You may have heard that if you cut an earthworm in half, both halves will grow back into a full worm. That’s an urban legend. (They have amazing regenerative powers, but a severed back end will never be able to grow a new head.) But if you’re wondering how you could bring this into an RPG session, the answer is self-evident: Toss in a couple trolls.

More intriguing is the case of the bulldog ant:

“But the bulldog-ant of Australia affords us the most extraordinary example of its kind; for if it is cut in two, a battle begins between the head and the tail. The head seizes the tail in its teeth, and the tail defends itself bravely by stinging the head: The battle may last for half an hour, until they die or are dragged away by other ants. This contest takes place every time the experiment is tried.” (Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation)

I think the behavior after severing would be easy enough to model as a confusion effect on both halves of the creature. But the real question would be determining when and how the creature would get severed in the first place. A few thoughts:

(1) Some sort of modification on the mechanic used for severing a hydra’s head. The question, however, is how you can motivate a PC to actually make the sunder attempt. (This problem also exists with hydras.)

(2) Treat all weapons as effectively vorpal against the creature. When somebody confirms a crit off of a natural 20, the creature is effectively severed.

(3) Treat it as an effect of bloodying the creature (reducing it to half hit points).

(4) Treat it as an effect of killing the base creature (which is effectively transformed into two new creatures). Maybe there’s only a percentage chance that this happens.

(5) Set a “Break Threshold” for creature: If somebody deals more damage than the break threshold in a single attack, the creature is severed.

I’ve talked quite a bit about how Legends & Labyrinths maintains 100% compatibility with 3rd Edition. This is awesome not only because it unlocks the thousands of 3E adventures and supplements in your L&L campaign, but because it also turns your 3E core rulebooks into supplements for L&L. Is there stuff in those “supplements” that you really love? Did I cut something you love in my merciless and heartless quest to streamline the game down to its most basic components? Just put it back in. That’s what supplements are for!

But the flip-side of that coin is that 100% compatibility also allows you to use Legends & Labyrinths as a supplement in your 3E campaign. I’ve talked about big examples like the hazard creation system, stunt system, and monster creation system, but there’s a lot of minor stuff that you’ll find useful regardless of what version of 3rd Edition you’re running.

THE FLY SKILL

“Justin, if your goal is to simplify the system why are you adding new rules?”

Often because adding a single, efficient rule is often the best way to replace and simplify an overly complicated system.

For example, the game has been saddled with an overly-complicated system for handling flying characters ever since Gygax decided to base the original rules on a WWI wargame. By adding a Fly skill to the game, I was able to boil the flight rules down to three paragraphs. If you, like me, have always wanted a set of flight mechanics that won’t bog down play, then L&L can give you that. (By and large, it works like any other form of movement in the game… except, of course, you can fly.)

AERIAL DISTANCE TABLE

This is a tool I originally developed for Rule Supplement 2: Flight (which is still MIA). Basically, if you’re standing on the ground and you’re trying to shoot an arrow at a guy flying 50′ away and flying 90′ above your head (or standing on a cliff)… how far is that?

The Pythagorean Theorem is fun, but this table is faster.

WEIGHT GUIDELINES

“Okay, let’s try to lift the boulder. How much does it weigh?”

I don’t know about you, but this sort of thing happens all the time at my table. I eventually broke down and just did the research so that I’d always have the answer handy, and now I’ve made it handy for you: It’s on the Object Substance Guidelines table right next to hardness and hit points.

I’ve also added an Object Construction Guidelines table to give you some basic guidance in estimating appropriate Break DCs for various objects. Like any guideline, you need to use some common sense. But I’ve actually used this table to estimate how difficult it would be for a high-level character to break a building in half. That was pretty awesome.

AND MORE…

Basically, Legends & Labyrinths does more than just tear 3E down. In the process of streamlining the system, I’ve also worked hard to include all the little tools and tricks I’ve developed over the past decade.

So there’s all kinds of stuff: A better system for building encounters. A system for handling off-mission training. The encumbrance system that’s not only usable, but also fun to use. Simplified mounted combat. Simplified grappling. A basic system for wilderness exploration. Social ranks. Rules for crowds. The guideline on how far a character falls each round. Putting the donning time for armor onto the armor table. Putting splash weapons on the weapons table.

