Adventure World: an explanation

I keep hearing criticisms from gamer friends that my Adventure World playbooks are unnecessary because somebody already made an Apocalypse World hack and it's called Dungeon World. Yeah, I know. I have a copy of the Dungeon World pdf and it's an impressive piece of work. But if I wanted to play Dungeons & Dragons using an Apocalypse World design philosophy, I would probably just play Dungeons & Dragons and use the MC moves out of Apocalypse World.

I am not a fan of level-based role-playing game systems. D&D is usually the game everybody starts with and so they just get used to this idea that power ascends gradually, but it's always felt disconnected in some way. I remember trying to learn the magic system for the first time and it took me a while to grasp that a 2nd-level wizard doesn't really have access 2nd-level spells. (I was 7 years old, and you'd think it didn't make sense too if you were that old.) When I first got exposed to GURPS and a purely skill-based system it was to play a Star Trek game where I suddenly had a lot of freedom to do whatever I wanted and so I focused on playing a fighter-type. It's what made me comfortable, and I've found that I gravitate toward the same play style every time I'm exposed to a new system.

Apocalypse World is probably the first RPG I've ever not played a warrior-type my first time playing. Without knowing anything about it, it just seemed like a very alien kind of game at first and I dove in with a somewhat random choice of playbook. I've come to really appreciate the game, and when I was recently asked if I wouldn't mind taking over as a GM sometime soon I thought "Well, I'd like to keep playing Apocalypse World, but in a fantasy setting."

That's where my Adventure World playbooks ave been coming from. I read through Dungeon World and didn't like that they retained the level system of traditional D&D, so I decided to make my own fantasy-themed playbooks that would owe more to the core game of Apocalypse World. I take inspiration from multiple sources: the Apocalypse World playbooks and bonus playbooks, the Dungeon World rules, and the Barf Forth Apocalyptica forums. I'm trying to make something unique for my game and my group of players, that still recognizably looks like the core game I started with.

And I've only just started. These playbooks I've been writing are first drafts.

Adventure World: the Bard

Introducing THE BARD

NAME
Cormac, Gilles, Gorse, Iolo, Jacques, Johan, Mikhail, Odo, William
Brenna, Dori, Helena, Hildy, Isadore, Onioth, Tara, Venus, Zara

STATS
Choose one set:
• Valor=0 Power=0 Moxie+2 Alert+1 Magic=0
• Valor+1 Power-1 Moxie+2 Alert=0 Magic+1
• Valor=0 Power+1 Moxie+2 Alert+1 Magic-1
• Valor-1 Power+1 Moxie+2 Alert+1 Magic=0

BARD MOVES
You get this 1:

Music Moves the World: when you perform your instrument before an audience, roll+moxie. On a 10+, spend 3. On a 7–9, spend 1. Spend 1 to name an NPC member of your audience and choose one:
• this person must meet me
• this person must hire me
• this person must do something for me
• this person must fight for me
• this person loves me
• this person must give me a gift
• this person admires my patron
On a miss, you gain no benefit, but suffer no harm or lost opportunity. You simply perform very well.

Then, choose 2:

Around the World: choose a move from another playbook. (During initial character creation, choose it from a playbook that isn’t otherwise in play.)

Let the Music Do the Talking: you get +1moxie (Moxie+3).

Jack/Jill of All Trades: at the beginning of the session, roll+moxie. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. You can spend a hold at any time to use +1forward for yourself. You may spend more than 1 on the same roll. On a miss, you’re feeling out of it and suffer -1ongoing for the session.

Jamming Good: while you perform your instrument during combat, but don’t fight, roll+moxie. On a 10+, everybody you choose gets +1ongoing. On a 7–9, one person you choose gets +1ongoing. On a miss, you become the primary target of your enemies.

Legend Lore: when first confronted with local notable peoples, interesting animals, unusual items, or noteworthy places, you may ask the MC to answer one question about the thing. The MC will then ask you what tale, song, or legend you heard that information from.

Motley Crew: you have two fellow musicians that follow you around and play support instruments. At the beginning of the session, roll+alert. On a 10+, your band have surplus. On a 7–9, they have surplus, but choose 1 want. On a miss, they are in want. If their surplus lists gold, like 1-gold or 2-gold, that’s your personal share. These two are loyal to you but not fanatical, and they have their own lives apart from you (surplus: 1-gold want: desertion). Name them. Characterize them.
Choose 2:
• Your bandmates are dedicated to you. Surplus: +1gold, and replace want: desertion with want: idle.
• Your bandmates are educated and worldly. Surplus: +insight.
• Your bandmates are joyous and celebratory. Surplus: +party.
• Your bandmates are shrewd and frugal. Surplus: +1gold.
• Your bandmates are hard-working, no-nonsense. Surplus: +1gold.
• You travel with a full compliment. Add four more musicians. Surplus: +1gold, and replace want: desertion with want: hunger.
Choose 2:
• Your bandmates aren’t really yours, more like you’re theirs. Want: +judgment.
• Your bandmates rely entirely on you for their lives and needs. Want: +desperation.
• Your bandmates disdain fashion, luxury and convention. Want: +disease.
• Your bandmates disdain law, peace, reason and society. Surplus: +violence.
• Your bandmates are decadent and perverse. Want: +savagery.

Under Pressure: when you read a person, roll+moxie instead of roll+alert.

Universal Language: you can mark 1 segment in a language wheel for free when you first interact with somebody who speaks a language you don’t know.

GEAR
You get:
• 1 hidden weapon
• 1 fancy instrument
• 1 unusual item (you detail with MC)
• oddments worth 2-gold
• fashion suitable to your look (you detail)

Hidden weapon:
• dagger (1-damage ap melee/thrown)
• dart (1-damage thrown infinite)
• net (s-damage thrown grapple)
• sap (2-damage ko melee)
• short Sword (2-damage melee)
• throwing knives (2-damage thrown infinite)

Fancy instrument:
• mandolin
• lute
• pipes
• horn
• fiddle

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters’ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn, choose 1, 2, 3 or none:
• One of them is your friend. Tell that player Hx+2.
• One of them is your lover. Tell that player Hx+1.
• One of them is in love with you. Tell that player Hx-1.
• Tell everyone else Hx=0.
On the others’ turns:
• For everyone, whatever number they tell you, give it +1 and write it next to the character’s name. You read people pretty easily.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

BARD SPECIAL
If your advice is asked for, it acts as insight for the other player’s character (p.212).
When you take something from another character, under any circumstances, you get +1Hx with them.

Adventure World: the Halfling

Introducing THE HALFLING
Standing about 3 feet tall, halflings prefer simple lives, comfortable homes, and practical clothes. They prefer actual comfort to displays of wealth. Halflings only adventure when they are pressed into it by others, or when some form of deep curiosity must be sated. Sometimes both.

NAME
Berilac, Fosco, Hob, Longo, Mertram, Nob, Popo, Samwise, Togo
Bella, Blossom, Esmerelda, Honeysuckle, Marlyn, Pansy, Pepwin, Polly, Rose

STATS
Choose one set:
• Valor+2 Power-1 Moxie=0 Alert+1 Magic+1
• Valor+2 Power=0 Moxie+1 Alert+1 Magic-1
• Valor+2 Power-2 Moxie-1 Alert+2 Magic+1
• Valor+2 Power-1 Moxie+1 Alert+1 Magic=0

HALFLING MOVES
You get 1:

Small: halfings are small and almost unnoticeable. A number of things are different about you because of this:
• armor needs to be specially crafted for you and thus paid for.
• your smaller size means you are less useful in combat. Opponents effectively have +1armor.
• you can fit into places where most others can’t, attempting to hide or escape is +1ongiong for you.
• when you take payment or split treasure, you don’t need as much and take less but somehow it ends up being worth just as much. (If an NPC pays you 1-gold, you receive 2-gold. If your share of the treasure is 2-gold it’s actually worth 3-gold.)

Then, choose 2:

Entourage: you travel with 3 to 5 other halflings. By default, they are rowdy and naïve with makeshift or scavenged weapons and no discipline (2-damage gang Halfling loud 1-armor). Then, choose 2:
• there are actually a lot of them following you, 12 to 18 of them. +1armor.
• they’ve lived outside of a Halfling village for some time now. +1damage.
• they know how dangerous the world is. Drop loud.
• they are self-sufficient and able to provide for themselves. +rich.
• they are strong individuals with their own ideas. +insight.
And choose 1:
• they don’t take care of themselves and they need constant attention. Vulnerable: reckless.
• they are picky and always hungry. Vulnerable: slow.
• they aren’t that loyal, coming and going as they choose. Vulnerable: desertion.
• they, and you, are in significant debt to someone powerful. Vulnerable: obligation.
• they are filthy and unwell. Vulnerable: disease.

Extraordinary Resilience: you always suffer -1damage. This is not armor, this is applied to damage after armor has reduced it.

Full of Surprises: when you take damage, make this move instead of making the normal damage move. Roll+damage taken. On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7–9, choose 1:
• It’s not so bad. Take -1damage.
• Someone present drops 1-gold (doesn’t increase to 2-gold with small).
• Take +1forward against your attacker.
Treat a miss on this move as a 7–9 hit on the normal harm move.

Incredibly Capable: when you lay siege, roll+alert instead of roll+power.

Never Abandoned: when another character rolls+Hx to help you, they mark experience.

