Record of Lodoss War d20 (a non-tangential discussion)

[MDSnowman]

Howdy all, I decided that since the dicussion over stating out characters and the world of Record of Lodoss war. So that leaves us with several questions...

1. How would you approach stating out X character or Y character?

2. Does the existing Magic System fit, or should we explore alternatives?

3. What races are appropriate?

4. How prevelant should magic/magic items be?

5. What prestige classes are approriate?

6. How do you keep all the warrior-type characters from being the same?

7. What optional rules do you think would enhance the setting?

8. How would you approach starting such a game? Existing characters? All new characters? New plotline? If a new plotline, then what should it be about?

 

[Anime Kidd]

I just finished watching Record of Lodoss War again and got me thinkin about it as well. While I think most of the standard D&D stuff can fit into a Lodoss setting without much trouble, some of the things in it just seem it would too awkward to handle without house rules or something; like how just about anyone with a magic item or magic skills can instantly pop up a barrier for a defense.

You might want to look around the Yahoo group , but it seems to have been forgotten by the others. While no posts anyone, some of the previous threads might be useful and there are some links to other 3e Lodoss sites.

There is also a Fuzion conversion of Lodoss asa PDF somewhere, but the site that origianlly hosted it decided to take it down cause of possible law-suits or something. If I can find it, I will try to put a link on my site. It has very good information on just about everything. I believe it was converted from the original Japanese game itself.

As for your questions:

1 & 8 seem to be a DM call to me.

2. The core magic system can be used as is, but I see it more as a point-based system like psionics. I know I mgiht be blasted for that, but in the series never do you see Slayn or any other magic-user use anything but incantations and simple gestures when castng spells, no material components are ever seen.

3. Humans and dwarves can be used as is. From what I've heard, there are 3 types of elves; normal, high, and dark. The normal and dark elves would be as the core elf, but the dark elves would have some penalty when dealing with non-Marmo people. The high elves would be interesting. They say a high elf is immortal so... I personally would jus have them as standard elves as well, but with an immortal lifespan.
There is an equivelant to a halfling called a Grassrunner, but I have no more information on it. As for any others, I'm not sure.

4. I'd say less common when compared to a typical D&D setting. If I recall correctly, you never once did see any sort of 'mundane' magic item, only items of true power or one with a history behind it.

5. From the 3.5 SRD; I'd say Archmage, Blackguard, Hierophant, and Loremaster. The rest either seem to not fit or there hasn't been any clear evidence to has a clear say on the matter.

6. Feats and the weapons used. While watching it again, I'd say Parn uses a longsword two-handed while someone like Orson would be using a greatsword. But really? Is there any difference between warriors? They all wear armor, swing swords, and are good in a fight.

7. These are some suggestions from the top of my head so...

* I would make the Paladin a, or have a paladin-esque, PrC and the Ranger as having no spells. The shaman class from OA might be a good class for someone like Deedlit who calls on elemental spirits for spells.
* Maybe all arcane casters are sorcerers and wizards (as a class) isn't available.
* The Hyuri spirit (berserker spirit) would be a template that would have uncontrolable barbarian rages triggered by some situtation (and making the barbarian class obsolete).
* The five ancient dragons (Narse, Myce, etc) would be statted as from the Epic Handbook.
* I'd drop the Adept NPC class; either your a sorcerer or a cleric.
* Lodoss kobolds are just D&D gnolls.
* I remember once someone said that the green worm at the end episode which Slayn faced reminded them of a mix between a roper and a purple worm. maybe someone could mix the two ad stat it out here?

PS. You might want to try watching the Legends of te Heroic Knight which I think is the tv series which is based after the original series. And there is also the Legend of Crystania, but I really don't think it has the same feel as teh original. Of course there is also the manga (comics) as well.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Forget about publishing anything. There was a Record of Lodoss War supplement for the FUZION system that was free for download in PDF format for a long time but the site got shut down for the usual reasons. Still, sometimes the PDF rears it's ugly head in KaZaa.

 

[Hand of Evil]

You may also want to look at the Slayer d20 game that came out last month.

 

[Psion]

Well, I already posted my interpretation once:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?p=323687#post323687

Record of Lodoss War (OVA)

Parn -- It's obvious that the GM makes new characters come in at first level, as Parn is a chump in the beginning compared to Deedlit, Ghim, and Slayne. 1st level fighter tops. And that's being generous. He eventually works his way to being a halfway respectable fighter (8th level or so) by the end of the OVA.

