Goblin Punch Has Great Animal Goodies

+Arnold K.  at Goblin Punch blog has been doing some really interesting work on "mundane" animals in D&D.

I'm especially fond of his Really Good Dog class (some of whose powers resemble spandrels I've been thinking of posting here), and the gruesome-cute concept of catbooks.

I'm adding his blog to my "old-school blogs" roll to the left.  Go show his site some love (preferably with face licks) on my behalf.  If you're in need of adventure seeds for animal PCs, you can't go wrong tapping some of his wonderful ideas.

The Perpetual Dilemma Of Falling Damage

Most of the writing I'm doing for the game right now focuses on specific situations that may arise over the course of a campaign: i.e., chases, disease, encumbrance, etc.  All of it will be considered optional rules, offered for the BM as suggestions.

In that vein, I've decided to bring back the falling damage rules as they were apparently meant to be: with a geometric progression of damage dice, rather than a linear one.  Here's the text for the section on "Climbing & Falling": 

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Climbing sheer surfaces requires a Tough Trickster lore check. “Sheer surface” is defined as any surface without clear hand-holds or other protrusions.  Some species receive bonuses to their climb checks, detailed in their species description, and of course any character with levels in Trickster lore will have a great advantage here.

Any creature who flies under her own power and suffers an attack while airborne that inflicts 50 percent or more of her total maximum HP should make a Challenging Trauma save, or fall to the ground.

There are two ways a BM can model the physical consequences of falling.  One method should be chosen and used consistently.

Characters and creatures suffer compounded damage from falling, 1d5 [1d6] for each 10 feet.  In other words, falling 10 feet inflicts 1d5 [1d6] damage, while falling 20 feet inflicts 1d5 [1d6] + 2d5 [2d6], falling 30 feet inflicts 1d5 [1d6] + 2d5 [2d6] + 3d5 [3d6], and so on.  This geometric progression continues to a maximum of 21d5 [21d6], which represents terminal velocity.

Alternately, the BM can choose a particular height as a threshold, and rule that any character who falls that distance or greater and hits the ground needs to make a Trauma save or be instantly killed. A successful save means she suffers 1d5 [1d6] damage per 10 ft. fallen (in a linear progression), to a maximum of 20d5 [20d6] for falls of 200 ft. or more.

This second method can assign Threat Levels to the Trauma save based on every 10 feet fallen, like so:

Table 4.2:  Falling Distance and Trauma Save Threat Levels 

Distance Fallen                                 Threat Level 

10 ft.                                                   Easy 

20 ft.                                                   Average 

30 ft.                                                   Tough 

40 ft.                                                   Challenging 

50 ft.                                                   Formidable 

60 ft.                                                   Heroic 

70 ft. +                                                Epic

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Falling damage is a difficult thing to model in an RPG, because the real-life situation seems so arbitrary.  Sometimes, people die simply while tripping over a curb and landing the wrong way, while someone else survives a fall from thousands of feet after their parachute doesn't open.

Still, the consequences of falling in the real world are terrifying for most people to contemplate, and the same should be true of characters in a fantasy world.  So these suggested rules are meant to address that.  Sure, they're arbitrary, but then, aren't all rules?

Some rules revisions & housekeeping

Here's a link (which I'll also share on the Quick Start page) to some revised rules that came about as a result of my alpha-test run of Great & Small.  I have a feeling that most of these will be in the final draft of the game.

The big changes are:

1) Hit Dice are now tied directly to Size rating.  Species determines 0-level starting hit points; adding a niche at character creation takes you to 1st level and gives an additional HD roll to add to this total.  Each time you level up afterwards, you gain a new HD of the appropriate type and re-roll all your hp using the new pool of HD, and only change hp total if the new result is greater than the old.

2) Initiative now uses a Move (MV) score determined by your species. I'll be going through the Featured Creatures to revise them, but in the meantime, MV scores can be converted from the old system by dividing the combat movement rate (the number in parentheses) by 5.  This number is added to a 1d10 roll during combat to derive your initiative. Runner characters add their niche die result as a further bonus to this roll.  This will eliminate the system using Speed ratings for declared actions.

