Classic Crawling in Lesserton and Mor

So, looking at the Player's Guide to Lesserton, one of three books that comprise the outstanding adventure setting of Lesserton and Mor, it occurs to me that the character creation rules for Lesserton natives can be slightly modified into an alternate 0-level character generator for Dungeon Crawl Classics.  Most of it can be ported directly, and the single biggest conversion to be done is working out starting equipment for the various career backgrounds.  I'll arrange this conversion process similarly to the chargen process in the Player's Guide.

1. Classes and Races
Well, you're a 0-level here, so no class for you.  Also, this is DCC, so rather than have you agonizing over a choice of race, roll 1d6 per character.

1-3	tainted human
4-5	orkin
6	tainted halfling

Roll on the taint tables as directed in the Player's Guide.  I would recommend treating orkin as DCC humans with 30' infravision and enough of an orcish appearance to keep them from fitting in with polite company.  If you want to use a half-orc DCC class for them (once they level up), feel free.

2. Contacts and Enemies
Use these as is.  As a matter of fact, use them for any character, whether they're from Lesserton or not.  These contacts and enemies are all connected to the character's home town, so far-traveling adventurers won't really run into them much, but for campaigns tied to a local area for at least a while, it provides some interesting background and possible adventure hooks.

3. Background Skills
Roll on the table in the Player's Guide, and then reference here for starting weapons and equipment.

Actor	wooden prop sword (as club)	costume jewelry
Animal doctor	staff	herbs, 1 lb
Baker	bread knife (as dagger)	hard bread, 2 loaves
Beggar	club	begging bowl
Bird-stalker	club	2 fresh pigeons
Blacksmith	hammer (as club)	steel tongs
Boot shiner	polishing rag (as garrote)	small tin of dubbin (polish)
Brass maker	brass ingot (as club)	lidded crucible, 1 quart capacity
Brewer	quern handle (as club)	½ gallon growler of beer
Brick maker	clay paddle (as club)	clay, 5 lbs
Buckle maker	hammer (as club)	5 brass buckles
Butcher	cleaver (as axe)	side of beef
Candle maker	scissors (as dagger)	candles, 20
Carpenter	hammer (as club)	wood, 10 lbs
Charcoal burner	hand axe	charcoal, 5 lbs
Chef	knife (as dagger)	spices, 1 lb
Chimney sweep	flue brush (as club)	goose
Clerk, bookkeeper	quill (as dart)	parchment, 10 sheets
Clerk, shop	knife (as dagger)	extra roll on Table 3.4
Cook	knife (as dagger)	meat pie
Cooper	crowbar (as club)	barrel
Cryer	dagger	parchment, 10 sheets, blank on one side
Dancer	dagger	costume jewelry
Dentist/barber	razor (as dagger)	tooth extracting pliers
Dishwasher	knife (as dagger)	2 porcelain plates
Dye worker	staff	fabric, 3 yards
Feather gatherer	club	small sack and a selection of feathers
Fortune teller	dagger	tarot deck
Fur and skin dealer	skinning knife (as dagger)	badger pelt
Glassblower	hammer (as club)	glass beads
Graverobber	shovel (as staff)	10 cp, small silver chain worth 2sp
Hair stylist	scissors (as dagger)	boar bristle brush and glossy hair oil
Hat maker	scissors (as dagger)	fashionable hat
Hay and feed dealer	knife (as dagger)	oats, 5 lb
House-servant	staff	locket
Laborer, outdoor	shovel (as staff)	large sack
Laborer, warehouse	crowbar (as club)	small chest
Laundress	club	two bedsheets
Leather worker	awl (as dagger)	piece of leather hide, 2' square
Leech	razor (as dagger)	herbs, 1 lb
Luthier	chisel (as dagger)	fiddle
Mudlark	staff	10 cp, porcelain teacup, thimble
Mule wrangler	club	mule
Musician	dagger	ukulele
Paper maker	pulp beater (as club)	paper, 50 sheets
Petty official	quill (as dart)	ink and small blank book
Plasterer	trowel (as dagger)	large bucket
Porter	knife (as dagger)	backpack
Potboy	knife (as dagger)	2 bottles of ale
Pure finder	shovel (as staff)	small sack and 5 lbs of dog feces
Rag and bone man	staff	large sack
Rat catcher	club	net
Rope weaver	knife (as dagger)	rope, 100'
Rug maker	scissors (as dagger)	2'x4' braided rug
Seamstress/tailor	scissors (as dagger)	fine suits, 3 sets
Seed miller	club	flour, 1 lb
Shoemaker	awl (as dagger)	rugged boots, 2 pairs
Shopkeeper	dagger	4 gp, 14 sp, 27 cp
Snitch	dagger	50 gp and an enemy
Soap maker	knife (as dagger)	lye soap, 5 lb
Stone cutter	sledge hammer (as warhammer)	masonry chisel
Street vendor: beer, soup, or tea	large ladle (as club)	5 clay cups
Street vendor: pans, spoons, tinware	skillet (as club)	10 spoons
Street vendor: produce	knife (as dagger)	fruit
Swamp gleaner	staff	herbs, 1 lb
Teamster	staff	bridle
Thatcher	knife (as dagger)	dried rushes, 20 lb
Tinker/sharpener	hammer (as club)	whetstone
Tour guide	dagger	20 sp
Waiter	knife (as dagger)	silverware sets (knife, fork, spoon), 2
Watchman	short sword	lantern
Weaver	dagger	fine suit of clothes
Wig maker	scissors (as dagger)	fine peruke
Wood hewer	hand axe	bundle of wood
Wool shearer	scissors (as dagger)	wool, 5 lbs

A few interesting notes here:
Some professions were similar enough to existing DCC backgrounds that I just gave them the same starting equipment.  Which ones these are is an exercise left to the reader.

Chimney sweeps apparently used to drop geese down the flue, where their frantic flapping during the fall would loosen soot.  Also, sometimes they used a brush on a chain, with a lead or iron weight at one end that they would drop down the chimney; if the Judge wants to allow it, a chimney sweep can have one of these and use it as a flail instead of a club-like brush.

Rather than having a set piece of additional equipment, shop clerks get an additional roll on Table 3.4 in the DCC rules.  Two rolls.

A luthier is a maker of stringed musical instruments.  Maybe you knew this already.  I didn't.

