If you’re walking in on the end of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

That’s a wrap! Kind of, anyway, we have our rules sketched out. Advanced Fantasy Dungeons is the broadest, largest game I’ve written. Next, I’ll start laying it out into an alpha document so I can start limited playtesting at home, and with that I imagine will come more posts about how things change during layout, and also during playtesting, but I thought I’d pause a moment and reflect.

I went into this with a smirk, thinking I’d find a terrible game, full of flaws and failures. A game I loved as a child, but that I recognised was full of needless complexities even then. What I found instead was a challenging text, full of inconsistencies and implications, that lead me to consider that maybe it was more than immediately apparent.

I found it fascinating subtexts in examples of play, such as the Rath the Fighter examples in the combat chapter of the DMG, which revealed a gap left between the mechanics and the intended play style, and there were new concepts like ethos, that appeared to be intended to play a significant role in replacing older mechanics such as alignment. New proficiencies interacted with downtime in ways reminiscent of modern classics like Blades in the Dark. Planescape incorporated the precursors to inspiration and folded them into ethos; Birthright structured downtime and political play. There were many other surprises and they were side-by-side with legacy features, some half-addressed, leaving it unclear whether they were unimportant to the designers intended play or whether they were assumed knowledge.

Although I’d joked that I’d make a retroclone of second edition, I realised I really wanted to play this between-the-lines edition of dungeons and dragons, one with dynamic combat, with structured downtime systems, and variegated procedures for different phases of play. I called it a paraclone; the second edition that might have existed in a parallel universe. So I embarked upon writing it.

The process of writing a game, episodically, online, is one I haven’t tried before. It’s been fascinating developing something outside of a document, because it means revising something is both a finite act and a significant act, and also that it’s clearer what the implications of new developments are on discrete sections of previously developed texts. I’d recommend it, even though there hasn’t been much interaction with the posts.

The result is a game I’m very keen to play. I’m looking forward to GMing it in alpha, and I’m looking forward to opening it up to other GMs and pre-releasing it for broader feedback and development. I love that I’ve made it compatible with both B/X and AD&D 2e out of the box, I love the preparation tools I’ve drawn out of the OSR blogosphere to give clearer GM guidance.

More interestingly, it’s not the game the OSR typically plays. Most notably, here, combat is not a fail state, although okay is not super heroic. Random encounters still exist, but secrets develop into plots and the world changes as part of the system. This is more of a super heroic story game than B/X, or AD&D, but less of one than 5e, and on a completely different path than 3 or 4e. It’s exciting!

I’m still not happy with Advanced Fantasy Dungeons as a name, largely because I don’t feel like it’s “advanced” at all; but I fear that it’ll stick because I want a dull, functional name that befits the game it paraclones and I’m having trouble finding one with a similar vibe. Fantastic Medieval Campaigns, Old School Essentials and Dungeon Crawl Classics are my touchstones, and I feel stymied. Fantasy Dungeon Roleplaying, Ruins and Riches, Fantasy Dungeon Adventures, Second Wave Fantasy Dungeons are all options I’ve considered. Any other, similar names with naming conventions I’ve missed, please help!

There are a few optional subsystems I don’t want to add until I’ve playtested but are fairly essential to the second edition as a whole: A city pillar, a psionicist, monk and barbarian classes and a psionics magic system, all as examples of how to expand the rules in various ways. And as part of the tail of the alpha, I’m going to work examples of play, and prep throughout, hewing as closely to the ones in the original as I can. I want to work on 5e compatibility as well, at least from the adventure and spell perspective, the latter might end up challenging, though. A lot of my friends have played less with me as I’ve moved away from 5e, and that’s crushing, to be honest. I’d love this to remedy it.

On a personal level, I think taking a paraclone approach, even to a game so ill-regarded as second edition, has allowed me to build a game that I’m proud of and have been excited to play, in a way unconstrained development could not. I had been toiling at Infinite Hack’s complete edition for six months and three versions when I set it aside for this project, and I think I’m more excited for this weird, wonderful thing, and to a degree one that I’ve discovered and not created. Someone has made Advanced Fantasy Dungeons before: It was just never published, and no trace of it remained until its ghost visited me.

So now, to google docs, where I’ll start the process of pulling everything together.

