Ringworld

[TKalbfus]

Kirth said,

Great job.

I have one question...
Where can I get the stats from or a copy of Dragon #318?

I did something about that. Dinosaurs were real creatures, nobody invented them so they can't be copyrighted. I copied their stats from the magazine onto my computer for D20 purposes, that is the game stats only without the written discriptions by the author. I can change the names of hit points to Stamina, and Massive Damage Threshold to Lifeblood and so make the stats unique. The number of hit dice can be altered so they fit Traveller T20. D20 has type Animal which uses d8 hit dice, T20 breaks down the animal type into Herbivore, Omnivore, Carnivore, and Scavenger; which uses d4, d6, d10, and d8 respectively, I can change the dinosaurs into these types from animal and alter the number of stamina dice they have so that their average stamina comes to about the same as their average hit points. I'll keep everything else the same, and since the author did not invent these dinosaurs, the result should be sufficiently unique so as not to infringe on copy rights. I'll get to work on that now. Shouldn't take long.

 

[TKalbfus]

Here are the first 3 dinosaurs to sink your teeth into, I've basically tried to keep their hitpoints/Stamina the same while changing their D&D type animal into the 4 T20 subcategories. This means changing their hit dice where the hit dice is different. I've used Monster Manual format and they include a visual discription on the bottom of each entry.

Compsognathus
Tiny Scavenger
Stamina Dice: 1d8 (4 St)
Lifeblood: 10 Lb
Initiative: +4
Speed: 9 m
AC: 16 (+2 size, +4 dex)
Touch: 16
Flat-footed: 12
Armor Rating: 0
Basic Attack Bonus (BAB): +0
Grapple: -11
Attacks: Bite +6 melee
Damage: 1d3-3 plus infection
Full Attacks: Bite +6 melee
Damage: Bite 1d3-3 plus infection
Space/Reach: ¾ m / 0 m
Special Qualities: Infection*, Low-light vision, resistant to disease, scent
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 4, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 11
Skills: Hide +14, Listen +4, Move Silently +6, Spot +4.
Feats: Stealthy, Weapon Finesse (bite)
________________________________________________________________________
Climate/Terrain: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary, pair, pack (3-6), or swarm (7-12)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: None
Allegiances: To the pack
Advancement: 2-3 HD (Tiny)

This small bipedal creature has a long neck and a long tail. Its tiny mouth is filled with sharp teeth, and its movements are quick and bird-like.
*Infection (Ex): When a creature is bitten by a compsognathus, it must succeed at a DC 10 Fortitude save or take 1 point of Strength damage. This saving throw must be repeated once per minute for 1d6 minutes to avoid taking additional strength damage.

Dimetrodon
Large Carnivore
Stamina Dice: 4d10+15 (37 hp)
Lifeblood: 17 Lb
Initiative: -2
Speed: 3 m
AC: 13 (-2 Dex, +5 natural)
Touch: 8
Flat-footed: 13
Armor Rating: 2
Basic Attack Bonus (BAB): +3
Grapple: +7
Attacks: Bite +7 melee
Damage: 1d8+6
Full Attacks: Bite +7 melee
Damage: Bite 1d8+6
Space/Reach: 1 ½ m / 1 ½ m
Special Qualities: Burst of Speed*, Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +1
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 6, Con 17, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 10
Skills: Listen +2, Spot +6, Swim +15
Feats: Alertness, Toughness
________________________________________________________________________
Climate/Terrain: Warm marsh
Organization: Solitary, pair, pack (3-7)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Allegiances: To the pack
Advancement: 5-6 HD (Medium), 7-12 HD (Large)

This creature’s 4 legs jut out from its sides in an awkward looking, bow-legged style. Several long and sharp teeth protrude from its jaw, but its most distinctive feature is the large, sail-like fin on its back.

*Burst of Speed (Ex): Up to 3 times per hour, a dimetrodon can increase its land speed to 18 meters for 1 round as a free action. During this round, it gains a +2 dodge bonus to its AC.

Diplodocus
Colossal Herbivore
Stamina Dice: 32d4+324 (404 St)
Lifeblood: 28 Lb
Initiative: -0
Speed: 6 m
AC: 14 (-8 size, +12 natural)
Touch: 2
Flat-footed: 14
Armor Rating: 4
Basic Attack Bonus (BAB): +21
Grapple: +54
Attacks: Tail slap +30 melee
Damage: Tail slap 4d8+24
Full Attacks: Tail slap +30 melee
Damage: Tail slap 4d8+24
Space/Reach: 9 m / 6 m
Special Qualities: Tail sweep, trample 2d8+24, Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +25, Ref +16, Will +10
Abilities: Str 44, Dex 10, Con 28, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Listen +18, Spot +19.
Feats: Alertness, Improved Natural Attack (tail slap), Run, Toughness (12)
________________________________________________________________________
Climate/Terrain: Temporate plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, herd (6-18)
Challenge Rating: 12
Treasure: None
Allegiances: To the herd
Advancement: 29-84 HD (Colossal)

This massive creature measures nearly 30 meters long from head to tail. Its neck is long and snake-like with a relatively small head for the size of its elephantine body. A Row of short spines runs down the length of its neck and back to its long, whip-like tail.

