Nealok's AD&D rules hospital Vol. 2

In this edition of the rules hospital, I will be introducing a new system for saving throws, character creation, and the idea of power in the hands of a PC. If you read the previous installment, you know that I think Gygax was smoking a blunt when he created saving throws, so I have spent the past week slaving over some ideas to replace those numbers. My goal was to make a system so that the 5, 000th level PC's are still afraid when a fireball is heading down the hallway toward them, but not put out of commission every time someone uses a death spell. As usual, if you don't like my rules, then don't use'em.

• If God meant for there to be saving throws...
• Odds and Ends
• Magic
• The Player Character Party

If God meant for there to be saving throws...

System 1: My first suggestion is to simply not have saving throws. I'm serious. This would be the last plan in the world I would actually try! Regardless,this system (lack of), adds a very urgent flavor to the game. Charms, fireballs, etc. become much more nerve-wracking when there is no save that can pull your 18th-level-I-have-a-20%-chance-of-failing-this ass out of the fire. DMs should be somewhat enamored of this system because a plethora of low-level monsters like sirens become valid threats to any adventuring party. Rather than charging blindly to fight the puny medusas, you must take the proper precautions for any circumstance that might arise. It adds a much needed level of realism to the guts of a sword and sorcery game. If you aren't into that level of grittiness in the game, then give spells like death spell, PW: Die, and Destruction the heave ho, because any player is bound to feel short-changed if he is wandering through town to pick up supplies, and the wizard who has been stalking the group because the PC's killed his brother suddenly pops one of them off with a death spell under the cover of a hat of disguise. Also, even though I never, ever use the rules for spell failure, I think they become a given in this system.

System 2: But who am I kidding? No DM's are going to want to have a carefully planned adventure screwed in an hour because the players didn't think about the contingency spell, and as far as those pesky players are concerned, there is nothing good about no one having saving throws when someone else attacks them...although they might like it when it is turned in their favor. In light of the inevitable unpopularity of my previous suggestion, I have the quick and dirty saving throws conversion that takes care of the two biggest problems with saving throws in one fell swoop:

1. As a character advances in levels, saving throws become redundant formalities, because there the odds are so absurdly low that the 18+ level PC will fail his saving throw.
2. When the fireball hits at point blank range, the saving throw still takes half off. The "if...then..." nature of saving throws is too unsatisfactory in responding to the gray area intrinsic to magic. If you are going to have a fluid situation like the one represented by magic in the AD&D game, then you need to have a malleable and loose-leafed counter-system to respond to it. It is the only logical way; saving throws and what they represent lack logic.

My system is fabulously simple and fluid. It allows for the DM to make adjustments based on circumstances other than the raw power of the effect's origin (i.e. the fact that your DM's mighty lich makes you save at -2, but the point-blank fireball above doesn't.). It also reflects the fact that 20th level or no, the paladin is a being of flesh and blood...and maybe a little ichor. Voila:

• Add the physical stats, Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity, divide them by three, and that is your physical saving throw, rolled for effects like fireballs or breath weapons.
• Add the mental stats, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, divide them by three, and that is your mental saving throw, used for charm effects, death spells, and other things that are not the direct providence of the body. This can be tricky, but after some thought, I have decided that you make this roll when the after effect is not something which is clearly came from an external source to affect the condition of the character. Fireball doesn't fit, medusa's gaze is up in the air, and death spell counts. Obviously, as with all things, this should be the DM's best judgement.
• Never forget that there is a Con. based stat called System Shock. Sometimes I think that would be more appropriate than anything else. A medusa is about to turn you into stone, and your body tries to counter the magic, the shock to the sytem. But if you want to sweep all saving throw things under just the saving throw rules, then use the ones I have suggested.
• Whatever the case, these rules do not allow for entire carry-overs from the previous categories. You cannot sweep all breath weapons, spells, and petri/poly effects into the physical and put the rest into mental. Each roll has to be made based on the discretion of the DM. Most of the people who play this game are of above average intelligence, so use your best judgement.

And that is that; obviously, if there is a problem, or if you have ideas, or you have lots of extra time on your hands and want to tell me how much you hate this system, then let me know, and I will respond. Nealok@aol.com

Odds and Ends

Ability scores:

All of the following suggestions for character ability scores are based around the premise of balancing out characters who like to focus all their energies into one stat, or be consciously weak in one area. I would like to have an ability for every (Stat + Stat)/2 combination, but there isn't a lot that can come from Wisdom plus Charisma...A seduction stat maybe? Anyway, here are my ideas. Balance away.

• Perception. Observation. Intuition. PCs need a basic trait that allows them to catch things in the corner of their eyes, call it what you will. My suggestion is to use (Dex + Int)/2.