17th June 2022

Idle Cartulary

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

I want to increase the tactics and surprise of war without increasing memory or complexity. Here’s our first attempt, where I was mirroring Journeying:

When you issue an order to a battalion, tell your general. They will report back to you when the order has been resolved. Orders are usually along the lines of “Send Eagle and Falcon Battalions to take Saint Garifods”. The battalion will follow the order as best it can.

Battalion movements take one real-time week. Each week, roll the movement die and follow the instructions, then resolve battles. The movement die is a 1d6, interpreted as follows:

1. Supply chain failure. Your battalion is thirsty and starving. If they battle this week, they have –1 power. 2-5. Movement as normal. 6. Beneficial Positioning. Your battalion finds themselves at an advantage. If they battle this week, they have +1 power.

All battalions can move one county each week, but cannot move over difficult terrain. If at the end of a week, battalions of opposing sides are in the same county, they battle.

To battle, compare power. If power is equal, the attacker is forced back. If one sides’ power is greater, all battalions on the side with less power is destroyed.

Battalions tied to some holdings have special features, such as the ability to move through water or difficult terrain, move 2 spaces in a single week, or possess 2 rather than 1 power.

A strike force refers to an adventuring party participating in operations to give one side in a battle the advantage. A successful strike force provides 1-2 additional power, depending on the nature of the operation.

A successful battle allows the winner to lay claim to the county as part of their domain once peace has been sued for, along with access to its holdings potential trade routes.

Firstly, the movement die adds a bunch of unnecessary complexity here without adding anything interesting.

When you issue an order to a battalion, tell your general. They will report back to you when the order has been resolved. Orders are usually along the lines of “Send Eagle and Falcon Battalions to take Saint Garifods”. The battalion will follow the order as best it can.

Battalions move every real-time week. If at the end of a week, battalions of opposing sides are in the same county, they battle. Most battalions can’t move through difficult terrain. 1 move for a battalion is one county, and one county is 3-5 hexes as determined by the GMs map.

To battle, compare power. If power is equal, the attacker is forced back. If one sides’ power is greater, all battalions on the side with less power are destroyed.

There are several types of battalions: Rabble, Regulars, Elites, Strike Forces and Engines. A battalion of rabble has 1 move, 1 power, but 0 power before any other battalion. These are untrained but armed people. A battalion of regular troops has 1 move, 1 power; these are typically trained and outfitted troops. An elite battalion has 1 move, 2 power; these are things like mounted knights or trained archers. A strike force has 2 move, 1 power, and can move through certain difficult terrain, but unlike other battalions there is a 50% chance of their success, or 75% chance if they have a particular unique advantage. These are dragon-riders, bladesingers or adventuring parties. An engine moves every other week, but has 3 power. These are things like siege trains, olyphant riders or flying fortresses.

A strike force operation is a great opportunity for a one-shot or for the PCs to be involved in a battle, on the field or behind the scenes, aiming for a particular objective to turn the tide of a battle. This “special episode” can replace the fortune roll associated with a strike force.

The GM tracks the movement of battalions during downtime, including non-player battalions. If a battle is resolved, a players general reports the results back immediately. If there is an unusual or unforeseen occurrence, consult the players and use a fortune roll on the Reaction Roll table to help guide the outcome.

A successful battle allows the winner to lay claim to the county as part of their domain once peace has been sued for, along with access to its holdings potential trade routes.

This is better. It gives room for elites for fighters, for domains to invest in unique holdings and for that to have an affect, and for surprises and interesting adventures to emerge from war.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on war, whether this is interesting enough to be pursued, or anything of the sort!

16th June 2022

Idle Cartulary

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Treasure in second edition is a ridiculously complicated affair. Each creature is assigned a treasure type such as D, M x 100, or Q x 10. Major treasures are in a lair (A-I) minor treasures are on the creatures person (J-Z). Within each treasure type there is a percentage chance that each type of item (coins, gems, art objects, magical items) will appear, and you roll against them. Then, if they appear (apart from for coins, which appears directly on the treasure type table), you generate what they actually are on one of 32 gems, art objects, or magical items tables.

The complexity of Treasure Type A-E, H or Z are impossible to replicate without the deep network of nested tables, but I’d estimate at 20 rolls, more than that if the magic items you roll are complex. Treasure Types J-P are simplest at 1-4 rolls. It’s a significant variation in complexity, but also in time – I don’t want to spend that much time generating a dragon hoard. There’s a clear simplicity curve, with table H at the top, A through I and Z beneath it, and J through Y in roughly that order.