 

[vutpakdi]

Originally posted by Tom Kalbfus:
Kirth said,
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Great job.

I have one question...
Where can I get the stats from or a copy of Dragon #318?

I did something about that. Dinosaurs were real creatures, nobody invented them so they can't be copyrighted. </font>[/QUOTE]The dinosaurs can't be copyrighted, but the text can be. If you copied any of the text from the article (including any of the stats) without proper attribution, then you really do run the risk of copyright infringement.

Ron

 

[TKalbfus]

But I've changed the text. I did not copy the article that came under each set of dinosaur text, it is not the complete article and I attribute it to the article written by James Jacobs, in Dragon Issue 318 . April 2004. It is not my intention to reproduce the whole Article and I've had to change the stats to make it conform to T20 standards, and I've also converted English measurments to Metric. This changes the stats considerably and I hope sufficiently for them to be considered unique. The original stats, which I won't reproduce here, were written for D&D 3.5. If Dragon Magazine has a problem with that they can contact me, I'm just trying to be considerate to those people who can't obtain a back issue of Dragon Magazine. I'm not charging money for this and Dragon has already made its profit by selling as many copies of that issue of Dragon that its going to, so I hope this covers all bases and hope this satisfies.

I'm really not interested in reproducing the article, I just want to use the creatures in that article in my write up of this Ringworld. If they want money from me to do this, then I'll pay them, but I believe if they ask exhorbitant fees they are only hurting themselves.

They've sold all the copies of that issue that their going to, their are a finite number of copies that are circulating, that are being sold and resold and no more. If I can't cite a source from a magazine issue that may no longer be available, this knocks the bottom out of the encounter tables, but whatever. I think I've properly cited the original source for attribution purposes so I hope the matter can rest.

 

[Kirth]

Thanks.

I don't think there'll be any problems. At least I hope not.

 

[selunatic2397]

Might I raise a point...the description of your ringworld is so close to Larry Niven's ringworld that it's a copy. From the shadow squares to the laser it shoots out at threats to the maglev vehicles...heck even the single atom construction idea is from the general products ships from his book series. Larry Niven gave rights to make a roleplaying game about his intellectual property only to Chaosium Inc. and unless you email Mr. Niven and ask for his okey dokey you're leaving yourself wide open for a lawsuit. He's writing Ringworld 4 even as I type. Plagarism is a hot topic to writers now...over in the TSR forums [dungeons and dragons] you are not allowed to do anything more than chatter about the forgotten realms book series by assorted authors. Using their characters in your own way or modifying them or whatever is a really bad thing. You've got some good ideas but you can't borrow from established sci fi authors and use it to publish your own game...plagarism is a very bad idea...and all the major game companies have better lawyers than we could ever afford. I've been by the side of a friend who innocently tried to make up a Mad Max/Road Warrior kind of game and he got beaten like an old rug. Lawsuits came at him out of the woodworks, it was real ugly. I don't think he ever did anything more than give up.

 

[TKalbfus]

Would it help if my Ringworld was square?

Oh come on! Larry Niven doesn't have exclusive rights to the wheel. Besides, my ringworld is different from his.

His has 30 hour days, and mine has 24 hour days.
His was created by aliens, and mine by humans.

What Niven copyrighted was the specific setting of his Ringworld books, not the idea of a ringworld in general. Who owns the rights to Dyson Spheres for example? A Ringworld is too simple an idea, naturally any sort of ringworld has to be made of strong material, but any sort of variation would make it a different idea.

What if someone wrote a story with a wizard in it, and the estate of Frank Baum sued because he stole his Wizard of Oz idea by including a wizard in his story. I don't think you can copyright a general principle I don't know how many stories their are with hyperdrives in them, just think if someone got away with copyrighting the idea, there'd be alot fewer of them. How about the idea of a laser pistol or a robot? Those are both someone's bright ideas, someone thought of it first, but that didn't stop others from including them in their stories. That is similar to the idea of a ringworld.

 

[selunatic2397]

Larry Niven was the creator of the entire ringworld concept...it didn't exist before his book Ringworld. No one else has used a ringworld currently except Halo 2 which is set on a ringworld. Like I said in my earlier post, you copied shadow squares, the meteor defense laser, the general products hull material for your version of scrith [ what niven built his ringworld out of ]. Heck you're even tapping AD&D for ideas. I have all of chaosiums ringworld game where I found your first post specs were a basic copy of the players handout. You did change the numbers a bit so you could say it was yours but thats just like paraphrasing an encyclopedia article and submitting it to your teacher as your own work. To quote my english teacher regarding this subject "Once is coincidence, twice might be chance, but the third time is plagarism " he probably was mangling a quote from a James Bond film [Goldfinger?] I think you've read niven's work and probably read or looked through the ringworld game material. Over in the elfwood art site i found a guy posting a series of artwork as his work...I thought it looked too familiar so i checked my books and posted the page numbers from the book where he got his "Inspiration" he removed them quickly which was a better response than I got from the elfwood artists who were only concerned if he copied "Their" work. Do a google search for Ringworld and the Known Space series...you'll find Mr. Nivens email address. how about asking him for permission? Keep his response to cover yourself from the lawsuits...always CYA!

