Following up on my post here The First Magic Swords , this will be a look at how to convert them to an OD&D game. Certainly there's an appeal to
the idea of using these swords in an "old school" game today,
especially if your game is set in Blackmoor.
For example, I've been adapting
the lower level of Arneson's Blackmoor Dungeon to OD&D, where some of these
swords appear in their original form. This conversion method would also work for any
new swords created using the old method.
Of course, the FFC swords could be used as is, but they are
quite different from the standard swords and don't integrate well with other
magic weapons that might be floating around in your campaign.
As it happens, the same problem was faced when TSR published
Adventures in Blackmoortm for use with the BECMI classic rules by Frank Mentzer. There are at least three of the FFC swords present
in the Rogues and Rascals section of AiB:
Bolitho's "White" sword
Svenny's "Maroon"
Philo's "Weasel" (this last is
apparently sword "M" in the FFC).
These three swords were converted to BeCMI stats, and while not exactly
the same as standard OD&D, these conversions can provide a good guide to
follow.
I won't bore you with the exact stats for each - you can of
course look them up if you like.
Instead, lets jump straight to the meat.
First, in the FFC there's a clear power differentiation
between the Lettered swords and the Colored swords, with the colored swords
being the more powerful and more magical. Accordingly, AiB converted each differently into the
standard D&D "+" rating.
Lettered swords convert to +1 and to +3 versus "Double
Value" enemies.
Colored swords convert to +2 , and to +3 versus "Double
Value" enemies.
Double "doubles values" in the FFC were simply
ignored, and several similar monsters were converted into a single type like
"undead". The AiB conversion also sometimes ignores some
of the FFC double value monsters - Balrogs for instance - but I would include them
for OD&D.
Determining Intelligence:
The original FFV swords don't have an intelligence or an ego
rating and with only three cases to look at, it is impossible to say for
certain how the AiB numbers were arrived at.
The FFC swords do have an intelligence increase bonus that is granted to
the wielder, and I note that if you add 6 to that bonus you get the
Intelligence scores listed in AiB.
However, that's not really going to work for us.
The reason why has to do with how Intelligence determines
the number of Primary Powers in OD&D.
In fact each pip of intelligence above 7 adds a new Primary Power. In the FFC, the "Special Values"
each sword has are equivalent to the Primary Powers of an OD&D sword, so for
the Swords Intelligence score to match its number of primary powers the score
has to be a specific minimum number. Here is a
conversion table:
#SV
|
INT
|
1
|
7
|
2
|
8
|
3
|
9
|
4
|
10
|
4 + magic
|
11
|
12
|
Determining Ego:
For Ego, we can look at the existing scores for the FFC and
come up with a number that matches the ego scores given for the three swords
found in AiB. Now I doubt very much that
the method I detail below is what TSR actually did (they probably just rolled a
new one) but using this method allows the use of the original numbers found in
the FFC, and will give you a consistent conversion rather than a random one.
So to determine the swords Ego, add the FFC swords Combat
Increase score to the Strength score and divide by 2 (round up).
Magic Ability:
OD&D swords don't normally have spell casting ability,
but it fits in just fine, and I keep this feature of the FFC sword in my
campaign. If desired, the DM could drop
this ability in exchange for an extraordinary power.
Magic ability requires a minimum 11 Intelligence.
In the FFC, Arneson himself tells us how to handle it for
D&D, "Magic Spells (Referee determines it secretly) - roll once for
level of the spell using a 6 sided die and then roll again on the standard
basic spell list for that level to determine which spells are being carried on
the sword." (77:67)
Alignment:
The FFC swords apparently had an alignment, as we know from Greg Svenson. Unfortunetly that information is not in the FFC, so you simply have to roll for it again, following the usual proceedure.
That's all there is to it.
Here are two examples of converted swords:
A (Neutral)
+1
+3 vs Dragons, Undead, Elementals, Balrogs
Int 9
Ego 5
Powers:
Detect Evil, Cause Morale Check -1 (100'), Detect Magic
"Green" (Neutral) ,
+2
+3 vs Lycanthropes, Goblins, Ogres, Trolls, Elementals, Orcs, Balrogs
Int 9
Ego 6
Powers:
Detect Invisible 120'. Detect Magic, Cause Morale Check -1 (100')
