You Should Watch Wargame Culture

Play-Cast Name: Chainmail Battles Where I Listened: Purple Druid Presents: Wargame Culture Where It's Available: YouTube System: Chainmail: Rules for Medieval Miniatures

Chainmail

Thoughts and Review

Wargame Culture, or Purple Druid Presents: Wargame Culture, is a small, relatively new YouTube channel wherein the host, Purple Druid (forgive me, friend, if you have stated your name elsewhere in the videos I have not watched),     Update: Pre-Publication!
Between the writing of this article and its publication, I actually was able to connect with the host of Wargame Culture on Discord!

Resulting from that conversation, I have updated the posting a bit to reflect some stuff he'd clarified for me - but I have not re-written the whole thing: be on the lookout, though, for an episode of the podcast to drop in the proximitous future starring our friend Purple Druid!regales the watcher with his love and hobby around miniature gaming. It is not an RPG actual play - per se - but instead a culmination of his experience: acquiring, assembling, and painting wargames miniatures.

For the purposes of this review - I am speaking to one playlist in particular: the title of the Play-Cast Name above, Chainmail Battles; although I have watched other videos, including his Solo Wargaming playlist, because of a current interest of mine in Chainmail, specifically, I will focus on the aforementioned collection of videos.

What I Like

First and foremost - and the reason I write this review - I really like the expose that this channel provides, the deep dive and practical evaluation, of the rules as written and procedures to follow in the Chainmail game. He's confessed, himself, that he's learning the game - the purpose of the video series is to get a bead on it and to enjoy it. In so doing - I have seen him do things, seen him make calls, and thought, "Huh... I don't remember that" - at which point I have to go back to my rulebook and re-read the section in question. In particular, the artillery rules come to mind - shooting long versus shooting short. I had no recollection of calling to fire long or short - though, admittedly, I am less interested in black powder and cannon than I am in more dark-age technology tier encounters: which may explain the skimming - but seeing him call in advance before rolling: that made me look it up to confirm what I thought I knew. Can't get enough Wargame Culture via obscure OSR review sites? Follow him on Twitter!

Not a Twitterer, you say? Check out his web site - complete with blog section and 10 full years of content and commentaries!
It's a learning experience for me to watch him play: which is the half the purpose of this review series - and foremost, as I said, among the virtues I find in this channel.

Continuing along the lines of learning - in the highlighted playlist, PD (you don't mind if I call you PD, do you, Purple Druid?) cites when he makes mistakes. He watches his own playbook on edit and - for the benefit of all watchers - highlights where missteps were made along the way in terms of the rules and one can think about how that rule might impact the outcome compared with what happens. This has a twin function - first, as I mention, it helps you see what the effect of certain rules are; but second: it is a reminder, a brand in the brain that makes those points stand out: which, to me, is helpful - because if a dedicated and long-time wargamer forgets something, that means that others who are of the same ilk (or others who might be newer to wargaming) might fall into the same missteps or the same assumptions. Purple Druid takes us along for the ride as he makes mistakes and learns from them: and the viewer benefits from his experience.

Lastly - a particular point of interest for me - our man PD is a long-time wargamer. He has experience with, as evidenced by other minis in his collection and other videos on his channel, dozens of other miniatures games: ranging from fantasy to historic. From that, he's able to draw on those memories, those experiences, and compare Chainmail with them: analyzing the impact of Chainmail compared to - say - the mass combat in other editions or iterations of the D&D game. I would personally be curious to hear more musings on that subject - but: for the confines of Chainmail - I'll be brief: because of his ability to cross-analyze, other, younger gamers with experience in a smaller portfolio of games may be able to find common ground, benefiting from his comparisons to their games of choice when attempting to understand Chainmail as it plays.

Things To Note

I will not add a "Things I Dislike" section to this review, but instead will replace with a section, "Things To Note" - that is, elements of the channel that you'll want to keep in mind before taking me at this post's title's word. First among them - Wargame Culture in general, and the Chainmail Battles playlist, is a wargame. It is not designed, as far as I'm aware, to create a campaign narrative. It is not designed, as of this writing, to tell the story of the intrepid protagonists as they unravel the mysteries of a sandbox world. It might be one day. Who knows? PD may take an interest to OSR streaming one of these days - the host, himself, plays LFG - but, as of this writing, and as of this play review, the Chainmail Battles playlist is just that: battles played using Chainmail: just like other videos on the site are according to their names - a video called "unboxing" is an unboxing.

