This game will be using AD&D 2nd ed rules with a few house rules. The PHB is used as well as the old Unearthed Arcana (1985, Gygax), but none of the "Complete Book of ___" splatbooks.

Your character will be native to one of the many islands of the Thousand Islands, an archipelago which stretches north of the larger island of Calandia and continues considerably westward toward the island of Karakul, or from the larger island of Calandia itself.

Most people are engaged in fishing, lumber/woodworking trades, farming and related trades (tanning leather, weaving, etc) or merchants/sailors. Your background may involve being an apprentice of such a trade, with some skills acquired from that background--some of these may be quite useful indeed.

Characters should be young adults. In this setting, that would be 16-20 for humans, and similar ages for demi-humans.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:41, Mon 09 Dec 2019.

Of the four character races available, the most populous are the humans.
Human
By far the most numerous population in the Thousand Islands.
Human society is patrilinear, with substantial social cost for children born outside marriage. Society is also monotheistic, with usual worship once a week and multiple festivals throughout the course of the year.

Name Conventions:
Humans typically do not have surnames, although there are some proto-surnames that may be used (son of [father's name], occupational names, or place names if someone had moved from somewhere else, or the like).

For character age:  15+1d5 or select an age between 16-20.  In this setting, these characters would be young adults.

Deity is named Atu

There are many saints who are venerated, and among the island folk some of the most common are
St Magnus (fishermen)
St Sepp (woodworkers)
St Vallon (Hospitallers, healing)
St Audris (fertility issues, childbirth)
St Jolyon (shepherds)
St Makar (merchants/traders)
St Veren (sailors/navigators)
St Arsen (vineyards/wine-making)

Elves
Elves of the Thousand Islands are uncommon in general, as well as uncommon amongst the adventuring type.
Elven society is matrilinear. While marriages are often celebrated (elves do love their parties), there is no social significance for elven children from the marital status of their parents.

Elves are polytheistic, and except for clerics (or aspiring clerics) are not typically devoted to only one of the elven deities.

Elven names are typically styled as follows:

[First Name] na'[Mother's First Name] of the [Sept] [Clan]

Example: A'alona na'Lani of the Birch Neroli

Clans of elves in the Thousand Islands are the Tanasi and the Neroli

In the beginning, as elves tell it, there were seven elves, and these are the seven ancestors of the clans.  Each clan is associated with a particular color, which is worn as a sign of clan affiliation in some manner (tattoo, hair bindings, embroidery on clothing, etc) though the particular manner is a matter of individual choice.  The color for the Tanasi is red; for the Neroli, orange.

The Tanasi are found in Calandia and the Thousand Islands and on Romaghna; the Neroli are found in Calandia and the Thousand Islands and Ekialde.  The typical elven community is found in wooded areas, and consists of a tree village and may have a fairly developed ground-level community by that central tree.

Elves are polytheistic and their deities and spheres are as follows:
Aolani – Air, Weather, Freedom

Kani – Music, Arts, Crafts, Poetry

Kailanimana – Creation, Knowledge, Beauty

Maile – Orchards, Gardens, Harvest

Ulu-Tojon – mischief, change, seamanship

Mahuika – Magic

Aikane -romantic love and beauty

Lan Loros -Time, History

Emele – healing, easing of pain

Veja – nature, archery

Hoku – moon, dreams

Anuenue – hunting, survival

Tuoro – swords, warfare

Typical elves who are not clerics honor any number of these deities, depending on interests, activities, and other events.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:26, Sat 07 Dec 2019.

Half Elves
Half-elves are uncommon in the overall population, but much more common in the adventurer class.

Half-elves come in two broad categories

Right Side are those half elves who are children of an elven mother/human father or descended from "right side" half-elves. Typically, they are raised in elven society and style their names as an elf. However, growing up so much more quickly than others in the community tends to send them toward adventuring, merchant trade, or sailing.

Wrong Side are those half elves who are children of an elven father/human mother. Unless the father renounced his elven culture and adopted human practices, these children are typically born to unmarried parents with very limited options outside adventuring.

