Monday, June 11, 2012

Magic Sword Redux


This set of tables is meant to replace the entire Monsters and Treasure sword section. It should create more variable sword results than the official rules, gathering much of its inspiration from Dave Arneson's First Fantasy Campaign

Magic Swords
Unique among magic weaponry, swords possess a number of human characteristics. These are Alignment (Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic), Intelligence, and Egoism. Thus for all intents and purposes, swords are Non Player Characters. And also like henchmen, may turn against their owners at inopportune moments.

Origin (d6): A sword’s exceptional abilities (if any) depend on the forger’s class. Furthermore, holy swords will have special powers in the hands of the paladin-type character.

1
Holy Sword, forged by Clerics
2-6
Magic Sword, forged by Magic-Users


Alignment (d6): Picking up a sword of opposite alignment will cause 2 dice worth of damage (2-12 points), otherwise if the alignment of the sword does not match the potential wielder, it will deal only 1 die (1-6 points).

1, 2, 3
Lawful
4, 5
Neutral
6
Chaotic
Non-player characters take only half damage, if not acting as a free agent, and may be freed from any spell, alignment change, or otherwise may be otherwise removed from the service of their former master.
If the sword’s Intelligence and Egoism is 6 or more points above the character's who picks it up, the sword will gain control of the person, even causing him to become aligned as the sword, and will immediately act accordingly. 
Intelligence (d12): Swords with an intelligence of 5 or greater will understand the language of their makers. For swords of 11 intelligence or above, roll 1d6 and select a number of additional languages known by the sword that best fit its abilities.


Mental Power
Communicative Ability
1-4
None endowed
None*
5-8
One primary power
Empathy
9, 10
Two primary powers
Empathy
11
3 primary powers and the ability to use languages
Speech
12
Also above, but also has 1-3 Extraordinary Abilities
Telepathy
* Power must be discovered by the wielder since the sword cannot communicate.

Primary Powers (d30)
1
Note Shifting Walls
2
Detect Rooms & Sloping Passages
3
Charm Person
4
Locate Secret Doors & Traps
5
Detect Traps
6
Detect Gems (# and Size)
7
See Invisible Objects
8
Detect Evil
9
Detect Metal & What Kind
10
Detect Magic
11
Healing (1 point/6 turns or 6 points/day)
12
Flaming Sword
13
Detect Copper
14
Light
15
Detect Living Beings
16
X-Ray Vision
17
1-4 Times Normal Strength for 1-10 Turns (1/day)
18
Wishes (2-8)
19
Detect Silver
20
Detect Undead
21
Read Magic
22
Sundering (25% chance/round to break opponent’s weapon)
23
Creature Detection (roll for specific creature type)
24
Detect Gold
25
Enemy Detection
26
Sword of Cold (+1-3 damage vs. fire use/dwelling monsters)
27
Detect Treasure (500 GP value or greater)
28
Anti-Magic (within 10’)
29
Roll Twice (ignore results 29, 30)
30
Roll for 1-3 Extraordinary Abilities

Purpose: 10% of swords will have a special purpose. These swords will automatically have their egoism score moved up to the maximum value (12) and will gain an additional ability:

Purpose (d20)
Bonus To Hit
Bonus to Damage (or Special*)
1-9: Slay Opposite Alignment (50/50 for neutral swords)
+1 to +3 vs. Alignment
None
10-15: Slay Monster
+1 to +3 vs. monster
Specific monster only
16: Slay Monsters (1-4)
+1 to +3 for monster (roll for each)
Specific Monsters only
17: Slay Fighters**
+1 to +3 vs. Fighting-Men
Fighting-Men only
18: Slay Magic-Users
+1 to +3 vs. Magic-Users
Magic-Users only
19: Slay Clerics
+1 to +3 vs. Clerics
Clerics only
20: Slay Thieves**
+1 to +3 vs. Thieves
Thieves only
* 10% of swords with a special purpose will instead paralyze (for Lawful swords) or disintegrate (for Chaotic swords) their foes rather than additional dealing damage. If no bonus to damage is indicated, reroll the result.
** If thieves are not used, roll 1d6: (1-2) Fighting-Men, (3-4) Magic-Users), (5-6) Clerics.
Swords without a specific purpose will have a universal bonus to hit against all opponents (rather than just specific ones), but not to damage, unlike swords with a specific purpose. Otherwise the bonus to hit and damage applies only to creatures of a specific type.

1, 2, 3
+1
4, 5
+2
6
+3

Extraordinary Abilities (d6): For swords indicated to have one or more exceptional abilities, consult the table below to determine what spell level the sword will possess.

