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The Mystara’s generator of (almost) everything

by Francesco Defferrari from Threshold Magazine issue 28

Tables to create almost any Mystara PC, NPC, story and adventure!

Part 3: Scenery

Introduction

The purpose of this series is to provide inspiration for more Mystara stories and adventures. The first part, dedicated to Characters and Plots generation, has been published in THRESHOLD Magazine issue #26 http://pandius.com/Threshold_26.pdf (html format here: http://pandius.com/strygen1.html and then the second one in THRESHOLD Magazine issue #27 http://pandius.com/Threshold_27.pdf (html format here: http://pandius.com/strygen2.html).

As said in the previous installments of this short series of articles, the protagonist(s) does not exist in a void. There is scenery around her/them, a world made of locations, other people, animals and monsters. Randomly selecting such things could automatically create a plot, but the scenery ideas can be used to greatly enrich it as much as the DM desires.
The first part in issue #26 was dedicated to the creation of characters, either PCs or NPCs, and stories, from simple events to complex adventures. The second part in issue #27 was dedicated to encounters, from monsters to common animals.
This third part will instead be dedicated to the environment around the characters and their stories, the so many things which can exist and happen around them, enriching the game world and the adventures to live in it. So this time we will address Time, Calendar and Holidays, Weather and Climate, then Travel, Roads and Transport, including Flying, Trade, Prices and Currencies, Dominions and Disasters, War, Sieges and Armies, and finally a Random generator of towns and villages and adventurers. All are important subjects to add color to a game world. Some of the tables below are derived from the “Rules Cyclopedia”1 and other canon products, as indicated in each description but many have been heavily modified depending on the result I wanted to achieve.

Times and Ages

Time could be considered the first and foremost environmental element. Why not something from the past? From Blackmoor to the “Hollow World” boxed set and the more recent fan creations, the past of Mystara has been described enough that it is relatively easy to play into it. Your definitive guides here are THRESHOLD Magazine issue #12 http://pandius.com/thrs_mag.html#12 and the History section in the Vaults of Pandius http://pandius.com/history.html.
To randomly generate a timeframe in which to place a story, legend or the origin of a item or location, a simple table such as this one could be used:

Table 1: Times and ages

1d10 Roll

Time2

1

Recent years, i.e. since AC 990, the Known World as we know it.

2

From 10 to 50 years ago, i.e. AC 951–990, modern nations formed.

3

From 50 to 200 years ago, i.e. AC 801–950 AC, with modern nations still forming.

4

From 200 to 1,000 years ago, AC 0–800, Thyatian Empire.

5

From 1,000 to 2,000 years ago, BC 1,000–1, Alphatians and Nithians, Oenkmar.

6

2,000 to 4,000 years ago, BC 3,000–1,001, after the Great Rain of Fire, Taymora, Rockhome, humanoid invasions.

7

4,000 to 6,000 years ago, BC 5,000–3,001, Oltecs, Blackmoor.

8

6,000 to 11,000 years ago, BC 10,000–5,001, first human civilizations and migrations, Lhomarr, Carnifex of Y’hog, Serpentines.

9

11,000 to 51,000 years ago, BC 50,000–10,001, rakasta and lupins’ migrations, giants, brute men, reptilian civilizations.

10

Before BC 50,000, remote and lost civilizations, such as elementals, fairies, dragons, insects, amphibians and others3.



Calendar and holidays

Most Gazetteers have calendars and holidays of each Known World nation and culture. The “Poor Wizard’s Almanac” series have the calendar too, including moon phases and local names for the months and days in Thyatis, Alphatia, Ethengar, the Shires, Rockhome, Sind, Ylaruam, Minrothad and Shadow Elves’ lands. TM2: “The Eastern Countries Trail Map” also has a table of the Moon Appearances over Thyatis and TM1: “The Western Countries Trail Map” has a Solar Time table. The Almanacs also have descriptions of the holidays of the Known World. Curiously enough, these holidays have major ‘holes’, as there are no festivals for Alfheim and elves, Ylaruam, the Savage Baronies and the Broken Lands, and no list of the days sacred to the Immortals. Years ago I decided to fill these gaps, creating some of the missing holidays here in the Vaults: http://pandius.com/kwschols.html. In more detail, here are the Savage Baronies holidays http://pandius.com/sbholday.html, Ylari holidays http://pandius.com/ylarihol.html, elven holidays http://pandius.com/elfhol.html, humanoid holidays http://pandius.com/noidhol.html and Immortals days http://pandius.com/imm_days.html. I am not the only one who has added calendars to Mystara, as there is also the Hulean Calendar by Christian Constantin http://pandius.com/hulclndr.html, the Milenian Calendar by Michael Ray Johnson http://pandius.com/mil_caln.html, the Hollow Moon Calendar by Sharon Dornhoff http://pandius.com/calendar.html, the Pelatan holidays I created in Davania http://pandius.com/pelatsoc.html, Dwarven Timekeeping by Bruce Heard http://pandius.com/dwartime.html and more in the Vaults!

HWR2: “Kingdom of Nithia” does not have a calendar or holidays, which is a shame as the ancient Egyptian calendar and holidays were very interesting. A simplified Nithian calendar could be:
Akhet, season of Inundation: first, second, third and fourth month, corresponding to Sviftmont to Nuwmont, months when the river rises.
Peret, season of Emergence: fifth to eighth month, when the fertile land emerges from the river and planting is done, corresponding to the months from Vatermont to Yarthmont.
Shemu, season of Harvest: ninth to twelfth month, when the river is low, corresponding to the months from Klarmont to Ambyrmont.
And the holidays are now included in the list below.
Immortals’ days are ‘global’, i.e. followed all over Mystara, at least among the faithful of that specific Immortal, and highlighted in bold in the list below. Note only the main Immortals are listed, as Mystara has many more (see the Immortal Rules boxed set, “Wrath of the Immortals” boxed set or “Codex Immortalis” by Marco Dalmonte http://pandius.com/codeximm.html.

Holidays and festivals of the world

The list below combines all the holidays indicated in the sources above plus more new ones inspired by real ones from around the world, which can be used for the regions not included in the calendars above and for the Hollow Word. The sequence of months is the same of the Thyatian calendar and many other Known World calendars (i.e. 1st month is Nuwmont).