Gnomes
Gnomes are perhaps the fewest in numbers in the Thousand Islands. They have several communities near the northern coast of Calandia, as well as living on a few of the many islands in the archipelago.

Gnomes are patrilinear (and in fact, may introduce themselves with a 10-generation genealogy). They have a small pantheon of a half-dozen deities, but tend to be devoted to only one deity (though more than one may be worshipped in a given community and there is no more than joking friction between those devoted to different deities.

Gnomish names are typically comprised of a first name and a nickname.

Deities of the Gnomes:
Azi - chief god
Ajysyt - goddess of home, hearth, childbirth
Baj Bajania - god of forest and woodworking
Dazba - god of gems, jewelry and artisanship
Jarovi - god of fire and smithing
Raj - god of mining

The gnomes also acknowledge another, not commonly worshipped (and certainly not openly):
Chebel - god of greed

Most of Calandia is a patchwork of baronies and counties (think sort of on the order of Germany in the Holy Roman Empire era), and while there's a nominal king of Calandia, most of his control is in the southern third of the main island.  There are also some smaller islands near Calandia which are not part of the Thousand Island region.

The archipelago contains at least a thousand islands, some of them are so small as to be just an outcropping of rocks and a couple trees (anything that cannot support a minimum of 2 trees is not considered an island). Some are large enough for one home, or maybe two. Some of these may be unpopulated, but have resources that make people travel to them. The majority of the islands are 4 sq miles or smaller.

Significant islands of the archipelago:

Acacia Island: named for the abundance of acacia growing there. This island has a village of 1400 on the southern coast of the island, and is approximately 46 sq miles in size. Beyond the village is forest.

Comfrey Island: approximately 3.8 sq miles. There are several homes, not quite organized into a village, and this island is home to the Hospitallers of St Vallon.

Sheep Island: size approximately 37 sq mi. Harbor on the south, village of about 800 and about a dozen scattered individual holdings around the middle and northern parts of the island. Many villagers keep sheep or goats, and others are fishermen.

Howe Island: approximately 31 sq mi. Holding of a baron and small village of around 400.

Vintner Island: size approximately 21 sq mi. There is a small village of about 375 and there is a vineyard, along with the trees and fishing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:59, Sat 15 June 2019.

The calendar in common use has thirteen months, each consists of four weeks of 7 days. The year begins on the Spring Equinox.

The months are:

Avivah
Amaya
Zulphas
Gilat
Tapan
Rema
Ziva
Lenoris
Mihr
Jora
Zeidra
Uric
Coram

Local currency in use.  Coins are slightly variant in size, but in general 100 coins = 1 pound of weight.

Lor
Gold coin, featuring the profile of the Calandian king/double headed eagle

Rarely seen coin

Asil
Silver coin, featuring a silhouette of a farmer throwing seed/wheat sheaf

It takes 30 Asil to make 1 Lor

Griel
A smaller silver coin than the Asil, features a double dagger on one side, wheat sheaf on the other

It takes 8 Griel to make 1 Asil

Kipper
A copper coin with a blank kite shield on one side, crossed lances on the reverse

It takes 2 Kipper to make 1 Griel

Billon
A small copper coin with a square hole in the center, no markings

It takes 2 Billon to make 1 Kipper
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:42, Sun 16 June 2019.

There are nine potential alignments, although some are rather ill-suited to membership in an adventuring party. Following are my thoughts on what these alignments mean.

I believe that the good/evil axis is an absolute. Regardless of what one thinks about an action, it can be measured against an absolute standard rather than a relative one. I think of the law/chaos axis a more of a description of where the moral compass can be found--law is external, chaotics tend to not think about what the laws are but what the internal compass points toward.

I see two types of neutrality.

There is Neutral--typical of the common people who are "good folk" who simply go about their lives without getting into heady philosophical thought about what is good, what is evil, and the place for laws in society. These people are more ruled by custom and tradition without introspection as to the rightness or wrongness of the practice.

