Human as demi-humans in OSR rule systems

Art by Andrew Krahnke
from the Spears of the Dawn free art pack

The Adventurer Conqueror King System has one of the most extensive tool set to build balanced custom class, firstly presented in the Player's Companion and then extended in books and articles (most notably in the Heroic Fantasy Companion with a lot of new classes and some magical systems and the Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu with a lot of racial values).

The class system has also a "custom race" value that helps the creation of demi-human classes.

What we did was to create a "human custom race" in terms of the ACKS class system on one hand to recreate the already presented human classes and on the other to have ready tools for creating new human classes. We already had human with racial levels in Barbarians Conqueror of Kanahu (page 143 of the book Terran Custom Classes).

Why? Well the principal reason was to had a way to recreate the more advanced classes of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in ACKS terms, thinking of this I had also an inspiration to add a little more fluff to this article.

The First Empire (1st E.)
The First Empire, the Empire, the Great Empire was the first to unite Human, Dwarf, Elves and others under One banner, was the first to control the eight seas and the one hundred thousand rivers. The first, and only one, to dominate the world for ten thousand years. The First Empire was truly cosmopolitan, and the various race mixed freely, after ten thousand years the humans of the empire were a little more sophisticated than the barbarian from outside the empire, an unique mix of different bloods, culture and traditions made them special. Only the First Empire Human can hope to follow the paths of the thousands of special martial and magical traditions (classes) that flourished in the First Empire.

1st E. Human Value

Value	1st E. Human	Cost*	Max Lvl
4	Human + Thievery 4 (15 skills)	1500	9
3	Human + Thievery 3 (10 skills)	1000	11
2	Human + Thievery 2 (5 skills)	500	12
1	Human + Thievery 1 (3 skills)	300	13
0	Human (Heroic Spirit)	0	14

*NOTE: the cost of Heroic Spirit is not much (maybe 25 xp) so I decided to balance this to fudge the numbers. I'll lower the cost of  0 Value in Human so to not mess the cost of existing classes, and I will increase progressively the cost of the additional Thievery. To keep it nice I have simply calculated a cost of 100 xp per number of Thief skills.

Giving Humans a Thievery value permit the creation of a great number of custom classes since the Thief skills from the thievery value can be converted in various powers with the "custom powers trade-offs" rule

Here an example class built with this system

Art by Luigi Castellani
from the Spears of the Dawn free art pack

1st E. Human Loremaster (hd 1d4, max level 12th)
Mage 4, Human 2

Loremaster are mages specialized in knowledge and languages. They roam the world in search of knowledge both mundane and arcane and so are easily encountered in adventuring party.

The character will have all the ability and spells of the standard mage.

This character will advance to 2nd level at 3000xp, human 2 will give him thievery 2 (5 skills).
Custom Power Trade off (First Draft)
1: 1 skill at 1st level
2: 1 skill at 2nd and 1 skill at 12th
3: 1 skill at 3rd and 1 skill at 11th
4: 1 skill at 4th and 1 skill at  10th
5: 1 skill at 6th and 1 skill at 8th

1st E. Human Loremaster level progression

Experience	Title	Level	Hit Dice	Powers
0	Scholar	1	1d4	Loremastery
3'000		2	2d4	Prestidigitation
6'000		3	3d4	Bonus Languages (+4 languages)
12'000		4	4d4	Read Languages (at will, casting time 1 turn)
24'000		5	5d4	--------
48'000	Doctor	6	6d4	Speak with Animals (1/hour, casting time 1 turn)
100'000		7	7d4	-------
200'000		8	8d4	Speak with the Dead (1/8hour, casting time 1 turn)
300'000	Loremaster	9	9d4	Speak with Plants (1/day, casting time 1 turn)
500'000	Loremaster of the words	10	9d4+1	Command of Voice
700'000	Loremaster of the planes	11	9d4+2	Contact Otherwordly Powers (1/week, casting time 1 turn)
1'000'000	Loremaster of the ages	12	9d4+3	Longevity

Polyspell an option for spontaneous casting, a middle step between classic vancian and sorcery

Art by Luigi Castellani, from the Scarlet Heroes Art Pack

Polyspell is a spell that when casted enable the wizard to use a spell of lesser level than the polyspell from his repertoire (a short list of known spells).

So there will be Polyspell I (a 2nd level spell) to Polyspell VIII (a 9th level spell), differently from a lesser wish or wish spell the Polyspell can be used only to cast spells from the mage repertoire and only using the required components (you cannot cast a Fireball w/out bat guano for example) and paying the requested penalty from the spell (if for example you use a Polyspell VII to cast a Limited Wish).

In short you sacrifice an higher level spell slot for the flexibility of being able to decide which spell to use at the moment of casting.

Repertoire

The repertoire of a spell-caster is equal to 3+number of spell slot. So a 3rd level magic user (2 1st level spell slot and 1 2nd level spell slot) will have a repertoire of 5 1st level spell and 3 2nd level spells).

