Fight Club 2.0 Purple Worm vs 2 Fighters - Dice Version

Here's the version of our fight with added dice rolls.  See the previous post for the a mathematically averaged version of the fight.

Summary of the combatants:

Purple Worm  HD15  HP68  AC6  Bite 2-16damage  Sting 1-8damage

Hedun  14th Level Fighter  HP51  AC2  Long Sword 1-8 damage

Taylor  14th Level Fighter  HP51  AC2  Long Sword 1-8 damage


Round 1 Fighters win initiative

• Hedun rolls 15 and hits doing 4 damage
• Taylor rolls 4 and hits (he only needs a 3) doing 3 damage
• PW goes for a bite of Hedun and rolls 16, a hit doing a chomping 15 damage
• PW tail swipes Taylor rolling and 8 doing 5 damage

End of round 1 PW has 61HP, Hedun has 36HP and Taylor has 46HP

Round 2 PW wins initiative

• PW bites Hedun, hits with a 20 and does 9 damage
• PW swipes at Taylor, rolls 16 and hits for 5 damage.  Taylor rolls 14 and makes his save against the poisonous sting
• Hedun rolls a 2 and misses
• Taylor rolls 7 and does 8 damage

 End of round 2 PW has 53HP, Hedun has 27HP and Taylor has 41HP

Round 3 PW wins initiative

• PW bites at Hedun, but misses with a 6
• PW swipes at Taylor and just hits with a 7 doing 1 damages.  Taylor rolls 6 and makes his save
• Hedun rolls a 3 and just hits doing 3 damage
• Taylor rolls a 1 and misses

End of round 3 PW has 50HP, Hedun has 27HP and Taylor has 38HP

Round 4 PW wins initiative

• PW bites at Hedun and hits with a 16 doing 12 damage
• PW swipes at Taylor and hits with a 10 doing 3 damage.  Taylor rolls a 16 and makes his save
• Hedun rolls a 13 and does 6 damage
• Taylor rolls a 2 and misses (he's having really bad luck)

End of round 4 PW has 44HP, Hedun has 15HP and Taylor has 35HP

Round 5 Fighters win initiative

• Hedun rolls a 2 and misses (what can I say Taylor taught him well)
• Taylor's luck turns and he hits with an 11 doing 8 damage
• PW Bites Hedun with roll of 12 and does 10 damage
• PW tries to sting Taylor but misses with a 6

End of round 5 PW has 38HP, Hedun has 5HP and Taylor has 35HP

Round 6 PW wins initiative

• PW bites Hedun and with a roll of 10 and damage of 15 puts him down
• PW goes for another sting on Taylor and hits with 18 doing 4 damage.  Taylor rolls a 19 and saves with style
• Taylor takes another swing and hits with a 19 doing 7 damage

End of round 6 PW has 31HP, Hedun is DEAD, Taylor has 31HP

Round 7 PW wins initiative

• PW turns his head to bite at whoever has been trying to cut his tail off, he rolls 6 and misses.  I don't allow a bite and sting on the same opponent as it might end up stinging itself in the mouth area
• Taylor rolls a 19 and does 5 damage

End of round 7 PW has 26HP, Taylor has 31HP

Round 8 PW wins initiative

• PW bites again and misses again with a 4
• Taylor hits with a 20 (shame we're not doing critical hits here) but he does roll a maximum 8 damage

End of round 8 PW has 18HP, Taylor has 31HP

Round 9 Taylor wins initiative

• Taylor hits with a 7 and does 3 damage
• PW bites and hits with an 8 doing 7 damage

End of round 9 PW has 15HP, Taylor has 24HP

Round 10 Taylor wins initiative

• Taylor hits with a 12 and does 3 damage
• PW bites and hits doing 12 damage

End of round 10 PW has 12HP, Taylor has 12HP

Round 11 PW wins initiative

• PW bites and hits with a 12 doing 9 damage
• Taylor hits with 9 and does 3 damage

End of round 11 PW has 9HP, Taylor has 3HP

Round 12 Taylor wins initiative

• Taylor hits with another 20 and does 3 damage
• PW counters with a bite and hits with 15 doing 12 damage and ending the brave warrior's life

Victory for the PW then as it still has 6HP.  The great worm munches down its armour plated lunch and then curls up at the back of its cave to recover its strength.

I did two more fast battles and the worm was the winner of both ot those too.  In one it was a similar outcome to this one but it was a couple of rounds shorter.  In the other the worm poisoned poor Taylor in round 2 and by round 5 Hedun was also slain.  The moral of the story is that whatever level you are a purple worm is very bad news.

