A lot of people talk about what it was like to game in the old days. These two tables come straight out of my gaming roots, reflecting some of the deadly nature our game sessions used to have. We first started using these tables in the early 80s. Our best guess as to their origin is "some guy at Virginia Tech made them." The originals are typewritten (yes, with a real typewriter) and have nearly disintegrated from use. I created electronic copies and cleaned up some of the typos in the originals, but the results are about the same. Death and mayhem.
We used these with all flavors of D&D (primarily 1st edition back then). Our house rules were that a one was a fumble and a 20 was a critical on any to hit roll. Both characters and their foes were subject to the whim of charts, allowing even the lowliest kobold to pose a significant threat to the party. So without further ado, here they are:
4 comments:
"Table from ancient type-written chart, origin unknown"
Arduin, my friend.
Really? Wow, thanks for letting me know. A couple members of my group picked them up from their college game and they've been passed around and transcribed several times since.
I remember a chart from I.C.E that a 0 on the fumble table meant you tripped over an invisible turtle or tortoise and impaled yourself on your sword. Great fun.
Ahh Rolemaster. :) Our group's favorite was "silly decoration breaks". Our GM at the time rolled it in the midst of a fierce gladiatorial fight. During the ensuing laughter he managed to fumble in real-life (smacking his head against the wall behind him as he laughed). Our group's standing comment for real-life fumbles at the table has been "silly decoration breaks" every since.
Post a Comment