Trollish Delver

It is a time of war in the world of Yore. The fields of battle are bathed in the blood and gristle. Spears shine in the dawn as armies clash – the noble Knights of Lamarque against the mind-addled Goblin Horde. Shambling Gravespawn colliding with the Dwarven Warbeards of the Craglands.

Welcome to War Axe, a simple fantasy wargame for two players each with between 15 and 30 models. I’ll be writing about War Axe over the next week as you meet the battle hosts and learn the (very easy) rules of the game.

Art: Copyright Luigi Castellani

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the best D&D edition that isn’t a D&D edition. I know THAT game sucks all the air out of the room, but YAG D&D (Young Adventurer’s Guide) has wormed its way into my psyche.

I set out some initial rules for YAG but I wanted to spend some time here revising them as I wasn’t totally happy with the initial draft.

It needs to be super simple, leaning on the YAG library for fiction-based specifics. For me the d20 isn’t a great die, sorry. D6 supremacy and all that.

HOW TO PLAY

Checks: Simply roll a d6. A 4+ is usually a success. 5+ if more difficult or 3+ if easier. Failure may mean you achieve the thing but with a complication.

Critical Success: A 6 means you do something incredibly well.

Advantage: If your class/ species / background would be good at something roll 2d6 and take the highest die. For instance a Fighter would be good at kicking down doors. A Ranger would be good at tracking.

Disadvantage: if your class/species/ background wouldn’t be good at something roll 2d6 and take the lowest.

Don’t have the answer? Just roll a d6. 1-3 it’s a no, 4-6 is a yes.

COMBAT

Turns & Actions: Heroes act first unless surprised. They take it in turns to take an action. Assume they’re moving around and trying to avoid enemies. An action could be casting a spell, striking with a sword, shooting an arrow, opening a door etc.

Attacks: With a weapon roll a d6 and add your character level. The DM rolls a d6 and adds the monster danger level. If you get equal to above the monster’s total you hit them. Well done! Deal 1 damage by reducing their danger level by 1. This means a monster gets weaker the more damage you do. If you’re not using a weapon make the attack with disadvantage.

When a monster attacks the DM rolls a d6 and adds the monster’s danger rating and the character rolls a d6, adding their level. If the DM’s roll is equal or higher than the character, the character loses 1 hit point.

Epic monsters: these are more difficult than most monsters. They count as danger level 5 but get as many actions as there are players. That means against three characters an epic monster gets 3 attacks.

Monsters will 1/3 danger level: some monsters have a fraction as their danger. They don’t add their danger rating to their attack roll.

Hit points: Characters have 5 hit points at 1st level, increasing by 1 each level. For example, a 5th level character will have 10 hit points.

Regaining hit points: You can take a number of short rests per day equal to your level. Regain hit points equal to your level. By sleeping the night you regain all hit points.

Out of Action: When a monster reaches 0 danger rating they’re no longer a threat. They run away, try to parlay, get knocked out etc. This is YAG so no violent deaths.

When a character reaches 0 hit points they fall unconscious and are very likely taken prisoner.

Critical success: If a character rolls a 6 they deal 2 damage instead of 1.

SPELLS

Casting spells: choose a spell you know and make a check. On a success you cast the spell. On a failure you still cast the spell but you are unable to use it until you’ve had a good night’s sleep.

Spell levels: spells go from cantrip to 9th level. 1st level casters can use cantrips and 1st level. 2nd level can use 2nd/3rd. 3rd level can use 4th/5th. 4th level can use 6th/7th. 5th level can use 8th/9th.

CREATING A CHARACTER

Species/Race: Choose one from the relevant YAG book and note down what it’s good at.

Class: Choose one from the relevant YAG book, following the rules for making that character as outlined in the book. Note down anything they’re good at and any abilities they gain.

Starting spells: The YAG generally tells you how many spells to start with. If it doesn’t, begin with 3 that match the class.

Choose a background: Choose one and note what they’re good at.

Name and describe your character based on all the above.

Start with 3d6 x 10 gold pieces amd buy some starting equipment. The DM usually determines the item’s value if not present in the YAG.

CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT

After each adventure roll a D6 once for all characters. If it’s above their current level they increase by one level up. The maximum level is 5.

When you level up, increase your hit points by 1. Spellcasters gain a new spell based on the level they can cast and their class.

I cry out for magic I feel it dancing in the light It was cold Lost my hold to the shadows of the night

I’ve had this fleeting thought in the back of my mind for the best part of a decade. It’s a specific fantasy aesthetic that I’m calling Mythic Retro.

Mythic retro is a vibe that includes the following:

• Pewter statues of dragons, wizards, unicorns and fairies
• 70s fantasy book art, particularly Michael Whelan’s Pern.
• Dragonlance art by Larry Elmore
• Burning incense
• Large silver rings shaped like dragons with big gems in them
• Early Rainbow and Dio songs, particularly Stargazer.
• Crystals, stones and tarot cards

It’s iconic, even tropey. Dragons, knights, wizards, unicorns, witches. It’s not orcs, but it is goblins. It’s not beholders but it is skeletons. It’s stop-motion but not CGI.