1/1 New year’s Day (Thyatis, Glantri, Aengmor, Minrothad, Ierendi, Savage Baronies, elves, Wendar, Northern Reaches, Darokin, Karameikos, Heldann) Wintergifting (Five Shires) Good Sprite Day (Erewan of Glantri) Coldsnow, middle winter (Humanoids) Odin Day
1–7/1 Winter festival (Ethengar)
2/1 Benekander Day4
10/1 Victory Day (Ylaruam) Day of Martyrs and Heroes (Hule, Yezchamenid Empire)
13/1 Great Banquet (Pelatan)
21/1 Masquerade festival (Skothar)

1–3/2 Spring and Lights Festival (Skothar)
1/2 Bonfire festival (Yezchamenid Empire)
10/2 Feast of the Silver Purge (Minrothad) Ruadhiri Day
11/2 Justice Day (Pelatan)
12/2 Festival of Eternity (Nithia)
18/2 Monsters’ fair (Glantri)
21/2 The Drowning (Pearl Islands) Korotiku Day
23/2 Start of the shipping season (Thyatis, Savage Baronies) Chancellor’s Day (Darokin)
24/2 Scarlet Day (Yezchamenid Empire)
25/2 Cakes festival (Zuyevo)
28/2 Festival of Lights (Sind)

1/3 New year’s Day (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn, Norwold, Rockhome, dwarves, Yezchamenid Empire) First Day of Spring (Thyatis, elves, Savage Baronies, Atruaghin) Start of Shipping season (Karameikos) The Discovery (Aengmor and Shadow Elves) First raid Day (humanoids) Rabi Al-Awwal (Ylaruam) Hosadus Day (Hule) Colors festival (Skothar) Frey and Freya Day
1–7/3 The Rebirth (Ierendi)
1–8/3 Dance of Serpents (Bear clan, Atruaghin)
3/3 Thor Day
7/3 Atruaghin Day (Atruaghin) Landfall Day (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn, Norwold) Alphatia Day Atruaghin Day
8/3 Alphaks Day
9/3 Day of Silence (Skothar)
12/3 Eyrindul Day
8–14/3 Spring break (Glantri, elves, Wendar)
14/3 Caravan Day (Rockhome)
15/3 Buffalo hunt (Horse clan, Atruaghin) Opening Day (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn, Norwold, Karameikos) White Horse Ceremony (Ethengar)
25–28/3 Arcanium fair (Glantri)
26/3 Reindeer Festival (North Brun)
28/3 Day of the Dead (Karameikos) Day of Irresponsibility (Sind) Khoronus Day

1/4 New year’s Day (Ylaruam, Sind) Day of adulthood (Thyatis) First Day of Spring (Ethengar) Worship of the Sun (Pelatan) Ordana Day Faunus Day
2/4 Djaea Day Terra Day
3/4 Parliament Day (Glantri)
7/4 Arrangements Day (Rockhome)
8–13/4 Music Festival (Tanagoro lands)
10/4 Merchant Prince Day (Minrothad)
12/4 Winter’s end Festival (elves)
13/4 First Day of Crystals (Shadow Elves) Empress Eriadna’s birthday (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn, Norwold) Water fight Day (Skothar)
15/4 The Day of Blessing (Ethengar) Emperor’s birthday (Azcan) Thunder Day (Children of the Elk, Atruaghin) Holy Marriage of Halav and Petra (Milenia)
16/4 The Day of Partings (Ethengar) Firstflowering (Five Shires)
20/4 Parade Day (Glantri)
21/4 Darokin Masked Ball (Darokin) Asterius Day
22/4 Birthday of Thincol (Thyatis)

1/5 Day of Magic (Alphatia) Cattle Count or Tax Day (Nithia) Razud Day
5/5 Food Preparation Day (Pelatan)
9/5 Day of Births (elves, Aengmor)
10/5 Pflarr Day
14/5 Gondola Games (Glantri)
15/5 Howling Day (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn) Day of Birth Blessings (Ethengar)
21/5 Kagyar Day
21–27/5 Clerics’ Forum (Rockhome)
27/5 Minrothad Day (Minrothad) Garal Day Minroth Day
28/5 The Day of Colored Dress (Pearl islands and Sea Kingdoms)

1/6 Summer solstice (elves) Patshatl (Turtle clan, Atruaghin) Freedom Day and Crown Tourney (Ierendi) Day of the Straw Men (Karameikos) Light Day (humanoids) Ilsundal Day
1–7/6 The Thing (Soderfjord)
1/6 Bozdogan Day (Hule)
7/6 Weddings Day (Rockhome)
7–13/6 Tlachtli tournament (Azcan lands)
12/6 Mawlid an Nabi (Ylaruam) Al-Kalim Day
12/6 The Rejection (Aengmor and Shadow Elves)
14/6 Tarastia Day
15/6 Night of the Red Moon (Glantri) Night of the Moon (elves)
13/6 Daraxi tournament (Viper clan, Atruaghin)
13–21/6 Day of Duels (Savage Baronies)
15/6 Buffalo hunt (Horse clan, Atruaghin)
15–21/6 Days of the Hoof (Thyatis)
21–27/6 Sun Festival (Oltec lands)
21/6 Day of Music (Pearl islands and Sea Kingdoms)
22/6 The Unsheathing (Five Shires)
22–28/6 Maize Festival (Azcan lands)
28/6 Night of Fire (Karameikos, Flaems and Boldavians of Glantri) Rathanos Day

1/7 Beasts’ Day (Karameikos) Festival of the Valley of the Dead (Nithia) Halav, Petra and Zirchev Day
1/7 Holy men Day (Hule)
6/7 Vanya’s dance (Heldann, Thyatis)
12/7 Talitha Day
13/7 Countries and Cultures Festival5 (Tanagoro lands, Sea Kingdoms)
14/7 Feria de Toros (Belcadiz of Glantri, Savage Baronies) The Cornerstone (Aengmor and Shadow Elves) Rafiel Day
15/7 Day of Valerias (Thyatis, Karameikos, Darokin, Ierendi), Flowers’ Festival (Savage Baronies) Highsummer Festival (elves) Doggerel Days (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn) The Gathering (Ethengar)
15–28/7 Highsummer (Five Shires)
16/7 Battle of Sardal Pass (Rockhome)
17/7 Feast of the Snakes (Sind) Dragons’ immortals and Ka Day
22–28/7 Green Corn Festival (Atruaghin) The Games (Milenia)
25/7 Beggars’ hope (Glantri) Quests Day (Pelatan)
27/7 Summer Celebration Day (elves) All’s Reckless Day (Minrothad) Dia de la Siesta (Savage Baronies) Lailat al Miraj (Ylaruam)

1/8 Day of Heroes (Five Shires) Temple of Chaos Day (Hule)
9/8 Ack-Ack Day (Serraine)
13/8 Darokin Day (Darokin)
15/8 Laylat Al-Baraa (Ylaruam) Vyonnes Carnival (Averoigne, Glantri)
22–28/8 Great Horse Fair (Ethengar)
24/8 Sea Festival (Pearl Islands and Sea Kingdoms)
24–28/8 The Calming of the Sea (Sind)
28/8 Pharaoh Festival (Nithia)

1/9 Harvest Day (elves) Berry Day (humanoids) Ancestors’ Day (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn, Norwold) First Day of Riding (Ethengar) Light Day (Yezchamenid Empire)
1–2/9 Celebration of the Sea (Ierendi) Freedom Days (Serraine)
1–7/9 Sharing week and tax week (Hule)
1–12/9 The Fast and the Feast (Five Shires)
1–28/9 Ramadan (Ylaruam)
3/9 Showing Day (Rockhome)
14/9 Tricks Day (Pelatan)
15/9 Buffalo hunt (Horse clan, Atruaghin)
17/9 Mealiden Day (elves) Mustering Day (Aengmor and Shadow Elves)
19–22/9 Four Sacred Days (Pelatan)
21/9 Day of the Young Maiden (Pelatan)
23/9 Marriage Festival (Tanagoro lands)
27/9 Day of the Last Sun (elves) Bask Day (Minrothad) Lailat al Qadr (Ylaruam)
28/9 Sleep of Fools (Milenia)

