Design and Development: Cleric Training

During the construction of my MegaDungeon Campaign I made a reference to the fact that clerics were, at one time, trained by just one faith/religion/order. Later other faiths saw this training and its effectiveness and copied the style or converted trainers to teach clerics of their own. This helps explain away the fact that all clerics, regardless of faith or religion, have the same abilities and spells.

This concept actually works well in Deminar's atheistic to have everything explained and making sense. So, should we "steal" (being a loose sense of the word, since it's already my idea) this concept for Deminar or something simliar?

Design and Development: Religions

The standard template for D&D religions seems to be that people pick a god and that's the god they worship, sometimes on a racial (read: species, but we're talking classic D&D here) level (the god of elves!), sometimes on a class level (the god of magic!). A farmer prays to the god of farming and a warrior to the god of war. Temples exist for each individual god and you go worship there as you please or whenever mass is.

The question is, should we hold on to that classic style in Bluestone? Are there a variety of temples dedicated to each god that is worshiped in, say, Ashford Bay. Or do they organize the groups into pantheons, something similar to say, Eberron? So perhaps a major god and two minor gods with similar portfolios would be called The Triad and have their own temple or perhaps the humans would mix together a group of gods and the gnomes would group together another (with some potential cross-over, either realized or not) and each have separate worship.

Or maybe a mix of both, some places/species only revere gods individually while others like to group them into pantheons. More things to ponder...

Design and Development: Spirits

In my last post I mentioned that clerics and druids gain their abilities (from spell casting to turning the undead to shapeshifting) through power given to them by the gods and spirits. This power actually comes out of the being's very essence and thus each mortal he blesses with these abilities makes him weaker (albeit in very small amounts).

I spoke at some length why the deities are very careful with this and why not every holy man has clerical powers, but how about druids?

Like the gods, spirits have to give up their own power in order to fuel a druid, thus, only the more powerful spirits would ever think of offering their patronage to druids. Also like the gods, spirits wish to better their station and look for an opportunity to do so. While spirits do not wish to destroy one another in order to take over (a trait spirits contribute to gods as "picking up from simple mortals"), they are as ambitious as any living creature. Spirits exist in a strict hierarchy, everyone has their place and knows who lords over them and who serves under them. The spirits also place the gods in this hierarchy (and not at the top), for in their minds, the gods are just another form of spirit. The gods pay little attention to their place in the order however. The hierarchy is a complex thing, with much crossover between various groups (a tree spirit, for instance, has a place among other spirits of trees, nature spirits, and spirits of living things, among others) and various positions among the spiritual ladder in each one. A spirit would always like to climb up one of those ladders when possible. A forest spirit, as it grows in power, may become the spirit of a grove, and possible the spirit of a whole forest and with enough effort, the spirit of all natural thing on an island.

A spirit climbs this ladder by... well, that's why this is a Design and Development feature and not a Musing. I'm not entirely sure how spirits rise in the hierarchy, though I know why they do not. They don't destroy each other, for if you killed the spirit of a tree, that tree would die. Even if a greater spirit could "consume" a lesser one, then that tree would lose its individual spirit, something the spirits would never think of doing.

So, a few ideas: Perhaps lesser spirits are required to swear allegiance to more powerful ones, via some ancient unbreakable eldritch pact. Perhaps it is similar to a blood bond in White Wolf's Vampire games, where a spirit is injected with some a great spirit's essence and then becomes its thrall. Perhaps a greater spirit, as it grows in power, increases in size, a metaphysical web spreading from it that enthralls all lesser spirits of similar type within its grasp.

Any of those sound good? Ideas of your own?

Design and Development: Gods

I've talked plenty about the gods before, in fact, the greater cosmology of a setting seems to always be a high point for me, be it designing or reading about it. When we originally developed Deminar we had a good number of gods figured out, nine major powers representing the nine alignments, plus a score of lesser gods that dealt with a variety of specific aspects, concepts, and states of being. The same god may be worshiped by several different groups, each who call him a different name, and worship a different aspect of his portfolio and believing that the other groups are worshiping a different or even false god (and indeed, going to battle over such slights). There may be hundreds of different religions among all the islands of Deminar, the isolation between each other means even more radical offshoots of the same deity could be worshiped.

The question is, how many of these gods do we introduce in our first book? The Bluestone Isles are not that large, but they do feature a diverse number of species and one major metropolitan area. Enough variety for several deities to have a home. I don't think there should be too many gods in the Player's Guide, especially with this one acting as a low-level beginner's guide. You don't want to overload player's with too many choices to begin. However, I do want to introduce the concept of different species (or even the same species) worshiping the same god under a different aspect/ideology/practice without them even realizing it. Though it wouldn't be spelled out that it was the same god in the Player's Guide (that's what the DM's Guide is for), meaning to players, it would seem like just a different god.

So, how many? Just the major ones? A few of the major ones? How many minor gods? Are there minor gods very specific to Bluestone? What would be a good target number for how many different types of deity worship exist on the Bluestone Isles?

Design and Development: Classes

With the species entries pretty much in the bag with Sean's gnomes coming in later this month or early next, it is time for me to look at the classes and their role in the Bluestone Isles. I'm not planning on rewriting, mechanically changing, or adding new classes like what was done with the species. Instead, these are going to be a few paragraphs spelling out how each class functions in Bluestone.

