More DF Lost City chargen questions answered

DF Lost City of D'Abo will kick off on Sunday.

Here are a few more questions I answered, repeated and re-edited for those following along at home. I may have answered some of these before - it's okay, I don't expect my players to memorize my blog or my emails.

Can I buy stuff from Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables? - No. That's a treasure suggestion pile for the GM, not a shopping list for the players. Assume the answer is no for anything and be pleasantly surprised if I suggest something is available.

Can I start with magic items? - Not asked so much as assumed and bought and paid for. Yes, it's fine. You need at least Ornate (the cheapest non-size prefix) for magic armor, but if you buy that, sure, you can have enchanted armor. Or magic weapons. Or magical shields. Or a Cornucopia quiver (a great idea, given the cost.)

What's the weapon list? - Almost anything from Basic Set, Low-Tech, or Martial Arts, from TL 0-4. If you haven't seen it in play before, ask. It's probably okay, and most of the stat changes in Low-Tech are ones we played with as house rules anyway, so enjoy getting +1 with that shortsword and the better great axe damage (also in Barbarians!)

When it comes to weapons, Low-Tech trumps Martial Arts which trumps Basic Set. DF volumes trump everything.

How about armor? Use Basic Set. Spend some money on better quality gear if the weights upset you. YOU only have to do armor once in a while, I have to do it over and over again for every NPC with armor on, so Basic Set wins. Yay, simplicity!

Can I merged Quirk points into (whatever)? Sure. You can blow an extra 5 points on advantages, skills, stats, whatever. Have a pool of 20 to spend and want a 15 and a 10 point advantage? Use your 5 quirk points. It's fine. They're extras to put anywhere, not after-the-fact add-ons.

Can I buy up (whatever) in play? Yes. Absolutely yes. It's on your racial template or professional template? Yes, you may buy it up to the max allowed, no matter how much or little sense that makes. Maybe Galen got special eye drops, that's what the $200 he spend on Night Vision 5 paid for. Maybe Borriz got a special blessing of the patron saint of ditch-diggers and upped Pickaxe Penchant to the max. We're still not sure what Vryce did to get two do-overs per hour from the universe (Extraordinary Luck), but he did it. It's all good. It's DF. Just take it, pay the training costs we use, and it's yours. There is no distinction between "at startup" or "in play" for anything.

Weirdness Magnet? I decided to ditch it. It was too much work for me and no roleplaying required for the player. I'll leave it on existing PCs, but I asked our new wizard PC not to take it. It was offloading roleplaying tasks onto me coming up with a weird bad thing every session. I wasn't keeping up, so it was often free points.

My character background? By all means, have one. Keeping it to a punchy paragraph is good. Just enough so we have some idea why all the crazy stuff you selected fits together and why you'll risk eventual death in a dungeon in return for money you may or may not find. Or don't have one. It's fine.

And of course, like I said before, you can't modify the template but you can sub in a worse disad for one on the template. Rest assured, I will make them count.


Editing later: Can I have Crude gear? (Barbarians, p. 28)? Yep. The rules about reaction penalties apply, though, and remember the "no enchantments" downside. Not a good choice for your Signature Gear Weapon Bonded weapon, for example.