Some Thoughts on the Relevance (to me) of 5e

Information about 5e has been slowly....oh so slowly....trickling in.  

Or “D&D Next” as WotC is calling it, presumably hoping that we will be playing it next, and also to minimize that this is yet another edition in a line following from 3e, 3.5e, 4e, 4e Essentials, and now 5e.  There is are thriving communities devoted to “D&D Previous”, be they Rules Compendium, Basic, White Box, Little Brown Books, 1e, 2e, or 3e…all in the form of the original prints or in the form of simulacrums.   The aspiration to make a “Rosetta Stone” edition is understandable.  That’s a lot of lost market share to tap into.

But, especially in light of the time (now years) spent working my own system into a presentable game, this all begs the question:  Will 5e be relevant to me?

There are a couple of questions that need to be answered in order to know:

First, is this going to be an OGL game?

Second, is this game going to offer a significant improvement over what I am playing?

As to the first question, 5e is not WotC’s first attempt to make a “lingua franca” of role-playing.  When 3e was announced, one of its important building blocks was the OGL.  The OGL made it possible for other designers, and other game companies, to feed into the same system, thus presumably driving sales of the D&D core books and other WotC products.

Sadly, in this writer’s opinion, WotC didn’t learn the lesson of the OGL.  IMHO, the OGL did its job initially, and, as long as WotC followed that initial plan, the OGL drove folks to buy their products.  I mean, there might be (for example) some really cool competing psionics systems, but unless they were Open Gaming Content, you were limited in how you used them.  So, the WotC psionics system predominated.  But, if you hated WotC psionics, there were other systems you could use without abandoning 3e altogether.  3e was, one might easily argue, the most commercially successful D&D edition since 1e.  Perhaps of all time.

The OGL also allowed WotC to build an edition of D&D that took advantage of the best OGC available.  Rather than coming up with what they did for 4e – and, let’s face it, design decisions should not be made on the basis of trying to limit applicability of the OGL in favour of a restrictive GSL – streamlining 3e’s clunky bits, making combat go faster, and divorcing the system from the necessity of the grid.  But as we all know, that’s not what happened.

Paizo has, IMHO, learned the lesson of the OGL that WotC first promoted, and later failed to retain.  Paizo, like many smaller OSR companies, has been extremely generous with its OGC, and, partially as a result, levered itself into a real contender for the 800 lb. gorilla in the room.  You don’t have to play Pathfinder as written; you can publish your house rules on the web for easy access for your home group, or so that you can play via forums or Skype with people across the globe.

Can “D&D Next” really act as a “Rosetta Stone” without this same flexibility?  I think not.  And I don’t think a generous “fan policy” is enough – that a company can make you pull your documentation (possibly effectively ending your campaign) in order to sell “D&D Next.5” or “D&D Nexter” simply will not cut it.  You are far better off playing Pathfinder, OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, or any of a number of generously licensed (and often free) games.

Which brings us to the second question:  Is 5e going to be a significant improvement over what I’m playing now?

Based on what I’m reading thus far, the Magic Eightball reads “Outlook Doubtful”.  But there is no real way to know.  Most of what we have is hype backed by no substance at all, and a lot of questions from the designers.  The WotC playtesting is very different, in terms of transparency, than that done by other companies, such as Goodman Games and Paizo.

Yet, many folks in the Internet gaming community seem to believe relevancy, or interest, is a default position.  Let me be clear where I stand here:  My default position on any product, whether a television or a personal computing device, or a game system is “Not Interested”.  If a gaming company wants my money, they must make me change my position by actual information. 

Simply saying “Trust us; we know what’s fun!” isn’t enough.  It wasn’t enough with 4e.  It is not enough with 5e.  We need to not only know what you hope to do, but also how you hope to do it.

In conclusion, WotC deserves real kudos for re-releasing the core 1e books, and I hope to see more early era D&D released by them.  Some of the earlier modules, at the very least, would be very relevant to me.  The good words I am hearing about Barrowmaze are relevant to me.  The chance to playtest the Beta version of Goodman Games’ DCC RPG without signing away all rights to any comment I might make is relevant to me.

The relative Cone of Silence around 5e makes it less relevant.  The Cone of Silence around what the licensing structure will be makes it even less so.  It is hard not to be cautiously optimistic – and I am – but, right now, this is something that I’ll wait to read reviews on from those whose judgement I trust.

How about you?

What Am I Good At?

Largely for my own amusement, I have worked out an alternate system for AD&D proficiencies, based largely on Goodman Games DCC RPG rules.  It allows for both randomness and choice, with the hopes of allowing both customization and a greater difference among characters.  No challenge to Goodman Games IP is intended.

What Am I Good At?

