Hi! I answered a question about this on the discord today - there is nothing to stop you from plugging the b/x magic system back in, with a bit of legwork it will work just fine.
Us new soloers here and trying to get used to the context.
May I please ask whether there is some sort of streamlined ...method to calculate a fair combat encounter for our PCs? And by fair I mean that they have a chance of winning...(little point in 2 level 1 folks encountering an overpowerd enemy\monster/ beast)...
If the above is answered within the context please excuse and kindly let me know where to find the answer.
You could probably adapt Scarlet Heroes' method for playing with one hero or one hero and a companion. When you roll your weapon's damage die, you use the following chart:
1: no dmg
2-5: 1 dmg
6-9: 2 dmg
10+: 3 dmg
Heroes deal their damage directly to the enemies' HD, while enemies deal their damage to the heroes' HP. That means a 1HD bandit is killed in a successful hit if the damage die roll is 2 or more. (Since FORGE doesn't use HD for its example creatures, just use the creature's level instead.)
Heroes also have what's called a "Fray Die" equal to their weapon damage die that they can roll once per round to deal additional damage to enemies of equal or lower level. So a Lvl 1 Knight engaged with two Bandits (1HD) and a Bandit Leader (2HD) would be able to roll her d8 Fray Die at any time during the round and potentially deal 1 or 2 damage to the two bandits (but not to the higher HD leader).
This is a relatively simple way of beefing up a single hero such that they can take on a standard OSR combat encounter alone, or with a companion. However, it's not recommended to use this method for more than 2 heroes, or else they will be significantly overpowered.
Hi there! The above advice is great, and actually ties in nicely with an addon that I've been putting together that helps facilitate true solo play - Paragon Mode. Both systems essentially toughen up and increase the capabilities of a lone adventurer (or two) allowing you to throw more at them.
The playtest for FORGE Paragon Mode is currently on the Discord, if you wanted to check it out. It is functionally similar to Scarlet Heroes, however more tuned for the FORGE primary/secondary attributes and (hopefully) simplifies some things.
With regards to balancing encounters anyway, I suppose the normal response you will get is that OSR games are inherently unbalanced.. which isn't particularly helpful I know. I suppose you could say that a 1HD/1st Level enemy should be roughly equivalent to a 1st level Player Character, however that would also depend on the character's equipment and what capabilities the enemy had. I think it is important to remember that in OSR games it is generally not a good idea to try and go toe-to-toe with an enemy, as you would in more modern versions of D&D. Instead, you are encouraged to think outside the current combat engagement - can you use terrain/topple scenery/bypass the encounter with stealth or diplomacy? Ultimately it isn't as straightforward as you were hoping!
I think you get a feel for it, the more encounters you play/GM. I have seen a group of 6 level 1 adventurers clear out an entire goblin/bugbear cave (30+ enemies) with clever use of poison on their food supplies... there will almost always be a way for the players to win if they come up with a good plan!
Thanks ! Pretty much that was the spirit og the answer inhad expect led myself. If you feel you are overpowered, use your mind ! Thanks again for the effort in this !
I ordered my copy from amazon Canada and the quality of the print is really good.
I will need more time to explore all the mechanics and potential adventures!
My mind started to race when I saw the potential to create specific tables to run a game in Middle-Earth 5e or Beyond The Walls rpg. Time will tell if I find the time to do it. :-)
Hi there, sorry for the belated response and thank you for the kind words. Let me know how you get on with your game! I hope you get some good use out of FORGE :)
Great game! I just bought a printed copy. But ... my v1.03 pdf has some elements in the sidebar table of contents (viewable when open in a pdf reader) that do not correspond to anything in the document. For instance the sub-links, "Weapon" and "Armour" (under Treasure) should probably be be removed and "Magic Item Effect" added instead. Haven't looked at all the sub-links ... maybe when I get more time. Anyway, just fyi. Love the game and keep up the good work.
With regards to your comments - the 'Weapon' and 'Armour' links are to the two nested tables within 'Magic Item' at the top of that page (I didn't necessarily need to put bookmarks to these, but decided that it was useful even for non-magic items discovered as treasure - e.g. the hyperlinks from the non-magic items on the table opposite). To save on space, it is the only table where the type of weapon or armour can be randomly determined. It would have potentially been clearer if I had included a separate weapon/armour table that both 'Magic Item' and 'Non-Magic Item' linked to, but space was at a premium!
I do agree that 'Magic Item Effect' would benefit from having a bookmark, so I will include that in the next update to the pdf.
Thank you Oliver for releasing this! I ordered the A5 version! I am pretty new to solo rpg tabletops and I was looking into dungeon worlds and waiting for my copy, do you happen to know if forge works well with it?
Hi there streamlap, thank you for your interest and I apologise for taking such a long time to respond (for some reason I missed the notification that you had left a comment!)