1/10 Blood Day (humanoids, i.e. the holy day of all humanoids immortals, excluding Hel)
1–3/10 ’Id al Fitr (Ylaruam)
2/10 Affection Festival (Yezchamenid Empire)
3/10 Birth of Dandin (Sind) Palartarkan Day
6/10 New year’s Day (Ethengar) Best wishes of Krondahar (Krondahar, Glantri)
8/10 Vanya’s Day (Thyatis, Savage Baronies, Heldann)
8–15/10 Wine Festival (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn)
13/10 Birthday of Tarasfir (Aengmor and Shadow Elves)
15/10 Raising the Walls (Glantri)
17/10 Pilgrimage Day (Azcan lands)
23/10 Day of Counting (Ethengar)
24/10 Day of Naming and Welcoming (Ethengar)
28/10 Serpent Day (humanoids) King Stefan’s Birthday (Karameikos) Dia de los Muertos (Savage Baronies) Atzanteotl Day

1/11 Dark Day (humanoids) Cretia Day (Ethengar) Day of the Dead (Azcan lands) Inundation Day (Nithia) Hel Day
5/11 Necromantia (Klantyre, Glantri) Thanatos Day
6/11 Harvest Day (Darokin)
7/11 Boat Carnival (Tanagoro lands)
8/11 Crafts & Guilds Day (Serraine)
15/11 Night of Spirits (Ethengar) Caravan Day (Rockhome) Lanterns and Fireballs Day (Skothar) Great canoes race (Skothar) Nyx Day
16/11 Resolution Day (Sind)
17/11 Mahahiki Festival (Makai, Ierendi, Sea Kingdoms) New Plants Festival (Pelatan)
22/11 Protius Day, end of the shipping season (Thyatis, Savage Baronies) The Reaping (Five Shires)

1/12 Ixion Day, first day of winter Farewell to the Sun (elves, Thyatis, Savage Baronies) Lair Day (humanoids) 1–3/12 Days of Right (Ierendi)
2/12 Animal Day (Sind) Koryis Day
10–14/12 ’Id al Adha (Ylaruam)
14–15/12 Ice Games (Glantri)
15/12 Snow Day (elves) Closing Day (Alphatia, Bellissaria, Isle of Dawn) Blessing of the Golden Khan (Ethengar) Boldavian procession (Boldavia, Glantri) Diulanna Day
15–21/12 Footman’s Games (Thyatis)
17–23/12 Banquets week (Milenia)
22/12 Soyal (Children of the Bear, Atruaghin) Masauwu Day
23–28/12 Midwinter Festival (Minrothad)
25/12 Midwinter Festival (elves)
27/12 Day of Law (Ethengar) Alexander Day (Glantri) Rad Day
28/12 Year’s End Feast (elves, Aengmor and Shadow Elves) End of the Year (Thyatis, Karameikos, Darokin, Five Shires, Ierendi, Savage Baronies) Hiding from Year’s End (Heldann, Northern Reaches, Norwold) Bells of Fate (Glantri) Loki Day

Weather and Climate

It is a favorite topic of small talk and it certainly should be present in all adventures as either a plot device or background color. The general climate of Mystara is described in some canon products. The Poor Wizard’s Almanac II has a Climate & Geography section on pages 170–172 with major mountains, rivers and cities of the Known World, time zones, average seasonal temperatures, sunrise and sunset. The Poor Wizard’s Almanac III has extensive Weather Predictions for the year AC 1,012 on pages 121–127, which could be basically used for other years, and the Hollow World shadowfalls of the Floating continents on pages 129–132. Similar tables appeared first in TM1: “The Western Countries Trail Map”, mostly focused on travel (see also below): Main Weather Chart, Checking the Weather, Wind Variations, Highest Mountains, Dominant Winds and Sea Currents.
An extensive Weather generator focused on sea voyages is also present in GAZ9: “The Minrothad Guilds” on pages 36–40 of the DM’s guide and one focused on skyships in on page 27 of the Designer’s Manual of the “Champions of Mystara” boxed set (with Aerial encounters on page 28).
A detailed treatment of the climate of Brun has been also described more recently by Mystara author Bruce Heard on his blog https://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2012/12/BrunClimate.html.
Robin also recently created a DM and PCs’ weather screen which can be found here in the Vaults: http://pandius.com/mystwthr.html.
A simplified way to generate weather could be as per the table below, inspired by the one on page 90 of the “Rules Cyclopedia” dedicated to Water movement (see below in Travel and Roads).

Table 2: Weather

1d20 roll

Weather

Effect in play

1–11

Good climate for the place and season, i.e. sunny or slightly cloudy, pleasant. Favorable to travel by foot, horse or carriage. Good wind at sea.

Normal movement

12–16

Mildly unpleasant weather, i.e. windy, rainy or cold in cold climates, or light snow, or heavy sun or humidity in warmer climates. Weak wind at sea.

Movement reduced to 2/3

17–19

Very unpleasant weather, i.e. strong winds, heavy rain or snow, extreme heat or sandstorm. Gale at sea.

Movement reduced to half or less. Ships have 25% chance of heavy damage, run ashore or sinking. Flying or sailing ships will take a 1d8 random direction in the compass rose.

20

Extreme, unnatural weather, with flood or avalanche or tornado, whirlpool, tsunami or landslide.

Movement impossible, all PCs make a saving throw vs death or suffer 6d6 hp of damage. At sea or flying, the ship is sunk or heavily damaged and moves in a random direction.


In HWR2: “Kingdom of Nithia” there are rules on page 33 of the DM’s Guide about Heat exhaustion. As I am not aware of similar rules concerning cold, which are present in other editions of D&D, they could be used for any weather condition of extreme heat or extreme cold, or any other which could endanger normal body activities and functions.
Similar to the rule in HWR2, all PCs should make a roll under certain conditions:

Extreme heat condition triggers

Fighting or running or other extreme efforts for 10 rounds
Walking with armor or encumbered, working, or no drinking water for 4 hours
Walking with armor or encumbered or working and no drinking water for 1 hour

Extreme cold condition triggers

Out in the open naked or with very light clothes for more than 10 rounds
Out in the open with extreme cold, heavy snow or wind for more than 4 hours (unless PC has exceptional clothes or magical protection)
In the water or flying with low temperatures for more than 1 hour (unless protected as above)

Any time that the above conditions apply, a PC should make a d20 roll adjusting the die by the Constitution bonus or penalty, and adding a -1 for each previously done check, with the following result:

Table 3: Dangers of Extreme Climate

1d20 roll

Effect

1

PC dies

2–5

PC passes out and dies in 1d4 hours if not rescued

6–8

PC is delirious for 1d12 rounds then, if not helped, collapses and dies in 1d6 hours if not rescued

9–11

PC suffers 3d12 hp of damage

12–14

PC suffers 1d12 hp of damage

15–18

PC suffers 1d6 hp of damage

19–20

PC resists the effects of heat or cold, for now



Travel, roads, mounts and vehicles

Travel is obviously a major part of adventure. Land, water and aerial travel are described from page 88 of the “Rules Cyclopedia”, including a Terrain effects on Movement table, a Travelling Rates by Terrain table and a Water Movement Modification Table which takes into account the winds while sailing. TM1: “The Western Countries Trail Map” has Trails and Roads Conditions, Major Navigable Rivers and Travelling Rates (by traveling mode).
Using some of the data above, here is a basic table with travelling speeds by different means. The table below takes into consideration anything which can increase travelling speed, but Tables 2 and 7 (Weather and Obstacles) should instead be considered for circumstances which can decrease the travelling speed.
In the table below I have reduced the maximum distances a PC on foot can travel in a day because I find it unrealistic for someone who has baggage and has to travel normal roads. Even if an unencumbered and trained person can certainly cover 48 miles in a day, on a plain road, that is not really representative of what should be the average walking pace of a group of adventurers. The “Rules Cyclopedia” table has also a ‘desert’ terrain which I have ignored because desert does not mean much. There are in fact sandy deserts, rocky deserts, plain deserts and hilly deserts, with completely different travel conditions. In general I’ve simplified all the travelling speeds on foot, carriage and common riding animals. Flying mounts’ speeds come from the “Dawn of the Emperors” boxed set, page 26 of Book 2, Player’s Guide to Thyatis. Flying ships speeds are from the “Champions of Mystara” boxed set.

