Stormbringer Redux #26 - Stormbringer Monster Strengths

I find how BRP does monster stats interesting because it is just a bunch of pioneering game designers guestimating or eyeballing what they think the numbers should be. This creates some wonky stats in early edition games, but has mostly been codified in later games.

BRP's massive statblocks have always been a big draw. Whereas OD&D stats started with the minimum of data needed for combat (AR, HD & HP, Attacks, MOV, XP and special abilities), BRP gives you the whole kit and kaboodle. On the plus side, it means you can roll up a pet or PC morphed into a beast or monster right away. On the down side, you have to roll up or calculate average stats before using any encounter, and stat blocks are always massive.

So today I'd like to compare monster stat strengths to see if they make sense.

Let us begin!

ANIMAL STATS COMPARISON

First, let's lay out ALL the animal & monster stats in the 1E book:
(NB This was mind numbing work, so if you see any mistakes tell me)

STR

1D10 Vipers

2D4+ Hawks (+1)

2D6+ Eagles (+1), Vultures (+1), Dogs (+3), Wolves (+6), Small Crocs (+18)

2D8+4 Dogs of the Dharzi

3D6 HUMANS

3D6+ Tiger (+12), Panther (+6), Constrictors (+12), Horse (+18), Large Crocs (+30)

3D8 Clakar

4D6+ Forest Bears (+6), Baboons (+6), Great Black Apes (+12), Cave Bears (+18), Mastodon (+36)

4D8+8 Creatures of Matik, Olab

5D8 Oonai

6D6 Sharks

8D8 Mist Giants

12D8 Dragon

CON

1D6+ Large Crocs (+12)

2D6 Hawks, Vipers

2D6+ Small Crocs (+6), Sharks (+6), Horse (+6) 

3D6 HUMANS, Baboons, Eagles, Vultures, Dogs

3D6+ Panther (+3), Wolves (+3), Mule (+3), Great Black Apes (+6), Forest Bears (+6),  Cave Bears (+6), Tiger (+6), Mastodon (+6), Constrictors  (+6)

3D8 Clakar, Dogs of the Dharzi

5D8 Oonai

6D8 Dragon, Olab

6D8+8 Creatures of Matik

8D8 Mist Giants

SIZ

1D10 Vipers

1D6+ Hawks (+3), Eagles (+6)

1D8+4 Dogs of the Dharzi

2D6 Vultures

2D6+ Great Black Apes (+12), Panther (+6), Dogs (+1)

2D8+4 Olab

3D6 HUMANS, Baboons, Wolves

3D6+ Forest Bears (+6), Tiger (+6), Small Crocs (+6), Large Crocs (+12), Cave Bears (+18)

3D8 Clakar

4D6+ Mule (+6), Horse (+12), War Horse (+25), Mastodon (+36)

4D8+4 Oonai

5D6 Constrictors

5D6+ Sharks (+6)

20D8 Dragon

18 Creatures of Matik, Mist Giants (Is this a typo?)

INT

1D4 Hawks, Vultures, Small Crocs, Large Crocs, Sharks, Vipers

1D6 Forest Bears, Cave Bears, Tiger, Panther, Eagles, Wolves, Dogs, Mastodon, Horse, Mule

1D6+ Great Black Apes (+1), Baboons (+1), War Horse (+3)

1D8 Dogs of the Dharzi

2D6 Constrictors

2D8 Clakar, Oonai

2D8+2 Olab

3D6 HUMANS

4D8 Dragon

7 Mist Giants (why not 2D6?)

POW

1D6 Small Crocs, Vipers, Horse

1D6+ Hawks (+3), Vultures (+3), Eagles (+6)

1D8 Creatures of Matik

2D6 Great Black Apes, Baboons, Forest Bears, Cave Bears, Panther, Wolves, Dogs, Sharks, Constrictors

