The Antithesis of DIY

 A few days ago, I came home from work to find my wife had spent most of the day watching YouTube videos about how to leverage AI into making extra income. She has some ideas of how to use AI to advertise the small business she's trying to start up. I don't begrudge her that, as we definitely don't have a budget for advertising. But she was pretty insistent that I should also use AI to help me produce and market my RPG products. 

I'm not a fan of "AI" as it currently stands. As I often say, it's very artificial and not very intelligent. I will admit, though, that the current crop of LLMs are MUCH better than just a year or two ago, at producing some simulacrum of human output. 

We've probably all seen examples of AI generated text that is impressive, and some that is not. Similar with images and video clips. Flynn often uses AI to generate pictures of his RPG characters. It's not that he doesn't have artistic talent, but the AI saves him a lot of time on something that isn't that important to him. He likes having a cool picture, but not enough to spend days or even weeks creating it. Again, I don't have a problem with that. It's for his personal use, not anything he's trying to sell. 

When it comes to producing content, though, even if it's something to be given away, I don't want to let AI do my creating for me. Ted posted a great essay on AI in RPGs the other day, conveniently. I'm in agreement with him. Yes, an AI could write, illustrate, and probably even format your RPG for you. I've been working on Missions & Mayhem for months now. Since last November or December, I forget exactly when I started (I should check my old blog posts). I spent most of 2025 working on the second edition of Flying Swordsmen, converting it to the d6 system. [It's still coming! Eventually...] I could have completed both of these projects months ago if I'd allowed AI to do the work for me. 

But would they be any good? Would they play well at the table, the way I want them to play? I doubt it. And would I actively turn off a portion of the RPG community by doing so? I'm pretty sure I would. 

The OSR and the Indie game scene both thrive on the DIY spirit. And generative AI is the antithesis of DIY. It's the ultimate plagiarism machine. 

Now, does AI have its uses? Yes. I admit to using a couple of AI generated images in my TS&R monster books. The elementals in TS&R Ruby for example. I couldn't find good images in the public domain. And when I tried modifying some images with GIMP, they looked like crap. Take a look at the golem illustration to see how bad I am at this stuff...although the golems came out looking much better than the elementals I tried to make did. But I state that up front in the front matter of the book, and it's a Pay What You Want title. Don't want to pay for something that has even 1 AI generated image in it? Then don't. Download it for free. 

Working on Missions & Mayhem, AI search has saved me a lot of time with gear and vehicle pricing. I don't need to sort through pages and pages of sales sites or whatever to see how much a fire extinguisher or a speed boat should cost. The AI assisted search can give me a plausible average price. I could make up a number, but this way I've got something reasonable. The game text itself, the rules and mechanics, I'm writing all of that myself.  

What's the difference? Well, in one instance AI is saving me a bit of time to provide a number that isn't super relevant to game play. In the other instance, AI would be doing my thinking and expressing of the ideas for me. One is lazy, the other is cheating. I'll admit to laziness, but I'm not about to ask people for money on something I'm cheating to produce. 

My wife was baffled (to get back to her). I had to explain the whole DIY ethos to her, and how using AI to crank out a bunch of slop game rules or adventure modules would turn a segment of the gaming population away from my work. 

I'm already producing games in a niche (Asian-themed fantasy, or Modern day action genre) of a niche (old school rules) of a niche hobby (RPGs). Yeah, there are the Shadowdarks making millions on Kickstarter and whatnot. And if I were to run a Kickstarter for M&M or FS2E, I'd only be shooting for a few thousand to help pay for art and layout/editing. I could probably make that happen. But I suck at promotion. 

Chanbara has been available for eight years now, and it's only an Electrum seller on DTRPG. My wife suggested I use AI to strategize marketing for it, M&M, and eventually FS2E. I might end up doing that, as it's really not my forte. I'm more of an Arneson than a Gygax.  

But I'm also now more committed to DIYing my games. 

I still plan to pay a few artists for artwork for Missions & Mayhem. But I'm also thinking I should just do a bunch of art myself. It won't be great, but it will be real art by a real human being.  My game may not be slick and polished with my own artwork gracing its pages, but it will be real. 

Rebuilding Chesterton's Fence

 There's been a lot of discussion lately in various (mainly political/economic) news & commentary that I consume lately. If you don't know, Chesterton's Fence is the idea that you don't tear down a fence unless you understand why that fence was put up in the first place. I'll let you draw your own conclusions to what self-styled super-genius's actions the media I was consuming was referencing to (there's more than one, to be honest). 

In terms of D&D and other RPGs, this is solid advice. We often, especially those of us in the OSR and the weird confluence of OSR and indie/narrative/story-first gaming circles, tell new GMs to "homebrew to make it your own game" or roll out adages like "rulings over rules." But if you don't know why those rules were there in the first place, you're likely to do more damage than improvement. 

I watched this video about improving 5E play earlier today. I'm still involved in two play-by-post 5E games (same GM), but I don't have much interest in the game itself these days. Still haven't bothered to look at the 5.5E rules yet. But at the same time, it's good to have some idea of that play culture. Especially in light of the (now cancelled, unfortunately) GM workshop I was preparing for.  

If you don't want to watch, he's talking about how the 5E "long rest" mechanic takes away tension and resource management, and ways to bring those back by limiting or putting conditions on the long rests. No arguments, no notes. He's right. If you want to play 5E, those are good things to do. 

While watching the video, I couldn't stop thinking of how WotC tore down Chesterton's Fence when they made 3E D&D and their subsequent versions either because they just didn't know what they were doing, or because there was pressure from players to take out the "suck" from the game. Actually, this may have started with TSR people in the late 80s/early 90s, around the time of 2E AD&D now that I think of it. I guess there's just been an accumulation of Chesterton's Fences being kicked down in the game over the decades.

And now, the younger generation is rebuilding some of those fences. It makes me happy to see that. Gygax and Arneson, for all their faults, ended up designing a great little game. And a lot of the decisions they made way back in the early 70s were integral to good game play. Resource management (including rests) may be boring and sometimes tedious, and it may not be something that emulates the heroic fantasy fiction that inspires our games. But without it, where's the game? 

Treasures, Serpents, & Ruins Game Master Guidebook is Now Available!

 I have just completed uploading the GMG to my Hidden Treasure Books store on DriveThruRPG. 

Here's a link!

It's got advice and rules for running a game the way I do it (mostly), including what I feel a new GM should know about running a game, or advice for people trying out old school style gaming for the first time. 

Most of you veterans who read this blog probably won't find much use out of most of it, but I do have some home-brewed modifications to the BECMI domain and war machine rules, and a different system for creating artifacts. Also my own version of the planes of existence. 

So there are some nuggets that might be useful even to the old, jaded gamer who's seen and done it all. Or at least I hope so. 

It's fully compatible with both my Ruby (standard Euro-D&D) and Jade (Asian D&D) sets. Oh, and I've made a few updates based on the past year of gaming with these rules to both the Jade and Ruby Players Rules books and the Bestiary & Treasury books. 

If you've already downloaded them, you might want to get the updated versions. There aren't many changes, but some mistakes have been fixed and a few things have been modified.

The Planes, Boss, The Planes!

I've got the draft of the TS&R Game Master Guidebook edited and formatted. I've sent a segment to a friend who's never run a game to review. If he says the initial advice on how to run a game is good and easy to understand, I'll release the book. If he says it's confusing, I'll spend a bit more time revising. 

Today, I'd like to share an excerpt here. I've taken a different approach to the Outer Planes than Gygax. No Great Wheel in my games. My conception is a lot closer to Mentzer's in the Masters and Immortals sets, which is probably no surprise, but unlike Frank, I really don't care how many square miles or how many planets are in an Outer Plane. I'm not trying to quantify things for Immortals level play. Outer Planes in my conception have always been a mix of mythological afterlife realms and dreamscapes. The ones I've listed here are primarily from myths and legends, a few from more recent fictional works, and a few just from my own imagination. Of course, even the ones from myths and legends have my own takes on what those places might be like. 