3) I've diversified the saving throws so that each core niche now has its own unique save bonus.  The new categories are Blast (Runner), Charm (Storyteller), Deception (Seer), Device (Scout), Fear (Warrior), Paralysis (Trickster), Poison (Herbalist), and Trauma (Healer).  Discerning readers should be able to tell which old-school save category each of these was derived from.

Next week, I will be diving headlong into arranging, re-writing, and compiling the final draft of the full product, including systems for Scent Battles over territory (based on turning undead mechanics!) and hazards of the wilderness, a re-working of OSR treasure rules to accommodate Resources and spandrels, and hopefully expanding the Herbalism list.  Also, creating more tables, including randomized scenario generation ideas.

Meantime, on the blog, I'll continue statting up Featured Creatures -- which will also all be in the final product -- adding 5e-compatible material, more sample PCs of various levels, more setting details for the three campaign schemes, and reviews of some of the inspirational reading.

Thanks to all my readers for the support and encouragement.  This project really feels like it is starting to take on a life of its own.

On Bandits, Berserkers, & Banished Ability Scores

I've made many changes to B/X DNA to create Great & Small -- some more gimmicky than others -- but probably the biggest and most radical has been the elimination of ability scores for PCs.

I didn't make this change lightly, and it happened gradually, as I struggled with the Herculean task of defining ability score adjustments for animals ranging from mouse-sized to whale-sized.  What the heck would the Str adjustment for, say, an elephant be, vs. the Dex or Con adjustment compared to the human baseline assumed by the B/X rules?  How about those aforementioned mice, or whales, or horses? What about a damned T. rex or a griffin? The vast variety of animals (mythical and real) meant it was going to be a long, hard slog, and the prospect of tackling it nearly made me abandon this project altogether.

No class

The root of the problem was that pesky human baseline assumption.  The OSR game rules assume that all characters are going to be obligate bipedal humanoids, with all the anatomy and musculature that entails.  And that's a problem when writing a game about the rest of the animal kingdom because, frankly, us obligate bipedal humanoids are a bunch of mutant freaks compared to even our nearest kinfolk, the apes and monkeys.  The capabilities granted to us by that mutant anatomy are, in many ways, a great restriction on character versatility (how many longpaws can fly at 1st level like a bat, an owl, or a raven can?).  A game designed around us couldn't handle the majority of the world's population very well.  Or so it seemed.

Let's face it: most animals aren't tool-using bipedal humanoids, but they can do a lot of amazing things naturally that longpaws would have to use magic to achieve.  If I wanted to make this game work, I needed to shift the focus off of the freakish mutants who've been hogging the game table all these years and ask myself: what would the B/X game look like if it didn't assume all characters were freakish mutants who walk on their hind legs and use their front paws mostly to play with sticks and rocks?

I started, at first, just focusing on defining and/or expanding what particular types of animals could do within the rules, based on their "monster" entry in some old-school or OSR source, and leaving the great dragon of ability score adjustments for later slaying.  This was, originally, just a tactic to get my butt writing something for the game.

But it turned out that focusing on bestiary stat blocks was the key to the whole project, because monsters (including animals) run just fine without ability scores of any sort.  That point didn't really gel in my mind, though, until I came upon the "monster" entries for freakish obligate bipedal mutants like the Bandit, Berserker, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, or the generic Men.

None of them have ability scores in the bestiaries, either, even if there is a character class listed for them.

And that little detail got me noticing something else, something I'd always been aware of but never really thought much about:  ability scores don't really do anything during actual play.

Sure, they are used at character creation to cross-reference a bunch of derived stats on their associated tables, stats that help define character capabilities and powers.  But the numbers themselves -- say, 12 Str or 9 Cha -- just sat there, taking up space on character sheets that could have been more efficiently used for character portraits, or lists of phat l00t, or whatever.

