Initial notes about an ACKS Sorcerer

Art by Hannah Saunders (c) 2017 Stellagama Publishing

First post of 2018! Happy new year!

Sorcerers. The dread of normal men, who huddle behind their walls in fear of the feared men and women who wield unearthly power. Scourge of the stalwart warrior and barbaric brave, who cower from the sorcerer's eldritch might. Horror of eternity, steeped in the occult in life, terrifying in eternal undeath when they transcend the grave.

Sorcerers are the latter half of "Sword and Sorcery", the first half being the courageous sword-wielding barbarian who dares face such magical power. An archetype of a spellcaster, in many cases a monstrous villain, but sometimes a valuable ally.

The mage given in ACKS Core emulates a sorcerer to a certain degree, but its roots still stay in the old Dungeons & Dragons magic-user. Sorcerers in fiction often have powers similar both to these of mages and those of clerics; they transcend the dichotomy between arcane and divine. Indeed, they study tomes of ancient lore, but often have dealings with all sorts of deities.

This is why I am writing up a sorcerer. It can serve both in a traditional Sword & Sorcery ACKS game, as well as in my Blighted Future post-apocalyptic setting - where "exotic" quantum breached reality and allowed the occult forces of Chaos to pour through.

Right now this class uses rules from Aurach's Axioms Issue 1 - a highly recommended product for ACKS. The final version of the sorcerer will, itself, include all necessary rules (thanks G-d for the Open Game License and the creativity it inspires).

Sorcerers summon. They do not control the domain of psychics, namely detection and illusion spells, but they are particularly potent in calling allies from beyond this world, far beyond the ACKS Core mage. They are not very flashy casters - and far from mastering blast spells - but have a strong grip on matters of life and death.

Using the Axiom rules, I have built Sorcery as a magic type. They are somewhat more potent than clerics, but significantly weaker than mages. This, however, allows them a far lower XP cost, as well as having full sorcerous power at 2 class build points (as per the ACKS Player's Companion). A sorcerer can, thus, wield weapons or have varied non-spell powers as common in sword & sorcery tales. Alternatively, the all-out sorcerer, at sorcerer class level 4 and at the hefty cost of 3,200 XP to reach level 2, is a powerful caster - enjoying a large number of spells per day.

Here are my notes for building the sorcerer's spell list. This refers to levels, not actual spells; for example, "casts blast as a cleric" does not mean that it is limited to divine blast spells as given in ACKS Core, but rather that its spell power level in regard to blast spells follows the cleric. The spell categories are as per the ACKS Player's Companion.

Blast - as cleric

Death - as mage

Detection - unavailable

Enchantment - as mage

Healing - as cleric

Illusion - unavailable

Movement - as cleric

Protection - standard as cleric and mage

Summoning - 75% of mage! The sorcerer's big forte.

Transmogrification - as mage

Wall - as cleric

A "full" sorcerer class category is at 2 build points and 800 XP. For example, a sorcerer with reasonable fighting abilities - Fighting value 1 and Hit Point value 1 (both at 500 XP) will require a mere 1,800 XP to reach level 2 - faster leveling than a fighter. My intention for the base "sorcerer" class is to do just that, though I'd be tempted to use the Thievery 2 class value instead - that version of the sorcerer will be weak in combat, but will level fast and will enjoy a wide variety of non-spell powers.

Sorcerers are studious - they gain their spells from study like mages and receive bonus spells for high Intelligence.

Like mages, sorcerers can perform magical research:

Research spells at level 5

Scribe scrolls at level 5

Brew potions at level 5

Create permanent magic items at level 9

Cast ritual spells at level 11

Create crossbreeds at level 11

Grant unlife at level 11

Sorcerers advance in saving throws slowly - by 2 points every 6 levels.

They may use magic items intended both for clerics and for mages.

A sorcerer's prime requisites are both INT and WIS.

Sorcerers cost an additional sum of 150,000 XP per level after the 8th level.