This Crypt Worm is from One Monk Miniatures and is available as a free download.

Fight Club 2.0 Purple Worm vs 2 Fighters

Following on from yesterday's post, here's a recap of the fight:

A pair of 14th level fighters enter a large cavern.  Before them they see a hungry-looking purple worm, and they charge to attack it.  The first fighter, Hedun, takes the mouth end of the worm.  The second fighter, Taylor, takes on the tail end.

Assumptions

• Standard B/X Labyrinth Lord rules apply.
• Everything has average hit points.
• Both fighters are AC2 (plate and shield).
• Both fighters are armed with non-magical long swords (1d8 damage).
• All hits do average damage (long sword does 4.5).
• The purple worm doesn't manage to swallow anyone.
• All combatants attack simultaneously each round.

Basic stats are as follows:

Purple Worm  HD15  HP68  AC6  Bite2-16(avg 9)damage  Sting 1-8(avg4.5)damage

Hedun  14th Level Fighter  HP51  AC2  Long Sword 1-8(avg4.5)damage

Taylor  14th Level Fighter  HP51  AC2  Long Sword 1-8(avg4.5)damage

There's no surprise rolls required as all combatants are  there's enough distance between the fighters and the worm for them not to change anything in the fight.

Ok so here we go:

Round 1

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun.  It needs a 7 to hit AC2 which is a 70% chance multiplied by the worm's average bite damage (9) gives 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm swipes at Taylor with its tail (70% x 4.5) doing 3.15 points of damage.  Taylor also have to save vs Poison or die.  He needs to roll 4 or higher which equates to a 15% chance of failure.  Multiplied by the worm's 70% chance of hitting gives a 10.5% chance of death.  This will be cumulative so as soon as it hits 50% that is average point that he could expect to fail a role.

• Hedun swings his long sword at the worm's maw.  He needs a 3 (90% chance) to hit AC6 and his average damage is 4.5 (90% x 4.5) so his actual damage is 4.05 points.

• Taylor's attack is identical to Hedun's so he also does 4.05 points.

At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 59.9, Hedun 44.7, Taylor 47.85 and has saved vs Poison.

Round 2

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm swipes at Taylor doing 3.15 points of damage.  Taylor makes another save vs Poison but his cumulative chance of failure is now 21%.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

• Taylor's attack also does another 4.05 points damage.

At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 51.8, Hedun 38.4, Taylor 44.7 and has saved vs Poison.

Round 3

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm swipes at Taylor doing 3.15 points of damage.  Taylor makes another save vs Poison but his cumulative chance of failure is now 31.5%.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

• Taylor's attack also does another 4.05 points damage.

At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 43.7, Hedun 32.1, Taylor 41.55 and has saved vs Poison.

Round 4

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm swipes at Taylor doing 3.15 points of damage.  Taylor makes another save vs Poison but his cumulative chance of failure is now 42%.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

• Taylor's attack also does another 4.05 points damage.

At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 35.6, Hedun 32.1, Taylor 38.4 and has saved vs Poison.

Round 5

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm swipes at Taylor doing 3.15 points of damage.  Taylor has to make another save vs Poison but his cumulative chance of failure is now 52.5% which in this battle of averages is where he fails.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

• Taylor's final attack also does another 4.05 points damage.

At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 27.5, Hedun 25.8, Taylor 35.25 but has failed his save vs Poison and falls to the ground dead.

Round 6

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm stings Taylor's corpse for good measure.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 23.45, Hedun 19.5

Round 7

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm stings Taylor's corpse some more.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 19.4, Hedun 13.2

Round 8

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm stings Taylor's corpse some more.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

 At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 15.35, Hedun 6.9

Round 9

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage.

• Purple Worm stings Taylor's corpse some more.

• Hedun swings his long sword and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

 At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 11.3, Hedun 0.6

Round 10

• Purple Worm bites at Hedun doing 6.3 points of damage and the fighter drops as he takes his final swing.

• Purple Worm stings Taylor's corpse some more.

• Hedun swings his long sword for the last time and does anther 4.05 points of damage.

 At the end of the round remaining HPs are Purple Worm 7.25, Hedun DEAD

Victory for the Purple Worm then, but only just.  I reckon the fighters would have probably beaten the worm with some basic tactical moves.  I'll be back after a drink and some supper for a couple of tries at this using dice.

