Bonus spells and memorization

Apply your intelligence to the Wisdom chart in the player’s handbook to determine bonus spells. Also, spells are not specifically memorized. It is assumed that you know your spells, and the spell progression is a measure of the amount of magical energy you can control in a day. The rate at which this returns to you varies based on how many spells you can cast in a day. What this means is that as long as you have first level spells left to cast on your spell progression, you may cast any of the first level spells that you know.

Custom spells

There are some spells in the world that have been created specifically for this campaign world. One spell that many wizards have some recognition of is Massgate. This is an extremely unstable, uncontrollable spell of 9th level, requiring special spell components and preparation. It has been cast twice in the known history of the world.

Known mages

Most wizards have heard of Holl and Nuhrgon. Holl is present historically in regard to the Massgate spell mentioned above, as he was the one to seal the rift created by that spell. He has also not been seen since that time (hundreds of years ago). However, there have been reported sightings of his staff, basically described as a staff with a crystal ball affixed to the end of it, and twisted metal spines running down the length of the shaft.

Nuhrgon is well known and presently active in the world. He is dangerous to be around, according to all first hand accounts, as he has totally lost his mind, and now exists on magic alone. His spells can be unpredictable and deadly.

Priests

Deities

Custom deities have been created for the world of Kolos. They are as follows (ask the DM for more specific explanations):

There are specialist priests for each of the various gods. Additionally, there are members of the general Cleric class, however members of this class may not advance beyond first level. The exception to this are Druids, who follow no particular deity, but draw their energy from nature and earth.

Sphere access

Consult the following chart to determine sphere access for each of the above faiths. Each entry represents the highest level of spell you can cast within that sphere:

	All	Animal	Astral	Charm	Combat	Creation	Divination	Elemental	Guardian	Healing	Necromantic	Plant	Protection	Summoning	Sun	Weather
Geleon	7	7	7	3	7	0	7	3	7	7	0	7	7	3	7	3
Solon	7	7	7	3	7	7	1	7	7	3	7	0	3	3	7	7
Black God	7	7	7	7	7	3	7	7	3	7	7	3	0	7	0	7
Zar	7	7	0	7	3	7	7	7	3	7	7	7	7	7	3	0
Lorrudra	7	3	7	7	3	7	7	7	3	3	3	3	7	7	7	0
Ker-Sal	7	7	3	7	7	7	7	0	7	0	7	7	7	7	0	3
Hobie	7	7	3	7	0	7	7	7	0	7	3	3	7	7	3	7
Nile	7	7	0	7	7	7	3	7	7	7	3	7	7	0	7	3
Shaelor	7	0	7	0	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	0	7	7	0	7

Chapter 4: Alignment

Alignments. Write down an alignment for your character. Go ahead. Now, ignore it, for the most part. Alignments do not restrict what a character can do, nor does it restrict experience point distribution. You should select one part of the alignment – good, neutral, or evil. Evil characters are frowned upon.

Chapter 5: Proficiencies

Non Weapon Proficiencies. An alternate proficiency system will be used for both weapon and non-weapon proficiencies, as well as languages. Proficiencies are point-based. This system works proficiencies and languages similar to the way thieving abilities are handled. That is - a character starts with a number of points to spend on proficiencies, and accrues more proficiency points each time that character gains a level. The player must still adhere to the groupings as they appear in the player's handbook (PHB) with respect to their class. Also, similar to the PHB, you receive additional points for each language slot you have, according to intelligence.

The latest change to the system gives the character twelve (12) points for each non-weapon proficiency slot (under the normal rules) and an additional twelve (12) points for each language. The character also begins with their native language for free, set to a proficiency equal to their intelligence. Then, at each level increase, the character gains 10 points to put into proficiencies (no more than 5 in a single slot).

Increasing your proficiency: The PHB tells you which ability score a proficiency relates to. When increasing a proficiency, you must consider this ability score. If there is a modifier on that ability score, that must be used. For example, tumbling refers to DEX. To calculate point costs, your "related ability score" is equal to your DEX. If the proficiency check is DEX-1, the "related ability score" would be DEX-1. There are three distinct "stages" for increasing proficiencies with respect to point cost.

