If you’re walking in on the middle of the advanced fantasy dungeon series, there’s an index here.

There’s a significant overlap between what we developed in timekeeping and what is here in overland travel, which I’m going to call journeying. I’ll bring some of it over, which means I’ll have to revise that again.

Each day has three watches.

For each watch, the GM rolls on the random encounter table. On a result of 1, there is a random encounter. Typically, the GM rolls a d10, however it may be decreased for hostile territory or increased for safe havens. Random encounters do not interrupt the actions taken on that watch, unless the PCs choose.

If you travel for a watch, move forward one hex. You must spend 1d6 HP to travel for a second or and 2d6 HP to travel a third watch.To travel on difficult terrain, roll fortune or a relevant proficiency or spend 1d6 HP.

If you rest rather than travel for a watch, perform a rest action such as heal, memorise spells, prayer, or repair. There is no formal lists of rest actions, but rather you can only perform one such action per watch (in addition to all of the other things you must do while travelling). You cannot travel and rest the same watch.

Using vehicles or mounts does not allow you to travel further, but horse-sized mounts provide 10 inventory slots and wagon-sized vehicles 20 inventory slots. Flying mounts do not provide inventory slots. Your mount or vehicle may not be able to travel on some difficult terrain (for example wagons in swamps, or horses on mountains). Some vehicles or mounts allow you to travel on terrain that is otherwise impassible (for example boats over lakes, wyverns through the sky).

If you are stranded in the wilderness at the end of a session, each PC rolls to return to the nearest settlement. Roll fortune or an appropriate proficiency, against a target equal to the number of days travel to the nearest settlement, plus the number of turns traveled to escape the dungeon. For every point you fail by, choose either to spend that amount in HP or ten times that amount in GP.

Honestly, this is all neat and perfect. Next up, underground travel and then revised timekeeping.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on journeying (that’s better than overland travel, right?), if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

23rd April 2022

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

I’m going back over some complex subsystems and reconsidering them in light of my new version of hit points. General principles:

• If either anyone encounters someone else unexpectedly, they roll for surprise.
• The surprised group has disadvantage on defence.
• The unsurprised group has advantage on fleeing and attacks, and gets a free round of attacks with weapons but not spells. If they planned an ambush, they get spells too.
• Chance of being surprised is 30% and is higher if you are fleeing, in darkness or twilight, panicked, en mass or smell.
• Your opponent is more likely to be surprised if you are silenced, invisible, anticipating attack or suspicious.

If you might be surprised, make a dexterity check. On a failure, you are surprised and must spend 1d6 HP. On a success you are not surprised. On a partía success, you suffer a minor consequence.

If you can’t see as daylight or are carrying light, you have disadvantage. If you can’t see the opposing party, you are automatically surprised.

Other modifiers can impact surprise at the GMs discretion, for example noise and state of mind.

This is just so much better. So much neater. There will have to be playtesting around how much damage is feasible as these HP mechanics proliferate (I feel like they’ll be a part of forced marches and things like that as well), but I’d rather balance at the other end.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on surprise. Are there glaring questions left unanswered, or have I overlooked anything important, or is all of this a waste of time!

Idle Cartulary

24th April 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the advanced fantasy dungeon series, there’s an index here.

I’m the light of reimagining HP as a source of inner strength, I’m considering reimagining vision. Consider darkness as an aggressor:

If travelling in darkness, when your journey ends or is interrupted by an encounter, spend 1d4 damage per turn you have travelled underground or watch you have travelled at outdoors at night. There is no saving throw to avoid this cost.

Vision now becomes a means of not losing heart. I don’t have to mechanise movement, combat and spell casting anymore, because it’s folded into the HP cost.

• Light sources (torch, lamp, spells) are used to provide vision.
• Fuel (oil or torches) is bulky to carry, and hence take up 1 inventory slot per hour in the dungeon or watch in the wilderness.
• Light spells take up 1 spell slot per hour and space in a spell book.
• Holding a light source causes disadvantage on attacks, saving throws, and surprise.

Do I need distances and vision rules? Probably not in the original detail.

• There are three types of vision: As daylight, as twilight, or as darkness.
• Sight as daylight can see.
• Sight as twilight extends only a stone’s throw away.
• Sight as darkness cannot see.
• All light sources allow you to see as twilight.

