# Chromatic Dungeons!  A Species Preview



## Sacrosanct (Sep 15, 2020)

Thanks to some great folks, it looks like Chromatic Dungeons is the name we're going with.  It's a great name; I love it.  

This week's preview will be species.  Please keep in mind that the pages are all in rough draft and aren't final.  The art is placeholder, and the cover is just a rough pencil of what the final will be.  This is just a preview of the approach Chromatic Dragons is taking.

*Chromatic Dragons is an OSR "clone" meant to emulate the experience of TSR era D&D, by combining the best elements of B/X, 1e, and 2e.  It is not a direct clone of any particular edition. 

Blog post is here with the details and preview. It's really too large to paste here as text, sorry about that.


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## TwoSix (Sep 15, 2020)

Very interesting!  Nothing jumps to mind as being a particular balance concern, although the system seems lightweight enough that I don't think something minor like species features would qualify.

I'm curious, are you planning on using the 14 level class progression of B/X or the 20 level progression of AD&D for this?


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## Sacrosanct (Sep 15, 2020)

TwoSix said:


> Very interesting!  Nothing jumps to mind as being a particular balance concern, although the system seems lightweight enough that I don't think something minor like species features would qualify.
> 
> I'm curious, are you planning on using the 14 level class progression of B/X or the 20 level progression of AD&D for this?




for the most part a 20 level framework, but like BECMI and AD&D, there are no real level limitations until way up there.  But since no one hardly plays at level 30, I'm not spending any time focusing on those levels.  you may notice that the species entries are pretty short and not fleshed out all that much.  I want to take an approach of B/X in that regard.  Keep things streamlined


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## Laurefindel (Sep 15, 2020)

Sweet. I like Chromatic Dungeons as a name

One thing that jumped to my attention - and it may be inheritance from a previous iteration - is that the thief class is unlimited for every species? Nothing wrong with that, and probably thematic with a treasure-seeking game, but I'd be curious to know the reason behind it.


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## Sacrosanct (Sep 15, 2020)

Laurefindel said:


> Sweet. I like Chromatic Dungeons as a name
> 
> One thing that jumped to my attention - and it may be inheritance from a previous iteration - is that the thief class is unlimited for every species? Nothing wrong with that, and probably thematic with a treasure-seeking game, but I'd be curious to know the reason behind it.




True to TSR era form, the goal is treasure, not fighting monsters.  That's where most the XP comes from.  So not only is it a bit of a call out to AD&D, but it reinforces that philosophy that anyone can keep getting better at getting treasure.

Also, level limits are very much an optional rule, meant to work for those who want a more true to form clone.  default is that there are no level limits for anyone.


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## TwoSix (Sep 15, 2020)

Multiclassing?  If yes, species limited?


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## Sacrosanct (Sep 15, 2020)

TwoSix said:


> Multiclassing?  If yes, species limited?




Yes.  Not species limited.  Flat rule.  Basically like demi-human multiclassing rules in that XP are split evenly between all levels you possess.


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## Nikosandros (Sep 21, 2020)

Is the species preview available as a download, or just as post on the blog?


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## Aldarc (Sep 21, 2020)

Sacrosanct said:


> True to TSR era form, the goal is treasure, not fighting monsters.  That's where most the XP comes from.



And the greatest treasure is friendship! Right?


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## Sacrosanct (Sep 21, 2020)

Nikosandros said:


> Is the species preview available as a download, or just as post on the blog?




It was originally on the blog, but I uploaded it as a pdf from the downloads section of the gaming page.  You can find it here directly.


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## Sacrosanct (Sep 21, 2020)

Aldarc said:


> And the greatest treasure is friendship! Right?




It is a social game above all else.  Have fun with friends.


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## Aldarc (Sep 21, 2020)

Sacrosanct said:


> It is a social game above all else.  Have fun with friends.



It's almost amazing how often these two critical points get lost in heated discussions about a fantasy elf game.


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