Example Outer Planes

The following are examples drawn from myths, fiction, and the author’s imagination. These are not fully fleshed out ideas, merely springboards for each GM to get started creating their own Outer Planes.

Avalon: This plane appears to be a mist-shrouded island, or island chain, with plentiful apple trees. It may be a small plane, or one that is recursive; explorers are not yet sure. Time flows 100 times more slowly on Avalon than on the Prime. It is ruled over by a trio of Enchantress Powers, and they seek to gather great heroes from the Prime, and send them back later when they are needed to deal with a great threat.

Battle World: This plane consists of a single planet in a vast empty void. The planet is made up of a patchwork of bits and pieces from various Prime and Alternate Prime worlds. It is a place of constant battle, with creatures from the various worlds that make up the Battle World, and planar creatures from all over the multiverse constantly engaged in conflict. It is ruled over by a distant and mysterious Power known only as One Beyond All Others. Legends claim that if one faction ever gains complete victory, the faction’s leader will be able to overthrow One Beyond All Others.

Dawn Lands: This plane consists of a variety of planets, each mirroring a prehistoric era. Some planets may contain an anachronistic mix of prehistoric eras. Pre-Cambrian sea creatures, dinosaurs, and Pleistocene beasts roam the various worlds, along with neanderthals and other primitive humanoids. A pantheon of Powers called the Lords of Time rule.

Divine Path: The Divine Path consists of three interconnected planes. Each is an afterlife realm, where spirits of the dead gather, and planar beings serve the Powers of each plane. From the Astral, travelers must first enter Inferno, then travel through Purgatorio, before begin allowed access to Paradiso, if worthy.

Inferno: This lower plane is a huge subterranean cavern of eight concentric rings descending to the central circle. On each circle, the souls of those who failed to live up to their religious obligations are punished by devils. It is ruled over by the Chaotic Power Luferno, who is frozen in the bottom circle.

Purgatorio: This gray and dismal plane is a series of seven mountains, each taller than the last. On each mountain, souls of those who were indifferent to their religious duties toil and struggle to purify themselves, lorded over by yugoloths. The plane is ruled by the Neutral Power Beatria, who washes away memories of the souls after their penance is served.

Paradiso: This bright, cloud-skirted mountain rises high to a glowing sun-like light at its peak, and is divided into seven levels. On each level, angels tend to the souls of those who performed religious duties faithfully. The upper plane is ruled by the Lawful Power Trinity, who resides atop the mountain.

Dragon Mountain: In the midst of a vast, endless sea, a great mountain rises up so high, it can be seen from anywhere within the sea. In fact, boats that turn toward the mountain always find it within a day’s sail, no matter how many days they have sailed away from it. The mountain consists of a variety of biomes, each corresponding to those preferred by various dragons. Gold and bronze dragons live along the coast, blue and brass in the dry plains that slope up from the coast, green and black in the forests and swamps on the far side of the arid slopes, copper and silver on the lower slopes, and white and red on the highest peaks. The planar dragons are the Powers, with Tiamat (Chromatic) and Bahamut (Platinum) ruling over the mountain, while Demodragon rules over caves deep within the great mountain.

Halls of the Ancestors: This is the afterlife realm of a shamanistic religion. It appears as a land of wild forests and hills, rocky coasts and narrow seas. The world contains scattered settlements of primitive design, populated by the spirits of deceased ancestors living in harmony with various celestial animals and spirit creatures. Around one in one hundred settlements contains a pyramid, temple complex, or great feast hall made of stone. The Neutral Power that rules the plane is the Great Spirit, a being that is an amalgam of ancestral spirits from long ago. Each spirit residing on the plane hopes to one day join with the Great Spirit.

Heavenly Palace of the Jade Emperor: Numerous rounded mountain peaks arise from a sea of cloud on this upper plane, which may stretch on to infinity. Those that fall into the cloud ocean may end up in a lower plane. The highest, “central” peak contains the Palace, where the Power August Jade Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi rules over the workings of the universe. A host of celestials, immortals, and powerful spirits serve as the emperor’s bureaucrats and army. Each lesser peak hosts a bureau or division of the Celestial Bureaucracy, overseeing some facet of nature or civilization on the Prime. Messenger spirits constantly flit form peak to peak on cloud chariots. This Lawful plane is highly organized, and efficiency is prized.

Land of Milk and Honey: Within a landscape of arid hills and plains, a large, lush, fertile valley containing a huge lake sits surrounded by rugged cliffs. Natural springs, both hot and cold, feed the lake. The water is always pure and sweet, and each dawn bread appears on the ground and can be collected by the residents. The trees and plants are always bearing ripe fruit, and the bees that flit constantly here and there never sting. This ideal land of plenty is ruled over by a Lawful Power residing in a nearby volcano named Iam. Iam does not allow any spells that cause damage to function on the plane, and all weapons brought to the plane are transformed into innocuous tools or other items until they are taken away from the plane. Time does not pass on this plane in comparison to the Prime or other planes, no matter how long one stays.

Lands of Nowhere and All: This Chaotic plane is constantly in flux, and no two regions are the same. In fact, no region stays the same for very long. Some mortals on the Prime believe that this plane is just a dream, as the sensation of impermanence on the plane mirrors that of many dreams. The Power that rules this plane is often called Dream Master, but the real name and real form of the Power is a mystery. Demons and other lower planar creatures abound on this plane, but there are other creatures, even some upper planar ones, to be found amid the eternal flux.

Mt. Sumeru: This great world-mountain is made up of ninety-nine levels, rising to an upper planar paradise of oneness with the multiverse known as Nirvana. It is unknown whether Nirvana is sentient or not, but it seems to be the Power of the level, or else the hidden Power resides as part of Nirvana. Each level is populated by an assortment of angels, devas, immortals, and sacred spirits. The levels all have various characteristics that are intended to reward the just, but also to prepare souls for reincarnation and rebirth. It is a fantastic land, gaining in oddness and beauty as one ascends the levels of the mountain.

Naraka: Known as the Ten-Thousand Hells, this lower planar region is a place of torment and suffering, but one that is designed to purify souls of the deceased so that they may be reincarnated and live again. Whether or not there are actually 10,000 levels to this plane is left to each GM, but it is vast, with each level devoted to a different type of punishment for different types of sins or crimes. Souls of different races have their own levels of punishment within Naraka. Each level has its own Power, with each known as a Yama (Hell King).

Olympia: Three outer plane levels form an afterlife realm ruled by a pantheon of Powers called the Olympians. Their palace sits atop the great mountain Olympos, on a continent of cloud above the levels.

Elysium: Residing “above” the other levels, this idyllic grassland is the Lawful realm where great heroes’ spirits reside after their death. While none of the natives of Elysium are hostile, creatures from the other realms appear from time to time, and the hero spirits dust off their arms and face them, or allow visiting mortals to take care of the deeds so they may rest.

Oceanus: Residing “between” the other levels, this vast ocean is a Chaotic realm of deep seas and small islands. Most of the plane’s residents are found beneath the surface, in great palaces and cities. Monsters abound on this level, both beneath the waves and on the islands.

Hades: Residing “below” the other levels, this great cavernous realm is a Neutral realm of the dead. Those who were wicked in life are punished with poetic justice, while those who simply lived their lives exist as shades with only faint memories of their former lives. The realm is a vast storehouse of treasure, but monsters and lower planar creatures abound.

Pits of Tartarus: The cosmic prison, a truly bottomless pit where overthrown Powers are chained and bound, or forced into eternal slumber, is a colossal tunnel digging deep down a twisting path into jagged rock faces. Ledges and caves dot the walls of the endless drop. This dark lower plane is ruled by the Lawful Power Cronus, who manipulates time itself to keep other Powers incarcerated in the Pits. Because of Cronus’ temporal powers, visitors may find time passing extremely slowly or quickly compared to time on the Prime. This makes visits to Tartarus risky affairs.

Realm of the Thirteenth Night: This lower plane is an endless void of howling winds and dark storm clouds pierced with pinkish-purple lightning. There is no ground, and those without flying or levitation ability will be tossed about at random by the winds. Winged demons, shadow creatures, and other horrors stalk this vast plane, which is ruled over by a Chaotic Power known as The Witch of Storms.