I see only two solutions. The first is to refer to the original second edition treasure table (not my preference, as I want to be able to play modules straight from the book as much as possible). The second is to create a less random, but more streamlined subtable for each treasure type, perhaps one d4 roll for the simple types, but a d666 roll for the more complex treasure types. I think the second is what I’ll go with, but maybe I won’t prioritise it for the alpha.

I want to provide some guidance, though, for adding interest and story to treasure. There is no guidance in the DMG except to do it. I like to add broad strokes descriptors to cultures commonly found in hordes. Describe the coins, a few descriptions of the style and material of common items, how their weapons are unique, and how their potions work.

Elanren Empire: Platinum coins, describe as asymmetrical items made of mithral, crystal or force, freezing, lightning, or shining blades, potions are needles encased in crystal, to be injected.

Then I can just describe the horde as a mix of Elanren and Gedwymm treasure. But it doesn’t give me specific stories. For that, we need a story table, inspired by the ones Ty wrote here, but instead of creating items, I want to take the items we have generated on the treasure type table and add a story to them.

We start with an Origin already, for example Elanren. Then we add a theme and twist to the magic item or art object. You could use a master table, but my gut would be write one for each culture, but only use 6 of each. You could also use this structure for a specific, for example, arcanist who made all the items in her tower.

So our rule:

For each origin — typically culture, organisation, or individual — that might have artefacts or items in the hoard or treasure:

Coins are:

d3 Aesthetic and materials:

d3 Weapon effects:

Potions and scrolls are unique how:

d12 themes:

For each item, roll on the lists or modify the description appropriately.

A theme can be anything: Barricade, Ally, Animal, Light, Places, Enemy, Self, Vegetation, Civilization, Dark, Ruler, Body, Servant, Wilderness, Emotion, Monster, Soul, People, Element, Pathways, Requires sacrifice, Invert, Secretive origin, Specific owner, Subtle, Repurposed, Ugly, Purify the origin, Unease, Precious Metals, Corrupt, Tell a story, Corrupt the origin, Natural materials, Heavy, Recognizable, Purify, Protect, Past, Copy, Create, Exploit, Grow, Strengthen, Curse, Heal, Reveal, Weaken, Harm, Mutate, Destroy, Future, Solitude, Trick, Harvest, Hide, Commune, Isolate, Pride, Displacement, Fate, Betrayal, Empowerment, Communication, Faith, Order, Rebellion, War, Vanity, Beauty, Chaos, Control, Change, Youth, Love, Dreams, Glory.

Themes are stolen directly from Ty! I’ve simplified a fair bit from the original punnet square and three lists structure.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on Treasure!

Idle Cartulary

15th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

The challenge with granted powers is that I don’t want them to just be free spells. Let’s look at the granted powers in the “design a faith” section of the Complete Priest’s Handbook. Some are intended to replace Turn Undead as a major power, and some are useful but mainly flavourful minor powers. Everyone should get one of each, but two minor powers might replace the major if it suits your deity.

Major powers are in the text are: An automatic success on a specific saving throw each day (charm, paralysis, energy drain); Inspire fear (4th) twice per day; Suggestion (3rd) three times per day; Water breathing twice per day; Call lightning once per day; Shapechange three times per day, healing 10-60% health each time, taking clothing and one item in each hand but nothing else; Soothing words (dispel fear, rage, strong emotion, just against animals); Turn undead; Inspire rage providing a bonus to threatened damage and attack, but cannot flee; and must fight until no enemies stand; Infravision or ultravision.

There’s a lot of complexity around gating powerful spell-like abilities that I’ve breezed over, that needs to be simplified to scale similarly to Turn Undead and Shapechange. Advanced Fantasy Dungeons. Turn Undead is: Roll d20 minus level.Once per encounter. Target is 10 minus HD. Kills on a crit undead less than HD (or, 1/20 chance of cause 6 HP damage at 2nd level, increasing by 6HP per level).

