GLAIVE: A Knave Hack & Collection of House Rules

The holidays have really been messing with my gaming. I thought I would take the time to organize my various house rules and combine them with Ben Milton’s (Questing Beast) incredible OSR game, Knave. These are rules for my home game only and where I have used or adapted rules from other games or creators I have linked to their work. To the best of my knowledge, the Non-Knave work is not covered by the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

EDIT: I continue to update the source file here.

The text colors and table borders did not like translating to Blogger. Apologies for some of the wonky formatting.

KNAVE is a rules toolkit created by Ben Milton for running old school fantasy RPGs without classes. The GLAIVE hack brings in concepts from other compatible OSR RPGs and optional Talents. 

Adding, subtracting, and modifying rules is both expected and encouraged. Knave’s features include:

Abilities are king. All d20 rolls use the six standard abilities. The way that ability scores and bonuses work has also been cleaned up, rationalized, and made consistent with how other systems like armor work.

Optional player-facing rolls. Knave easily accommodates referees who want the players to do all the rolling. Switching between the traditional shared-rolling model and players-only rolling can be done effortlessly on the fly.

Optional Talents. Talents are a hybrid of class descriptors and the feats or perks found in many other games. The game is still classless, but Talents allow Players to define their Characters with more specificity than the contents of their pack.

Silver Standard. Glaive assumes that the common unit of currency is the silver penny. Replacing the word “gold” or “copper” with “silver” when using other OSR materials usually works just fine. Use the equipment list from your favorite OSR game. 

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: You are free to share and adapt this material for any purpose, including commercially, as long as you give attribution.

Designer commentary. The rules include designer comments explaining why each rule was written the way it was, to aid in hacking the game.

CHARACTER CREATION

1 PCs have six abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each ability has two related values: a defense and a bonus. When creating a PC, roll 3d6 for each of their abilities, in order. The lowest of the three dice on each roll is that ability’s bonus. Add 10 to find its defense.

After you’ve finished rolling, you may optionally swap the scores of two abilities.

Example: You roll a 2, 2, and 6 for Strength. The lowest die is a 2, so your PC’s Strength has a bonus of +2 and a defense of 12. Repeat this process for the rest of the abilities.

Designer’s Note: “Ability defense” is Milton’s term for what is normally called ability scores. Knave/Glaive refers to them this way to make it clearer how they work during opposed saves, explained later. 

The rolling mechanic will make most abilities start at 11/+1. The bonus and defense of three abilities will rise by 1 point each time the PC gains a level, up to a maximum of 20/+10 by level 10. This puts everything on an intuitive ten point scale, and is intended to mirror the way that attack bonuses, hit dice, and saving throws in most OSR games increase by about one point per level.

2 PCs start with 2 days of rations and one weapon of their player’s choice. Roll on the Starting Gear tables on the following page to determine starting armor and equipment.

Designer’s Note:  Rolling for starting equipment dramatically speeds up the character creation process, which is important if you’re playing a high-lethality game like Knave. If you want to permit shopping for equipment, however, have players roll 3d6x20 to find their starting copper pieces. Note that spell books are not normally available to new PCs, but you could always add “random spellbook” to the Dungeoneering Gear table, or simply allow new PCs to roll a random spell in exchange for not starting with any armor.

PCs have a number of item slots equal to their Constitution defense, and items they carry must fit into the available slots. Most items take up one slot, but some take up more. Some small items can be bundled together into a single slot. Ask the referee if you are unsure. Carrying more items than you have slots for results in all Ability rolls being made with disadvantage.

Designer’s Note: Item slots make tracking encumbrance very fast and easy, which is important since resource management is an important aspect of the game. They also represent character customization slots, since what a Knave is carrying goes a long way towards determining their playstyle and role in the party.

Armor comes with an armor defense value. Note that value on your character sheet with its corresponding Armor bonus (always 10 less than the defense). If the PC is not wearing any armor, their armor defense is 11 and their armor bonus is +1.

Designer’s Note: “Armor defense” is essentially the same concept as armor class in most OSR games. It’s been renamed to emphasize the connection between the way it and ability defenses work. The armor bonus exists in order to allow combat to be run entirely player-facing, as explained in the combat section.

3 Roll 1d8+ Constitution bonus to determine your PC’s starting hit points. A PC’s healing rate is 1d8+ Constitution bonus. 

Designer’s Note: All hit dice are assumed to be d8s in Knave, for PCs, NPCs, and monsters. This simplifies the game and keeps things compatible with the stats in most OSR books. Referees who don’t want starting PCs to be too frail might want to allow starting HP to be rerolled if it is below 5 or consider starting with 8+ Charisma bonus.

4 Invent or roll the rest of your PC’s traits, such as their physique, face, skin, hair, clothing, virtue, vice, speech, background, and alignment, using the random tables on the following page. Choose a gender and a name for your PC, but don’t get too attached. It’s a dangerous world out there.

Designer’s Note: Randomizing most of a PC’s traits speeds up character creation, but it also has the effect of creating surprising, unique characters that most players wouldn’t think to invent or play. (Unfortunately I can’t import that table into Google Docs.)

5 Select an Ancestry from the table at the end of this document.

6 New Knaves begin play with two free Talents chosen from the lists below.

PLAYING THE GAME

ABILITIES

Each of the six abilities are used in different circumstances.

Strength: Used for melee attacks and saves requiring physical power, like lifting gates, bending bars, etc.

