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

[MDSnowman]

That entire thread and nobody once mentioned that Record of the Lodoss War (ROLW) got its start as a novelization of events from an AD&D campaign. It was novelized, converted to manga, and the people behind it did try publishing an AD&D book for their campaign, but were shot down by TSR. The ROLW game did eventually appear, a rather haphazard system embedded into one of the novels. After the first ROLW anime series was done, a rumor floated around about TSR realizing its mistake and trying to go back and license ROLW, but were shot down. I don't know if this is true or not. But there you have it; Record of the Lodoss Wars seems so suitable for a D&D campaign because it actually started out as a D&D campaign.

Incidentally, along with the original OAV series, the TV series, and the Crystania movie, There have been three mangas translated to english by CPM, all of which show events quite differently from the various animes.

Yep I did know it was basicly the novelization of an old game, but the story I heard had it as a hybrid of AD&D and Tunnels and Trolls.

 

[Psion]

That entire thread and nobody once mentioned that Record of the Lodoss War (ROLW) got its start as a novelization of events from an AD&D campaign.

I pretty much assumed it to be common knowledge to anyone who is a fan of the series and plays D&D.

 

[Anime Kidd]

*snip*

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

*snip*

I see the berserker spirit as more of a curse brought on the character, not some class that you can progress into, which is why I wouldn't see it as a PrC. I would imagine a template that may have some things from it based upon one's character level.

As for everything else... When I do things, I try to keep the number of books needed to a minimum, as most people don't not have every third-party D20 book out there and may not be willing to spend money for another book. This is why I chose the OA shaman instead of Green Ronin's Shaman becuase I don't have that book.

As for the gnolls/kobolds issue... In the OVA, the Lodoss kobolds were a lot more tougher then normal D&D kobolds, which makes them more inline with them as gnolls. They were always hacking away at the soldiers during war scenes.

 

[MDSnowman]

I see the berserker spirit as more of a curse brought on the character, not some class that you can progress into, which is why I wouldn't see it as a PrC. I would imagine a template that may have some things from it based upon one's character level.

I'm going to have to say that I disagree with you, during the TV series Orson develops a measure of control over when he triggers his rage, not when it ends... to me that sounds a aweful lot like a class ability and hence the Frenzied Berserker. The whole reason he went berserk outside of Shootingstar's lair was because he was ineffective in combat without his ability to go berserk. That sounds like what would happen in any given tough fight where a person depending on a rage power was trying to keep up with fighters, and therefore had sunk a few levels into Frenzied Berserker. If you still have problems with the requirements for the class, rework the requirements, but it in no way calls for a template.

 

[Caspian Moon Prince]

I have to agree with Animekid on this. I'd see Orson's raging ability as a template. He didn't actively strive to gain the abilities of the raging. As with lycanthrope there are ways to control parts of it. Orson's raging would be just like that.

 

[MDSnowman]

I still think a full on template is wrong... Templates come with Level Adjustments, why should a player be penalized with lower base attack and saves on top of becoming a loose canon that could turn on the party at any moment.

If you're going to be someone who could level your own party at a moment's notice you might as well still be advancing at the same rate of everyone.

So that leaves a few other options...
A feat: One takes a feat to represent being posessed by the spirit of rage... gives the frenzy ability while giving a hefty penalty to Charisma checks due to the Berserker's detached nature..
Pros: Keeps the player on pace with everyone else and doesn't penalize them further for being cursed.
Cons: Potentially too powerful, and in the hands of a power gamer a nightmare waiting to happen.

A Template "Race": Like the Rune Child from Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed... one takes the race in lieu of a character level and they get special abilities every few levels to represent the template race's continuing influence on them.
Pros: The fact you miss out on a level is mitigated by special abilities gained at fixed intervals.
Cons: Can you really think of enough rage-related abilities to make it worth it? Because I can't off the top of my head.

With all the work that either would entail don't you understand why tweaking the Frenzied Berserker would just be easier for anyone building a setting? And in the end the difference is only cosmetic.

 

[Anime Kidd]

IIRC, ther are some feats that one could take to help with controlling one's lycanthropy; this is what i'm talking about.

And out of curiousity, where is the Frenzied Beserker PrC anyways? Is it the one in Deities & Demigods? And yes I can see how this might be easier to just use the PrC instead, but it doesn't have that 'curse of the beserker' feel.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Well, how about this for a twist:

Use a mix of the Generic classes from Unearthed Arcana, along with the Racial Paragon classes as well.

I think characters like Etoh could be represented as members of the Spellcaster class that use divine magic. He didn't wear armor (IIRC), and only carried a mace (going along w/ the proficiency w/ 1 simple weapon for the Spellcaster class).

Slayn learned from books, but he didn't really seem to sit down & memorize/prepare spells from them. A Spellcaster that uses arcane magic would work for him.

Greevus could qualify as a multi-classed Warrior/Spellcaster (divine magic) & fit the bill of a more "standard" D&D cleric.

Deedlit could work as a Warrior/Spellcaster (divine magic), possibly with levels in the Elf Paragon class. Her spells would focus more on "shamanistic" spells.

Many of the fighters could be straight up Warriors, though with different feats and whatnot. Ghim possibly would have levels as a Dwarf Paragon. Out of all of the humans, the main character/hero Parn probably would be the only one with levels in Human Paragon (form the original series, at least).

Woodchuck would be a rogue/thief-oriented Expert.

Orson would be a Warrior, but burn many feats on Rage ability.

As for gear, I'd honestly say that a LOT of the fighters in Lodoss War used bastard swords, and not longswords--Parn, Ashram, Kashue, Beld, Fahn, etc. Ghim would wield a dwarven waraxe (perhaps even a slightly enchanted one). Deedlit would have either a rapier or an elven thinblade (exotic sword with rapier crit range & longsword damage)--a Finesseable weapon in any right. Slayn would have his staff, Woodchuck a short sword, and Etoh a mace (probably a light mace, from the looks of it). Orson had a greatsword, and Shiris had a Finesseable sword like Deedlit's.

I'd say Parn wore a breastplate, Deedlit some sort of light armor (like leather or studded leather), Woodchuck had leather, and the others didn't seem armored at all (Slayn without any armor, Ghim in regular clothes, and Etoh in his priest robes). Only Beld, Fahn, and Ashram seemed to be clad in some sort of full plate. Fighting with a shield only seemed to appear during practice/training fights (in the original, at least).

Well, that's my 2 cents on the matter.

 

[Dark Jezter]

IIRC, ther are some feats that one could take to help with controlling one's lycanthropy; this is what i'm talking about.

And out of curiousity, where is the Frenzied Beserker PrC anyways? Is it the one in Deities & Demigods? And yes I can see how this might be easier to just use the PrC instead, but it doesn't have that 'curse of the beserker' feel.

The Frenzied Berserker is in Complete Warrior. It's a very powerful class, some would say overpowered... although it does have a slight downside: If a frenzied berzerker is still in berserk mode when all the enemies have fallen, he'll start attacking his friends until his berserk state wears off.

So, the Frenzied Berserker is a very powerful combatant, but he can potentially be as dangerous to his own friends as he is to the enemy.

 

[MDSnowman]

So, the Frenzied Berserker is a very powerful combatant, but he can potentially be as dangerous to his own friends as he is to the enemy.

Sounds like Orson to me.