Despite the image, I'm not talking about the GDW ruleset. I backed the kickstarter from Fria Ligan (creator of Tales from the Loop and Mutant: Year Zero, among other games), because as a child, I couldn't afford the game. Still, it fascinated me, as did all things military at that point in my life - I'm fairly certain I did a book report on Team Yankee while in middle school (the comic book miniseries is a solid retelling, if you can find all six issues). For awhile, I got my fix from the video game version of T2K, but that only worked for so long.
So when the chance to own T2K coincided with my having funds, I jumped on it.
I received the Alpha pdf before Christmas. After skim-reading it, I set it aside for other things. This weekend, the Beta pdfs arrived, so I've been reading through them in my spare time, and it comes across as somehow more grim than before.
Which is fitting, as the game itself is set in a WWIII that never was. Still, some of the packaged scenarios in the referee's book quickly begin morally grey, and then wallow in it. Particularly the adventure set around a former military academy run and protected by students-turned-child-soldiers.
Soviet spies posing as Americans (or Americans serving as Soviet spies) is a recurring theme in the game which resonates with me, because last year I learned that one of my fellow platoon leaders from long ago was convicted of being a Soviet spy.
There are rules for creating your own homebase, which reminds me a bit of the Fallout video games, as the PCs scrounge for parts, alongside scrounging up food, clean water, miscellaneous other supplies, and ammo. Ammo is always in demand, because despite T2K being more of an RPG about tired soldiers trying to get back to the states (itself in a bit of a post-apocalyptic mess, just without zombies), combat is a very real possibility, and combat with modern-ish fireamrs relies on having enough ammo.
Because for many people in-game, the war is still going on, at least to a degree. Local militias, Russian troops, and marauders from both sides will gladly engage any Allied (mostly American) troops they encounter, if only to kill/enslave them and take their stuff.
Grim or not, T2K is a role-playing game, which means PCs of some sort are needed. Players take on the roles of survivors of the disaster in Kalisz and WWIII in general. The rules provide two options for creating PCs: archetypes and lifepaths. The former are pregenerated PCs and the latter the means for creating your own PCs from scratch. Both options require PCs to have a specified moral code, big dream, and a buddy (chosen from among the other PCs). These three traits ideally help drive the role-playing side of the game.
The truth is that I have no idea who among the gamers I know might be interested in playing T2K. I know I can draft my eldest to play through the combat-related rules, but for actually playing through several sessions, I haven't a clue.
Even if I never get to play it properly, I can still mine it for my fiction writing, which tends towards the post-apocalyptic.
If nothing else, the box set will look cool upon my shelf.
Art from one of the rulebooks; presumably by Niklas Brandt, Gustaf Ekelund, or Jarek Kubicki
A puzzle room that qualifies as a Special when stocking a dungeon.
Picture this, but the bowl is ten feet in diameter and the fire is HOT.
The PCs enter a large rectangular chamber from the only open door. The air in the room is noticeably warmer than the hall, the heat coming from the large black iron brazier near the middle. As someone nears the center of the room, the brazier flares up, illuminating the rest of room and casting eerie shadows on the walls. At this point, a doorway is visible on the far wall, opposite the entrance. A large block of stone seals the door. Also visible in the light is a plaque which reads:
A fiery sacrifice
opens the way
to the closed room.
Other methods
open the way
to assured doom.
The first stanza makes it plain that casting things into the fire (which is a one-way portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire) opens the door.
10,000 gp worth of nonmagical valuables is the simplest method, with the door rising up slowly until the full amount is burned. Brave PCs might try to slip under a partially raised door...
A half-dozen single use magic items (potions, scrolls, charms) or two permanent magic items work, again raising slowly.
Note that any DM-approved combination of the above work together.
The cultists who made use of this fiery lock saved money by casting living beings into the flames.
The door raises completely with a sentient being's life, or multiple nonsentients (animal companions, familiars, etc), voluntary or not. So, in theory, a noble PC might throw herself into the flames to open the door. In this case, just like the other unwilling sacrifices, they are irrevocably gone, consumed by the flames of the Elemental Plane of Fire, as it is the consumption of lifeforce that opens the door.
Sacrificing another being is an Evil act. Alignment matters in my game, and PC alignment shifts straight to Evil. Sacrificing different types of beings result in more than just an open door, however.
