The World of Kaladyn

Player Characters in Kaladyn

Player characters are generated in a slightly different manner in Kaladyn than other AD&D game worlds. Standard attribute generation methods may be used, but there is an alternative way to roll characters by class. In addition, a great number of option modifiers may be used to add flavor to the campaign, and level limits and race and class eligibility are very liberal.

In general, characters from other campaigns can be transferred to Kaladyn with little or no modifications necessary. All standard AD&D character race modifiers can be used, but it is suggested that the following formulas be used for the basic four character classes:

Players Option: Powers and Skills rules are suitable for use in Kaladyn, however, Subability Rules are NOT recommended for use in Kaladyn. However, if used, it is recommended that the DM allow Elven and Halfling Characters to gain one extra point of dexterity at the cost of 20 character points (same as purchasing both Aim and Balance bonuses).

Character Races in Kaladyn

The standard AD&D races are all present on Kaladyn, along with various new ones. An important concept to note is that since magic is so powerful in Kaladyn, nearly all sentient races on Kaladyn can use some type of magic, and all can purchase the Player's Option Rules Fighter ability granting 2% magic resistance per level (10 charcter pts)

Dwarves: Since magic is a force all creatures can wield to one degree or another, Dwarves do not suffer the 20% chance of failure when using miscellaneous magic items.

Elves: Unlike most campaigns, humans are not the dominant race in the world. Elves are the most influential race on Kaladyn. The average elf is 400 years old, and considerably advanced in levels. There are many more elven races on Kaladyn than anywhere else, new ones include; Ice, Jungle, and Desert.

Gnomes: Rarely seen, and oft mistaken for thier Dwarven cousins, gnomes do not suffer a chance for magic items to misfire.

Half-Elves: There are many attribute modifiers possible for half-elven characters, dependant on human and elven heritages.

Half-Giants: Rumored to exist (half giant and half ogre) likely immigrants from Athas. Not allowed as PCs.

Halflings: As with Dwarves and Gnomes.

Humans: Rules for human sub-races are available on Kaladyn. Just as with the elves, humans are plentiful and diverse in culture. In addition, the rules for dual-classes characters are altered. Basic stipulations apply, except that there is no requirements for prime requisites other than basic class requirements. Also, a character can still advance in old classes within certain requirements: Once the new class's level exceeds the old class, the old class can never be as high as the current class. Restrictions to experience points also apply, see Experience Points section for more information.

Humanoids: The Goblinoid races in Kaladyn are far more advanced than in other campaigns. They possess technology almost on par with that of the Demi-Human races. Although they are not always enemies to be destroyed, considerable prejudice still exists towards them. As organized nations, they are a force to be reckoned with due to sheer numbers, and so are taken very seriously, lest yet another costly Goblin War occur

Mul: Few of these creatures have ever been heard of on Kaladyn, and most of those known are refugees from the world of Athas. However, a number of Half Dwarven / Half Elven beings a known to have existed. The frequency of these two types is so small, that they are not allowed as player characters.

Thri-Kreen: Also not allowed as player characters: Though Kaladynian Thri-Kreen are quite intelligent, there does not exist enough means of communications for them to interact with the more sophisticated species.

Other Statistics in Kaladyn

As with the basic attributes, certain other game statistics are handled differently. These rules also apply to any non-Kaladynian characters when they enter the campaign.

1) For any multi-class character, XP total may differ because points are not split equally between classes, actions which apply to each class are awarded separately. Therefore, an Elven Fighter-Mage who uses only spells to defeat enemies during the course of an encounter will receive all of the XPs in his Mage class only.

2) Multi-class Characters gain 10% bonuses in each of their classes for prime requisite scores over 15 because of the first rule. For example, the same Fighter/Mage has a 14 Strength, and a 17 Intelligence, so a 10% is awarded to all Mage XPs only.

3) Human characters who are Dual classed can mix class abilities freely, and will gain XPs for using all class abilities just as multi-class demi-humans do, but only after thier new class level exceeds the old one. Also, they no longer gain a 10% XP bonus for exceptional prime requisites in the old class, and they gain only half XPs in the old class when those abilities are used. If the character has more than 2 classes (this is possible with very high attributes), the fraction is halved again for the oldest class.