Sheol: This afterlife lower plane is the location where all souls without another place to go end up after death. It is a dark and hopeless domain, and nothing can break the constant silence. While most souls that end up in Sheol are simply bound here for eternity, the Neutral Power Tan-Golath who rules the plane will punish those that were particularly evil or who try to escape by throwing them into the Lake of Fire.

The Bottomless Dungeon: This entire plane is a seemingly endless dungeon. Some sections are worked dungeon, others seem to be natural caverns, but there is no exit and no bottom. Within the dungeon are settlements and shops, lairs and tombs, and everything else one might expect from the ultimate mega-dungeon. There are creatures, traps, oddities, and of course treasures strewn throughout the depths, but often no rhyme or reason for the contents of this bizarre plane. A Neutral Power known only as the Master rules over the expansive dungeon universe. GMs wanting to use this plane should develop many random tables to fill sections of the plane as it is explored. Standard dungeon stocking takes too long.

The Cosmic Ocean: This plane is a hollow sphere consisting of an ocean surrounding a crystal that glows like the sun for 12 hours then like the moon for 12 hours each day. The plane is 10,000 miles in diameter, with gravity pushing outward from the central crystal. Weather varies from region to region, with “sunny” weather in one area and raging typhoons in another. The ocean surface has many small islands, floating raft towns, and the like, as well as many vessels of all ages and descriptions sailing it. The undersea realm is also active, with multiple nations of mermen, sahuagin, and other undersea beings. Creatures from the Prime oceans as well as the Plane of Water and upper planar creatures of aquatic type can be encountered on this plane. The Chaotic Power Nautolus rules this maritime upper plane, and Nautolus can be vengeful if angered or not given due respect from residents and visitors.

The Cyclopean Forests: Everything native to this endless primeval forest plane is scaled twelve times larger than on the Prime, so visitors to the plane act as if under the effects of a potion of diminution. This also includes astral projections that visit the plane. The GM should populate the plane with gargantuan versions of normal creatures, but with normal numbers appearing for the creature type. A trio of Powers rule this land: Arda, Lawful ruler of the land, Urda, Chaotic ruler of the waters, and Erda, Neutral ruler of the skies.

The Grey Wastes: This Chaotic lower plane is a dull, sterile, dusty wasteland, where only sparse, wilted plants and twisted dead trees occasionally dot the landscape. Jagged slivers of rock protrude from the broken ground, and dust constantly blows through the gray skies. Demons and devils of all sorts may be found here, ruled over by the Power Agransh the Witch-Queen, a powerful demon lord.

Tir-na-nOg: The Land of Youth is an upper plane paradise, a land of eternal youth, vigor, and plenty. It is a land of low, rolling hills, vast forests, and flowery meadows ruled over by a pantheon of Powers known as the Tuatha De Danann. The number three is sacred in this plane, and things often appear in trios. Visits to this plane invariably last three hours, three days, three years, or three centuries, although time here is not connected to time on the Prime. Travelers here may face many adventures. While this is an upper plane, it is one where many monsters may roam. Druidic magic works normally on this plane, but clerical magic may not function or may misfire when spells are cast.

This plane may be divided into levels if the GM likes, but the borders are hazy and it is easy to slip from one to another. Some of the regions that may be considered levels include Tir fo Thuinn (the Land Under the Wave), the Island of Lir, Mag Mel (the Plains of Delight), and Idathach (the Place of Colors). Each region or level will have its own alignment, but Tir-na-nOg overall has a Neutral, bordering on Chaotic, alignment. The magical horses of Manannan Mac Lir allow mortals to cross physically into this plane.

Yggdrasil: The cosmic World Tree of Yggdrasil is a set of ten interconnected outer planes. The cosmic tree itself forms the initial level of the planar group, with other planes accessed from its roots, trunk, or branches. The Norns, three sisters of fate, are the Powers of Yggdrasil. The Tree is the home of many monsters and several unique creatures, and residents of the other levels traverse it often.

The roots of Yggdrasil connect to:

Niflheim: The cold, misty abode of the Power Hel. This is the land of the dead who die from disease or old age, and Hel’s fortress is said to hold vast treasures. Demonic giants called thurs and goblinoids are common in this realm.

Svartalfheim: This is the cosmic underground realm of dwarves and goblins, ruled over by the Power Ivaldi. It is also known as Nidavellir. The residents of the plane are famous as craftsmen of magic items, but fierce dragons also inhabit the realm.

Ginnungagap: A great void, a plane of dark nothingness from which magic springs. The Power that rules over this realm is unknown.

The middle branches of Yggdrasil connect to:

Jotunheim: The cold, mountainous plane of frost giants, ruled over by the Power Mimir, a secretive being of vast knowledge.

Midgard: A realm similar to the Prime in appearance, with many fjord-carved islands, dark forest, and rugged mountains. It is ruled over by the Powers Jord (goddess of the land), Sol (goddess of the sun), and Mani (god of the moon).

Muspelheim: A fiery realm of fire giants and red dragons, ruled over by the Power Surt. This is the home of many monsters and giants who want to conquer and destroy the other realms of Yggdrasil.

The upper branches of Yggdrasil connect to:

Asgard: A realm of gold and beauty, ruled over by a pantheon of Powers known as the Aesir. This realm includes the Hall of Valhalla, where those slain in battle await the final conflict with the giants of Muspelheim and Jotunheim, and the monsters of Niflheim.

Ljosalfheim: The cosmic forested realm of the elves is ruled over by the Powers Erlking and Erlqueen. The elves of this realm are magical craftsmen, and rivals to the dwarves of Svartalfheim.

Vanaheim: A land of wild, untamed nature, ruled over by the pantheon of Powers known as the Vanir. This lush land appears as an idealized counterpart to the Prime, and many wild creatures live there.

My Star Wars d6

The longer I play my side campaign of WEG d6 Star Wars, the more I tinker with the rules. It's a pretty flexible system, after all. Recently, I've been codifying my rules changes for the benefit of my players, especially since there are a few new people in the group. 

When I started the game, I had only the fan-edited Revised, Updated, and Expanded rules document. I've mentioned before what a beast of a PDF this thing is. It's not the most intuitively edited document, but it does cover a lot of material that was never officially in WEG products, which is handy. I've been supplementing that with material from Wookieepedia and sites like RPGGamer.org, and reading what other referees have done with the game. The Star Wars EU Timeline has a treasure trove of WEG sourcebooks, adventures, and whatnot as well.

One of the changes I made early on was to eliminate the "parry" skills and just use the attack skill for both action and reaction. So you only need Melee Combat skill, not Melee Combat and Melee Parry. Not many players were putting dice into Melee or Brawling anyway, so it hasn't been a balance problem. 

I haven't outlawed specializing, but I haven't promoted those rules, either. If a player read about it, and wanted to do that, I'd allow it, but it's a bit easier to just have them put full dice in a general skill. 

That said, the recommended starting 7 skill dice is too paltry. I've doubled it to 14 for starting characters, but still with the limit of no more than 2 dice per skill. And 10 CP on character creation, not 5. No need to be so stingy. My players spend them on rolls all the time!

Since I got the 30th Anniversary reprint of the original rules, I've adopted some of those systems over the ones in the REUP/2nd edition. 

For one, I use abstract ranges (short, medium, long) for starship combat, rather than tracking individual speeds and distances. Much easier. We haven't had a ton of starship combat in my game over the years. It's primarily been planet-side adventure. 

Another thing I've only recently introduced is the 1st edition method of using the Force. Instead of making Jedi characters slowly gain skill dice and slowly add to their power list like selecting feats in 3E D&D, I have a general list of Force power difficulties, and if they try something unusual with the Force, I'll improvise. Right now, there is only one Force-user in the group, my son Steven's PC. And he rarely uses his Force powers, as he's more interested in buying gadgets and droids to help him out (and previous players with Jedi/Force Users drew the attention of Sith Inquisitors...). 