Sorcerers use the Shades of Magic code of behavior. At sorcerer class value 2, this grants them the ability to rebuke and command undead as a cleric of their level, as appropriate to a dread necromancer! The price, however, is that some spells are designated as Black Magic - especially summoning creatures from thin air and animated the dead; these have a corrupting influence on the sorcerer (sorcerers are good in summoning, but certain summoning spells are black magic - and usually powerful - so the temptation is huge). There are Grey Magic spells, such as transmogrification spells cast at unwilling targets, which may be corrupting if used against Lawful or Neutral sapient creatures, and non-corrupting otherwise. Finally, there are White Magic spells, such as healing spells, which are safe.

Come the ACKS-Pocalypse (Blighted Future): Technology in the Blighted Future

Two weeks ago I wrote here about my new setting idea for ACKS: a far-future post-apocalyptic setting which I now call Blighted Future. This takes place an indeterminate number of centuries into the future, after an apocalyptic war involving nuclear, chemical, biological, nanotechnological, and "exotic" quantum (read: reality-bending) weapons. The world regressed to a medieval society, where the majority of resurgent humanity toil in the fields in meager subsistence farming, ruled by feudal lords. The wilds are vast and dangerous, and ancient technology awaits in long-forgotten bunkers. In other words, this is "usual" ACKS set in an apocalyptic future.

The subject of this post is that of technology. Before the war, humanity was very advanced - capable of producing highly durable goods, energy weapons, wonder drugs, semi-sentient (or sentient in some cases) robots, and reality-warping "exotic" quantum weapons.

All of this went up in radioactive smoke when the bombs fell.

Current blighted future technology ranges from stone age to early Renaissance. The average, and most common, technological level resembles the Dark Ages. Dark ages with shields made from old traffic signs and plate armor made from pre-war boilers, that is. Crop rotation and stirrups, but nothing mechanized beyond the windmill and arbalest level. Bloomeries for smelting scrap metal, but rarely blast furnaces.

In terms of arms and armor, some city-states can manufacture firearms out of scrap, but these never exceed the flintlock level. Even then, unreliable trade means that the various materials necessary to manufacture good gun powder and firearms are expensive and in short supply. Most people use swords, bows, and spears - which are far easier to make from low-grade scrap or local materials. Scrap also allows primitive armor, but high-grade plate mail is rare as it requires better steel and craftmanship, which are uncommon.

Scholars, particularly sorcerers, sometimes learn how to manufacture wondrous technology resembling pre-war achievements. However, these are expensive and complicated beyond imagining. This has two reasons.

The first is that modern technology requires a vast manufacturing infrastructure. A village in early 21st century Afghanistan can manufacture AK-47s. However, this requires parts and materials produced by industrialized countries. Low-grade scrap is common in the blighted future. However, materials and tools good enough to assemble pre-war technology - even a good revolver, not to mention a laser rifle - are exceedingly rare and no living person or organization can produce them. The only exception are sorcerers in their abodes - and even they require high-grade pre-war parts for any complex technological project.

The second is a cargo-cult attitude to science and technology. Science is a way of thinking, and so is engineering. A modern-day scientist or engineer approaches problems in a skeptical and rational manner. Based on scientific knowledge, he knows how to deduce solutions from evidence. Not so in the blighted future. Centuries of primitive subsistence eroded this crowning achievement of modern thought. Instead, people approach problems from a mystical point of view and cannot separate superstition from fact. This includes sorcerers. Thus, they approach problems not from their underlying principles, but from their appearance.

For example, Blattus, a 9th level sorcerer, wants to build an assault rifle. He spends many sacks of gold on excellent scrap parts brought by adventurers from old ruins. He then researches the many texts written by previous post-war sorcerers on this subject - as pre-war blueprints are both impossibly rare and baffling to the sorcerer. Such tomes arose from experimentation. This experience includes a vast amount of superstition. For example, a previous sorcerer built an assault rifle, but during its construction he prayed to a dread idol. The gun worked, so he wrote down that this prayer helped. Add many layers of such flawed "deduction", and the entire production process becomes arcane.

In short, the lack of a technological base and magical thinking (which sometimes works! notice the "exotic" quantum weapons and their effects...) makes advanced technology indistinguishable from magic.