A spell repertoire is permanent until changed, to put a spell in his repertoire the mage must take 1 week per spell level and spend 1000 gp in various materials, furthermore the mage needs his spell book with the spell to be put in the repertoire on it.

Once in a repertoire spells can be memorized (or locked see: Recharging Spell a Vancian optional system) without the spell book, this is a good reason to have a repertoire even without a polyspell ready. (this option can be ignored by the DM).

I have a longer article on repertoire here: Inner book a repertoire of spells for old school spell-users

Polyspell I (2nd level) Conjuration/Summoning

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of 1st level.

Polyspell II (3rd level)

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of 2nd level or less.

Polyspell III (4th level)

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of 3rd level or less.

Polyspell IV (5th level)

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of  4th level or less.

Polyspell V (6th level)

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of  5th level or less.

Polyspell VI (7th level)

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of  6th level or less.

Polyspell VII (8th level)

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of  7th level or less.

Polyspell VIII (9th level)

Duration: Istantaneous	Casting Time: 1+spell casting time
Saving Throw: none	Area of Effect: self
Range: self	Components: V, S

Description: When the spell-caster cast this spell the effect is to be able to cast another repertoire (see before) spell of  8th level or less.

Art by Nikola Avramovic, from the Silent Legion Art Pack

Designer's Notes

It's been a few years since a lot of system have incorporated the "sorcery" spell system, a sorcery system is a spell-casting mechanic where spell-casters have a short list of ready spells, a repertoire in ACKS terms, and they have spell-slots to cast them.

First seen as the special feature of the Sorcerer class in the third edition (A)D&D (hence the name) it is now the standard system of the 5th edition of D&D and the system of choice of one of the best OSR game out there, the Adventurer Conqueror King System.

The philosophy behind my rules is to keep changes at minimum and to have them ready to be used in any old school D&D inspired games.

Here I wanted the possibility to cast spontaneous spell as a resource but not as the normal casting method, and without resorting to rituals or other system that give ulterior resources to casters.

Furthermore I wanted it to be as Vancian as possible (but as discussed in Recharging Spells a Vancian optional system with some difference).

Curiosity: this is a variation of a system I first published on rec.games.frp.dnd on 1996/09/23 here the link: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.games.frp.dnd/7jMpLKyf77U/PsxoML8kqg8J

there I used two spell of the same level for a similar effect, and I didn't give a repertoire out of the box, following the previous link you will find also other useful spells :-) have fun!

Enchanted Torch a less flashy Light spell

Enchanted Torch

Arcane 
Enchantment/Charm
Level: Mage 1st

Range: touch

Duration: 3h
Area of effect: one torch

Components: V, S, M (an unused torch)

Casting time: 1 round

Saving Throw: None

Effect: When the mage cast this spell the torch will light up and it will burn for 3h (2h more than a normal torch) and will resist gust of wind or being dropped (it will be doused, ending the spell only if totally submerged in water). Furthermore the torch will be brighter giving off a 60' radius of light.

Greater Enchanted Torch

Arcane 
Enchantment/Charm
Level: Mage 3rd

Range: touch

Duration: 24h
Area of effect: one torch

Components: V, S, M (an unused torch)

Casting time: 1 round

Saving Throw: None

Effect: As enchanted torch except for duration.

Note: this substitutes Continual Light, the idea is no continuous spells without some great price.


As pointed out in the first article of the "inconspicuous magic" series, Enchanted Dagger a less flashy magic missile, spells that use existing materials are more in tune with magic as presented in classic fantasy stories.

Enchanted Dagger a less flashy Magic Missile

Enchanted Dagger

Arcane 
Enchantment/Charm
Level: Mage 1st

Range:180'

Duration: isntantaneous
Area of effect: one dagger +1 each 2 level

Components: V, S, F (a special dagger)

Casting time: 1 segment

Saving Throw: None

The mage take her dagger(s) and throw it(them) at one, or more, enemy with perfect aim. Each dagger will hit for 1d4+1 points of damage. The dagger will lose any other bonus or property (cannot be poisoned or have other spell or magical effect active) while used as Focus of this spell. A dagger to be used as focus of this spell must be normally usable by the mage.

ACKS numbers
1d4+1 (25 point), max 1d damage (x0.1), 1 creature +1 each 2 levels (x3), range 150' (x1), duration instantaneous (x1), No saving throw (x1), need focus (x0.8) = 6

Arcane x1 = 6 point (1st level spell)
Eldritch x1.5 = 9 point (1st level spell)

WHY THIS?
The idea is to have spell that need a focus of some sort (daggers for magic missile, torchs for fireball and so on). It fit better in heroic fantasy to have less flashy magic (see the upcoming Heroic Fantasy book by the Autarch: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/heroic-fantasy-and-barbarian-conquerors-collection and also here https://d20d12.blogspot.it/2017/03/heroic-fantasy-and-barbarian-conquerors.html)

What is a Focus?
A focus is a material component that is not expended in the casting of the spell. In this case the Focus is just a dagger that must then be retrieved to be used again (just as if the mage had thrown it).