Finally, I've decided that Abilities can't be improved. The rules in 2nd Edition for that are kinda wonky, and are the sort of thing that might lead to player dissatisfaction. I know I wouldn't be happy if I gave up skill improvements or spending CP for a better chance to succeed on rolls to save up for an Ability improvement, then because of poor rolls I waste half of the points I saved and don't get the improvement, I'd be upset. Anyway, it's easier to just keep abilities where they are on the template, and have players improve individual skills. 

I've made some handy reference sheets for my players, and put them in our group Discord server. These are all updated with my most recent additions and changes. 

d6 Basic Rules This covers basic actions and resolution mechanics.

Force Skills Simplified This gives players guidance on how to Use the Force.

Starship Combat Rules Simplified My version of starship combat, trying to make it as simple and easy as possible for the players. 

Star Wars Gear Lists A collection of official and fan-made (some by myself) standard gear to keep from having to scroll through the huge PDF all the time when characters go shopping. Of course, they often ask for things not on this list, so back to the PDF (or to RPGGamer.org) we go...

Progress Continues on TS&R

The revision/editing of my Treasures, Serpents, & Ruins Game Master Guide is going well. I'm about 2/3 through the draft. Last Friday, I made a copy of the file in order to pare it down to a table reference book. That will include all the useful charts and procedures (how to manage an exploration turn, combat round, etc.) and that includes stuff from the players books and monster books, too. 

The GMG is targeted at GMs who are new to RPGs or at least new to OSR style game play. It's got lots of explanations of how to run things, why to run them that way, and examples. Honestly, it could probably use more examples, but I've been working on it long enough. It's not perfect, but it should be good enough. 

The companion book, which I think will be called Treasures, Serpents, & Ruins Rules and Procedures, will be for the experienced GM. I plan to make it as short as possible, but a useful reference while preparing dungeons/adventures, and also while running things at the table. Experienced DMs don't need to leaf through pages of explanations and examples at the table. They need just the facts, Ma'am. 

I'm around 2/3 through the GMG draft, so if things keep up, I should be done with it soon, and ready to format the book for release. The R&P book should be a pretty quick thing to slap together, since it's just a collection of the useful charts, tables, and rules for play. 

I've been putting off a few blog post ideas I've got the past two weeks. For one thing, my mother is in the hospital and it was pretty serious, but she's recovering, so that's one load off. There's been a bit of work-related frustration as well. Not quite drama, but just annoying bureaucratic BS that we need to deal with. But I think that's mostly blown over as well. And we're rolling up on the end of the semester, so that's just generally busy. Oh, and despite all of the above, I've actually been gaming a bit too much. We played CoC last Friday evening, and I just ran my Jade campaign this afternoon. S&S board gaming on this upcoming Thursday holiday or possibly delayed until next Sunday, which is also when Dustie wants to resume her Monster of the Week (a PbtA X-Files/Stranger Things type game). And a friend of a friend has a brand new home-brew game they want to play test in two weeks. 

I also still haven't play tested my mass combat rules for TS&R with actual other people yet, so I should probably do that soon. I'd like to give them a run through with some other people. Even though they're just modifications to Mentzer's Companion Set War Machine rules, I want to make sure I haven't screwed anything up with them in my tinkering. 

Plus, it might be fun to just stage a little war game scenario for the group. I just need to find the time!

d6-y Time

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the release of Star Wars (what the kids today know as Episode 4: A New Hope) in theaters back in 1977. And yes, I'm running another session of my Star Wars d6 game. The players from my May the Fourth game are returning, and two more players are showing up. Richard is our Call of Cthulhu Keeper, and recently joined my TS&R Jade game. Randy is a friend who's been interested in getting into RPGs, but had a new baby late last year so hasn't had much time for gaming until recently. 

The d6 system, in its more generic form, was on my mind recently. I actually woke up from a dream yesterday in which I was modifying the system to create a Mabinogion/Irish Myth based fantasy game. I've never played, or even read, the official d6 Fantasy game that came out 20-some years ago, but in my dream I was coming up with a list of skills for magic: enchantments, transmutations, illusions, etc.

Then I come across Tim Brannan talking about Star Wars d20 and mentioning how he prefers those rules to WEG d6, and also Weregrognard talking about WEG d6 Star Wars and the d6 System in general. So it seems to be a bit of a mini-topic these days. 

About 10 years ago or so, when Jeremy Hart and I were gaming together more actively than we are these days, he often talked about wanting to run something with Mini Six, the slimmed down d6 System game. But then he'd run something else, home brewed or Black Hack, or something interesting he'd found and wanted to try. So we never got that Mini Six game going. But at that time, it did get me to download Open d6 and I did really like what I saw in it. 

In fact, I've considered making a 2nd edition of Flying Swordsmen using Open d6! I had fun playing Dragon Fist for a bit when it came out nearly 25 years ago, and had fun with FS for a while, but honestly, it's not the best fit for a long term wuxia style game. With the bell curve results of a totaled die pool, the flexibility to determine what attributes and skills are in the game, and the lesser focus on tactical placement and more on descriptive engagement with encounters, I honestly think it would be a better fit. OSR style mechanics are great for a game where exploration and acquisition, plus combat, are the key drivers of play. Good wuxia stories are about exploring relationships and social norms as much as they are about the martial arts combat. I think d6 would be a better fit, honestly. 

Finally, yesterday this YouTube video on various die rolling methods was recommended by the Almighty Algorithm. Now, before you click on it -- I am not the intended audience, and you, my reader, are most likely not as well. It seems to be pitched towards teens/tweens who are just getting into RPGs, based on the guy's content and his delivery. Why I mention it is that while he mentions the White Wolf style # of successes die pool system, he doesn't mention the WEG d6 die pool vs target number system. There are lots of other die systems he also neglects...like I said, the target audience seems to be kids just getting into gaming, not us old fogies. 

While I didn't learn anything from that video, it did get me thinking about the way that certain systems seem to promote different aspects of play. I'm currently involved in games using d20 for combat (TS&R, although it's got percentages, x/d6, and 2d6 roll mechanics as well, and Gamma World 4E), exclusively d% (Call of Cthulhu), and dice pool (WEG Star Wars) systems. 

The swingy d20 and d% systems are geared around exploration. TS&R (D&D) and Gamma World are about exploration of the setting. CoC is about exploration of mysteries. 

Dice pool systems like WEG (and what little I've played of WW d10 dice pool games) are more focused on telling an interesting story, or at least entertaining the players and allowing them a structure to immerse themselves in their character. I've used some dungeon crawling and wilderness hex-ploration in my Star Wars game from time to time, but for the most part the challenges I set up are situational, with a lot of if/then triggers, rather than site-based. The d6 Star Wars game was designed with this sort of play in mind, and I think it works really well to encourage that. 

Also, the way that the probabilities work out with a dice pool means that characters are a bit more consistent in performance than those using a flat distribution mechanic like d20/d%, although things like the Wild Die, losing dice for multiple actions, and opposed rolls do keep things interesting. 

I'd been thinking that after I finish revising/editing/formatting the TS&R Game Master Guidebook and editing it down to a Rules & Procedures table reference, I'd try my hand at another setting/genre set of players' book/monster book. Middle Eastern/Arabian Nights style gaming, or retro Sci Fi rockets & rayguns, maybe. Now, though, I'm wondering if maybe that Celtic Myth fantasy game or a revision of Flying Swordsmen, both with the Open d6 system, might catch my interest more.

TS&R GM Guidebook Progress

In the past week or so, I've made some good progress on my TS&R Game Master Guidebook.

I finished up rules for naval mass combat (modified and simplified from those in the module M1 Immortal Storm), wrote some general guidelines for high level epic quests, and revised the section on artifacts. I still need to write up some more sample artifacts. I had an example of creating an artifact from an earlier draft, so that got a touch-up, and I have a list of legendary items from various myths and legends that I plan to give the 1E AD&D treatment, describing the item and its purpose, but leaving the specific powers and drawbacks to the individual GM. 

Oh, and now I'm working on describing the Planes of Existence. 

