Errata (R53 and Later)

This subforum is for discussion of the Iron Falcon Rules for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing. Maybe someday they'll have their own forum, but for now I'm keeping the discussion here.
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TPFox
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Errata (R53 and Later)

Post by TPFox »

Chris asked me to look over the latest version of Iron Falcon (r53), and start a proper Errata post. I did not cross-reference the 3 original books or Greyhawk, but did a cover-to-cover read to look for things that did not make sense to me, or was an error in clarity or grammar.

It is a very nice book if you haven't read it, and I am delighted to be able to help make it an even better one.

Here are 11 things I noted in my read through that I felt need clarification or correction in r53:
______________________________________________________________________
1) Page 9 - I might be missing something here about this rule, but I am confused. Why level 14? How do you calculate HP averages? Why not just roll more HP for the Thief when you are no longer advancing your skill as a Fighter?

Original (Characters With Multiple Classes, last sentence): "He will probably not gain more hit points until he reaches 14th level as a Thief; the average for a Thief of that level is 27.5 hit points."

**(See the discussion that follows between Dimirag and I on HP for characters with multiple classes).
______________________________________________________________________
2) Page 11 - Clarity - Movement in the rules has not been discussed yet, so a reference to page 13 might help.

Original: "Adding up the weight of all of his equipment, the player discovers Moziah is carrying 1,123 coins of encumbrance. Moziah's Strength gives him a bonus of 50 coins to his encumbrance limits, but 1,123 is still more than the 800 coins he can carry at full movement. Thus, Moziah moves 9" per turn."

Add: "(see Movement and Encumbrance on page 13)."
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3) Page 12 - Clarity - Add armor into this discussion to make it clear armor and shields have the same function that is different than helmets.

Original: "Shields reduce (improve) the armor class of a character by one point. Note that a helmet does not confer its armor class on an entire character, but rather protects specifically against attacks directed at the wearer's head."

Change: "Shields reduce (improve)..." ---> "Armor and shields reduce (improve)..."
______________________________________________________________________
4) Page 14 - Clarity - It is not "below" but 2 pages later, so an exact page reference might help.
Original (Reaction Rolls): "The referee may make adjustments to this roll as needed, for example if a bribe is offered or a credible threat is made (which might instead force a morale check, as explained below)."

Change: "as explained below)." ---> "as explained on page 16)."
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5) Page 24-25 - Grammar error
Original (Clairaudience): "For up to 12 rounds, the caster can hear whatever sounds the target creature hears, so long as it remains with the given maximum range."

Change: "with" ---> "within"
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6) Page 93 - Clarity - It might be clearer to refer to the next page as the table is not "below."
Original (NPC Encounters): "The table below can be used to determine the magic items an NPC party is equipped with."

Change: "The Table below" ---> "The first table on the next page"
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7) Page 101 - Grammar error
Original (Special Weapons): "Arrow of Slaying: This arrows is enchanted to instantly kill a type of monster on a successful hit. The referee should choose which type of monster each such arrow can slay; for example, Dragons, Undead, Giants, Elementals, or any other type the referee can imagine. These arrows are rare, usually appearing individually rather than in bundles."

Change: "This arrows" ---> "This arrow" or "These arrows"
______________________________________________________________________
8) Page 114 - Grammar error
Original (Figurines of Wondrous Power – Marble Elephant): "It has Armor Class 4, 8 Hit Dice, moves a a 12" rate and can attack twice per round with its tusks, doing 2d6 points of damage with each tusk."

Change: "It has Armor Class 4, 8 Hit Dice, moves a a 12" rate" ---> "It has Armor Class 4, 8 Hit Dice, moves a 12" rate"
______________________________________________________________________
9) Page 118 - Clarity - What is the mirror's capacity? I couldn't find an explanation of this.
Original (Mirror of Life Trapping): "If the mirror’s capacity is exceeded, no further victims will be trapped."
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10) Page 120 - Grammar error
Original (Scarab of Death): "Once the victim is dead, the scarab resumes to its disguise."

Change: "resumes to its disguise." ---> "returns to its disguise."
______________________________________________________________________
11) Page 131 - Grammar errors
Original (Healing): "The sword can heal its wielder, restoring up to 6 points per day at a rate of 1 point per every six turns (one hour."

Change: "1 point per every six turns (one hour." ---> "1 point every six turns (one hour)."
Last edited by TPFox on Fri Aug 20, 2021 9:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Dimirag
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by Dimirag »

1) Page 9 - I might be missing something here about this rule, but I am confused. Why level 14? How do you calculate HP averages? Why not just roll more HP for the Thief when you are no longer advancing your skill as a Fighter?

Original (Characters With Multiple Classes, last sentence): "He will probably not gain more hit points until he reaches 14th level as a Thief; the average for a Thief of that level is 27.5 hit points."
HP average = max die value/2 + 0.5
Characters with multiple classes gain 2 set of HP, one for each class, so the above character will still roll HP from his Thief Class, but such character only use the bigger HP pool, so, once his Thief HP is bigger than his Fighter one that pool will become his main HP, this can happen a lot sooner or later than level 14, but for ease of explanation the game uses average values.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by TPFox »

Thank you Dimirag. Your explanation is much clearer.

It seems to me though that others will have the same question, and the rules as written will get asked about in forums and lead to more confusion.

