Harhall Characters

[Sepulchrave II]

PCs after successive changes and house-rules.


Lek
Male Human Bard 4/Fighter 4: Medium humanoid; HD/Level 8; hp 18; Init +6; Spd 30 ft.; Defense +9 (+7 Base, +2 Dex; touch +9, flat-footed +0); Armor/DR 4; Base Atk +7; Grp +9; Atk +11 melee (1d8+4/19-20, MW longsword) or +9 ranged (1d6+2, javelin); Full Atk +11/+6 melee (1d8+4/19-20, MW longsword); SA Spells; SQ Bardic music, bardic knowledge (+10), spells; AL CN; SV Fort +7 Ref +7 Will +6; Str 14 Dex 14 Con 15 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 18. 5'10"; 149 lbs.

Skills and Feats: Acrobatics +8, Booklearning +9, Deception +12, Esoteric Lore +12, Literacy (4 ranks), Perception +12, Perform (sing/chant) +15, Prowess +6, Ride +8, Speak Language (9 ranks), Topical Knowledge +8, Wilderness Lore +5; Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Deft Opportunist, Dodge, Einhander, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Obscure Lore, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)

Literacy: High (4 ranks)
Languages: West Norse (native), English (Mercian dialect; native), Latin (fluent), Gaelic (basic), Welsh (basic)
Weapon Group Proficiencies: Basic Weapons, Axes, Spears, Swords, Bows

Equipment: MW chainmail shirt, MW longsword, 3 javelins

Magic Item: Scrying glass: User can scry (as the spell, casting time 1 hour); leaves user exhausted.

Bard Spells Known (3/3/1 per day; Save DC 14+ spell level; caster level 8th): 0 – daze, ghost sound, know direction, minor disguise, prestidigitation, read magic; 1 – charm person, lesser confusion, invisibility (swift); 2 – fly (swift), reveille

Bardic Music (4/day): Countersong, fascinate, inspire courage, inspire competence.



Visna (Luta),
Female Human Fighter 8: Medium humanoid; HD/level 8; hp 18; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; Defense +14 (+8 Base, +2 Dex, +4 shield; touch +10, flat-footed +4); Armor/DR 4; Base Atk +8; Grp +12; Atk +12 melee (1d8+6/15-20 longsword (MW, keen, weapon of quality)) or +10 ranged (1d6+4, shortspear); Full Atk +12/+7 melee (1d8+6/15-20, longsword (MW, keen, weapon of quality)); AL N; SV Fort +8 Ref +4 Will +3; Str 18 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 15. 5'9"; 140 lbs.

Skills and Feats: Acrobatics +9, Booklearning +4, Literacy (3 ranks), Perception +9, Persuasion +13, Prowess +11, Ride +10, Speak Language (5 ranks), Topical Knowledge +4; Cleave, Combat Brute, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (longsword), Improved Shield Bash, Improved Sunder, Lunging Strike, Omniscient Whispers, Power Attack, Power Critical (longsword), Shield Charge, Shield Slam, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)

Literacy: Good (3 ranks)
Languages: English (Mercian dialect; native), Latin (fluent), Norse (fair).
Weapon Group Proficiencies: Basic Weapons, Axes, Swords, Spears, Bows

Equipment: Thrimlich (Keen MW longsword; weapon of quality), MW chainmail shirt, dagger, MW heavy wooden shield, MW shortspear.



Oter
Human Male Scout 4/Druid 4: Medium humanoid; HD/level 8; hp 24; Init +10; Spd 45 ft.; Defense +13 (+6 Base, +3 Dex, +4 shield; touch +9, flat-footed +4); Armor/DR 2; Base Atk +6; Grp +9; Atk +10 melee (1d8+2/x3, MW battleaxe); Full Atk +10/+5 melee (1d8+2/x3, MW battleaxe); SA spells; SQ Battle fortitude, nature sense, skirmish (+2 damage, +1 AC), uncanny dodge, wild empathy, woodland stride, trackless step, resist nature's lure, spells; AL N; SV Fort +10 Ref +8 Will +7; Str 14 Dex 16 Con 18 Int 10 Wis 15 Cha 12. 5'8"; 155 lbs.