Table 4: Combined Travelling speeds

Travelling mean

Miles per day

Kms per day

Flying ship with magic or Princess Ark’s maximum speed

240

386

Flying ship with strong wind

180

290

Roc, pegasus

144

232

Flying ship, normal speed, giant eagle

120

193

Huge dragon, griffon, hippogriff, sphinx, fly spell

108

174

Large dragon, flying carpet

90

145

Small dragon, flying broom, drolem, flapsails, skinwing

72

116

Sailing ship with very strong wind

135

217

Sailing ship with good wind, normal speed

90

145

Galley, large sailing ship, sailing boat, normal speed

72

116

River boat, canoe or raft down a river

36

58

Canoe, arm powered, in lake or calm waters

18

29

Raft, arm powered, in calm sea or waters

12

19

PC on fast horses, changing at least three horses in a day, on road

72

116

Running PC, no encumbrance, on road

48

77

Unencumbered man on foot, carrying less than 10 lbs (5 kgs), on road

36

58

PCs riding horse, donkey, mule, camel, elephant or similar on road (becomes 24 in hills, 12 in mountains, 6 in uncharted/trackless wilderlands), or Rockhome lizard

36

58

PCs on foot, carrying 10–40 lbs (5–18 kgs), i.e. with light armor, on road (becomes 16 in hills, 8 in mountains, 4 in uncharted/trackless wilderlands)

24

39

Draft horse with light carriage on road (becomes 14 in clear terrain, 12 in hills, 8 in mountains)

18

29

PCs on foot carrying 42–80 lbs (19–26 kgs), i.e. with normal armor, on road (becomes 12 in hills, 6 in mountains, 4 in uncharted/trackless wilderlands)

16

26

Ox with wagon or caravan on road (becomes 12 in clear terrain, 10 in hills, 8 in mountains), or giant slug in the Shadowdeep

16

26

PCs with 82–120 lbs (27–54 kgs) i.e heavy armor and equipment, on road (becomes 8 in clear terrain, 6 in hills, 4 in mountains and uncharted/trackless territory)

12

19



In the “Rules Cyclopedia” troops can be moved at 50% more speed with forced marches. The same could probably be done by any walking or flying creature. Troops are fatigued after a forced march and move slower the next day. I would allow PCs the use of forced march to cover a greater distance in a single day, but not for more than one day. So for example a basic PC on foot carrying a maximum of 40 lbs may be able to walk up to 36 miles a day (instead of 24) by road, but then he will have to rest a full day or the next day will be able to walk only 12 miles. With this rule, it would be useless to attempt a forced march for two days in a row but the march could still be useful to reach a specific location in a single day.

Table 5: Carrying capacity of mounts and creatures

The “Rules Cyclopedia” uses the coin weight (1/10 of a pound) to measure weight and encumbrance, but in the table below I decided to use lbs and kgs as in the Travelling speeds table above, considering only weight for simplicity. The first column indicates the maximum weight a PC or mount can walk at normal speed (the one in the table above). The second column indicates instead the maximum weight a PC can walk at half speed, and the third at ¼ speed. Beyond that encumbrance, a mount will not move, as indicated on page 68 of the “Rules Cyclopedia”, and several flying creatures with even minor encumbrance, as indicated below. The full Character Movement Rates and Encumbrance Table is instead on page 88. An intelligent creature, or a very well trained mount, could still walk at ⅛ its speed up to the double of its half speed carrying capacity (so 240 lbs/109 kgs for average humans), but likely only for short tracts. Considering weightlifting world records, it could be ruled that the double of the maximum can be pushed or pulled or even lifted with the appropriate posture, but only ‘on the spot’, for example to free someone who is trapped under something. This means an ‘average’ human can push away up to 480 lbs (218 kgs) and a character with 19 strength can push or pull up to 1,080 lbs (490 kgs), a bit more than the current world record of 1,067 lbs (which however is the result of modern training).
I have included in the table below most of the creatures which could be used as mounts or carriers, but not all the intelligent ones, such as djinni, efreeti and nuckalavee, which are IMO less likely to perform such tasks. There are no carrying capacity variations in BECMI D&D for strength, but fans have obviously desumed such values from other rules or D&D editions6. I propose mine in the table below, especially to include giants. The weight of the boulders thrown by giants should be the values in the first column.
Even if in the canon rules there are no further penalties beyond reduced speed for carrying heavy loads for extended times, I would rule that the weight in the second column should be carried for only limited times, i.e. probably not more than a day, and the weight in the third column for much less, probably less than a hour, before the carrier must rest. So only the first column should actually be the ‘normal’ carrying capacity. The “Dawn of the Emperors” boxed set in the “Players’ Guide to Thyatis” has another Flying Mounts chart on page 27 with the carry weight of several flying creatures and devices, where indeed only the values of the first column are considered as normal carrying capacity.

Creature

Lbs/Kgs max. at full speed

Lbs/Kgs max. half speed

Lbs/kgs max. ¼ speed

Kobold, goblin, halfling7 (strength 6–8)

20/9

60/27

80/36

Human-sized with normal strength (9–12)

40/18

120/54

160/73

Bugbear or gnoll (strength 13–15)

50/23

150/68

190/86

Minotaur (strength 16–17)

60/27

180/82

220/100

Ogre or troll (strength 18)

70/32

210/95

250/113

Hill giant8 (strength 19)

90/41

270/122

320/145

Stone giant (strength 20)

110/50

330/150

390/177

Frost giant (strength 21)

130/59

390/177

460/209

Fire giant (strength 22)

150/68

450/204

530/240

Cloud giant (strength 23)

170/77

510/231

600/272

Storm giant (strength 24)

190/86

570/259

670/304

Human-sized (pulling, Gaz 11)

100/45

200/91

300/136

Ogre or troll (strength 18) pulling

160/73

320/145

480/218

Hill giant, pulling

200/91

400/181

600/272

Draft horse (on back) or mule or camel (pulling)

450/204

900/408

1,350/612 (pulling only)

Riding horse (pulling) or ox (on back)

500/227

1,000/454

1,500/680 (pulling only)

Draft horse (pulling)

750/340

1,500/680

2,250/1,021

Ox (pulling)

1,000/454

2,000/907

3,000/1,361

Normal horse, mule, donkey, camel, great boar, centaur (on back)

300/136

600/272

(Does not move)9

Small horse, pony, unicorn (on back)

200/91

400/181

(Does not move)

Elephant (on back)

900/408

1,800/816

(Does not move)

Elephant (pulling)

1,500/680

3,000/1,361

4,500/2,041

Wolf, dire10

100/45

200/91

(Does not move)

Giant lizard, tuatara11

300/136

600/272

(Does not move)

Lizard, Rockhome

400/181

800/363

(Does not move)

Triceratops

1,000/454

2,000/907

(Does not move)

Dolphin

150/68

300/136

(Does not move)

Manta ray (PC3 p.37)

200/91

400/181

(Does not move)

Sea horse, war (PC3 p.37)

300/136

600/272

(Does not move)

Sea horse, draft (PC3 p.37)

450/204

900/408

(Does not move)

Hellhound, 7 HD (max.)