Heroic Fantasy and Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu Kickstarter

The Autarchs, authors of the ACKS system (see the presentation here: Adventurer Conqueror King System or Diocletian Dungeons & Dragons) and various kickstarters did it again, after 1 week the new kickstarter "Heroic Fantasy & Barbarian Conquerors Collection" is already financed so you just have to decide the level of contribution if you are interested, I suggest the KING level to get both book in an hardcover version (only for this kickstarter) at reduced postage cost and you will also contribute to design a b/w illustration of 1/4 page.

This kickstarter is anomalous because it will produce two books.

The first one is the Heroic Fantasy Handbook with tons of rule modification of classical OSR/ACKS rules to better support the "heroic fantasy" flavor. In the words of the author:

"Heroic fantasy is set in a world like our own world, one that might even be our world, in its distant past or far future. Its heroes, though men and women of extraordinary talent and drive, have none of the “super-powers” now common in contemporary fantasy (especially games). They do not typically teleport, fly, shoot fire, or raise the dead. Magic in heroic fantasy is more subtle and nuanced than in contemporary fantasy. It works with what is, rather than creating what is not. A magician cannot teleport straight to his friend’s distant castle, though his whispered dreams might reach his friend across the black gulfs of space. A magician will not fling magic missiles, but he might call down lightning from a storm, or capsize a boat with a wave. Working magic might require lengthy ceremonies, terrible sacrifices, or the power of primeval places. And those who use magic risk corruption. Even the wisest can lose their mind, body, and soul if they tamper with dark magic. That’s heroic fantasy."

In this book we will find a new magic type (eldritch sorcery), new classes, new spells, new monsters and so on (you can get an idea browsing the updates of the kickstarter on this old post of the Autarch forums: Heroic Companion Compilation).

The second book present a setting of barbarian fantasy, sword and planet fantasy and scienze fantasy, in brief a pulp fantasy setting. 

[...]Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu embraces what might be called “barbarian fantasy” or perhaps “pulp fantasy.” Barbarian fantasy is an amalgam of three distinct but related genres.

The first is sword & sorcery literature, exemplified by the likes of Howard's Conan and Moorcock's Elric. [...]

The second is sword & planet, exemplified by Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom, a fantastic vision of Mars. This genre explores similar themes to those of sword & sorcery but does accept certain "science fiction" elements such as alien planets, radium pistols, flying craft, and other technological wonders. [...]

The third is science fantasy proper. This book, however, presents a "science fiction" milieu closer to a fantastic setting once the outer trappings of starships and rayguns are stripped off it. This genre is exemplified by space princesses, dashing interstellar rogues, space combat which looks suspiciously similar to WWII air combat, and a relative disregard of actual science when it conflicts with the plot. [...]

Some traces of this setting are in this old posts by the author Barbarian Conqueror King and Barbarian Conqueror King (Dinosaurs & Sorcery ACKS), in the book we will find new classes, new science-fantasy weapons (ray guns and the like), lots of dinosaurs and much more.

A very fun ride, and a worthy kickstarter for two interesting books (in hardcover if you go KING!).

Continually spell slot recharging and sorcery for all

Rule

Spell-casters recharge spell slot as follows:
1) must be awake
2) must not be tired
3) 1 level of spell slot each 2 turns (20 minutes)
4) must be recovered first lower level spell slots then higher level ones 
5) while recovering spell slots spellcasters are more easily surprised (-2 on surprise rolls)
6) if a spell is cast spell recovery is interrupted
7) no more than 30 spell slot level day

Note: in effect all spell caster function as D&D 3.x sorcerer with the added benefit of recharging continually (but this is an hindrance at higher levels), and the possibility to change ready spell (but this take longer than before). The number and levels of spell in a caster Spell Progression no more represent the spell a caster can cast in a single day but the maximum number of charged spell slot that the spell caster can have at any given moment. 

The number of ready spell is equal to the number of spells in the Spell Progression +2 for each level (a 1st level magic user in AD&D 1st edition can have 3 1st level spell ready, and 1 spell charge, at 3rd level it will have ready 4 1st and 3 2nd level spell and it will have 2 1st and 1 2nd level charge).

To change ready spell the spell caster need 1h*spell level with his book or in sacred place (if of divine nature) plus 10gp*spell level in ingredients, without his book it must engage in spell research or study under a mentor (that can also be a monster or extraplanar creature) in this case the time grows steeply:

• book/sacred place: 1h*level + 10gp*level of spell to ready
• mentor: 1day*level+100gp*level of spell to ready + service to be contracted with the mentor
• research/meditation: 1week*level+1000gp*level of spell to ready

Examples

1) Toran a 5th level Spellsword can charge up to 
2 slot of 1st level, 2 of 2nd and 1 of 3rd.