Once I get the artifacts and planar stuff done, all I have left to do is outline some optional or alternate rules (like suggestions for different ways to do energy drain attacks, or using X in d6 for Thief Skills instead of percentages, or optional rules for multiclassing, or using BX/BECMI style race-as-class). I do have 1st drafts for some parts of this last section done already, as the ideas come to me. 

Once that's done, I was planning to put in a section with quick reference charts from around the book, but I realized that I already intend to release a simple rules reference book for more experience GMs, so this might not be necessary. It would be roughly the same thing, and since the majority of people will own these as PDFs, it might be easier to have quick reference stuff in one document window and more detailed rules explanations in another. 

Once all that's done, I'll give everything an editing pass, and see if I can get someone else to read through it as well. Sometimes I get to rambling and over-explain things, or make an assumption that some point is obvious and don't explain it well enough. When I'm teaching in class, I can tell from student reactions that this is happening and correct myself. When I'm writing, I don't have that luxury. So a pair of fresh eyes or two will help me to improve and clarify things a bit. 

The book chapters are: 

The Basics: what is an RPG, how do you use these funny dice, what is the reward-feedback loop, player-centered play, etc.

Running the Game: How to manage character creation, how to manage a game session, procedures for dungeon/wilderness/town-social exploration, rules for combat, advice on adjudicating rules.

Preparing the Campaign: How to set up a campaign, create a home town, create dungeons, wilderness, NPCs and factions, and how to bring it all together into a campaign world.

High Level Games: Running domains, mass combat, magical research, epic quests, planar adventures, artifacts. 

Modifying the Game: Advice on limiting races/classes/spells to fit the campaign, optional rules, alternate rules systems. 

If I can keep up the pace over the next week (the final week of winter break for my university), I may be able to knock out the first drafts of the sections I still have to write. Then, if I can find a few people to give me some feedback, I will hopefully get this thing ready to release sometime over the summer or fall of this year, along with the Rules Reference book. And then I can consider compiling everything I've put out for TS&R into a print-on-demand volume, and also work on player and monster books for other genres besides Euro-fantasy and Asian fantasy.

The Phased Combat Round

I'm not sure why I keep the phased combat round from BX/BECMI in TS&R. I mean, I put it in the books because that's what the rules are supposed to be. But I rarely ever follow it. For a few sessions in my West Marches campaign, I tried using it strictly. I got lots of pushback from the players. And I felt it was more of a hassle than an aid to combat. So, I went back to my usual method of ignoring it.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, in Classic D&D, the combat round actions for a side are supposed to be resolved in the following order: 

Movement

Missile Fire

Magic

Melee

Now, this presents some interesting tactical/logistical challenges. If you don't move at the start of the side's turn, you don't get to move. Missile fire or a charge are the only ways to disrupt a spellcaster. You can't fire a missile and then duck back behind full cover. 

I suppose it would be easier if I did a Declarations phase with more detailed actions. But after years of playing newer editions, where each player has full reign on their PC's action to do all the moves, maneuvers, attacks, and bonus actions they like, players feel like when they state their intention, that's their action. 

If I have players make Declarations at all, it's just something simple like "I'll cast a spell" or "I'll run up and attack the ogre in melee" rather than their whole detailed plan of action. If I had them give more detailed plans, and took notes each round, then resolved things in the order above, that might make it seem more worthwhile. As it is, though, all that extra note-taking and adjudicating phases seems like a needless hold-over from D&D's wargame roots, where the referee was often given hand-written orders by the players for each turn, and then had time to sort things all out. 

At the D&D table, I'd rather keep things moving. 

I was thinking that the above phases would be useful for rounds where initiative between the monsters and the players is tied. If things are tied, all sides move (including charge attacks, attacks with spears set for charge, fighting withdrawal, and parting shots/attacks of opportunity on those that retreat rather than withdraw). Then all sides fire missiles. Then all sides cast magic (including magic items and specials like breath weapons or gaze attacks). Finally, all engaged characters that haven't taken an action yet can make their melee attacks. 

On rounds where initiative isn't a tie, each side just goes in the order they please. 

This is sort of like the AD&D system, where weapon speed factors (and maybe spellcasting segments?) are only supposed to come into play if initiative is tied. 

Next session, I'll maybe try this out and see how it goes. In the meantime, I'm considering if I should edit my TS&R books to get rid of the outdated Declarations and combat phases, and just write it up the way I actually play the game instead. It wouldn't be a big change, especially since people can download the rules for free.

Mass Combat Rules -- Do we need them? Do we want them?

I was involved in a discussion of the BECMI Companion Set War Machine mass combat rules recently, and it's got me thinking about them. 

I had thought about adding a version of them to Chanbara, but I'd given myself the arbitrary and artificial constraint of 64 pages, and there wasn't room. I did manage to work in a revision of the domain management rules from the same set, though. 

For Treasures, Serpents, & Ruins, I easily could take the time to revise/streamline/simplify those mass combat rules, but should I? 

I have never done hex-and-chit war games, although it's something I would love to try one day. I've only done a small amount of miniatures based war gaming (a homebrew system my brother and I worked up for little green army men as kids, a game of Chainmail once). My friends and I did use the Companion War Machine rules fairly often in our old campaign we had as kids, though. 

The system of the War Machine is designed to give you an overall result of a battle, not a play-by-play of every move and every tactic. You do some calculations before the battle for each force. You figure any modifiers at the time of battle (with basic tactical options as optional rules that can be added on). Both sides roll dice and add the force rating, higher result wins. Check the difference in the results on the table to determine casualties and disposition of each force. 

Is it perfect? No.

Is it realistic? Not at all.

Is it simple to implement? I think so.

Does it allow you to add mass combat actions to D&D without overshadowing the PCs and their adventures? Yes. 

As I said already, I like this system because it's light and easy to implement, but it allows for some options to make it more complex if that's what the players want. So, audience of mine, I really would like to get your opinions on this. Would it be worth my time to go to the effort of revising/restating these rules to add to TS&R? Would you like to see something like this? Would it be useful to you? Should I spend a bunch of time on this, or not? 

OD&D Elf as Multiclass Template

This started off as one of those weird shower thoughts, but the idea has stuck with me through the morning so I might as well post it, since I've got a bit of time this afternoon. 

I've always found the OD&D Elf to be odd, and I've always been curious about how they play, but the only two times I've played OD&D rules, I played a Fighter and a Thief (Greyhawk supplement, obviously). If by some odd chance you don't know, if you were to play an Elf in OD&D, your character basically has two character sheets, one as a Fighter and one as a Magic-User. I don't know if people actually used two separate sheets, as ability scores, equipment, and so on doesn't change. But each time the session starts, you would decide to play as either a Fighter or a Magic-User, and your character has those abilities but not the other for that session. 

I've had a few posts from time to time about variant multiclassing rules (there may be more, but if so I don't remember how I tagged them). This is yet another thought experiment post, not something I'm seriously considering applying...at least not to my current games. 

Idea 1: Expanding Potential Class Combinations

This is a simple idea. If the Elf can be a Shrödinger's Fighter/Magic-User, why not let the Halfling be a similar Fighter/Thief? At the start of the adventure, select which class abilities you will use this time. You can't rely on the other abilities this session. All XP earned this session goes to that class. 

This is not too complicated, although any multiclass demihumans (or humans if the DM allows) would need to have two sets of abilities, hit points, saving throws, etc. on their sheets (or 2 sheets). One bonus is that it allows players in groups with more casual attendance to pick the class to run that session that will most benefit the party. Mary didn't show up with her Magic-user? OK, my gnome will be an Illusionist this session.

Maybe give them the perk that once one of their classes is maxed out, as long as the other class is higher level, they get both sets of abilities simultaneously from that point on (like the BX/BECMI Elf class, or standard AD&D multiclasses). 

