On magic items

I totally dig this idea +Edgar Johnson came up with in his post The Shadow that Magic Casts.

Basically what (I think) he's saying is that wizards carry with them mundane items that, with time and after successive spells being cast, become magically imbued with the wizard's essence. Then, the can wizard use them as decoys so that the Ones Who Dwell Between couldn't get to him. But you better go and read the whole article yourself.

I can see everyone with wizards in their campaigns start building up these unique magical items. So, how would this work in your DCC game? The way I see it, the player will need to keep track of what items are being getting affected. Every time the wizard casts a spell, make a roll on his equipment list to randomly determine the affected item. 

• If the casting was a success, make a mark on the rolled item.
• If the casting was a critical success make 1d3 marks.
• If the casting was a failure and the item has been previously affected, erase a mark.
• If the casting was a failure and the item hasn't been previously affected, leave it alone.
• If the casting was a critical failure and the item has been previously affected, erase all the item's marks.
• If the casting was a critical failure and the item hasn't been previously affected, the item is then rendered useless for further enchanting. 

Maybe in case of a critical failure the wizard could spellburn to prevent the outcome. 

The DM would need to set how many marks are needed for the item to reach the status of magical. For example, to be  powerful enough as to be detected by the Detect Magic spell.

And now, a couple of questions: What situations attract the attention of the Ones Who Dwell Between? How this is affected by the number number of magic items the party has?

Unarmed Combat (house rules)

Grappling attacks are made against an opponent using the standard modifiers applicable to melee combat, including attribute and magical bonuses if any. If a grapple attack is successful, the opponent is now considered held. A successful grapple attack automatically results in 1 point of damage (regardless the number of attackers) to the target.

Also multiple opponents may attempt to grapple one opponent. For each additional grappler, add a +1 to attack roll of the main attacker. If the grapple attack is successful, then all grapplers are said to have a hold on the target. Always consider the main attacker the one with the highest level. In the round following a successful grapple, the grappler(s) may attempt to force them prone with a successful attack. The multiple opponents bonus also applies.

A held combatant may attempt to free himself in the next round by rolling a successful attack roll. They suffer a -1 penalty per grappler having a hold. If they are prone, they additionally suffer the normal -4 to the attack. A held combatant may not perform any other combat action or movement than attempt to free himself.

Since size matters in grappling attacks or freeing attempts, you may want to also consider these modifiers:

If an attacker is Small, they have +0 versus other Small, -2 versus Medium, -4 versus Large.
If an attacker is Medium, they have +2 versus Small, +0 versus Medium, -2 versus Large
If an attacker is Large, they have +4 versus Small, +2 versus Medium, +0 versus Large

Remember that any penalty is applied ONCE to a single die roll, and that bonuses are always cumulative.

Finally, I'd like to thank Michael "Chicagowiz" Shorten, whose own house rules were the base for this ones.

House Rules

These are my house rules for my LL/AEC game. You can download them here.

Comment about the 1 gp = 1 XP rule

It was at the end of my last post but maybe nobody got that far so I repost the situation. :)

Last Sunday before the session ended I proceeded to give XP. When I said they should add, to the XP from the defeated monsters, 1 XP per gold coin of non-magical treasure, Mike who plays Vanon the cleric said it was an unfair rule. He felt that he was stealing XP from the rest of the players since from the 200 platinum pieces he got paid, he gave 30 pp to each and kept 50 pp for him. The same said my wife who plays Tamryn the thief. She argued that that rule went against anyone wanting to roleplay, for example, an ascetic monk who cares nothing about money or, on the other end, a greedy thief. They wanted, if I agreed, to split the XP from treasure evenly. I ruled it was fine.

I later read page 49 of Labyrinth Lord Revised Ed. and found that my initial ruling missed the point. It states:

All characters that make it through an adventure alive receive

experience points (XP). Experience points are gained from

two sources, treasure and monsters. Characters only gain XP

from treasure of a non-magical nature, at the rate of 1 XP per

1 gold piece (gp) value of the item. The values of all items are

added together, and converted to gp units if necessary. For

example, if the group finds a gold statue worth 500 gp and a

gem worth 250 gp, these are added up to 750 XP, and

divided evenly between the characters.

I think that evenly is the key word there, so I guess my final ruling was right. I doesn't really matter how many coins end in the character's pouch. Only the XP are divided evenly, not the treasure money. My players without having read the rules (I'm sure they didn't) and I (who misread them) through arguments and logic reached to the same idea as in the book. Cool.