Dexterity: Used for saves requiring poise, speed, and reflexes, like dodging, climbing, sneaking, balancing, etc.

Constitution: Used for saves to resist poison, sickness, cold, etc. The Constitution bonus is added to healing rolls. A PC’s number of item slots is always equal to their Constitution defense.

Intelligence: Used for saves requiring concentration and precision, such as wielding magic, resisting magical effects, recalling lore, crafting objects, tinkering with machinery, picking pockets, etc.

Wisdom: Used for ranged attacks and saves requiring perception and intuition, such as tracking, navigating, searching for secret doors, detecting illusions, etc.

Charisma: Used for saves to persuade, deceive, interrogate, intimidate, charm, provoke, etc. PCs may employ a number of henchmen equal to their Charisma bonus.

Designer’s Note:  In a system that relies so heavily on the six abilities, it’s important for each of them to play an important role, to discourage dump stats. Non-magical characters tend to dump the mental abilities, for example, so I increased their usefulness. 

ITEM SLOTS

PCs have a number of item slots equal to their Constitution defense. Most items, including spellbooks, potions, a day’s rations, light weapons, tools and so on take up 1 slot, but particularly heavy or bulky items like armor or medium to heavy weapons may take up more slots. Groups of small, identical items may be bundled into the same slot, at the referee’s discretion. 200 coins can fit in a slot. As a general guideline, a slot holds around 5 pounds of weight.

Designer’s Note: Using item slots makes encumbrance simple enough that players will be willing to track it. Slots are also the key to character customization, as a PC’s gear helps determine who they are. Raising Constitution, therefore, will probably be a priority for most characters.

SAVING THROWS

If a character attempts something where the outcome is uncertain and failure has consequences, they make a saving throw, or “save”. To make a save, add the bonus of the relevant ability to a d20 roll. If the total is greater than 15, the character succeeds. If not, they fail.

Designer’s Note: Requiring saves to exceed 15 means that new PCs have around a 25% chance of success, while level 10 characters have around a 75% chance of success, since ability bonuses can get up to +10 by level 10. This reflects the general pattern found in the save mechanics of early D&D.

If the save is opposed by another character, then instead of aiming to exceed 15, the side doing the rolling must get a total greater than the opposing character’s relevant defense score in order to succeed. If they fail, the opposing side succeeds. This type of save is called an opposed save. Note that it doesn’t matter which side does the rolling, since the odds of success remain the same. 

Example: A wizard casts a fireball spell at a goblin, who gets a saving throw to avoid. This is resolved as an opposed save using the wizard’s Intelligence versus the goblin’s Dexterity. The goblin may roll plus their Dexterity bonus, hoping to exceed the wizard’s Intelligence defense or the wizard may roll plus their Intelligence bonus, hoping to exceed the goblin’s Dexterity defense.

Designer’s Note: An ability’s defense score is essentially its average roll. Requiring the rolling side to beat the opposing defense allows contests to be settled more quickly, eliminates the possibility of ties, and allows the game to be run with players doing all of the rolling if they so choose, since the odds of success are the same no matter which side rolls.

If there are situational factors that make a save significantly easier or harder, the referee may grant the roll advantage or disadvantage. If a roll has advantage, roll 2d20 and use the better of the two dice. If it has disadvantage, roll 2d20 and use the worse of the two dice.

Designer’s Note:  The referee is of course free to impose positive or negative modifiers rather than use the advantage system, but most players seem to enjoy it and it simplifies the math.

TURN STRUCTURE (10 Minutes)

1	Roll Encounter Die.
2	Party Moves & Maps. Enters Room, Listens, Searches.
3	Resolve Encounters Distance, Surprise, Reaction, Resolve
4	Roll Usage Die For Light & Ammunition.
5	Turn Ends.

OVERLOADING THE ENCOUNTER DIE (Nexcropraxis)

When the party moves into a new area or spends time on an exploration activity, roll the encounter die and interpret the results as follows.

1D6 ENCOUNTER DIE

1	Encounter
2	Percept (clue, spoor)
3	Locality (context-dependent timer)
4	Exhaustion (rest or take penalties)
5	Lantern (roll usage die)
6	Torch (roll usage die)

REACTIONS

When the PCs encounter an NPC whose reaction to the party is not obvious, roll 2d6 and consult the following table.

REACTION TABLE

2	Hostile. Immediate attack.
3-5	Unfriendly. Possible attack.
6-8	Neutral.
9-11	Friendly. Monster leaves or considers offers.
12	Helpful. Enthusiastic friendship.

COMBAT

CHALLENGE DIE (Index Card RPG)

Use a single target number for a given room, encounter, or combat. This target represents the average difficulty of everything in that encounter and boils it down to a single number. Use a d20 to note the TN. If something in an encounter is significantly easier or more challenging to deal with, adjust the TN of that creature by +3/-3. 

Designer’s Note: Having a single number that the entire table can see makes the game run faster and more smoothly. Hit the orc? Roll a 14. Pick the lock on the treasure chest? Target 14. Was the chest magically trapped? Adjust the Target by +1 to +3. In a linear dungeon this number would start low and rise with every new challenge, culminating in a “Boss fight”. A good dungeon is never linear.

ESCALATION DIE (Index Card RPG)

At the start of an encounter roll 1d4 and place it on the table with the Encounter Die. In the number of rounds rolled something exciting happens, (more goblins, flood waters rise, the lantern goes out, etc.). Reroll the die and do so until the encounter ends. 