Stout Heart: when fighting unarmed, you inflict your +valor in damage.

“What have I got in my pocket?”: when you search your pockets and saddlebags for something, roll+valor. It has to be something small enough to fit. On a 10+, you happen to have just the thing, or close enough. On a 7–9, you happen to have something pretty close, unless what you’re looking for is valuable or rare, in which case no dice. On a miss, you used to have just the thing, but it turns out that somebody stole it from you.

GEAR
You get:
• 1 sentimental weapon
• oddments worth 2-gold
• fashion suitable to your look, including at your option a piece worth 1-armor (you detail)

Sentimental weapon (choose 1):
• dagger (1-damage ap melee/thrown)
• gauntlet (1-damage melee)
• hammer (2-damage melee)
• handaxe (2-damage melee messy)
• pick (1-damage ap melee)
• sap (2-damage ko melee)
• short sword (2-damage melee)
• shortbow (2-damage ranged)
• sling (1-damage ranged)
• throwing Knives (2-damage thrown infinite)

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters’ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn:
• Who was the first non-halfling you met outside of your home? Tell that person Hx+2.
• Tell everyone else Hx+1.
On the others’ turns:
• Whatever number everyone tells you, give it -1 and write it next to their character’s name. You don’t really understand these tall folk sometimes.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

HALFLING SPECIAL
If you cook for another character and they eat the whole meal, you take +1Hx with them and they take +1forward.
Whenever you have a chance to rest, eat well, smoke a pipe, and get drunk, mark an experience circle.

Adventure World: the Priest

Introducing THE PRIEST
You reach for the stars, shake the pillars of heaven and pull them down around you. Someday your guidance will instruct kings on how to behave and where to give money. Anybody who doesn’t appreciate your vision needs to get slapped, and you have planned to do a lot of slapping! You know you’re right, because you work for god.

NAME
Achard, Enbane, Hezak, Laderic, Nidale, Perol, Sithik, Tousba, Zigmal
Chani, Errinaya, Gronalyn, Ilene, Lolinda, Peri'el, Teresse, Wellisa, Zynoa

STATS
Choose one set:
• Valor+1 Power=0 Moxie+2 Alert-1 Magic+1
• Valor+1 Power-1 Moxie+2 Alert=0 Magic+1
• Valor+1 Power-1 Moxie+2 Alert+1 Magic=0
• Valor+1 Power+1 Moxie+2 Alert=0 Magic-1

PRIEST MOVES
You get this 1:

Dedicated: choose a deity to whom you have dedicated your life’s work and committed your soul to infinite spiritual service to. Each one grants you a unique move that requires some form of material component and uses roll+valor:
• Abzu: Pathfinder (Find the Path spell literally)
• Cthulhu: Turn Animal (like Turn Undead, but works against mundane animals)
• Horus: Divination (see into the future)
• Sucellus: Bacchanal (gets others instantly drunk)
• Vishvakar: Antimagic Field (the literal spell from the PHB)
• Yinglong: Control Weather (make it rain! Or something)

Then choose 2:

Aid: when outside of battle, you can choose 1:
• take -1forward to give somebody else +1forward
• take -1ongoing to give somebody else +1ongoing.
• take 1-damage to give somebody else +1armor. Once you heal, the armor is reduced.
Each choice can only be made once per session.

Blessing/Curse: when another player’s character moves and you are not present, you can help or interfere but you reset your Hx with them to +0 afterward. This cannot be used with NPCs.

Charismatic: you get +1moxie. (max Moxie+3)

Communion: when you tap the arcane nexus, roll+moxie instead of roll+magic.

Divine Counsel: when a character comes to you for advice, tell them what you honestly think the best course is. If they do it, they take +1 to any rolls they make in the doing, and you mark an experience circle.

Lay on Hands: when you put your hands skin-to-skin on a wounded person and pray to your deity, roll+moxie. On a 10+, heal 2 segments and take +2Hx with them. On a 7–9, heal 1 segment, take +1Hx with them, and you have potentially incurred your deity’s disapproval. On a miss, you don’t heal them and your deity definitely disapproves.

Turn Undead: when confronting an undead being with your holy symbol, roll+moxie. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 1:
• deal +moxie damage ap
• flees out of reach from you for a short time
• momentarily dazed and take -1forward
• all undead that you can see are affected
• the effects of the turning last for the rest of the day
On a miss, the MC will declare how the undead react.

GEAR
You get:
• 1 practical weapon
• oddments worth 1-gold
• fashion suitable to your look, including at your option a piece worth 1-armor (you detail)

Practical weapons (choose 1):
• Hammer (2-harm melee)
• Handaxe (2-harm melee messy)
• Mace (3-harm melee)
• Quarterstaff (2-harm melee)
• Sap (2-harm ko melee)

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters’ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn:
• Any of them who follow your deity, tell their players Hx+2.
• Any of them who don’t follow your deity, tell them Hx-1.
On the others’ turns:
• Choose the character whose soul you want to convert to your deity. Whatever number that player tells you, ignore it; write Hx+3 next to the character’s name instead.
• Everyone else, whatever number they tell you, give it +1 and write it next to their character’s name. You’ve insinuated yourself into their lives.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

PRIEST SPECIAL
If another character takes communion with you, you each hold 1. Either of you can spend your hold any time to help or interfere with the other, at a distance or despite any barriers that would normally prevent it.
When another character heals you, you get +1Hx with them.

Adventure World: the Ranger

Introducing THE RANGER

NAME
Avalin, Duren, Ellrin, Feddeth, Mezur, Nyfan, Seth, Teeves, Tyrad
Avile, Charon, Coren, Iska, Kelkale, Releri, Senes, Shadren, Vala

STATS
Choose one set:
• Valor=0 Power+2 Moxie-2 Alert+2 Magic-1
• Valor-2 Power+2 Moxie-1 Alert+2 Magic=0
• Valor+1 Power+1 Moxie=0 Alert+2 Magic-1
• Valor-1 Power+1 Moxie+1 Alert+2 Magic=0

RANGER MOVES
You get this 1:

Animal Companion: you get a loyal animal companion that accompanies you and serves as a mount, sentry, scout, or hunting animal, as appropriate and rather than as a protector.
Choose one of these animals:
• Boar: Power+2 Moxie+1 1-armor 1-damage weakness+1
• Cheetah: Power+2 Moxie+2 1-armor 2-damage weakness+2
• Hawk: Power+1 Moxie+2 0-armor 1-damage weakness+1
• Wolf: Power+2 Moxie+2 0-armor 1-damage weakness+1
• Horse: Power+2 Moxie+1 1-armor 1-damage weakness+1
• Crocodile: Power+2 Moxie+1 2-armor 2-damage weakness+2
• Bison: Power+3 Moxie+1 0-armor 2-damage weakness+2
Choose strengths equal to its power:
Fast, aggressive, huge, uncomplaining, alert, attentive, quiet.
Choose looks equal to its moxie:
Sleek, powerful, muscular, pretty, scary.
Choose its weakness or weaknesses:
Slow, loud, sloppy, lazy, picky, messy, unreliable, skittish.
…if you defy danger, add your companion’s power to your roll.
…if you try to seize something by force, add your companion’s power to your roll.
…if you go aggro, add your companion’s power to your roll.
…if you try to seduce or manipulate someone, add your companion’s moxie to your roll.
…if you help or interfere with someone, add your companion’s moxie to your roll.
…if someone interferes with you, add your companion’s weakness to their roll.
Whenever you issue commands to, care for, or otherwise have to interact with your animal companion, roll+alert instead of the normal roll.
If your animal companion dies or leaves your service for any reason, it requires days/weeks of searching and weeks/months of training to acquire a replacement.

Then, choose 1:

Iron Horse: your animal companion (or one of them) is a giant or demonic version, your call. You can ride it like a horse, it has some kind of special attack (3-damage melee area messy) and a chitinous or extra thick skin (+1armor).

Menagerie: you get 2 additional animal companions.

Pack Rat: when you search your many pockets and saddlebags for something, roll+magic. It has to be something small enough to fit. On a 10+, you happen to have just the thing, or close enough. On a 7–9, you happen to have something pretty close, unless what you’re looking for is valuable or rare, in which case no. On a miss, you used to have just the thing, but it turns out that some thief stole it from you.

Two Hands Are Better: when you wield two weapons, you can use them both to inflict damage or use the smaller one as +1armor.

Weather Eye: when you access the arcane nexus, roll+alert instead of roll+magic.

GEAR
You get:
• 1 handy weapon
• oddments worth 2-gold
• fashion suitable to your look (you detail), worth 2-armor

Handy weapons (choose 1):
• handaxe (2-harm melee messy)
• scimitar (2-harm melee fancy messy)
• longsword (3-harm melee messy)
• flail (3-harm reach area)
• longbow (3-harm ranged)
• spear (3-harm reach)

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters’ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn, choose 1 or both:
• One of them has been with you for days on the road. Tell that player Hx+2.
• One of them once got you out of some serious shit. Tell that player Hx+2.
Tell everyone else Hx+1. Everybody knows a bit about who you are and where you’ve been.
On the others’ turns:
• You aren’t naturally inclined to get too close to too many people. Whatever number they tell you, give it -1 and write it next to their character’s name.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

RANGER SPECIAL
If you escort, guide, or protect another character, they get +1Hx with you on their sheet, but give yourself -1Hx with them on yours.
Whenever any character (NPCs included) gives you anything, take -1forward. You’re no good at taking compliments or faking social graces.

