Rattlers Session 0.5
Hello all, welcome to my recap of my session .5 or a mixture of zero and session one for my OSE campaign. I intend to share my thoughts, the parts my players have explored so far, and perhaps a bit more of the behind the screen things of a DM.
Session start:
- I start my sessions zeros as most folk probably do, I introduce myself, tell them a bit about my history and how long I have been DMing; then about what I do in real life. I don't go into immense detail, but I do enough so my players can get to know me and I can start a friendship with them After I do this I don't put anyone out of their comfort zones, I won't just call anyone out to go first to introduce themselves. If I have a set amount of players I will roll a dice; now this works well in practice when you have the amount corresponding to a dice number. If I have more, lets say five players, I will just roll a d6 and subtract one and give everyone a number. So, if I roll six, I do not have to worry.
Sheets: - After introductions, I set to checking sheets, or making sheets; I run OSE, or BX mainly; so the sheets are incredibly easy to make. I allow my players to make them before session zero, answer any lore questions that may be relevant then I of course check sheets. If they are new, I will help them make a sheet, show them how to make a sheet by making one myself, explaining mechanics and showing them were the information is in the book and what it means. Rolling stats for me is 3d6 DTL, or down the line; I have a standard array as well and it is here: 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15. Lately I have been allowing them to roll six iterations of 3d6 and allowing them to place where they please. Here is also where I go over some of my house rules; those of which I will go over later! Reason being as they change character creation a little bit.
The setting and explaining the hook: - As this can take the longest aside from making sheets, this portion of the session zero I go through my setting, I explain what it draws from in real life, I explain all the kingdoms, a bit about my basic pantheon, and explain a bit about the important guilds as well. Here is where I tell the players how they have met, how much they (don't) know each other and explain the hook and how they got here. This is important as here you can go over backstories, set boundaries, and go over any questions players may have about the setting itself, and even garner ideas of what they may want to do in the future.
The Virtual table top: - This will be wildly different per table, so this will be short and sweet; the VTT I use is LetsRole, it is pretty lightweight, and even allows direct links to be played from YouTube with ease of use as long as the video on YouTube is under fair use. LetsRole recently lowered their max storage from 250 megabytes to 150 megabytes; this being their free plan of course. So, it did not sit right with me; but I still like what this France based company is doing; although I plan to switch soon, I have been porting over a lot of my assets to Owlbear, it is good VTT and the free program has more space. Reason I may be switching is because Letsrole might shut down in the next few years based on this. Development seems to continue though; so I hold hope for it; but I am transferring things to Owlbear just in case. Let us hope it gains the attention it deserves. Regardless, I will throw some money to Letsrole and continue to use it for now!
Now, with all of this out of the way, my session zero is usually finished and I have an hour or two left of my four hour sessions here is where I will go into playing the session and introduce characters, set the scene, and drop the players into the world and for this hook, I pointed out the quest board of the Wayfarers guild. Let us get into my setting, the hook, and the start of the actual session and my house rules.
I will start with my house rules and explain each one of them. Then the setting, then characters, and after, the recap.
House rules:
1. Max hit die at level one; you may reroll a one once, after, you have to take it if you choose to roll. If you do not want to roll, you can take half of your hit die, d4=2, d6=3, d8=4, and so on.
The reasons for this are obvious; I want my players to have at least a bit more survivability at lower levels as they already have such a low amount.
2. For combat we follow the book as much as possible, declare what you want at the top of combat per usual, roll a d6 to see who goes first; then we go through the phases of it, starting with movement, missile combat, magic, and finally melee combat then the other side goes. My rule is that people engaging in melee combat may move their entire movement; and those engaging in missile combat may only move half their movement. Magic per normal cannot move and cast spells.
Reason I did this was because I wanted to make aiming a drawing the string of a bow seem a difficult task; since I allow Strength bonuses to damage rolls for bows, and missile applies to 'to hit' rolls per normal; I feel this adds a bit to a weak ranged game in BX/OSE.
3. Health potions are free over the course of combat.
Fairly obvious, I allow my players to take a potion as combat happens during their movement phase for free.
4. Crossbows fire every other round, this is RAW, (rules as written) but they deal 2d6 damage.
This was my change and a popular one in OSR; I thought dealing 1d6 damage every other round for what a crossbow does was a bit weak. So, I sought out a good change and found one.
5. Fighters gain attacks as they level; this is spread among their levels.
This is a change that may split people; but I decided to add something to fighters as they could use a bit of a boost. I wanted to add this to other 'martial' classes, but I didn't wish to break everything too much.
6. Thief abilities are modified by the appropriate ability score (STR for Climb Walls, INT for Remove Traps and Read Languages, WIS for Find Traps, DEX for Open Locks, Pick Pockets, Move Silently and Hide In Shadows) at +/- 5% per ability modifier, armor worn affects as well (no armor +10%, shield -10%, chainmail -20%, platemail -40%), Backstab does x3 damage at 9th level and higher, and thieves, when created, can choose to be a specialist (+30% to one of your initial percentile skills, -5% on all the others.