Designer’s Note: The escalation die is great for staggering waves of monsters, introducing a twist, and keeping a ticking clock on the Players and their actions.

INITIATIVE (The Black Hack)

At the start of every Round each Player rolls a Dexterity save for their Character. Those that succeed, take their Turn before their NPC opponents. They must then discuss as a group to decide their own order for individual Character actions. 

Designer’s Note: Those that fail their Dexterity save, act after their opponents. Rerolling initiative every round makes combat more dangerous, since it’s possible for one side to go twice in a row.

A PC can move from one range to an adjacent range and perform a single action on their turn. This action may be casting a spell, making a second move, making an attack, using a Talent, attempting a stunt, or any other action deemed reasonable by the referee.

ATTACKING

Melee weapons can strike Close foes, but ranged weapons cannot be used if the shooting character is engaged in melee combat. To make an attack, roll a d20 and add the character’s Strength or Wisdom bonus, depending on whether they are using a melee or ranged weapon, respectively. If the attack total is greater than the defender’s armor defense, the attack hits. If not, the attack misses.

Alternatively, an attack roll can also be resolved by the defender rolling a d20 and adding their armor bonus, hoping to roll a total greater than the defense of the ability the attacker is using. If they succeed, the attack misses. If they fail, the attack hits.

Designer’s Note: In other words, attacks are resolved the same way as opposed saves, just using Armor in place of an ability.

On a hit, the attacker rolls their weapon’s damage die to determine how many Hit Points (HP) the defender loses. 

MOVEMENT & DISTANCE 

(The Black Hack)

GLAIVE  uses four range bands for measuring relative positions of Characters, other Creatures, and things in the world. From nearest to farthest: Close, Nearby, Faraway, & Distant. 

A PC can move from one range to an adjacent range and perform a single action on their Turn or they can choose to move twice and do nothing else.

Close	Hand-to-hand combat. Ranged weapons cannot be used. Most spells also unusable.
Near	Ranged weapons, most spells, polearms with reach.
Far	Ranged weapons and most spells.
Distant	Longbows, muskets, and siege weapons.

SHIELDS WILL BE BROKEN!

A Player may choose to soak a hit no matter how much damage it does by sacrificing their shield. Obviously, they must be wielding a shield at the time. 

STUNTS

Stunts are combat maneuvers such as stunning, shoving, disarming, tripping, sundering armor, and so on. They are resolved with a versus save. They may not cause damage directly, but may do so indirectly (for example, pushing an enemy off of a ledge). The referee is the final arbiter as to what stunts can be attempted in a given situation.

ADVANTAGE IN COMBAT

Characters can gain advantage in combat by attacking a target that is unaware, on lower ground, off balance, disarmed, distracted, or tactically disadvantaged in any significant way. The referee, as usual, has the final say.

When a character has advantage against an opponent on their combat turn, they may either A.) Apply advantage to their attack roll or stunt against that opponent or B.) Make an attack and a stunt attempt in the same round against that opponent, without advantage.

CRITICAL HITS

During an attack roll, if the attacker rolls a natural 20 or the defender rolls a natural 1, they take an additional d12 of damage (regardless of the weapon’s type). 

OUT OF ACTION TABLE (The Black Hack)

When a character reaches 0 HP, they are Out of Action. When the danger passes or the Player recieved aid roll on the Out of Action (OofA) Table.

1	KO’d -Just knocked out.
2	Fat Head -Disadvantage on all rolls for the next 3 Turns (30 min in-game time).
3	Cracked Bones - Disadvantage on all STR, DEX, and CON Tests for the remainder of the session.
4	Disfigured -CHA reduced by 1d4
5	Maimed -either STR, or DEX, is permanently reduced by 2.
6	Dead! -The Character dies!

MORALE

Monsters and NPCs all have a morale rating, usually between 5 and 9. When they face more danger than they were expecting, the referee will make a morale roll by rolling 2d6 and comparing the result to the NPC’s morale rating. If the roll is higher than the rating, the NPC will attempt to flee, retreat, or parley. 

Morale rolls can be triggered by defeating half of an enemy group, defeating a group’s leader, or reducing a lone enemy to half HP. Other effects may trigger a morale roll at the referee’s discretion.

Hirelings also make morale rolls when they aren’t paid, their employer dies, or they face extraordinary danger. Morale may also be improved by paying hirelings more and treating them well.

HEALING

After a meal and a full night’s rest, PCs regain lost hit points equal to a d8 plus their Constitution bonus. Resting at a safe haven restores all lost HP.

RESTFUL LUNCH (Skerples & Ten Foot Polemic)

You can consume a ration to heal 1d6 HP (or more for Meals). This takes ten minutes and involves generally chilling out, adjusting your bags, and pumping yourself up.

Taking the time to prepare a Meal heals even more, (d8+ Constitution bonus). Preparing a meal takes 1 hour minimum.

Designer’s Note: Constitution bonus is a big help when it comes to healing.

Did the party not pack enough food? Consider hunting and eating monsters. Monster Menu All.

LIGHT SOURCES, AMMUNITION, & THE USAGE DIE (The Black Hack)

Light Sources and Ammunition depletes according to die rolls. Each Turn, or when the appropriate Encounter Die result comes up, roll. If the result is less than four, use a lower die. If anything less than a four is rolled on a D4, the light source is depleted. 

Use these steps: D20 >D12 >D10 >D8 >D6 >D4 >gone.

