Swords & Wizardry Whitebox House Rules

68 Pages·2012·1.95 MB·English

Swords & Wizardry
Whitebox
PaulGorman’sHouseRulesforFantasticMedievalAdventures
PlayablewithPaperandPencilandMiniatureFigures

Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
MonsterReaction . . . . . . . . . 31
Surprise&EncounterDistance . 31
Flight,Pursuit&Evasion . . . . . 31
Contents
Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
GettingStarted . . . . . . . . . . . 4 DamageandDeath . . . . . . . . 32
RuleNumberOne . . . . . . . . 4 Morale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
CharacterSheets . . . . . . . . . 4 Disfigurement . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SavingThrows . . . . . . . . . . 33
Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 StrongholdBuilding . . . . . . . . 33
Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Underworld&Wilderness . . . . . 36
HitPoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Dungeons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 DungeonLevels . . . . . . . . . 36
Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 DungeonStocking . . . . . . . . 37
LastWillandTestament . . . . . 6 DungeonDesignTips . . . . . . 38
CharacterClasses . . . . . . . . 6 Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
CharacterRaces . . . . . . . . . 8 Castles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Encumbrance&Movement . . . 11 WildernessTravel . . . . . . . . . 41
HiringAssistants . . . . . . . . . 11 Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
OptionalFun&Flavor . . . . . . 12 CreatingMonsters . . . . . . . . 42
Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 MonsterList . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
ClericSpellList . . . . . . . . . . 16 Treasure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Magic-UserSpellList . . . . . . . 16 TreasureTrade-Outs . . . . . . . 51
SpellDescriptions . . . . . . . . 17 MagicItems . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
MagicalResearch . . . . . . . . 28 MagicItemDescriptions . . . . . 56
TurningUndead . . . . . . . . . . 29 OptionalRules. . . . . . . . . . . . 64
PlayingtheGame . . . . . . . . . . 30 Non-PlayerCharacterClasses. . 64
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 FightingStyles . . . . . . . . . . 64
Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Paul Gorman (http://quicklyquietlycarefully.blogspot.com) created this document as a
variantofMarvBreig’sWhiteboxRules. ThispublicationisnotaffiliatedwithMatthewJ.Finchor
MythmereGames.Swords&Wizardry,S&W,Whitebox,andMythmereGamesaretrademarksof
MatthewJ.Finch.Seehttp://www.swordsandwizardry.com.IllustratedbyStefanPoag,Howard
Pyle,andPaulGorman.PrintedonJuly26,2012.
Getting Started
SWORDS&WIZARDRY:WHITEBOXrequirestwokindsofparticipants: aRefereeandPlayers.
Beforethegame,PlayerscreatePlayerCharacters(PC’s)byrollingdicetodeterminetheirchar-
acters’basicattributes,pickingcharacterclasses,andbuyingin-gameequipment. TheReferee
maps a dungeon on graph paper, and stocks it with monsters, traps, and treasure. During the
game,playersguidetheircharactersthroughthedungeon,creatingtheirownmapbasedonthe
referee’sdescriptions.
Rule Number One
ThemostimportantruleinSWORDS&WIZARDRY:WHITEBOXisthattheRefereealwayshas
therighttomodifytherules. Infact,it’sencouraged! Thisisyourgame,afterall. Therearegaps
intherules—holesleftopenonpurpose—becausemuchofthefunof“oldschool”gamingisbeing
abletomakeuprulesasneeded.
Dice
SWORDS&WIZARDRY:WHITEBOXusesseveraltypesofdice,whichareabbreviatedaccording
totheirnumberofsides. Forexample,afour-sideddieisnotedas“d4.” Ifthistextsays“3d4”that
meanstorollthree(3)four-sideddiceandaddtheresultstogether.
Character Sheets
AcharactersheetisapieceofpaperthatorganizesallnecessaryPCinformationforthebenefit
ofboththeRefereeandPlayer.Thecharactersheetcanbesomethingassimpleasa3×5”index
cardwithequipmentandspellswrittenontheback.
4
Characters
Wisdom determines a character’s insight,
perception,andgoodjudgment.Wisdomisthe
PrimeAttributeforClerics.