Stage One The first stage is to increase your proficiency up to the related ability score. To do so, add points to this proficiency at a one-for-one rate of improvement (adjusted by modifier in PHB). For example, if your DEX is 14 and you want tumbling, you can spend 14 points to get a 14 rating in tumbling.

Stage Two The second stage is to increase your proficiency beyond the related ability score, up to your racial maximum for the related ability. To increase your proficiency rating beyond the related ability score, you must spend two (2) points to increase the skill by a point. Using the above example, if your racial maximum is 18 and you wanted to increase your tumbling from 14 to 18, you must spend 8 points.

Stage Three The third stage is to increase your proficiency beyond the racial maximum of the associated ability score. For this, you must spend five (5) points to increase the skill by a point. Therefore, continuing the example, to increase your tumbling score from 18 to 19, you must spend 5 points.

Assuming that the proficiency has no modifier to the related ability score check, your racial minimum for the related ability is 3, and your racial maximum for the related ability is 18, here is what you can get in a proficiency for 23 points:

Proficiency rating
Ability Score 23 points in skill
3 13
4 13 (1 point extra)
5 14
6 14 (1 point extra)
7 15
8 15 (1 point extra)
9 16
10 16 (1 point extra)
11 17
12 17 (1 point extra)
13 18
14 18 (1 point extra)
15 18 (2 points extra)
16 18 (3 points extra)
17 18 (4 points extra)
18 19

Multiple Slot Proficiencies If the listed proficiency costs multiple slots, you need to double or triple the cost of increasing the proficiency accordingly. For example, Herbalism. Herbalism is listed as using 2 proficiency slots. That means to increase Herbalism up to your ability score, you must spend 2 points per point of proficiency, then 4 points per point beyond your ability up to 18, then 10 points per point to increase your proficiency beyond your racial maximum.

Advantages of this system. This system allows a player to develop his or her character's background more fully, and learn new skills gradually as the adventuring career progresses. You can define your character as a jack-of-all-trades (good for a bard) or a master weaponsmith (good background for a fighter). Expanding this system to languages would allow the character to gradually learn a language (use roleplaying to decide what is appropriate).

Proficiency checks are still the same, except that they are made (on a d20) against your rating rather than the skill associated with the proficiency. They are also made for proficiencies that did not previously require a check.

If your ability score related to a proficiency increases or decreases from some effect, such as Ioun stones or a Tome or undead drain, what happens to the proficiency? The solution is simple, but cumbersome. Calculate how many points you have spent in the proficiency to get it to the level it currently is. Then, recalculate the level it would be with the new ability score. For example, if you have the Tumbling proficiency at 16 with a DEX of 12, and some effect increases your DEX to 14, you would have to recalculate your Tumbling proficiency. You have spent 20 points in Tumbling to get the 16 proficiency score. With the new DEX of 14, 20 points would get you a proficiency of 17. Therefore, when your DEX increases from 12 to 14, your proficiency automatically increases from 16 to 17. Because of this, you need to keep track of how many points you have spent on a proficiency as well as your current skill level. It's a little extra bookkeeping, but has its advantages.

Weapon Proficiencies. Similar to the non-weapon proficiency rule we use, the weapon proficiency rule allows for gradual improvement in weapons skills, varied by class.

To start with, the player gets 10 weapon proficiency points for each weapon proficiency slot given to that character under the normal AD&D rules. The player may allocate these points to whatever weapons his or her character is able to use, to a maximum of 10 points to a single weapon.

At each new level the player attains, his or her character gains a number of weapon proficiency points equal to half of that character's hit die. For example, a fighter gains 5 weapon proficiency points, a cleric gains 4, a thief 3, and a mage gains 2.