Now I’m relying on a player having an intuitive understanding of what vision in daylight is, to simplify further. This keeps my goal of normal rooms being illuminated easily, vast chambers being creepy, and chasms bottomless. Ultravision and Infravision are similar:

• You have vision, infravision or ultravision, you do not have more than one (even temporarily).
• Infravision sees heat
  • See darkness as daylight.
  • See daylight as darkness.
  • In cold temperatures, see heat-trails and warm air currents and see as twilight in daylight if wearing sunglasses.
  • Blinded for a turn by a sudden lit torch or a glance at the sun.
• Ultravision sees magic
  • See in starlight and in indirect sunlight as daylight.
  • See direct sunlight and darkness underground as darkness.
  • Magic items and spells are visible to you at a stone’s throw.
  • Your eyes glow, and under your gaze white items glow as well.
  • Blinded for a turn by a glance at the sun.

This keeps the neat world building , which I like. Invisibility and mirrors are unchanged. I think that Surprise warrants a rewrite as well, because a page of rules to determine an extra attack is less neat than “if you’re surprised, lose heart” and then move on to the combat.

With this, HP becomes a kind of universal resource that we can attack and being cautious or careful is rewarded by not having direct hits to HP.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on darkness, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

23rd April 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the advanced fantasy dungeon series, there’s an index here.

There is almost nothing talking about the “Social” pillar of play in second edition. There are no ability checks to change peoples attitudes references at all. All we have is references to “starting reactions” and some rules in the DMG on reaction rolls.

The reactions are: Flight, friendly, indifferent, cautious, threatening, hostile. They are treated like a ladder, dependent on PC approach, and are clearly intended to be for combat encounters, not for petitioning nobles or bartering with merchants. The only thing that effects the roll is bardic abilities, although morale (betraying the combat-centricity) effects it. Can you move up or down the ladder? No comment is made.

First, we need to make it less combat-centric, equally valid for a goblin raiding party and a merchant. It should mirror check, where pre-existing reputation (positive or negative) is a modifier on the roll, proficiency (being a bard) gives advantage, and infamy or poor impression gives disadvantage on the roll.

Reputation, then needs some added complexity, because it is specific to location or to domain, often both. This has to be recorded, and +1 is a reward for a significant contribution to a specific place (the Village of Homelethe), or a specific domain (the Criminals of Lathegard). This might sit in the GMs domain, as reputation both negative or positive can be unknown.

Movement is not mechanised, by which I mean, you can bribe, manipulate, talk, or foot-in-your-mouth up and down the ladder once you have a starting attitude, but you can’t roll to move up or down. Let’s write the rule.

When you encounter a new NPC or group of NPCs, the GM makes a reaction check, modified by your reputation. If you have bardic influence, roll with advantage, and if they predisposed against you, roll with disadvantage. The NPCs reaction is determined by the result:

1-2. Positive (friendly, welcoming or receptive)

3-6. Possibly positive (amiable or deliberating)

7-15. Uncertain (indecisive or neutral)

15-18. Possibly negative (suspicious or skeptical)

19-20. Negative (hostile, fleeing, or unreceptive)

Once starting reaction has been determined, it is not rolled again once the NPC knows the party, and their reaction remains stable between meetings. In-world choices can effect change the NPCs disposition towards the party, but rolls (for example, a charisma check) cannot.

Reputation is awarded (+1) for a significant contribution to a location, profession or faction, and is effective only in that context.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on reaction rolls and reputation, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

22nd April 2022

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

The core text attempts to make combat chaotic, dynamic, vivid and simple. How do the existing systems facilitate this experience?

Initiative is random, grouped, and with simultaneous declaration in second edition, aiming to induce chaos while maximising simplicity. It’s compromised in its simplicity by bucketloads of modifiers and by simultaneous declaration and spell speed. How can we simplify rules and yet maintain chaos?

Ok, so let’s give every weapon a speed factor equal to the damage dice. 1d4 is a speed of 4. 1d12 or 2d6 is a speed of 12. Spells go last. Initiative goes to the person who has the lowest speed factor. From then, a consequence of a failure or mixed success is the opposing side goes next in order of speed factor, and on a full success your side goes next in order of speed factor.

Each weapon has a speed factor equal to its highest face. Initiative order is by speed factor. If more than one person has the same speed factor, choose randomly.

Combat proceeds in initiative order, however if a PC rolls a full success, the next PC in initiative order goes next. If a PC rolls a partial success or a failure, their next foe in initiative order goes next.

Maul, heavy, 2d6 crushing.

Dagger, 1d4 piercing.

Recurve bow, unwieldy, 1d8 piercing.

