Attending the Old School, Part 3

Do you ever wonder what "rulings over rules" looks like in practice, especially for an OSE (B/X) newbie like me? Do you want to see one of the more meaningless instances of adding a PC's attribute bonus to a roll? Well, aren't you in for a treat with this blog post! 

Below I take a look at three oddball scenarios from my last session and discuss how I ruled each one. But first, a brief recap of my third session of Winter's Daughter. 

Dramatis Personae

Flynn Four-Fingers, Level 2 Thief

Russell, Level 2 Fighter

Ancin, Level 1 Magic-User

Chadwick, Level 2 Cleric

Notable Events

• While the dancing skeletons Lady Amaranda and Lord Brigforwith took Flynn and then Russell on a tour of the tomb, the others investigated the family crypt but only made off with an ash staff inscribed with a glyph.
• The skellies showed Russell the mural of their pride and joy Sir Chyde in a yet unexplored room. After bidding the dancers adieu, they returned to that room and found Sir Chyde's fabled sword as well as the name of his second hunting dog.
• Using the hound names as the key, the party entered Chyde's tomb. Russell pandered to his hero and promised to reunite him with his beloved, while Flynn tried once again to steal precious jewelry from right under the nose of the undead.
• Following Chyde's directions, the party descended into the realm of Fairy. The goblin doorkeeper allowed them entry as long as they could entertain the guests by consuming some of his mystical shrooms. Flynn's eyes moved to his hands and Ancin's skin turned purple.
• An elf guard escorted the group to the princess, where they delivered Sir Chyde's ring as promised. The princess offered them anything in return, and Flynn quickly wished for his eyes to return to his face. He then proceeded to steal the princess' jewelry, get caught in the act, and barely escape back into the mortal world.

Referee Insights

A lot of old school primers stress rulings over rules as a tenant of old school game-play. During this week's session, my players put me into several tight spots where I had to make on-the-spot rulings. Some were lame, some I'd use again. Let's take a look at the good and the bad to see what "rulings over rules" looks like in practice for a referee new to Old-School Essentials.

SCENARIO 1: Flynn tries to sneak the copper bracelets off of the skeleton of Sir Chyde

Russell had already done a great job engaging with Sir Chyde at this point (and got a 13 total on his reaction roll), so he had sufficiently distracted his ghost. Chyde consented to allow Flynn to retrieve the magic ring from his skeleton, and Flynn wanted to try to pilfer Chyde's copper bracelets while he was at it.

First, I gave him a pick pockets roll, which he failed. So, as Russell entertained Chyde with the random facts he has come to be known for, I allowed Flynn another attempt. I used a variation of the test I devised last week for stealing from the dancing skeletons. Flynn could roll 2d6+1 (his DEX bonus): 10-12 = he gets them both, 7-9 = he gets one, 2-6 = something goes awry.

He rolled a 6, then added his DEX for a total of 7, barely getting away with one. I narrated the bony arm slipping from Flynn's grasp only for him to catch it just before it clanked against the coffer. I was satisfied with this ruling. The tried and true Turn Undead / Powered by the Apocalypse 2d6 resolution mechanic felt right here because it gave his attribute bonus slightly less impact than last week's 1d6 version.

SCENARIO 2: An elf guard interrupts Flynn ransacking Snowfall-at-Dusk's jewelry

The party had just reunited Sir Chyde with his lost love, and as a reward Flynn wished for his eyes to return to his face (understandable, though Chadwick wasn't happy). Flynn still had his eyes on the princess' jewelry boxes, though. As the happy couple descended to join the party, he made his move.

At the same time, I made a random encounter check and rolled a 1: an elf guard was coming to retrieve them. How many objects could Flynn steal before the guard arrived? There were, I believe, 43 objects in total. Eyeballing it, I had Flynn's player roll 2d20+1 (again his DEX bonus): he could dump that many items into his pack before the guard made it to the top of the stairs.