175/79

350/159

(Does not move)

Golem, wood12

100/45

200/91

300/136

Golem, bronze

1,000/454

2,000/907

3,000/1,361

Elemental, conjured, 16 HD

800/363

1,600/726

2,400/1,089

Aerial servant

500/227

1,000/454

1,500/680

Pegasus, manticore, hippogriff

300/136

600/272

(Refuses to fly13)

Griffon, wyvern

350/159

700/318

(Refuses to fly)

Chimera

450/204

900/408

(Refuses to fly)

Pterosaur, large

400/181

800/363

(Refuses to fly)

Hsiao, 10 HD14

250/113

500/227

(Refuses to fly)

Harpy

100/45

200/91

(Refuses to fly)

Gargoyle

200/91

400/181

600/272

Gargoyle, Gargantua

1,600/726

3,200/1,451

4,800/2,177

Skinwing, Shadowdeep

175/79

(Refuses to fly15)

(Refuses to fly)

Skinwing, Savage Coast 7 HD

210/95

420/191

(Refuses to fly)

Small white dragon16, sphinx

600/272

1,200/544

(Refuses to fly)

Large green dragon

1,200/544

2,400/1,088

(Refuses to fly)

Huge gold dragon

2,200/998

4,400/1,996

(Refuses to fly)

Drolem

2,000/907

4,000/1,814

6,000/2,722

Roc, giant17

3,600/1,633

7,200/3,266

(Refuses to fly)



Table 6: Carrying capacities of gear and vehicles

Capacity of containers, carriages and vehicles, again considering only weight for simplicity.

Container or carriage

Lbs

Kgs

Small sack

20

9

Large sack

60

27

Backpack

40

18

Saddle

20

9

Saddle bags

80

36

Mule cart (Gaz 11)

400

181

Cart with 2 wheels (two draft horses or oxes, half with one)

800

363

Wagon with 4 wheels (two draft horses of oxes, half with one)

2,500

1,134

Medium wagon (Gaz 11)

4,000

1,814

Large wagon (Gaz 11)

6,000

2,722

Canoe

600

272

Raft, small underwater boat (PC3 p.37)

1,000

454

Sailing boat or sailing canoe with outrigger

2,000

907

River boat, small galley, longship

4,000

1,814

Large galley

6,000

2,722

War galley

8,000

3,629

Small sailing ship

10,000

4,536

Large underwater boat (PC3 p.37)

20,000

9,072

Large sailing ship

30,000

13,608

Troop transport sailing ship

60,000

27,216

Flying broom

400

181

Flying carpet

600

272

Elven Swan Ship (CoM)

2,000

907

Oberack’s Dragons Prow Longship (CoM)

8,000

3,629

Oostdok Airship (CoM)

10,000

4,536

Heldannic Light Warbird, Azlum Swith’s Geodome Airship (CoM)

20,000

9,072

Flying Barge of Sayr-Ulan (CoM)

24,000

10,886

Alphatian Flying Yacht (CoM)

30,000

13,608

Princess Ark, Alphatian Man-o-War (CoM)

32,000

14,515



On pages 19–30 of the DM’s book in GAZ13: “The Shadow Elves” there is a very simple table for Travel Obstacles which I have modified below. The probability of encountering such an obstacle should be decided by the DM, or could be 10% for each journey or part of it.

Table 7: Travel Obstacles

1d10 roll

Effect

1–5

Minor obstacle, slows travel time, i.e. -1d10 miles for the day up to 25% of the miles per day. Examples could be: landslide or rockfall blocking a path, big herd of herbivores, overgrown vegetation, fog, debris, rocks or shallows in rivers and at sea.

6–9

Serious obstacle delays travel, i.e. -1d20 miles for the day up to 50% of the miles per day. Examples could be: big avalanche, landslide or collapse, or major numbers of wild creatures/monsters, or minor earthquake, flooded area or forest fire. Something forcing PCs to go back or make an ample detour.

10

Major obstacle completely prevents travel along that route, forcing the PCs to wait at least a day or take another one. Could be anything, such as a passing army, a major migration of wild animals, a flow of lava, a very big landslide, a persistent fog.



Trade by land and sea

Trade is part of everyday life in all the communities of the game world. The first canon product to address this aspect is GAZ9: “The Minrothad Guilds” from page 23 of the DM’s book, with cargo capacities and food storage of various ships, their construction costs, and how the PCs could engage in Speculative Trade, with a supply and demand table. Gazetteer 9 also has tables for sailing, weather and sea encounters.
GAZ11: “The Republic of Darokin” has a large section about Merchants and Trade from page 13 to 32 of the Player’s book, including spells, a map of supply and demand, tables for pack animals and wagons, rules to buy and sell, weather and road conditions.
The “Poor Wizard’s Almanac II” has a Major Imports and Exports table on page 166 and Magic Trade information on page 167. An economic section with a Major import and export table is also in the “Joshuan’s Almanac” on page 192.
For more about this, see also my other article in this issue of THRESHOLD Magazine, “The Amazing Travels of Goods and People”. But for the purpose of this article, I have created below a ‘quick and dirty’ trade table which could be useful if in an adventure or campaign, a trade enterprise is just a plot element or part of a side quest. The DM could assign bonus or penalty depending on the PCs’ actions.

Table 8: Quick Trade Results

1d10 roll

Result of trade enterprise

1

Complete disaster, cargo, equipment, vehicles and personnel vanished without a trace.

2

Disaster, ship sank or caravan was destroyed by flood or fire. Cargo, equipment and vehicles lost, some personnel may have survived.

3

Pirates, monsters or brigands took all cargo and equipment. Ransom demands may arrive for personnel and cargo.

4

Pirates, monsters or brigands took part of the cargo, or killed some personnel, or the market was extremely unfavorable, resulting in a 50% loss.

5

Unfavorable market, or conning competitors, resulting in a 1d4(0)% loss. Also there is a 20% chance that competitors have defamed the caravan master.

6

Unfavorable market, no loss but no gain.

7

Good market, resulting in a 1d4(0)% gain.

8

Exceptionally good conditions, resulting in a 50% gain. Also 20% chance of new commercial relations.

9

Incredible success, resulting in a 60–110% gain (1d6+5(0)%). Also the caravan master established new and profitable commercial relations.

10

Major success, the caravan made a 120+% profit and the caravan master discovered a completely new product or obtained an exclusive for a very rare and profitable commodity.

