http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/categories/rules-talk/feed.rss Sat, 25 May 13 19:37:10 -0400 Rules Talk - Old School Hack Forums en-CA http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/388/sports-funny-pics Mon, 13 May 2013 07:10:17 -0400 Frerseriamb 388@/discussions










]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/386/rules-variant-fixed-initiative-order Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:28:13 -0500 BrownBeard 386@/discussions
So the next time I run a session I'm going to commit some HERESY and weld a more streamlined new-school initiative system onto the rules. Anybody who has played D&D 3.x or later should have no trouble grokking this variant:

At the start of an encounter, the DM and players roll a d12 for each PC and monster (or group of monsters) involved in the encounter. (Elves add +2 to this roll thanks to their Inherent ability. I might also allow the spending of AP by any player who really feels the need to get the drop on their opposition.) These numbers are recorded -- possibly by writing them down, or possibly by arranging spare player/monster tokens on a number line. The PC or NPC with the highest initiative roll acts first, followed by the next highest roll, and so on. After everybody has acted once the player who rolled highest acts again, and we repeat the same order.

Here's how I think the actions should work if they no longer set the initiative order for each round...

Defend/Protect: The effectiveness of this action might take a hit, especially during the opening round since a PC who rolls the low initiative can't necessarily throw their guard up in time to avoid hits or tank for a teammate right away. To make up for this I might allow a character who spends at least one full round in the Defensive/Protective stance to retain the benefits of that stance while they delay their next action (if they choose to do so). As with the d20-system initiative rules, a character that delays or readies an action will reset their position in the initiative order when they decide to carry out that action.

Shoot/Attack: Shoot effectively gets rolled into the general Attack action. Now players can delay an Attack with any type of weapon (although the Perfect Accuracy bonus still only applies to delayed Ranged Attacks). I worry that Ranged weapons will lose a little bit of their luster since they no longer provide an edge in the initiative order versus the other weapon types, but being able to tag a foe from one Arena away is still pretty powerful so I'll see how it works out.

Impede: Needs a buff anyway IMO, so here's what I'm thinking about trying -- The opposed roll now gets made when the target tries to Move past the Impeding character, and the loser of that roll gets to make the free attack. This means the Impeder now gets to make a parting attack of opportunity against a Mover that slips past him, while the Mover still gets to make their consolation attack against the Impeder if the Move is denied. As before, any Impeder who goes one full round without being hit (or Pushed/Thrown out of position) will Corner the target.

Focus: Like Impede, the character performing an action requiring Focus must hold their concentration for one full round in the initiative order without taking damage, being Pushed or Thrown, etc. And as with the new version of Defend/Protect, after waiting for that full round the Focuser can delay their next turn to unleash the charged-up effect at the perfect time in the initiative order. After the Focused effect triggers the character can immediately take their next action as normal for d20 systems that have spells with full-round casting times.

Push/Throw & Move: No changes necessary.

What do you guys think? Has anybody else tried something like this?]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/380/my-attempt-at-doing-a-heroic-game-framework Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:44:48 -0500 artikid 380@/discussions
THE QUEST
Remember your adventuring goal? Well now it's the time you made it real. Graduating to heroic tier -and fifth level- requires that each character fulfills his adventuring goal or at least tries.
Success is not the point, but facing your destiny is.
If the character does not take on his Quest he can go on adventuring and gaining levels, but the GM gets to add 1 awesome point to his stack per level that has passed since 4th.
He gets to do this for each character that has not made the Quest.
If -for good or bad- you have met your destiny it is now time to establish a new Goal that will lead you to the mythic tier.

NEXT TIER, LIST OF TALENTS AND EXTRA HIT POINTS
Upon completing the Quest and achieving fifth level, PCs would not only receive access to the Heroic Game talents for their class, but also finally get a bit more cushion from death: Two more hit points.