It's true that successive iterations and editions of the game tried to make the ability scores in themselves useful during game play, leading to varying levels of added complexity. But in the original, they were, functionally, pretty much just place-holders for other things.

Things that were either already accounted for in the stat blocks for non-humanoid creatures, or simply not relevant to their existence in the first place.

And the fact that even the assumed baseline humans of the game could also be designed, through bestiary entries, to run just fine without ability scores solidified my decision:  Great & Small would be a grand experiment in seeing whether the world's first roleplaying game and its descendants could run smoothly using "monster" stat blocks alone.

In a way, this is just doubling down on the B/X "race-as-class" concept that originally defined dwarfs, elves, and halflings.  In G&S, a character's hit points by level, AC, attack types & damage, and base move rates are defined by their species -- that is, their "race" -- rather than by a separate character class.

I turned the character class concept into "lores," collections of dedicated skills and knowledges that any character could earn levels in. Declaring one of these lores as a "niche" at character creation grants access to special abilities that non-specialists can't get, makes the character better at that lore than non-specialists, and gives bonuses to particular types of saving throw, so class and race have still been somewhat decoupled in the game.

But these niches and lores don't, for the most part, define a character's level-based improvements to combat abilities the way character class did for human PCs in most editions of the original game.  They're more like templates attached to a bestiary stat block, to give individual animal PCs a bit of variety.  Nonetheless, most members of a given species will be very similar in their overall capabilities, and these species capabilities improve with experience and levels the way an elf's or a halfling's would in B/X.

In case you're wondering:  yes, I am going to have the freakish bipedal mutants -- men, dwarfs, elves, and halflings -- defined and played without ability scores, too.  The longpaws will be bestiary stat blocks + a niche "template," just like all the other animals in the game.

Because despite their pretensions to the contrary, longpaws are just animals, too.

Creepy Crawlies, Pt. 2: The Eater Of Last Things

All species die.  There are no exceptions. Other species should never have been born, and have only crossed over into our world as Neverspawn from the bosom of the Progenitor.  When such species are reduced to a lone surviving individual, or a small isolated population, the Winnower often dispatches its most feared hunter to consume not only such beings' flesh, but the memory of their very existence.

The Eater Of Last Things is a predatory spirit monster that specializes in cleansing the world of cryptozoans, mythical creatures, and, on occasion, Progenitor cults who wish to create, protect, or summon such animals.  It cares little for the moral disposition of its prey, and will happily consume either the last noble unicorn or the only remaining vile manticore.  The Eater's only agenda is to hunt and eat the final specimens of a given species.  If it successfully does so, that species will not only disappear from physical existence, but from the world's memory, as well.  Thus, they will no longer have a presence in the Lingering World, either.  It will be as though they had never existed.

When its full form can be seen clearly, the Eater Of Last Things looks like nothing so much as a bizarre hybrid of ape and toad, with features of other species on display as well.  It has a roughly bipedal appearance, and moves about somewhat like an ape walking on its hind legs.  Its head is like that of a gigantic toad, it has two powerful tentacles in place of forelimbs, a great fan-like fin runs the length of its spine, and its body is covered in thick, reddish black hair.  Its independently focusable, chameleon-like eyes can extend from their sockets on wiry stalks, giving it a fuller range of vision and making it much harder to surprise.

However, the Eater's true form is rarely seen by anyone in the physical world.  Because it exists mostly in the Lingering World, the Eater is usually encountered as a blurry, ghost-like form, and only crosses the Membrane fully when it is about to attack its targeted prey.

As far as can be determined, the creature is immortal, embodying as it does the will of natural selection itself.  Luckily, though, it can be defeated for a time, and there are persistent rumors of hidden magic that allow users to either control the Eater for their own ends, or make themselves invisible to it and its master, the god-thing known as the Winnower.  Of course, no one has ever verified these rumors...

The Eater's primary motivation is eternal hunger, and once it has scented its targeted prey, it will always attack her first in any round of combat.  When this is not possible, the Eater will always target the weakest, most-poorly armored of its opponents first.

