XP for Gold: Reputation and Confidence?

XP for gold has a venerable history, and is a totally workable mechanic.

What bothers me is some of the justifications I've seen for it.

As I see it, XP for gold is an abstraction specifically suited for adventurers, and the idea is that if you are recovering treasure, you are encountering danger, and therefore learning. More treasure usually means more danger. Fair enough.

The mechanic stops making sense if you try to extend this mechanic to non-adventurers. Some lordly Baron sitting in his keep is in no danger and is learning nothing about being a fighter by sending out tax collectors to collect money from his tenants.

Where things break down is when people start trying to find some kind of further real-world justification for it. Some, for instance, consider XP for gold to represent reputation and confidence. I find this explanation to be indefensible. If this were true, you could level up by bragging, or by drinking whiskey. The fact that you can't become a better wizard by partaking of a little Dutch Courage exposes the internal inconsistency of such an explanation.

Fact is, neither confidence nor reputation correlate with ability. I remember a martial arts class - we'd drilled defending against dagger attacks for a couple hours, and I was getting a good feel for it, and felt really confident in my abilities.

Then we tried some free-play, and in my first match, I went up against one of the most experienced guys at the salle. Well, long story short, my skull would have looked like hamburger if we'd been using real daggers. My new-found confidence helped *exactly zero* against a skilled opponent.

Similarly, even if I have a reputation far and wide as the fastest draw in the West, that won't help me one whit if that whole reputation is built on bravado, and the exaggeration of one sloppy victory. When push comes to shove, my reputation counts for *exactly zero* in a real duel against a skilled opponent.

Long story short: XP for gold good, XP = confidence and reputation bad.

Dungeoneering Tools: The Torch

Dazzling

First off, dazzling your friends is one problem with a torch I've never seen considered. While the person carrying the torch can hold it over their head, and thus get full benefit of the light, anyone walking behind them will either a) have the torch in their field of view, and will be dazzled, or b) have to look at the ground.

Walking to either side of the torch-bearer would be fine. Being in front of the torch-bearer obviously means dealing with your own shadow.

As for what this means in gameplay terms, I would say anyone walking behind the torch-bearer is dazzled, and isn't getting full benefit from the torchlight. Say, halve the illuminated distance.

Probably won't come up too much, but something to think about.

Variations

There are a few important versions of the "torch" to consider.

Most familiar to people would be a stick with pitch-soaked fabric tied to the top with wire, so I won't talk any further about it.

Other versions include the splinter, rushlight, cresset/basket, candle/stick, bark/tinder, simple stick, and animal torches.

Of these, only the cresset/basket, candle/stick, and the bark/tinder torches are practical for mobile use - splinters and rushlights are for lighting a home or tent.

Cresset/basket

I touched on the cresset in a previous post - it consists of a hinged light source on a pole. This source can be a lamp, or it can be a basket of burning material. This is pretty self-explanatory, I think - tinder and small sticks (possibly soaked in pitch, resin, or fat) burn in an iron basket on the top of the cresset.

The obvious advantage of this is the ease of finding material for it - burning pitch-soaked cloth or wood would be best, but at a pinch you could just chop up some wood and toss it in. It's also probably a little easier to just have a sack of pitch-soaked pine and a single cresset than a bundle of bulky torches.

Candle/stick

Candle torches consist of maybe 3 feet of heavy candle (4" across) on a wooden handle. This seems a little odd to me, especially given the historically high prices of candles, but there is historical evidence for this.

These would, to my mind, be primarily a status item for wealthy people walking around in the town. As candle-wax could cost as much as 4 times as much as meat, this would be an exceedingly expensive torch.

Bark/tinder

Bark and tinder torches consist of a core of pitch-, resin-, or fat-soaked tinder wrapped in bark. This is a primitive but effective type of torch that can burn as long as 2 hours, 1 hour probably being typical. These are pretty bulky, being maybe 12" in diameter at the top, and 4" in diameter at the bottom, and maybe 3' long.

The advantage of this is the ease of preparation - this could be constructed with little effort anywhere you have access to pine trees (for the tinder and pitch), hardwood trees (for the bark), and a day or so to collect the materials and make the torches.

Simple Stick

This is just a stick where the end has been smashed into splinters and soaked in pitch, resin, or similar.

Obvious advantage is simplicity and ease of manufacture, the disadvantage is that it's not as bright and doesn't last as long.

Animal Torches

Certain animals (candlefish, storm petrel) have such a high fat proportion that there are accounts of people using them as torches. Simply catch one, stick a wick (made of moss, cotton, or similar) in its mouth, and strap the beast to a stick.

