Sunday, February 26, 2012

20 Quick Questions: Rules

Brenden from the Untimately blog posted a list of 20 questions / rules clarifications a DM should decide and inform the group of fairly early before play.
I'm sure most of these answers won't come as a surprise to 1ed players, but everyone does have their own flavor and preferences. Here are mine.
  1. Ability scores generation method? Roll 4d6 6 times drop the lowest die, re-roll 1's the first time they come up only. Rolls arranged in order, you may swap one set of stats. 
  2. How are death and dying handled? 0 HP unconscious and dying, lose 1 HP per round until stabilized/treated. Dead below -10 HP. If healed above 0 HP useless for the day (at least depending on severity of wound). Lose all spells, can't fight, and move at 1/2 speed at most .
  3. What about raising the dead? Yes, but the cost will usually be a quest not gold.
  4. How are replacement PCs handled? You come back at -1 level of lowest level member in the party.
  5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else? Typically group initiative.
  6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work? Yes 20 is a crit and 1 a fumble. Roll on custom table to determine the severity of the blow or the degree your clumsiness hindered you or a team mate.
  7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet? Prevents being knocked unconscious in certain situations.
  8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly? Of course you can, we're playing 1ed.
  9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything? Yes, of course you can kill everything, including yourselves.
  10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no? Yes, although I do ease back to some extent. You only lose the equivalent XP not the actual level. You do die if reduced to 0 level.
  11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death? You know it.
  12. How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked? Needs to be maintained fairly accurately on the character sheet. Left to the honor system, but DM will check randomly.
  13. What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time? Yes, you will need to train to increase in level, it doesn't happen auto-magically in the middle of a dungeon. Fighters will have to go get a tutor and practice with that new weapon they acquired and want to wield. MU will have to find/borrow/buy the spells they want to cast upon gaining a level.
  14. What do I get experience for? Treasure, combat, and magic items as well as smart game play.
  15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination? Either way a player wants to approach it. Low level thieves would do well if they didn't rely on their actual stats but instead used smart game play. Unfortunately not to many players catch on to this. To many years of playing relying on stats I guess.
  16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work? Varies, but yes. BtB rules for morale
  17. How do I identify magic items? Spells, sages, mages, bards, and just plain old fiddling around with it might work. As with everything there are consequences to every action.
  18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions? Yes, to a certain degree, but only in large cities or huge metropolis's. Don't expect a village blacksmith to stock that Holy Avenger you want. Same goes for potions.
  19. Can I create magic items? When and how? Yes, at high level with some very expensive components and rare ingredients.
  20. What about splitting the party? Leave it up to the group. Although "Never split the party" is my motto when actually playing and not DMing.

No comments:

Post a Comment