The number of points you allocate to a given weapon tell you what modifiers you get to your attack roll:

Points	Weapon skill	Attack modifier
0-3	Unskilled	-4 (warrior -2)
4-5	Novice	-3 (warrior -2)
6-7	Intermediate	-2 (warrior -1)
8-9	semi-proficient	-1 (warrior -1)
10-11	Proficient	no adjustment
12-13		+0 to attack, +1 to damage
14-15		+1/+1
16-17		+1/+2
18-22	Specialized	+1/+2, bonus attacks
23-29	Expert	+1/+2, bonus attacks
30	Master	+2/+3, bonus attacks

Yes, this does allow a character to specialize in more than one weapon, and it also allows non-fighter characters to gain specialization. Under this system, a 9th level fighter can become a master of two weapons while being proficient with two other weapons. A mage could become specialized (per the normal AD&D rules) at 5th level, and attain mastery of that weapon at 11th level. This mage would be proficient with no other weapons. Priests become specialized at 3rd level and reach mastery at 6th level. Rogues become specialized at 4th level and reach mastery at 8th level. Given the benefits of mastery and the rate at which it is attained, I do not feel that this system is unbalanced.

Specific proficiencies. Without the Reading/Writing proficiency, characters are functionally illiterate. A rogue who can’t read and write will have a penalty on his read languages skill, and a wizard who can’t will take up twice as many pages per spell in his spellbook for keeping spells.

Weapon and non-weapon proficiency slots may be used to increase your character’s statistics. This does not apply to any weapon or non-weapon proficiency slots that you start with. This only applies to weapon and non-weapon proficiency slots that you gain through level increase achieved through playing the character. Using the proficiency system outlined above, non-weapon points may be used to increase your characteristics. The first time you use this, you may increase your characteristic by one by spending a number of points equal to your current characteristic +1. In other words, to raise your strength from 13 to 14, you have to put 14 points into Strength. The second time you do this, you must double the cost. To raise an already-raised characteristic from 14 to 15, you must spend 30 proficiency points.

Chapter 6: Money and Equipment

Electrum is used in this campaign. Also available are copper, silver, gold, platinum, and mithril. Mithril is extremely rare.

The Standard Adventuring Kit includes:

Money exchanges are available in larger cities, as are jewelers who will buy gems for coin. Standard exchange rate of 5% applies to money exchanges (i.e., trading copper for gold), and 10% for buying and selling of gems.

Chapter 7: Magic

Wizards begin with 2d4 spells that are randomly chosen. The wizard’s player has the option to decline any of the randomly chosen spells, but cannot replace those spells with other selections. In addition to these spells, wizards automatically receive Read Magic, Detect Magic and Identify.

Chapter 8: Experience

Experience points are awarded for defeating or slaying monsters or opponents, roleplaying, and other miscellaneous reasons. Also, XP’s are awarded for the various class related activities:

* You only gain XP’s for spells that are within 3 levels of the highest level you can cast. For example, a wizard who can cast 5th level spells no longer gains experience points for first level spells. This applies to both wizards and priests.

** You only gain XP’s for creatures defeated who are of hit dice equal to your level - 3 and higher. For example, a 4th level fighter no longer gains XP bonuses for defeating kobolds in single combat.

Experience points are not awarded for receiving magic items or gold.

Attaining a new level does not require training or tutoring. It is assumed that the player character is learning what is required for level advancement by obtaining the experience points necessary for that level.

Chapter 9: Combat

Hit points. When you are determining your hit points, write down your hit-die maximum. These are your first level hit points. They are also considered "body" hit points. Then, whenever rolling hit points for a new level attained during play, add these up separately. These are your skill hit points. (Constitution bonuses do apply to body hit points.) You may have another player roll as well, and accept the higher of the two rolls ("matching" a roll). This does not apply if you are creating a character at higher-than-first level. Ones are always re-rolled.

Initiative and Conducting Combat. This campaign makes use of the Continuous Time Combat System. It's a bit more complicated than your standard, abstract system, but I've grown to like it a lot. It's pretty easy to get used to. Here's how it works:

Roll your starting initiative (d10). Subtract Dex reaction modifier. Minimum 1. That's when you start to act.