A single quiver of arrows or case of bolts uses a d12 Usage Die.

Candle	d10	10’r/Close. 10 per inventory slot.
Lantern	d20	30’r/Nearby. 3 flasks of oil per slot.
Torch	d8	30’r/Nearby. 5 per inventory slot.

Flint and tinder requires 1D4 rounds to ignite a light source.

CROSSBOWS (LoTFP)

Light crossbows. Ignore 2 points of AC and take a round to reload.

Heavy crossbows. Ignore 4 points of AC and take two rounds to reload.

CAROUSING & OTHER WAYS TO KEEP MY PLAYERS POOR

James Young’s excellent Unified House Rules Document. 

ADVANCEMENT

When a PC acquires 1000 XP they gain an Experience Level. PCs receive 1 XP per silver piece recovered from a dungeon, earned from a job, or stolen from some git who deserved it. They do not get XP for silver found or earned through honest means. 

Additionally they receive 50 XP for low-risk accomplishments, 100 XP for moderate-risk accomplishments, and 200 XP for high-risk accomplishments. The referee should freely notify the PCs of how much XP different objectives are worth when asked.

PCs can double-dip the XP they receive for silver by carousing, becoming philanthropists, etc. Details in the Unified House Rules Document linked above.

When a PC gains a level, they roll a number of d8s equal to their new level + Constitution bonus to find their new HP maximum. If the result is less than their previous maximum, their maximum HP increases by 2. They also raise the defense and bonus scores of 3 different Abilities of their choice by 1 point, or increase the defense and bonus scores of 2 Abilities and select a new Talent. Abilities may never be raised higher than 20/+10.

Example: A Player rolled 1 d8, resulting in 4 for their starting Hit Points, and added their +3 Constitution bonus, for a total of 7 starting HP. Upon reaching Level 2 the player rolls 2d8+3 (2 eight-sided dice plus their Constitution bonus). If the result is more than 7 this is their new Maximum HP. If the result is less than 7 their new Maximum HP is 8 (6+2).

TALENTS FOR KNAVE

A classless game in its original inception, these optional rules are intended to bring some character customization to Knave. At the cost of one ability score increase, a Player may choose a single talent from any of the categories below every time their Knave levels up. 

Designer’s Note:Though grouped by theme, players are encouraged to mix and match ideas to create their own unique characters. 

Some of these ideas are my own. Others are inspired by or adapted from other such lists in the OSR blog-o-sphere or adapted from D&D Feats. (The Man WIth The Hammer, Marshal Brengle,  Buildings Are People)

This list is in no way comprehensive. Players and Referees are encouraged to create their own Talents. 

BARBARIAN

Berzerker. When reduced to zero Hit Points but not killed outright, become frenzied and continue fighting for a number of turns equal to your Level. Attacks that hit cause maximum damage. You always attack the nearest creature whether friend or foe.

Great Weapon Fighter. Reroll damage less than 3 (not including STR bonus) when wielding a two-handed weapon. You must use the new roll, even if it is less than 3.

Favor of the Gods (requires Berzerker). 11+ CHA bonus is your Armor Defense when you wear no other armor. May wield a shield.

Savage Fighter. When you strike and kill a foe in melee combat immediately make another attack on an additional adjacent foe.

CLERIC

Banish. Force up to 1d6+WIS+Lvl worth of undead to make a morale check. Apply a negative modifier equal to your WIS+Lvl bonus to the check. If you have more HD than the undead, any who fail the morale check are destroyed.

Hammer of The Gods. Grant advantage to any morale checks your retainers/hirlings/acolytes/allies make as your below a holy litany and lay waste with your warhammer.

Hospitaller. Out of combat and with a healer’s kit/proper herbs you can heal a target for 1d6+WIS+Lvl hit points. <See foraging/using herbs for Cleric abilities.>

Keeper of Relics. You have been entrusted with the safekeeping of 3 holy relics. You may pray over each relic once per day  to cast Cleric spells.

Witch Hunter. You can smell the foul taint of sorcerers, warlocks and evil clerics. You are able to track them as a Ranger tracks a dangerous animal.

DRUID

Forest Walker (requires The Old Tongue). You gain the ability to leave mystical messages on trees, rocks, ponds, or any natural object. Only others with the Forest Walker knack can read these messages and you must communicate with mental images rather than written words or runes.

The Old Tongue. You speak the secret language of rocks, trees, and animals. You have advantage on reaction rolls when speaking to an animal, copse of trees, mushroom colony, or mountain for the first time.

Skin Walker. Using a fetish or totem, take on the form and abilities of a natural beast that you are familiar with. Demons, elementals, aberrations, etc. do not count. The beast may be up to 1HD level greater than you. The effects last for one game Turn per Lvl. You may do this a number of times per day equal to your Lvl. Fetishes must be mystically recharged with ritual, sacrifice, and material components. Fetishes typically occupy one inventory slot each. Larger creatures require multiple slots -Referee’s discretion.

MAGIC USER

Arcane Researcher.  You have a nose for research. You have advantage on saves to discover hidden secrets in tombs, scrolls, and manuscripts.

Familiar. Gain a mystical cat (darkvision) , mouse (burrow), sparrow (fly), squirrel (climb) or toad (swim) companion with Level HP. You can communicate with it telepathically as long as you can see it. If it dies it can be re-summoned spending a night’s work.

