YOU CAN KEEP YOUR BORDERLANDS: Adventure Suggestions for Those New to the OSR

While many assume the OSR is dead, you would not know it from the discussion on Bluesky generated by Yochai’s OSR starter packs feeding into the OSR Feed. Among the discourses that have cropped up in recent weeks, one was very useful in triggering responses that act as a measure for the current state of the non-AD&D focused, BX-leaning, and OD&D-inquisitive post-OSR (?) portion of the OSR. That question was: What’s a good starting module for players new to OSR play (and I don’t like Keep on the Borderlands)?

What followed were several suggestions. Given that social media is ephemeral, I wanted to solidify this list in the petrifying gaze of a blog for ease of reference and sharing. This would also constitute a Christmas post as it's a list of things you can buy in the month of December. [edit] I've expanded the list to a even 20 so if you can't decide what to run/buy just roll a 1d20 and consult the table below:

1. Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier by Gus L.
2. Through Ultan’s Door by Ben L.
3. Lair of the Lamb by Arnold K. (free)
4. Hole in the Oak by Gavin Norman
5. Tomb of the Iron God by Matt Finch
6. Waking of Willowby Hall by Ben Milton
7. Sinister Secret of Peacock Point by Brad Kerr
8. Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack
9. Hideous Daylight by Brad Kerr
10. Demon Driven to the Maw by Brad Kerr
11. Winter’s Daughter by Gavin Norman
12. Barrow of the Elf King by Nate Treme (free)
13. Sleeping Place of the Feathered Swine by Logan
14. Rot King’s Sanctum by Emiel Boven
15. Tomb of the Serpent Kings by Skerples (free)
16. Prison of the Hated Pretender by Gus L.
17. Rise of the Blood Olms by Yochai Gal (free)
18. Nightmare Over Ragged Hollow by Joseph R. Lewis
19. Goblin With A Raygun by Goblins Don't Wear Shirts (free)
20. The Smoking Pillar of Lan Yu by Kevin Crawford

Have a suggestion on an adventure you think should be added? Feel free to drop it in the comments.

AS THE WORLD TURNS: Retrocloning the Regional Events Tables

Oriental Adventures is a TSR publication often noted for two things. The one I want to talk about today is its regional events because the other has been far better handled elsewhere and regional events are relevant to a recent problem I had at the table: when returning to your game world after being gone IRL 4-6 weeks, shouldn't something change in-game? And what good are these events for your table?

I. AS THE WORLD TURNS (YEARLY EVENTS)

Okay, as a general principle, most D&D games do not last years. Those that do last years are a rarity, and I say that as someone currently participating in a multi-year game. So what practical use is a table of yearly events for ~75% of campaigns?

I believe a yearly event table can help to provide a specific overall game-defining world event ("world" here being earth-encompassing or just "regional") which may or may not have a specific mechanical impact. For example, a campaign starting in a year of famine would be very different than one that starts with the arrival of the ambassador from the stolen moon. These events provide a sense of scale of the PCs to consciously or unconsciously judge their place in the world. For OSR games this enhances the idea that your players are starting as nobodies trying to make their place in the world. 

Practical Use In A Campaign: But it also helps the PC calculate the impact of their actions. For instance, if the yearly event is a political plot and they happen to rob a runner of one of the political groups then they immediate understand who might be after them and who might pay handsomely for the information they just gained.

Here is the above table converted into a d20 table for convenience. With yearly events, I'm not concerned with precise weighting in so much as I am concerned with interesting events. After all, I will not be rolling on this table a lot.

YEARLY EVENTS (1d20)

Ambassador

Assassination of a Lord

Birth

Comet

Death of a Lord

Earthquake

Famine

Fire

Flood

Incursion

Marriage

New Religion

Plague

Political Plot

Rebellion

War

Visitation

Volcano

Missing Constellation

Dragon

II. GUIDING LIGHT (MONTHLY EVENTS)

Monthly events are divided into three different types. I don't like the titles so I'm gonna list them as Political, Natural, NPC. Once we have a year-event, we can further define it impact by rolling one of the columns of the monthly events for each month of game time. 

I'd not try to precisely define each Yearly Event long these three categories as a lot of the entries could be interpreted multiple ways. A "comet" result for instance could be a natural event or a political one (as a sign from the gods). The red comet in Game of Thrones has multiple meaning for different groups.