If you want to move, add time based on how far you are moving. This is your movement time. For characters with a movement rate of 12, add 1 for each square/hex you move. For characters with a movement rate of 6, add 2 for each square/hex you move.

Add 1/2 weapon speed or casting time. If you are a specialist mage casting a spell from your specialty school, subtract 1 from the casting time (minimum 1). If you have an attack bonus from magic or strength or whatever, subtract this bonus from your weapon speed (minimum 1). This is either casting time or attack swing. When this number of phases have passed, you make your attack roll, or your spell resolves. This is when spellcasters can be interrupted. Note that the weapon speed numbers can be pre-calculated before combat even begins, and recorded as modified weapon speeds. This isn't slow!

If you get multiple attacks, add 1/2 weapon speed after you make your first attack. When this number of phases have passed, you make your attack roll.

When your actions are done, re-roll initiative (not modified by Dex) on a d6.

There is no end of round or whatever. The phases keep counting up. If you have spells of duration measured in rounds, multiply that number by 10, and that's the phase that the duration ends on. Turns - multiply by 100.

The reason the weapon speeds were halved was to align weapon speeds more with spell casting time. It was felt that mages were too powerful under this system if full weapon speeds were used.

Armor class and THAC0

Armor class begins at 10, and increases from there. The higher the number, the better your armor. It corresponds to the armor classes as they appear in the Player’s Handbook. For example, leather armor is AC 12. Chain mail is AC 15. Plate mail is AC 17.

To complement this, THAC0 is measured in to-hit bonuses. A third level fighter (normal THAC0 18) has a THAC0 of +2.

The benefit of these changes is that you roll a d20 and add your THAC0 modifier (and any other modifiers) to the roll, and compare it directly with the armor class you hit.

Critical Hits and Fumbles

If you roll a natural 20 on an attack roll, you have rolled a critical hit. The effect of this is simply increased damage. To determine damage, roll damage normally, and add the maximum damage the weapon could inflict. For example, if you have a +1 longsword, you inflict 1d8+1 damage for your damage roll, plus 8 damage for the weapon (bonuses are only given once).

Fumbles may occur on a natural roll of 1. If you roll a 1, you need to roll a d6. Consult the following list:

On possible weapon breaks, magical bonuses provided give you a +3 per plus. For example, a +2 longsword will save on a 9 or higher if fumble #5 was rolled.

Draining creatures

When you are hit by a creature that drains levels away, you are allowed a ½ system shock roll to avoid the drain. When you are hit by a creature that drains attributes, the attributes are, in fact, drained, but the drain is only temporary. Attributes drained in this manner are regained at a rate of one per day of rest.

Chapter 10: Miscellany

This chapter does not parallel a chapter from the PHB.

Unused sources. Oriental Adventures classes, skills, kits and weapons are not allowed. Additionally, the Player’s Option books are not utilized, mostly because we don’t own them.

Campaign World. Ask the DM about the area where you grew up. Other things to be aware of are: Races that are commonly viewed as enemies or evil (and how common they are), geography of the area, views of other "friendly" races in the area (especially your own), the level of magic in the area where you are, and what is the society like in your area.

Note Passing. Notes passed from the DM may NOT be shown to other players unless otherwise specifically stated by the DM. The player may tell others about whatever was written, if he or she so chooses, but is not allowed to use the note as proof.

Game Etiquette. Characters should be of non-evil alignment. The DM takes no responsibility for anything that happens to a character of an evil alignment. The group should work like a group. Player conflicts are not looked upon favorably.

The DM has the final word on all the rules. It is quite acceptable to question whether a mistake was made in a particular case, however. It is best to bring it up immediately (unless the effect is minor and wouldn’t affect the game or player this particular time). Once the DM makes a ruling on that, if the player isn’t satisfied, it should not be brought up again until after the game. A debate on a rule is acceptable (though not usually in the middle of an adventure) -- an argument is not. Any discussion on actually changing a rule, as opposed to a rule being forgotten or misapplied, has no place during play, and should be brought up either before, after, or during a break in the game.