Deedlit -- First off, it's obvious that in this campaign world, every elf not only gets the standard elven proficienciencies, but gets Deflect Arrows while weilding any elven sword.

Second off, the GM in this game really plays favorites with elves and lets them start at a much higher level than the rest of the party. Good thing he put a cap of one elf in the party.

Deedlit can move among the trees with ease, is a good scout, a good warrior, and can call spirits to act on her behalf. I'd call deedlit a 4th level fighter / 4th level ranger / 5th level Shaman (from mongoose's ED: Shamans.) (Gotta keep those levels within 1!)

Etoh -- A decent healer. 5th level cleric.

Ghim -- Like elves, dwarves from old campaigns are allowed to play in games with new low level human PCs. Ghim is a 12th level fighter. I'd be tempted to call him a barbarian, but it is him who lectures parn about being reckless.

Slayne -- Slayne is an experienced mage, and he seems to concentrate on buffs and protection. On par with Ghim, I'd call him a 12th level abjurer.

Woodchuck -- 8th level rogue. Unfortunately, he gets written out of the campaign after failing a save versus a magic jar spell by Carla.

Perhaps I'll do the NPCs later...

Only thing I'd add now is some material from Green Ronin's Bow & Blade would work for elves (like Canopy Walk. Using some conventions from the magic of Slayers d20 wouldn't be too far off, though its emphasis on destructive spells is a bit over what you see in Lodoss War.

 

[Psion]

2. The core magic system can be used as is, but I see it more as a point-based system like psionics. I know I mgiht be blasted for that, but in the series never do you see Slayn or any other magic-user use anything but incantations and simple gestures when castng spells, no material components are ever seen.

Which is about like any D&D game except where expensive components are involved.

* I would make the Paladin a, or have a paladin-esque, PrC and the Ranger as having no spells. The shaman class from OA might be a good class for someone like Deedlit who calls on elemental spirits for spells.

Ug! No! OA Shaman is a jazzed up cleric. Get Green Ronin or Mongoose instead.

* Maybe all arcane casters are sorcerers and wizards (as a class) isn't available.

Not seeing that either. All the wizards in the series seem to study from books at one time or another.

* The Hyuri spirit (berserker spirit) would be a template that would have uncontrolable barbarian rages triggered by some situtation (and making the barbarian class obsolete).

Eh. Use frenzied berserker. No need to get overcomplicated.

* Lodoss kobolds are just D&D gnolls.

No, because they had full sized Gnolls in the series, too. Lodoss kobolds are 1e kobolds. Just use 3e kobolds, and drop the reptilian and draconic thing.

 

[Caspian Moon Prince]

Psion..I'd stat the main cast just about how you did. The only change I would make is to have Etoh start out at 1st level as Parn and then work up to around 8th by the end.

 

[Remathilis]

I HAD started a conversion from the old Fuzion system to d20. This is what I had so far...

Quick Conversion to Record of Lodoss War RPG from Fuzion to d20



1.) Ability Scores
This should be default method (4d6, drop lowest). If you prefer to point-buy this is considered a challenging campaign. (32 points.)

2.) Races:

Humans: Humans are the most basic and common race in Lodoss. There are no changes from the PHB.

Elf: There are two types of elves in Lodoss, high and dark elves. High elves correspond to D&D high elves, but dark elves are not like D&D drow, see below.

Elf, dark; Dark elves are similar to elves, but have a dark complexion of skin. They are not evil per se, but many, hunted and shunned, become evil. Dark elves are the same as high elves, save they have darkvision instead of low-light vision and their favored class is sorcerer.

Dwarf: Dwarves are unchanged in Lodoss.

Grass-runners: Grass runners are like halflings, with a few exceptions: they may speak with plant or animals once per day, and their favored class is ranger, not rogue. As natives to Alecrasta, they are exceptionally rare in Lodoss.

Half-elf: half elves can be either high or dark stock, but remain unchanged from the PHB.

Gnomes: Gnomes as per the PHB do not exist. The race “gnome” in Lodoss is an elemental creature.

Half-Orcs: Orcs as such do not exist, thus half orcs do not exist. However, the basic statistics of half-orcs can be used for goblins, if the DM allows them as PCs.


3.) Classes
Barbarians: Common among the less civilized regions and monstrous races, barbarians are unchanged from the PHB.

Bards: Bards are uncommon in Lodoss, but some do exist. Many bards come from Alecrastra.

Clerics: Clerics are unchanged, but see religions and spells for more info on gods and divine magic.

