GNOMES

[while working hexes outside of Moor's End, play-testing the Holmentzer Wilderness Hex Generator, I realized how many gnomes live around there, and remembered, in Crackenmore, the gnomes around the glowing rock traveled from the south]

GNOMES

[Gnomes] live in air-enclosed cities on the bottom connected to the surface by tunnels. - Blackmoor, pg. 24

Gnomes are similar to dwarves, whom they resemble. They are smaller, have longer noses and beards and inhabit low-land and hill burrows rather than mountains. They favor crossbows. - Holmes, pg. 28

Gnomes have well-developed infravision, with a 90' range... Gnomes are excellent metalsmiths and miners. They love gold and gems and have been known to make bad decisions just to obtain them. They love machinery of all kinds and prefer crossbows and war hammers as weapons. Gnomes like most dwarves... war with goblins and kobolds who steal their precious gold. They usually attack kobolds on sight. - Mentzer Basic DMR, pg. 30

Currently, a gnome character can be either a fighter, magic-user, thief, paladin, or healer. A gnome may multi-class among the basic four classes if they'd like, e.g. fighter/thief, magic-user/thief, though they may not multi-class as a paladin or healer. Lastly, if they do multi-class, they will be restricted to the wearing of leather armor, and must split experience equally between each class.

Final details from AD&D Player's Handbook:

Saving Throws are identical to those of dwarves & halflings; however, as stated above, gnomes will generally have an even better saving throw vs. magic depending on their CONstitution score.


GNOMES IN FURTHERMOOR

Gnomes are sometimes spotted in the hilly lands east of Moor's End, south of Hood Hollow, west of Octopus Lake, near what is known as the Land of Horses. It is said that gnomes had great cities under the south section of the Howling Moors, but when their tunnels were infiltrated by the Fez and their Orcs, a Gnomish Offensive pushed their chaotic enemies up & out of the tunnels, into the nearby hills, setting the stage for the Last Battle, between lawful humans, elves and dwarves against the Fez. Though some gnomes returned to the great cities, many decided to burrow elsewhere about the land. They also say that the great worms are returning, making ways through the land once more. Said to have originally bored the tunnels at the edge of the moors thousands of years ago, a purple worm is generally seen by a gnome at an early age.

HOLMENTZER HALFLINGS

HOLMENTZER HALFLINGS

Halflings are short, 3 feet high, little folk with several special abilities. Out-of-doors they are difficult to see, having the ability to vanish into woods or undergrowth. They are like dwarves in their resistance to magic.* Halflings are extremely accurate with missiles and fire any missile at +1. They can use all the weapons and armor of a fighting man as long as it is "cut down" to their size. - Holmes, pg. 7

Further specifics from Mentzer DMR, pg. 16:

A halfling character has special skills at hiding. This is because of the halfling's small size and ability to "freeze," or hold very still, not moving, for short periods of time. A halfling is also harder to hit when attacked by any creature larger than man-sized... [gaining] a bonus to their Armor Class.

* Holmentzer uses the Saving Throw Chart from inside the back cover of Mentzer Basic DMR, a chart by way of Cook Expert.

HALFLINGS IN FURTHERMOOR

Long ago, the largest community of halflings in Furthermoor was among the hills of Hoppling Downs, in NW Furthermoor, until the Shadow War took place nearby, in the zone now known as the Enchanted Waste. Today, the largest communities are the Halfling Ghetto within Furthermoor City & the hilly region of Duck Hill. Halflings are known for their excellence in the leisure arts, namely the brewing of beer & the growing of potent leaf.