Scholar of The Unseen University. You begin the next session with 3 spellbooks. Determine the spells randomly or with the help of your Referee.

Sword Wizard. You can cast spells while wielding a weapon in one or both of your hands. You still need to have the spell book and components in your inventory.

The Manifold Cerebrum. You have trained your mind to retain the pattern of a spell once you have cast it. After a spell has been cast and its effects applied, make an INT save. If you pass you may cast the spell again that day. If you have already recovered it that day, make the save with disadvantage. Lost spells are replenished the next day as usual.

The Thrice Divided Intellect. You have advantage on saves vs magical attacks/effects that affect your mind and sense.

Eldritch Feast. You have consumed the essence of a spell which you may cast once per day. No spell book/inventory slot is required. The effort of containing raw magic within your physical body manifests in some strange and possibly upsetting way. You may take this Talent once per Level. (Reskin as Patron Domains for Clerics.)

RANGER

Beast Companion. No.

Hunter’s Mark. As a free action, mark your target as living on borrowed time. You have advantage on your next attack against them. You may apply this mark a number of times per day equal to your Level.

Sharpshooter. Note the crosswind and lead your target. Reroll a ranged attack. You must accept the new roll. You may do this a number of times per day equal to your Level.

Survivalist. You thrive in the Wilds protecting the realm from the horrors that lurk in dark wood and deep cave. You have advantage on saves to track, navigate, hunt, and forage in the wilderness.

Trick-Shot (requires Sharpshooter). Targets only receive ½ of their normal cover bonus. When you shoot into melee enemy combatants count as two combatants for the purposes of randomly determining who you hit.

Two-Weapon Fighting. When you hit a foe while wielding two weapons, roll damage for both and apply the higher.

ROGUE

Acrobat. You gain advantage on saves to balance, climb, leap, and tumble.

Thief. You gain advantage on saves to hide in shadows, move silently, and pick locks assuming you have the proper tools.

Backstab! When you attack a foe with a melee weapon who is already engaged by an ally inflict an addition 1d6/Lvl damage. You attack with advantage if you attack from hiding.

Devil’s Luck. Reroll a Critical Fail or force a foe to reroll a Critical Success. You may do this a number of times per day equal to your Level.

Dungeoneer. You have advantage on saves to spot/disable traps, find hidden doors, and to navigate in dungeons.

Hard to Hit. Once per round you can reduce damage taken by your DEX bonus, if you can see its source.

WARRIOR

Dogged March. You have advantage on saves to resist fatigue. Armor occupies two fewer inventory slots for you.

Girded Loins. You have advantage on saves made to resist fear effects and intimidation.

Hack-n-Slash! You have a pool of damage dice (d6s) equal to your HD. When making an attack apply any number of these dice to any number of Nearby foes. Roll to hit for each die. Apply damage if you are successful. You regain the dice at the start of your next turn.

Riposte. When a creature hits you with an attack, make an immediate counter-attack. This does not cost you your normal Action.

Shield Bash. When wielding a shield make a second attack each round. If the attack is successful inflict damage equal to your Level and you have advantage on your next attack against that foe.

Shield Master (requires Shield Bash). When an effect allows a DEX Save for ½ damage take no damage if you save -your shield absorbs the blow.

Slings & Spears. When an ally is hit, you may choose to take the damage for them. You must be wielding a shield. Not possible against mental attacks.STR save for ½ damage.

WITCH

Alter Ego. Choose a second persona of your same Ancestry, regardless of features, sex and age. You can shapeshift to that persona a number of hours equal your CHA bonus per day.

Devil's Contract. If someone makes a bargain with you and breaks it you instantly know about it. If you have their signature on the bargain you know how to locate them by general location (North, East, up down, etc.)

Familiar. You gain a mouthless humanoid, magically created with mud and sticks. d8 + Level HP. Doesn't eat or drink, but needs to breathe. Follows all your commands, although it's extremely incompetent in combat. You can resummon your familiar 1/day.

Hint/Jinx. Once per turn make a CHA save when another creature you can see attempts an action that requires a d20 roll. On success, add(hint)/subtract(jinx) your CHA bonus to the roll. On a failure, you lose Level# HP. You do this after learning the roll, but before knowing the outcome.

Read Leaves. Assuming you have water, a pot, and tea, you can spend 1 turn every morning performing this ritual. Roll two d20s and store the numbers. You can replace a result on a d20 from a creature you can see (yourself, allies, or foes) once that day with one of the stored numbers. You do this after learning the roll, but before knowing the outcome.

Spell Eater. 1/day when a spell is targeted at you, you negate the spell's effects. Make a CHA save. On success, you absorb the spell and can cast it once as if it were your own. On a fail you need to eat double the rations for one day. You can only have one eaten spell at any time.

ANCESTRY 

Dwarf. Low light vision, advantage on saves to resist poison and disease, +5 Inventory slots.

Elf. Low light vision, advantage on saves to be stealthy, resist being charmed, and see through illusions.

Halfling. Begin play with the Devil’s Luck Talent. You are always ignored in favor of a larger target in combat until your first attack.

Half-Orc. Low light vision, advantage on saves to be intimidating, begin play w/the Berzerker knack.

Human. +1 to any Ability Score. Swap any two pairs of Ability Scores.

Tortle. Shell as chain+helmet -does not require inventory slots. Hold breath for up to 1 hour, advantage on swim checks.