Practical Use In A Campaign: Monthly events help define the impact of the Yearly Event. So what a comet appeared? If its just mentioned once its a throwaway, but if in the same month, a strange birth happened followed by two months of incisions, one physical and one ethereal, well then it feels far more significant. Also monthly events can help an indecisive DM (Hi! Its me! I'm the problem its me!) know when to bring in factions, NPCs, or "things" they've been holding back.

But not only can this table help signal the start of events, but it can help signal the end of events as well. Perhaps a nice rule is that if you roll on the same event twice in a year it can signal the end of a previous event-- a rebellion gets put down or a monster is slayed. 

And even these endings don't have to signal an end to the energy an event creates. A quashed rebellion could mean that all subsequent bandit events are remnants of that rebellion (Firefly's whole plot) or a slain monster could give rise to a new hero, whose been given lordship over the lands the PCs are in (and that "hero" is a diiiick).

Let's also simplify this table into a d20 version. Again, I find d100 tables awkward, space-eating, and a little intimidating when I want a general framework that could be modified for different types of campaigns.

Political

1         Accident

2         Bandit

3–4         Birth/Death

5–6         Incursion, major

7–8         Incursion, minor

9         Injustice

10         Major Battle

11         Monster/Haunting

12–15      No Event

16         Person of Interest

17         Recruiting

18         Taxes

19         Troop Move

20         Uprising

Natural

1 Accident

2-3 Bad Harvest

4-5 Bandit Acivity

6 Birth

7-8 Death

9 Earthquake, Major

10 Taxes, Excessive

11 Fire, Minor

12 Flooding

13 Haunting

14 Monster

15 Injustice

16 Landslide

17 Maneater

18 Plague

19 Uprising

20 VIP Visit

NPC

1     Accident

2     Bandit Acivity

3-4     Birth

5     Death

6     Famous Person

7     Fire Minor

8     Haunting

9-10     Injustice

11     Maiden of Virture

12     Maneater

13-14    Mairrage

15-16    Notorious Criminal

17     Vengful Stranger

18-19    VIP Visit

20     No Event

III. THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES (DAILY/WEEKLY EVENTS) 

So a further subdivision depending on where your PC are currently adventuring. I honestly feel that the Wilderness and Ocean subtables are weak because they could easily be replaced by or would already be replaced by an existing random encounter table. Additionally, they could also be replaced by the other three event subtables here.

 

Practical Use In A Campaign: Weekly Events pull double duty depending on how the DM judges the proximity of the PCs to the Yearly or Monthly event. 

If the PCs are "close" either by actual distance or due to their actions, then the Weekly Event result might pertain to the Monthly Event (and by extension the Yearly Event) that has taken place. For example, if the monthly event was a crushed rebellion that occurred in the region, then "bandits" might be those exact rebels taking over surrounding area.

If the PCs are "distant" from the Yearly or Monthly event, then "bandit" might simply be an irritating collection of nar-do-wells or a goblin faction with be ideas moving out of the 1st level of the local dungeon.

Additionally, the results here can be more oracular in nature. For instance, "haunting" could be someone's past misdeeds coming to catch up to them or literally ghosts coming from the 3rd level of the local dungeon.

Unlike the prior two d20 tables, I used a 2d8 table for weekly events to implement a stronger weighting influence towards "nothing" as a DM will be rolling on this table frequently.  We don't want rolling on this table over shadow the PCs' own choices. Also, I use various carousing tables which are also events in themselves and PCs should be the biggest source of local headaches. Since I am writing this for my own Nightwick game, I might just stop at village/rural area and save the rest for later.

WEEKLY EVENTS in a RURAL SETTING

2 Haunting 1.56%

3 Crime 3.13%

4 Shrine 4.69%

5 Shrine 6.25%

6 Monster 7.81%

7 Bandit 9.38%

8 Nothing 10.94%

9 Nothing 12.50%

10 Nothing 10.94%

11 VIP         9.38%

12 VIP         7.81%

13 Stranger 6.25%

14 Stranger 4.69%

15 Crime 3.13%

16 Haunting 1.56%

IV. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 

Alright, so let's say we have a village located next to a hell-haunted megadungeon inside a local forest who's inhabitants' hearts are aligned with the old gods, so what is the major event that has happened this year? (Rolls d20)...15... Rebellion (political). 

You arrive at The Village during a time of unease. The Southern Kingdom has declared independence and separation from Church-held lands. Now each eyes the hamlets, villages, and towns in between these political powder kegs.

This month how has this rebellion manifested in the local environment? (Rolls d20)...8...Incursion, Minor.

Not wanting to be a pawn in the brewing war (Yearly Event), local forces aligned with the old gods have press-ganged local logging camps and sawmills into service and fealty. Building material are in short supply & current prices are doubled.

