Building a World of Magic

If you are running a fantastic, magical campaign, this places some limitations on what your world is like. I see many campaigns being played in a gritty, realistic fashion to avoid magical consequences. Magic is mysterious, and the sword is mightier than the magic scroll. I like this style, but most of my players don't like it at all. It's a step away from a wargame or a video game. 

As a consequence, magic is real and common in my campaign. In fact, it is a consumer product. Characters are often running around with fire beads and magic lamps. They have access to all kinds of magic at the get-go. There are mysteries to the magic, but the sort of mysteries that people think of after a six-pack of beer at 3 am. 

"Gee... Vorpal Swords are a really specific type of magic. Why would anyone do that?" 

This sort of twist creates all kinds of weird issues in my campaign. For example, no one is really surprised by clerics and magic users casting spells. In fact, even the lowliest turnip farmer knows if a spell caster starts waving their hands, grabbing their thumb or nose stops the spell. It's fun but also ridiculous. 

This means I have some house rules to cover these scenarios. 

In the aforementioned scenario, it only takes a to-hit roll against armor class 9 to grab someone's nose or thumb. It stops the spell, not injures the caster. Since it is so unexpected and simple, I also have a follow-up rule for foiled spells. If you get hit BEFORE the spell is ready, it's like you never cast. The caster doesn't lose that spell. 

However, getting hit AFTER the spell is prepared but before the caster can do something with it does cause them to lose the spell's effect and the memory of the spell. I like this because the caster got tagged at the exact wrong moment. It's a magical fumble. 

I leverage this against the ever-stupid "called shot". I don't impose penalties for called shots. If you are in a fight, it is customary and normal to try and smash someone's head in, stab them in the heart, or lop off a hand. Why impose a penalty for something that is totally expected? 

Speaking of fumbles, I don't do them unless someone is completely untrained. And the worst effect is that the fumble results in the weapon being dropped or thrown. This is something a noob does, not a professional warrior or assassin. I have several pairs of nunchucks. I've seen this a million times. I do not permit players to injure their characters with poor rolls, but comedy may ensue. I will even throw experience points at someone who roleplays a fumble.   

So, what do I do with fumbles for professionals? That's easy. If 1 is the worst that you can do, and the worst that a knight can do is miss, then they swung and missed. They look bad, but didn't drop their weapon. 

My house rule for missing the target on all odd numbers, 1 to whatever, you tried and missed. This tells me when someone hits a shield or completely wiffs. It's handy to know which is which without much math and record-keeping. 

Alright, what are even number misses? That's even easier. Since the person is highly skilled, an even number failures represents a case where they didn't even swing or attack. They knew they would miss and didn't bother. This is more important for missile weapons, because they never throw. The user still has the missile weapon, and it is ready for the next round of action. 

One of these days, I will sit down and unpack all of these fun house rules and share them all in a coherent fashion. 

Star Wars D20 - The Donations of Palpatine

I am creating a Star Wars D20 campaign using the Star Wars Role-Playing Game I reviewed here. Unlike my last foray into the world of Star Wars, this series will be heavy on Jedi, Manolorians, and star fighters. This post contains many of the ideas I will present in Session 0. 

The system Meneth is in the Outer Rim. It has always been unaligned with any galactic power due to the array of ion cannons defending it. Novema and Seguna are the two habitable worlds in the system. Novema is the seat of power in the system with Seguna producing most of the food for export. 

I hate the Star Wars timeline for its numbering convention, but the story starts in 19 BBY, with Order 66. Five Nu-class shuttles were on Novema for resupply for a trip to Coruscant. Four shuttles carried 20 clone troopers each. The last shuttle carried 3 Jedi Counselors and 3 Padawands to escort 4 force adepts and 6 children who were potential candidates for the Jedi order. 

As they made for orbit, Order 66 came in. 

Chaos ensued with a 4 on 1 dogfight in the upper atmosphere. The Jedi ship danced between several incoming freighters, including several operated by Mandalorian refugees. From the ground, it looked as if the Clone Troopers went nuts and were gunning for each other, which was actually the case. After several tense minutes, the order to fire on every ship was given. The ion cannons were very effective, 

Three-quarters of the Clone Troopers died as the ships crashed, along with two Jedi and one Force Adept. Most of the remaining Clone Troopers were seriously injured. Most tried to integrate with Menethian life, but a few joined the criminal underworld, fled the system, or joined the Silver Blades. 

Fast forward to 5 BBY. A fleeing group of Battle Droids attempted to take the planet. By this time, Meneth was protected by a vast array of deep-space ion cannons. Three Droid ships crashed on Novema while one was trapped in orbit around Seguna. None of the Battle Droids were able to activate and attack either planet. 

A fifth fully activated Droid ship crashed on an asteroid and has become a horrible thorn in the side of the Menethians. They prevent full coverage of the system with the ion cannon array and allow pirates into the space lanes. 

One final time jump to 5 years after the Battle of Yavin. There are five factions in the Meneth system: 

1. The Jedi,
2. The Silver Blades, 
3. The Menethian government, 
4. The remnants of the Droid Army,  
5. and a small Rebel base. 

The Menethians allow the Rebels to refurbish older fighters and small ships on Seguna. It is a tiny port among many, protected by the Ion Array. The Rebels assist in the defense of the system with their elderly Y-Wings, and faster A-Wings, plus a few X-Wings. They are not allowed a bigger presence. The Rebels will not bring "hot" ships known to the Empire into the system or new items like B-Wings. 

The locals have been providing old speeders to the Rebels, which are being converted to special operation vehicles for harsh environments. Their tactical value is dubious. 

The Silver Blades are the remaining Manolorians plus a handful of Clone Troopers headed up by one of the Force Adepts who declined to join the Jedi. They act as an independent force on Novema, usually opening the way for the remaining Jedi to negotiate peacefully. They all wield Silver lightsabres that stun as opposed to wound. They are not as skilled as Jedi when using them, a Silver Blade cannot block blaster fire, but their armor makes up the difference. 

Silver Blade: (Light Saber) Damage: 1d4 stuns DC 15, 1 kg, size medium, simple group. 

The Jedi have a small temple on Seguna. While they do not see eye-to-eye with the Silver Blades, they often accompany them on missions when negotiation is necessary. Most people believe the Jedi are old, wiser counselors for the Silver Blades. Everyone is inclined to keep up this appearance. 

During the planting and harvest seasons, the Jedi will offer their manpower to the local farmers. It is very boring, but it allows the Jedi to get their ears to the ground while trading for necessary items. The Jedi generally don't have much money.  

The Imperial warlords want to smash the Meneth System but are stymied by the five factions. In one case, a Star Destroy was attacked by all five factions at once, the distress call sent was worrisome, to say the least. Their next attempt was another disaster. Believing the Droid base was the front-line defense, they bypassed it and flew into the teeth of several fighter squadrons backing up the Ion Array. 

The fleet limped out of the system and resorted to guerrilla tactics and civilian ships to get spies and saboteurs into the system. The player characters will investigate the Imperial interference while also helping the local fighter squads beat back hit-and-run raids by the Imperials. If they can, they are also charged with dislodging the Droid Army from their asteroid base.