A mudlark pokes through the mud along the edge of a river (or in this case the swamp, I guess) in search of items of value.  Maybe you didn't know this.  I did.  Feel free to come up with a more random selection of items for a mudlark to start with.  This might be worthy of a d100 table all on its own.

A potboy is a server in a tavern.  At least this one is; I found an alternate definition as a dishwasher, but that's already listed on the table.

A pure finder is a collector of dog feces.  Apparently dog poop was used in the tanning process back in the day, and this was just one of the reasons tanneries weren't allowed within many settlements.

Rag and bone men collected various kinds of trash and recycled them for various purposes.  Rags were used in paper making.  Bones were cleaned of grease, which was then sold to soap makers.  The bones were then usually sold to chemists.

I'm going to assume that a seed miller is pretty much like a grain miller.  Online research in this area was complicated immensely by the fact that Miller is a very common name in the English language.  There is a Miller Seed Company with a large online presence, as well as several seed researchers named Miller.  If there's a difference to be found, I guess Jeff and Joel Sparks will have to let us in on it.

Sneakiness!
Let Lesserton natives who are not classed as Thieves roll a d20 instead of a d10 for stealth related rolls.

4. Starting Poor
The Player's Guide is overly generous here. DCC characters from Lesserton still only get 5d12 copper pieces to start.

Ships' boats

I recently posted some black powder artillery and noted that several types were used on ships or boats.  There has historically been a vast array of different types of watercraft, but generally games have given us a pretty stingy selection to selection to work with.  The D&D Expert rules gave us three types of galleys, two types of sailing ships, and four types of smaller boats; these can be made to stand in for a wider variety, but that takes some DM knowledge and a fair amount of fiddling.

As a life-long fan of seafaring adventure novels, beginning with a copy of Treasure Island I got from my great-grandmother, I've always known about the variety of small boats carried on board ships, especially on warships. What did we get in BX to represent this small flotilla of auxiliary craft?  Lifeboats.  And maybe canoes, if you stretched a little.  I don't remember what all ships were provided in AD&D, but IIRC, there were fewer ships and still few, if any, boats.  So, to rectify this situation, and allow the possibility of small boat actions (cutting-out raids, kedging a ship stuck on a mud shoal while under fire, etc), here are some stats for ship's boats and a little clarifying description.

 

	Length	Beam	Draft	Crew	Hull Points	Cargo Cap.	Cost	Misc.
Launch	30'	8'	3'	10-12	30	2000 lb	2000 gp
Longboat	27'	7'	3'	8-10	27	1750 lb	1600 gp	+2 to handling in rough seas
Cutter	23'	6'	2'	8-10	23	2000 lb	1250 gp	-2 to handling in following seas
Whaleboat	20'	5'	1'	6-8	20	1500 lb	1000 gp
Pinnace	18'	4'	2'	6-8	15	1200 lb	750 gp
Gig	15'	3'	1'	4-6	10	900 lb	500 gp
Jolly Boat	12'	4'	1'	4	7	600 lb	250 gp

Launch - the biggest of the ship's boats, often used to haul the ship's anchor out for kedging.  The launch is often armed with a gun in the bow (up to minion size) for specific missions.

Longboat - generally used for running people or cargo in to shore through heavy surf.  The longboat could carry a gun up to falconet size in the bow, if needed.

Cutter - a cargo carrier, intended for calm seas or protected harbors. The broad stern of the cutter causes the boat to turn sideways in following seas (waves coming from behind); hard breaking waves can then easily capsize it.  A cutter can carry up to a minion in the bow, but isn't often armed with anything heavier than swivel guns due to its handling.  Not to be confused with the ship-sized vessel known as a cutter.

Whaleboat - originally designed for harpooning whales, often used as a lifeboat.  The whaleboat is double-ended and can be oriented with either end as the front.  This makes them particularly useful for rapid trips to and from shore, as they don't need to be turned around before relaunching.  A whaleboat can carry a gun up to falconet size.

Pinnace - used as a generic small cargo/people carrier.  The pinnace, like the cutter, is another boat that shares a name with a ship.  A pinnace can carry a gun up to a falconet in size.

Gig - a small boat usually used as the captain's personal boat.  A gig is sometimes used by other crew members, but is almost always set aside for the captain himself.  If the captain decides to send the gig out in a small boat action, it can be armed with a gun up to falconet in size.

Jolly Boat - the smallest of the ship's boats.  A jolly boat is a general use boat, carrying people or cargo, or used by crewmembers to inspect the hull from the outside for maintenance or to repair damage.  A jolly boat can be armed with up to a falconet size gun.

In General - These boats are usually rowed (the Crew listing above gives the usual numbers) at a speed of about half that of an unencumbered human (15' in DCC, 60' in Rules Compedium D&D).  Each boat typically carries an additional crew member in command of the boat (the coxswain, pronounced "COCKS-un").  The boat's rowed speed decreases proportionally as the number of rowers is reduced.  Any additional personnel beyond rowers and coxswain are considered "cargo". 

Each of these boats has a dismountable mast and a fore-and-aft rigged sail.  Sailing speed is equal to that of an unencumbered human (30' in DCC, 120' in RC).  One sailor can handle the boat by himself under sail, although the boat is both more visible and less maneuverable this way (which is why rowing tends to the be the default, especially for military type ships).

If the boat is loaded past its capacity, its speed is reduced to half.  It will also wallow like a pig in the waves.  A penalty of -2 or more to any handling checks is appropriate.

Boats are usually carried on the deck of their ship, with smaller boats often nested inside the larger ones.  Sometimes a smaller boat will be hung from davits across the stern of the ship, ready to be quickly lowered.  When a ship is preparing for battle, if there is time, the boats will often be lowered and towed behind to reduce flying splinters from enemy cannonballs.  If the ship is carrying livestock (a common practice for fresh meat, milk, and eggs), they will be put into the boats so they won't panic and create more havoc on the ship.

Weapon Mastery: Firearms

I've never made Weapon Mastery tables for the D&D Rules Cyclopedia before.  There are some pretty arbitrary-seeming decisions to be made, especially as far as Primary and Secondary target types.

