Maximum Realism in D20 the Easy Way

When, just for fun I set out to use my D20 books to create a system that seemed to have the maximum amount of realism I was surprised how easy this was.

It took me only three steps to do it

#1 Use E6 or E8 if you want slightly super human skills or easier integration.

#2 Use the excellent Codex Martialis (info here and purchase here) and reviews here

#3 Graft in the bleeding and HP rules from D20 Game of Thrones

This turns D&D into a pretty good medieval combat simulator and while picking a magic system and using monsters was slightly tricky on the whole, other than GURPS or the now defunct The Riddle of Steel rpg, I've never seen a more realistic combat system out there.

Not bad for mechanic that at its core is designed more for Fantasy Supers is it ?

The Only Place I Absolutely Insist on Realism, Item Weights

Item weights once place I insist the game rules need to more or less match reality.

I've handled waterskins, mail armor, shields, historical swords, leather packs, food similar to iron rations and lots more. I know what they weigh and there is no way that I am going to be able to ignore nonsense like 10lb swords (like 2e Bastard Sword) and 100lb armor. And yes as much as I loved old school these days, item weights well, were one of the clear cut cases of "Good Old Days Weren't" with old school games.


Happily I have plenty of information on better weights and am not at the mercy of game writers who research was well, lacking.

Hot Elf Chick? RUN!

When I think of Hot Elf Chicks this is what I think of.

La Belle Dam Sans Merci.


My advice is if you see a hot elf chick , don't hang around to mack on her, RUN! Elves are well as Sir Terry puts it (reposted here)

Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvelous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look behind words that have changed their meaning.
No one ever said elves are nice.
Elves are bad.

Terry Pratchett, Lords And Ladies

Now if you traffic with that lot and something awful comes of it, don't tell me I didn't give you fair warning.

Real Life Level Titles

Yes this is kind of tacky as its about female drug cartel assassins but still I was taken by the almost D&D-ish aspects of the set up.

The original article is here

but this is the relevant part

Men, they do it for fun, because they enjoy killing, it makes them feel like big sh** Screw that. Us women, we get into this for the money. Well at least that was the way it was for me. That we get into this for love, that’s bullsh**. Like I was saying: I got into this when I was twenty years old. At first I was a “cleaner,” I mopped up vomit and blood. After I was a messenger and a gopher, and from there, I moved up to a “condor”—I hunted down the enemies. Then I was a “lynx”—I abducted and tortured people, and from there I became a sicaria [assassin]. That’s the way it went down, vato. Since then, I’ve been a killer.

What struck me most aside from the violence, which is an unpleasant part of human nature is how
D&D the whole thing was. As the lady in question gained experience through violence, her skills improved and her guild, in this case, the cartel, trusted her with more difficult work. She even had a title at each stages.

L1 Cleaner
L2 Messenger
L3 Gopher
L4 Condor
L5 Lynx
L6 Sicaria (Spanish for Assassin, name level basically)

Its kind of sobering to think how when we play more unscrupulous characters how close we are to playing these kids of people. Now mind , I am not making a moral objection, here I am not TSR circa 1989 or anything. And to be frank, being bad has its attractions just as much as being good at least as long as its fiction anyway.

Bringing the game down to Earth by limiting Spells

There has been a bit of chit chat around the 3x/Pathfinder community, and the Trollsmyth as and Dragonsfoot about bringing the game back down to Earth.

The usual solution is something called E6 which essentially limits the game by declaring anything over 6th level as Epic.

I even seen this taken as far as Holmes as the whole game over on Dragonsfoot


As a big fan of the hex crawl and of low level play I can see the attraction here, its using the familiar and fun D&D game engine of your choice to play down to Earth "realistic" Heroes that feel more like Conan than Goku.

However I think there is an easier way. Limit spells. As I see it the real trouble makers are not high level fighters and rogues or even the blaster mages, but a whole raft of "suck the fun from the game" spells.

My list (taken in part from here) (who also has an excellent TFT page, here)

Air Walk
Astral Projection
Blink
Dimension Door
Ethereal Jaunt
Etherealness
Fly
Mass Fly
Mass Overland Flight
Mount
Overland Flight
Pass Wall
Phantom Steed
Phase Door
Plane Shift
Refuge
Rope Trick
Shadow Walk
Teleport
Teleport Greater
Teleport Object
Teleportation Circle
Transport via Flames
Transport via Plants
Tree Stride
Wind Walk
Word of Recall
Clone
Raise Dead
Resurrection
Reincarnate
True Resurrection
Gate
Magnificent Mansion
Refuge
Rope Trick
Secure Shelter
Tiny Hut

plus any other spells like these. and while you are at it limit the duration of wall of iron and wall of stone to say 10 minutes (1 turn) per level .If desired you can also get rid of Bags of Holding and similar items and spells like Secret Chest. Heck if you want to take it to the max, ban rings of sustenance, food and item creation spells and continual light too.

When you do this your spell casters become much more mortal, still needing to find shelter, food and supplies. In addition they can't just appear at the adventure Instead they have to travel like everyone else. Time for a Hex Crawl!

Best of all this does not preclude cool travel items if desired, flying ships, magic mounts and whatever.

Also if you don't want to be a total ogre you might still allow a fly or even mass fly spell at 1 round a level or even the regular duration. Even at 20th level its more a problem solver and combat spell then a plot ender anyway.

These limits still allow a lot of creative fun on the part of the players of all classes while getting rid of most of the shortcuts that can take the game in what some might consider too fantastic a direction..

As for the HP/AC issue. Its nothing to be concerned about in old school games (they cap at 10ish anyway ) but Pathfinder DM's may want to create an alternative system. Its up to you.

Acrobatic in Armor: Yep

Just in case anyone wondered, armor is not particularly encumbering, certainly not enough to slow down someone by half. And while yes armor is really hot and somewhat encumbering and deserving of a penalty to endurance and to acrobatic maneuvers it has only a moderate effect on agility.

Most of 2e and before were written before we new anything about armor. So a lot of what shows up in books is flat wrong and comes from stuff like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court more than any scholarship .

The limiting factor on armor was its cost, think "buying your own tank" cost not just a fraction of your starting wealth.

Now when I play B/X or Labyrinth Lord I use the rules pretty much as written. They aren't "historically accurate" but they work and thats good enough. I do tend to be generous though and I never penalize any Dex to AC bonus or anything like that.

A video for the interested, on You Tube showing a workout in what D&D calls Plate Mail or Field Plate depending on edition