A cleric or champion of same or opposing deity - The PC is forever marked as an enemy of the faith, and the faithful sense and know it on sight. 1:6 chance a representative of the deity quests to destroy the sacrificer. The one doing the casting suffers nightmares for the next 1d6+1 months, with a 4:6 chance of having a long rest disrupted by them. After that time frame, it becomes a 1:6 chance.
A cleric or champion of a Good deity - As above, but if the cleric is of the same or higher level as the sacrificer, the PC casting them into the flame gains a permanent level and the enmity of that deity and its minions. If the sacrificed was level 9 or higher, the chance that something begins actively hunting the sacrificer becomes 4:6.
A sentient being - the being weeps, wails, begs, bargains, and voids its bladder and bowls while being cast into the flames. The one doing the casting suffers nightmares for the next 1d6+1 months, with a 4:6 chance of having a long rest disrupted by them. After that time frame, it becomes a 1:6 chance.
A Good sentient being - as above, but the sacrificer gains a permanent +1 bonus to a randomly determined stat for each Good sentient cast into the flame.
In each of the above cases, a fire demon (be it demon, efreet, or fire elemental) appears to the PC in a public setting - with witnesses - to congratulate the PC on joining it in its crusade against Good, then begins lashing out at random while calling to the PC to join it on a rampage. It will disappear before it can be gravely injured.
A magical creature - as sentient beings, but it is the Fey that are angered and come gunning for the sacrificer. Nightmares are the same.
A Good magical creature - as magical creatures, but sacrificer gains an immunity or power based on the specific creature sacrificed. Nightmares are the same.
Animals - the least of the evils. The animals whimper and scream and piss everywhere as they are picked up and cast kicking into the fire. Whenever a long rest is attempted, 1:6 means nightmares and night sweats disrupt the long rest.
PCs that stand by and let others cast living beings into the flame are culpable and become tainted, requiring atonement and perhaps a quest before falling back into the good graces of their deity (and themselves). They too, suffer nightmares, losing the benefits of a long rest 1:6 each long rest.
The second stanza suggests using other methods (typically knock or stone shape spells, but also brute force and anything else that doesn't involve a sacrifice) would be a poor decision.
And it is.
Dao, Monstrous Compendium, I think
Attempts to open the door trigger an ancient warding magic that summons an angry Dao (who is pissed because he has spent the last five centuries setting something up and the PCs have ruined it) and a full dozen earth elementals under the Dao's control. The earth elementals come out of the walls and up from the floor, surrounding the PCs and begin melee, while the Dao directs things from afar. One bit of direction it is partial to is having elementals try and knock PCs into the flame and immediate burnination.
Note that knock and stone shape and the other methods do, in fact, open the far door as surely as if something valuable was burned. It is that using such methods triggers the guardians. Defeating these guardians means looting them. While the earth elementals merely crumble into rubble (that may contain uncut gems at the DM's discretion), the Dao has more entertaining options.
Source not me. I would love to know, though, as I bet they have done other critters this way.
So either way, the door is opened, and the PCs pay for it in some way, shape, or form. If particularly wicked (or unthinking) PCs end up calling down an extraplanar crusade upon themselves to save a few gp, well, that seems a fitting response, and certainly beats some alternatives.
A good megadungeon should have its own rumor table. A table that changes and grows based on PC (and NPC) actions.
The mechanic I'll be using is to allow each player one roll, plus an additional roll per Charisma stat bonus, at the start of each session beginning in Skara Brae (which should be most, if not all, of the sessions). Whether or not the PCs share the rumors they learn with the others is on them.
Which means that I'll either need to prep things ahead of time using note cards, or do lots of writing as we go. The note cards seem the simplest method, while providing a useful tactile prop.
Greg Irons, from the AD&D Coloring Book, 1979
After all, some people, even adventurers, need external motivation, and good rumors provide just that.
As the picture suggests, the Green Dragon plays host to the ne'er-do-wells that fancy themselves adventurers in Skara Brae. Given its crowded confines and flowing alcohol, all sorts of things about the megadungeon might be overheard there, spurring the limited objectives that make a megadungeon campaign work. Marketplaces, shops, bathhouses, religious services, festivals, and the streets themselves are also potential places to overhear rumors. Hearing the same rumor repeatedly may lend credence to it, or might merely suggest a popular or fascinating bit of gossip.
The initial rumors list will be fairly close to this:
d20
Rumors (italicized words are false)
1
Watch the water that is not water, and beware the basilisk!
2
Old Ebeneezer Hardbottle will pay well for a live meazel - if such things actually exist.
