The Rules of Engagement "House Rules"
-The Basics - We will be using Dungeon Crawl Classics as our Core rules set with the Lankhmar book and all its optional rules. A link to these rules can be found on the discord -House Rules- This is an Open table game- meaning the game will progress in real time, and there can be different groups working together or against each other. there will be a 5 player limit, first come first serve, signups will be done on discord. Players can have multiple character.
Starting Coin - Roll 5d12 thats how much copper your chracter has. Only One Wizard and Witch at a time - if you roll up one of these characters please feel free to make a secondary character encase someone signs up before you. There are no clerics in this campaign. Humans Only- I am only allowing Humans and Human"Like" races such as Tommy knocker from Weird Frontiers or Mutants from Hubiris. Shields- Can be sacrificed to negate all damage rendering them sundered and useless. Helmets- Can be sacrficed, instead of taking normal damage, you will need to roll on the helmet table after choosing to to do so. Spellbooks- Wizards are randomly assigned spell books with their own personalities, goals and quirks Third Party- I am completely open to all and any 3rd party DCC stuff, if you find something you like please shot it my way.
Fortune Teller "Regaining Permanent Luck":
To Regain Luck lost permanently PC can seek out a fortuneteller, sage or shaman. These eldritch individuals may require tasks or tithe to perform their task. - Setting Specific house Rules -
Origins
Every PC in DCC Lankhmar is human, but that doesn’t mean they’re identical in special skills, opportunities, and training. Where a character is born in Nehwon is just as important as what they eventually become. Fafhrd’s birth in the Cold Waste granted him his physique, his training as a Singing Skald, and his training in weaponry and mountain climbing, making him very different from a warrior born among the Mingols of the Steppes, for instance. After rolling his character’s ability scores, each player determines the PC’s place of origin. This can be done either by rolling randomly on Table 1-1: pg 4 of the Compendium of Secret Knowledge. Benisons and Dooms
Benisons and dooms are similar to a PC’s birth au-gurs in that they impact the adventurer’s career in some manner. Unlike birth augurs however, benisons and dooms are tied to the character’s place of origin, not the sign of his birth. An adventurer raised in the Cold Waste might have wildly different advantages than one hailing from the hot Eastern Lands. Benisons and dooms also resemble birth augurs in that they arerandomly determined and can affect a character with varying degrees of severity. Benisons are tied to the PC’s Luck in another way. If a player has a specific idea in mind for his character and his benison roll results in an advantage that does not aid the character in realizing that goal, the player can permanently reduce his Luck score by a set number of points to purchase a second benison of his choice. This reflects the character spending his Luck throughout his childhood and young adulthood to achieve his goals. This process is further explained in the Places of Origin section on page 4 of the Compendium of Secret Knowledge.