Currencies and prices

TM2: “The Eastern Countries Trail Map” has a Currency abbreviations and Change fees table including also Currencies and change for several nations. Coinage and Exchange tables also appear in the “Poor Wizard’s Almanac II” on page 165.
However I think there are two very big problems with the value of coins in Mystara and generally in D&D:
– First one is that gold is seriously underestimated. A gold coin should be no less than the equivalent of about 1,000 euros/1,200 dollars/900 gbp of today, certainly not 100. A pre-industrial society, even with magic and dwarves, cannot possibly dig so much gold it will become worth ‘only’ the equivalent of 100 euros/120 dollars/90 gbp. That obviously if the gold coin contains at least some true gold.
– Second problem is that no one to my knowledge in RPG world building ever took into consideration a very important characteristic of pre-industrial societies: local goods, agricultural products, rents, houses, basic tools and local building materials did cost relatively much less than price levels today, while everything else which was imported and all finished products did cost a lot more.
The consequences of the above two points should be that for a peasant family a gold coin should be a small treasure with which they could live decently for at least a couple of years, or even several years considering that still today in many parts of the world there are families who survive with less than a dollar a day.
But just a basic armor or a sword are for many of them a big expense they could hardly afford. Even a young woman or man from a middle income family would have to invest quite some savings to build a full set of adventurer’s equipment, let us say as much as buying a costly motorcycle or a car today. In the Known World due to magic, prices could be a bit higher, some goods a little less costly but basically it is not an industrial society and therefore all finished goods which require a lot of hand work should cost a lot and all imported goods require a lot of travel and risk and should cost a lot as well.
Basically all prices in the official sources IMO should be adjusted to reflect the fact that a gold piece should be worth much more, and also taking into consideration that generally agricultural products did cost much less in the past and finished products much more.
So I have decided to introduce more coins, and therefore I use platinum, gold, electrum, silver, bronze, copper, iron or half copper, zinc or fifth copper, tin or tenth copper and lead or hundredth copper.
Finally I have decided that all the prices in official products should be considered in copper and not in gold, and in this way they can be used as they are. Increasing the value and the denominations of the coin system in fact creates a much more realistic economy.
This is IMO the only way to have a more realistic economic system, as the ‘official’ one is hopelessly flawed.
If nowadays a basic sword in steel can cost as little as 50 dollars/euros, i.e. one or two average days’ work in the past it could not cost less than 10 coppers, i.e. about 10 days’ work of a laborer, servant or farmer.
Nowadays the basic monthly paycheck of a poor worker in a rich country is at least 1,000 dollars/euros and in a poor country is 100, but the purchasing power is somehow similar only for local products, i.e. mostly food, while it’s quite different for imported products, which are relatively much cheaper in the rich world. In a renaissance-like world the purchasing power is similar to the one in poor countries, because all local basic products, such as food or pottery, are relatively cheap, but all the imported goods and all the products created by specialized artisans are much more expensive. Still an average laborer in normal times can afford about 100 to 1,000 Kgs of basic food each month, which is enough to feed his family. Obviously he’ll also have to spend on heating, rent and clothes at least and therefore a family with only one ‘basic’ laborer will be relatively poor.
Clothes are likely to be much more expensive than they are today (even in poor countries), up to ten times more, as people typically had only one 'good' one and one ‘work’ one so if nowadays you can easily dress yourself decently and fully with less than 100 dollars/euros in low-cost stores, and very basically with about 10 dollars/euros in a poor country, in a renaissance-level world you had to spend at least the value of ten work days for very basic clothes, those which automatically identified you as a poor, if not a full month.
Magical and clerical services should be expensive, but I think that 1 silver coin would be enough for a single, non-repeatable first level spell; although in certain communities certain clerical services might be provided free-of-charge. That would be 3 months of work for a basic peasant/servant, so effectively unaffordable or only in extreme circumstances.
Keeping in mind the considerations above, here is is my proposed coin system:

Table 9: Coin value and prices

Value

Platinum coin

Gold coin

Electrum coin

Silver coin

Bronze coin

Copper coin

Iron coin

Zinc coin

Tin coin

Lead coin

In platinum

1

1/5

1/10

1/50

1/500

1/5,000

1/10,000

1/25,000

1/50,000

1/500,000

In gold

5

1

1/2

1/10

1/100

1/1,000

1/2,000

1/5,000

1/10,000

1/100,000

In silver

50

10

5

1

1/10

1/100

1/200

1/500

1/1,000

1/10,000

In copper

5,000

1,000

500

100

10

1

1/2

1/5

1/10

1/100

Typical value in barter

A small sailing ship, a small house

A fishing boat

A horse’s plate barding, a large wagon

A first level spell, a 2-wheeled cart

A pig, a normal sword, basic clothes

1 average laborer day’s work

1 small bird, fish or half chicken

1 liter of milk, 1 kg of flour

1 egg or half liter of milk

1 carrot, potato or apple


Different metals could be used depending on their availability, or the last four coins could simply be 50 cent, 20 cent, 10 cent and 1 cent of the copper coin. Does a coin system need so many denominations? In my opinion, yes, and a ‘historical’ one much more than today, as prices had much higher variations, as explained above. Today you cannot buy much with cents, but in the past local agricultural products did cost way less, at least in times of good harvest.