An Alternative Proficiency System for 1^st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Every class has tasks that it is good at, as indicated (or implied) in the character class description.  Thus, fighters know about the care and maintenance of armour and weapons, a magic-user understands arcana, a cleric is knowledgeable about religion, and so on.

In addition, every character gets one roll on the Secondary Skill table.  This indicates the character’s background prior to adventuring.  In addition, the character gets to choose three Proficiencies from the following list.  In some cases, depending upon the character’s class and or race, he can choose from additional options as follows:

If the character has any abilities that rely on percentile rolls (such as a thief’s chance to hide in shadows or a gnome’s chance to detect unsafe walls, ceilings, or floors), a Proficiency  can be spent to give this ability a +5% bonus.  A single-classed fighter, and only a single-classed fighter, can spend a Proficiency to specialize with a weapon, or to double-specialize in a weapon the fighter has already specialized in.  (This replaces the use of weapon proficiency slots for specialization.)

Otherwise, a Proficiency grants a +2 bonus to a related skill check, using the following system.

If a character’s background supports his know­ing such a skill, the character may attempt a skill check.   If a character’s background does not support a skill use, the character is not familiar with the activ­ity and cannot attempt to use the skill.  If there is ambiguity – for example, the character may have used the skill somewhat but not regularly – the character may make a check with a -4 penalty.   Finally, if the skill is something that any adult could have a reasonable chance of attempting, then any character can make a check.

Ability Score	Skill Check Modifier
3	–4
4-5	–2
6-7	–1
8-12	+0
13-14	+1
15-16	+2
17	+3
18	+4
18/01-50	+5
18/51-75	+6
18/76-90	+7
18/91-99	+8
18/00	+9
19	+5 (+10)*
20	+6 (+11)*
21	+7 (+12)*
22	+8 (+13)*
23	+9 (+14)*
24	+10 (+15)*
25	+11 (+16)*
* Numbers in parenthesis apply to Strength scores only

Making a Skill Check

A skill check is made by rolling 1d20, adding the appropriate ability score modifier, and comparing the result to the DC for the chal­lenge.  If the roll beats the challenge, the skill check succeeds.  Otherwise, it fails.

Some tasks are harder than others and Difficulty Class (DC) allows us to gauge this.

·         DC 5 tasks are child’s play.  Typically, these minor chal­lenges aren’t rolled unless there is a consequence for failure.  Example:  walking on a four-foot-wide castle wall requires no check, but walking a four-foot-wide bridge across a yawning chasm does, as there is a sig­nificant consequence to failure for this easy task.

·         DC 10 tasks are difficult.  The weak and un­skilled could not achieve these tasks.  If a character has the Alertness Proficiency, he can attempt a DC 10 task (using his Wisdom skill modifier) to negate surprise for himself only.  A character can attempt a DC 10 task to gain a +2 combat advantage (see the Advanced Combat Rules pdf).

  

·         DC 20 tasks are feats of derring-do. It takes someone special to ac­complish these tasks.  Examples: leaping the gap between two city roofs, hurling a log at an oncom­ing bear, or grabbing a pouch lashed to the saddle of a gallop­ing stallion.   If a character has the Alertness Proficiency, he can attempt a DC 20 task (using his Wisdom skill modifier) to negate surprise for himself and his companions.  A character can attempt a DC 20 task to gain a +4 combat advantage (see the Advanced Combat Rules pdf).

·         DC 30 tasks are hero’s work.   Only the most super-human charac­ters attempt and succeed at these tasks.  A character can attempt a DC 30 task to gain a +6 combat advantage (see the Advanced Combat Rules pdf).

Sometimes two charac­ters attempt opposite actions.  In this case, roll a skill check for both parties.  The higher roll wins.

In some cases, more than one check can be made to represent a longer contest, like a game of chess.  The winner is the one who reaches either (1) a preset number of successes first, or (2) one character “pulls ahead” of the other(s) by a preset number of successes.

Skill checks are designed for use when a system of abstract rules is nec­essary to adjudicate a situation.  A skill check is only made when practical descriptions by the players will not suffice.