And has something specific happened this week related to the minor incursion associated with the rebellion? (Rolls 2d8)...3...Crime. Since the PCs are located near a Monthly Event, I'll interpret through this lens.

The Villages only inn is a buzz with rumors that the sheriff's son was captured by the pagan loyalists (Monthly Event) while other rumors say that it was agents of the Church who stole the boy away in the night (Yearly Event).

And there you have it! Regional Events. Now the environment surrounding the players feels more dynamic. And in 4-6 sentences, 3 factions, 2 problems, and a potential local hook as been introduced. That is quite the value generated from three tables and as many die rolls!

OD&D: Opium, Dunsany & Dreamlands Part IV, The Dreamer

This post straddles my prior dreamlands posts and the BX system I use frequently, hence the header. Click here if you'd like to see more of my dreamlands reskins.

THE DREAM MASTER

A while back I was running a home game for my family where I had two clerics PCs recovering relics and bodies in Dyson "mini-megadungeon". The reward for recovering these holy items was attracting more pilgrims to the Abbey who could serve all sorts of functions. One entry is for St. Nemo, who I had dubbed the "St. of Sleep" from the character of Little Nemo in Slumberland (the comic and 90's NES videogame). 

I believe it was Marcia of Traverse Fantasy who postulated that a good way to "humanize" the BX elf was to make them human dreamers who learned both sword and sorcery skills through the time-elastic properties of dreamlands. And while were are on the topic of reskinning the elf, I, of course, love Miranda's take on the MU-Fighter with Nightwick's Changing class.

But here is how I described my inital concept of the dreamer class in the post from session 6 of the "Super Cleric Bros." campaign in 2021: 

I might try to make Dreamers some sort of "thief" class. Improved move silently/hide in shadows. Maybe each adventure they can roll on a rumor-like table about their dreams which could be true or distorted (false). Or maybe they see an area like some sorta "treasure" map. Throw some sorta detect secret door as elf owing to a differential perception. Ooo maybe a dream journal, a spell book-like manual, that had random things the sleeper has recorded--- maybe occasionally Sleep, Darkness, and other illusion spells.

Re-reading, I remember my intent was to make a hireling or class that was focused on exploration and tools to get them out of scrapes. The dream journal was a way to feed hooks to the party via some underutilized methods like treasure maps that I think are little used. 

THE DREAMER

Some children are born during special confluences of the night skies. 

    Or with their souls not quite attached due to distracted Fates. 

        Or of parents that have a supernatural mark clinging to them like a burr.

            Or are an echo of a greater, god-fated child born in the same season.

The gods look at you like an iridescent, jeweled insect with your almost-importance. Your village looked at you like a languid cat who knows to many of their secrets. The court of dreams looks at you for the prism of possibilities you once were, are, and will (maybe) be. And so they whisper secrets to you under the cover of night about the endless fates you can bring-- patient governesses raising midnight royalty.

Restrictions

• HD: As Thief
• Weapons: As MU (dagger, club, staff, crossbow)
• Armor: As a Thief (leather, no shields)
• XP: As Thief (1200 xp to 2nd)

Special Abilities

Somnambulist: Move Silently, Hide in Shadows, & Detect Secret Doors 2-in-6; progress as a thief

Saw This In A Dream: Save as Halfing

Never Lost in the Underworld: Take the best result on any lost-in-dungeon table when required

Sand of Sleep: as Color Spray (3/day; 30' cone)

Dream Journal: In between adventures, the dreamer will produce 1 scroll containing knowledge gained from dreaming that has occurred. Any spells are written in the languages of zoogs, the cats of Ulthar, or servants of the Night Serpent Yg, thus unreadable by other MUs, elves, or clerics; roll 1d12:

1. Darkness
2. Sleep
3. Detect Magic
4. Mirror Image
5. Moonlight Ray (as Chromatic Orb-Pearl; range attack; 1d4 dmg & target glows 2d6 r)
6. Moths of Mog (as Fog)
7. Remove Fear
8. Cause Nightmares (as Fear)
9. Dreams of Wealth (gain a Treasure Map)
10. Dreams of What Could Be (roll on rumor table)
11. Dreams of Who They Want To Be (understand the want/fear/secret of an NPC)
12. Dreams of Your Misfortune (roll 2d20 & save those results to substitute with any d20 roll you make this adventure)

At 4th level, the Dreamer can build a Shrine to Sleep in a place where sunlight will not touch it; the PC now may commune with as many in the court of sleep (see below) as there are idols in the shrine (DM will rule via reaction checks, material quality of idol, and quality of burned offerings given)

