basics</a><br />
Pt. 2 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes">Classes</a><br />
Pt. 3 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races">Races</a><br />
Pt. 4 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class">Multi-Classed Characters</a><br />
Pt. 5 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-5-wrap-up">Wrap-up and Feedback</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Roll to Advance (pt 3) &#8211;The Races</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:59:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roll to advance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rules]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=2035</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the third part of my series of posts on our Roll to Advance alternative experience and advancement system for our fantasy RPG. In short: At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is the third part of my series of posts on our <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Roll to Advance</a> alternative experience and advancement system for our fantasy RPG. In short: <strong>At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, the PC advances to the next level. </strong> Accumulated XP, awarded at a rate of 1 (one) per gaming session, provide a positive modifier to this roll. Traditional experience point awards and tracking are eliminated. We&#8217;re using it in our modified Labyrinth Lord game, but it should work similarly in any old-school version of the game.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Part 1</a> introduced the system and outlined its basic operation. <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes">Part 2</a> looked at the specific numbers for each of the standard character classes. This part looks at racial modifiers to those numbers and the elimination of something I&#8217;ve never really liked: the level limit for demi-human characters.</p>
<p>Gamers who like the idea of level limits, and I know that there are at least a few of you out there, could probably just ignore this component of the Roll to Advance system. It&#8217;s designed to account for racial abilities and longevity in another manner. Gamers who detest the idea of level limits, and there do seem to be an awful lot of them, may read on.</p>
<p>Basically, every non-human race has a penalty at every level to offset the bonuses and advantages that  demi-humans enjoy, including the extended lifespan that conceivably allows them to adventure for many decades or centuries longer than their human counterparts.</p>
<p>The penalties for each race are as follows:</p>
<table style="height: 260px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="470">
<col width="24"></col>
<col span="6" width="47"></col>
<col width="41"></col>
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td width="24" height="20"></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Dwarf</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Elf</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Gnome</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Halfling</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Half-Elf</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Half-Orc</strong></td>
<td width="41"><strong>Human</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>4</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>5</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>6</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>7</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>8</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>9</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>10</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>11</td>
<td>15</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>11</strong></td>
<td>13</td>
<td>17</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>12</strong></td>
<td>14</td>
<td>19</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="height:15px;"></div>
<p>The appropriate value from this table is added to the standard class target to get the roll to advance number for a demi-human. Please note that, like the class listings, this table shows the number needed to advance <em>from</em> the current level, not <em>to</em> the next level.</p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>Example</strong>: A fifth-level dwarf fighter needs a 30 to advance to sixth level, 24 from the class table plus 6 for being a dwarf.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>If these penalties seem excessive, remember that demi-human characters will now have no limitation to the level they can reach. And their extended adventuring career, thanks to living so long, will give them the opportunity to reach those levels.<br />
<span id="more-2035"></span></p>
<p>Meanwhile, even at first level, demi-humans enjoy significant bonuses and abilities over human adventurers. Infravision, detection of secret doors and traps, substantial bonuses to saving throws, resistance to various special attacks, extra languages, and so on. The great weakness of the level limitation as a means of balancing these abilities out is that the limitation does not begin to affect the character until rather high levels. The approach taken by the Roll to Advance system is to spread that penalty out over every level. If these abilities are not accounted for in some manner, there would be no reason to play a human.</p>
<p>One way to look at these penalties is to view them as the number of extra sessions that must be spent at each level. An elf, for instance, will have to spend a total of 12 extra sessions (3+4+5), on average, before reaching 4th level. If this seems like a lot, remember that elves have (according to Labyrinth Lord&#8217;s Advanced Edition Companion) 394 years of &#8216;adult&#8217; life before reaching &#8216;middle age&#8217; and aging penalties. Humans have 40 years. If anything, the advancement penalty for elves is too low. But as few players will actually play out game centuries of adventure with an elf PC, I think the game is better with the penalties where they are. (I actually have the rate increase slightly as the characters reach higher levels, but this isn&#8217;t terribly clear until reaching levels beyond 12.)</p>
<p>Here is comparison of fighters using a spreadsheet simulation I created showing the most common levels after the given number of play sessions:</p>
<table style="height: 80px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="342">
<col width="76"></col>
<col span="3" width="64"></col>
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td width="76" height="20"></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Human</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Elf</strong></td>
