Troll Lord Games

Sorry for my ignorance but I am just entering the world of retro clones RPG and AD&D. While retro clones are numerous, the good news is that many of them are easily interchangable. Castles & Crusades , Swords & Wizardry , Labyrinth Lord , Fantastic Heroes & Witchery , and of course 1st and 2nd AD&D...

Welcome to the forums! How much experience you choose depends on how fast you want the characters to advance. But a 10x difference seems extreme; makes me wonder if there is a typo. Which monster(s) have that big of an XP difference? One thing to remember though, is that XP awards don't have to be s...

Here's an idea, what if there was an AC bonus that increased with level, but if a character wore armor it would suppliment that bonus. The bonus would range from +1 to +3 at first level and then increase by +1 every 2/3/4 levels 9depending on class). You could also allow classes that have more trai...

Agree on both points. I've always kicked around the idea of making armor damage reduction instead of protection. But it looks to be tooooo big a change to the fundamental setup of the rules and how attacks AC & HP work together. With that, if I ever did armor reduces damage, I'd say that a crit hit...

Captain_K wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:34 am

I like damage reduction for armor but I still like seeing the plate mailed knight bleed to death from a dagger strike...

That's what critical hits are for. And things like sneak attack could be justified as bypassing armor (getting between the gaps, etc).

-Fizz

A bare wire is a great conductor... when you grab it you get shocked... I would NOT want to test plate mail protecting you as you're in contact with it... Indeed you are correct. You'd have to be very well insulated from the plate mail- some sort of non-conductive padding. And since lightning strik...

Note this is not an endorsement walking into a thunderstorm while wearing full plate mail. Don't do that! :) Why not? If it would keep electricity from going through your body you have nothing to worry about. Because i can't guarantee that a suit of plate mail acts as a perfect Faraday Cage. If it'...

Electrical attacks might not hurt you as much since you're not wearing metal. I might argue that metal would potentially protect you from electrical attacks. Electricity follows that path of least resistance, so rather than the electrical current being forced through your flesh, it would flow throu...

Hrmmm.... i don't know... looks a little bit 3E'ish to me...

I don't know of anyone else who has done this. I can see it being useful, particularly as a quick reference table. So go for it.

-Fizz

I think my ideal organization is a cross between 2nd ed spheres and 3E domains. 2nd ed spheres constituted the priest's available spells, but the groupings were not well-defined. While in 3E, the domains were well-defined and specific, but only contaied a single spell at each level, and were more of...

See I really disagree there. Back Attack is basically the equivalent of the AD&D Backstab. So the Rogue needs to catch the victim unaware either by hiding in shadows or moving silently....or both depending on the situation. The attack must be from behind, must be small melee weapon, and must the vi...

As you say, AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook had spheres, and i have found that it adapts well to C&C. I really liked the concept, but i do admit the actual organization of the spells was a bit wonky. Some spheres were properly focused on common aspects (say, weather, combat, animals), but others ...

Captain_K wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:40 am

Natural 20 on a back stab.... does it do extra damage?

In my games, yes. Backstabs may be rare, but they are to be feared. Though if you have assassins in your game, you need to be careful to not overshadow their instant-kill ability.

-Fizz

I don't think i've played with one, but i hear stories from my family about my one older brother. He had a habit of playing a CE half-orc assassin (AD&D), and would kill off the party in their sleep. Yeah he could be a bit of a jerk. Heh.

-Fizz

Captain_K wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 10, 2020 11:21 am

Color prints on cotton paper just fine, its just not glossy..

Is the 2nd printing of the CKG in color? And does it use glossy or cotton paper? I assume the 3rd printing will use glossy paper.

-Fizz

Kayolan wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:30 am

just bought a pristine copy of Classic Monsters for for $5 at the TLG store (on sale now!)

Been eyeing that too, but shipping to Canada is high for a single book. I wonder if they have an old copy of M&T 4th printing they could include with it... Trolls?

-Fizz

black and white, standard print on high cotton content paper... it is what make a TOME real... magazines are high gloss pictures.. nothing in real life is glossy (unless its moist, and no one likes that). I do prefer the high cotton paper over the glossy, but i like color too. That is why the 5th p...

Regarding the cover- i see the alternate cover has been unlocked, and we have the option of whether we want the standard or alternate cover. The KS is shows a new cover - the wizard with the spellbook held above his head, crackling energy around him. Is that the new standard cover, or is that the al...

Well, my book has finally arrived. I really wanted to order it through the Troll's directly, but the shipping up here to Canada would have been more than the book price, so instead i ordered through an online seller. Two weeks later- yay! I must say, my initial impressions are quite positive. I stil...

Maybe i don't fully understand Discord (never been on one), but forums are better for more than just legacy and storage (actually related to legacy now that i think about it). Some of us can't check in regularly. We check the forums, say, once a week, read up on all the topics of interest, reply acc...

OK, where is everyone? I know someone out there has the 5th printing of M&T. :) Another few questions- so which books are in color now? PH (since the 5th printing i think), the CK (since the 2nd printing), and the new M&T. Are they all glossy pages? Are there any other C&C books in color now, and ar...

Hi all- I haven't bought anything in awhile, as life (PhD, marriage, work, etc) has kept me busy for the last couple years. So i'm a bit out of date and hopefully i've not overlooked if this has been asked elsewhere. I am considering buying M&T 5th printing. My understanding is that this printing co...

Captain_K wrote:I have played on Fantasy Grounds every other Wed... good fun, no dice, but it is still a game.

I know FG has a C&C ruleset, but does it let you modify the rules? For instance, can you add the classes from the Codices, or modify for house rules, etc?

-Fizz

I have always liked the D&D Troll. I recognize it's not in keeping with Tolkien or Scandanavian trolls, but they're good nasty monsters whatever they're called.

As for least favorite... does the flumph count?

-Fizz

I would not allow a dex bonus to hit and then add a strength bonus to damage. The whole point of using Dex is that the PC is hitting through finesse, not brute strength. How would the PC inflict extra damage when they aren't using their muscle to hit? One can make an argument for both. Dex is for a...

Dorf the Dwarf wrote:Cool! Personally, I would have maed Robin Hood archer, supported by rogue

Ah yes, that's a good combination. I had been thinking of the core PH classes. I hadn't considered Adventurers Backpack.

-Fizz

Robin Hood: a few possibilities...

ranger / rogue (because he was a skilled woodsman)
or
fighter / rogue (because he was a master archer)
or
ranger / fighter (not quite as sneaky overall, but he mainly worked in Sherwood)

-Fizz

But arent Player's Options considered broken? I don't know about that. I primarily used Skills & Powers for class options / ideas, and never had an issue with those. I know much less about Combat & Tactics or Spells & Magic . But it probably depends on what you consider "broken". If the game stays ...

Welcome to the community!

In my games, i'm pretty much running AD&D 2nd ed as well, but with the C&C Siege mechanics. I have found it works quite well, so i don't see it wouldn't work for Firestorm Peak or the Player's Option series. So find yourself a copy and go for it.

-Fizz

Folks who have tinkered with the mathematics behind Advantage/Disadvantage claim that it's roughly +5/-5 so that's not so far from the SIEGE +6, plus rolling 2d20 and keeping the best one is kind of neat. The claim that advantage gives a rough +5 is a bit misleading. It's merely a statement that ro...