3
My own shadow tried to kill me in the pillared hall; my friends' shadows did kill them.
4
The megadungeon connects to ancient tombs that predate Skara Brae.
I delved too deep and found myself in a large cavern with green
glowing fungi on the walls that danced and stirred. I could make out a city in the distance!
8
There is an unguarded entrance to the third level near the forest lake.
9
Statues down there are far more than odd art.
10
Tristan's bride-to-be Isolde was kidnapped and her dowry stolenby the bandits on the first level.
11
A flaming sword was lost to the orcs on the first level.
12
A treasure-laden funeral barge floats on a vast reservoir on the tenth level.
13
Cadmael Addewid is an elf of his word - just be careful as to what that word is!
14
The Church of Starry Wisdom keeps its treasure vault on the second level.
15
The goblins of the first level can be bargained with.
16
Ghosts of those slain in the dungeon still wander its halls.
17
Angeber Loweherzen swore to eradicate the bugbears of the second level. He, his flaming sword, and his companions haven't been seen since.
18
Wicked and depraved cults still practice their foul worship in the darkness.
19
I followed stairs deep into the darkness of the seventh level, but ran when I realized the stairs had been chiseled from the bottom up!
20
The dungeon is alive - and it hates us!
The falsehoods have yet to be fleshed out. Replacement rumors will be generated between sessions. This may or may not result in nested subtables, as I number the notecards 7a, 7b, 7c, etc.
I already have ideas for the truth behind rumors #8 and #10. #16 means I need to reconfigure the wandering monster table(s) with a ghost subtable.
#13 references the leader of the bandit/berserker faction on the first level, while #1 was lifted directly from the Dungeon of Dread. I may need to reread that book.
It seems that The Church of Starry Wisdom has a toe-hold in Skara Brae; I will make time to reread some Lovecraft. Rumors that span the levels suggest that some adventurers have made it that deep and returned to tell of it. Those same rumors also suggest that the megadungeon is deeper than imagined.
Basically, a good rumor table builds the world while providing players/PCs with focused options of what to do next. Similar things can be accomplished through job boards and the town council and such, but I prefer the simplicity of a few dice rolls and then off to adventure. With gaming time at a premium, maximizing the adventuring is crucial.
Archaeology Graverobbing can be a lucrative hobby, both in the real world and in D&D-land. Grave goods tend to be durable and valuable: silver, gold, gems, lost knowledge, weapons, and in D&D-land, magic.
The major difference between archaeology graverobbing in real life and D&D is the threat level, because undead are only a threat in D&D-land. D&D being D&D, undead are practically a guaranteed hazard of graverobbing.
Undead:
"Undead are evil creatures that have been created through dark magic. They are unaffected by things that affect living creatures, such as poison, and are not affected by spells that affect the mind, such as sleep and charm person. They do not make noise." (B44)
Basic Undead are Ghoul, Skeleton, Wight, and Zombie. Expert adds Mummy, Spectre, Vampire, and Wraith to the list. Shadows can be found in Basic, but are not undead.
Expert also expands and slightly changes the definition of Undead, to read:
"Undead are evil creatures that have been created through dark magic. All were once living beings. They are unaffected by things that affect living creatures, such as poison, and are not affected by spells that affect the mind, such as sleep, charm person, and hold. Undead usually do not make any noise." (X41)
The final sentence of both definitions means undead make excellent ambush monsters. Silent. Usually.
Jim Holloway, from B4
What makes the undead truly frightening isn't so much the silent waiting, the special attacks (paralysis, level drain, disease, or other), or the need for silver and/or magic weapons to hit them, though. It is the Morale score of 12 that most of them have (Ghouls 9, Spectres and Vampires 11) that is terrifying. For readers that are unfamiliar with Morale, a score of 12 means that undead never retreat or quit. They just keep coming. (As an aside, if you don't use Morale rules, give them a shot and make combat fun and unpredictable again - or at least potentially shorter).
Yes, clerics can turn undead, but they cannot do it often or continually. So the threat of a unending horde of undead assailants - especially if backed into a corner or other dead end - is a palpable one, especially if PCs are a lower level.
Those eight undead won't be the only undead in the megadungeon, though. I recently read something at The Manse about ghosts, and I like it enough that I am adding such ghosts (in a nested subtable) to the random encounter tables for my megadungeon. So more undead; this plays into what is already on the rumor table.