HOLMENTZER DWARVES

HOLMENTZER DWARVES

Dwarves are about four feet tall, stocky of build and weigh 150 pounds, shoulders very broad, their skin a ruddy tan, brown or gray. They wear long beards. They are sturdy fighters and are especially resistant to magic as shown by their better saving throws against magical attack*. They have infravision and can see 60 feet in the dark. Underground, they can detect slanting passages, traps, shifting walls and new construction about one-third of the time. Dwarves can all speak the languages of gnomes, kobolds and goblins. - Holmes, pg. 6

The traps a dwarf can find are those involving large dungeon features, such as a falling ceiling, floor pit, and so forth. The traps a dwarf may discover does not refer to all traps. For example, a dwarf would have no chance at detecting a small dart trap on a chest; this could be detectable only by a thief.^ - Mentzer DMR, pg. 15

* The resistance to magic a dwarf enjoys is most beneficial using the saving throw table from the back of Mentzer DMR, i.e. Holmentzer. The Mentzer chart comes from Cook Expert.

^If a dwarf is a thief, these abilities will be in addition to their thief abilities.

DWARVES IN FURTHERMOOR

The origin of the dwarf in Wild Earth, published in Hooded Periscope #2, is mostly concerned w/ the realm of Kush, which is west of Furthermoor. In Furthermoor, dwarves come from various places, but mainly the SW, the magnificent, loud city of Moloch, or the nearby Mines of Turnip Skull. Though the dwarves have other places, unknown to non-dwarves, all over & through the mountains.

HOLMENTZER ELVES

[so I plan to sweep through races for Holmentzer - class & race generally comes from Holmes Blue Book, i.e. Holmentzer Player's Handbook; however, there are a few key spots where Mentzer DMR adds a nuance to make it something singular - this race is a good example]

HOLMENTZER ELVES

Elves are five or more feet in height, slim of build, weigh about 120 pounds and have fair to tan skin. They can use all the weapons and armor of the fighting man*, including all magical weapons, and can also cast spells like a magic-user. They can detect secret hidden doors about one-third of the time. They have infravision; like dwarves, they can see 60 feet in the dark. They are not paralyzed by the touch of ghouls. Elves can speak the languages of orcs, hobgoblins and gnolls as well as Elvish and the Common speech they share with men, dwarves, and halflings. Thus, they have the advantages of both fighting men and magic-users as well as certain special capabilities of their own*.

Elves progress in level as both fighting men and magic-users*, but since each game nets them experience in both categories equally, they progress more slowly than other characters. - Holmes, pgs. 6-7.

*This is true, unless a player decides their elf is a magic-user only, or in place of fighting man, choose a different class, like thief, which has its own limitations, e.g. cannot wear plate armor, etc.

If an elf player wishes their elf to be a magic-user only, they follow THESE RULES for determining spells in their 1st level spell book, referring to the FIRST LEVEL ELF SPELL LIST. Also, they will progress solely on the experience path of a magic-user.

Otherwise, all other elves, which are multi-classed, i.e. Fighter/Magic-user, Thief/magic-user, etc. will follow the Spell Book rules from Mentzer Dungeon Masters Rulebook. The reason for this, is that while all elves grow up learning magic to some degree, those that have focused on other talents, don't have the same magic experience as those dedicating everything to magic. The Mentzer rules are as follows:

When a player starts as a... elf character, the player will ask you what spells the character has in the spell book. The magic-user's teacher is a higher level NPC magic-user, and the spells come from the teacher... The first spell given should always be Read Magic. This allows the character to read scrolls found, and would be a basic part of the character's training... You may give any "second spell" to a beginning elf character. The elf's many talents keep that character class balanced with the others, whatever spells are known. The player of an elf can feel useful in many ways; the spell is an additional bonus, not the character's only specialty. - Mentzer Basic DMR, pg. 18.

If a multi-classed elf has a high enough INT, they have more than two spells in their book at the beginning of a game, e.g. INT of 13-15 = 3 spells, 16-17 = 4 spells, 18 = 5 spells. Also, these spells are selected by the DM, and may not always be from the elf list.

ELVES IN FURTHERMOOR

Like Holmes mentions in his monster section, in Furthermoor, there are both high elves & wood elves. As of now, all elf PCs are considered high elves. For high elves as monsters, I'm using Mentzer's monster description, & for wood elves, Holmes. In addition, wood elves of Furthermoor are green. Currently thinking about this, but it's gotta be good.

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...]