I've already done some preliminary work with both the clerics and paladins (I always go for divine type stuff first it seems) and am looking to continue it with the others. So, keep an eye out for that soon, but here are some general thoughts:

• Classes are trained: If you really look at a class that a player can choose and compare it to the "regular man" type entries in the monster section, you can see that these classes are a huge step above the common bandit or acolyte or pirate. That means that a fighter, someone who can use all weapons and armor without penalty and (especially as time goes one) has a much better chance successfully do damage with those weapons, is trained to use that stuff. A 1st level fighter (or any class) is just a farmer who just last season decided to be an adventurer after his family was killed by orcs, he was trained, he is lethal, and he is stronger, faster, and better then the average citizen.
• Adventurers are rare! If everyone was an adventurer or had a level or two in a class, then the ideal that the PC is special is gone. The blacksmith is not a 1st level fighter nor is the sage a 2nd level magic-user, they're normal men. If I had to stat them up, they'd use the 0 Level Human attack table and have a paltry amount of HP, someone who would be scared of a small handful of goblins.
• Just because they're all trained, doesn't mean they're all brothers. Like any business there are probably a competing number of guilds that train fighters, each one boasting they offer superior training and graduates from each guild are probably quite proud of their guild and like to show up those from other guilds. Save for paladins, of which I mentioned, are only trained from one Order and are usually quite content to point out that they're better then everyone else.

So, just a few initial thoughts, look for specific classes in the near future.

Design and Development: Kobolds Part 4

So we've looked at the nature of kobolds and then we looked at their abilities and we've defined what makes a kobold a kobold in a mechanical sense. So all that leaves now is to figure out what classes a kobold adventurer can be:

• Assassin: Kobold assassins are scary, they're small, quick, can get in and out in an instant and don't hold the same moral values many of the other intelligent species do. A job is a job and they will do anything to anyone in order to get their target.
• Cleric: All kobolds worship Grebow, Lord of All Kobolds, though their worship is unique. The church has no doctrine, instead kobolds worship in whatever style of worship is predominant in the area they live. If the local churches use animal sacrifices under a full moon, so do the kobolds. If the local temple worships in several hour long chants relating to their god's deeds, so do the kobolds. However, all of the worship is given to Grebow, instead of the local religion. Grebow accepts whatever worship is given his way and will reward some kobold's with clerical powers for their dedication.
• Druid: Like the rats some claim them to be, kobolds are urban creatures and have no real understanding of the natural world. Likewise, they all pay reverence to their creator Grebow and have little time for ancestor or spirit worship. Because of that, no kobold has ever learned druidic secrets.
• Fighter: Many kobolds pick up martial abilities, either through emulation of local fighter's guilds or via training in jobs like militia, sewer guards, or other martial careers.
• Magic-Users and Illusionists: No arcane teacher would train a kobold, nor would any kobold maintain the patience and skill needed to become a trained acrane caster. And while some kobolds are born with innate magical abilities (a Wild Mage class may come of that), none will ever be fully trained casters.
• Monks, Paladins, and Rangers: There are no monastic orders in Bluestone and even if there were, much like arcane casters, few would train a kobold. Paladins on Bluestone are an exclusive human only brotherhood and, as mentioned above, kobolds do not have the respect for the natural world to learn to be a ranger.
• Thief: Like assassins, kobolds make dangerous thieves. Their size and speed give them many advantages to thieving abilities and skills and their unique sense of morals means they have little hold up about taking something belong to someone else.

That being said, how good are kobolds at being thieves? Well, their size and speed allow for the following bonuses to thieving skills:
Their small hands give them a +10% to Pick Locks and Pick Pockets. They gain +05% to Find and Remove traps. They gain a +7% to Hide in Shadows and a +5% to Move Silently, these numbers would be higher based on their small size, but their inability to stay still or quiet at times means this bonus is negated by them being so fidgety. Their small size is a determent to Climb Walls (like it is for all smaller species choices in the AEC), but their claws also help negate some of that, giving them a total penalty of -10%.

And there you have it, the final step. I'll let this sit for a bit, see if my "Co-Developers" have any thoughts on it, and if this one also passes the test, then a final write up will follow.

Design and Development: Kobolds Part 3

So we've taken a look at what makes a kobold tick as well as their ability modifiers and their min/maxs, so next up we need to start figuring out special abilities, things that make the species unique in a mechanical stand point.

We can already factor in that they have infravision, it is right there in their description as a monster entry and the red eyes are a staple of the kobold look. Next, they're small and fast, based on their size, thin frames, and unique locomotion, kobolds can move when they have to. At first I thought about some sort of rules for them being better jumpers, based on their locomotion, but there are no rules for jumping in LL (besides an off hand mention in the optional ability check section), and I'm not going to grant bonuses to something that is reserved for DM fiat. Instead, you'd assume that people would say that kobolds are better jumpers if it comes up in play, but there need not be a rule for it. So the best way to represent this would be to firstly take a page from the halfling write-up in the AEC. Halflings get a -2 AC against any creature larger then human sized, but kobolds are shifter then halflings, so, a proposed idea would be that they receive a -1 AC overall and a -2 AC against any creature larger then human sized. Also, to denote their quickness versus other PC species, they are able to move an additional 10 feet per encounter round. This makes kobolds great for quick hit and run style tactics, drawing enemy attention and running circles around them while the rest of the party dispatches them.