This Purple Worm by Reaper Miniatures

Fight Club 2.0

I really miss Daddy Grognard's Saturday Night Fight Club so for fun, I've decided to run a one-off variation of it tomorrow.  Using no more than a pocket calculator and some Monstermark style mathematics, I will demonstrate the most likely outcome of the following encounter:

A pair of 14th level fighters enter a large cavern.  Before them they see a hungry-looking purple worm, and they charge to attack it.  The first fighter, Hedun, takes the mouth end of the worm.  The second fighter, Taylor, takes on the tail end.

Assumptions

• Standard B/X Labyrinth Lord rules apply.
• Everything has average hit points.
• Both fighters are AC2 (plate and shield).
• Both fighters are armed with non-magical long swords (1d8 damage).
• All hits do average damage (long sword does 4.5).
• The purple worm doesn't manage to swallow anyone.
• All combatants attack simultaneously each round.

Basic stats are as follows:

Purple Worm  HD15  HP68  AC6  Bite2-16(avg 9)damage  Sting 1-8(avg4.5)damage

Hedun  14th Level Fighter  HP51  AC2  Long Sword 1-8(avg4.5)damage

Taylor  14th Level Fighter  HP51  AC2  Long Sword 1-8(avg4.5)damage

I'll reveal the outcome tomorrow.  Anybody care to take a stab at who will die and in which rounds of the combat?

Photo by Otherworld Miniatures

Fixing the Encounter Tables Part II

How tough should random encounters be?

In order to set encounters that pose the correct challenge, I've created a very average 1^st level party and worked out their Monstermarks.

1^st Level Fighter 2.00

1^st Level Fighter 2.00

1^st Level Dwarf 2.00

1^st Level Cleric 1.20

1^st level Thief 0.65

1^st Level Magic-User 0.40

Total Party Monstermark value 8.25 (we'll round it down to 8.00)

For this party, I think random encounters with a mean value of around 4.00, and a maximum value of around 12.00 (in effect the mean is -50% of the party's power and the maximum is +50%) are ideal. There's a degree of flexibility in these ranges. Indeed, for some creatures with a very low Monstermark, the existing number encountered ranges in the monster listings may be used without modification. For example, a Kobold has a Monstermark of 0.47. The Labyrinth Lord rules give the number encountered as 4d4 giving the encounter a mean Monstermark of 4.70 and a maximum of 7.52.

Here's some examples of popular monsters and my proposed number encountered ranges:

Kobold (MM 0.47) 4-16

Goblin (MM 0.99) 2-8

Skeleton (MM 1.17) 2-7

Orc (MM 1.27) 1-6

Hobgoblin (MM 2.51) 1-4

Zombie (MM 3.48) 1-4

Gnoll (MM 5.00) 1-2

Bugbear (MM 11.27) 1

Any one of these encounters has a chance of killing an unlucky party, but experienced players might handle several of them in succession regardless of luck. Although there is the potential for encounters that outnumber and/or overpower the party on paper, the party have lots of tools and options open to them including:

• Tactics (eg: fighting in doorways, running away, etc.)
• A Sleep spell
• A Cure Light Wounds spell
• Thief skills
• Dwarf abilities
• Turning Undead
• Talking

Fixing the Encounter Tables Part I

Yesterday, I listed the various first level encounter tables that I'm using to generate my own Monstermark driven version.

Today, I've gone through the Labyrinth Lord rules (including the AEC), and made a list of all the monsters with a monstermark low enough for the level one table.  I may have missed a couple of monsters out, but this is still work in progress and when I've finished tables for the first few levels, I'll decide what needs to be moved up and down.  In Oubliette 6, I plan to include the master tables in the magazine, with some additional tables in the supplemental materials section which can be quickly editied to add/remove creatures, and adjust the % chance of encountering them.

Next, I'll spend some time calculating Monstermarks for creatures in the list that I haven't already worked out.  Then I can begin deciding what number encountered ranges to use, based on an average total Monstermark and the average number of saving throws a party might be required to make.