2D8+4 Oonai

3D6 HUMANS, Tiger, Large Crocs, Mastodon

3D8 Clakar, Dogs of the Dharzi, Olab

4D8 Dragon

4D8+4 Creatures of Matik

5D8 Mist Giants

DEX

2D6 Baboons, Vultures, Mastodon

2D10 Vipers

2D6+ Dogs (+1), Small Crocs (+3), Large Crocs (+3), Wolves (+6), Constrictors  (+6), Eagles (+9), Panther (+12), Hawks (+12)

3D6 HUMANS, Sharks, Horse

3D6+ Forest Bears (+3), Great Black Apes (+6), Cave Bears (+6), Tiger (+6)

3D8 Dragon, Oonai, Creatures of Matik, Olab

4D8 Clakar, Mist Giants

Same as CON (3D8) Dogs of the Dharzi

CHA

1D8+2 Olab

3D6 HUMANS

ARMOR

1 Baboons, Panther, Eagles, Vultures, Horse

2 Great Black Apes, Tiger

3 Sharks (CON/3)

4 Cave Bears

5 Small Crocs

6 Mastodon

10 Large Crocs, Dragon, Creatures of Matik

Variable - Oonai

Immune to normal weapons (POW vs POW for enchanted) Mist Giants

PATTERN ANALYSIS

There is a lot of weirdness going on here. Some creatures have just a number for a characteristic, and there seems lots of duplication errors (Creatures of Matik and Mist Giant SIZ).

I might be guilty of apophenia, but let's try to suss out a system where it is easier to determine stats for creatures.

Before we begin with the details, let's start with a few definitions of things that pop out. 

Dice Ranges - We must remember that the whole array is humancentric, with the bell curve made by 3D6 as the norm of humans. Thus 3-8 is low for humans, 9-12 average, and 13-18 superior. Comparing all creature stats by this metric gives us an idea of relative strength.

1D6 Far below human ability
2D6 Less than human ability
3D6 Human norm
4D6+ More than human ability, the more dice the more superior.

Demon Dice - Using D8 instead of D6 really works well for me, as it reflects how they are supposed to have the edge as antagonists from another plane. In story terms, that extra bit of potential is what they get for aligning with Chaos I suppose. Alternately, using D4 instead of D6 reflects below human, animalistic arrays.

Oddball Dice - 1D10 Lower than human so inconsequential, but with a wide array.

Bonuses - Any bonus to the roll indicates there is a baseline from which their array of numbers starts.

+3 At least equal to minimum human (infants & invalids)
+6 At least equal to weakest humans (children)
+9 At least equal to average human
+12 At least equal to above average human
+18 At least equal to superior human
+36 At least equal to double human

As for Armor, the numbers seem not excessive, except I would probably bump up dragons by 5 points. I suppose one could whip up a system relating static animal armor ratings to variable human armors, but I prefer to leave a little chaos in and not worry about the bugbear of game balance.

UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS

In the Big Gold Book there is a breakdown of what SIZ means, but nothing really descriptive for the other attributes. I am a career educator, so I'm always trying to find a description that is simple yet easily graspable. Here is how I would describe each attribute in a way that would help anyone trying to figure out relative powers of attributes.

STR - To understand strength, a good metric is how many humans are required to handle or hold down the creature.
1D6 Can be handled one handed
2D6 Can be handled two handed
3D6 Same as handling a human
4D6-6D6 Too tough for one human to handle
7D6+ Too tough for any number of humans to handle

CON - Similarly, we can define CON by how much damage it takes to beat the creature.
1D6 Can be beaten bare handed
2D6 Can be beaten with small 1H weapon
3D6 Best beaten with a two handed weapon.
4D6-6D6 Too tough for one human to handle
7D6+ Too tough for any number of humans to handle

SIZ - Simple comparison with human size, but without numbers for easier comprehension.
1D6 One third human size
2D6 One half human size
3D6 Same as human
4D6-6D6 Larger than human.
7D6+ Larger than twice a human.

