Labyrinth Lord House Rules

This is the way I run my Labyrinth Lord games.  I'll more than likely alter things here and there from time to time...

Ascending AC: I know this is heresy in the eyes of many old-schoolers, but I've never been a fan of descending armor class. Yes, I know how the math works, and I agree that it's not that complicated; however, most of my players, and myself included, feel more comfortable playing this way: to figure out your AC and 'to-hit' bonus, simply subtract it from 19. Thus, AC 9 (descending) is AC 10 (ascending); AC 3 (descending) is AC 16 (ascending). A Thac0 score of 19 is a +0 to-hit bonus; and a THAC0 score of 12 would be a + 7 to-hit bonus. Trust me, this is much quicker and smoother than looking up every roll on a chart.

Character Generation:  Roll 4d6 for each ability, drop the lowest, and arrange to taste.  Basic or Advanced characters are acceptable.  Multiclassing is allowed, and  humans may multiclass as well.  All other exceptions found on page 24 of the Advanced Edition Companion apply.

Luck: Other games have this mechanic, and me likes it. Once all ability scores have been rolled and assigned, roll 3d6 (that's right, not 4d6!). This is your character's Luck score. Who gets attacked by a monster? Who finds the treasure first? Are you in the right place at the right time? Is the NPC you're looking for there? Roll your Luck score or under, and the answer is probably yes.

Hit Points:  Level 1 characters start with max HP (plus CON bonus).  Roll for hit points each level thereafter, but you may re-roll the result of a ‘1’.  The Advanced HD rule found on page 21 of the Advanced Edition Companion applies.

Background Skills:  Adventurers are both trained and untrained when facing challenges. During character creation, decide what your character's background was before becoming an adventurer. Whenever a situation comes up in the game that your character has experience with due to their background (sometimes you might need to convince the LL), you may roll a d20, plus an appropriate ability score (INT for knowledge-based checks, for example), plus half of your level (rounding up).  Each skill check is based on a Difficulty Level (DL) determined by the Labyrinth Lord: 

 

5-9 = easy 
10-14 = moderate
15-19 = challenging

20-24 = difficult 
25-29 = legendary
30+ = nigh impossible

 If you roll a natural ‘20’, you may roll again, without any ability or level modifiers this time, and add up the total.  

If your character attempts a skill they are not trained in, you may instead roll a d10, plus an appropriate ability score--but not half of your level.  Whenever a natural ‘10’ is rolled, you may roll again (without modifiers) and add up the total; thus, even against insurmountable odds, adventurers can accomplish nigh impossible feats!

If your character has been attempting and succeeding an untrained skill over several levels - and you ask your Labyrinth Lord nicely - your character may learn new trained skills throughout their adventuring career.

Certain skills like 'Perception', for example, are always rolled as a trained skill. Any skill that a reasonably competent adult could do may be rolled as trained skill. To summarize the two types of skill checks:

Trained skill: 1d20+ability bonus+1/2 level rounded up (rolling 20s w/out modifiers)
Untrained skill: 1d10+ability bonus (rolling 10s w/out modifiers)

Power Cards/d30:  At the beginning of every session, each player may take a *Power Card from the Labyrinth Lord (LL, hereafter) at random.  Power Cards are boons that allow a one-time bonus such as damage, re-rolling dice, winning initiative, etc.  For more information about Power Cards, see  Criticals/Fumbles.  Additionally, once per gaming session, each player may roll a d30 in place of any die--a ‘to hit’ roll, damage, skill check, etc.

*The Power Cards are a fun little thing that my players seem to like.  It's quite simple, really.  Basically, I write simple aids for players on the back of index cards:

                              1) Players win initiative this round--yes, I run combat 'old school'. 

                              2) Player gets +1d12 to any weapon or spell damage roll.

                              3) Labyrinth Lord must re-roll number of creatures in a random encounter.

                              4) Labyrith Lord must re-roll enemy/NPC Morale check and take second result.

                              5) Labyrinth Lord must roll 'to-hit' twice and take the lowest result.

                              6) Player may re-roll  a Luck check.

                              7) Player automatically receives 3 hp.

                              8) Player receives a +3 bonus to any trained or untrained skill check.

                              9) Labyrinth Lord must re-roll an enemy/NPC saving throw and take second result.

                             10) Player may re-roll a saving throw, but takes second result.

Criticals/Fumbles:  A natural roll of a ‘20’ is a critical hit.  You may opt to do double       

damage (roll two damage dice, plus ability bonus, if applicable) or you may select a Power Card at random from the LL.  