Next, kobolds are pretty resistant to magic, this is because many kobolds are born with the innate ability to fire off spells without any training (and with many disastrous results), because of that, the species as a whole has developed a keen ability to resist such magics. Couple this with their speed that would give them bonuses against Breath Attack (since that Saving Throw is really just a dodge roll when you break it apart) and you get the following Saving Throw Bonuses:

• +2 save vs. Breath Attacks
• +3 save vs. Wands
• +4 save vs. Spells and Spell-Like Devices

Saving vs. Posion and Petrify/Paralysis wouldn't get any bonuses as they represent a physical fortitude in my mind and we've already given the kobolds a -1 to Con.

So, there we have their abilities and saving throw bonuses. Unless it is met with mass rejection, the next entry will look at just what type of classes kobolds can be.

Design and Development: Dwarves Part 1

Meanwhile...

Yes, I'm working on two species at the same time, but it's not as difficult as you may think. Whereas the kobolds are getting designed from the ground up, the dwarves are simply in need of an edit.

Our dwarves are not that far removed from the "traditional" dwarf archetype, mixed with a little bit of the Soviet USSR, yes, but still, they're underground dwellers that excel at metallurgy, have magical resistances, and hate goblins. Because of this, all that needs to change from the standard AEC write-up is the flavor to mention dwarves tie to their own clan and a look at Class Limits.

I've mentioned before that I will look at classes for each species based not only on play balance, but on how they fit the world in which we designed for them. Because of this, the standard limits on the classes might not apply as how they do in the "standard" AEC entries.

Now in the AEC, Dwarves may be assassins, clerics, fighters, and thieves. All of which fit fine for the dwarves of Deminar. Fighters and thieves are universal classes it seems, every species has them as they require no special talents/abilities other then skill and talent. Assassins are a necessary evil for dwarves as they fight their on going battles against the goblins, since you need to employ more tactics then standing on the front lines. The dwarves worship the gods and some are blessed with ability because of it, meaning clerics work as well.

Druids, Illusionist, Magic-Users, Monks, Paladins, and Rangers are what is left out then. Illusionists and Magic-Users are out, due to the dwarf's resistance to magic. If they're resistant to magical energy, they probably couldn't tap into it to use it. Druids are more or less restricted to those species that don't worship the traditional gods, which is why only the Lizard Folk have access to it at the moment. Monks and Paladins are restricted to humans for the time being (unless something strikes me later that fits a different species), which leaves rangers.

Would dwarves have rangers?

On the "Yes" side, there's no reason for them not to be, rangers have no special powers not learned by training. Dwarves have a martial archetype, and rangers are more or less a martial class, so it seems to work.

On the "No" side, the rangers abilities mostly stem from training out in the wilderness, yes they can attempt to track underground and have bonuses to some underground races (including goblins), but the wilderness tracking, the bonuses against giants, the stealth, and just the iconic look of a ranger is that of a man of the woods. And if dwarves are mostly tied to their clan and their underground holdings, where would that training come from?

So, rangers on the face right now, thoughts?

Design and Development: Kobolds Part 2

So now that we've established the "idea" of what a kobold is in Deminar, we can take that information, along with its entry in the LL book to start figuring out what abilities it has as a species in terms of game mechanics.

Firstly, we know they're small and fast (due to their kangaroo-like legs), so as that applies to Ability Modifiers you immediately think -1 STR, +1 DEX, a set up shared by halflings. However, there are no playable halflings in the Bluestone Isles, so that might not seem to be a copy right away. After all, what else would get a bonus? They're not hardy, so CON doesn't make sense, nor are they particularly more intelligent, wise, or charming then the other species. Another idea would be to take a penalty elsewhere (say -1 CON), retain the +1 DEX, and then through Ability Min/Max limit STR to say 14 or so. It still gets across that they can't be as strong as a beefy Lizard Folk, but doesn't enforce a penalty that mirrors the halflings. Also, despite their desire to emulate others, I don't think Kobolds are in any way more stupid then other species, they just live life differently, I don't think an Intelligence or Wisdom Max lower then 18 is needed, you can have wise and smart Kobolds, they'll just act like wise and smart members of whatever species they're with. Also, I think their adaptability actually makes them slightly wiser then most, due to their ability to emulate people after observing them for just a little while. Finally, their loose grasp on morality also probably stifles their CHA, as seen by other species, somewhat. I can also, of course, give them a DEX requirement to show that all of their species is more shifty then others.

So, at first pass, we have:
Kobolds
Requirements: DEX 9
Ability Modifiers: +1 DEX, -1 CON
Ability Min/Max: STR 3/14, DEX 9/18, CON 3/17, INT  3/18, WIS 8/18, CHA 3/14

Feel free to weigh in on that.

As for their other abilities, infravision is a given, its mentioned in their monster write-up, and I think I'm going to stick with the image of them having glowing red eyes as well, since it sounds cool and helps explain the lower max CHA. But now we need to see if we can work in their adaptability and unique locomotion into their other abilities and potential saving throw bonuses.

