Treasure Island

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson ought to be the first source of inspiration for anyone interested in swashbuckling of a nautical nature. It is one of the finest examples of adventure fiction in the history of the English language.

Dry Dock

The swashbuckling will resume shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Impede Me Not

In most swashbuckling fiction, the heroes engage in heroic antics without the impediment of armor, yet in Dungeons & Dragons (and related games), the only thing (short of magic) that saves an unarmored adventurer from having the worst armor class is a bonus for high dexterity. As a partial remedy for this, I recommend allowing swashbucklers who abstain from wearing armor to take advantage of armor class bonuses for both high dexterity and high charisma (due to audacity). (I believe this option was first suggested in an OSR Web log — I forget which one — in which the subject of unarmored barbarians or Barsoomians arose. I think it is equally relevant to the historical or quasi-historical swashbuckling genre.)

This doesn't completely solve the problem of armor classes in a swashbuckling Old School Renaissance game, but it's a start, and it has the added benefit of increasing the value of charisma.

Renaissance Firearms Simplified

These rules for Renaissance firearms are for use with OD&D, Swords & Wizardry White Box, and my own Renaissance swashbuckling game based on both.

All handheld muzzle-loading firearms cause 2d6 points of damage.

Firearms with rifled barrels have the same range bonuses as other missile weapons in Swords & Wizardry White Box: +2 at short range (x 1), +1 at medium range (x 2), and 0 at long range (x 3).

Firearms with smoothbore barrels have the following range penalties: 0 at short range, -1 at medium range, and -2 at long range.

The rate of fire is 1/8 for rifles, 1/6 for muskets and pistols, and 1/4 for blunderbusses.

Base ranges are 30 ft. for pistols, 40 ft. for blunderbusses, 50 ft. for muskets, and 80 ft. for rifles.

Blunderbusses have variable damage potential depending on the range of their target: 3d6 at short range, 2d6 at medium rage, and 1d6 at long range. Unlike other firearms, they have their own range bonuses and penalties: +2 at short range, -2 at medium range, and -4 at long range.

Matchlock firearms have a 1 in 8 chance of misfiring in dry conditions, a 1 in 6 chance of misfiring in damp conditions, and a 1 in 4 chance of misfiring in wet conditions. Wheellock firearms have a flat 1 in 8 chance of misfiring regardless of conditions. Flintlock firearms have a flat 1 in 10 chance of misfiring regardless of conditions. A misfire means the weapon failed to discharge.

Renaissance Weaponry Simplified

This is the revised chart of standard weapons (excluding firearms) for my Old School Renaissance swashbuckling game of the actual or imagined Renaissance (for use with Swords & Wizardry White Box or OD&D). The Renaissance Armor chart has also been revised to include Ascending AC values for Swords & Wizardry.

WEAPONS
Weapon	Hands Req.	Type	Rate of Fire	Range
Axe	2	mêlée
Bow	2	missile	2	70 ft.
Club	1 or 2	mêlée
Crossbow, Heavy	2	missile	1/4	80 ft.
Crossbow, Light	2	missile	1/2	40 ft.
Dagger	1	both	2	10 ft.
Dirk	1	mêlée
Hatchet	1	both	1	10 ft.
Lance	1	mêlée
Mace	1	mêlée
Morning Star	2	mêlée
Pick	2	mêlée
Pike	1 or 2	mêlée
Pole Arm	2	mêlée
Quarterstaff	2	mêlée
Scimitar	1	mêlée
Sling	1	missile	1	40 ft.
Spear	1 or 2	both	1	20 ft.
Sword	1	mêlée
Sword, Two-Handed	2	mêlée
Weapons wielded with one hand cause 1d6 points of damage.
Weapons wielded with two hands cause 1d6+1 points of damage.

Random Weapon Table

Roll 1d20

1. Axe
   
2. Bow
   
3. Club
   
4. Heavy Crossbow
   
5. Light Crossbow
   
6. Dagger
   
7. Dirk
   
8. Hatchet
   
9. Lance
   
10. Mace
    
11. Morning Star
    
12. Pick
    
13. Pike
    
14. Pole Arm
    
15. Quarterstaff
    
16. Scimitar
    
17. Sling
    
18. Spear
    
19. Sword
    
20. Two-Handed Sword
    

Rethinking My Renaissance

OD&D (Books I-III) and its streamlined clone, Swords & Wizardry White Box, have become my favorite form of the Original Game. I initially thought Basic/Expert D&D or Labyrinth Lord with extra spells and beasts from 1st edition AD&D would be the perfect iteration for me, but after playing a session recently, I realized that OD&D and S&W more closely match my style of refereeing, are easier to learn, and are astonishingly easy to house rule. They are also incredibly easy to use as the framework for new role-playing games as I discovered whilst working on my entry for last year's Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day contest. (I was unable to submit it due to the limitations of Blogger, but I am working on converting it into a PDF so I can distribute it.)

Due to this Old School Renaissance revelation, I have decided to design my new swashbuckling Renaissance role-playing game using the Swords & Wizardry White Box rules instead of Labyrinth Lord. It has a freer style of gameplay and game design, which I think is essential for a good swashbuckling game. I still appreciate Basic/Expert D&D and Labyrinth Lord, but Swords & Wizardry White Box better suits my practical and creative needs at this time.

Renaissance Firearms Revised

My previous rules modifications for Renaissance firearms are, in hindsight, unnecessarily complicated, so here is a revision.

All handheld firearms cause 2d6 points of damage.

Firearms with rifled barrels have the same range bonuses and penalties as other missile weapons in Basic/Expert D&D and Labyrinth Lord: +1 at short range, 0 at medium range, -1 at long range.

Firearms with unrifled barrels have the following range penalties: -1 at short range, -2 at medium range, -4 at long range.

