Question to readers/players: In OD&D, I'd never noticed the prime requisite use of other abilities than each class's main one (p10 of FMC). And I can't make heads nor tails of it. Could anyone give me an example?
hi eric! that rule would transform into the point reallocation rule in the different versions of basic d&d, but in the original ruleset it is implied that there is no actual reallocation :)
for example, suppose that a fighter has 12 strength, 11 intelligence, and 12 wisdom. they have 11 - 9 = 2 points of intelligence which can count as 1 point of strength, and 12 - 9 = 3 points of wisdom which can also count as 1 point of strength. therefore their overall total “strength” for the purposes of XP is 12 + 1 + 1 = 14!
another example is that if your character has 10 strength, 15 intelligence, and 15 wisdom, the math works out so that they can also be a fighter with a virtual PR score of 10 + 3 + 2 = 15!
meanwhile, all the scores themselves seem to stay the same.
This version of this P.R. rule jumped out at me, too. And what you layed out is where I also wound up with it. The why of xp bonuses and, especially, penalties is something I don’t get.
I think the bonuses for prime requisites are there to encourage you to play an archetype based on your ability scores e.g I'm strong so I'll be a fighter. The 'virtual' reallocation from other stats gives you a bit of differentiation and reward for having another above average ability - the fighter's strong but also smart so advances faster.
I was browsing through FMC today and ran into that creatively explained rule again and was like "I'm sure I've asked about this somewhere, but why is it still unclear now?"
Because I'd forgotten about asking and never saw Marcia's answer, is why!
So please accept my apologies for my short attention span as well as my thanks for explaining, Marcia. And again, thanks for gifting us FMC. OD&D is a fascinating artefact and you've been doing great work to help us make use of it.
Is the general understanding that if one's CON is super low, there's no percentage chance for survival? Or does one adopt the values as above (6 would be 30%, 5 would be 20%, etc) and also have the hit point penalty?
hi, thank you so much! :) it is up to your interpretation, but it seems to me like below-average CON characters have a 0% chance of “survival” while above-average CON characters have a 100% chance! i like yours better though, haha.
One thing to consider is that number doesn't indicate the precise number of players at the table at any one time. It just means that number of players participate in the campaign. For example, when I ran a West Marches game years ago we had 25 players at any one point participating, but usually only 6-7 showed up for an actual game session. Then, the next game had 6-7 players too, but it might be a few different players swapped out or something.
There were multiple parties with small numbers of players, but they all played in the same 'game world'. A GM didn't run all 50 at once, but, more or less, serially in smaller 'combat units' (parties).
I'm glad to see that robots and androids are still "self-explanatory" in a way lol. Is the hiding Balor stat block intentional? I was pleasantly surprised to see them on some of the tables!
YAYYY i’m so glad that bit isn’t going unnoticed! also now that you bring it up, maybe it would be nice to have stats for the “balor”/balrog (which i just found, woo!)–but it’s also kinda funny to have them in the encounter tables but not actually described. will have to think about it! maybe i can write a description but cross it out to be silly.
thank you, on all accounts! :) CC is just a more open license than OGL, especially since my intent is to treat this as a text rather than as a brand of role-playing games (which OGL is written to handle, specifically)
this is wonderful. Thank you. Wish you also had a way we could “purchase” from you — even a nominal “tip.” I’d rather not download 200+ pages right now, but would love a way to save this masterpiece in my itch library.
i realized that something you can try is adding it to a collection! i’m sorry it’s more out of the way than it being directly in your library, but it’s one way to more easily keep track of it and other free games 😊
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Question to readers/players: In OD&D, I'd never noticed the prime requisite use of other abilities than each class's main one (p10 of FMC). And I can't make heads nor tails of it.
Could anyone give me an example?
hi eric! that rule would transform into the point reallocation rule in the different versions of basic d&d, but in the original ruleset it is implied that there is no actual reallocation :)
for example, suppose that a fighter has 12 strength, 11 intelligence, and 12 wisdom. they have 11 - 9 = 2 points of intelligence which can count as 1 point of strength, and 12 - 9 = 3 points of wisdom which can also count as 1 point of strength. therefore their overall total “strength” for the purposes of XP is 12 + 1 + 1 = 14!
another example is that if your character has 10 strength, 15 intelligence, and 15 wisdom, the math works out so that they can also be a fighter with a virtual PR score of 10 + 3 + 2 = 15!
meanwhile, all the scores themselves seem to stay the same.