This is also typical of most animals--a carnivore kills, not because it is evil but because it must eat. The wolf is not evil because it eats sheep and the sheep are not good because they eat vegetation--they are both neutral. (Though the humans tending sheep don't see it that way!)

This is not an alignment for intentional adventurers--somewhere along the way of seeking adventure, there has been something to move the person "off the bubble" of custom and tradition to one of the nine alignments.

Then there is True Neutral. This is the realm of those who believe that not only is there a balance between good/evil and law/chaos but that there is a good in actively seeking and promoting Balance.


Of course--there are the other classical choices:

Lawful Good. This alignment is characterized by those who think a strong, organized government is good. This character is altruistic and self-disciplined with honor and compassion as the highest virtues. The classic archetype is the knight in shining armor.

Lawful Neutral. This alignment is characterized by those who value law, order, and structure above other considerations. Consider Javert an archetype of this alignment.

Lawful Evil. This alignment values order and structure, with a solid bit of ruthlessness. In this world, leaders of criminal guilds are usually of this alignment. Consider a mafia don as an archetype for this alignment.

Neutral Good This alignment finds that striving for good is necessary to maintain Balance (see True Neutral, above). Gandalf may be the best archetype here.

Neutral Evil This alignment is for those who are ruthless and selfish. Willing to ally with anyone who can help them achieve their ends, but just as likely to kill allies when the end is achieved. In my games, this is not an acceptable PC alignment.

Chaotic Good This alignment is for those who consider law utterly irrelevant (and sometimes just too constraining). While not going about breaking laws just to break laws, illegal isn't a consideration when trying to do good. A good archetype is Robin Hood in most legends.

Chaotic Neutral This alignment abhors order and structure, and considers personal freedom to be the virtue above all others. Think of Peeves in the Harry Potter novels.

Chaotic Evil This alignment abhors structure, is utterly ruthless, and likes to create havoc and suffering just for the sake of havoc and suffering. This is not an acceptable PC alignment for my games.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:17, Mon 30 Sept 2019.

One of the limitations of low level mages is the severe restrictions on their capabilities.  I am modifying that, so that there will be a benefit to being a mage with high INT even at the lower levels.  In all honesty, as it stands, there's little more than theoretical advantage to having a mage with an INT higher than 9 until 9th level is achieved.



In other words, a 1st level mage with an INT 13 will be able to cast two spells/day, and a 1st level mage with an INT 14+ will be able to cast 3 spells/day.

At 3rd level, a mage with INT 15 will be able to cast 4 1st level and 2 2nd level spells; the mage with INT 16+ will be able to cast 4 1st level and 3 2nd level spells.

I am also offering, at the time of creation, a player of a mage may elect to have a familiar.  If the player wishes, either the d20 to roll according to the PHB or a specific type of familiar may be negotiated.  The familiar may be added as a secondary character (in which case I may post as the familiar from time to time) or just included in the character posts.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:23, Sun 01 Dec 2019.

The bard class has gone through a lot of variations over the years, but what I really liked was a version created for original D&D (those long time players will remember the game in which dwarf, elf, and halfling were not just character races, they were also character classes).

I've decided to adapt this (from a fanzine named OD&Dities) for use with AD&D.
Ability Requirements
DEX: 12
INT: 13
CHA: 15

Prime req: DEX + CHA

Races allowed: Human, half-elf
Alignment: LN, NG, N, NE, CN

XP and Hit points as per 2nd ed AD&D PHB

Armor allowed: any up to, and including, chain mail. penalties for heavy armor for thief skills apply

Thief skills: As 2nd ed AD&D PHB

Required NWP: Singing, Music (instrument--must be a string or percussion instrument)

Magic - Here is the big difference
Bards use spell-songs. In order to cast a spell song, an enchanted instrument must be used. Spell-songs are musical compositions that draw upon and shape the ambient magical energies of the world. Spellsongs may be sung without calling forth the magic potential of the song, and can thereby earn money from an audience. The decision to use the magic of a song is made just prior to singing.

