To Touch An Annulus

(Matrox Lusch and Sick Rick bookend newcomers' viewing "The Annulus")

I finally dug into the "End of the Multiverse" scenario which was where our New Old Weird World campaign left off in 2022 (and the site of where our Blipping #2 campaign left off). The scenario is a hack from Dawn of the Overmind by Bruce R. Cordell. 

Ha, most everyone said the night vibed like an old Blipping game as yes we pretty much followed Ye elder game anatomy:

1. Drive: 2 hours each way from the Bay Area to Mountain Ranch up in the Sierra foothills.
2. Jam: We did have a pretty fun set, plus had our Geo Pigs singer Sumerled for a couple of covers "Last Days of May" and "Guns of the Roof."
3. Feeding Frenzy: Jeez, 3 flavors of BBQ chicken, steak, salad with homemade dressing (Thanks Michelle!), 2 different sorts of cheesy bread, etc., etc., etc... 
4. Pre-Game Business: So J.A.S. daughter visited with her beau and she hadn't gamed regularly with us since the ver. 3.5 "High Fantasy" days. They ended up playing Grady, the plane and time-hopping techno-barbarian from the 20th century. Then also, because the last time we played this party was in 2022 there was a bit of clean up like folks who couldn't find their current character sheet, what happened last time, stuff like that.
5. The Game: It was actually very exciting considering there were only a couple of encounters (well, 3, except the party purposefully avoided one). I did good when I mixed up the stats for the Grimlocks with another critter and gave the Grimlocks 4x damage from their claws due to their bodies producing a corrosive enzyme. Har, Plus I rolled 3 natural 20s on J.A.S.'s Pixie. (The Grimlocks use echo-location by emitting a soft clicking noise, to the Pixie's invisibility was nullified.) Fortunately I wasn't using the Arduin critical hit table or the Pixie would have been toast. On natural 20s I use exploding max damage, then if a character drops below zero then Zak Smith's Death & Dismemberment table. Raspatan the Elf cleric-assassin shifted himself over to the Astral Plane along with "7" the half-orc, Elf cleric mage Darrius, and the mercenary Sando Brech. It was Brech who grabbed the Annulus, and the characters also spotted not one, but two Mind Flayer "Engine Consummate" adrift on the Astral waiting to travel through time...
6. Interlude Journey: Was there? I am not sure. 
7. Stacking: Unfortunately no, we do not all drink nor as hard for most of those that do. 
8. Wind-Down: Indeed we chowed more sugar and discussed where to play the next session.
9. The Ride Home: Some did stay for breakfast. Me and a couple others headed back home at 1:30am, barely making a gas station in Mountain Ranch for a 12-pac of Budweiser just before 2am.

It was a good OSR-style game, at least our version of that style. Advanced Labyrinth Lord with my New Knights of the All Mind (Conventional Edition). Since all my other games are running 5th edition it felt good to have at least one intermittent old-style game hanging around. Although there is that pesky ending of the Multiverse thing. And the game finished as the Astral Travelers your see the destructive blot consuming the Multiverse had intruded even onto the Astral plane.

Party Like It's 1979

 

(Art by Cynthia Sims Millan, 1978)

I've got my half-round combat and floating seconds initiative for the low-rollers. What else from golden games of yore can I cram into the most modern version of D&D?

We had fun using in our game the critical hit table from Arduin which, as often mentioned in many commentaries, is daft because over time odds are your PCs are going to suffer many more double natural 20s than any individual monster they are presently fighting. What happened over time is crit tables became more watered down (no more having a spine severed in one blow).

An excellent replacement is the Death and Dismemberment table by Zak Smith of Playing D&D With Pornstars. Basically, the Death and Dismemberment table is an alternative to death saves in 5th edition. Once a character falls below 0 hit points, a single roll is made with a variety of modifications against a table ranging from the very bad (hey, my spine can be severed again!) to characters getting that second wind and single hit point that comes with it.

The fairness of a Death and Dismemberment Table is that someone has to already drop to zero hit points before it's rolled on. To get there you use the standard critical hits of double damage (although I am experimenting with an exploding damage die on crits). This method is more fair to PCs, but still leads to broken bones and scars.

Another thing, that I am somewhat on the fence about, are divine intervention rolls. These used to be pretty common back in the day as a last ditch before character death or TPK, although it doesn't seem to be very common in the same way nowadays. The latest edition asking for divine intervention and expecting results is limited to 10th level clerics receiving a free cast of 5th level or lower spell or a 20th level cleric getting a free wish. And looing like RAW the cleric can call upon their deity as often as they meet the rest requirements.

I kind of like the idea that only the divine magic practitioners may call upon their personal deities, I had several religiously ne'er do well characters who asked for divine intervention without even listing a deity on their character sheet. But I still thing there should be some rules a'la the 1st ed AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide (pgs 111-112) that deities may refuse or even be angered by excessive requests for extra special boons. I have a table that expands on the original olden rolls, and will be working on something to make the clerical divine intervention interplay a little more robust. And perhaps offer some kind of an expansion to any character that regularly practices their religious faith.

What other gems have I tried to maintain over the years...? Ha, I do like weapon to-hit mods by armor type (although I've become attached to Anthony Huso's idea of tying the modifications to numeric base armor class sans dex & magic modifiers). I noticed character's age, height, and weight tables are missing from the latest versions. Ditto for eye and hair color. I mean, you could just pick an abnormal color - but those special Arduin tables were fun too. 

Half-Round Combat

Using half rounds for combat can add granularity and tension to combat encounters in your 5th edition D&D campaign. 

A standard round is 6 seconds, and each creature acts once per round in initiative order (a creature’s turn). Half rounds divide that round into two 3-second phases:

    • Phase A and Phase B
This allows for two opportunities to act per round with a movement and possible bonus action or by taking an action. How a creature may act is limited per phase dependent on the choice of which opportunity to act is taken first.

Mechanics
1. Initiative
    • Roll initiative as normal. 
    • Each round is split into two phases. 

    • Each phase is taken in initiative order.
2. Action Economy Per Phase
Generally split actions like this:
Phase Allowed Actions
   A Movement + Bonus Action
   B Action or Reaction Setup

Or:

Phase Allowed Actions

   A Action or Reaction Setup

   B Movement + Bonus Action
This motivates players to plan ahead, creating tactical depth.

Creatures move or take an action in either phase, but if movement is split before and after an action, the action will start in Phase A, and occur in Phase B.
3. Spellcasting
    • Spells with casting time of 1 action occur at the end of a Phase/3 seconds. 
    • Concentration checks and reactions can occur during either phase. 
4. Reactions
Reactions still occur outside a creature's turn during any phase of an opponent's subsequent turn, or during a subsequent phase of the creature reacting.
5. Status Effects
    • Effects like “stunned until end of next turn” now last two phases. 
    • Conditions should be clarified to specify which phase they end on. 

Pros
    • More tactical combat: Players must think in smaller increments. 
    • Faster pacing: Movement and action separation speeds up decision-making. 
    • Cinematic feel: Feels like bullet-time or split-second dueling. 

Cons
    • Complexity: More tracking for DMs and players. 
    • Balance issues: Some classes (e.g., monks, rogues) may benefit disproportionately. 
    • Longer combats: More phases can mean more time per encounter. 

Options
    • Legendary Creatures: Give them actions in both phases to emphasize threat. 
    • Initiative Time Drift: Shift a creature’s turn to start 1 second later per each 5 points of initiative less than the highest initiative score. 
    • Environmental Effects: Trigger hazards or changes between phases.