Also, heroic characters of all classes may take the following Talents.
Improved (Talent): By taking the Improved version of a Basic Rested or Arena Talent, you can make it into an Arena/At-will Talent. You must already have the Talent at basic level. May be taken multiple times.
Amazing Stunt: Once per game session you may add +2 to a single Combat Roll or Attribute Roll for the cost of a single Awesome Point.

Fighter heroic talents
Armor training [constant]: for encumbrance purposes heavy armor is considered not heavy, very heavy armor is considered heavy
Two weapons combat [constant]: the fighter can use two light weapons, the second weapon allows a second attack with no face die on turn 7 if he's not been pinned/impeded/hit
Shield-bearer [constant]: a fighter with this talent and a shield can ignore the first hit the shield absorbs
Brawler [constant]: always gets to add his Brawn to unarmed combat rolls or deals real damage, additionally he gets to roll 2 dice and take the best for throwing/pushing people
Dodger [constant]: +1 to AC if not caught off guard

Thief heroic talents
Mobility [constant]: allows to roll three dice and take the best result when trying to move and you are being impeded
Contacts [Rested]: once per gaming session you can find a contact that gives information...
KO attack [Arena ,focused]: if the attack hits rolling a 0 on the face die, the target is unconscious.
Theft[Arena, focused]: Roll attack, if you hit with a face die you may steal one item from the creature you hit alongside inflicting damage.
Swiftfoot [Rested]: You may move 2 arenas. (Adjacent to an adjacent)

Elf heroic talents
Speak to plants [constant]: May "speak" with plants, allows basic communication.
Animate plants [Rested]: all targets within the selected area in sight are impeded and pinned, only outdoors.
Invisibility [Rested]: The elf can turn invisible for a number of rounds equal to his or her level. This is one minute per level out of combat.
Earth mastery [Rested, focused]: an elf can change the type of arena of any adjacent arena he can see, this lasts till the end of the fight.
Good berries [Constant]: an elf in the wilderness can always find food for a number of persons equal to twice its level. Those that eat from the good berries are healed of natural diseases and poisons.

Magic User heroic talents
Teleport [Arena, Focus]: you can move to any arena in sight and can't be impeded.
Timestop [Rested, Focus]: At the end of this round you may take two rounds while other characters in the location are frozen in time. Other users of Timestop are not frozen.
Mastery of implements [Constant]: you can use any magic item one additional time per day/arena.
Read Thoughts [Constant, Focus]: Spending a few minutes studying or being with a person/monster allows you to discern a motivation, thought, or emotion of that person/monster if you beat them in Commitment Test.
Telekinesis [Arena, Focus]: The magician may use or take a simple item one arena away from him, otherwise he can throw a single foe into another arena confronting his Cunning against their Brawn. If used against minions or guards this is automatically successful and affects up to (Level) individuals.

Cleric heroic talents
Speak with dead[Rested, Focus]: may ask (level) questions to dead npc.
Cure disease/poison[Rested, Focus]: may heal target from poison/disease.
Blessed Concentration [Rested, reactive]: the cleric maintains focus even if hit and damaged till the end of the next turn.
Smite the sinful [Rested, focus]: all characters inside an Arena in sight of the cleric are harrowed by remorse and regret for their actions, they lose their next turn and focus.
Righteous Fury [Rested, Focused]: Select an ally within sight. If that ally attacks in a round, it may make two attacks in a round. He or she loses this ability when he fails to make an attack in a round.
Imbue with divine blessing [Rested, Focus]: Select a Talent from those you have, for the following day the chosen ally gains the use of that talent. As long as the blessing is in effect you may not use this Talent again, nor the one you Imbued. Should the ally -at any moment- be disrespectful of your faith he loses the imbued blessing.

Dwarf heroic talents
Speak to stone [Constant, Focus]: basically this acts as psychometry.
Runecarving: alarm [Rested, Focus]: when the rune is crossed the dwarf is alerted
Runecarving: protection [Rested, Focus]: for the rest of the day the item can not be broken
Runecarving: trap [Rested, Focus]: if the rune is crossed everybody in the arena takes 1 damage point.