Another thing to note, the author holds no pretense of being an artist when it comes to the videos. His miniatures and terrain are painted - painted better than I use to paint mine and moreover, they are, as far as I know, all painted: something that any wargamer who had played in a club or hobby shop setting before will immediately respect!     Why aren't you rating the big dogs?
Purple Druid Presents is - doubtless - a smaller channel. And there are numerous good big wargaming channels - at least one I enjoy and have recommended in other media is also playing Chainmail. But - having a limited margin and catering to the foremost desire to help you - the reader - to find a product that will teach you about a game you may want to learn, two things are important to me: first, quality - and Wargame Culture: Chainmail Battles is high quality as an educational resource; and two, sticking up for the little guy.

I'm a little guy too - and I recognize that, when I produce content (good, bad, or indifferent) - the signal is proportional to exposure. It's important to stick up for the talented little guy where you can: because a good thing shouldn't go to waste in the obscurity of third-page search results.But knowing that, the videos are simply laid out - they have some short intro music, they have the channel icon and some images of miniatures or wargaming parephenalia, usually pertinent to the episode, and then it moves directly into the shot. Editing thus being minimal - don't expect a huge production: expect to see what the video states is in it.

To conclude on this section - one element of this channel that piqued my curiosity - all of the older videos are 15 minutes or less: when a single battle can take as many as four videos to complete. In at least one case, the host mentions that he has to load them short or YouTube will complain. This stuck out to me because - routinely - on other wargaming (and RPG gaming) channels, the videos are much longer than 15 minutes: 2 to 4 hours is typical of an actual play. I, myself, have videos that exceed the 15 minute mark: all of them, come to think of it, do. While I can't troubleshoot the tech - the videos are all new (or, new this year, at least) - but the channel, itself, is old - appearing to be a user channel from 2008: maybe that's the difference? A grandfather clause or account type?

Regardless: take this information for what it's worth. Having gotten a chance to speak with the host on Discord, he's actually gotten it fixed and will start - as of now - being able to post longer videos. But if you do better with shorter segments - this will work to your advantage: if you do better with longer segments... hopefully you like the theme music! It doesn't damage the experience for me, because it is not intrinsically a good or bad thing - it depends, as I mention, on your preference - I present it as information only.

In Conclusion

Wargame Culture, I've rated Chainmail - because that's what he's playing! Get it? But more seriously - Wargame Culture: Chainmail Battles is a great resource for someone curious about Chainmail and how it plays. The videos are short, but they are linked together - making them easy to watch - and the focus is on the mechanics: making them remarkable as educational tools. It's important to note that's what it is - don't come here for plot, don't come here for voice acting, and don't come here expecting and RPG - but once you're in the right frame of mind, you're gold!

Sound interesting?

Tune in! Subscribe - give him a reason to keep making videos!

About the Misted Dome

Scale: 10 ft.
Click HERE for a PDF version of this adventure!

Suitable for 4th to 5th level.

•		A little keyhole icon means the door is locked.
•		A little "S" through the door means the door is secret.
•		The other icon - which is supposed to look like a muscly arm - indicates the door is stuck and must be forced open.

Z - Dome and Gauntlet

Z1 - Entry

A stairwell leads out of (or into) the dungeon in the central part of this space. In the center of the room, each facing inwards, are four statues of chimeric creatures, their faces - an alligator, a lion, an eagle, and a skull with a hat - contorted into grotesques. 

Any character which walks between the four will be targeted by four beams of light originating from the grotesques mouths and asked a question (answers in parentheses) by a disembodied voice originating from one of the four statues, determined randomly:

1. My many legs reach to the wet,
   while limbs are dry and free;
   I do not walk, but instead wait
   for earth will come to me.
   (mangroves, or other knob-kneed coastal trees)
   
   
2. Rolling and writing, this ocean is dry:
   waves without fish where no swimmer can drown.
   Gold! Gold unceasing - but no need for a pale
   nor a pick nor to delve in the ground.
   (prairie grass)
   
   
3. A lake, am I, but inlaid in no earth:
   and to drink, I deign to un-dam.
   My girth spans horizons, my height many miles,
   yet lighter - freer - than air, I am.
   (clouds)
   
   
4. My oceans, my seas: no water within;
   my beaches, my deserts: no sand.
   My cities, no people; my roads, no wheels:
   no rocks nor soil in my land.
   (a map)
   

If the character answers correctly, they will be illuminated - developing a subtle glow for the next 1+1d4 hours. While in Z2 under the influence of this aura, 45 feet is illuminated clearly, the glow cutting through the mist: while in any other space, the glow is almost imperceptible: but comes off as an unnatural pseudo-violet lapped by yellow when viewed with infravision.