Idea 2: Simultaneous Ability, Separated Experience

This idea would be that as an OD&D Elf (or any other multiclass combination allowed), your character acts simultaneously as both classes, as with the Basic Elf class or AD&D multiclassing rules. But you have separate experience tracks for each class. At the start of an adventure, the player would have to decide which of their classes will gain the experience from that session. This allows players to control the pace of each class's advancement to an extent. You never know just how much XP you're going to get, after all. And I'd be sticking to the "no more than one level advanced at a time" rule for this.

One difference I'd use with this system, aside from the above idea of not dividing XP evenly into the classes, is that hit points would also not be averaged. You'd get the full HP for each level in each class. Yes, that would give multiclass demihumans an advantage in the hit point area eventually. This being the case, I'd remove level limits for single-class demihumans. 

Idea 3: True Shrödinger's Multiclass

This is the weirdest of the ideas. OD&D Elf (or other similar multiclass character), but the player doesn't get to decide which class to use, or which gets the XP, until they use an ability from one of those classes. So if you get in a fight and use a sword, you're a Fighter this session and Fighter gets XP. If you cast a spell first, you're a Magic-user and MU gets the XP. Similarly if you're a Fighter/Thief, if you pick a lock, you're a Thief for the rest of the session. If you use your better Fighter saving throw or hit point total first, you're a Fighter. 

Obviously, for some combinations, the triggers will be subtle. Thieves can use many (or all) Fighter weapons. How do you know they're acting  as a Fighter? Does putting on a suit of plate armor trigger you as a Fighter? What about Fighter/Clerics? Both can wear the same armors, and Fighters can fight with blunt weapons if they choose. How do we know you're a Fighter and not a Cleric if you don't cast a spell or turn undead? 

DMs and players would need to work out a lot of issues with this idea. But I think it might be kind of fun to try some time.

If I were redesigning Star Wars d6

JB's comments in my previous post, discussing differences between WEG's 1st and 2nd editions of d6 Star Wars were part of the impetus of this post, but the core idea is something I'd actually thought of before that and just had been letting tumble around in the old brain for a while. 

My SW game is, as I mentioned, a slight mishmash of the editions. We started out with the fan-edited REUP (Revised, Expanded, & Updated) rules, this massive poorly organized PDF that contains game elements from the original and prequel series movies, plus some stuff from novels or comics, I assume. It doesn't have anything from the sequel trilogy or more recent Disney+ shows, though. 

While it's a great resource if I need stats on a certain alien species or type of vehicle, as I mentioned it's a bit hard to find the rules you need when you need them, even with PDF search functionality. The rules are mashed together with background information, advice for running games, and sample adventures. 

So when I saw that the 1st edition reprints were available, I scooped it up. And found that I like some of the simpler systems in 1E better than 2E. But since we'd already been playing 2E, we have a sort of mash-up game now. At the moment, I'm pretty much only using the space combat system from 1E, and not allowing PCs to improve their ability scores, only their skills. Oh, and I took this house rule from someone running a PbP game: There are no melee parry, brawling parry, etc. skills. Just use melee combat or brawling for those. Oh, one more thing I I changed is that I went through the REUP list of Force Powers (compiled from various supplements) and eliminated some that were clunky, overpowered, weird, or extraneous (two different Force-assisted Astrogation powers? Why?).

If I were to start over, I'd probably hew closer to the 1E rules. Especially the Force rules. 

In 2E, Jedi (and other Force Users) have to select various Force Powers that they've mastered as they improve their Force Skills. In 1E, there are no "Force Powers" but there are examples of doing things that were done in the original trilogy movies to suggest which Force Skill(s) would be needed and provide them with target numbers for difficulty to help the GM adjudicate the Force. If you have skill dice in Sense, Alter or Control, though, you can attempt to do whatever with those skills that makes sense. 

Or in other words, in 1E if you have trained in Sense, you can try to sense someone's presence, heighten your own hearing, discover something hidden, feel how strong someone else is with the Force, etc. No need to learn those as separate "powers." 

So what would I do different if I were redesigning the game? 

I'd make The Force into a seventh Ability that governs the three Force Skills. 

In the movies, there's a lot of talk of Yoda's species, Skywalkers, and Palpatines being innately stronger in the Force than everyone else. I think it would make more sense to emulate this with this change. Characters who are not Force Sensitive would not get this ability. Those with Force Sensitivity would get 1D. Various Force-user templates would get 2D. Especially strong NPCs would get 3 to 4D. Skywalkers get 5D. 

Yeah, that would necessitate reshuffling some dice from other abilities for non-Force users depending on if they're Force Sensitive or not. But that's not so hard.

Hengeyokai for TS&R Jade

 My second son, Steven, just turned 8 yesterday. He loves playing RPGs (until his short attention span runs out), and while he is half Korean, he's not too interested in Asian historical or fantastic dramas/movies. There was a Jackie Chan/John Cusack movie on TV yesterday while we were visiting his grandma's house. I watched a bit of it. He had zero interest. 

But when I talk about running a new D&D campaign with Asian fantasy tropes, he's down to play a ninja. 

Of course, he wants to be a cat-man ninja. 

Well, I'm not gonna make a Basic D&D version of the Tabaxi (all the rage in 5E), or make Rakasta a playable race (I think some BECMI supplement did that), but I did take a look at the 1E OA for the Hengeyokai stats, since one of their types is "cat."

And to make my son happy [as I did a few years ago by converting Dragonborn to Classic D&D for my older son], I took a stab at a TS&R Hengeyokai race. 

Before I present what I came up with, a few thoughts. 

First, I don't need 12 different animal types. Six, one for each of the six ability scores, is enough. Also, I've already got Vanara converted from 3E OA, so don't need Monkey Hengeyokai. I also had cut the Gumiho/Kitsune (fox fairy) race from my previous version, but sort of get that back with Fox Hengeyokai. And I added a Turtle, because TMNT.

Looking at the 1E OA race, they can be Shukenja (8th level), Kensai (6th level), Bushi (unlimited), Wu Jen (9th level). For TS&R, I think I've mentioned that I decided on 8/10/12 level caps for demi-humans to match the Halfling/Elf/Dwarf caps of BX & BECMI. I decided Kensai shouldn't be a standard class for Hengeyokai, and allow them to be Thieves instead. 

So in my rules, they can be Fighter (12th), Mudang [shaman/cleric] (8th), Thief (8th), Wu Jen [magic-user] (10th). But each subtype gets either a higher level limit or access to a class the other types can't access. And a small set of abilities that match their animal type. 

I removed the ability to turn fully human in appearance. I also changed the transformation ability to match my Druid shape-change. So instead of 1 transformation per level per day, they can transform for up to 1 hour per day, minimum 1 turn per transformation. Quite different from the 1E version, but avoids being a carp hengeyokai who transforms into fish for to navigate that ONE section of the dungeon...only to be stuck in fish form until the next day.

Sticking to the 1E rules, they can only speak to normal animals of their type or other hengeyokai when in animal form, and can't cast spells. In humanoid form, they can understand animals of their type but can't speak to them. 

Anyway, without further ado (and remember this is just a first draft which will be tested for balance in play), here are my Hengeyokai for TS&R Jade: 

Hengeyokai

Hengeyokai are shapeshifters that can take on an animal or humanoid form. In animal form, they are indistinguishable from a normal animal of their subtype. In humanoid form, they are human-sized, stand upright, but have animal heads and features. There are six subtypes, each with their own special abilities. Each subtype also gets an exception to the normal class restrictions for hengeyokai.

Minimum Scores: Dog: Str 9; Fox: Int 9; Turtle: Wis 9; Cat: Dex 9; Raccoon Dog: Con 9; Crane: Cha 9

Class: Fighter 12, Mudang 8, Thief 8, Wu Jen 10

Shapechange: The hengeyokai can change into the form of a normal animal for up to 1 hour (6 turns) each day. The hengeyokai keeps their hit points and ability scores, but other stats are as the animal. They may not cast spells while in animal form. They may speak only to animals of their type or other hengeyokai while in animal form, but understand all known languages. In humanoid form, they may not speak to animals of their type, but understand them.

Restrictions: Hengeyokai are shapechangers, and are vulnerable to any magic specific to shapechangers.

