Sorry for the long wait in replying, you know...work, family, more work...
Spectral Hand wrote:30 years is indeed a long time, in this case primarily because the version of Wizards' World I have played most recently is so different from the version published in the book. The trick of finding additional material is thus more a matter of whether things are backwards compatible than whether they exist at all.
I had no idea the game was still "on" (even if changed, rules-wise). That's really cool to hear!
With that in mind, I can give you a rough idea about the kinds of things that have been added over the years:
(1) We have had to create lots of additional monsters, of course (the monsters in the book run out pretty quickly unless you want to fight the same thing every session). I might have hardcopies of them somewhere, and I plan to look for them at some point. If I do have them, they should be pretty compatible with original WW rules and I'll be happy to share what I find subject to my typing limitations.
Whenever you have the time (or inclination), I'd really love to see them. There are a few critters in the core rules that seem to be setting specific (or at least hint at being part of a defined world/setting). I'd love to hear about these. One thing that had me do a double-take was the goblins. A real departure from the standard low level/canon-fodder type goblins D&Ders are used to. Also, one thing my players are dying to know...who/what are/is the Earth Lord?
Do you have a setting in which you run (or ran) WW?
(2) Same with spells. The way we actually played spell research was basically "once you agree on a spell level with the GM, you can purchase the spell next time you have enough spell learning points to afford it". That sort of "system" unsurprisingly led to a lot of players developing custom spells. I think I've got about 50 pages of them in a Word file somewhere. We never changed the core spell system, so everything should be compatible. In addition to the custom spells, we focused more on balance as the game developed, and as a result a lot of spells became more standardized. For example -- Paralysis I: This spell renders a single opponent incapable of taking actions. Saving Throw: Attribute/NE (player must justify the attribute based on the nature of the spell's effects when purchased, and the spell must be bought separately for each different attribute targeted). Example: My Paralysis spell locks the target's mind in a maze and it is stuck there until it figures its way out (INT/NE); Or my Paralysis spell creates a giant paper bag that envelops the target until it is able to physically break free (STR/NE).
50 pages of spells?!?! Oh, that would indeed be sweet! I'm glad to hear the core spell system never changed because it's one of the things that my players love over its inspiration game. Did you add any new types of magic other than those listed in the book. I had fun adding "temporal" spell types for one of my players (which will soon appear on my WW specific site...once it goes live). Curiouse if you had thought up any other magic types.
Also, many of the spells seem/are derived from it AD&D roots. I'm not at home at the moment, so i have neither my AD&D books nor my WW book with me, but i was wondering if spells "borrowed" from AD&D are set at the same level in WW? If not, how did you set the level? Also, i cant seem to find any reference to what level spells a wizard is limited to lerning. Could a 1st level wizard learn a second level spell?
(3) We created a system for spontaneous casters, and converted Vampires to fit with this (we learned that Vampires are disturbingly weak at higher levels as written). Priests (we called them Heralds) or any kind of "natural magic" creatures (fey, etc.) would use this system, which basically has three components: (1) all spells must be selected according to an appropriate them as agreed upon by the player and GM, (2) all spells must be learned at -20% spell failure chance or better (that's "minus 20"), and (3) the PC can cast known spells whenever he/she wants (i.e., no spell points).
I would really, REALLY love to see a write-up of your Heralds and know more on spontaneouse casting. Are you saying a spontaneouse spell-caster can sling spells all day long without expending MP?
(4) We altered the experience system a lot over the years. The main issue we found was that spellcasters outstrip non-casters even at moderate levels (approx. level 6 and up). After some experimentation, we ended up switching to a flat 10,000 xp/level system to make the benefits provided by the classes more balanced. I should go into more detail on this at some point, but I think it's too much info to stuff into this post.
The XP thing is what I come back to the most. Our game is still on the low (very low) level side of things character-level-wise, so we havent really been confronted with the issue (plus, none of my players have yet expressed a desire to take on an extra profession). Is the XP penalty for taking an extra proffession insuficient? Just to be sure I understand your suggested fix to this, are you suggesting that all professions will "level up" for each 10,000XP they gain?
Thanks, David, for taking the time to reply as you have! Makes this fan happy!
