AD&D 2e Custom Record Sheet

My custom AD&D 2nd Edition record sheet is finished and now available for download. We'll be using Dropbox to manage the character sheets for this campaign.

Note that I removed the last two posts dealing with record sheets, as they aren't needed anymore and were just taking up space.

Training

As is customary in many AD&D games, I'm going to require player characters to train before advancing a level. The training rules will be loose and easy:

- There's no monetary cost to train.
- No mentor is required.
- A character must spend one day/new level training, with the resources of a small town (or better) at his disposal, before advancing.

These rules are in place for realism, and to create an additional challenge for the PCs in terms of decision-making ("Do I stop and train to improve my abilities or press on with the task at hand?"). As training goes in AD&D, these requirements are extremely light, and I think they'll make a fun addition to the game.

Securing the Hold (#4)

Date: Friday, January 9, 2009
XP awarded: 1,200

XP Totals
Dravin - 5,220 (training for level 3)
Laise - 5,220
Azeikiel - 2,500/2,640 (training for Ranger level 2)

- Twenty-eight militia men remain at Frostmar Keep; two are wounded.
- Food, craftsmen, and stronghold details have been requested from Windless.
- The keep has been lightly stocked with goblin short swords and javelins.

Undivided Treasure
- A silver buckle carved in an abstract pattern, found on a goblin worg-rider

Adventure Log

17 Uktar

Snowfall begins.

[Dawn] Dravin and Laise convene with Captain Longstrider before dawn to discuss the day's plans.

[Sunrise] A small contingent of reinforcements from Windless arrives at Frostmar Keep, led by the ranger Azeikiel Sunstreamer, friend of Adwyn Elmshadow. Captain Longstrider dispatches a handful of men wounded in battle, escorted by a few uninjured soldiers and Bree, back to town.

[Morning] Dravin, Laise, and Azeikiel head off into the mountains, scouting for goblins. At the keep, Windless' militia begins constructing ballista missiles and clearing the dungeon level of dangerous carrion feeders.

[Highsun] The PCs encounter and defeat a band of goblins led by a worg-rider, taking a single goblin captive. Before heading back, the party is hailed by the ranger, Aazen.

[Fullday] The party returns to Frostmar Keep with Aazen and the goblin captive. The goblin is interrogated, and Windless' fears that the valley may soon be attacked are confirmed. Aazen reveals that the black, rotted hand of Skelt-gash the orc chieftain is believed to be an artifact of Zhengyi, the Witch-King.

[Evening] Captain Longstrider departs for Windless with six soldiers to petition Lord Daleamber to seek help from King Gareth. Enay, a young officer, is left in charge of the remaining militia.

[Middark] A drow warrior infiltrates the keep and wounds two soldiers before being driven off by Aazen and the PCs. The party gives chase, but the dark elf escapes into the Underdark

18 Uktar

[Morning] The PCs develop a plan to barricade the tunnel entrance exposed in the keep's basement.

Quick Primer for Old School Gaming

This was an excellent read, and does a good job of expressing some of the same opinions I have on running/playing AD&D.

Damara Map

Here's the map of Damara I handed out before the first session:

2e: Tying up loose ends

Important details regarding our conversion to 2e:

Campaign date
For the 2e switch, I'm going to reset the campaign date to 1374 DR (back 27 years). There are only a couple notable impacts for you:

• The current king of Damara is Gareth Dragonsbane, a member of the famed adventuring group that slew Zhengyi, the witch-king, some twenty years ago.


• Rorovan Daleamber will be considered the third, not sixth, lord of Windless.

This helps me a lot, as I can now integrate details from prior campaigns I've run around the same time period, and it also gives me a default source for my FR material, instead of trying to pull from multiple editions simultaneously.

Racial level limits
In 2e, humans can advance to any level in any class, while the non-human races have upper level limits they can attain for each available class. This is to balance out the fact that demihuman characters get more racial abilities (like infravision) than humans.

None of your chosen PCs' race/class combinations would dictate a level limit lower than 12. Even we do hit these upper levels someday, I'm only going to enforce a limit if I feel it's needed. I'm generally pretty flexible on this, but it's just something that I want you to know exists in 2e.

Laise's breath weapon
The official rule on Laise's breath weapon will be that it shoots fire in a thirty-foot cone for 1d6/level fire damage (maximum 10d6). Those affected can save vs. dragon breath for half damage. Laise can use this ability only once/day, as doing so takes a great toll on his body, which doesn't recover quickly. While I may need to tone down this ability further if it becomes a problem, for now, I think it adds an interesting and flavorful punch to the character.

Also, note that Laise's appearance is completely human, though he still stands 7 feet tall and weighs 300+ pounds. To others, he basically looks like a barbarian, and he certainly has the superior strength to match.

Wizard spells
We'll be going "by the book" for wizard spell slots and gaining new spells. The official campaign rule on "free" spells upon gaining a new level is:

Upon attaining a new spell level, a wizard character can add one new spell to his or her spellbook. For specialist wizards, this spell must be chosen from the wizard's specialty school. The spell is assumed to have been learned through the trials of the previous level.

This "free" spell does not require a "Chance to Learn Spell %" roll.

The important thing to note here is that the wizard only gets a free spell upon gaining a new spell level, not class level. That said, rest assured that there will be ample opportunities for wizard PCs to learn new spells throughout the campaign, and without the group being forced to deviate from its chosen path. The 2e spell rule may sound harsh, but I really don't think we'll have any issues.