A dwarf may not have more than (Level) runes active at any time.

Goblin heroic talents
Troll blood [Constant]: At the end of combat you automatically heal one damage point, you only bleed out on a roll of 1 or 2
Band of rats [Rested, Focus]: if in a dungeon or urban setting you can summon (level) rats, they fight as minions
Spiderfoot [Constant]: Excellent balance and extra-strong feet allow you to consider Hazardous areas as Tight
Insect swarm [Arena, focused]: an arena in sight of the goblin gets filled with a mass of insects till the end of the fight. The arena becomes Dense and those inside the swarm can never maintain focus. At the end of each combat round all those still inside the affected area roll 1d10, if a 0 comes out they take one damage point that can not be blocked by shields.

]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/95/maptools-bits Sun, 05 Jun 2011 21:24:08 -0400 Metalman 95@/discussions
Also, would someone please hack together a hex tracker with all the hexes pointing up, so that it could be placed on the map in maptools? I think this could be a good way to do initiative, especially since all you'd have to do is clone a token to use on the tracker. I tried this but each time i rotated the hexes, it got blurrier. :(]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/373/osh-using-mechas-movement-system Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:32:50 -0400 MacLeod 373@/discussions
For those not in the know... MECHA uses a Bullseye that contains 13 zones. Its a static map used for all battles that abstractly represents the battlefield. You can download the quick start for more info on how this works at the link below.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/79879/MECHA---Quickstart

I feel like it would work as a quick 'n' dirty abbreviated version of OSH's normal rules... Good for someone like me since I don't really like drawing stuff out. I'm a Final Fantasy guy so my static map is a crystal that I made using Paint (it looks like crap but I'm no artist). If I was a graphic designer I'd have little bubbles along each zone that have the different arenas next to them so you could just mark one.

I haven't had the chance to try it out but if I do I'll post my impressions here.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/2/list-o-things-to-work-on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:54:06 -0400 kiznit 2@/discussions Page: Monster Generation and Running Combats
Page: Arena suggestions and Example of Play

Things to work/rework:
Dense Arena rethinking - what environment might better be suited to give a bonus to heavy/v. heavy weapons?
Scaling back the 4Eisms - at-wills/encounters/dailies just didn't quite "feel right", liked Rel's suggestion of "per-arenas". Needs rethinking of the fundamentals of what we're trying to limit here.
Another Weapon/Arena category? What about "medium" weapons like longswords?
Playing with the "Move" train - suggestions for turning a combat into a dynamic chase.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/267/kirin-i-have-an-idea Sun, 13 May 2012 08:37:32 -0400 MacLeod 267@/discussions
Here is an idea.

You could outsource the writing to us (the fans).

Your next news post would be a call to any and all to submit a draft of what they feel the next tier of OSH should read like.

Underlining all of this would be the intention of utilizing these drafts in an editing and clarification process that produces a rough draft.

You get to kick out the next tier, keep it within your vision, do it with perhaps minimal pressure on your creative powers and really involve the community (and maybe even interest some new folks).

Something to think about. :)]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/21/a-full-on-old-school-hack-campaign Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:49:03 -0400 kiznit 21@/discussions
The directed design towards pick-up-and-playability along with, er, the flavor of the game being infected by my own somewhat goofy DMing style leads me to think that most people probably imagine the game as being ideal for one-shots but maybe not quite nuanced for long-term play. Which is probably a legit assumption but I like to think that most of the time nuance is something that anyone can bring to a game, right?

One of the things that led me down the design path in the first place was a growing library of published and homebrewed campaign ideas that I just didn't see myself ever getting a chance of running - I'm sure we've all felt that way. So I wanted a system that was fast - like Basic D&D fast, a system where you could have 4 or 5 encounters in a three-hour session once everyone got a handle on it. I ran a short campaign of Red Box Hack and I was amazed at the speed, at the ability to really have a well-rounded story arc in a single evening's play, which I realized was something I'd been after for a long time.

