Scalydemon wrote:

rhialto wrote:

Scalydemon wrote:

An add on thought on the broader topic of magic systems.

For me, the ideal magic system is one more akin to Stormbringer and Hawkmoon (Chaosium) as opposed to D&D based Vancian - especially when playing a sword & sorcery type game.

I'll once more plug Akratic Wizardry and its variant magic rules: they work really well with AS&SH, and are similar to Stormbringer's feel. 

Not familiar with Akratic Wizardry, do you have a link? Thanks
 

Sure: http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.com/2009/07/swords-sorcery-house-rules-index.html
 

Well, those compiled rules were used in Crypts & Things, so close to a "system". My players are keen on the hit point variant; the magic variant not so much, since they like to blast things. 

Some suggestions:

Use undead, use more monsters, spread the monsters out so sleep won't get many of them, use one or two monsters that have enough HD to be immune instead of many weak monsters, have monsters launch their attacks from out of sleep range (missiles, boulders rolled down hills, etc.), create wimpy versions of automatons to use on low level characters (the living statues and golems from B/X can provide good inspiration for these).

Also use more traps!  Sleep doesn't help with those.

Last edited by Blackadder23 (1/12/2015 1:39 pm)

I think sleep is one of the reasons Gary had humanoids attacking in waves in a lot of his modules (first the orc guards, then the orc reinforcements, then the ogre who lives down the hall, then the orc chief and his bodyguards).  PCs have to burn a separate spell on each wave, or else dirty their hands by actually fighting.