Characters that answer incorrectly are blinded for 1+1d4 turns.

Z2 - The Under-Marsh

The floor rapidly falls away into wet depths - six to eight feet deep in stagnant, dark water. A pallid, starchy blade plants rise from the water - obscuring it but from a character expressly seeking - and slowly wave as the heat of the party's bodies and light sources disturb the cool. Fog fills the chamber - limiting visibility to 15 feet. Rising above the grass - three feet from water's surface and almost flush with the tips of the pond grass - is a narrow wooden path. It is moist, spongy to the touch and supported by thick pylons at roughly ten foot spans.

At points indicated by the T on the map, the wood is rotted through: a character or characters moving over that spot has a chance of falling through.

Wandering monsters encountered in this space should be limited to fliers and swimmers: fliers encounter as normal, swimmers may follow the party surreptitiously through the grass or under the boardwalk. 

A - North-West Corridor

A1 - Rest Station

Furniture - benches and some cushions - have been repurposed and dragged into this room by 5 adventurers, detailed in the appendix, who are resting here after having explored section A2: having found it via the secret door to the north-west. The door is activated by a mechanism behind a yellow hanging, lined with orange, on the north-west wall. The south-west and north-east walls are likewise adorned by hangings.

A2 - Forgotten Kings

Against the east and west walls, two thrones sit facing each other. The rest of the room has been ransacked: with antique equipment and broken pottery littering the room.

A3 - Juxtaposition Room

Inlaid in the floor is a mosaic in octagonal pattern to mimic the shape of the room. In the center, to the west, can be seen the profile of a face; to the east, the profile of a reptile's head.

The eyes of each are touchplates. If the eyes of the reptile have pressure applied to them, the plate in the eyes of the face will loosen: allowing a character to remove it. Beneath the face's eye-plate can be found a pull-chain which opens the secret door to the North.

A4 - Hammer Temple

In the center of the north-east room is a huge anvil sitting on a concrete slab, waist height. It is flanked on either side in the room's wings with chains dangling from the ceiling like wind chimes. The walls are crossed by wrought iron: and the cardinal facing walls (North, South, etc.) are curtained by a sheet of chainmail rings. The locked door marked as Secret is hidden behind the mail curtain.

A5 - Fisherman Lookout

An old corpse - dwarfish - in antique scale mail sits with fishing equipment against the north-east corner in this room. On the dwarf's person is a handful of emeralds worth 600 gp. In the north-west corner sits a chest, locked, in which can be found 7,000 silver pieces.

B - North-East Corridor

B1 - Morbid Decor

Hanging from the ceiling are five sets of manacles - high enough that one hung from them would, if of average height, be forced onto their toes. One of them has a skeleton hanging from it - the bones showing some sign of damage; one leg having also fallen to the ground. If the party interacts with it, it will fall apart into a heap.

B2 - Rebuffed Vanity

Two statues - one, a woodsman by the look of it; the other, a falcon - stand opposed by two mirrors in this room: the statues to the north and south flanks of the secret door on the east wall, the mirrors on the west wall. If the view of the falcon is obscured - the mirror covered, the statue blindfolded, etc. - the secret door in the west wall of B3 will open; if the view of the woodsman is obscured, the secret door in the east wall will open.

B3 - Spider Lair

Rocky detritus has piled up in several places on the floor. Three rhagodessa (X38) have made a lair of the room: 1d4 of them will, when the party enters, have climbed up the walls, hidden from view when still outside the door. Thus, if a 1 is rolled, two of the rhagodessa will be visible; where if a 3 or 4 is rolled, all three will be on the walls or ceiling.

The secret door in the west wall can be detected by a skillful seeker, but cannot be opened except via B2.