 

[TKalbfus]

I never read the Chaosium Ringworld Game, never seen it in stores. I did not copy my Ringworld specs from Niven's Work. Lets compare them side by side:

Niven's Ringworld is 95,000,000 miles in diameter.
My Ringworld is 92,960,000 miles in diameter.

Niven's Ringworld is 997,000 miles wide.
My Ringworld is 1,000,000 miles wide.

Also Niven's Ringworld has 20 Shadow Squares.
My Ringworld has only 10 Shadow Squares.

I did not look at Niven's specs when I designed my Ringworld. I assumed the ringworld's radius was the Earth's average orbital distance from the Sun and that it was 1,000,000 miles wide. I calculated how fast it would have to prin to produce 1 gravity at that radius and came up with a velocity of 764.9 miles/second. It turns out that you need something line the force holding protons and neutrons together in an atomic nucleus, so I posited at atom that completely encirculed the Sun, and you put a number of those side by side and stitch them together and you end up with a super conductor since electrons meet no resitance when moving inside the electron shell of a single atom. You see when you start with similar assumptions you end up with similar conclusions. I thought about other ways to make a ringworld. oneway is a magnetically levitated inner ring hovering over a non-rotating outer ring. The outer ring has the strength to hold the rinner ring together as it rotates while the outer ring does not rotate at all. I thought about giving it 2 miles of rock and dirt on top of the ringworld floor, but this would tend to rule out magnetic levitation and also I wanted only a few civilizations on the ringworld with alot of wilderness in between. Also this ringworld did not suffer a collapse of its civilization as such a ringworld spanning civilization never existed. Instead humans built robots which built the ringworld, that human civilization no longer existed by the time the robots finished. The robots following their programming demolished the planets of the Solar System and and built the ringworld out of the material. The Humans of Earth were relocated to the Ringworld. The Ringworld has a computer that is very self aware, it is simple that this computer does not consider those humans living i=on the Ringworld's surface to be its masters. The ringworld computer is mainly concerned with maintaining life support on the Ringworld and little else. Humans and other beings can have wars on its surface, and it doesn't care. The lack of metals needed to build civilization doesn't bother it either. Primitive humans are easier to keep from damaging the ringworld than technically advanced ones, although advanced civilizations do use recycled metals, but the vast majority of intelligent species on the surface are primitive, this still leaves alot of advanced societies, just not as much as their could be. Elves, orcs and other such things are products of genetic research.

 

[TKalbfus]

A ringworld is a general concept; the more general the concept the harder it is to copyright. The Wright Brothers tried to patent the airplane, but people kept on building different versions of the airplane. The Wrights could never convince the Patent office to grant them royalties on all possible versions of the airplane. Likewise their are many fantasy worlds that have the same elements in them, just mixed differently. Their are many versions of space colonies bases on the concept of the rotating Cylinder.

 

[TKalbfus]

A better example: Do I need permission from H.G. Wells to talk about Time Travel? The Time Machine was his book after all and his concept, he invented it just like Larry Niven invented the Ringworld. I've read lots of books about time machines, do they have permission from the Wells Estate? Or do they just go ahead and write a time travel story without authorization from the originator of the concept?

Now if you are going to use Wells's charactersm the Morlocks or the Eloi, then I imagine you would need some sort of permission.

 

[vutpakdi]

Tom,

Look, I think that we're just trying to point out areas where you might get into trouble with the people who own these copyrights. As long as what you're doing is just what amounts to the equivalent of a small scale "fan fic" type story, it's highly unlikely anyone will come after you.

However, if someone who does own the copyrights gets upset, they, lawyers, potentially a judge, and potentially a jury will be the ones that are deciding whether or not what you've done is okay. It seems to me that you've copied the core of the Dragon magaine article and the core of Niven's Ringworld. Just because you change parts of the text and the details doesn't mean that the people that really matter will think that what you've done is okay. And, finally, just because something is out of print doesn't mean you have leave to copy it.

Ron

PS: On the other hand, Hunter may get a bit concerned if he gets the fear that the copyright holders will come after *QLI* because they feel that QLI is allowing copyright infringement.

 

[TKalbfus]

How much Science Fiction is really Original? I mean really! Take Traveller for example, there are many examples of science fiction that is similar to the Traveller game.

For instance:
Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy
Star Wars
The new Battlestar Galactica uses jump drives. In fact their are alot of science fiction stories that repeat the same themes copied from other authors. The idea of a Galactic Empire is used over and over again, and why is the monetary unit used in Traveller the Credit, Star Wars uses credits also as do innumerable other science fiction novels.

Much of creativity depends on standing on other people's shoulders, and borrowing ideas from other books. Ideas like Robots, laser pistols, hyperdrives, cyberspace, transporters, Psi powers, the list goes on and on. If someone comes up with a new idea then everyone else will copy it. For instance can you write an artical about nanotechnology without Eric Drexeler suing you for plagarism?