• Mental endurance. Where is it? Wisdom doesn't quite cover it, I don't think, although it is certainly closest. My suggestion is to make a Willpower stat based on (Wis + Con)/2. The most frequent usage that this roll would see would be when the PCs are keeping watch (Your PC do keep watch, right?). Make the roll for the first hour, and add a +1 modifier for every hour. When the PC fails, he has to wake someone to take his place.

• Sheer physical attrractiveness. Charisma takes it all into account and bundles it together. My group at home likes to use the old rules and roll comelieness. No, no, no. My suggestion is to make a Comeliness (or Beauty, or Hotness, or whatever) stat based on (Con + Cha)/2.

• I don't understand why a character with an 18 Dex and a 12 Str has no advantages in using a katana. I recommend that the combat bonuses under the Strength category should be dolled out to the characters as followed (Str x 2 + Dex)/3. The resultant number gives the Damage Adj and To Hit modifier from the Strength table. That calculation works to a point, but I would change the basis of the system even more if I had my druthers (See, I am trying to hold to the rules, guys!), I would multiply Dex by 2 instead of Strength. It is based on the individual DM.

People hate power gamers. I do too, but not because they try to be too powerful. If a PC is too powerful, then the DM shouldn't put them in a situation where sheer power will enable them to save the day. Any political intrigue at all will do that. Nix that: Any intrigue at all will do that. The only thing that a character needs to do in order to be Elminster is be a 40th level mage (Please do not send me e-mail about what level Elminster is really. I don't care.); there comes a point when any PC can take down a dragon, so don't start wetting yourself when that happens.

That said, let players have nice stats. I know a few people who like having low stats. Why? I suppose it makes them feel more in tune with reality in the logical havoc of AD&D. I shrug my shoulders and let them. For those players especially, let them pick their stats. If they want a realistic character, then tell them to assign their stats as they see fit. Sit around with all the players and have them place the checks on each other. If they start saying things like, "Okay, Kody, you take an 18 in Charisma because we don't have anyone who can talk to other people," that is when the DM steps in. Make sure everyone agrees that it makes sense for Thog the Half-Giant to have a 22 in Strength, or, more oddly, a 17. One thing to keep in mind is that AD&D (I make no claims about other RPGs) is about heroes (for those of you who are saying, "Says who?" I ask you to read te first ten pages of the PHB, and stop wasting everyone's time by playing evil characters. More on this later.). Besides the fact that heroes are not evil (At worst they are neutral, as per Lord Foul's Bane, by Stephen Donaldson.), heroes should be heroic. That's not to say that every PC must have stats past 14 or be a lawful good yutz who can qualify for paladin status, but there is nothing heroic about a character with the intellectual equivalent of an eggplant who can't lift a dagger. Those are the silly sidekicks of beginning liches who don't have Azalin's budget. They are not PCs.

But, as with my first suggestion about saving throws above, I know that will not fly with some DMs and players. I can't imagine my DM at home, Vyzhin, allowing that, because our role playing group would abuse it. So would yours probably. So I have an actual system for getting player stats. Before I go into it, I have to say a word about rolling stats. That word is, "No." Randomness is a nice factor in the game; it adds spice. It is, in my opinion, essential for proper simulation of combat, but starting the game with each character on unequal footing is starting that game on the wrong foot. So whatever system you decide on, I strongly recommend that you don't roll your stats as per most of the TSR systems.

But TSR has not let me down completely. With Method VII in the PO:S&P book (do not buy that book. Download it if TSR posts it, but do not waste your money. Buy Shadowrun 3rd ed. instead. You will be happier.) and with the Alternity system, they spawned a system that a.) makes sense, b.) starts players off on equal footing, and thus c.) catches them up with the rest of the frigging game publishers and yours truly: start all  players with a set number of ability points and  let them distribute them how they will. My gripes about the TSR representations of this system are simply that in the former example, the number of ability points (75) is an odd choice, and I tend to veer toward something divisable by the total number of ability scores. In the latter, the Alternity system, the PHB says that players start off with 60 points, and that's it. It doesn't give the reason, that 60 is divisable by 6 (the number of abilities in Alternity as well), and the quotient is 10, the average ability score of humans in the world of Alternity. It never come out and says this. So I will: When you pick a number of ability points to give players, make sure it's divisable by the total number of ability scores (6 normally; God knows how many in your house rules.). TSR seems to think 72, giving scores an average of 12, and making the characters' great strengths reflected by great weaknesses--if you want an 18 in anything, you will pay dearly in other areas. I lean toward 84, making everyone slightly happier with that wonderful number, 14, which barely makes it into that magical category high stats, as the average ability score. This makes characters generally more powerful (read: intrinsically heroic.), and makes most players happier. If you, the DM, don't like the idea of PCs being too powerful (i.e. you are too lazy to come up with any interesting or intellectual to stimulate them), then pick a lower average number like 10 (::sound of Nealok shuddering::) or 12.

Magic