An Alternate Take on B/X D&D Cantrips

I recently read an article on another blog talking about cantrips for magic-users in B/X D&D.  "Buffing up" the magic-user has been on my mind lately, as - much like the blog's author - I'm starting up a B/X D&D game soon and have always been dissatisfied with low-level magic-users in B/X D&D.

I'd come up with a few non-cantrip solutions to help the starting magic-user, but the article's cantrip approach really clicked with me.  But then I started ruminating on that topic and I think I've come up with something that I really like, which doesn't really require coming up with a whole list of cantrip spells.

Basically, the premise is this: when a magic-user prepares a spell, they're not just memorizing a formula, strange gestures, and arcane commands, but they're locking the arcane energy needed to power the spell into place; were that not the case, it makes no sense that the magic-user "forgets" the spell when it's cast.  It's not that they're "forgetting" the spell, it's that the arcane energy is spent.  So that being the case, a magic-user should be able to "tap into" that arcane energy to produce minor magical effects.  These minor magical effects are called cantrips, and they are inherently tied to the spells that the magic-user has prepared.

Instead of coming up with a list of cantrip spells, I only need to then come up with the guidelines of what can be done with a cantrip.  My initial thoughts are as follows:

• A cantrip can do no more than 1d3 damage.
• A damaging cantrip always requires an attack roll.
• Non-damaging cantrips that affect other beings always require a saving throw.
• A cantrip can never exceed 10' as an area of effect range.
• If a spell duration is rated in turns, a cantrip has a duration of 1 turn.  If it is rated as 1 turn, the duration is 1 round.  If a spell duration is rated in rounds, a cantrip duration is 1 round.
• Generally speaking, the effect of a cantrip is much smaller than the spell itself and, when appropriate, is a single-use effect.

So.  Following those guidelines, a magic-user who has prepared Magic Missile could fire off a "magic dart" cantrip that, on a successful attack roll, does 1d3 damage.  A magic-user who has prepared Light could cast a cantrip that would create the equivalent of a candlelight in a 10' radius that exists for one turn.  A Shield cantrip would last for 1 turn and provide AC 17/19 against one attack, disappearing when the attack is done (even if the attack misses).

Cantrips can be cast once per turn.  Since they're simply "tapping into" the arcane energy stored for the full spell, they're not "forgotten" once they're cast and can be cast repeatedly.  However, once the full spell is cast, the magic-user can cast no more cantrips tied to that spell.  As an example, the magic-user mentioned above who has prepared Magic Missile could cast the Magic Missile cantrip all day long.  As soon as Magic Missile proper is cast, however, the magic-user can no longer cast the Magic Missile cantrip.  Of course, cantrips should be pre-defined.  This isn't an ad-hoc spell system.

I think I very much like this idea, and I think this is what I will use in my upcoming game.

Dark Karameikos: the People

Up next in my "dark and gritty" tweak of Mystara's The Grand Duchy of Karameikos (which I'm calling Dark Karameikos) is a look at the people who inhabit the Duchy.

Traldar
Formerly referred to as the Traladaran region, the Traldar were the first men to inhabit Karameikos.  They were taught basic survival skills by the elves prior to the Elvenking's descent into madness and the war on men which became his downfall.

The Traldar are generally of a short and stocky build, and tend to be a very rural, decentralized people who survive on fishing, hunting, and farming.  The family unit is very important to the Traldar and their society; important families are often looked to for leadership and government of a particular settlement.  While families (or family heads) may confer with the families of other settlements for alliances or trading agreements, the Traldar never supported or desired an overarching governmental structure; the Vandevicsnys made all the decisions for the settlement of Vandevicsny, for instance, and the Sulescus made all the decisions for the settlement of Sulescu.

