Experience Points Revisited

The Degenerate Elite has offered some very valid commentary about my proposed xp progression. I'd like to address that in more depths.

• "your xp will result in ridiculously fast leveling for this system" - Correct. That is by design. I am not in favor of skipping the first couple of levels, but I am also not in favor of having the characters stuck at level 1-3 for any longer than absolutely necessary. So I am handing out enough xp to get them to higher levels pretty quickly. I want them to advance quickly.
• "the +100 per hit die is especially out of scale with normal monster encounters..." - You hit a nail there. I wasn't thinking when I did this. Mechanically, there would be no difference between hunting nine orcs and encountering a 9HD dragon. Except that surviving the orcs would be much easier. I don't like the table on page 32, because I think that the progression is too slow for my tastes. Also, I don't like referencing tables. Lotfp has nicely done away with most of the tables during actual game play.
• "for treasure to count for xp - it has to be returned safely to civilization" - I don't want the game to depend upon collecting treasure. I don't want to hinder mechanical character growth. I want the characters to advance.

So in order to address the second issue, I need to reconsider the table. I should mention that I don't expect the game to consist of that much combat, and therefore I want the xp gained from combat to count. Currently, I am seeing a formular for exponential xp emerge:

(HD x HD) x20

That would give an orc a value of 20 xp, a gnoll a value of 80 xp, and the 9HD dragon a value of 1.620 xp (or rather 2.000 xp, because due it's breath weapon and other abilities, it counts as a 10 HD monster).
Now hunting nine orcs will net the group 180 xp, and hunting nine gnolls will net 720 xp. Still considerably less than defeating one dragon.

House Rules for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing

Yesterday we rolled up the first character for the campaign. Fiona Wilson, a female fighter from Kirkstead. Finally, this is going somewhere. In case you have been wondering, the Land Beyond the Drowning Woods campaign will start after the current Vampire the Masquerade (V20) campaign will be finished. Probably sometime in January. Maybe the first session will be on New Year's Eve.

Anyway, it is time to present the house rules for the campaign:

1. Ability scores: roll 3d6 twelve times, chose six and arrange as desired. If you include the lowest score rolled, you get to roll one other ability score again. Three times. If you roll higher than the current score, you get to keep the higher score.
2. Bonus spells: Clerics and magic-users receive bonus spell slots based on their Wisdom respectively Intelligence. INT or WIS 13-15: one first level bonus spell, INT or WIS 16-17: one second level bonus spell, INT or WIS 18: one third level bonus spell. The spell slot becomes available when a cleric or magic-user becomes elligable to cast spells of that level.
3. Strength bonus is added to weapon damage.
4. Elves are called swamp elves. Their appearance is wizened, with flinty black eyes, twisted arms and legs. They are reed thin. Apart from that they follow all the rules of the elven class.
5. Alignment: all clerics and all dwarves are lawful, all magic-user and elves are chaotic.
6. Starting Gear: all characters start with the same starting gear. Leather armor, shield, small weapon, dagger, traveling clothes, backpack, purse, bedroll, latern & lamp oil, one healing potion (1d6+1), 10 iron rations and 1d6 sp. Since each iron ration fills one encumberance slot, I give the players the option of foregoing some or all rations and gaining 1 sp per ration not taken instead. Magic-users and elves start with a spellbook, of course. Reasoning behind this package is to get gaming as fast as possible.
7. Two new common activities: Legend lore (knowledge about the campaign world) and busking (useful for performing and earning money). Legend lore starts at 1 in 6 and is modified by the Intelligence modifier. Busking also starts at 1 in 6 and is modified by the Charisma modifier. A successful busking roll earns 1d6 times roll result in copper pieces.
8. Starting spells for magic-users: Read magic. Then the player rolls 3 plus Intelligence modifier times on the chart of first level magic-user spells. Duplicates are re-rolled. He can pick three. The magic-user does not get more spells, he just has more choice. I want to emphasize the professional nature of the magic-user. For elves nothing changes. Their acquired spells are a matter of chance.
9. Hero points: Each session a character receives 3 hero points. Role-playing entertainingly, bringing food, or otherwise contributing to the game, may gain additional hero points. Each hero point can be used to either add a +2 to a roll on a d20, completely re-roll a d20 or to add a small detail to the narrative. We have just played a bit too much FATE 3rd edition to make do without any player empowerment. It probably will not hurt the game and also give the player characters a bit of an edge in surviving the lower levels.
10. Experience points: Since I don't want to place treasure all over the place, experience will be awarded differently. 500 XP for attending the game. +100 XP for each hex travelled or each dungeon level explored, + 100 XP per HD of monsters defeated (to be distributed evenly among the group), +250 XP if the player creates something that enriches the game-play for everyone (e.g. keeping and publishing a journal, drawing characters, and so on). In case a game has to be cancelled, every would-be participant receives 250 XP.

House rules that my players didn't like:

• The elven class becomes the tiefling class. Tieflings have small horns, cloven hoofs and smell faintly of sulphur or brimstone. They are more like the Planescape tieflings than the 4E tieflings.
• The halfling class becomes the swamp elven class. Swamp elves are wizened, with flinty eyes, twisted arms and legs and they are rail thin. They are medium-sized and count as elves for rules purposes.

See? I am listening to you. Now I just have to figure out where to place the halflings.But I already have an idea. Since the elves are roaming the swamps, the forests are kind of abandoned.