• Dreamers may then cast as many spells as a cleric of the same level
• Each spell list will be composed of 6 spells thematically aligned to the idols in the shrine
• Loss of this shrine will result in loss of abilities

Or alternatively, here we could place maybe some more novel mechanisms than just spell casting by:

• Turn Illusions/Phantasms: enemy caster illusions now work for The Dreamer
• Dream Quest✤: those spending downtime can do a special carousing action (or roll on a Lost in Dungeon variant) to go on a dream quest for potential magic items they can bring into the real world as a sorta lucid dreaming

At 8th level, the Dreamer can build a Terraced Garden of Slumber only of plants that grow at night and as the shrine in a place where sunlight will not touch; gaining the title of a courtier of Sleep and inducted into the numinous game✤✤ the true fate of all dreamers

• The Gardens of Slumber will only be discovered under special circumstances as long as the gates of Wake, Nightmare, Sleep, and Dream are have an idol maintained
• The dreamer's garden will attract menagerie made up of dreamland creatures, lost legions, almost-dead sailors, occasional misplaced royal heirs, and one or two forgotten monsters (See OD&D "Stronghold" rules as a model for this list)
• Ghroth cannot be used an a gate idol as Ghroth is passing destruction
• Such gardens attract the attention of dreaming dragons, especially the monks of Graule, fay courts, followers of petty gods, and other dreamer's gardens

Appendix N(ight): The Court of Night/Sleep/Dreams: 

1. Hish- Lord of Silence, Owls, & Bats
2. Nodens- Lord of Depth & Spears
3. St. Nemo- Saint of Sleep, Dreamers, & Sailors
4. Yibb-Tstll- Lord of the Watching Dark & Spreading Black
5. Ghroth- The Nemesis Moon, Lord of Fitful Dreaming & Passing Destruction
6. Hypnos- Lord of Unconsciousness & Staves
7. Hecate- Lord of Terrestrial Night & The Moon-lit Woods
8. Nyx- Lord of the First Night, the Last Night, and the nights in between
9. Yg- The Night Serpent & Saint of Traps
10. Mog- Herald of The Final Sleep, Nightwalkers, & Moths

NOTES

✤ Dream Quest as a carousing option feels like a great post on its own. Especially as a way to make black lotus and other fantasy herbs and spices have a purpose in play. Or for any PC group that's like "Yeah my character rolls that up in a torn page from the wizard's spellbook and smokes it-- what happens?"

✤✤ I love this phrase and believe that I picked it up from Through Ultan's Door THE dreamlands publication by which my posts are a pale imitation.

CON REPORT: GameHoleCon 11 Day 3

 

Rounding out my final con report. While not the final, final day, Saturday was the last night for me running and playing games. On Sunday I did some catching up and a little bit of shopping in the dealer hall. 

Speaking of deals, THE BEST DEAL of the convention was the $10 Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG softcover rulebook. Smart move on Goodman Game's part to go so low, especially given the number of games they ran and the drop-in, drop-out 0-level charity tournament they were running.

NIGHTWICK ABBEY #3

In the final outing Federic (rogue), Frederic (fighter), Freddy (rogue), Quentin (changing), YinYang (magician), and Bob (cleric) delved into the Abbey in search of the vicar of Frogguts.

• The PC quickly got the better of some curious berserkers by fanning out and taking advantage of backstabbing, and then it also put the half-human quarter-dog quarter-sheep "thing" out of its misery quickly. 
• They deliberated for a bit which allowed two floating corpses to drift into the room and provide loud, cackling commentary on their predicament (DM NOTES: Kept rolling "indifferent" on their reaction) and suggesting heading south- which the PCs did only to cause Quientin the Changling to become possessed and running into a room full of the blind dead: We slam the door, hold it shut, and spike the door!

  

  Not a Sunday service you want to attend

  
  
• The party then doubled back and proceeded into a ruined laboratory with suspicious mounds of garbage, after a bit of searching, the moved to a room to the north littered with pages covered in bloody scrawl-- as red scratches formed on their skin, they proceeded to fight the XXXX which decimated 2/3 of the party
• The remaining 3 PCs escaped and decided to continue to delve deeper into the maw of this hell-mouth, which most immediately earned their magician a death in a pit trap and subsequent resurrection as a floating corpse which in turn strangled the remaining fighter!
• The cleric grabbed what shiny items he could and ran out of the Abbey, leaving his poor companion to his fate.
• SCORE: Silver Ending 0.5 Safe Vicar Ending 0; technically the cleric carried enough silver item out, but I feel if the Abbey's forces killing another 5/6 is an Abbey "win"; rooms covered: 9

THE JERRY STEFEK MEMORIAL CRAWL FOR THE CURE

What a perfect context for a charity and also a great way to show case old-school-oriented gaming. Basically, you made a $10 donation to receive a token and the minute a seat opened up near one of 3 DM, you sat down, and received an index card-sized 0-level DCC character sheet from what look like a stack of hundreds.