Adventure World: the Criminal

Introducing THE CRIMINAL
In Adventure World, versatility, adaptability, and resourcefulness will carry you further than words or praying.

NAME
Bendrix, Buckley, Dixon, Dolarhyde, Leo, Nero, Prosser, Rook, Shade, Turpin
Amalia, Clodia, Dagny, Fox, Grace, Juli, Marozia, Mona, Sierra, Titania

STATS
Choose one set:
• Valor+1 Power+1 Moxie=0 Alert+2 Magic-1
• Valor+1 Power-1 Moxie+1 Alert+2 Magic=0
• Valor=0 Power+1 Moxie+1 Alert+2 Magic-1
• Valor=0 Power=0 Moxie+1 Alert+2 Magic=0

CRIMINAL MOVES
You get 1:

Night Moves: you are a member of a thieves’ guild and get 2-racket. Whenever there’s a stretch of downtime in play, or between sessions, choose a number of your jobs to work. Choose no more than your racket. Roll+alert. On a 10+, you get profit from all the jobs you chose. On a 7–9, you get profit from at least 1; if you chose more, you get catastrophe from 1 and profit from the rest. On a miss, catastrophe all around. The jobs you aren’t working give you neither profit nor catastrophe. Whenever you get a new job, you also get +1racket.

pretty much identical to the Operator's Moonlighting move

Then, choose 2:

Bat Out of Hell: when you defy danger, roll+alert instead of roll+valor.

Go Your Own Way: +1alert (Max Alert+3)

Reputation: identical to the Operator's Reputation move, uses roll+moxie

Sympathy for the Devil: when you are clearly unarmed, unarmored and surrendering, you cannot be harmed by any person present.

Take the Money and Run: When you are in close proximity to a person or could conceivably pass by them, you can try to swipe one of their belongings. Roll+alert. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 2:
• you can see what they have before you grab
• you get what you want, if it’s there
• you take it undetected
• nobody else can see you
On a miss, against an NPC they either catch you or you get nothing. Against another character, they get +2forward against you.

The First Cut is the Deepest: whenever you do damage to an opponent before they’ve done damage to you or been damaged by you, ignore armor.

Tools of the Trade: when you pick a lock or disable a trap, roll+alert. On a 10+, you do it. On a 7-9, choose 1:
• your tools break
• you set off the trap / jam the lock
• are caught in danger
On a miss, the MC chooses 2.

THIEVES’ GUILD
Your guild can consist entirely of the other players’ characters, or entirely of the MC’s characters, or any mix. If they include any of the MC’s characters, sketch them out — names (eg Gabble, Jaim, Pe, Wasted) and 1-line descriptions — with the MC. Make sure they’re competent and suited to the jobs you’ve chosen.

GEAR
You get:
• 1 signature weapon
• oddments worth 1-gold
• thieves’ tools
• fashion suitable to your look, including at your option a piece worth 1-armor (you detail)

Signature weapon (choose 1):
• folding hand crossbow (1-harm ap ranged reload concealed)
• ornate dagger (2-damage melee valuable)
• hidden knives (2-damage thrown infinite)
• ornate sword (3-damage melee valuable)
• antique sword (2-damage melee rare)

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters’ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn, choose 1 or both:
• One of them once faced down dedicated violence to get you out of a fix. Tell that player Hx+2.
• One of them once let you down in a pinch and left you holding the bill. Tell that player Hx-1.
Tell everyone else Hx+1.
On the others’ turns:
• For everyone, whatever number they tell you, give it -1 or +1 and write it next to the character’s name. Your choice for each.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

CRIMINAL SPECIAL
If you give another character a gift worth 1-gold or more, choose one:
• You take +1Hx and they take -1Hx.
• You take -1Hx and they take +1Hx.
Whenever another character takes something from you that you don’t want them to take (gold, a weapon, a lover, etc.), you take +1forward.

Adventure World: the Kruoserer

Introducing THE KRUOSERER

Kruoserers are strange experts on magic. They have electric fingertips, poor dress sense, creepy minds, dour expressions, and eyes like gilded knives. They stand at the back of the room and stare out at everybody else like they are ants on a windowpane. They know your secrets before you do.
They’re just the sort of tasteful retainer that no well-equipped lord can do without.

NAME
Akiro, Endlor, Gritch, Humfrey, Idelfyn, Montagar, Niven, Thulsa, Trent, Zarih
Atheri, Delia, Elinore, Iris, Jael, Judith, Kahina, Martine, Morrigan, Rezia

STATS
Choose one set:
• Valor=0 Power=0 Moxie=0 Alert+1 Magic+2
• Valor=0 Power+1 Moxie-1 Alert+1 Magic+2
• Valor+1 Power-2 Moxie+1 Alert+1 Magic+2
• Valor+1 Power=0 Moxie+1 Alert-1 Magic+2

KRUOSERER MOVES
You get this 1:

The Basic Arts: you twist energies out of your body in order to assist you with simple tasks. To activate this spell you simply take -1ongoing and choose an effect which lasts as long as you want it to, or until you rest:
• a small light with the size and luminescence of a torch appears, either at arm's length above your head or from an object held in your hand.
• an independent telekinetic force will carry half your weight in items directly behind you.
• minor illusions capable of producing incoherent sounds or a slowly moving image.
• any nonmagical item that can be held in one hand can be mended or repaired.
You can choose to activate multiple effects, each one requires you spend -1ongoing. When you end the spell, or rest, the -1ongoing also ends.

Then choose 2:

Arcane Armor: you are always protected by an arcane energy field and are always considered to be wearing 2-armor. This doesn't add to worn armor, and if you're wearing armor with a better rating, use that instead.

Breath of Life: you can breathe underwater. Alternately, if you prepare for it, you can hold your breath indefinitely but suffer -1ongoing until you breathe air again.

Clairvoyance: when you examine an environment, roll+magic instead of roll+alert. You do not have to be present to examine a room, as long as you know the location exists or have been there before.

Evocation: in battle, cast this spell to summon arcane energies to damage opponents. Spend 1-crystal, and roll+magic. On a 10+ you inflict 3-damage ap to a perceived enemy. Choose the form:
• fireball which sets things on fire
• energy bolts which pierce objects and armor
• icy spears which shatter on impact and momentarily blinds the target
• black clouds which billow around your target, suffocating them
• bolts of lightning that travel through the air and along objects
• rats that burrow up out of the ground and bite at your opponent's feet
• player details
On a 7-9, choose 2:
• lose ap
• -1damage (may be chosen twice)
• the arcane nexus twists and you suffer -1magic ongoing until you rest
• it works this time but you lose the Evocation spell until you rest
On a miss, the MC can choose 3.

Familiar: many kruoserers employ animals in their service. When you first acquire a familiar, and any time you need to replace it in the future, you must first select what kind of animal it is: bat, cat, hawk, lizard, owl, rat, raven, snake, toad, or weasel.
Second, while the familiar is in your presence, choose 1 of these stats to receive a +1ongoing: valor, moxie, or alert.
Third, the animal is telepathically linked to you and can communicate easily and from any distance, you can expect a familiar to be as intelligent as a well-educated child.
Lastly, the familiar grants you a special move. At the beginning of the session, roll+magic. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. You can spend a hold for the familiar to either have some special knowledge which helps you or allows the familiar to interfere with another character without fear of being harmed. On a miss, your familiar is absent (not dead) for the session.

Identify: whenever you handle or examine something interesting, roll+magic. On a hit, you can ask the MC questions. On a 10+, ask 3. On a 7–9, ask 1:
• who handled this last before me?
• who made this?
• what strong emotions have been most recently nearby this?
• what words have been said most recently nearby this?
• what has been done most recently with this, or to this?
• how was this made?
• what’s wrong with this, and how might I fix it?
Treat a miss as though you’ve tapped the arcane nexus and missed the roll.

Invisibility: this spell can conceal you from sight. Spend 1-crystal and roll+magic. On a 10+, the invisibility is complete and lasts for as long as the kruoserer wants. On a 7-9, choose 2:
• the invisibility is hard to maintain, you cannot do anything more than move while invisible
• the arcane nexus twists and you suffer -1magic ongoing until you rest
• the invisibility is not complete, others can detect you if you move
• it works this time but you lose the Invisibility move until you rest
On a miss, the MC chooses 2.

Paralyze: this spell lets you cripple an opponent by freezing them in place temporarily. Spend 1-crystal, roll+magic and choose options. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 1:
• you don't have to touch them
• they're paralyzed for a longer time and are effectively helpless
• they fall over
• they are completely unaware of what is happening around them while paralyzed
On a miss, the spell doesn't work at all and cannot be used against the same character for the rest of the session.

Summon Entity: with this spell you may call upon the arcane nexus to fashion or conjure a companion who will defend and fight for you until their dying breath, until you summon a new one, or until the current situation ends. Roll+magic. On a 10+, describe what your ally looks like and choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 1 and the MC will describe what your ally looks like.
• has natural weapons that deal 3-harm (e.g. claws, bite)
• has natural 2-armor (e.g. leathery skin, chitinous plating)
• it has some power or ability that is useful right now
• there is more than one (up to 3, MC decides)
• pure arcane connection, while the ally is present and alive you get +1magic ongoing
• telepathic connection, the ally grants some move to the kruoserer (MC chooses)
On a miss, the MC chooses 3 and whatever you summoned is not an ally, but might still help you.