Example: Nog the Magnificent begins his adventuring career as a Fighter with the following attributes: Str 15, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 13 Com 9 and Per 11. At 3rd level, Nog decides to become a Thief, and advances to 5th level, at which time he finds religion, and decides to become a Cleric. He will only earn XPs related to his new class until his cleric level exceeds both previous class levels. When he reaches 6th level as a cleric, if Nog used any thieving skills during the course of an adventure (gods forbid!), he would earn half XPs in his thief level. If later in his adventure, he uses a non-clerical weapon or fighting style to defeat monsters, he earns fighter XPs, but at only one-fourth the normal amount. As mentioned before, his old levels can never equal or exceed his current class level.

1d6 1, 2

1d8 1, 2

1d10 1, 2, 3

Time and Space.

The Standard Year in Kaladyn is 360 days long, each day has 25 hours. The year is divided into 12 months, or 30 days each, which are roughly equivalent to Earth months and seasons. All known cultures on Kaladyn have developed the Solar year calendar, because of the ease of calculating the very regular solar cycle. Also, Kaladyn has two major moons, and several minor satellites, making the realization of a practical lunar nearly impossible at best.

Physics in Kaladyn

Though Kaladyn is similar to Earth in many respects, it is also very different. Kaladyn has a number of satellites, but only two are large enough to call moons, the others are too small to be seen in the night sky. The largest moon is called "Sharthra Haa", which means "Shirama's Heart" in the Elven tongue. Named after the goddess of peace, healing, and ultimate good, the moon shines pale blue when full, and has an almost hypnotic, soothing effect when viewed. Most people use the Elven label, but shorten it to simply "Sharthra". The other moon is an irregular mass, usually known as "The Dark Moon", because its deep crimson color. It sheds no light, and only appears as a large red cloud in the twilight. Because of its non-linear shape, and elliptical orbit, not even the greatest of astronomers can calculate its size, and it is possible that it is bigger than Sharthra. Other Satellites are known to exist by astronomers, but they are so small as to exert no gravitational force on the other moon. It is said that these small masses are actually fragments of a another moon, which was destroyed in a great cataclysm. Sages who hold this belief refer to the satellites as pieces of "The Lost Moon", or "The Shattered Moon". Still others think that the satellites may be fragments of the Dark Moon, which they say was once whole. The fragments form a thin ring around Kaladyn, which can rarely be seen, but is sometimes seen in the day or night. Seeing the rings is said to be a sign of good fortune by many races on Kaladyn.

Gravity on Kaladyn is close to Earth standard, but slightly less, about .89 G. This affects physical combat in that nearly all weapons do extra damage (See New Rules for Fighters). Because of this, many gigantic forms of life have evolved. Most of these have gone extinct in modern times, but there are still many in the depths of the ocean, and in remote locations. Also, the land to sea proportion on Kaladyn is roughly 50 / 50, so that even though it is slightly smaller than earth, it has significantly more land area.

Other New Rules in Kaladyn

Several additions to the standard Player's Option: Powers and Skills Rules apply:

Elven and Halfling Characters can gain one extra point of dexterity at the cost of 20 character points (same as purchasing both Aim and Balance bonuses) even if this would be above the normal racial maximum. In addition, all characters of all classes can purchase the following Abilities:

Gravity and Weapons: Because of the lighter gravity on Kaladyn, many missile weapons do more damage. In addition, all melee weapons do one extra point of damage.

Damage

Weapon Cost Weight Size Type Speed S-M L+

Critical Hits: Use the following table for critical hits. When a natural 20 is rolled, reroll for extra-damage:

Critical Fumbles: Use the following table when a natural 1 is rolled on an attack roll or critical hit reroll. is rolled.

1 Benevolent Hit (hit ally or self)

Note that it is possible to reroll many times using this system, but how this is depicted in combat does not have to reflect anything other that the final result.

Spellcasting in Kaladyn: Spells must be prepared and memorized as per tournament rules, except that it old requires 1 minute per level of the spell to memorize them. Spellcasters with a 19 (Supra-Genius) intelligence or higher need never memorize spells.

