Shattered Kingdoms: Jub, The Wicked

In the original Shattered Kingdoms Gazatteer, I included the following entry for the city-state of Jub:

Jub. Jub is a wealthy, independent city-state associated with trade, without regard to legality and morality. In particular, it is known for its vast slave market, lotus trade, and brothels, which are typically staffed by temple prostitutes in houses of worship. Jub’s principal deity is Mammon, a god of gluttony, greed, and lust.

But the entry provided no further details on slavery or the lotus trade and the Shattered Kingdoms Pantheon omitted any mention of Mammon. The following expanded material provides those details.

MAMMON is a chaotic god of gluttony, greed, and lust whose worship originated in Jub. His symbol is several gold bars stacked into a pyramid surmounted by an all-seeing eye. His priests have these abilities:

• bribery: once per day, his clerics may offer a bribe of 3d6 gold pieces; the bribe acts like a charm spell, but only for a single object or purpose and a more limited duration (save allowed)
• recruitment: retainers are always available for hire by Mammon's clerics and accept an offer of employment on a roll of 1–5 on a d6, so long as they are paid twice the going rate in gold; they have 1d3 hit points more than usual

The bribery ability reflects the way in which Mammon's priests corrupt others with money. The specified amount of money, 3d6, assumes ordinary circumstances. The referee may require the priest to offer a larger bribe if, for example, the priest is requesting a significant betrayal or if the party being bribed is especially loyal or virtuous. In other cases, the referee may allow the priest to increase the amount offered in order to impose a penalty on the target's saving throw.

The recruitment ability reflects the fact that some men's loyalty can be bought with coin and the priests of Mammon have a reputation for paying well. As a result, retainers are always available for hire by these priests, regardless of locale or circumstances, and seldom turn down their offers of employment. Retainers hired by priests of Mammon have 1d3 more hit points than usual because the higher rate of pay draws the very best mercenaries.

Slavery. Slavery is common throughout the region, but the conditions of servitude and the treatment of slaves varies from place to place. People are reduced to slavery in many ways, including conquest, criminal conviction, and debt. The region also is home to many former slaves—be they runaways, manumitted slaves, or those who bought their freedom. Characters may opt to begin play as a slave or former slave. Those who do so receive a +1 bonus to strength or constitution, but suffer a -2 penalty to their charisma due to their low social status, which is evident from tattoos or brands associated with slavery.

Lotus Trade. The lotus may be bought in the markets of Jub. Its purchase and use may be illicit elsewhere. Ordinary lotus blossoms are pink in hue. These addictive blossoms are consumed for their narcotic properties. Extraordinary varieties also may be available for purchase, but are especially dangerous. These varieties cost 250 gold pieces (or more).

White Lotus. Consuming the white lotus increases a single attribute by 1d4 points for a number of turns equal to the die roll. An ability score may temporarily exceed 18 as a result; if this occurs, the referee will assign appropriate bonuses.

Crimson Lotus. Consuming the crimson lotus imparts 3d4 temporary hit points for a number of turns equal to the die roll. The imbiber loses these before suffering any loss to his normal hit points. This does not alter the user's level or hit dice.

Blue Lotus. Consuming the blue lotus permits a spellcaster to rememorize 1d2 spells immediately and cast spells as one level higher for 2d4 turns. If used by a non-spellcaster, it will impart a +2 bonus to saving throws against magic for 2d4 turns.

Purple Lotus. Consuming the purple lotus confers immunity to mind-altering spells or magical effects, such as charm, sleep, and hold person, as well as psionic attacks for 3d4 turns. It also shields the mind from extra-sensory perception or detection.

Yellow Lotus. Consuming the yellow lotus allows the imbiber to see the true nature of things for 4d4 turns. For example, the imbiber sees through illusions, secret doors are as obvious as ordinary ones, and invisible creatures are visible.

