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AN ALTERNATE SYSTEM FOR THE SADOMASOCHIST AD&D PLAYER
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>> INTRODUCTION
After a player such as myself becomes accustomed to kicking the heinies
of monsters right and left, one gets burnt out on that sort of thing.
Higher - level characters, especially, do not fear danger as much as they
used to when they were low - level tykes. I wondered how long it would be
before one of my characters could take on a great wyrm dragon and live.
What I mean is, the great beasts that were supposed to be feared and
dreaded have now become inconveniences to a character who's reached the
retirement level of most other beings, but instead goes on to do greater
things (not a bad thing) and consequently gets more and better stuff, and
can look forward to besting a great wyrm; such was a creature that once
gave him and his friends nightmares at night, and once upon a time it was
hardly regarded as a joke to point to the sky and say, "Oh no! It's three
black dragons!".
I sat down one day and decided that it was far too easy to create
superhuman characters. Realism was missing from the way they developed. The
general idea began to coalesce that player characters still needed to have
a healthy sense of danger even while they honed their skills to perfection
and acquired better and more powerful weapons and defenses. The notion that
you could still be killed by more than mere random change gradually
evaporates with levelling, thereby reducing the danger that always, always
came with adventuring. After all, what is the thrill of battle or
exploration without that nagging fear of sudden death in the back of one's
mind? It was ultimately this last question that spawned the "Life Sucks and
then You Die" system.
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I. Attributes
A. Rolling up attributes
1. Use standard methods I, II, or III to roll up attributes only
(no "power character" methods).
2. This method can also be used
a. Roll 2d6+3 then assign the number to an attribute
b. After the attribute is set, it cannot be altered even if the
player rolls a more desirable number afterward (the "Yahtzee"
method)
c. Repeat till all attributes have been filled
d. Racial adjustments are implemented after all rolls are
tallied, of course.
3. Other methods may be used, so long as they cannot produce
characters with an average of attributes above 16.
B. Exceptional Strength
1. Whenever a Strength score of 18 is adjusted upward, instead of
making it a 19, becomes 18/01.
2. Whenever adding to an Exceptional Strength score, it is raised
one percentage category for each +1.
3. This means that it will take a +6 to raise from 18 to 19.
4. Examples
a. 18 +1 = 18/01
b. 18/01 +1 = 18/51
c. 18/80 +1 = 18/91
d. 18/99 +1 = 18/00
e. 18/00 +1 = 19
5. Only an 18/00 can go directly to 19.
C. At every level divisible by three, plus one (4th, 7th, 10th, 13th,
etc.) a character may add a +1 to one of his attributes.
1. It need not be a prime requisite (but a character wishing to
switch classes may need to build up attributes before it is
possible).
2. This attribute advancement is fully subject to racial
limitations.
D. The Constitution HP Bonus is used as a Saving Throw Bonus.
1. This Saving Throw bonus applies to purely physical magic attacks
only, in the same way that a high Wisdom Magical Defense is a
bonus against mental attacks.
2. Breath weapons, petrification/polymorph, and paralyze/poison
always have this bonus.
3. Death magic that causes actual physical death (instead of
attacking the spirit or mind) also comes under this bonus.
4. Spells which have a physical attack are included as well.
II. Hit Points
A. At 1st level, HP are determined by the following:
1. Add the Strength and Constitution attributes together (base HP
score)
2. Roll a Size HD, one of the following:
a. Tiny (0'-2') = 1d2
b. Small (2'-4') = 1d4
c. Man-sized (4'-7') = 1d6
d. Large (7'-12') = 1d8
e. Huge (12'-25') = 1d12 \ hardly ever used, but
f. Gargantuan (25'+) = 1d20 / you never know. :)
3. Roll the character's class HD once and only once; The
Constitution HP bonus is not used for HPs (see I - D).
B. More HP can be gained by using the attribute adjustment rule above
(I - D) to Strength or Constitution; no other HP are added for
level advancement.
III. Warriors and Rogues
A. Paladins and Rangers should be as rare as the rolls it takes to
meet their minimum attribute requirements (natural rolls; i.e.,
unaided by arbitrary attribute adjustments or pick-and-choose dice
rolling methods)
B. No Warrior or Rogue classe receives spellcasting abilities.
1. Other magical and nonmagical abilities remain intact.
2. Use of magical items is still permitted.
IV. Wizards and Priests
A. Wizards and Priests receive mana for their spellcasting.
B. The base amount of mana is three times their experience level, plus
a bonus according to Intelligence (Wizards) or Wisdom (Priests),
from the following chart:
WIS/INT SCORE: 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
BONUS: +0 +0 +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8
C. One mana point is expended for each spell level cast.
D. Mana is replenished either through time for Wizards or through
prayer for Priests, at a rate of one mana point per day.
V. Psionics
A. Psionics is simply too powerful for any player characters to be
psionicists; unless Psionics is widely known and used, PCs cannot
be true psionicists.
B. At the most, PCs can be Single - or Double - Wild Talents, but must
be another class of character.
1. A Double Wild Talent is a character who automatically passes the
Wild Talent Test, and can choose any one power for free in
addition to the roll to determine a random power
2. Rolling one's selected power is treated as a bonus for two
random powers instead of one, but this can occur only once).
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Text Created: 10 Jan 97 (c) 1996, 1997 by Xeno, where applicable.
Last Revision: 10 Jan 97 http://www.people.memphis.edu/~mlsheltn
mlsheltn@cc.memphis.edu
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