Blunderbusses are an exception in both damage potential and range penalties. Their damage is 3d6 at short range, 2d6 at medium range, and 1d6 at long range. Their range penalties are 0 at short range, -4 at medium range, -8 at long range.

For the purposes of my game, all firearms requiring two hands will have the same effective range as a crossbow, and all pistols will have the same effective range as a sling.

Reloading requires 8 rounds (6 for fighters), modified by one's dexterity bonus or penalty.

Weapon costs and chances of misfiring are as stated in Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Renaissance Firearms

Instead of designing new rules for early firearms in my Old School Renaissance swashbuckling game set in the Renaissance, I'm just using the firearms rules from Lamentations of the Flame Princess with the following alterations:

All damage caused by handheld firearms (pistols, arquebuses, muskets) is designated as special, which, in this case, means 2d8, drop the lower die; doubles are added. For example, if you roll a 2 and a 6, the damage is 6. If you roll a 5 and a 5, the damage is 10. Firearms reliably cause significant damage, but there is still a chance of only being grazed.

Since I'm using the range bonuses and penalties from Basic/Expert D&D and Labyrinth Lord (+1 at short range, 0 at medium range, -1 at long range), I'm extending it to firearms with rifled barrels as well. Firearms with unrifled barrels retain their usual penalties of 0 at short range, -4 at medium range, -8 at long range against specific targets. Against general targets (such as enemy troops in close formation), the penalties are 0 at short range, -2 at medium range, -4 at long range.

Firearms do not "ignore 5 points of Armor" at short range or any other range.

[Edit: See Renaissance Firearms Revised.]

Renaissance Weaponry

These are charts of standard weapons (excluding firearms) for my Old School Renaissance swashbuckling game of the actual or imagined Renaissance (for use with Basic/Expert D&D, Labyrinth Lord, or any compatible game). The first chart is arranged in order of ascending weapon damage; the second chart is arranged alphabetically. The third is a table for random weapon generation. Additional weapons that may be less common to the genre may be found in Variable Weapon Damage at my other OSR Web log.

Firearms will be detailed in a separate article.


Variable Weapon Damage

Damage/Weapon Type

1d4 - Dagger
1d4 - Rock
1d4 - Torch
1d6 - Arrow (Bow)
1d6 - Bolt (Crossbow)
1d6 - Club
1d6 - Dirk
1d6 - Hatchet
1d6 - Mace
1d6 - Quarterstaff
1d8 - Axe
1d8 - Morning Star
1d8 - Scimitar
1d8 - Spear
1d8 - Sword
1d8 - War Hammer
1d10 - Lance
1d10 - Pike
1d12 - Pole Arm
1d12 - Two-Handed Sword


Variable Weapon Damage

Damage/Weapon Type

1d6 - Arrow (Bow)
1d8 - Axe
1d6 - Bolt (Crossbow)
1d6 - Club
1d4 - Dagger
1d6 - Dirk
1d8 - Hammer, War
1d6 - Hatchet
1d10 - Lance
1d6 - Mace
1d8 - Morning Star
1d10 - Pike
1d12 - Pole Arm
1d6 - Quarterstaff
1d4 - Rock
1d8 - Scimitar
1d8 - Spear
1d8 - Sword
1d12 - Sword, Two-Handed
1d4 - Torch


Random Weapon Table

Roll 1d20

1. Dagger
   
2. Rock
   
3. Torch
   
4. Bow (Roll 1d6: 1-2=shortbow, 3-4=self bow, 5-6=longbow)
   
5. Crossbow (Roll 1d6: 1-3=light crossbow, 4-6=heavy crossbow)
   
6. Club
   
7. Dirk
   
8. Hatchet
   
9. Mace
   
10. Quarterstaff
    
11. Axe
    
12. Morning Star
    
13. Scimitar
    
14. Spear
    
15. Sword
    
16. War Hammer
    
17. Lance
    
18. Pike
    
19. Pole Arm
    
20. Two-Handed Sword
    

Renaissance Armor

This is my armor chart for Old School Renaissance swashbuckling in the actual Renaissance (or any fictional setting reminiscent of the Renaissance). It is for use with Basic/Expert D&D, Labyrinth Lord, OD&D, Swords & Wizardry, or any compatible game.

ARMOR CLASSES
Type of Armor	Armor Class
Unarmored	9 [10]
Padded	8 [11]
Leather	7 [12]
Scale	6 [13]
Brigandine	5 [14]
Partial Plate	4 [15]
Plate & Brigandine	3 [16]
Full Plate	2 [17]
(Shields improve armor class by 2.)
(Bucklers improve armor class by 1.)
(Parrying daggers improve armor class by 1 vs. mêlée weapons only.)
(Helmets improve armor class by 1.)

Lamellar and laminar armor (more common in the East) vary in armor class depending on the material used.

Brigandines are coats or jacks of metal plates riveted to canvas or leather and sometimes covered with another layer of leather or fabric. They may be worn alone or with plate.

Partial plate is usually just a cuirass when worn alone. When worn with a brigandine, it refers to articulated armor protecting the arms and legs.

Full plate is generally only used in jousting, parade, or (in the early Renaissance) by knights on the field of battle.

Common soldiers generally wear padded, leather, brigandine, partial plate or no armor.

Musketeers, noblemen, and adventurers in general tend to wear brigandine or no armor, but will sometimes wear partial plate on the field of battle.

Duelists and sailors (including pirates and privateers) wear no armor.

Parrying daggers are generally only used in duels or impromptu combat.

Helmets are common on the field of battle until the late Renaissance, and are often the only protection worn.

[Edit: Swords & Wizardry Ascending AC added 19 June 2014. Shields and bucklers modified 2 July 2014.]