Do you mean 'Dungeon World'? That is a Powered by the Apocalypse (PBTA) style game, which is slightly different to a game based on D&D mechanics, like FORGE. PBTA games tend to lean more heavily into the fiction, and often run best with multiple players working together to interpret the emerging story. Personally, I find FORGE easier to play as a solo game than PBTA, as I benefit from the increased mechanical crunch as a scaffold to hang my story from. If you prefer a PBTA style game, I can recommend Ironsworn as an alternative to DW, as that is designed to be played solo.
I'm really impressed with clarity of presentation and enhancements to old school rules. One thing I'm not sure about is how the primary and secondary attribute bonuses affect play at higher levels. +1 to a primary seems reasonable at level one, but when you get to level 10 that +10 means you'll nearly always succeed on actions with your primary attributes. How has this worked in play testing?
With regards to the +10 and +5 to primary and secondary checks at 10th level, on average that relates to 80% and 55% chance to succeed against the default target of 15.
If this were for a saving throw, it isn't too dissimilar to B/X which has saving throw chances between 50% and 70% for the average level 10 fighter (A level 10 dwarf would have a 90% chance to succeed a save vs death).
Attack bonuses are largely similar too, a level 10 character with STR as primary (e.g. a fighter type) would have +10 to melee attacks, which is close to the base +7 of a B/X level 10 fighter. Similarly a level 10 thief, with STR secondary would have only +5 to melee attacks, identical to B/X.
Skills-wise, a B/X level 10 thief would have an 85% (5/6 chance) to succeed at most thief-y things, this is pretty similar to having a level 10 DEX primary character in FORGE.
In general I find that characters in FORGE are ever so slightly stronger than their B/X counterparts, however not noticeably so.
In play testing, we have occasionally had a character make it to the higher echelons, at which point they are definitely expected to succeed at most of the things they attempt.. however I fully expect a Dragon or similar high level creature to make short work of them should they throw themselves into combat without proper planning! :)
Thanks for the detailed explanation, that makes sense. I rarely play above level 5 or 6, but it would be interesting to see how the game plays at level 10.
I tried to visit the FORGE discrod channel following the link you provided on this page, but it doesn't lead to any channel. I think that it either doesnt work, or your channel no longer exists.
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Thank you a lot. Excellent work.
Thank you!
Love this
Are there any alternate magic system floating around?
Hi! I answered a question about this on the discord today - there is nothing to stop you from plugging the b/x magic system back in, with a bit of legwork it will work just fine.
Thanks for this excellent piece of work !
Us new soloers here and trying to get used to the context.
May I please ask whether there is some sort of streamlined ...method to calculate a fair combat encounter for our PCs? And by fair I mean that they have a chance of winning...(little point in 2 level 1 folks encountering an overpowerd enemy\monster/ beast)...
If the above is answered within the context please excuse and kindly let me know where to find the answer.
Again many thanks for inspiring our worlds.
Alex
You could probably adapt Scarlet Heroes' method for playing with one hero or one hero and a companion. When you roll your weapon's damage die, you use the following chart:
Heroes deal their damage directly to the enemies' HD, while enemies deal their damage to the heroes' HP. That means a 1HD bandit is killed in a successful hit if the damage die roll is 2 or more. (Since FORGE doesn't use HD for its example creatures, just use the creature's level instead.)
Heroes also have what's called a "Fray Die" equal to their weapon damage die that they can roll once per round to deal additional damage to enemies of equal or lower level. So a Lvl 1 Knight engaged with two Bandits (1HD) and a Bandit Leader (2HD) would be able to roll her d8 Fray Die at any time during the round and potentially deal 1 or 2 damage to the two bandits (but not to the higher HD leader).
This is a relatively simple way of beefing up a single hero such that they can take on a standard OSR combat encounter alone, or with a companion. However, it's not recommended to use this method for more than 2 heroes, or else they will be significantly overpowered.
Thank you ! I was mostly asking about how we decide how tough, and many, the enemies would be. Though you did provide with excellent ideas !
Hi there! The above advice is great, and actually ties in nicely with an addon that I've been putting together that helps facilitate true solo play - Paragon Mode. Both systems essentially toughen up and increase the capabilities of a lone adventurer (or two) allowing you to throw more at them.
The playtest for FORGE Paragon Mode is currently on the Discord, if you wanted to check it out. It is functionally similar to Scarlet Heroes, however more tuned for the FORGE primary/secondary attributes and (hopefully) simplifies some things.
With regards to balancing encounters anyway, I suppose the normal response you will get is that OSR games are inherently unbalanced.. which isn't particularly helpful I know. I suppose you could say that a 1HD/1st Level enemy should be roughly equivalent to a 1st level Player Character, however that would also depend on the character's equipment and what capabilities the enemy had. I think it is important to remember that in OSR games it is generally not a good idea to try and go toe-to-toe with an enemy, as you would in more modern versions of D&D. Instead, you are encouraged to think outside the current combat engagement - can you use terrain/topple scenery/bypass the encounter with stealth or diplomacy? Ultimately it isn't as straightforward as you were hoping!