GEAR
You get:
• 2 fancy weapons
• 2 kruoserer gear
• a Kruos crystal
• oddments worth 2-gold
• fashion suitable to your look

Fancy weapons (choose 2):
• dagger (1-harm ap melee/thrown)
• dart (1-harm thrown infinite)
• hand Crossbow (1-harm ap ranged)
• quarterstaff (2-harm melee)
• short sword (2-harm melee)
• shortbow (2-harm ranged)
• sling (1-harm ranged)
• throwing knives (2-harm thrown infinite)
• whip (1-harm reach grapple)

Kruoserer gear (choose 2):
• animal carrier (3-armor)
This is an ideal resting place for a your familiar.
• arcane powder (tag alchemy)
Tagging someone gives you +1forward if you then use a move on them.
• flashpowder (tag blind)
This can be used to temporarily blind an opponent instead of inflicting damage on them.
• healing salve
For purposes of healing, gives you +1forward.
• spellbook
With lots of time and study, allows you to switch out one kruoserer move for another.

The Kruos crystal: this is how you focus and shape the arcane nexus to your will. It is a unique item because it can't be stolen or taken from you by force (except through magic). It is always considered on your person even if you are bound and stripped of all your clothing and belongings. You must have it in one of your hands when you use a move above that has the word 'spell' in it's description, thus you must have one of your hands free to use those moves.

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters’ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn:
• Choose the character you find most intelligent. Tell that player Hx+1.
• Tell everyone else Hx-1. You keep yourself secret.
On the others’ turns:
• Choose the character you figure for the biggest potential problem. Whatever number that player tells you, give it +1 and write it next to the character’s name.
• One of them, you’ve been watching carefully for some time, in secret. Whatever number that player tells you, ignore it; write Hx+3 next to the character’s name instead.
Everyone else, whatever number they tell you, give it -1 and write it next to their character’s name. You’ve got other stuff to do and other stuff to learn.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

KRUOSERER SPECIAL
If you sleep in the same room as another character, you automatically Identify them, as though they were a thing and you’d rolled a 10+, whether you have the spell or not. The other player and the MC will answer your questions between them. Otherwise, that move never works on people, only things.

KRUOSERER DEATH
When you die, everybody else advances face danger.

IMPROVEMENT
+1 Valor (max. +2)
+1 Power (max. +2)
+1 Alert (max. +2)
+1 Magic (max. +3)
get a new Kruoserer move
get a new Kruoserer move
get a new Kruoserer move
get a laboratory (detail) and followers
get a move from another playbook
get a move from another playbook

Adventure World: the Warrior

I started working on an Apocalypse World hack this week that I'm calling Adventure World. It's essentially going to be my take on a fantasy setting for AW since I'm not too fond of the Dungeon World hack.



Introducing THE WARRIOR


NAME
Ash, Björn, Elmgen, Grendel, Koraxil, Maddox, Roland, Thorgrim, Wagner, Zukala
Amina, Bellona, Cordelia, Enyo, Freyja, Lillian, Qin Liangyu, Sonya, Valeria, Yennenga

STATS
Choose one set:
• Valor+1 Power+2 Moxie-1 Alert+1 Magic=0
• Valor+1 Power+2 Moxie=0 Alert+1 Magic-1
• Valor+1 Power+2 Moxie+1 Alert=0 Magic-1
• Valor+1 Power+2 Moxie=0 Alert=0 Magic=0

WARRIOR MOVES
Choose 3:

Battle Stance: +1power

Blood and Thunder: in battle, you count as a gang

Bloodthirsty: +1damage.

Lightning Reflexes: always have 2-armor

To Live and Die By the Sword: roll+magic
On a 10+, name one NPC who’ll die and one NPC who’ll live.
On a 7–9, name one NPC who’ll die OR one NPC who’ll live.
On a miss, you foresee your own death.

Tough as Nails: all damage rolls made at +0

Veteran of War: when you’ve examined the environment and you’re acting on the MC’s answers, take +2 instead of +1.

Violent Attraction: in battle, when another character suffers damage, roll+valor.
On a 10+, you protect them from all of the damage and suffer none yourself.
On a 7–9, choose 1:
• you protect them from most of the damage but you both still suffer at least +1damage,
• you protect them from damage by taking it yourself,
• you protect them from damage but your armor is destroyed somehow.
On a miss, the MC will cause you both to suffer the damage or declare something equally bad.

Warband: you have 5 followers who wish to fight with you and on your behalf (2-damage gang small 1-armor). Then choose 2:
• your warband will not betray you. +loyal.
• your warband is well-armed. +1damage.
• your warband is well-armored. +1armor.
• your warband is well-educated. +insight.
• your warband will fight to the death. +brave.
And choose 1:
• your warband is filthy and unkempt. Vulnerable: disease.
• your warband is indebted to somebody important. Vulnerable: obligation.
• your warband is unruly and undisciplined. Vulnerable: savage.
• your warband depends entirely upon you for their needs. Vulnerable: poor.
Followers who die will not be gradually replaced, but new followers can be acquired by visiting towns and impressing the locals. If mistreated they might leave, but in time a warrior will be able to recruit replacements. Consult your MC for details.
You also get the Leadership move.

GEAR
You get:
• 1 custom weapon
• 1 serious weapon
• 1 backup weapon
• custom armor
• oddments worth 2-barter

Custom weapon (choose 1):
• bastard sword (4-damage melee messy)
• battleaxe (3-damage melee area messy)
• double-bladed staff (3-damage melee)
• glaive (4-damage reach slow)
• lance (3-damage reach slow)
• longbow (3-damage ranged)
• spear (3-damage reach)
Options (choose 2):
• ancient (+rare)
• big (+area)
• magical (+2damage)*
• masterwork (+valuable)
• ornate (+fancy)
• spiked (+1damage)
*counts as 2 options

Serious weapon (choose 1):
• flail (3-damage reach area)
• scimitar (2-damage melee fancy messy)
• short sword (2-damage melee)
• spiked chain (2-damage reach)
• throwing knives (2-damage thrown infinite)

Backup weapons (choose 1):
• darts (1-damage thrown infinite)
• dagger (1-damage ap melee/thrown)
• hand crossbow (1-damage ap ranged)
• pick (1-damage ap melee)
• whip (1-damage reach grapple)

Custom armor (2-armor and choose 2):
• ancient (+rare)
• magical (+1armor)
• masterwork (+valuable)
• military (+military)
• ornate (+fancy)
• spiked (+1damage)

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters’ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn, choose 1 or both:
• One of them has fought shoulder to shoulder with you. Tell that player Hx+2.
• One of them once left you bleeding and did nothing for you. Tell that player Hx-2.
Tell everyone else Hx=0.
On the others’ turns:
• Choose which character you think is smartest. Whatever number that player tells you, add 1 to it and write it next to the character’s name.
• Everyone else, whatever number they tell you, write it next to their character’s name.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

WARRIOR SPECIAL
If you have sex with another character, you take +1 forward. They take +1Hx.
Whenever another character does something for you without expectation of payment (ex: healing, crafting, gifts, etc.), you take +1Hx with them.

alternate armor

I have been considering the idea of using an alternate system for armor in D&D-like games. Instead of increasing the character's Armor Class, the armor would reduce the die type of an incoming attack. Depending on the dice chain that a GM uses this could be marginally deadly or make damage virtually nonexistant. This means combat would also be bloodier as everybody would be getting hit more often, but warriors and clerics would take less damage respectively since they are typically more armored than rogues and wizards.

Leather -1d
Chain -2d
Plate -3d
Shield -1

The way those are read is Leather reduces incoming damage by one die type, Chain armor reduces damage by two die types, and Plate armor reduces damage by three die types. A Shield would reduce damage only by -1 point. Reducing a d4 would simply add a -2 to the total damage inflicted and damage could never be reduced lower than 1 point, so a successful strike will always deal at least 1 damage.

This is something I've toyed with because I've always wanted to create a system where every PC starts with the same amount of Hit Points (20) and very little variation exists between classes. Monsters would also have a similar amount of Hit Points, but could get increases due to size or supernatural traits.

1d20 vs 2d6

My group has been playing Apocalypse World for the last few weeks and the players' reactions to the mechanics has revealed a stark discrimination towards the dice. When we were playing Dungeon Crawl Classics I would hear complaints that having a 50% chance of success was "too random" and sometimes players wouldn't even take action if they knew they needed to roll a 14 or higher, saying the chance of success was too slim (35%). Yet here we are playing Apocalypse World where a 7 or better is a marginal success (41% chance) with negative repercussions, and a 10 or better is a success (17% chance) that still comes with a negative cost (regardless of the action rolled), and there have been no complaints about the slim chances, "randomness" of the dice results, or even the uniform unfairness of the rolls.

I roll my eyes every time they excitedly pick up the dice.

As for Apocalypse World itself, there are a few minor things I don't like about the rules but there are many things I love about it. The concept and use of the History stat, character progression, simplified combat resolution, and even the consistent 7+/10+ success results needed for every dice roll, are all pretty sweet.

I just received my print copy of Carcosa this week, and it is a fucking gorgeous book!


