An Alternate System for AD&D Forward: This began as an attempt to "fix" the AD&D system to make it playable. I soon found this task to be impossible, without trashing almost everything in the system and starting from scratch. The obsolete concept of "class" with it's built in restrictions (weapons, armor, spell, skills... the list goes on and on) was unacceptable. It is obvious to most people that a skill based system has many advantages over a class based one, and I for one was happy to see AD&D ver. 2 "take a step in the right direction" by adding non-weapon proficiencies. However, a half step can cause a fall, and the current NWP system gives some "feel" of a skill based system while still holding ardently to it's class based roots. The obvious solution? Play something skill based (GURPS, for example). Goals: I set out making changes in the system with a few goals in mind. First, I felt that the current magic system had too much of a tendency for low level spellcasters to be "johnny one shots" (cast one spell and be done for the day). Higher level spell casters had quite a large selection of spells and were quite powerful, but had no flexibility. The level 19 mage (for example) could still only cast 5 magic missiles before being finished for the day. The increased effect of spells (such as fireball) with level without any additional cost to the caster also bothered me. Second, I detested the weapons and armor restrictions. Why can't a mage wield a sword? Gandalf did. [The astute student will at this point realize that these restrictions had to be imposed for some "balance" in the game--a limitation of the class based system]. Why can't the rogue use a long bow and wear plate armor (if they want to, that is)? Lastly, I didn't like the hit point system. The system itself describes hit points as a combination of luck and physical punishment potential. [Note that this may not be true, as I haven't bothered to track that exact quote down]. This is obviously a pseudo-justification left over from the war gaming days of D&D. The next several sections will describe the changes that I have made in the hit point system, the weapons/armor restrictions, and lastly (and longest) the magic system. Health and Hit Points All characters and monsters now have two categories of hit points. The first is their physical damage potential, or health. The second is their accumulated luck, or luck points. The health of a character is exactly equal to their constitution. Use the following rules to generate health scores for monsters whose constitution is not known. Roll an appropriate number of dice depending on the size of the creature. Tiny: 1d6; Small: 2d6; Medium: 3d6; Large: 6d6; Huge: 9d6; Gargantuan: 12d6. Note that this is not intended to represent the constitution of the creature in general. The luck of a character is given by their hit dice or level, and is exactly equal to their hit points under the old system. All damage comes first from these luck points and represents small scratches, bruises and the like. For example: a third level fighter with a 17 constitution would have a health score of 17, and 3d10+9 luck points (fighters still gain higher amounts of luck points in combat due to high constitution, while other classes do not). Negative Health Scores: When a character reaches zero health, they fall to the ground barely conscious. They are able to crawl at 1", bind wounds, or drink potions, but little else if they make a successful willpower check (roll under wisdom+current health on d20). The check must be made each round. For example, the fighter above takes a massive wound bringing his health to -3. He must roll under his wisdom - 3 to remain conscious that round. Unlike regular AD&D, characters do not die at -10 health. Instead, when the character finally receives aid (from a priest, for example), they must take their current health and divide it by their maximum health (round all fractions up). A successful roll on the system shock table (equate maximum health to constitution for finding system shock roll, and add 5% for each point above 25) divided by the number above will not result in loss of life. Say that the fighter above reaches -26 health (for whatever reason) before a priest can attend to him. He must roll 97% divided by 2 (26/17=2), which is 49% or less on percentile. Regardless of health, a character will die at -5*maxhealth. Berserkers: If a creature has gone berserk (for whatever reason) they will fight until all enemies are dead, or they have died. They do not have to make a willpower roll, but will fight until they are dead, i.e. at -5*maxhealth. This makes berserkers (and cursed items that cause berserking) much more deadly. Healing: Since luck points are not really wounds, I allow healing magics of