Skeleton of Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game

I’m preparing to run an RPG at my Friendly Local Game Store – Better World Books of Goshen. I’ve been vacillating between Sword & Wizardry (Complete, or White Box), Labyrinth Lord, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and the Heroes Journey.

Instead of picking one, I opted to create just what will be needed for that first session. This is by no means a complete game, but provides much of the player facing information to proceed. It is something I can print out and put in front of the players.

For more details concerning Old School Gaming, go grab Matt Finch’s free Quick Primer for Old School Games (PDF). See the following post for further Referee details.

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Table 1: Ability Scores
Ability Score	Modifier
3-4	-2
5-7	-1
8-13	0
14-15	+1
17-18	+2

Modifier

Strength: to hit and damage in melee; feats of strength
Intelligence: to save vs. spell; For wizards, subtract from saving throws of spells you cast
Wisdom: to save vs. non-spells
Constitution: adjusts all HD rolls
Dexterity: to hit in missile; to AC
Charisma: to hiring; to loyalty; to parlay

Table 2: Classes at Level 1
Features	Cleric	Dwarf	Fighter	Thief	Wizard
Armor	any	any	any	leather	none
Backstab	-	-	-	+4/x2	-
Base to Hit Bonus	+0	+0	+0	+0	+0
Base MV	12	9	12	12	12
Cleave	No	No	Yes	No	No
Climbing	1 in 6	1 in 6	1 in 6	5 in 6	1 in 6
Detect secret doors	1 in 6	4 in 6	1 in 6	2 in 6	1 in 6
Hit Dice (HD)	1 (1d6)	1+2 (1d6+2)	1+1 (1d6+1)	1 (1d6)	1 (1d6)
Listen	1 in 6	2 in 6	1 in 6	3 in 6	1 in 6
Read Unknown Languages	no	no	no	4 in 6	3 in 6
Saving Throw	14	13	15	15	15
Saving Throw Bonus	+2 vs. death/poison	+2 vs. poison/spells	+2 vs. death/poison	+2 vs. traps	+2 vs. spells
Shield	any	any	any	none	none
Spells	-	-	-	-	1 1st
Thievery	-	-	-	1 in 6	-
Turn Undead	Yes	No	No	No	No
Weapon Damage, Medium	1d6	1d6	1d6	1d6	2W6
Weapon Damage, Light	2W6	1d6	1d6	1d6	2W6
Weapon Damage, Ranged	2W6	1d6	1d6	1d6	2W6
Weapon Damage, Two-Handed	1d6	2B6	2B6	1d6	1d6
XP to level 2	1500	2250	2000	1250	2500

Dice Notation

1d6 - Roll 1 six-sided die
2W6 - Roll 2 six-sided die, keep worse result
2B6 - Roll 2 six-sided die, keep better result

Class Features

Wizard Spells

Charm Person Range: 30 ft, Duration: until dispelled, Save: negates, Affects: 1 living humanoid of human-size or smaller ; Caster is treated as trusted friend.

Detect Magic Range: 60 ft, Duration: 30 minutes; Caster senses location of magic within range

Hold Portal Range: 30 ft, Duration: 1 hour; Magically holds a door or gate for the duration.

Light Range: 60 ft, Duration: 1 hour; Target produces light as a torch (30 ft radius)

Magic Missile Range: 150 ft; A magic dart hits the target for 1d6 points of damage, no save.

Sleep Range: 240 ft, Affects: 2d6+3 HD of creatures, Duration: Referee’s discretion; Affected creatures enter an enchanted slumber

Turn Undead

Brandish your holy symbol and roll 3d6. Consult the following table. If the roll is successful, those creatures within 60 ft are turned – fleeing or cowering for 3d6 combat rounds.

Table 3: Turn Undead
HD	Example	3d6
1	Skeleton	10+
2	Zombie	13+
3	Wight	15+
4	Wraith	17+

Starting Equipment

You get both your class specific gear and an adventuring pack of your choice.

Class Specific Gear

Cleric : Mace with Chain Armor and Shield (AC 15)

Dwarf : One-handed weapon, crossbow, chain armor, and shield (AC 15) or Two-handed weapon, crossbow, chain armor (AC 14)

Fighter : One-handed weapon, bow, chain armor, and shield (AC 15) or Two-handed weapon, bow, chain armor (AC 14)

Thief : One-handed weapon, leather armor (AC 12)

Wizard : Spellbook (choose 1 spell, one at random), staff

Adventure Packs

Choose one of the following:

Pack 1 : Backpack, bedroll, flint & steel, 6 torches (burn 1 hour, 30 ft radius light), 50 ft rope, crowbar, 7 days rations, and a water skin

Pack 2 : Backpack, bedroll, flint & steel, hooded lantern with 2 pints lantern oil (burn 4 hours, 30 ft radius light), hammer, 12 iron spikes, 10 ft pole, 7 days rations, and a water skin

Pack 3 : Backpack, bedroll, flint & steel, 6 torches (burn 1 hour, 30 ft radius light), a torchbearer (HP 2, AC 10, Move 12, Attack none, Carry torch, Loyalty 7+Charisma modifier), 7 days rations, and a water skin

Movement and Encumbrance

Table 4: Movement Modifications
Encumbrance	Modifier
Chain mail or greater	-3 MV
Each 25 + (Strengh modifier x 10) pounds of treasure	-3 MV
Excessive amounts of gear (Referee's discretion)	-3 MV

Note: Coins, gems, and jewelry each weigh 0.1 pounds. Note: Dwarves ignore the first two penalties to movement.

Table 5: Movement Rates
Description	Speed	Results
Sneaking	MV x 10' per turn	As walking but able to move with stealth.
Walking	MV x 20' per turn	Mapping and careful observation of the surroundings are possible.
Running	MV x 40' per turn	No mapping permitted. Characters are automatically surprised and have no chance to surprise others. The sound of running may attract the attention of enemies.
Combat	MV / 3 x 10' per round	Dashing around, battling foes, or fleeing.

Exploration

I encourage players to draw a map of the dungeon as it is explored (graph paper will be provided). Some things may only be discovered by reviewing the map.

Each turn of exploration (10 minutes), each character may:

Search a 10’x10’ area
Bind another character’s wounds (only in the turn after a combat); restoring 1d6-3 HP
Disable a trap
Move
Resolve an encounter

Every 3 turns, there is a 1 in 6 chance of a random encounter. Every 6th turn, the characters must rest.

Death and Recovery

When a character is reduced to below 0 HP, they must make a saving throw vs. death. Success means they are incapacitated, though any further damage they are killed outright. Failure means they are dead.

Characters recover 1 HP per day; 2 HP per day of bed rest.

Experience

While the current state of the rules does not deal with character advancement, it is something that bears discussion.

For each silver piece of treasure spent in town, the character gains 1 XP. Characters also gain XP for defeating monsters. However, the distribution of treasure XP to monster XP is about 4 to 1.

In other words, the vast majority of XP comes from treasure; plan accordingly.

Unlike many other systems, this uses the silver standard.

Checking Hireling Loyalty and Morale

Roll 2d6 and compare to loyalty of the retainer; If it is higher, then the retainer leaves.

When to roll:

Returning from perilous environs to relative safety of civilization
Exposure to a perilous situation
When the hiring character is incapacitated
When orders are given from the non-hiring character

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