Druids: Druids are called shaman in Lodoss. Elves tend to follow druidic belief more so than a deity.

Fighters: Fighters are a common profession in Lodoss, be it warrior, soldier or mercenary.

Monks: Monks are unheard of on the isle, but a PC might be from a distant land or a special hermit, practicing his own world outlook. Due to this, they will never multi-class.

Paladin: Called knights in Lodoss, the most common place for paladins is Valis. Almost all paladins are knights to a liege, and rarely are they connected to a temple. They also can never multi-class.

Rangers: Rangers are common in elven and grass-runner society. There magic comes from the same source as shaman (druid.) magic.

Rogues: Rogues are common in almost every major city, be it con-men, thieves, gamblers or merchants.

Sorcerers: Sorcerers are very rare on Lodoss, but they are usually as reacted to as wizards, unless their secret is known. Many are accused of being demon summoners or witches, and usually attacked. Thus, wise sorcerers hide their power when necessary.

Wizards: Wizardry is a lost art; most of the magic was lost in Kastuul. Nevertheless, the secrets are slowly returning, and people live in awe of wizards and their magic. However, evil wizards do exist, and they are feared and hated.

Gods: (This is really rough)

Falis: Supreme God of Light - NG - Good, Sun, Healing
Falaris: Supreme God of Darkness - NE - Evil, Destruction, Death
Marfa: Mother-Goddess of Creation - NG - Good, Protection, Creation*
Kardis: Dark Goddess of Destruction - CE - Chaos, Evil, Destuction, War
Baylos: God of Fire and Fury - CE - Chaos, Evil, Fire, Destruciton
Myrii: God of War and Virtue - LG - Good, War, Law
Barbas: God of Death - NE - Evil, Death, Trickery
Rada: God of Wisdom and Knowledge - LN - Knowledge, Magic, Law
Cha Za: God of Trade - LG - Good, Protection, Luck, Travel
Atsuki: Primal God of Chaos - CN - Chaos, Madness*, Destuction

If someone wants the original Fuzion document, PM me.

 

[Caspian Moon Prince]

Here is some stuff I found in the back of a manga for The Chronicles of the Heroic Knight series.

Elves: There are three types(and also Half-elves).

-High elves: High elves are immortal and mostly do not take part in the world of man. (me-They all live in that weird dimension thing that I cannot remember the name for)

-Dark Elves: They are evil and hated by the other gorups of elves.

-Elves of the Forest of Mirrors: (I've also heard them called Wood Elves and would probably say they are moon elves from FRCS) These are the normal elves and live for about 1,000 years.

-Half-elves: Half elf-half human

Sorcery in Lodoss:

-Sacred Sorcery: Magical powers based on faith (clerics).

-Ancient Sorcery:Originally from the kingdom of Kastol.(wizards)

-Spirit Sorcery: Powers performed by tapping the power of spirits living on another plane. (basically D&D Shamans). There are five types of spirits: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Soul.

 

[MDSnowman]

Sorcery in Lodoss:

-Sacred Sorcery: Magical powers based on faith (clerics).

-Ancient Sorcery:Originally from the kingdom of Kastol.(wizards)

-Spirit Sorcery: Powers performed by tapping the power of spirits living on another plane. (basically D&D Shamans). There are five types of spirits: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Soul.

I agree with most of what's above but I also want to voice a few opinions....

1. I don't really see too much in the way of D&D Style Clerics... (Armor proficiencies, wielding weapons beyond staves) the only ones that stand out are the priests of the War God.

2. As for the Shamanistic Magic of people like Deedlit and Leaf I'm going to say that the Shaman Core Class from Green Ronin fits the bill perfectly, also I think Shaman should be made the favored class of all Wood, and High Elves.

3. Sorcerers... this I can see under certain circumstances... I'll still buy the Dragon Blooded bit, but I also see this as the realm of Elves, especially Dark Elves. The Dark Elves in Lodoss seem loaded down with spare invisiblity spells, so I suggest that sorcerer be the Favored Class for Dark Elves, though I could see a lot of Rogue/Sorcerer/Shadow Dancers among them.

4. The Rage and The Spirit of Rage. I'm going to say that having Rage Orson style should be a Frenzied Berserker prestige class, change the name of the prestige class if you'd like, but it still fits the uncontrollable aspect of rage perfectly.

5. Wizards and their Staves. I also think the arcane focus rules from The Quintessential Wizard would also work well as all the major wizards in the series, Slayn, Cecil, Wagnard, and the like all wielded staves and used them in their spellcasting.