Classic Dungeon Designer’s Netbook #4 OLD SCHOOL ENCOUNTERS REFERENCE This unauthorized reference sourcebook contains everything the Dungeon Master needs for designing encounters for 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons™ adventures conveniently organized for online and tabletop use. Also compatible with OSRIC. Written & Edited by B. Scot Hoover [email protected] Version 3 Revised (7.28.08) - 0 - TABLE of CONTENTS Prologue 2 Abbreviation Codes 3 Chapter I: Men 4 Chapter II: Demi-humans & Humanoids 50 Chapter III: The Underworld 66 Chapter IV: The Wilderness 81 Chapter V: Settlements & Civilization 103 Chapter VI: Treasures 113 Chapter VII: The Campaign 135 Chapter VIII: Forms & Appendices 144 Index 156 - 1 - PROLOGUE: On Designing Your Own Game Non-player character generation will generally follow the method(s) used to create PCs. However, there are necessary shortcuts and parcels of information included in a carefully done game, or else the poor GM will be forever immersed in the morass of finding out the precise nature of who his players meet, who opposes them, and the like. It should not be necessary for the GM to roll dice to determine all the attribute scores of every non-player character, for instance. The game must include provisions for defining NPCs so that they can be generated quickly, but without causing every such character to be a mirror image of every other one. Although it is a relatively short and minor part of any game, this area is still interesting, for it will show just how well thought out the design is. Opponents are the creatures and things that will generally be adverse, at best non- hostile, to the PCs. Enemy NPCs fall into this category but have already been considered in the preceding paragraph. The flora and fauna of the game milieu, the detection devices used to spot them, booby traps, enemy weapons, and the like are covered in this broad area. Anything that can be encountered and must thereafter be dealt with should be quantified in this section of the rules. How much damage does a certain creature cause when it attacks, and how many hit points of damage can it absorb before it is killed? Do certain creatures normally appear in groups, or singly? Is a certain creature more likely to be found in one type of terrain or climate than another? If a creature or character falls into a pit or is buffeted by an avalanche of rocks, how much damage does the victim suffer? If a plant has leaves that are poisonous, what effect do they have on a character or creature that ingests them? This area of the rules can be very, very broad in a science fiction or fantasy game. In the AD&D game, three full-size books are devoted entirely to brief descriptions of the plants and animals that may populate the game world, and it is a fairly easy matter for someone familiar with the game to devise his own creations to replace or supplement this roster. That is one of the charms of selecting a genre that is not tied very closely to the real world; there is always a new alien beast or race, a new monster to discover and deal with. - Excerpt from Role-Playing Mastery, by E. Gary Gygax - 2 - ABBREVIATION CODES Character Classes Statistics F Fighter LVL, Lvl Level Cl Cleric Hp Hit Points MU Magic User AC Armor Class Th Thief SL Spell Level R Ranger Hmen Henchmen D Druid Sg Sage Class Abilities As Assassin PP Pick Pockets Pa Paladin MS Move Silently Ba Bard HS Hide in Shadows Il Illusionist #AT Number of Attacks per round Bar Barbarian Cav Cavalier Magic Items Ac Acrobat M Items Magic Items M Monk P Potion A Armor Ability Scores R Ring STR/ST Strength Sc Scroll INT/IN Intelligence S Magic Sword WIS/WS Wisdom OW Other magic weapon DEX/DX Dexterity Sc Scroll CON/CN Constitution W Wand CHA/CH Charisma M Misc. Magic Item COM/CM Comeliness SH Shield Alignments Coinage AL Alignment Pp Platinum Pieces LG Lawful Good Gp Gold Pieces LN Lawful Neutral Ep Electrum Pieces LE Lawful Evil Sp Silver Pieces NG Neutral Good Cp Copper Pieces N True Neutral NE Neutral Evil Sourcebooks * CG Chaotic Good MM Monster Manual CN Chaotic Neutral MMII Monster Manual II CE Chaotic Evil PHB Player’s Handbook DMG Dungeon Master’s Guide UA Unearthed Arcana RG Rogue’s Gallery MT Monster & Treasure Assortments A Note on System Conversion & Compatibility Everything herein was written expressly for compatibility with the 1st edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® role-playing game published by TSR, Inc. and closely relies on those rules as originally written. Readers without access to the out-of-print sourcebooks should instead refer to the compatible OSRIC rules, which are freely available for download on the internet at http://knights-n-knaves.com/ - 3 - CHAPTER I: MEN Your Player Character Some inferences about the goals