Skills and Feats: Acrobatic +14, Deception +11, Esoteric Lore +3, Heal +13, Literacy (1 rank), Perception +13, Prowess +13, Ride +13, Sneak +14, Topical Knowledge +4, Wilderness Lore +15, Speak Language (5 ranks); Dash, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Leap Attack, Mobility, Power Attack, Quick Reconnoitre, Run, Spring Attack, Toughness

Literacy: Poor (1 rank)
Languages: English (Mercian dialect; native), Norse (fluent), Welsh (fair).
Weapon Group Proficiencies: Axes, Basic Weapons, Spears

Equipment: MW battleaxe, MW heavy wooden shield, leather armour

Spells Known (5/4/3 per day; DC 12 + spell level): 0 – dawn, guidance, know direction, nature watch, resistance, virtue; 1 – camouflage, longstrider, speak with animals; 2 – blood frenzy.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

Maps

Campaign maps.

 

[Enkhidu]

Questions:

1. Is this something you will chronicle in the Story Hour forum?
2. You said you had some rules changes - at first glance we're talking skills. Any others?
3. I noticed that you have 2 PCs with chain shirts; are those supposed to be hauberks? In addition, what other tech strictures are in place?

 

[Sepulchrave II]

Questions:

1. Is this something you will chronicle in the Story Hour forum?
2. You said you had some rules changes - at first glance we're talking skills. Any others?
3. I noticed that you have 2 PCs with chain shirts; are those supposed to be hauberks? In addition, what other tech strictures are in place?

1. Yep. It's underway. Although I'm not renowned for frequent updates...
2. See below.
3. I'm assuming a byrnie is a chain shirt; a longer hauberk and support (equivalent to full chainmail) is probably conceivable.

**

Note that lethality in combat is designed to be high.

Character Generation
Characters begin at 8th-level, and use a 40-point buy. Characters are human.

Special Restriction on Primary Spellcasters
A spellcasting character may never have more than half of his total levels in a primary spellcasting class. Spells can be chosen from any published source, but choice can be vetoed for flavor reasons.

Attacks
Dexterity governs all attack rolls.

Defense
Defense replaces AC. Characters roll 1d20 + Defense as an opposed roll. Base Defense Bonus is equal to BAB. Defense is adjusted by the Dex modifier and by shields (light = +2, heavy = +4).

Armor
Armor conveys DR equal to its AC bonus. Armor choice is restricted to padded, leather, studded, hide, scale/ring or chain shirt (byrnie).

Weapons
Weapon choice is restricted. MW weapons are mechanically unchanged, but there are two new types of craftsmanship:

• A weapon of quality has its hardness increased by 2 and has 50% more hit points.
• A keen weapon doubles the threat range as normal, but keen is a nonmagical quality. Keen and Improved Critical stack.

Helms
A helmet confers a 25% immunity to critical hits; a big helmet (like a spangenhelm) confers a 50% immunity to critical hits.

Critical Hits
All crits do additional damage equal to only the weapon's base damage, and other modifiers do not apply. Multipliers higher than 2 still apply.

Sneak Attack
Sneak Attacks (and Skirmish) do +2 damage for each Sneak Attack (or Skirmish) die.

Hit Points
Characters receive Hit Points equal to their Con, and gain additional hit points equal to their BAB/2. The Toughness feat grants +3 extra hit points (Barbarians receive this feat for free at 1st level).