Well, these may not be up to RC standards, but since I haven't been able to figure out what criteria they used on the RC tables for various weapons, this is better than nothing.  I tried to minimize the funky DCC style dice for this table, but since I already used d5s for the basic fowling piece, d7s snuck in here too.

Weapon	Level	Ranges	Damage	Defense	Special Effects
Pistol	BS	25'/50'/100'	1d6	--	4 rounds to reload
[P=A]	SK	30'/60'/100'	2d4	--	3 rounds to reload
1Hand; small	EX	35'/70'/100'	2d6	--	2 rounds to reload
missile	MS	40'/80'/110'	3d4+2	--	1 round to reload
Enc: 20 cn	GM	50'/90'/120'	3d6+3	--	1 round to reload; automatic initiative
Fowling Piece	BS	30'/70'/150'	2d5#	--	4 rounds to reload
[P=A]	SK	35'/80'/150'	2d6#	--	3 rounds to reload
2Hand; medium	EX	40'/90'/150'	2d7#	--	2 rounds to reload
missile	MS	45'/100'/160'	2d8#	--	1 round to reload
Enc: 50 cn	GM	50'/110'/170'	2d10#	--	1 round to reload; automatic initiative
Musket	BS	50'/100'/200'	1d8	--	4 rounds to reload
[P=A]	SK	60'/110'/200'	2d6	--	3 rounds to reload
2Hand; medium	EX	70'/120'/200'	2d8	--	2 rounds to reload
missile	MS	80'/130'/210'	3d6	--	1 round to reload
Enc: 80 cn	GM	90'/140'/220'	3d8	--	1 round to reload; automatic initiative
Rifled Musket	BS	75'/150'/300'	1d10	--	5 rounds to reload
[P=A]	SK	85'/160'/300'	2d8	--	4 rounds to reload
2Hand; medium	EX	100'/170'/300'	2d10	--	3 rounds to reload
missile	MS	110'/180'/310'	3d8	--	2 rounds to reload
Enc: 80 cn	GM	120'/190'/320'	3d10	--	2 rounds to reload; automatic initiative

# Fowling pieces do both dice of damage at short range, the higher of the two dice at medium range, and the lower of the two at long range

Yet Another Set of Musket Rules

I've seen some interesting and inspiring frontier fantasy or pirate fantasy posts here and there on the internet lately, and it got me thinking about a frontier fantasy setting I created years ago for Hero System.  Of course, these types of fantasy often allow for gunpowder weapons, and I've seen several takes on muskets and cannons in gaming, but there are some things you can do with old-fashioned muzzleloading arms that you can't do with more modern ones, and games often overlook these options.  Here, I've converted my Hero rules over for use in Dungeon Crawl Classics or the D&D Rules Cyclopedia edition.  RC players will have to either use funky DCC dice for some damage rolls here, or use a workaround with the standard polyhedral dice; I can provide help with that if anyone needs it.

Matchlock Musket	75	Matchlock Pistol	35
Wheellock Musket	100	Wheellock Pistol	50
Matchlock Fowling Piece	80	Wheellock Fowling Piece	110
Rifled Musket (wheellock)	200	Grenado Gun (matchlock)	150
Bullets (12)	3	Powder, 1 pound horn	15
Bullet Mold	9	Lead for 12 bullets	2
Grenado	20	Match/foot	3
Swivel Gun/Murtherer	300

 Any pistol, musket, rifle, or fowling piece may be made in a double barrelled version for an additional 75% of cost.  Additional barrels add another 75% of cost each. Any musket may be made in a volleygun version for an additional 50% cost. A single-barreled fowling piece may be made with a flared bell muzzle for an additional 10% cost.

Rabinet	750	Ammo	1
Falconet	1500	Ammo	3
Minion (Grasshopper Gun)	3000	Ammo	15
Quartocannon	7000	Ammo	35
Demicannon	12000	Ammo	90
Cannon	25000	Ammo	150
Basilisk	50000	Ammo	250
Mortar	3000	Ammo	50
Pedrero	10000	Ammo	225
Heavy Mortar	20000	Ammo	325
Serpentine Powder, 5lb keg	35	Corned Powder, 5lb keg	75
Serpentine Powder, 10lb keg	60	Corned Powder, 10lb keg	140
Serpentine Powder, 20lb keg	110	Corned Powder, 20lb keg	250

Any artillery piece can be built as an organ gun for an additional 50% cost and 50% weight per barrel. Artillery pieces of Quartocannon size or larger can be built as a carronade for no additional cost or weight. All ammunition costs the same, whether it's a ball, grapeshot, bar shot, chain shot, or expanding shot.

 

	DMG	Range
Pistol	1d6	25'/50'/100'
Musket*	1d8	50'/100'/200'
Rifled Musket*	1d10	75'/150'/300'
Fowling Piece*	2d5#	30'/70'/150'
Grenado	1d6+ within 10'	10'/20'/30'
Grenado Gun*	as grenado	30'/70'/150'
Swivel Gun/Murtherer+	1d12	75'/150'/300'

Rabinet+	1d14	100'/200'/400'
Falconet+	1d16	110'/225'/450'
Minion (Grasshopper Gun)+	1d20	125'/250'/500'
Quartocannon+	1d24	135'/275'/550'
Demicannon+	1d30	150'/300'/600'
Cannon+	1d30+6	160'/325'/650'
Basilisk+	1d30+12	175'/350'/700'
Mortar+	1d12^ within 15'	(150')/300'/600'
Pedrero+	1d20^ within 20'	(160')/325'/650'
Heavy Mortar+	2d14^ within 25'	(175')/350'/700'
Serpentine Powder, 5lb keg	1d10	--
Serpentine Powder, 10lb keg	1d14	--
Serpentine Powder, 20lb keg	1d20	--
Corned Powder, 5lb keg	1d14	--
Corned Powder, 10lb keg	1d20	--
Corned Powder, 20lb keg	1d30	--

* Two handed weapon (d16 initiative in DCC; lose initiative unless opponent is using a two handed weapon in RC)
# Close range damage: 2d5; medium range damage: higher of 2d5; long range damage: lower of 2d5
+ Mounted weapon (lose initiative unless fighting against mounted weapons or siege weapons)
^ Save for half damage (Reflex save vs attack roll for DCC; Dragon breath for RC)


New Rules:
Firing at ships – Artillery firing at ships do 1/5 normal damage, applied against the ship's hull points (see D&D Expert set or Rules Compendium).