INT - This is a tough one, and most BRP stats never go above 3 or 4D6.
1D6 Dumb animal
2D6 Crafty animal
3D6 Same as a human
4D6-6D6 Smarter than human
7D6+ Godlike intelligence. Since the GM is only human, this is modelled by something else, namely GM fiat or psychic powers and the like.

POW - This is another tough one, 
1D6 Unclouded by emotion or spirit.
2D6 Simple emotions or spirit
3D6 Same emotional or spiritual range as a human
4D6-6D6 Much deeper or complex emotions or spirit than humans
7D6+ Too complex for any human to relate to

DEX - If STR shows us how hard it is to hold down a creature, DEX shows us how hard it is to catch them.
1D6 Easily caught
2D6 Caught with effort
3D6 Same as a human
4D6-6D6 Too quick or agile to catch without traps or assistance
7D6+ Too tough for any number of humans to handle

CONCLUSION

You have to hand it to the old BRP designers, like fine craftsman they put together relative statistics without any overarching or explicit guidelines (so far as I know). And like the Bio-engineering system of Hawkmoon, with a little effort to one can organize the statistics into a workable guide, useful for designers or house rules.

Next, I want to see if I an organize and simplify monsters skills in a similar way. Finally, I will try and pare down monster stats to see how small an entry we can make for an instant GM reference, which should be useful no matter what edition you're running.

Lazy Sunday Stormbringer (& Hawkmoon) Redux # 20 - The Nationality Table

Greetings Moonbeam Roadsters!

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying a cool summer back in Canada, and watching the stress drop off sonny and myself.

It is NICE to be home.

Job offers for fall are rolling in, old friends are rolling up loaded with craft beer, and I see my family every day.

I’ve taken my foot off the gas for this blog, and will get back to my projects this fall.

However…

I’ve had a simple idea about The Nationality Table in both the old Stormbringer and Hawkmoon rpgs.

Here it goes.

What’s Wrong With The Nationality Table?

Honestly, nothing. It is a fine piece of flavour in both games. It is wildly unbalanced, but so are the advantages of nationality in Moorcock’s fiction. I prefer using it. In the last game I ran, we had a Melnibonean High Priest leading a motley crew of sailors, savages, and scammers from all over the Young Kingdoms.

But not everyone feels as I do.

My younger players found the chaotic nature of nationality and occupation rolls a bit disconcerting. To be fair, us grognards may enjoy the challenge of playing a character weakened in stats by their nationality, but most people find it less than enjoyable. Then there’s the criticism that, by giving civilized characters high bonuses and savage characters penalties to attributes, colonial discourses of superiority and inferiority are replicated (as was the point of the author…)

Game designers have focused on this perceived inequality. Witness the stripping away of national difference in Elric! and subsequent editions of the game, as well as the barring of Melniboneans as player characters. This has unfortunately the effect of flattening out nationality in a game based on an IP where it is a pivotal aspect of the characters.

In this case, I’d like to offer a solution that keeps the uniqueness of nationality, while making every character equally empowered by their background, and allowing the players more choice in their attribute bonuses.

Civilization vs Savagery

Robert E Howard famously opined on the following difference between savages and civilized men,

“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.”

In keeping with this staple theme of the sword & sorcery genre, I’d like to offer the following rule for attribute modifications due to nationality:

Player characters (and NPCs if you are rolling them) get a 1D4 bonus to one attribute for nationality, as well as one for their occupation, based on whether it is of a savage or civilized nature.

Nationality Bonus

If their nationality is a civilized, urban setting, they can choose to add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice (either INT, POW, or CHA).

If their nationality is a savage, rural setting, they can choose to add 1D4 to a physical attribute of their choice (either STR, CON, SIZ, or DEX)

If their nationality is a hybrid setting with both cities and wilderness, roll a die. If the result is even, they add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice, but if it is odd, they add 1D4 to a physical attribute. 