So far the game encompasses the first four levels of play - a fairly arbitrary limitation, and merely one in which I felt naturally created characters could maintain reasonable individuality against others of their type. Sure, you can play beyond that with the current leveling up rules, but I don't quite feel like you'd be getting a satisfying "ramp up in power", seeing as how your hit points would remain the same and all your talents would be of reasonably equivalent power.

So let's talk about the Heroic Game - the next tier of Old School Hack, the "middle" one.

Some basic ideas:

• A Quest! I'm fine with the idea that leveling up just happens, sans training, but I feel like graduating to the next game level (and the presumably greater power) should involve some investment on the part of the players. Not only would making it to fifth level involve completing some sort of task given by the DM, but I would love to hard-wire something in there where the PC gets hit with some sort of resulting obligation that hangs over them - my metathinking on this being that as PCs grow in power, have greater options, and become less killable, there needs to be a similar increase in the DMs ability to keep pulling their strings, so to speak.
• More Hit Points - Upon completing the Quest and achieving fifth level, PCs would not only receive access to the Heroic Game talents for their class, but also finally get a bit more cushion from death: Two more hit points. Yup, the Heroic Game would probably come with a whole new character sheet you would copy over to.
• The Next Tier of Talents - Well, duh. I haven't even begun brainstorming what these might be. If you have any cool ideas, let me know!
• Rituals and Retainers - For the magic-using side of things, I want to "open up" the system in order to give players some limited narrative control over their magical powers. I don't expect I'll ever put together some massive spell list like regular D&D has, so I'd rather figure out some simplicity-based system to allow PCs to come up with their own spells. I was trying to think of some sort of complementary system for the warrior/specialist types and I like the idea of similarly broadening the "use awesome points to buy an NPC" system that reflects a non-magic-using character's growing prowess and reknown, and his ability to summon and call on hireling and followers to help him hold the line and kick ass.

More to come, hopefully.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/234/thoughts-after-two-sessions Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:13:58 -0400 LobsterEntropy 234@/discussions
I thought I'd share some feelings on OSH that have come to the surface after two sessions of play. I'm not a novice to RPGs but I am a new GM and found OSH to be a perfect starting point for a new GM.

1. Low prep
Unlike a lot of the other RPGs in my collection (I read more RPGs than I play, that's for sure) OSH is completely non-intimidating in terms of prep work. I'm a great improviser but a huge procrastinator, so being able to run a game with only a few plot points sketched out and have awesome fights arise out of them that I don't have to plan out in advance is really cool. The fact that I can add abilities to my monsters and even decide their HP, AC and weapons in 10 seconds is totally awesome. I was even able to give the players an NPC follower that they could command for a fight, complete with talents and weapons, in less time than it took me to find the paper to write out his stats.

2. High awesomeness
The AP system is brilliant. I love that my players are encouraged to narrate neat stuff and fight in ways that are way more exciting than "I hit this guy". That said, I find myself awarding the lion's share of AP in combat and not during RP- I'm not sure if that is a function of my players being good at cool fights but not other stuff, or a failing on my part, or maybe just a sign that the system could be improved (maybe award them for completing plot beats? Dunno.) I forgot the rule about the limited bowl APs and just dumped out a ton in the middle, which made pumping the bowl (for extra damage, etc.) irrelevant to the AP economy. Is running out of APs in the bowl a large part of the game? I kind of liked having an unending stream of APs.

3. Combat
Combat is fun, full stop. Kirin's advice in the GM section on creating set-piece battles is fantastic, and so far we've only had one fight per session, but the fights have been really climactic. (In the most recent one, the tavern they were staying at was torn apart by a fire spirit and the rooms broke off and starting floating around, leaving them jumping from room to room trying to track down their possessed friend). The arenas system does a good job at mixing the tactical aspects of a map with the free-form aspects of pure narration.