These extraordinary lotus blossoms are no less narcotic and addictive and their consumption entails serious risks:

• when a lotus blossom is imbibed, the user must make a saving throw or fall unconscious for 2d4 rounds and be strung out for twice as many turns upon awakening, suffering a -1 penalty to all rolls during this period
• a user who fails the preceding saving throw, must make a second saving throw once he is no longer strung out; if the user fails this second saving throw, he is now addicted to the lotus
• lotus addicts do not gain any of the benefits of consuming the lotus when used, but must spend 10% of the treasure they obtain on ordinary lotus blossoms; this percentage increases 5% with each level gained thereafter
• a lotus addict who does not spend the required amount of treasure purchasing ordinary blossoms suffers a -2 penalty to all rolls; he also may suffer this penalty if his immediate supply is somehow lost or destroyed
• a lotus addict can be cured of the addiction by a neutralize poison spell; once cast, the addict must pass a system shock roll (see page 8 of the rulebook) or be incapacitated for 2d6 days

N.B. The guidelines regarding lotus blossoms were inspired by K&K Alehouse commenter Welleran's house rules.

Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Jumping

Adventurers often try to jump across a pit, from one ledge to another, or over an obstacle or hazard. Swords & Wizardry has no rules for jumping. As these situations are common and consistency is desirable, I have created the following rules:

Jumping

Strength Score	Standing Long Jump	Running Long Jump
3–4	1d4+2 feet	2d4+5 feet
5–6	1d4+3 feet	2d4+6 feet
7–15	1d4+4 feet	2d4+7 feet
16	1d4+5 feet	2d4+8 feet
17	1d4+6 feet	2d4+9 feet
18	1d4+7 feet	2d4+10 feet

• this table assumes that the jumper is bipedal and the size of an ordinary human or similar humanoids; halflings and dwarves respectively have a -1 and a -2 penalty
• similar penalties should be imposed on other creatures of smaller stature or stride; larger creatures, such as giants, should have significant bonuses and possibly larger dice
• characters with a dexterity score of 13 or better receive +1 bonus and those with a dexterity score of 8 or lower receive a -1 penalty; similar modifiers may be applied to especially nimble and clumsy creatures
• chain mail and ring mail impose a -2 penalty and plate mail imposes a -3 penalty; no penalty or bonus is applied for jumps made by those wearing leather armor or clothing
• encumbrance of 76–100, 101–50, and 151–300 pounds respectively impose penalties of -1, -2, and -4; these penalties are in addition to the penalties for armor
• if a jumper barely misses his target—e.g., someone jumping a chasm comes up a foot short—he may make a saving throw to try to grab hold of a ledge or the like

Design Note. I looked to the AD&D Dungeoneer's Survival Guide and Wilderness Survival Guide for guidance but disliked their approach. Both guides base a character's jumping ability on his level and provide for very slow advancement in ability; one's initial jumping ability does not improve until seventh level under their rules. A level-based approach perhaps makes sense for a character class that has a specialized jumping skill, like an acrobat. But an individual's general ability to jump strikes me as more of an innate characteristic unlikely to improve too much over time. In this regard, adventurers are dissimilar to professional athletes who specialize in long jumping; the former may jump with some frequency, but the latter are training for that particular event. However, if you wish to incorporate improvement over time into the house rule offered above, one possible approach would be to add a +1 bonus for every two or three levels of advancement. One might provide different rates of advancement to different classes as well (e.g., thieves might advance faster than fighters, fighters might advance faster than clerics and magic-users). I based the outer limits of jumping ability on the world records for the standing and running long jumps, and then reduced the distances for characters with lower strengths.

Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Climbing

In Swords & Wizardry Complete, a thief’s ability to climb walls is extraordinary: a thief’s percentage chance to climb walls applies to surfaces that others cannot climb; if others have a percentage chance to climb a surface, a thief likely can do so automatically (page 23). The following guidelines, which are derived in part from the AD&D Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide and Wilderness Survival Guide, are intended to fill in the gaps in the rules:

Climbing

Climbable Surfaces

• walls and cliffs that are sheer, smooth, only slightly cracked, or rough but without handholds can only be climbed by thieves absent the use of pitons or other gear
• if a wall or cliff is more than sheer—i.e., its angle is less than 90 degrees (e.g., an overhang)—even a thief will have a negative modifier to his climbing roll

Climbing Checks

• for walls climbable by non-thieves, they have a base 40% chance to do so; use of a grappling hook and rope, pitons, or other gear adds a +40% modifier
• for non-thieves, a strength score of 13 to 16 confers a +5% modifier to climbing rolls; a strength score of 17 to 18 confers a 10% modifier to climbing rolls
• chain and ring mail impose a -15% modifier and plate mail imposes a -40% modifier to climbing rolls; climbing rolls made in leather armor or clothing are unmodified
• encumbrance of 76–100, 101–50, and 151–300 pounds respectively impose modifiers of -5%, -10%, and -15%; these modifies are in addition to the modifiers for armor
• negative modifiers also may be applied to climbing rolls for various conditions—moss, moisture, crumbling surfaces—or circumstances such as being attacked while climbing

