Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rules 3rd Edition

[chiisu81]

Suggested edits/corrections go here.

Suggested changes, how you house-rule your own game, etc. goes in General Discussion (unless you create your own document to share, THEN that's a sep. thread here in Workshop).

[quozl]

OK, first read through for parts 1-5. These are my suggestions and questions.

p2 - 1st paragraph under What Do I Need To Play? - Should "character records" be "character sheets"?

p3 - 1st paragraph - "character record sheet form" should be shortened to just "character sheet" or "character form"

p3 - 4th paragraph - "Remember that you must meet the Prime Requisite" - strike out "Remember" as this hasn't been covered yet; how could the reader remember it?

p14 - Rate of Fire isn't explained here and when it is explained later, the symbols used 1/4, 1/3, 1/6, and 1/10 are not explained.

p15 - How long does it take to prepare a spell? It is mentioned that a spellcaster can dismiss a prepared to spell in order to prepare a different one and the time needed to do that would be useful.

p25 - Locate Object mentions divination here, which isn't explained. Instead of stating divination, should Clairvoyance and Wizard Eye be specified?

p29 - Read Languages says it can't be used to read a spell scroll, then says "for instance, a protection scroll or a treasure map". I don't believe a treasure map is a spell scroll. What is the intent?

p34 - Wall of Iron 2nd paragraph - "doubling the thickness halved the area" should be "doubling the thickness halves the area"

p38 - The tacking rules don't make sense to me. Why would tacking in strong winds let you go faster than tacking in a breeze? I believe that instead of moving at a rate of two rows less, you should move at the opposite row (so tacking in a gale moves like becalmed and tacking in a strong wind moves like a breeze).

p46 - How To Attack - The table is actually on the current page, not the next page.

p49 - 1st paragraph - "a successful hold on the attacker" - Should this be "a successful attack on the attacker"?

p51 - Energy Drain 3rd paragraph - "Negative levels may be removed by magic." - Do you want to mention Restoration specifically?

[Solomoriah]

EGAD...

OK, first read through for parts 1-5. These are my suggestions and questions.

p2 - 1st paragraph under What Do I Need To Play? - Should "character records" be "character sheets"?

Probably. Fixed.

p3 - 1st paragraph - "character record sheet form" should be shortened to just "character sheet" or "character form"

Indeed. Changed to "preprinted character sheet."

p3 - 4th paragraph - "Remember that you must meet the Prime Requisite" - strike out "Remember" as this hasn't been covered yet; how could the reader remember it?

Fixed.

p14 - Rate of Fire isn't explained here and when it is explained later, the symbols used 1/4, 1/3, 1/6, and 1/10 are not explained.

... now I have to figure out where "later" is.

p15 - How long does it take to prepare a spell? It is mentioned that a spellcaster can dismiss a prepared to spell in order to prepare a different one and the time needed to do that would be useful.

I would almost swear I remember writing those rules, but I can't find them now.

Will have to revisit this one.

p25 - Locate Object mentions divination here, which isn't explained. Instead of stating divination, should Clairvoyance and Wizard Eye be specified?

I've added a bit to it to address this.

p29 - Read Languages says it can't be used to read a spell scroll, then says "for instance, a protection scroll or a treasure map". I don't believe a treasure map is a spell scroll. What is the intent?

Treasure maps might be written in a foreign or ancient language. Protection scrolls are readable by any character regardless of class, and in my campaign world they are written in normal, not magical, script; this is why the spell specifically applies to them but not to spell scrolls which are usable only by the correct class. It is a bit less than perfectly clear, though; I'm making some small revisions.

Also I noticed the case of read magic was Read Magic which is inconsistent, so I fixed that.

p34 - Wall of Iron 2nd paragraph - "doubling the thickness halved the area" should be "doubling the thickness halves the area"

Fixed.

p38 - The tacking rules don't make sense to me. Why would tacking in strong winds let you go faster than tacking in a breeze? I believe that instead of moving at a rate of two rows less, you should move at the opposite row (so tacking in a gale moves like becalmed and tacking in a strong wind moves like a breeze).

This seems logical. However, before I change it, we might want to find someone who actually sails to tell us how it ought to work.

p46 - How To Attack - The table is actually on the current page, not the next page.

Yeah. Darn thing moves around from release to release; this has been changed many times before.

p49 - 1st paragraph - "a successful hold on the attacker" - Should this be "a successful attack on the attacker"?

No, this is correct. Grabbing the attacker gives the defender a bonus to escape, because you are literally pulling the attacker's hands off of the defender.

p51 - Energy Drain 3rd paragraph - "Negative levels may be removed by magic." - Do you want to mention Restoration specifically?

Probably would be a good idea. Fixed.

Also fixing the bit mentioned above about saving throw modifiers.

I'm going to hold off a bit releasing R103, since you are still going through the book.

[quozl]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the later section on Rate of Fire is on page 47.

Thanks for the clarifications!

[chiisu81]

p14 - Rate of Fire isn't explained here and when it is explained later, the symbols used 1/4, 1/3, 1/6, and 1/10 are not explained.

... now I have to figure out where "later" is.

It's in the Table of Contents and Index; Missile Weapon Rate of Fire, page 47.

Edit: I should learn to read, quozl already posted the page #

[Solomoriah]

I just revised the rate of fire on page 47 to include an explanation of siege weapon usage.

I also added the following to the Magic-User part of the Spells introduction:

A Magic-User may only prepare spells after resting (i.e. a good night's sleep), and must spend one turn per each three spell levels to do so (rounding fractions up). Spells prepared but not used on a previous day are not lost.

I searched the forum to see what I had said in the past, and found this:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=24&p=2230#p2230

It's as close to "official" as I felt like being back in 2010 when the question came up. Thinking about it, though, it would take longer than I really wanted in the game doing it that way, so that's why I added the rule above.