I wanted to give thieves a boost as they clearly get a shorter stick kinda in this game; so this makes it a bit more fun for them, and they can choose to be good at something adding to roleplay.
7. On a nat 20, you get max weapon die, and then can roll your weapon die again, then add your modifiers. (if you get a nat 20 with a mace, that's 1d6, so 6+1d6+str mod.)
This was added because I wanted to have crits in my game and I wanted them to feel heavy of course monsters do the same as the players; so a crit can swing a level one characters chances of dying next round to winning the fight.
8. Every four levels, each character can increase one of their ability scores by 1.
This is because in the older editions, you have no progression, you don't increase your ability scores past level one aside from equipment and other various magical items. I thought this was crazy; so, as a way of showing the characters increasing skills and bodies getting used to adventuring, they naturally gain a +1 every four levels. This is low as to not unbalance the game and is relevant to the next rule.
9. During game and downtime, characters can increase their stats over time; they can do this by: Studying for int, sleight of hand for dex, lift weights for str, haggling for cha, engage in philosophy for wis; these are just examples of how stats can increase. Con and Wis increases over time as combat happens, Con can be increased by injuring oneself or taking poison. (risky)
This is self explanatory, but I wanted to give players a chance to increase stats in game by putting down time aside to increase ability scores as it is a normal thing to want to do. The listed examples above are just a few ways. Each time they spend time increase a stat, I mark a 1-10 on a scale up to 100, once they reach 100, that stat increases. This is player dependent, be sure to ask them what they are doing and have them elaborate on what they are doing in detail; if its good, give them a 10; be cautious and spread it out among the days of course. Be sure to make them know they are getting stronger or smarter based on roleplay cues.
10. Magic-users can cast their spells as rituals at 10 minutes per spell level.Encounters are still rolled every 20 minutes during this per RAW.
So, Magic-users cannot do anything past casting their one spell at level one and for a few levels after; I wanted to give them a bit of a out of combat utility so they don't feel useless. Most spells can be cast as a ritual, of course some may wish to cast fireball or some such; be sure to let them know the spell is instantly cast.
11. Pure fighters gain the ability to use ‘maneuvers’ during combat, the die for this is a d6,and they have two maneuver die to start, they can spend these die on maneuvers during combat. A maneuver must be declared in the current round and will take the entire round to prepare and can be used in the next round along with their attack/s; Unless the maneuver is used for defense or stated otherwise. These die come back after a full night's rest. The fighter gains one more at 7th level and at the 12th.
I just ripped this from 5e; I am unashamed, it adds to combat for fighters as well; it gives them more things to do than just swing and swing again. Most of these are declared and will happen after a strike or the fighter gets hit; these will be posted below as well!
12. Copying spells down into the spell book is at 10gp per level per spell, the time it takes to copy a spell down is 10 mins per level per spell as well.
This rule for MUs allows them to have more spells in their book than just the ones they roll, as they level. Rule is short and simple.
13. When you level up, you must, rest before you can access anything you may gain from a level-up.
This one is meant to ensure players, if we end a session in a dungeon and they level up, that they don't start casting their new spells, or attacking with more attacks or so on instantly. I thought needing some rest in between that sounded balanced enough.
14. Pure fighters can specialize in one weapon starting at level one, two at 6th, and 3 at 11th. When specializing in a weapon, a fighter gains a +1 on to hit rolls, and a +1 to damage rolls. The fighter can forgo specializing in any other weapon and increase his damage and to hit rolls to +2 and +3 if he desires.
I stole this and changed it a bit from 1e; again, I love me a classic fighter, it was my favroute thing as a child next to MUs, so, they have gained a buff from all this. They are no longer unappealing; but worth perhaps playing.
Now, I will first start off with the attacks and they increase as the fighters gain levels.
Attacks:
Level Number of Attacks
1 1
2 1
3 1
4 1
5 2
6 2
7 2
8 3
9 3
10 3*
*full amount of attacks.
As you can tell, it's not a lot; but it gets the job done pretty well. I capped it at 3 at level 10 because I thought most folk won't get to level 14 regardless; so just my idea.
Next will be the maneuvres. Of course, some of these are from 5e, and others are somewhat of my own making and have been changed a bit.
The maneuvres:
1. Commander's Strike
When you choose to engage in melee on your turn, you can forgo one of your attacks and direct one of your companions to strike. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you and expend one Maneuver die. That creature can immediately make one weapon attack, adding the maneuver die to the attack's damage roll.
2. Disarming Attack
When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one maneuver die to attempt to disarm the target, forcing it to drop one item of your choice that it's holding. You add the maneuver die to the attack's damage roll, and the target must make a saving throw vs turn to stone/paralysis. On a failed save, it drops the object you choose. The object lands at its feet and they must use their combat round to scramble to pick it up without being hit.