Falling

• if a climbing roll is failed, randomly determine how high the climber made it before falling; e.g., if climbing 60 feet, roll a d6—a result of 2 would mean a fall from 20 feet
• precautions, such as securing the rope with pitons or roping together with other climbers, may arrest a fall; make a saving throw to see if each piton et cetera holds
• a climber who falls takes 1d6 damage for every 10 feet fallen; he may make a saving throw to avoid 1d6 of this damage, which represents slowing or partial arrest of the fall

Rates of Ascent and Descent

• if necessary to determine a rate of ascent or descent or the amount of time spent climbing, non-thieves climb 5d6 feet per round and thieves climb 6d6 feet per round
• bonuses to the rate of ascent or descent may added for favorable slope or plentiful handholds; these bonuses may consist of additional dice or a modifier to each die

Grappling Hooks

• grappling hooks can be thrown upward a number of feet equal to 1/3 of the character’s strength x 10 and twice this distance horizontally with sufficient throwing space
• to try to secure a grappling hook to a fixed point, roll a d6; on a 4–6 it securely grabs; for those with a strength or dexterity bonus, the hook securely grabs on a 3–6
• if the surface the grappling hook grabs is unstable or is potentially incapable of bearing the load, it is possible that the hook will come loose during the climb

Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Firing into a Melee and Missile Recovery

Firing into a Melee. Swords & Wizardry Complete states that shooting or throwing missile weapons into melee combat is unpredictable and that targets will be randomly determined by the DM, but provides no specific mechanics (see page 40). So I borrow the mechanic from the Planet Eris house rules. If an adventurer fires a missile weapon into melee combat, he makes an ordinary attack roll; if successful, he hits the enemy target. If he misses the enemy target, then he rolls a d6; on a roll of 1 or 2, the errant missile strikes a randomly selected ally instead.

Missile Recovery. After combat, an adventurer who fired a bow or crossbow must roll a d2 for each arrow or bolt fired: 1—the missile is broken or lost; 2—the missile is intact and reusable. Alternatively, an adventurer may simply assume that 50% of the missiles fired are broken or lost. The rate of breakage or loss may be higher if the missiles were fired under circumstances ensuring their loss (e.g., if fired over water or if dipped in pitch and set alight before being fired).

Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Encumbrance

Swords & Wizardry Complete addresses encumbrance in a fairly incomplete fashion (see pages 32-33 of the rulebook). It does not provide any weight values for armor, equipment, or weapons. So calculating encumbrance is not really possible on a by-the-book basis. Thus, I have supplemented the rules with additional information from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Encumbrance

Swords & Wizardry's encumbrance rules are very generous. They assume that standard adventuring equipment is a mere 10 pounds, excluding armor and weapons (see page 32). I generally stick with this assumption for ease of computation. This is Dungeons & Dragons, not Audits & Accountants; detailed spreadsheets tracking encumbrance are not my idea of fun. So I usually guesstimate. But reasonable people sometimes disagree and it may be necessary to calculate encumbrance with greater precision if, for example, an adventurer is carrying a lot of equipment, or it is necessary to determine how much treasure may be carried away from a large hoard. Here are guidelines for doing so:

• 300 pounds ordinarily is the maximum encumbrance for normal adventurers (see page 32); strength scores of 12 and above permit adventurers to carry more weight (see page 7)
• for purposes of encumbrance, every 10 coins or gemstones is one pound unless exceptional in some regard (see page 32); for armor, equipment, and weapons consult the encumbrance tables below

Armor and Clothing

Type	Weight in Coins	Weight in Pounds
Plate Mail	700	70
Chain Mail	500	50
Ring Mail	400	40
Leather Armor	250	25
Clothes	30	3
Robe or Cloak	25	2.5
Large Shield	100	10
Small Shield	50	5
Helm	45	4.5
Boots, Hard	60	6
Boots, Soft	30	3