Wound Condiitons

• A character reduced to –10 or lower hit points is dead.
• A character reduced to between –1 and –9 hit points is dying. The character is partially conscious or unconscious and can take no actions; such a character loses an additional 1 hp every round: a successful Con check or Heal check (DC 15) prevents the loss of a hit point for that round; three successive checks are required to stabilize a character.
• A character reduced to 0 hit points is incapacitated but stable: he or she may be conscious, but can take no actions. This condition persists for as long as hit points remain in this range.
• A character with less than 25% his normal Hit Point total is exhausted. This condition persists for as long as hit points remain in this range.
• A character with 26%-50% of his normal Hit Point total is fatigued. This condition persists for as long as hit points remain in this range.
• Characters regain lost Hit Points at the rate of 1hp/week. The rate doubles for resting characters and for long-term care; it triples for both.


Skills
All +2/+2 skill bonus feats are dropped, but Skill Focus is retained. General synergy bonuses are dropped, but situational synergy bonuses to skills may still apply. All skills are considered class skills. The skill list is reduced:

Acrobatics (Dex): This skill subsumes Balance and Tumble. It is subject to an armor check penalty.
Booklearning (Int): This skill subsumes relevant aspects of various Knowledge skills as pertain to a Classical education and a knowledge of scripture. In order to take ranks in this skill, the character must have good or better Literacy and fluency in the Speak (Latin) skill.
Craft (Int): This skill is subject to general changes in the crafting procedure.
Deception (Cha): This skill subsumes aspects of Bluff, as well as Disguise, Forgery and Sleight of Hand.
Esoteric Lore (Int): This skill subsumes Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft, and aspects of Knowledge (the planes) and Knowledge (religion) as appropriate. Questions regarding seithr and other magical systems are addressed using this skill.
Heal (Wis): This skill is subject to general changes in recovery time from wounds.
Literacy (None): This skill allows the character to read. The degree of literacy is determined by the number of skill points invested by the character: 0 = none; 1 = poor; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = high.
Perception (Wis): Listen, Sense Motive, Search and Spot are rolled into this skill.
Perform (Cha): This skill is unchanged; Oratory is the default Perform skill.
Persuasion (Cha): This skill subsumes Diplomacy, Intimidate, Gather Information and aspects of Bluff.
Profession (Wis): This skill is unchanged.
Prowess (Str): This skill subsumes Climb, Jump and Swim. It is subject to an armor check penalty.
Sneak (Dex): This skill subsumes Hide and Move Silently; it is subject to an armor check penalty.
Speak Language (None): This skill allows a character to speak a language; the degree of fluency is determined by the number of skill points invested: 0 = none; 1 = poor; 2 = fair; 3 = fluent; 4 = native. A character begins with 1 language at native fluency; other languages are purchased with skill points.
Topical Knowledge (Int): This skill subsumes Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), and Knowledge (local). Most campaign 'facts' regarding people, places, important dates etc. are addressed using this skill.
Wilderness Lore (Wis): This skill subsumes Knowledge (nature) and Survival. Any character with ranks in Wilderness Lore may track; the Track feat is dropped.

Other Dropped or Folded Skills

Appraise: Rolled into Profession (merchant) or Perception, as appropriate.
Concentration: Dropped. Use Character Level + Con bonus instead.
Decipher Script: Dropped. Use Literacy or Esoteric Lore, as appropriate.
Escape Artist: Dropped.
Handle Animal: Rolled into Profession (farmer), Profession (teamster) or Ride, as appropriate.
Knowledge (architecture and engineering): Dropped.
Knowledge (dungeoneering): Dropped.
Open Lock: Dropped.
Use Magic Device: Dropped. Roll into Esoteric Lore if appropriate.
Use Rope: Dropped.

Feats
All characters gain a feat every level, plus a bonus feat at first level. Fighters retain their bonus feat progression. All feats are subject to approval; some prerequisites may change based on revised skill list.

Traits and Flaws
These are available to anyone who wants them.