Which means that major granted powers should have a strong and weak effect, the strong effect occurring on critical and affecting only those lower than your level, the weak effect occur all that “fail their save”. Let’s try major granted powers again, all on the model of Turn Undead. Once per encounter, dramatically call upon the power of your deity to:

• Call lightning. On a success, they are paralysed for a round. On a critical, threaten 1d6 damage per level. On a battle, they attempt to turn your lightning back against you.
• Call lightning. On a success, they are paralysed for a round. On a critical, threaten 1d6 damage per level. On a battle, they attempt to turn your lightning back against you.
• Inspire fear. Not effective against undead, and no additional effect on a critical.
• Suggest a reasonable action. On a success, they undertake your action for a time up to your level un hours. On a critical, they continue until the task is done. On a battle, they suggest to you.
• Inspire Rage. On a success, they rage until the battle is done with 1 bonus to threat and attack. On a critical, the bonus is equal to your level.
• Soothing Words, against a specific group. On a success, strong emotions are soothed and reactions are now neutral. On a critical, magically affected emotions are soothed.

This leaves us with a shapechanger category of powers. These are considered equivalent to Turn Undead but are self-facing. Shapechange looks like this in the text: At 7th level, Shapechange into any animal, Three times per day, Healing 10-60% health each time, Take only clothing and one item in each hand. One preselected non-combat shape (a bird) is considered 3rd level in the Complete Priests Handbook, which helps.

So perhaps our model is: Shapechange, once per sunrise. At first level, choose a single animal incapable of threatening damage. At fifth level, change into any animal. At ninth level and every four levels thereafter, change shape an additional time per sunrise. Take only clothing and one item in each hand. No. Too complex. Let’s frame the other inwards-facing powers around this better version:

• Shapechange, once per sunrise, taking only your clothing and one item in each hand. Choose a single animal incapable of threatening damage. At eighth level, choose two of: change into any animal, change three times per sunrise, or heal d6 times your level whenever you change.
• Waterbreathing, once per sunrise, affecting only yourself, for one turn. At eighth level, choose two: yourself and one other person, three times per sunrise, effect a bubble ten feet in diameter, for one hour.
• Infravision, once per sunrise, affecting only yourself, for one round. At eighth level, choose two: simultaneous normal vision and infravision, for one turn, or yourself and one other person.
• Walk on water, once per sunrise, affecting yourself only, for one turn. At eighth level, choose two: for one hour, yourself and one other, three times in a sunrise.
• Automatically succeed on a specific saving throw, once per sunrise. At eighth level, choose two: Succeed on a fortune check against target 10 every time but at all times, three times per sunrise, aura ten feet in diameter centred on you. Examples include charm effects, paralysis, energy drain, ranged weapons.

Minor powers are usually at will, with the exception of laying on of hands or harm. A bunch of flavourful minor powers that should totally be here aren’t here, things like make flowers bloom and booming voice, so let’s add them in.

• Identify a category of persons, places, or things in melee range. (Beast, script, monster, spell)
• Detect a category of persons, places, or things in melee range (graves, cheating, matching or opposing ethos, secret, depth underwater, treasure, passage of time)
• Analyse a category of persons, places, or things in melee range for additional information (plants, fields, quality of goods)
• Immunity to something minor (spoiled food, intoxication, feeling cold)
• Defy obstacle (ice isn’t slippery, climb doesn’t slow, underbrush can be ignored, pass through fire)
• Speak a specific unusual language (birds, wolves, brownies)
• Lay on hands or lay on harm once per day as per paladin
• Cause a specific small sensory or physical effect (booming voice, a candle flame, glowing eyes, cold snap, a flower blooms, birds sing)
• Weapon mastery (bows, hammers)

Yipes, that was a big one. The key here is that they’re specific to your deity. So, like heritage, you create your god, and you pick your powers and your ethos from the list, and you’re sorted.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on granted powers for priests!

Idle Cartulary

13th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

I’m not sure exactly how to present the fighter’s Elite Followers. I wonder if, it’s presented as, fighters just get a lieutenant and an army. They don’t have to ask for it. They come. Their followers are, then, two free standing battalions on top of the 9th or above level option most classes have to attract followers.

After 9th level, some classes have the option to attract followers of a special nature if they have a stronghold in which to house them. All classes can hire followers if they wish, regardless of whether they attract them after 9th level.

Fighters attract a general (5th level fighter), two standing battalions, and a bodyguard of:

3-12 1st to 2nd level fighters

2-5 1st to 2nd level wardens (rangers)

2-6 1st to 2nd level archers (fighters with sharpshooter mastery)

2-6 1st to 2nd level berserkers (fighters with berserk mastery)

2-6 1st to 2nd level mounted knights (fighters with warhorses and lance mastery)

1-3 2nd to 3rd level flying knights (fighters with eagles or hippogriffs and crossbow mastery)

Rangers attract an animal follower: Black bear, brown bear, dog, wolf, falcon, raven, tiger, lion, awakened 1-6, hippogriff, pixie, treant, brownie, werebear, weretiger.