Taxes

Taxation in the Known World is explained in many Gazetteers and then in the”Poor Wizard’s Almanac II” on pages 162–164 and in “Joshuan’s Almanac” on pages 186–189.
Income taxes in the Known World are said to vary between 5% (Darokin, 8% above 100,000 gp/year), 10% (Glantri, Minrothad), 15% (Alphatia, which has also a sort of ‘mandatory’ banking system for gentry and nobles), 25% (Thyatis, Karameikos, but 20% for nobles, Sind, but in produce) and 35% (Rockhome, family based, 25% for foreigners), with only some countries having custom duties on imports (1% Karameikos, 5% Darokin, only temporarily in AC 1013), Guild taxes (20% Minrothad) and licence fees (Glantri, 50 gp per year on activities) or sales taxes (3% Darokin, 5% Ierendi, Karameikos, Thyatis, Rockhome on foreigners, 8% Minrothad on domestic products and 18% on sales by foreigners, 10% Ylaruam), room taxes (10% Ierendi), spell taxes (10% Glantri), magic items and services taxes (20% Minrothad, for foreigners), hearth taxes (1 gp per house, Glantri), poll taxes (10 gp a year, Ierendi), monthly taxes (from 1 cp to 10 gp per month depending on wealth in Ylaruam, double for unbelievers), tolls (10 gp per wagon and 1 gp per person in the Northern Reaches), taxes on treasures (25% in Thyatis). Some countries (Alfheim, Atruaghin, Five Shires, Ethengar, Northern Reaches) have a clan-based sharing of wealth which likely means income taxes below 5% for the individual.
Again this tax system is not very realistic as typically governments in the real world’s past had little means to check incomes and tax them, and so they generally started to tax what they could better control. Income and sales taxes, which are more or less the standard ones in the modern world, for example could hardly be enforced in medieval times, so they tended to instead use all kinds of tolls, import duties, poll and hearth taxes. In the country, farmers normally gave to their local lord a part of their production, and he gave a part of his earnings to the central government or, more commonly, was simply obliged to arm troops in case of war or levy tolls on public roads. In the cities there was hardly an income tax, but taxes were paid by the guilds or were levied on chimneys or hearths. The nobles, the rich and the clergy were typically exempt from taxes, even if they were supposed to contribute to the country in other ways, the nobles generally by housing foreign dignitaries and arming troops and ships, rich merchants by lending money to the crown or financing public project, and the clergy by taking care of the whole educational, public health and social security system.
Instead in Alphatia it seems there is a working income tax system, as to be a freeman, gentry and noble you have to put money in an Alphatian bank (page 16 of the Player’s Guide to Alphatia in Dawn of the Emperors boxed set). Clearly this system means that the government checks your income and actually taxes it, but those who do not have this minimum amount of money are likely not taxed at all.
To use in-game a more realistic taxing system, it should probably be assumed that all paved roads have tolls, probably 1 copper per person and 10 coppers per wagon when entering a new country. On a local level or on important bridges, baronies and dominions may require just a lead or tin coin per person when entering their territory or passing the bridge, as it should be an amount affordable by farmers and laborers.
In the rules for Strongholds and Dominions (Rules Cyclopedia page 141) a PC must pay 20% of all income to the higher ruler (in cash, products or in armed soldiers) and 10% (the tithe) to the local churches, plus spend what’s necessary to host any visiting ruler or noble. Likely peasants have to pay the same to their lord, probably in products, and to the churches, which will use what they earn to supply education to the children, basic food and shelter to the poor and free healing when needed.
In the cities there is probably at least one poll or hearth tax on each household, sales taxes for shopkeepers and travelling merchants and custom duties taxes for foreign traders, plus a port docking fee for all ships.
Artisans probably pay a guild fee, and the guild then pays the government. Licenses may be enforced on several activities, such as building a house or even setting up a temporary stall in the market. Magic and spells taxes are probably requested by wizards’ guilds and clerics’ churches, but the churches are probably exempt from taxes in exchange for providing, as in the country, education, aid to the poor and healing. The wizards may also be exempt from payment to the government if they provide other services, such as magic items for the army and the rulers.
In many countries the ability of a government to enforce an income tax on what the PCs earn by accomplishing missions is realistically highly doubtful. Historically such earnings could be compared to mercenaries fees, and these were not taxed. If the PCs set up a dominion or put money in banks (in the case of Alphatia), then it’s likely they’ll have to pay at least the country’s set income tax on what they earn directly from the dominion or the activity. But any other money earned for example as personal payment from a local church, ruler or noble likely will be tax exempt (or anyway tax collectors will be unable to prove the PCs have earned it and take their share).
Likewise, the idea that any government would be able to tax the treasures found by adventurers is a bit ludicrous, as it’s hard to believe they could actually enforce such a tax, but some may be more than willing to try it. Nowadays in many countries any treasure of ‘cultural interest’ automatically belongs to the state and the discoverer would get just a fourth of its estimated value. Even in a fantasy world the treasure of an ancient dungeon could be of extreme national interest for a country, especially if it contains historical documentation or precious magic. If the story of a new discovery gets out, government agents could appear to impound the treasure, paying the PCs its estimated value, in the best case scenario, or just taking it without any compensation (especially if the PCs are foreigners).

Dominions, disasters and random events

Chapter 12 of the Rules Cyclopedia and pages 3–11 of the DM book of the Companion Rules boxed set are dedicated to dominion building, including two tables of natural and unnatural events which can affect a dominion. A reduced list is also in GAZ5: The Elves of Alfheim on page 33, and another different one is in GAZ12: The Golden Khan of Ethengar on page 48 of the DM’s book as a Clan Event Table. A recent thread on the Mystara forum at The Piazza also reasoned on how the list could be expanded: https://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?p=288391#p288391.
Based on all the above, I have created my own table below. It could be used for Dominions events as well for a random generator of rumors or events happening in a certain town, city or nation. It can also be used obviously to generate random adventure seeds as a simplified alternative to the adventures generator developed in the first part of this article in issue #26 of THRESHOLD Magazine.

Table 10: Natural and Unnatural Events

d100 Roll

Result

1–10

Market shortage or trade route lost or resource lost or lost caravan

11–20

Market glut or new trade route or new resource found

21–25

Drought, bad grazing, disease of crops or livestock, locusts

26–30

Exceptional harvest

31–35

Storm, flood, waterspout or whirlpool

36–40

Accident, explosion, collapse, sinkhole or minor fire

41–45

Death of important character, hero or ruler, or assassination, murder mystery

46–50

Birth or wedding in the ruling family or other important birth or event

51–55

Visit of a ruler or important hero, and/or festival, circus, tournament

56–60

Cultural discovery, invention, visitor from faraway lands or alien places or new resident specialist

61–65

Comet, meteor shower, eclipse or other astronomical event

66–70

Immigration or emigration leading to population change

71–75

Bandits, raiders, wandering monsters or border skirmish, dragon

76–80

Pretender, usurper, minor rebellion, insurrection, strike, corruption scandal, exceptional theft, crime rising or feud

81–85

Spy ring, traitor, espionage, intrigue, trade dumping, sanctions or diplomatic problems

86–90

New temple, religious clashes or new fanatic cult

91–95

Lycanthropy, undead infestation, good or evil spirit, curse or other magical event

96–00

Major disaster with many deaths: earthquake, hurricane or tornado, plague, major fire, meteor strike

War, Sieges, Armies and Navies

The main resource for war is Chapter 9 of the Rules Cyclopedia, from pages 117 to 126, containing the War Machine and the Siege Machine to handle battles and sieges, expanding the War Machine rules from the Companion Rules boxed set.
Rules specifically dedicated to war on the seas are in GAZ4: The Kingdom of Ierendi on pages 29–30 and 35–36, including navy building costs, port capacity of Know World nations and size of their navies (and ship counters), and chance table for sea battles.
More battle-related rules are on page 31 of the Player’s book of GAZ10: The Orcs of Thar, about Commanding troops, and on GAZ12: The Golden Khan of Ethengar on page 32 of the DM’s book with Optional War Machine rules specific for Ethengar. Many Gazetteers also have guidelines to use the AD&D Battlesystem rules, more tactical-oriented, in Mystara.
I like the War Machine rules, but sometimes I just need something even simpler to resolve mass battles which are ‘in the background’ of an adventure or campaign. For this reason I have created an alternative War Machine system, based on a d20 roll for each side:

Table 11: Armies’ bonus and penalty

The DM should assign a bonus/penalty up to -5 to + 5 to the conditions below, up to a maximum of -20 or +20 for each battle and side, or follow the specific description. Normally the difference between sides should not exceed 20, but it can reach 40 (d20 roll plus bonus/penalty). An elite force against leaderless peasants will always win automatically for example. If the bonus/penalty difference exceeds 20, the DM should decrease the winner’s casualties to -10% (i.e. 0 or near it) and increase the loser’s casualties to +20% (i.e. 90% of the force dead, wounded or captured).

Conditions

Troop ratio, with +20% equal +1 and +100% equal +5 (i.e. 200 soldiers against 100), +200% equal +10 (300 against 100) up to a maximum of +400% equal +20 (i.e. 500 against 100). So I have purposely increased the ‘weight’ of superior numbers compared to the original rules.

Leadership, i.e. name level officers or famous heroes or personalities, or lack of good officers and leaders.

Training, up to +5 for regular and well-trained armies.

Equipment, quality and diffusion among the troops, better armor and weapons, presence or absence of shields.

Long range weapons or Mounts, to be assigned especially if only one side has them, or one side has much more than the ot⁹her.