Holy Sword
Casts spells as a 2-5 level cleric
Magic Sword
Casts spells as a 1-6 level magic-user
The actual number of spells the sword may cast (each usable only once each day) are determined as follows. Once the number of spells is determined, roll for which specific spells are known.

1, 2, 3
1 spell
4, 5
2 spells
6
3 spells

Egoism (d12): Swords with an intelligence of 5 or greater will have an ego rating. This is a measure of the sword’s self-interest, used to determine to what degree the sword will influence its wielder. The swords ego may cause the user to: pass off better weapons, allow itself to be captured by a higher level character closer to the sword’s station, surrender itself to a lower level character in order to exercise great control over its user, require a share of acquired treasure in the form of flamboyant scabbards, jewel encrustation, magical guarding devices, and the like.
In these cases, the sword may attempt to work against the wielder (although a sword will not usually work against a wielder whose alignment and goals coincided with that of the sword). First the sword’s influence must be determined: add Intelligence + Egoism +1 per special ability +1 per extraordinary ability (6-30). This is compared to the wielder’s intelligence and strength (5-36) and modified by the physical state of the user. If the wielder is fresh and relatively free of damage (less than 10%) from 1-6 points are added to his total (7-42 then possible). If damage from over 50% has been sustained, or the character is under mental strain from some form of magic, from 1-6 points are deducted (5-30 then possible).


Difference
Result
6 or more
Higher score always prevails
2 - 5
75% chance the higher score will prevail
0 - 1
50% either way

Rehashed Tables for Castle and Village Occupants


Here are the tables I've been using for stocking castles and villages around the wilderness in conjunction with "The Wilderness Architect." 

My intent with these tables was to make them a little less overtly magical, so fewer chimera or basilisk guardians, and more complete than the ones presented in Underworld and Wilderness Adventures.

Castle Occupant
Castle occupants are generally high level NPCs retired from adventuring, warfare, and other similar activities where experience may readily be gained.
Alignment should be rolled, not only for Lords, Wizards and the like, but for each classed NPC or group of like NPCs within a castle, town, or village. This creates a sort of factionalism that will lead to more interesting scenarios later on.

1
Lord

1, 2
Lawful
2
Superhero

3, 4
Neutral
3
Wizard

5, 6
Chaotic
4
Necromancer


5
Patriarch


6
Evil High Priest



Other Residents
In typical castle, 30-180 men will man the walls, half of whom will be crossbow armed light foot and the balance will be heavy foot. There is also a chance that there will be others in the castle’s party:

Castle Resident
% Chance of Having
Level
Fighting-Men
75% chance for 2-12 Knights
3-6

25% chance for Magic-User
5-8

50% chance for Cleric
3-6

5% chance for Monsters

Magic-User
50% chance for Fighting-Man
5-8

50% chance for Apprentice
4-7

10% chance for Monsters

Cleric
50% chance for 1-6 Assistants
4-7

50% chance for 3-18 Fighting-Men
2-5

5% chance for Monsters
N/A
Fighting-Men will typically be formed into an order of Knights or Templars, who may be sent out on quests or crusades and act as commanders in the ruler’s army in war times.
Monsters should be rolled based on the type of hex terrain the castle is built on from a list of like-aligned monsters. Thus a Chaotic ruler will be served only by Chaotic monsters while a Lawful one by Lawful monsters.  
Town and City Residents
There is a chance that villages, small towns, large towns, and city will small percentage of local Fighting-Men, Magic-Users, Clerics, and Thieves. Residents of these classes will generally form themselves into companies, guilds, and churches if there is enough of a certain class or warrant such. Alternatively, Fighting-Men may be of lesser nobility lording over the village. Levels will be from 1-4.


Fighting-Men
Magic-Users*
Clerics*
Thieves
Village
10%
5%
5%
-
Small Town
25%
10%
10%
10%
Large Town
50%
25%
25%
25%
City
85%
50%
50%
50%
* Use column for Fighting-Men if castle occupant is over this class.

Magic Items
Castle rules and other resident NPCs may possess magic items with a chance based on their level and type based on class.

Fighting-Men have 5% chance per level for…
Armor
Shield
Sword

Magic-Users have 5% chance per level for…
Wand/Staff
Ring
Misc. Magic
Potion (1d6)
Clerics have 5% chance per level for…
Misc. Weapon
Armor
Shield
Staff
Thieves have 5% chance per level for…
Ring
Sword
Misc. Weapon