Thieves attract 1-4 thieves of 1st to 3rd level, to start a crew.

Wizards attract 1-3 1st to 2nd level apprentices.

Priests attract 1-3 1st to 2nd level acolytes, as well as the 0-level members of their institution.

I’ll revise the class rules to include this. I need to revise to weapon mastery to include some of these style masteries, make sure generals are included in downtime a as bd war. Revise war to have these special standing battalions.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! I keep finding new things to add and revise – I thought i’d be done by now! Let me know your thoughts on followers!

Idle Cartulary

13th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Ok, so my problem with favoured enemies is that it’s pretty racist, but there is a mechanical reason for the generality of it: If I say “I hate all goblinoids”, my ranger is more useful that if they specifically hate orcs. In a game without races, but with heritage, this sits poorly. But goblins are not are not the grey-maned goblins of Mount Folly, let along orcs.

But on the other hand, giant slayers and warg hunters are iconic. What I want to do is turn favoured enemies into a story about our relationship with our enemy, instead of a mechanic about hatred, but that cycle causes a problem:

Why does the ranger favour their enemy? I can’t really think of many of these: An orc clan destroyed the rangers village, a dragon burnt the rangers husband and children, the ranger was indoctrinated against the giants by their mentor, theelf folk of Grazz have a long-standing feud with the dwarf folk of Bezimir. Basically, something happens to make the ranger believe that that enemy must be prevented from doing great harm. So, we have two potential stories that can be told: They both begin the same way: The ranger suffers a defeat, the ranger believes their enemy will do harm again, the ranger devotes themselves to fighting them. And then either: The rangers hate decreases through positive interactions, and realises that not all members of that people are, in fact, their enemy, and they generalise their learning to a groupThe rangers hate increases through negative interactions, and they generales their learning to a group

Even in trying to narrativise this mechanic, regardless of the dramatic potential, it still bakes racism into the game, so it’s a no from me. I got a little stuck, until Erasmus made an interesting suggestion: Bake the “favoured enemy” mechanic into an anachronistic “favoured terrain” mechanic. Let’s try it:

Gain a favoured terrain. You can prepare for a a single encounter in that terrain with a creature native to that terrain. Declare the creature you are preparing for during a rest watch. You gain +1d6 on reaction rolls against the creature, threaten +1d6 damage when attacking during that encounter, and gain mastery +1d6 when tracking the creature.

I don’t know how balanced this is, but it requires anticipation and planning, and varies wildly in terms of effect. It’s not racist though, and it feels iconic. But, maybe we can make this into favoured enemy without hatred, instead making it about experience?

Gain a favoured terrain. You can prepare for a a single encounter in that terrain with a creature native to that terrain.

Both your terrain and the creature are specific: Not forest, but “the forests of the Far Reach”; not orc, but “Icewatch Orcs”; not dragon, but “White dragon” or “Ice drake”). If you are in a similar terrain to your favoured terrain, gain half the bonus, rounded down.

Declare the creature you are preparing to encounter during a rest watch. You gain +1 on reaction rolls against the creature, threaten +1 damage when attacking during that encounter, and gain +1 when tracking the creature.

Mark each time you prepare and encounter a specific creature. For every five marks against a creature, your bonus to reaction rolls, damage and tracking increases by 1.

It’s a bit rulesy for my liking, but it’s good rules. It’s no more complicated than turn undead for paladins, and there’ll be less load than weapon mastery for fighters or spells for clerics or wizards. Ironically, thieves and bards are the most straightforward classes right now.

There are other options here as well, especially given my burgeoning desire to expand weapon mastery to beyond weapons to fighting styles, to have a few specific weapon styles around iconic ranger abilities: Collossus-climbing might give mastery on attempting to climb massive creatures, horde-breaker threatens damage to all within melee range, giant-killer might an advantage on saves against creatures of giant stature. I like these expanded options, so long as they’re a subselection of fighter capabilities. We’ll see what comes of them.