Firearms vs. Armor – Firearms are very effective against normal armor, generally punching right through.  Disregard the value of any worn armor when determining Armor Class of the target.  Magic armor still adds in its magic bonus, characters still get Dexterity bonuses, and small targets still get their bonuses for size (pixies, stirges, etc) when being fired on by a regular ball-firing weapon.  Creatures with natural armor still get their normal AC; you won't take down a dragon just because you brought a pistol.

Fowling Pieces – Made for hunting ducks, quail, and other fowl, a fowling piece fires a handful of small shot rather than a large ball.  These shot are relatively ineffective at penetrating armor (normal AC for worn armor), but are very good at hitting small, agile targets.  The target of an attacker with a fowling piece gets no Dexterity or size bonuses when fired on by a fowling piece.

Reloading – Small arms (up to the size of the swivel gun) generally take 4 rounds to reload, firing on the 5th round.  During this time, the loading character can't move and does not get their Dexterity bonus.  Rifles take an extra round to load, due to the tight tolerance between the bullet and the barrel.

Powder usage – Most small arms get 12 charges from a pound of powder. Swivel guns get 10 charges from a pound. Grenado guns fire a grenado with ¼ pound of powder.  Multiple barrel weapons must use a charge and a ball or shot for each barrel. All small arms use corned powder.

Cannons and mortars can use either serpentine powder or corned powder. If using the less powerful serpentine powder, a rabinet gets 3 charges per pound of powder, a falconet gets 1 charge per pound, a minion uses 6 pounds per charge, a quartocannon uses 12 pounds per charge, a demicannon 32 pounds, a cannon 50 pounds, and a basilisk 90 pounds. A mortar uses 8 pounds, a pedrero 40 pounds, and a heavy mortar 75 pounds. Corned powder is twice as powerful, so a rabinet gets 6 charges per
pound, a falconet 2 charges per pound, a minion uses 3 pounds per charge, a quartocannon 6 pounds, etc.

Match burn rates – Quickmatch comes in several varieties, with burn rates ranging from 10-100 feet per second. Slow match burns at 1 foot per hour. Characters may specify which type they want when they buy it. Match found while adventuring will need to be tested in order to determine how fast it burns, in most cases. Using match without testing it can be embarrassing or even very dangerous.

Flared Bells – A fowling piece may be built with a flared bell muzzle. This reduces reload time by one round. Only a single barreled fowling piece may be made with a flared bell.

Volley Guns – A volley gun is a multi-barreled smoothbore musket with one lock. Firing the weapon fires all the barrels at the same time, each barrel getting a separate attack roll. Due to the added recoil, the attack rolls of a volley gun are decreased by 1 for a two barreled version, by 2 for a 3-4 barreled version, and by 3 for a 5-8 barreled version (the maximum size).

Variant ammunition – Black powder weapons can be loaded in many different ways: with shot, with ball, with stones, with shot and ball, with two balls, or with a double charge of gunpowder. Cannons have even more options available. The weapons table shows the ballistic characteristics of the most common type of ammunition for the weapon type, assuming that fowling pieces are loaded with shot, that mortars are loaded with shells, and that all other weapons are loaded with a single ball. Variants follow:

Double shot: Loading two of the standard type of ammunition is called "double shotting".  Double shotting a weapon takes extra time (lose a die step to initiative for DCC, -1 initiative penalty for RC)  and confers two attack rolls for one attack action. Both attacks must be made against the same target or against two adjacent targets.  If the attacker rolls a 1 on the attack roll, the powder charge was not powerful enough to move the extra ammunition from the barrel, and it will take at least several minutes, if not hours, to clear the weapon.

Double charge: Loading an extra ration of gunpowder into the weapon is called "double charging". Double charging takes no extra time, and gives the weapon an additional +1 to hit, additional range (+5' to close range, +25' to medium, +50' to long), and +1d4 damage. If the attacker rolls a 1 on the attack roll, the powder charge blows the weapon apart, causing the same damage to the attacker as would have been inflicted had the weapon hit. If a weapon is double shotted and double charged, then this failure result takes precedence.

Loading shot into a ball-firing weapon: This can be done with all small arms, and artillery pieces up to minion in size.  Loading shot into a ball-firing weapon reduces range to 30'/70'/150' regardless of what it is when firing ball ammunition. Armor now gets full value vs this attack, but Dexterity and size are ignored.  Damage works as with the fowling piece (2 dice at close range, higher of 2 dice at medium, lower of 2 dice at long) and is as follows:

ball damage	shot damage
1d6	2d3
1d8	2d4
1d10	2d5
1d12	2d6
1d14	2d7
1d16	2d8
1d20	2d10

Loading a ball into a fowling piece: Loading a ball into a fowling piece gives it a damage of 1d8.  Worn armor is no longer considered in Armor Class, but Dexterity and size now are.

Loading stones, nails, glass, or other junk: Loading stones or junk into a firearm (whether a ball-firing weapon or a fowling piece) is similar to loading it with shot.  Since stones and steel junk are not as heavy as lead, when rolling damage, 3 dice are rolled and the highest die is discarded, with the other 2 dice being read as for shot.

Mixing shot and ball: When mixing shot and ball in any firearm, the attacker gets two attack rolls per action. If only one attack hits, it is assumed to be the shot, and damage is inflicted as normal for shot fired from that type of weapon. If both attacks hit, the ball also hits, doing damage as normal for ball ammunition fired from that type of weapon. The weapon is considered to be double-shotted for misfire purposes.

Bar shot, chain shot, and expanding shot: These are all different types of shot for naval artillery. They are only made for Quartocannons and larger, and cost the same as a regular ball. These types of shot are are designed to cut sails and rigging.  Damage for shots fired against the rigging is tracked separately for purposes of reducing movement, but this damage can not sink the ship.  These kinds of shot do full regular damage to personnel and 1/10 damage to the ship's regular hull points.

Grapeshot: Grapeshot is a case of large balls (each equivalent to a minion ball) fired from a Quartocannon or larger, essentially turning it into a large blunderbuss. Grapeshot covers a cone shaped area reaching out to the gun's close range, with a base of 1/2 the close range distance.  Anything within this cone suffers the gun's normal damage (save for half damage: Reflex save vs attack roll for DCC, save vs Dragon Breath for RC).  Grapeshot does 1/2 damage against structures and 1/10 against the hull points of a ship, and as such, is usually used against personnel. A canister of grapeshot costs the same as a ball for the same weapon.

