HOLMENTZER MAGIC-USERS

HOLMENTZER MAGIC-USERS

Humans who elect to become magic-users must not wear armor and can carry only a dagger for protection. They can, however, use almost all magical items, but not magical swords and other magical arms other than daggers. They have the advantage (shared with clerics and some elves*) of being able to work magical spells. At the start, however, they can cast only one spell and must advance a level in experience before they can learn another. Thus the magic-user starts out as an extremely weak character, but if he survives and rises in experience, he becomes increasingly powerful... Magic-users, of course, may be either... lawful or chaotic, and most of their spells remain the same. - Holmes, pg. 6

The magic-user acquires books containing the spells, the study of which allows him to memorize a spell for use. He can then throw the spell by saying the magic words and making gestures with his hands. This means that a magic-user bound and gagged cannot use his magic... A magic-user must concentrate on his spell, so he can not cast a spell and walk or run at the same time, and he certainly can not cast a spell while engaged in combat. Then, after all that, the spell may not work! - Holmes, pg. 13

To learn a spell, the magic-user must be completely rested. A good night's sleep is enough. The character then gets out the spell book and studies the spells to be used, which takes an hour or less... In more advanced games, adventures may last more than a day. In such cases, a magic-user can study spells each morning, if completely rested. A mule should be brought along on long adventures, to carry the spell book^ along with normal equipment. But beware! If the book is lost... - Mentzer Basic PM, pg. 38

Also, from Mentzer:

Magic-users never trade spells, nor do they ever allow anyone (except their teachers) to read their spell books.

Magic-users also have the following abilities, per Holmes:

SCROLL GENERATION

Scrolls are written in magic runes that fade from the page as they are read, so a scroll also can only be used once. Magic users may make a scroll of a spell they already "know" (i.e. have in their magic book) at a cost of 100 gold pieces and 1 week's work for each spell of the first level, 200 gold pieces and 2 weeks for a second level spell (if the magic-user is third level), etc.

MAGIC RESEARCH

It is also possible for a magic-user, through the expenditure of much money for research, to create new spells. The Dungeon Master must agree that the spell is appropriate to the level of the character trying to create it, the magic-user must spend 2000 gold pieces per level of spell and one week of time. He then has a 20% chance of success... [if] the spell research was successful, the magic-user writes it into his book and may use the spell...

Lastly, once more from Mentzer Basic Players Manual, pg. 38:

If a new spell is found on a scroll, it may be added to the magic-user's book - but this can only be done once for each scroll spell, and uses up the scroll in the process. If the spell is of too high a level to be cast, it cannot be put into the book... A spell on a scroll may be saved, to put into a book at a future time. [However] any magic-user can cast a spell found on a scroll as if it were memorized, regardless of the level of the spell.

For info on what spells a beginning magic-user has in his or her 1st level spell book, see HERE.

* In our game, as all PCs are high elves, they have magic abilities. Any elf can multi-class as a magic-user + another qualified class; however, an elf may also choose to be a magic-user only. In this case, they follow the spell book generation rules as a magic-user, except they use the elf spell list. Otherwise, for a multi-classed elf, the DM will let you know what spells are in your book.

^ Still trying to figure out how I want to deal with this "lugging of the spell book bit", see HERE for some thoughts (toward bottom of post), but gonna sleep on it.

HOLMENTZER THIEVES

HOLMENTZER THIEVES

Thieves are humans* with special abilities to strike a deadly blow from behind, climb sheer surfaces, hide in shadows, filch items and pick pockets, move with stealth, listen for noises behind closed doors, pick locks and remove small traps such as poisoned needles. Every thief has these abilities, but as they progress in experience they become better and better at it... Thieves are not truly good and are usually referred to as neutral... so that other members of an expedition should never completely trust them and they are quite as likely to steal from their own party as from the Dungeon Master's monsters. Thieves can wear nothing stronger than leather armor and can not carry shields. They can use all the weapons of a fighting man including magic swords and magic daggers. Thieves above the third level of experience can read magic scrolls and books and 80% of languages so that treasure maps, etc. are easy for them. - Holmes, pg. 6

* Halflings, dwarves, & elves, can also be thieves.

HOLMENTZER FIGHTING MEN

HOLMENTZER FIGHTING MEN

Any human character can be a fighting man and all halflings and dwarves are members of the fighter class, unless they opt to be thieves.* Elves are a combination of fighting man and magic-user...^ Fighting men can use any weapon and wear any kind of armor including magic weapons and magic armor. They can not do other kinds of magic, however. As they advance in experience they increase their "hit dice" and are harder to kill. After they reach the fourth level of experience they also increase their ability to get hits on an opponent... - Holmes, pg. 6

* Halflings & dwarves can choose to be paladins or healers (if they qualify), instead of a fighting man or thief.

^ An elf character may choose to be a magic-user only, not advancing as a fighting man. If they do multi-class, but not as a fighting man/magic-user, they can be thief/m-u, paladin/m-u, or healer/m-u (provided they qualify).