The Traldar tend to be a superstitious people; their gods and faith are apparent in nearly every aspect of their lives.  While the Traldar never united under one government, they have united in their faith.  The Traldar have three gods: Halav the Beastslayer; Petra the Protector; and Zirchev the Grower.  Traladaran clerics usually pick one of the three as their patron (clerics of Halav tend to be very paladin-esque crusaders, whereas clerics of Petra take on a more supporting, healing role and clerics of Zirchev tend to be very nature-oriented and druid-like).  The Traladaran trinity of gods protect the Traldar and their lands from the horror of the Unnamed Gods of Chaos, who constantly seek to unmake the world.

Traldar view the use of arcane magic as chaos given form; most Traldar do not wish to get noticed by the Unnamed Gods, so true magic-users are uncommon.  That said, magic-use is not frowned on, and most settlements claim a magic-user or two among their residents.  Unlike their churches and clerical orders, the Traldar have no formal "magic-user schools"; those seeking to become a magic-user must seek out another magic-user who is willing to share their knowledge.

Thyatian
Compared to the Traldar, the Thyatians are taller and more lithe, and tend to be a very structured, organized, and bureaucratic people.  The government of the Empire of Thyatis has many levels, all based on the will of the Emperor, inheritance, or bargaining into power.  Commerce is important to the Thyatians; while the Thyatians have their hunters and gatherers, the bulk of the results of those activities are looked on as trade goods used to acquire the things they need, instead of as raw materials to make the things they need.

There is one faith that the Thyatians share, from the Emperor down to the lowest laborer: that of the Holy Light.  Everything not of the Holy Light is of shadow, and is forbidden.  Arcane magic use is considered to be of shadow, and the Church maintains Inquisitors to root out and "reform" magic-users in the Empire (this practice has not yet spread to Karameikos; Duke Stefan promised the Traladarans their faiths and practices, however, prejudices against magic use run high among the Thyatians in Karameikos and "conversions" are encouraged).

Dark Karameikos: Current History

Next up in a series of posts about my rework of The Grand Duchy of Karameikos into a grittier, darker setting, here's an overview of current history.

Current History
With the Elfwar a distant memory, the Traldar (the name that the men of the area had given themselves as a people) continued growing their society.  Three powerful families - Marlinev, Sulescu, and Vandevicsny - established trade routes to Luln via sea, and Krakatos, Kelvin, and Threshold via river.  The three families consolidated their trade routes in a central location, which would eventually become Marlinev, the capital city of the region they referred to as Traladara.

Unfortunately for the Traldar, another nation of men had been growing to the east.  Calling themselves Thyatians, they were far more organized and expansionist than the Traldar.  The Thyatians secretly and quietly built Castellan Keep within the borders of Traladara and used it as a base to establish relations with the Traldar and insure the Traldar remained unthreatening to the Empire of Thyatis.

By a century ago, Marlinev was a flourishing trade city of 500 residents, and the chief port of the Traladaran region.  At the same time, improved communication and trade raised the standards of living within the other disparate and previously isolated communities in Traladara, which created a sense of national identity and pride.  This did not go unnoticed by the neighboring Thyatians, and approximately 40 years ago Stefan Karameikos III pledged to do something about it.

Stefan had inherited a small but unusually wealthy duchy in the Empire of Thyatis.  Dissatisfied with his lot in life, he wanted to rule a territory shaped by his own hands and formed in his own image.  So he approached the Emperor of Thyatis with an offer: he would relinquish his duchy to the Empire in exchange for Empire-recognized ownership of the Traladaran region and a guarantee of autonomy.  The Emperor was intrigued; Traladara had potential to become a wealthy region, but it would take more time and effort than the Emperor was willing to devote.  The Emperor and Stefan came to terms: the Emperor recognized Traladara as The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, a sovereign region under the rule of Stefan Karameikos III.  Both signed decrees of eternal friendship and the promise of mutual defense in case of invasions, and the deal was set.