I feel like these updates do not constitute "significant" changes. I've always promised no significant changes to the Core Rules, and I do mean to keep that promise.

[quozl]

Do you mean you can prepare all spells of up to 3 levels in one turn? So all level 1-3 spells can be prepared in a turn and all level 4-6 spells can be prepared in another turn? I just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.

Also, I did a quick run-through of the monster section this morning. Here are my observations:

p67 - Triceratops 2nd to last sentence - "against a man-sized or larger creatures" should be " against a man-sized or larger creature" Last words of the sentence are "man sized" - should be "man-sized"

p71-74 - Many of the dragons are immune to certain types of damage and should have asterisks by their names.

p79 - Since an elephant can be used as a beast of burden, can we get load weights for it?

p81 - Gelatinous Cube - doesn't say how long paralysis lasts

p82 - Ghast 1st paragraph, last sentence- "Like all undead" is confusing when it also says they are turned as ghouls. I suggest just removing the "like all undead" clause.

p82 - Ghost - needs an asterisk by its name

p85 - Fire Giant and Frost Giant should have asterisks by their names

p94 - I don't see an update to Green Slime about them being immune to normal weapons

p98 - Insect Swarm - Should they be immune to normal weapons?

p104 - Can a Mastodon also be used as a beast of burden like an elephant?

p106 - How do mermaids raise children in the deep ocean if they can't breathe underwater?

I'll try to get to parts 7 and 8 soon. Thanks for going over all of these!

[Dimirag]

Do you mean you can prepare all spells of up to 3 levels in one turn? So all level 1-3 spells can be prepared in a turn and all level 4-6 spells can be prepared in another turn? I just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.

I read it as the sum of the levels of all spells being prepared divided by 3. Ex. A magic user wants to prepare 2 1st level spells and one 2nd level one, that's a total of 4 levels, which means 2 turns of preparation (4/3 rounded up)

[Solomoriah]

Do you mean you can prepare all spells of up to 3 levels in one turn? So all level 1-3 spells can be prepared in a turn and all level 4-6 spells can be prepared in another turn? I just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.

Ack. No, totally wrong. Dimirag's explanation above is correct.

I'd love to add a short example such as he provides, but I cannot add a single thing to the page without wrecking the layout.

Also, I did a quick run-through of the monster section this morning. Here are my observations:

p67 - Triceratops 2nd to last sentence - "against a man-sized or larger creatures" should be " against a man-sized or larger creature" Last words of the sentence are "man sized" - should be "man-sized"

The first part of this is correct, but the second part isn't. The use or non-use of the dash is conditional on where in the sentence the words appear. It still drives me nuts trying to remember the rule, so I Google for it when I can't remember...

p71-74 - Many of the dragons are immune to certain types of damage and should have asterisks by their names.

It's a fine point, actually. You get a star by your name if you are ONLY hit by a specific weapon type or a very short list of types ("silver or magic," "+1 or better", "hit only by fire"). Immunity to one or a short list of attack types does not earn you a star, because there are several other ways you can be hurt. It's a fine point, to be sure, and ignores a broad range of spells on a good day, but it's traditional so we do it.

p79 - Since an elephant can be used as a beast of burden, can we get load weights for it?

If I knew what they were.

We inherited the numbers for the other types of animals from the SRD (with some adjustments for how we handle loads). I don't have equivalent numbers for elephants. If I had them, I'd put them in there.

p81 - Gelatinous Cube - doesn't say how long paralysis lasts

2d4 turns. I'll revise it.

p82 - Ghast 1st paragraph, last sentence- "Like all undead" is confusing when it also says they are turned as ghouls. I suggest just removing the "like all undead" clause.

I revised it to read better, but since it didn't say specifically that they are undead anywhere else, I kept a version of that statement.

p82 - Ghost - needs an asterisk by its name

True. Fixed.

p85 - Fire Giant and Frost Giant should have asterisks by their names

False, as noted above.

p94 - I don't see an update to Green Slime about them being immune to normal weapons

Isn't "hit only by fire or cold" good enough? (In the AC part of the stat block, in case you missed it.)

p98 - Insect Swarm - Should they be immune to normal weapons?

Yes, they should. The AC is consistent with games of the era; I've no idea why they have one at all.

p104 - Can a Mastodon also be used as a beast of burden like an elephant?

I'm not writing that into the rules. It's for the GM to decide.

p106 - How do mermaids raise children in the deep ocean if they can't breathe underwater?

I'm not answering that either. Again, left for the GM. I have to admit, the mermaid is one of my more non-standard creations, and I've even had suggestions that I should make them more "normal." But I'm not going there.

I'll try to get to parts 7 and 8 soon. Thanks for going over all of these!

Thanks for looking things over!

[quozl]

Perhaps the spell preparation time rules could go in the Gamemaster Information section?

Also, searching for elephant stats, I did find this from the Pathfinder SRD, which comes from Tome of Horrors:

Mastodon Carrying Capacity: A light load for a mammoth is up to 5,592 pounds; a medium load, 5,593 to 11,184 pounds; and a heavy load, 11,185 to 16,800 pounds. A mammoth can drag 84,000 pounds.

Maybe that will help if you want to give loads for elephants in Basic Fantasy.

Looking through the rest of the book, I only found 2 things:

p138 - Control Human - For clarity, it would be helpful to have "humanoid" in here somewhere, probably the first mention of creatures could be changed to "humanoid creatures". Otherwise, from the description, it seems this could only be used to control humans.

p144 - Level 6-7 - Caecillia should be "Caecillia, Giant"

It was great reading through the whole book. Lots of cool details got added to my brain for new adventures! Thank you!