Now that I'm able to flip through it and leisurely take it in, I think it's negative and "controversial" reputation is undeserved. It's a pretty sick and twisted supplement, it also has a few minor things I don't like, but overall I love the artwork, the descriptions of monsters, the weird psionics system, and the randomized damage system. It's all very weird and strange but exotically beautiful.

wizards of the third age

Idelfyn was a wizard, an architect, and a student of the dark lord Saprodei. He is perhaps best known for having built a series of towers across the world which were all destroyed simultaneously at the time of his death.

Idelfyn's parents were members of the Cult of the Dweller, though the exact time and place of his birth is not known. Either he was sold as a slave to Saprodei or left the cult of his own free will, but for a hundred years Idelfyn trained and served the dark lord Saprodei. He is said to have had a hand in the dark lord's destruction, though his actual role is unknown.

He constructed a series of seven towers which were almost certainly used as safe places to teleport, he was often seen entering one tower on the same day he would exit from another. He is credited with helping to stabilize the nation of Zenev after the dark lord's destruction. It is well known that he employed otherworldly servants made of living rock and constructed metal golems, both of which could prevent unwanted intruders from entering any of his towers.

After two centuries, all of Idelfyn's towers were simultaneously destroyed by a magical rift that gouged each tower out from the landscape. It is assumed a teleportation accident of some kind destroyed the towers and that Idelfyn died in the incident. His sudden absence from the politics of Zenev left a power vacuum and it is considered the primary reason for Zenev's decline into barbarism.

brainstorming

Characters have four ability scores, with 7 points to distribute amongst them
Power +0 : strength, stamina
Quick +0 : reflexes, agility, speed
Moxie +0 : willpower, personality, grit
Valor +0 : bravery, fortitude, luck

Originally I was thinking that these abilities would simply play off the standard ideas of having an attack roll, an armor class, and hit points.
Power would add to a base Attack of +0
Valor would add to a starting pool of 10 Hit Points
Armor Class would be on an ascending scale, starting at 10 and going up with Quick

I tried to break the classic four classes down into two traits and if every player would be allowed to select two traits, they could mix and match class characteristics. I had a hard time coming up with something simplistic, so I just created a list of categories for modifications to Attack and HP.

CHAMPION = add Valor to Attack
PUGILIST = add Power to HP
HOOLIGAN = add Quick to HP
RAKE = add Quick to Attack
APOSTLE = add Moxie to Attack
HEALER = healing ability (roll using Moxie)
MAGUS = add Moxie to HP
ENCHANTER = magic (magic uses HP to cast)

As I examined the math of these traits I realized that maxing out Quick and picking the Hooligan and Rake traits would make an uber-character. There was no reason to create any other combination unless you wanted to heal or cast magic. I started to revise how these secondary abilities would work.

Instead of having a base starting score for Armor Class and Hit Points, I devised a calculation that would force players to truly examine where they would be putting their points. I wanted to force a "pure" Wizard concept character to put points into other abilities, instead of just maxing out Moxie, and I wanted a "pure" Fighter concept character to be forced to examine Moxie's role in their secondary stats.

base Attack score would be a total of Power and Valor together
Armor Class would be the total of Quick and Moxie added together and doubled
Hit Points would be the total of Valor and Moxie added together and doubled

With these numbers I would have to change how points were distributed, and I couldn't allow for an ability score of +0 otherwise somebody might accidentally start with a 0 HP character. All characters would start with +1 in each ability score and then get 7 points to distribute on top of that.

The real kicker to all of this is that I wanted my math to work out with rolls being made using 2d10 added together instead of the traditional 1d20. Partially this was because I wanted a simplification of the target numbers for rolls, and partially it was because I wanted the target number to be rolled to never exceed 20.
Target Numbers would have to: 10, easy; 15, difficult; 20, impossible

The last thing I came up with were the spells for Wizards, which I always intended would cost Hit Points to cast and some spells would require Moxie rolls to succeed.
Destroy Chaos: 1 HP, roll Moxie vs TN 10, destroys any Chaos creature with less HP than the Wizard
Disarm Trap: 1 HP, no roll
Light: 1 HP, no roll, +1 HP permanent
Magic Missile: 1 HP, no roll, hits one target, 3 damage
Fireball: 2 HP, no roll, hits one target, 1d10 damage
Necrosis: 3 HP, roll Moxie vs target's AC, reduces Attack and Quick to +0 (re-calculate AC = cut in half)
Teleport: 4 HP, roll Moxie vs TN 10, +1 HP no roll
Death Bolt: 5 HP, roll Moxie vs target's AC, kills target

I wanted to simplify the Cleric's ability to heal as well. I didn't want any roll to be involved but I wanted a cumulative cost for the use of a multi-purpose power. This is what I settled on...
Healing: heal 4 HP, cure poison, or prevent death (if body not destroyed)
Cleric must touch target of the healing, each use lowers all of the Healer's ability scores by -1 (including Armor Class and Attack), all lost points recovered after rest

Here are examples of characters that I wrote up in the way I would want to play each class...
Power +1 , "zero level"
Quick +1 , Attack +2
Moxie +1 , AC 4
Valor +1 , HP 4

Power +2 , planning on being a WARRIOR
Quick +2 , Attack +7
Moxie +2 , AC 14
Valor +5 , HP 14

Power +1 , planning on being a ROGUE
Quick +6 , Attack +2
Moxie +3 , AC 14
Valor +1 , HP 8

Power +2 , planning on being a CLERIC
Quick +2 , Attack +5
Moxie +4 , AC 10
Valor +3 , HP 14

Power +1 , planning on being a WIZARD
Quick +2 , Attack +2
Moxie +7 , AC 6
Valor +1 , HP 16

Looking at how the numbers break down, the only thing left would be to design the classes (instead of picking two traits which could be min-maxed)
WARRIOR = add Power to HP, add Valor to HP
ROGUE = add Quick to HP, add Moxie to AC
CLERIC = add Valor to Attack, healing (uses Moxie and Valor)
WIZARD = add Quick to HP, magic (uses Moxie and HP)

With these additions the characters change into
Power +2 , WARRIOR
Quick +2 , Attack +7
Moxie +2 , AC 14
Valor +5 , HP 21

Power +1 , ROGUE
Quick +6 , Attack +2
Moxie +3 , AC 17
Valor +1 , HP 14

Power +2 , CLERIC
Quick +2 , Attack +8
Moxie +4 , AC 10
Valor +3 , HP 14

Power +1 , WIZARD
Quick +2 , Attack +2
Moxie +7 , AC 6
Valor +1 , HP 18

The really glaring things to me are with the Warrior, he does not have much of an advantage outside of the boost to Hit Points and I intended Power to be an important ability but the math forces Valor to become prominent. Others might notice that Wizards have lots of Hit Points, but that's because their spells require HP to use.

A quick breakdown of the mathematics
Attack = Power + Valor
AC = Quick x2 + Valor x2
HP = Moxie x2 + Valor x2

These are just ideas at the moment, but this is where my ideas have been trailing off to.

Keeping Time

"The 1 minute melee round assumes much activity - rushes, retreats, feints, parries, checks, and so on. Once during this period each combatant has the opportunity to get a real blow in. Usually this is indicated by initiative, but sometimes other circumstances will prevail." - Player's Handbook, page 105

In the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, a round lasted for 1 minute. The explanation above encapsulates many of the rule-making decisions within that show how abstractly the concepts were being used. In actual play, I've never known a gamemaster to use this literal explanation for what is occurring in the round. The 1 minute round was meant to be broken down into 10 six-second segments. Spell-casting during combat was meant to endanger wizards as much as it was to spoil their magic. Consider the following statement:

"Spell-casters will always insist that they are able to use their powers during combat melee. The DM must adjudicate the success of such use. Consider this: The somatic (movement) portions of a spell must be begun and completed without interruption in a clean, smooth motion. The spell as a whole must be continuous and uninterrupted from beginning to end. Once interrupted, for any reason whatsoever, the spell is spoiled and lost (as if used). Spells cannot be cast while violently moving - such as running, dodging a blow, or even walking normally. They are interrupted by a successful hit - be it blow, missile, or appropriate spell (not saved against or saveable against)." - Dungeon Master's Guide, page 65

Such a rule today would be considered harsh and inviolate of the inherent "fun" of playing a wizard. I suspect this rule being contested by players is what led to the Concentration skill in later editions.

Speed factors look to be an important part of 1st edition, where strange advantages present themselves:

"When weapon speed factor is the determinant of which opponent strikes first in a melee round, there is a chance that one opponent will be entitled to multiple attacks. Compare the score of the lower-factored weapon with that of the higher. If the difference is at least twice the factor of the lower, or 5 or more factors in any case, the opponent with the lower factored weapon is entitled to 2 attacks before the opponent with the higher weapon factor is entitled to any attack whatsoever. If the difference is 10 or greater, the opponent with the lower-factored weapon is entitled to 2 attacks before the opponent is allowed to attack, and 1 further attack at the same time the opponent with the higher-speed-factored weapon finally is allowed to attack." - Dungeon Master's Guide, page 66

This implies that a thief using a dagger (speed factor 2) will always get to attack twice against a fighter with any kind of sword (speed factor 5 or more). Is it any surprise that most groups of players never paid attention to speed factors? I remember using speed factors with only one GM (as a negative modifier to initiative), but then he also didn't use the official explanation of 1 round equaling 1 minute of time.