Honestly, attacking as an ability check just works as described.

To make an attack, make a strength check for melee attacks, a dexterity check for ranged attacks, or a proficiency check if you have proficiency in the weapon you are using.

On a success, threaten injury. On a partial success, threaten injury and suffer a minor consequence. On a failure, suffer a major consequence.

The most common minor consequences are you are threatened with injury, the opposing side goes next and your morale is shaken. A major consequence is two of these, or anything else.

When you threaten injury, roll your damage dice to find out how much HP your target must spend to avoid injury, or how much damage their armour suffers.

Simplifying morale is easy, except we need two rules, one for PCs, and one for NPCs.

When your morale is shaken, make a morale check against either your morale rating (if you are an NPC) or your wisdom. The GM may grant you advantage or disadvantage depending on factors such as training, overwhelming opposition, ethos, and how your allies are faring.

On a full success, you rally and fight on. On a partial success, your first concern is calculated retreat. On a failure, your first concern is immediate escape.

It feels like that’s combat taken care of, but I haven’t actually talked about how NPCs attack, just how they defend.

On an NPCs turn, the GM declares who is threatened with damage. The PC makes a saving throw, and spends HP and armour as they see fit.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on attacks, initiative or morale, particularly whether I’ve overlooked anything in combat altogether, because that’s basically the whole combat system!

Idle Cartulary

21st April 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the advanced fantasy dungeon series, there’s an index here.

The core text attempts to make combat chaotic, dynamic, vivid and simple. This doesn’t describe a war of attrition. Given there’s no definition of HP in second edition, let’s define it as energy, taking inspiration from Oh Injury. They can be Hero Points, Horsepower, or (I think my favourite, because when you’re out you’ve “lost heart”) Heart Points.

You can spend an amount of HP determined by the GM to perform a stunt or action to avoid injury.

Being reduced to 0 HP is no immediate effect. When you sustain an injury and have no HP remaining, you die. At the GM’s discretion, you can take a permanent injury instead of dying. Roll on the permanent injury table.

If an attack doesn’t cause damage, or causes an effect in addition to damage, for example a ghoul’s paralysing claws or wrestler’s grapple, you can’t spend HP to avoid the effect, but you can spend HP to avoid the damage.

In combination with our rules for saving throws and armour, an example of play would look like this:

“The grim-faced orc tries to spill your guts with their axe!”

“I raise my shield to block it – but I failed my save vs steel!”

“The axe whistles past your shield and you feel the wind against your belly!”

“I leap back and block with my sword!“

“That’ll cost 1d6+4 HP!”

“Yipes, I only have 6 HP left, I can’t take that risk. I spin around, putting a chunk of my armour squarely in the path of the axe.”

“Your armour takes 1d6+4 damage instead, and now it’s your turn. What do you do?”

Now, with the addition of negotiation around individual moments of combat, it becomes more fluid and more like the example given in the DMG. The mechanic fills your turn with action, when you hit 0 HP, you don’t die, you may succeed your saves (which are suddenly save or die!), or your armour may be smashed from your body before you finally succumb (which is pretty cinematic imo), and you still may take a permanent injury instead of die! Lots of drama for a simple, three-layer defence mechanic.

We’ll need an injury table, but there are hundreds of those, so that won’t be a problem.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on defending yourself, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

20th April 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the advanced fantasy dungeon series, there’s an index here.

The core text attempts to make combat chaotic, dynamic, vivid and simple. How do the existing systems facilitate this experience?

Saving Throws “save you from certain destruction, or at least lessen the damage of a successful attack”. This implies rolling to avoid attacks, not to hit, and it implies partial successes. This means we’re treating saving throws as ability checks, but you can’t be proficient in them, so we need to redefine advantage here.

Renaming them is unfortunately necessary, and calling them their definitions yields Will, Fortitude, Magic Attack, System Shock, Physical Attack, and Luck, but these names suck compared to the original. What about Domination, Poison, Wands, Transformation, Steel and Ill-Fortune and we rely on a definitions to broaden them, plus they’re closer to the originals.

If you are attacked, make a saving throw by rolling 1d20. If your position is controlled, roll with advantage, and if it is desperate, roll with disadvantage. On a full success, take no damage and no effect. On a partial success, take half damage and temporary or partial effect. On a failure, take full damage and effect.

The save you roll depends on the type of attack: Domination for psychic, enchantment, or death magic, Poison for physical fortitude, Wands for magical attacks, Transformation for anything that changes the nature of your flesh, Steel for physical attacks and Ill-Fortune for all else.