Patron Agent
DCC Lankhmar introduces a new system detailing an alternate means by which characters can bind their fates with those of supernatural powers. This agreement is not a magical one like that forged by the patron bond spell in the DCC RPG core rulebook, but more of an informal agreement of mutual aid between the character and the supernatural entity. Characters bound to a patron via the patron bond spell are called servants. PCs who agree to aid a patron on a less formal basis, eschewing magical compacts, are called agents. Servants are likely to be wizards, although the patron bond spell does allow for non-casters to pledge their devotion to supernal powers. On the other hand, warriors, thieves, and less ambitious wizards on Nehwon are far more often agents to a power. The benefits of being a patron’s servant are already described in the DCC RPG core rules. Fleeting Luck
Adventurers in Nehwon often wonder if they are merely the playthings of the gods. Luck flows fast and furious in DCC Lankhmar, allowing the PCs to pull off stunning victories only to run afoul of the whims of the gods a moment later. To replicate this, DCC Lankhmar uses fleeting Luck. Fleeting Luck is a form of temporary Luck that act as normal Luck points, but can be lost at any moment. PCs are encouraged to spend fleeting Luck early and often, as they never know when it will vanish. • Each PC begins the game with 1 point of fleeting Luck. We recommend the judge use some form of marker such as glass beads, poker chips, coins, or similar tokens to track fleeting Luck. Fleeting Luck is awarded to a PC each time the character achieves a critical success (usually rolling a natural 20 on an action die), role-plays in a manner that invokes the world of Nehwon and the stories of Fritz Leiber, performs cool (or foolish) actions, or when the judge deems the PC deserves recognition. Adventures may also stipulate when the PCs receive fleeting Luck points. • There is no limit to the amount of fleeting Luck a PC may have at any time. A PC’s fleeting Luck total is added to his Luck ability score when making Luck checks (e.g. a PC with a Luck score of 11 and three points of fleeting Luck has an effective Luck score of 14). • Fleeting Luck can be spent to modify a PC’s die roll as normal Luck does or it can be spent to aid another PC on a 1:1 basis. Any PC can spend his fleeting Luck to aid another and multiple PCs can assist a single party member if desired. • Thieves roll their Luck die whenever they spend fleeting Luck to aid themselves. The sole exception to this rule is when using Luck as Healing (see below). Fleeting Luck vanishes whenever a critical failure occurs, usually in the form of a natural “1” on an action die. Fleeting Luck is not lost if the “1” result does not result in failure, such as when rolling to determine initiative score or when attempting to roll under one’s Luck score when making a Luck check.
Whenever a PC rolls a critical failure, ALL the PCs lose their fleeting Luck. Every player returns all fleeting Luck tokens to the judge and they must start earning fleeting Luck anew. Luck as Healing
The cleric class does not exist on Nehwon in “literary style” DCC Lankhmar games. While there are many with the title of priest, none of them can call directly on their god to produce divine magical effects. The following rule system is to be used in DCC Lankhmar campaigns where the cleric class is unavailable to the players.
Using Luck to Heal Wounds
A PC can take a momentary break during a combat to catch their breath, examine their injuries, and otherwise rouse themselves to keep fighting. By taking a round to inspect their wounds, the character perceives he isn’t as badly injured as he first believed and can dive back into battle partially restored. A PC wishing to catch their breath can perform no other action that round aside from inspecting his injuries. He can still move up to his Speed while catching his breath. A PC who spends the round checking his injuries can spend 1 Luck point (permanent or fleeting) and regain a number of hit points equal to a roll of his class Hit Die plus Stamina modifier (minimum 1 hp). An unconscious or dying PC cannot spend the round catching his breath and can only be revived with the aid of an ally. Only a single Luck point may be spent when examining his injuries during a fight; spending multiple Luck points has no effect and thief and halfling class abilities allowing them the benefit of multiple Luck points with a single expenditure do not apply in this case. However, a PC can spend additional Luck points above the initial point to add to his hit die roll as normal when determining the number of hp regained. A PC can only inspect his wounds once during any given combat, but may do so whenever he’d normally have an action during the combat round. PCs that do not catch their breath and heal during a battle must waiting to recuperate after the fight has ended. Obviously, an injured PC can never regain hit points greater than his maximum hit point total either through inspecting their wounds or by recuperating as described below.
Agents and Healing
Agents serving a patron with the Healing area of influence can attempt to ask that entity to intervene on the behalf of either himself or another. The agent can only do this while the subject to be healed is recuperating. The agent must personally tend to the subject’s wounds in order to serve as a conduit of his patron’s aid. The agent makes either an Intelligence or Personality check and rolls his patron die as normal. If the patron die is less than the result of his action die roll plus the ability modifier, the patron intercedes, granting additional healing. If the patron die roll is higher than the ability check roll, the patron does not grant assistance to the injured character during this recuperation period.