The Lesser School of Wizardry: Certain spells are considered fundimental to all magic users (including specialists and sorcerers, even if the spells are of an opposition or unkown school). These spells can be learned intuitively when the wizard is of sufficent level, the character need only make a chance to learn roll. These spells of 1st to 4th level comprise the school of Lesser Wizardry.

1st level: Detect Magic, Identify, Protection from Evil/Good, Read Magic.

2nd level: ESP, Detect Evil/Good, Detect Invisibility, Protection From Cantrips.

3rd level: Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic, Protection fropm Evil/Good 10' Radius

4th level: Magic Mirror, Minor Globe of Invulerability, Remove Curse

In addition, these spells do not count toward a wizard's maximum spells per level total as dictated by intellgence. For example, a wizard with an intelligence of 12 who learned Detect magic, Read Magic, Identify, and Protection from Evil as part of his apprenticeship, could learn 7 other first level spells in addition to these.

Spellcasting Interruptions: If a spell caster is hit before a spell is cast, the spell will usually fail. However, on Kaladyn, there are other possibilities. First, roll a save vs paralyzation to see if the caster can resist the effect. Modify the save by -1 for every point of damage taken. If the save succeeds, the spell is cast as normal. If the save fails, the spell is disrupted. Roll for the effects of the disruption. There is a basic 1% per spell level chance of causing a wild surge (see the Tome of Magic). Roll d%, modified as follows:

Note that a natural one percent roll will always result in a backfire or other catastrophic event (DMs discretion).

Learning Additional Spells: One of the greatest roadblocks to the development of a wizard character is the Maximum number of spells attribute. Unless one has a 19 intelligence or more, this will always serve to curtail a wizard's power. However, in Kadadyn Adventures, a wizard can exceed this total by spending one Karma (Character) point per attempt to learn a spell over the maximum. This point is spent when the Chance to Learn roll is made, and is lost regardless of whether or not the roll is successful.

Armor and Spellcasting: The issue of wizards casting spells while wearing armor is almost a moot point in Kaladyn. If the Character is Multi-classed, and one of the classes can wear armor, or if the charcter is dual classed, and was a warrior, and then became a wizard, any type of armor can be worn for all but the most difficult of spells (DM discretion). In addition, the Player's Option, Skills and Powers Ability for armored wizards is also available, and the DM may allow Armored Wizards to ultilize multiple types of armor. In any case, it is not recommended the DM allow armor heavier than chain mail, unless there is a very good reason.

Variant Spell Effects in Kaladyn: Nearly all spells function as desribed in 2nd edition Ad&D rules with some notable exceptions:

Identify: Has no diliberating effects, and casting time of 1 Turn (no preparations needed).

Clairvoyance: Range is infinite on Kaladyn.

ESP: Range is Infinite, can contact a being anywhere on Kaladyn.

Magic Missile Reflection: Does not affect lightning. Will affect only 5d4+5 damage from Snilloc's Major Missile, or Muni Buka's Magnificent Menagerie of Magic Missiles.

Snillocs Major Missile: 1d4+1 points of damage per level to a maximum of 15d4+15 at level 15.

Permanency: Does not drain Constitution.

The following optional abilties can be purchased with character points by members of the Rogue class.

There are many tongues used by the sentient creatures of the world. In Kaladyn, the number of languages a PC can learn in somewhat more restricted then other AD&D game worlds. There are no alignment tongues, and it is generally not possible to learn the languages of non-humanoid creatures. The following are general languages, but it is possible to learn any dialect of these groups, for example Drow Elvish, or Centaur (Faerie). In addition, a region can be specified, for example Northern Nordian Common or Surface Drow Elvish. Any one who speaks a language of the same group can understand each other as easily as a southern gentleman comprehends a Bostonian. However, many fatal misunderstandings occur due to the sheer number of languages in the world.

Except where noted, it is DMs disrection as to which languages a character is elligable to know. One language is always free, and that is the most the majority of all human characters will know. The DM may opt to allow a second language free of charge for demi-human races, for example, most Dwarves will know how to speak a Dwarvish Dialect, and The Common tongue of the land. Elves can have three langauges for free: An Elvish Dialect, Faerie, and a Common regional dialect. Note that beginning languages are limited by intelligence, therefore an elf with an intelligence of 8 could only begin play knowing one language for free.