tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post455964427930574832..comments2024-03-26T22:17:42.458-04:00Comments on Semper Initiativus Unum: Blue Book D&DWayne Rossihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11347401495298367324noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-7911327391154772512013-07-23T19:00:42.307-04:002013-07-23T19:00:42.307-04:00Interesting, thought-provoking stuff - especially ...Interesting, thought-provoking stuff - especially for a "child of Moldvay" like myself. However:<br /><br /><i>Sixth: Follow Holmes in using only "Remove Trap" as a thief skill.</i><br /><br />It's the same in Expert. (See the table on page X6.) Whereas Moldvay Basic has "Find or Remove" (page B8), Cook dropped the "Find" part. I've no idea whether this was a deliberate change or just a continuity error between B and X, but it's always intrigued me. (Personally, I follow Cook.) So you can reduce your house rules/amendments/options from an unwieldy eight to a streamlined seven.<br /><br />ClawCarverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07236809815213343281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-33787604412353704402013-07-22T15:16:00.472-04:002013-07-22T15:16:00.472-04:00Try 'Find Trap' as Notice Trap. And you ro...Try 'Find Trap' as Notice Trap. And you roll it as one of your occasional rolls to maintain tension amongst the players.<br /><br />Notice trap is the Thief's ability to recognize something isn't as it should be during the times when the party isn't actively searching an area. e.g. "Stop! There's a tripwire." or "Hmm. That flagstone looks funny..." Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-6483451976442744042013-07-22T15:06:39.662-04:002013-07-22T15:06:39.662-04:00Personally, I like lots of unpredictability in com...Personally, I like lots of unpredictability in combat, so strict dexterity order does not appeal.<br /><br />Good point about consideration of race/class combinations though.Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-90495631729062706122013-07-22T14:44:05.117-04:002013-07-22T14:44:05.117-04:00I ran straight Dexterity initiative for several ga...I ran straight Dexterity initiative for several games, and it was easy to run except with wandering monsters. It really sucked for players with low Dexterity PCs. Part of my take on D&D is that high stats should not be so inflated, and Dexterity initiative contradicts that.<br /><br />As far as race-as-class, a lot of people reject it. My own preference would be to allow things like hobbit thieves - at the same time as elves. Variant classes are mostly for humans.Wayne R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04118962136054206381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-21621423682613009412013-07-22T13:40:47.218-04:002013-07-22T13:40:47.218-04:00About #5 - Rolling 1d6 for initiative is actually ...About #5 - Rolling 1d6 for initiative is actually slower than rolling 3d6 ala Holmes. With Holmes you can sort the PCs by Dex and then you know where the monster falls in the PC list. <br /><br />Also, I see the primary advantage of racial class is the ability to easily add new classes without worrying about balance between the various class and race combinations.Hedgehobbithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17606283586332210195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-23337848659759732242013-07-22T12:51:29.272-04:002013-07-22T12:51:29.272-04:00Yeah, next time I run a Holmesian campaign I inten...Yeah, next time I run a Holmesian campaign I intend to use the spell declaration thing just as you describe - but that's a house rule and this post was all about deriving material from Holmes and Cook/Marsh Expert as written.<br /><br />I've never minded class based armor restrictions, for my part, mostly because I just hold that M-U spellcasting and Thief thiefing can't be done in (metal, for thieves) armor. Also I'm not willing to make magic-users *that* good.Wayne R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04118962136054206381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-86188122105308153642013-07-22T12:41:38.879-04:002013-07-22T12:41:38.879-04:00The initiative system you describe here is very si...The initiative system you describe here is very similar to what I have been doing in my OD&D game, with the addition that magic-users must declare spells before rolling initiative, spells can be interrupted, and armor beyond that normally worn by classes imposes an initiative penalty (so magic-users can wear plate, but it imposes an initiative penalty of 3, thieves can wear chain, but it imposes an initiative penalty of 1, and so forth). This seems to have mostly resolved my longtime feud with class-based armor restrictions (which I hate, but recognize as necessary for class balance to some degree).Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.com