Microlite20 : the smallest thing in gaming

[Bert the Ogre]

Map-a-week and Microlite

After surfing around, looking for a quick and EASY version of D20, I am glad to have found Microlite20.

I wrote up a campaign world and mini-adventure for the M20 system, and sent it in to Greywulf for consideration, but a concern I have is the use of maps and dungeons from the "Map of the Week" section of the WoTC web-site. Since (so far) this is a "freebie" project, is there any concern about using the maps and other posted artwork that is clearly for public consumption?

So far, the "dungeons" posted at Greywulf's site seem to be made from "random dungeon generators," but this project seems tailor made for mini-modules with more of a plot line than a random generator could provide.

The reason I ask is that while I can write up a fairly cohesive storyline and populate a dungeon in a logical manner, my artistic skills are pretty lame. Drawing/painting a map, drawing character sketches, NPC sketches, and other artwork is not something I do well. Populating the free dungeon maps, using the area maps for world building, and character sketches for NPCs and other interior artwork is easier for me than using the old graph paper and a marker.

So, any "legal eagles" out there with any suggestions?

 

[kensanata]

Well, if you write your own adventure, but use other artwork, then the resulting work is going to be a derivative, and thus neither you nor anybody else has a right to copy and distribute it beyond very basic "fair use" stuff (eg. copy it for your friends at the table, copy it for your family). As far as M20 and the d20 SRD is concerned, it is under the OGL. But the Map-A-Week stuff has no special license attached to it. Therefore we must assume that the link to the "Terms of Use" at the bottom apply to the map. And there we see: "You may not distribute such copies to others, whether or not in electronic form, whether or not for a charge or other consideration, without prior written consent of the owner of the materials."

So you would either have to get permission, or restrict yourself to a link to the map you're describing. Your text without the map is obviously yours to copy and distribute and to license.

Long live permissive licenses.

 

[greywulf]

What Kensanata said, twice.

I figured that channelling magic of any kind must take it's physical toll on a frail mortal form, whether the source of the magic is the Gods, the mystical weave, animal spirits, or wherever.

As to how those Hit Points are lost, that's entirely open to the campaign, DM and gamer. I've one gamer who's character runs a knife across his body as he casts, literally blood-letting (inspired by the maho from Rokugan in Oriental Adventures). Another one feels physically fatigued as the magic courses through his body. I've had an idea for a NPC shaman who lets the spirits take over his body, casting spells in retrun for a little of his soulstuff. Let your imagination go wild.

As regards the pdfs you sent me Bert, I haven't have chance to convert them today (been building rockets with my sons ), but I'll have a go tomorrow. If you can find the URLs for the maps you used, I'll put a link to them in the PDF rather than the images themselves. That should be ok with the copyright pixies.

And I'll take a look at snicke's 5x5 adaptation of the magic system tomorrow too when I'm more awake. Looks good on first readthru though

 

[Bert the Ogre]

I sent the links to you via email. As I said in the email, I'll do things "by the book," but I would have liked to have seen that mini-module in a Pocket-book...

Oh well...

 

[snikle]

I think part of the reason we felt the casting takes HP was hard to swallow for a cleric is probably based on preconceived ideas of cleric. In D&D they are up front fighting with the fighter, taking HP from them to cast spells would make it less likely they were up there....and hence, not the same cleric we have come to expect....even if that idea is wrong.
When my friend came up with the idea of regenerating their DP through prayer and ceremony, I thought it was a perfect solution, force those players to actually do those rituals (in the past I have rarely seen them do prayers and such to their deity, it is just a sort of 'understood' that they did them out of game). My one player with a cleric now thinks this is cool, will see how cool he thinks it is when he starts running low and doesn't have the time to do some prayers or ceremonies properly to get his DP back.

 

[WSmith]

Someone on the RPG.net thread was asking about ranges listed on the equipment list and stated they are not explained. I am assuming these are the d20 standard "range incriment" without modifiers list (but assumed) and not the maximum?

EDIT: Nevermind. It is explained in the full sized equipment list PDF.

Also, something is wierd with the macropedia. It says on one page, (I think recent edits) that "Using CHA" was moved to skills, but when clicking on skills, it is not there. Also, there is no direct link anywhere that I can find to the core rules revised excpet on the "additions" page.

 

[greywulf]

Snikle, sounds good to me I like the idea of making the Cleric actually act like a Cleric. I’m glad you found as solution that works for you, and gets the player happy with the whole Cleric thing.

One of these days, I ought to work out how to integrate Psionics in to M20, if only for the Modern variant. Not right now though, I’m too wrapped up in campaign building. Later. One day. Maybe.

As for Ranges, if it matters I'd go with the standard range increments. Personally though, I prefer to just say "it's kinda hard to hit the Kobold from this distance. Take a -2". That's more in the spirit of M20.

The revised core rules will replace the wording of the Core Rules themselves when I find time to check them through , and Using CHA is in the Index, and on the Macropedia page. Hope that helps.

 

[kensanata]

We had our first session today and the players loved M20. Easy to get started, containing all the fun they wanted from a d20 system without all the crud about skills and feats and all that. Here are some changes we did on the fly:

1. We didn't like the standard d20 spell list system, so we kept the M20 rules about HP cost and spell levels, but the two magic users just picked the system they liked. One of them presented me with a list of about 20 runes that he wanted to use for spell casting and picked the "kinetic" rune to start with. Drawing the rune will invoke an appropriate spell (spell level and exact effect to be discussed when used). The other decided to be able to see and speak to all sorts of shinto spirits (they are everywhere) and to be a special friend of plant spirits so that they would occasionally do his bidding if cajoled appropriately. I asked both of them to write down the three most common spells they were planning to use so that we wouldn't have to discuss those when necessary.

2. I told them that they should pick a feat they would like their character to have, maybe picked from the d20 list, or anything else they felt like doing. One picked superb jumping, the other picked the ability to heal and inspired great courage (the tree friend), and the last one picked the ability to project his thoughts via telepathy (write-only, so to speak).

3. I planned to use the HARP critical tables for natural 20 rolls by players. They got used exactly once as the treefriend ventured out into the forest on his own looking for clues and was surprised by a turtle demon. He fled, wielded his longbow, turned around, and rolled a 20. I rolled a 95 on the piercing crit table and added +15 for his +3 DEX bonus, resulting in a lung shot, 29pts of damage, death in 12 rounds, bleeding, and so on. An awesome effect.

M20 - all the fun and none of the hassle.

 

[greywulf]

EXCELLENT!

I'm glad it worked as well as we hoped. The idea of using HARP's crit tables with M20 scars me.....in a tempting kind of way

 

[kensanata]

Well, I'm not yet ready to use them against players – for the moment I use them against monsters because I know that players love to see phantastic results when rolling a natural 20. I really need to figure out how to translate the HARP hitpoints to M20 hitpoints.