Martial Arts for AD&D 2e

I have had this file for years. I think the last time I used it was back in 2000. I figured I'd post it for anyone who wants it. It's inspired by Oriental Adventures 1e, but uses the 2e Weapon and Non-Weapon Proficiencies.

Government-approved adventurers

I picked up the RQ version of Wraith Recon, and I really like the idea behind it. Basically, adventurers are formed into special operations teams and used to fight the enemies of the state. This provides a source of adventures, and gives the GM an easy way to guide a campaign.

Another thing I like is that the adventurers are given gear to use by the government for each mission. If they are sending you to kill undead, you will get lots of holy items to use. If the next mission requires you to take on orcs, you could get wands of fireballs and magical armor and weapons.

This approach is pretty cool, to me. You can overpower the characters for one mission, and then take away any gear that would normally be game-breaking because they are now going on a new mission. I would hope that other publishers take note.

Favor of the Gods

One idea I've had based off of mutations as presented in WFRP is granting characters a Favor of the Gods. I am thinking for now it would just be cosmetic, though some might want to add in a stat or saving throw bonus of some kind. Night sight, improved hearing, etc, would also fit.

Example Favors:
Great size. The character is a mountain of a man.
Canines. All of the character's teeth are canines, and he is a carnivore.
Strange hair color. Maybe his hair is purple or green.
Strange eyes. Maybe they are gold or have pupils similar to cats.
Strange facial features. Maybe he does not look quite human, and can be either beautiful or ugly.
Tiny person. Maybe the character is halfling or smaller sized.
Webbed fingers or toes. Especially common in seafaring communities.

In any case, the Favor should stand out. It should also be affiliated in some way with the god. The character may receive special treatment from the priests of his religion, and he may also be expected to perform services for them, or the lord.

A man blessed with great size by the god of battle would be expected to handle a group of bandits bothering the local lord, as well. With great benefits should come great responsibilities.

A world of cruel gods

Just thinking about this, while I'm reading "Wulfrik", a Warhammer fantasy novel featuring a chaos champion. I'd love to see a world where there are no out-and-out good gods. At best they'd be neutral, and many would be either completely chaotic or evil. I think it would make an interesting twist on a setting.


Sample Gods (borrowed from many sources)

Babeester Gor - Goddess of Vengeance and Booze. She is worshiped by wronged women and drunks. She is more than happy to help her followers kill those who offended them. 

Earth Mother. Represents all aspects of the world, both it's beauty and it's horrible destructiveness. Many primitive peoples worship her as their main deity.

Kharne - the Blood God. He wants slaughter, and he doesn't give a crap about anything but blood sacrifices. Badass warriors are held in high esteem, wimps are for slaughter.

Malar - The Beastlord. He is god of the Hunt, and requires blood sacrifices. Great hunters who face horrible monsters alone are the heroes of his cult. 

Nyarlathotep - The Crawling Chaos. He insinuates among civilized peoples and leads them down the paths of madness.

Thed - Lord of Rape and Beastmen. Thed expects his followers to be brutish rapists, and is the creator and lord of all beastmen.

Shar - Goddess of the Night and Keeper of Secrets. Her followers are assassins and scholars bent on keeping all knowledge for themselves. 

Slaanesh - God or Goddess of Lust and Cruelty. Slaaneshi cultists revel in deviance of all forms. Many are sadists, and happily torture their sexual partners.

 Talos - God of Storms and Disasters. He sends earthquakes and hurricanes at his whim, testing his victims to see who is strong enough to survive.


A world with this pantheon would likely be stuck in a permanent dark age, which would actually make the slow to non-existent pace of progress assumed in most fantasy games to make sense. It would also make more sense to me than Carcosa, where all the gods are Cthuloid, and really don't care about mortals at all. At least with this lineup, the gods would have a reason to be at least minimally involved in the world.

Conan the Barbarian

Just a great tweet from Arnold Schwarzanegger regarding the Conan movies:

"I do still have the Conan sword ..., and I keep it in my office. Here's a picture ."

Warhammer FRP

I played a bunch of WFRP, both 1e and 2e, over the years. I really enjoyed the setting, and the dark tone. No matter how tough you were, you could be killed quite quickly by a lucky skaven or goblin.

When we played, we actually avoided the "find the cultists" mysteries popular among the published adventures. I think the best campaign I was in involved me and my friends acting as mercenaries  around Praag. My first, and funnest, character was a physician's assistant. I think I caused as much damage as I healed, thanks to awful dice. But we had fun.

Recently, over at RPGSite, someone provided a link to a bunch of maps for the Warhammer World. I figured I would share it here for those interested. I really recommend the maps labelled high detail. Wish I had these back when we were playing regularly.

AD&D 2e XP charts

I kind of wish that the 2e xp charts were in more use among the various OSR games. I think it made a lot more sense for a mage to get xp for casting spells instead of killing monsters. Same with the thief using his thief skills and the cleric doing holy stuff to get xp.

Some ideas (based off recollections of 2e):
(XP awards are not given for stuff that doesn't really affect the adventure. No thieves just sneaking around for no reason to get xp).

Mage:
100 XP per spell level cast.
100 XP for learning a new spell outside the ones acquired due to level gain.
100 XP for creating a potion or scroll.
500 XP for creating a permanent magic item.
1,000 XP for creating a major magic item (DM discretion).

Fighter
XP as standard for killing monsters.
100-500 XP for participating in jousts or melees.
500 XP for commanding troops in a battle.
500 XP for creating and implementing a battle plan.


Cleric
100 XP for successfully Turning Undead.
200 XP for converting important NPCs.
100 XP for leading a major religious service in a village, town, or city.
100 XP per spell level cast.
1 XP per gp donated to the Church (up to a max 10% of total wealth gained from an adventure).

Thief
100 XP per successful use of a thief skill (that helps in an adventure).
1 XP per gp gained through thiefly activities.
100-500 XP for planning and successfully completing a heist.
XP as standard for monsters killed by backstabbing or poisoning.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

For those of you who have read Sword & Board

The pdf/print copy.

Which parts did you like?
Which parts were just so-so?
And which parts did you think were a waste of time?
What would you like to have seen added instead, if anything?

Feel free to be harsh in your judgements, I'm not made of tissue.Even if I don't ever publish anything else, maybe other publishers can look at this and get ideas.

Fantasy relief organizations

Relief organizations for floods, fires, etc., are a very modern development. I was just thinking of how they might exist in your typical fantasy setting.

The most obvious choice is the Temple of the God of Healing, whoever that might be. Helping the poor and needy is their divine mission. In fact, doing so will greatly improve the believers chances of going to Heaven.

A merchant organization could provide these services, for a fee. They might come in after a disaster and help everyone out, feeding people and even rebuilding lost homes. Then they give the local lord the bill. Of course, their fees might end up bankrupting the noble, but them's the breaks.

Maybe a wizard shows up, and he helps dispose of all the bodies. Maybe those bodies become experiments in his lab, or get reanimated as zombies. Best not to ask.

The local druids might help out, in an attempt to bring nature back into balance. Or maybe they are the ones who called down the destruction, to smite the city people and their loggers and miners.