In addition to those ghosts are the undead variations from BECMI and AD&D, because converting isn't that difficult. Ghasts, banshees, coffer corpses, sons of Kyuss, liches, and more will all eventually be found somewhere in the depths. What are now the classics.
All this is important (to me) because there is a semi-hidden passage right off of the first level that leads to a series of crypts, tombs, and catacombs dedicated to an ancient and best forgotten deity of death and decay. What I am planning is a multi-level sublevel, because I dream big. I'm intending to use the sussurus from the Lichway adventure as a set up, because what self-respecting adventurer wouldn't attack a spiky humanoid-shaped thing that does nothing but make noise and attack sources of open flame?
Fiend Folio, 1981
Of course, this sublevel has its own entrance to the surface, still used by the cultists that dwell in Skara Brae. It occurs to me that run-ins with the cultists should lead to players/PCs recognizing some of the slain cultists as people they have dealt with: innkeepers, shopkeepers, etc. Inevitably, some of the slain should still be seen alive and well on the surface, leading to doppelgangers or something worse.
As to why the PCs would be exploring this sublevel to begin with, well, that is the point of D&D as I see it: exploration. With exploration comes risk, but also rewards.
And those rewards are what draw the PCs down deeper, darker corridors and stairwells.
A few decklists are still at MTGSalvation; I had several others at EDHRec, but it seems they purged members at some point, and mine got zapped. I have started a new account at Deckstats, so a few can also be found there. I've linked what is out there, but most simply don't exist outside my vague memories. That said, most such decks kind of build themselves.
Akroma, Angel of Fury - red goodstuff and big mana
What isn't counted are the legends that have (or have had) deck bits set aside for eventual decks that never saw completion. Also ignored are the legends that are worthy of being commanders that I slip into the 99 for various reasons.
Full disclosure: many of these decks were inspired by a decklist and/or primer on MTGSalvation. Some are entirely homegrown, but most are - at least somewhat - net decks. And I am okay with that. A fine side effect of netdecking is that you quickly learn what cards are good or not, based on others' experience. When it comes to spending money on painted cardboard, getting bang for your buck is the only smart way to spend.
A quick scan reveals that I am partial towards mono- and bi-colored decks. This is chiefly because the landbase is simpler. In the case of monocolored decks, I grab 28 appropriate basic lands (each a different image, to include some sweet APAC and Euro lands) and 8-10 nonbasics for utility, and I am done. Other decks follow a similar pattern, with the lion's share of lands being basics. Not only is this easier on my wallet, but it spares me the pain of a Ruination or Blood Moon. Granted, these are only threats when people play using my other decks, but still...
The drawback to running mostly basic lands in a deck with more than one color is the threat of being mana-screwed, either out of a color or just in general. Opponent strategies can exacerbate landscrew, but that is the cost of playing Magic. Artifacts help in this regard, with Chromatic Lantern being a key piece of a 3-5 color deck, and the assorted Signets and Talismans helping immensely.
Regardless, monocolored decks dominate, which means card overlap in regards to 'staples'. Some, like Erebos, Gonti, and Horobi are wildly different, due to interactions with the commander. Others, like Poulkranos, Selvala, and Iwamori are basically the same strategy, so many of the same cards appear in the decklists.
If I were attempting to keep all of these decks assembled, I would either go broke with the multiple copies (especially Sol Ring and certain fancy lands), print lots of proxies, or have some amazingly slow and overall bad decks in continual need of tuning. Luckily, I gave up on that plan years ago when I sold off cards, keeping only an irregularly supplement Commander Box. Keeping myself limited on available staples keeps me from having decks that are too similar in strategy built at the same time.
Part of building a campaign world includes names and naming conventions of people, and ideally, places.
Some people, notably author David Eddings with his Belgariad series, among many other authors and works, may create their own naming conventions.
I am not that clever, so instead assign real-world names to different groups, then use lists of appropriate names and baby name generators for NPCs and suggested PC names. Kate Monk's Onomastikon comes in handy with the names that no one names their chirren anymore.
For example, in the Ironguard Campaign, the majority of human names were either German or French, with a merchant family using Italian naming conventions. Elves were Welsh and Gaelic, while Dwarves were Norwegian. Had the game not folded, the players may have discovered that skulls of historical occultists made up the Bone Library, as well as providing names for the Butterfly Vampires (yes, Kyle, the other five would have made appearances at some point - Chaos was waxing, after all!)
