"Victoria  Rules"  --  What  Are  They?

The following is a rough summary of rule changes from standard 1^st-edition AD&D that have led us to the system we now call "Victoria Rules" D+D, over the period 1980-present.  Yellow background indicates this rule or change became permanent in all worlds until-unless a later change over-wrote it; other listed changes were either experimental in nature or applied to the one world only.

Note that each game produced a raft of minor tweaks and unsuccessful experiments, not noted here unless there was long-term impact.  There have also been several short-lived games using Victoria Rules; none have had any major effect on the rule set though at times there was much experimenting.

How the games fit together, both in time and development:

Pre-Dafan (pre-1981)

• - weapon speed abandoned
• - weapon-vs.-armour rules abandoned
• some tweaking to class-level limits
• - shield made to give 2 AC points, buckler or two-handed weapon gives 1
• initiative system simplified to straight d6, re-rolled each round
• elves lose auto-proficiency and-or +1 to hit with sword and bow
• - death point set to -10 h.p., may go unconscious if at or below 0

Early Dafan (1981-2)

• can choose class but must roll for race at roll-up
• - characters rolled up using 5d6 drop 2, then rearranged
• Gnomes and Hobbits switch average heights (so Gnomes now average 2'6")
• training rules and costs introduced
• characters allowed to gain experience after bumping and before training, to some extent
• experience points for treasure abandoned (level advancement becomes extremely slow, nobody minds)
• all races allowed to multiclass, to a small extent
• critical hits (20, then 5-6 on d6) and fumbles (1, then 1 on d6) introduced
• - table of fumble effects designed; tweaked several times since
• racial minimums abandoned in favour of each race getting a bell curve to simulate its own version of 3-18 except put in human terms (thus a Dwarf's strength range becomes 8-19); a table is designed to take players' original rolls and convert
• War Cleric introduced as a class (spell list similar to "Normal" Clerics, but less curing and more combative abilities; better range of weapons)
• Druids renamed Nature Clerics and may be any alignment
• non-human pantheons redone completely (later tweaked slightly for each world but still recognizable)
• Magic Missile spell resolution has one missile firing per segment until used up, very hard to retarget
• hit points changed to add body points; these represent real physical damage as opposed to luck, skill, scratches, etc.
• curing changed to account for cures working differently on body points than fatigue points
• incurability times introduced; a character who has been below 0 h.p. needs rest before cures will work
• to-hit and saving-throw matrixes smoothed out
• chain mail becomes AC 6, scale becomes AC 5 (they switch places)

Mid Dafan (1983-85)

• - spellcasters go to a spell point system:
  •  points each level are randomly rolled with range increasing each level
  •  wizards may memorize 2 points more than they can cast
  •  spells are assigned a casting cost based on spell level
• arcane casters no longer have to memorize spells 2 or more levels lower than the highest they can cast ("wild card" spells)
• Half-Orcs become Part-Orcs gradated from 1/8 orc to 7/8 orc
• Half-Elves become Part-Elves gradated from 1/8 elf to 7/8 elf
• Barbarian introduced as a sub-race of human
• level advancement tables sped up slightly
• - basic swim-boat-ride skill rolls introduced on d10; later, the roll is made open-ended
• - triple-classing allowed for all races
• - multiclass characters may divide experience points any way they like with a minimum of 10% going to each class; may change division ratio between adventures only
• rules put in place for picking up a second class on the fly
• critical hits changed to (20 then 8-9-0 on d10 for 2x-3x-4x damage)
• magic herbs introduced
• - Cavalier introduced as a class but only get d10 hit points/level
• Cavalier-like %-ile stat increments introduced for all classes
• Clerics no longer have to memorize spells at all, at cost of 1/4 spell points (cost later abandoned)
• three other sub-classes of Cleric introduced: Weather, Earth, and Healing (soon abandoned, converted into deity-specific variants)
• - introduced deity-specific variants for Clerics, eg clerics to certain deities receive minor variations in spell lists and abilities
• weapon specialization introduced for Fighters only
• follow-through introduced when an opponent is overkilled; can critical or fumble on follow-through
• secondary skill (previous profession) table expanded significantly
• Glyph of Warding spell gains lots of new glyphs
• silver-piece based monetary system adopted; wealth changed on the fly for existing characters
• - various spells etc. introduced due to release of Unearthed Arcana
• - informal death's door system introduced (replaced much later by Death's Door spell)
• - drow gems introduced as a magic item
• - magic items may explode if damaged or destroyed
• all spells 3^rd level or lower tweaked and revised
• table designed to determine what happens on a failed resurrection and why it failed

Late Dafan (1986-89)

• critical hits changed to (5 more than needed to hit then 10-11-12 on d12 for 2x damage except natural 20 gives same roll for 2x-3x-4x damage)
• Paladin banned as a class; those existing are converted on the fly to Cavalier-War Cleric multiclasses
• Samurai and a few other Oriental Adventures classes introduced as experiments, then dropped (Samurai merged into Cavalier class)
• Wood Elves must take Ranger as a class as a racial ability even if otherwise not allowed
• - human 2-classing abandoned (they can multiclass instead)

Telenet (1984-1994)