Action Points
Characters initially receive 8 action points:

Spend 1 Action Point
Gain +4 to any initiative check, saving throw, ability check or skill check.
Gain +4 on any attack roll, or roll made to confirm a critical hit
Gain a +4 dodge bonus to defense for 1 round.
On a critical hit, daze an opponent for 1 round (Fort negates; DC = 10+ damage dealt).
On a critical hit, deal a bleeding wound (Fort negates; DC = 10+ damage dealt).
Gain an additional use of a class-related ability (bardic music, wildshape etc.)
Increase the effective caster level of a spell by +4
Emulate a feat for which you meet the prerequisites.
Gain an extra attack at your highest BAB
Cast a spell without expending a spell slot
None of your actions provoke AoOs for 1 round.


Spend 2 Action Points
Reroll any d20 roll.
On a critical hit, stun an opponent for 1d4 rounds (Fort negates; DC = 10+ damage dealt).
On a critical hit, disable or maim a hand, ear, eye etc. (Fort negates; DC = 10+ damage dealt)
Automatically stabilize if at –1 to –9 hp.

Spend 3 Action Points
A hit which would reduce you to 0 hp or less instead reduces you to 1 hp.

 

[Son_of_Thunder]

Excellent!

Sep,

Love the house rules. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Enkhidu]

Cool!

- As far as I know a byrnie and a hauberk are nearly the same thing, though hauberks grew into full fledged chain mail by about Hastings. Hauberks could be considered longer, I guess. By the way, I'd be tempted to make the byrnie medium armor for the purposes of your game (with Armor as DR, and in order to put in on equal footing with scale/ring), but that's just me.

- Would it be safe to assume that non-period weapons aren't on the menu (greatswords, most polearms, longbows)?

I ask this because I've been looking to run a dark ages game for years, and will live vicariously through you as the rest of my group prefers high fantasy

 

[Quartz]

I can see myself stealing - err adapting - some of this!

 

[Sepulchrave II]

VALUE OF GOODS AND SERVICES IN THE HARHALL CAMPAIGN

I've attempted to remain as close as possible to the actual values of objects as they occur in charters, writs etc.: there is, of course, enormous variation, and some speculative values are inevitable. To try to condition the players to think beyond a set cash value (e.g., in most campaigns a 50 ft, hemp rope will always cost 1 gp), I drew up a list of equivalences: my efforts were partially successful, but it's hard to break the mind-set.


Cash
Silver and gold coins were the only metals used to mint coins. Silver was rare, and gold exceedingly so – so rare, in fact that it would never even be seen by most people during their lifetime. Most transactions were made through barter.

Silver
A silver penny weighed (in theory) 24 grains (around 1.55 grams): there were 240 pennies in a contemporary (Troy) pound; almost 300 in a modern (Avoirdupois) pound. Which is to say an Anglo-Saxon silver piece weighs about 1/6 of a standard D&D silver piece.

The value of a shilling varied between 4 and 6 pennies during the Anglo-Saxon period: for the sake of convenience, I have assumed a shilling to be worth 5 pence.

Gold
A gold mancus (around 4.33 grams) was theoretically worth 30 silver pennies: because gold coins were around 80% pure, this means that gold approximately retains its standard D&D value compared to silver (x10), which is convenient. An Anglo-Saxon gold mancus weighs about half as much as a standard D&D gold piece.

In practice, other coins were in circulation (Frankish, Byzantine etc.), and the relative value of metals fluctuated just as it does today. Gold was often prized for its jewelery value above its use as a coin. In all cases, the weight of the metal is more important than the actual coin.


Twenty-five Pounds of Silver, or Two Hundred Gold Mancuses

• A gold altar cup of finest workmanship, weighing a pound and inlayed with precious stones.
• A drekar with thirty oars and sail (70 ft, long); or two smaller knarrs (each 50 ft. long).
• Twenty hides (2400 acres) of good arable land and pasture.
• A fine mead-hall, 80 feet long, with carved columns, as befits an earl or king.
• Goods typically bequeathed to an archbishop by a king upon his death.
• Thrimlich, a sword of unsurpassed workmanship, with a gold pommel and filigreed scabbard.
• Ten pounds of fine silk
• Two pounds of saffron
• A small stone chapel (40 ft. long)
• The weregild payable for the unlawful killing of a landed thane.
• The morning-gift rendered by an earl to his bride.
• Three holy books, with vellum pages and ornamented with gold leaf.
• The total value of assets owned by a typical thane.