Time keeping isn't essential for determining combat. You don't really need to know how long it takes to wield a battleaxe against a dagger-wielding thief or a pseudopod-swinging otyugh. Time keeping becomes a huge factor once you add magic though, many spells require a full round to cast or are pared down to segments. Just flipping open to a random page in the Player's Handbook one third of the spells require 1 round, another third of the spells take 5 or 6 segments, and the final third require a full turn to cast. And there's the rub!
1 segment = 6 seconds
10 segments = 1 round = 1 minute
10 rounds = 10 minutes = 1 turn

Just as many of the Old School Renaissance rules systems use a 10 second combat round as the ones that use the classic 1 minute round, and almost all of the OSR games keep the use of 10 minute turns. Though most simply instruct the players to track time outside of combat with regular minutes and hours.

Third edition D&D did away with this complexity entirely! A round represented 6 seconds of time, and the 10 minute turn was abolished. Initiative was now much more abstract and rolled with a d20 instead of rigidly timed with the round segments by rolling a d10. Speed factors for weapons disappeared. Casting times for spells were no longer broken up into a strange calculation of time and were simply described as "1 action" or in the cases of complex and powerful magics an actual time of "1 minute" "30 minutes" or "1 hour" was listed.

I appreciate the simplicity.

magic blades for DCC RPG

Because Dungeon Crawl Classics has a design philosophy that every magic item be unique, and because the creation of a random magic weapon is so extensive, I've decided that it would be useful for me to have some pre-generated magic weapons to be able to litter in mid- to high-level adventures later on.


Inghem
Inghem was a long sword ensorceled by a lazy wizard in the city of Wallengard, where the captain of the watch paid handsomely for possession of the sword. His son inherited the sword and believing that Inghem's potential as a survival tool was priceless. He ventured out to lands unknown, never to be heard from again.
+1 to hit, damage 1d8+1
Chaotic, Int 6, no communication
wielder and all allies within 30' gain +2 to hit and damage vs unicorns
Detect Water, 70' at will

Wit
Wit was once used by a famous assassin by the name of Zag. Zag used the dagger to backstab, garrote, and slay wizards from one end of the world to the other. He would keep the wealth from these killings but destroy the magic items. Nobody knows why he set out on this personal quest against magic-users, but everybody knows he eventually met his end at the hands of the Watery Graves, a band of mercenaries renowned for drowning their targets who had been hired by a secretive (and still unknown) wizard.
+2 to hit, +1 critical range vs wizards, damage 1d4
Neutral, Int 11, empathy, become one with nature
Detect Magic 2/day (21 effect)
Detect Corruption, 1000' at will
Acid Resistance, ignore 3 points of damage, +1 to saves vs acidic attacks

Filbey
In the 7th century of the Arkadan Empire's supremacy, a priest of Gorhan wielded Filbey against the third Army of Chaos Beasts. He hunted their lich-dragon general into the Kerbennian Mountains and was said to have used his last breath to slay the un-dead Chaos dragon. Where the sword ended up after that final battle is anyone's guess...
+2 to hit, +1 critical range vs undead, damage 1d8+2/+6 vs. Orcs
Lawful, Int 11, empathy, wants to slay Chaos and undead
Locate Object 2/day (26 effect)
Detect Secret Doors within 10' at will
Whirlwind Strike: Instead of making his normal attack, the wielder can make two attacks in a single round, but rolls 1d10 for each attack instead of his usual action die. He applies his normal attack bonus. Critical hits are not possible when attacking in this manner.

the Razor of Argis
This dagger that was crafted by the hands of a Lord of Chaos whose name has been forgotten for thousands of years, but whose influence still extends under the watchful eye of the Hidden Lord.
+4 to hit, Damage 1d4+4
Chaos, Int 18, speech and telepathy, punish interlopers and those who interfere with clearing the world for the invasion of the Lords of Chaos
+1 to hit & damage vs Humans
+1 to hit & damage & critical range vs dragons
+2 to hit & damage vs Clerics
+2 AC bonus vs Lawful while wielding Argis
Berserker Fury when facing Clerics; ego check or wielder gains +4 Strength and Stamina for 2d6 rounds, then is exhausted at -4 Strength and Stamina for 1d6 turns thereafter 1d6 then 1d6+10
Unreasoning Hatred: sword urges wielder to attack Lawful creatures at every opportunity (ego check)
Globe of Darkness obscures surroundings within 20’ at will
Armor-breaker: On any critical hit, the opponent’s armor is destroyed, in addition to other effects.
Weapon-breaker: On any critical hit, the opponent’s weapon is destroyed, in addition to other effects. If the creature has natural weapons, they are maimed (e.g., claws are broken, teeth are shattered, etc.).
Throwing Blade: Sword can be thrown up to 20’ to make a ranged attack. It always returns to its owner’s hand after a throw.
Un-dead Touch: The weapon scores critical hits as an Un-dead creature, rolling 1d30 on crit table U whenever a crit is scored.
Summon Troll: The sword is magically keyed to Trolls and the wielder can summon such a creature 2 times per day.
Eviscerator: When rolling damage, the wielder rolls an additional damage die every time he rolls a 4. For example, if the PC rolls a "4" for damage, he then rolls another 1d4 and adds that to the damage result. Continuing to roll an extra die with every "4" that is rolled.
Rift Ripper: A creature struck by this blade must make a Fort save vs DC 13 or is banished to a random plane of Chaos.


I rolled randomly for the first three, using the stats of a wizard getting increasingly stronger in level and skill, but the last one I starting with the highest possible characteristics and rolled randomly from there. I massaged the results for many of the Banes so there wasn't anything that seemed out of tune with the blade's purpose, and I replaced the Medusa's Touch power with Rift Ripper, but it works essentially the same.

DCC Optional Rules

After my players were on the short end of a total party kill I've decided to codify the optional rules I'm going to allow them to draw upon during gameplay.

Shields Shall Be Splintered: A character wielding a shield may elect to have the shield be destroyed in order to avoid being struck by a killing blow. Magical shields are knocked out of the character's hand and a full-round action must be spent to pick it up again.

Helmets Shall Be Dented: A character wearing a helmet may elect to have the helmet ruined in order to avoid suffering a critical hit. This reduces all damage done to 1 point. Magical helmets are knocked off a character's head and a full-round action must be spent picking it up and putting it back on.

Feel The Burn: I know I read this elsewhere but currently can't find the source. A character may take a permanent 1 point loss in Stamina to heal 1 hit dice worth of hit points. If the reduction in Stamina results in a penalty (or a loss of a bonus), the maximum hit point total of the character is affected.

Coup de Grace: As long as a creature has the discernible anatomy for a coup de grace, it may be performed on their defenseless body. Prone but active targets still require a roll to hit.

Perception is not a Skill: Perception rolls become a function of the relevant ability plus level added to the roll. (see Method 3 in the link)

Take Ten: If the character is not in combat (or a stressful environment) they may avoid rolling a die to accomplish a task and instead may "take ten" minutes to finish a task. The task is finished as if they rolled a '10' on their die. If they succeed they may continue on, if they fail than they must accept the result. This rule may be used to carefully cast a spell, climb a ledge, or examine their surroundings. (There is NO 'Take Twenty' rule.)

Universal OSR Monsters

As part of my assignment for the Secret Santicore this year, I compiled a list of the monsters that are described and given stats in four OSR game systems: Adventurer Conqueror King, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, and Dungeon Crawl Classics. The following list is a basic compilation of those monsters (excluding different types of dragons, giants, etc.):

Ant, Giant
Basilisk
Bat, Giant
Beetle, Giant
Bugbear
Centaur
Centipede, Giant
Chimera
Cockatrice
Dragon
Elemental
Gargoyle
Ghoul
Giant
Gnoll
Goblin
Griffon
Harpy
Hell Hound
Hobgoblin
Horse
Hydra
Kobold
Leech, Giant
Lizardman
Manticore
Minotaur
Ogre
Orc
Owlbear
Shadow
Skeleton
Troll
Wolf
Zombie

dungeon contest

The Secret DM is having a design a dungeon contest to celebrate E. Gary Gygax'es birthday. They're giving away a few books but the real prize will be to see your dungeon get published digitally.

Submit your dungeon entries to thesecretdm@gmail.com with the subject line "Gygax Contest"

I've got some work to do!

What the Gods want...

Generally I don't have any complaints about clerics themselves. I do, however, think that their role as a part of fantasy worlds' society is greatly undervalued. When you have somebody who can, as a beginner in his line of work, completely heal at least two to four commoners of injury every day then the meaning of risk and injury takes on new meanings. In a magical world clerics are essentially foolproof and risk-free doctors, or combat medics depending on the deity they worship, and a mundane understanding of medicine will never flourish or progress if society has a subset of people who can merely pray for injuries to be healed. This isn't even taking into account that at higher levels healing powers become astronomical in how much can be doled out, a high-level cleric could keep a single village alive all on their own, and two high-level clerics in the same village will have enough healing to spare that regardless of the village's worth it will begin to prosper and grow.

I'm not just picking on this discrepancy in D&D, many other game systems allow for healing on a massive scale and never show any effects upon society as a whole for these walking hospital clinics being the go-to people for injury, disease and poisoning. In most campaign worlds, clerics are servants of the deities so it might be rightly assumed that the gods themselves have reasons for not turning their clerics loose as all-purpose healers for their community. But this assumption is just that, an assumption. Nothing is ever explicitly stated about the gods object to this kind of behavior, and from the gods' point of view this might actually be the best thing for their priests to be doing since having agents who can touch people and instantly fix a broken bone or banish leprosy would make that deity quite popular.

