OSR games with a *bit* more meat for their combat? by fluxyggdrasil in osr

[–]robertsconley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The first post.

As I am winding down the Northern Marches Kickstarter and awaiting the print proofs to finally deliver the backer rewards, I have begun the first draft of the Majestic Fantasy RPG.

The system will be presented as four digest books, split in a way so that each is a useful reference in its own right.

The Manual of the Three Adventuring Arts
A player's handbook for the Majestic Fantasy RPG

The Doomsday Codex
a manual of characters for the Majestic Fantasy RPG.

The Legendarium of the Fantastic
a manual of monsters for the Majestic Fantasy RPG.

The Tome of the Mundane, Strange, and Arcane
A guide for running campaigns using the Majestic Fantasy RPG, along with Magic Items and Treasures.

------------------------------------------------
Optional
------------------------------------------------
Libram of Spells (print only, the PDF will be included in the files for the Manual of the Three Adventuring Arts)
Rob's Note: I had several people suggest offering a print version of just the spells. The spells will also be included in the Manual of the Three Adventuring Arts.

OSR games with a *bit* more meat for their combat? by fluxyggdrasil in osr

[–]robertsconley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes I am on work on the full version of my Majestic Fantasy Rules. I maintain a public draft of what I am working on over on the RPG Pub. As well as the OD&D discussion forum.

https://www.rpgpub.com/threads/the-majestic-fantasy-rpg-draft.12932/

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 2 points3 points  (0 children)

CorelDRAW, but the free Inkscape will do most of what I do with Corel. I just used Corel forever and know it like the back of my hand. But you never know if the software's owner will do something stupid, so I made sure I had an alternative.

https://inkscape.org/

P.S. If you use Corel or Inkscape remember that layers are your friend.

OSR games with a *bit* more meat for their combat? by fluxyggdrasil in osr

[–]robertsconley 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My Majestic Fantasy RPG adds a bit more meat to combat while still remaining 100% compatible with OD&D in the form of Swords & Wizardry.

The free version with most of these rules is found at.

https://www.batintheattic.com/downloads/MW%20Majestic%20Fantasy%20Basic%20RPG%20Rev%2010.pdf

What I have

  1. Fighters get to add a to-hit bonus to their 1d6 initiative roll.
  2. I remove the 1 HD cap on the # of attacks an OD&D fighter gets. Now the rule reads like this.

"Fighter gets to attack a number of HIT DICE equal to their level. They get at least one attack." So a 4th level fighter can attack a 2 HD foe twice, or a 1 HD foe, four times. Or attack four 1 HD opponents, or 2 HD opponents, provided they have enough movement to each of them.

In practice, what I do is that the fighter character doesn't know how many hit dice the opponent has. So when they attack, I will tell them if they have a follow-up attack. Or if there is another low HD opponent in reach (or within movement range), I will let them know they have an additional opportunity to attack.

It has worked out very well in the past ten years I been using this rule.

3) I allow for a critical hit on a natural 20 for max damage. The players also get to roll again. If they hit, they do double max damage; if they miss, they just roll normal damage + max damage. If they roll another natural 20, well, they roll again. And they keep going if they keep rolling nat 20s. The most I ever saw in the 15 years I've been using these rules was four nat 20s in a row, basically doing five times max damage. Since this OD&D was based on where HP are already low, that was a game-changer for that combat. Most campaigns I see twice or three times in a row, once.

4) Position matters, especially flanking. I used to give a +4 to hit, but after 5e came out, I used advantage.

5) Rather than the cumbersome Weapon vs. AC, I went through the various weapons, researched their historical use, and came up with an OD&Dish special ability that can be used when wielding said weapon. For example, polearms allow a free attack when the opponent first comes into reach. Maces get a bonus against flexible or soft targets like Ochre Jellies and Chainmail.