Can't we distinguish between Larry Niven's Ringworld and the general concept of a ringworld? If not then we lose alot of story potential.

If a whole bunch of science fiction authors were to suddenly write stories about their own ringworlds, I think that would only help Larry Niven because he wrote the original, not because he's collecting royalties on them. For instance alot of people who read time travel stories, may want to pick up the original "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. Wells started a trend, and if he insisted on copyright protection and got it over the general concept of time travel we'd lose alot of time travel stories. The same goes for the concept of Ringworld, it has alot of story potential besides Larry Niven's treatment of it. It would be a shame if too many lawyers were to squeltch creativity by forbbing any other author from using that idea. The idea of copyright protection is to prevent people like me from copying Nivens book and selling it and keeping the profits, or from me using Larry Niven's Known World Setting to write my own stories without his permission.

On the other hand the 2300 game has an FTL drive that's very similar to the one Larry Niven used in his ringworld books, perhaps you've heard of the Stutterwarp? The Stutterwarp works the same way that the engines on the Pierson's Puppeteer General Product Hull Space ships work, they both jump very short distances instantaneously and do so very fast. Copyright infringement? I think not.

You know they say imitation is the best form of flattery. Larry Niven should be proud if alot of other authors want to write Ringworld books, it really benefits him as the public that reads those other books will also want to read his.

 

[TKalbfus]

Besides there is alot more in that Dragon article I didn't copy. I I could not use anything in Dragon, I would not by buy the magazine as it would be no use to me. The people who buy Dragon would like to use those things that are in them, if you say no, you can't use it, then alot of people will stop buying Dragon and the editors of Dragon Magazine won't thank you, they fully expect their articles to be used. I'm not publishing anything professionally, I'm not selling anything. I'm just trying to share my ideas and sometimes those ideas also include the ideas of other people. If I did something completely original and unique no one would want it, because they'd be unfamiliar with it.

Example: How about spaceships with no interiors? The spaceships are completely filled with computers and to go inside. One climbs into a freezer and is frozen solid, the person is then sliced while frozen with atomic precision, each slice of the frozen person is scanned and the data is entered into the computer until all the positions of his atoms are recorded and the person is reanimated in a computer simulation of a starship's bridge with gravity. When a person wants to step outside, he then downloads into a robot that looks just like his original body. The starship can accelerate at hundreds of Gees and thats no problem.

 

[TKalbfus]

However, if someone who does own the copyrights gets upset, they, lawyers, potentially a judge, and potentially a jury will be the ones that are deciding whether or not what you've done is okay. It seems to me that you've copied the core of the Dragon magaine article and the core of Niven's Ringworld. Just because you change parts of the text and the details doesn't mean that the people that really matter will think that what you've done is okay. And, finally, just because something is out of print doesn't mean you have leave to copy it.

Ron

Very well, if you don't want me to give you the dinosaur stats, then you can get your own copy of Dragon Magazine. I was trying to make things easier for you, not claim credit for those dinosaurs, but if you insist on trying to buy a back issue of Dragon in order to use the encounter tables then go to it. You can substitute other monsters if you can't find that issue of Dragon. Oh by the way, the publisher gets no royalties from third party sales.

As for the ringworld, how radically different does it have to be in order to be different? Centrifugal force is something I learned in high school if not earlier, I didn't know Larry Niven had a patent on it. Also I believe Larry Niven's Patent on Ringworld has just about expired. Wasn't the first novel written in the 1970s?

I believe there is something called a frivolous lawsuit. Are you going to let the threat of a lawer's frivolous lawsuit suppress a person's freedom of speech? There is a difference between a ringworld and Larry Niven's Ringworld.

Larry Niven's Ringworld is the setting where the story in his books take place. The idea of a ringworld is just a concept or an invention, if Larry Niven has rights to that, then it must be in the form of a patent on an invention, not a copyright. I have not built any ringworlds, I have only talked about one of my own design. If Larry Niven can use a 30 year old Patent to hush me up about any talk on any ringworld, then that's a terrible abuse of the US Constitution.

That said I want to talk more about the ringworld as a setting for Traveller and cease and desist all this lawyer talk.

 

[TKalbfus]

All lawyer talk aside, here is my ringworld version of the elf.

Ringworld Elf, 1st-Level Warrior (Primitive)
Medium Humanoid
Stamina Dice: 1d8 (4 St)
Lifeblood: 10 Lb
Initiative: +1
Speed: 9 m
AC: 15 (+1 Dex, +3 studded leather, +1 light shield)
Touch: 11
Flat-footed: 14
Armor Rating: 1
Basic Attack Bonus (BAB): +1
Grapple: +2
Attacks: Longsword +2 melee or longbow +3
Damage: Longsword 1d8+1/19-20 or longbow 1d8/x3
Full Attacks: Longsword +2 melee or longbow +3
Damage: Longsword 1d8+1/19-20 or longbow 1d8/x3
Space/Reach: 1 ½ m / 1 ½ m
Special Qualities: Elven traits, Psionics
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +1, Will -1*
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 9, Cha 8, Soc_, Edu 14
Psi: 13
Skills and Spheres: Hide +1, Listen +2, Search +5, Spot +2; Telepathy Sphere +8.
Feats and Talents: Weapon Focus (longbow); Shield, Life Detection, Telempathy, Read Surface Thoughts, Send Thoughts.
________________________________________________________________________
Climate/Terrain: Warm Forest (Half-Elf: Warm Forests; Aquatic: Warm aquatic; Gray: Warm mountains; Wild: Warm forests, Wood: Warm forests)
Organization: Squad (2-4), company (11-20 plus 2 3rd-level sergents and 1 leader of 3rd-6th level), or band (30-100 plus 20% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 10 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and 3 7th-level captains)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: Standard
Allegiances: To the Tribe
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment +0

