Goblins are slow, Velociraptors are fast

I got to run a hangout game of OD&D with Greyhawk last night, and the above was the list of books I used in prep and while running the game (less the Arduin Grimoire which I wound up using because it was handy). I'm actually lookng at finally writing the module I've been meaning to write and wanted to run some players through the dungeon; it was successful.

I have to give a positive mention to Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa; I used his "Spawn of Shub-Niggurath" generator to get inspiration for one of the monsters, which helped add to the high weirdness quotient of the game. I also reskinned a wand as a ray-gun, which went over very well. The dungeon itself is supposed to have an "ancient ruins invaded by some science fiction stuff" feel, so that was all very much to the good.

The one thing that really stood out to me in the game was the effect of movement rates in combat. It's a very static thing, where a high movement rate more or less always wins. The PCs, not yet being burdened with encumbering treasure, were able to chase down fleeing goblins so handily that they could have overtaken them if they liked. Later when they chose to run from a large number of goblins they had no problem doing so.

Likewise, when they got back to the surface they found that they could not run from the velociraptor whose interest they drew. (Velociraptors in my games are basically colorful, predatory turkey-vultures that primarily stay on the ground and have nasty sharp claws.) Giving velociraptors a movement rate of 18" (180/60 in B/X terms) means that the PCs could not even conceivably flee and had to stand and fight. This led to the near-death of the hobbit thief, who took a raptor claw to the face.

This aspect of the game is really important when you play it as generally intended, with monsters regularly breaking morale (like the goblins in my game) and running, and yet it isn't – to my knowledge – covered in any of the various rule sets and revisions out there with anything more sophisticated than the OD&D movement rate system. At best, initiative can get you a head start, but that's about it.

OD&D with Greyhawk has some pretty severe organizational issues, but overall it's such a favorite of mine that I couldn't permanently get away from it. Getting a chance to run it on hangouts is a real pleasure. If you don't have the real thing, I'd recommend giving Iron Falcon a shot. I don't use it because I prefer making my own inferences and rulings from the OD&D booklets, but more than any other clone it gets the rules I prefer to use out.

Actual Play: Fun with Infravision and Alignment

Infravision in B/X is described explicitly as "heat-sensing sight." So I tend to play the sight of elves and dwarves as being very broad; only the ability to see vague shapes of heat, generally not making out anything of the details of a monster.

Which was fun with the first of two encounters my players had with velociraptors last night. The raptors showed up during the first watch of the evening, and had the players surrounded, but there were only three of the raptors. The party's elf and one of the clerics were on watch, so the raptors were considering them potential prey until the cleric shouted everyone awake. The raptors disappeared in a flash (I give them a very quick movement rate) and it seemed like a false alarm. At this point they still weren't really sure what the threat was, other than that it was three or four feet high but broad and very fast.

The PCs wound up going back to the ruined palace where they had previously slaughtered some toad-men. Some exploration got them to investigate the statue in the courtyard, which had certain stops in its direction where it pointed. Investigating one of them led to another encounter with the raptors, who were now defending their nests and not just being curious. I described their motion with some keys that echoed Jurassic Park. The players got out, with only the hobbit getting a scratch when he went to his backpack to try and get some meat to slow the raptors down.

Deciding to try their luck elsewhere in the ruins, the PCs checked out a small block of rooms. This time they found a corridor with some caltrops in it; had they gone in without being wary it would have been a bigger problem for them. Around the next corridor they did get hit by a crossbow trap, and while investigating it found that they had the interest of a big, menacing warrior type. The players' reaction to his weapon, a military pick that they later found out was aligned with Chaos.

Once they dispatched the warrior and his companions, they found more materials, including a letter written in Chaotic. This was translated for them by one of the Acolytes from the Caves of Chaos, who has been charmed by the elf and is being used as a makeshift henchman. It's been fun to sort of let the idea of "forces of Chaos" as a persistent, but not unified, threat; the way I interpret Chaos working in my world is that powerful Chaotic characters are in touch with patron deities, and each such leader is a sort of absolute tyrant who imposes their will on their underlings. So there is now someone in dungeons (not yet discovered by the PCs) under the ruin who has transgressed against the forces loyal to the Chaos god Arioch.

I was very happy to be able to play up the Chaos and dinosaur aspects of this ruin in one session. It's been interesting in terms of PC balance, too: although there are two fourth-level fighters, who can take a fair number of hits, the rest of the PCs were 1st or 2nd level this adventure. One of the clerics hit 3rd, as did the hobbit, which will make the rest of this particular adventure interesting.

Raptor Feathers and Dinosaurs in D&D

Image by Matt Martyniuk and licensed by CC-BY-SA

Dinosaurs have been present in Dungeons & Dragons from the very start. The sample "large animal" in Monsters & Treasure was the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which has 20 HD. They are prevalent in the wilderness tables as well, and I wrote about them in my OD&D Setting series (see here for the specific entry). It's hard not to think of these as slow, lumbering dinosaurs that filled the imagination before the "Dinosaur Renaissance" of the 1970s and afterward.

Having grown up in the 1980s as this image was changing, and having been obsessed with dinosaurs as many a grade school boy will be, I can't help but see this and want to at least augment it with a more modern view of quick, feathered bird-like dinosaurs. And seeing as how it's the 20th anniversary of the film of Jurassic Park, it seems appropriate to talk about Velociraptors and how they're awesome D&D critters.

There is a quick and easy triad of raptors: Velociraptor (pictured above; contra Jurassic Park, is quite a bit smaller than a man and would not even come up to waist height), Deinonychus which is a bit bigger but still not the Spielberg raptor, and Utahraptor which is actually a bit bigger. A Velociraptor is a great surprise beast, because in context it's so damn weird: this is an overgrown chicken with teeth that leaps up and attacks with its massive hind claw. We also know now that they had the kind of nodes that would in fact grow feathers, much like their modern avian relatives.

Now, despite the letdown over the relative size of the Velociraptor, we do get the solace that it's fast. You don't get called "velociraptor" without being twice as fast as the fastest human, so once you see the angry chicken-predator you won't be able to outrun it. Its movement should be at least 24", or 240 feet. Fast. Obviously that can be a big advantage.

The stereotype of dinosaurs as being rather dull seems to hold true even after the Dinosaur Renaissance. Velociraptors should be somewhat less intelligent than chickens - if they were scientifically accurate. And that works for your dumb, slow lizards of the pre-1970 view, but it fails for modern dinosaurs. It's a fantasy world, so why not have Velociraptors be as smart as the pack-hunters of Spielberg's films? Working a doorknob might be going a bit too far, but with modest gains they could be pretty smart creatures.

In combat, Velociraptors have the ability to do a pincer where one menaces from the front and a second comes in from the flank with its vicious claw attack. I think they'd have a bonus to damage versus non-armored opponents since the hind claws are quite nasty. The idea that something very very fast is hunting you and could charge in at any second, can create terrifying encounters. Even though they're from the desert, I like the idea of sticking them underground; being warm-blooded, Velociraptors could be quite happy in a dungeon with abundant prey. And hey, what's Jurassic Park without the encounter with the raptors in the visitor center?

As I see it, a Velociraptor should be a modest 2 HD or so, with an armor class around 7 or 8 for its feathery hide. Deinonychus can go up to 3 HD and Utahraptor to 4 - both with high land speeds. This creates an interesting and different dinosaur encounter without the 20 HD Tyrannosaurus to worry about. So: go ahead, throw a raptor in; it will certainly keep players on their toes.