That's for next post though, unless the Ability Modifiers and Min/Max need retooling based on suggestions. After that we'll look at Class Limits and Thief Skill Adjustments and we'll be done!

Design and Development: Kobolds Part 1

Before even a single mechanic can go down, it helps to understand the lore of the kobolds in our setting. The idea behind them is something that we've had for a long time and something I'm quite pleased with if you forgive the ego in that.

Kobolds in Deminar are NOT draconian, nor have any dragon heritage, instead they embrace their "dogmen" roots and have much more in common with them. They are not, however, simply anthropomorphic dogs, neither in look or personality.

While kobolds do have canine like faces and are covered in short fur, there are some fundamental differences in their look. First, the males have two small vestigial horns on top of their heads. Second, all kobolds have enlarged feet that rest at an angle, like kangaroos, and also have long thick tails to support them. Because of that, they have the them hopping gait of a kangaroo and sometimes even maneuver around on all fours, especially in tight places.

Personality wise, kobolds yearn to be accepted by all other intelligent species. They are much like rats, found everywhere civilized species are found (including goblin and dwarven holdings). Their doesn't seem to be a settlement, no matter how small, that doesn't have atleast one kobold in it. However, unlike rats, kobolds are not seen as pests (atleast, not by everyone), because in their bids to fit in, they'll accept any role assigned to them. They often have the lowest jobs, charcoal burners, rat catchers, sewer cleaners, all which they take with pride, because they know this means they are part of society. Kobolds emulate the dress style and mannerisms of those closest to them, and many a kobold hero was born after listen to adventurers tales while serving tables and decided he needed to join a party as well.

Kobolds have an odd sense of species unity as well. Where as in most mixed settlements, such as Ashford Bay, you would find places that would be considered a gnomish district or lizard folk district (much like ethnic subsections in a city), there are no gatherings of kobolds. As far as anyone knows, kobolds don't gather into settlements on their own and only live among other species. Sure, some kobolds may live together and small groups may gather socially, but they don't seem to gather together into communities, perhaps due to their desire to fit in with others, there would be no guidance among a large group of kobolds on how to act. However, kobolds are fiercely protective of each other if they feel threatened, to a frightening degree. A single kobold harassed in a town may draw no repercussions, but someone purposely targeting all kobolds in a town may find the entire kobold population in the town (and several nearby towns) at his home at night, carving up his family without remorse and gleefully dancing around the house they just set on fire with the offender still tied up inside. Horror stories exist of kobolds attempting to integrate themselves with early gatherings of humans and goblins while they were still recovering from The Sorrow. These kobolds were killed for fear of attack or perhaps as food for the surviving masses, only to have a great horde of kobolds descend from the darkness and slaughter every man, woman, and child and simple disperse again calmly. These claims may be exaggerated, but always sits in the back of the minds of any settlement who thinks about driving out their local kobold population.

So, interesting take on a race?

Now, how to work that information into crunchy bits for a species write-up?

Design and Development: More Species Love

With the history section sort of waffling in my mind and not clicking as well as I'd like, I've turned my attention back to the Species section of Chapter 1.
Now, I've already established which species are going to be in the book and I finished off the write up for Lizard Folk, so what does that leave us with?

Well, first we have three species that are already in the AEC; humans, dwarves, and gnomes. For the humans, I just have to tweak a few sentences to make them fit in the Isles. Dwarves only need a similar flavor text revision and a look through and revision of the Class Limits (something that will be its own series of posts I'm sure) and the gnomes are going to be handled by Sean (I don't know if he knows this yet, but they really are his baby, and he only needs to do the same thing I'm doing with the dwarves). So that only leaves one species to write from the ground up, the kobolds.

The kobolds have become somewhat of a fan favorite among the D&D community over the past several years it seems,  maybe due to fond remembrance of facing so many across so many low level games, or just an undercurrent of wanting to see the lowest of the cannon fodder raised to something better, people just seem to like kobolds and admittedly, so do I.

So, coming soon will be the ideas/discussions/builds of the kobold as a playable species.

Design and Development: Module Layout

The strength of most "old school" settings come more in the adventure modules that come from them rather then the big fluffy setting books (perhaps because of the model set forth by TSR in the original releases). So, while I'm still working on the Player's Guide (and to lesser extend DM's Guide) I can't help but think about the modules.

While we have plenty of ideas about the modules from the various "lairs" we set-up during Step 15 of our Sandbox Design, I'm think more in terms of what to do about layout.

Most LL and other retro clone modules are sticking with "paying homage" to the classics, you get a map on the inside cover, several pages with numbers corresponding to rooms, boxed text of a line or two of description and then a paragraph for the DM with what's in the room and the stripped down stat line for monsters.

Now while that's fine, I have a slightly different idea.

Despite my whole plunge into the OSR and the enjoyment of the simplicity of the rules allowing for building a more "anything goes" world that doesn't have to confirm to the more explicit rules of other systems, I'm not one of those folks that hates every other version of D&D that's come out.

In fact, I'm quite a fan of 4E, it's not perfect, and it's getting more clunky as more and more powers and feats are released, but I think it did many things right, especially on the DM side of things.

I began playing 4E almost the day it came out and as we played several of the players, who had never DMed before, decided to give it a go and had a blast. The way adventures/encounters are laid out makes it very easy to figure out what's going on and give that information to the players.