In Skara Brae and its megadungeon, I foresee heavy use of Magic the Gathering character names, rounded out with a hodge-podge of names that I can pronounce easily from a mix of real-world cultures. This works because most of my anticipated players also play Magic, and because pronounceable are preferred. That said, anagrams of player names are acceptable, as are mere backwards spellings - Neb has been the name of more than one of my PCs through the years, and I see no issue with others continuing such a tradition.
Surnames can follow old traditions and be based on parentage (Olafsdottir, Erikson), home of record (von Lufstadt), or occupation (Weaver, Fletcher). Kennings and pseudo-kennings work as well (Waverider, Kegtapper, Steelheart, and the like).
Names are important to me, because nothing derails a game faster than player-assigned nicknames for NPCs. I've seen it happen, and have happily instigated and participated in such behavior, and much of it is due directly to names with too many syllables, and/or lots of Xs, Zs, hyphens and apostrophes.
Adventuring is a dangerous business. Not just because an adventurer can end up dead in any number of painful nasty ways, but because they can turn into a monster themselves, although not how Nietzsche implied.
The most common means to become a monster involve vampires and lycanthropes, although other undead, curses, and polymorph spells can turn one monstrous as well.
At a gaming table, there are two main ways to approach this: let the player run the PC when it is changed, which has its merits - and its own gamesystems. The other option is what happens in my world: the PC becomes an NPC. Permanently, in the case of vampirism (and other undeadness), or only temporarily, when the change comes upon the PC.
I would argue that BX expects run-ins with Vampires and Lycanthropes, based on the updated equipment list in the Expert book. The Equipment list adds Mallet and Stakes (3), Garlic, and Wolfsbane (bunch), to the Mirror for some specific monster answers. These are lifted straight out of folklore and Hammer films. Note the Garlic is 5gp for an unspecified amount, so I am picturing a string of garlic bulbs. If nothing else, the iron rations will taste better.
Vampirism (and other undead)
To become undead, first one must be dead. This being DnD, the death was likely sudden and violent.
Once dead, someone (typically a necromancer) ensorcells your remains, binding your spirit to them, potentially pulling it back from the afterlife, to dwell in torment as your physical body is forced to execute the necromancer's whims until someone or something puts you down permanently. This is the most common source of undead in my world (and also why necromancy is Evil).
That said, necromancers aren't the only source of undeath in my world. Curses from places, beings, or items may result in the cursed rising as undead upon their eventual death. Stronger undead can simply create more of themselves by slaying living creatures: wights, specters, wraiths, and vampires. It is even whispered by some in Skara Brae that rituals exist that transform a willing being into one of the undead.
Despite the best efforts of some awful fiction - books and the movies they spawned - vampires are monsters, first and foremost. Buffy knows this, as do Blade, Solomon Kane, and the Winchester brothers. While these five may not be residents of Skara Brae, their purpose (and perhaps in-game clones...) does reside there, in the form of individuals, a temple, and at least one order of hunters.
Clyde Caldwell, cover of I6 Ravenloft, 1983. Who doesn't want to stake this guy?
Monsters are the DM's purview, so that is why once a PC turns undead, they slip into NPCdom. If a player wants to play a vampire, I'll recommend they try a different table and probably ruleset.
Lycanthropy
Sticking to the BX rulebooks, the only lycanthropes found are the sneaking wererats, brutish wereboars, murderous werewolves, capricious weretigers, and friendly-ish werebears. BX also features the Devil Swine, which are man-eating spellcasting monsters. Between myth and other games, there are far more potential weres. Ananasi (from White Wolf) are the first lycanthropes I'll convert, if only because they are in the Ironguard Campaign which takes place to the east of Skara Brae, in a land where 5e dominates. As needed, I will dip into the AD&D Monster Manual and other books for additional choices (2e has many more options).
I am considering implementing the rule where only humans can contract lycanthropy, and all other races just die horribly from it. That said, subdividing which races can become which types of lycanthropes could be a fun/useful/amusing approach in a more lycanthrope-centric game.
Regardless, contracting lycanthropy isn't something to seek out in my world, because not only is the transformation painful, as the video suggests, but it also results in carnage that most PCs and players would rather not want.
From American Werewolf in London, 1981
Lupin transforms in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 2004
Furthermore, once the change takes place, there is a temptation for the DM to dictate precisely what the now-NPC were does, but I find it far more entertaining to let the player roll a die on this d30 table from Telecanter, What You Did While You Were a Werewolf (as an aside, all of Telecanter's things are worth a look). Granted, different weres should have their own tables (the werebear one will have something to do with giant bees and honey, or a mead brewery), but the inspiration and overlap begins here.