Finally, I can pull out the favoured enemy power as natures nemesis, perhaps: You can declare a specific beast or threat to the natural order (“the one-eyed warg of grey moor, who slew the innkeepers’ son”, that has done great harm as your nemesis, and threaten 1d8 additional damage on attacks against them and gain 1d8 bonus to tracking them until they are slain.

Here are a few neat options to adding flavour to the ranger class by expanding the concept of favoured enemy and trying to remove this concept of evil or hatred from it. I don’t see why you can’t have them all?

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on favoured enemies!

Idle Cartulary

12th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

After removing concepts of desperate or controlled position from various rolls by reducing the presence of disadvantage, I feel I need to revise the basic procedure and GM moves to reflect the GMs communication and enactment of fictional positioning.

The basic procedure of Advanced Fantasy Dungeons is:

1. The GM describes the situation and what the PCs see, hear, feel, smell and recognise.

2. The players ask clarifying questions and the GM answers until the situation is clear to them.

3. If a clarifying question would require a PC to take action, the GM clarifies the level of risk that action entails, and confirms that they want to take action.

4. If the players state an action they want to take in response to the situation, the GM clarifies the level of risk that action entails, and confirms that they want to take action.

5. If the PCs maintain their intent to act, their actions are resolved, the situation changes, and the procedure starts again.

If the actions result in a change of procedure (to combat, dungeon, wilderness or town procedures) transition to those procedures as appropriate. The basic procedure always applies.

Now we need to know what “clarifies the level of risk” means, what “PC actions are resolved” means, and how they’re related (the answer to that is GM actions).

When clarifying the level of risk involved in an action, the GM considers the situation the PCs are in, and the action they are proposing. If there is no risk, the action happens. If there is risk, an ability check (or other roll) is required.

On a success, it happens. On a partial success, it happens and the GM takes an action that does not negate the success. On a failure, it does not happen and the GM takes an action.

The action the GM takes on a failure or partial success depends on the level of risk. For a low risk action, the GM action taken in response should be to foreshadow danger, to increase the level of risk, or to escalate the stakes. For a risky action, the GM can take any action to threaten the PCs or their agenda. For a high risk action, the GM should take an action that will cause harm to the PCs or their agenda.

We have an excellent list of GM actions, but in action resolution, we focus on these ten;

Foreshadow danger

Increase the level of risk

Escalate the stakes

Separate them to face temptation alone

Threaten damage

Threaten something dear to them

Limit the impact of their actions

Lose an opportunity

Introduce a complication

An NPC does something impactful

The GM can, of course take any action at any time,:

Offer an opportunity at a cost

Give what they earnt

Tell a secret

Show the impact of their actions

Follow their lead

Cut to the action

Something happens off-screen

I feel like we can name these two sets of actions, but weak and strong don’t feel right, and neither do soft and hard. I’m not sure. Please, recommendations!

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on this approach to the basic procedure, or if you’ve a better way to categorise the GM actions.

Idle Cartulary

11th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

I realise I haven’t listed or talked about proficiencies exactly. Let’s give it a go. Here is the ability check rule:

When you attempt a task, consider whether it requires training, or whether anyone can do it. If it requires training, you need proficiency to attempt it. If it anyone can do it or you have proficiency, and it is a simple task or the consequences of failure are negligible, you succeed. If it is complex or the consequences of failure are significant, perform an ability check.

To perform an ability check, roll 1d20. If the result is less than your ability score, you succeed but face a consequence. If it is not less than your ability score or the result is 20, you do not succeed and face a consequence. The game master chooses the consequence.

If you have proficiency, roll 2d20. If both dice are a success, you succeed without consequence. If you have a disadvantage, roll 2d20 and only take the lowest score.

If an item, ability or mastery grants you a numerical bonus, it is subtracted from the result of the roll. If your result is less than zero, you get greater effect than intended. You can always trade advantage for special effect or greater effect, by negotiation with the game master.

If your party is asked to make a group ability check, choose a leader. Each member of the party rolls an ability check, and for each failure, the leader spends 1d6 HP.

Now, let’s talk about proficiencies.

At first level or as an advancement, a PC can choose to gain a proficiency slot. During downtime, a PC can use that proficiency slot to gain a proficiency by taking the training downtime action. Proficiency slots are, by default, empty, and you need to train with a teacher to gain proficiency.