So why not use a similar approach for our modules? Each piece that has an encounter should get it's own page with read out loud text boxes in one section, DM notes about the room in another, traps and terrain hazards with their relevant information about what they're doing in yet another, treasure/rewards in it's own, and full monster stat blocks as well! It's an elegant system that makes everything easy to locate when a player interacts with something and allows a DM to quickly describe the effects of those actions without hunting through text. One thing it wouldn't need, however, is the blown up map section with the little letters that show you where each mini is supposed to go on the battle tile, I think we should still hold fast to the idea that older D&D (and the clone AEC we're using) does not emphasize using mini's to enjoy the game (which also means we'd have to have better descriptive text that doesn't rely on the picture of the map to explain the scene, which I actually think is a good thing)

So, is the idea crazy or could it work?

Design and Development: Timeline Bits - Part 1

Though I've made headway into the Timeline (which is both Part 16 of our Building a Sandbox goal as well as going into the PG) it is obviously not quite complete.

But as I go into designing more, I  run across a few things that leave me doing a bit of head scratching.

Number one hiccup: When did the Lost Desert float into picture?

It is a desert island in a temperate climate and as of now, is still very much desert. Now, while I could, in theory, have it float to its current location and call away some mystical/magical/D&Dlike explanation as to why it stays a desert (and could very well do that if I end up with a cool mystical explanation), I want to also look at it from a "real world" inspired reason.

How long could a desert hang out in an area that receives rain and cooler temperatures and remain a desert? The island is floating beneath another, more temperate, island (though it does have a huge volcano on it), so pollination across the islands is possible. How long would it take to float into place? How fast would it move? If it moves too fast, then aren't all islands subject to just floating away from each other? Is there some sort of gravitational attraction to them, despite their relatively small size, or maybe something more mystical?

I don't the island to just have shown up in the past few years, it has been explored (though not very thoroughly and, as always, most of those explorers never returned) and may factor into other events in the timeline itself.

Things to ponder... Any ideas?

Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 5 - Final?

This is, unless a huge uproar of discontent occurs, the final write-up for the Lizard Folk as a playable species

Lizard Folk
Requirements: STR 9
Ability Modifiers: STR +1, CHA -1
Ability Min/Max: STR 9/19, DEX 3/18, CON 3/18, INT 8/18, WIS 8/18, CHA 3/15

Lizard Folk were one of the first species to organize after The Sorrow and begin to reorganize old settlements and expand into new ones. Their cold blooded nature makes them somewhat lethargic in colder temperatures as well as come across as blunt and cold during social interactions. Lizard Folk stand between 6 to 7 feet tall and weight around 200 pounds. They have thick, scaly, green skin and a large crest that runs from the top of their heads, down their spine, and along the length of a thick tail. The crest varies in color, from a variety of shades of greens, tans, and browns and often is seen as analogous to hair in other species. Because they are cold blooded and have little in the way of visible gender dimorphism, many other species have a hard time telling their genders apart. Lizard folk lay eggs, which are usually hatched and raised among other young in a hatchery.


Lizard Folk have ultraviolet vision up to 300'. Because of their scaly hides, all lizard folk have an AC of 7 when not wearing armor (this number is replaced with that of whatever armor is worn by a character). Lizard Folk tongues flick in and out like many lizards and snakes which allows them to "taste the air" gaining information about where things are even if they can't fully see them. Because of this if a Lizard Folk becomes blinded he only suffers a -2 penalty to hit, this includes the ability to hit invisible creatures, because of this advanced warning, Lizard Folk are only surprised on a roll 1 on a 1d6. Because they are cold blooded and have a slower metabolism lizard folk only need to eat once every three days. Their near match in temperature to the environment makes them hard to see with Infravision, thus, a group of only lizard folk will surprise a group using only Infravision to see on a 1-3 on 1d6.
 
Lizard Folk receive the following saving throw bonuses:

• +4 save versus poison

Lizard folk, like their reptilian kin have developed a strong defense against most poisons.


Lizard Folk may select the following classes, with the indicated level limits:

• Druids (7th Level limit)
• Fighter (12th Level limit)
• Illusionist (8th Level limit)
• Magic-User (8th Level limit)
• Ranger (8th Level limit)
• Thief (14th Level limit)

Lizard Folk thieves receive the following bonuses and penalties to thief abilities:

• Pick Locks (-5%)
• Pick Pockets (-10%)
• Move Silently (+7%)
• Climb Walls (+5%)
• Hide in Shadows (+5%)

Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 4

It's hard to draw a line on how many abilities and bonuses are too many when making a species using the AEC, after all, the game didn't go for straight one-to-one balances to make sure everything was even, instead it made the species fit the idea of what the species was and then worked out balance in other areas (mostly class and level restrictions).

For example, the Halfling has 5 special abilities on top of Saving Throw bonuses, now some of these abilities are very restrictive in how they work (+1 Initiative in an all Halfing party only) and others are very general (+1 To Hit on missile attacks).

Compare that to the Half-Orc, who only has two (a bonus to secret door detection and 60' Infravision), you could say 3 if you added the fact he can speak orc on top of Common and his alignment language I suppose.