High noon, oh I'd sell my soul for water Nine years worth of breakin' my back There's no sun in the shadow of the wizard See how he glides, why he's lighter than air

You and your friends have been transported to a fantastic realm. How did you get there?

1. Mysterious rollercoaster

2. Lost in a bazaar

3. Through the back of the garage

4. Pulled into a lake

5. Sucked into a book

6. Through a dark forest

You were gifted a special item from a strange wizard.

1. Sword of Light: burns away evil darkness

2. Titan Shield: nothing can break it except magic.

3. Circlet of Transformation: turns your face into one you’ve previously seen.

4. Spider Boots: you can climb sheer surfaces.

5. Cloak of Phasing: you melt through non-magical barriers.

6. Dagger of Cloning: you create an illusory duplicate of yourself.

What kind of kid were you in the real world?

1. Preppy

2. Nerdy

3. Athlete

4. Popular

5. Suck-up

6. Aloof

What’s your party sidekick?

1. Baby unicorn: can heal harm.

2. Fire elemental: sets fire to stuff

3. Little griffin: can pick up a teen in its claws

4. Shadow: can stay out of sight

5. Mechanical owl: can sense magic

6. Witch cat: creates clouds of darkness.

You have 2 stats: Mental & Physical. Split 4 points between them.

When you want to do sonething where failure is interesting roll d6 + stat. On a 6+ you succeed.

If you get hit, lose a stat point. At 0 points you’re out of action. Heal 2 points per night rest.

Monsters have stats like you. Goblins have Physical 1 and Mental 0. Dragons have Physical 4 and Mental 4.

It’s nigh impossible to escape the goblin realm.

I did a quick straw poll on BSky asking whether, back in the day, players of BX/Basic/OD&D actually saw combat as a fail state. This is the thinking that came from Matt Finch’s Old School Primer and has become the standard for OSR games or people playing older D&D.

The 20+ responses almost unanimously said combat wasn’t avoided and in fact it was often relished. Now, a big trend I found was that nearly everyone who responded was 12 at the time they were playing it so that’s just kind of what they would do.

But Basic was a game for tweens and teens, so if that’s how they played it then isn’t that the way it should be played?

Unless I’m mistaken there’s no mention of combat being something to be avoided in older editions. In fact, so much of the rules dealt with fighting so what would be the point in avoiding it? Especially if you splash out on a bunch of hirelings.

Wellll, that’s sort of where reaction rolls come in. The existence of this little table implies that not everything is out to kill you and talk can get you some advantages in the dungeon. Charisma is hard coded into reactions, so it seems desirable for players to try parlay or talk their way out if they can. Just like strength is the weapon of combat, charisma is equally the weapon of words.

Ultimately OSR games are about kicking down doors, killing monsters and nicking their treasure. It’s deadly by default and it’s better to stay un-decapitated than not. While it probably wasn’t how many played games back then the notion as combat as sport makes a whole lot of sense and reveals just how a ruleset that should be dead can evolve over the decades, and that’s pretty incredible.

While edition wars are the purview of a rotten mind, I’m here to convince you that the best version of Dungeons & Dragons isn’t your favourite one.

Back in 2019 Penguin Random House produced a line of books by Jim Zub, Stacy King and Andrew Wheeler under the banner of D&D Young Adventurer’s Guide. The collection of slim volumes acted as an introduction to the world and play culture of D&D without the mechanics. The books span everything from hero creation and dungeon mapping to bestiaries and spellcasting, all written diegetically. They’re ostensibly for kids, so why do I think they’re the best unofficial edition?

Being a book series that forefronts fiction over mechanics I believe the YAG D&D has a higher potential for immersion and simulation than the official game. In character creation you’re not looking at classes, races and equipment in terms of hard numbers but what you WANT to play based on flavour and what weapons and armour suit the situation.

In fact, armour is a microcosm of the “game”. Descriptions provide pros and cons for each type along with reasons why you might want to have multiple armours depending on what you’re doing. While full plate offers unparallelled protection, it isn’t suited for long journeys. Same for clothing, which gets a couple of pages detailing what sort of clothes you might wear and when to wear them. Adventuring clothes are great for dungeoneering but you might attract unwanted attention in town. Aristocratic vestments will make an impression at a courtly gathering but will leave you liable to be robbed or pursued by treasure-hungry creatures. The 5e rulebook has none of this flavourful narrative that, ironically, makes things far more gameable than +3 AC. My favourite part of the weapons section is a box giving options for combining weaopons, like making an axe crossbow or tying a chain to a hammer and swinging it around. This is the foundation of adventure gaming here in a kids’ book.