B4 - Jewel Thief's Wage

Four Giant Weasels (X42) are feeding on a corpse - now unrecognizable - wearing leather. The corpse is carrying a pouch filled as follows:

• 1 small agate (10gp)
  
• 1 oblong pearl (50gp)
  
• 2 azure cut sapphires (500gp)
  

...and is wearing a highly decorated (but apparently functional) helmet. The helmet is, in secret, a Helmet of Alignment Changing (B50).

B5 - Bear Laboratory

Ruins of an alchemical or arcane laboratory lie smashed. Four angry, hungry Owlbear (B40) are actively rummaging for an egress from the space.

C - South-East Corridor

C1 - Map Hologram

The hall to this space is adorned by a blue pattern on the floor - an observant character may note that, as the party moves along it, the pattern glows faintly at their presence. At the termination of the hall, there is an inlaid circle of the same color. If the party enters the circle, it will spring to life around them, launching a hemispheric hologram into the air. At first, it appears to be a pattern - perhaps decorative - but if a character studies it: 1+1d4 rounds, less the character's Intelligence modifier - they will note instead that it is a map of room Z2.

C2 - Knight's Chamber

Against the west wall is a statue of a man in armor. On the floor, a decorative mosaic - angular in its pattern. On the north corner, several empty or broken amphora rest. The room is otherwise empty.

C3 - Knave's Chamber

Against the north wall is the statue of a dwarf in armor. On the floor, a decorative mosaic - cubic in its pattern. Flanking the stature are two halberds and two shields stuck into holes in the floor. The weaponry is mundane.

C4 - Wraith Room

Along the north-east and south-west walls, a row of stone cabinets - doors missing, three feet in height and 18 inches deep - run the length of the room. Blood - old blood - is spattered on the north side. Two Wraiths (X42) are hovering around the stain.

The secret door is a sliding one, arched to a point. There is a lever hidden in the stone cabinet directly beside it.

C5 - Forgotten Fane

Soot on the floor indicates a carpet that has been since removed once stood there. Some shreds of carpet - and the ruins of wooden furniture, are scattered about the main space. There is a gaping hole in the ceiling - which leads to blackness. Curled up in the space are three Caecilia (X28). A skeleton is crushed up against the south-east corner of the rear space: on its person is 1,000 gold pieces and a diamond cut into the figure of a woman worth a further 1,000 gold pieces.

C6 - West Cell

Three men are imprisoned behind a set of bars with no visible door. The men are each pudgy - but well muscled: irritable and shifty, but also quick to beg for help - claiming to have been imprisoned by an armored pair of adventurers. In secret, they are Wereboars (B38) - and were imprisoned to protect others from their curse.

C7 - East Cell

A stone box protrudes from the wall on the northern side of the cell. It is empty, save for a lone Grey Ooze (B36) which is hiding about it.

C8 - Prison Hall

The floor is cold stone. To the south, an oblong shape is separated from the main hall by bars - spaced to prevent egress, but not so far apart as to prevent reaching. Two levers are embedded in the center; five feet (so, beyond arm's reach for a human) from the bars. The levers correspond to the two rooms - C6 and C7: pulling the lever closer to C6 will open the way for C6; the lever closer to C7, for C7.

D - South-East Corridor

D1 - Hanging Hall

An antique but decayed rug leads into this space, clinging to the floor in the hall leading in. On the walls to the north and west hang faded tapestries. A spectral troupe of guards stands near the secret door - which is hidden behind a tapestry portraying a female figure. As the party enters, they will look to them and disappear.

D2 - Study

A mildewed carpet adorns the floor. To the west, a bookshelf - empty and damp. To the south-east, a square spot on the rug - colors slightly more vibrant. A character rolling back the carpet in the north side will find a hidden trapdoor in the north-east corner. 