Immediately thereafter, Stefan launched an attack on Marlinev from sea, while ground forces from Castellan Keep assaulted the inland settlements.  Without a standing army to defend the Traldar, Stefan's land forces quickly took Threshold and Kelvin, and began their march to Krakatos.  As Marlinev fell to Stefan's naval forces, Stefan approached the heads of the Marlinev, Sulescu, and Vandevicsny families; he promised no further bloodshed if the rest of the region swore fealty to him. The three families accepted Stefan's offer, and the towns of Sulescu and Vandevicsny swore fealty.  Stefan renamed the region's capital to Specularum - a much more Thyatian name - and christened the region as The Grand Duchy of Karameikos.  He granted a small town outside of Specularum to the Marlinev family, which also swore fealty to the now Duke Stefan.

A few days later, riders returned from Krakatos, Luln, and Selenica.  Both Krakatos and Luln swore fealty, while Selenica did not.  Given Selenica's remoteness, Duke Stefan deemed this acceptable for the time being, and Duke Stefan officially called an end to his invasion.

Since then, Duke Stefan bequeathed a barony on the west side of Karameikos to his cousin, who supported him, in order to watch for invasions and hostilities.  Fort Doom is the capital of the Black Eagle Barony, and his cousin - Baron Ludwig von Hendricks - rules the area with an iron fist.

As the Duchy sits now, the Traldar and their Thyatian rulers share an uneasy co-existence.  Their faiths and lifestyles are very different, and while Duke Stefan has not required adoption of Thyatian practices, Traldar faith and folklore is looked down upon and often ridiculed.  Luln, Vandevicsny, Sulescu, Marlinev, Krakatos, Kelvin, and Threshold are still nominally ruled by Traldar families, however, each swore fealty to Duke Stefan and each houses a compliment of Thyatian soldiers to "keep the peace".  Being so close to the Black Eagle Barony, Luln is often overtaxed by the Baron for not just funds, but resources and labor as well.

Selenica remains independent, however, is it permanently surrounded and monitored by a force of Thyatian soldiers, and all those coming and going are subject to in-depth interrogation.

Dark Karameikos: Introduction and Prehistory

Not too long ago, I was talking with a bunch of my D&D 5E buddies and lamenting the "good old days".  My premise was that back in those "good old days" most people created their own D&D settings and adventures, or tweaked the settings that TSR was putting out to conform to their ideas, whereas now, it seems like most D&D players buy the WotC "adventure paths" and just run those.  Even GMs that ran TSR modules tended to place them in their own worlds where they made sense to the GM.

I'm starting up a B/X D&D game soon, and so I decided to approach it as if I were the Tim of old and tweak something I already knew and enjoyed into what I wanted.  I decided to use Mystara's Grand Duchy of Karameikos as my starting point, as that's always been one of my favorite settings.  Coining this "new" setting Dark Karameikos, I found a map I liked, made some changes to it, and set to work.  The map appears at right.

Basically, this will be a human-only, much more gritty and dark version of Karameikos than what's been published by TSR/WotC.  Think... Mystara meets Warhammer's Old World, and you'll get an idea what I'm going for.

Prehistory

Originally, the elves were the only inhabitants of the land that would come to be known as Karameikos.  Tall, fair, lithe, haughty, and proud, they believed all other life to be beneath them, and considered the world to be their own.  Powerful arbormancers, they lived in the woods of the region, bending, shaping, and growing trees, bushes, and plants into anything they needed, and rarely left their precious woods.  During the day they'd lounge in the cool shade of the trees, and at night they'd frolic under the moon.

At some point, the elves noticed something outside of their woods they had not seen before: short, stocky beings similar to themselves.  At first, the elves were amused by these creatures; they called them "men" - an elven word meaning "low" or "lower than".  The elves interacted with men; they taught men about fire, and the basics of survival.  After a while, the elves grew bored with men's simplicity, and they retreated into their woods.