Now all of these are also counter balanced by Ability Score Modifications, Max/Min, Thief Ability adjustments, Class/Level restriction. It's a lot of stuff!

That said, let's dissect what I have about the Lizard Folk so far and see if we can start narrowing in on final design.

Abilities
I gave the Lizard Folk a Requirement of having a STR of 9, the requirement of an ability or two at 9 seems to be the standard across the races in AEC (save the Gnome and his 8 in DEX), and it states quite clearly in the monster write up for Lizard Folk that they get +1 damage due to their high strength. This seems to indicate on average they are stronger then the other playable species, so I felt I'd carry that on.

The +1 STR to -2 CHA got atleast one mention of it not being a fair trade, and I agree, it's not, but there are lots of unfair Ability modification "trade offs" in the AEC. The Half-Orc is +1 STR and +1 CON to a -2 CHA which is even more ridiculous then the Lizard Folk modifier. Of course this is slightly balanced by not having as many abilities and class options. The -2 CHA is to portray the sorta cold demeanor the Lizard Folk have compared to other species (and a nod to being cold blooded), their emotions are a lot less expressive and a lot more black and white, that makes them slightly off putting to most other playable species.

No one seemed to have issues with the Ability Min/Max scores, they carry over the strength of course and add an 8 minimum to both INT and WIS, meaning this is a learned race (very rarely does a Lizard Folk not possess the ability to read and fully write, for instance)

Special Abilities
This is the heart of the discussion, as I came up with a lot of ideas for special abilities and I'm not sure which ones to go with or how many of them to use. Below are the ones I ended up with, along with a mechanic benefit if I could think of it (if I don't have the benefit and you like the special ability, suggest a mechanic behind it!)

• Scaly Hide: Gives them a natural AC of 7, this is overridden when armor is worn, but magical items that affect AC directly would subtract from this, not AC 9.
• Fire Resistance/Cold Vulnerability: They take half damage from fire based attack but double damage from cold based attack.
• Claws: This lets them do 1d4 + STR Mod damage with an unarmed attack as opposed to the standard 1d2 + STR Mod.
• Ultraviolet Vision: Something with rules for in the AEC and something I was told many reptile possess. It's a type of night vision that works better outside then in dungeons (see AEC for complete details)
• Taste the Air: Lizard Folk tongues flick in and out like many lizards and snakes (maybe the oddness of that adds to the CHA penalty too) which allows them to "taste the air" gaining information about where things are even if they can't fully see them. Because of this if a Lizard Folk becomes blinded he only suffers a -2 penalty to hit (-4 being the standard penalty to blindness, finally found that in the LL rulebook), this includes the ability to hit invisible creatures (which is also -4 in the same sentence as the blindness rules). If I wanted to extend this ability, you could also say that they only may be surprised on a 1 on 1d6.
• Cold Blooded: This actually give the Lizard Folk two advantages, first, Lizard Folk only need to eat once a week, instead of once a day (as mentioned in LL under Rations and Foraging) and two, their near match in temperature to the environment makes them hard to see with Infravision, thus, a group of only Lizard Folk (or I suppose a Lizard Folk traveling solo) will surprise a group using only Infravision to see on a 1-3 on 1d6, this bonus is negated if the Lizard Folk is carrying a light source (like all surprises are negated with the presence of a light source)
• Balance: Tails give the Lizard Folk good balance, though I'm not sure mechanical how to represent that.

So, there's the list I came up with, you may have others, feel free to suggest, but I'm curious to how many of those you think the Lizard Folk should have or which ones you disagree with.

The +4 Save vs. Poison is quite obvious, I think, most reptiles have higher toxic immunities then warm blooded mammals, mostly due to reduced metabolism and because many of them produce toxins.

Class/Level Limits
 I changed the Class/Level Limits around a little bit, the list now stands are follows:

•  Druid (7th Level)
• Fighter (12th Level)
• Illusionist (8th Level) 
• Magic User (8th Level)
• Ranger (8th Level)
• Thief (14th Level)

Now, this seems like a lot of classes, but I think in Deminar we're going to be slightly more lax about what classes are allowed, I've disliked several of the class restrictions on an "in universe" level and when I go about rewriting species that are already in the AEC you'll see that some of them will gain access to classes not allowed in the AEC, because it fits how the species operates in the Bluestone Isles better.

Thief Skill Adjustment
Finally, the Thief Skill Adjustments I mentioned in a previous post:
"The penalty to picking locks and pockets come from clawed hands that don't have the same amount of fine manipulation that other species do, the bonus to climb walls is also based on the claws, and the move silently, hide in shadows bonuses come from the quiet and stillness most cold blooded creatures seem to excel at."

In Conclusion
So that's everything ripped apart again, for one final round of debate and discussion, let's get lively here, yay or nay on choices and see if we end up with an approved Species for this book!

Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 3

Okay, so the "rough sketch" of what I thought for the Lizard Folk as a playable species went up and opened up some ideas and thoughts and changes, including some from my end as well. While fluff, you can write whatever you feel inspired to write, crunch needs to ground itself somewhere with the other rules around it, so I want to get things "right" and not just say my first pass is the one we're using.