Legends & Labyrinths is designed to give you a streamlined foundation for your fantasy roleplaying. But it’s not born out of the belief that rules are the enemy. It’s born out of the belief that having the right rules is more important than having the most rules.

CLIMB INTO YOUR LABYRINTH AND FORGE YOUR LEGEND TODAY!

I’ve culled out some of the more popular responses to Beta Response 2: The Human Feat and here’s a quick poll. You can vote for multiple options, so lemme know all the ones that look like a good idea to you.

 Loading ...

A few of my quick thoughts on this discussion:

I’m surprised by how popular the idea of Improved Initiative is. I’ve always considered it a fairly weak feat and this was an opinion shared by most of the designers I knew back in the day. Poking around, I can see that it seems to have become popular in the CharOp community 4-5 years ago. Which I suppose makes sense given the set of artificial suppositions the CharOp community generally works in. I’d be interested in hearing a greater elaboration on why people think it’s a must-have feat.

I considered the various “+2 to save X” feats when I was first designing the human. Since any choice seemed fairly arbitrary, I backed away from it. But Iron Will makes sense to me.

The +2 bonus to stunt checks sounds really nifty. I’m hesitant to tie it to an L&L-specific system like that (because I know that part of the appeal of L&L for many people is their ability to parcel out portions of it for utility in their 3E campaign), but it’s definitely got some nice flair to it.

People are starting to talk about Legends & Labyrinths. Let’s take a peek…

Let’s start off with Old School Hack:

He’s got a stripped-down version of 3E that you should support at his site. If for no other reason, it’s got an “encounter budget” system, and a “trap budget” system so you can quickly whip up stuff for the PCs to face without getting bogged down in all the numbers, checks, and balances. It is worth a look!

Legends & Labyrinths: First Impressions from Dreams and Dice:

“There are a lot of neat systems in the book (for stunts, building encounters, and so on), but the one that takes the cake has to be the Sidebar Reference System (SRS). It’s so simple and yet so useful that I can’t believe we’ve spent more than a decade with 3rd Edition (in various forms) and not seen something like this become standard. Whenever rules text (such as a class ability) references another mechanical item (such as the entangled condition or saving throws) or any other item that could send you scrambling to another part of the rulebook to fully understand the rules in question, the mechanic is highlighted in the main text and then described in full in the page’s sidebar. This minimizes page-turning, and also keeps rules text succinct and easy to read if you do remember the mechanic in question, so you’re not forced to slog through long-winded parenthetical notations.

Personally, I think the book’s notable for this alone.

Games I Want to Run from The Wandering Gamist:

The monster design rules are a real standout; I am fairly confident I could put monsters together during play with it, and that they’d be about right in terms of CR. That’s an awesome thing in a 3.x derivative…

The hazard design system is also very cool, providing a quick way to generate CRs for all manner of traps, perilous crossings, and environmental hazards. The stunt system provides a mechanism very similar to Traveller’s task chains, as well as flexible combat options; I wasn’t impressed on first read, but going back for a second, it actually looks pretty slick. The skill system is kind of nice and simple; you’re considered at max ranks for all of your class skills. If you have a low Int, you choose a number of class skills equal to your penalty to not know. Very straightforward, and it means that you’re good at the things your class is supposed to be good at; similar to Iron Heroes‘ skill groups in that regard, but a damn sight less complicated. Other highlights were some notes on wilderness adventures, good rules for hirelings and henchmen, and a number of unusual slimes and molds which didn’t make into the 3.0/.5 DMGs (think along the lines of green slime, but different).

Legends & Labyrinths: First Impressions from Heromeblog:

I think that when I am ready to play 3rd edition again I will be using L&L as my system of choice. In many ways this book is a DMG and PHB in one. I also like the system for making monster, traps and npc’s. (…) If you know what Legends and Labyrinths is trying to do then I think it does just that very well. It has not lost any of the flavor of 3.5 and yet it looks like it can be easier and quicker too use.

Got a blog talking about L&L? Drop a link in the comments!

CLIMB INTO YOUR LABYRINTH AND FORGE YOUR LEGEND TODAY!

A couple days ago, Baquies said he was on the fence and would like to see what the polymorph spell from Legends & Labyrinths to see if I was truly going in a direction he was interested in.