List of Proficiencies

Alchemy

Alertness

Animal Handling

Appraise

Arcana

Blind-Fighting**

Bluff

Boating

Calligraphy*

Charioteer Driving

Climbing

Combat Manoeuvre***

Court Manners

Craft (Any, Choose Specific Craft)

Dance

Diplomacy

Direction Sense

Falconry

Fire-Building

Foraging

Fungus Identification

Gambling

Gaming

Healing

Heraldry

Hunting

Iaijutsu*

Juggling

Jumping

Knowledge (Any, Choose Specific Subject)

Musical Instrument (Any, Choose Instrument)

Noh*

Origami*

Painting

Perform (Any, Choose One Performance Type)

Profession (Any, Choose Specific Profession)

Religion

Riding (Any, Choose Mount Type)

Rope Use

Running

Saving Throw Bonus (Choose One)****

Seamanship

Sense Motive

Signalling

Singing

Sound Imitation

Swimming

Tea Ceremony*

Tracking*****

Tumbling

Two-Weapon Fighting**

Weapon Skill (Any, Choose One Weapon Skill Group)

Weather Sense

Wilderness Lore (Choose Environment)

* This Proficiency is limited to Oriental characters, unless DM approval is granted for a specific exemption.

** This Proficiency reduces the normal penalty by 2 each time it is selected, but cannot result in a bonus.

*** This Proficiency can only be selected by a fighter or a member of a fighter subclass.  This Proficiency reduces the normal penalty for a manoeuvre by 2 each time that it is selected, but cannot result in a bonus.

**** The character gains a +1 bonus to saving throws made in one particular saving throw category.

***** The character does not gain the same information that a ranger would, but gets instead the most basic information available from a set of tracks.

In addition, a character can choose from anything the player can think of, subject to the DM’s approval.

Improving Proficiencies

                                                                      

Using this system, a single-class character gains a new Proficiency with every character class level.  A multi-class character gains a new Proficiency when all classes have gained a new class level.

Computer and Table Top Games

Do you have players who are coming to the hobby from computer games?  Have they acquired bad habits or strange expectations about how the game world will work?  Do they imagine that foes will run endlessly upon their spears, or that they will respawn, or that the game is all about combat? 

When role-playing games first appeared, they were something new, and required serious explanation as to what they were, and how they were played.  Now, nearly everyone has either played – or at least heard of – a computer “role-playing game”, and the term needs a little less explanation.  If you come to tabletop (or pen-and-paper) role-playing from a computer game background, however, there are some differences you should be aware of:

1.    In a computer game, you can see the characters, the setting, and the opponents on the screen.  In a pen-and-paper game, you must see them in your imagination.  In some cases, the Game Master may provide visual representations – drawings, photographs, and even miniature figures – to help you imagine the scene.

2.    In a computer game, the game designers often determine the characteristics of the character who acts as your point-of-view throughout the game.  In a tabletop game, the system may place limitations on the type of character you can create, and there may be random elements (most commonly die rolls) during the process, but it is largely incumbent upon each player to determine who and what his or her character will be.

3.    Likewise, in a computer game, there is often a predetermined limitation to the number of players who can play a given game at a time.  This is not true for a tabletop game, although a massive-multiplayer online computer rpg (mmorg) will handle far more characters than even an above-average Game Master is capable of dealing with!

4.    A computer game often has a predetermined storyline, with cut scenes that allow no player input.  Even a computer game that allows for multiple side quests is limited to handling adventures that have been fully thought out by the designer prior to play.  A pen-and-paper game generally doesn’t have a predetermined storyline, so that players have the ability to follow whatever interests them within the setting.

5.    Likewise, a computer game only allows players to interact with the setting in ways that have been thought of by the designer prior to play.  Thus, characters cannot simply break into and steal a car to drive away from zombie-infested Quiet Knoll unless that was an action the game writer predetermined was possible.  This is not true in a tabletop game, where the Game Master is capable of interacting directly with the players in real time.  In a tabletop game, when you try to do something unexpected, the Game Master simply determines how to express your attempt in game terms – and you roll the dice.

6.    Computer games can train players to have bad habits in tabletop games.  For example, in a computer game, enemies might be defeated through using the same tactics repeatedly, whereas in a tabletop game, the same enemies will learn from past defeats and change their tactics.  They will begin to learn what to expect, and devise ways to take advantage of it.  Similarly, computer games tend to encourage “button mashing” (following specific formulaic strategies) over creativity in combat…this is part of “learning the game”, and defeating important enemies requires it.  Computer games encourage looking for “what we’re supposed to do” and passivity toward shaping the game.  Good tabletop games encourage exactly the opposite of this approach.

7.    Finally, in a pen-and-paper game, events with multiple potential outcomes are determined by some method of selection – most frequently by generating a random number using dice.  Computer games use randomness as well, although in this case the randomness is hidden within the computer program.  A computer game can also determine among multiple outcomes by how well the player handles the controls – if you have ever had the screen point of view change so that your attempt to run away from a dinosaur suddenly changes to running towards the beast, you know what I mean.  In a tabletop game, knowing the ruleset helps you avoid running into a monster you are trying to avoid, too.  In both computer and tabletop role-playing games, the goals are often the same, but the means of achieving those goals – and the limitations toward achieving them – are different.

