Myth & Magic: Q&D Trader Class

I'm considering doing some Dark Sun conversions for Myth & Magic. While poking through some of the old 2nd edition Dark Sun stuff, I was struck by the trader class.

Traders are pretty much like Bards, except that they have slightly more practical skills- they learn to buy and sell, appraise and bribe, etc., rather than just learning how to play the lute.

So here's how we make a rough (really rough!) Dark Sun Trader from a Myth & Magic Bard:

Weapons, attributes, armor, and other core features are all fine as they are. When in doubt, assume that the Trader works just like the Bard in terms of progression, HP, etc., until proven otherwise.

Bardic Knowledge: 'Trader Lore'. This ability makes perfect sense for the Trader, since they would be travelling around and hearing rumors, sharing stories with sources, joining caravans, etc.

Bardic Performance: Swap Performance for Diplomacy. Bardic Charm becomes Fast Talk and reflects the Trader talking his way out of sticky situations. You might even allow the Trader to offer bribes to receptive audiences to improve his chances of success. Counter Song becomes Bid Calling, and now relies on the Mercantilism proficiency instead of Performance. Traders, through long years barking orders and working auctions, have learned how to disrupt audible spellcasting through carefully timed and well-projected shouts and hollering (ever heard a live stock auctioneer in the South?). Inspire Allies becomes I Give the Orders- Traders generally are in the habit of coordinating the movements of drovers, porters, and other lackies and are able to effectively coordinate the movements of their allies in combat, or at least irritate the enemy with their constant hollering and complaining.

Rogue Skills: Replace Decipher Script and Perception with Mercantilism and Appraise.

Arcane Spell: Here we get into deeper water, as arcane magic is quite rare in the original Dark Sun setting. For my purposes (since psionics get on my nerves) rather than try and put together a complete psionics system for my campaign, I'm just going to alter the background of the setting to be more open to magic (though it is still quite mysterious), going for more of a Barsoom/psuedo-Vancian feel. In that setting, it seems not unreasonable that Traders would come across the odd tome of arcane lore and try their hand at a few labor saving (or profit improving) spells. Good spell choices here (I fell a random table coming on) would help make the Trader feel a little more distinct from the Bard- probably a more restricted selection of early spells, for instance.

Armored Caster, Activate Arcane Scrolls, & Activate Magic: Since we split the Solomonic baby regarding arcane spells, there's no need to change these abilities around now. Bardic Influence is also fine as-is.

Renown: Seems fine. There are some charts in the Dark Sun books if you want more interesting followers. These followers will be the Trader's agents, acting on his behalf as body guards, buyers, clerks, etc.

Legend: Again, fine as is. When the Trader dies, his heirs become filthy rich members of the permanent oligarchy and he gets his face on a bank note and a university named after him, instead of some crappy song.

At the upper levels, the Mercantile activities rules from Adventurer, Conqueror, King System will be your friend.

Myth & Magic: Random Starting Bard Spells

Bards get 1d4 spells at random two, either selected or random. Here's random:

1d20 Roll	Spell
1	Alarm
2	Change Self
3	Comprehend Languages
4	Detect Magic
5	Dancing Lights
6	Erase
7	Identify
8	Light
9	Manipulate Flames
10	Mending
11	Message
12	Arcane Cantrip
13	Audible Illusion
14	Phantasmal Image
15	Read Magic
16	Ventriloquism
17	Charm Person
18	Hypnotism
19	Unhinge
20	Color Spray

Semi-Random Starting Spells for Myth & Magic

Random character creation is good because it's fast and unpredictable. Picking spells for new wizards is bad because it's slow and you tend to only pick spells you already know how to use and can anticipate using. Totally random spell selection is a pain in the ass because you may end up with too many spells that do the same things (if you already know Magic Missile, as a level 1 Wizard are Shocking Grasp, Burning Hands and Shoot You In the Face really that useful?). Thus the following:

Starting Spell Selection: Wizards in Myth & Magic start the game knowing a number of spells equal to 1/2 their Intelligence, rounded down. In practice this means that you always start knowing between 5 and 10 spells.

All Wizards start play knowing Read Magic and Detect Magic. Use the guidelines and tables below to determine the rest of the spells in your spellbook.

5 Spells: Roll one time each on the Offense, Control, and Utility tables.
6 Spells: Roll once each on the Offense and Control tables, and twice on the Utility table.
7 Spells: Roll one time each on the Offense, Control, and Defense tables. Roll twice on the Utility table.
8 Spells: Roll once on the Offense and Defense tables, and twice on the Control and Utility tables.
9 Spells: Roll once on the Defense table. Roll twice on the Control, Utility, and Offense tables.
10 Spells: Roll once on the Defense table. Roll twice on Control and Offense tables. Roll three times on the Utility table. Enjoy being a Gnome.