I've heard an argument once that a deity wouldn't allow healing to be doled out to just anybody and that the cleric would probably only be able to perform these kinds of duties for people who specifically followed his own deity. But this argument fails because the deities of pantheons are usually described as working together to fight against a single evil god, or small group of evil gods. In a pantheon of deities that work together it simply doesn't make sense that they would withhold magic from followers of their compatriots. "If you Heal my follower today, I'll Wind Walk yours next week." In a more realistically selfish pantheon, like the ancient Greek gods, it could be justified since the old pagan gods were quite jealous, vengeful and arrogant.

Then you have to wonder about each individual deity's goals. Wouldn't they want their clerics healing as many people as possible because then they're potentially picking up new followers, and new clerics? It's a feedback loop. I could see a deity manifesting at a farmer's house when he gets a toothache and 'cure' him just so he grows more food and shares it freely with others all in the name of said deity. Instant worshippers! If others start seeing that the followers of this deity never go hungry and never suffer the aches and pains of living then it would be on a fast track to being the the most powerful and influential god around. Screw the adventuring heroes! Let them get eaten by dragons! If a deity needs to smite something to protect their followers it'll just show up and do it on their own!

All of this assumes that deities' want followers. If a deity has no need to be worshipped then a lot of this logic falls flat. Check out The Primal Order if you can find it, it's rules for role-playing deities.

Diamonds are a wizard's best friend

There are hundreds of wizards running around contemporary D&D settings and society still manages to exist in this pre-Renaissance middle ages limbo. A low-level wizard is essentially an engineer, police officer, scholar, or a myriad other number of equivalent professions and when society doesn't react to that magic being used in a utilitarian way then that civilization is mediocre and illogically stagnating.

In 1987, I created my first wizard character. Up until that point I had always played fighters or barbarians, so it was a complete change and in my young mind I felt like I was giving up the brawny, muscular Conan-like character I had always played for something that more closely resembled myself, a stick-thin geeky egghead who kept his nose in books. In play I ended up constantly fearing my character would get killed and so I always kept the most offensive spells prepared. When the character was capable of casting fireball it became my go-to spell for any combat situation much to the frequently aflame dismay of my party members.

Identify This!
I remember the moment around the table where I was confronted with using material components for spells, something that had always been handwaved aside before. We had recently plundered a dungeon and returned to the city with a bag filled with magic items that we didn't know what they did yet. It was my job to cast the Identify spell on each of the items and determine their properties before we could properly divide the loot, and I remember every player had to pool their gold pieces in order to buy the material components for the Identify spells that needed to be cast. You see, every time you cast an Identify spell it consumes a pearl worth 100 gold pieces. I remember we needed eight of these pearls and so we needed 800 gold pieces, but the total take in gold pieces from the dungeon we had just journeyed back from was about half of that total.

It then occurred to me that the place where we would buy these pearls had more total wealth in his store in gemstones than the entire dungeon we had just plundered had in gold pieces. I made the suggestion "Why don't we just break in to the jeweler's and steal the diamonds we need?" and I distinctly remember it wasn't the DM who tried to dissuade us from this action, but the players themselves started describing no-win scenarios for trying to burgle a small town's storefront. These were players who had just killed dozens of lizardmen and drow in a protracted three-day battle through their lair. They were willing to risk their necks going into an underground lair filled with armored and spellcasting "monsters" but somehow breaking into a jewelry store at midnight became an impossibility. Eventually a lengthy and drawn out debate about alignment proceeded, which seemed to be routine in those days, but eventually out of exasperation the thief in our party took me aside to say "I'll try to break in later tonight when everybody else is asleep."

I don't really remember how all of that resolved, but I do remember that eventually I got the pearls to cast the Identify spells and we generally ended up with eight magic items that most of us couldn't use or didn't really want. I kept thinking about those eight 100 gp pearls and how they were now 'gone forever' and were worth more in my mind than what we got out of the entire adventure, dungeon treasure, magical items and all. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the seed of doubt that started my whole point of view that D&D worlds have no internal consistency.

Spare a light?
Consider the Continual Flame spell, the 3rd edition's answer to Continual Light. In previous editions there was no material component and with a permanent duration that meant any wizard capable of casting one 2nd-level spell per day could become the equivalent of the neighborhood electrician. In 3rd edition they decided to balance out this permanent spell by making it cost 50 gold pieces worth of ruby dust to cast. Rubies, I think, would become very VERY rare. So much so that the cost of the ruby dust would skyrocket, and thus how much dust do you actually use for the spell? 50 gp worth? The amount used by wizards would then become arbitrarily smaller and smaller, and the amount of ruby used up would become less and less, meaning that eventually there would be all of these permanently lit lights on the market and no rubies.

According to the way things are priced in the Player's Handbook, 50 gold pieces should not be that hard to come by. Most commoners won't be hiring their local wizard to make a permanent torch, but anybody with the money to do so would get one. This is the kind of impact I was talking about before. When magic exists in the world, people WILL use it and that usage should have both a cultural and social effect.

Anybody who was alive in the 1990s remembers pagers. How many people got pagers just because it was "the thing" people were doing? Half the kids in my high school had pagers, and regardless of how often they were actually used the price of pagers went down and pagers became more accessible, until cell phones started becoming "the thing" to have. And now it's iPhones and Androids and Blackberries. I own a cheap $15 pay as you go phone, but most of my friends have iPhones - I couldn't tell you with any certainty how many of them download apps or use it solely for calling people, but it's new tech and I have to think in a world where magic exists that if the magic is not pushing the tech to improve then the magic itself is the tech that is becoming more common.

Reality! Who needs it?
In the past I've had people address the idea that the tabletop game is not meant to be a completely realistic setting, and that nobody plays RPGs for realism. I agree. But if your suspension of disbelief isn't engaged then the absurdity of the setting will override whatever fun you think you're having. You'll look back on something and think "that didn't make any sense" and be bothered by it. Or maybe you won't. Maybe your apathy can trump your sense of logic. For myself, I expect reactions to follow action. If I kill the leader of a thieves' guild, I expect to see a power vacuum with subordinates fighting over the newly vacant position. That's not a quibble about the rules, that's an expectation of setting.

The problem with D&D is that it has always tied its rules in to the setting in order to create "balance" - and balance is an illusion that has never truly been there. Besides, I suspect if you ask most players what they want out of a tabletop RPG you're not going to hear either of the words "balance" or "realism" - but you will hear "a good GM" and good GMs take balance and realism into account when they run their games.

Sorry for the digression, now back to the local gem market!

With this ring, I thee ensorcel.
According to every edition of AD&D Identify is a 1st-level wizard spell, most wizards can start with it, and it costs a 100 gold piece pearl to cast it once. You are literally destroying a gem worth 100 gold pieces every time you cast the spell. The thought that occurred to me back then was "If I'm destroying pearls to cast this spell, what happens when the pearls run out?" And as a player I was always deeply resentful of the arbitrary price and limitations of the Identify spell. I once asked a GM if I could start researching a higher-level version of Identify that wouldn't require a 100 gp pearl as a component and he nearly turned white at the prospect that players might be able to just cast Identify without some sort of monetary limitation placed upon them. Again, game balance became an issue and so I dropped the idea but I never stopped thinking about it.

I remember when I could cast the Stoneskin spell I had a similar quandary. Stoneskin costs 250 gp worth of diamond to cast, and if you're a wizard you generally cast it every day. Without going into the numbers, a 250 gold piece diamond is about what you'd expect two very nice engagement ring diamonds to be like, small in size and a valuable carat.

But, and here's the really sticky flaw in all of this, diamonds are not actually that rare and in the real world their value has been artificially inflated due to a monopoly. De Beers is a company who in the past controlled over 90% of the diamond trade on Earth (presently you could say their control has dropped to about 60 to 75%), and their chairman Nicky Oppenheimer said it best: "diamonds are intrinsically worthless, except for the deep psychological need they fill." In the span of forty years diamonds had their prices inflated by almost 1000% and a $20 million industry became a $2 billion industry, and this was all before the massive inflation of the 1970s.

Thus, the D&D equivalent of a 250 gp diamond is really a contemporary view of what the worth of a diamond is. Are diamonds really that rare in D&D? Or is there a similar kind of inflated market price in D&D? This second question is how I explained away the massive cost of using diamonds and pearls for the Stoneskin and Identify spells, not only for the sake of my own internal logic as a player but when I started GMing I hand-waved the use of gemstones for spellcasting in a similar manner.

I would sometimes wonder about the gem trade within the setting of Dragonlance (the first campaign I played in) but then also began to consider it for Forgotten Realms (the first campaign world I GMed). Where were the diamonds coming from? And why hadn't they run out after thousands of years of wizards casting spells and adventuring and going to war over the eastern passage? And do the prices of diamonds go up as more and more wizards cast Stoneskin spells over the years? Is 250 gp worth of diamond related to weight or carat? And does the spell, over time, need less diamond as the inherent value of diamonds start to increase? And what of pearls, are there oyster farms where pearls are being produced solely for wizards' Identify spells? How does the market determine what costs 100 gp, and is the spell responsive to the value of the pearl or are the pearls only harvested and priced once they're the right size? Do these gems need to be cut and polished gemstones? Perhaps a shiny rock would suffice if, after laborious cutting and polishing, it would equal the required GP amount? Does it have to be finished as some means of keeping the economy going? If so, the gemcutter in the nearest city must keep fairly busy.