Blogs I Should Follow

I just updated Blogger to include a Blog List.  Are there some other blogs I should be following?

Thanks,

RC

S is for Sandbox Part IV: A Sample Minor Adventure Site (2): The Great Outdoors

Picking up from the last “S is for Sandbox” column, we are looking at the creation of a sample minor adventure site.  In this column, we are looking at the first of three maps, the outdoor map.  I drew a quick map, using a scale of 1 hex = 1 mile.

You will notice that I used hex paper with numbered hexes.  This is because I want to be able to create additional encounters by using the hex numbers, and I know that over the course of a sandbox campaign, the encounters in an area may well change.

I have located the hermitage on a rocky hill along the road leading from a large village (campaign starting area, to the north) and somewhere more coastal (to the southeast), with the thought that carts sent by the Thieves’ Guild to receive stolen goods could come along this road.  The pirates could use this road to bring treasure up from the coast, and closeness to the road would make visitors seem less suspicious.  It would also allow the players to easily locate this site.

The temple is on a bit of a hill so that the hermit can use smoke signals to alert the Guild when there are sufficient materials to warrant sending a cart.  The outbuildings are where the hermitage is located, the temple is ruined, and the goblin cave is where goblins who bring materials to fence stay.  Belmar’s Seat is the name of another rocky upcrop, named for a hero of old (and which can tie into the area history, and other adventure sites).

In addition to the noted road and trails, there will be numerous, non-permanent game trails.  In addition to the two small lakes shown on the map, there will be numerous small rills and streams which appear after a rain or seasonally.

Because the area is close to the village, I know that there are unlikely to be any truly dangerous monsters in the area, but also that I will want to include some other minor lairs.  Why?  Because it makes things interesting for the players, and rewards exploration of the area.  And I want to reward exploration, because exploration may eventually lead them to the goblin cave, wherein clues to unravel what is actually happening at the hermitage are most likely to come to light. 

(I am not in a rush for this to happen, mind you.  It will happen in its own time, or not, as game play dictates.)

I also know that the PCs are most likely to follow roads and trails, at least initially, in their exploration of any area, so I will want to set most encounters along these roadways and paths.  I therefore come up with a provisional list of hexes to flesh out:

0203:  Verminous Caverns:  This area is the least likely for the players to locate, so I am going to put something interesting, deadly, and rewarding here.  I am then going to sprinkle links to it in other areas of the sandbox (or I would be doing so if actually developing this area for play). 

This area contains a hidden cave system, more vertical than horizontal, which was once the lair of a green dragon.  Much of the dragon’s treasure is still hidden below, although moved now by flowing water from a single location to a plethora of areas throughout the caves.  In addition, the caves are now home to many giant spiders, flies, ants, and scorpions.  There is a rich haul here, for those capable of retrieving it…and sudden death for everyone else.

For fun, I’m going to say that the dragon’s bones are still in the caverns, where they may be found by adventurers.  They might be sold to a sage or collector, or they might be used for some form of magical ritual. 

Finally, within this hex, there is a 50% chance that any encounter will be with giant vermin of some sort.  Within a 1-hex radius around this hex, there is a 1 in 6 chance that any encounter will be with giant vermin.  I will have to develop a separate encounter table to determine what is encountered.

0207:  Spider!:  A giant black widow spider has stretched its web across the trail in this hex.  Some of the husks from its victims, if found, have treasure.

0211:  Foundations:  Alongside the trail here, the group may discover the foundations of a ruined farmhouse, which can help to offers some shelter from the elements.  There is nothing of value here.

0509: Belmar’s Cup:  This lake is known as Belmar’s Cup, after the folkhero-king who once ruled in this region.  It is relatively shallow and weedy, but offers some fishing.  Recently, a forester drowned in the lake, and now haunts this region each night as a ghoul.

0602:  Broken Cart:  An overturned cart with a broken wheel lies along side the roadway here, quietly going back to the earth.  If investigated during the summer months, there is a 1 in 6 chance that a snake takes advantage of the shade it offers…but the snake is non-venomous, and quickly slithers away.

0607: Lake Lugres:  This lake is extremely deep, being formed in a narrow fissure not unlike those in Hex 0203.  It is fed by rainwater, snow melt, and an underground spring.  There is good fishing here the year round, although would-be fishermen must cut a hole in the ice during the winter.  Legend and rumour claim that a hungry spirit dwells within the lake’s depths, but this is not so.

0911 Belmar’s Seat:  An outcrop of rock named for the hero-king Belmar.  A flat-topped boulder at the apex of the hill is known as Belmar’s Chair.  It is said that those who sit at Midsummer’s Even on Belmar’s Chair are driven mad, or become poets – if there is any difference between the two.