Much time passed before the elves once again encountered men, and they were horrified by what they saw.  Men had... advanced significantly.  They had organized into towns and cities, and established trade with each other.  They farmed, hunted, and fished.  When news of this reached the Elvenking, he saw a true challenge to the elves supremacy and stewardship of the world, and it frightened him to his core.  A powerful arbormancer, the Elvenking grew a powerful, sprawling, and sealed fortress in and of the western woods, and called all elves to it.  There they remained for years, hidden from the sun and moon, waiting for the time that men ceased to be so they could reclaim their world.

That time never came.  The Elvenking decided it was up to the elves to cleanse the world of men.  As the sun set one fateful night, vengeful elves - long deprived of the sun and moon - poured out of the Elvenking's fortress, descending upon the first settlement of men they found.  Men fought well, but as the night went on, the elves eventually completely razed the town and all its inhabitants.  They then turned their focus onto Luln, however, messengers had succeeded in breaking through the elven assault and Luln was aware of the attack.

As dawn broke the next morning, the elves found men waiting for them outside of Luln.  Between the defensive vigor of men protecting their own, and the elves unpreparedness for the brightness of the morning sun - having been sequestered in the Elvenking's fortress for so long - the elves were defeated.  The Elvenking was never found; it was assumed that he and some of his closest advisors and supporters made it back to the Elvenking's fortress where they eventually fell victim to their wounds.  It is rumored that they haunt the fortress to this very day.  The name of the settlement the elves razed has been lost to time, but the ruins still remain as they were left by the elves.

Agents of OS: Abilities

So, in Agents of OS, once you've rolled your agent's attributes and settled on an origin, you need to select your agent's starting abilities.  Abilities are the... enhancements or powers that resulted from their origin: cybernetic/bionic enhancements for artificial origins, highly specialized training for trained origins, and supernormal powers for transformed origins.

The remainder of this post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

Abilities

There are three different types of abilities: Specialties (areas of focused training or knowledge), Powers (abilities beyond the ken of normal men), and Augmentations (bionic or cybernetic emulations of Specialties or Powers). Enhancements apply to Powers and Augmentations which emulate powers and build upon their basic capabilities. An agent’s origin dictates which Abilities the agent can use.

Specialties

Specialty	Augmentation?
Athletics	Y
Business	N
Combat	Y
Contacts	N
Investigation	N
Law	N
Linguistics	Y
Medicine	Y
Occult	N
Science	N
Stealth	Y
Tactics	Y
Technology	Y
Vehicles	Y

An “N” in the “Augmentation?” column means that the given Specialty cannot be used in an Augmentation; a “Y” in that same column indicates that it can.

Powers

Power	Augmentation?
Aquatic	Y
Element Control	Y
Energy Control	Y
Flight	Y
Healing	Y
Material Mimicry	N
Matter Control	Y
Smarts	Y
Speed	Y
Strength	Y
Telekinesis	Y
Toughness	Y
Resistance	Y

An “N” in the “Augmentation?” column means that the given Power cannot be used in an Augmentation; a “Y” in that same column indicates that it can.

Aquatic: this power allows an agent to breathe and move underwater as if they were on land. In addition, an agent with the aquatic power adds their power bonus to their movement score when swimming (normal swimming speed is half ground speed; an agent with Aquatic +4 would swim at 10’/round [12 / 2 + 4]).

Element Control: this power allows an agent to control one of the four base elements - fire, air, earth, and water - which is chosen when the power is selected. They can summon it, create it, form it, and control it it do their bidding. In addition, their power bonus acts as damage reduction against attacks from that element.

Energy Control: this power allows an agent to control a form of energy - electricity, kinetic, magnetic, etc. - which is chosen when the power is selected. This power is in all other ways identical to Element Control.

Flight: this power allows an agent to fly. An agent with the flight power adds their power bonus to their movement score when in flight.

Healing: this power grants an agent superhuman healing powers. Once per encounter the agent can heal up to their total power bonus in damage; once per round, the agent can heal up to half their total power bonus in damage.

Material Mimicry: this power allows an agent to change the fundamental makeup of their body to match a material which is chosen when the power is selected.