If I were a better blogger, I would add a table or pdf covering one or more of the other weres, in Telecanter's style.
Bernie Wrightson
Unlike vampires, lycanthropic changes can be gradual in nature, and these changes leave the PC in the player's control. The movie Wolf does this in fine fashion, regarding enhanced senses.
Speaking of movies, the 1981 American Werewolf in London is worth watching, if only for how it treats lycanthropy. Seeing the ghosts of everyone he has slain in wolf form is just icing on the cake and the fodder for a one-on-one game, perhaps. Dog Soldiers is another great werewolf film. These are the films that inspire my thinking.
So let the PCs get infected with lycanthropy, then make them fear the full moon, if only because other adventurers will hunt them down with fire, silver, and magic.
Skara Brae and its Megadungeon
Both vampirism and lycanthropy can spawn lots of in-game objectives and role-playing - putting down the friend-turned-monster or finding a cure, and temporarily binding the were-PC until the cure is effected can take several sessions, between research, acquisition of needs, and putting the needs to practice. A simple Remove Curse is unlikely to cut it.
Should the PCs feel they are too low-level to tackle a vampire or werewolf alone, perhaps due to vampiric level drain, the looming threat may span multiple sessions and result in all sorts of changes to Skara Brae itself. If word gets out that the PCs are the cause and source of the current troubles, well, things will get interesting, indeed.
I already intend for wererats to lair on the second and third levels, wereboar (loose) allies to the orcs throughout, and werewolves lurking as humans or wolf-people here and there. I see weretigers (and devil swine) as being more interested in Skara Brae itself, although the wererats can be found in the city as well. I'm unsure about the potentially friendly werebears, perhaps on the outskirts of town or in a cave near the surface, no doubt with giant bees nearby.
Vampires will initially be bound and sealed away, but PCs being PCs, the vampires will be freed one by one. They'll be freed because there is something about a sealed sarcophagus covered in warnings, yet radiating magic, that cries out to PCs to open. Perhaps as a thank you, the vampire will only kill one or two of its rescuers before fleeing to Skara Brae proper.
At my brother's urging, I downloaded MtG: Arena last week, and have been enjoying the daily quests and picking up random packs and earning decks.
Of course, playing with real cards for 20+ years, Commander and no-format (beyond basic 60-cards, no more than 4 of each) at that, has greatly spoiled me. For all the neat cards and themes in Standard, there are so many bits of utility and awesome that I cannot access, and that makes me sad. As always, drawing more cards is king, and there are several go-to options that simply aren't in Standard.
Not being able to buy singles is rough, but the Wild Card system (and the knowledge that other nonpayers have the same issue) works well enough, especially for filling out playsets of commons. The Arena-only cards threw me for a loop, but I can appreciate them, particularly Soulhunter Rakshasa.
To be honest, I didn't realize there were Arena-only cards until I went to add Soulhunter Rakshasa to a buy list. So I contented myself with using a Wild Card to copy it. Several newer cards that I was unaware of DID end up on that list, however. Colossal Majesty, Winged Words, and Return of the Wildspeaker are all on to-buy lists. The latter is my favorite type of green draw - burst.
I don't foresee not playing, because Arena makes a nice solo game and does a fine job of enforcing all the rules and making me realize how much I gloss over when playing casually. By this, I mean that if I am holding an instant of any sort in my hand, it checks to see if I want to cast it. Even if it is irrelevant. Which means extra button mashing. First world problems.
Another quirk is that since my opponents are all live, some of them take forever to make a decision. Protip - if I have no creatures in play and no cards in hand, just swing. My impatience is tempered a bit with the knowledge that Arena will time out in the middle of a match, but if you log back in quick enough, it takes you back to that match.
So just maybe, some of my slower opponents have been dealing with that. I keep this in mind when they hesitate. I am less forgiving of the opponents that scoop, preventing me from completing quests early. Be it casting X amount of specific color spells or attacking with X creatures, opponents bowing out early sets me back a game.
I'll continue playing Arena, though, if only to pass time. By refusing to pay actual money for any of it, I am almost forced to only use it for this reason. Now that I have figured out how to add people I know and directly challenge them to matches, I am far more willing and interested in playing. I've pushed through the various 'deck winnings' challenges, so have a small wealth of cards, supplemented by the packs I get; if nothing else, I'm looking forward to dueling my brother up in Ohio.