Thus, making technological items follows the magic item creation rules in ACKS.

The other way to acquire advanced technology, of course, is to delve into ancient ruins and bunkers...

Streamlined ship combat rules for Classic Traveller

One problem I always had with the Classic Traveller Book 2 (and Cepheus Engine) space combat system is the number of rolls per combat turn. Think about it - even the small Patrol Cruiser has 3 turrets with 3 lasers each. This means no less than 9 attack throws per round! Now imagine a small battle between a Mercenary Cruiser with a full complement of turrets and two Patrol Cruisers...

My players generally love rolling dice but this means far too many of them, not to mention a huge amount of attack throws by NPCs.

Classic Traveller Book 5: High Guard solves much of this, but serves for large-scale naval battles between multi-kton battleships better than for small-ship scuffles as envisioned by Classic Traveller Book 2.

Therefore, I propose the following streamlined rules. Their main purpose is to make combat a little bit more abstract and thus facilitate games in which the PCs are bridge crew of a medium to large (in small-ship universe, that is) starship. I recommend using the core CT Book 2 rules when refereeing battles between a few lightly armed small ships, such as a Free Trader ambushed by one or two pirate ships.


Turrets and Batteries
Each turret makes one attack, regardless of the number of weapons it carries. All weapons in one turret, with the exception of the lone turret of a 100-ton ship, should be of the same type. Two weapons attack in one roll with DM+2; three, with DM+4. damage is as usual for a single weapon. This reduces the rolls by a factor of 3 right out of the box. (this is inspired by a house rule posted by tbeard199 on CotI).

Ships with 4 or more turrets may have batteries of 4 turrets each. Any remainder of turrets attack individually. Each battery has one weapon type and all turrets should be identical. Attack is with DMs as above for multiple weapons per turret. Make a single attack per battery using the battery commander's Gunnery skill. However, damage "explodes" - for every 2 points (rounded up) the throw exceeds 8, the battery makes an additional hit. For example, Effect 1 makes two hits, and Effect 5 makes 4 hits (this is inspired by the Striker automatic fire rules). A single battery can generate up to 4 hits.

For example, a 1000-ton Light Cruiser has 10 triple laser turrets. It makes 4 attack throws per round: one for each battery, and one for each non-battery turrets. This is instead the 30 throws it would have made under the baseline rules.

Weapons do damage as usual - for example, three hits from a pulse laser battery will mean 8 rolls on the damage table.



Fighter Mass Combat
Fighters operate in flights of up to 3 fighters. Two fighters make one attack throw together at DM+2; three, at DM+4.

Use the flight leader's Piloting skill as a -DM to hit the flight. Furthermore, fighters at 3G to 5G acceleration are at a further DM-1 to hit and at 6G, DM-2. Apply software DMs as usual. Any hit on a flight "mission-kills" one fighter.

After the battle, resolve the actual damage for mission-killed fighters - in many cases, the pilot survives, and/or the fighter is salvageable. Throw 2D, DM +the flight leader's Pilot skill. On a roll of 6-, the fighter is destroyed; 7-9; cockpit hit - throw 6+ to safely eject and avoid death; 10-11, fighter heavily damaged but salvageable; 12+, fighter knocked out but easily repairable.

Four flights are a squadron which attacks like a battery.
  
Missiles
For streamlined combat, missiles move either in salvos of 3 missiles each, or in barrages of 12 missiles. Anti-missile fire targets the entire salvo or barrage. For each two points a single laser turret's anti-missile attach throw exceeds 8, remove one missile, up to a number equal to the turret's lasers (e.g. 3 for a triple turret). Batteries destroy one missile per single point the throw exceeds 8.

Any remaining missile hitting the target causes 1D hits as usual.

Revenant "Race" for ACKS

(c) Seamartini www.fotosearch.com Stock Photography

Some say that death brings final rest and respite to man. However, some spirits cannot rest. Drawn to the living world by an oath unfulfilled or a mortal sin unconfessed, these revenants emerge, restless, from the grave to right the wrongs of their former lives. Many are monstrous undead, acting in vile ways to pursue the crimes they committed while living. A few, however, evade the dark grasp of Chaos and retain their free will. Some retain their own morality.