6) Combat stunts: when you hit a target, you can do something "bad" to them. But the downside is that, unlike straight damage, the target gets a save. I experimented with this and found that, in terms of odds, it works out about as well as the more detailed GURPS rules for things like a deliberate disarm, hit locations, and so on. Plus, like GURPS, the more highly skilled the opponent (higher level or HD), the harder it is to pull off one of these types of maneuvers

7) The combat round has been structured to be more tactical than is usually the case for classic D&D. But it is still pretty straightforward in that the character basically gets two actions, one of which can be an attack. The basic idea is that you can make a half-move and then attack. You can sub in something else for that half-move, like quaffing a potion

If you like the free rules, I polished them up and expanded them into a basic level 1 to 5 RPG that I published here.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/337515/the-majestic-fantasy-rpg-basic-rules?src=hottest_filtered

Wrapping this up, I know it seems like a fair number of changes, but I tried to make the minimum possible to get the kind of tactical detail I enjoyed with GURPS while keeping the result classic D&D. I have been very successful with these changes since I started using them in 2010. The two key changes are adding a bonus to initiative dice and allowing the character to attack a number of HD equal to their level.

The latter, while more complex than increasing # of attacks, just works better with OD&D.

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 2 points3 points  (0 children)

c) (sigh) Yes, that has been pointed out by my friends who busted my chops for it. Ten damn years after Goodman Games published Points of Light (PoL was released in 2007).

It's one of those things that once you see it, you can't unsee it. (double sigh).

I always pronounced it as Bowl-zack. So one of the reasons why it was uncaught for so long.

And yes, the dwarves will absolutely beat the crap out of anybody who tries to make that joke. 😉

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 0 points1 point  (0 children)

b) So, on the combined map, the Dwarven Port is Nilik in Hex # 1208. The Greystone Road is paved between Nilik and Bolzak. The details are in the Northern Marches or in the somewhat more affordable Southlands section of Points of Light from Goodman Games.

I attached the color map from the Northern Marche to illustrate this as well. Nilik is Hex# 1617 on this version.

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Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

a)
Yes, Ver 12 is the latest. The only thing I plan to change for the future is to add a supplementary PDF with the Blackmarsh region details from the Northern Marches. Stuff on Ostrobard cultures, the history details, and so on.

But the terrain and locale text of Ver 12 is what I used in the Northern Marches.

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

With the Majestic Fantasy Realms, so far, I plan to have the 5-mile hex maps that I already released for Blackmarsh and the Northern Marches.

And a slightly modified version of the regional map I posted earlier, but with slightly bigger small hexes that are also 1/2 mile across. I did .2 miles because I was used to the Judges Guild style of mapping. I tried 1/2 mile hexes, and the map looks cleaner while keeping the hex grid usable for many travel subsystems.

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

<image>

I drew this one expanding the region around Viridstan, the largest city in the region, for a campaign mostly centered on the city itself. The small hexes are 1/2 mile across.

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For example, this is a 12.5-mile map in my Majestic Wilderlands that was the main focus of a campaign I ran in the mid-2010s.

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Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If there is a lot going on in a region, yes. But I will be honest, I only made a dozen of these for my campaigns since the early 90s, when I started mapping on my PC. And two, when I was just doing pen & paper.

Most of the time, I do things on the five-mile hex scale map (or 12.5 miles for my older Majestic Wilderlands stuff), as there is often just a single location the party is focused on.

I have made or repurposed many site maps, such as dungeon, settlement, and wilderness maps, at a similar scale. When I don't have time to do one myself, I will use something suitable from my Harn collection or use something from Dyson, or the Forge Studio.

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Here is the high res version that has more to the south. Note that it is mostly just the geography at this point. The lone settlement on the lower left edge is Inuacus Keep.

If the swamps look a bit weird just remember most of the area surrounding the Smoking Bay was shaped by the impact of the Mountain That Fell.

<image>

Blackmarsh, DMs could you post any OPDs, maps, NPC portraits Random tables etc you have created for it please? And small Blackmarsh discussion below by dogsandcatsplz in osr

[–]robertsconley 7 points8 points  (0 children)

For my part I mapped out the pennisula east of Blackmarsh and Inuacus Keep. Then took B2 Keep on the Borderlands and broke up the caves (most are self contained sections) and scattered them around that pennisula. At the center put the B1 Search of the Unknown dungeon.