Constitution refers to the health and en-
durance of a character. A high Constitution
score (15+) gives the character a +1 to each
hitdie,andalowscore(6orlower)givesa-1
penaltytoeachhitdie.
Maximum
Charisma Loyalty Henchmen
3–4 -2 1
5–6 -2 2
7–8 -1 3
Attributes
9–12 0 4
13–15 +1 5
Roll 3d6 for each of these attributes in order: 16–17 +2 6
Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, 18 +2 7
Dexterity,andCharisma. Aftertheserolls,it’s
often obvious which character class best fits
theabilities,thoughtheplayercanchooseany
class. Once the player picks a class, points
from other attributes may be shifted into the
“PrimeAttribute”ofthatcharacterclassona2
for1basis,butdon’treduceanyoftheattributes
tolessthan9points.
Strength represents the character’s physi-
calpower.ItisthePrimeAttributeforFighters.
Intelligence represents reasoning and the
abilitytounderstanddifficultconcepts.
A high Intelligence score gives a character
thementalcapacitytoknowoneadditionallan- Dexterity is a combination of coordination
guageforeverypointabove10. and quickness. A high Dexterity score (15+)
gives a character a +1 bonus on to-hit rolls
IntelligenceisthePrimeAttributeforMagic-
when attacking with a bow or other ranged
Users.
weapon, and a low score (8 or less) gives a
penaltyof-1tosuchrolls.
5
Charisma referstoacharacter’sleadership Alignment
ability, and determines the number of Non-
Player Character (NPC) henchmen a charac- Choosean Alignments: Law, Chaos, or Neu-
tercanacquire.Thesehenchmenincludespe- trality. Lawpromotestheorderofhumancivi-
cialistsandnon-humancreatures,butnotbasic lization,whileChaosfavorsaworldbeyondhu-
men-at-arms. Charismamodifiestheloyaltyof manreason.
theseNPCs.
Languages
Experience
Don’tchooselanguagesduringcharactercre-
The capabilities (combat ability, number of ation.Whenacharacterwithunusedlanguage
spells, etc.) of Player Characters develop as “slots”hearscreaturesspeakinginadungeon,
theygainexperience. rolltoseeifthecharacterunderstands. Ona
CharactersearnoneExperiencePoint(XP) rollof1–2in6,therefereerevealsthenameof
for each gold piece they remove from a dun- thelanguageandwhatwassaidbythecrea-
geon. While the bulk of experience comes tures.Noteknowledgeofthelanguageonyour
from treasure, characters also earn some ex- charactersheet.
periencepointsbykillingmonsters.
Afteramassingasufficientnumberofexperi-
Last Will and Testament
encepoints,acharacteradvancesinleveland
gainsnewcapabilities. SeetheAdvancement
tableforeachcharacterclass. Dungeonexplorationisadangerousbusiness.
NewcharactersstartthegamewithzeroXP. Characterswhodeclareanextofkinpasstheir
worldlypossessionsontoanothercharacterin
caseoftheirdisappearanceordeath. Thein-
ExperienceBonus
heritingcharacterpaysa10%inheritancetax.
Givethecharacterabonusof10%totheir“ex-
periencepoints”(XP)iftheirPrimeAttributeis
Character Classes
15+,5%ifthePrimeAttributeis13–14,and-
10%ifthePrimeAttributeislowerthan9.There
Therearethreecharacterclassesinthegame:
isnobonusforscoresbetween9and12.
theCleric,theFighter,andtheMagic-User.The
Refereeisfreetoinventorallowothercharacter
classes.
Hit Points
Hitpoints(HP)representtheamountof“dam- TheCleric
age”acharacterwithstandsbeforedying.They
aredeterminedbythenumberofhitdice(HD) Clericsserveapatrondeity.Playersmaymake
thecharacterhasateachlevel,whichisfound upthedetailsiftheRefereedoesn’tuseapar-
inthedescriptionofeachcharacterclass. Ifa ticular mythology for the campaign. Mytholo-
playerbeginsthegamewitha1stlevelFighter giesandotherdetailsofacampaignworldoften
(1+1HD)theplayerwouldthereforeroll1HD comelateriftheRefereeisjuststarting.