Yup- 3 hp and a stick (1d4-1 dmg). If you died, you rang a gong (FUN!) and were given another character. We aimed to assemble the lion of Mitra in DCC's take on Jennell Jaquays' Dark Tower. But it doesn't just stop there, you can also make further donations to gain boons and pass out banes to other players, the DM, or other parties (see below).

I played for about 2-hours and had a lot of fun! The DM's were fantastic and it was one of the most positive experiences I had at GameHoleCon. I hope this event can be replicated across numerous other cons throughout the country.

CON REPORT: GameHoleCon 11 Day 2

It was a fun second day (here's Day 1). I still don't think I have quite a good handle on how to navigate this con, but I did learn that if you run games, your name goes into a random drawing and you can get an RPG or boardgame prize when they draw your name. Saw some Heroquest stuff and a box of Mothership, that went quick, as well as a lot of other neat stuff. The seminars are something I am missing a lot of, which if I go next year, I'll certainly have to add more of. Apparently, GaryCon is where its at.

The other highlights were shaking hands with Zeb Cook and meeting Chris Perkins who is an incredibly genuine person, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to chat a little bit more with him.

NIGHTWICK ABBEY #2

The second group to brave the dread halls consisted of fighters Bonzo, Cadoc, Garath, and Arthur-- spiritually lead by Phylys the cleric and visually lead by Gunnar the dwarf (DM NOTE: 60% fighters so weird, but that's the fun of random character distribution).

• This group saved a carved-up "manimal" from the torture/vivisection/butchery of a large group of human skin-wearing maniacs; alas while the PCs staunched the poor souls bleeding (Really you're stoping my bleeding with old skin torn from those things?)  refused to carry the hobbled creature (Really you're gonna save me but not carry me?) so it went howling down the hall (Each step is pain! OoooOOooo! It would be nice to be carried! OoooOooo!) which earned it an axe in the back via Cadoc

  

  The water has a minty taste with maggot notes

  
  
• The PCs were pretty upset they were not finding more silver in the Abbey except for Arthur who became possessed after drinking from a fountain-- he started to become more worried about voices that were not his own; turning south they had to make a quick retreat when they stumbled upon a congregation of eye-less corpses all standing with swords drawn-- cleric welded the light of LAW and turn back those damned souls!
• Wandering around a little more the PCs were ambushed by maybe more manimals and shut into a room littered with pages of blasphemous nonsense and started suffering claw marks and welts on their arms, legs, and backs; they kicked the door violently in (the one not bricked up) and made their way back to the ruined laboratory where their would-be ambushed had left
• PC finally hit gold or rather a gold skull when they investigate another ruined lab, but become very worried when the dwarf Gunnar starts talking to himself after picking up the skull (Look, at least we can sell it)
• After a little more wandering the PC finally made their way to the Great Hall where they find the tied up vicar waiting to be served to four identical quadrupled-horned men; the PCs will have none of that and plan their attack! A pretty epic battle ensues with PC almost getting the upper hand until the monstrous Butcher fell a lead fighter with two chops from a large cleaver and the group is pincered by 5 floating, laughing corpses that got freed from an earlier scuffle.

  

  Begining of the End:
  Shame I didn't get a picture 5 mins after this was taken

  
  
• With 5/6 PC dead, the Butcher offers to spare the cleric and let him walk free from the Abbey-- if he personally blesses this most auspicious and (un)holy meals! The cleric does so-- and with the holy light of law draining out of him walks free from the Abbey haunted by the howls and jears of the laughing cadavers
• SCORE: Silver Ending 0.5 Safe Vicar Ending 0; technically the cleric carried the gold skull out, but I feel if the Abbey's forces kill 5/6 and make a cleric bless such a slaughts-- its an Abbey "win".

This group covered the most ground in a single con session having visited 11 rooms and still having enough in the tank to battle the Butcher. Well done! And with an epic ending! It was also nice to meet another player who had read this blog and was acquainted with Miranda's Nightwick from the session reports over at Mycelium Mischef (which my group has reached 99 sessions!)

