Dungeons & Delvers 2nd Edition: Level 1 No-Cleric Combat Playtest

Melissa thinks that the game would be at the least more interesting were clerics relegated to something of an NPC class that requires remaining within the confines of a temple or church in order to manifest miracles.

I am back on the fence, but given most of our parties feature at least one cleric with at least one healing miracle, we decided to do a sort of combat stress test to see just how easily the party can do without. Because if they can't then this means we'll either need to keep clerics in the game, or overhaul the system such that you can reasonably get by, and given that the cleric is basically done I'd rather just go with the former.

Our 1st-level gang of figurative guinea pigs consisted of:

• Human fighter (spear and shield w/ Defender and Charger)
• Dwarf fighter (long axe w/ Slayer)
• Human rogue (Skulker and Elusive)
• Human wizard (Only pyroturgy spells)

You normally have to roll for race in 2nd Edition, which ensures that humans are the most commonplace (the more exotic fare is optional and isn't even present on the default table), but then humans also have the most flexible features so for the most part I just defaulted to it even when something else was possible.

And now, for their opponents: 

• 6 goblins
• 1 frogskin goblin and 4 goblins
• 1 goblin frog knight mounted on a shark froglin
• 1 goblin frog knight and 2 goblin squires

Something to note is that goblin warriors are at least 2 Hit Dice (the sneaks/commoners are 1 HD), though due to their size only clock in at 4 WP and 1 VP. Their armor isn't anything to write home about, so it's DR 2. Finally, they wield spears in both hands for the +1 damage bonus, because without it they are hard-pressed to harm someone even merely clad in cloth-based armor.

A frogskin goblin is a goblin with the ability to transform fully or partially into a frog. Similar to a therianthrope, just without the curse and silver vulnerability that they didn't initially have in the first place. It is part of a category of goblin that can perform similar feats, and gives it access to different abilities.

A shark froglin is a monstrous frog-like creature: more mobile and with claws and bigger/more teeth.

Something else to note is that none of the party had any curative items, though they did possess however many healing kits Melissa would require (purely for Wound Recovery and preventing infections). Melissa was able to retreat whenever she pleased, though the goblins would come hunting.

For the six goblins, Melissa won initiative and managed to take out one goblin with the spear fighter. The slayer and rogue weren't so lucky, though the wizard was able to end the round with a 1 Drain Scorching Ray that vaporized a second goblin. This was both good and bad, as it made the wizard a priority target: while the goblins had a hard time bypassing the fighter's impressive Armor Class of 21, the wizard weighed in at a mere 15 and went down with a single stab.

Well, not quite. This put her at 0 WP, and since this isn't bog-standard Dungeons & Dragons where you are either perfectly fine, unconsicous or dead, she was Dying-but-conscious. Since her Dying threshold was -10, this gave her around 10 minutes to live, less so if she tried casting spells (which would have been cast at a penalty to boot), so she beat a hasty retreat to stabilize herself while the rest of the party kept fighting.

By the time the rest of the goblins were slain the dwarf fighter had taken a few licks, but he was still more or less good to go. Given the adjustments to shields and two-handed weapons, there is an even clearer divide between both archetypes: where the shield fighter has a considerable Armor Class of 21 compared to the slayer's 18, the slayer was rolling 2d6+6 damage compared to the spear's 1d6+2.

One Short Rest later and it was on to round two.

This time the goblins won initiative: the four normal goblins set upon the spear fighter, inflicting trivial damage before the frogskin goblin used its tongue to trip him: despite the difference in size and strength this was made all the easier due to the +4 bonus from Ganging Up. The slayer and rogue rushed to the spear fighter's aid, each taking out a goblin on their own.

This caused the goblins to turn their attention to the slayer, and with a few well placed stabs were able to reduce him to 0 WP. Refusing to retreat, he and the rogue managed to butcher another goblin before the final one fled due to a failed Morale check.

With half the party effectively down they returned to camp, which was setup in a presumably secluded area. This allowed them to sleep and recover a bit of WP (1-2 points), but the next day they were discovered by a goblin knight mounted on a shark froglin. The rogue saw them coming in advance, so the wizard was able to obliterate the knight with a scorching ray that he never saw coming. The froglin was willing to fight despite the odds, but it was quickly dispatched.

Back into the goblin lair, the party came across another knight. He was also mounted on a froglin, and had a few squires to back him up. Goblins won initiative, and the knight opened up with a leaping charge upon the spear fighter. A lucky crit saw him get knocked to the ground, and his WP knocked to -3. The slayer and rogue managed to take them both out, and after the wizard vaporized a squire the last goblin standing wisely determined that he was doomed and fled.

Despite characters going down in most of the fights, Melissa doesn't think it is too lethal. She also isn't sure if the cleric as an adventuring class is necessary, but is leaning towards no. Certainly one would have been useful and if one had been part of the roster I think the party could have gotten through all the battles in a single day.

However, this could be resolved by making mending potions cheaper. Currently, they cost 25 sp and restore 1d4 WP at a rate of 1 per round (higher-end versions restore more and faster), but we're reining in costs so that copper pieces have more use.

This is because in medieval times things like daggers only cost a handful of the equivalent of coppers, and the implied setting of Dungeons & Delvers is far more dangerous. I think it would make sense to have something akin to even a novice-tier alchemist in almost every village, and potions take less time to brew than it does to forge a sword.

And if everyone in the party had but a single standard mending potion each, then I think they could have also easily finished every battle in a single adventuring day: just administer them after the fight, wait less than half a minute, and keep going. So in this regard, I also don't think a cleric is necessary for the party. 

For the next playtest, we're going to throw a 5th-level party at a series of 3-8 Hit Die monsters, so we'll see how that goes. This time they will have a few mending potions each.