Tomb of The Serpent Kings Part 5

[DM Note: the entire party is 2nd level now and they have two NPCs in tow: Kip and Marvolo the Mage.]

 Returning to the Tomb of The Serpent Kings, the party reentered the dungeon via the dirt-encrusted stairs under the roots of a tree (41: Staircase to The Surface). Maul lead the party back to the landing on which he and Haco had fought their first group of goblins the week before and put Ramen to work on opening 40: Secret Passage. As the Specialist worked she could clearly hear the sound of a heavy chain being dragged across dusty stone on the other side of the door, but the party voted to proceed anyway.

The far walls of 38. Basilisk Chamber beyond the secret door were lost in the gloom beyond the party’s lantern light. They could see a few broken pillars and noted that the floor was littered with broken but extremely lifelike statues of rats and bats. The rasping of heavy chain links was much clearer now, though no one could determine the direction or distance. Kip, the young peasant girl the party had hired to carry their lightsource, let out a frightened “Eep!” And the sound of chains in the dark suddenly stopped. 

Moving quickly, Ramen, with Kip in tow, lead the party eastward keeping hard against the south wall. Several more broken pillars and a hallway leading east appeared in the lantern’s warm light. The party was strung out in a long line with Maul bringing up the rear from beyond the lantern’s light so that his darkvision could be put to best use. Away from the lightsource the dwarf was able to see the far north wall of the chamber and more broken pillars. 

Sensing an opportunity, a still unseen and hungry Basilisk crept up behind a pillar and attempted to use it’s gaze attack to quietly turn the dwarf to stone. Unfortunately (for the Basilisk) dwarves are annoyingly hardy creatures and it had no effect other than to alert the dwarf to its presence. Pivoting around and bringing his great war axe to bear Maul charged the basilisk while the rest of the party stood flatfooted and surprised, wondering what was happening out in the darkness beyond the lantern light.

Maul landed a solid blow and the Basilisk again tried to turn him to stone and was partially successful.

[DM Note: the original Monster Manual gives no good guidance on how the basilisk’s gaze attack functions. I assume it’s a save-vs-paralysis. Essentially save or die. Pretty uninteresting. Thank goodness for Skerples, as the Basilisk in ToTSK gives more guidance. On the first failed save the target is rooted in place as their extremities begin turning into stone. Even their thoughts slow down, and any rolls are at -4. If the Basilisk stares at them for a second round they are done. Statue-city. But if the Basilisk looks away on that second round the target is left only partially transformed and can attempt to save. I like this.]

A Good Basilisk Boi

Rushing back through the darkness the party engaged the basilisk. Because of course they did. Unable to understand the dwarf’s shouted warnings, but seeing his stony limbs and putting two-and-two together, Haco rushed to Maul’s side, turned around backwards so as not to meet the Basilisk’s gaze, and stabbed blindly at the creature. To no one’s surprise he missed.

As realization of what was happening dawned on the rest of the party many things happened at once. Effje pulled a hand mirror from his belt and moved in, attempting to draw the Basilisk’s attention and trick it into stone-gazing itself. Cletus called on her patron Saint, Thomas of The Blue Veil, and cast light into the Basilisk’s eyes to blind it. The Basilisk threw off her spell. The ever-combat-averse Ramen dragged Kip and her lantern off to one side and from the cover of a pillar fired her bow at the Basilisk. Marvolo, a magic user from the keep who had hired on with the group cast the Spell of Exquisite Repose at the creature. However, it proved too strong to succumb to the magical sleep. The Basilisk went nuts and thrashed around with all eight of its limbs, injuring Haco and Maul, knocking them sprawling to the floor.

[DM Note: There was a lot of metagaming going on here as the players figured out what they were facing. While they’re still not seasoned enough to know when they should just run away sometimes, they are quite clever. I was perfectly fine with the Players using their OOC knowledge about Basilisks because with so few game mechanics to tell you what a character can do an OSR game relies on Player ingenuity. Technically, Skerple’s version of the Basilisk cannot turn itself to stone by looking in a mirror, but I was going to let it happen anyway because it was good thinking and the PC actually had a mirror in his inventory. Except that the Basilisk made it’s save Just as Maul had.]

Another round of frantic but ineffective combat followed. Maul, no longer partially turned to stone, leaped onto the Basilisk’s back and clamped down it’s visor, preventing it from stone-gazing anyone else. While this was happening Effje dashed behind the Basilisk and spiked it’s chain to the floor, pinning it more or less in place. 

Backing off from the blinded, pathetically whining, and semi-immobilized creature, the party moved to the north wall (across from the secret door they had entered through) and Ramen worked the hidden latches to open the portal. As the door swung open a half-dozen skeleton warriors appeared from the corridor leading east. Once again Marvolo’s spells proved useless to the situation, but the Fighters, Dwarf, and Cleric made short work of the threat. The party moved into 39. Secret Passage and moved north.

[DM Note: Marvolo was a mistake. 

There are no Magic Users in the party because one look at the limitation of a low-level MU in B/X D&D made even my regular wizard player push the idea of playing one away like a dead animal he’d just found under his bedsheets. I think this is valid. In many ways MUs in old versions of the game can be deeply unsatisfying to play until you earn a few levels. Don’t @ me. However, the tradeoff to their limitations is that magic just works. There are no rolls to cast a spell and if there is a save, it is a hard one. Additionally, a kind DM can let them find lots of spell scrolls to keep the magic flowing. But that’s a hard sell to a player. I’m seriously considering switching to Knave’s magic system if we ever get a wizard in the party.