4. Advancement
They were really excited to level up, since the talents are all really fun. Some seem like they might be a bit unbalanced (Charger, I'm looking at you) but on the whole they're all pretty sweet. Since I only have two players and our sessions are relatively short, I thought it would be OK to just have their APs contribute to both advancement tracks (ie, when one of them spends it, they both get a checkmark) but that turned out to speed things up way too much. I really hope Kirin gets the next tier out sometime soon because at the rate we're going, we're gonna start having to house rule advancement stuff pretty soon.

5. Simplicity
I loved that there is such a low barrier to entry, and that I can sit my non-tabletop-gaming girlfriend down and have her create a cool character that she understands the mechanics of in 30 minutes. More experienced gamers finished their characters in 15 minutes, tops, and I think the whole ruleset straddles depth and accessibility very nicely. I'll be interested to see if combat remains interesting as the game continues (it seems it might be a bit simple in the long run) but that's probably mostly on me to keep it interesting. I also enjoyed that RP could happen with some occasional dice rolls, but I never had to worry about what skills players had or any weird modifiers- just tell them to roll and go from there.

On the whole, the sessions have been awesome and my players are already talking about their plans for next time. Thanks Kirin for putting out this amazing RPG for free!]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/41/monster-stat-blocks Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:01:53 -0500 Nareau 41@/discussions Goblins tunnels - tight
Worm stables - dense, open
Cavern bridges - open, hazardous
Central landing - open (TRAP! Hidden webs, Cunning/Brawn DC 8 or Awareness DC 10, or cannot play move/push cards until a successful focus)
3 purple battle worms - AC 10, 5HP, light weapons
6 goblin guards - AC 14, 1HP, halbards
4 goblin scouts - AC 10, 1HP, ranged and light

Whenever I needed to make an attribute check for a bad guy, I'd make up something that sounded reasonable and just roll with it. For things like traps, I went ahead and set a firm DC just to keep things moving along (and so I could decide ahead of time how hard it should be to avoid).

I recently wrote up a few of these scenes for someone else, and realized that it might be helpful to have a standard format and language for this kind of thing. That got me into thinking about how a stat block would look in OSH; how it should be precise where it needs to be, but flexible enough that scaling/tweaking the monster wouldn't require any real math.

That led me into the idea of providing descriptors. Basically, if I think a monster has either a bonus or a penalty to a stat, I'll add in a one or two-word descriptor like "charming" or "very scrawny". I don't think this needs to be codified, but if it were, it would look something like:

Monsters can have a range of +4 to -4 in each stat. Use one of the following terms to describe a +2 or -2, and add "very" to double that. If you want to scale the monster up in power, you can add the current tier to the final result.
Committed/Fickle
Daring/Cowardly
Cunning/Foolish
Brawny/Scrawny
Charming/Creepy
Aware/Clueless

Throw in the AC, HP, and weapon(s), and you have a basic monster. So a tiger might be:
Tiger - AC 10, 5HP, light (claws), fickle, very cunning, very aware
Which translates to -2 Commitment, +4 Cunning, +4 Awareness for a tier one adventure.

I don't know that it really makes it easier, but I kinda like having some shorthand for saying "This bad guy should be really strong, that one should be really clever".]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/168/why-are-characters-together-find-out Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:59:12 -0400 fictivefantasies 168@/discussions
If you get one that just doesn't work, you can re-roll or come up with a parent, sibling, or child who is in that relationship with the other character (affecting your relationship to the other character because you care about your family member.)

This is pretty bare bones; the players are encouraged to elaborate and explain.