Examples

Nationalities (Stormbringer)

Civilized - Melnibone, Pan Tang, Filkhar, Eshmir, Isle of Purple Towns

Savage - Myrrhyn, Shazaar, Oin, Yu, Org, Tarkesh, Ilmiora, Weeping Waste, 

Hybrid - Dharijor, Jharkor, Vilmir, Pikarayd, Argimiliar, Lormyr, Nadosokor

Nationalities (Hawkmoon, Tragic Europe)

Civilized - Granbretan

Savage - Carpathia, Catalonia, Germania, Greece, Kyrus, Orkneys, Scandia, Switzer, Syria, Turkia, Yel

Hybrid - Espaniya, Italia, Magyaria, Muskovia, Osterland, Persia, Romania, Shekia, Sicilia, Slavia, Ukraine

(NB: I can’t be bothered to do Amarehk at this point…)

Occupation Bonus

Similarly, if their occupation is an urban or mental profession, they can choose to add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice (either INT, POW, or CHA).

If their occupation is a savage, physical one, they can choose to add 1D4 to a physical attribute of their choice (either STR, CON, SIZ, or DEX).

If their occupation is of a hybrid nature present in both cities and wilderness, roll a die. If the result is even, they add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice, but if it is odd, they add 1D4 to a physical attribute. 

Occupations (both games)

Mental - Merchant, Noble, Scholar, Sailor (Captain / mate), Scholar, Sorcerer, Scientist, Priest, Warrior (Assassin)

Physical - Farmer, Hunter, Sailor (deckhand), Warrior

Hybrid - Craftsman, Mutant, Thief, Beggar

NB: If a player character has multiple occupations, they can choose ONE to base their attribute modification on. Multiple bonuses due to different occupations seems too unbalanced to me.

Let’s Try It!

OK, so let’s roll a character in Stormbringer, then one in Hawkmoon and compare how they would make out under the old rules and these houserules.

Stormbringer Character Example

Nationality roll: 55 Weeping Waste

Original Modifier: + 1D6 to STR & CON, + 1D4 to DEX, - 1D4 from CHA, - 1 from SIZ if over 10

New Modifier: + 1D4 to a physical attribute of choice

Occupation roll: 53 NA due to nationality, automatically Hunter-Warrior

Houserule: Gets another 1D4 to a physical attribute, or mental if Assassion is also rolled (rolled 2, no luck).

Total

Old method:  + 1D6 to STR & CON, + 1D4 to DEX, - 1D4 from CHA, - 1 from SIZ if over 10

New method: + 1D4 to TWO physical attributes of choice (or both can be applied to one attribute if wished)

Hawkmoon Character Example

Nationality roll: 67 Romania

Original Modifier: + 1D3 POW

Houserule:  + 1D4 to either one physical or mental (result is 2, even, so he’s urban and the bonus is applied to a mental attribute of choice)

Occupation roll: 53 Sailor

Original modifier: 0

Houserule: + 1D4 to a physical attribute, unless the character is a captain or mate, in which case the bonus is applied to a mental attribute (rolled 2, so just a sailor).

Total

Old method: + 1D3 to POW

New method: + 1D4 each to a mental and a physical attribute of choice

The Verdict

Of course, for nationalities that already have enviable bonuses, this new method of determining nationality & occupation modifiers feels like a step down. But for most nondescript nationalities, and especially for those with disadvantages, this method is a definite step up.

NB: Hawkmoon is lacking the Stormbringer ability for Warriors to also become Assassins, a telling oversight in a game purportedly set in the savage aftermath of a world war. Since secondary occupations are consistent for other occupations like Sailor (which allows Mate or Captain in both rulesets), I would allow this rule to apply to either setting, and in the future may extend secondary occupation possibilities to all.

Also, the lack of priests in Hawkmoon seems another oversight. Even without magic, they serve as the pillar of local communities, and thus should be allowed.

BONUS CONTENT!

The Madness of the Masters (Melniboneans & Granbretanians)

For both Melnibone and Granbretan, madness (by human standards) is considered a defining characteristic. Here is a table that determines the character's madness and how it affects the game.

