My OSR campaign (using Sine Nomine's rules) is becoming more and more warhammer-esque. I'm already using ACKS' mortal wounds system, and now I want to introduce insanity and spellcasting corruption rules. Do you know any OSR game from which I can steal them?
Crypts & Things, but that's more like Sanity loss, and also DCC (http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2014/04/rpgpundit-reviews-dungeon-crawl.html), which has actual corruption rules.
The first Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque (http://www.lulu.com/shop/jack-w-shear/tales-of-the-grotesque-and-dungeonesque/paperback/product-21744028.html) book has rules for insanity. The second (http://www.lulu.com/shop/jack-w-shear/tales-of-the-grotesque-and-dungeonesque-ii/paperback/product-21744039.html) has rules and tables for spell corruption.
And they were even Warhammer inspired.
Quote from: Frey;865237My OSR campaign (using Sine Nomine's rules) is becoming more and more warhammer-esque. I'm already using ACKS' mortal wounds system, and now I want to introduce insanity and spellcasting corruption rules. Do you know any OSR game from which I can steal them?
There's Silent Legions for madness rules and spellcasting, of course, but the spellcasting rules there are aimed toward a more Lovecraftian style of magic, where there's no such thing as a minor spell, rather than Vancian casting, where people throw magic quickly and easily a la Magic-Users and Clerics.
If you want to stick with D&D-style Vancian casting but make spellcasting corruption a thing, have a Magic-User roll 1d10 each time they cast a spell. On a 1, something bad happens. Give them some Madness, or loot a corruption table from a Warhammer RPG and roll on that, or otherwise make their life harder. You'll probably want to give them some perk in exchange for ladling on this new complication, so maybe let them memorize an extra spell, but make casting it much more likely to give corruption. Thus, they're both incentivized to use the bonus ability and discouraged from using magic casually.
Thanks, many different options! I'll check them.
Quote from: SineNomine;865250There's Silent Legions for madness rules and spellcasting, of course, but the spellcasting rules there are aimed toward a more Lovecraftian style of magic, where there's no such thing as a minor spell, rather than Vancian casting, where people throw magic quickly and easily a la Magic-Users and Clerics.
I didn't think about Silent Legions. I'm using Scarlet Heroes' trait system with a "normal" D&D combat. And here's the thing:
the character's main trait is their WFRP1 starting career (we even used the original tables). So we have an Agitator, a Tollkeeper, a Dwarf runner and a hunter. The class then becomes the adventuring path, once the characters leave their previous life behind. And it really works! Pity we couldn't include the Physician's Student because D&D has completely different healing rules. Oh, and we get to roll d8s, the number of chaos.
Crypts & Things is criminally underrated.
There's mutation rules in the upcoming Cults of Chaos supplement for Dark Albion, which would be usable in some other setting as wizard-corruption with a very medieval sort of twist.
No insanity rules though. Not really familiar with any OSR book that does it well. Though I never got Crypts and Things.
What's your opinion on how DCC does it?
Quote from: ArrozConLeche;865661What's your opinion on how DCC does it?
Mine? I think DCC's corruption rules are awesome; my players all seem to love them too. They're more gonzo than would be suitable for Dark Albion, mind you.
The Mutation rules in Dark Albion are going to be very Medieval in style; a lot of them are based on medieval folklore-ideas about witchcraft or monsters.
Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;865363Crypts & Things is criminally underrated.
I concur! :)
If anyone is interested in some of the house rules for S&W that eventually were incorporated into C&T, here is my post on how to use Wisdom as a measure of Sanity: http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.ca/2009/07/sanity.html
And here is an alternative magic system, that includes rules for 'corruption' (understood as sanity loss): http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.ca/2009/07/magicians-and-colours-of-magic.html
(This system was changed somewhat for C&T.)
Finally here is an index of all of the house rules that I wrote for S&W, all of which were aimed at creating a more 'swords-and-sorcery' sort of game: http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.ca/2009/07/swords-sorcery-house-rules-index.html