A thief slightly confused by his referee's task adjudication

I was a little less happy with this ruling. Looking back, I feel like I could have done something to give the player more of a push-your-luck choice. Perhaps returned to the trusted 2d6 roll: grab a number of items, then roll 2d6 with a bonus or malus equal to how far below or above that number was from your DEX score.

SCENARIO 3: Russell tries to hold the door while Chadwick stakes it shut

I have temporarily forbidden myself from using roll-under ability checks. As a player coming from attribute-centric systems (5e, Into the Odd, and Knave), I believe that rolling against ability scores is a crutch that would pull me away from the old school spirit. We should be able to play just fine without it!

That said, I have found myself leaning heavily on the PC's "open stuck door" chance for physical tests, and that's exactly how I adjudicated this situation.

Flynn had stolen from the princess, and the party had been made. Snowfall-at-Dusk called the guards, and they grabbed Russell (the slowest PC in his plate mail). After a scuffle, he retreated down the tower and got to the exit with guards hot on his heels. He wanted to hold the door while Chadwick staked it shut, so I allowed him a 4-in-6 chance (his open stuck doors chance) of success. He succeeded and gave them enough time to escape from the Fairy realm.

Finding Good Wood

A man showing you that he is a wizard

I recently re-read Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy and it had me pondering how to add some of her unique wizard flavor to my magic-users, particularly her descriptions of a wizard's staff: staves of yew or oak shod with copper or bronze engraved with runes of silver that are unique for every mage.

I'm also somewhat smitten with the Mage class for Old-School Essentials from the inaugural issue of Carcass Crawler. One of its class features is the Mage's Staff:

My wheels now turning, I searched the OSR blogosphere for house rules involving staves for magic-users. I found a common modification that grants a magic-user a staff at 1st Level that can hold a spell. I also discovered more complicated variations, such as this neat take from a decade ago.

There are a lot of fun ways to use staves out there, but I didn't find much that focused on the type of wood used. So, here are some ideas the give your staves a little more flavor.

Magic-users can take any mundane staff and cast a spell into it (this spell can be loosed by the magic-user later). This action binds the staff to the magic-user and grants the magic-user benefits based upon the type of wood:

- Ash: Your staff hums when close to portals to other realms.

- Yew: You can spend a dungeon turn to speak with the dead.

- Oak: You regain 1 hp every wilderness turn spent walking outdoors.

- Pine: Your staff protects you from the ill effects of natural weather.

Additionally, when you camp beneath a large tree that matches your staff, the tree acts as a guardian throughout the night and will warn you if danger approaches. As a result, you cannot be surprised.

(To find a specific type of suitable tree in the wilderness, use foraging and hunting chances as a starting point).

Attending the Old School, Part 2

I find the referee procedures of older editions of D&D very appealing. They are succinct and simple and therefore very adaptable, yet despite their brevity they manage to cover most common situations. Each set of procedures (for wilderness and dungeon adventuring turns, for encounters, and for combat) contains a collection of tools (surprise checks, reaction rolls, morale checks, etc.) that have broad applications once the referee gets used to them. This loose yet clear structure is one of the features of Old-School Essentials that drew me to the system in the first place.

As with its class options, I find that OSE once again sits in the sweet spot. In modern D&D, these procedures have faded into the background over time, and any mention of them in the rule books sounds rather hand-wavey. Sure, worry about tracking time, but just ... do what feels right. I'm sure this complaint sounds all to familiar to anyone in the OSR scene.

However, on the other end of the spectrum, you have the extremely rules-light systems like Into the Odd or Knave that reference morale and reactions but make an assumption that the referee already knows the various procedures that suggest when to use them. For a lot of their audience, this may be true. But for me, I didn't fully grok a "dungeon turn" until I read through Old-School Essentials.

Understanding these procedures as a basic framework for how to manage the game drastically improved my ability as a referee and also provided a great foundation to build from when customizing the game for my players.