 

Appendix - Adventuring Party

Vonimir Level 8 Dwarf AC: 3 (plate mail + shield) HP: 48 Attacks: 1 short sword (1d6) Movement: 60' (20') STR 9 INT 10 WIS 9 DEX 6 CON 13 CHA 10 Items: Spell scroll (purify food and water, silence 15’ radius, hold person, speak with animals, sticks to snakes), heirloom watch with crystal facing (500gp) Asratum Level 4 Halfling (Female) AC: 3 (plate mail) HP: 19 Attacks: 1 polearm (1d10) Movement: 60' (20') STR 11 INT 9 WIS 8 DEX 11 CON 13 CHA 10 Items: Boots of Levitation, 3 black opals (200gp each) Ovdotia Level 7 Dwarf (Female) AC: 6 (chainmail) HP: 31 Attacks: 1 polearm (1d10) Movement: 60' (20') STR 14 INT 11 WIS 11 DEX 8 CON 9 CHA 10 Items: Crystal ball with Clairaudience, Potion of Fire Resistance, Spell scroll (detect magic (Magic-User), levitate, clairvoyance, wall of stone, haste), diamond diadem (100gp), 8 platinum pieces

Leof Level 6 Thief AC: 7 (leather armour) HP: 21 Attacks: 1 sling (1d4+1) or 1 dagger (1d4) Movement: 90' (30') STR 8 INT 11 WIS 10 DEX 9 CON 14 CHA 4 Items: Ring of Spell Turning, Sling +1, 9 platinum pieces Svetopolk Level 9 Dwarf AC: 2 (plate mail + shield) HP: 50 Attacks: 1 sword (1d8+1) Movement: 60' (20') STR 15 INT 8 WIS 9 DEX 10 CON 15 CHA 14 Items: Potion of Clairvoyance, Ring of Fire Resistance, Sword +1 (+3 vs Undead), 90 gold pieces

Public domain and open license artwork retrieved from the National Gallery of Art and Pixabay, respectively, and adapted for thematic use. Attributions in alt text.

Waste Dragon

Choking ash refused to settle - perpetually buoyed by vents and super-heated currents born of fissures, variable in their size, cracking the plain: themselves born of a vicious undercurrent of flame and rock. Lava flows that had followed a belching, petrifying cloud - making casts of men and freezing them forever into their final horrid moments - were cooling: black shells over red rivers, daring a fool's foot to mistake them for a road.

The group of men tread carefully, the soles of their sandals smouldering despite careful avoidance of looser clay - where the ashen soil had not yet hardened into concrete. Six of them came - some with their ceremonial spears, one with the grand headdress and and the barley offering - but all holding their courage. None knew if the Plains Lord still slept - or where it might have been: if it had been found in the periphery or in the path when the cataclysm had come.

They approached the old totem cautiously - a silhouette, broken and leaning: black against the gray. Then, beneath it, a heap - a berm - sparks and embers: a campfire left to dwindle...

...and then motion. The Plains Lord! It yet survived! And yet... 

The doppelganger leaps up. Strings of smoke follow its limbs, cracking and creaking, torturous and irregular - but swift! Listing to one side it bites; falling over itself, it swipes: a deafening sound and a thousand burrs bite into the skin.

The beast beats its wings - air filters through a dozen holes and cracks in the connecting membranes - two beats, three, a fourth on the right to match the time with a slower left... and away.

Six dead men added their blood to the soil - life essence coagulated into the slowly settling ash: settled, dried - dark brown cement to add to the black caps over glowing red riverbeds.

Lords of the Ash Waste

Waste Dragons are the tormented cousins of the Grass Dragon: their scales having gone hard, coated in salt, and their tendrils having largely gone heavy and limp - some emitting smoke from ever-smoldering veins.

Encountering Waste Dragons

Waste Dragon
Armor Class:	2	No. Appearing:	1-4
Hit Dice:	8	Save As:	Fighter 10
Move:	Std: 90' (30') Fly: 210' (70')	Morale:	10
Attacks:	Claw / Claw Bite	Treasure Type:	~ (H)
Damage:	1-6 / 1-6 3-24	Alignment:	Chaotic
Frequency:	Rare	Chance In Lair:	15%

• Chance of Talking: 35%
• Chance of Being Asleep: 25%
• Spells by Level (1/2/3): 1/1/0
  

The Waste Dragon is not territorial - and only partially intelligent - driven mad by the changes in their biology resulting from the corruption of their sustaining energies. They speak little or none - apart from the eldritch incantations, memorized by rote rather than intention, associated with the magic at their control. They roam the badlands and burned places in a mix of loping walk and awkward flight, engaging whatever they see according to the whim of the moment.

Waste Dragons are difficult to see coming in fogs, mists, or dust storms. Thus, a Waste Dragon which is encountered outside its lair has a 3-in-6 chance to surprise. If the dragon is asleep, there is a 5-in-6 chance that the party will not notice it at all: thinking it a mirage.