It is based on a table by JB at B/X Blackrazor. Also, it's a draft; I plan on adding to it later. For now, it's quite usable. What do you think?

http://fictivefantasies.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/why-are-characters-together.pdf]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/165/osh-in-french Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:36:58 -0400 Erestor 165@/discussions
I would like to know if there is a translation of OSH in french. I am ready to do it if there is none but i dont think it would look that great... Cause i really dont want to change the awsome looking of this game. Can i give someone the texts to put them at the right place ?]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/19/faq Thu, 16 Sep 2010 08:46:20 -0400 nerfherder 19@/discussions http://srd.oldschoolhack.net/index.php?n=Main.FAQ

Feel free to ask questions in this thread, and I will update the document whenever Kiznit gives an answer.

Of course, with it being a wiki, anyone can edit it, reformat it, or do whatever they like :)]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/148/osh-in-italian Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:34:54 -0500 artikid 148@/discussions I'm trying to get an italian translation of OSH off the ground at theroaringoldschool.freeforum.it
I'll keep you updated
Best regards
artikid]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/46/loot Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:45:01 -0500 Nareau 46@/discussions
So I had a couple ideas. My first idea was to include a much-simplified price list, and leave the rest up to the DM. Something like:
1GP - Cheap adventuring stuff: rope, 10' pole, fishing gear, torches, rations, staves, slings, a meal, an ale, and night at the tavern)
5GP - Basic (thieves tools, lanterns, tents, carts, donkeys, swords, axes, a night at the brothel, a night of drinking)
25GP - Cool (horses, most light armor, elven wine, holy water, spyglass, bribing a crooked guard)
100GP - Expensive (warhorses, most heavy armor, an exotic animal, a carriage)
1000GP - Really expensive (a boat, a house, something magic)
10000GP - Super expensive (equipping an army, a castle, a dragon's hoard)

My second idea was to adopt this to a "wealth system" like you see in d20 modern. Personally, I hate hate hate wealth systems. They're confusing for the players and they're incredibly easy to abuse. But in a rules-light system like OSH, where the DM has a lot of veto power, I think this could work.

PC wealth is measured like this:
A little (1)
Some (5)
A lot (25)
A whole lot (100)
Tons (1000)
I'M RICH BITCH! (10000)

When they get money, the DM tells them (for example) "You each get A Lot of money". So each PC checks off the first three boxes on their sheet.

Later, when they spend money, they might need to erase one or two boxes.
*if something is two categories below what you've got, don't sweat it
*if something is one category below, you need to erase your top box
*if it's equal to your current level, you gotta erase two boxes

I think this will work out with the PC's typically getting Some or A Lot of gold in their early adventures, and spending it when they get to town. They'll have incentive to do so, since getting Some money when you already have Some or A Lot doesn't do you any good. So you may as well spend it every time you get it.

If they really want to pool their resources, the DM can let them combine 5 or more (typically, the whole party should throw in) of one category to buy something from the next category. But that probably shouldn't happen often, especially when bumping up A Whole Lot and Tons. When pooling resources in this way, everybody has to erase one box.

Similarly, if one PC wants to pay for the party's night at the Inn--well, that's costs Some gold instead of them being able to pay for it A Little at a time.

Finally, PC's always have the option to get a "fancy" version of anything. Fancy versions of things are always one category more expensive than normal.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/147/the-problem-with-osh-not-enough-booze Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:38:03 -0500 barsoomcore 147@/discussions
http://www.drinkingquest.com/

Clearly, THIS is a match made in heaven.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/146/per-arena Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:06:15 -0500 MacLeod 146@/discussions
This is the assumption I have been going on for the longest time. It is also my preference... especially with the core rules containing Charger and my own homebrew classes containing many Talents and Inherent Abilities that facilitate free/extra movement.

(Has this been asked yet and I just haven't seen it? If so, my apologies)]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/144/half-arena-attacks Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:43:39 -0500 isquish 144@/discussions
I have seen certain talents reference "half arena" or "attacks from a 90 degrees arc" and even a cone attack. Given that the whole arena system seems to ignore specific combatant placement, how does one determine who is where? Are we supposed to be moving the miniatures around the arenas arbitrarily (ummm... I'm attacked sand dude here, so I guess I'll move my figure over there)?