These are questions that I was asking as a teenager!

The whole economy is probably always going to be weird due to how some folks can just pop over to the Elemental Plane of Earth and snag a few of the literally infinite number of gemstones there (the Plane Shift spell doesn't require a material component). You might need literal tons of gems just to cast one spell, especially if the market has been flooded after a week of wizards plane shifting to gather diamonds. Which again makes me think "Where is the worth and value of the gemstone determined? Does the spell just know how much the diamonds and pearls are worth?"

There are so many more spells that require 1000 and 2500 gold piece gemstones. Some of which are for high-level spells that last for a few rounds (or 1 round per level of the caster). The money sink is just ridiculous, especially when I think back and remember that I never had gold pieces in the thousands.

I eventually graduated to just ignoring material components most of the time because they are arbitrary and in most cases ridiculous. The concept of material components is a throwback to the idea that wizards and witches would use mysterious ingredients in their incantations over the creation of potions and elixirs that I think somehow also got applied to spellcasting when the 1st edition rules were penned. Balance doesn't really enter into the equation because when the material components become extravagantly wealthy items that need to be procured then the GM suddenly has to make sure the PCs are getting the resources they need to use the spells they have, and if the GM never gives the PCs the ability or opportunity to acquire them than that's worse than railroading. Personally, unless it's a fairly dramatic spell (like something that will destroy a whole town or permanently enchant a sword), I just don't care about imposing those kinds of additional restrictions onto my players.

The cracks in the foundation (long)

In the early 1990s I was purchasing Dark Sun books and there was this itch in my brain that some things in AD&D simply didn't make any sense, and I was always trying to force a level of realism onto my games which they could never quite muster or live up to. Something just seemed off about the setting, EVERY setting. I think back on it now and the cause of my doubts was actually rooted in the apparent design fr the game itself.

When I eventually stopped playing AD&D and started playing other games, like Deadlands or GURPS, it wasn't because of the rules but was just my brain branching out and exploring new worlds. As I look back upon my GMing experiences as a young adult, and the games I picked up to play when I abandoned GMing, I am struck not by how dissimilar the rules or the conventions of the settings were, but of how different the GMs handled these worlds when trying to craft living, breathing spaces for their players to interact with.

In short, the settings for AD&D were static. They never truly changed and nothing really ever progressed. Even in the supplements and sourcebooks of the 1990s there is this concept that no matter what the players do the countryside remains relatively unchanged, the kingdoms do not fall or expand or shift policy, and there are always evil minions of oppositional gods moving in to the last dungeon that was cleared out or the last territory that was freed from tyranny. You don't have to look very far to see these signs of nothing ever changing.

1) Keep on the Borderlands was a signature adventure module that was released with the basic D&D boxed set of rules in the 1980s. In 1999 a sequel was produced, which showed little changes to the keep after twenty years and largely put the keep in greater disrepair while simultaneously just redistributing enemies among the local cave system to give players familiar with the original module some new surprises.

2) As first described for the Forgotten Realms, Elminster was a powerful wizard who lived in the countryside and could be hired as a sage. There were hints that he was a major player in the regional fighting that went on between the Red Wizards of Thay, Cormyr, Shadowdale, the lords of Waterdeep, etc. He was sometimes described as the magical equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci, yet he never invented anything or actually helped anybody in any meaningful way. Before the first novel had been written about him he had already been imparted outrageously high-level powers and trumps that would easily defeat any player who got it into his head to kill him off. The extant of his powers seems to reach godlike levels despite the fact that he isn't actually a god, and even though his alignment is officially listed as "chaotic good" he doesn't really do many things that could be considered either "chaotic" or "good" - he's actually very "neutral" since he's been in Toril for over 1000 years and yet he hasn't bothered using any of his vast magical powers to build sewing machines or distribute soap, either of which might be considered "good" for a land perpetually stuck in the middle ages.

3) The ultimate status quo of evil in D&D never pushes any boundaries, the bad guys are always repopulating at the same speed and always have the same goals. The ultimate slap in the face to consistency was the Blood War of the Planescape setting, in order to justify that the hordes of evil didn't overrun the planes of existence a protracted civil war between The Abyss and The Nine Hells was devised in order to keep evil fighting one another, because in a very simplified cartoonish world "evil always turns in on itself."

Let's forget these examples, which are only the first three that spring to my mind, and focus on a generic setting. No campaign, no sourcebooks with special rules, just a blank map, a rulebook and a GM trying to create a world. The rules, in all of their iterations, have had classes of enormously powerful magnitude for the level of technology that the world should exist in.

Just think about the potential of a 1st-level cleric. I'm assuming a completely average cleric with no extra special abilities beyond casting spells and turning undead. In almost every edition of the rules a 1st-level cleric can cast 'Cure Light Wounds' a minimum of three times every day. Most commoners are 0-level or 1st-level (depending on the edition) and rarely have more than 8 hit points, which means that a single 1st-level cleric is a walking hospital who is able to potentially save three lives every day. EVERY DAY! Yet in almost every D&D campaign there are always sick, wounded, dying people. From a mechanical standpoint, even low-level clerics are incredibly valuable people to have around. In 3rd edition D&D this gets even more ridiculous with feats that improve spells and give access to more spells.

This is just the average world of D&D.

Your doctor has powers granted to him by his deity, goblins occasionally try to raid your town, and you trade in gold. So imagine walking in to the doctor's office because you have a stomach flu only to be told he's off exploring a cave to the north because he wants to kill some goblins and find some gold. You would be utterly pissed off at his stupidity. You would look at his secretary and say "But I have gold pieces right here, and he only needs to use one-third of his powers for the day!" and his secretary says "But he wants to have more powers, that's why he's off killing goblins." You would think "Why? Hes already making money by being a doctor!" A 1st-level cleric who leaves his village to go off adventuring would be vilified for abandoning his neighbors.

Let's go back to those goblins, let's say your local cleric gets killed and the goblins think "Oh, that town might be ripe for the picking now, they just lost their doctor." and so the six goblins who were living in that cave trundle down to your town, conveniently forgetting that a wizard lives in town. Again, assuming it's a 1st-level wizard who can only cast three spells a day, he potentially has a vast arsenal of weapons to help defend the town with: Charm Person, Burning Hands, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Mount, Obscuring Mist, Sleep. And again, that's just off the top of my head. Your town has the equivalent of a gunslinging sheriff and he wears a pointy hat with stars.

So, given that D&D has these powerful archtypes, why isn't everybody trying to excel to become a cleric or wizard? Sure, sure, you want to tell me there's game balance and levels and whatever. I'm not talking about that! If D&D were a real world, there's no such thing as levels. In the real world, if somebody could instantly cure three people every day of their illnesses, broken bones, bruises or scrapes, with no long-term repercussions from either the injury or treatment, life expectancy would sky rocket! How many magic colleges exist in the Forgotten Realms? There's one described in every major city and there's even a country that's known for it's red wizard army! In Waterdeep, the rulers are all 30th-level clerics, paladins and wizards, but the ridiculousness of these levels is not limited to the Forgotten Realms. In Greyhawk the setting's central city has nine 20th-level wizards living in it and devoted to the prosperity of the city (and in later supplements there are more than nine of them).

More importantly, in a world where even very weak people can shoot magical energy from their fingertips and put others to sleep with a word and a nod, why is there never any progress? Why are the worlds of D&D perpetually stuck in a pre-Renaissance malaise? This was once the main reason why I stopped playing D&D, the static unchanging worlds feel frozen in time where nothing ever changes or nothing ever really happens.

This is also a real problem for me as a player because I tend to construct characters whose goal is to change things. I don't know how many times I've told the story of my mage-cleric who wanted to build mass transit for Waterdeep only to be hamhandedly stopped by the GM because he personally didn't think the setting should be changed. (This is actually something I have tried to do in every game of Forgotten Realms I've played in since, and the GM involved always prevented me from making progress on it because it would "change the game world" - bollocks to that, I say!) But realistically these thinkers and innovators have to exist in a world where magic is part and parcel of everyday living. This idea that the status quo needs to be maintained and NPCs will not like change is blinkered and stunted.

My 1st edition Waterdeep sourcebook has a whole chapter dedicated to the guilds of Waterdeep, there are 42 of them geared towards protecting their guildmembers and turning profits. If a single wizard comes along to one of these guilds and says "Hey, I would like some steady work improving your (guild focus) with my magic." and promptly starts improving business for several guild members, then there is not going to be a consortium of people attempting to stop the changes. Especially if the changes are profitable. And why hire several hundred gold pieces worth of guards and wagons to transport a few tons of goods when a skilled wizard can teleport the goods for half the price? The first reaction of competitors will not be "Let's kill all the wizards!" or "Let's make magic harder to use!" - it would be "Let's get our own wizard!"

There's no monopoly on magic. Power struggles and the segment of sovereign rulership that would resist change aside, society might not revolutionize automatically because of magic but change would be an eventuality. Some fictional magical histories last for hundreds or thousands of years and to assume that magic doesn't alter civilization out of the perpetual middle ages is just short-sighted. Our own Earth managed to have a dark ages that lasted for about 400 to 600 years, and that's without the benefit of magic.