(NOTE: The Eater Of Last Things was designed for the Creepy Crawlies campaign scheme, but it can be used in any setting where magic and the occult are real.  It was designed, in part, using the Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and their Modern Simulacra by James Raggi IV.)

Armor Class: 2
Attacks: 1 bite (1d7), 2 tentacles (1d5, constriction)
Move: 160 ft. (80 ft.); Swim 90 ft. (30 ft.)
Saves as: Warrior
Size: Medium
Special: Devastating Bite, Eye Stalks, Odor, Out Of Phase, Resurrection, Rubbery Flesh, Swallow Whole, +4 on all saves, +1 on all attack rolls
Total Levels (Hit Dice): 8
Threat: Heroic (-6)
Traits: Brachiation, Constriction (2 tentacle attacks), Low-Light Vision, Pounce, Scent, Ultravision

Devastating Bite:  The Eater's normal bite attack is deadly enough (1d7 hp), but it can double its potential damage to 2d7 on a critical success (i.e., a natural 20).

Eye Stalks: The Eater Of Last Things can extend its eyes from their sockets on long, wiry stalks 3 feet in length, which it can rotate a full 360 degrees, for maximum field of vision.  While in this state, it can only be surprised on a result of 1 on a 1d5 surprise roll.

Odor: The Eater Of Last Things has a powerful, distinct, gut-wrenching scent of imminent death clinging to it wherever it goes.  This foul stench can be detected even by animals who do not have the Scent ability, and reduces the Eater's chances of surprising its foes (it gets a -4 penalty on surprise checks).  However, this odor also instills fear in its enemies; anyone smelling the Eater in the vicinity must make a save vs. paralysis against the Eater's Threat rating, or be forced to behave as though she lost a non-lethal conflict.

Out Of Phase: Though it can interact with the physical plane, the Eater Of Last Things exists mostly in The Lingering World, giving it a "blurry" appearance to most observers who are not also in The Lingering World.  As a result, the first attack by any opponent on the physical plane against the Eater automatically fails.  This benefit is negated if the Eater crosses the Membrane into our world (such as when it is about to attack its targeted prey), or if its opponent is in the Lingering World with it.

Resurrection:  As an agent of The Winnower, the Eater Of Last Things cannot be permanently killed. If it is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, it dissolves into a pool of slime and vaporizes, only to re-form itself completely restored to full hit points at some later time.  The interval between the Eater's defeat and its reconstitution is best left to the BM, as suited to the needs of her story.  However,  the interval should be at least long enough for PCs to heal themselves and relish some small sense of victory.

Rubbery Flesh:  The Eater Of Last Things has a resilient anatomy, such that it suffers no damage from any non-magical physical attack that inflicts less than half its natural maximum potential damage (for instance, if an attack form inflicts 1d12 hp, any attack roll that comes up less than 6 does 0 hp to the Eater, instead). Such attacks merely "bounce" off its flesh with no effect.  Magical enhancements to attacks still inflict their bonus as damage, however (thus, a +3 claw attack would always inflict at least 3 hp damage).

Swallow Whole (Fast): The Eater Of Last Things can attempt to swallow alive any opponent it has grappled with its sticky tongue.  If this opponent is its target prey, Size category does not matter.  If the opponent is some other creature, she must be Size Small or smaller for the Eater to attempt this attack.  First, the Eater must successfully strike its target with its frog-like tongue and initiate a Wrestle attempt; this attack form has a range of 20 ft.  If the Wrestle attempt is successful, the Eater may swallow its prey whole.  A swallowed creature takes 1d7 hp damage per round, and remains under the effects of the successful Wrestle the entire time; however, the Eater does not, and can continue to fight other opponents normally.

A swallowed creature can attempt to free itself by clawing, cutting, or otherwise ripping itself out of the Eater's gullet.  This takes the form of a standard Tough save vs. paralysis, with further -5 penalty to the roll.

Building a Featured Creature from the Basics

NOTE: These stats have been edited to conform to the rules revisions posted on 9/8/15.
 