So why was Marvolo a mistake? I wanted to use him to show the Players the potential fun of playing a Magic User. I gave him to one of my newbies playing a fighter (Effje) to control hoping it might spark some interest in her about the class. I gave Marvolo some good utility spells and a wand with 5 charges that shot The Kaleidoscopic Spray (Basically an AOE stun spell). The wand and spells were all ideal for messing up large groups of low HD creatures, which is all the party has faced so far. But this session they faced a 6HD Basilisk (more than the stun or sleep spells can handle) and later something even tougher. Or in the case of the skeletons, they were immune to the spells he could have otherwise used on them. Marvolo was useless. 

Marvolo was not a mistake. I just screwed the pooch when I selected his spells. Wish me better luck next time. If there is a next time.] 

The short passage ended in another door that opened into 17. Clay Warrior Room. The party knocked over one of the clay statues as they entered the room, and they were relieved to find that it contained neither a serpent-folk skeleton nor poisonous gas. Finding nothing of interest in this room they continued up a passage and emerged in the chamber where Alonzo Machete had died. Everything looked as it had a few weeks ago when they were last here. The long smear of Alonzo’s blood created when the party dragged him away had dried to a dark brown color. The fetid pool at the center of the chamber was calm and unmoving. 

11. Tomb Atrium is a large octogonal chamber with a stone door or passage on each of the eight walls. The party had just emerged in the south-west corner. To the west lay the path back to the False Tomb on the first level of the dungeon. To the east lay a broad descending staircase that was some sort of fun-house slide trap, triggered somehow by the skeletons that Cletus had turned during the skirmish which had cost Alonzo his life.

Exploring counter-clockwise from where they entered the atrium the party discovered 16. Unfinished Room which had only been half carved from the rock. Rotted tools lay scattered about. 15. Priest Room which contained a snake-god icon worth 500sp (10gp) and several scrolls written in the serpent-folk language. It would take Sister Cletus time and access to the library at St. Avandra’s to decipher them. 

The stone door in the north-east wall was more primitive than the others and the burial chamber at the end of a short passage behind the door was roughly hewn. It was 14. The Tomb of Franbinzar. A large stone coffin lay in the center of the room. Sensing that something was amiss, Effje prodded the coffin’s thick stone lid gently with her 10’ pole, giving it a tap. Something tapped back. Backing out and closing the door the group made a note to come back in a few minutes. Maybe.

Moving to the north wall they opened the door to 13. The Tomb of Sparamuntar. The passage leading into the tomb had collapsed and something was lurching and bumping around on the far side of the cave-in. This also seemed like a danger best avoided, so the party backed out and closed the door. 

[DM Note: I hope they go back. There’s a sweet 800xp worth of loot and undead monster-person back in that room. But it’s perfectly understandable if they do not.

At this point I realized that I had not been asking who was opening all these doors. The consensus was that it was probably Ramen since she was the one most likely to spot any traps. I was pleased that they were not forcing the kid holding the lantern to open them.]

As Ramen opened the door to 12. The Tomb of Xisor The Green she stepped on a trigger plate and activated a 3,000 year old magical trap that cast a lesser version of The Excellent Prismatic Spray. The bolt of energy hit Ramen square in the face, burning her terribly and dropping her to the floor.

[DM Note: I’m using a Dying Earth spell list that I found online just because I enjoy the goofy Vancian names. I have no idea if it’s from the actual DE RPG or just something that an individual wrote for fun but it is perfectly OSR compatible. 

Ramen suffered enough damage to drop her to -4 HP. One more hit point and she would have instantly died. Ramen’s player took this turn of events grimly. Only moments earlier she had begun to think that B/X might not be as deadly as I’d claimed and she'd allowed herself to get a bit attached to her PC. “But I just wrote her name in my notebook,” she said through gritted teeth, murder dancing in her eyes.]

Lucky for Ramen the party had invested in healing potions for each of the PCs. Loath to waste resources Ramen’s Player protested, but Maul’s Player flatly stated that Ramen was unconscious and Maul was just pouring the potion down the Specialist’s throat. Eyebrowless but alive, Ramen was helped to her feet.

The party looted the room then returned to 14. Tomb of Franbinzar. Once more Effje tapped at the large stone coffin within. Three times she knocked. Three times came the increasingly insistent reply, each forceful thump from within the coffin shaking the heavy stone lid. The third blow shattered the coffin lid and from inside arose a hulking black mass. Something had gone horribly awry with Franbinzar’s embalming process and he now resembled something like a Black Pudding with an angry, disjointed, skeleton suspended inside of it.

Franbinzar has really let himself go.

Kip failed her Morale check and fled down the staircase leading east, taking the only active lightsource with her. As they were plunged into darkness Franbinzar oozed forward and lashed out at Effje and Haco. In the darkness, Marvolo also failed his Morale check and stumbled off westward.

Thinking fast, Ramen unsheathed the magical bastardsword that was slung across her back. It was loot from the party’s delve into the goblin warrens and it gave off light like a torch! Frantically, the party backed out of the short corridor connecting the tomb to the atrium chamber and slammed the door behind them. As the party braced themselves against the door Effje drove spikes into the floor to hold it shut and wedged his 10’ pole into the doorframe for added measure.

