The Next 52 (26?) Pages

As promised, here is the pdf of the first 26 of the Next 52 pages. It's an expansion to my preferred homebrew adventure game system that, like the Expert set of yore, covers level 4-6 with new powers and spells. Also, like the Advanced edition of yore, it puts in a dozen or more new class options for both established and starting characters. And there are a few extra goodies - a summoning table for the new set of summoning spells; a way to promote hirelings into henchmen.

[Download here]

You will see that the second 26 pages of Next are somewhat of an ideal outline for new types of adventure, new monsters and treasures. While nice to have, I don't think filling this part out is my first priority. Based on a couple of campaigns that made it to 7th level, there is a full list of spells to level 10, a take on advanced skill possibilities once the skill boxes begin to completely fill, and the framework of a game that has an ultimate win condition at level 10. Adding more character options and a kind of "domain game" to this, and you have a 26-page Beyond supplement that I will be looking to work on more this year.

The 52 Pages 3.0

Prodded on by a satisfied player's long delayed post after a minicon one-shot game last year, I have finally gotten around to finishing my revised 52 Pages, a graphically enhanced rules outline for a heartbreaker based mostly on the Basic and 3rd editions of the world's most cautiously-referenced roleplaying game.

The most obvious update is in the fonts, at the same time calling back to the roots with a Futura-clone in the text and letting go of Berlin, the Papyrus that nobody talks about, in favor of the classier Alegreya. The main "lore" change is a clearer definition between characters' hit points - now called "hero points" with a lower-case hp, and serve to shield characters from physical damage and injury effects - and monster hit points (HP), which represent physical damage more abstractly.

The main change to play is a reordering of the combat sequence so that melee no longer goes first, and "run up to your face and hit you" is now intuitively supported. This has been a long time coming, seeing that  whenever I have run the game in one-shots, melee-first was the hardest thing to remember and implement. The solution was easy - a second move after attacks that counts as an attack and may be made by the engaged (skip attack to disengage, but you must survive melee).

Here's the link, also available in the bar to the right. I realize that the game is much more viable when you add rules dealing with levels 4 to 6 and I have those mostly written, with a load of additional spells and classes/races. By the end of April you should see another post with the 52 Pages Next!