Or am I just missing something basic?]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/142/weapons-and-magic-items Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:26:26 -0500 MrRoper 142@/discussions
Anyway, one concept that I have toyed with is that the weapons with which the characters begin play develop like any other PC? I am thinking specifically of The Mouser's Scalpel, or Grey Wand. The weapons aren't magical, per se, but they're special, nonetheless. They could be magical, I guess. It would all depend on the weapon's back story. For example, if a player decides that his fighter's very heavy weapon is a sword carved from the tooth of a vanquished dragon, that item begs for both plot immunity and special powers of some kind. Maybe it renders the fighter immune to fire, once per day. Maybe it conveys negative traits, too.

I'd love to hear what people think of this idea. ]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/122/some-osh-suggestions- Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:12:20 -0400 fictivefantasies 122@/discussions
I created an alternative character sheet with a one page reference sheet for about everything but combat, here.

http://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/cool-stuff/.

Go to the bottom of the page. I also have a basic review of the game in the blog, and later on tonight some firearms suggestions.

This is a great game! I look forward to continuing to tinker with it.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/93/one-page-booklet-of-osh-rules Wed, 18 May 2011 00:57:32 -0400 barsoomcore 93@/discussions
http://www.scratchfactory.com/Resources/Stuff/OSHPlayersHandbooklet.pdf

Print it (it's one page), and follow the instructions here (http://www.pocketmod.com/howto/) to cut and fold it into a tidy little booklet.

I also created a character sheet that just provides a bit more information about damage and recovery:

http://www.scratchfactory.com/Resources/Stuff/ImprovedOSHCharSheet.pdf

With the booklet, the class sheets and the new character sheet, you have all the rules needed to run Old School Hack!]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/140/rulings- Sat, 01 Oct 2011 11:03:32 -0400 fictivefantasies 140@/discussions
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/old-school-hack-the-fictive-way/wikis/rulings

I am working on my DM book to share with the community, and this page helps me see some of these rulings all in one place so I can codify some of it into the book.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/129/thoughts-on-the-next-tier- Fri, 26 Aug 2011 07:24:59 -0400 fictivefantasies 129@/discussions
First, I'd remove some things.

* Level titles are fun, but ultimately they don't communicate anything. I'd attach them to "factions" that the characters could join to denote their status there, but leave them off the generic characters. That way you do not set false expectations for how cool each level is, and don't indicate an early peak.

* I'd shift away from everyone needing to level at once, for lots of reasons. The damage is minimal; a 4th level character and a 1st level character should be able to adventure together just fine.

* I'd remove the expectation that characters need more hit points. I like the idea that characters don't get physically tougher (unless they take talents to do so) but instead just get better at what they do!

Then, I'd add some things.

* We need a pool of "open talents" that any class can get with the proper experience and training.

* Note the racial maximums on attributes for each race. I suggest with humans it is 20, and other races can have some lower and some higher.

* A faction system that lets characters join organizations and rise in the ranks. People do not need to use it, but they can if they want to; that's where your titles come in, as well as increasing power. Even a basic rule for how to found factions.

* Rules for mounts, starting with horses and going from there. As elegant and fun as the rest of the system. (Getting out of the dungeon is the focus of D&D levels 4+ in the early versions, and travel should get a nod in the next tier here too.)

That should get a character through at least level 12 without needing further adjustments.

