House Rules
As most Gm's do, I have made a few alterations to the basic rules that suited me and my gamers. Many of the sections withing the Treasury were created with these House Rules in mind. These rule
changes are not, however, necessary to the Treasury addenda; you may use them or not as you prefer.
Experience (Adventure) Points
XP for magic
Wizards & Rogues should be awarded XP for every spell cast "under stress." That is, for any spell not cast just for the sake of practice. The XP awarded is equal to the Mana cost times the level of the
spell.
An extra bonus is awarded for any spell that takes more Mana than the caster has and is successfully cast. In this case, award five times the normal XP for that spell.
XP for Saving Rolls
The rules state that the character should get as many XP as the total of the SR die roll times the SR level. As this is too much "nickel & diming" for my taste, I use a slightly altered system that gives
pretty much the same results.
As the average result of a 2d6 roll where doubles add and roll over is 8.4 (roughly), one can simply multiply this by the number of levels of SRs attempted and get nearly the same number as if one added & multiplied all those separate die rolls. Therefore, the player simply records the levels of SRs attempted during the evening's play. The SR need not be successful, and as a bonus, I allow players
credit for the level of SR actually made if it exceeds the required level. (e.g., a player attempts and fails a L1 IQ SR, then she attempts and makes a L2 DX SR, and then she attempts a L1 LK SR but actually scores a L3 SR; so she now has a total of SIX levels worth of SRs recorded.) At the end of the play session, multiply the number of SR levels by 8.4 to determine the total XP awarded for
Saving Rolls.
XP per Level
The original level advancement schedule is a little uneven. The following revision maintains the same basic profile but smooths out the mathematical curve:
LEVEL XPs
2 1000
3 3000
4 7000
5 15,000
6 27,000
7 45,000
8 69,000
9 100,000
10 140,000
11 190,000
12 260,000
13 360,000
14 500,000
15 700,000
16 1,000,000
17+ (doubled every level)
Level Advancement Bonuses
I prefer that my characters retain their kindred advantages & penalties throughout their lives. Therefore, the following rule is amended to 2.14:
Each kindred's attribute modifiers apply also to the level advancement bonuses. First, figure the bonus as stated -- either the level number or half that -- but do not drop any fractions yet. Then,
modify that number by any kindred modifier and drop all fractions. As you can imagine, this can produce a high-level hobbit with a phenomenal CON, but he'll still be a weakling.
For a list of the modifiers and tables of pre-calculated bonuses, see the Level Advancement page.
Mana
I decided to add the attribute Mana to the game for the best of "Approved T&T" reasons: simplicity. Using strength as the spell-casting fuel simply brought up too many questions ("Is this ST
only good for spell-casting? Does it reduce my combat adds when I cast a spell? Why doesn't that shriveled up old wizard with a ST of 47 just smash down the door, beat the villain to a pulp and then
cast a spell?" etc.).
Mana is a seventh attribute possessed only by traditional wizards and rogues. Warriors and other non-magical classes do not have this attribute at all. Mana replaces Strength in all spell-casting
applications.
In addition to spell casting, Mana may also be used to boost the caster's own combat adds. One point of Mana is good for one extra add for one combat round. A character may not more than double his or her combat adds through mana-boosting. However, even just one add from Mana makes all that character's attacks that round "magical" in nature.
Excess Mana
If Mana is reduced to zero or below, the character is not dead but does fall unconcious for (d6 + excess mana) game turns. If an attempt is made to cast a spell that requires more Mana than is
available, the spell-caster must make a LK SR at the level of the spell. If the roll is failed, Mana is reduced to zero and the spell is not cast. If, however, the roll succeeds, the spell is cast but the excess Mana is supplied by permanent loss of points from other attributes (roll randomly for which attribute each separate point is taken from).
The following table lists the Mana attribute modifer for the major kindreds:
Human | 3/2 |
Elf | 1 |
Dwarf | 3/4 |
Hobbit | 2/3 |
Leprechaun | 3/2 |
Fairy | 1 |
Orc | 2/3 |
Gremlin | 1 |
For a larger list of Mana modifiers, see the Level Advancement tables.
Equipping Faerie Folk
Fairies, Brownies and kindreds of similar size have special considerations for miniature armor and weapons.
Melee Weapons
All classes except wizards may choose any weapon from the lists, ignoring ST requirements. Cost and weight is one tenth normal. All one-handed weapons get two dice; all two-handed weapons get 2d + 3.
Missile Weapons
Cost, weight, and range are one tenth normal. The ST requirement is reduced to one fourth normal. The weapon's dice are reduced to one third normal (round up).
Armor
The choice of armor is very limited -- the amount of protection that can be wrapped around a dollsized body is minuscule. The below armor sets are complete and include, if you wish, a helmet (whether or not you wear it is immaterial). The number in the Fly ST column indicates the minimum ST if a fairy character wishes to fly while wearing this armor (regardless of weight carried); this is cumulative if a shield is also taken.
Armour | Fly | ST | GP | WU |
Micro-Leather | 1 | 2 | 4 | 30 |
Micro-Mail | 2 | 3 | 15 | 40 |
Micro-Plate | 3 | 4 | 40 | 70 |
Shield | 1 | 1 | 3 | 30 |
If Mithril armor is used, add one to the protection, subtract one from the Fly ST, cut the weight in half, and multiply the cost by ten thousand.
In general, decrease the weights and costs of faerie equipment by one tenth. Keep in mind that a fairy lantern will cast very little light, and a brownie rope and piton set will be of very little use to a 200 pound dwarf.
Notes on availability
If the character belongs to a guild (Fighters', Wizards', etc.), the appropriate items are usually available there. Otherwise, they may have to journey to a native settlement.
The Endless Combat Problem
All T&T veterans know that the combat rules have one little glitch -- if two opposing forces have high dice weapons and heavy armor, it can be very difficult for either side to score hits on the other.
For example, if two dwarves rolling 5d + 20 and wearing 40 points of armor try to fight to the death, they will more likely starve than actually be stabbed. There are two reasons for this difficulty: first,
the high armor values available to warriors and, by extension, to the party as a group; and second, the steep bell curve produced by three or more dice.
Without regard to the mathematics of bell curves, the simplest & easiest solution to this problem is one of the many "critical hit" variants in use among T&T gamers. I use the following version:
Regardless of the combat totals or other outcome of the combat round, all natural SIXes rolled by a combatant count as one hit directly to the CON of the opponent. This neatly bypasses the armor issue and does not involve math or recordkeeping. I don't generally use this method in all cases, but when a combat seems to be going on too long, I will invoke the rule at that point.
With this method (or any of its variants) the fighter with the greater number of dice is given a slight edge. The down-side to this method is that if dice are relatively equal, the fighter (or group) with less
CON is almost certainly doomed. And it can still take a great deal of time resolve the issue, particularly with high level combatants.