Matter Control: this power allows an agent to control some form of matter - wood, stone, steel, silk - which is chosen when the power is selected. This power is in all other ways identical to Element Control.

Smarts: this power gives an agent superhuman intelligence. An agent with the Smarts power adds their power bonus to their Intelligence or Wisdom modifier.

Speed: this power allows an agent to move at superhuman speed. An agent with the Speed power adds their power bonus to their movement score.

Strength: this power grants an agent superhuman strength. An agent with the Strength power adds their power bonus to their Strength modifier.

Telekinesis: this power grants the agent the ability to move things around with the power of their mind alone. Using telekinesis, the agent can lift things of up to their power bonus times 10 in pounds.

Toughness: this power grants an agent superhuman resistance to damage. Any damage received by the agent is reduced by half of the agent’s power bonus.

Resistance: this purely defensive power grants an agent resistance to one type of energy, element, or matter, which is selected when the power is chosen. Any damage received by the agent from the selected material is reduced by the agent’s power bonus. 

Enhancements

At each level where an Enhancement is an option to a Power or an Augmentation, an enhancement from the following list can be selected. Some enhancement combinations may be disallowed by the GM; not all enhancements are appropriate for all abilities.

Ranged: by default, abilities work at close (melee) range only. Selecting the Ranged enhancement allows an ability to affect opponents at range.

Affects Others: with the Affects Others enhancement, an agent’s ability can affect other creatures, if they remain within the normal range of the agent’s ability.

Burst: an agent’s normally single-target ability can affect everyone within immediate range.

Affects X: a target normally immune (or resistant to) an agent’s ability is not immune.

Duration: an ability which normally has a single use lasts for an entire round for each Duration enhancement.

Using Abilities

Each ability has an ability modifier. In addition to any specifics given in the ability description above, once per round the ability modifier may be assigned to any action during that round for which the agent’s player can justify the use. As examples, the bonus from the speed power could be added to an initiative roll, the bonus from the technology specialty could be added to an intelligence attribute check, and the bonus from the strength augmentation could be added to an attack (which includes both the “to hit” and damage rolls). With every ability use, the agent’s player should describe how the ability is being used. The GM has the right to deny any inappropriate ability uses.

Powers and augmentations which can deal damage have a default range of melee only, and affect one target. To expand the range or the number of targets, enhancements should be chosen as the agent gains levels.

Outside of combat or in situations where the ability modifier is used, an agent’s player should be able to narratively use the ability to a level commensurate to their in-combat uses. 

Agents of OS: Origins

Ever since the debut of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, I have wanted to run a low-powered supers game similar to AoS.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a system that really captured the feel that I was trying to get.  I considered writing my own and made pretty decent progress using the Fudge RPG, but ultimately I started riffing on the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox rules.  After getting caught up integrating the setting information into the rules, I decided to strip out the setting information and just write the rules.  I called it... Agents of OS (OS, of course, for Old School).

Characters - "agents" - would have standard WhiteBox attributes, attribute modifiers, saving throws and level-based HD-generated hit points.  They could choose from one of three "origins", or classes: artificial, trained, and transformed.

The remainder of this post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

Origins

Each agent has one of three origins. They are: Artificial (the agent has received bionic or cybernetic enhancements), Trained (the agent is specialized in one or more fields of study due to focused and intense training), and Transformed (the agent has undergone an event which caused latent powers to awaken).

To determine an agent’s origin, roll one six-sided die. If the die shows between 2 and 5 inclusively, the agent’s origin is Trained. If the die shows a 1, the agent’s origin is Artificial, and if the die shows a 6, the agent’s origin is Transformed. For a more customized agent, the GM may allow players to select an origin as desired.

An agent’s origin also sets the starting values for hit dice and hit points, saving throw, and attack bonus, and controls the advancement of those values as the agent gains experience. Finally, an agent’s origin dictates the abilities (augmentations, specialties, and powers) into which the agent can tap.