Special powers and spells, including immunities, magical abilities, clerics and wizards, superior speed for troops, mounts and ships, and undersea allies in naval battles.

Morale, if the troops have reason to feel superior or inferior, has won or lost recently with the same enemy, or if they fight with great motivation or to defend their home country, city or town.

Favorable environment or terrain, such as higher ground, elves in woods, dwarves in mountains, troops with infravision at night, or favorable winds for ships.

Adverse conditions, such as fog, marsh, mud, snow, sand, or mounted inside cities or strongholds.

Fatigue, -1 to -5 to the roll.

Obstacles to maneuvers, such as a lake, or the necessity to protect civilians or supplies.

Well fed or starved troops, including availability of drinking water. Alcohol and drugs can also be considered bonuses as boosters of confidence, unless there is too much of it, giving penalties for intoxication.

Flying force or allies, especially if only one side has it.

Cover or fortress give both a bonus to the defenders and a penalty to the attackers. Also attackers’ and defenders’ casualties change as described in results below.

Siege machines or bombards, especially if only one side has them, rams in ships.

Population support bonus or penalty where relevant, for example inside cities.

Superior tactic, such as trapping, surrounding, bombarding or brute attack on marching enemies. Includes also battalions or ships switching sides before battle. This should be determined by the DM depending on the circumstances on the field.

Reconnaissance or information bonus or misinformation and surprise penalty.

Heroic actions done by leaders or PCs (if visible by one or both sides).

Magic equipment among the troops and other special magical items such as Staff of Health, Rod of Victory or Drums of Panic.



Table 12: Battle result

Difference after the roll

Result

1–9

Winner takes the field and has 10% dead and 10% wounded, loser retreats up to 5 miles and has 10% dead, 10% wounded and 10% captured, and loser has troops fatigued for 1d4 days.
In assaults on fortresses, the attacker is repelled with 15% dead and 15% wounded or captured, the defender has 10% dead and 10% wounded, and the attackers are fatigued for 1d4 days.
In the sea or in the skies, the winner has 10% of the ships damaged and 10% sunk or shot down, the loser has 10% ships sunk, 10% captured and 10% damaged, retreats and is fatigued for 1d4 days. All crew of sunk and downed ships are dead, but 50% can be saved or captured if rescued immediately. Captured ships have 20% dead, 30% wounded and 50% captured. Damaged ships have 10% dead and 10% wounded, but can still escape at half speed. The winner may be able to reach them and engage another battle.

10–15

Winner advances up to 24 miles and has 5% dead and 5% wounded, loser retreats up to 24 miles and has 15% dead, 15% wounded and 20% captured. Both sides are fatigued, winners for 1d4 days and losers for 1d8 days.
In assaults on fortresses, the attacker conquers the fortress with 10% dead and 10% wounded and is fatigued for 1d4 days, while the loser has 25% dead, 25% wounded and 30% captured. The remaining 20% may escape if not surrounded, otherwise they are captured as well.
In the seas or in the skies, the winner has 5% of the ships damaged and 5% sunk or shot down, the loser retreats as above and has 20% ships sunk, 20% damaged and 20% captured.

16–20+

Winner advances up to 40 miles and has 10% dead or wounded, loser is routed and has 70% dead, wounded or captured.
In assault on fortresses, the attacker conquers the fortress and the loser has 100% casualties, with 50% dead or wounded and 50% captured.
In the seas or skies, the winner has 5% of the ships damaged and 5% sunk or shot down, the loser has 30% ships sunk, 40% captured and 20% damaged.

The wounded will be captured if the field is abandoned, and may be killed by the winner. 50% of the wounded will die if untreated. The dead can be halved and the wounded and captured may be returned to the loser’s side if the victor grants mercy.



Random village or town generator

I originally created a random Village Generator here (http://pandius.com/kdmgthgt.html) in a post about Karameikan demography, but it can be easily used for any nation, region or city, expanded as in the table below.

Table 13: Random village or town table

Internal mood:
roll 1d6


1

Very bad. People in the village are very unhappy, scared and/or there is an internal feud with murders.

2–3

Moderately bad, as above but without bloodshed, so far, but scuffles, fights and beatings have occurred already.

4–5

Normal mood, the village is placid and there are no serious problems, at least for now.

6

Very good, people are happy, friendly and united, rulers are fair.

Ethnic, social or racial relations: roll 1d4


1

Two or more races/groups are at daggers drawn here, blood has been spilled or is about to be.

2

The races/groups hate each other, scuffles are commonplace.

3

The races/groups tolerate each other well for now.

4

All different people are fully integrated in this village.

Xenophobia: roll 1d4


1

Severe xenophobia, other races, unknown or not native of the place could be killed on sight.

2

Mildly xenophobic. Many are diffident toward other races and some people could be very violent.

3

Curious and varied toward outside races, but only some people may be diffident or rude.

4

Welcoming community, no prejudices even toward unknown races.

Relations with nearby humanoids, roll 1d4


1

Humanoids raid the outskirts of the village often.

2

Humanoids aren’t attacking now but the village fears they soon will.

3

The villagers appease the humanoids somehow (paying tributes, trading or in worse ways).

4

The village is on peaceful terms with local humanoids.

Relations with local monsters, roll 1d4


1

Many and dangerous, threaten the very existence of the village.

2

Some monsters nearby, roads are often unsafe.

3

Rare monster sightings, creating more curiosity than fear.

4

No monsters in the nearby area, or only peaceful creatures.

Adventuring parties generator

I also created for Specularum and Karameikos a random generator of adventuring parties which appeared in THRESHOLD Magazine issue #21: http://pandius.com/wntdadvs.html and it could be easily used anywhere.

And this is the end of part 3! To be continued...



1Available as pdf or POD here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17171/DD-Rules-Cyclopedia-Basic

2Counting down from AC 1,000, but obviously the table is also valid for later years.

3See also my ‘99,9999985% Mystara history’ article on the Vaults: http://pandius.com/mysthist.html, addressing remote ages and peoples of Mystara.

4When or if Benekander’s faith spread after the events of “Wrath of the Immortals.”

5Inspired by the Festival of the Dhow Countries of Zanzibar.

6See for example here https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25892 and here https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=83224

7Average strength values as examples.

8Sea giants and mountain giants vary in hit dice, and so likely in strength, see Rules Cyclopedia page 179.

9While theoretically possible for the animal to carry more, it will refuse to move under such weights.

10From now on all weights are considered ‘on back’. ‘Pulling’ weight could be obtained by doubling the first number.

11Three smaller species in the “Rules Cyclopedia” which can carry less, as giant lizards carry 50 cn per HD at normal speed.

12Also bone, obsidian, mud and amber golem in the “Rules Cyclopedia”, with different HD, carry 500 cn per HD at full movement.

13Even if a flying creature will refuse to fly with such weights, it can still lift the amount in special circumstances, for example to remove an obstacle or move someone for a very brief tract. So for example the pegasus is able to lift 900 lbs, but will not fly with them on its back.

14May have up to 15 HD and carry up to 375 lbs at normal speed.

15The skinwing as specified in Gaz 13 will not fly overloaded, but it could still lift up to 525 lbs for small tracts.

16Only examples given, dragons can carry 100 lbs per HD at normal speed and 200 at half speed in Rules Cyclopedia page 172.

17Also Small and Large, carrying 600 and 1200 lbs at normal speed respectively.