(1d6) and add “+1” to the end result to deter- TheClericmightbeasinisterwitch-hunter,
minehisPC’sstartinghitpoints. anexorcistofdemons,ashiningknightofthe
Re-rollhitpointseachtimeaPlayerCharac- faith,orasecretagentofsometemplehierar-
tergainsalevel.Ifthere-rollresultsinthechar- chy.SincemanyoftheCleric’sabilitieshealor
acterhavingfewerhitpointsforthenewlevel protect,theytendtoplayasupportroleduring
thanfromtheoldlevel,thehitpointsremainthe combat. However,theycanstandshoulder-to-
same. shoulderwiththeparty’sFighters—forawhile.
6
Wisdom is the Prime Attribute for Clerics. of spells as designed by the Referee, but the
Clerics with Wisdom of 15 or higher receive standardClericusesthestandardspelllist.
a10%bonustoexperienceor5%with13–14 Lawful Clerics “turn” undead. See Turning
Wisdom. Undeadonpage29.
Clerics only use blunt weapons (club, flail, Attenthlevel,aClericwhobuildsatemple
mace,etc.) andtheonlymissileweaponthey to hisdeity attracts loyalfollowers who swear
areallowedisoil.Clericshavenoarmorrestric- fealty to the character. Clerics must declare
tions. theiralignmenttoeitherLaworChaosbefore
Clerics cast divine spells. Each day, the buildingatemple. IftheClericchangesalign-
Clericpraysforacertainsetofspells,choos- mentafterestablishingaTemple, thecharac-
inganyspellsfromthestandardlist. Clericsof ter loses any followers (and probably faces a
specificgodsmighthaveentirelydifferentsets mutiny).
ClericAdvancement
SpellsbySpellLevel
Level XP HD(d6) To-Hit 1 2 3 4 5
1 0 1 +0 – – – – –
2 1,500 2 +0 1 – – – –
3 3,000 3 +0 2 – – – –
4 6,000 3+1 +1 2 1 – – –
5 12,000 4 +1 2 2 1 – –
6 24,000 5 +2 2 2 1 1 –
7 48,000 6 +2 2 2 2 1 1
8 96,000 6+1 +3 2 2 2 2 2
9 192,000 7 +4 3 3 3 2 2
10 384,000 8 +5 3 3 3 3 3
TheFighter of“Baron”or“Baroness,”bestowedbythelocal
rulerormonarch. Thecharacterattractsmen-
TheFighteristrainedinbattleandtheuseofar- at-arms,whosweartheirfealtyasloyalfollow-
morandweapons. Yourcharactermightbea ers.
ferociousVikingraider,aroamingsamurai,ora
medievalknight.Asthebestequippedofallthe
characterclassestodishoutandabsorbdam- FighterAdvancement
age, Fighters often end up on the front lines,
Level XP HitDice(d6) To-Hit
goingtoe-to-toewithdragons,goblins,andevil
1 0 1+1 +0
cultists.
2 2,000 2 +1
StrengthisthePrimeAttributeforFighters.
3 4,000 3 +2
FighterswithStrengthof15orhigherreceive
4 8,000 4 +2
a10%bonustoexperienceor5%with13–14
5 16,000 5 +3
Strength.
6 32,000 6 +4
Fightersaretrainedinwarfare,sotheyuse
7 64,000 7 +4
anykindofweaponorarmor.
8 128,000 8 +5
Against foes of one hit dice (HD) or fewer,
9 256,000 9 +6
Fightersgetoneattackperleveleachcombat
10 512,000 10 +6
round.
Atninthlevel,aFighterwhochoosestobuild
acastleisconsideredtohavereachedtherank
7
TheMagic-User spells(whichdonotincludeallofthespellsfrom
thestandardlists).Readingfromthisbook,the
The Magic-User is a mysterious figure, a stu-
Magic-Userpressesaselectspellformulainto
dentofarcanepowersandspellcasting.
his mind, effectively “preparing” it to be cast.
IntelligenceisthePrimeAttributeforMagic- Once a prepared spell is cast, the spell for-
Users. An Intelligence score of 15+ grants mulaedisappearsfromtheMagic-User’smind,
them a 10% bonus to all experience points andmustbepreparedagainbeforeanotherat-
awardedor5%with13–14Intelligence. tempt can be made to cast it. However, it is
Because magic-users spend their waking possibletoprepareaspellmultipletimesusing
hoursstudyingarcanetomesandscrolls,they theavailable“slots”intheMagic-User’smem-
have little time to train with weapons or learn ory. IftheMagic-Userfindsspellscrollsduring
physicalcombat. Magic-Usersonlywielddag- anadventure,hecancopythemintohisspell
gersorstaves,andusenoarmor. book.
