Of Landed Knights and Sewer Grottos

I'll finish up my exploration of ability scores tomorrow (Strength, Intelligence). For now I'd like to talking about something new.

[Still working to get a group set up, it looks like I'll (finally) be getting a new real life campaign started up early in the new year. As of yesterday, I've got 8 interested players lined up - not bad - but we'd only be able to have 2 sessions before I'd have to break the game off for a month with half the players leaving town. Personally, I'd rather wait a bit than have a long hiatus that early in the game.

In the mean time, I'm exploring some ideas for play. With much of the first two levels of the Vats of Mazarin cleared out and relatively safe, I'm planning on placing the campaign in a different part of the world or a different setting entirely (I haven't decided).

With all of the new players (some of which have played 3.5 or 4th edition, but other are coming into this totally fresh), I'd like to use a pretty simple ruleset with brief character creation rules. AD&D is too much and I'm starting see more and more flaws in B/X, too many oversimplifications. Instead, I want something easily expandable. At first I considered LL + AEC so that any interested players could check out the rules in their free time. My girlfriend, however, has been more than remind me that I'm the only one who'll care about such things. Fine by me. But this isn't what I want to talk about...]

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I've been thinking of ways to tie characters into the game world. Clerics have their god, but I'd like something for Fighters and Magic-Users as well (thieves should, of course, remain opportunistic rogues.

Magic-Users in Holmes Basic can't allowed to carry their spell book around with them. Why? I'm not sure what the Dr. meant, but to me it's because the MU doesn't have just one book of spells, but a a couple book cases of them filling a modest library. To that end, I'm thinking of giving MUs a place - some run down and crumbling tower or the like - to keep and memorize spells.

Role a d6:
1. Old crumbling tower, not too far from town (50% inharitted)
2. Sewer grotto
3. Secret room within temple of major religion
4. Rested room in the basement of Alistor's Antiquities
5. Local magic-user's apprentice (random alignment)
6. Well housed as a tutor to local lord's sons (male only)

Likewise, I'm thinking that Fighters with a 13+ Charisma will have the option of starting play as a landed knight. Each estate will grant the knight 100x1d6 gp per year and house 3d6 servants, 2d6 men at arms, and 1d6 horses.

Roll a d6:
1. Thelismare Manner
2. Riverhold
3. Lilisfold Lodge (all attendants are cultists)
4. Fort Ravenmount
5. The Oblex Spire (creepy Gothic tower, harmless)
6. The Haunted Chateau (no value or attendants until cleared)

I'd like to expand this one with a few more results, half of which should possess some sort of complication with owning said manner.

This all being said, I don't want a character's lodgings to be a major aspect of the game, just somewhere characters can retire to between adventures or may be the source of an adventure to two, clearing out the Haunted Chateau, for instance or using the MU's secret alcove as a base of operations while infiltrating a local temple.