1005: Outbuildings:  This is the site of the Hermitage.  The outbuildings include the hermit’s quarters, a common area for guests (including a stable as part of the common area).  The cellar beneath the hermit’s quarters includes a secret area wherein treasure from bandits, goblins, and pirates may be hidden.

The hermit is a 6^th level thief.  This level was chosen so as to allow interaction with starting PCs, where the hermit will not be instantly overwhelmed, while at the same time making it possible for the PCs to defeat him later.  Besides which, living alone in the (near) wilds as he does, the hermit will need some class level “oomph”!

1204: Temple:  This is the ruined temple, beneath which the dungeon lies.  We might as well start calling this the Dungeon of the Skull, because that will be its most important feature.  Within the temple, there is an area that allows our hermit to mimic a cleric, effectively giving him access to a limited amount of curative magic each day.

In fact, let us make this a temple of Hermes (as the patron of thieves, healers, and magic, it seems appropriate).

1309:  Farmstead:  There is a small farmstead located in this hex.

1404: Goblin Cave:  When goblins visit the hermitage, they stay here.  As a result, there is goblin graffiti on the walls, carvings on the table, etc., that hints at what the hermit really is.  Unknown to the hermit, the goblins have begun mining here, trying to break into the Dungeon of the Skull.

1406:  Tailings Pile:  The tailings pile from the goblin mining – as well as some broken mining equipment of obvious goblin manufacture – is hidden just off the trail here.

Computer Woes & D&D Makes the News

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit.  My old laptop has been consigned to whatever the electronic equivalent of Davy Jones' Locker might be, and it has taken me a little bit of time to get the new one up to speed.  It suffered from Heat Death, and even though I cracked it open and cleaned it, the problem wasn't solved.  Luckily, I was able to move my files to an external hard drive, and am now back in business.  Still, I had to cancel two game sessions because I couldn't access my notes.

In addition to this, as most of you have now heard, (1) Wizards of the Coast finally got around to admitting that they were working on 5e, and (2) WotC also announced that they were going to reprint a limited run of the 1e Player's Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual.  As a result, even after I was up and running again, I spent far more time reading others' news online than working on my own writing!

As for the 5e announcement, I think it has been clear for some time now that 4e didn't perform as expected.  Well, clear to all except a few die-hard 4e fans, to whom no amount of evidence was evident enough!  So, those of us who predicted a relatively short shelf life for 4e are vindicated, those who thought there would never need be another edition are demonstrably wrong, and WotC is apparently moving back to a more "retro" (read, pre-3e) model.  This last point is important, IMHO, because it is some indication that WotC might be interested in producing something I might be interested in purchasing.

One thing that I've learned from the D&D game cycle, though, is that I never want to invest in a game that is going to go out of print in such a way as legally producing third-party support materials for it becomes impossible.  Those who opt to stay with 4e may be able to create a "retro-clone" of it, although the GSL and many changes seem to be designed to negate exactly that possibility.  I hope they have all the 4e support materials they will ever need!

A role-playing game that is tied to the fortunes and decisions of a single corporation no longer interests me.  If 5e is not an OGL game, I will give it a pass.  It could be perfect for my tastes in so many ways, yet fail to meet WotC's expectations, and disappear faster than 4e.  And then where would I be?  Hoping that I had all the 5e support materials I will ever need!  No, thank you.

I am looking forward to the 1e reprints, though, as my original Monster Manual needs replacement, having disappeared into the fog of time.  Also, I think it is a wise decision on the part of WotC to recognize that the community determines the course of the hobby, not a single company, no matter what trademarks they may hold.  That a portion of the proceeds will fund the Gygax memorial seems fitting, to me.

So, kudos to WotC for making themselves relevant to me again, at least for a single print run!

And, if 5e turns out to be an OGL game, which users are encouraged to fold, spindle, and mutilate to their tastes -- and then share that folding, spindling, and mutilation with others -- WotC may even succeed in making their trademark relevant to me again.

Really.

The need to be able to post your house rules online, for others to access, is a requirement for online games.  To be able to do so only on the sufferance of WotC means that your online game is only viable so long as WotC says it is.  And, draconian limitations like the GSL's unwillingness to allow you to change what terms mean, prevent potential GMs from crafting an online game that will satisfy their own particular itch.

It may be good business for some products; it sucks beans for RPGs.

IMHO.

YMMV.

See you next time with more sandboxing goodness.


RC

S is for Sandbox Part IV: A Sample Minor Adventure Site (1)

I hope everyone had good holidays!

Picking up from the last “S is for Sandbox” column, we are looking at the creation of a sample minor adventure site.  As previously discussed, setting up such a site has several goals, including both speedy play (the average minor site should be explorable in a session or so), reusability, and usefulness in pointing toward other adventuring sites.