Red-hot shot: Many coastal fortresses have furnaces for heating balls to a glowing red heat. These red-hot shot can set a ship aflame if they lodge in the hull, with a 1 in 10 chance per round for d10 minutes (d10x6 rounds). Dousing the shot with water prevents the shot from starting a fire as long as it is actively doused; each round of dousing also reduces the time it could start a fire (reduce the d10 minutes rolled earlier by 1 minute per round that the shot is doused). Ships set afire will take one point of hull damage per turn for the first two turns, then damage doubles each turn afterwards.  A ten crew member fire fighting detail can reduce this damage by 1d6 points per turn; if this is more than the damage that would have been inflicted, the fire is out.

Crew-served weapons – Most artillery is crewed by more than one man. The crew sizes listed are the minimum effective crew sizes. Military units will tend to have larger crews; the extra men tend horses while the weapon is in action. Naval gun crews will adhere more strongly to the minimum effective crew size. Artillery which is crewed by fewer than the minimum effective crew will have their reload time increased as listed.

 

Artillery	Normal Crew	Normal Reload	Crew -1	Crew -2	Crew -3	Crew -4	Crew -5
Rabinet	2	5 rounds	10 rounds	--	--	--	--
Falconet	2	10 rounds (1 minute)	2 minutes	--	--	--	--
Minion (Grasshopper Gun)	2	3 minutes	4 minutes	--	--	--	--
Quartocannon	3	5 minutes	10 minutes	15 minutes	--	--	--
Demicannon	3	6 minutes	12 minutes	18 minutes	--	--	--
Cannon	4	8 minutes	12 minutes	18 minutes	24 minutes	--	--
Basilisk	6	10 minutes (1 turn)	15 minutes	20 minutes	25 minutes	30 minutes	35 minutes
Mortar	3	2 minutes	3 minutes	4 minutes	--	--	--
Pedrero	4	4 minutes	6 minutes	8 minutes	12 minutes	--	--
Heavy Mortar	6	6 minutes	12 minutes	18 minutes	25 minutes	30 minutes	35 minutes

Organ Guns – Any cannon-type gun can be built as an organ gun -- a gun with multiple barrels. This gives the weapon a number of attacks equal to the number of barrels used. Each barrel must be reloaded separately, at full standard reload rate each. An organ gun does not have to fire all of its barrels at once.

Carronades – Artillery pieces of quartocannon size and larger can be constructed as a carronade, if desired. A carronade has a shorter, heavier barrel, giving it reduced range as compared to a long gun, but it can hold a heavier charge. A typical carronade charge is 50% heavier than a powder charge for a comparably sized long gun. This carronade charge can be doubled, following all normal rules for double-charging. A carronade has a range equal to the next lower size of artillery, damage equal to the next larger size (a basilisk sized carronade does 1d30+18 damage), and costs the same as a comparable long gun.

Use of firearms vs non-firearm wielding opponents – Using firearms against opponents without them has some important effects on morale. Minor NPCs facing opponents armed with firearms must make a morale check each time they are fired on if their side does not have firearms as well, surrendering or retreating as best fits the situation.  PCs and major NPCs aren't subject to this, but at the DM's option must succeed at a saving throw (DCC: Will save vs opponent's attack roll; RC: Save vs Death) in order to make any aggressive action (moving toward the enemy and/or attacking)

Naval Gunfire – Because of the action of the ocean's waves in rocking the ship, gunners on a ship suffer an additional penalty to attack rolls equal to (the wind's Beaufort number minus 4) x2. For example, in a gentle breeze (Beaufort number 3) the penalty would be (3-4 = -1 which is less than 0) no penalty at all, but in a strong gale (Beaufort number 9) the penalty would be (9-4 = 5 x 2 =10) -10 to all attacks.

Robert Manning Deep Under Taboo Island

In a memorable scene from the classic adventure The Isle of Dread, the party is wading through a flooded underground temple when they open a door into a dry area and are swept away as the water drains down into the cavern below.  At least, that's how the circumstances are set up; I suppose some parties get lucky or have made better plans based on paranoia, divination, or secretly reading the adventure beforehand.

It occurred to me a while back that Robert Manning's equation could be used to figure out the flow rate of water moving in a man-made channel (like a dungeon corridor) and I thought it might be fun to compare my cursory knowledge of fluid mechanics with the wild guesses of David Cook and Tom Moldvay.

So here's the map:

We have 101.5 10' squares filled five feet deep with water (most of area 2 is deeper than that, but only the top five feet is able to drain off; also the half square comes from the stairs leading up and over the dry section of corridor into area 4).  Once the door in the north wall of room 7 is opened 50,750 cubic feet of water starts draining down the stairs into the cavern below.  The adventure estimates that the water will flow for two minutes, or 12 ten-second rounds.  Let's see what Manning has to say.

Manning's equation requires us to know the cross sectional area of the "river", which in this case will be the width and depth of the water flowing through the doorway.  It also requires the slope of channel the water flows down, and the "Manning's n" value representing the friction the channel exerts on the flowing water.

My previous spreadsheets used a triangular cross-section to represent the shape of a natural stream, with shallow water by the banks and a deeper channel further out.  Because this is a man-made corridor, with floors and walls squared off, the numbers are going to come out a little differently, and a lot easier.  The cross-section of the stream will be the width of the doorway multiplied by the depth of the water, while the wetted perimeter will be the width of the doorway added to twice the depth of the water (see diagram).  No Pythagorean theorem here!

It should also be noted that this water isn't being replenished from groundwater or rains far upstream.  As it flows out, the level of the water will drop, which will affect the flow rate as both the cross-section of the stream and the wetted perimeter drop.

The hallway that the water will drain down has about 40 horizontal feet worth of stairs.  We'll assume that this temple/cavern complex was built according to standard US building codes, and the stairways are made up of 7 inch risers and 11 inch treads, for a slope of .6363 (repeating).  For what it's worth, that puts level 3 about 25 feet below level 2.