INDEX CARD RPG

As someone who does use a lot of index cards, I was curious about this system. So I rolled up Holly Winterleaf (reusing a PC who previously died in OG Nightwick to green slime and an incredibly classic way). 

• PC creation is quick, the game mechanics are very intuitive
• I'm not sure I enjoy the flat target number that escalates as you move through a sorta 3-act structure; This is pretty opposite how I run games so it was the most jarring for me, but I know its a popular style of DMing
• I don't think it a bad rules-lite system, but encourages the DM to improvise a bit more which benefits more experienced DMs-- kinda the opposite of the intended effect I think for new DMs; I'll have to think on this more
• Did like the encouragement to use index cards to lay out a quick map or battlefield (see the picture above)

In total, I am interested in looking into Runehammer's other offerings our of curiosity I do think he does a good job encouraging creativity and DIY ethos. And playing games you normally would not pick up or run is a great use of CON time, especially since they often are run by referees who do love the game!

CON REPORT: GameHoleCon 11 Day 1

   

I am going to try to make these updates shorter and punchier so I can actually summarize each day's blog. This is my first GameHoleCon since last year I sighed up but live event prevented attendance. 

Its a farsight bigger than ReaperCon that is for sure. And judging from the guest list, more packed with D&D notables like Zeb Cook, Mike Mearls, and Chris Perkins. I am really hoping to run into Steven Jackson to get my copy of OGRE signed and Jon Peterson to shake his hand for a great job on Playing at the World.

FIGHT IN THE SKIES

Speaking of the development of D&D, the first game I participated in was Fight in the Skies. This is a WWI flying aces game invented by Mike Carr. The game is notable not only because its the only game played at every GenCon, but also a game it introduced (1) leveling and (2), despite being a wargame, does encourage you to playing your pilot as a character less a chit.

The game is played using a handful of d6's and d% dice. You roll initiative, highest moves but can't shoot at any plane that's not moved, you have to control speed and altitude, manage the length of time you fire your guns (longer = more hits) against jamming, and there is a critical table to roll on when you get shot.

All made easier by a number-filled, but handy tracker sheet which helps follow your turn by turn. After playing a couple of rounds, you get the hang of it. And its 2d6 format really drove home for me the origin of a lot of Battletech mechanisms-- although Fight has less going on. And I'm also not sure Fight is not easier to learn than X-Wing which seems simpler.

My pilot was Nim Blackcloud, but later would earn the name "The Blackcat" because despite being damaged and smoking (see the picture), I was able to avoid 3 turns of hot pursue and engine criticals roll a "0 00" and "98" to avoid them and in one turn my opponent roll a "6" when they needed a 1-5 to hit it me.

Alas "The Blackcat" died hitting the silks when trying to escape the field.

"Conga Line of Death": An opening common
formation given how close we were

My wingman attempts to draw off enemy forces

Looks complicated, but just contains a lot of useful info
once you know where and how to look

NIGHTWICK ABBEY

I do like running games as cons because I believe it is what helps strengthen them and evangelize the hobby. And also like demonstrating (hopefully) the strength and free-form nature of old-school gaming. 

As such two froglings, Rrrogerr and Hilthorp, along with Pread the fighter (and pig Queen Mab), Brambella the dwarf, Quarl the magician, and Cedrick the gravedigger descended into Miranda Elkins' Nightwick Abbey. Similar to ReaperCon, the goal for the PCs to either find the missing Frogguts vicar OR collect 600sp to pay to the Bishop as, um, a sorta restitution for losing said vicar. 

A murder of rats

So how did they do?

• Pread found a secret door resulting in their first 100sp, but Hilthrop getting his eye plucked out by some of the strange vermin that inhabit the Abbey
• The bang of frogling gonnes attracted the attention of several monstrous people smelling of sweaty groin and rancid meat; the party adopted the stance of being tax-collectors-- it looked bad but Pread was able to get some nice Follow-through actions in downing two of the individuals and the magician took out the last one with a crossbow
• The party turned north and stumbled into a ritual of performed by deer-headed creatures around some golden antlers (!); the party was excited by this potential score