From here on out, I'm going to approach the Featured Creatures with a new strategy.  I'll be going in alphabetical order through the Monsters chapter of the Rules Cyclopedia, and converting animal monster entries there into playable character species.  I've been using the B/X rules and Rules Cyclopedia as the "DNA" of Great & Small, with the obvious tweaks and homebrews of my own creation.

Anyway, the first animal we find in the RC is "Animal Herd."  It's meant to represent statistics for various types of wild ungulates, such as caribou, deer, elk, goats, moose, and wild oxen.  It then groups the animals together by Hit Dice, with the "antelope, deer, goats" category listed as 1 to 2 Hit Dice, "wild horses, zebra" listed as 2 HD, "caribou, oxen" as 3 HD, and "elk, moose, cattle" as 4 HD.

Right away, this is problematic, because from a role-playing perspective, there is a big difference between deer and cattle, for  instance, or between oxen and zebras.

Since I already have stats for horse characters and was planning to give antelope and deer their own entries, I've decided to narrow the focus of "Animal Herd" to various types of cattle and related species like bison, buffalo, musk oxen, and oxen.

I assume that the listed HD for animals applies to adult specimens, so a beginning-level character with fewer than the listed HD is going to be an adolescent.  I have replaced the term "Hit Dice" for animal player characters with "Total Levels," but they mean essentially the same thing.  In G&S game terms, this means beginning herd animal characters will have Growth Spurt at 3rd Total Level (that is, at 3 HD), representing their finally achieving full physical maturity.

Finally, I'm left with the decision of how to assign starting hit points and hit points per level.  As I noted in a previous blog entry, I give each Featured Creature maximum possible hit points at 0-level, followed by an average value of their listed Hit Die type each consecutive level thereafter.  For herd animals, I have to choose between a 1d5 (or 1d6 if using standard dice) or a 1d7 (1d8 in standard dice), since oxen & cattle are listed with different HD choices.  I'm going to use a 1d7, since it reflects roughly the same level of hardiness as horses, who occupy the same Size category.

Finally, Rules Cyclopedia animal herds have kind of a neat special ability: they can spark a mass trample attack of the whole herd against foes, for 1d20 damage.  This is described in the original rules as  panic response with a percentage chance of occurrence. However, I'd like PC herd animals to have more agency, so I'm going to convert this attack form into a high-level special ability.

The final result looks like this:
--------------------------------
Herd Animal
There is great strength in numbers, as any herd beast can tell you.  But this does not mean that individual members of the herd are weak.  Indeed, many herd animals -- such as bison, or male cattle -- are symbols of strength and virulence among other species, and such individuals make for powerful foes on their own terms.  Nonetheless, even such great warriors would not deny that the true strength of the Hoofed Lords (as they like to call their species) lies in their vast herds: a veritable forest of sharp horns and muscled bulk waiting to gore and trample any enemy foolish enough to attack them.  For this reason, most predators prefer herd animal stragglers -- the sick, dying, or those too foolish to stay with the rest of the herd.

These stats can be used to represent characters from the species of bison, buffalo, cattle, oxen, or other Large grazing ungulates.

     AC: 7
     AT (Dam.): Head butt (1d5 [1d6])
     Beginning HP: 7 [8]

     Habitat: Any, plains
     MV: 16
     SZ: Medium

Species Traits:

• Gore Bonus: male herd animals get a +1 bonus to attack rolls when making a Gore attack with their horns.
• Growth Spurt: Herd animals gain a Size category at 3rd Total Levels, going from Medium to Large Size.
• Low-Light Vision
• Rouse The Herd: At 9th Total Level, a herd animal can release a call that sparks her entire herd into action against a single target, be it an individual or a group. This takes the form of a mass Trample attack.
• Scent
• +1 bonus on all Scout lore checks to hear noise or detect hidden objects
• +2 bonus on Warrior lore checks to push, pull, drag, break, or otherwise use their raw muscle power on heavy objects.
• Special Maneuvers: Gore, Trample
• Suitable Niches: Healer, Runner, Scout, Seer, Warrior.