Normally, in a dungeon passage carved from stone, I would assume the flow channel is pretty smooth, and choose a low value for Manning's n, but the description specifically mentions all the dangerous debris hidden in the water for characters to stumble and hurt themselves on if they're not careful, so I'm going to go with 0.035 here.

I'm going to assume that the door here is eight feet tall by three feet wide.  That's pretty big for a regular interior door in a home, but houses don't typically have 10' wide and tall passages either. 

And with that, we can start looking at the flow rate through the doorway.  Punching it all into the spreadsheet gives us a flow of 37 feet per minute, or about 6 feet per 10 second round.

Wow.

That's not fast at all.  What went wrong here?

I'm going to guess that this slow rate comes from the fact that the formula is supposed to be for a steady flow, whereas this is water suddenly released.  That slope we got above is pretty steep for a natural stream, and 6' per round is pretty fast compared to some of the flow speeds we've looked at earlier, but consider this: at the instant the door is opened, the water in the doorway extends ZERO feet past the doorway and 5' high, giving it infinite slope.

Well, infinite slope doesn't help out a whole lot either.  There's no way to input infinity into the spreadsheet without getting a Division by Zero error, and even if you could, you'd just get infinite flow, which is as absurd as the leisurely 6' per round flow.  Just pulling a number out of the air, let's go with slope equal to the depth of the water, or 5 in this case.  That's a pretty significant jump from .64 without getting too crazy.

So with a slope of 5, we end up with a flow rate of 105' per minute, or 17.5' per round.  That's plenty to sweep the character opening the door into the portcullis beyond with a fair amount of force. Maybe not 1d4 damage worth of force, although getting knocked down by suddenly gushing water combined with the debris strewn down the passage might account for that.

At the end of the first round, then, the flooded area has drained off (3' x 5' x 17.5 =) 262.5 cubic feet of water.  That's pretty negligible compared to what's there, so it's going to flow like that for several rounds.  To drain off a single foot of water would take over 10,000 cubic feet of water, so we don't have to recalculate the water depth just yet; five feet is still close enough.

The water in that corridor is going to slow down somewhat.  The corridor is wider, so a lot of that energy is going sideways.  If the water has shot out 17.5' and settled into the 10' wide corridor, the total amount of water that has drained in the first round will average about 1.5' deep past the door.  Round 2 begins in this situation.

In round 2, punching in the numbers in the spreadsheet (assuming a slope equal to the water depth since there's no previous sustained flow) gives a velocity of 57' per minute, or about 9.5' per round.  That starts the flow down the stairs, but let's keep it simple and not take that into account just now.  The front edge of the water flow is at 27' past the door.

Looking at the door, now we have some previous flow, but not sustained flow; there's still more water pouring out the door than there is on the other side.  The flow will slow down, but still not be as slow as a regular stream.  We've been taking the depth of the water as the slope for water flowing into a dry area, so let's take the difference in water depth for this situation.  Five feet inside the door vs 1.5' outside the door gives a slope of 3.5, which then gives a velocity of 87.6' per minute, or 14.5' per round.  In this round, 217.5 cubic feet of water drain from the flooded area, for a total drainage of 480 cubic feet. At this point the water past the door averages 1.8' in depth.  Let's call that 2'.

Round 3 begins now.  Running down the stairs, we have the stairs themselves sloping downward at .6363, and 2' deep water flowing into it, giving a total slope of 2.64 and a flow rate of 105.2' per minute or about 17.5' per round.  The front edge of the flow is 44.5' past the door, off the level 2 map and spilling down into level 3.

Coming through the door, we have a new slope of 3, giving a velocity of 81' per minute, or 13.5' per round.  202.5 cubic feet of water drain this round, totaling 682.5 cubic feet in all.  Thanks to the water picking up speed down the stairs, the average depth drops to 1.5'. 

Ok, round 4.  Running down the stairs, the slope is now 2.14 (1.5' deep plus .64 stair slope).  The velocity is 68.5' per minute, or 11.4 (let's call it 11.5) feet per round.  The front edge is 56' past the door, almost to the bottom of the stairs.

Flowing through the door, with a slope of 3.5, the water is moving at 87.6' per minute (14.5' per round).  217.5 cubic feet of water drain out, for a total drainage so far of 900 cubic feet.  The average depth down the corridor is still about 1.5'.

For round 5, all the inputs remain the same.  The front edge runs out to 67.5' past the door, and starts spreading out into the cave.  At this point, I'm going to assume that the flow is established down the stairs.  The depth of the water doesn't add to the slope anymore, given that there's water all the way down now.  The water will continue to spill into "dry" areas on level 3 until it goes over the edge into the mud pits, but I won't bother tracking it per se.

Water comes through the door at a rate of 217.5 cubic feet once again, increasing total drainage to 1117.5.  The average depth down the corridor is still about 1.5'.

In round 6, since the flow is now established, the slope down the corridor is just .64.  The flow rate is now 37.4' per minute, or about 6' per round.  (6 x 10 x 1.5 =) 90 cubic feet of water flow out of the corridor into the cave.  217.5 cubic feet of water pour out through the door, making the total drainage from the flooded area 1335 cubic feet.  Water isn't flowing out as fast as it was, so the depth of water in the corridor is increasing (but still rounds to about 1.5 for now).  One minute has passed.

Round 7 is going to look a lot like round 6.  Flow rates are unchanged.  Total drainage is now 1552.5, and water depth in the corridor is now 2'.

With the water beginning to back up in the corridor, round 8 sees a little bit of tweaking.  Flow rate in the corridor is now 43.1' per minute (7.2' per round), with 144 cubic feet flowing into the cave.  The rising water in the corridor slows the flow through the doorway to 81' per minute (13.5' per round).  Total drainage is 1755.  Depth in the corridor remains at 2'.

At this point, the water levels reach a pattern of slow but steady decline, with the water running down the stairs remaining at just under half the depth of the flooded area of the dungeon and water velocity dropping proportionately.  It takes just over 10 minutes for the water level of the flooded area to drop below four feet, and nearly a half hour before it drops below three feet.  By the end of an hour, the flooded area is down below two feet, and after a total of two hours of draining, it's down below a foot, with the water running down the stairs just a few inches in depth and the velocity of the water only about 1/4 what it was during the first rush as the door was opened.