In a tough encounter with a band of ogres Toran cast a Lightning Bolt and a Magic Missile discharging a 3rd level slot and a 1st level one. After 20' the 1st level slot will be fully recharged, after another 60' also the the 3rd level slot will be recharged. But while recharging Toran will be -2 on surprise rolls, and if after the first 40' (he recharged fully the 1st level slot, but the 3rd level one is still recharging) he need to cast Invisibility he will need to start recharging from 0 and after 40' will recharge the 2nd level slot and will need other 60' to recharge the 3rd level slot

2) Eward a 14th level Archmage can charge up to 
4 slot of  1st, 4 of 2nd, 4 of 3rd, 4 of 4th, 3 of 5th and 3 of 6th.

His tower sieged by powerful forces Eward must use all his magical power during the 1st wave of attacks, now he will slowly but continually recharge his spell slot but first he will recharge his lower level slots. After 2h he will have recharged 4 1st level slot and 1 2nd level slot. To fully recharge all his spell slot (since slot will recharge only while the mage is awake and not tired) he will need 146 turns or 24 hours and 20 minutes about 3 days without casting any spell (and he cannot recharge more than 30 level each day, so since the total of spell slot is 73 levels he needs more than 2 days to fully recharge).

Designer's Notes

This simple rule changes a fundamental assumption in the ACKS magical system (but also of the D&D 5th edition system and of the sorcerer spell system of D&D 3.x and Pathfinder) that spell-caster recover all their spell slot in the morning after one night of rest (and about one hour of meditation).

This assumption is derivative from 3rd edition D&D, in fact in 2nd edition spell caster needed to impress spell in their memory taking 10' for each spell level (and in 1st edition the time was 15' for each spell level as it is also in OSRIC and Adventures Dark and Deep). The strange thing is that this assumption makes things harder for lower level spell-caster and give way too much power to high level spell caster.

In ACKS a 1st level arcane spell-caster has 1 level of spell/day and at the 14th level arcane spell-caster 73 level of spell/day (divine spell caster are not so far off and the numbers are not so different also in D&D 5th edition or for sorcerers in D&D/d20 system like 3.x sorcerer or Pathfinder sorcerer) this means that we have a gigantic difference in raw power from 1st to 14th level, no other classes see such a difference in raw power.

Introducing this rule we have that magical capacity of recovery is constant during the day and independent from caster level with, at least, the following beneficial effects:

1. spell caster will never be short of low level spells (a problem that in later edition of the game was resolved giving at will powers to caster and in previous edition with cantrips); 
2. high level spell caster to get fully recharged need more than one day w/out spell casting (as in older edition) as you can see in our 2nd example where the Archmage Eward ned almost 3 day to get fully recharged;

I decided for 20' (or 2 turns) because in ACKS you roll for wandering monsters each 2 turns.

Trance/Meditation (ACKS)
To modify the Trance/Meditation Proficiency is a necessary rule change with the rule presented: While in a meditation spell caster recharge 1 level of spell slot each turn. The mage can use meditation up to a number of hours equal to the maximum level of spell he can use.

Wizard Spell Recovery (D&D 5th)
Wizard can keep this edge since it can be used a limited number of times each day.

NOTE: for the italian version of this one go here: Ricarica Magica Continua

Martial Elf Ranger of the 1st Forest an ACKS Wednesday post

This is a class developed using the Martial Elf race for the Adventurer Conqueror King System RPG (or ACKS rpg in brief) using (at the best of my ability) the rules for building classes presented in the ACKS Player's Companion.

The Ranger of the 1st Forest is the first class I present for the Martial Elves, some of this classes will have "of the 1st" in the name since they are inspired by some classes of AD&D 1st edition.

The Ranger of the 1st Forest is built trying to mimic the 1st edition Ranger.

Prime requisite: str, dex
Requirements: wis 9, int 9
Hit dice: d6* (+1 at 1st level)
Maximum Level: 12

XP	Title	Level	Hit Dice
0	Runner	1	2d6
2'650	Strider	2	3d6
5'300	Scout	3	4d6
10'600	Courser	4	5d6
21'200	Tracker	5	6d6
42'400	Guide	6	7d6
80'000	Pathfinder	7	8d6
160'000	Ranger	8	9d6
320'000	Ranger Knight	9	10d6
500'000	Ranger Lord	10	10d6+2*
680'000	Ranger Lord	11	10d6+4*
860'000	Ranger Lord	12	10d6+6*

*Constitution bonus no longer apply

Level	Divine Spell 1st/2nd/3rd	Arcane Spell 1st/2nd	Additional melee Damage bonus vs Beastman & Giants
1	-	-	0
2	-	-	+1
3	-	-	+1
4	-	-	+2
5	-	-	+2
6	-	-	+3
7	1/0/0	-	+3
8	2/0/0	-	+4
9	2/1/0	1/0	+4
10	2/2/0	2/0	+5
11	2/2/1	2/1	+5
12	2/2/2	2/2	+6

