Back to Basics!

So, the new game started a few months back has been on hold. Adult-life scheduling issues keep getting in the way. But that has not stalled my gaming altogether.

I have started working on a severely hacked... to the bone... version of D&D for a gang of six and seven year olds. They are friends of my daughter. She has played before and has had no problem getting into the game in my BX/LL game. The problem is that I need about six young girls to smoothly roll up their PCs and get down to it quickly without too much trouble. More to come about this in the next week as I nail down a few final details. But, spoiler alert, we are starting with the classic B2 Keep on the Borderlands. After I get the girls going we are going to shift to a very West Marches style of play in which the girls do a round robin, player agency thing. The girls will tell me what they are doing during the next session: point out a location on the map and fill in some general details about what's there (monsters, traps, etc.). They will provide the skeleton and I will flesh it out between sessions.

A new gang of adventurers approach the Wilds of the Borderlands

Next, on to magic. After much reading and internal debate, I have zeroed in on the new method which I will use to handle arcane magic in my regular BX/LL game. I am splitting the difference between the classic methods of the ancient mages who memorized and cast formulae from bundles of scrolls and stacks of books, and the newly rediscovered tradition of bending the chaos of sorcery to one's will, involving inherent risks which could put the sorcerer in great danger, possibly even compromising the caster's body and soul until the beginning of the next cosmic age. That's the neo-vancian piece.

As part of an integration of d6 adventuring skills (LotFP and Gus) I am also introducing d6 cantrips. This will give magic-users a little bit more adventuring skill while keeping them magical and spooky.

So, I am calling it a neo-vancian and d6 magic system. I am also pulling together some down-and-dirty spell research, scroll scribing, and dueling rules to port into my game. Just like my D&D Junior game (above), more will follow on this.