In a recent reddit post members of r/OSR were asked (probably for the one millionth time since that subreddit's inception) to recommend their favourite OSR "system". I used the invitation to reply as an opportunity to show my appreciation for Delving Deeper, the OD&D clone I favour.
I've played in one play-by-post campaign and one discord-voice chat game using Delving Deeper as a base. Delving Deeper is also my current OS(R) of choice for the play-by-post game of Ruins of Castle Gygar (affiliate link) I'm running. It's proximity to the original LBBs gives it a particular flavour—a flavour I've come to savour... and part of that is the fact it uses D20s and D6s only.
The original Reddit poster picked up on this, pointing out that this means all weapons do 1d6 damage, and therefore have nothing to differentiate them: what's the point in spending more money on a more expensive weapon just for some flavour?
Below are some reason why.
What’s in the Rules
Initiative
The referee resolves all actions for the turn in whatever order he judges fair. He may grant initiative to those firing missiles into advancing enemies, or to those with the advantage of reach (in the first turn) or lighter weapons (in subsequent turns), or to those fighting on battlements above.
Parrying
A defender can forgo his attack to parry and cause an opponent to suffer a −4 attack penalty. Should his opponent miss because of this −4 penalty the defender’s weapon will be dashed from his grasp by a heavier weapon. If, on the other hand, his opponent misses regardless of this penalty the defender is allowed a counter-attack if equipped with a lighter weapon
A heavier weapon won't be dropped during parrying, but it removes the opportunity to counterstrike.
Spear vs charge and charging lancers:
Spears set to receive a charge and charging lancers will instead cause 2-12 hit points damage
It would be fair to assume that pole arms can be used in lieu of spears in a set vs charge scenario, but perhaps only the lance is useable as an effective charging weapon while mounted.
Space
The referee should allow perhaps three men to stand abreast in a 10ft wide passage if they carry spears; swords and axes would require more space.
Weapon choice here affecting how many combatants can engage in melee in a narrower corridor: especially relevant int the standard dungeon crawl.
Common houserules and interpretations
Ranked fighting
It’s quite common for players to employ a second rank of spear or pole-armed troops to engage in melee. With two ranks of 3 troops with spears, that’s up to six melee combatants dealing with the enemy’s front line (note in narrow corridors the front rank might have fewer combatants, see above).
3rd Rank
Incorporating (and interpreting) reach rules form AD&D might lead to a third rank of fighters with very long weapons, though most DMs might apply a penalty to melee attacks from the third rank.
Staves
The cheapest weapon, but requires two hands to use (no shields). It would be a generous DM that permits a staff to be used from the second rank. Magic-users are permitted to use them.
Chainmail
The other approach is to look to chainmail… converting this table into hit modifiers for particular weapons against particular armour types:
Taking 7 as neutral, we can interpret target numbers above that as a negative modifier and those below as positive. Appreciate there is a difference between 2d6 distribution (above) and the flat distribution of 1d20: folding Chainmail back into OD&D is an exercise in and of itself, and beyond the purview of this post. I think it’s what the BasicExpert is going for with Wight Box.
Less Common Variations
The Great Cleave
A fighter wielding a two-handed sword or battle axe rolls to hit and damage dice (1d20+1d6) together, checking the total against their enemy’s armour class. They inflict however much damage the total dice exceed the target by (minimum one damage in a hit). The fighter swinging a weapon this way has melee initiative until they are hit by someone armed with a lighter weapon.
eg. 3rd level fighter with a two-handed battle axe rolls 11 on 1d20 and 4 on 1d6 for a total of 15: if her opponent is AC3 that’s 1 hp damage, whereas against an AC9 opponent 7 hp is inflicted.
So armed a fighter hits more often and can potentially cause massive damage, but they put themselves at risk when they inevitably lose initiative. This seems to fit thematically with the barbarian/berserker archetype without any additional battle rage rules.
Flails
Flails/morning stars ignore shields in melee. Adjacent allies may suffer damage if an attack misses.
Light weapons
If a wielder of a light weapon has initiative, they may make two attacks: one at the start of melee and one at the very end of the combat turn. This rewards wielders of light weapons for surviving the initial loss of initiative to weapons with better reach (they can close and deliver a series of swift blows to their opponent).
This particular houserule originates in the Holmes Basic (quite an interesting ruleset, and one with a unique place in D&D taxonomy): it works best if modified using variable weapon damage (below).
Variable damage
All weapons roll 1d6 damage but:
- Large/heavy weapons rolls the best result of 2d6 (i.e. “1d6 with advantage”)
- Light/small weapons rolls the the worst result of 2d6 (i.e. “1d6 with disadvantage”)
That last one was how I dealt with weapons in Pariah (though with the added twist of base damage being determined by character hit die). I don’t know if this is where Luke Gearing got the idea to do something similar with WutC, but it’s in the house rules for his own Delving Deeper campaign, which shares weapon stunts, as linked below:
https://lukegearing.blot.im/snackrifice-houserules
I think that roundly demonstrates how weapons can be granted unique characteristics without changing the damage die they use. D6s all the way!
Links
A post on r/osr
https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/1pa1552/what_is_your_favorite_osr_system_any_most/
The Ruins of Castle Gygar (affiliate link)
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/510225/the-ruins-of-castle-gygar?affiliate_id=767873
Delving Deeper
https://ddo.immersiveink.com/
Luke Gearing's OD&D Houserules
https://lukegearing.blot.im/snackrifice-houserules
Blueholme & Holmes Basic
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/06/blueholme-stygian-library-solo.html
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