Monsters are detailed in terms of ecology and behaviour. Cleverly YAG uses a scale from 1-5 for how dangerous the creature is, with the highest being epic encounters fit for only the mightiest heroes. This is where you can see the potential of using 1d6 for attacks – PC hits if higher than than monster rating. Similarly the PC has its own level the monster must hit. Double its rating for its HP. All weapons do 1 damage. This was actually a suggestion from James Haeck.

The best part of the bestiary are the do’s and dont’s aimed squarely at player characters who find themselves up against the monster. Diegetically, how should you fight them? What should you avoid? Check out the Beholder entry below:

These two page spreads are great for at-a-glance reading. The PC facing advice also implies how the DM should role play the monster. The beholder here should watch from the shadows, focus fire on an individual and try stay away from melee.

We’re unencumbered by saves, modifiers, conditions and such. The beholder hits with a fear ray? The PC legs it.

YAG has no adventures in the traditional sense, but offers some brain juice for some of the iconic locations in the D&D multiverse. Snippets of rooms and encounters allows more experienced DMs a chance to build on this info and make it their own.

YAG D&D RULES

My own version, that I’m calling the YAG edition, follows a loose set of mechanics.

Whenever you want to do something roll a d6 per level and take the highest. On a 5+ you do it. If you’re good at that thing you succeed on an 4+.

In a fight use the fiction. Go around in a circle and state what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. If you’re attacking roll a d6 per level. Get the monster’s danger level or above to hit it. Do 1 damage or 2-3 if the monster has a weakness. The monster attacks you in the same way, rolling a d6 per danger level and trying to beat your level. Most monsters do 1 damage, but special abilities may do 2-3.

Character hit points are 5, increasing by 2 per level. Monster HP is twice its danger level. If the monster has armour add a few extra HP (like 3HP for heavy armour or 1HP for light). Do the same with characters. At 0HP the monster dies. At 0HP a character is unconscous and will die if not treated in an hour per level.

Level up when it makes sense, usually after a pivotal moment.

Magic users have 1 spell per level, usable once per day. If it deals damage the DM states how much. Spells are usually instant or don’t last more than an hour.

If you don’t know if something’s going to happen, roll a d6. On 4+ it happens.

That’s it really. Just play the world. The DM has the final say but will always be fair.

The magic circle is the space and time when the usual social constructs of reality are replaced with the artificial notion of play. We gather around the table or computer to play a TTRPG and the circle is formed. We become others. We create heirarchy. We roll dice to find out.

Extending the circle means broadening the play experience to different times and locations, creating a seamless “world of play”. Invisible Sun does this by letting individuals play out scenes one on one in between games with the mere pull of a card. Tunnels & Trolls did this from the hobby’s beginning by allowing players to bring their delvers from the table into solo adventures.

Imagine this. You finish up your regular game with the weekly group. One player extends the magic circle by writing an in-character journal that night. Another has a drink with the GM and quickly improvises an interaction using a coin flip mechanic. Two other players jump on Discord to discuss the game’s events in-character.

Throw out the rules – you don’t need them. Got a high Dex? You just DO the dex thing. Go unscripted, maybe aside from a few tables if you’re feeling fancy.

Now go play everywhere.

For the past couple of years I’ve been fascinated with the LBBs of OD&D. While I’ve previously attempted to delve into them, I couldn’t seem to grasp much of what it was saying. I felt like someone trying to make sense of an enochian manuscript. Of course, this was before Holmes had put things into a neater ruleset, when really what I was reading was scraps of houserules and a Jackson Pollock of thoughts.

But gods, I’ve loved uncovering its secrets. When you look at those little books as a toolkit rather than a coherent game then things start to make more sense. And the more I looked, the more I loved (it probably helps that I enjoy solving open-ended puzzles). Eventually I ran some sessions at work and everyone enjoyed it – most of the players having only experienced the 5e monolith up to that point.

No other edition of D&D has really achieved what the original does. Perhaps the Rules Cyclopedia, but that’s far too grand in scale and rules to compare.

It’s a chocolate box of weird ideas, where riding too close to a wizard’s castle could put the party under a spell to carry out a quest for them, or the lord of a manor may joust a party member and take their armour should they lose. Burroughs’ Barsoom stable can be found in random encounter tables. With the Chainmail rules characters tend to be incredibly competent, particularly fighting men who can eventually one-shot a dragon. Huge battles are a key part of the game, and how players eventually create their castles determines how effective their troops will be. That evil cleric who destroyed your party five levels ago? Time to lay siege to his fort with your army.

Looking at what D&D is now I can’t help but feel we’re missing out on the emergent fun from the oldest edition. It’s been said before but the elements that were core to OD&D are now vestigial in 5e. I know we’ll never see it under the corpo game, but I can still dream (or maybe I’ll just continue playing Delving Deeper).

Discuss...

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