Getting the Word Out: Communication in a BX World.

For a radical change of pace, I was looking at the Moldvay/Cook rules and noticed something that I found interesting: I've always assumed that a society with access to relatively reliable magic would be able to use it to communicate over long distances. e.g. relaying messages across hundreds of miles in moments instead of days, telepathic communication, etc. This came up as I was noodling with an idea for an adventure: A nobleman dies in the capital, and the PCs must get word to his heir out at the distant estate. Why, I thought, would the PCs need to be sent? Can't the people involved just magically notify the heir?

...or send a raven?

Turns out, not so much.

The fastest way to magically send a message, BtB, is the teleport spell. That's right. You need to zap someone from point A to point B via a 5th level MU spell. That means a name level wizard (or elf), a pricey scroll, or a Helm of Teleportation (a seriously odd item in its own right)  is involved. Things like a Crystal Ball allow for observing, but not sending to, distant locations. If one went full palantir, there could be a network of such items where the operators could check in at preplanned times and literally read the writing on the wall left for them to see, but multiple crystal balls quickly becomes an expensive proposition.

Every method in the BX rules that lets a PC communicate over long distances actually requires that the distance itself be traversed (even if instantaneously). Of course this led me to think of flying carpets and winged mounts like griffons or pterippi (look it up).

What if a country's ruler kept a small "fleet" of winged messengers for the most critical of missives? Sure it's way faster than a man on a horse, but it's not instant. The message can still be intercepted. Mounts must rest, and carpets carrying more than one person aren't terribly fast, so the rider probably needs to stop to sleep, so people wanting to literally kill the messenger would probably get at least one opportunity. The fact is, most long distance communication would be written on sealed letters and delivered by horse or ship and take some time. This would also have the effect of driving up the value of things like griffon eggs or similar. Likewise successful research into a long-distance sending spell.

I don't know why, exactly. But that makes me smile.

Endgame, part 6: Elves and Dwarves aka Tree-huggers and Stumpies

I put the last two demi-humans together to wrap this up and because the rules aren't very elaborate with either of them. Like the halfling, elves and dwarves have level limits in BX, meaning there is a point at which (BtB) they aren't really gaining much mechanically from adventuring.

Side Note:

I know this is one of the complaints against race as class, and I don't want to get to deeply into that here, but I would mention a couple of things I've observed over the years. First off, I've rarely (if ever) played or run in a classic D&D game where characters who started at 1st managed to run up against their level caps, even 14th for humans. Second, it's my belief that by the time characters reach those levels, a few more hit points or incrementally better THACO or another spell slot just isn't going to be that crucial. Hopefully PCs involved in the end game at that point are focussed more on the roleplay aspects of being commanders and high priests, etc.

Not to mention that when elves and dwarves hit their cap around 600K XP, the humans are all at about 11-13th anyway. Even if the demi-humans don't level up again and keep adventuring while the wizard is trying for another 400K or so, they'd still be seeing HUGE gains in terms of treasure (coin and magic) during that time.

End of tangent.

Dwarves

The Dwarf Lord follows a very similar model to the fighter's. He builds a stronghold and protects it. At 270K xp to reach 9th, the dwarf should have acquired enough loot for constructing at least along the Tarnskeep level of complexity.  He attracts members of various clans to his territory. There is a lot of leeway given to the DM in how these clans are organized; be it by bloodlines, trades, homelands, or what have you. In keeping with the stereotype, dwarf holds are largely underground and often in mountains or hills. Dwarves will only hire or retain dwarf soldiers, but can hire other races as specialists, etc. One bit on X7 that intrigues me as plot-fodder says: 

"There will be many different clans of dwarves, each gathered under the protection of a Dwarven Lord, but usually only members of the same clan will live together. Dwarven clans are generally friendly with each other and may join forces in times of need, such as when there is a war of natural disaster."

(emphasis mine) 

So the implication is that the clans don't necessarily get along. That's not to say that there is open warfare in the tunnels, but perhaps rivalries or petty feuds? Dwarves are known to hold grudges, after all. 

In some worlds, they have a book full of them!

The "may join forces" line leaves the door open to the idea that they may not. A good leader would need to herd those bearded cats in times of crisis, and that could make for some fun diplomacy sessions.

Elves

Elves can become lords of their lands at 9th level, which takes them 400K XP to reach. This puts them later than everyone except, interestingly, Magic-Users. The assumed stereotype has these sylvan elves creating a base of operations in some spot of great nature beauty and seclusion. An interesting conceit to balance the cost to the PC is that the efforts of beautification (elaborate woodcarving, landscaping, statuary, or what-not) means that even of the elf-hold is not made of great stone blocks, it costs just as much. Like the dwarves, I find the default assumption of demi-humans retreating from human lands and being somewhat insular a definite, though not exclusive, trait of a BX setting. Like the dwarves, the elf lord attracts other elves to his hold, and only hire elven soldiers. 

