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Sunday, March 31, 2013

Cleaving in Crypts & Things (and Swords & Wizardry Too)

One if the neat little rules I enjoyed in ACKS was the ability of the classes to "cleave". Down your opponent, and you get a free attack on a nearby one. If you were one of the "fighter" classes, you could cleave a number of times up to your level in a single round assuming you are able to continually down opponents. Pretty neat.

In practice it works much like the Fighter getting 1 attack per level for creatures under 1HD, but a miss ends the chain and it scales a bit with level.

There is no such rule in Crypts & Things or Swords & Wizardry, but it's an easy one to add and fits the Swords & Sorcery genre in my opinion.

I would actually treat every class in Crypts & Things, with the exception of the Magician, as if they were a Fighting class for the purpose of the cleave rule (much like all classes can backstab in C&T). Therefore, Barbarians, Fighters and Thieves would get to attempt to cleave up to one time per level per round while the Magician would be limited to a maximum of a single cleave per round.

Hopefully we get to kick the Crypts & Things campaign into motion this weekend...
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16 comments:

  1. Matt FinchMarch 31, 2013 at 10:15 PM

    Originally that comes from 3e, and it's one of the things I really like as an add-on. It's completely Conan. Many of the things in 3e are find in isolation, it's just that when you have them all together they are too much. Cleave is a really nice rule for a S&S feel. Chop 'em down!

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    Replies
    1. TenkarMarch 31, 2013 at 10:20 PM

      I played all of one session of 3x, and that was via Klooge when it was the new shiny VTT.

      Feats hurt my head something bad ;)

      Delete
  2. UnknownMarch 31, 2013 at 11:05 PM

    I'm working on some variant rules right now with a Barbarian class included that has this ability. I was debating what to call it but Matt may have solved that for me...

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  3. Restitutor OrbisApril 1, 2013 at 12:20 AM

    The origin of cleaving is much earlier than 3E. Dave Arneson's original fantasy game allowed fighters to keep attacking as long as they killed opponents.

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  4. Omer Golan-JoelApril 1, 2013 at 2:39 AM

    I like the Chop-till-you-Miss rule - that is, every time you kill an opponent, you may move 5' and attack another - once per level per round. So a high-level Fighter can mow through Normal Men opponents at ease just like Conan or Elric.

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  5. LukaApril 1, 2013 at 3:16 AM

    It does make it very Conan indeed.

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  6. Newt NewportApril 1, 2013 at 6:31 AM

    Awesome, consider that officially Yoinked! It nicely solves a dilemma I've been having myself over Magicians making Fighters sidelining fighters a tad at higher levels.

    Looking forward to seeing your Crypts and Things gaming kicking off :)

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  7. AnonymousApril 1, 2013 at 8:27 AM

    I like it! I also really like Crypts & Things. I am looking forward to seeing some session posts.

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  8. Matt FinchApril 1, 2013 at 1:56 PM

    Cool to hear that it dates back to Dave Arneson's campaign. I make no claims to be a historian of D&D, but I love to hear the historical tidbits when they are served up. I really, really need to get a copy of Playing with the World...

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  9. UnknownApril 1, 2013 at 1:57 PM

    As well as cleave I use the shields will be splintered rule and the pithy retort rule in my C&T game.

    Pithy Retort: once per day a player can 1 hp/level back with a witty retort to a bad guy who has just pummelled them for lots of damage (the player has the say something funny that makes at least one of us around the gaming table smile/laugh/wryly shake our head etc)

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  10. Rob BarrettApril 1, 2013 at 3:01 PM

    Does Crypts & Things count for S&W Appreciation Day? Because I could do something along those lines on Vargold.

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    Replies
    1. TenkarApril 1, 2013 at 5:40 PM

      Rob, added your blog to the list - I think you are number 67 :)

      Delete
    2. Rob BarrettApril 1, 2013 at 9:48 PM

      I was hoping for 69, dude.

      But I'll take what I got. :)

      Delete
  11. Josh BurnettApril 1, 2013 at 6:48 PM

    I've been fascinated b C&T for a few months now, too. If I can convince my players to let me run an OSR game next, it's at the top of my list.

    In your campaign, are you going to use the movement rules from Crypts & Things or Swords & Wizardry? Characters seem to move slower in C&T.

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    Replies
    1. TenkarApril 1, 2013 at 6:50 PM

      that shit get's handwaved ;)

      i never even noticed there was a differnce

      Delete
  12. Venger SatanisApril 2, 2013 at 11:30 AM

    Also reminds me of my (originally came from Dungeon Crawl Classics) cast till you miss rule. A wizard can use the same spell over and over again until he fails. Then, he has to wait 8 hours or so to recharge and/or re-memorize.

    I think D&D and AD&D would be better with feats. I'm working on it now, actually.

    VS

    ReplyDelete

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