Ranger Divine Spell repertoire (5 spell per level):
1st level: Cure light wounds, Locate Animal or Plant, Predict Weather, Pass w/out trace, Resist Cold
2nd level: Charm Animal, Delay Poison, Resist Fire, Snake Charm, Speak w/animals
3rd level: Call lightning, Cure disease, Eyes of the eagle, Growth of Animals, Water Breathing

Ranger Arcane Spell Repertoire: like a mage and needs a spell book (must find a teacher to learn spells or to change them), rarely a ranger will change his arcane repertoire

Ranger Skill list: as Elven Ranger in ACKS Player's Companion

A Martial Elf Ranger of the 1st forest can build an Elven fastness

In ACKS terms it is built as follow:

(1625) Martial Elf 3 +
(0625) Mage 1 (delayed availability Level-8)* +
(0250) Cleric 1 (delayed availability Level-6)**

*max 2nd level spells
** max 3rd level spell, +1 3rd level spell

as a five point class The Ranger of the 1st Forest has a level limit of 12

trade off
Unrestricted armor to Broad (+1 power) +150 XP
no turning undead (+1 power)
* & ** (+1 power)

total cost 2500+150=2650

powers:
+tracking (like elven ranger)
+bonus melee damage vs beastman and giants: ranger adds +1 to damage at 2nd level, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th (for +6 that is cumulative to the +5 from fighting 2)
+bonus hd at 1st level (so he goes from 2d6 at 1st to 10d6 at 9th level + 2hp additional levels)

Designer's note
I eyeballed the value of some non standard trade-off but I think that I come close to ACKS standards.
Obviously any suggestion is welcome.

The Martial Elf an ACKS Wednesday post

Martial Elf

Not all elf are innate arcane caster, a long time ago an elf Senate decided to devote their society to develop the art of fighting.

Their longevity and connection with nature helped them to become great fighters.

This article (the second of the ACKS Wednesday) present a variant elf race using the rules of the Adventurer Conqueror King System (as seen in the ACKS Player's Companion book also considering the additional information from the Autarch Forums.

One of the thing that made me think of this is the fact that doing a martial elf let you build the canonical elven racial classes (or something very similar) and that even if the possibility of doing an Elf(mage)/Divine caster has always been there it's not a very popular choice. Indeed instead of creating an elven mage/cleric it was preferred to create a new race, the Nobirean, in the ACKS Player's Companion to fit the idea of a race/class that could mix arcane and divine casting.

And I must also cite the beautiful articles on Divine Elves by M. Blackburn who helped me think of doing a martial version of this great and proud race.

Martial Elves

When building an elven custom class, assign between 0 and 4
build points to the class’s Elf Value.

At Martial Elf 0, all elves gain the
following five elven custom powers:

1. Attunement to Nature: All elves gain a +1 bonus to surprise rolls when in the wilderness.
2. Elf Tongues: All elves speak four bonus languages: Elf, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, and Orc.
3. Keen Eyes: All elves detect hidden and secret doors with a proficiency throw of 8+ on 1d20 when actively searching, or 14+ on casual inspection. 
4. Connection to Nature: All elves are unaffected by the paralysis ghouls can inflict, and gain a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Petrification/Paralysis and Spells.
5. Animal Friendship: Whenever elves build fastnesses, all ordinary animals within 5 miles of the stronghold become kind and helpful to the elves.
6. Longevity: All Elves characters are ageless and enjoy a lifespan three times longer than that of normal men.

Value	Elf	XP cost
4	Elf + d8 + Fighting 2	2125
3	Elf + d6 + Fighting 2	1625
2	Elf + d6 + Fighting 1a	1125
1	Elf + Fighting 1a	625
0	Elf	125

Racial Classes

What follows are just some notes on what kind of racial classes can be created for the Martial Elves. More details in future post.

Arcane Sword: Elf 3 + Mage 4 (this is very similar to the canonical ACKS Spellsword)

Arcane Gladius: Elf 2 + Mage 4 (this is very similar to the previous with the ability of doing rituals)
Force of Nature: Elf 4 + Divine 2 (trade off turn undead, spells like shaman/druid)
Night Knife: Elf 2 + Mage 2 + Thief 2 (this is very similar to the ACKS Nightblade)
Ambassador: Elf 2 + Mage 2 + Thief 1 (this is similar to the courtesan)
Forest Guardian: Elf 4 + Thief 2 (power trade off for advanced bowery and ranger abilities)

High Guardian: Elf 4 + Fighting 1 + HD 1 (this means hd d10 and fight progression as monsters)

As for arcane/divine casting the Martial Elf can go for: Elf 2 + Mage 2 + Divine 2 for full divine casting and half arcane casting.

Martial elves

Holy Magic an ACKS Wednesday post

This post is the first of what should become a series of articles dedicated to one of the most interesting simulacrum game of the OSR scene.

The game is Adventurer Conqueror King System (or ACKS in brief), we already have done a short review of the system in the article Adventurer Conqueror King or Diocletian D&D.