This version of this P.R. rule jumped out at me, too. And what you layed out is where I also wound up with it. The why of xp bonuses and, especially, penalties is something I don’t get.
I think the bonuses for prime requisites are there to encourage you to play an archetype based on your ability scores e.g I'm strong so I'll be a fighter. The 'virtual' reallocation from other stats gives you a bit of differentiation and reward for having another above average ability - the fighter's strong but also smart so advances faster.
Good thoughts! Thanks!
I was browsing through FMC today and ran into that creatively explained rule again and was like "I'm sure I've asked about this somewhere, but why is it still unclear now?"
Because I'd forgotten about asking and never saw Marcia's answer, is why!
So please accept my apologies for my short attention span as well as my thanks for explaining, Marcia. And again, thanks for gifting us FMC. OD&D is a fascinating artefact and you've been doing great work to help us make use of it.
Thank you for this! Fun to read, well done.
Is the general understanding that if one's CON is super low, there's no percentage chance for survival? Or does one adopt the values as above (6 would be 30%, 5 would be 20%, etc) and also have the hit point penalty?
hi, thank you so much! :) it is up to your interpretation, but it seems to me like below-average CON characters have a 0% chance of “survival” while above-average CON characters have a 100% chance! i like yours better though, haha.
"Four to FIFTY players"
Oh, gods, please take care of that poor referee's soul!
(Literally laughing out loud.)
One thing to consider is that number doesn't indicate the precise number of players at the table at any one time. It just means that number of players participate in the campaign. For example, when I ran a West Marches game years ago we had 25 players at any one point participating, but usually only 6-7 showed up for an actual game session. Then, the next game had 6-7 players too, but it might be a few different players swapped out or something.
There were multiple parties with small numbers of players, but they all played in the same 'game world'. A GM didn't run all 50 at once, but, more or less, serially in smaller 'combat units' (parties).
I'm glad to see that robots and androids are still "self-explanatory" in a way lol. Is the hiding Balor stat block intentional? I was pleasantly surprised to see them on some of the tables!
YAYYY i’m so glad that bit isn’t going unnoticed! also now that you bring it up, maybe it would be nice to have stats for the “balor”/balrog (which i just found, woo!)–but it’s also kinda funny to have them in the encounter tables but not actually described. will have to think about it! maybe i can write a description but cross it out to be silly.
So excited to read through this over the weekend
thank you!!!
Gosh I am SO STOKED this has dropped. I’ve been excited for this for SUCH A LONG TIME omg
thank you so much!!!
This is super cool - am I right that this is probably one of the most faithful 74 + miniatures rules retroclones out there?
Love love love the art - perfectly hits that 74 style.
Also, why CC rather than OGL?
thank you, on all accounts! :) CC is just a more open license than OGL, especially since my intent is to treat this as a text rather than as a brand of role-playing games (which OGL is written to handle, specifically)
This is phenomenal! Description of robots, golems, and androids is particularly appreciated.
I’M LITERALLY SO GLAD THAT SOMEONE CAUGHT THAT, thank you so much!! :D
this is wonderful. Thank you. Wish you also had a way we could “purchase” from you — even a nominal “tip.” I’d rather not download 200+ pages right now, but would love a way to save this masterpiece in my itch library.
hi, thank you so much! :) that’s a good point and one i’m not sure of how to handle, but i’ll ask around for a solution!
just make the release a PWYW - people can still pay 0 and download it, but people can also send you money
the project is meant to be strictly free to access, especially because multiple people contributed to it on that basis.
Ah, gotcha. Got hung up on the first part of the question, since I saw you'd answered the part about the collection. My b!
i realized that something you can try is adding it to a collection! i’m sorry it’s more out of the way than it being directly in your library, but it’s one way to more easily keep track of it and other free games 😊
thanks! Will try that!!