Lasers & Loincloths is a mutant of a D&D game. Its core is an amalgam of the 3LBB, b/x and Swords & Wizardry Complete. It uses the single saving throw and spell list of SW, the XP charts, ability score modifiers and race as class of b/x, and the non-variable weapon damage 100 XP per hit dice monster experience reward, and ethos of the 3LBB. Various other sources have influenced the design; Labyrinth Lord, Planet Eris, Warriors of the Red Planet, 5th edition D&D, Carcosa, White Star, Lamentations of the Flame Princess and more.
When designing the classes, I used b/x as a base. The main differences between b/x and Lasers and Loincloths are to hit progression, and spells per level. The cleric has an odd spell progression in b/x, gaining both 3rd and 4th level spells at the same time and 5th level spells at 7th level.. In Lasers & Loincloths 5th level spells are the upper limits for most game play, with 9th level being the soft cap of experience level progression. 5th level magic is thus the reward for reaching the max level and I felt it should not be gained before then. (I am certainly not the first person to fiddle with Cleric spells, and ended up adopting Labyrinth Lords spell progression.)
To hit progression in b/x is the same as the alternate combat system of Men & Magic. The fighter progresses every three levels, the cleric every four, and the magic user every five. Monsters progress on the attack matrix with every hit dice. I have deviated from this in Lasers & Loincloths. The fighter progresses every level, the cleric every three and the magic user / thief every four. Monsters retain the +1 to hit per hit dice. I changed the hit progress because I want combat to be quick and brutal. The increased ability score modifier range of b/x (-3 to +3 curve) and an increased to hit bonus for all classes achieves this. In addition, I feel the fighter should be the equal of a monster in hit progression. As a bonus, increasing the modifier by one at every level (or fraction thereof) is easy to remember when I need to create stats for an NPC.
I have kept other class abilities to a minimum and mostly in line with b/x. Generally each class has two abilities and gains another at fourth level with 9th level allowing strongholds/armies. This isn't always the case, and “balance” between the class abilities was not a concern. Old school D&D balanced classes by XP progression and level caps, and I have retained these aspects of the game.
Classes outside the “core” of Fighter, Cleric, Magic-User all use the same HD, to hit bonus, and save of one of the core classes, sometimes an amalgam of classes. The Sea Blood which I took from Labyrinth Lords Realms of Crawling Chaos is a Fighter/Cleric and uses fighter to hit progression with Cleric save and hit dice. The Rogue is a Fighter, the Thief uses the Magic User hit dice and to hit progression just like Supplement I and b/x. Demihumans are as per b/x, with the Blarka being essentially a re-skinned Halfling.
Thus far, nothing has seemed broken. This is one of the beautiful things about old school D&D, it is very easy to house rule and very hard to break. With the game moving into space, I will add classes from the White Star RPG, and allow the characters to multi-class. With this addition, Lasers & Loincloths is nearing a final form although I am sure it will continue to be refined as I am exposed to new ideas and interpretations of old rulings. I am extremely grateful to my players for being patient with the meddling. Not all of them benefited when we went from OD&D -1 to +1 ability curve to the b/x modifiers! Perhaps some reward is in order…
No comments:
Post a Comment