Wilderlands 5 Discussion

Another good game on Sunday.   I think the cash dynamic is working out really well.   There's pressure to go earn some dough, and a lot of things to spend it on.   I also like the gems and jewelry not being automatically appraised.    I'm trying to keep gem values in line with the AD&D list, so rubies are more likely to be worth more than garnets etc.


I think I've made more than enough henchmen for the deck.  There are freaking metric ton of them in there.  I think the death rate for henchmen might be a little higher than for ACKS, since you have to spend a chip to save them.  


The illusionist spell list is a bit more interesting than I had thought at first.  For example, Invisibility is a first level spell for Illusionists.   I wish I had chosen that for Mister X rather than Phantasmal Force, which is hard to adjudicate in many ways (especially when I'm trying to run the guy and DM him at the same time).


In case you hadn't figured it out, Andrew,  Mister X was meant to be an NPC that you could slip into and play if you had shown up late on Sunday.   When you do indeed rejoin us, I'd expect you to make your own guy, but I wanted to be ready in case this past Sunday.


I'm thinking I might want to play a berserker or fighter at some point.  Maybe after we finish with the Harpy Hunt, I'll design a DM-less session and run a character in it.


Using the DM fate chips is an absolute must.   It ramps up some of the danger that the player Fate Chips blunt.   Also, welcome back to the gang-up bonus.  I seriously missed that in the ACKS campaign. The bonus increases tactical thinking and makes high AC's vulnerable.


The adventure is a bit interesting.   I bought a PDF of an old Judge's Guild product from 1980 called "Book of Ruins".   It contains 10 short adventures, the fourth of which is a Harpy Lair.   This matches up nicely with the Harpies that are said to lair in hex 2020 of the City State map.   So, I sketched out the hex area, placed the first 4 locations on the map and off we went.


I hadn't realized how weird the ruins were in one sense.  They were all approximately the same size, about 50 by 60 feet.  They were all one story, no windows, secure roof and only one entrance.   You'd think ruins would be more, well, ruined.


However, the contents worked pretty well for the characters we had and the session worked out nicely.

OFFICIAL APRIL SCHEDULE

The official Lords of Hack game schedule from now until the end of April will be as follows:


April 3:   (make-up game since March 27 is cancelled)


April 10:  regular rotation schedule


April 24:  regular rotation schedule




So, that's 3 games for April, since there's only one for March.
We will have to discuss May as it approaches, since the next regular rotation date will be Mother's Day.

Schedule Deal

Since we cannot meet on March 27, what works best as a work around?

RULES UPDATE DISCUSSION

Since the last update,  I've added the Healers, Druids, Illusionists, and loot appraisal.  I seriously would like to know if we need any more NPC or PC classes.


The only classes missing from the classic AD&D panoply are Paladins, Rangers, and Assassins.  I don't really see the need for any one of them.   Paladins do come back as a high level prestige class and the classic ranger is just an Aragorn-clone that we really don't need.   Giving the thief a d6 hit points, makes the assassin more or less moot.


The Berserker will do in place of a barbarian, and I don't really see a need for any specialty fighters like a Knight or Cavalier, I think fighters should cover that role well enough.


I don't really even know whether to bother with the Illusionists at all.   In AD&D first edition they had their own spell list, but in the Hackmaster Books they just have a narrow range from the Magic User list.  I guess the description is only a page, so no real harm in including them.


For NPC's:  Lackey, Healer, Alchemist,  any other helper or support character that might be useful?
Herald?  Goon?  Beggar?


Finally, should I edit all this disparate material into a single, new booklet? Or will  just adding it to the back of the current booklet suffice?  I don't consider the editing a chore, so that's not an issue, but is it useful or not to compile?  That's the question.