One of the most interesting aspects of the system is the attention to details and the great quantity of tools to create balanced content for the game and the total backward compatibility with the original games (as presented in the B/X version).

While some of this tools are present in the ACKS book (specially for the handling of dominions, spell research, magical object costruction and monsters creation) a lot more are presented in the ACKS Player's Companion book where we find complete rules for creating classes, races and spells.

An ulterior step forward in this direction was presented by the Autarch Patreon and is a fantastic tool to create an original magic system balanced with the ones presented in past and future ACKS book. This new tool is the Creating a Custom Magic Type (accessible only to supporter, but you can be a supporter only for 1$ so what are you waiting for? In this months we supporter got also shaded magic, mage class, overcasting, arcanogenesis and other ACKS goodness).

And by using this Magic Type creation tool you can do a lot of things, like creating an Holy Magic Type.

Among the many things I like of the ACKS rules is the magic system, specially the one of wizards who works like sorcerer in the d20 system, with the difference that prepared spell can be changed (albeit at an high cost), what I don't really like is the difference with the clerical magical system which is similar but with an expanded list of "prepared" spell (all spell in the cleric list, which are 10 and are all considered prepared for the cleric, this list can be changed only with magical research), other divine caster have a longer list (but they have stricter codes of conduct). So I got the idea of changing the clerical magic system with one that keeps the same spells (and spells cost for calculating the level of new spells) but has the same "repertoire" of the wizard class (the number of spell slots + the characteristic bonus).

Holy Magic for ACKS

This system of magic use only one of the many possibilities offered by the Custom Magic creation article, and with just a little change we have a completely different flavor for the magic present in the list of divine classes.

The differences

The Holy Magic type is the same of Divine magic but instead of being a Prayerful magic type it's a Studious magic type. This means that the Holy caster will have Int and Wis prime requisite and the repertoire will be limited to the number of spells/day plus the bonus of Int or Wis (the lowest one), but the Holy caster can change the spells into its repertoire as all Studious caster. The spell that are in the Holy caster list are all the divine spells (Cleric, Shaman, Witch, Bladedancer and so on), plus the one built with the Holy multiplier (same of the Divine one). Obviously the Holy caster will need an Holy Spell book to keep tracks of the holy spirit of his spell just as an arcane caster has a spell book.

Holy Magic can be used in two principal ways:

• to create new classes that use Holy Magic,
• to modify existing divine classes in holy classes

Unconquered OSR Sun

To aptly celebrate the Sol Invictus in an OSR fashion we have until the 28th of December to bring the INEXORABLE VICTORY OF THE UNCONQUERED SUN.

This is a new bonus goals for the already successful Lairs & Encounters kickstarter by Autarch.

With this new bonus goals we will get all the additional  25 monsters and lairs.

But what is the Lairs & Encounters book? 

Keep reading and you will discover it.....

Here what you will find in this interesting book:

Lairs & Encounters is the ultimate supplement for fantasy RPG sandbox campaigns. Designed for use with the Adventurer Conqueror King System™ (ACKS™), it is readily compatible with other fantasy role-playing games built on the same core rules. In Lairs & Encounters you will find:

• More than 135* ready-to-play monstrous lairs - that's at least one lair listing for every possible monster lair mentioned in the Adventurer Conqueror King System. The lair listings are designed to be used both as dynamic points of interest that can be discovered while wandering through the wilderness and as obstacles to a would-be ruler’s attempt to secure land for a domain. 
• New subsystems for sandbox play, including rules for populating 6-mile hexes with lairs based on the terrain and extent of settlements in the region, and rules for searching for lairs in the wilderness factoring in terrain density, aerial reconnaissance, splitting up to cover more ground (never split the party!), and more.
• Additional mechanics for monsters, including ability scores for monsters, proficiencies for monsters, and young monsters.
• A complete system for taming and training monsters, with details on the lifespan, roles, tricks, trained and untrained value, supply cost, training period, and the trainability modifier of every monster in the game.  
• A complete system for creating your own unique monsters. In the ACKS Player's Companion we gave you mechanics to create balanced new character classes and new spells; now we bring our same rigorous attention to balance and customization to monsters.

*now already 145... and they will be 160 if we reach the inexorable victory of the unconquered sun

So bold adventurer what are you waiting? 25 new monsters and the details of their lairs are at hand....

Hail the unconquered sun!

Castelli e Chimere il sistema magico, variazioni su Vance

Questo sistema magico è un sistema magico facilmente utilizzabile con i giochi vecchia scuola (come Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Adventurer Conqueror King System, Sword & Wizardry, Fantastic Heroes & Witchery, Basic Fantasy RPG, OSRIC, Blood & Treasure, Ambition & Avarice, Iron Falcon tanti altri, per quelli italiani rimando alla Panoramica GdR vecchia scuola) e praticamente qualsiasi sistema utilizzi un sistema memorizza e dimentica o a spell slot (come lo stregone di dnd 3.x o il sistema magico di D&D 5th edition o il suo clone italiano D&D Next). 