A natural roll of a ‘1’ is a fumble.  The LL takes one of your Power Cards away at random, and places it back in the deck.  If you do not have a Power Card, then the LL gets to introduce an evil little impediment upon your unfortunate character! Your weapon gets stuck in the floor; You trip and fall; You leave yourself vulnerable and the monster gets a +2 on their next attack against you, etc.

Death and Dying:  Just because you are reduced to zero hp (or less) doesn't mean you’ve necessarily kicked the proverbial bucket. You can still make a Save vs. Death to avoid an unfortunate demise. This happens on the character in question's initiative. You are allowed to make this save an amount of times equal to your level, but only once per round.  If you fail the save at 1st level, you are toast. Gone. Dead.  If you fail the save at level 3, for example, you get two more rounds to pass.

If you ever take damage that reduces you to below zero hit points equal to your CON score, you get one Save vs. Death, no matter your level.

If you pass this save, you are immediately restored to one hit point but are unconscious for 1d6 hours. In addition, you permanently lose one point of Constitution.



Turn Undead: The rules in the book are pretty vague. Every group handles this clerical ability differently; this is how I handle it: a cleric may attempt to Turn Undead any number of times per day. The cleric must be able to speak and hold a holy symbol to turn undead, and can take no other actions while doing so, including movement (just like when casting spells). This happens in the 'magic' phase, and can be interrupted by damage. On a successful turn attempt, 2d6 HD of undead will flee the cleric's presence. The effect lasts for as long as the cleric continues imposing his will. No other actions aside from movement may be taken. Once the cleric stops imposing his will, the effect still lasts for an additional amount of rounds equaling the cleric's 2d6 roll of undead HD turned/destroyed, plus the cleric's level. Undead creatures attempting to flee will always avoid the cleric, but can still be hostile to other party members blocking their path or attacking them. Once the turning effect wears off, the LL rolls a Morale Check for the fleeing undead. A failure means they do not come back. (They may at a later time, however, return at the LL's discretion.)


Charisma/Reactions: Since I employ a difficulty class (DC) for skill checks *see 'Background Skills' above*, CHA is used a bit differently than the traditional 2d6 reaction rolls - it's still in use, but with a tweak. To diplomacize, seduce, get info, help, etc. from someone, there is a DC based on their disposition. For example, the DC for a 'Very Friendly' NPC is between 2-5 (1d4 roll or LL's choice). Failing the CHA check generally causes the NPC to reduce to the next lowest disposition. 'Very Friendly' to 'Friendly', for example. Any further CHA checks with that NPC will therefore be a higher DC.

Let's imagine that Friedrich the Brave wishes to ask the bartender about any rumors around town. The LL determines that the bartender is 'Very Friendly', but wants to randomize the DC, and rolls a '4' on a 1d4, which means it will be a DC 5 CHA check to get useful info out of the bartender. Friedrich has a CHA of 16, granting a +1 modifier. He rolls a 4, but his +1 grants a total of 5, which is the target DC for the bartender, who then cheerfully gives Friedrich an earful about all the goings-on around town.

Difficulty Classes to Succeed Charisma Checks Based on NPC's Disposition :
(12+) Very Friendly = DC 2-5
(11) Friendly = DC 6-9
(10) Friendly/Neutral = DC 10-13
(7-9) Neutral = DC 14-17
(5-6) Averse/Neutral = DC 18-21
(3-4) Hostile = DC 22-25
(*0-2) Murderous = DC 26+

"Where does the 2d6 come in?" you ask? Look at the chart above. The numbers in parentheses are the 2d6 disposition roll (used when the LL is unsure of the NPC's starting attitude). This result is adjusted by the player character's CHA modifier: a negative modifier reduces the 2d6 result, while a positive modifier increases it.

*double 6s always result in a 'Friendly' reaction, regardless of CHA modifier; double 1s always result in a 'Murderous' reaction, regardless of CHA modifier, (the LL may still opt to overrule these exceptions).



Retainers and XP: Retainers get half a share of XP earned from an adventure, and are counted as 1/2 a player character. For example, a party of four adventurers and one retainer, after defeating monsters and finding treasure, earn a grand total of 5,000XP. This XP is divided by 4.5 (four player characters and one retainer). 5,000/4.5 = 1,111. Each of the player characters receives 1,111XP, while the retainer receives 555XP (half of 1,111). Animal retainers do not gain XP from treasure, and only take XP away from their master. Therefore, make sure an animal retainer's master keeps XP earned from monsters and treasure separate.