HOLMENTZER CLERICS

HOLMENTZER CLERICS

Clerics are humans who have dedicated themselves to one or more of the gods. Depending on the god, the cleric may be good or evil, lawful or chaotic. Clerics have their own special spells... They may... wear armor, including magic armor, and carry non-edged weapons such as the mace or the quarter staff.  No swords or bows and arrows can be employed, for the cleric is forbidden by his religion from the drawing of blood. Good clerics can often dispel the undead - skeletons, zombies and their ilk... As they advance in experience levels they gain the use of additional spells. Spells for evil clerics differ slightly from those of good clerics... Clerics have the ability to turn away the "undead," and higher level clerics can dispel them. If the cleric turns the undead away they retreat before him, will not touch him and flee from his immediate vicinity if they can. When a higher level cleric dispels an undead monster it disappears and is gone forever. - Holmes, pgs. 6 & 12

Whenever a cleric character tries to Turn undead monsters, the player will roll 2d6 and compare the total to the Turn Undead chart... If the attempt at Turning the undead is successful, the player will then ask you how many monsters are affected. - Mentzer DMR, pg. 21

Note in Cleric Experience Table that I allow 1st level clerics one 1st level spell a day.

PALADINS

Paladin class is per OD&D Greyhawk: Supplement I (17+ CHA Lawful fighter, 1d8 HD). Now that we have a paladin, here's that info, plus additional scans from AD&D Player's Handbook. Any conflicts? We'll figure it out. It works well w/ Holmes, b/c while Holmes isn't an expansion of Greyhawk, like AD&D, Greyhawk OD&D is its gamey core.

For now, any paladin in Furthermoor will be assumed a paladin of the Great Church, unless the player has something else they'd like to work in.

PUNK ESKIMOS

Punk Eskimos* are found in the far northern reaches of Furthermoor & the southern regions of Kush. They are immune to freezing temperatures & their saving throws for freeze & cold spells, etc. are very good. They can track like a ranger & they cannot wear metal armor (this is mainly b/c they only choose to pad themselves w/ animal hides & such, i.e. fur of their own victims). Punk Eskimos can also create a flame & fire w/ the tips of their fingers. Generally to light something else, though in emergency, they can let their finger flame for up to 1d12 turns w/o consequence. The flame puts off light like a candle.

As for the "punk" bit, they are referred to this way b/c of their DIY ethos. Given a choice, a Punk Eskimo would much rather create his/her own weapons & items out of things they kill or things foraged around them than they would use something already made. E.g. a Punk Eskimo would rather wield a spear they carved from a branch themselves than they would a magical sword handed to them. Given this fact, they take extreme care when constructing their weapons, & when doing so, given that they have the raw materials, it will take 1d6 days to finish the project. Also, there is a 17% that any weapon constructed by a Punk Eskimo will have magical properties. These properties come from the god of most all Punk Eskimos, the Hooded Ice King who is said to reign over the ice worlds far, far away, a glimpse of which can be seen by Northern & Southern Punk Eskimos alike @ various times of the year, as the alignment brings pause to those to reveal the wonderous Eskimo Nebula.

Level & Title          Experience Pts.          Hit Dice 10-sided
1  Illiyardjuk           0                                 1
2  Afuyiuqti            2100                           1+4
3  Issumatar            4200                           2
4  Illamareit            8400                           3
5  Nektoralik          16800                         4+1
6  Miortok              33600                         5
7  Issorartuyok       67200                         6+2
8  Sangiyok            134400                       7

Lastly, for a character to consider this class/race they must have a STR of 13+ & a CON of 15+

*Punk Eskimo is a race/class combo, i.e. one cannot be a Punk Eskimo magic-user... @least not right now.

[More details to come as I flesh it out more...]

HEALERS

I've been going through a number of early issues of The Dragon and in #3 came upon this new class by C. Hettlestad. I am not certain I wanna keep this as an ongoing class possibility, & honestly, I havent even read through it totally as to the spells etc., but for now, it'd be cool to see one enter the fray. So here it is. Instantly made me think of the following image (would rather have the class be "Doctor" but that happens when you level up).

MONKS

So after much thought & comparing everything from Blackmoor to AD&D to Nod, I have decided for now, to go w/ the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion version of the monk. Main reason is b/c it is more Blackmoor than AD&D while also incorporating the best parts of the AD&D monk, like getting 2HD @ 1st level, as well as lowering the XP limits for levels just a bit, though moreso than AD&D, actually. I really dont care to get into too much nit picky stuff right now as the monk is a difficult class all around, for those that play them & the DM. There are a lot of nuances. After looking through these all though, I felt this was the best "balance" w/o having to cut & scrape, so for now, here you go:

RANGERS

"But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing of their origin. They were taller and darker than the Men of Bree and were believed to have strange powers of sight and hearing, and to understand the languages of beasts and birds. They roamed at will southwards, and eastwards even as far as the Misty Mountains; but they were now few and rarely seen. When they appeared they brought news from afar, and told strange forgotten tales which were eagerly listened to; but the Bree-folk did not make friends of them." - Fellowship of the Ring

Rangers are humans that have left civilization in order to protect it from chaos & evil lurking in the forests, therefore they are always Lawful in alignment. If a Ranger ever does any action outside of this alignment, he immediately becomes a Fighter & loses all Ranger specifics. Rangers start out w/ 2 hit dice b/c they have already gained experience & heft in their relocation to the woods. Though they do not see eye-to-eye w/ Elves in all matters (if they are not themselves an elf), they usually become familiar w/ Elves & can speak Elvish by 2nd Level & read & write Elvish by 3rd Level. In addition, beginning w/ 4th Level, a Ranger has access to magic from the Elf Spell List (though it is limited to specific spells). The Ranger accesses this magic through primitive means (as the Elves first did), ie. communing w/ the forest, learning its wild laws, meditation, etc. They memorize their spells similarly to a cleric. Due to their stealth, Rangers cannot wear plate mail & also, when using missile weapons within the forest & w/ surprise, gain an additional +2 to hit.

 for now...