XP
XP requirements are divided by 10 (so fighters only need 200 XP to reach level 2 rather than 2000), and you get 1 XP for 1 *silver* piece, rather than 1 XP for 1 *gold* piece. 1 gold piece would net you 10 XP. This is to ensure players level quickly without forcing me to introduce truly obscene treasure hoards or throwing around quest XP like it's going out of style.
Prices
As a starting point, prices in the book are divided by ten, but may vary by DM discretion.
Banned
No clockworks, no guns. Not feeling the guns, and while I have no problem with
the vibe for clockworks, I feel like they eat the Fighter's lunch.
Thief Skills
The following thief skills have the following starting values for Thief, Lupine
and Mountebank (assuming a given class has that skill):
Open Locks: +5
Find Traps: +4
Remove Traps: +4
Move Silently: +3
Hide in Shadows: +3
Pick Pockets: +6
Lupines receive Hear Noises at +5, and the bonus increases at the same rate as for a Thief.
The rate of increase is unchanged for the non-Thief classes (so a level 2 Mountebank would have Hide in Shadows +4).
Thieves have a faster rate of progression on some skills. Their rate of progression on Open Locks, Find Traps, Move Silently,
and Hide in Shadows is the same as Pick Pockets (i.e. +1 every level). When a thief gets to +20 on one of these skills,
they become able to do "superhuman" things at a -10 penalty. So, a Thief with +20 pick pockets could try to steal a weapon
right out of an enemy's hand mid-combat at a -10 penalty (so 1d20+20-10). A thief with Hide in Shadows +20 could vanish
in an open field on a sunny day.
Control Animals
Control Animals affects animalistic monsters (like Chimeras and Rocs). Yes, these means that a level 13 Druid can turn a Chimera into a pet. I am ok with this. Especially since Chimeras are rather territorial, so they might not like the Druid's friends!
Initiative
Monsters always declare their actions first, players get no penalty to
initiative for declaring after monsters. This is mostly just to expedite
things.
Bastard Sword
The Bastard Sword does not automatically lose initiative, even when wielded in two hands.
The Bastard Sword honestly feels a bit underpowered to me. Its damage in one hand is worse than a normal sword, and its damage in two hands is worse than other two handed weapons, plus lacks other abilities, like setting against a charge or attempt to stun an opponent on every hit. Presumably that's balanced by its ability to be wielded in one or two hands, but how often does that really matter?
With my tweak, the bastard sword is the most damaging weapon that doesn't automatically lose initiative (though still does less than the weapons that do), and you can still wield it one handed if you find a really awesome shield or something.
Loot placement
The weapon probabilities table will be modified based on chosen player
proficiencies. If there's a particular weapon type you want to use, let me know
and I'll make sure it's one of the most likely ones. No need to focus on swords
just because they're the most likely weapon!
Applying Weapon Feats
Your chance of gaining a weapon proficiency is always successful so long as you
work with a trainer with at least the sought after proficiency.
Hiring a higher-skill-than-necessary trainer either reduces the training time by 2 days, or
allows you to train multiple characters at the same time. So an Expert trainer could
teach someone to be Skilled in a weapon in 5 days, or teach two people to be Skilled
in the same weapon in 7 days.
Lore
Most lore will be the same as in the Dark Dungeons X rulebook, with the following
two differences:
The touch of iron and its alloys is extremely uncomfortable to Elves, and even
begins to burn if held too long. This is why they have such limited equipment choices.
The Lupine were an attempt by the Kinslayer to corrupt the bond between
Humanity and their dogs by using his dark power to fuse captured humans and
dogs into a monstrous, caricature of a creature. Instead, he created a race
that combined the tremendous loyalty, courage and ferocity of a dog with the
intelligence, empathy and craftiness of a human. Lupines have proven to be
amongst the fiercest fighters against the Kinslayer's army, and they share an
unbreakable bond with Humanity.
Kinslayer House Rules
Re: Kinslayer House Rules
Haven't really decided yet how I want to handle henchmen. Probably, I'll do it more or less by the book for "temporary" help, like if you want to hire some other adventurers for a single adventure.
For more longterm henchmen (which I strongly encourage!), it'll probably mostly be an ad-hoc thing, using OSE's rules for retainers as a guideline. So for example, a relatively new retainer I might roll loyalty rolls after an adventure to see if they stick with you, but once your characters have built up a relationship with them, I'll probably stop doing so, because humans don't typically just up and leave after they've formed a strong social bond with a group.
Your Charisma modifier will limit how many retainers of "no loyalty roll needed" levels of loyalty you can maintain, minimum of 1 per character.
