Using “0” Level Characters for LL/AEC

Using “0” Level Characters for LL/AEC

SO one feature of a certain other RPG is called “The Funnel”. It basically lets someone roll up a few weak 0 level characters to start adventuring with. If they survive they can choose to become 1st level characters. 

Choose any allowable race in your LL/AEC game. What is allowable?  It’s up to the Gm as he/she is the final rule.

Roll 3d6 in order. 6 times in three columns making three characters for Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha.

Once abilities have been determined, each player must roll for a skill. You are not picking out a class yet but think of the class you WANT. Each class desired will have a prime requisite, and some classes have a requirement of a minimum ability score. If the prime requisite ability is high enough, the character will receive a bonus to experience.

Sometimes, a player will choose a certain class and the character does not have a prime requisite high enough to receive the experience bonus. In these cases, 2 ability points may be sacrificed from one ability to raise one prime requisite ability 1 point. This may be done more than once, but no ability can be lowered below 9. There are certain restrictions on how to raise or lower abilities. No ability may be lowered if it is also a prime requisite for the class, even if there are a few points to spare above the minimum required score. Dexterity can only be raised, never lowered. Constitution and Charisma are the only abilities that may not be modified in any way.

Roll once d100 Skills.

1. Actor 2. Animal Trainer 3. Appraiser      4. Armorer              5. Baker 6. Banker 7. Barber 8. Bartender 9. Beggar $                10. Blacksmith  11. Boatman        12. Bookbinder             13. Bowyer/Fletcher %  14. Brewer             15. Butcher 16. Burglar $        17. Carpenter       18. Chandler 19. Clown   20. Cobbler    21. Cooper 22. Cook        23. Coppersmith 24. Crier 25. Cutler 26. Dairyman 27. Dancer  28. Drifter $ 29. Dyer 30. Explorer 31. Farmer           32. Fisher   33. Fortune Teller*

34. Friar <      35. Furrier 36. Gambler  37. Game Keeper % 38. Gem Cutter      39. Glassblower 40. Glazier  41. Goldsmith 42. Gravedigger 43. Hatter 44. Herald 45. Horse Trader   46. Huntsman % 47. Investigator 48. Jailer 49. Jeweler 50. Juggler 51. Laborer 52. Lapidary 53. Lens Maker 54. Lorimer 55. Mapmaker 56. Mason 57. Merchant 58. Mime 59. Miner 60. Minstrel 61. Mourner 62. Notary 63. Occultist* 64. Painter 65. Pawnbroker 66. Peasant

67. Perfumer 68. Pimp/Whore 69. Poet 70. Porter 71. Potter 72. Prisoner 73. Puppeteer 74. Rat Catcher 75. Reeve 76. Roper 77. Seafarer 78. Servant 79. Scribe 80. Shepard 81. Shipwright 82. Slater 83. Slave 84. Silversmith 85. Singer 86. Stevedore 87. Tailor 88. Tanner 89. Taxman 90. Thatcher/Roofer 91. Thug 92. Tinkerer 93. Torchbearer 94. Undertaker 95. Vintner 96. Wanderer 97. Weapon Smith 98. Weaver 99. Woodcutter + 100. Roll Twice

*- Has the Spell Read Magic only and can use Magic User scrolls.

$- Has the 0 Level Thief Skills of PL 11%, FRT 9%, PP 18% CW 44%, HIS 8%, HN 1-2

%- Starts out with a Long Bow OR Short Bow and 12 arrows.

+- Starts out with a Hand Axe or Battle Axe.

<- Can cast Clerical scrolls.

Roll 1d4 HPs modified by the Con score.

Roll 1d6 x 10 for gold.

Start out at -500 XP

My god this looks fun as hell!

Back to the Dungeon 2nd Edition! Simplified and Stripped!

Plans to simplify Back to the Dungeon RPG are underway!  

The game will still be compatible with the all the modules and such just character creation will be simplified. Many of the long winded modifiers and such will be put either into one word descriptors, or eliminated all together.   

Attribute modifies may be (Have not decided yet) replaced with minimum scores (like an elf needs to have a 16 Dex instead of a +2 to Dex modifier) for certain classes or races. 

The simplicity I was going for was obscured by the "just get it finished" mode I was in. 

After running it for awhile , I noticed that many of the features were not even used so they are going out the door. TOO MUCH CLUNK! This will allow for more customized characters I think.

I also went to make a stack of pregenerated characters for the local CON and said DAMN IT! I did it again! Made it too clunky! It was just too much work!

Here's how it should and is going to be! Roll Attributes, Pick Race, Pick Class, Roll for gold, Buy Stuff, Start playing in less that 10 minutes.   

I am also going to put all the difficulty ratings on the GM. The player will simply roll his D20 plus attribute modifier. On the GM's side will be subtraction of -1 every two levels and if he is skilled then drop the difficulty by 5. The player will not have to deal with any of the math save combat.

A few tweaks on the Armor rules and the price list. 

Monsters are pretty much going to stay the same. 

It will be released as an update on each booklet, so if you already got yours downloaded from DrivThruRPG then you will get this update for free!    

Back to the Dungeon Role Playing Game is for sale! Here is the MASTER BUNDLE! (OR sold separately!)

Back to the Dungeon Role Playing Game is for sale! Here is the MASTER BUNDLE! (OR sold separately!)

Easy to run, Easy to play...

A HUGE BIG OL BUNCH of stuff for one low price.