Cosa più importante questo sistema sarà il sistema magico del mio retro-clone Castelli & Chimere.

Il sistema magico in breve

Come ho più volte detto le regole che prediligo sono quelle che introducono una piccola variante meccanica facilmente implementabile ma che allo stesso tempo impatta profondamente il sapore del sistema.

Il sistema magico funziona come lo stregone di D&D 3.X con le seguenti varianti:

• Gli incantesimi "conosciuti" (da ora in poi PREPARATI) si possono cambiare con lo studio 1 giorno per livello dell'incanto da modificare, il loro numero è pari al numero di incantesimi utilizzabili +2 (in pratica si può usare la tabella del mago delle vecchie edizioni per il numero d'incantesimi utilizzabili e aumentarlo di 2 per conoscere il numero di incantesimi PREPARABILI. Gli incantesimi preparati non si dimenticano mai se non quando si cambiano o per effetti magici o traumi specifici.
• Gli incantesimi utilizzabili funzionano come per lo stregone, con l'energia di un incantesimo di 3' livello si può lanciare un incantesimo preparato di 3' livello o livello inferiore. Si parla di Livelli d'Energia Magica Disponibili (LEMD).
• IMPORTANTE gli incantesimi utilizzabili (o meglio i livelli d'energia magica disponibile) non si recuperano tutti in una notte a prescindere dal livello, gli incantesimi di basso livello si recuperano rapidamente, mentre quelli di livello più alto richiedono tempi significativamente più lunghi. inoltre non si possono recuperare livelli di energia di livello superiore se non si sono recuperati tutti i livelli d'energia inferiori, ed l'energia si recupera solo quando si è svegli (le 8 ore di riposo non valgono ai fini del recupero dell'energia magica, in quanto la mente del mago vaga in altre lande e non riesce a trattenere l'energia... alcuni saggi ipotizzano che sognare equivalga a lanciare un incantesimo naturale...).
• Tempo di recupero si veda la tabella allegata.
• RIASSUMENDO: il mago per recuperare l'energia magica non deve lanciare incantesimi altrimenti il conto ricomincia dal principio; esempio: Mirmillo un mago di 5' livello ha lanciato un incantesimo di 1' ed uno di 3' livello per cui se evita di usare incantesimi per 1 ora e 15 minuti (75 minuti) recupererà entrambi, ma se dopo 65 minuti lancia un trucchetto (o qualsiasi altro incantesimo) avrà recuperato solo l'incantesimo di 1' livello (dopo i primi 15 minuti) mentre dovrà ricominciare il conto del tempo per recuperare quello di 3' livello.

Come si vede il nucleo di questo sistema è molto simile alle regole degli stregoni della d20 SRD o del sistema magico del Adventurer Conqueror King System e della stesso D&D 5th edition (o il suo clone italiano D&D Next), ma la similitudine è solo superficiale, infatti la possibilità di cambiare gli incantesimi preparati e la diversa velocità di recupero degli incantesimi produce effetti interessanti.

In particolare il mago raramente resterà senza incantesimi di basso livello perché come si vede dalla tabella l'energia magica dei trucchetti (cantrips) e degli incantesimi di primo livello si recupera molto rapidamente (basta evitare di lanciare incantesimi per pochi turni) mentre un mago di alto livello per recuperare tutti gli incantesimi di alto livello dovrà impiegare diverse settimane, con il non banale effetto di rendere importanti gli oggetti magici e sopratutto gli apprendisti oltre ad aggiungere una ragione "meccanica" per cui i maghi di alto livello non vanno in giro a lanciare incantesimi ultrapotenti in continuazione.

Per il mio retro-clone si userà la seguente tabella che rappresenta l'energia magica disponibile al mago in base al livello, il numero di incantesimi preparabili è lo stesso +2 (la tabella è la stessa presente nella versione inglese di quest articolo Beyond Vance, a magic system (che presente una diversa meccanica e tempistica per il recupero degli incantesimi che ho deciso di semplificare in questa versione).

Tabella dei Livelli d'Energia Magica disponibili

Come detto precedentemente in questo sistema con lo studio e l'uso di risorse si possono modificare gli incantesimi preparati (1 giorno per livello dell'incantesimo e 100 mo per livello della spell da consumarsi in materiale magico e preparativi se il libro degli incantesimi è disponibili, altrimenti il tempo diventa 1 settimana per livello e il costo 1000 mo per livello dell'incantesimo). Un sistema per certi versi simile all'eccellente Adventurer Conqueror King System seppur meno punitivo nel caso si abbia il proprio libro d'incantesimi sotto mano.

Come già detto una volta preparato un incantesimo resta preparato a meno che qualcosa di molto brutto (morte e resurrezione, o traumi alla testa o magie che specificano la perdita d'incantesimi preparati), in questi casi si suggerisce un tiro salvezza contro incantesimi per ogni incantesimo preparato o questo verrà perso e dovrà essere preparato nuovamente.