For more longterm henchmen (which I strongly encourage!), it'll probably mostly be an ad-hoc thing, using OSE's rules for retainers as a guideline. So for example, a relatively new retainer I might roll loyalty rolls after an adventure to see if they stick with you, but once your characters have built up a relationship with them, I'll probably stop doing so, because humans don't typically just up and leave after they've formed a strong social bond with a group.
Your Charisma modifier will limit how many retainers of "no loyalty roll needed" levels of loyalty you can maintain, minimum of 1 per character.
Re: Kinslayer House Rules
Help
The game doesn't have any rules for "helping" allies like the Help Action in 5e. I'm going to rule that if an ally helps you, they can add their skill bonus (but *not* their attribute) to your roll.
The game doesn't have any rules for "helping" allies like the Help Action in 5e. I'm going to rule that if an ally helps you, they can add their skill bonus (but *not* their attribute) to your roll.
Re: Kinslayer House Rules
Dark Dungeons X does not actually define the "prone" condition, even though a Halberd's Hook ability (among other things) can knock someone prone. Since DDX is by and large a clone of BECMI and the Rules Cyclopedia, we'll use the definition of prone from Rules Cyclopedia:
If a character gets knocked prone before they have a chance to go, and they are doing an action that includes movement (i.e. Attack or Fighting Withdrawal, or Run Away), then they get up that same round. However, they're unable to move (so no retreating if doing a Fighting Withdrawal or Running, and they may not be able to attack if they aren't in melee range of their target), and they suffer the penalties of being prone until the end of the round. Furthermore, they can't stand unless they explicitly declared at the start of the round that they are moving. If a character is standing still and attacking, and they get knocked prone, they won't be able to stand until the next round.
My key takeaways are: you can't move on the same turn as you get up, but you *can* attack. However, regardless of when you go in the initiative order, you still suffer all the penalties for being prone. So if you get knocked over in one round, but then on the next round you roll a 22 on initiative and go first, even after you stand up you'll still be suffering a -2 penalty to attack rolls, and a -4 penalty to saving throws, and your opponents get a +4 bonus to hit you. Pretty powerful!Prone Characters
A character who has fallen (e.g., been
knocked over in combat) is easy to hit: Attackers
receive a + 4 bonus to their attack rolls when attacking
a fallen foe.
A fallen foe also has a - 4 penalty to all saving
throws and a - 2 penalty to attack rolls while on
the ground.
A character on the ground takes one round of
movement to stand up; also, for the rest of the
round after he has stood up, the character still
suffers the penalties of a fallen character.
If a character gets knocked prone before they have a chance to go, and they are doing an action that includes movement (i.e. Attack or Fighting Withdrawal, or Run Away), then they get up that same round. However, they're unable to move (so no retreating if doing a Fighting Withdrawal or Running, and they may not be able to attack if they aren't in melee range of their target), and they suffer the penalties of being prone until the end of the round. Furthermore, they can't stand unless they explicitly declared at the start of the round that they are moving. If a character is standing still and attacking, and they get knocked prone, they won't be able to stand until the next round.
Re: Kinslayer House Rules
Knockout
I will be ignoring the saving throw bonuses that targets get against Knockdown, and Entangle effects for having higher HD. First, higher HD *already* leads to better saving throws. Second, the Knockout and Entangle effects already get weaker on higher HD enemies, and at a faster rate than characters get better at the skills. I see no need for the additional saving throw bonus.
I may put them back in if I decide that the designer knew what he was doing, and this makes those effects too powerful. We will see.
I will be ignoring the saving throw bonuses that targets get against Knockdown, and Entangle effects for having higher HD. First, higher HD *already* leads to better saving throws. Second, the Knockout and Entangle effects already get weaker on higher HD enemies, and at a faster rate than characters get better at the skills. I see no need for the additional saving throw bonus.
I may put them back in if I decide that the designer knew what he was doing, and this makes those effects too powerful. We will see.
Re: Kinslayer House Rules
"Outside the box" actions in combat (like shoving, mudslinging, and the like) will be handled using saving throws against the targets, as opposed to contested ability score checks or the like.
Re: Kinslayer House Rules
Controlling Dragons
Male dragons, being animalistic creatures with intelligence < 6 fit my criteria for being controlled (and therefore mastered). So, a Dragon of sufficient level can be mastered. A few caveats:
1. Their HD do increase as they get older. They go through several age brackets in a single human lifespan. If their HD exceed the level of the Druid's control ability *when they were first mastered* they will break free of that control, and cannot be controlled again. They will also not be happy.
