When I started this I had no intention of providing experience adjustments for high attributes, but the more i read of the OSR, the more I decided to do so… as long as I went back far enough. I’ll let Stephen Wendell explain.
https://www.donjonlands.com/2022/11/three-paradigms-evolution-of-ability-score-adjustments-and-the-prime-requisite-bonus-in-old-school-dd.html
Like many other people in the OSR, I find the Complementary
style elegant: smarter and wiser fighters get bonuses that can offset a lower
strength score when it comes to getting that sweet, sweet experience point
bonus. The OD&D rule has a lit of fiddly bits, so I’m also going to gleefully
steal Ivan the Unpleasant’s house rule for this (https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/nviwox/on_prime_requisites_and_xp_adjustments/)
and just use his secondary attributes
• Fighters and Dwarves have Strength as primary and Erudition and Divine Favor
as secondary.
• Thieves have Dexterity as primary and Erudition and Divine Favor as
secondary.
• Clerics have Wisdom as primary and Strength and Erudition as secondary.
• Mages have Intelligence as primary and Dexterity and Divine Favor as
secondary.
• Halflings are treated as both a fighter and a thief, i.e. halflings add their
Int bonus (if they have one) and their Wis bonus (if they have one) to both
their Str and their Dex for the purpose of figuring XP adjustments.
• Elves are treated as fighters and mages separately, adding any Eru bonus to
their Str, any Dex bonus to their Int, and any DF bonus to both their Str and
Int when figuring XP adjustments.
This all works on the standard table from B/X
Prime
Requisite |
Modifier to
earned XP |
3-5 |
-20% |
6-8 |
-10% |
9-12 |
0 |
13-15 |
+5% |
16-18 |
+10% |
The one PC we have rolled up so far, evynrude’s Fighter has
the following
Str 12 (+0); Eru 13 (+1); DF 9 (+0), Dex 18 (+3); Con 9 (+0); Cha 13 (+1)
which means she has an effective Prime Requite of 13 (her 12 Strength is
increased by +1 from her superior Erudition). While she has an amazing
Dexterity that doesn’t factor into a Fighter’s prime requisite. Her Strength isn’t
increased for purposes of hit and damage, but it does get her that sweet, sweet
+5% on earned XP. The character sheet will have to have an entry for “effective
prime requisite” next to experience points. But this all feels much better than lowering some attributes to raise others.
Why designate “Earned XP”? I’ve just decided that since the
rules are specific on this, there are going to be places in the Giant’s Shadow
where you can get Gifted XP – usually from the gods or powerful magical effects
– and those are not subject to a modifier from your prime requisite.
Likewise, I’m going to be including more places that modify
your attributes on a semi-permanent basis. There’s already a curse that cuts
your prime requisite in half (a standard curse effect), and a trap that if it should
have killed you instead mangles your hand for -3 Dex until you can get some magical
healing from a 6th level caster (which is, admittedly, better than
being dead).
I’m really appreciating the way these rules are interacting
to make the characters more distinct and dynamic, especially if they can change
frequently during play.
No comments:
Post a Comment