Revenants are undead, albeit free-willed undead. They must consume the blood and flesh of living or recently dead sentient beings to heal and exist. A Chaotic revenant will gleefully engage in cannibalism. A Neutral one, on the other hand, will steal corpses from coffins and gallows, feed on the flesh of evil men and beastmen, and drink some of the blood of the living while keeping them alive.

A revenant has a mission. This might be vengeance, or maybe redemption. Its player must choose a mission which will allow for a long campaign - a long-term mission rather than a short-term one. This mission will take precedence over other goals, as it alone keeps the dead character walking. Once completed, the revenant should usually die; alternatively, a Judge may allow continued play pursuing a new goal, especially if other player characters - spell-casters and their allies - have already turned into sentient undead through magical research, or plan to do so.

As noted above, revenants have free will. Enough free that a player would be able to play them as any other player's character. However, note that they are reviled by their very nature, and must take great efforts to disguise their true form, lest the living  cower in fear from this visage, or try to slay the unliving character. Thus, the prudent Judge should consider this race carefully, and only allow experienced players to play it.

By the Law of nature and Law of the Divine, a revenant shouldn't exist; death should be final. Thus, a revenant may be Neutral or Chaotic, but never Lawful, even if they walk the land to pursue a Lawful cause or calling.

Requirements:

A revenant must have Constitution and Wisdom scores of 12 each.

Class category values:

• A revenant class may have any category value. However, it may not choose a spell-caster class with a Lawful code of behavior and it may not turn undead. In case of a Divine spell-caster, it must choose Control undead instead.

• Revenants with an Arcane class cannot use spell research to become undead - as it is already undead.

Revenant 0 (100xp):

• Relentless: The revenant is unaffected by the paralysis ghouls can inflict, and gain a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Petrification/Paralysis and Spells (reskinned Connection to Nature). 1 power.

• Dead Soul: The revenant is dead and cursed and is beyond the capability of magic to return to life. It cannot be restored by Restore Life and Limb. Instead, this requires Animate Dead; after the spell is cast, roll on the Tampering with Mortality table. The revenant, of course, stays dead, but may be reanimated into undeath. Furthermore, it suffers a penalty on the 1d20 roll of the Tampering with Mortality table of -1 per level of experience.

• Dead: a revenant is not a living being and thus it does not have to breathe. It also does not have to eat and drink except for healing purposes (see below). It is also immune to all forms of disease and poison including magical ones. 2 powers.

• Sleepless: a revenant does not have to sleep, and cannot sleep even if it desires to do so. It is also immune to all sleep powers and effects. 1 power.

• Reverse healing: a revenant is undead. Therefore, regular healing spells damage it, while reverse healing spells (such as Harm) heal it. Potions of Healing damage the revenant. -1 power.

• Unholy: a revenant may be turned like any other undead of the same HD and are vulnerable to weapons and other effects (such as holy water) which harm the undead. However, their strength of will and the importance of their mission - which brought them back from the grave - allow them a save vs. death, with a +2 bonus, to escape the effects of turning. If this save fails, a "turned" result works like a fear spell; a "destroyed" result instantly slays the character; and a "controlled" result works as a charm effect. -2 powers.

• Deathly Visage: a revenant suffers -2 on reaction rolls vs. any non-Chaotic beings, and enjoys +2 to reaction rolls with Chaotic beings. 0 powers.

• Bloody Healing: the revenant does not heal naturally. Instead, it can only heal by magical means, or by consuming the flesh or blood of living or recently-dead sentient beings. One XP worth or creature eaten heals one hit point in the revenant. The revenant may also drink the blood of a living being. This requires a willing or incapacitated target, reduces the target's hit points by half of its regular maximum, and heals the revenant as if the target had half of its regular XP. -1 power.