I did some initial brainstorming on Christmas Eve, and decided that the site would be the ruin of a temple, mostly lost to time, beneath which remain a smallish dungeon area.  In order to meet my goals, I considered the following:

(1)   The temple was once that of a good deity, but the high priestess turned to evil.  She is still imprisoned in the dungeon as a powerful undead spirit.  This spirit can communicate with the living through her preserved skull, and her knowledge of the area is extensive (if out of date).  Part of her reasons for communicating with the living is to trick them into freeing her, which requires three objects.  She knows where they were kept in her lifetime, but one of these objects has been moved beyond the initial starting area in the intervening years.

The purpose of this character is threefold:  First, she supplies a link to three other sites in the starting area, encouraging characters to seek out three specific treasures for her own fell purposes.  Second, she supplies a reason (information) for returning to the ruined temple.  By occasionally restocking the area with new inhabitants, both malevolent and benign, I can make additional use of my original design work.  (You may recall the importance of this goal – every hour of prep should result in a minimum of two hours of play!)  Finally, she supplies a potential Epic Endgame (or Midgame) if released.

(2)  A major treasure will be hidden in the temple dungeon, in an area unknown to the high priestess.  This area will be hard to discover without additional information, and a map in another adventure site will indicate where to look.  This gives the players another motive to return here if they have already “cleared” the site, and will give the players a motive to come here if they have not already been here, thus potentially bringing the skull into play.

(3)  The upper ruin is inhabited by a hermit who has dealings with the inhabitants of two other adventure sites…let’s say, a group of goblins inhabiting a nearby cave system, and a group of pirates in a major adventuring site consisting of a fort, the dungeons beneath, and a series of sea caves.  The hermit helps both groups fence stolen loot, and members of either group may be present at any given time.  Obviously, for the most fun, both of these groups dislike each other.

The hermit needs a contact in the closest thieves’ guild, and can certainly help PCs deal with their own stolen goods, if he believes them trustworthy.  If not, he can pass information about the PCs on to the pirates and the goblins.  Likewise, if the PCs take on either the goblins or (especially) the pirates, clues/documentation may lead them to the hermit.  (Goblins do not keep good records, but they may treat the hermit as a religious figure, and wear the same holy symbol, for example.)

It should also be noteworthy that the hermit may have a fair amount of treasure available to him at various times.  Whenever either the goblins or the pirates are particularly active, the hermit will have booty to fence.  PCs looting the hermit at this time will acquire this booty – stolen goods that may serve to connect them with either group if sold/displayed indiscriminately! 

The hermit has no interest in exploring the dungeon area, and calls himself the “caretaker” of the ruin.  He will ask for donations for its upkeep (although there is no sign of actual upkeep), and may be able to give the PCs some support in terms of minor healing, simple food, rough accommodations, etc., after any foray.  Of course, he has better food and accommodations for himself, but he is loathe to let anyone learn of them.

Requirements

From the above outline, born of simple brainstorming over the holidays, a clear idea of what is needed to make the site useful is clear:

(1)  Maps of the upper ruins, the dungeon area, and the surrounding terrain.  The upper ruin must include an area for rough accommodations, a semi-hidden better area for the hermit, and a place for stolen goods to be hidden.  The dungeon area must include a space for the skull, and a place for the hidden treasure.

(2)  Statistics for the hermit, the skull, goblin visitors, and pirate visitors.  The fence probably sends a cart to the hermit to pick up goods, and so there should be statistics for these folk as well.  I can get away without statistics for the undead high priestess immediately, but I need to know roughly what she knows about the area, what the three items are she needs to be released, and where she believes them to be.

(3)  Potential hoards for treasures ready for fencing, both from goblins and pirates.  The hermit’s personal hoard of luxury goods, and his hidden cache of better food.

(4)  A signalling system whereby the hermit can let the fence know to send the cart.  This signal system might eventually be penetrated by the PCs, allowing them (potentially) to uncover the fence, recover stolen goods, etc.  It is therefore sensible that the signal is only sent after “guests” (including adventurers, goblins, and pirates) have gone away.

(5)  Odds of pirates, goblins, cart, and maybe other adventurers or travellers being present at any given time.  Who those other travellers will be.  Possibly a very simple random encounter chart for the dungeon area.

Once these basic needs have been dealt with, I can key the actual maps.  Preferably, each adventuring site in the starting area is outlined in this fashion, the basics are done for each site, and then actual keying begins for each site.  What this ensures is that, if the Game Master is forced to “wing it”, it is at least possible to do so with consistency.