Languages: Common, Yokai, animal type

Subtypes:

Dog: Track by scent 1-4/d6. May add +4 to hit on a melee attack 1/day. Sohei 8.

Dog Form: AC 11, Bite 1d6, Move 120(40)

Fox: Detect secret doors 1-2/d6, Detect traps 1-2/d6. Wu Jen 12.

Fox Form: AC 12, Bite 1d3, Move 150(50)

Turtle: +2 AC. Hold breath for up to 1 hour. Xia 8.

Turtle Form: AC 16, Bite 1, Move 60(20), Swim 90(30)

Cat: Balance 1-5/d6, Move silently 1-2/d6, Jump 10’ high or long. Yakuza 8.

Cat Form: AC 12, Claw 1d2, Move 120(40)

Raccoon Dog: +4 to save vs poison or petrification. Mudang 10.

Raccoon Dog Form: AC 11, Bite 1d6, Move 90(30)

Crane: Half damage from falling. +1 bonus to Reaction rolls. Kensei 8.

Crane Form: AC 13, Bite 1d2, Move 60(20), Fly 120(40)

From the Houses of the Holy

For Treasures, Serpents, & Ruins, I have five "holy" classes. Actually, there could be more, depending on the way you characterize them. This isn't counting Bards, Rangers, or Xia, who could all be played as adventuring religious figures if you so choose. But then, you could play any class that way, really. 

Today, I'm focusing on these classes. 

From TS&R Ruby: Cleric, Druid, Paladin

From TS&R Jade: Mudang, Sohei

Clerics are easy. Mine are more or less like the BX or BECMI class, except I use d8 hit dice and give them spells starting at 1st level, as in AD&D. They get blunt weapons, all armors, defensive/utility/healing magic, and can turn undead. Humans of course can be Clerics. I also allow Dwarves up to 8th level (an association from newer editions that I enjoy), and Half-Orcs can be Clerics up to 10th level. A bit higher than their AD&D level limit. What about Half-Elves, you say? Well, in my rules a "half-elf" is just a bit of roleplay you can add on to your Human or Elf character and has no mechanical effects. So "half-elf cleric" is just a Human Cleric with some angsty half-elf flavor.

Druids are a little more complicated, but not too much. I started with the template from the Companion Set, but allow them from 1st level. Also, taking a bit of inspiration from the AD&D class for them. They use a d6 for their hit die. They can only use organic or stone weapons, and wear only organic armor (although I have a few options besides leather, like silk/linothorax, or lacquered wooden lamellar), as in BECMI. They start with spells from level 1, and their spell list is similar but not identical to the Cleric list. I added a few spells from AD&D that aren't on the BECMI lists, and a couple of MU spells that are nature oriented, and replaced a few of the Cleric spells besides those "dealing with good or evil" as in BECMI. 

For special abilities, Druids get Nature Lore: identify plants/animals, detect if food/water are safe to consume, and detect if plants/animals are sick or enchanted, each with a 1-4/d6 chance of success. They can also, like the Ranger, double the amount of food foraged by a party. 

Next, they get their animal shape-change ability. I've been working to balance this for a few years now. Lately no one is playing a Druid in West Marches, but I hope this is the version of the power that works well: The Druid may take on the form of an animal for a total of 6 turns (1 hour) per day. In animal form, they keep their hit points, but all other stats are as the animal. At 1st level, they are limited to small harmless animals (sparrow, frog, mouse, beetle, etc.). Starting at 2nd level, they can transform into larger animals with hit dice equal to their level. So a riding horse, wolf, oil beetle or giant bat at 2nd level, a giant tarantula or black bear at 4th level, a triceratops at 11th level, and so on. 

I think this gets the balance right. They can transform once for an hour, or six times a day for 1 turn each. They can't cast spells while in animal form. They can get access to things like poison bites from 2nd level, which is pretty big, but they still have limited HP and most animals don't have great AC. No where near as powerful as the 5E druid's shapechange which provides extra HP on top of the druid's own, and combat effectiveness from level 1. 

Paladins are basically a Fighter/Cleric, as in AD&D, BECMI, and later editions. They get a d10 hit die, can use all weapons and armor, but have both STR and WIS as prime requisite scores. Their saving throw numbers are as a Cleric, but increasing every 3 levels along with their attack chances. 

Special abilities, are unsurprisingly Lay on Hands, spells, Sweep, Courage, Multiple Attacks, and Dispel. 

Lay on Hands, as in AD&D, grants them healing of 2hp/level each day, but only to other characters. I remember playing a Paladin in Pathfinder and only ever using LoH on myself. Not very knight-in-shinging-armor way of using the ability. At 2nd level, they can start casting Cleric spells, but they have a slower progression and cannot cast higher than 4th level spells. 

Sweep is (as the SSI Gold Box Games told us) the ability to attack 1 creature of 1HD or less per level each round, as a Fighter. 

At 4th level, Courage makes them immune to fear effects, and gives them a +2 bonus against charm effects. 

At 8th level, they get 2 attacks per round when not using Sweep. They never get a 3rd attack, though. 

Finally, at 9th level they can dispel magical effects on their own person 1/day.

Mudang, or shamans, are the TS&R Jade version of the Cleric. There are some important differences, though. They have a d8 HD like Clerics, and are limited to blunt weapons only (I may change this up a bit), but can only wear up to medium armors (chain mail, lamellar). They can use shields, too. They have spells from 1st level, and their spell list is similar but not identical to the Cleric spell list (spells from OA, Dragon Fist/Flying Swordsmen, and Chanbara add to the list). They do NOT turn undead. Instead, they get Resistance (+3 to a save 1/day/level) as in 1E OA (shukenja), but at 4th level I allow them to grant this bonus to an ally within 10' if they choose. 

Next, they get a ritual ability. They spend 1 turn (10 minutes) performing the ritual and get one of these three effects: 

* Trance: gain spirit vision (detect ethereal/astral creatures) for 1d6 hours

* Purify: sanctify an area (shrine, home, etc.) which wards out spirit creatures, undead, and demons.

* Soothe: allow up to 4 creatures affected by poison, disease, or other non-magical maladies to make a new saving throw against that effect. 

Mudang can only perform 1 ritual per day.

Finally, they get 1d6 damage when using martial arts, which again is like the 1E shukenja or 3E shaman.

Sohei are a lot like the Paladin, in that they combine the Fighter and Mudang. They get a d10 hit die, all weapons & armor, but progress in attacks and saves as the Mudang and Cleric (ever 4 levels). 

They get a combat Frenzy ability (bonus to hit, damage, AC, saves) for up to 1 turn.  They can use this 1/day at 1st level, 2/day at 5th level, and 3/day at 10th level, with the bonuses equal to the number of times it can be used per day. 

For spells, like the Paladin they start at 2nd level and can't gain higher than 4th level spells. They use the Mudang list. 

At 2nd level they can Sweep like a Fighter, and at 8th level they get 2 attacks per round when not using Sweep, as the Paladin does.

Not all that glitters is golden

So yesterday, I had a bit of free time between administering final tests so watched a few YouTube videos. First two were political/philosophical in nature. Then one of the suggested videos was about D&D, titled "The Problem with D&D Rangers" by someone called Pointy Hat. Obviously, it's 5E centric (that's what gets the views), but it did discuss how the class has evolved over the years and came up with an answer to the title question that I think is prescient for the 5E Ranger and why people say it sucks: 

Too many gamers have too many disparate ideas about what the ranger is and what its role in the game should be. 

Is the ranger a ranged combat specialist? 

Is the ranger a wilderness expert and guide? 

Is the ranger a guy who tames animals? 

Is the ranger a two-weapon fighting specialist?

Is the ranger some sort of half-fighter/half-druid?

Is the ranger a guy with a magic energy bow?

Is the ranger a specialist at combating one type of monster? 

Is the ranger an attempt to make one specific fictional character into a playable class?

Is the ranger some sort of elite guerilla fighter? 

Is the ranger something else?

OK, jokes aside, there are too many ideas about what a ranger is supposed to be, and the video rightly pointed out that the class sucks because it's trying to be all of them at once. 