The picture is of Maow Miniature's Monster Dice

Level 1 Random Encounter List

Bat, Normal

Bat, Giant

Bee, Giant Killer

Beetle, Giant Fire

Beetle, Giant Spitting

Bugbear

Centipede, Giant

Dwarf

Dwarf, Duergar

Elf

Elf, Deep

Efl, Drow

Fly, Giant Carnivorous

Ghoul

Gnoll

Gnome

Goblin

Golem, Wood

Hobgoblin

Insect Swarm

Kobold

Lizard, Giant Gecko

Lizardfolk

Locust, Subterranean

Man, Acolyte

Man, Berserker

Man, Brigand

Man, Slave

Morlock

NPC Party

Orc

Piercer

Rat, Giant

Rat, Ordinary

Rot Grub

Shrieker

Skeleton

Snake, Spitting Cobra

Spider, Giant Crab

Stirge

Toad, Giant

Troglodyte

Wolf

Yellow Mold

Zombie

Broken Encounter Tables

Today I've been working on my revised set of random encounter tables for Labyrinth Lord, ready for publication in Oubliette 6 next month. I'm using the Monstermark rules in the previous issue to try and make them a little more balanced. In researching the article, I've looked at various encounter tables from D&D books and modules, the AD&D DM's Guide and the ones in Labyrinth Lord itself.

Looking at them, what struck me was how varied the threat offered by some of the encounters are. Interestingly, some of the least deadly are the ones in the DM's Guide,which surprised me given the fact that AD&D characters will on average be tougher than basic D&D ones.

Out of all the first level encounters, the most deadly one - and I'm speaking from experience here* - is 1d4 of Giant Crab Spiders. Not only do these nasty beasts have a decent amount of Hit Points (2HD), they also surprise opponents on 1-4 on a d6. This means that if a first level party encounters 4 of them and are unlucky with surprise and initiative rolls, the spiders could get 8 poisonous bite attacks in before the characters make a move. After that, the spiders should easily survive a few more rounds. Unless the party magic-user has still got a sleep spell you've probably got a TPK situation.

*We met 4 of them on the first level of Stonehell. They killed my cleric - still bitter about it.

The photo is of Otherwold Miniature's way to real-looking Huge Spider

Here's the first level tables I've been using for research to save you having to look them up.

Holmes Basic D&D 
d12

1 Kobolds 3-12

2 Goblins 2-8
3 Bandits 1-4
4 Orcs 2-5
5 Skeletons/Zombies 1-6/1-4
6 Bandits 2-5
7 Berserkers 1-4
8 Stirges 2-5
9 Orcs 1-4
10 Dwarves 2-5
11 Elves 1-6
12 Gelatinous Cube

Moldvay Basic D&D 
d20
1 Acolyte 1-8
2 Bandit 1-8
3 Beetle, Fire
4 Dwarf 1-6
5 Gnome 1-6
6 Goblin 2-8
7 Green Slime 1-4
8 Halfling 3-18
9 Killer Bee 1-10
10 Kobold 4-16
11 Lizard, Gecko 1-3
12 Orc 2-8
13 Shrew, Giant 1-10
14 Skeleton 3-12
15 Snake, Cobra 1-6
16 Spider, Crab 1-4
17 Sprite 3-18
18 Stirge 1-10
19 Trader 1-8
20 Wolf 2-12

D&D Module B1 P8
d6
1 Orcs 1-4
2 Giant Centipedes 1-2
3 Kobolds 1-6
4 Troglodytes 1-2
5 Giant Rats 2-5
6 Berserkers 1-2

D&D Module B1 P21

d6
1 Troglodytes 1-4
2 Crab Spider 1
3 Kobolds 2-7
4 Orcs 1-8
5 Zombies 1-2
6 Goblins 2-7

Labyrinth Lord**

d20
1 Bee, giant Killer
2 Beetle, Fire
3 Centipede, Giant
4 Dwarf
5 Gnome
6 Goblin
7 Green Slime
8 Halfling
9 Kobold
10 Lizard, Giant Gecko
11 Morlock
12 Orc
13 Rat, Giant
14 Snake, Spitting Cobra
15 Skeleton
16 Spider, Giant Crab
17 Stirge
18 Toad, Giant
19 Wolf
20 Zombie
**No number encountered ranges given in the LL tables.

AD&D DM's Guide
d00
01-02 Ant, Giant 1-4
03-04 Badger 1-4
05-14 Beetle, Fire 1-4
15 Demon, Manes 1-4
16-17 Dwarf 4-14
18 Ear Seeker 1
19 Elf 3-11
20-21 Gnome 5-15
22-26 Goblin 6-15
27-28 Halfling 9-16
29-33 Hobgoblin 2-8
34-48 Human 5-15 or 3-9
49-54 Kobold 6-18
55-66 Orc 7-12
67-70 Piercer 1-3
71-83 Rat, Giant 5-20
84-85 Rot Grub 1-3
86-96 Shrieker 1-2
97-98 Skeleton 1-4
99-00 Zombie 1-3