ELVES & EXPERIENCE

My initial plan for this game was to treat elves like Moldvay Basic: they function as both magic-users & fighters @ any given time & b/c of this, their experience path reflects this mash up by requiring 4000 XP to reach 2nd Level, i/o/w the m-u & fighter XP paths have been joined together w/ a slight handicap. I think this is also an optional rule in the Swords & Wizardry White Box rules.

But I dont want to do it this way anymore. I wanna do it the old way, w/ a few mods.

The old way is this: elves are multi-classed: you have two XP paths: the magic-user path & the fighter/ranger/thief/whatever-else path. When you are given XP, you can choose where to put that XP: split it up, put it all in fighter XP, put it all in m-u etc. The only guideline I really have is that you put the XP in the appropriate place, i/o/w, if you just gained 500 XP & you havent cast one spell in the game, I would rather you not put 500 XP into the magic-user XP path. I'm not saying that you can't do that, but doing so would probably mean your character isnt getting much sleep since they must be secretly practicing magic in their downtime. Going this route will make it standard for an elf to have different levels in each class, e.g. Willowbrain is a 3rd Level fighter & 2nd Level magic-user.

This is basically OD&D, though I'm removing the need for an elf to specify each day (or before each adventure) what class they are playing. Likewise, I am removing total armor restrictions on elves that use magic: they can still cast magic while wearing leather armor, just no metal armor (unless magical, of course).

Leif, I've updated your character sheet w/ this info. You just need to assign your XP. Also, Robert, take note for your new dude.

RACES

[more races will be possible in future, but for now, here you have...]

DWARF - Dwarves are about four feet tall, stocky of build and weigh 150 pounds, shoulders very broad, their skin a ruddy tan, brown or gray. They wear long beards. They are sturdy fighters and are especially resistant to magic as shown by their better saving throws against magical attack. They have infravision and can see 60 feet in the dark. Underground, they can detect slanting passages, traps, shifting walls and new construction about one-third of the time. Dwarves can all speak the languages of gnomes, kobolds and goblins.

More info.

ELF - Can use all the weapons and armor of the fighting man*, including all magical weapons, and can also cast spells like a magic-user. They can detect secret hidden doors about one-third of the time. They have infravision; like dwarves, they can see 60 feet in the dark. They are not paralyzed by the touch of ghouls. Elves can speak the languages of orcs, hobgoblins and gnolls as well as Elvish and the Common speech they share with men, dwarves, and halflings. Thus, they have the advantages of both fighting men and magic-users as well as certain special capabilities of their own*. Elves progress in level as both fighting men and magic-users*, but since each game nets them experience in both categories equally, they progress more slowly than other characters.

*This is true, unless a player decides their elf is a magic-user only, or in place of fighting man, choose a different class, like thief, which has its own limitations, e.g. cannot wear plate armor, etc.

More info.

GNOMES - Gnomes are similar to dwarves, whom they resemble. They are smaller, have longer noses and beards and inhabit low-land and hill burrows rather than mountains. They favor crossbows. Gnomes have well-developed infravision, with a 90' range... Gnomes are excellent metalsmiths and miners. They love gold and gems and have been known to make bad decisions just to obtain them. They love machinery of all kinds and prefer crossbows and war hammers as weapons. Gnomes like most dwarves... war with goblins and kobolds who steal their precious gold. They usually attack kobolds on sight. Currently, a gnome character can be either a fighter, magic-user, thief, paladin, or healer. A gnome may multi-class among the basic four classes if they'd like, e.g. fighter/thief, magic-user/thief, though they may not multi-class as a paladin or healer. Lastly, if they do multi-class, they will be restricted to the wearing of leather armor, and must split experience equally between each class.

More info.

HALFLING - Halflings are short, 3 feet high, little folk with several special abilities. Out-of-doors they are difficult to see, having the ability to vanish into woods or undergrowth. They are like dwarves in their resistance to magic. Halflings are extremely accurate with missiles and fire any missile at +1. They can use all the weapons and armor of a fighting man as long as it is "cut down" to their size.

More info.

PUNK ESKIMO - 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.

 More info.