1 Sadist - Takes any opportunity to inflict pain. Often become torturers or prison guards. Adds a dice of damage when inflicting pain, but takes an extra dice when injured.

2 Masochist - Enjoys feeling pain as if it were pleasure. Particularly useful in imperial guards or underlings. Always takes half damage, wears only light armor.

3 Romantic Obsessive (stalker) - Must make a POW x 3% roll when in the presence of an important NPC of possible love interest. If failed, falls in love, begins wooing, and stalks the character despite detriment to their mission or safety. Loses interest if their target reciprocates their affection.

4 Workaholic - Puts work before their own health and safety. Gets double chance of critical skill roll when working towards their mission, but unable to get a critical on any skill roll not directly connected to the mission. 

5 Paranoia - Trusts no one. Always has an escape plan when things go awry, but must roll a POW x 3% to be able to trust or help others.

6 Multiple Personality - Has 1D4 alternate personalities. Reroll Nationality & Occupation, apply when in the other mindset. Roll POW x 3% every morning or when under duress to stay in the main personality, otherwise they switch to a random other until the next day.

7 Fascist - Constantly attempt to gain power and control others. Every successfully persuaded NPC become a follower and attacks anyone critical of them. Often become troop leaders, always hungry for power.

8 Serial Murderer - Must take a life at least monthly. Lose 1% off ALL skills for every day past a month when they haven’t killed. Gains + 10% to all skills for the 24 hours after a murder, but this applies only once a month (ie can't kill someone and get this bonus everyday).

Semiotics of the 6 Attributes

At a glance, the six original attributes of D&D seem elegant in their simplicity and symmetry. There are three physical stats (Strength, Constitution and Dexterity) and three arguably mental ones (Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma). For anyone who started roleplaying with the game, it is largely by these 6 that we define all our characters, as well as judge how other RPG systems emulate them. But what do these terms actually signify, and does this match what they do in practice?

(NOTE - All pictures are the first Google image result for the attribute in question) 

STRENGTH

This was the first attribute handed down by uncle Gary (Men & Magic p. 10), and has arguably become the most important. Although it began as merely the mark of class for Fighters, coupled with a nebulous application to “opening traps and so forth,” it developed into the characteristic allowing the most direct influence on the gameworld via damage, attacks, and feats of strength against barriers. But the word by itself is vague enough to be nearly meaningless. Would the uninitiated think we are talking physical or mental strength? People say “I haven’t the strength to go on” after mental or physical duress, which would seem to make this term closer to Constitution. In this light, having undead drain Strength seems rather more fitting. Overall, wouldn’t ‘Brawn’ have been a clearer, more apt word to use?

INTELLIGENCE

Where Strength fails in D&D Intelligence prevails, specifically in the form of magic, which is probably why this was the second attribute. Once again, it starts as merely a mark of class, namely Wizards, and gradually comes to determine all spell access, languages, and proficiencies. Although there are other collocations of the word such as ‘military intelligence,’ in general the term conjures up the associations of scholarship and mental prowess it is intended to. If there is one flaw, it is that intelligence is normally paired with reason and logic, and one wonders how these are supposed to interact with the illogic of magic. Perhaps Intuition would have better served that purpose, but Intelligence would still have been necessary for skills and languages.

WISDOM

This is an odd choice for the third attribute, as it would seem less important in keeping a character alive than Constitution or Dexterity which follow it. It begins as a mark of class like its precedents, this time for Clerics, and later affects magic saves, although not for any discernable reason other than to spread out benefit among the attributes. Wisdom would also imply a character’s ability to see connections in what they observe about the world, but since this is mostly done by the player, one wonders whether Wisdom is necessary at all, and whether retroclones like Microlite 74 haven’t the right idea by replacing both Intelligence and Wisdom with Mind.