Magic Resistance is next, and in the original you roll a percentile dice, and a certain percentage of the time you aren’t effected by magic. This doesn’t need a separate mechanic to saving throws in my opinion, magic resistance should simply be a feature where you gain advantage on saving throws against all magic, and you can never voluntarily choose to fail a saving throw against magic.

If you have magic resistance, you gain advantage on all saving throws with magical sources, you cannot voluntarily fail a saving throw against magic, and you must fail a saving throw for any magic to have effect on you, even friendly magic. Magic resistance is always against a certain type, for example divine, wizardry, or demonic.

Now onto armour. Armour doesn’t absorb damage, it prevents it. Different armour types are strong or weak against different damage types (slashing, piercing, bludgeoning). This is easy, and there are trade-offs with magical gear and looking pretty which is neat, but the rule needs an example piece of armour.

At any point, a PC can use armour they are wearing to prevent damage against certain types of damage. For example:

Breastplate, heavy, 10d6 HP vs. slashing damage.

Rubber shirt, 5d6 HP vs. lightning damage.

Scale shirt, heavy, 7d6 HP vs. piercing damage.

Steel helm, 2d6 damage vs. piercing or slashing damage.

When armour is first used, roll its total HP. When it has no further HP it is destroyed. While it still has HP, it can be repaired by someone with the right proficiency and tools.

Now, in this flow, hit points is next, but this is already lengthy, so we’ll move to another post for that I think.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on defending yourself, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

19th April 2022

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

As I was writing Surprise, I realised (although I decided to scrap) there are rules for group checks in second edition. This is something that really needs to exist, and if it did it would simplify a bunch of checks like surprise and initiative that are already checks for groups.

I want group checks to represent the party working together, so it’s not take the worst, but if it’s take the best, that feels too generous. They’re simplest, though, so I’m inclined to ask for a cost. There are only anachronistic examples I’m aware of, but Blades in the Dark pays failures with stress, and the equivalent of stress in second edition is hit points. So:

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.

Can be added to the end of the ability checks paragraph.

When you attempt a task, consider whether it requires training, or whether anyone can do it. If it requires training, you need proficiency. 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.

Now, I could choose to make surprise or initiative a group check, and it’s supported by the core mechanic.

The Ability Check continues to take form. This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on this approach, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

18th April 2022

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

Surprise and ambush are simple in second edition, so general principles:

• If either anyone encounters someone else unexpectedly, they roll for surprise.
• The surprised group has disadvantage on defence.
• The unsurprised group has advantage on fleeing and attacks, and gets a free round of attacks with weapons but not spells. If they planned an ambush, they get spells too.
• Chance of being surprised is 30% and is higher if you are fleeing, in darkness or twilight, panicked, en mass or smell.
• Your opponent is more likely to be surprised if you are silenced, invisible, anticipating attack or suspicious.

The challenge now is to simplify this and utilise existing mechanics. Firstly, we need surprise to be not a d10 roll. Secondly, it’s better to have one roll for PCs, not one for each side. Thirdly, simplifying the penalties is essential.

If you might be surprised, make a group dexterity check.

If you are carrying light, fleeing, in twilight or equivalent, panicked, en mass or malodorous, or if the opposing party is carrying light, sneaking, anticipating attack, suspicious, or anticipating violence you have disadvantage. These things cancel out.

If you are cannot see or fleeing, or the opposing party is invisible or magically silenced, you are surprised. If you are invisible or magically silenced, or the other party cannot see or fleeing, they are surprised. These things cancel out.

If a member of your party has a special ability that opposes your enemies’ advantages, for example infravision, you gain +1 to your check for each advantage.

If you are surprised, the opposing party takes an free attack against you without using spells, and you have disadvantage on saving throws for that round, or can flee before you react. If they planned an ambush, they may use spells.

If you surprise them, you take a free attack against them without using spells, you have +5 to your first attack, or you can flee before you react. If you planned an ambush, you may use spells.

There, sorted, note for note. This adds something that we need to back track on for ability checks: We need group check rules! I’ll have to revise that again next. Because of the one-sided roll, this is more wordy than I’d like with too much repetition, so I’ll try to fix that.

If you might be surprised, make a single surprise check for your group. The target for a surprise check is 14.

If you are carrying light, fleeing or en mass, or if the opposing party can see you, is sneaking, or is suspicious you have disadvantage.