Breath Weapon

• Template: Cloud
• Range: 40' x 40' x 20'
  

The breath weapon of a Waste Dragon is a cloud, 40’ by 40’ by 20’. A vortex erupts, filled with brick-a-brack of dead foliage: kernels, grains, rocks, and stems. Any character affected by the breath attack must, after 1d6 hours, Save vs Poison. On failure, they feel sickened, taking a -1 penalty on all rolls for 1d4 days. At the end of this period, they must save again – and so on, indefinitely, until they save successfully: at which point the effect ends. 

Remove Curse, Remove Disease, or other similar magic can end the effect prematurely. 

Lairs and Treasure

Waste Dragons build their lairs in craters, under lahars - hardened to concrete, or in crevices and breaks in the earth. They have an affinity for the soil: to which they feel a primal connection - unconsciously seeking rebirth, renourishment for the living plains surrendered to desolation.

Waste Dragons will hide or destroy treasure that they find in these underground places - concealing it or defacing it - in order to create separation of the artificial (cut gemstones, jewelry, specie, and the like) and the natural: again, a failing hope hidden beneath layers of impetus to cause equilibrium to return. The impact of potential vandalism to the value of treasure, or to its accessibility, is at the behest of the referee, complimenting the environment in which the hoard is encountered.

Resistances and Immunities

Waste Dragons are immune to Poison and resist Cold and Ice - taking half effect therefrom.

Waste Dragons cannot be subdued - their crazed demeanor prevents it: the cognition required for cowardice eluding their tortured psyche.

Spoiler Alert!

The Deeper Lore section contains some notes to help a GM (me) to run Waste Dragons in a way consistent with the archetype they are supposed to fill and some of the inspirations behind their creation. If you play in (or want to play in!) a game GM'ed by me, beyond this point will ruin some of the mystery for you for both Waste Dragons and for most of the sentient races: having some impact in the game world that isn't immediately available outside of player character discoveries.

Deeper Lore

Waste Dragons are the grizzled survivors of a total collapse of the grassland ecosystem, but sustained - reborn, almost, a dragon's equivalence to undeath - by the echos of that destruction. Grass Dragons have a kindredship to them - they recognize this corruption - and they have been known to react strongly: trying to excise the ash - and in failing, to execute for the sake of mercy. Such events as volcanic eruptions, meteor strikes, or dramatic change in the local climate resulting in the rapid desertification of a formerly lush space can cause a Grass Dragon to become one of the Waste - a fate that is more likely to befall one sleeping through the event than one waking: as flight is preferable over remaining.

As such, there are no young Waste Dragons - only old, grizzled veterans: strong enough to survive the change. Eggs subjected to the same conditions will often turn to granite spheres: prized by warlocks for their esoteric properties. Likewise - Waste Dragons have a limited life span: as the echos that sustain them, over time, will grow weaker and weaker. Sometimes - if the ground can be healed - the dragon might heal with it, its scales growing more supple, its tendrils sprouting and growing again: but the mind of the dragon can take much longer to recover than its body - and some have been said to go catatonic for years: some never again waking up, but not succumbing to death: instead becoming one with the earth and the healing steppe. 

 

Public domain art retrieved from the National Gallery of Art and OldBookIllustrations.com and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.

Bumping Thief Skills by Level

Another "fix" for Thieves!

Moreover, referencing my recent post regarding Thief Skills for Non-Thieves, it dawned on me - in the same call-in episode to the Red Dice Diaries that I had called into, so also had my friend Rob C. of the Down in a Heap podcast called in with his own house-rules for "fixing" the Thief skill progression. He seemed to have a similar line of thinking to other refs with whom I have played before - advancing the skill chances to succeed according to level, retaining the table but making it a little less punishing - and he did so in a simple form: so, if you're still looking to make Thieves more effective early on, here is what Rob C. does (or, at least, my take on it)!

Accelerated Thief Skill Success Chances

A Thief character, when tabulating their chances of success at a given Thief skill (optionally excluding Hear Noise, at the behest of the referee's sense of verisimilitude), is treated as a level of experience greater than themselves equal to the ability modifier of their prime requisite ability, Dexterity. Thus, for a 2nd level Thief - for example - attempting to Move Silently:

• At a Dexterity of 12, or +0, have a 25% chance of success.
• At a Dexterity of 17, or +2, have a 35% chance of success.
• At a Dexterity of 8, or -1, have a 20% chance of success.
  