In 1E, the class was heavily inspired by Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. 

In 2E, it got heavily influenced by Drizzt and that set the tone for many players in the 90s.

In 3E, it tried to be both Aragorn and Drizzt at the same time. It wasn't great. 

Not sure about 4E. Never got that into that edition, and never tried to play a ranger. I think they were all about sniper DPS though...

Anyway, 5E has tried to make a class that covers pretty much everything above (except the pickup...unless that's covered in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything or one of the other splat books?). As the video pointed out, there are several versions of the ranger for 5E, and multiple alternate abilities that can be taken to cover most of the archetypes above. But since the designers can't pick one lane, the class sorta sucks. And players coming to the class expecting one (or maybe two) of the above archetypes end up disappointed. 

Anyway, it's a long way around to pointing to MY latest update to my ranger class for TS&R Ruby [Classic (BX/BECMI style) D&D]. 

My revised version hews somewhat closely to the 1E class in inspiration, but may be a bit more like the 3E or 5E classes in mechanics. 

But what it has that other previous ranger classes lack are some bonuses to the actual game rules related to wilderness exploration. 

Classic D&D has wilderness rules for moving through different types of terrain (speed reductions), rules for getting lost, rules for hunting/foraging, and rules for evading encounters. These are actual rules systems, not just "roll a survival check" or some bullshit like that. 

My ranger starts out based on the Fighter (attacks increase every 3 levels, Fighter saving throws, d10 hit die). They start out with Dwarf class XP requirements (2200xp to level 2) but that diverges a bit at higher levels. They can use any weapon, and armor up to chain mail/lamellar, plus shields. 

Among their special abilities, they can Sweep (1 attack per HD against 1HD or lower opponents) and gain extra attacks at higher level like Fighters. At 8th level, it's 2 attacks per round when not using Sweep. At 12th level, they gain a 3rd attack but only if using ranged weapons (Fighters get a 3rd attack with any weapon at this level).

They can cast a limited number of Druid spells, starting at 2nd level, and getting up to 4th level spells. They can select from the entire Druid spell list. They just don't get as many spells and never get 5th or higher level spells.

Finally, the abilities that are unique to the ranger: 

Rangers are only surprised on a 1/d6. If the party is surprised on a higher roll, rangers get to act when everyone else is surprised. 

Rangers add +10% to the chance to evade encounters in the wilderness (max 90%). 

Parties with a Ranger become lost only on a 1/d6 regardless of terrain type. [A nice combat bonus available any time, and two abilities that interact with the wilderness exploration rules! Useful, but not overpowered.]

Rangers gain a +2 bonus to hit, and add their level to damage, when fighting goblinoids or giants [I considered 2E style "select your favored enemy" but really, that's one of the things that makes rangers suck if that type of monster rarely appears. Most games will have kobolds, orcs, goblins at low levels, more of these at mid levels plus ogres, bugbears, trolls, and at medium-high to high levels lots and lots of the below plus plenty of giants and giant-kin. So the ability is very likely to remain relevant in the typical campaign. DMs can switch this up if they have a special campaign world without lots of goblinoids or giants.]

Rangers gain animal companions at 4th level. They get a number of normal or giant animals equal to their level. So you could have one hefty animal like a bear or ape as your combat buddy, a growing pack of wolves, or a variety of creatures like those of Dar the Beastmaster, each with its own purpose (scout, mount, thief, guardian). If slain, they can be replaced after one game month.

Finally, at Name level, if they build a stronghold, they attract some mercenaries like a fighter, and some lower level ranger apprentices, and may also, at the DM's discretion, attract monster retainers of similar alignment. 

I've play-tested all of the features of the class except the animal companion rules (new) and the higher level monster retainer rules (no one's gotten that high level yet). Everything else seems to work. The ranger is different from the Fighter. They don't overshadow them. And since I no longer have a Barbarian/Berserker class, Rangers get to shine in the wilds. In dungeons, they still have enough useful features to make them valuable.  

Oh, and my recent TS&R revisions use BX/BECMI level caps for demi-humans of 8, 10, or 12 (I previously had limits more like 1E, with some as low as 5th or 6th level, but decided those are too low). Humans have no limit (although my rules only go to 15th). Elves and half-orcs can go to level 8 as Rangers. Halflings can go to level 10. Other races don't get to be rangers.  

So, my Ranger class is still a bit of a mixed bag. Fighter abilities. Druid spells. Wilderness bonuses. Favored enemy. Animal companions. But I think, at least, it's a bit more consistent than the 5E Ranger class. At the core, it's the wilderness survival guy. Everything else flows from that. No need for special dual-wielding rules, or spells for magic arrows, or selecting one favored terrain or favored enemy type that may be super useful occasionally and worthless the rest of the time.

Acronyms & Ampersands

So, a little update. I'm just about done with my two versions of the Players' Rules books: Ruby and Jade. 

Ruby is standard Euro-Tolkien D&D races and classes. Jade is my version of Oriental Adventures. 

For the overall game title, I'm going to stick with Treasures, Serpents, and Ruins. The ordering just flows better than reversed, at least to me. 

BUT!

When I abbreviate it into an acronym from now on, it will be TS&R. 

Hopefully that's enough of a change to set my little house rules docs apart from the racist wannabes and their grifting. 

And who knows, maybe a better name will come to me before I release this thing to the wilds. 

Anyway, the game so far includes: 

TS&R Ruby Players Rules: PC races including humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, gnomes, and half-orcs (half-elves just use the human or elf rules, whichever side they favor). For classes, I have Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Illusionist, Magic-User, Paladin, Ranger, Thief. No subclasses. No multiclassing (I will have optional rules for that in the GM Guidebook). Levels 1-15, with demi-humans capped at 8, 10 or 12 (as in BX and BECMI, but class assortments similar if not identical to 1E AD&D). Spells levels 1-6 (1-4 for bards, paladins and rangers). Equipment lists and some rules for play including some higher level end-game stuff. Still need to add some art to this one but the text is done.

TS&R Jade Players Rules: PC races including humans, koropokuru (dwarves), shenmin (spirit folk), vanara (monkey-men) and yeongno (oni-folk). Classes are Cleric, Fighter, Kensei, Sohei, Thief, Wu Jen, Xia (monk/martial artist), Yakuza. Everything else pretty much the same as in Ruby. Completely done, including art.

TS&R Jade Bestiary and Treasury: Lots of monsters for Asian fantasy games, plus treasure tables and magic item lists, and wandering monster tables. Text is done, just need to add art.

TS&R Rules and Procedures: The small book with how to run a game, including rules for managing exploration and combat, creating adventures and campaigns (still working on writing this section), and to include rules for high level "end game" play (to be written). 

The things still to be created include: 

TS&R Ruby Bestiary and Treasury: I actually just need to edit out the stuff that's too Asian from my current working document that I use for my West Marches campaign. I've already done that for Jade, since I was planning to release the East Marches adventure and wanted something without the Greek/Norse/British/etc. monsters in it to work from. Although a few creatures were just re-skinned (like turning minotaurs into yakmen, or having chimeras with tiger heads instead of lions'). I'll do the same for Ruby fairly easily. 

TS&R GM Guidebook: This is where I plan to stick the (half-baked?) advice for GMs. Rules and Procedures is how to run a game. GM Guidebook will try to explain why things are the way they are, and suggest ways to change things up. Reading back over Flying Swordsmen and Chanbara lately, I think I've got some solid advice that I can include, but every time I get too wordy in my R&P, I end up deleting it as I want that to be just stuff that is needed at the table. So R&P will be the handy rules reference, GMG will be my attempt to out-Gygax old Gary. 

And especially once R&P and GMG are done, it should be pretty easy to make Players Rules and Bestiary and Treasury books for other genres of play. 

Oh, and despite being told it's a bad idea because people will just shit all over it, I've decided that these will all be released Pay What You Want. I make good enough money from work. Chanbara has been a nice little bonus each month, but I'm not gonna get rich from this game. It's just D&D in a different package, after all. Might as well just let people have them and they can throw me a few bucks if they appreciate what I've done.