2. You better hope you don't run into that dragon's mother. She will not be happy to see her child being enslaved by a mere human.
3. Some of the more powerful undead have extra layers of protection against being turned. I will need to dig into it a bit, but dragons will have a similar layer of protection against being controlled. Even a young dragon is going to be harder to control than its power would suggest.
Male dragons, being animalistic creatures with intelligence < 6 fit my criteria for being controlled (and therefore mastered). So, a Dragon of sufficient level can be mastered. A few caveats:
1. Their HD do increase as they get older. They go through several age brackets in a single human lifespan. If their HD exceed the level of the Druid's control ability *when they were first mastered* they will break free of that control, and cannot be controlled again. They will also not be happy.
2. You better hope you don't run into that dragon's mother. She will not be happy to see her child being enslaved by a mere human.
3. Some of the more powerful undead have extra layers of protection against being turned. I will need to dig into it a bit, but dragons will have a similar layer of protection against being controlled. Even a young dragon is going to be harder to control than its power would suggest.
Re: Kinslayer House Rules
Winter
Not something you need to worry about *now*, but something to keep in the back of your mind.
Winter in the refuge extends from roughly the last week in November, to the middle of March. During this time the weather is too cold to adventure with *anything* approaching safety.
That is about 16 weeks, so 112 days. It costs a silver a day to maintain a lifestyle that keeps you all healthy enough to adventure without penalty (i.e. plenty of food, time at the barracks training grounds to keep yourselves in shape, someplace relatively warm and clean to stay). So you should make sure to have 11 gold and 2 silver set aside by the end of November for winter.
If you can't pay a silver a day, then you take a temporary 1 point penalty on your highest statistic (so your 16 Dexterity would be treated as a 15). This penalty lasts until the next time you can spend at least a month in rest paying at least a silver a day of upkeep.
However, it's not all bad. If you're willing to pay enough, you can also use this time to permanently improve one of your stats by 1 (so say bump your 16 Strength to 17). This is weakly represented in the fiction (more, or higher quality food, extra time at the training grounds, whatever), but it's mostly to give you guys incentive to have your characters do what people tend to do: live the nicest lives they can afford.
The costs are laid out below in silver per day:
17 -> 18: 5
16->17: 5
15->16: 4
14->15: 4
13->14: 4
12->13: 3
11->12: 3
10->11: 3
9->10: 3
So, if you want to improve your 16 Dexterity to 17, then you need to have a daily upkeep of 5 silver a day over the winter. So, you need 5 * 112 = 560 silver or 56 gold.
You cannot use this to improve any stats under 9, and you cannot go above 18. This is also only something you can do only in the winter. The rest of the time, you'll be out adventuring!
Winter is also a great time to learn new spells (since you only need a week to attempt to learn a new spell), and arcane spellcasters may do both so long as they have the funds for it.
Not something you need to worry about *now*, but something to keep in the back of your mind.
Winter in the refuge extends from roughly the last week in November, to the middle of March. During this time the weather is too cold to adventure with *anything* approaching safety.
That is about 16 weeks, so 112 days. It costs a silver a day to maintain a lifestyle that keeps you all healthy enough to adventure without penalty (i.e. plenty of food, time at the barracks training grounds to keep yourselves in shape, someplace relatively warm and clean to stay). So you should make sure to have 11 gold and 2 silver set aside by the end of November for winter.
If you can't pay a silver a day, then you take a temporary 1 point penalty on your highest statistic (so your 16 Dexterity would be treated as a 15). This penalty lasts until the next time you can spend at least a month in rest paying at least a silver a day of upkeep.
However, it's not all bad. If you're willing to pay enough, you can also use this time to permanently improve one of your stats by 1 (so say bump your 16 Strength to 17). This is weakly represented in the fiction (more, or higher quality food, extra time at the training grounds, whatever), but it's mostly to give you guys incentive to have your characters do what people tend to do: live the nicest lives they can afford.
The costs are laid out below in silver per day:
17 -> 18: 5
16->17: 5
15->16: 4
14->15: 4
13->14: 4
12->13: 3
11->12: 3
10->11: 3
9->10: 3
So, if you want to improve your 16 Dexterity to 17, then you need to have a daily upkeep of 5 silver a day over the winter. So, you need 5 * 112 = 560 silver or 56 gold.
You cannot use this to improve any stats under 9, and you cannot go above 18. This is also only something you can do only in the winter. The rest of the time, you'll be out adventuring!
Winter is also a great time to learn new spells (since you only need a week to attempt to learn a new spell), and arcane spellcasters may do both so long as they have the funds for it.