Come anticipato una delle principali differenze con altri sistemi simili è il modo in cui i Livelli di Energia Disponibili vengono recuperati. L'idea avvicina il sistema dello stregone a quello dei sistemi a punti magici, che prevedono un recupero lento ma costante. 

Dando un occhiata ai tempi ci si rende conto che il sistema spinge i maghi (specie quelli di livello più alto) ad essere avari nel lanciare incantesimi dato che i tempi di recupero sono lenti e si rischia di restare senza incantesimi nei momenti più critici (che è un punto fermo della narrativa fantastica). 

I tempi di recupero strizzano l'occhio alla prima edizione di AD&D (o al suo eccellente clone OSRIC).

I tempi di recupero dell'energia magica sono quelli indicati in tabella, mentre il mago non deve fare nulla di particolare per recuperare gli incantesimi l'energia si recupera solo se il mago è sveglio, inoltre se lancia un incantesimo il tempo si azzera e si ricomincia daccapo, inoltre bisogna prima recuperare tutta l'energia dei livelli più bassi e solo dopo si può cominciare a recuperare l'energia dei livelli superiori. Ecco la tabella:

Livello incanto da recuperare	Tempo per recuperare l'energia per 1 incanto
0'	5'
1°	15'
2°	30'
3°	1 ora
4°	2 ore
5°	3 ore
6°	4 ore
7°	5 ore
8°	7 ore
9°	10 ore

Come si vede chiaramente dalle due tabelle, un'altra differenza rispetto a molti dei cloni indicati (ma non OSRIC) è la presenza di incantesimi di livello 0' (i cosidetti trucchetti), i trucchetti in questo sistema funzionano come tutti gli altri incantesimi, se ne può preparare un numero limitato ed hanno un numero di usi limitato (per preparare un trucchetto il tempo è di 10' ed il costo di 10 gp se si ha il proprio libro a portata di mano o 1h40' e 100 gp senza il libro.

Appare evidente che questo sistema magico si può utilizzare in qualsiasi gioco vecchia scuola.

Ad esempio un mago di 1' livello sarà in grado di preparare 5 trucchetti (incanti di livello 0) e 3 incanti di 1' livello ed avrà energia per lanciare di seguito 3 trucchetti ed 1 incantesimo di 1' livello. Se evita di lanciare incantesimi per 30' recupererà l'energia per lanciare 3 trucchetti ed 1 incanto di 1' livello.

Una "specie" di magia

Un'altra particolarità del sistema magico di Castelli & Chimere è che mentre il sistema magico è lo stesso per tutti i maghi, esistono diverse specializzazioni ed un mago deve scegliere il "tipo" di magia che può utilizzare:

Magia bianca: protezioni, esorcismi, distruzione dei non morti, guarigione, resurrezione, recupero (lista dei chierici con modifiche - è un tipo di magia "platonico" funziona in quanto riporta ad un modello di riferimento ideale il soggetto).

Magia Grigia/Elementale: incantesimi elementali, trasformazioni, alterazioni (lista dei maghi rivista - è un tipo di magia formulistico che evoca energie, crea passaggi)

Magia nera: morte, decadimente, veleni, maledizioni, evocazioni di demoni e altri orrori (un buon esempio è la magia nera presente nell'eccelso Fantastic Heroes & Witchery e altri supplementi OSR come ad esempio l'ottimo Silent Legions)

Magia della natura: lista dei druidi (controllo del clima, terremoti, comunicazione con gli animali e con le piante - trasformazioni limitate al mondo naturale - animali e piante - rigenerazione, reincarnazione ecc).

Magia del corpo: trasformazioni del corpo, rigenerazione (un tipo diverso di guarigione, si veda il Medico Occulto su questo blog).

Magia Prismatica: illusioni, ombre, fantasmi (lista degli illusionisti rivista e corretta)

Altri tipi: incantamento, mentalismo, ki....

Ovviamente ci sono delle sovrapposizioni ma ogni tipo di magia è superiore nel suo campo di specializzazione rispetto alle altre magie, altri tipi di effetti sono a volte utilizzabili ma come incantesimi di livello superiore.

Quindi ogni mago necessiterà dei libri per cambiare rapidamente gli incantesimi preparati e dovrà astenersi dall'utilizzare l'energia magica disponibile per recuperarla.

Come possibili opzioni nella versione avanzata ci sarà la possibilità (al costo di maggiori punti esperienza) di utilizzare più di un tipo di magia, di avere maghi che non possono cambiare le magie preparate (stregoni) e altri maghi che invece dei libri per cambiare gli incantesimi preparati devono rivolgersi ad entità extraplanari (cultisti).

Un gioco che propone qualcosa di simile (tutti maghi per quanto con progressioni diverse ed un sistema per la magia divina completamente diverso) è l'ottimo e già citato Fantastic Heroes & Witchery.