For the next tier, "Mastery Talents" with prerequisites that allow characters to knock the ceiling off awesome; creating magic items, leading armies into battle, managing spy networks, and so on.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/127/what-program-do-you-use Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:59:01 -0400 127@/discussions
And, do you use a second party program to convert it to PDF.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/135/three-cheers-for-old-school-hack Tue, 06 Sep 2011 01:01:29 -0400 LobsterEntropy 135@/discussions Just dropped in to say that I recently ran my first session of Old School Hack and it ran better than any game I've ever played. My players were all into the idea of RPGs but complicated rules often threw them off. The game ran beautifully and I had more exciting combats at first level than, well, I've ever had, to be honest. Thanks to Kirin for this amazing little game, and double thanks for making it free!
Cheers!]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/87/osh-coc-sanity-rules-old-cthul-hack Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:54:38 -0400 papercut 87@/discussions
I can't claim to have fully read either OSH or CoC at the moment but it seems OSH can be hacked once again to make a game teeming with tentacles! Basically bolt the CoC sanity percentage system on to the OSH framework, reskin the classes (maybe remove the MU or not), make Awesome Points be able to restore an equal or greater amount of sanity points, and boom!

OLD CTHUL HACK!

There would be a tension about how to use Awesome Points inherent in the system. To be silly or not? Silliness = the road to madness. To level up or not? Leveling= trading power for sanity. It would force players to be creative in that they can potentially stay alive in an in game sense but also in a meta character sense as they get AP for doing cool stuff. What say you?

OLD CTHUL HACK!]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/128/combat-round-phases-and-declarations Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:31:21 -0400 gameknight 128@/discussions
However, because of some of the nuances of what happens when, players (and monsters) can sometimes regret their choice even before the round begins officially...

E.g. if a player chooses to Attack (which is phase 5), but his intended target chooses to Move (phase 4), then he won't have a target to attack when 5 rolls around!

Likewise, if you choose Impede (Phase 3) and no one Moves in 4 for you to impede, then while you are jockeying back and forth trying to keep people from running, they can Attack you in Phase 5, and you get to just grit your teeth back at them.

If players and monsters can change their mind, then there can be a whole swapping and re-swapping of combat cards..."Well if you are going to Move, I am going to Impede." "OK, if you are going to Impede, I will just attack instead..." ...and so on. So I don't see this always being a good idea.

So how do you guys handle this? Maybe in the uncommon times when this might be an issue, you roll an initiative roll to declare your actions?

--GameKnight]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/12/lets-talk-loot-rules Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:28:49 -0400 kiznit 12@/discussions

• +1 is a Big Deal. OSH is a low hit-point, low-damage system, one that I think works well in both giving combat a fun oomph and making the design a little more stark and design-around-able. In my discussions with Rel and JC about Success Assumption or Failure Assumption in games and "Awesomeness" mechanics that push towards a Success Assumption in pursuit of, well, awesomeness; I've always kind of admitted that I consider Attack Rolls to be kind of sacred and shouldn't be modifiable very much unless there's a really good reason (like Weapon bonuses encouraging combat to move around a lot).
• Flavor usually dictates Mechanics. Normally I consider this to be a poor design principle and difficult to pull off, but fortunately the "flavor" of Old School Hack is pretty unapologetically nostalgic of familiar fantasy gaming-specific tropes and their mechanics - meaning that the flavor sort of already comes with some mechanical baggage to begin with. There's a wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the game (I hope) where everybody knows where the game is coming from, and so the design is really based off of twisting that and approaching it from a "what makes this cool" perspective.
• I have a certain fondness for gonzo, wild and story-twisting stuff (Deck of Many Things, anyone?), enough so that I prioritize it a fair bit over keeping the players balanced to each other - in fact I think of balance as basically being "number of options the player has" and not necessarily "similar levels of numerical bonuses" and therefore I tend to consign balance issues as being more in the purview of the group and not so much the rules.

More thoughts to come.]]> http://forums.oldschoolhack.net/discussion/109/awesome-point-spending Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:14:38 -0400 TrollSlayer 109@/discussions
1. Add a +2 to an Attribute roll
2. Add a cool effect to an Attack or Attribute roll
3. Do one more point of damage after a successful attack]]>