Ringworld Elf, 1st-Level Mercenary (Advanced)
Medium Humanoid
Stamina Dice: 1d10 (5 St)
Lifeblood: 10 Lb
Initiative: +1
Speed: 6 m (Combat armor TL-14)
AC: 19 (+1 Dex, +8 Combat armor TL-14)
Touch: 11
Flat-footed: 18
Armor Rating: 8
Basic Attack Bonus (BAB): +1
Grapple: +2
Attacks: Longsword +2 melee or laser rifle +3
Damage: Longsword 1d8+1/19-20 or laser rifle 3d10/x2
Full Attacks: Longsword +2 melee or laser rifle +3
Damage: Longsword 1d8+1/19-20 or laser rifle 3d10/x2
Space/Reach: 1 ½ m / 1 ½ m
Special Qualities: Elven traits, Psionics
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +1, Will 0*
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 9, Cha 8, Soc_, Edu 14
Psi: 13
Skills and Spheres: Hide +1, T/Communications +3, T/Medical +3, Listen +2, Move Silently +3, Search +5, Spot +2; Telepathy Sphere +8.
Feats and Talents: Weapon Focus (laser rifle); Read Surface Thoughts, Send Thoughts.
________________________________________________________________________
Climate/Terrain: Warm Forest (Half-Elf: Warm Forests; Aquatic: Warm aquatic; Gray: Warm mountains; Wild: Warm forests, Wood: Warm forests)
Organization: Squad (2-4), company (11-20 plus 2 3rd-level sergents and 1 leader of 3rd-6th level), or band (30-100 plus 20% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 10 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and 3 7th-level captains)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: Standard
Allegiances: To the Tribe
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment +0

Elf Traits (Ex): Elves posses the following racial traits.
- +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Education, -2 Constitution.
- Elves have no established social standing within the interstellar mileu since elves are not known to them.
- Medium size.
- Base land speed of 9 meters.
- Elves have a +2 racial saving throw to tranquilizers and other effects that put them to sleep.
- Low Light vision
- Weapon Proficiency: Elves are automatically proficient with the longsword, rapier, longbow, composite longbow, shortbow, composite shortbow, and if technology allows it, the laser rifle.
- +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. An elf who passes within 1 ½ m of a hidden door will get a search check as if he’s actively searching for it.
- Favored Class: Psionicist.
- All elves have the psionic ability to send and receive surface thoughts.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

"If Larry Niven can use a 30 year old Patent to hush me up about any talk on any ringworld"

As I pointed out, there already is one in the OTU, so this isn't a problem. Just try to keep the details different.

 

[TKalbfus]

Yes, I'll just proceed. I'll detail the intelligent creatures now. I'll just reference the dino encounters for now, they aren't the most important things anyway. In Traveller the deadliest encounters are usually with intelligent beings rather than dumb animals as large as they may be. All that stamina may give even PCs armed with fusion gun pause though.

I figure that since the elves can't have magic, I'll give them psionics instead. The example above is a 1st level elf. Like the elves in D&D, they can live to 1,000 years of age. To a ringworlder though age is measured in days or weeks. A week is defined by them as 1 ringworld rotation. The brighter stars can be seen at night, and so by tracking the positions of the constellations in the night sky, you can tell what part of the week it is. The fact that there is not an exact number of ringworld days per week is a minor problem, which they fix with the addition of a "leap week" every now and then.

 

[TKalbfus]

I've compiled a weapons and armor table for the primitives of ringworld. As you can see, its a metal poor world and they're on the copper standard. I've priced the items that contain metal accordingly.

Ringworld Coins
Tin piece (tp) = 1 tp = 1/10 ip = 1/100 cp = 1/1000 sp
Iron piece (ip) = 10 tp = 1 ip = 1/10 cp = 1/100 sp
Copper piece (cp) = 100 tp = 10 ip = 1 cp = 1/10 sp
Silver piece (sp) = 1000 tp = 100 ip = 10 cp = 1 sp
Purchasing power parody 1 cp = Cr 20

Table 1: Starting Equipment
Class Amount
Barbarian 4d4 x 10 cp
Bard 4d4 x 10 cp
Cleric 5d4 x 10 cp
Druid 2d4 x 10 cp
Fighter 6d4 x 10 cp
Monk 5d4 cp
Paladin 6d4 x 10 cp
Ranger 6d4 x 10 cp
Rogue 5d4 x 10 cp
Sorcerer 3d4 x 10 cp
Wizard 3d4 x 10 cp