Artificial

Level	XP	HD	ST	AB	Abilities
1	0	1d6+1	14	0	New Augmentation; Weakness
2	2,500	2d6	13	0
3	5,000	3d6	12	1	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
4	10,000	4d6	11	2
5	20,000	5d6	10	2	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
6	40,000	6d6	9	3
7	80,000	7d6	8	4	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
8	160,000	8d6	7	4
9	320,000	9d6	6	5	Augmentation Increase or Augmentation Enhancement or New Augmentation
10	640,000	10d6	5	6

New Augmentation: at 1st level an Artificial agent gets a new augmentation; at 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, an Artificial agent can choose to take an additional augmentation. An augmentation represents a bionic or cybernetic enhancement and emulates the abilities of any one specialty or power. A new augmentation provides a +4 bonus once per round to any roll or value for which the augmentation applies.

Weakness: at 1st level, an Artificial agent must take a weakness, representing a substance, an event, or a condition which causes their augmentations to perform at less than peak capacity. The weakness should not be common, but it should also not be exceedingly rare. When in the presence of that which causes their weakness, Artificial agents take a -4 penalty to all augmentation die rolls.

Augmentation Increase: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, an Artificial agent can choose to take an augmentation increase. An augmentation increase raises the bonus of a selected, existing augmentation by +2.

Augmentation Enhancement: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, an Artificial agent can choose to take an augmentation enhancement, for any existing augmentation based on a power (it does not apply to augmentations based on a specialty). An augmentation enhancement does not change the augmentations bonus but expands the augmentation with additional capabilities.

Trained

Level	XP	HD	ST	AB	Abilities
1	0	1d6	14	0	New Specialty; Basic Combat Training
2	1,500	2d6	13	1	Specialty Increase
3	3,000	3d6	12	2	New Speciality or Specialty Increase
4	6,000	3d6+1	11	2	Specialty Increase
5	12,000	4d6	10	3	New Specialty or Specialty Increase
6	24,000	5d6	9	4
7	48,000	6d6	8	4	New Speciality or Specialty Increase
8	96,000	6d6+1	7	5	Specialty Increase
9	192,000	7d6	6	6	New Specialty or Specialty Increase
10	384,000	8d6	5	6

New Specialty: at 1st level, a Trained agent gets a new specialty. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Trained agent can choose to take an additional new specialty. A new specialty provides +2 to any one roll per round for which the specialty applies.

Basic Combat Training: at 1st level, a Trained agent learns how to maximize their attacks or defense in combat. Before each combat round, a Trained agent can select a stance. The available stances are Offensive (+1 to attack and damage rolls, -1 to AC), Normal, and Defensive (-1 to attack and damage rolls, +1 to AC).

Transformed

Level	XP	HD	ST	AB	Abilities
1	0	1d6	15	0	New Power; Extra Effort
2	2,000	2d6	14	0
3	4,000	2d6+1	13	0	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
4	8,000	3d6	12	1
5	16,000	4d6	11	2	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
6	32,000	4d6+1	10	2
7	64,000	5d6	9	3	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
8	128,000	6d6	8	4
9	256,000	6d6+1	7	4	Power Increase or Power Enhancement or New Power
10	512,000	7d6	6	5

New Power: At 1st level a Transformed agent gets a new power; at 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Transformed agent can choose to take an additional new power. A new power grants a +4 bonus to any one roll or value per round for which the power can apply.

Extra Effort: At 1st level, a Transformed agent learns how to apply extra effort to their power(s). Once per encounter, a Transformed agent can apply extra effort to one of their powers which grants a one-time +4 bonus. For the duration of the encounter after extra effort has been applied, the agent is tired and takes a -1 penalty to all rolls associated with the power.

Power Increase: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Transformed agent can choose to take a power increase. A power increase raises the bonus of a selected, existing power by +2.

Power Enhancement: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, a Transformed agent can choose to take a power enhancement. A power enhancement does not change the power’s bonus but expands the power with additional capabilities.