Elves have the interesting twist that they protect the creatures of the forest around them and, in turn, all the critters are friendly toward them. These animals can even bear messages to and from the elf lord. (!) Does this mean he can talk to these animals innately? Or does he give them a little scroll to carry a la "Game of Thrones" ravens? I say it's up to the DM, but personally, I'd let him speak to them and they can make themselves understood to the recipients via the elf lord's bond with them and his magical nature. 

(I don't know why I went all Rankin-Bass on this post!)

What a wonderful plot device for low level PCs to be at a village and have a fox come out of the woods to deliver a warning from the local NPC elf lord about some imminent threat!

Speaking of magical natures, I should also mention that as a 10th level spell-caster, like the magic-user, the elf lord-wizard is theoretically capable of spell research and magic item creation. So in addition to his duties as a leader among his people he can also play mad wizard in his laboratory, adding to his arcane powers.

RSA: Growth of Animals

Since BX doesn't have druids, this one is under clerical spells. I wonder if elves had a separate list whether the designers would have placed it there? At third level, it competes for attention with some pretty heavy hitters in the cleric's go-to repertoire. Spells like Cure Disease, Remove Curse, or even Continual Light. So in the vein of other RSAs, let's take a look at this sucker and see what's what.

Growth of Animal (from Cook):

Cleric: 3rd

Range: 120'

Duration: 12 turns

So basically it doubles the size, strength, carrying capacity, and damage of a non-intelligent and/or "mundane" creature. It can however, double the size  of a normal creature's giant version: . e.g. Giant Hawks, Weasels, Spiders, etc.

The obvious use of such a spell is to get more out of an allied creature. Your mount, your hound, etc. Changing a dog or tamed wolf into a Game of Thrones-style direwolf would give you an edge in a fight, to be sure. 

But that's low-hanging fruit. Let's look a little deeper, shall we?

First of all, the spell has a decent range. This means you don't have to be right next to the creature. Secondly, nothing says the animal has to belong to you. Imagine suddenly doubling the size of a foe's mount. Sure he's got a great big horse now, but he's too high up to hit you. Now imagine combining that same casting with a followup Cause Fear. You could also cause a helluva distraction in the enemy camp by suddenly having some bird or beast swell up in their midst. Maybe that rickety bridge they are galloping across won't take another half ton of horseflesh?

Next, keep in mind that sometimes bigger isn't better. That giant spider chasing you Shelob-style through the tunnels? Zap! Too big to fit now. Sure it's temporary, but two hours is a nice head start. Granted, a fifth level cleric probably isn't running from Crab Spiders too much, but you get idea. 

I know it's not a spider, but hedgehogs are just so CUTE!

Breaking Stuff

I've not given up. I've been working on several ideas for running a game. It will (probably) be FAGE, but possibly Crypts & Things. I've even painted a few minis!

Anyway, here is a random idea I had while looking at some old Runequest stuff (gawdz how I loved that game!)


Weapons Materials and Damage

The idea is that there's three types of weapons (melee): Bronze, Iron, and Steel. Now "bronze" is not exactly like real world bronze. It's softer and heavier than iron for these purposes (there are plenty of sources online explaining bronze vs iron in reality). For fantasy purposes, bronze is an element, not an alloy.

Bronze is cheaper and more readily available in remote areas and places like remote villages. It is also (like cold iron in folklore) the metal that fae creatures fear.

Iron is cast iron. It is the default metal for much of the world. It's harder and slightly lighter than bronze. It is also a bit harder to find, though by no means rare.

Steel is almost like Valryian steel in GoT. It's lighter, harder, and tougher than the other metals. It's also expensive and rare. In D&D terms, many +1 swords would simply be steel.

A harder metal can damage a softer one. Any metal weapons can harm a wooden one (including pole weapons like spears). Weapons carry a "toughness" of half their maximum listed damage (without PC bonuses). So, in Fantasy AGE, a battle axe (2d6 damage), has a toughness of 6. missile (not thrown) weapons all have a toughness of 3. A shield's toughness = its Defense Bonus and armor's = its AR.

In FAGE, an attacker can use the Sunder stunt (see below) to try and damage the target's gear.

Sunder (4sp): Instead of hurting the target, you damage his equipment, Damaged armor loses 1 AR, shields lose 1 point of Defense, melee weapons are at -1 damage, and missile weapons are at -1 to hit.

The damage is permanent until repaired by someone with the appropriate skill(s). If an object's toughness is reduced to 0, it is permanently broken and cannot be repaired.