Starting equipment for characters above 1st level
Character Level – Wealth
2nd 900 cp
3rd 2,700 cp
4th 5,400 cp
5th 9,000 cp
6th 13,000 cp
7th 19,000 cp
8th 27,000 cp
9th 36,000 cp
10th 49,000 cp
11th 66,000 cp
12th 88,000 cp
13th 110,000 cp
14th 150,000 cp
15th 200,000 cp
16th 260,000 cp
17th 340,000 cp
18th 440,000 cp
19th 580,000 cp
20th 760,000 cp

Table 2: Weapons

Simple Weapons-Melee
Weapon price Damage/Critical/Critical multiplier (Range Increment): Weight/Type
Tiny
Dagger-stone – 2 cp 1d4/1-2/break – 19-20/x2 (3 m): ½ kg/piercing
Dagger-steel – 7 cp 1d4/19-20/x2 (3 m): ½ kg/piercing
Dagger punching-steel – 12 cp 1d4/x3: 1 kg/piercing
Gauntlet, spiked-steel – 15 cp 1d4/x2: 1 kg/piercing
Small
Mace, Light – 30 cp 1d6/x2: 2 ¾ kg/bludgeoning
Sickle – 21 cp 1d6/x2:1 ¼ kg/slashing
Medium-size
Club - _ 1d6/x2 (3 m): 1 ¼ kg/bludgeoning
Halfspear – 1 cp 1d6/x3 (6 m): 1 ¼ kg/piercing
Mace, heavy – 72 cp 1d8/x2: 5 ½ kg/bludgeoning
Morningstar – 48 cp 1d8/x2: 3 ½ kg/bludgeoning and piercing
Large
Quarterstaff - _ 1d6/1d6/x2: 1 ¾ kg/bludgeoning
Shortspear – 2 cp 1d8/x3 (6 m): 2 ¼ kg/piercing

Simple Weapons – Ranged
Small
Crossbow, light – 40 cp 1d8/19-20/x2 (24 m): 2 ¾ kg/piercing
Bolts, crossbow – 6 cp: ½ kg
Dart – 5 ip 1d4/x2 (6 m): ¼ kg/piercing
Sling w. bullets - _ 1d4/x2 (15 m): 0 kg/bludgeoning
Bullets, sling (10) – 25 cp: 2 ¼ kg
Sling w. stones - _ 1d3/x2 (10 m): 0 kg/bludgeoning
Stones, sling (10) – free: 2 ¼ kg
Medium-size
Crossbow, heavy – 60 cp 1d10/19-20/x2 (36 m): 4 kg/piercing
Bolts, crossbow (10) – 6 cp: ½ kg
Javelin – 1 cp 1d6/x2 (9 m): 1 kg/piercing

Martial Weapons – Melee
Small
Stone Axe, throwing – 8 cp 1d6/1-2/shatters – /x2 (3 m): 1 ¾ kg/slashing
Steel Axe, throwing – 28 cp 1d6/x2 (3 m): 1 ¾ kg/slashing
Stone Hammer, light – 1 cp 1d4/1-2/shatters – /x2 (6 m): 1 kg/bludgeoning
Steel Hammer, light – 11 cp 1d4/x2 (6m): 1 kg/bludgeoning
Stone Handaxe – 6 cp 1d6/1-2/shatters – /x3: 2 ¼ kg/slashing
Steel Handaxe – 31 cp 1d6/x3: 2 ¼ kg/slashing
Wooden Lance, light – 6 cp 1d6/1-2/shatters – /x3: 4 ½ kg/piercing
Steel Lance, light – 31 cp 1d6/x3: 4 ½ kg/piercing
Wooden Pick, light – 4 cp 1d4/1-2/breaks – /x4: 1 ¾ kg/piercing
Steel Pick, light – 24 cp 1d4/x4: 1 ¾ kg/piercing
Sap – 1 cp 1d6/x2: 1 ¼ kg/bludgeoning
Sword, short – 25 cp 1d6/19-20/x2: 1 ¼ kg/piercing
Medium-size
Stone Battleaxe – 10 cp 1d8/1-2/shatters – /x3: 3 ¼ kg/slashing
Steel Battleaxe – 45 cp 1d8/x3: 3 ¼ kg/slashing
Flail, light – 33 cp 1d8/x3: 2 ¼ kg/bludgeoning
Wooden Lance, heavy – 10 cp 1d8/1-2/shatters – /x3: 4 ½ kg/piercing
Steel Lance, heavy – 60 cp 1d8/x3: 4 ½ kg/piercing
Longsword – 35 cp 1d8/19-20/x2: 1 ¾ kg/slashing
Wooden Pick, heavy – 8 cp 1d6/1-2/breaks – /x4: 2 ¾ kg/piercing
Steel Pick, heavy – 38 cp 1d6/x4: 2 ¾ kg/piercing
Rapier – 35 cp 1d6/18-20/x2: 1 ¼ kg/piercing
Scimitar – 35 cp 1d6/18-20/x2: 1 ¾ kg/slashing
Trident – 40 cp 1d8/x2 (3 m): 2 ¼ kg/piercing
Stone Warhammer – 12 cp 1d8/1-2/shatters – /x3: 3 ¾ kg/bludgeoning
Steel Warhammer – 52 cp 1d8/x3 : 3 ¾ kg/bludgeoning
Large
Falchion – 155 cp 2d4/18-20/x2: 7 ¼ kg/slashing
Flail, heavy – 115 cp 1d10/19-20/x2: 9 kg/bludgeoning
Glaive – 83 cp 1d10/x3: 6 ¾ kg/slashing
Stone Greataxe – 20 cp 1d12/1-2/shatters – /x3: 9 kg/slashing
Steel Greataxe – 120 cp 1d12/x3: 9 kg/slashing
Greatclub – 5 cp 1d10/x2: 4 ½ kg/bludgeoning
Greatsword – 125 cp 2d6/19-20/x2: 6 ¾ kg/slashing
Guisarme – 84 cp 2d4/x3: 6 ¾ kg/slashing
Stone Halberd – 10 cp 1d10/1-2/shatters – /x3: 6 ¾ kg/piercing and slashing
Steel Halberd – 85 cp 1d10/x3: 6 ¾ kg/piercing and slashing
Longspear – 5 cp 1d8/x3: 4 kg/piercing
Ranseur – 20 cp 2d4/x3: 6 ¾ kg/piercing
Scythe – 78 cp 2d4/x4: 5 ½ kg/piercing and slashing