Oh deer...men

• A valent fight, with the party almost being flanked by deermen from the left, but once again the party's fighter was able to pull off some amazing hits felling deermen left and right
• Suffering heavy losses, the deermen's MU put down the the fighter, Pread with a magic missle however the party's magician Quarl used ventriloquism and his diabolic language to force another morale check (DM NOTE: Felt like this was a good, clever combo to warrant the check) to scare off the remaining deermen
• Picking golden antlers, silver candlesticks the party was about to make their exit and almost got everyone strangled by a procession of floating rictus undead with unnerving smiles--- but the just got away (save for poor Hilthrop) via the Death & Dismemberment Table (DM NOTE: Despite the name, those tables generally extend PC lives)
• We don't talk about the pig...eyes too human, lips too soft, legs to, to long, and fingers so many...
• SCORE: Silver Ending 1 Safe Vicar Ending 0 (I'd say that's a win for the Abbey)

The players were a great group and I was happy to see everyone interested in Nightwick Abbey and wanting to know where they could look more into it! The player of Cedrick the gravedigger was even already a Nightwick Patreon member, but had yet to play it- so happy to given them a good experience!

PHILANTHROPY AS CAROUSING: Making Your Mistakes Other Peoples' Problems

artist: Jan Steen

I enjoy carousing options in general because they can add a bit of chaos to the predictable back-and-forth of megadungeon procedure. They are also a convenient mechanism to get factions into play with the PCs. And in terms of XP, carousing is a risk-infused double-dip* route with low DM overhead. Perfect.

Initially, the carousing tables I had were not uniquely differentiated beyond the save throw used and the "fail-state" tables. Eventually, in addition to the traditional carousing table for drinking and revelry, I added one that was MU research-oriented adapted from a Chris McDowell d30 table from KNOCK! This was perfect for fighter-types and magic-user types, but shortly after I was asked by Miranda of InPlacesDeep if I happened to have a Philanthropy table.

And that got me thinking about what would differentiate carousing based on philanthropy versus one based on revelry or magic research. I came up with two differences: one on my own and another after consulting with some folks on the Prismatic Wasteland Discord.

First Difference: the results on the failure table should affect social standing, create problems involving societal class, and generally affect the whole party. In return, I made this table a 1d8 x100sp for 1:1 XP reasoning that trouble treated for everyone should be worth the headache.

But this still didn't quite feel correctly dialed in because it was just a worse set of returns (potentially) than a regular carousing table. So I asked around and the general consensus was that it should be less about the PC gaining XP and more about building something in/around the community the PCs are in. As total XP accumulates, rewards are bestowed. This is a path that Downtime in Zyan, Ben L.'s very excellent book, takes. I've also explored this too in a related fashion with cleric shrines, reliquaries, and ossuaries.

Second Difference: now the philanthropy table is a way to pump money into institutions in a manner that places all the prestige on the PC, but the XP on named institutions. This fictionally occurs through various channels that avoid a lot a scrutiny by the Crown and Church at least initially. However, this re-routing comes with risk and misidentification and so allows me to still employ the table below:

PHILANTHROPY

DM NOTE: Problems created when contributing to philanthropy are those that affect money, social standing, and the whole community. RULES: The PC nominates which institution they are trying to direct money towards. Once declared, the PC spends 1d8 x 100sp, and then rolls a save vs paralysis: A pass means the institution gained that money and a fail, means that money was lost somehow- roll a 1d20 to figure out how:

1. TITHE TO THE CHURCH: Unfortunately the heretical branch, make all saves at a -1 unless your party contains a cleric from that church
2. INVESTMENT IN NEW INDUSTRY: Your contributions have added a new industry with an eye toward growth but not safety (all hirelings are now missing a hand for the next month; including any this session)
3. CHILDREN’S CRUSADE: Your work at the orphanage has earned you renown…among the children; many loud, joyous, and plump children join your party (encounter checks are 1-2 in 6)
4. UPSTART! The local lord is displeased at your attempts to gain influence above your station- you are jailed on spurious charges
5. I CAN DO THAT! An NPC the party interacts with has formed their own party to delve the dungeon (50% chance they die causing that NPC’s establishment to close)
6. SO MANY IN NEED SURELY YOU CAN SPARE MORE? Spend 1d6 x 100 sp more if you cannot pay, lose all your money, and gain a -1 to reaction rolls in town
7. FRATERNAL ORDER OF GUARDSMEN NEEDS YOUR HELP: Lose all your money
8. DUNGEON WILDLIFE FUND: Your money has helped preserve the unspoiled gygaxian naturalism of the dungeon (DM performs another restock procedure to the dungeon)
9. RIVAL TO THE KING: Your likeness is used quite extensively to promote regime change in the area, but don’t worry you don’t have to do any work nor have any input in this whole thing
10. MYSTERIOUS BUILDING APPEARS! With your generous funding, a windowless cabin has appeared just in the treeline outside of town (DM treat as a dungeon room of a level that is an average between the highest and lowest PC Fighter; 50% chance the single painting in the room leads to that level)
11. WIZ BIZ: An interest in the arcane arts has fueled risky experimentation– the sun is now a pale grey and the moon blood red (known MUs will be hunted by authorities)
12. BAD BLOOD: Donations to the scholarly pursuits reveal your family was involved in many of the past atrocities visited on the local area (-1 reaction, but gain one piece of lore)
13. SAINT OF LIES: Lose all your money in a relic scheme, and gain 100 false relics with teeth in them (all hirelings have missing teeth for a month)
14. LITERACY FOR ALL: No hirelings for 3 sessions- they know better
15. LINKLIGHTERS OF THE WORD UNITE: All hirelings demand wages equal to the highest one
16. DUNGEON CHIC: Your stories at dinner parties have made dungeon equipment a part of high fashion; equipment prices skyrocket to 10 times the value
17. NEW VICE: Your trade good investments have yielded a new fad in drinking “caffeey”: replace the drinking carousing table with: You are jittery, make a separate initiative roll for this session)
18. FOR THE CROWN: Spreading your wealth about town has raised questions about unpaid taxes (pay 10% of last session's total treasure haul)
19.  TAKE YOUR LORD ON A DELVE DAY: The source of your investments about town has reached the ears of the lord’s most worthless children; they want to honor you with their presence on this delve and participate in combat; they bring a squire– either’s death would bring much disfavor
20. PROBLEM SOLVER: If you agree to only ½ XP gained, then one pre-existing problem will come to a very bloody, public end immediately

I see a lot of bumps that need to be evened out but in the style of DIY and old-school scene spirit, I'll just press "publish" instead of worrying about it.

* Need because few adults over the age of 25 have the time to play weekly 8+ hour sessions as Gygax's original group did. And I'd rather not resort to alternative-level progression or Monte-haul treasure hoards.

A SIMPLE DUNGEON SETUP: What You Need & What To Buy

 

This one picture captures how
many of the below materials are used

Its easy to get caught up in buying an expensive terrain set to run miniatures-based games of D&D or other tabletop RPGs. But through trial, error, and a few con games, I think I have some solid suggestions that make for a good-looking, minimal setup that packs easily.

DOORS: 4 minimum, but 6-8 optimal; it sounds excessive be in dungeons I do find the PC are often able to investigate enough space in a turn to use all eight doors: The one they entered, 3-4 in a room, then opening one of those doors and being about to see 1-2 more; so often 6-8 on the table at a time

COLUMNS: 6-8 wooden thread spools; a common dungeon feature yet I am sure rarely accurately used but, again, are helpful cover

WOOD BLOCKS: 20 seems to work well in combination with dungeon tiles below; I think I picked this up from Questing Beast, but 1in x 1in wood blocks are really versatile as to what they can become in a dungeon: throne, table, collapsed wall, lever, door etc;

BOOKSHELVES: 1-2 bookshelves never hurts because these are often key searchable features; I know it seems very specific, but for some reason its the one thing I often reach for in a room.

ALTER & SUMMONING CIRCLE: One (1) each because they often are focal points for action; not super important because its easy enough to be made or represented by wood blocks, but if you find a nice looking one- its worth the purchase; can be combined with bookshelves for a wizard room or used as a table for a bar

ROCKS: 4-6 rocks you find off the ground or can steal from a planter can make good terrain or denote crumbled walls/statues in a space; good too if you have a large room and want a little more terrain inside

GLASS BEADS: 10-12 in colors blue, green, and 2-3 in red; clumped together its a pool, in a line a river, if its green they could be slimes; red could be status effects or animated blood or just "treasure thing here"

The making of a 30' x 20' cardboard tile;
start to finish shown on one tile (right to left)

CARDBOARD TILES: Like most of the US, you've undoubtedly received an Amazon packed in the last month or if you order some of the above, one or two will be on their way, but instead of throwing it away you can recycle it into dungeon tiles. Sizes I like (assuming 1in = 5ft square):

• 1-2 6in x 6in which makes a 30' x 30' room
• 2-4 6in x 4in which makes a 30' x 20' room
• 4-6 6in x 2in which makes a 30' x 10' room
• 4-6 2in x 2in which makes a 10' x 10' square
• 4-6 2in x 1in which makes a 10' x 5' rectangle
• The last two can be colored black on the back to use as room features

And there you have it! Fully functional modular dungeon terrain that packs pretty light and represents a lot of what you need. Now that you've read the list, scroll back up and see how things are used in the first picture!