I'm not going to run the numbers past this, because while it's somewhat interesting as rapid changes occur, it's very tedious once everything slows down and the numbers quit changing as fast.  I tried changing scales, and when I went from round by round to minute by minute it worked out okay, but trying to scale up to 10 minute blocks makes things go all weird.  Somehow the water (according to the numbers) starts running in spurts, with the depth in the stairway going from almost nothing to deeper than the flooded area.  Well, after two hours, even the shortest halfling is in no danger of being swept away, and it's safe to say that some noticeable water flow will continue for a day or two afterward, probably long after the PCs have finished looting and left the place forevermore.

For what it's worth, I'm adding a page to this river spreadsheet to work out flow rates in square-bottomed corridors, in case anyone ever needs to flood a party of PCs out of a dungeon.

Here's the link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uhkIOCq9S_Zj0QNOgZq1QICuv5xpQjIG

RC to DCC spell conversion

I shamelessly steal adventures wholesale to use in my games.  I know a lot of people look down on that, and have never used anything but entirely home-brewed scenarios meticulously tailored for the players and their characters, but I'll use an adventure as-is in my game if it's good enough, and I'll modify it to fit if it's not.  Not that I don't come up with individualized adventures for my games...I just don't have any problems with using a good idea.  I won't apologize.

Now, these days, I've been pretty intrigued with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.  I've played a few solo thingies to test drive the rules, and I ran a couple of short adventures for my kids (in which we barely got past the 0-level funnel before they griped about being pulled away from their computer games).  If I were to get a regular game group together again, I'd push hard to play DCC. 

Many times in the past, when using a D&D adventure with AD&D or vice versa, if the spell listings for NPC magic-users and clerics didn't line up exactly with the rules system I was using at the time, I'd just use the rules for the spells in the other system.  DCC magic is so flavorful, though, that I'd hate to just use the relatively bland D&D style spells when I don't have to.  Of course, DCC says outright that unimportant NPCs don't even need the formality of named spells; they can get by with "3d6 magic blast, 3/day" if you want.  But for important NPCs, at least, I'd want to convert them as closely as possible.  Since DCC was pretty directly inspired by D&D/AD&D, many of the spells are directly analogous (Snake Charm -> Snake Charm), and converting from one system to the other is super simple.  Some of the DCC spells are combinations of the D&D type spells, and some of these combinations are not so obvious (Passwall, Wall of Stone, Stone to Flesh, et al are combined into Transmute Earth).  So, for my own reference, if for no one else's, I've compiled a list of D&D Rules Compendium spells and their DCC equivalents.

Clerical – Most abilities could be replicated with the Cleric class Divine Aid ability, if necessary.

1

Cure Light Wounds – (Clerical Lay on Hands ability)

Detect Evil – Detect Evil

Detect Magic – Detect Magic

Light – Darkness (This covers the reversed version at least.)

Protection from Evil – Protection from Evil

Purify Food and Water – Food of the Gods

Remove Fear – (possibly Word of Command, if “peace” or “courage” can be considered a valid command)

Resist Cold – Resist Cold or Heat

2

Bless – Blessing

Find Traps – Detect Evil

Hold Person – Paralysis and/or Cure Paralysis (for the reversed version)

Know Alignment – Second Sight (This doesn't allow direct knowledge of a person's alignment, but can possibly be used to figure it out.  Not a direct fit, but can be used in a pinch.)

Resist Fire – Resist Cold or Heat

Silence 15' Radius – Word of Command (SILENCE!)

Snake Charm – Snake Charm

Speak with Animal – Second Sight (Can't be used to give commands or whatnot, but in some cases the information gained by Second Sight might be communicated by animals from the area.  "Don't go that way!")

3

Continual Light – Darkness (Reversed version again)

Cure Blindness – Restore Vitality or Clerical Lay on Hands ability

Cure Disease – Neutralize Poison or Disease or Clerical Lay on Hands ability

Growth of Animal -

Locate Object – Second Sight (Again, depending on how it's used, Second Sight could be made to serve this spell's purpose)

Remove Curse – Remove Curse and/or Curse (for the reversed version)

Speak with the Dead – Speak with the Dead

Striking – Divine Symbol and/or Stinging Stone

4

Animate Dead – Animate Dead

Create Water – Food of the Gods

Cure Serious Wounds – (Clerical Lay on Hands ability)

Dispel Magic – Exorcise or Remove Curse

Neutralize Poison – Neutralize Poison or Disease

Protection from Evil 10' Radius – Protection from Evil

Speak with Plants – Second Sight (See Speak with Animal above)

Sticks to Snakes – Sticks to Snakes and/or Wood Wyrding

5

Commune – Second Sight

Create Food – Food of the Gods

Cure Critical Wounds – (Clerical Lay on Hands ability)

Dispel Evil – Banish, Exorcise, and/or Remove Curse

Insect Plague – Vermin Blight

Quest – Lotus Stare

Raise Dead – (not possible for the most part; however see DCC#74 Blades Against Death, or p 306 of the DCC rulebook)

Truesight – Detect Magic

6

Aerial Servant – Binding or Spiritual Weapon

Animate Objects – Spiritual Weapon

Barrier – Whirling Doom

Create Normal Animals -

Cureall – Neutralize Poison or Disease, Restore Vitality, or Clerical Lay on Hands ability

Find the Path – Second Sight

Speak with Monsters – Second Sight (See Speak with Animal above)

Word of Recall -

7

Earthquake – Cause Earthquake

Holy Word – Affliction of the Gods

Raise Dead Fully – (see Raise Dead above)

Restore – Restore Vitality

Survival – Weather Control or Resist Cold or Fire (These two spells don't cover as wide a variety of situations as Survival does, but gets you most of the way there.)

Travel -

Wish – (Clerical Divine Aid ability)

Wizardry -

DCC Cleric spells with no Rules Cyclopedia equivalent: Holy Sanctuary, Bolt from the Blue, True Name, Sanctify/Desecrate, Righteous Fire

Druid – Under RC rules, a druid can use any Cleric spell that does not affect alignments (such as Protection from Evil).  In addition, they have access to the following spells.