Martial Weapons – Ranged
Medium-size
Shortbow 30 cp 1d6/x3 (18 m): 1 kg/piercing
Arrows (20) 1 cp: 1 ¼ kg
Shortbow, composite 75 cp 1d6/x3 (21 m): 1 kg/piercing
Arrows (20) 1 cp: 1 ¼ kg
Large
Longbow 75 cp 1d8/x3 (30 m): 1 ¼ kg/piercing
Arrows (20) 1 cp: 1 ¼ kg
Longbow, composite 100 cp 1d8/x3 (33 m): 1 ¼ kg/piercing
Arrows (20) 1 cp: 1 ¼ kg

Exotic Weapons – Melee
Tiny
Kama, halfling 7 cp 1d4/x2: ½ kg/slashing
Kukri 23 cp 1d4/18-20/x2: 1 ¼ kg/slashing
Nunchaku, halfling 2 cp 1d4/x2: ½ kg/slashing
Siangham, halfling 7 cp 1d4/x2: ½ kg/piercing
Small
Kama 12 cp 1d6/x2: 1 kg/slashing
Nunchaku 2 cp 1d6/x2: 1 kg/bludgeoning
Siangham 8 cp 1d6/x2: ½ kg/piercing
Medium-size
Sword, bastard 85 cp 1d10/19-20/x2: 4 ½ kg/slashing
Waraxe, dwarven 105 cp 1d10/x3: 6 ¾ kg/slashing
Hammer, gnome hooked 50 cp 1d6/1d4 – x3/x4: 2 ¾ kg/bludgeoning and piercing
Large
Axe, orc double 185 cp 1d8/1d8/x3: 11 ½ kg/slashing
Chain, spiked 100 cp 2d4/x2: 6 ¾ kg/piercing
Flail, dire 190 cp 1d8/1d8/x2: 9 kg/bludgeoning
Sword, two-bladed 250 cp 1d8/1d8/19-20/x2: 13 ¾ kg/slashing
Urgrosh, dwarven 125 cp 1d8/1d6/x3: 6 ¾ kg/slashing and piercing

Exotic Weapons – Ranged
Tiny
Crossbow, hand 100 cp 1d4/19-20/x2 (9 m): 1 ¼ kg/piercing
Bolts (10) 6 cp : ½ kg
Shuriken 1 cp 1/x2 (3 m): 0.05 kg/piercing
Small
Whip 1 cp 1d2/x2 (4 ½ m max.): 1 kg/slashing
Medium-size
Crossbow, repeating 250 cp 1d8/19-20/x2 (24 m): 7 ¼ kg/piercing
Bolts (5) 6 cp: ½ kg
Net 20 cp (3 m): 4 ½ kg

