David Stark
I once read wonderful blog post which imagines an alternate universe where instead of D&D, Gygax and Arneson made a game about people's feelings. Feelings, it said, are easy, just some variables describing emotional states. Combat is hard: all that detail, all that complexity. No one does...
David Stark
The inhabitants of remote coastal regions and river deltas, Dolphin Men are feared as sadistic raiders. Occasionally, one of the brighter ones will go adventuring. Requirements: 12 DEX Prime Requisite: DEX Hit Dice: 1d4 Maximum Level: 9 Level Progression: Like Cleric Attack Rolls: Like Fighter...
David Stark
Following a discussion playing Labyrinth Lord a while ago, here's a quick proposed "Axolotl man" class: Requirements: None Prime Requisite: CON Hit Dice: 1d6 Maximum Level: 12 Level Progression: Like Dwarf Abilities Underwater breathing Regenerates as many HP as levels each day Fully heals from...
David Stark
I believe that a good dungeon to crawl in is built up of layers. Both in the sense that there are multiple levels on top of one another, and in that there is a sense of history. The dungeon didn't arise fully formed, orcs in rooms with chests at the ready - it accreted into its current shape. For...
David Stark
This is another installment of "how I would do fantasy creature X". This time: dragons. I like my science fiction and fantasy to be pretty grounded in reality with a bunch of well-delineated differences. My suspension of disbelief breaks down pretty quickly if, for example, a setting contains...
David Stark
The previous two installments left out ranged weapons on purpose, because the rules are rather different. Looking at the weapons table in Labyrinth Lord, similar problems as with melee weapons are apparent: if playing with simple damage rules, there is little point to the heavy weapons. If playing...
David Stark
On further reflection, here is a table of Labyrinth Lord weapons with both reach and variable damage, as well as adjustments made to bring up prices and make weights more historically accurate. The following table, except for the last two entries, unarmed and pike, is the same set of weapons as...
David Stark
Labyrinth Lord is a pen & paper RPG system that's roughly the same as the original Dungeons and Dragons. As such, its main draw is that it's a simple system, with flavorful rules. It is however not very balanced. In practice, pretty much everyone plays LL with some set of house rules. For...