Aketon, Basic Complete

Aketon is a revamp of CHAINMAIL, 3rd Edition, by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren and OD&D by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It's lighter-weight, but still sturdy, so its no longer like chainmail, its more like aketon.

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Aketon was primarily made to act as a cohesive, simplified ruleset that products from other OSR systems could be ported over to. Just convert the armor over to its rough equivalent, use the applicable weapons, and give spells a lesser, greater, and superior success effect, plus a relevant backlash.

For monster HP, I use monster HD or some equivalent:

OD&D	HP = Total HD
B/X	HP = Total HD
BECMI	HP = Total HD
AD&D	HP = Total HD
AD&D 2e	HP = Total HD
D&D 3e/3.5e	HP = Total HD
D&D 4e	HP = Monster Level/2
D&D 5e/5.5e	HP = CR

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If you want to use spells with spell levels, give the caster +0 to cast level one spells and -X to cast spells over level one where X = the spell's level. If you have cantrips, the cantrip has +2 to cast. Spell levels actually have origins in CHAINMAIL, I only didn't include them because I normally don't use them. Here's a table with what classes should start getting which level of spells at what level of their class:

Spell Level	Exorcist Level	Seer Level
Level 1	4	1 and 3
Level 2	8	6 and 9
Level 3	12	12 and 15
Level 4	16	18 and 21
Level 5	20	24 and 27
Level 6	24	30 and 33
Level 7	28	36 and 39
Level 8	32	42 and 45
Level 9	36+	48 and 51+

I don't know if I'd just give the player spells of that level, but I'd definitely introduce those spells onto the random spell table they roll on when they reach those levels (created by you) and slowly pick off the lower level spells so level 42 Exorcists don't get stuck with a new level one spell. Especially considering most spell casting classes don't get better at spellcasting at the same rate as Seers.

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If you're unfamiliar with range bands and the growing cross-game vocabulary used for them, here's a short table:

Close-by	Up to ~10ft
Nearby	Up to ~30ft
Far Away	Up to ~90ft
Even Farther Away	Up to ~270ft

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Included in this compilation are the following supplements:

• Core Rules (really all you need to start converting and play)
• Adventurer Options (7 new classes, rules for firearms, and background tables)
• Priestly Prayers (50 Priestly spells for Exorcists and Crusaders)
• Sanctioned Sorceries (50 Arcane spells for Seers, Troubadours, and Elves)
• Sinister Sorceries (50 Sinister spells for Magi, a new class)
• Wild Wodistry (50 Wild spells for Rangers and Woders, a new class)
• Psionic Powers (50 Psionic spells for Psions, a new class)
• Gamemaster Cyclopedia (grid combat rules, GM advice, downtime, generators, etc)
• Treasure Hoards (magic items, potions, and other treasure tables)
• Monstrous Bestiary (90 monster stat-blocks)

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Check out these free adventure modules written for Aketon:

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Check out the urban horror-fantasy supplement series for Aketon:

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Aketon was written and laid out by Reese Surles, Art by Inked Gas

Aketon © 2025 by Reese Surles is licensed under CC BY 4.0