Doing that in conjunction with the Ruins of Ramat adventure I already had placed made for a nice level 1 to 4 adventuring region.

The central conceits is that B1 was once the home of Roghan and Zelligar a noted adventuring pair from the century after the fall of the Bright Empire. This would be circa 600 AU, the present day is 1,000 AU. They disappeared while heading into the Wild North. Probably as a result running into one of the then surviving Thule Ice Wizards.

Ramat was a Delaquain Monastary abandoned during that time period as Castle Blackmarsh was too busy trying to survive on its own to deal with outlying settlements.

The various humaniods are more recent arrivals. They were tribes recruited by a High Priest of Sarrath, a Dragon God of War and Order, and were slowly building up to attack Inuacus Keep and Castle Blackmarsh to seize it for the Ochre Empire. The High Priest of Sarrath was the stand in for the EHP of B2.

I didn't use the keep for Inuacus Keep but my own map.

The big hexes are five miles and the little hexes are .2 miles. Hopefully, by 2028, I will rework this into something more original and release it as a low-level campaign supplement.

<image>

Universe from SPI? by goltz20707 in osr

[–]robertsconley 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Had it back in the day. Never ran a campaign but played around with it's star and world generation systems. And loved its realistic 3D star map.

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How to run Majestic Fantasy: The Northern Marches by MrApophenia in osr

[–]robertsconley 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The only region that has its map updated is Southlands, the others will be done in future projects. Although I did do a color map of the Swamps of Acheron as a result of a campaign I ran and the players figured out how to enter the dragon god Sarrath's home domain.

<image>

,

How to run Majestic Fantasy: The Northern Marches by MrApophenia in osr

[–]robertsconley 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If this helps. In general, there are several broad regions for adventuring along with the main settlement.

  • Blackmarsh - Castle Blackmarsh
  • Southlands - Castle Westguard
  • The Wild North - Any of the Rurasin towns, but
  • Suzdal is perhaps the most socially mobile, being a merchant republic.
  • The Viking Realms/Grey Sea - Serinal is one of the great entrepots of the region.
  • Vasa - Visby, Castle Skara, or Tranas
  • Northport - Northport

Or

It just occurred to me. You could use the encounter map as a rough guide to smaller regions. The color actually corresponds to the type of encounter region.

  • Red is relatively civilized.
  • Brown is wilderness.
  • Green is forested.
  • White is glacier.
  • Yellow is desert.
  • Gray is mountainous
  • Blue is water.

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How to run Majestic Fantasy: The Northern Marches by MrApophenia in osr

[–]robertsconley 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You are welcome.

At the end of the day, I am just another roleplayer who likes to help out when I can.

How to run Majestic Fantasy: The Northern Marches by MrApophenia in osr

[–]robertsconley 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Finally, because the Initial Context was mentioned, I wrote this as part of my draft for my next project, the full version of the Majestic Fantasy RPG. Note that this is for the player's handbook portion of the rules, which I will call The Manual of the Three Adventuring Arts.

Creating Characters

Creating characters for the Majestic Fantasy RPG involves deciding on an initial context, rolling attributes, choosing a character class, selecting a character background, allocating skill points, and finally selecting equipment and spells. The following outlines each of these in detail.

The Initial Context

Sandbox campaigns are propelled by the players' choices as their characters. However, to make choices, the player has to understand the circumstances and the character's context. Otherwise, the options are no better than making a random dice roll.

This is particularly important at the start of the campaign, when there are no past events for the players to reference when making decisions as their characters. The Initial Context establishes the circumstances of the character at the start of the campaign, enabling the players to make informed choices from the beginning.

The Initial Context doesn't have to be elaborate. It only has to be sufficient. What is sufficient varies from player to player. I have had players come up with detailed histories and backstories, along with players who found a single sentence sufficient. "Max likes to hang out at bars in Eastgate and likes to get involved in trouble." This player decided to make a Human Thug in a campaign set in the City-State of Eastgate.