Each song may be sung once per day. At this time, there are five known spell songs per spellsong level; however as from 9th level onward, a bard may compose his/her own songs, there may be others that can be discovered.

The first level spell songs are:

Eternal Wanderer
Range: 10' + 2'/level of bard
Duration: 4 hours + 1 hr/level of bard

When performed, this spellsong allows the bard and anyone within the spell range to move at triple normal movement rates without tiring for the duration of the spell. However, travelers will need to spend an equal amount of time resting as had been spent traveling after the spellsong duration has expired.

Faerie Lights
Range: 10' + 10'/level of bard
Duration: 6 turns
This spell song creates a series of shimmering lights that dance around any target, organic or not. This provides the same amount of light as a conventional wizard light spell. The dancing and flickering of lights may also dazzle creatures with animal or lower intelligence.

Lullaby
Range: 40'
Duration: 1d4 hours

When sung, this spellsong puts a number of monsters, up to 2d4 hit dice, to sleep. Creatures with hit dice less than half of the bard's level receive no saving throw; others may make a saving throw to avoid the effect. The bard may choose which creatures are to be affected, as long as the total number of hit dice hasn't been exceeded and the target stays in range. The bard may sing as many rounds as equal to the CON score, and saving throws for targets must be made each round (so a monster may suceed on round 1 but succumb on a subsequent round, needing to save vs spell each round until either falling asleep or the bard has to quit singing the song, or total HD affected has been reached). Those affected may be roused by shaking/poking for 1d4 rounds or will remain asleep for 1d4 hours. Only man-size or smaller creatures can be affected.

Moonlight Shadow
Range: 50'
Duration: 1d4 turns

This spellsong may be cast only on a moonlit night or in a daytime area with considerable shadow. The bard calls to the shadows by singing or quietly playing this spellsong, causing them to appear to deepen or thicken over a period of 1d6 rounds. The spell song affects an area roughly 30 feet diameter, with an increase in 5 feet diameter/3 levels of the bard to a max of 60' diameter. Rogues get a 25% bonus (+5% for every three levels of the bard, to a max of 55% bonus on top of existing skill) to Hide in Shadows. Non-rogues get a flat 25% chance to hide in the shadows.

Seeker of Magic
Range: 0 (bard only)
Duration: 6 turns
When sung, this song reveals the magical nature of all magical items in the area of effect. All magical items, including those worn, will have a soft blue halo around them for the duration of the spell. There is a 3% chance per level that the bard can identify correctly the exact nature of the magical item(s) examined but cannot get a read on the number of charges that an item might hold.


This message was last edited by the GM at 00:57, Thu 13 June 2019.

I subscribe to the "infravision is seeing in the dark" school.  This feels more like a magical ability, and to me makes it seem to make more sense why it cuts out at 60'  It is colorless (seeing in grayscale, in effect), but otherwise a magical ability to see in the dark.

Elves have the following special abilities:
Infravision to 60'
90% resistance to sleep and charm-related spells
If using a bow other than crossbow or a long sword or short sword, +1 on to hit rolls
Bonus to surprise if in non-metal armor, alone (or with others who are also elves and non-metal armor)
Secret doors found 1-in-6 chance if just passing a concealed door; 1-in-3 chance if searching for secret doors and 1-in-2 to discover concealed doors when searching

Half-Elves have the following special abilities:
30% resistance to sleep and charm-related spells
Infravision to 60'
Secret doors found 1-in-6 chance if just passing a concealed door; 1-in-3 chance if searching for secret doors and 1-in-2 to discover concealed doors when searching

Gnomes have the following special abilities:
Bonus for saving throws against Rod/Staff/Wand and Spells based on Constitution
60' infravision
20% chance of failure when using magic items other than weapons, armor, shields, and a select number of other items
+1 to attack rolls against kobolds or goblins
Detect grade/slope, unsafe walls/ceilings/floors, approximate depth and direction underground.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:00, Sat 15 June 2019.