• Profane Endurance: like many undead, the revenant resists mundane damage. At 1st level, the character gains a +2 bonus to AC and decrease the damage from any non-magical attacks by 1 point per die. At 7th level, this protection increases to +4 AC and 2 points per die. At 13th level, the protection increases to +6 AC and 3 points per die. The damage reduction is applied per die. Damage can be reduced to 0, but not less than 0, on each die. this AC bonus from stacks with potions of invulnerability, rings of protection, and similar effects, but does not stack with armor. Attacks from monsters of 5 HD or more are considered magical attacks due to the monster’s ferocity; the same goes to silver weapons.

Revenant 1 (600xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD 1 (500xp)

Revenant 2 (1,100xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD 1 (500xp)
• Fighting 1 (500xp)

Revenant 3 (1,600xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD 2 (1,000xp)
• Fighting 1 (500xp)

Revenant 4 (2,100xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD2 (1,000xp)
• Fighting 2 (1,000xp)

Additional XP requirement after level 8: 40,000xp.

FREE character sheet for These Stars Are Ours!

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Barrowmaze Play Report: Iconoclasm and... OH SH#@, RUN!

Gaming Supplies
(and a D&D 5E quitstart kit being used as a dice tray)

Our lucky dwarves delves, again, into Barrowmaze, escaping death once more by the skin of their teeth. This time, however, they messed with a god! The statue of one, more accurately. They also fulfilled the OSR motto, according to which, "OSR" stands for "OH, SH#@, RUN!".

We are using ACKS rules, with three house rules so far:

1. Thieves and thief-like characters (e.g. Dwarven Delver) add their Dexterity modifier to Move Silently, Hide in Shadows, Open Lock, Pick Pockets, and Disarm Traps rolls.
2. War dogs take Henchman "slots" and are limited by them.
3. War dogs get Mortally Wounded and may be stabilized by a character with Animal Husbandry. This, of course, entails a roll on the Mortal Wounds table for the poor hound.

The Lucky Dwarves:

• Boulderson the Lucky - Level 2 Dwarven Craft Priest - Eliran
• Rufus Chikenfoot - Level 2 Dwarven Delver - Itai
• + Angus the Cleaver - Level 1 Dwarven Fury - Rufus' henchman
• And dogs, Lots of dogs.

Revised Barrowmaze Map

And thus our heroes tried their luck again among the Mounds. They approached Mound 10, which was sealed, and made a whole ruckus trying to smash its door open. Three giant scorpions came to check what tasty snack makes that noise. The dwarves tried swinging at them but the creatures' armor was too tough and it was apparent that they bear venom. So... OH, SH#@, RUN! And the heroic band decided that discretion was the better part of valor. They ran as fast as they could, and eventually the scorpions lost interest in them.

From there, they walked again to their usual hunting ground - Mound 16, from which a secret staircase - well-known to them - leads to the Barrowmaze dungeon proper. There, they carefully explored the tombs. First came a ransacked burial hall - the dwarves recalled the tomb robbers encountered in a previous foray - and then a well-preserved one. Angus and Rufus wanted to search the many burial alcoves for treasure, but Boulderson the Craft Priest strongly objected. He has no problem looting the undead or Chaotic tombs, but sealed tombs of ordinary people, he believes, are not to be disturbed. However, while Boulderson built a small shrine from stones and performed a short ceremony in memory of the dead, Rufus managed to secretly search some of the burial alcoves and pilfer a few treasures - for himself. A third chamber had a cracked ceiling and two long-dead skeletons in it; luckily, the heroes avoided a collapse.

From there they marched down a long, dark corridor and checked a room to their right. It was a temple to Nergal - complete with an altar and a large stone statue of the dread god. Boulderson approach the altar, and narrowly avoided falling into a pit trap! Not only that, but curses and shouts in Dwarven came from the now-open pit! With a rope, they managed to rescue Ard Cobblestone, a 2מג level Dawrven Vaultguard, from the pit. He was hungry and dehydrated, but once fed, he thanked them and agreed to join them in their exploration of Barrowmaze.

Boulderson sensed great Chaotic evil in the altar. Despite the fact that it appears to allow some sort of augury, he raised his hammer and smashed it!

Nergal was not pleased.

