1e Level Caps

We often hear our fellows scoff at the idea that demi-man level limits are an adequate game balance force opposing the myriad advantages they get over Men, such as, well, literally everything the Elf and half-elf get. 

When you play the game with all the rules, however, Men outshine any of the lesser races, except maybe in the thief or assassin class. (In fact, you will find the greatest legendary persons of other races to all be thieves or assassins of one kind or another, even among the Lawful types.)

Limits on demi-men, chief among them class and level limits, are an implied worldbuilding element more than a game balance element (but they are partly both.)

You get demi-men, who have lots of abilities and can also progress in more than one class, with inherently more power than men at the start of their respective adventuring lives. 

However, Men catch up fast. Single-classed Men will level faster than multiclassed demi-men by one or two levels’ worth fairly quickly. Not only are Men way ahead on class abilities, but they face milder level-up restrictions in terms of class fidelity penalties and the time and money necessary to train up. 

Recall that RAW, a figure must get enough XP to attain level X, but it also must spend X weeks and X hundred GP for training each time. If the figure wishes to be most expedient, the player will have to have it cultivate relationships with trainers as he goes along. 

This means multiclassers are going to spend more resources at the critical early levels while their specialized colleagues are off in the dungeon. 

Recall further that RAW, the DM is instructed to impose XP penalties for characters who act outside their class role (or alignment.) Well, a character with two classes will have to walk a fine line to fulfill both roles cromulently. A character with three classes? The penalty is all but assured. 

(Does anyone play this way? I don’t know. The #BroSR guys say they do and who am I to doubt them?)

Level caps, again, shape the world more than they shape the party. Elfs can only get to 11th level in magic user. That means they never get 6th column spells. No Enchant an Item or Permanence. Hobbits can be Druids but not clerics. Why? 

Above Name level, what we will see across the game world is powerful high-level Men with many lower-level, but versatile, demi-man allies. (The exception again is demi-thieves, limping along, still carrying XP and class role requirements from dead classes despite accruing no more benefit from them.)

Which models Gary’s favorite pulp fiction worlds quite well. 

Hexcrawl Single-Hex Worksheet

I made this. It scratches the itches I need scratched for sandbox info. Here are links to the .doc file and the .pdf.

 

Role-Playing Is

No. 

Role-playing is not using a funny voice or inflicting your OC on the rest of the table. That’s play-acting. 

Role-playing is accepting the shared fiction of the game world and finding an appropriate place into which to insert your figure. 

You can still do the funny voice and chew the scenery, but in order to actually play, you must first accept the premise and play a role with it that advances the shared fiction.

Welcome to Cyfandil

An enjoyable rustic pastime 

Cyfandil is a temperate island chain at a northern latitude, consisting two major islands and hundreds of smaller ones. Its land area is about the same as Madagascar, or a little larger than the British Isles. 

Demi-Men live here and there, but are somewhat uncommon. Besides, there’s quite enough cultural variety in Man’s tripartite lineage: Aluvian, G’harundim and Sho. 

Our part of the realm is Aluvia, which is a lot like Medieval Northern Europe. 

Aluvian civilization has risen at times and fallen at others, leaving mysteries and secrets in the deep forest; but the Aluvian people carry on regardless. 

Now the Aluvian League is experiencing spots of turmoil, as it does from time to time. Robert, the Duke of Sutton, is attempting to unseat King Bradnwyr. Nobles have begun to form up in support of one or the other. Little skirmishes have commenced here and there- the usual vainglorious summer nonsense.

Thus far, the war has kept itself at a sensible distance. Merchants and pilgrims bring news from the corners of the Realm. War news has been interesting and non-threatening, like hearing the final result from a rousing shinty match at Glenden Wood. It’s something harmless for the old gainsayers to gainsay about when meeting in town.

 

Welcome to Cragstone

 

Our little part of Aluvia is called Lleannedd March. Our town is Cragstone, named for its founder, Thorsten Cragstone, the hero of times past. Neither a village nor a city, Cragstone is home to 100 families. The economy is based on trade by road and river. Among those men and Hobbits whose business it is to know such things, Cragstone is known best for producing an excellent grade of honey. 

Where You Come In

You are members of the mysterious Order of the Brass Dragon, a society by, of and for adventurous men. However, it is a society with absolutely no benefits, nor dues, nor oaths whatsoever. Benefits, that is, aside from your brooch: a smart brass brooch with which to hold your cloak in place, and the moderate air of mystery such a brooch might lend. 

A nigh-distant but fitting goal for a character when he starts will be to collect enough money and power to conquer a hex, build a castle or other great dwelling, and become a Lord. However, a player must decide what each of his characters truly wants from his paper life.

 

What Everyone Knows in Leanned March

• Strange noises come from the accursed wood just outside town.

• The Empire is enjoying civil war again.

• Roads are dangerous! Monsters and bandits prey on unsuspecting travelers. Stick together.

• Locusts destroyed the crops last year in Glenden Wood.

• Rithwic was hit by the plague. Some say it was G’harundim merchants who brought it there. 

• Most people say Druids are a myth.

Patrons and Factions:

•Lord Alberz, Marquis of Rithwic. His delegate in Cragstone is Lieutenant Kenneth.

•Dockmaster Brodus Stoneriver of the Dwarven Sea Clans. 