So, a whole new set of thoughts:
I think the Ability Section is just fine, the +1 to STR being opposed to a -2 CHA instead of a 1 for 1 trade-off comes from the almost universal understanding that CHA is a dump stat (not to me, but, come on, let's all face it), so if you're going to get a bonus to STR and not take a penalty to another physical ability, you should make it count. Also, I've already portrayed the Lizard Folk as intelligent and wise, so it doesn't work taking a hit to INT or WIS.

As for their special abilities, one reader said they didn't seem "lizardfolky" and that it gave of a vibe of a 3.5E race which "just "kinda sorta" gives you some stuff that fits the race, rather than LL/AEC style which has more extreme stuff to help you fit in" I'm not sure how I would approach that to fix it, I felt "built in armor" and "half fire resistant/double cold vulnerable" fit the species, but maybe because they're more "combat mechanic" abilities they stray away from the "dungeon exploring" vibe earlier editions have. That's a fair point.

Of course, another ability I thought of is "combat mechanic" related, so I'm right back at square one! I was thinking of giving the Lizard Folk the ability to do 1d4 damage + STR Mod unarmed to represent claws (as opposed to the 1-2 + STR Mod that LL states for normal unarmed attacks), meaning a Lizard Folk stripped of weapons is still as effective as someone wielding a dagger, but not so effective that if he picked a melee fighting class having a weapon would be pointless.

Another reader mentioned the need for Lizard Folk to have Ultraviolet Vision, a rule already supported in the AEC, which makes it a good candidate since it does not introduce a new mechanic and, as he stated, "most demi-humans have some sort of additional sight anyway." Which I agree.

Other ability ideas that were less "Combat" would be to somehow play up the balance a tail provides, an ability to "taste the air" like many lizards and snakes do to help compensate for being blind/in complete darkness. Being cold blooded, they don't need to eat as much, warm-blooded animals of the same size require 5-10 times the amount of food as a cold blooded creature, so an ability to survive without food longer could be helpful. Also, since cold blooded creatures do not generate their own heat, wouldn't they be harder to spot with infravision?

If anyone has an suggestions into how to turn them into mechanics or which ones strike you as an interesting ability that would make you want to try out the species as a character, please comment below.

I think the +4 save vs. Poison still fits the species pretty well.

Between the natural AC of 7 and the potential ability to do 1d4 damage unarmed, the Lizard Folk make tempted choices as Magic-Users, especially since Magic-Users would look to getting magic items that lower AC (rather then "override" it like armor does), a higher level Magic-user with some Rings/Cloaks of Protection could be formidable, as he wouldn't be taking the same amount of hits a MU of another species would be.

Because of that, I may wish to knock down the maximum level a Lizard Folk can achieve in MU and Illusionist classes, maybe to below "name" level and the ability to research and make their own spells.

Finally, I think the Thief skills fit well and are within the bonus/penalty levels of other species. The penalty to picking locks and pockets come from clawed hands that don't have the same amount of fine manipulation that other species do, the bonus to climb walls is also based on the claws, and the move silently, hide in shadows bonuses come from the quiet and stillness most cold blooded creatures seem to excel at.

So, again, thoughts on the proposed changes or how to work out new mechanics based on some of the "non combat" abilities I thought up?

Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 2

So, as I begin to codify the Lizard Folk for their inclusion as a playable species, I'll once again share what I've come up with to open it up to discussion.

Lizard Folk
Requirements: STR 9
Ability Modifiers: STR +1, CHA -2
Ability Min/Max: STR 9/19, DEX 3/18, CON 3/18, INT 8/18, WIS 8/18, CHA 3/15

Lizard Folk were one of the first species to organize after The Sorrow and begin to reorganize old settlements and expand into new ones. Their cold blooded nature makes them somewhat lethargic in colder temperatures as well as come across as blunt and cold during social interactions. Lizard Folk stand between 6 to 7 feet tall and weight around 200 pounds. They have thick, scaly, green skin and a large crest that runs from the top of their heads, down their spine, and along the length of a thick tail. The crest varies in color, from a variety of shades of greens, tans, and browns and often is seen as analogous to hair in other species. Because they are cold blooded and have little in the way of visible gender dimorphism, many other species have a hard time telling their genders apart.

Because of their scaly hides, all lizard folk have an AC of 7 when not wearing armor (this number is replaced with that of whatever armor is worn by a character). Because they are cold blooded they take half damage from fire based attacks, however they take double the amount of damage from cold attacks. Lizard Folk can speak their alignment language, common, lizard folk, and goblin.

Lizard Folk receive the following saving throw bonuses:

• +4 save versus poison

Lizard folk, like their reptilian kin have developed a strong defense against most poisons.

Lizard Folk may select the following classes, with the indicated level limits:

• Druids (7th Level limit)
• Fighter (12th Level limit)
• Illusionist (10th Level limit)
• Magic-User (10th Level limit)
• Ranger (7th Level limit)
• Thief (14th Level limit)

Lizard Folk thieves receive the following bonuses and penalties to thief abilities:

• Pick Locks (-5%)
• Pick Pockets (-10%)
• Move Silently (+7%)
• Climb Walls (+5%)
• Hide in Shadows (+5%)

Initial thoughts?

Design and Development: Lizard Folk

Once again it's time to open the post up to discussion from my reading audience, both of you...