Any chance these rules could be reworded to be more clear?

Points to consider are this:
* While a player will roll HP for both classes and use the highest one to determine their character's HP at the start the game and when the character levels up, it should be noted that a player should keep a record of all HP rolls for both classes as these will be used later to determine HP gain when a character reaches their maximum level in one class, but can still advance levels in their other class.
* Once one class has reached its maximum level, the total HP rolled for that class should be recorded as a pool.
* If the other class continues to advance, HP will be rolled only for the class that advances now. Add up all the HP rolls for the class that continues to advance to determine an HP pool. The character may not add more HP to their character until the pool of HP for the class that continues to advance is greater than the pool for the HP of the class that has reached its maximum level.
* (The average HP for a pool of HP in a given class may be a useful tool, but what is important is the actual rolled each HP pool).
* Is Garrus only eligible to roll HP for the Thief HP pool when experience requirements have been met for the 7th level Fighter even though Garrus will only continue to advance in levels as a Thief?
Last edited by TPFox on Thu Aug 19, 2021 1:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dimirag
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by Dimirag »

It may be just me, but this part of the second paragraph explains it concisely and clearly
Characters With Multiple Classes wrote: The player should roll the hit points for each class separately; whichever total is highest is the one which is to be used as the character's actual hit point total
I would put the example as a new paragraph as it explains a little of everything and not just the level limit part.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by TPFox »

And add to that that once the Fighter's level limit is reached you will only roll HP once using the Thief's HD. You will not add more HP to the Thief's character until the total die rolls of all levels you rolled for the Thief is greater than the total die rolls you rolled for the Fighter.

Some explanation like that would be clearer... But maybe this book assumes a certain amount of familiarity with Multi-classing in OSR...
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by Dimirag »

TPFox wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 1:42 am And add to that that once the Fighter's level limit is reached you will only roll HP once using the Thief's HD.
Not once, every time the Thief class earns a level HP will be rolled, regardless of the other class' level.
You will not add more HP to the Thief's character until the total die rolls of all levels you rolled for the Thief is greater than the total die rolls you rolled for the Fighter.
You will always be adding HP to the Thief class' pool (at each new level)

Maybe the example can be expandied to include more levels and how the different HP pools are tracked and how the main HP can fluctuate between pools.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by TPFox »

Thanks I think I understand know how the HP works for Multi-Class characters. Thanks for your patience with me on this. I like your suggestion above to expand the example a little. I think there is actually a bit of room on page 9 of the book to do so. When Chris gets around to looking at the errata I found, and our discussion, I'll be interested to see his point of view.
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by Solomoriah »

Dimirag wrote: Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:31 pm It may be just me, but this part of the second paragraph explains it concisely and clearly
Characters With Multiple Classes wrote: The player should roll the hit points for each class separately; whichever total is highest is the one which is to be used as the character's actual hit point total
I would put the example as a new paragraph as it explains a little of everything and not just the level limit part.
So just to be clear at this point, this suggestion is all you guys are asking for with regards to multiclass hit points, right?
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by Solomoriah »

TPFox wrote: Wed Aug 18, 2021 9:55 am 3) Page 12 - Clarity - Add armor into this discussion to make it clear armor and shields have the same function that is different than helmets.

Original: "Shields reduce (improve) the armor class of a character by one point. Note that a helmet does not confer its armor class on an entire character, but rather protects specifically against attacks directed at the wearer's head."

Change: "Shields reduce (improve)..." ---> "Armor and shields reduce (improve)..."
Incorrect, I'm afraid. Armor doesn't "reduce (improve)" armor class, it sets it. Shields reduce it, deducting 1 point from whatever the AC of the given armor is. So your recommended suggestion is false in a literal sense.
TPFox wrote: Wed Aug 18, 2021 9:55 am 9) Page 118 - Clarity - What is the mirror's capacity? I couldn't find an explanation of this.
Original (Mirror of Life Trapping): "If the mirror’s capacity is exceeded, no further victims will be trapped."
Good question. I don't have a good answer right now, but I'll figure it out.
TPFox wrote: Wed Aug 18, 2021 9:55 am 10) Page 120 - Grammar error
Original (Scarab of Death): "Once the victim is dead, the scarab resumes to its disguise."

Change: "resumes to its disguise." ---> "returns to its disguise."
Actually should be "resumes its disguise" but yeah this is wrong in the text.

Other than the hit point thing and the items listed above, I believe all your other corrections are solid. You aren't in the credits yet... how do I credit you for proofreading?
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Re: Errata (r53)

Post by TPFox »

Thanks for your feedback Chris. Sorry if I was off the mark about armor. Maybe on a re-read I would catch that point. I'm glad the other corrections were helpful. Yes, I think the only issue of clarity for me was tracking multi-class HP.

Dimirag wrote:
Maybe the example can be expanded to include more levels and how the different HP pools are tracked and how the main HP can fluctuate between pools.
This is where Dimirag ended our discussion on HP for Multi-Classes on r53. If you felt any changes needed to be made on this point (your call of course), I think there is a little extra room on page 9 to fit a little extra text. But, other than that and the other minor corrections, and the issue to investigate about the Mirror of Life Trapping capacity, things look very good.

Sorry I didn't fill in any details on my Basic Fantasy Forum profile yet. My name is Timothy Fox for proofreading credit.
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