The statue awakened! It attacked the dwarven (and canine) group with zeal. This large animated statue was very tough, and very dangerous with its fists. Our cunning heroes, however, thought of a way to topple this heavy monstrosity by throwing a net and ropes (all of which they had) on its head and drag it, with the muscle of four burly dwarves, into the pit. This didn't work well. However, luckily, they did manage to injure the statue, then push it into the pit with their combined efforts, making it an easy target to their rocks. Thus the dwarves smashed down this unholy idol and walked away - alive but injured.

While they survived the statue and defeated it with great valor, they also made a tremendous amount of noise. This brought about a whole pack of giant rats looking for fresh meat. The same heroes who smashed down a heathen idol, now faced a lesser, but not less lethal, threat. Injured, they remembered the OSR motto... OH, SH#@, RUN! And ran for their lives.

They didn't run fast enough, and a giant rat bit Boulderson in his legs. Rufus carried him and continued running; when tending to his wounds when they reached relative safety, he found out that both of Boulderson's legs were mangled.

Expensive magic corrected that, eventually, but brushing again and again with death now torments Boulderson (the Craft Priest) greatly; one in three nights, on average, he suffers from recurring nightmares which deny him sleep, rest, and spells...

Thus concluded the session.

Come the ACKS-pocalypse

I imagined (dreamed/thought at night, in fact) a post-apocalyptic ACKS. Not necessarily an all-out Gonzo apocalypse - Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu does the Gonzo job wonderfully well - but rather an apocalypse after which Humanity regressed to a medieval technological level and to feudalism.

Domain management works as in vanilla ACKS, as does the rest of the economy and society.

Possible use of "exotic" (or "quantum") weapons alongside the usual nuclear and biochemical weapons led to various mutations and possibly "magic" as well. 

Instead of magic items, most of what you get are high-tech pre-war artifacts, as well as S.T.A.L.K.E.R-style Chaotic artifacts created by the "exotic" weapons. Monsters/mutants are results of pre-war advanced bio-engineering and the "exotic" weapons.

Possible invasion of Lovecraftian entities due to use of "exotic" weapons.

There is the Blight - a collective term for radiation and bio-contamination, as well reality-wrapping Chaotic effects of the "exotic" weapons. The Blight causes mutations and can cause sickness and death. This is similar to Kelly Roberge (K-Slacker)'s Creep rules.

Fighters, thieves, explorers, assassins - work as per the base rules.

Mages, clerics, and other casters - removed and replaced by psychics and sorcerers. Both use traditional spellcaster rules, similar a bit to a mage. Psychics use psionics, which are quite limited in scope and power but safe to the caster; mostly divination and charm-type "spells", very little actual damaging spells. Psychics cannot create "magic items".

Sorcerers, on the other hand, take risks and mess around with Chaos, which is nasty; they follow the Shades of Magic rules from Axioms 1. Anything damaging or mind-controlling, among other similar things, is Black Magic. Using black magic invites Chaotic influence, and thus Blight. Thus, sorcerers seek pre-war artifacts to gain power from rather than risk frequent use of black magic. They may assemble all sorts of contraptions from scrap, but these are expensive; without the pre-war industrial infrastructure, building even a simple automatic weapon is a major undertaking, even if there is pre-war scrap at hand. Building such devices uses the magic item creation rules in ACKS.

Both psychics and sorcerers can heal; in fact, this is a safe white magic spell.

Machinist rules are perfect for the tech-artificer who builds robots from scratch! But this time in a human rather than a Dwarf.

Mutants are a race - and one with low XP cost. They gain two rolls on a beneficial mutation table and one on a negative mutation table. Each mutation is a Power as per the Player's Companion. Thus, the negative mutation evens out one positive mutation, and what we are left with are one positive mutation and blight resistance - 2 powers, 100XP. Higher levels of the Mutant race grant more mutations.

Robots are also a race - but much, much more expensive. Very tough at low levels, but progressing through levels at a snail's pace. They need no food or water and are resistant to Blight, but normal healing magic or stim packs do not heal them - they need repairs (as automatons?).

You can justify almost any monster by the combination of radiation, pre-war bio/cyber-technology, and invading Chaotic entities.

Between this and my Elysian Empire, my head is full of ACKS ideas!