Not going to make much light, but could be cool for "barbaric" NPC's.

Waterproof Torch

Wikipedia has an uncited entry claiming that the Romans made a torch with sulfur and lime that would not go out if submerged.

I'm sceptical, but it would probably be possible to make something like this, as quicklime does heat up considerably when wet.

Whether or not this is true or historically accurate, I think it might be interesting to be able to make waterproof torches.

Dungeoneering Tools: The Lantern & Oil

The Lantern

When most people think of a D&D lantern, they're thinking of something like this:

These did not exist until the 19th century. They are not available in a 14-15th century world.

Your D&D "lantern" likely is more of an oil lamp, and would look more like this:



This is the kind of lamp that existed in the Middle Ages. More or less a reusable candle. No chimney, small wick, probably made of clay or brass.

Another option would be the cresset, as seen here. More or less an oil lamp on a stick, but with a hinge so it stays upright. Could also apply to little braziers for other fuels similarly mounted.



UPDATE: Candle lanterns are the only period form of lantern I can find:



Oil

Similarly, when people think of lamp oil, they're thinking of kerosene. Stinky, low viscosity, and rather flammable.

That is not what lamp oil was back then.

Lamps were fueled with whale oil or vegetable oil. Not really the same thing.

Try to imagine dousing someone in olive oil and setting them on fire. Not bloody likely.

EDIT: Burn times for oil lamps. For a smallish oil lamp, you should get 4-5 hours of light out of an ounce of oil.

Dungeoneering Tools: The 10' Pole

Much the same problems here as the spear, only more so.

Incidentally, the European Quarterstaff was typically in the 7-12' range, so the 10' pole and the quarterstaff can be considered to be the same thing. Some masters recommend a 7-8' staff, George Silver recommends a behemoth staff of 9-12'. Crazy.

People like having a long stick around so they can poke things and not get hurt. But how do people feel about doorways? Corners? I like being able to move around.

Leave the 10' pole at home. Or else pick between:

• your movement rate takes a 33% hit (being careful with the pole)
• you never surprise your foes (pole ends up bumping off everything)

Dungeoneering Tools: The Spear

Upcoming Series

I'm going to start a series covering my take on common weapons and tools used in dungeoneering. First up: the spear.

Misconceptions

It's a common misconception that the spear is a perfect dungeoneering weapon, and I think this misconception comes from the idea that all you do with a spear is poke people with the pointy end. While that's certainly a key point of the art of spearfighting, it's far from the whole picture.

I should point out here that I'm not talking about soldiers in a phalanx (which most RPG's don't deal with), but rather about single/small group melees.

I recently bought two 8' hardwood shafts to use for spear drills. My first reaction on bringing them into my house? "Crap, these are big!" Historical spears ranged from about 6' to maybe 9', so my spears are on the long side, but my conclusions hold more or less for 6' spears.

There is almost no way I could effectively fight with a spear indoors. Navigating through hallways is a pain. Doorways are a bigger pain. Corners are a pain. Turning the spear around is impossible without whacking into walls and bumping off furniture.

Much of spear-fighting consists of off-line guards - holding the spear vertically, or pointing it straight backwards. These off-line guards allow a strong parry with a turn of the hips, knocking aside your opponents weapon and leaving them open to a thrust to the face.

If your spear is parried, you can take the energy of the parry, and swing the back end of the spear around. This counter-parries, and allows you to strike with the butt.

These turning motions are *critical* to spear combat.

Conclusions

Trying to do them in an enclosed space with other warriors around you would be difficult at best, and impossible at worst. My experience fumbling around with an 8' pole in my house has convinced me of that.

Trying to fight without them would be lead to a marked reduction in spear effectiveness - something on the order of halving your combat effectiveness, I would say.

Mechanical Applications

For D&D - halve your AC, and miss on any to-hit roll of 10 or less when spearfighting in an enclosed space.

For S&S - no Attack or Defense bonus from your spear, miss on any to-hit roll of 10 or less.

Magic Weapons

A few ideas for magic weapons that are a little more interesting than the old +1 attack/+1 damage.

I especially like the idea of having magic weapons that have a drawback as well as a benefit, or a purely situational benefit, or even a non-combat function.

See also Eric's post at the Dragon's Flagon here. He does a great job of outlining the problems with ordinary +1 weapons, and offers some cool ideas to help ameliorate the situation. I especially like his idea of "hero" weapons and "rune" weapons.

Some of these weapons have Spells and Steel specific powers, but many of them are applicable to any old-school-style game.