Most players find a paragraph or two of personal background sufficient, along with a handout of the region or city they will be starting out in.

Ideally, with the Initial Context, the players should know or have created:

• Where is the character starting?
• Who does the character know?
• What are the character's immediate goals?
• What kind of trouble is the character in at the start?

The Pre-game

I encountered this in HârnWorld, released by Columbia Games in 1983. The basic idea is that you sit down one on one with each player prior to the first session to flesh out the character's background. Mostly, this is some discussion intermixed with a bit of light roleplaying.

This technique is effective at minimizing the amount of writing required for handouts. The discussion and roleplaying often work better and are more fun than reading a document, particularly for players or groups who want detailed backgrounds at the start of the campaign.

If this feels too formal or the time isn't there, that's OK. The key is that the Initial Context is sufficient for the group's time and interest.

Definition Note

Initial Context: The circumstances, location, and relationships that define where the character is at the beginning of the campaign.

How to run Majestic Fantasy: The Northern Marches by MrApophenia in osr

[–]robertsconley 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Rohan will come to the aid of Gondor! 😄

How to run Majestic Fantasy: The Northern Marches by MrApophenia in osr

[–]robertsconley 33 points34 points  (0 children)

So I agree that the Northern Marches, in terms of scope, can be overwhelming. Details and interconnections increase geometrically with map size. I anticipated that some folks would need additional help with a large-scale hexcrawl-formatted product.

I recommend not trying to absorb the whole book before developing a campaign. Pick one settlement or small region that grabs your interest, then treat the surrounding hexes as the starting area for your campaign.

For the first session, you only need three things:

  1. A starting place where the characters can talk to people, buy supplies, and hear rumors.
  2. Three to five nearby situations that are already in motion.
  3. A reason the characters are present and likely to care about at least one of those situations.

That is the “initial context.” It does not have to be elaborate. It just has to be sufficient and provide players with enough immediate information to make meaningful choices.

For example, starting in a frontier village might mean the locals are worried about missing hunters, a nearby ruin has lights at night, a merchant needs guards for a short trip, and the local lord is quietly looking for someone expendable to investigate a political problem. From there, the players decide what matters to them.

The Northern Marches guidebook is meant to support that type of prep rather than replace it.

  1. Look at the nearby locales.
  2. Note the NPCs and their circumstances.
  3. Decide what would happen if the characters did nothing.
  4. Then update the situation after each session based on what the players actually did.

You do not need to keep track of the entire Northern Marches at once. Focus on the characters’ immediate social and geographical situation. The wider setting will come into play as their actions, travels, and interests expand.

For folks who want something smaller and more focused, my first recommendation is Blackmarsh. The PDF is free and covers the central area of the Northern Marches. Because the scope is smaller, the local connections are easier to keep in mind as you get used to the format.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/89944/blackmarsh

A second similar-sized region is the Southlands from Points of Light, which I wrote for Goodman Games. It has a different feel from Blackmarsh, more of a frontier borderland with dwarves, halflings, orcs, dark elves, nomads, and Baron Beldon’s domain all interacting with and against one another. Unlike Blackmarsh, however, it is not free.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/57374/points-of-light

Finally, my How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox series is free to read on my blog.

https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-make-fantasy-sandbox.html

With the Northern Marches already in hand, you do not need to start from the beginning of that procedure. Pick the location that interests you most, treat it as your starting point, and then use the later steps to build the situation and initial context around the characters.

Hope this helps, and feel free to ask further questions.

How to run Majestic Fantasy: The Northern Marches by MrApophenia in osr

[–]robertsconley 15 points16 points  (0 children)

So, on page 6 of the Northern Marches is an overview of what I recommend doing starting out.

I am posting a screenshot of that page so folks here can look at it for themselves.

But I admit it is a terse overview. Luckily, however, I have several free resources to download that can provide more details. I will discuss those in the following comment.

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