In the immortal words of the Dread Pirate Roberts: As you wish…

POLYMORPH

Polymorph
Sorcerer/Wizard 4
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 minute/level
Target: Willing creature
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

The target of the spell can take the shape of any creature (as specified by the caster at the time of the casting). During the transformation, the target’s equipment can either be left behind, worn by the new form (if physically possible), or melded into the new form (in which case it becomes nonfunctional until the polymorph ends).

The physical duplication of the creature-type is flawless to any observation of the five senses. If the spell is used to duplicate the form of a specific individual, it grants a +10 bonus to the target’s Disguise check. The spell does not, however, change any of the target’s stats except size, reach, and speed (including alternative modes of movement). (The target may look like a dragon, but they cannot breathe fire. They may bear the appearance of an ogre, but they do not possess an ogre’s strength.)

Playtest Tip – Polymorph: The polymorphic matrix can be used to disguise appropriate magical effects. For example, a sorcerer casting cone of cold while polymorphed into a white dragon could use the spell effect to make it appear as if he were using a white dragon’s breath weapon.

DESIGN NOTES

Let me start by saying that this is not, necessarily, a great example of what spells will look like in Legends & Labyrinths. Not because of the degree to which the spell has been simplified (that’s very representative), but because in the case of polymorph that simplification is also quietly hiding errata.

Basically, polymorph was a busted spell in 3rd Edition because the designers said, “The spell physically turns you into a creature. Ergo, any abilities based purely on the physicality of that creature should transfer over.” But that’s basically giving a 4th-level spell the ability to do anything that somebody designing a monster decides should be labeled “extraordinary” instead of “supernatural”. The fact the spell also gives you an essentially limitless buff to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution is also obviously problematic.

In simplifying this spell, therefore, I am also simultaneously saying: “Nope. Not going to play that game. It’s a losing proposition.”

In fact, I originally considered not allowing a change in any stat except size. I eventually added reach because it was too weird having a creature with huge arms which for some reason can’t extend them. (I know that puts me on the same slippery slope, but I’m comfortable with it.) Adding the alternative movement modes was largely a “the whole point of polymorphing into a bird is that you can fly away” thing.

Collectively, this seems to give the spell some innate utility that can’t really be abused.  In terms of use at the table, this isn’t quite as simple as “boom, you’re a dragon”. But as buffs go, applying the appropriate size modifier to your attack rolls, grapple checks, and AC is pretty straight-forward.

ADVANCED THOUGHTS

Since we’re talking polymorph, however, let me also comment on the other half of the house rules I use for the spell in my home campaign: The polymorphic buff spell.

This is a 3rd level spell. Each time you cast it on a polymorphed creature (including yourself), you can either:

• Grant yourself a total +10 buff to your physical ability scores. (This can be spread out across the ability scores any way you like, but the final score of any ability cannot exceed the maximum value of the creature you’ve turned into.)
• Mimic any one natural attack or extraordinary ability possessed by the creature. (DM reserves the right  to veto anything too insane.)

I’ve boosted the duration of polymorph to 10 minutes/level, but the duration of polymorphic buff is 1 round/level. I also allow partial polymorphs. (So, for example, you can use a polymorph spell to give yourself the head of a dire bear and then use polymorph self to strengthen your teeth so that you can deliver a 2d8 + Str damage attack with it.)

And for a home campaign, this basically works. The common sense veto is essential, though, for making it work (since there’s some crazy extraordinary abilities lurking out there).

With the monster creation system of Legends & Labyrinths as a base to work from, though, I’m thinking there may be another way of handling polymorphic buff: Basically, the caster can grant any one (form-appropriate) ability with a power rank determined by their caster level. So, for example, a 5th-level caster could grant an ability that costs up to 6 power ranks (the power ranks granted to a CR 5 creature).

Or maybe it’s half the power ranks. I’m not sure. I’d have to run some math and do some playtesting.

You could probably also toss in giving any polymorphed creature a natural attack equal to the core attack damage of a creature with a CR equal to the caster level (if appropriate to the form).

Anyway, at this point I’m just musing.

CLIMB INTO YOUR LABYRINTH AND FORGE YOUR LEGEND TODAY!