A printer printing out the PDFs in Zine booklet style and with less than a hundred pages you have complete set of rules!

www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197560/Back-to-the-Dungeon-Master-Bundle-BUNDLE

Easy to run, Easy to play...

Stranger Gamer

The Stranger in Saint Antonio
He walks in and finds some friends. Gamers like him who let him hang out. A stranger once a young, a gamer now old and from out of town. 

They play their games that groups of players do. Complicated and confusing the new and improved games are. The stranger knows rules old and new. He understands them all. The theory the goal of the rules. Most crush themselves under their own weight. 

The players could be having so much more fun! Stop and look at the book, stop and look at the book! Stop and look at the book, stop and look at the book! Stop and look at the book, stop and look at the book! Less play but a rule for everything! Stop and look at the book! The poor game master looks tested.

The stranger now older and wiser offers them a glimpse of the olden days. Something that was magical and simpler yet elegant. He offers them a real test of wits! An adventure!

An ancient city teeming full of adventure. A giant dungeon full of secrets, monsters, and deadly traps! The stranger exclaims with very much excitement and charisma! 

The younger gamers only versed in the new ways look in wonder! They are taking the bait! I can now run the game they way it is supposed to be! They did not seem to be having any fun their way.  

The older jaded gamer in their group says “Nay I am tired of standard fantasy gaming. Thanks but no thanks”. The younger gamers follow! Not knowing as their mentor and hero speaks to his way of gaming. Never getting to try out Old School.

A few of the older gamers also in following say “not interested in the old school thing” as if it is a disease! They too are followers. If the stranger could just show them once! Their mentor seeming satisfied and wanders off with his following.   

The stranger is once again disappointed but this is nothing new. Many days and nights of adventures lost to stubborn players back home who only want to play the new complicated rules yet they can't run them. The stranger can but take no joy in running overcomplicated crap. 

The stranger post upon the winds that he is here and a few old schoolers reply. Some out of town and some reply and ignore. The stranger is saddened. He sees his time is short in the city. 

They do not reply. His weekends go by. Alone a stranger in this city. A kindred spirit of these other gamers yet they do not invite him or they have something other to do. Others are too far away. 

Now his time has ended in this city. Here the old school is as dead as it is back at home. He solemnly puts his books up and stashes his dice bag. He will not miss this city as much as he thought. 

The stranger writes this before it happens. All of the old schoolers say READY TO GAME as he leaves the city. But alas it is too late! Eldrad the Wizard is gone and is no more...


None here in this city will get the chance to adventure in his world as told by Eldrad. A world in need of brave foolhardy adventurers...  
In a Little Barony far far in the Western Frontier...

Year 2012

EW

Hell Froze Over

Well it's just what the title said.

Hell froze over: Someone actually ran a Labyrinth Lord/ Advanced Edition Companion game in my area!

It happened last Saturday and it was fun. One of the local gamers had a game day at our FLGS. From 10 to 6 of gaming fun!

I already had quite a few LL/AEC characters ready to go so I helped everyone I could to get characters ready. For a group of 8 people it only took 30 minutes.  We played a small module and did not get done with it but many encounters were done.  We were also having a contest on who could miss in combat and roll more ones but it was still fun.

Possibly some time in February we shall finish the module but I don't know yet.

The best part I met some real nice people and everyone seemed to get along. Just a real good vibe all day.

What was funny was there was another game trying to get started of Rogue Trader. They sat there for around 5 to 6 hours and did not even finish characters. Very cool system but damn what happened to the old % WFRP rules that it was based on?

It was real quick to make a charter in the old 1st edition WFRP! After all that time building a character I hope they did something about the death rate!

SO I reconnected with some of my old gamer buddies and we are most likely going to get the old Pathfinder game back started but with NO megadungeons. There may be a dungeon that becomes one as time progresses but that will have to progress organically.

Is the BlogOSRsphere dying off?

Is the BlogOSRsphere dying off? 

It seems to be waning a bit.  Oh there are people who post quite a few times a week but not like it was just a few years ago. It is kinda nice to be able to keep up with the blog post though.

It is very much alive though! 

Some of the main players have stopped posting or have slowed down to a mere trickle. Some have fallen to scandals or have made scandals.

Still every day there is at least something interestingly posted for the love of the game. 

I know that I am here for the long haul whatever that is even though my blog is one of the least of the OSR blogs. 

It seems that the OSR has not really moved forward at all if you compare the post of Chicago Wiz way back in 2011.

Does something needs to happen publishing wise to get the OSR ball rolling again? I don't think that is ever going to happen (save the release of Adventures Dark and Deep but that's just me getting excited about a product that I have yet to buy) again. 

People are still going to publish Retro Clones (Neo-Clone, Simulacrums, Fantasy Heartbreakers, etc.)  but the chance for glory has passed. 

I hope to be proven wrong on that statement but we shall see...

People seem to be very happy with the RPGs they are playing.


What needs to happen that would re-excite (Like it was a few years ago!) the BlogOSRsphere? I think people getting out there and playing and posting about it. 

Some sort of organized play starting on a local level and then possibly becoming state, regional, and then possibly national and posting about it.

TARGA needs to come back. 

Some really good ground breaking home made modules and house rules! 

New race and class options! 

Wait, that still is going on !  

In my area, RPG Gaming seems dead though rumors of groups existing in secretive insular little clans. Old School Gaming locally has a few small sparks but they never seem to ignite. If there is an OLD campaign that has existed since the late 70s and early 80s in my area I don't know about it.  

What to do? What to do?