Proficiency is required to use most equipment: Armour, shields, weapons, lock picks, musical instruments or games of chance. You cannot use something to perform an ability check without proficiency. Proficiencies always include the use of relevant equipment, for example a lock picking proficiency includes use of lock picks, and a blacksmithing proficiency includes use of a forge.

If you spend a second or more proficiency slots on the same proficiency during training, you gain mastery. For each level of mastery, gain 1 bonus to your ability checks using that proficiency.

Only fighters can have mastery in weapons, however aside from that restriction, any PC can take any proficiency and have mastery in any proficiency.

Some downtime actions require a proficiency to perform. These downtime proficiencies are only available through unique class advancements, and are hence restricted to those classes. Examples include inscribe scroll and charge wand for a wizards.

Easy. This has all been discussed and alluded to before, just not clarified. I just need to write a proficiency list, which I’ll likely just pull from the wider line of second edition books.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on proficiencies and if I’ve missed anything! I’m certainly at the nit-picking and revising stage, and am entering the home run!

Idle Cartulary

10th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Second edition’s Turn Undead isn’t simple:

• Takes one turn
• Once per encounter per character
• Paladins are priests, but two levels lower
• You can attempt to do it at the same time, but not together
• Hands free and able to speak – “a touch of drama is required”
• Not interrupted by an attack
• Across reference HD or type of undead with character level, and roll higher
• One roll is for all undead targeted
• There is no range or limit on how many undead are targeted

I like the potential infinite power here, I like one dice roll, I like once per encounter (but there is no concept of encounter anywhere else I recall). I don’t like the paladin complexity, or the fact that you can’t team up for more turning power, or the fact that’s it is the only roll over d20 check in the game.

There is a 50% chance of turning a 1HD skeleton at 1st level. The skeleton is 100% at 4th and dies at 6th. The pattern holds: Over any given ten levels, xHD goes from 5% to Death.

Surely this can translate to a roll against HD, then? We have HD ranging from 1-11, where 1 is 50% at first level, and 11 is 50% at 10th. At first level, You have a 10/20 vs 1HD, 4/20 vs 2HD, 2/20 vs 3 HD, 1/20 vs 5HD. So, we can replicate the nice, exponential curve by saying that the target number is 10 + (3*Level – 3*HD), but that is so mathsy. Let’s see if we can simplify.

To turn undead, roll 1d20 – your level, or half your level if you are a paladin. You must roll under the undead creatures’ saving throw against turning.

Turning affects all undead in reach rank. If you roll a natural 1, any undead equal that have HD equal to or less than your level are destroyed instantly.

The GM calculates the saving throw against turning for each undead target as ten minus their HD.

If the targets saving throw against turning is less than 1, if you succeed, you are locked in battle with them until a second turn undead is completed. The powerful undead is staggered, and only uses half their HD (round down) in the second round.

For example, Gareth, second level priest, turns a 1HD skeleton, a 3HD ghoul, and a 11HD lich. Gareth rolls 1d20 and subtracts 2, for a result of 8. The skeleton (saving throw against turning of 10–1) flees. The ghoul and lich (saving throw against turning of 10–3 and 10–11) are unaffected.

Sir Chard, a third level paladin, faces the same three undead. Sir Chard rolls a natural 1 on the d20, both the skeleton is destroyed, the ghoul flees, and Gareth is locked in battle with the lich. Gareth rolls 1d20 the second attempt and subtracts 1 (half the modifier of a priest), for a result of of 8. The lich (saving throw against turning of 10–5 now) licks its lips and begins to chant arcane vocalisations.

I like this. It’s simple, it’s dramatic, you don’t need to cross reference. I don’t love the lack of exponential curves, but it’s also a bit swingier and overpowered in a way that I like for divine power. Paladins are a little stronger than the source for simplicity’s sake.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on Turning Undead!

Idle Cartulary

9th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

I felt after developing out the classes, I needed to clarify the downtime activity Training. The text I wrote:

You may train with a sage, master or expert, if you have a relationship with one. The downtime clock is equal to the number of proficiency slots you will have when you complete your training.

And the new version:

You may train with a sage, master or expert, if you have a relationship with one. To do so, you must have a spare proficiency slot available. The downtime clock is equal to two ticks for each proficiency slot that will be dedicated to the proficiency when you complete your training, for example, to train from Mastery +2 to Mastery +3, you’ll require eight ticks on the downtime clock.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on on training, if you have any. This has been a brief one!

Idle Cartulary

8th June 2022