CONSTITUTION

This is an equally odd lexical choice. Definitely not an everyday usage for the word, with the online database of the Corpus of Contemporary English (COCA) overwhelmingly giving the political or legal meaning of the word as the most popular. Still, we use it in talk of ‘morning constitutionals’ and other health-related topics, so it is fairly true to function in its modification of poison saves and hit points. Alternatives like ‘Endurance’ would seem too limited in scope, while ‘Health’ sounds a more commonly understood term that could have stood in just as well.

DEXTERITY

This doesn’t exactly seem to do what it says on the tin. As collocations like ‘manual dexterity’ indicate, Dexterity largely implies talent with feet or hands. Although the modifiers to Armor Class for which Dexterity later became prized do fit with this meaning, bonuses to missile attacks and initiative would seem more aptly attributed to hand-eye coordination and reflexes, respectively. However, it is this very type of overly realist analysis of the meaning of attributes that loses sight of the utility and charm of the original 6 and falls into a needless proliferation of supposedly 'representative' attributes that, as we shall see, plagued AD&D's designers as the years wore on.

 

CHARISMA

Strangely, although tables of attribute bonuses and abilities would later become a staple of D&D for all attributes, in OD&D only Charisma was afforded such attention. This is ironic given that Charisma quickly become the ‘dump stat’ in other editions. Clearly, uncle Gary valued PC-NPC interactions in a way that was lost among the average self-taught D&Ders of the 80s, and was exacerbated in the move in later editions towards PCs combat machines who have no need for interaction with NPCs of any stripe, from henchmen to kings. Speaking of the ubiquity of henchmen and other NPCs in OD&D, shouldn’t gold temporarily pump up your stat when hiring meatshields?

 

OTHER OLD SCHOOL GAMES

The original 6 attributes not only bound our conception of character, they inspired many games that came thereafter, but were increased or modified to suit the differing worldview of particular game creators. Take Basic Role Playing (BRP), which brought to life the saga of Elric as well as Great Cthulhu, and especially for this latter needed to add Size to reflect the cyclopean horrors the PCs would battle. In BRP, Strength is useless in modifying damage without Size, and it also initially modified hit points before Chaosium began systematically nerfing attribute applications to reduce chargen bookeeping. Since BRP is a percentile system, maybe Size could also be used to determine difficulty to hit, or be the base for an attack, with larger creatures easier to hit? BRP also added the nebulous Power attribute, which served as a base for magic powers in Stormbringer/Runequest and Sanity in Call of Cthulhu.

Likewise, DC heroes added Will, Mind, Aura and Spirit to reflect the different types of powers costumed heroes would both yield and be attacked by, while the addition of Influence reflected the importance of wealth and celebrity of characters like Batman. Vampire: The Masquerade made a major effort to arrange the terminology of the original 6 into a balanced taxonomy of attributes, arranging a total of 9 ‘traits’ into three categories - Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance), and Mental (Perception, Intelligence, Wits).

D&D itself was not immune to the perceived need to balance out attributes more, and both Unearthed Arcana and the reviled 2e Powers book suggested additions or alternatives to the original 6 attributes. This latter seemed to attempt to mirror Vampire’s ‘balanced’ taxonomy, with the division of each of the original 6 attributes into bloated troikas of influence. Simply read the following list to get a feeling for how AD&D’s creators mistakenly sacrificed the beauty of the original 6 for a misplaced attempt at balanced realism - Strength, Stamina, Muscle; Dexterity, Aim, Balance; Constitution, Health, Fitness; Intelligence, Reason, Knowledge; Wisdom, Intuition, Willpower; Charisma, Leadership, Appearance.

These bloated attributes didn’t make it to 3e, which conversely began the simplifying process by reducing saving throws to 3 categories (Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower) more directly based on and modified by attributes. The OSR took this even further, with Swords & Wizardry’s one save and Microlite’s aforementioned consolidation of attributes into 4 - Strength, Dexterity, Mind and Charisma. The movement back to the simplicity and symmetry of the original 6 attributes (or less) is, in fact, one of the things that unites players across editions, as well as being one of the charms of the OSR.