I think you get a feel for it, the more encounters you play/GM. I have seen a group of 6 level 1 adventurers clear out an entire goblin/bugbear cave (30+ enemies) with clever use of poison on their food supplies... there will almost always be a way for the players to win if they come up with a good plan!
Thanks ! Pretty much that was the spirit og the answer inhad expect led myself. If you feel you are overpowered, use your mind ! Thanks again for the effort in this !
I think I see you already asked this on the discord too.. apologies for not answering sooner!
Thank you. Good job for the game.
I ordered my copy from amazon Canada and the quality of the print is really good.
I will need more time to explore all the mechanics and potential adventures!
My mind started to race when I saw the potential to create specific tables to run a game in Middle-Earth 5e or Beyond The Walls rpg. Time will tell if I find the time to do it. :-)
Hi there, sorry for the belated response and thank you for the kind words. Let me know how you get on with your game! I hope you get some good use out of FORGE :)
Great game! I just bought a printed copy. But ... my v1.03 pdf has some elements in the sidebar table of contents (viewable when open in a pdf reader) that do not correspond to anything in the document. For instance the sub-links, "Weapon" and "Armour" (under Treasure) should probably be be removed and "Magic Item Effect" added instead. Haven't looked at all the sub-links ... maybe when I get more time. Anyway, just fyi. Love the game and keep up the good work.
Hi there! I'm glad you're enjoying the game :)
With regards to your comments - the 'Weapon' and 'Armour' links are to the two nested tables within 'Magic Item' at the top of that page (I didn't necessarily need to put bookmarks to these, but decided that it was useful even for non-magic items discovered as treasure - e.g. the hyperlinks from the non-magic items on the table opposite). To save on space, it is the only table where the type of weapon or armour can be randomly determined. It would have potentially been clearer if I had included a separate weapon/armour table that both 'Magic Item' and 'Non-Magic Item' linked to, but space was at a premium!
I do agree that 'Magic Item Effect' would benefit from having a bookmark, so I will include that in the next update to the pdf.
Thanks again!
Thank you Oliver for releasing this! I ordered the A5 version! I am pretty new to solo rpg tabletops and I was looking into dungeon worlds and waiting for my copy, do you happen to know if forge works well with it?
Hi there streamlap, thank you for your interest and I apologise for taking such a long time to respond (for some reason I missed the notification that you had left a comment!)
Do you mean 'Dungeon World'? That is a Powered by the Apocalypse (PBTA) style game, which is slightly different to a game based on D&D mechanics, like FORGE. PBTA games tend to lean more heavily into the fiction, and often run best with multiple players working together to interpret the emerging story. Personally, I find FORGE easier to play as a solo game than PBTA, as I benefit from the increased mechanical crunch as a scaffold to hang my story from. If you prefer a PBTA style game, I can recommend Ironsworn as an alternative to DW, as that is designed to be played solo.
I'm really impressed with clarity of presentation and enhancements to old school rules. One thing I'm not sure about is how the primary and secondary attribute bonuses affect play at higher levels. +1 to a primary seems reasonable at level one, but when you get to level 10 that +10 means you'll nearly always succeed on actions with your primary attributes. How has this worked in play testing?
Hi there, thank you for the kind words.
With regards to the +10 and +5 to primary and secondary checks at 10th level, on average that relates to 80% and 55% chance to succeed against the default target of 15.
If this were for a saving throw, it isn't too dissimilar to B/X which has saving throw chances between 50% and 70% for the average level 10 fighter (A level 10 dwarf would have a 90% chance to succeed a save vs death).
Attack bonuses are largely similar too, a level 10 character with STR as primary (e.g. a fighter type) would have +10 to melee attacks, which is close to the base +7 of a B/X level 10 fighter. Similarly a level 10 thief, with STR secondary would have only +5 to melee attacks, identical to B/X.
Skills-wise, a B/X level 10 thief would have an 85% (5/6 chance) to succeed at most thief-y things, this is pretty similar to having a level 10 DEX primary character in FORGE.
In general I find that characters in FORGE are ever so slightly stronger than their B/X counterparts, however not noticeably so.
In play testing, we have occasionally had a character make it to the higher echelons, at which point they are definitely expected to succeed at most of the things they attempt.. however I fully expect a Dragon or similar high level creature to make short work of them should they throw themselves into combat without proper planning! :)
Thanks for the detailed explanation, that makes sense. I rarely play above level 5 or 6, but it would be interesting to see how the game plays at level 10.
I tried to visit the FORGE discrod channel following the link you provided on this page, but it doesn't lead to any channel. I think that it either doesnt work, or your channel no longer exists.
Strange, it should be working. I've replaced it with a new link that has no expiry date, same link here: FORGE Discord
Let me know if you have any problems.