My second session of Winter's Daughter featured a good example of how I used a classic referee tool: the reaction roll. But, before I get into that example, here is a quick summary of the session:

Dramatis Personae

Flynn Four-Fingers, Level 2 Thief

Russell, Level 2 Fighter

Ancin, Level 1 Magic-User

Chadwick, Level 2 Cleric (a new player)

Notable Events

• The party met a cleric named Chadwick sitting in the chapel to St. Sledge in prayer and allowed him to join in their exploration of the burial mound

• Near the main entrance, four religious objects floated up and attacked Flynn specifically (our only non-Lawful PC). The shifty thief managed to dodge the attacks while the party bashed the objects to bits

• The party crossed through a room with a full-length mirror and evidence of a stolen statue, but when they moved to investigate, foul sorcery tried to paralyze them. Russell and Chadwick both had to be splashed with holy water to remove the effects. Being fresh out of more holy water, the party backtracked to take another route

• They entered into the family crypt where they discovered two animated skeletons (Sir Chyde's parents) dancing in mid-air. After Russell made a good first impression, Flynn turned on the charm and joined them for a floating dance while managing to steal their jewelry in the process

Spooky scary skeletons (Three Dancing Skeletons, James Akin)

Referee Insights

When I read through this adventure, I identified the encounter with the dancing skeletons as a great opportunity to lean into the reaction roll; they aren't portrayed as your normal mindless undead.

Russell burst through the heavy door first and into the crypt, disturbing the skeleton dance. I immediately rolled 2d6 for their initial reaction, and got a 5: unfriendly. I portrayed them chiding the party for being disrespectful and interrupting their dance. 

Russell immediately became apologetic and brought up his apparent distant relation to the family. After some groveling, I performed another reaction roll, adding Russell's +1 Charisma modifier and got an 8: indifferent. They went back to their dancing and stopped harassing the party, and even said that they'd allow their relatives (Russell and Flynn) to join in.

At this point, Flynn entered the room and spotted the jewelry that the skeletons wore. He accepted their invitation and joined their floating dance. He tried to pickpocket using his thief skill, but failed: no easy pickings this time. 

I had forgotten that the party thief was a charmer with +2 Charisma, and he decided to try to use that as leverage to distract them. I made one more reaction roll and got a 12: they were smitten and started passing him back and forth. With that, I gave him an x-in-6 chance to try to nab the jewels without his preternatural abilities. He rolled well and got them both, the skellies being none the wiser.

Two things set this example apart from a modern "persuasion"-style check:

1. Varied degrees of success and failure: the roll doesn't default to a binary pass/fail outcome
2. Probability curve: unlike a d20 check, the reaction roll tends toward the neutral result

Both of these elements yield rolls that tend to be easier to interpret or reconcile with the fiction.

Additionally, the example above demonstrates the flexibility of old school referee tools. I used a reaction roll to establish the skeletons' initial disposition and then also to measure the impact of active player effort. It's multi-purpose and leaves room for interpretation by the referee; hallmarks of the old school mindset.

For anyone interested in porting a reaction roll into more of a check-style approach, I talk about it in a previous blog post.

Attending the Old School, Part 1

Over the last few months, I have been a player in pen-and-paper RPGs far more than I have been the referee. However, I recently received all of the adventure PDFs from the Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy kickstarter. Reading through them immediately had me itching to get back into the saddle, and this week I started my first ever Old School Essentials game with Necrotic Gnome's excellent adventure Winter's Daughter.

This will also be the first time any of my players have used the Old School Essentials rules (though one of them did play Basic long ago as a kid).  I have decided to write a series of blog posts peeking behind the curtain of a first-time OSE referee running the game for first-time OSE players. The posts will include basic recaps, but will primarily focus on what I learn about running OSE every week. I will look to Thursdays in Thracia for my inspiration, as I love how it dives into the referee's thoughts while running old school adventures.

