You are a citizen of the kingdom of Midheim, an ancient kingdom that has drawn it's borders on the north central part of the continent of Thule for countless generations. It is the 12th year of the reign of King Alfred the Second, and the 256th year since the ancestors of the king accepted the Sacrament of Sol, renouncing their pagan ways.
The land has been troubled by poor harvests, rebellion, and discontent of late. The northernmost province of Midheim is the very edge of civilized lands, beyond it's mountainous terrain lay ought but troubles, lands inhabited by savage tribesmen, foul goblin, and all manner of unrighteous worship. Two generations ago the northern province, once called the frosthome but now simply the north, was lost.
A plague wind swept out of the mountains and laid low countless folk, the tribesmen poured out of their hill forts in the name of pillage, and all manner monstrosity roamed the land. All was abandoned to ruin save the last hold, Grant's Keep. Ever since it has been the refuge of outlaws and the hunting ground of everything foul. However our magnanimous king has a plan, his call has been sent and all able arms are asked to make to Grants Keep and take up the righteous challenge of reclaiming the north, though some slanderers say that he simply wishes to rid the kingdom of undesirables.
Things known to all good folk;
-Alfred is king and his nobles word is law save in deference to his own
-Sol is the name given to the ineffable all-god who provides order and law, though worship of others deemed manifestations of his glory is permitted
-Abyss is the name given to the unspeakable darkness that births foul things and stirs up chaos, many worship various manifestations of this wickedness
- Wizards are not to be trusted lightly
- Beyond the northernmost mountains lies only death for right-minded folk
- The folk of Grant's Keep are rustic and partly of the stock of the local barbarous tribes
- The barbarians are so called because they do not accept Sol and retain their own gods, though once they ruled a kingdom from the north
- Abyss works sometimes through men as well as monster, and some folk rumor dark cults dedicated to the end of order and the birth of the eternal Chaos
- Sites holy to Sol are off limits to all but the greatest agents of Abyss, a goblin dare not tread holy ground though an ancient troll may not be so easily swayed
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House Rules
OD&D lacks any sort of skill system, which for the most part is a good thing I think. However from time to time a situation arises that requires some sort of non fiat arbitration, typically when an outcome is possible but in doubt. In most instances I arbitrate based on what seem logical, for instance Bob the Fighting-Man with a Strength of 17 and Dexterity of 12 would most likely be able to jump a decent sized gap, so he simply does.
However if Bob say had a Strength of 12 and a Dex of 9 things are much less clear for the same jump, so I will roll a number of d6, determined by perceived difficulty of task, against the highest of Bob's attributes that seem relevant. So in this case for example it would be 3d6 against Bob's strength of 12 with any result at or under the attribute deemed a success.
The other house rule I use concerns death and damage. Low level OD&D characters are pretty squishy, which again isn't a bad thing. If you will note the table for Constitution in Men and Magic gives percentage chance to survive system shock based on Con score.
Of course this seems geared at percentage chance to survive a raise dead spell or the like, however I have taken it a bit further based on something I saw on the Alexandrian's blog (I think that's where it was anyway). Characters taken to 0hp in a round make a percentile roll against the percentage chance given via the Con table in Men and Magic.
Those that roll below their score survive, those that roll above are killed outright. However there are still consequences, given that 0hp in OD&D seems to be representative of the first truly serious blow striking home I have made able that reflects that(well close enough anyway). Characters that survive their percentile roll upon reaching 0hp roll 2d6 and consult the table below.
System shock and Survival for OD&D
7 - 40% 20% 10%
8 - 50% 25% 13%
9 - 60% 30% 15%
10 - 70% 35% 18%
11 - 80% 40% 20%
12 - 90% 45% 23%
13/18 WS 50% 25%
2-4 Wasn't that my insides before?
That uhh.. that looks bad. Somethings hideously broken, you've been skewered, it's hanging by a thread, you name it something really bad happened. This result cuts your chance to survive the next blow down to a fourth of your original percentage until healed via magic or time. 2d6 weeks to heal, treat rolls of 1 as 2.
5-9 More than a flesh wound I think.
Yeah that one looks deep. That arrow is gonna need some pliers to come out, that slash may have nicked something important, and I'd say that beast managed to close it's jaws damn near shut around you. This result cuts your chance to survive the next wound in half until natural or magical healing takes place. 2d4+2 weeks to heal
10-12 Lucky bastard!
Someone up there likes you. No serious effect, however the character is still at 0hp and each subsequent wound once again requires a survival roll.
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Well that about sums up relevant character knowledge and house rules. If there is any objection to the house rules given please don't hesitate to say something and we can just go straight by the book, I just like tinkering with OD&D because there are so many little interesting hints to tinker around with.