• must roll for both race and class at roll-up (later relaxed to choose one, roll the other)
• level advancement tables sped up somewhat
• - combat rounds changed to 30 seconds; 5-second segments
• class-level restrictions relaxed somewhat
• minimum stat requirements for some classes tweaked
• - Bard redesigned to become a core class like any other
• - Rangers can be any alignment
• - More than 3 Rangers can operate together without restriction
• Assassins may be neutral alignment or any evil
• triple-classing banned
• - language and skill proficiency rolls introduced on open-ended d10 (this also introduces concept of open-ended roll)
• psyonics redesigned from the ground up, then tweaked (unsuccessfully) several times later
• lots of new wizard spells introduced from various 2^nd-edition releases (a few would be adopted elsewhere)
• wild magic surge possible on any spell due to inherent instability in magical energy
• - wild magic surge table introduced, later greatly expanded
• - racial taint table designed, along with chart of what can breed with what
• - resurrection-roll penalty introduced based on how many previous times the same character had died
• - attributes and quirks table introduced
• secondary skill (previous profession) table expanded again; exotic skill table designed
• - weather table designed and introduced, actual table later scrapped but principle kept
• - Glyph of Warding spell gains yet more new glyphs
• magic-user spell specialization introduced
• system designed for ship-vs.-ship naval combat

Ilarshei (1985-  )

• - magic herb rules and options vastly expanded and reworked

Hobbitika (1990-1998)

• at campaign start players must play character(s) of opposite gender only, later scrapped
• level advancement tables sped up slightly again
• secondary skill (previous profession) table redesigned and expanded again
• Paladins banned
• several classes split into combat and non-combat variants (main differences are hit die and advance rates)
• some master-work weapons and armour included in range of items available
• silver piece-based monetary system adopted

Mudra (1992-2003?) – used Victoria rules but contributed no major rule changes

Riveria (1995-2007)

• can choose class and basic race at roll-up, if want to try for exotic race then must roll fully random
• level advancement tables sped up slightly again
• hit point gain at high level changed from a fixed amount to a half dice
• - class-race-level restrictions relaxed significantly
• - Monks banned, then redesigned from the ground up and re-introduced
• multiclassing restricted considerably
• triple-classing banned
• - drow gem properties expanded considerably and written up
• - all Cleric spells tweaked and revised
• deity-specific spell variants introduced
• Clerics-turning-undead matrix revised and augmented somewhat
• - all Illusionist spells tweaked and revised
• - casting times for all spells adjusted to fit a 6-segment round (used to be 10 segments)
• - wild magic surge can occur on interrupted spell casting or scroll activation
• - monsters gain strength bonus to hit and damage where applicable
• psyonics redesigned and weakened considerably
• - Death's Door spell redesigned with varying effects depending on condition of recipient and random roll
• counterspell and arcane-divine denial effects introduced
• Wilder introduced as a sub-race of human; Barbarians restrictions on magic use scrapped
• - Arctic Elf introduced as a sub-race of Elf
• chart designed to determine priority and functioning order for defensive protections and immunities
• system designed for army-vs.-army battles involving player characters
• childbirth table designed for all races to determine gender, also if twins, deformed, premature, etc.

NewDafan (2007-   )

• can choose class but must roll race at roll-up
• - Necromancer introduced as a class
• Paladins banned
• level advancement tables sped up greatly
• 10% experience bonus scrapped for high primary stat
• feats (in limited numbers) introduced for all classes
• silver piece-based monetary system adopted
• character roll-up changed to use 27 total dice divided as player wants (as opposed to 30 dice as 6 x 5)
• minimum stat requirements for several classes reduced somewhat, and changed to recommendations
• spell points fixed instead of random at 1^st level, and reduced range of spell points gained at all other levels
• various new spells introduced via 3^rd-edition releases (a few would be adopted elsewhere)
• stat bonuses for various things now start at 14 (was 15 or 16)
• critical hits changed to (20 on d20 then x-16|17-18|19-20 on d20 for 2x-3x-4x damage, where x is lesser of 15 or roll required to hit)
• reduction in what psionic abilities available at roll-up; significant advancement in psionics is only available as a Monk feat track
• single-class Thieves gain combat bonus when flanking
• hit point gain at high levels converted from fixed value to a die of one half size that at lower levels (full size for Bard and Assassin)
• full range of master-work weapons and armour available, largely replacing simple +1 items
• - commune spell weakened considerably; original version moved to 7^th-level
• chromatic orb spell broken into three spells of 1^st 3^rd and 5^th level
• magic item lists and costs redone completely
• - planeshift spell redesigned so can only arrive at original point of planar entry or temple/sanctuary to own deity

Decast (2008-   )

• at campaign start players must play Human characters only, later scrapped
• Bards redesigned from the ground up
• psyonics scrapped for player characters and most monsters except a few iconics e.g. Mind Flayers, Demons
• single-class Thieves gain combat bonus when flanking
• level advancement tables tweaked significantly – fast-advancing classes slowed down, slow ones sped up
• multiclassing restricted considerably
• triple-classing banned
• spell point system abandoned for all casters, replaced with modified slot system: caster is wild-card within any level on spells known, has so many slots per day per level, combined fixed and random elements to determine number of slots, slots assignable by level by player with restrictions
• spell memorization scrapped for all wizard-types
• magic user spell specialization (introduced in Telenet) abandoned
• - mechanic and spell introduced to allow for willing renouncement of a previous class
• resurrection roll penalty for previous deaths (introduced in Telenet) abandoned
• hit point gain roll made the same at all levels (no slowdown at high level)
• - commune spell weakened considerably; original version moved to 7^th-level
• chromatic orb spell broken into three spells of 1^st 3^rd and 5^th level
• magic item costs redone completely