1

Detect Danger – Detect Evil

Faerie Fire -

Locate – Second Sight (See Locate Object above)

Predict Weather

2

Heat Metal

Obscure

Produce Fire

Warp Wood – Wood Wyrding

3

Call Lightning – Bolt from the Blue and/or Righteous Fire

Hold Animal – Paralysis

Protection from Poison

Water Breathing

4

Control Temperature 10' Radius – Weather Control

Plant Door

Protection from Lightning

Summon Animals

5

Anti-Plant Shell

Control Winds – Weather Control and/or Binding (for the control of air elementals aspect)

Dissolve

Pass Plant

6

Anti-Animal Shell

Summon Weather – Weather Control

Transport Through Plants

Turn Wood – Wood Wyrding

7

Creeping Doom – Vermin Blight

Metal to Wood

Summon Elemental – Binding (DCC doesn't seem to have a spell for elemental summoning, except maybe for the Wizard spell Demon Summoning.)

Weather Control – Weather Control

Magic-user

1

Analyze – Detect Magic

Charm Person – Charm Person

Detect Magic – Detect Magic

Floating Disc – Force Manipulation

Hold Portal – Ward Portal

Light – Cantrip or Wizard Staff

Magic Missile – Magic Missile

Protection from Evil -

Read Languages – Comprehend Languages

Read Magic – Read Magic

Shield – Force Manipulation and/or Magic Shield

Sleep – Sleep

Ventriloquism – Ventriloquism and/or Cantrip

2

Continual Light – Cantrip or Wizard Staff

Detect Evil – Detect Evil

Detect Invisible – Detect Invisible and/or Wizard Sense

Entangle – Ropework

ESP – ESP

Invisibility – Invisibility

Knock – Knock

Levitate – Levitate

Locate Object – Locate Object

Mirror Image – Mirror Image

Phantasmal Force – Phantasm

Web – Spider Web

Wizard Lock – Ward Portal

3

Clairvoyance – Wizard Sense

Create Air – Water Breathing (Create Air has some drawbacks and advantages that Water Breathing doesn't have, but this is the best fit.)

Dispel Magic – Dispel Magic

Fireball – Fireball

Fly – Fly

Haste – Haste and/or Slow

Hold Person – Paralysis

Infravision – Ekim's Mystical Mask

Invisibility 10' Radius – Invisibility

Lightning Bolt – Lightning Bolt

Protection from Evil 10' Radius – Protection from Evil

Protection from Normal Missiles – Force Manipulation 

Water Breathing – Water Breathing

4

Charm Monster – Charm Person

Clothform – Mending (Clothform has more uses than just repairing items, but this is the best fit.)

Confusion – Mind Purge

Dimension Door – Planar Step

Growth of Plants – Enlarge

Hallucinatory Terrain – Phantasm

Ice Storm/Wall of Ice – Chill Touch and/or Control Ice

Massmorph – Phantasm

Polymorph Other – Polymorph

Polymorph Self – Polymorph

Remove Curse -

Wall of Fire – Control Fire

Wizard Eye – Wizard Sense

5

Animate Dead – Binding (Assuming an undead spirit is not native to the material plane, as it belongs in some afterlife.  It doesn't really animate dead bodies, but can be used to take over undead spirits at the GM's discretion.)

Cloudkill – Choking Cloud

Conjure Elemental – Binding or Demon Summoning (Assuming elementals are a form of not-necessarily-evil demon.)

Contact Outer Plane – Consult Spirit

Dissolve – Transmute Earth

Feeblemind – Mind Purge

Hold Monster - Paralysis

Magic Jar – Transference

Passwall – Transmute Earth

Telekinesis – Ropework, Levitate, Gust of Wind, and/or Fly (A lot of spells have some sort of "distance manipulation" component, but no DCC spells have the versatility of Telekinesis.)

Teleport – Planar Step

Wall of Stone – Transmute Earth

Woodform – Mending (See Clothform above)

6

Anti-Magic Shell – Magic Bulwark

Death Spell – Emirikol's Entropic Maelstrom

Disintegrate – Emirikol's Entropic Maelstrom

Geas -

Invisible Stalker – Invisible Companion, Eldritch Hound, or Lokerimon's Unerring Hunter

Lower Water -

Move Earth – Transmute Earth

Projected Image – Replication

Reincarnation – Replication

Stone to Flesh – Turn to Stone and/or Transmute Earth

Stoneform – Transmute Earth and/or Mending

Wall of Iron – Transmute Earth

Weather Control –

7

Charm Plant – Charm Person

Create Normal Monsters – Animal Summoning or Monster Summoning

Delayed Blast Fireball – Fireball (No delayed aspect, but this is the best fit.)

Ironform – Mending (See Clothform above)

Lore – Detect Magic and/or Locate Object

Magic Door – Planar Step and/or Ward Portal

Mass Invisibility – Invisibility

Power Word: Stun – Slow (This is the closest fit.)

Reverse Gravity -

Statue – Transmute Earth

Summon Object – Planar Step (best fit)

Sword -

Teleport Any Object – Planar Step

8

Clone – Replication

Create Magical Monsters – Animal Summoning or Monster Summoning

Dance -

Explosive Cloud – Choking Cloud

Force Field – Force Manipulation

Mass Charm – Charm Person

Mind Barrier – Magic Bulwark (best fit)

Permanence – (Most applicable spells have a permanence aspect at higher levels of effect.)

Polymorph Any Object – Polymorph

Power Word: Blind -

Steelform – Mending (See Steelform above)

Symbol – Runic Alphabet, Mortal and/or Runic Alphabet, Fey

Travel – Planar Step

9

Contingency -

Create Any Monster – Animal Summoning, Monster Summoning, or Demon Summoning

Gate – Planar Step (best fit)

Heal -

Immunity – Magic Bulwark

Maze – Planar Step (best fit)

Meteor Swarm – Fireball and/or Magic Missile

Power Word: Kill -

Prismatic Wall – Force Manipulation (best fit)

Shapechange – Polymorph

Survival -

Timestop -

Wish -

Patron spells not considered. DCC spells with no RC equivalent: Feather Fall, Find Familiar, Flaming Hands, Invoke Patron, Patron Bond, Arcane Affinity, Fire Resistance, Forget, Nythuul's Porcupine Coat, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scare, Scorching Ray, Shatter, Strength, Breathe Life, Eternal Champion, Make Potion, Sword Magic, Write Magic, Lokerimon's Orderly Assistance, Hepsoj's Fecund Fungi