Several plans were discussed and rejected as the Thing That Was Franbinzar threw itself against the heavy stone door. Then it began to ooze underneath the door. Maul poured a flask of oil on it and set it on fire with flint and steel. The ooze withdrew, but resumed bashing at the door which was shaking in it’s frame. 

Suddenly a much deeper, tomb-shaking, “BOOM!” echoed down the western corridor and through the Tomb Atrium, causing dust and rubble to rain from the ceiling. Marvolo had discovered the Hammer Trap up in the False Tomb.

[DM Note: and that is where we “freeze-framed” the game for the night. We only had another 15 minutes of gaming time and we didn’t want to rush the confrontation with the Black Pudding as it was obvious that trickery, rather than swords, would be the only way to survive. So we broke the pattern of beginning and ending at Bebbanburg Keep. 

I was happy when Franbinzar appeared and Ramen’s player said, “You know, we can just run away, can’t we?”

They were starting to figure out that not everything in a dungeon was beatable. Not without schemes and skulduggery.]

Tomb of The Serpent Kings Part 4: The Boyz Are Back in Town

The Boyz Are Back In Town

[DM Note: to date we have not spent very much time in Bebbanburg Keep. To be completely honest, we have spent no time in Bebbanburg Keep in any sort of meaningful way. When the game began, I wanted to get the players right into the action and so we started in media res, harrying a band of goblins into the mountains where the party would stumble upon the Tomb of The Serpent Kings. As more than half my regular players had to miss the last two sessions I decided that reuniting in the Keep would be a good way to begin remedying that situation.

Bebbanburg Keep and the surrounding land is inspired by the most iconic of all D&D modules, B2 The Keep on The Borderlands. A fortified outpost at the edge of a larger realm surrounded by a hostile wilderness. My own keep is visually based on Castle Carrick, Atrim. It was one of the first castles built by John de Coursy following the occupation of Ireland by the Anglo Normans. An interesting historical tidbit that I am 100% certain my players couldn’t care less about. It contains most of the features of B2’s Keep, though I’ve added a larger village just beyond the curtain wall as well as several other satellite communities that rely on the keep for protection.]

Following the razing of the goblin warrens Dilbo and Melrond booked passage on a ship sailing back across the Bay of Wolves to seek a cure for Melrond’s horrible disfigurements. Failing that, the still half-mad Dilbo seemed determined to murder the unholy abomination that Melrond had mutated into.

Glad to be rid of the capricious demi-humans, the stoic Maul returned to Bebbanburg Keep with Haco. Well rewarded for eradicating the goblin threat the two reunited with Effje, Ramin, and Sister Cletus. They had not been idle during the dwarf’s absence. 

Cletus and Effje had spent long hours in the archives beneath the Chapel of St. Avandra researching the strange mummy they’d fished from the bottom of a flooded pit in the Tomb of The Serpent Kings. Generous donations to the chapel put Curate Hardel and his acolytes at their disposal and much was learned, through prayer and research, about the once might serpent-folk empire that had stretched many hundreds of leagues to the south when the world was a warmer place. As the earth cooled the serpent-folk moved underground, and the burial complex which the party had discovered turned out to be but one of dozens of subterranean complexes through out the Jotunskegg Mountains. How many remained intact was unknown, and the babbling mummy soon crumbled to dust outside the preserving sludge of it’s watery resting place. No further information would be revealed from that source.

During this time Sister Cletus came in contact with another holywoman who was lodging in the temple -an itinerant cleric of Avandra who had stopped at the keep for a few weeks rest. She was dark haired and beguiling, but overly curious about Cletus’ business. Cletus’ suspicions were further roused when she (along with her two creepy mute acolytes) left in the middle of the night shortly after it became known that more serpent-folk structures were likely to be in the area.

Ramen Nudell, not much interested in serpent-folk or spending her days in a dusty temple crypt reading moldy scrolls, put her talents to use elsewhere. She quickly learned of rumors concerning a once-prosperous farming community at the edge of Baron Phelan’s lands. (Phelan ruled at Bebbanburg) . The distant community had a reputation for almost unnaturally bountiful crop yields, and yet many residents appeared to be leaving town in the middle of the night. Entire families would vanish. Some would return several days or weeks later to resume life where they had left off. Others were never seen again. One rumor said that the town’s well water had been poisoned. Another said that people were being turned into monsters and the evidence was fang marks on the neck. The town was called Orlane. Ramen also learned that the local Guild Master, Yohan Munchberger, was concerned that trade from the south was lessening in recent months, and that one caravan in particular was overdue to arrive at Bebbanburg Keep.

Before deciding on their next course of action the party made another generous donation to the Chapel of St. Avandra, which gained them much renown and good feeling among the common folk in the keep and surrounding village. As a result, when the party hosted a huge banquete in honor of the fallen warrior Alonzo nearly the entire population of the keep’s outer bailey showed up. Unfortunately, things got out of hand and the party’s favorite inn, The Slumbering Giant, burned down. 

[DM Note: The party came into a lot more money than I’d intended last session and I wanted to keep them as cash poor as I could. I am using James Young’s (10’ Polemic) Unified House Rules which have some great tables for spending cash during downtime as a means of gaining even more XP.  80% return on philanthropic donations (in this case to the Chapel) and 100% return on carousing. But things can go wrong. As they did. The party also blew a lot of silver on healing potions and more holy water.] 

The party made haste to reequip and head back to the Tomb of The Serpent Kings before the Bailiff could ask any awkward questions, thought at least one person in the keep knows that they are responsible for the inn burning down. . .