I did have them in bold in the original Word document, but thought bold looked too much like the section headings in the wiki, so I left them alone. Italics looks good. I'll leave the layout to the experts ;)

kiznit said:

My advice seems so "official" when put in that format! :o Do I need to ramp up my authoritative tone?

I'd like to see you using the phrase "one true way" more often.

When using a Ranged Weapon, does the +2 come into effect when the bowmen is firing into an adjacent Arena that is not Open yet he is standing in an Open Arena?

My instincts say no but I figured I would ask. :)

Ah, the text is the same across all weapons, "+2 bonus when used in..." which could lead one to believe that it only matters where the weapon bearer stands as opposed to where the target stands.

I guess it boils down to a technicality... as one uses a weapon 'in' an Arena but can use a weapon 'against' a different Arena.

Wow, no kidding.

I actually don't know too much about wikis. If I get a chance, I'll see if I can institute some editing controls.
I may end up switching the SRD over to google sites though, which I have a lot more familiarity with.

<<<<<<< <br />Based on OldSchoolHack_PlaytestDocs_v02.pdf

16th September 2010

!!Character Generation
!!Classes
!!Weapons & Arenas
!!Armour & Healing
!!Going Adventuring
''Q) When making an unopposed attribute test, does the DM roll 1D12 or use a static target number?''

A) I personally don't think I've ever set a target number for non-opposed checks in OSH, I've always just rolled an opposed roll with what I felt was an appropriate modifier. I guess I like the higher degree of randomness and leaving the difficulty of the situation "up to the dice" so to speak.

That being said there's absolutely nothing wrong with setting target numbers if that's how you want to do it. Personally I tend to be a "say yes" sort of DM for many situations that other gamemasters seem to like to ask tests for - if I as a DM know that players are going to see something eventually, or pick a locked door eventually, or climb a wall to get over something eventually, I try to limit the "rolling for rolling's sake" and just say they do it, and save that rolling for when as a DM I really do think a situation "could go either way". This seems to limit "target difficulty deciding" which is a bit of an annoying drain on the DM brainpower, and instead I roll a d12, and sometimes even only decide on a modifier if after I see the result I'm not quite comfortable with it.
Awesome Points & Levelling Up

''Q) how many Awesome Points I should put in the bowl at the start of the game?''

A) 2.5 x the number of players is a good start, but it's actually not something you should worry about too much. If the bowl is running low you can always add more Awesome Tokens to the bowl later even if you're not "doing" anything to the players, unless you get the sense that they're hoarding points. If they're hoarding points, throw a freaky big monster at them and give them lots of opportunity to spend them soaking damage, adding to Attribute checks, etc.

The Awesome Point economy is a pretty loose economy and has a lot of wiggle room for getting the right kind of flow.

''Q) Can you spend more than one Awesome Point on the same roll?''

A) TBC

''Q) Can you spend Awesome Points on another player’s character?''

A) TBC

''Q) If someone does something awesome, can more than one person give them Awesome Points?''

A) It's okay and I don't think it breaks the game, but I try to control the amount of APs in the player's bowl so that doing so clearly uses a LOT of the available Awesome Points up. It's purely a psychological thing.

''Q) If you spend awesome points to do something awesome, do you get awesome points for it?''

A) The rules are explicit. Whenever anyone does something you think is awesome, you should give them an awesome point for it. No exceptions, as far as I'm concerned. ;)

The only time when you wouldn't would be when the bowl is empty, and that's never happened in an Old School Hack game I've played!

!!Combat Rules

''Q) What action do you use for an attribute check in combat?''

A) Is it something clunky? Make it a focused action. Is it something attack-y? Make it an attack action. Anything else I would let you do it whenever you want, and may not even force you to "give up a round".

''Q) Is the DM supposed to announce what his NPCs are intending at the start of the round (so the PCs know what to expect when they're picking their actions)? For things like impede, it seems like knowing a monster's intent to move would be useful. Otherwise it's a potentially wasted action.''

A) Yes. A good DM should always make his monsters' intentions clear before the players decide what they do, either laying out his cards or placing his tokens on the combat tracker first, usually while describing their fierce scowls and saber-rattling. If the players aren't paying attention, that's their problem, though I'd probably be nice and say something like, "you sure you want to move? This guy's moving right into your Arena this round anyway."

That being said what with often playing his two or three cards for his multiple groups(?) of monsters, the DM's usually got some leeway in the midst of the round to decide who amongst his bad guys exactly does exactly what.

''Q) I had a couple instances where the monsters were in one arena, and the players were in another. They each readied move actions. They wound up switching arenas. Can whoever loses the initiative (and thus moves second) opt to abandon their action?''

A) Sure, or if you're feeling samurai-ish, let both parties get an attack as they move past each other, and make sure to make a "PA-CHREEEEEEENG!" sound effect as they do.

!!Monsters

''Q) What do you do if one of your players narrates a seemingly impossible to reach (except by them) Arena?''

A) Have my bad guys pull out Ranged Weapons. Feed a few awesome points to have the bad guys call in aerial reinforcements at the beginning of the next round. Feed Awesome points to have the bad guys affect the Arena somehow (start a cave-in, summon a storm, chop supports, etc.)

If the PC can get there, then the bad guys can get there too... eventually, or at least affect the arena somehow.

''Q) What guidelines would you give the DM for spending Awesome Points to activate monster powers?''

A) For 1AP you can impose a condition that the enemy gets a roll to avoid. Example: Goblin Poisoned Daggers that force a Commitment check (I used a target number of 7) or else the PC takes an extra point of damage.

For 2AP you can impose a condition that the enemy doesn't get a roll to avoid. Example: Owlbear Grab that allows no Move on the character's next round.

For 3AP you can do something that's pretty amazing, so long as it is in keeping with the basic concept of the monster. Example: Owlbear Swallow that forces a PC into a new Arena (Owlbear Tummy(Tight)) that they can't leave until the Owlbear is dead.

Another existing ability is the 2AP "Create an NPC..." thing. As a benchmark I'd probably say that for 2AP you can make a Guard level cohort or maybe 2 Minions.

!!Treasure & Magic Loot

''Q) Has there been any discussion regarding mundane items/services? Every class starts with some coinage so, where and what do they spend it on?''

A) I haven't worried about it at all - mostly because the OSH currency system is pretty straightforwardly similar to a certain other fantasy game of which there is no shortage of item cost charts, many of which happen to be in arms reach of me here and I suspect are in arm's reach of you as well. :)

The_Bane said:

Being a HUGE Wiki fan, I would love to see it developed more. Any further thought about adding Editing Controls and sharing said password here locally, or via PM?

If you folks are interested, you're welcome to use the Year of Living Free wiki to host Old School Hack stuff. It's not been spammed so far, and it's run for about a year.

Check out the wiki and let me know what you think: http://www.yearoflivingfree.info

I can explain the basics of Wikidot mark up if folks are interested.

I would rule that, just like any other per-arena talent, after using it, you have to move to another arena in order to use it again.