My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

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ratmanof
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My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by ratmanof »

Hey.

I thought for a while and finally decided to post my house rules here.

I enjoy SnW Whitebox but as I like to play (with my kids) many old modules from TSR I own, I wanted to add some Greyhawkish extras. Not too much to change the base book, but a little to bring back thieves and variable damage. Some extra spells to have a bit variety for my players as well. So for me it is a small 12 page extra booklet printed out and stapled to bring to my games.

As most OSR is OGL, i have re-used some things brighter minds have developed before me. Tweaked some of them for my liking. I hope I have mentioned these sources correctly in the Legal part.

Perhaps someone else would like to use this tiny extra booklet as well...

Any comments are welcome :)

[removed the original supplement and added 2.0 version with many corrections, also added booklet cover file]
Attachments
Cover 2.0.pdf
(865.43 KiB) Downloaded 120 times
Ashenfalcon supplement 2.0.pdf
(179.51 KiB) Downloaded 174 times
Last edited by ratmanof on Wed Oct 05, 2022 6:24 pm, edited 9 times in total.

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merias
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by merias »

Thanks for posting this ratmanof. I like the Greyhawk additions, they make the game compatible with loads of post-greyhawk and B/X adventures essentially as-is with just a small supplement.

I would probably make a couple of minor changes - I would allow the spear and battle-axe to be used one- or two-handed (d6 or d8 damage for the spear, respectively, which can also be thrown for d6 damage, and maybe d8 or d10 damage respectively for the battle-axe). This allows the player to make a conscious trade-off between using a shield or getting the higher damage. But those are just my preferences.

Your OGL attribution seems fine to me, although you are missing a line at the very end noting your own work, that way others can use it under the OGL and attribute it the same way.

ratmanof
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by ratmanof »

Thanks for the input. I made small corrections. Originally I tried to change the SnW:WB weapon descriptions at minimum (the flail seemed logical to diversify all the medium bludgeoning types a bit). The spear is now changed to 1d6/1d8*.

Added a small print to the end of Legal :)
Last edited by ratmanof on Mon Feb 01, 2021 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ratmanof
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by ratmanof »

Tinkered with a thief a bit more (only M-U scrolls to read, added option Thievery for All). Corrected some small errors.

ratmanof
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by ratmanof »

Ok, final update:
* added cover for the booklet (separate file if You want to print it at all and perhaps on stronger paper);
* last spelling errors corrected (hopefully);
* added version number to pages.

Enjoy :)

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merias
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by merias »

Cover looks great, thanks for the updates.

ratmanof
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by ratmanof »

I have been tinkering with my house rules or so called Ashenfalcon Supplement:

1) Streamlined the Thief class a bit;
2) Added optional rules for Fighter;
3) Added class options, so You can add Druid, Barbarian, Ranger, Paladin, Monk, Necromancer, Illusionist, Assassin and Bard to Your PC selection (or a way to translate old edition modules without changing core rules much). These variants I kept as simple as possible;
4) Rewrote HP, Weapon Damage and Monster HD/Damage variables. They are more simple, streamlined and IMHO logical (monster damage and HD are based on size not level for instance);
5) Added my common rulings for combat situations (have tried to keep them as simple as possible);
6) Added musical instruments and a guideline for banquets to common prices.

Feel free to use (or rewrite). Any comments are most welcome. And let me know if You spot typos.

I will complete this version to 2.0 in a month or so. Will add some small illustrations and tidy up the layout, so it will end up as a 16 page booklet, I believe :)
Last edited by ratmanof on Wed Oct 05, 2022 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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merias
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by merias »

Some really good refinements. I like the simple sub-classes. Did you consider making some of the subclass abilities level-dependent, like the monk's quivering palm? I don't think that adds too much complexity and keeps the power creep in line with the originals. I'd like to play test what you have however.

Edit - realized the monk text has "Instead of establishing a stronghold..." just before the quivering palm is detailed. So maybe this is meant for higher level?

ratmanof
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by ratmanof »

I tried to keep them as simple as I could. Bard gets his first wizard spell at 2nd level. Fighter establishes stronghold on 9th, so that is the time Monk gains Quivering Palm. But seems I have to clarify that.

I first designed these subclasses with many different (although modest) abilites that were level dependant. But then I thought - keep it simple, stupid :) Core rules are good enough, don't overload them with unnecessary additions. I got inspiration from White Box Omnibus, Necromancer and Illusionist are almost direct copies from there.

All the classes (mostly) gain just one or two abilities, that define them most. Bard, Paladin and Monk gain just a bit more, especially Bard was hard to translate to that system, being sort of jack-of-all-trades. Usually if they gain something, they loose something otherwise allowed for that class.

Seems to work for me so far :) But let me know if You have tested them in Your games...

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rredmond
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Re: My greyhawkish house rules SnW Whitebox

Post by rredmond »

Nicely put together.
Dig that cover art, and Dean Spencer's style once I checked out his website!
Holy Schmidt He swears by his pretty floral bonnet...
Cure Light Wounds -- 2/3
Hold Person — 1/1
Updated: 3/23/2024
Bind wounds for 1d3 after each combat

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