Pregame Q&A

[gurusql]

I am still confused on the 50 gp for doing or was it not doing the background work?

[Edeldhur]

I was under the impression it was for all and that was it

[Leitz]

Ok, I slept on it, and decided I would like to stay around after all.
Apologies if my posts came out across as idiotic or blunt - I think I let work get the best of me this week, was feeling a bit... Pissed off and tired. So my words came out all wrong.
Hope I still have a spot. And if I do, I will just finish my character and get going.

I didn't really feel it was idiotic or blunt. Freshly honest about the reason, but that's about it.

[Leitz]

I am still confused on the 50 gp for doing or was it not doing the background work?

Only two PCs didn't get it, so unless you have a wealthy family background, I'd guess you get it.

[Edeldhur]

Having some doubts regarding the weapons - which ones are 1h, and which ones are 2h?

[dmw71]

Hope I still have a spot. And if I do, I will just finish my character and get going.

Yes, of course. Feel free to jump right in.

[Leitz]

Having some doubts regarding the weapons - which ones are 1h, and which ones are 2h?

If you have the 1e PHB, you can check that. If not, ask. Mine's handy.

[Leitz]

Spent some time on images, couldn't find a thing. The one AI I tried didn't seem to understand "chainmail", so I've given up for the nonce. Will there be a spot to post character sheets in public?

[Rex]

Ok, I slept on it, and decided I would like to stay around after all.
Apologies if my posts came out across as idiotic or blunt - I think I let work get the best of me this week, was feeling a bit... Pissed off and tired. So my words came out all wrong.
Hope I still have a spot.

You were just fine. Sometimes it is good to just talk through what we are thinking.

[Rex]

Having some doubts regarding the weapons - which ones are 1h, and which ones are 2h?

Which are you wondering about specifically?

Long sword is 1-handed
Bastard sword is either 1 or 2-handed (thus bastard). this is a modern term no one in the actual time period they were used called them this
The OSRIC rules lump Claymore with bastard sword, not sure why. Historically there were 2 different swords called claymore by the Scotts. The older one is the larger two-handed only sword and the second is a basket hilted one-handed sword. In the movie Rob Roy this is the sword everyone is using.

[Rex]

Spent some time on images, couldn't find a thing. The one AI I tried didn't seem to understand "chainmail", so I've given up for the nonce. Will there be a spot to post character sheets in public?

Chainmail is another modern made up term, it was never actually used by anyone. Try Mail or Maile. I also prefer Duckduckgo's image search to googles and it will usualy work with chainmail if you throw fantasy in the search. Although none of the search engines seem to like long searches for images, stuff like fantasy knight female chainmail spear just don't seem to work well for me on any of them. Not sure if it is me or the AI but AI images seem to suck badly.

[archolewa]

Not sure if it is me or the AI but AI images seem to suck badly.

AI seems to be especially terrible with props (swords, bows and the like). I've had some luck creating wizards or mages and the like, since they only need some robes and random trinkets you don't look at too closely. But best I can get of warriors is someone in plate. More fun to use human drawn artwork anyway. It's wonderful when you can find a piece of art that captures (or clarifies) the personality of your character. AI generated stuff tends to be rather "generically attractive" and never has any sort of personality.

[Rex]

Not sure if it is me or the AI but AI images seem to suck badly.

AI seems to be especially terrible with props (swords, bows and the like). I've had some luck creating wizards or mages and the like, since they only need some robes and random trinkets you don't look at too closely. But best I can get of warriors is someone in plate. More fun to use human drawn artwork anyway. It's wonderful when you can find a piece of art that captures (or clarifies) the personality of your character. AI generated stuff tends to be rather "generically attractive" and never has any sort of personality.

That is my take on it as well. In my case, once I have a class picked I start looking for images and then when I find one that inspires me in some way I work from that.

[Edeldhur]

Having some doubts regarding the weapons - which ones are 1h, and which ones are 2h?

Which are you wondering about specifically?