I spend too much time on Facebook, mostly posting and responding in All Things DnD, D&D DMs Only, and Dungeon Craft, although I also belong to several other groups.
Mostly though, I just respond.
Often, those responses are links to the same sites, time and again. I see myself as some sort of proselytizer for old school thinking. Maybe I am more like a Sage; if so, I should start charging. I think the going rate is 25gp per day? I can live well on that.
Sage of Lat-Nam, Pete Venters, 1994
Anyhow, here are the top links I provide other gamers, mostly 5e-only gamers, around to a better way of gaming (how arrogant of me).
Dungeon Checklist - for when people ask about crafting a dungeon or adventure.
A Comprehensive Guide to Secret Doors - this is more than secret doors; it addresses player agency. There are several links (in)directly addressing player agency over rolling dice.
Planning a Campaign as a Series of Decisions - sometimes fledgling DMs (or veterans that have yet to homebrew their own campaigns) ask for advice on this front. They get this link.
Cascading damage dice and "I know a guy" are some of my favorite house rules, and I preach them accordingly. Threads about favorite house rules are regular enough that I discuss these.
Traps 1, Traps 2, Traps 3, Traps 4, Traps 5 - it is amazing how many people ask for help designing traps. I leave Grimtooth references to others, and have yet to be disappointed.
On occasion, hexcrawls come up in discussion, typically alongside West Marches campaigns. I share this, this, sometimes this, and this, and then this lovely document from d4 Caltrops, with the caveat of checking the blog for more, so very much more. If you like random tables and terrain-based hexes, go explore the blog d4 Caltrops. Along the way, I am likely to suggest Hexenbracken as a sample of a hexcrawl. d4 Caltrops often gets referenced alongside Papers & Pencils advice on Structuring Encounter Tables.
Other occasions see people asking about megadungeons, and I smile. I typically start with Dungeon Fantastic (solid advice, despite being for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy), then follow it up with the Dragonsfoot and Knights-n-Knaves Alehouse Megadungeon forums, because these three sources are what primarily motivated me to craft my own megadungeon. Sometimes, though, people want examples, so they get this from Kuroth's Quill.
Telecanter's random tables (primarily the werewolf and creepy commentary ones) and Dyson's extras (primarily the uniquely undead one) come up often enough in discussions on lycanthropy and undead. The tables on d4 Caltrops that don't involve hexes, may be referenced as well, particularly the magic item related ones.
Speaking of Dyson Logos, most folks know him for his free maps. Paratime Design has Friday Freebies maps that have inspired (and continue to inspire) my meager attempts at dungeon design. Jog Brogzin's aren't free, but are worth mentioning.
Even before the release of Candlekeep, people have wanted to run adventures in libraries, to which I suggest the Stygian Library (and its automated generator) and this list of magical books. Those wanting adventures not in libraries get sent to Ten Foot Pole, home of the best reviews on the internet. The last actually caused someone to block me, as they asked the group to review their stuff, and I suggested letting Bryce do so.
All that said, there was a brief point in time where lots of folks were planning archmages' and lichs' lairs and plans. They got this and this as references.
Maybe it is the teacher in me that wants to point folks towards better explainers than myself. Whatever the reason, these can be incredibly useful posts.
The point of this post is to both provide resources to my few readers and to provide me a reset point when I inevitably get a new phone and my saved bits all go away. I know that it seems I am a Goblin Punch fanboy, but I promise it is only a little bit.
These are similar to monsters in lairs, in that they account for items 2, 3, and 5 on the Goblin Punch Dungeon Checklist, but unlike laired monsters, these wanderers are unlikely to carry treasure, so in a game of XP=GP, they are merely a drain on resources or a chance to gain information. Smart and/or cautious players/PCs will simply hide (to ambush or avoid) or retreat from approaching creatures.
Random encounters are an excellent time to use the Monster Reactions I discussed here. Another need, however, is encounter distance. Just like in real life, we can see things and people at a distance, and react accordingly. In the megadungeon, this is also possible, although the underground twisty-turny nature makes encounter distances shorter. B/X recommends 2d6x10 feet away (B23) and that is good enough for me.
Keep in mind that a good encounter table isn't just creatures (from local lairs or not), though, but also sounds, smells, and spoor from them.