Armor
Light armor
Padded 5 cp; AR +1/0; max dex bns +8; armor check – 0; spd 9 m/6 m; wgt. 4 ½ kg
Leather 10 cp; AR +2/0; max dex bns +6; armor check -0; spd 9 m/6 m; wgt. 6 ¾ kg
Studded leather 25 cp; AR +3/1; max dex bns +5; armor check -1; spd 9 m/6 m; wgt 9 kg
Chain shirt 225 cp; AR +4/1; max dex bns +4; armor check -2; spd 9 m/6 m; wgt 11 ¼ kg
Medium armor
Hide 15 cp; AR +3/1; max dex bns +4; armor check -3; spd 6 m/4 ½ m; wgt 11 ¼ kg
Scale mail 200 cp; AR +4/1; max dex bns +3; armor check -4; spd 6 m/4 ½ m; wgt 13 ¾ kg
Chainmail 350 cp; AR +5/1; max dex bns +2; armor check -5; spd 6 m/4 ½ m; wgt 18 ¼ kg
Breastplate 350 cp; AR +5/1; max dex bns +3; armor check -4; spd 6 m/4 ½ m; wgt 13 ¾ kg
Heavy armor
Splint mail 425 cp; AR +6/2; max dex bns +0; armor check -7; spd 6 m/4 ½ m; wgt 20 ½ kg
Banded mail 425 cp; AR +6/2; max dex bns +1; armor check -6; spd 6 m/4 ½ m; wgt 16 kg
Half-plate 850 cp; AR +7/2; max dex bns +0; armor check -7; spd 6 m/4 ½ m; wgt 22 ¾ kg
Full plate 1,750 cp; AR +8/2; max dex bns +1; armor check -6; spd 6 m/4 ½ kg; wgt 22 ¾ kg
Shields
Buckler 40 cp; AR +1/0; armor check -1; wgt 2 ¼ kg
Shield, small, wooden 3 cp; AR +1/0; armor check -1; wgt 2 ¼ kg
Shield, small, steel 39 cp; AR +1/0; armor check -1; wgt 2 ¾ kg
Shield, large, wooden 7 cp; AR +2/0; armor check -2; wgt 4 ½ kg
Shield, large, steel 95 cp; AR +2/0; armor check -2; wgt 6 ¾ kg
Shield, tower, steel 255 cp; AR **; armor check -10; wgt 20 ½ kg
Extras
Armor spikes +100 cp; wgt +4 ½ kg
Gauntlet, locked +33 cp; wgt +2 ¼ kg
Shield spikes +35 cp; wgt +2 ¼ kg

 

[TKalbfus]

Here's another installment of primitive equipment for primitive Ringworld Characters. Don't worry I'm getting to the futuristic stuff.

Table 2 – Goods and Services – Primitive
Adventuring Gear
Item: Cost Weight kg
Backpack (empty): 2 cp 1 kg
Barrel (empty): 2 cp 13 ½ kg
Basket (empty): 4 ip ½ kg
Bedroll: 1 ip 2 ¼ kg
Bell: 5 cp ½ kg
Blanket, cold weather: 5 ip 1 ¼ kg
Block and tackle: 5 cp 1 ¼ kg
Bottle, wine, glass: 2 cp ½ kg
Wooden Bucket (empty): 5 ip 1 kg
Iron Bucket (empty): 10 cp 1 kg
Caltrops: 11 cp 1 kg
Candle: 1 tp ¼ kg
Canvas (sq. m): 1 ip ½ kg
Case, map or scroll: 1 cp ¼ kg
Chain (3 m): 40 cp 1 kg
Chalk, 1 piece: 1 cp ¼ kg
Wooden Chest (empty): 2 cp 11 ¼ kg
Iron Chest (empty): 127 cp 11 ¼ kg
Crowbar: 27 cp 2 ¼ kg
Firewood (per day): 1 tp 9 kg
Fishhook: 1 ip *
Fishing net: 4 cp 2 ¼ kg
Flask: 3 tp *
Flint and Steel: 2 cp *
Grappling hook: 21 cp 1 ¾ kg
Hammer: 10 cp 1 kg
Ink (1 oz. vial): 8 cp *
Inkpen: 1 ip *
Jug, clay: 3 tp 4 kg
Ladder, 3-meter: 5 tp 9 kg
Lamp, common: 5 cp ½ kg
Lantern, bullseye: 27 cp 1 ¼ kg
Lantern, hooded: 17 cp 1 kg
Lock
– Very simple: 25 cp ½ kg
– Average: 45 cp ½ kg
– Amazing: 155 cp ½ kg
Manacles: 25 cp 1 kg
Manacles, masterwork: 60 cp 1 kg
Mirror, small steel: 12 cp ¼ kg
Mug/tankard, clay: 2 tp ½ kg
Oil (½ liter flask): 5 cp ½ kg
Paper (sheet): 4 ip *
Parchment (sheet): 2 ip *
Pick, miner’s: 13 cp 4 ½ kg
Pitcher, clay: 2 tp 2 ¼ kg
Piton: 3 cp ¼ kg
Pole, 3-meter: 2 ip 3 ½ kg
Pot, iron: 50 cp 4 ½ kg
Pouch, belt: 1 cp 1 ¼ kg
Ram, portable: 10 cp 9 kg
Rations, trail (per day): 5 ip ½ kg
Rope, hemp (15 m): 1 cp 4 ½ kg
Rope, silk (15 m): 10 cp 2 ¼ kg
Sack (empty): 1 ip ¼ kg
Sealing wax: 1 cp ½ kg
Sewing needle: 5 ip *
Signal whistle: 8 ip **
Signet ring: 5 cp *
Sledge: 1 cp 4 ½ kg
Soap (per kg): 12 ip 1 kg
Spade or shovel: 42 cp 3 ½ kg
Spyglass: 1,000 cp ½ kg
Tent: 10 cp 9 kg
Torch: 1 tp ½ kg
Vial, ink or potion: 1 cp *
Waterskin: 1 cp 1 ¾ kg
Whetstone: 2 tp ½ kg