Dagger Damage

For all those who downloaded my "Master Weapon List" the other day, I've updated the document. Daggers do 1d6 damage now in melee combat. They only do 1d4 damage when thrown (or when wielded by someone not proficient in their use).

Having played and run B/X for most of the last decade, I sometimes (often?) forget that OD&D retains the one minute combat "turn" found in the miniature war game Chainmail. As it is perfectly reasonable that a trained combatant could inflict sufficient damage to mortally wound a fellow human (or human) in this period of time...perhaps by striking multiple blows...I found it necessary to revise my (B/X-biased) assessment. So I did.

A thrown dagger is another matter completely...such an attack probably shouldn't even inflict 1d4 damage (more like 1-2 or 1-3). But it is heroic fantasy, after all. Since the only characters generally throwing knives are the PCs, I figure it's fine to cut some slack.

And speaking of death by a thousand cuts: my (O)D&D campaign limps on, but feels like it has Covid-19 and ain't doing so hot. The kids we were playing with haven't been able to meet with us for the last couple weeks, though they still express interest in continuing play...when they express anything at all (these particular 13 year olds are not big on responding to email, which is probably a good thing, but rough when trying to organize a game). My own kids have continued to play but the nuances of the game world are mostly lost on them: in the game (i.e. in play) they are fine at reacting to the needs of the moment, but outside-the-box thinking, long-term planning, and setting/world considerations are, for the most part, beyond them. Which, while somewhat frustrating to me, is totally understandable and appropriate given their ages and development.

[I consider my own youth and mindset at their age, and I doubt I was much different. Probably need to run them through a stripped down version of the Isle of Dread and stomp them with a cyclops]

"Somewhat frustrating" I said because I'm quite enjoying my world building and the moment, and am (hopefully) starting to build a world that will last beyond (and be used outside the bounds of) this "kiddie campaign." The more I refine it, the more enamored of the thing I get. I've recently picked up a fascination with the history of Vietnam (pre-French) and am muddling that a bit and serving it up as inspiration for the history of the Red Empire (with the sultanate of Zargoz being a stand-on for the kingdom of Champa)...lots of good ideas to be found in its 4,000 year history, so many that I'm tempted to simply use southeast Asia as my "world map." If only the mountains were on the other side... (*sigh*).

[it really is amazing just how much "world" there is to explore on our own planet. I think most would-be world builders bite off far more than we can adequately chew. While we are woefully ignorant about the history of many parts of the world (just what was going on in Paraguay for ten thousand years before European conquest?) many small areas have EXTENSIVE records going back at least as far...if not more so...than our poor Western archives that tend to collapse around the "Dark Ages"]

Anyway...

So the world building continues, even though the (current) campaign is on life support. And daggers do 1d6 damage in melee (or 1d6+1 for strength score of 15+). That's about all the updates I have at the moment. Hopefully more to share later.

Hey! Just realized I missed this year's April A-Z challenge! Ah, well...maybe next year.