<td width="64"><strong>Dwarf</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>10 sessions</strong></td>
<td>3 or 4</td>
<td>2 or 3</td>
<td>2 or 3</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>20 sessions</strong></td>
<td>5 or 6</td>
<td>3 or 4</td>
<td>4 or 5</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>50 sessions</strong></td>
<td>8 or 9</td>
<td>prob 6</td>
<td>6 or 7</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="height:15px;"></div>
<p>This seems to fit my view of how things should be. Others, no doubt, will have their own view of this issue and will want to adjust the racial numbers accordingly. This is simple enough to do with a few quick changes.</p>
<p>In play, record the number needed to advance on the character sheet, calculated by simply adding the class/level target and the racial modifier, in the experience section along with any accumulated XP. At the end of the session add another XP, roll a d20, and see if you made it. If your roll plus your XP (including the one you just earned) equal or exceed the roll to advance, you did. Deduct any used XP from your total and advance to the next level. If you didn&#8217;t make it, try again next session. And never worry about hitting the level limit.</p>
<p><strong>NEXT</strong>: Using multi-classed characters with this system presents some problems. I decided to use these problems as an opportunity to &#8220;fix&#8221; what I&#8217;ve always perceived to be a partially broken multi-class system. If you don&#8217;t hate this system yet, maybe you will after seeing tomorrow&#8217;s post.</p>
<p><strong>Roll to Advance</strong>:<br />
Pt. 1 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Intro and Basics</a><br />
Pt. 2 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes">Classes</a><br />
Pt. 3 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races">Races</a><br />
Pt. 4 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class">Multi-Classed Characters</a><br />
Pt. 5 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-5-wrap-up">Wrap-up and Feedback</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Roll to Advance (pt 2) &#8211;The Classes</title>
		<link>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes</link>
		<comments>http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:29:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kilgore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labyrinth Lord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roll to advance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rules]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lordkilgore.com/?p=1999</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday I introduced the Roll to Advance alternative system for character experience and advancement in our classic fantasy game. In short: At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, the PC advances to the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yesterday I introduced the <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Roll to Advance</a> alternative system for character experience and advancement in our classic fantasy game. In short: <strong>At the end of each playing session, the player rolls a d20. If the modified roll exceeds a specified number based on the character&#8217;s class, race, and current level, the PC advances to the next level. </strong> Accumulated XP, awarded at a rate of 1 (one) per gaming session, provide a positive modifier to this roll. Traditional experience point awards and tracking are eliminated.</p>
<p>We&#8217;re using this system in our heavily house-ruled Labyrinth Lord game, but I see no reason why it wouldn&#8217;t work in other similar games.</p>
<p>Below are the rolls needed to advance at each level for each class. (Note that this table shows the number needed to advance <em>from</em> the current level, not <em>to</em> the next level. For example, a 4th level assassin needs to roll a modified 22 to advance to 5th level.)</p>
<table style="height: 263px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="500">
<col width="24"></col>
<col span="6" width="47"></col>
<col width="41"></col>
<col span="2" width="47"></col>
<col width="34"></col>
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="23">
<td width="24" height="23"><strong><br />
</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Ass</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Clc</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Drd</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Ftr</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Ill</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>M-U</strong></td>
<td width="41"><strong>Mnk</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Pal</strong></td>
<td width="47"><strong>Rng</strong></td>
<td width="34"><strong>Thf</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>17</td>
<td>17</td>
<td>18</td>
<td>17</td>
<td>18</td>
<td>19</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>21</td>
<td>18</td>
<td>17</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>19</td>
<td>19</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>19</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>21</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>23</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>18</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>21</td>
<td>21</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>21</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>23</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>19</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>22</td>
<td>23</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>23</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>23</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>31</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>23</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>25</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>27</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>30</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>33</td>
<td>27</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>27</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>30</td>
<td>33</td>
<td>34</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>25</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>28</td>
<td>30</td>
<td>31</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>39</td>
<td>31</td>
<td>27</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>29</td>
<td>31</td>
<td>33</td>
<td>31</td>
<td>34</td>
<td>37</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>41</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>29</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>31</td>
<td>33</td>
<td>34</td>
<td>33</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>40</td>
<td>41</td>