This world is a world that consists of islands larger and smaller.

In an era that is considered far-past history even amongst elves, there were dwarven-mages who  ruled over the land. However, hubris led to an event that became known as the Great Cataclysm (compare to the Biblical flood of Noah).  Divine intervention was all that saved the world, but one net effect was that there are no longer any true continents--there are larger islands like Calandia (approximately 50k sq miles) and Karakul and island chains like the Thousand Islands (dominated by many small islands).

The other results were that the dwarves became known as ablachi (a single one is an ablach), use of the term "dwarf" toward an ablach would be considered "fighting words".  Also, the ablachi became unable to use arcane magic.  Gnomes, having been close allies of the dwarven-mages, also lost some of their abilities with arcane magics; though their path since the Great Cataclysm was not to dwell on the ancient past but simply move forward to the modern gnomes who love forests and hills, still engage in mining and jewelry making, practical jokes and even manage to pull off some illusion magic.

The following is a bit of a hybrid between 1st and 2nd editions.

Ability requirements:
INT:  15
DEX:  16

Does gain 10% bonus xp for high prime req scores

Advancement:
XP and Spell advancement as per 2nd ed PHB

Races allowed:  Human, gnome

Spells:
1st ed PHB Illusionist spells
Unearthed Arcana Illusionist spells
2nd ed PHB Illusionist spells

1st level Spells
Cantrips (4 of the following for one 1st level spell slot)

• Colored Lights
• Dim
• Haze
• Mask
• Mirage
• Noise
• Rainbow
• Two D'lusion

Audible Glamer
Change Self
Chromatic Orb
Color Spray
Dancing Lights
Darkness
Detect Illusion
Detect Invisibility
Gaze Reflection
Hypnotism
Light
Nystul's Magic Aura
Phantasmal Force
Phantom Armor
Read Illusionist Magic
Spook
Ventriloquism
Wall of Fog


No additional spell/level for specialization, but does gain the bonus spells/level as per the mage house rule above
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:15, Fri 29 Mar 2019.

In-character posts, please use third person.  I have a slight preference for past tense, but present tense all right, too.

I prefer non-colorized text (in fact, my settings suppress any colorization).  If you really must colorize, please remember to also use the standard English notations (quotation marks for speech).

Please remember, as a general rule, not to post until at least 75% of the group has posted in-character.  Quality is always better than quantity.

I am using language groups.  If there is a language your character speaks (or, in the case of sign language, knows) and you do not have the group available, please send me a PM and I'll fix that.  If the character is literate in the language but doesn't speak it, the language group will not be available.

XP will be awarded on a monthly basis.  Players are responsible for adding the xp and keeping track of when the next level has been achieved.  All xp awards are straight xp, so if you are entitled to bonus xp,  you will need to add that.  Use standard math rules for decimals (0-.4 = 0, .5-.9 = 1) so that xp is a whole number.

XP sources:

Critical thinking/Clever ideas (even if no favorable results)

Role play (including class-based abilities or advancing character)

Overcoming foes

Posting (story-advancing)
This is variable, based on the quality of the post.

Examples:

A post worth 0-1 xp would read:


A post worth up to 5 xp


A post with more sensory details can get up to 10xp


Combat posts can be much simpler, and just indicate what the character is doing during the combat and with which weapon.

If possible, please post daily during combat and include the rolls (initiative d10, d20, and damage rolls according to weapon).  If the attack misses, I'll just ignore the damage roll.

If unable to post daily, drop me a message with some indication of how your character would behave during the combat.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:13, Wed 18 Dec 2019.

I do not require training when a new level is achieved.

When you have acheived a new level, an overnight in game-time is required.  After the night has passed, your character would have had time to distill everything into that new level and add new proficiencies when applicable and make all other relevant improvements (possibly THAC0 and saving throws) and add the new HP.