Equipment

Item	Weight in Coins	Weight in Pounds
Backpack	20	2
Bedroll	30	3
Bottle or Flagon	60	6
Candle	5	0.5
Flask, Empty	5	0.5
Flask, Full	20	2
Grappling Hook	100	10
Hand Tool	10	1
Lantern	60	6
Mirror	5	0.5
Potion	25	2.5
Rations, Iron	75	7.5
Rations, Standard	200	20
Rod	60	6
Rope, 50 feet	75	7.5
Sack, Large	20	2
Sack, Small	5	0.5
Scroll Case	10	1
Spike or Piton	10	1
Tinderbox (Flint & Steel)	2	0.2
Torch	25	2.5
Waterskin, Empty	5	0.5
Waterskin, Full	50	5

Weapons

Weapon	Weight in Coins	Weight in Pounds
Arrow or Quarrel	2	0.2
Axe, Battle	75	7.5
Axe, Hand	50	5
Bow, Long	100	10
Bow, Short	50	5
Club	30	3
Crossbow, Heavy	80	8
Crossbow, Light	50	5
Dagger	10	1
Javelin	20	2
Mace	75	7.5
Sling Stone	2	0.2
Spear	40	4
Staff	50	5
Sword, Bastard	100	10
Sword, Short	30	3
Sword, Long	60	6
Sword, Two-Handed	250	25
Warhammer	60	6

• the tables are not intended to be comprehensive; for any gear not specified in the preceding tables, formulate a weight in coins and pounds based on the values provided above as necessary
• for reference: plate mail, large shield, longsword, dagger, and standard equipment is 97 pounds with a movement rate of 9; substituting chain mail for plate would result in 77 pounds but the same movement rate

Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Poison

In Swords & Wizardry Complete, the rules seem to assume that poison generally is deadly (see page 10 of the rulebook). I gather that the by-the-book mechanic is save or die instantly (see the entries for giant spiders on page 113). However, there are non-lethal poisons as well (see the entries for giant centipedes on page 95). Unless a monster entry specifies otherwise, I generally apply the following guidelines:

Poison

Weak Poison. Weak poisons may allow the target a bonus on his saving throw (anywhere from +2 to +6), result in a condition other than death, such as paralysis or unconsciousness, or simply inflict extra damage.

Moderate Poison. Moderate poisons are deadly, but death is not instantaneous. A target who fails his saving throw usually dies in 1d4+1 rounds unless he imbibes an antidote or is the recipient of a neutralize poison spell.

Strong Poison. Strong poisons either result in death immediately or in 1d2 rounds. Some may impose a penalty on a target's saving throws, but any racial, class, or magical bonuses remain effective and offset any such penalty.

First Aid. An ally may attempt to bleed a poison victim’s wound and suck out the poison, provided that the victim is not already dead. Doing so allows the victim to make an additional saving throw with a penalty (usually between -2 and -4). The victim suffers 1d4 damage when this is attempted and it also requires the ally to save against poison.

Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Fumbles

Swords & Wizardry Complete references the possibility of fumbles (see page 40 of the rulebook). I'm not sure that fumbles are worthwhile, and mechanically they disadvantage characters or monsters that make multiple attacks per round. But I have used fumbles in some of my games in the past. Below is one potential fumble rule.

Fumbles

Whenever a character or monster rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll, the attack misses even if it otherwise would hit based on his or its THAC0 score and any relevant bonuses or modifiers. The attacker also must roll a d6 and consult the chart below.

1. attacker drops weapon or is disarmed; unless he is handed a weapon by another or has another at hand, he must spend the next round retrieving this weapon or another
2. attacker strains muscle or sustains some other minor injury; for the duration of the combat, he suffers a -1 penalty to all attack and damage rolls (but not to any other rolls)
3. attacker’s helm is damaged or displaced or attacker gets blood in his eyes; he suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls until he spends a round to clear his obstructed vision
4. attacker loses his footing and falls down; he must spend the next round scrambling to avoid attacks while regaining his footing (or else act from the ground with penalties)
5. attacker is knocked off balance or outmaneuvered; his opponent has a +1 bonus to his next attack roll against the attacker (attack must be made no later than next round)
6. attacker recklessly blunders and strikes a nearby ally for half damage; if there is no ally nearby, then the attacker instead manages to inflict half damage on himself

At the DM's discretion, fumble results for characters or monsters that make multiple attacks per round may be modified. For example, a fumble may simply result in the loss of one of these multiple attacks in the following round.

This fumble chart is a modified version of the fumble rule contained in Jimm Johnson's Planet Eris house rules.