3. Distracting Strike
When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one maneuver die to distract the creature, giving your allies an opening. You add the maneuver die to the attack's damage roll. The next attack roll against the target by an attacker other than you has advantage for how ever many combat rounds are rolled on the d6.
4. Goading Attack
When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one maneuver die to attempt to goad the target into attacking you. You add the maneuver die to the attack's damage roll, and the target must make a saving throw vs turn to stone/paralysis. On a failed save, the target has disadvantage on all attack rolls against targets other than you until 2 combat rounds go by.
5. Lunging Attack
When you make a melee weapon attack, you can expend one maneuver die to increase your reach for that attack by 10 feet. If you hit, you add the maneuver die to the attack's damage roll.
6. Parry
When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you can state you wish to reduce the damage and expend one Maneuver die to reduce the damage by the number you roll on your maneuver die + your Dexterity or Strength modifier.
7. Precision Attack
When you make a weapon attack roll against a creature, you can expend one maneuver die to add it to the roll. This only applies to one attack if the fighter has multiple. The rest are normal.
8. Rally
On your turn, you can expend one maneuver die to bolster the resolve of one of your companions. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you. That creature gains temporary hit points equal to the maneuver die roll + your Charisma modifier.
9. Riposte
When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can expend one maneuver die to make a melee weapon attack against the creature. If you hit, you add the maneuver die to the attack's damage roll.
10. Sweeping Attack
When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one maneuver die to attempt to damage another creature with the same attack. Choose another creature within 10 feet of the original target and within your reach. If the original attack roll hits the second creature, it takes damage equal to the number you roll on your maneuver die.
As you can tell, these are ripped from 5e and had some BX rules applied to them; this makes for unique things for the fighters to use during combat. Now, let's move on to the setting and the session recap!
The start of the roleplay and the end of the zero part of this session:
The setting:
This is the world of Edenhel listed above, and as I said in a few other posts; I will go over it in detail, but for now we go over just the basics and where the party starts.
The party starts in the Kingdom of Lithilorn, a Human kingdom with a Human Queen; Queen Quin with a Husband, the king, and a few kids; her nation's capital is struggling currently under the weight of the megadungeon underneath it; having clawed into existence because of the shattering. This nation is bordered by the kingdom of Groz to the east and the Nithian kingdom to the West; with the tribes of the lizardmen to the north; the dwarves reside in the southern mountain range of Lithilorn; these Dwarves split into various kingdoms. Finally, the elves of Edenhel are spread among the forests of Edenhel, but less is known about them as Elf adventurers are rare.
This is a basic view of the world, more history will be put out about Edenhel and their nations in other blogs, but this was just a basic overview.
(Llane, the image above was generated with a lot of help from me with Watanou's Procgen Arcana.) This is Llane, the city the party starts in, a WaterDeep kind of city, a giant in the world and the biggest city in the Lithilorn kingdom; this nation has hundreds of factions, many dungeons that are independent of the megadungeon itself, and many, many shops and houses to buy, banks and so much more that I could not put here.
The start of Roleplay:
The party starts in the Wayfarers Guild inn/tavern section of the building (as a note, the current date is the 10th day of Preest). I tell them that there is the smell of meats, various races of maids walking about carrying melted cheese on bread, and that they are drinking their various beverages of choice. This start is classic and gives them a good foundation and meeting point since they do not have a stronghold of their own as they are level 1.
I pointed out as the DM that there is a huge board in a circle that follows a foundational pole of the building up to the ceiling and to the second and third floors. This board is plastered with quests; all of them varying in nature. The party introduces themselves. (Keep in mind I have a table of 8, and only about five showed up last session; so only the five that showed up will be mentioned.)
Character introductions:
1. We start first with Rexer, a human fighter; he is a good leader and vocal, wants to take the lead but knows when to let up.
2. Next we have an Archer, my homebrew class, and a heavy hitter for the party; Ghartyan, a archer hits hard from a distance and seems to favor tactics, perhaps maybe an advisor for a future baron or duke in game to the players or an NPC.
3. Next, we have the farm boy, bread and soup probably filled his nights on the farm pulling the plow, now he swings his blade at rattlers (skeletons) that threaten his home. Abatir, a human fighter sports the most average look of the whole group, they may end up being the heart of the group, or just the one that keeps them together, who knows this early in the campaign.
Now, they looted their equipment, they had nothing on them except their weapons; one had a spear and the other two had jagged shortswords. Those short swords were unique. These short swords did not deal any extra damage but had a static 10% chance of conferring a poison or disease with each strike. Once you roll at to below the 10% the creature has to roll a save against poison at a -2 to their saves. Thus making it harder. You roll 1d20 and subtract two from the result, if it is lower than their save, they fail.
Jagged shortsword: 1d6 damage, when you hit with this blade you deal the normal damage plus modifiers, but with each hit the blade has a 15% chance to confer a poison. the creature must roll a save vs poison at a -2. If the creature who has to save fails their save, it takes an extra 1d4 poison damage. On a rolled one on a d20 to hit the sword shatters.
Loved the session and loved how you wrote this. Very well written.
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