Class, Status, and D&D

It's a topic that has been covered many times, and I'm not going to re-hash it all here. The gist of it is thus:

If your "standard" D&D/fantasy setting is supposed to be a quasi-medieval society, why is it that we don't see more emphasis on things like social class/caste? Where are the serfs? Where are the gentry? Sure, there's always a king to hand out quests, but it seems that the PCs are usually just regular shmoes, not nobles. 

I've been watching season 1 of Game of Thrones via iTunes recently. I also enjoyed the books (so far). One of the things that the books really brought home to me (and the show, to a lesser degree) was just how disparate in Westeros the lives of the powerful are from the masses. Look at the Knight of the Flowers. In one scene of the books he's wearing JEWELED ARMOR. Sure he's a pretty-boy, but that's just wacko! I bet the commoners watching the tilt couldn't wait for a few sapphires to go flying so they could scramble for them.

He and Legolas have "Who's the prettiest?"

pout-offs on alternate Wednesdays.

The levels of wealth that some of the families possess is so far beyond even "comfortable" commoners (like the armorer that employed Gendry) that it's hard to really picture.

This guy can buy and sell the both of us a hundred times over! 

So can the attitude!

Consider this modern-day comparison:

Bill Gates, widely considered the wealthiest man in the world, has a current (at the time of this posting) net worth of approximately $60 Billion (USD). If he were to never make another dime, and started spending a dollar per second, it would take him nearly 2,000 years to go broke.

The "average" American (whatever that means)  has a net worth of around $190,000 (reports vary). At the same rate of spending, Joe Average is broke in a little over two DAYS.

Now, I'm not going on about this to foment an "Occupy King's Landing" movement. I'm just trying to say that I don't know that everyone really considers just HOW rich the rich are. I'm no expert on medieval economics (as I've said before), but the few were definitely better off than the many.

OK! Back on topic!


If you are considering using things like social class in D&D-type gaming, consider to what point or purpose you're doing this:

1. Is it for historical verisimilitude? 
2. Are you trying to provide "endgame" motivation to your players? 
3. Are you attempting to add depth and new challenges to the setting? 
4. Or are you just trying to screw the PCs over? 

Of the above, 2 & 3 are probably what I consider the "best" reasons. Let's take them in turn, shall we?

Historical Verisimilitude: Yes, Europe in the middle ages was not a very "socially mobile" place. "Realistically", the odds say characters would almost certainly be poor (to start with). If, as GM, you arbitrarily decide that PCs are all "lower class", then how "realistic" is it for them to potentially start with 100s of gold pieces in equipment? And if you limit their gear, do you unfairly weaken the fighting types who depend upon their armor & weapons far more so than the magic-users, thieves, or –albeit to a lesser degree– the clerics? What about demi-humans? They aren't very "realistic." Do you eliminate them as a PC (or NPC)? If not, are they subject to the same rules as humans?

Furthermore, do you limit the equipment based on culture and historic period? YMMV, but it seems like it could be quite a headache to me. Remember, it's not just the cost of an item, but perhaps the society's laws make certain goods and services restricted or out and out illegal. Armored knights might not be crazy about the idea of peasants with crossbows, even if they had enough coin to buy them. Another popular idea is that of certain weapons or equipment denoting status.

Engame Motivation: As was discussed in a previous post, one way to manage character wealth and motivation is to point them at a larger prize than just a nicer set of armor. If the PCs feel the weight of societal pressure keeping them down, they might decide to push back and climb toward the top of the heap. This must be balanced against the "fun factor" i.e. is this something the players enjoy dealing with? Or is it a huge pain in the kiester? 

Depth and Challenge: Tying directly into the previous point. Does including things like an upper class or caste tie in with other aspects of the setting? Does it make things more interesting for the players? Perhaps they go rogue and steal illicit weapons and armor and become outlaws. Or rebels. Maybe they are hedge knights and mercenaries who operate on the fringes of legality? Players whose PCs manage to claw their way up and carve a place for themselves may savor their "victory" all the more.

Screw the PCs: This is almost not worth replying to, but there are some cases where a group enjoys that adversarial dynamic and the players respond to the challenge. Really this is just an extreme of the above point, so it's important for the GM to be fair in the implementation of rules like these. Personally, I don't see a game like that having much staying power, but it takes all kinds.

Various products, both D&D supplements/settings and new game systems, have attempted to deal with this idea in various ways. Having read several of them, I've tended to adopt the stance that a D&D world is more "fantasy" than "medieval," leaving out most of the historical stuff that would –IMO– limit the fun. It's kind of like a renaissance festival, where you see folks dressed up in everything from "tavern wench" to "Jack Sparrow" to "WTF?" It's more of a halloween costume party than historical reenactment.  

Screw it, if a PC in Kelvernia has the gold, he can buy a sword and plate mail. He might need to go to a large town, but no one will stop him because his dad was a turnip farmer.