Baby's first retroclone

Dramatis Personae

Flynn Four-Fingers, Level 2 Thief

Russell, Level 2 Fighter

Ancin, Level 1 Magic-User

Notable Events

• A church bureaucrat named Symart Bourne delivered an inheritance to Flynn and Russell during a game of bocce ball. Uncle Terrance had died and bequeathed upon Flynn (the elder brother) a deed to the burial mound and belongings of Brigford the Wise, brother of the legendary war hero Sir Chyde

• Flynn and Russell recruited their extremely tall mutual acquaintance and Russell's self-styled academic mentor Ancin to join them in investigating the burial mound

• Outside of the mound they found evidence of Drune rituals, so they quickly made their way into the tomb through a small natural tunnel that turned out to be the egress for a nest of 4' long tongue-like worms; Russell slew two wormtongues with the help of a Sleep spell and a third slithered away

• The tunnel led into a sort of office or living quarters that had long been used as the lair for the wormtongues, and within they found a book containing a fancy poem about Sir Chyde's hunting dogs

Referee Insights

Character creation took up the first half of the session. We ended up with a very traditional fighter, thief, magic-user lineup, and I awarded them each 2,000 XP as a "welcome to OSE" gift. I also gave an overview of the rules differences between OSE and other systems we've played. The group caught on quickly - I probably went into more detail than necessary.

Before the session, I had corresponded with another blogger (IdleDoodler at There Could Have Been Snakes) about moving from minimalist OSR systems to OSE, a system with well-defined classes and procedures. My players have struggled a bit with classless systems for any adventures that went on for more than a session or two, and I speculated in our correspondence that even the streamlined classes of OSE could provide them with archetypes to lean into.

In addition to a class archetype, we also rolled on either the Personality or Mannerism table from Maze Rats for each character. It amazes me how much a single descriptor can bring a character to life. Russell the Fighter, who likes to share random facts to impress his mentor Ancin, proved to be a highlight of the evening. 

Right off the bat, the role-playing had a little more meat on its bones. You don't need pages of backstory and limitless class options to find a personality for a new PC, but it helped my players to have a class and a trait to provide that initial foundation.

As for the adventure itself, I went with the inheritance hook with the added caveat that they only had one day to venture out to the property to claim it, just to ensure that they didn't dawdle. I hand-waved the starting town and the wilderness travel to get there. If we continue with additional adventures after this one (which is my hope), I will flesh things out more at that time.

My party chose not to bring any retainers with them, so they actually did not have enough cumulative Strength to move the stone blocking the entrance. I hinted that it could be broken, but they decided to look for other ways in instead. This led to an encounter with the ravenous wormtongues in a narrow tunnel. 

The wormtongues weren't capable of penetrating Russell's armor. Even with a surprise attack on him, they never landed a blow. I narrated one trying to slide across the "ceiling" of the tunnel to get by him, but Ancin hit it with a Sleep spell and Russell slew it. I rolled Morale for the final monster and it retreated, so the encounter turned out to be pretty easy.

In the priest's quarters, they missed the loose flagstone, which is one of the bigger caches of treasure in the adventure. I have decided to play the Thief skills more as preternatural abilities - anybody can locate a trap by examining an area, but only a Thief can detect it on instinct alone without specifying where they look. I started long ago to break my players of the habit of calling for Spot checks instead of narrating what they do, but I still think it's a bit weird for us to have a class with a bunch of skills that the player doesn't "use" and instead the referee rolls for them passively behind the scenes. I quickly saw why the Thief class has been bemoaned and debated so thoroughly over all these years.

My Find Traps roll for Flynn failed, and no one described inspecting that part of the room, so the treasure went undiscovered. It did make me wonder how players trying old school adventures for the first time should learn to think in a way that would lead them to discover that treasure. Should I have described loose stones throughout the room to pique their interest and then, when they asked to check them out, say they're scattered throughout the room so they need to specify where exactly they examine? 

I know that players will miss treasure sometimes. It happens. But something about this specific scenario didn't sit well with me. I need to put some thought into how to train my players to learn that sometimes they have to sniff out treasure - it isn't always in the most obvious places.