UnliketheCleric,Magic-Usersownbooksof
Magic-UserAdvancement
SpellsbySpellLevel
Level XP HD(d6) To-Hit 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 0 1 +0 1 – – – – –
2 2,500 1+1 +0 2 – – – – –
3 5,000 2 +0 3 1 – – – –
4 10,000 2+1 +0 4 2 – – – –
5 20,000 3 +1 4 2 1 – – –
6 40,000 3+1 +0 4 2 2 – – –
7 80,000 4 +2 4 3 2 1 – –
8 160,000 4+1 +2 4 3 3 2 – –
9 320,000 5 +3 4 3 3 2 1 –
10 640,000 5+1 +3 4 4 3 2 2 –
11 – 6 +4 4 4 4 3 3 –
12 – 6+1 +4 4 4 4 4 4 1
13 – 7 +5 5 5 5 4 4 2
14 – 7+1 +5 5 5 5 4 4 3
15 – 8 +6 5 5 5 4 4 4
16 – 8+1 +6 5 5 5 5 5 5
Character Races movingwalls,andtrapsmadeofstone(falling
blocks,riggedceilings,andtinyslitsdesigned
Though most players characters are human, toreleasearrows,darts,orpoisongas). What
humans share their world with a number of theDwarfdoesordoesnotperceiveisforthe
fantastic races. Elves populate great forests, Refereetodecide.
Dwarvescarvehallsandminesintotheheart The only character class available to
oftheearth,andHalflingsresideincomfortable Dwarves is that of the Fighter, and they ad-
hill-housesofbucolicshires. vanceonlyashighas6thlevel.
Giants, ogres, trolls, and similar giant-type
creatures are not good at fighting small crea-
TheDwarf
tures,andinflictonlyhalfthedamageagainst
Dwarvesgrowupinundergroundcities,sothey Dwarves.
recognizespecialstonework:slopingcorridors, Dwarves speak the dwarf, gnome, goblin,
8
andkoboldlanguages. Whennotincombat,Halflings’stealthmakes
themhardtohearorspot.
TheElf
OtherTypes
TheRefereecaninterpretElvesasthefaerie-
If you referee’s down with it, make any
folkofIrishlegend,theVanirofNorsemythol-
kind of crazy character you can imagine—
ogy, or perhaps something more akin to the
gorilla,robot,mutant,slime,giantalienbug—
ElvesofTolkien’simagination.
whatever. Useanytypethatstartsweak,and
Elvesareassociatedwithmagic,andskilled
becomes more capable through experience.
withtheswordandbow.TheElfchooseseach
Playingadragonworkssolongasitbeginsas
day (announced at the start of an adventure)
avulnerablehatchling.
whether to adventure as a Fighter or Magic-
User. Asaresult,theElfhastwoalternatead-
vancement paths (experience points, hit dice, Equipment
savingthrows,to-hitbonuses,etc.) depending
uponwhetherhedonnedsteelthatdayorsum- Eachcharacterstartswith3d6×10goldpieces
monedthepowertocastspells. at the beginning of the game, used to buy
Theyprogressonlyto4th levelasFighters equipment. One gold piece (gp) is worth 10
and8thasMagic-Users. silver pieces (sp) or 100 copper pieces (cp).
When an Elf adventures as a Magic-User, Prices for equipment are listed on the tables
thecharacterhasthesameweaponandarmor belowinamountofgoldpieces. TheReferee
limitationsasaMagic-User,exceptthatmagic isencouragedtoincludeadditionalitemsand
armormaybeworn. equipment.