Stay tuned for more!

Swords

• Longsword, blade engraved with twisting serpents
• On an attack roll of 15+, enemy's weapon shatters (unless magical). On a roll of 1, breaks in two. The halves can be reforged by any swordsmith, and the sword will retain its power.
• Very long, thin sword - inscribed on blade is "it fades away, into nothing, and so is as the air"
• Wielder always knows just how to move the blade to block any attacks - effectively cannot be hit by one opponent, so long as the user doesn't attack.
• Longsword, blade, quillons, and pommel all tinted black
• Bizarrely poorly balanced, and almost impossible to swing, but the edge is exceptionally keen. -10 to Attack and Defense, but roll 4d6 for damage.

Spears

• Drips blood when held. Roll d10 for damage instead of d6.
• Moves with exceptional nimbleness. Can fight an additional enemy without penalty.

Maces

• Feels almost weightless. Ignores all armour.
• Feels exceptionally heavy. Requires high strength (13+) to use (otherwise, -5 to hit and no damage bonus). Roll 2d6 for damage.

Axes

• Looks like a woodman's axe, but handles like a battleaxe. Cuts through wood like it was butter.

Daggers

• Exceedingly sharp. Ignores all armour.
• Ivory handle, pommel in shape of a fat man. Any food cut with this dagger is absolutely delicious.

Complex Polearms

• Poleaxe - Gives wielder an imposing and fearsome mien. Enemies have a -4 modifier to their morale role.

Scabbard

• Wielder doesn't bleed - doesn't take more wounds while hors de combat, automatically passes all Fortitude checks.

Crawling on Huge Monsters

This idea - as far as I know - comes from this post by scrap princess. This idea is the other puzzle piece missing from D&D that makes up the picture of fighting huge monsters, and, as such, is deserving of much praise.

Following on from the last post on my take on Alexis's amazing hp by mass idea, I think fleshing out my take on crawling on huge monsters is a natural follow-on.

The two main things that make my take on this unique are based on the way Spells and Steel treats damage and to-hit rolls.

In Spells and Steel, the to-hit roll doesn't represent the hard-to-hurt of a creature, but rather its ability to avoid being hit altogether. Therefore, when crawling on a creature, hits are automatic. If the creature has damage reduction, it still applies normally.

Movement on a creature is by Zones. Something like a horse would have just one Zone, while an elephant might have 2 or 3. A huge, 60' dragon might have 5 or 6. Only one person per zone. Make a Strength Save to move to the next Zone. Burglars may also use their freerunning abilities to move around on a creature.

Damage can be increased by crawling to a vital zone - for most creatures, this would be the head, but there's some weird beasties out there. For these purposes, if you can get to a high-value target, do max damage on each hit. Creatures with only one Zone always suffer max damage from someone crawling on them.

The other unique idea is this: for each round you spend on the creature, take 1 Fatigue. It's hard to hold on to a huge beast! This is obviously up to the GM's discretion - if it's something like a Sandworm from Dune, once you're on top, you're pretty much just standing on the ground, and taking a Fatigue would be silly.

If the creature spends its turn trying to get shake you off, take an extra Fatigue, and roll a Strength Save* to hang on. If you fail, you fall off and take at least 1d6 falling damage, (and maybe more, based on how far it is to fall...).

If the creature rolls over to crush you, roll a Strength Save to jump clear in time. If you succeed, you jump clear (but take at least 1d6 falling damage, more if appropriate). If you fail, take 1d6 damage per 500 lbs of creature. You can choose not to jump off, but instead brace a piercing weapon (spear, sword, etc.) against the creature. If you do, you'll take damage as if you failed your Strength Save, but you'll deal twice as much damage to the monster.

• When crawling on a creature, hits are automatic. DR still applies.
• If you are clinging to a vital area (i.e. head), do max damage automatically.
• Roll a Strength Save or use freerunning to move from Zone to Zone on the creature.
• When the creature tries to shake you, roll a Strength Save. Failure means you take at least 1d6 falling damage.
• When the creature tries to roll over and crush you, roll a Strength Save. Failure means taking 1d6 damage per 500 lbs of creature. Success means taking at least 1d6 fall damage.
• Or take the damage and brace a piercing weapon against the creature to deal twice as much damage as you take.

 * I haven't talked about saving throws in Spells and Steel yet, but a Strength Save is a Strength Check modified by your Attack Bonus from your Martial Ability. So a 1st Level Fighter with 14 Strength would need to roll a 16 or less to save, since a 1st Level Fighter has a base +2 to hit.