all sorts to act doubly on them (1 point of healing heals 2 points of luck). Optionally, you could disallow healing magic to work on them, but regenerate them at a rate of 5 points per day (the phrase "push your luck" comes to mind). Any method is acceptable, depending on your game setting and GM's preference. Armor and Weapons Restrictions The obvious fix for armor and weapons was to free all classes from any sort of restrictions. Note that priests may still be restricted by their particular deity and wizards in metal armor will have a chance of spell failure based on the amount of metallic content. I still allow priests who worship the major (king, father/mother, etc.) god of the pantheon to take the standard cleric package (without any weapons/armor restrictions) given in the PHB. Use the following table to determine a wizard's chance of spell failure: Armor Type Casting Penalty Hide, Padded, Leather 0% Ring Mail, Studded Leather 10% Elven Chain * 15% Scale, Brigandine 25% Chain 40% Splint 50% Plate 60% Field Plate 75% Full Plate 90% Shields, Buckler 0% Small or Medium 5% Body 10% * - The casting penalty for Elven chain may be reduced if the character is a wizard or a priest. The penalty for a wizard or priest with a bond item is 0%. Values for shield and armor are cumulative. For each magic plus of a suit of armor, subtract 5% from the penalty. Note that priestly magic is not affected by the presence of metals about the body. For example, a mage in plate +5, with body shield +3 would have: (60% - 25%) + (10% - 10%) = 35% chance of failure The penalty for a shield or armor may never go below zero. Magic Spell Points: The magic system now uses spell points. When a spellcaster casts a spell, they pay for the casting in magic points. The base number of magic points that the caster pays is given by the formula below. base number of points = (spell level)*3 - 2 This determines the base cost of the spell, cast at the level that the spellcaster is required to be to initially cast the spell. A spellcaster can "boost" the effects of the spell by putting an additional magic point per level desired into the spell (up to the level of the character). For example, a mage must be 5th level to case fireball, and the base cost for the spell is 7 magic points. If a 9th level mage wishes to cast a fireball at 7th level, the cost would be an additional 2 points for a total of 9 magic points. The caster could have put 4 additional points into the spell (instead of 2) and cast it at 9th level for a cost of 11 magic points. The number of spell points per level for the various classes is given below: Level Priest Wizard Ranger Paladin Bard 1 2 2 - - - 2 4 4 - - 2 3 8 8 - - 4 4 14 14 - - 8 5 24 22 - - 10 6 30 28 - - 14 7 38 40 - - 20 8 52 54 2 - 24 9 68 64 4 2 30 10 86 78 8 4 38 11 106 102 12 8 44 12 130 132 18 12 52 13 148 156 20 18 62 14 180 170 26 20 70 15 198 188 30 28 80 16 222 230 36 38 94 17 254 260 36 44 112 18 296 278 36 44 130 19 302 294 36 52 138 20 330 324 36 60 160 You might note that the number of spell points is simply the number of spell levels a caster could cast at a given level (in the original system) times two. Overcasting spells: It is possible for a spellcaster to cast a spell that costs more than they have in current magic points. This is called overcasting a spell. When a spell is overcast, the extra points come directly from the casters health points (i.e. they are physically damaged by the overcasting of the spell). You may wish to impose some form of penalty for overcasting spells (higher failure, willpower check, etc.). Spell Point Recovery: Spell points are recovered at a constant rate per hour. This rate depends on the prime requisite of the spellcaster (wizard or priest only), and the availability of mana in the region. The base rates for a "normal" mana area are given below: Points Activities 0 Heavy work, Combat, etc. 1 Light work, Heavy activity (running, etc.) 2 Light activity (walking, etc.) 3 Rest, Relaxing activity (study, etc.) 4 Sleep Wizards and priests with prime requisites above 14 add one point to the above totals. Exceptionally high scores (above 18) may also add to the recovery rate. Other spellcasters do not gain this bonus (paladins, rangers, bards and the like). Five categories of manna areas exist: very high, high, normal, low, and none. In "very high" manna areas, the recovery rate is as it is in "high", plus one point per hour, and the cost of spells is halved (round down). In "high" manna areas, the recovery rate is doubled (per hour) and the cost of spells is reduced by one point (i.e. 1st level spells cost the same as cantrips: 0). In "low" manna areas, the recovery rate is halved (rates above are for every two hours) and the cost of spells is increased by one point. In areas