•Brienne of the Collectors Guild.

•Various Chaotic types outside the towns. 

Concepts of Note

 

Character death is close so decisions are more meaningful. 

Henchmen are important. 

Cha > Str.

Speak in natural language. I will adjudicate. I will show you what rules I use when applicable. 

Town is safe. Your character cannot die in town. 

House Rules

 

The Bullpen.

Any adventuring party is permitted to have a maximum of 40% demi-men.

Race as class.

Strict observation of time.

Slow Healing.

Clerical discontinuity and other unusual rules. 

Stochastic Rounds.

Bandages.

No initiative. 

Light sources. 

Opportunity attacks. 

Splintered shields.

Races and Places

Not the map - just an example 

On the People of the Realm

One of the implicit assumptions of vanilla d&d is that the people are analogues to European Whites. I will retain that here but it bears mentioning that I even considered some alternative, which I would not have done a few years ago.

White European types will be a supermajority. This is the principality of Aluvia, a White country in a White region. There will be a very few demi-men and a very few nonwhites. The other races of Men in the world are East Asian analogues and North African analogues. There will be one G’harundim (North African type) in town. 

I don’t anticipate any racial politics between human groups unless the players force the issue, and I don’t expect they will. I’m certainly not going to broach it. It’s just flavor. Later, the players may decide to travel to the other lands and find different cultural norms and different kinds of dungeons and wilderness.

On the Shape of the Realm

Cragstone is going to be the middle town in a three-town run along the as-yet-unnamed river. There will be significant trade along the river and the road. Therefore it makes sense to put castles nearby. 

About half the six-mile hex will be farmland and half will be forest, including some dense forest. It will be hilly too, giving some verticality to the land. This helps to take the land out of the realm of a board game and into the realm of the real.  

On the Landmarks of the Realm

I’m going to put a proper castle at the confluence of two rivers a little northwest of the northern town, Rithwic. I’m going to put B2 in the next hex over. Rename everything and reskin the monsters to provide a little mystery. 

That gives the townspeople a defensible position within a day’s walk in either direction and provides sites for interesting adventuring opportunities. 

I’m also going to put a bandit “castle” (fortified house) somewhere nearby, with a charismatic Sho (East Asian) warlord and 300 men, either north or south along the trade road. Probably two hexes away, so the patrols from one of the castles will have skirmish with the bandits. Idk how much it will come into play, but imo it’s important to prepare factions for the players to encounter as well. 

Past that, there will be a ruined Septarch tower and two other dungeons in the same hex. (Septarchs are the archmages of the realm.)

On the Monsters of the Realm

As far as local monsters, I’m going to have new humanoid monsters that aren’t really new. They will be reskinned and renamed but retain the same ecology and society as the ones we all know from a million years of playing, but they will look different and act a little different, giving the same-but-different that people seem to enjoy. 

Drudges are cat men who breed like crazy. The least of them are 1-HP monsters. The most powerful of them cast war spells such as lightning bolts. They are like goblins. 

Tumeroks are tall grey warriors. They present kind of like romans and kind of like cavemen, and are obsessed with honor and order like Dwarves might be.

Monoguas are various colors. They have three eyes vertically in the middle of their face. Monogua eyes are prized for magic material components and potions. 

I’m going to keep ogres and trolls and minotaurs as is. Kobolds, I don’t know. I may make kobolds like Doozers. Neither benign nor malign. Into mining and building underground.

Orcish is an affliction men get, similar to lycanthropy.

I might introduce Ouphes, which are a dark mirror to elves and gnomes. They are merchants, jewelers and bankers. Nepotistic and ruthless and sour and obnoxious. Rarely, Ouphes gain character levels like men do but they should not be PCs.

I’ve been and will be super busy. Regional maps to come.

The People of Cragstone

The starting town for the campaign will be the village of Cragstone in the principality of Aluvia. The town is named for the ancient hero Thorsten Cragstone. The town square has a statue of him, but nobody really knows what he actually looked like.  

What handsome children!

Here is an utterly useless list of the 45 townspeople that the PCs might interact with in town. Of course there are a lot more people in Cragstone - I think the number will be 500 (100 families.) That gives us enough folks to farm and raise cows. 

But here, should there be some Hobbit families mixed in with the people? Cragstone is the kind of place Hobbits would like. Bucolic. 

The authority figures in town are... I guess... Lieutenant Kenneth and Oswent the Town Crier, with Sergeant Shanks in there somewhere. People probably just solve their own problems, mostly, and there probably isn't a lot of crime. Frs. Berry and Gildenhearn are probably pretty helpful too. 

There's also a docks area, since Cragstone is on the river, but it isn't a commercial hub. There isn't even a regular ferry service. If you want a ride, you have to get someone to sail or row you. I don't know whether I should make up some NPCs for the dock area or not. Probably at least one cartoonish sea captain. I'll keep thinking. 

If I were to randomly assign an appearance and a personality trait to each of NPC, I would use Table 1. It's also useful if you need a name on the fly. Say! Maybe one of these people is the aforementioned sea captain or a dock worker? Who knows!

If you're wondering how you can make up your own passel of commoners, you might consider this site: 

https://codepen.io/isaacwilliams/full/MoMNVK/ 

or this site: https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/07/horrible-peasant-npc-generator.html