Elvesgain+1to-hitordamagewhenfight-
inggoblins,orcs,intelligentundead,andlycan-
AdventuringGear
thropes. Elves are also immune to paralysis
causedbyundead,suchasghouls. Item Cost(gp)
Elvesspothiddenandconcealeddoors1–4 Backpack(30lb.capacity)..................5
onad6whensearching,or1–2onad6when Bedroll .....................................2
justpassingby. Belladonna,bunch ........................10
Elvesspeaktheelf,gnoll,hobgoblin,andorc Bottle(wine),glass .........................1
languages. Case(maporscroll) ........................3
Crowbar ....................................5
FlintandSteel ..............................5
TheHalfling Garlic(1lb.) ..............................10
GrapplingHook.............................5
Halflings are short, stout, and live in shires— Hammer ....................................2
rusticcommunitiesremotefromlargerfolk. A Helmet ....................................10
fewhalflingshaveenoughadventurousspiritto HolySymbol,wooden ......................2
exploretheworldbeyondthefarmsandfields HolySymbol,silver ........................25
ofthelocalshire. HolyWater,smallvial .....................25
Fighteristheonlycharacterclassavailable Lantern ...................................10
toHalflings,andtheyadvanceonlyashighas Mirror(small),steel .........................5
4thlevel. Oil(lamp),1pint ............................2
Giants, ogres, trolls, and similar giant-type Pole,10ft. .................................1
creatures are not good at fighting small crea- Rations,trail(day) ..........................1
tures,andinflictonlyhalfthedamageagainst Rations,dried(day).........................3
Halflings. Rope(50ft.),hemp .........................1
Halflingsfiremissileweaponswith+2to-hit. Rope(50ft.),silk ...........................5
9
Sack(15lb.capacity) ......................1 *Two-handedweapon
Sack(30lb.capacity) ......................2 †Usedeitherone-handedortwo-handed
Shovel .....................................5 ‡Usedeitherasmêléeormissileweapon
Spellbook(blank) ........................100
Spikes(12),iron ............................1
MissileWeapons
Stakes(12),wooden........................1
Tent .......................................20 Weapon Costgp(Weightlb.)
Torches(6) .................................1 Arrows(20) .............................5(1)
Waterskin ..................................1 Arrow,silver .............................5(1)
Wolfsbane,bunch .........................10 Axe,hand .............................3(10)
Bolt,crossbow(30) .....................5(5)
Bow,long ..............................40(5)
Transportation
Bow,short .............................25(5)
Case(30boltcapacity) ..................5(1)
Type Cost(gp)
Crossbow,heavy ......................25(5)
Armor,horse(barding) ...................320
Crossbow,light ........................15(5)
Bags,saddle ..............................10
Pouch(20stonecapacity) ...............1(1)
Boat .....................................100
Quiver(20arrowcapacity) ..............5(1)
Cart .......................................80
Sling ....................................2(1)
Galley,large ..........................30,000
Spear..................................2(10)
Galley,small ..........................10,000
Stones(20) .............................1(1)
Horse,draft ...............................30
Horse,lightriding .........................40
Mule ......................................20 Armor
Raft .......................................40
Saddle ....................................25 Armor Costgp(Weightlb.)
Ship,sailing(large) ...................20,000 Chainmail ............................30(50)
Ship,sailing(small) ....................5,000 Leather ...............................15(25)
Wagon,small ............................160 Platemail ............................50(75)
Warhorse,heavy .........................200 Shield ................................10(10)
Warhorse,medium .......................100
CalculatingArmorClass
Armorclass(AC)indicateshowharditisforen-
MêléeWeapons emiestohitacharacterincombat.AlowerAC
numberindicatesbetterprotection.
Weapon Costgp(Weightlb.)
Axe,battle* ............................7(15) Armor AC
Axe,hand‡ ..............................3(5) Unarmored 9
Club ...................................0(10) Shieldonly 8
Dagger .................................3(2) Leatherarmor 7
Flail ...................................8(15) Leather&shield 6
Mace ..................................5(10) Chainmail 5
MorningStar ...........................6(15) Chain&shield 4
Polearm(bardiche,halberd,etc.)* ......7(15) Platemail 3
Spear†‡ ...............................2(10) Plate&shield 2
Staff* ..................................1(10)
Sword,long ..........................10(10)
ConvertingArmorClassSystems
Sword,short ............................8(5)
Sword,two-handed* ..................15(15) InthetraditionaldescendingACsystem,anun-
Warhammer ...........................5(10) armoredhumanhasanACof9.Thearmoryou
10