where there is no mana, all spellcasters lose 1 magic point per hour to the surroundings, spells cost double, and no mana is recovered. For example, a wizard with an IQ of 16 in a very high manna area, who is sleeping has a rate of 4 (sleep) + 1 (high prime requisite) times 2 (very high manna area) + 1 (very high manna area) = 11 points per hour. It is very beneficial for powerful wizards and priest to build strongholds in these areas. In addition, a 9th level spell would cost 12 points! Spell Memorization: All spellcasters can memorize a number of spell levels equal to their effective level plus their wisdom (if they cast priest spells), or intelligence (if they cast wizard spells). This forces spellcasters to choose a good selection of midrange spells at higher levels, while allowing lower level spellcasters to know a wide range of spells. Rarely will a spellcaster keep greater than 6th level spells in memory. Spell memorization takes only 15 minutes per spell level to replace spells in memory. No rest is required (other than regeneration of spell points). Bond Items: A wizard or priest may bond an object to themselves (other spellcasters cannot make a bond object), which will increase the number of spell levels a character may memorize. For the wizard this item must be organic (i.e. once have lived). It is typically a wand of wood or bone, or a staff of wood (hence the stereotype of a wizard with a staff). For the priest the item will be an excellent quality holy symbol. The bonding process takes 1 week of constant attention by the spellcaster, putting 1 spell point per waking hour into the item. This activity counts as light work for the purpose of spell point recovery. After one week, the item is ready for the final enchantment. The spellcaster pours all of their remaining magic points into the item. The caster then must roll under the number of magic points that they poured into the item on a d100. A successful roll indicates that the item has bonded to the caster. A roll of 100 always fails. The caster then may memorize an additional number of spell levels equal to one half their level, rounded up. Only one such item may be bonded to a character at a time. A bond item may be intentionally destroyed. A priest may strike a single foe with their bond item, destroying the item. The foe will take 6d6 damage + 1 point damage per level of the user. If the creature struck is extraplanar (i.e. summoned) it must save vs. spells, or return to it's plane of origin. A wizard may break his bond item, causing an explosion in a 20 foot radius centered on the caster. All creatures in this radius take 6d6 damage plus 2 points damage per level of the user. Creatures in the area of effect may not make a saving throw. If the wizard fails a saving throw vs. magic, he will take twice the indicated damage, otherwise the wizard will be unharmed. In most cases a bond item will be destroyed when the bond with the caster is broken. A spellcaster that intentionally breaks a bond item may not bond another item for a period of one year. A spellcaster that wishes to dissolve their bond with their bond item may do so, without the one year penalty. The bond is dissolved, and the caster immediately loses all spells that were memorized with the item. The caster must then wait for a number of days equal to their level to bond the new item. Magic Items: Several magic items have changed under the new system. These are described below. All items that can be recharged may be recharged by the appropriate spellcaster by pouring 10 magic points per charge per hour into the item. An item cannot be recharged faster than one charge per hour. Potion of Mana Restoration: The entire potion must be consumed in a single round. If this is done, the potion restores 3d10+3 magic points. Potion of Greater Mana Restoration: This potion may be consumed in thirds, in which case the effect is as a potion of mana restoration (above). If the entire potion is quaffed in a single round, the potion restores 3d10+40 magic points. Scrolls: Scrolls work the same under this system as the previous one. Ring of Wizardry: The ring increases the number of spell levels the wizard (and only a wizard) may memorize. Roll on the following table to determine the additional spells available: Roll Additional Spell Levels 01-70 Level/2 71-95 Level 95-99 3*Level/2 100 2*Level The level referred to is the character's current level. The effects of this ring are cumulative with a bond item. Rod of Absorption: This rod works as described in the DMG with regard to absorbing spells, but will only provide the base cost of a spell to be cast by the wielder. If the user wishes to cast the spell at a level above the base, they must provide the extra magic points. Staff of the Magi: Acts as the