One Hundred and Twenty Shillings

• A team of eight oxen and a plough.
• A sword of fine (MW) workmanship with an ivory hilt; or three swords of lesser quality.
• Value of land owned by a wealthy free farmer (ceorl)
• A mail byrnie
• A brace of trained peregrines, w/ cowls, tethers etc.
• A small hall or a longhouse, as befits a wealthy ceorl or a thane (50 ft long).
• A mill, with good querns
• The wages of a fine craftsman for a year, or a master for a quarter.
• A fine three-year old palfrey (+2 Con), with saddle, bridle and stirrups; or two lesser yearlings without.
• Four slaves: man, wife and two children.
• A gift bequeathed by a wealthy thane to a loyal retainer for faithful service.
• Payment made between lords for accepting the service of a ceorl.
• Fine imposed upon a thane for adultery, or for neglecting his fyrd duty; also the fine for abducting a nun from a nunnery.
• The weregild for the murder of a Welsh tribute-payer with 1 hide.
• Five beaver pelts.
• Land taxes owed by Luta every year for her estates.
• Total value of assets owned by a poor free farmer (gebur)
• A skiff or keelboat with a sail, 30 feet long.


Twelve Shillings

• A fine wool cloak, trimmed with fox fur
• A spear and shield
• A good hunting dog, 1 year old
• A cow; four swine or six sheep
• Reward for catching a known outlaw
• Annual rent paid by a poor free farmer (gebur) for forty acres.
• Crafted leather goods weighing 15-20 lb.: a saddle, leather armour etc.
• A lock, chain, shackles, stirrups or other wrought iron goods weighing 1-2 lb.
• A brace of sparrowhawks
• Money paid to a warrior (with spear, shield and leather jerkin) for a month's service.
• A longbow of best Norwegian yew and a quiver of 12 arrows
• Timber-framed wattle cot for a poor tenant farmer
• A tent for two men
• Carpenter's, shipwright's or cooper's tools, including axe, chisels, knives, mallet and adze in a leather case
• A rowing boat (10 ft. long) and oar
• A pound of cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cloves or mace
• A cart with 2 wheels


To the Value of a Shilling

• Common house dog, well-trained
• A cloak, weatherstained but serviceable
• 75 ft. of flax rope
• A wool blanket
• Three fleeces
• An ox-horn
• Lodging for a thane for a night with meat, cheese and ale, and stabling for his horse
• A gallon of fine wine or mead
• Annual land tax for half a hide
• A dagger with a leather scabbard
• A good leather belt with a brass buckle
• A small barrel (10 gallons capacity)
• Monk's or peasant's garb
• An axe balanced for throwing
• A hunter's shortbow
• A dozen arrows for same (no quiver)
• A round of cheese (10 lb.)


Pennyworth Goods and Services

• A goose, four ducks or a dozen chickens
• Lodging for a night with an evening meal of bread and soup
• A dozen loaves of bread
• Dried fruits and nuts and smoked meat for one day's march
• A gallon of ale
• A dozen tallow candles
• A cloth sack
• A quart of honey
• Annual tax paid by all families to Rome ("Peter's Penny")

 

[Shieldhaven]

I realize that I'm already one of the more obsequious singers of praises, but... well. This just makes me happy.

Enkhidu, I'm in exactly the same position you are. =) I am at least getting to play in a Pendragon campaign - not exactly the same, but it's a step in the right direction and whole lot of fun.

Haven

 

[johndaw16]

Just out of curiousity Sep, where did you come up with those two maps you posted. Were they custom drawn by yourself or did you pull them out of a book from somewhere or some combination thereof?