I was just musing whether it would be possible to run something like Clark A. Smith's "Zothique" tales (Empire of the Necromancers, Abominations of Yondo, The Charnel God, etc.) using Classic D&D, or if one would have to resort to something like Cthulhu/Dreamlands. Here are my initial thoughts in the affirmative of the former, using Moldvay/Cook:
*****
Allowed Races: Human only.
Allowed Classes: Fighter, Thief, Necromancer*.
Special Class: Necromancer - The Necromancer is a Cleric of an evil (Chaotic) god. He has the usual spell progression and selection of a Cleric, but has the hit dice and armor and weapon restrictions of the Magic-User class. All spells work as stated except Raise Dead and the like, which instead of restoring life cause the deceased to rise as an uncontrolled Undead creature of comparable level/hit dice to the former creature.
Character Generation: 3D6 rolled six times and arranged to taste. Hit points are rolled and you take what you get (1D8 for Fighters, 1D4 for Thieves and Necromancers).
Adventuring Concerns: For monsters, the weirder the better. Most monsters are things that crawl out of dark pits (or you crawled into the dark pit and found it). Humanoids, if encountered, will be either sui generis monsters or possibly degenerated remnants of forgotten human offshoots. Magic items will be extremely rare, except for potions and scrolls which will be merely rare. XP will principally derive from obtaining loot, because combat will be pretty deadly. Parties will want to avoid most encounters, a task to which the Thief is highly suited. Necromancers are allowed for PCs but will be rare (due to their evil nature); most parties will be a mix of Fighters and Thieves or (probably more efficiently) all Thieves. Fighters can still move quietly... the surprise roll is used to simulate stealth. Oftentimes if the party achieves surprise they may completely avoid the encounter (sneaking right on past), although only a Thief can slip through the midst of his enemies. Since only the Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert sets are used, advancement is possible through 14th level. Decadent and wasted Zothique is the last civilization of its world, and mankind has reached its final twilight therein. There is no further greatness to be had.
Thematic Concerns: Zothique is a pretty bleak and depressing place. Adventures would play up the horror aspects, and dungeon exploration would be a common motif (plundering the lost vaults of nameless ruined cities while avoiding the madness-inducing inhabitants thereof). Monsters would be genuinely terrifying because, on average, everybody is going to have very few hit points.
*****
Conclusion: I think it is eminently do-able, with practically no extra work for the DM. I think Moldvay is the best choice both because the cap at 14th works perfectly for the "twilight of man" theme and because if I used Mentzer the Elmore artwork would constantly charm me out of the bad mood required to properly run this kind of game.
*****
Allowed Races: Human only.
Allowed Classes: Fighter, Thief, Necromancer*.
Special Class: Necromancer - The Necromancer is a Cleric of an evil (Chaotic) god. He has the usual spell progression and selection of a Cleric, but has the hit dice and armor and weapon restrictions of the Magic-User class. All spells work as stated except Raise Dead and the like, which instead of restoring life cause the deceased to rise as an uncontrolled Undead creature of comparable level/hit dice to the former creature.
Character Generation: 3D6 rolled six times and arranged to taste. Hit points are rolled and you take what you get (1D8 for Fighters, 1D4 for Thieves and Necromancers).
Adventuring Concerns: For monsters, the weirder the better. Most monsters are things that crawl out of dark pits (or you crawled into the dark pit and found it). Humanoids, if encountered, will be either sui generis monsters or possibly degenerated remnants of forgotten human offshoots. Magic items will be extremely rare, except for potions and scrolls which will be merely rare. XP will principally derive from obtaining loot, because combat will be pretty deadly. Parties will want to avoid most encounters, a task to which the Thief is highly suited. Necromancers are allowed for PCs but will be rare (due to their evil nature); most parties will be a mix of Fighters and Thieves or (probably more efficiently) all Thieves. Fighters can still move quietly... the surprise roll is used to simulate stealth. Oftentimes if the party achieves surprise they may completely avoid the encounter (sneaking right on past), although only a Thief can slip through the midst of his enemies. Since only the Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert sets are used, advancement is possible through 14th level. Decadent and wasted Zothique is the last civilization of its world, and mankind has reached its final twilight therein. There is no further greatness to be had.
Thematic Concerns: Zothique is a pretty bleak and depressing place. Adventures would play up the horror aspects, and dungeon exploration would be a common motif (plundering the lost vaults of nameless ruined cities while avoiding the madness-inducing inhabitants thereof). Monsters would be genuinely terrifying because, on average, everybody is going to have very few hit points.
*****
Conclusion: I think it is eminently do-able, with practically no extra work for the DM. I think Moldvay is the best choice both because the cap at 14th works perfectly for the "twilight of man" theme and because if I used Mentzer the Elmore artwork would constantly charm me out of the bad mood required to properly run this kind of game.