A character cannot go below 1st level when determining the effectiveness of their skills.

The Specialist Thief (Optional)

In addition to the above, a Thief may choose to specialize in one of the six percentile-based Thief skills. In so doing, the Thief gains an additional increase of 2 effective levels: further increasing their chances of success in their chosen specialty. So, if the same 2nd level Thief from before were to specialize in Move Silently, their chances would change accordingly:

• At a Dexterity of 12, +0 from prime requisite and +2 from specialization, have a 35% chance of success.
• At a Dexterity of 17, +2 from prime requisite and +2 from specialization, have a 45% chance of success.
• At a dexterity of 8, -1 from prime requisite and +2 from specialization, have a 30% chance of success.
  

In fairness, I think Rob's rule is a bit less generous - in that he grants a +1 only at a 16 or above - but I'm a magnanimous DM, aren't you?

But this has me thinking...

While jotting this down, it made me think - how much does this differ, in terms of Thief effectiveness, from adding their Dexterity directly to the modifier? Specialization excluded - as that was not a part of the original houserule, a quick break-down using Hide in Shadows looks as follows; with "Bump by Modifier" referring to boosting level according to Dexterity modifier (this houserule) and "Bump by Score" referring to boosting the percentile directly (the previous houserule):

		Bump by:
With Dex Of:	R.A.W.	Modifier		Score		Delta
For a Thief of 1st Level
8 (-1)	10%	10	1	18%	3	-2
12 (+0)	10%	10	1	22%	3	-2
16 (+2)	10%	20	3	26%	4	-1
For a Thief of 3rd Level
8 (-1)	20%	15	2	28%	5	-3
12 (+0)	20%	20	3	32%	5	-2
16 (+2)	20%	30	5	36%	6^	-1
For a Thief of 6th Level
8 (-1)	35%*	30	5	43%	7	-2
12 (+0)	35%*	35%*	6	47%	7	-1
16 (+2)	35%*	55%	8	51%	8	+0
For a Thief of 9th Level
8 (-1)	65%	55%	8	73%	10	-2
12 (+0)	65%	65%	9	77%	10	-1
16 (+2)	65%	85%	11	81%	11	+0
* Technically, B/X has a 6th level Hide in Shadows at 36%,     but as far as I know, this is widely accepted as a typo. ^ On the nose, as far as typos are concerned!

Comparing the delta - bumping the Thief's effective level for the purposes of skill percentages, excluding the Specialization skill, is less generous than adding Dexterity to the percentage, as a whole. We knew this - or, could have inferred it easily - regarding the lower Dexterity scores: the former method applies a penalty for negative Dexterity, while the latter is always beneficial to the Thief. However, an interesting trend - the higher a character is in level and the higher the Dexterity score of the Thief is, the more closely the two align. 

At the lower bound, there is as much as a three-level difference between a dexterous Thief and a sinistrous one; however, looking at the higher level thief - this shrinks to 2 levels for the clumsy Thief, but is down to even for a Thief of respectable Dexterity - going one higher, if the Thief were to have rolled an 18 - the increase by bonus rule would actually outpace the flat bonus by score: offering a 9th level Thief the equivalence of 12 where the 82% chance granted by Dexterity only would still truthfully only be approximate to an 11th level character. Further - to compare percentiles alone, the bonus by modifier actually does outpace the bonus by score in terms of raw success chance: with both our 3rd level and 9th level characters benefiting more from a +2 Dexterity modifier than a 16 Dexterity.

So to conclude: this version of the Down in a Heap suggestion benefits higher level characters equivalently or better than does the CWR suggestion of two weeks ago - however, the CWR suggestion benefits lower level characters much more generously. 

What kind of experience do you want to create with the Thief? 

Once you've decided, pick your poison!

So Kudos!

Kudos, Rob - over at Down in a Heap: thank you for the rule and thank you for getting my brain running on the subject again! Kudos, John - of the Red Dice Diaries - well played in your Thief episode, getting a bunch of folks thinking on the subject with you! And kudos, readers, for bearing with me on yet another Thief fix post. Surely, with the sheer volume of houserules regarding Thieves, we definitely haven't run out of appetite for mechanical comparisons and new ideas yet.

Delve on, readers!

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.