staff in the DMG, but doesn't absorb spell levels as described. Instead, the staff may store 50 magic points which are available to the caster as if they were the caster's own. The staff will absorb spell energy in the form of magic points, instead of spell levels. The cost of the staff's functions is doubled and paid for in spell points, not charges/spell levels. This item may be used as a bond item, with double the effect. Effects of the retributive strike and bond breaking are cumulative. Assume that the current magic points divided by 2 is the current number of spell levels in the staff for purposes of a retributive strike. Staff of Power: This staff is charged, to a maximum of 25 charges, and does not contain magic points for the wielder to use. This staff does, however, increase the rate at which magic points are recovered by 1 point per hour. In no mana areas, this staff prevents the loss of magic points to the surroundings. This item may be used as a bond item, with double the effect. Effects of the retributive strike and bond breaking are cumulative. Phylactery of Faithfulness: Acts as described in the DMG, with the additional bonus of letting the priest memorize additional spell levels, as a ring of wizardry. Spells: Several spells have changed, as noted below. Note that all "caps" on maximum dice for a spell (10 dice for a fireball, 5 missles for magic missles, etc.) have been removed, since the extra power must now be paid for. Wizard Spells: Cantrip: A cantrip costs zero magic points to cast, except in low manna areas. Dispel Magic: If the caster is dispelling his own magic, this spell costs a single magic point. Vampiric Touch: The caster may drain magic points instead of hit points from the target. If the target has no magic points, the spell fails. Anti-Magic Shell: The shell does not protect against dragon breath. This is (should be) a separate sixth level spell. Limited Wish: The additional cost of the spell above the base will be determined by your GM. Permanency: The cost of this spell is 500 times the cost of the spell to be made permanent. The caster must spend a minimum of 1 hour a day with the item/area to be enchanted, and must put a minimum of 20 magic points per hour into the enchantment. At the end of this time, the spell is made permanent. If any day is missed, the enchantment fails. The caster does not lose a constitution point from the casting (due to the increased casting time). Wish: The additional cost of the spell above the base will be determined by your GM. Priest Spells: Dispel Magic: If the caster is dispelling his own magic, this spell costs a single magic point. Imbue With Spell Ability: Only one such spell may be active at a time. The caster imbues the target as normally. The caster does not lose the spell levels imbued to the target! The target may then cast the spell using the caster's magic points. Raise Dead: This spell costs the base cost, plus 5 magic points per level of the dead to be raised. The casting time is 1 turn per level of the target plus 1 turn. This spell may only be used on the recently dead, up to 1 hour per level of the caster. The reverse of this spell takes 1 round to cast, and costs only the base. Resurrection: The spell costs the base cost, plus 10 magic points per level of the dead to be resurrected. The casting time is 1 hour per level of the target plus 1 hour. New Spells: Some new spells are described below. Mana Gradient (1st level priest/wizard, Divination) Sphere: All Range: 10 yards plus 5 yards per level Components: V, S Duration: 2 rounds/level (subject to permanency) Casting Time: 1 Area of Effect: caster Saving Throw: None When this spell is cast, it gives the general direction of increasing mana concentration within the range of the spell. This spell may be used to find locally higher mana areas, but not necessarily regions of higher manna. Moving away from the direction of increasing mana may be used to find locally lower mana areas. Optionally, this could be an innate ability of wizards and (to a lesser extent) priests. Shape Mana (6th level priest/wizard, Alteration) Sphere: All Range: 0 Components: V, S Duration: 1 hour/level (subject to permanency) Casting Time: 1 hour Area of Effect: Special Saving Throw: None When this spell is cast the caster may locally shape the mana concentration within the area of effect of the spell. Certain areas may be reduced by one category, and a like area increased by one category. The area of effect is at most the size of a small tower or keep, not to exceed 16,000 cubic feet. Repeated application of this spell may shift the category by two places, not to exceed "very high" or fall below "none". Note that the Mana Gradient spell is ideally suited to find places that have been affected by this spell.