Note: That also means I am dropping the tiefling idea. There will be no tieflings as a player character class in the land beyond the Drowning Woods.

The Doomglaroon River and the Death Frost Mountain

Today, we continue with the exploration of the lands beyond the Drowning Woods.

The Doomglaroon River is navigable from the delta around the Nameless City up to Kirkstead. The barges bring finished goods from the Nameless City upstream and raw materials downstream. In the riverside villages, the Speakers of the River serve as priests. They know the secrets of irrigation and river locks. Each spring in each village a prisoner is chosen by lottery to be the Disciple of the River Father. The chosen disciple is drowned in the river to appease the river and prevent flooding.

The Death Frost Mountain (name taken from Zak's campaign map) is the only mountain to survive the moonfall in the area. The top is covered year round by glittering ice. The Doomglaroon River has its source at the foot of the mountain. Legends tell that the mountain formed around a sleeping giant. If you want to explore the Death Frost Mountain, get yourself a referee and the excellent Doom Frost Death module from Lotfp.

The Ravensfriend

Okay, I tried to resist, but failed my save miserably. I am just impressed with Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains and its sequel The Cold Commands. Also there is this:

The hero of both books is Ringil Eskiath, a war veteran who wields the blade Ravensfriend. The Ravensfriend was forged for him by the alien and immortal Kiriath. Its full name is something like:

I am welcomed in the home of ravens and other scavengers in the wake of warriors. I am friend to carrion crows and wolves. I am carry Me and kill with Me, and die with Me where the road ends. I am not the honeyed promise of length of life in years to come. I am the iron promise of never being a slave.

 I just have to do this sword as a magic item for Lotfp:

The Ravensfriend is a very sharp sword that can be drawn nearly instantly from its scabbard. It has the following powers:

• It grants a magical +1 bonus to hit. In terms of Lotfp, that is huge. I am not planning on having any magic that grants a larger bonus.
• The blade is very sharp and does double damage, i.e. 2d8.
• The blade can be drawn and an attack made without any penalties.
• The wielder is immune to all charm spells and effects. That's the bit about "the iron promise of never being a slave."
• The wielder will not be attacked by ravens, carrion crows and wolves. They recognize the blade as provider of food. Again, see name.

The wielder of the Ravensfriend must "do the right thing" (as per the alignment righteous). Not neccessarily as a knight in shining armor, but using those means that come most naturally to him. As long as he is trying his best and getting somewhere, the Ravensfriend will not desert him. If he shirks away from this duty, the referee has two options: let the character roll a save vs. magical device. If he fails, he has to do the right thing (as determined by the referee). Or, the Ravensfriend will not grant him powers any longer.

Note: I am not satisfied with the negative effect of the blade. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Cults in the Land beyond the Drowning Woods

Clerics require gods to worship and grant their spells (or whatever passes for gods in the campaign setting). Lotfp assumes that all clerics are lawful (i.e. allied with law as opposed to chaos). Reading the Tales from the Flat Earth by Tanith Lee where gods are very distant and aloof beings, that gave me ideas.

Basically, all religions in the Land beyond the Drowning Woods are cults. They venerate distant gods. Most clergy are 0-level. In order to gain insight into the nature of the gods and the mysteries they present, one has to leave the safe confines of ones village or town and travel to distant places to experience creation. Enlightenment is not for the meek.

The Church of the Iron God worships a stern father-figure. They value honor, righteousness and obedience. It's a cult of warriors, smiths and mineworkers. It is very prevalent in the Rustmoor Highlands where the main cathedral of the faith is located.

The Order of the Pale Worm venerates the lord of death and decay. He is the patron of graveyards and tombs. The statues depict Lord Death as a giant white maggot dressed in hooded robe of black velvet. His main temple is on the Isle of the Pale Worm where he is served by the Verdigris Virgins.

The Children of the Beast King worship the Horned One as a fertility god. They dance around the equinox fires and celebrate rites to ensure the bounty of the harvest. The cult has a large following the Goblin-Spider Forest and the rural communities on the Swamp of Dreadful Dreams. At the spring equinox, a young man who has never before known a woman, has ritual intercourse with the harvest hag, a woman who has raised at least three sons.

The Speakers of the River Father can be found along the Doomglaroon. They idolize the river as a benevolent father who brings live and prosperity to the villages and towns along the Doomglaroon. Sacred priests usually accompany the river vessels.

The Society of the Ice Serpent is a mystery cult based upon ancient teachings of the pale elves. It is believed that the Ice Serpent is the creator of the pale elves. Today it is a deity worshipped by magic-users, alchemists and tieflings. The marsh elves revile all clerics and priests of the Ice Serpent.

The Servants of the Bloated Toad are merchants and traders who believe in decadence and opulence. They see obesity as sign of an affluent lifestyle and favor of the deity. The priesthood is rich and lazy. Rarely do they find the tenacity to explore the deeper meanings of the tenets of the Golden Toad. Currently, the priests are trying to open a temple in the Nameless City. An effort regularly met with some sort of setback or disaster.

These are the cults and churches of the land beyond the Drowning Forest. All of these cults have clerics, but so far they aren't really differentiated from another. I am thinking of ways to do this without unbalancing the game. On the other hand, I am not sure, if that is necessary at all. I am tempted to just let this stand, until a player decides to actually play a cleric and chooses a cult as his own.