HP for the first few levels is handled in this way:

First level is full HP by character dice type + CON bonus

Second through fourth level, HP is determined by taking the dice type, divide in two and add half + CON.

In other words:

Dice type d4 rolls 1d2+2
Dice type d6 rolls 1d3+3
Dice type d8 rolls 1d4+4
Dice type d10 rolls 1d5+5

From fifth level on, the dice type is rolled normally.

-  as long as visibility allows (concern for the human PCs), communication can be made as complex as any other language. 

- use of the sign language would require some level of description of what gestures are being made  Characters without the NWP will be limited to what they can guess from those gestures.

Example:  Character peered through the crack and then turned back to his companions.  He held up his hand open, fingers spread, and then drew his fingers together, gesturing a horizontal height near his waist.  Then with one finger, he made a slashing gesture across his throat and an impatient wave toward the room.  [Language unknown: Reivma nde houhatenc nc latthesti. Illresest me webe m thanotint san dingbe u et atile essanycon fi ospr evplce nd widiwh.]

Non-NWP sign language would just require the description of the actual actions and would be limited in scope to communicating broad concepts like "you take that side, I'll take this side" or rough guesstimates of enemies on the other side of a barrier (holding up a number of fingers), and so forth. As such,  may be misunderstandings, but the player should only describe the gesture(s) and not the full text of what is meant to be communicated.

The following is more player knowledge, character knowledge of the following information is considerably more limited.

The old Karakul Empire covered a fairly large territory of ten major islands.  The following doesn't really have distances between these, but does more or less show the relationship between islands (what general direction you would go to get from one to the other).


            Romaghna              Tristlan

           Wamuru                 Karakul              Calandia & Thousand Islands


           Donghai             Bragi                   Ekialde

                    Tartessa              Cahya


The Karakul Empire fell several elven generations ago due to a fierce plague (which contracted population centers considerably), and the old language of Karakul remains as a language of the highly educated and used for things like legal contracts between peoples of different islands (which also usually have their own languages--Tristlan actually has three nations on its territory) and peace treaties in the events of conflicts between nations formerly part of the old Empire.

The Order of the Sacred Mace is a highly prestigious organization, primarily of paladins which traces back to the days of the Karakul Empire, and thus has some level of presence in the new states which came from the old empire.

The current styles:

As noted before, the undergarments are fairly common amongst all groups.

Males:  loincloth *or* drawers (like baggy boxers with a drawstring waist) and a short chemise

Females:  a chemise at least mid-thigh length, could be as long as ankle length.

Current styles:

Human males:
tunic (around hip length) with fairly tight sleeves
pants--upper classes wear knee-length breeches with hose; lower classes have pants that continue to the ankle
shoes - slightly pointed toe, embroidered bands at instep or boots

Clerical males frequently wear an alb and cassock.

Mages may also choose to wear cassocks

Elven males:
tunic - around mid thigh length, gathered at the sides
pants - long, fairly form-fitting
shoes - a more rounded toe with instep band or boots

Gnomish males:
tunic (hip length with flowing sleeves and tight cuffs at the wrist
pants - knee length with hose
shoes - rounded toes, highly decorated


Human females:
underdress:  form fitting sleeves, a visible part of the attire
overdress: frequently sideless (only a front and back); if there are sides, there are often small slashes to reveal the underdress
shoes - cut low (below anklebone), slightly pointed toe

Elven females:
Tunic: about hip length, fairly loose except for the sleeves
Pants: loose (somewhat like palazzo pants), if worn with boots, typically about knee-length; with shoes closer to the ankles; sometimes a broad cloth may be added as a 'wrap around' skirt on top of these
shoes - soft leather with rounded toes or boots

(Note- some human women who adventure with exposure to elves may choose to dress 'elven style' while adventuring)

Gnomish females:
fairly simple dress with long sleeves - the cut is simple but almost always embroidered to the point of looking like a brocade
shoes come just above the ankles and may be embroidered and/or beaded.