The agent cannot attempt to invoke his patron’s aid on that target again during the current recuperation, but may call upon the patron when tending to a different character. If the patron provides any aid, the tending PC’s patron die increases in size as normal.The agent does not need to spend Luck to utilize this form of healing. Banter
Leiber’s stories crackle with witty banter, wry insults, and philosophical speculations uttered by Fafhrd and Mouser, giving the stories a humanity and humor not typically found in sword & sorcery fiction. This optional game mechanic rewards players who love to indulge in this form of role-playing, quipping, and intra-party interaction. Banter functions similar to a game of hot potato. A marker is passed among the players, moved by social exchanges and role-playing. At the start of each game session, the banter marker is held by the judge who awards it to the first player who captures the mood with interesting, funny, or clever play, or otherwise role-plays in a manner appropriate for a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story. The banter marker is now in play. Any small object such as a poker chip, coin, miniature, prop, or similar item can be used as the banter marker. Once the banter marker is in play, it is passed around the group as a reward for good role-playing as indicated above. The players award the banter marker among themselves, voting to pass it to a fellow player who keeps the banter flowing with witticisms, astute observations, and other repartee. Any player can nominate another player to receive the banter marker at any time and if the majority of the other players agree, it is awarded to the chosen player. The judge breaks all ties if the group cannot achieve a majority. The judge can also suspend the passing of the banter marker if he feels the social contesting for its ownership is slowing game play or otherwise impacting the enjoyment of other players, reinstating it later when circumstances better allow for role-playing. Whoever currently has the banter marker can “cash it in” at any time to gain +1d3 points of Luck to immediately apply to a single roll made by his character. Alternately, the player can use the banter marker to subtract 1d3 points from a roll made by another character or NPC. When utilized in this manner, the banter marker must be cashed in before the roll result is made or the total announced. Once the banter marker is used, it returns to the judge’s possession until awarded once again to a player. Rousing Dying Characters
When a PC is reduced to zero or less hit points, he is incapacitated and begins dying. He cannot spend Luck points to regain hit points, but an ally can save his life by staunching his wounds.Another PC can stabilize the dying character as his action for the round. A stabilized PC is considered to have zero hit points and unconscious.
Once the battle is ended, the unconscious PC can spend 1 Luck point to regain a single hit point and become conscious. He can then recuperate as described below if he has not already recuperated that day. If he has already utilized his recuperation, he remains at 1 hit point but regains health by natural healing and possibly magical or herbal potions is available. Recuperating A PC can take time after combat has ended to properly dress his wounds, rest, drink a restorative, and otherwise regain his stamina and health. This is called recuperating. it takes 1d3 turns to recuperate. Should anything interrupt this period, the PC regains no lost hit points and must start anew. Once this time elapses, the PC spends 1 Luck point (permanent or fleeting) and regains hit points equal to a roll of his class hit die + Stamina modifier + level. If the PC is receiving treatment from another with the Healer benison, he also adds the healer’s level to the total number of regained hit points. A PC can recuperate once per level per day. After he has utilized his daily recuperation, he must have a full night’s rest before he can again recuperate from his injuries.
Restoratives"Booze"
Injured characters can sometimes consume strong spirits or herbal concoctions as part of the recuperating process. These draughts increase the amount of hit points recovered. More information on restoratives can be found in the DCC Lankhmar boxed set. In “The Madhouse Meet” adventure, one area hold Eevamarensee Emerald wine. If this spirt is consumed while recuperating, the PCs regain hit points equal to their maximum hit die total + Stamina modifier + level. A Warrior, for example, would heal 12 + Stamina modifier + level hit points. Spell Stipulations
Mercurial magic works somewhat differently in Nehwon. Wizards learn unique methods of working their magic, often employing ritual tools, substances, movements, etc. to invoke a spell’s power. These are called spell stipulations. Any wizard unable to utilize or perform his normal spell stipulation when casting a spell requiring them suffers a -1d penalty to their spellcheck. Spell stipulations are noted on the wizard character sheets under “Mercurial Effects & Notes” and are usually written as “Caster must spell stipulation.”