With the actual text behind our first release coming along nicely, and two out of the 8 sections pretty much written, it's about time I leave some of the fluff behind and work on actual crunch.

So I thought I'd look at one of the new species in the game, the Lizard Folk. Using the AEC as a template, a new species needs several things, Ability Requirements, Ability Modifiers, Ability Min/Max, a few paragraphs of flavor mixed with any special abilities, saving throw bonuses (if applicable), class restrictions, and finally thief ability adjustments.

A tall order, I'll be developing the Lizard Folk over the next few posts, but figured I'd start with a few ideas, along with asking what you guys think should be included.

Opening Thoughts:

• A per standard fantasy fare, Lizard Folk, being cold-blooded should have some form of fire resistance but more sustainable to cold damage. Possibly half damage via fire, double via cold?
• Lizard Folk tough hide gives them an effective AC of 7 (The monster description has an AC of 5, but I feel that's too good a bonus) when unarmored, wearing armor overrides this AC if lower (it does not subtract from a "base" of 7), wearing armor of a higher AC also overrides this AC and is just a silly thing to do.
• Not totally sure on Ability Requirements/Modifiers/Min/Max yet, according to the monster entry they get +1 to damage because of their great STR, so they should atleast have a bonus there.

As for classes, I look to it just like the AEC does, what classes fit the species lifestyles, and then introduce play balance through level limits. Fighter and Thief are a must (they are the only two classes every species can take in the AEC), I don't feel as though they have Clerics, but they would have Druids, based on their more shamanistic and spirit driven faith. As for the other classes, I'm not sure yet.

Ideas, agreements, disagreements thus far?

Design and Development: It's Called What Now?

As I piece together the introduction, taking elements of what I've already discussed about the setting, as well as making it something easily understandable, I discovered something important: Our huge event that caused the islands to rise needs a name.

Every good world changing event has some name that's capitalized and put in all the history books for all to see. While I'm sure several of the different cultures, species, and islands have their own name for it, there's always that universal name to fall back on.

I noticed we've used several ourselves, and I think it's time to settle on one "winning" name in which to use every time we wish to speak of the event to the reader.

So here are some of the names we've used or I've come up with:
The Sundering
The Shattering
The Event
The Great Split
The Great Rise
The Cataclysm

etc, etc, etc. Pick a favorite, come up with your own, just thought it's time to reel in something specific.

Design and Development: .pdf Releases

The way in which I see this Designing a Fantasy Sandbox experiment for Deminar to ultimately pan out is the release of several .pdf's, probably over at RPGnow/DriveThruRPG (and its marketplace that sits on EnWorld, Paizo, and everywhere else) related to the area we're working on. They'd probably be small 32 and/or 64 page releases much like the old school releases of... old. I like the idea of being able to write something that stays confined within a small area, instead of the usual thinking HUGE that I do (see my earlier posts on the cosmology and such we've already thought up), sticking with things only really lower level characters would run into worked well in the past (and with the current OSR) and makes it easier to focus.

The releases would be as follows:

Player's Guide to X (With X being the name of the Island Cluster we're making): This book would start with a small intro explaining what Deminar was all about, a page or so like the intro on this blog mentioning the Age of Exploration, Steampunk, Fantasy mash-up. After that each playable species would get a small entry explaining it's place on the island cluster and the relevant rules that go with it. This would be followed by a similar entry for classes, with a paragraph or two on their place in the cluster but without the rules, since they're already in the AEC. The rest of the book would be a mini-gazetteer, with a timeline as a person living on the cluster would know it, a look at the pantheon worshipped and then a quick overview of the cluster with a paragraph or two on each major geographical location, but leaving out any of the juicy hidden bits like lairs or hidden villains. The cap-off would be taking one of the towns and giving it a full map, break down of locations, important NPCs, etc. to use as a starting "home base" for the PCs.

DM's Guide to X (With X being the name of the Island Cluster we're making): This book would give all the details you don't want your player's to see! A more detailed timeline with info the common man wouldn't know, but may be used to help spice up old dungeons, a look at any prominent evil cults, monster groups, or hidden villains in town that are working behind the scenes to unleash evil that the PCs would eventually thwart and then a DM's mini-gazetteer, pointing out parts not included in the Player's version, such as Lairs, dungeons, and bandit camps. The cap-off for this book would be taking one of the small lairs and using it as a "starter dungeon" to get the game running.

Modules: The heart of old-school D&D! Since we've put in a few dungeons and lairs, they'd need write-ups, and thus modules would be born.

From there, possibilities are endless; you can do more detailed gazetteers on each isle (or even one just on the big city itself), giving a more detailed look of the people, places, and creatures there. Species books detailing the unique look at the species and how it fits in the island cluster, including cultures, beliefs, physiology, etc. (and unlike more modern D&D games, probably little/no crunch!) The ubiquitous Gods book, shedding light on the deities of the cluster and their worships. And even mini-monster books, not only introducing new monsters, but, like the species books giving a more detailed look at how the monsters work on the cluster (our goblins and their kin in particular are dying to have a book written about them for Sean). An airship book would be cool, with rules for airship movement/combat, example airships, how to build airships, etc.

Once the that cluster is covered, or we're in the mood for something different, we can always move onto another cluster, maybe our "Expert" level of islands, if you will.

So, thoughts, ideas, comments?