Table 1: Offense Spells

1d10 Roll	Spell
1-2	Burning Hands
3-4	Chill Touch
5-6	Gull’s Stone Storm
7-8	Magic Missile
9-10	Shocking Grasp

Table 2: Control Spells

1d8 Roll	Spell
1	Charm Person
2	Color Spray
3	Deflate
4	Frighten
5	Grease
6	Hypnotism
7	Sleep
8	Unhinge

Table 3: Defense Spells

1d4 Roll	Spell
1	Arcane Armor
2	Protection from Evil
3	Thermoc’s Reflective Disc
4	Thermoc’s Shield

Table 4: Utility Spells

1d20 Roll	Spell
1	Alarm
2	Change Self
3	Comprehend Languages
4	Dancing Lights
5	Detect Undead
6	Enlarge
7	Feather Fall
8	Floating Disc
9	Hold Portal
10	Jump
11	Light
12	Manipulate Flames
13	Mending
14	Message
15	Minor Cantrip
16	Audible Illusion
17	Phantasmal Image
18	Spider Climb
19	Unseen Servant
20	Ventriloquism

Support the Myth & Magic GM's Guide Kickstarter!

I posted recently about how much I'm loving New Haven Games' Myth & Magic, so I feel obligated to do my part in spreading the word about the Myth & Magic Gamemaster's Guide Kickstarter that launched last week. I'm already in as a supporter- they reached their funding goal in the first 25 hours and are now cruising towards hitting their $15k stretch goal, which will add stats for an extra 50 monsters to the Guide's bestiary. At $20k, a hard copy GM's screen unlocks for purchase.

Myth & Magic is a really nice system for anyone who enjoyed 2e play or likes the feel of 3e, but dislikes the accompanying complexity. As the post above describes, it puts together a lot of the things that I'd hoped would end up as part of D&DNext with a more retro feel that can easily be made to work for both dungeoncrawls and more narrative adventures. New Haven Games put together a great product for their Player's Guide kickstarter, so I fully expect to be similarly impressed by the art and organization of the new GM's guide.

Goblin PC Race for Myth & Magic

In keeping with my love of goblins as a PC race, I decided to put together some stats for Myth & Magic. I diverged a bit from the Goblin profile in the GM's guide in the interest of not gimping them too much as a PC- I intentionally wrote the rules for daylight sensitivity, for instance, so that GMs and players could decide whether to impose the penalty or not.

You can also check out my goblin PC rules for Advanced Edition Labyrinth Lord.

Goblin

Attributes & Speed: Goblins are small and dexterous. On the other hand, they are also weak and unpleasant. Goblins gain +2 to Dexterity, but suffer-1 to Strength and Charisma.

A goblin’s base movement speed is 20 feet.

Weapons & Armor: Goblins can use any weapon allowed by their class. Weapons used by a goblin are considered one size smaller and deal one less die category of damage.

Goblin Senses: Goblins see up to 60’ in total darkness. In low-light or shadowy light, they see twice as far as a human. Goblins not adapted to life on the surface are sensitive to light, and suffer a -1 penalty to AC and all d20 rolls in light equal to daylight.

Languages: PC goblins begin play speaking Goblin and Common. They may also learn to speak Hobgoblin, Orc, Kobold, and Giant.

Heritage Proficiency: All Goblins receive Basic proficiency in Stealth.

Protection from Disease: Goblins often dwell in filthy conditions, and over the years this has rendered them resistant to most common illnesses. Goblins receive a +2 bonus to their Fortitude save to resist contracting or suffering the effects of any non-magical disease.

Opportunistic Digestion: Goblins are accustomed to scavenging for food. At the GM’s discretion, Goblins can locate food in environments that wouldn’t usually feed a human, such as in natural underground caverns, sewers, or urban environments where hunting and gathering is normally impossible. Using this ability may still require a successful Wisdom/Wilderness Survival check, and does not extend to finding food in totally inhospitable environments like deserts, open ocean, or glaciers.

Dirty Fighter: Goblins don’t understand the meaning- or the point- of a fair fight. PC Goblins of any class automatically gain the Dirty Fighting Talent.

Classes: Goblins are typically Thieves, Fighters, or Clerics.

Height and Weight: Goblins stand between 3 and 4 feet tall, with the average falling somewhere around 44” in height. They tend to be quite thin for their height, averaging perhaps 50 lbs.

My D&DNext Looks like Myth and Magic

I learned to play D&D during the AD&D 2nd edition era. Not everything about that era was great for the game (bankrupting TSR, for instance), but I still have a lot of nostalgic memories of it. That is the form of the game that is familiar to me, and certain things about earlier editions (Dwarves being a class, no baseline Bard class) and later editions (sorcerers, Dragonborn and Tieflings) will always feel a little out of place for me.

But nostalgia isn't everything. 2nd editions rules were baroque and confusing in a lot of places. There were arbitrary restrictions from earlier editions ported over whole cloth (restricted class/race combos, alignment restrictions for rangers and thieves) that never really seemed justified within the game. 3e cleaned up a lot of the mess and added a nice unified skill system for task resolution, but added things that over-complicated the picture like multi-class/PrC fever and complex feat/Prc 'builds' that varied from the unplayable to the game breaking. The refined math made the game more intuitive, but also introduced us to the arms race of optimization and 'effectiveness' that swallowed 4e whole.

So when the Next playtest packets started appearing, I was excited. D&DNext, to me, looks a lot like 2nd edition looked before kits and optional rules and torturous attempts at re-building the non-weapon proficiency system into a general purpose skill system turned it into a morass. Shortly before the second playtest packet came out, I started putting together my own criteria for what I wanted from a D&D-ish experience. As of a couple days ago, it appears that what I was looking for is already here: a 2e retro-clone(ish) called Myth & Magic.