of a specific game system can be drawn from an examination of the types of characters available for players to portray, and from a deeper look into the fundamental structure for the selection and development of PCs. The different character types may be defined by profession, with little or no crossover in skills from one profession to another. For instance, the fighter and the magic-user are two of the character professions in the AD&D game. A fighter is unable to cast magic spells and relies mainly on his strength and weapon prowess, while a magic-user is quite the opposite-a character who can cast spells and whose skill in this area is far superior to his physical skills. The AD&D game uses a character system based on profession, or “class.” In that game, the direct, highly physical approach is embodied in the fighter and cavalier classes. The magic-user class offers the indirect, possibly intellectual approach- a sort of mixture of artillery and super-science. Between these two extremes lies the cleric class, with its mixture of direct and indirect action (being able to use both heavy weapons and heavy magic). Finally, the thief class presents a manner of approach that is basically individualistic and unobserved (as differing from indirect). Of course, other PC types and the nonhuman races add to the mix. If the AD&D game has a single obvious shortcoming, it is the attempt to present so many facets of the whole world to its participants that players lose sight of the reason for all these classes of PCs. Because the game is so extensively detailed and reflects a fantasy milieu in world-scale terms, there is no meaningful level of character success that is achievable with respect to the world community. That is, no matter how powerful a PC becomes, the choices for the player are but two: Continue to use the character as an adventurer, or retire the character from active play and have the figure become a tool for use by the Game Master (GM). - Excerpt from Roleplaying Mastery by E. Gary Gygax The following chapter is divided into several sub-sections that are designed to allow the Dungeon Master to quickly and completely detail one or more Non-player or Player Characters. Below are instructions for using each type of table: Pre-generated NPC Assortments by Class: The DM can either select an appropriate character or roll randomly. The lists also note magic items possessed by the character which should generated separately. The listings include the following: Clerics, Druids, Fighters, Paladins, Rangers, Magic Users, Illusionists, Thieves, Assassins, Multi-class Characters, Bards, Monks, and Sages. NPC Details: The DM can use these tables to generate additional details for certain NPCs as needed. These are entirely optional, and the DM may use or ignore them as required. NPC Experience & Progression: These tables offer a simple method for NPC progression over time. Specific instructions for using the tables are provided on page 26. Boons & Disabilities: Good and bad qualities for further detailing of NPCs. The DM should refer to this table as directed by the NPC Experience and Progression results. NPC Motivations: Simple cross-reference tables for generating basic character motivations. Roll on the motivation column once to determine the primary motivating factor. Roll again and cross reference to find the motivating action. (Ex: First roll 12 (Location) and second roll 9 (Keep). The character is motivated to keep or protect a certain location (probably a lair). Human Groups: Generation tables for groups of humans and their equipment as per the descriptions in the AD&D Monster Manual. For additional information, refer to CDD#1 – Old School Monster Statblock Reference. The listings include the following: Bandits & Brigands, Berserkers, Buccaneers & Pirates, Border Patrols, Caravans, Guards, Pilgrims, Watchmen, and Normal Men. Finally, there is an assortment of pre- generated NPC adventuring parties. In most cases, several possible party alignments are noted for flexibility of use in-game. Spellbook Assortments for NPC Magic Users: Pre-generated spellbook assortments by level are provided for fleshing-out NPC spell-casters on the fly. For additional information see CDD#2 – Old School Spells Reference. 4 CLERICS d% Race LVL Sex AL STR INT WIS DEX CON CHA Hp AC SL Hmen M Items 1 Human 13 M N 12 10 14 9 6 13 50 4 5 2-5 OW 2 Human 7 F LE 13 11 10 5 12 7 36 7 4 1-3 3 Human 3 F NG 8 12 14 7 11 12 7 5 2 1-4 P 4 Human 1 M LG 8 10 11 7 9 10 7 7 1 1-4 5 Human 10 M N 8 9 17 11 9 6 45 4 5 1-2 A,R 6 Human 9 M LG 10 10 17 10 12 10 57 5 6 1-4 R 7 Human 2 M CN 12 9 16 15 10 14 10 7 1 1-6 A 8 Human 6 M CE 12 10 18 10 6 13 28 3 3 2-5 SC 9 Human 11 F LG 10 3 13 10 14 9 40 6 5 1-4 A,W 10 Human 13 F CE 8 8 8 11 11 10 7 2 2 1-4 11 Human 11 F LG