<td>43</td>
<td>34</td>
<td>30</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>11</strong></td>
<td>33</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>42</td>
<td>44</td>
<td>46</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>31</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center;" height="20">
<td height="20"><strong>12</strong></td>
<td>34</td>
<td>37</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>40</td>
<td>44</td>
<td>46</td>
<td>49</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>33</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="height:15px;"></div>
<p>This table only goes through 12th level. Currently, that is what we&#8217;re considering to be our maximum level for any character in our game. Higher levels are possible, but we will essentially deal with that when we get to it, probably with a &#8220;high-level adventuring&#8221; type supplement to our core rules. The advancement rate for each class continues on in the same pattern it took to reach 12th level.<br />
<span id="more-1999"></span></p>
<p>There are two factors in determining the number for each class at each level: the starting point (number to advance from 1st level to 2nd) and the progression rate. I have done my best to accurately represent the various classes in relation to each other, taking the standard XP requirements as a starting point and tweaking them slightly. For instance, I have always felt that the cleric&#8217;s advancement numbers were woefully low. So I increased them slightly and they are now roughly comparable to the fighter&#8217;s. Also, in our game we have ramped up the thief a little, giving him d6 hit dice, studded leather armor, and some other additional abilities. So the thief&#8217;s numbers are not quite as low in respect to the other classes as might be expected.</p>
<p>As each character gains one XP for his first session, you can see that every class (even the paladin) has a chance to advance to 2nd level after only that first session. For the paladin this is only a 1-in-20 chance, while the assassin, cleric, fighter, and thief all have a 4-in-20 chance to advance after one session.</p>
<p>All classes except the paladin (who needs a 23 to reach 3rd level) could possibly advance again after the second session. For the monk, this would require rolling 20s after each of the first two sessions. The thief, on the other hand, would still have a 4-in-20 chance to advance to third level after the second session if he had been fortunate enough to roll a 20 after the first. If he had rolled a 16 after the first and had needed to use his only XP to advance to 2nd level, his chance of advancing again after the second session would fall to 3-in-20. This use of XPs, losing them they are &#8220;used,&#8221; is a key to the system. Players can help themselves by rolling well when they advance, but those that advance more quickly than others will do so by burning through more XP, giving others a chance to close the gap in later sessions.</p>
<p>Though the first few levels could possibly be a bit wild with some players rolling consistently well and others rolling consistently poorly, odds are that things will begin to even out after third or fourth level. The magic-user, for instance, requires a 26 to advance from 4th to 5th. The fastest she could have reached 4th level would have been four sessions (very quickly indeed) but she would have had to use all of her XP and roll twenties every time it was mathematically possible for her to advance. (After the third session, even rolling a 20 would not have advanced her because she would have had only 2 XP and needed a 23.) With a 26 required, that means that our example magic-user would have to play a minimum of six sessions at 4th level to accumulate six more XP and then roll a 20 to advance to 5th. Ten sessions to 5th level may seem quite quick to some (it does to me) but if a player can hit 20s in four straight rolls to advance, I say let them advance.</p>
<p>Besides the practical matter of characters in my games rarely reaching 9th or 10th level let alone 13th, another reason that our rules currently have a soft cap of 12th level is that as the rolls to advance become larger, the variability of the d20 becomes less and less of an issue. For instance, a ranger character would need a 45 to advance from 16th level to 17th. That means that a minimum of 25 XP, earned at one per session, would be required to achieve this. That removes a lot of the uncertainty about advancing at very high levels, making the number of sessions (to amass XP) more important than the actual rolling. I&#8217;m not sure if this is a bug or a feature, but I&#8217;m inclined to think it might be the latter. I will have to see this system in action for a while before I try to decide, though.</p>
<p>I have run these numbers through many simulations, tweaking them a bit here and there to get things where I want them. A fighter, for instance, will be 11th or 12th level after 100 sessions. That&#8217;s two years of weekly sessions. A magic-user will be 9th or 10th. A paladin will be 8th or (maybe) 9th. This seems about right to me. However, I freely acknowledge that my sensibilities about rate of character advancement may not match those of others, and I&#8217;m keen to hear what you think.</p>
<p>A simple tweak for those who disagree with requirements would be to give, say, a +2 adjustment to all rolls or lower every requirement by two. Or, perhaps, those who have not increased the thief&#8217;s abilities feel that the class should be easier to advance in, so they give it a bonus of 1. Or make magic-users more difficult to advance beyond 5th level. Not that customizing standard XP tables was all that tough, but these small numbers and the fact that it&#8217;s a single target rather than a range make such class tweaking even easier.</p>
<p><strong>NEXT</strong>: There is a modifier to the numbers on this table due to race. Humans have no modifier and use the listed numbers. Dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, half-elves, and half-orcs each must pay a penalty due to the extra abilities that demi-humans have. These penalties will be listed and discussed in tomorrow&#8217;s post, along with the elimination of a long-controversial element of the game.</p>
<p><strong>Roll to Advance</strong>:<br />
Pt. 1 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance">Intro and Basics</a><br />
Pt. 2 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-2-classes">Classes</a><br />
Pt. 3 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-3-races">Races</a><br />
Pt. 4 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-4-multi-class">Multi-Classed Characters</a><br />
Pt. 5 &#8211; <a href="http://www.lordkilgore.com/roll-to-advance-5-wrap-up">Wrap-up and Feedback</a></p>
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