Ruminations on d20 Glorantha

I was reading the excellent Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes last night when it hit me that there is almost enough in there to create a homebrew d20 system that can adequately support a Glorantha game using the core Dungeons & Dragons rules.

How so, you ask? It also sneakily allows me to toss out many of the things that grate for me with vanilla D&D while retaining some of the core mechanics I like and giving the Glorantha GM much more control over what magic / powers players have access to.

Regular readers of this blog will know I have run a game in Glorantha already using the Cypher system which went better than expected, although this did not tap into some of the unique elements of Glorantha.

Here is a quick summary of some of the proposed changes being brainstormed. More will emerge as and when I have more time on my hands. The basic idea is to start a game in Sartar which combines elements of both swords and sorcery adventuring and political intrigue / diplomacy.

Apart from the core D&D rules, I may also be drawing on some other sources, including 13th Age Glorantha, the forthcoming d20 Talislanta sourcebook, Fields of Blood for 3rd edition D&D, and Adventures in Middle-earth. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, just customise d20 to reliably present Glorantha as a setting.

I'm going to drop some of the elements of Glorantha gaming which also rub me up the wrong way. I don't like heroquests as they stand. They obviously represent an important part of the Gloranthan mythos, but they feel too much like a railroad. I see them as the way PCs can access Feats/abilities and potentially also magic items, so expect a revised heroquest system. I'm still trying to get my head around them as they stand at the moment, let alone come up with my own version.

Also going are the complex clan generation system in Sartar KoH for the time being and the character background generation system in the new RuneQuest, both of which are way too clunky for my tastes and were already clunky when they first appeared in Pendragon. The D&D background system is also going. Nobody really draws very much on this when play starts, yet it occupies 30% of the character sheet. Why bother?

Inspiration points are also leaving. As are levels and classes.

In the basic game background is replaced by Runes, which help to shape personality as a character comes of age. These will provide some starting characteristics, plus other runes can be gained through interaction with the gods. Attributes will be generated as normal. In a default Sartar game all characters are human, but there is scope to play other races in a more wacky game, just not yet.

Starting skill packages will be determined by character profession. These are the skills learned as an apprentice in that particular role. I might also add cultural skills.

All characters get access to cantrips as part of their Orlanthi cultural background. These will likely be determined by tribe. I can see spells like Blade Ward, Friends and Mending being quite widespread. Other magic can be gleaned from two sources.

Divine magic comes from cult membership. Cleric and druid powers are also available if a character progesses as part of a cult, advancing towards Rune Lord status. Other character powers will also be only accessible through cult membership. For example, some of the barbarian abilities will only be reachable through training within the Urox battle cult. Most Orlanthi could be defined as barbarians in some context (certainly by the Lunars), but to wield the battle advantages of rage, you need to be in the Urox cult.

Magic will not be based on a spells per day basis. The spell's level will be its Magnitude. The higher the magnitude, the more likely you will become exhausted from casting it. This will then preclude any further spell casting that day. There are two possibilities for managing this.

Option one has the player roll a die as in the Black Hack. The more powerful the spell, the lower the die type. A 1st level spell would use a d20. A second level would employ a d12. A third level spell would have a d10 and so on. If a 1 comes up as part of the casting, the character is exhausted. No more magic until a long rest is taken. If the highest number is rolled, the spell can be cast as if it were a level higher - e.g. I roll a 20 casting Magic Missile as a 1st level spell, I can now cast it as a 2nd level spell. I can also choose to cast it as a 2nd level spell, but then I'm rolling a d12 risk die.

The second system runs more like RuneQuest magic where the level of the spell is its Magnitude and where the player can also opt to cast it at a higher level, but risks exhaustion as a consequence. Thus, once I have been taught Cure Light Wounds by my cult, I can cast it at 3rd level if I want, but doing so dramatically increases my scope for exhaustion. It is similar to the first option, but with less 'swing'.

In summary, players can seek to use higher level magic almost immediately, but it brings with it some risks. Higher level spells come through cult membership and are acquired through cult advances as part of character progression.

Arcane magic can still be learned from grimoires, depending on the quality of the grimoire and the Intelligence of the character. Higher level spells will have a minimum Intelligence required to be learned. Generally speaking, most Orlanthi shun arcane magic, although it is more popular among the Lunars.

Some spells will be designated Chaos magic. That's not to say players can't use them, but doing so risks mutations and is frowned upon by Orlanthi society. I don't think there are actually many spells that fall into this category.

Character advancement is coming out of Apocalypse World and 13th Age. Each session players can advance one factor to do with their character. They can choose from a list. Once the advance is taken, however, other types of advance must be taken before you can return for another advance of that type. A good example is hit die, which at default level is d8. A d10 hit die might be available under certain circumstances, but I've not established what that would be yet (expect it to be from a heroquest). Other advances would follow in similar fashion, including proficiency, saves and potentially feats.

That's pretty much as far as I've got. I'm also looking at bringing in new systems to cover wealth and reputation from Burning Wheel. These will dispose of the need to worry about how many copper pieces you are carrying around and also measure an adventurer's growing political clout within his/her clan. More on this as I have it. Expect some pre-gens using this system when I have time. Do feel free to comment below as feedback would be appreciated. I partly feel like I'm almost moving in the direction of an entirely new RPG here. We shall see.

More soon on Orlanthi cults when I have them, a new system for heroquests, and my ideas for wealth and clan/tribal reputation in Sartar.