Notes

The format for this series of posts, detailing a minor adventure site, came about because simply presenting such a site doesn’t actually demonstrate the steps (or thinking) leading to the end result.  At first I was thinking that I could just present a finished product, but that doesn’t actually accomplish the same thing.  Nor does a “now you finish stocking it” ala B1:  In Search of Adventure.  Ideally, you want to supply not only a completed (and usable) adventure site, but also the process that went into creating it.

Note also the focus on not determining what will happen at the site, but rather with making a site rich in possible happenings.  That way, the interests of the players at the table, rather than the interests of a single designer (even if the GM) more strongly shape the course of play.

Finally, although as I admire Mr. Gygax’s hermit encounter in B2:  Keep on the Borderlands, the inspiration for the hermit here is Peter Butterworth’s excellent portrayal of the Monk (aka the Meddling Monk) in the Doctor Who story, The Time Meddler.  The Monk later appeared in The Daleks’ Masterplan, but only a portion of the footage of that story still survives.  In TTM, the Monk has stationed himself in a ruined abbey, pretending to be seeking quiet contemplation, while pursuing a very different agenda.  The Monk is also the first Time Lord seen in Doctor Who apart from the title character (and, possibly, his granddaughter, Susan).

Preference?

I am trying to decide between Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future, and Stars Without Number for my example minor adventure site. 

Does anyone have a preference?

S is for Sandbox Part III: Initial Set Up For Sandbox Games (4): Initial Adventure Sites

I recommended earlier that the initial area for a sandbox milieu contains at least three major and six minor adventure sites.  The reason for this should, by this point, be obvious – if the goal is not to railroad the players, then they must have choices about what adventure sites they will explore. 

At the same time, I recommend that any campaign megadungeon is not located in (although it may be adjacent to) the initial area.  This is because it is desirable that the players think of the game milieu as more than just a village and a nearby ruin.

Why is this desirable?  Because, no matter how interesting the megadungeon may be, without the context of a larger world, such campaigns tend to grow stale rather quickly.  If your experience, or your particular strengths as a Game Master, suggest otherwise, you should disregard my advice, and go with what feels right to you.

Within the context of this discussion, a minor adventuring site is any area that can be fully explored in 1-2 game sessions or less.  Examples of minor sites might be a “five room dungeon”, a ruined villa or inn, a modest tomb, a small cave complex, or an abandoned lighthouse. 

A major adventuring site is any site that requires more time and care.  Note that it may not be immediately apparent to the players which sites are major, and which sites are minor.  What appears to be a small cave complex may lead deep beneath the earth.  What appears to be merely a ruined villa may have several dungeon levels beneath.  Only by actual exploration may the players learn the truth.

Concentrate first on immediate needs first.

Although the following is given in a step-by-step format, individual Game Masters are advised to strike while the iron is hot.  If you find yourself moved to work more on a single location, do that work first.  The steps are given in order to supply structure, and in order to supply direction when you are foundering.  They are not included to suggest slave-like devotion to a process in total disregard to your own creativity!

1.  Start by deciding on the nature of each adventure location.  Describe it in a single-sentence or a short paragraph.  For example:

• “Ancient ruins in jungle of the mysterious  Olmatec people.  Step-pyramids have fallen into ruin.  Jaguars and pseudo-Aztec monsters.”

• “Sea caves where pirates hide their booty.”

• “A hidden temple to an evil deity has attracted monsters to the caverns lining these ravine walls.  The monsters live in an uneasy alliance with each other, for the most part.  The priests work at excavating a collapsed tunnel into another, more ancient, complex.”

2.  Select or draw maps for each of your adventure sites.

3.  Decide what major creatures are located at each site, developing a random encounter chart if applicable. 

At this point, if you are forced to “wing it”, you have enough information to offer a consistent presentation, so long as you take notes on what you decide in play. 

After immediate needs are met, do whatever work interests you the most.  Or, take a break if nothing is particularly interesting to you.

Further develop your adventure location.  Do encounter area write-ups, place monsters, place treasures, etc., etc.  This is, in fact, similar to what you would normally do when creating an adventure site.

Every hour of prep work should result in at least two hours of game time.

Some modification of this advice is in order, for this particular step, because you do not, under any circumstances, want to force your players to interact with any particular area in a sandbox milieu.  The trick, then, becomes to (1) maximize value while (2) maximizing player choices. 

Doing so requires that you accept, a priori, that some treasures will never be found, some monsters will never be encountered, and some areas will never be explored.  If you’ve gotten into the habit, pushed by later versions of D&D, that the unit of play is the encounter, that encounters are set pieces that the players must play through, that treasures are “rewards” which must be found to ensure proper wealth by level….you need to get yourself out of those ruts right now. 