If you cannot see or are fleeing, or the opposing party is invisible or magically silenced, you are surprised without a roll. If you cannot see or are fleeing, or the opposing party is invisible or magically silenced, you have advantage.

If your party is surprised but a member of your party is able to head off any of your disadvantages, for example by having infravision, they make their own check individually, and may not be surprised.

The unsurprised party takes an free attack against the surprised party without using spells, and they have +5 to attacks (or the surprised have disadvantage on saving throws) that round, or they can flee before you react. If they planned an ambush, they may use spells.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on surprise, particularly if I can simplify this rule — I am certain I can! Are there glaring questions left unanswered, or have I overlooked anything important, or is all of this a waste of time!

Idle Cartulary

17th April 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the advanced fantasy dungeon series, there’s an index here.

Vision gets a lot of time in second edition:

• Visibility by size and distance in optimal conditions outdoors
• Visibility by weather condition
• Visibility while moving
• Light source radius, direction and speed of exhaustion
• Fighting with mirrors
• Light reducing chance of surprising
• Darkvision vs Infravision vs Ultravision
• Darkness’ effect on movement
• Invisibility

The main principles to be drawn from this it appears are that vision impacts actions like movement, spell casting, combat, and surprise and that vision is a resource in darkness indoors or outdoors.

If vision is a resource, there should always be a trade off. The obvious ones are inventory slots, money, spell slots and combat advantage.

• Light sources (torch, lamp, spells) are used to provide vision
• Fuel (oil or torches) is bulky to carry
• Light spells take up spell slots and space in a spell book
• Holding a light source causes a combat disadvantage and means you’ll always be seen first

I like the idea of spell books having a limited number of spells (not small but a high level wizard is likely carrying 5 spell books taking up 5 inventory slots), so part of the limitation of being a wizards is the library you’ll have to carry.

I’d like to simplify vision as well, because different distances for different light sources is challenging. But some granularity is fun.

• In daylight or equivalent, you can identify things not obscured (not hiding, behind things, etc) in your field of vision to a reasonable distance.
• In twilight or equivalent, you can see as daylight in your field of vision up to a stone’s throw away.
• In darkness or equivalent (fog, blizzard), you cannot identify anything visually.
• A light source allows you to see as twilight.

The “reasonable distance” is intentionally obscured (its 1km, right there is the PHB), to simplify the rules. A “stone’s throw” also intentionally vague (it’s 10-20m, also in the PHB), for the same reason. I don’t want a spell to provide “two stones throws” of light. I want normal rooms to be illuminated easily, vast chambers to be creepy, and chasms to be bottomless. Also “Portable Twilight” is a great magic item name.

Finally, second edition differentiates darkvision (uncomplicated variant, similar to fifth edition), infravision (heat-sensing), and ultravision. Interestingly, I think the designers preferred darkvision (“can see in the dark”), but it breaks the cardinal principle of the vision section that they set: Vision is a resource. I want to keep the simplicity but create a downside to being same to see in the dark.

• If you have infravision or ultravision, you do not have standard vision (whether this is permanently, due to your heritage, or temporarily, while under the effects of magic).
• If you have infravision, you see heat instead of light. You see in darkness as daylight and see daylight as darkness. In darkness and twilight, you can see additional features such as heat-trails and warm air currents. You are blinded by a sudden lit torch or a glance at the sun for a turn. If it is cold and you wear shaded lenses you can see as twilight during the day.
• If you have ultravision, you can see in starlight and in indirect sunlight as daylight. You see direct sunlight and darkness underground as darkness. Your eyes glow, and under your gaze white items glow as well. Magic items and spells are visible to you at a stone’s throw.

Dwarves have infravision, so are only come out in the evenings in most climates, but there are cities of dark-lensed dwarves in the frigid north. Elves have ultravision, and hence would avoid depths and stay in places – like forests – that light is filtered from. I’m not sure if I’ve hit the sweet spot here, mainly because ultravision is messy and inessential but messiness is fun (some of the ultravision stuff is from this article which is nameless and authorless).

Invisibility should work as advertised, but I love that I can make it perfect invisibility because I’ve written in a giant flaw: “Elves can see invisible people”. Mirrors should work as advertised, and honestly I’m going to let mirror-wielding heroes fight medusa without any more than the same penalty they’d get for carrying a torch. Surprise really belongs elsewhere, so I’ll have to remember this little rule when I get there.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on vision, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

16th April 2022