Aremorican Addendum: Vol. 1 Released!

Another Labyrinth Lord supplement by
your friend, N. Wright

Today is the day I'm releasing the Aremorican Addendum Volume 1: Player Option. It's a roughly 30 page document that gets you, roughly,  three new spellcasting systems, 9 classes, weapon and armor tables, and a little bit more.

Quick blurb:

"These classes are designed with the idea of replacing the regular default classes from Labyrinth Lord in my next game of Labyrinth Lord. The idea is a long-percolating one, coming from the long-standing dissatisfaction of race-as-class, not for whatever reason dealing with the idea that not all elves are fighter/magic users, for example, but for the fact that it is more fun to have the dwarf class represent a dungeoneer. Why let the fun demi-human classes go to waste just because one habitually runs a humans-only game? And what about the other classes, while we're thinking about it? Something always seemed funny about the thief class, and why is there a cleric class but none for the regular robed and fragile priest, and why are all magic users the same... You get the drift.

So out of the Unknowable Void comes the Aremorican Addendum Volume 1: Player Option, the only Labyrinth Lord companion piece you'll ever need, assuming that you only need one companion for your Classic Fantasy Games and their retro-clones. You'll need that game to play, to be sure, but when it comes to choosing a class, feel free to ditch it and look here. You'll find rules for mage-seeking warriors, demonologists, elemental summoners, crusading knights, and more. It's everything you need for a human-centric game that doesn't lose anything by losing out on boring, trite, and overused demihumans."

So, in a nutshell, it gives you 9 new classes in 30 pages, including spell lists. It runs a little wordy, but has plenty of period-accurate art inside to break up the double-column text. And, as a big bonus, it gets rid of fire-and-forget magic and introduces a couple of ways to destroy the "15-minute adventuring day" as well. It's free, and, if I may speak honestly, not a bad work for Labyrinth Lord fans. Volume 2 will likely contain more in the way of hex maps, locations, organizations, and possibly more advanced spells, being aimed at a sort of Dungeon Master's Guide to Aremorica.

Please note that this is an early version; no extensive playtesting has been run through this bad boy like it really deserves, so feel free to try it out and let me know how it goes!

Get your copy today, before the internet runs out!

8 SEP 2010:
Update time! Added more spells to the Diabolist lists, updated the mechanics for Sorcerers and Abjurers, and changed Crusaders from having Abjurer prayers to their own style of Invocations! Not bad, right? It's still free, and still less than thirty pages, so try it out and see what you think!

New Class: The Sorcerer

A foreward: The Sorcerer is one class from my in-progress work on, essentially, reworking all of the basic Labyrinth Lord classes. It's something that's really a lot of fun, and something that's definately getting used by my group the next time we meet. The formatting's almost done, which is always cool, and the classes are all pretty different than the generic fantasy classes. Well, not all of them, but they're definately different than the Way It's Usually Done in classic fantasy gaming, which is to keep the underlying structure of magic, for example, and just add some more spells and maybe a theme or two. Not enough is done to accomodate more literary influences or the simple fact that in LL, resting directly after a fight is about the only thing that makes sense to do, whereas Conan, Aragorn, Elric, and the like don't bother to wait for their paltry wounds to close, since they didn't take any- and neither did the people in D&D.

Naturally, this goes hand in hand with my house-rule for Wounds which I posted recently. So here's the Sorcerer, influenced by a certain Melnibonean, Lovecraft, and (believe it or not), White Wolf's old Werewolf game. Here's the write-up, and after that, a link to the pdf.

Agrindan and his bound Fire Elemental.

Sorcerer

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Sorcerers delve into the very raw materials of creation, seeking to reshape the world as they see fit. Using the secrets of the arcane circles they've gleaned from years of study into the bizarre and blasphemous books of the wizards of old, Sorcerers take what knowledge they've plundered and turn it into raw power. Sorcerers tend to be aggressive, as they are dealing with raw energy and absolute power. Their powers are more suited for searing their foes with gouts of fire and creating great cracks in the earth than subtlety.

Though just as many sorcerers are indifferent to the affairs of the gods as not, there is a strong current of faith in amongst them. They tend towards worship of the Unknowable Ones, a cthonic mystery cult dedicated to the creators of the world itself. They hold that the gods of acolytes and laymen alike are but scavengers on the corpse that the Unknowable Ones had created, and that they deserve no more respect than the flies on the corpse of a mule. The true worship goes towards the Unknowable ones, and the result of their worship is the blessing of the Bonded Elementals.

To a sorcerer, their elemental is not their servant or their slave, but a minor deity in and of itself. They do not demand for their elementals to do their bidding, but rather request it upon them. And the elemental, for its part, often complies.

The elementals themselves are highly variable. A stone elemental is as likely to be an ambulatory boulder or a man made of mud, and fire elementals can be anything from a pillar of burning ash and smoke to a salamander composed of molten lava! Very few elementals are to be found in the stereotypical “anthropomorphic” style, tending instead to be as variable and bizarre as the elements themselves.

Hit Dice: d4

Allowed Weapons: One-handed weapons only, sling

Allowed Armor: None

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Class Requirements: 11 Charisma

Prime Requisite: Charisma

Level	Experience	Special Features
1	0	Elemental Binding, Summoning Circle
2	2,501
3	5,001	Elemental Resistance
4	10,001
5	20,001	Raw Power
6	40,001
7	80,001	Elemental Mastery
8	160,001
9	310,001	Tower Master / Sage

Sorcerer Features

Elemental Binding

At 1^st level, a Sorcerer has the ability to bind elemental spirits to do his bidding. While not true “elementals” in the monster sense, elemental spirits provide magical assistance to the sorcerer. The Sorcerer must spend his turn psychically commanding the elemental to do his bidding.

The Bound Elemental has as many hit die as the Sorcerer who summoned it has levels, and is both ethereal, and invisible to those who are not Sorcerers or do not have some form of magical vision. A Sorcerer can have only one Elemental spirit summoned at one time.

Elementals can be healed if they're exposed to a significant amount of their primary element. For example, a fire elemental can be healed by allowing it to bask in the roar of a great fire, and an earth elemental can be rejuvenated by allowing it to rest in an area with plenty of earth, but little other, bordering elements, such as in a narrow earthen tunnel. When a Bound Elemental is reduced to zero hit points or less, the Elemental is returned to its plane of existence and a new elemental spirit must be summoned.

Summoning Circle

Sorcerers have knowledge of Summoning Circles which can be used to summon elemental spirits and bind them to their will. The ritual depends on the background of the player, but it never takes less than one hour and is always physically and mentally draining, requiring at least an hour of rest afterwards.

Elemental Resistance

The sorcerer's close bond with the Elementals has bolstered his personal toughness to those who would use the elements against him. He takes one less damage from fire, electricity, acid, and cold.

Raw Power

Bound Elementals summoned by a Sorcerer of 5^th level or greater lose one less health when they exert themselves.

Elemental Mastery

At 7^th level, the Sorcerer's elementals have an additional Hit Die when summoned.

Tower Master

At 9^th level, the Sorcerer may build a tower. Typically this is built without permission of the local lord, and no permission is required. Few interfere with the affairs of powerful wizards! Once a tower is built, 1d4 low level magic users will come to the tower to learn the ways of the Sorcerer.

Sage

A Sorcerer who does not build a tower may choose to wander further as a Sage, ever seeking more and more knowledge to further his power. In many social circles, Sages are accounted the very highest of respect.