Papers & Pencils does a good job breaking down encounter tables, in a fashion worth emulating, and I'll be using at least some of it - the parts about factions, at least. The bits about wizards and dragons, though, seem better suited to outdoors adventures. The Retired Adventurer has his own procedure for Wandering Monsters, which incorporates various monster spoor.
As long as I can work in sounds and smells alongside actual creatures, I think my random table of wandering monsters should work well enough to both build belief and tension.
by Shabazik on DeviantArt
For this first dungeon level, I already have a rough idea of what is prowling about: lone meazels looking for a meal, lone bugbears up from level 2, small patrols of orcs and kobolds seeking trouble and one another, single rust monsters looking for food (and a friend), and a few other beasties with and without permanent lairs.
Rust Monsters are pretty much puppies that eat metal, and act accordingly in my world.
Noting if a creature has a lair (simply adding the words 'from room #' next to the entry) does two things: build verisimilitude and help me, the DM, know how to treat the creature(s) if they are parleyed with. A hunger-machine is trying for food, while a patrol of orcs may talk, especially if encountered outside their territory or the PCs look strong.
Also on the table is the entry roll on the second level wandering table because on occasion, a tougher monster might have followed some stairs up. Bugbears, ghouls, and the like. This entry implies I have a Level 2 table ready.
2d6
Level 1 Wandering Monsters
Spoor #1
Spoor #2
2
NPC adventuring party (roll on adventurer table)
footsteps, light
chalk marks on walls, litter
3
Meazel (from lair)
humanoid bones
drag marks
4
Rust Monster
shuffling and sniffling
nonmetal fittings from last meal
5
Fire Beetles
clicking, glowing
wall fungus gone below a certain point
6
Giant snake
that snake smell
shed skin
7
Orcs (from lair)
tramp of boots, voices, drums (used to communicate)
fire light, litter and graffiti
8
Rats, Giant
squeaking, chittering
rat shit everywhere
9
Kobolds (from lair)
muffled yipping, barking
smells like wet dog
10
Stirges
buzzing
dried out rat corpses
11
Carrion Crawler
smell of rancid meat
slimy egg sacs
12
Roll on the second level wandering monster table
Some notes on spoor - for the table, these are less permanent signs of passage. Empty rooms, monster lairs, and maybe some specials will feature the more permanent types of spoor.
A note on nested subtables - I like them. Here is the referenced NPC adventurer table:
d6
NPC Adventuring Party
Condition
Objective
1
C Rafe's Knaves
Exhausted, casualties
General exploration
2
C Sword and Staff
Battered, casualties
Following a map
3
N the Foaming Flagons
Battered, no casualties
Seeking way up/down
4
N the Yellow Cloaks
Has one good fight left in them
Roll on PC objective table
5
L the Silver Shields
Ready
Following a rumor
6
L the Beacons of Light
Rested and ready
Leave dungeon
Precise definitions of conditions is up to the DM.
This adventuring party table requires 3d6 be thrown, 1 to determine the party, 1 for their condition, 1 for their objective. Note that their condition may influence the objective to the point where a die roll for this is unnecessary. By using the same parties (until one is wiped out entirely), the campaign grows its own rivalries and friendships, and these prior relationships (perhaps established or continued in the streets and taverns of Skara Brae) provide more opportunities to roleplay. If never before encountered, then reaction rolls are crucial.
In fact, if your table makes use of the "I know a guy" house rule or some form of social contacts where the contacts are nebulous until one is needed and defined, one or more PCs may already be acquainted with one or more members of any given NPC party.
On occasion, a new party will need to be added and an old one removed. Especially if veteran and/or canny players realize that rival adventuring parties are hands-down the best source of magical items, and start gunning for them. Then again, sometimes that shoe is on the other foot and the battered PCs are targeted for their magic items.
This unlucky pair has encountered a giant snake - Jim Roslof, from Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Regardless, the specifics of the six rival parties are not detailed in this post. Suffice it to say that these parties do not consist entirely of first level NPCs, nor are they exclusively the listed alignment - they are just stacked in that direction.
The last entry on the table implies a need to have the second, and probably third, level wandering monster tables ready before play - better safe than sorry.
All the wandering monster/random encounter tables need to have a mechanic for deciding when to roll on them. For many games this is a set time interval. The Angry GM suggests using triggers instead, because tracking time to this degree can be tedious. Frankly, I rather like that idea.
Take advantage of how random encounters can help shape your game world.