Long sword is 1-handed
Bastard sword is either 1 or 2-handed (thus bastard). this is a modern term no one in the actual time period they were used called them this
The OSRIC rules lump Claymore with bastard sword, not sure why. Historically there were 2 different swords called claymore by the Scotts. The older one is the larger two-handed only sword and the second is a basket hilted one-handed sword. In the movie Rob Roy this is the sword everyone is using.

I was looking particularly at hammers, because they are the holy symbol/weapon of Moradin.

In AD&D there is the Lucerne hammer (hits for 2d4/1-6) and the Hammer (hits for 1d4+1/1d4). I suspect the Lucerne is 2h, but I cannot find the exact entry saying it. I might need to go into Oriental Adventures, or so I have heard.

In OSRIC, we have the Light War Hammer (1d4+1/1d4). The Heavy War Hammer is much more interesting for someone like me without Str bonuses (1d6+1/1d6).

So I was wondering if the advantage of the higher damage is considered offset by the fact the second weighs double the first + the fact Heavy Hammers cannot be thrown (so less versatile).
Or if (much worse ) it means the Heavy Hammer needs to be 2-handed, while the Light Hammer can be 1-handed.

[Leitz]

Pretty sure the Lucerne hammer is a polearm, and thus two handed. A mace, heavy and light, does the same damage as a hammer, so my guess would be that they would be one handed. Except for the Chinese "melon hammer", I've never seen a reference to a two handed mace. Maybe "great hammer" is the two handed dwarven version?

[archolewa]

A little bit of read-between-the-lines here, but OSRIC explicitly says that 2H swords and polearms are the only melee weapons that can't be double specialized, if the double specialization optional rule is used. This leads me to suspect that the intent is that only 1 handed melee weapons can be double specialized, and thus 2H sword and polearm are the only 2-handed melee weapons.

Now, *why* you can't double specialize in 2H weapons is a whole 'nother can of worms. Ranged weapons make sense, but you're already giving up a shield for a 2H weapon, and 2H weapons only do 1 more damage than their single-hand equivalent. But that's neither here nor there, since we're not using specialization by the book.

[SterlingBlake]

Pretty sure the Lucerne hammer is a polearm, and thus two handed. A mace, heavy and light, does the same damage as a hammer, so my guess would be that they would be one handed. Except for the Chinese "melon hammer", I've never seen a reference to a two handed mace. Maybe "great hammer" is the two handed dwarven version?

Yeah, the Lucerne hammer is a 6'+ spiked pole weapon. Not so bludgeoning as the name suggests. All these weapons had a bunch of names, though, and the same names were used for different weapons at times, too. I guess it's really up to Dave to specify for us what OSRIC doesn't.

[Rex]

Weapon damage in 1e and OSRIC by extension is poorly done at best. The Lucerne hammer is definitely a polearm. Exact configuration of it varied some but it was never a one-handed weapon anywhere I know of. Plenty of 2-handed hammers (warhammer) in role playing games but not so much in reality. You could probably use some of them 2 handed but the fighting style used with them really requires a shield or you end up exposing yourself to much. They were almost always used against opponents in heavy armor.

[dmw71]

Will there be a spot to post character sheets in public?

My preference is to keep things private, but it's not a strong preference.

I'll leave it up to you guys. If you want to post your sheets publicly, let me know and I'll create a topic for it.

In my case, once I have a class picked I start looking for images and then when I find one that inspires me in some way I work from that.

This is how I work as well.

[JustDave]

Hey folks - the party is about to have a very tiny thief. He will have a pony, so that's exciting.

Couple questions as a finish my character:

Studded leather for thieves, yay or nay? (See p. 34): "Thieves are restricted to leather or padded armour. Some
kindly GMs permit thieves to use studded leather or elfin mail."

I gathered from previous posts that we are rolling starting money per the book and adding 50gp. is that correct?

Any idea if the price listed for rations in the OSRIC rules is an error? It says 2gp per DAY for standard and 6gp per DAY for trail (i.e. iron) rations. The PHB, though, lists those at 3gp and 5gp per WEEK, respectively. I'm guessing the price is OSRIC is actually supposed to be per week?

Thanks and looking forward to jumping in the game!