Modern time-telling is non-existent.  Daylight hours are divided into twelve equal periods, and so can be longer or shorter, depending on the time of year.  Current game date is the start of Amaya, which is one month after the spring equinox.

These hours (those in parentheses are only commonly observed by scholars and monastics) are:

Matins (pre-dawn):  generally observed only in monasteries, although many clergy wake at this hour to begin their prayers (especially PCs petitioning for spells)
Prime: dawn
(Secunde)
Terce:  mid-morning
(Quarte)
(Quince)
Sext:  noon (thereabouts)
(Sept)
(Octave)
None:  mid-afternoon
(Decime)
(Undecime)
Vespers (Duodecime):  about an hour before sunset
Compline:  about an hour or so after sunset.  Most people retire for the night after this time.

In larger communities, bells are rung at each of the major hours; smaller communities generally have bells at Prime, Sext, and Vespers (Monteci is one of these smaller communities).

A few notes on magic items and other goods:
On distribution of money and goods--that is one thing that I will not control (including deciding between PCs who gets an item that two or more are interested in).  However, items must be added to your character sheet if distributed to you--the loot bag thread is only for OOC accounting purposes.

A few notes on magic items:

•     I will not identify precisely what you have found.  A taste-test of a potion might reveal healing magic, but it will not identify whether the potion is a potion of healing, a potion of extra healing, a potion of delusion, or an elixir of health.  To get the details would require an identify spell (cast by a party member or an NPC) or perhaps someday created by one of the party members
•     I am not quite as wanton as 1st ed in giving out magic items (which seemed to hand out magic items like candy and presume that the PCs would sell a lot of the items so as to afford training), magic items will be present when they make sense (you would not expect to recover a magical suit of armor from a mage, for example; however a powerful fighter is much more likely)
•     In general, items magical and non-magical may sell for more or less than what is listed in sourcebooks.

As far as determining an item is worth a certain amount, you would need to sell to a merchant (make your opening with an asking price), use an appraising NWP, or come to an agreement amongst the party what the value is.

I will also note that there are some mundane products which are highly prized.  One of these is Barzilain iron, which is the product of the Barzilai clan of ablachi in Romaghna (about 2500 miles from Calandia).  Due to the distance, this does have a significant mark-up compared to common iron.  (This product is somewhat based on the real-world Damascus steel.)  In game terms, Barzilain iron has a significant rust resistance (80% vs rust monsters, almost 100% against normal environment unless kept in poor conditions and neglected), even mundane blades have a sharper edge (as a +1 except with respect to monsters requiring magical weapons for damage), and is overwhelmingly the choice for the base goods in enchanted armor and weapons.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:40, Sun 01 Aug 2021.

I use the "death's door" alternate rule (which I've played with so long that it just seemed like it was as-written, not a variant rule).

Characters lose consciousness at 0 hp.  They can continue to lose 1 hp per round from injuries.  If -10 is reached at any point, that is death.

Healing proficiency checks may be made in combat to stop the bleeding, but must be on the round after the injury to be effective.  Magical healing can be effective at any point.

So, for example: if "Rath" is wounded in round 2, healing proficiency can only be effective in round 3.  A spell or potion can be effective in round 3 or any round thereafter unless "Rath" drops to -10 in the intervening time.

Firing into melee

A called shot (+1 init, -4 to hit) can be fired into melee.  If the called shot hits, it will hit the intended target.

If the called shot misses, or a called shot isn't made when firing into melee, regular rules for firing into melee would apply.

Missed shots into melee still have a chance of striking someone based on how the missile actually ended up flying.

There are two moons.

The larger moon, and the one which does control things like tides and lycanthropy, has a period of 28 days.  The new moon is on the first of each month.  If you are wanting to specify, this moon is called Luna.

The smaller moon (appearing somewhere around a third of the size of Luna) is named Celene.  Except for astrologers/astronomers, this moon is more often referred to as the season-marker.  It has a period of 91 days (or 13 weeks).  The first new moon of the year coincides with the first of Avivah/spring equinox.  The new moon marks the start of each season.