That is not how things work in a sandbox milieu.

If you can, grab some old and new edition modules, and look closely at the maps.  You will notice that, even in the most railroad-y of the older modules, there tend to be multiple ways to reach various areas, with a few choke points.  There may be much treasure hidden, but there is an assumption that finding it will rely at least in part on chance.  Module B1 actually states that in any good dungeon the PCs will not find all the treasure.

Melan did an excellent analysis of these maps, which can be read here:  http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/dnd/dungeonmaps.html

Adventure sites have replay value if the players decide that there is more to explore – simply using a complex map means that an area will gain more bang for the effort put into it.

Rather than trying to create a complex narrative of events that will happen, when you create an adventuring site, you should create minor threads of events….things that link the various creatures in the area.  Bits of politics.  Secrets small and large that can explode out into a narrative.   Basically, you are supplying hooks upon which you can build your improvisation when determining how various creatures react to the player characters and to each other.

In this way, you will allow the choices of the players, and the actual interactions within game play, to push various elements to the foreground.  Because you have done very little work on these snippets, it doesn’t matter if most of these are pushed into the background.  Also, in a persistent campaign milieu, the hook that is pushed into the background today may be thrust into the limelight tomorrow!  In this way, previous interactions will be given greater context, and take on a depth of their own.

I cannot stress enough how reading the older fantasy and adventure fiction authors – Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jack Vance, Robert E. Howard, etc., etc., etc. – helps with this.  These authors make use of characters who could well be PCs and NPCs in a role-playing game.  The protagonists run into characters who have agendas of their own, and those agendas make the main thrust of the story richer simply by interacting with the protagonists.  This means that these stories are less tightly plotted….but less tightly plotted is exactly what is desired in a sandbox.  These authors can really help you learn how to deliver on that desire!

You can increase the value of your design work by referencing other adventure sites in the site you are working on.  For example, a log in that abandoned lighthouse might mention the ruined jungle city.  A group of slavers operating out of part of the jungle ruins might be in league with the pirates that buried their gold in those sea caves.  A letter found in the collapsed inn refers to a treasure hidden in a small cave complex long ago. 

In this last case, the party might have already wiped out the goblins who were once living there, but never located the hidden treasure (which neither they, nor the goblins, knew about at the time).  Suddenly those caves are worth another look!

Imagine that you wish to present the players with a “rescue the prince” scenario.  A merchant’s son is taken by cultists, and is going to be sacrificed in a cavern temple to a spider god.  The merchant will pay good money to save his son.

Imagine also that you want to use other parts of the cavern complex as a further adventure site, to increase the value of your work in this area.  How can you do this?

First, provide both an obvious entrance to the complex, and a concealed entrance that the cultists use.  Vermin of various sorts are good encounters for the opening areas of the obvious entrance; the cultists bypass these by using the hidden entrance.  Note that the players may use tracking, divination, or other means to also bypass these areas.  This is not cheating; this is playing the game.

Second, ensure that there are other ways to go that merely straight to the cult’s spider temple.  And some of those ways should have intelligent inhabitants.  Kobolds may attack intruders on sight, but they know about the temple, hating and fearing the priests there.  If the party can find a way to communicate, they might glean some valuable information!

Finally, include one or two bizarre things not associated with the temple itself.  For example, when I used this scenario, I included a tentacled horror that was actually quite cultured, and was more than willing to talk to the party as soon as it realized that they could actually fight back.  This provided the players with a strong clue that there was more going on in the complex than merely spider cultists and kobolds. 

I also included a fountain carved in the rock – clearly feyish in nature – next to a long drop-off, just where the PCs needed to turn to locate the spider temple.  There was more than one way to go, but one way was obviously easier than the other.  Yet, the presence of the fountain clearly piqued the player’s interest…and if they went down the shaft, there were more indications that deep fey dwelt in that region.  

Simply leaving “other ways to go” is insufficient to make your design hours really work for you – actively give the players reasons to examine those other locations.

Likewise, if you are considering including one or more Killing Fields, Megadungeons, or potential Epic Endgames in your campaign milieu, you can begin foreshadowing other adventure possibilities by including them now.  If you are interested in expanding the initial starting area beginning with the region to the immediate south, put in hints about that region right now – goods from trade routes arising in that region can appear in a bandit’s lair, for instance.

Conclusion

Again, supply of information is key to creating these sites, and making them work for you.  If you create 9 sites over the course of 20 hours, and three sites are used for a total of 40 hours or more of game play, you win.  If six out of nine are used for 60 hours of game play, even better. 

And the key to “even better” is to provide linking information, put the ball the players’ court, and then enjoy the ride!

Next:  An Example Minor Adventure Site.