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I just use one of the myriad random dungeon generators to find a layout I like, or use one of the 1 page dungeons and tweak it. There's dozens of 1 page dungeons that are a great size and variety, perfect for quick application. To stock a dungeon, there's a hundred random generators you could use on Abulafia for details, and that one guy who does all the d12 tables has tons of rich content to borrow and build out from on his blog. Even if you build one yourself from the DMG tables, I don't think you're going to end up with something better than you could get from a random online source. Or just design it without depending 100 percent on tables, though I find I can be more free style creative in designing the room contents, and creating the actual dungeon structure itself doesn't scratch any itch for me, hence using online stuff for the basic map.
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May 14, 2015 13:24
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There's also something called the Diagram Dungeon from Kevin Crawford's Red Tide campaign setting: Basically, since the exact physical dimensions of the rooms and corridors linking them are unimportant, all you really need to do is to establish which boxes link to what, and what each box contains. quote:In many cases, you’ll be dealing with a basic ruin, cavern, palace, or other structure that has several interesting rooms or locations within it and a set of corridors and connecting passages that just aren’t all that important. For these situations, you may wish to use a diagram dungeon instead. It’s much faster and easier to construct one than to draw out a conventional old-school map, and the trade-offs in accuracy might well be worth it for your group.
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May 14, 2015 13:38
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That Scarlet Heroes generation sounds really interesting. I backed the kickstarter but never read through it so I'll have to do that now
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May 14, 2015 14:38
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Scarlet Heroes (and in fact all the Sine Nomine stuff I've read) is really cool. If you want the solo system alone rather than the world building get Black Streams: Solo Heroes - that's free and has the system tweaks to make D&D solo-character friendly.
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May 14, 2015 14:50
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gradenko_2000 posted:There's also something called the Diagram Dungeon from Kevin Crawford's Red Tide campaign setting: Keith J. Davies did a nice take on this concept in his Node-Based Megadungeon series. There's also this old RPGNet thread, but unfortunately the image links expired.
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May 14, 2015 15:09
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gradenko_2000 posted:since the exact physical dimensions of the rooms and corridors linking them are unimportant Every room must properly suit its ecological niche in the architectual development of the dungeon entity! 
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May 14, 2015 18:37
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FRINGE posted:NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Red Tide straight up suggests rotating and flipping already used maps and floorplans to create new dungeons. It's not like the players will notice 
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May 14, 2015 18:46
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FRINGE posted:NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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May 14, 2015 18:51
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When I was still pretty heavy into the OSR stuff I was directed to this site where the blogger Kellri had put together some very nice PDFs for various dungeon design things. The Blog no longer has working links, but the blogger seems to have put them up on the following Dragonsfoot thread. They are for AD&D, but considering how compatible pre WOTC D&D is you should be able to find some use for them. They are linked on the third post down. The fourth one is probably the best of the lot. http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=69587 remusclaw fucked around with this message at 20:12 on May 14, 2015 |
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May 14, 2015 20:09
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remusclaw posted:When I was still pretty heavy into the OSR stuff I was directed to this site where the blogger Kellri had put together some very nice PDFs for various dungeon design things. The Blog no longer has working links, but the blogger seems to have put them up on the following Dragonsfoot thread. They are for AD&D, but considering how compatible pre WOTC D&D is you should be able to find some use for them. They are linked on the third post down. The fourth one is probably the best of the lot. CDD4 is a fantastic document. I actually got it printed as an actual book because it's so useful at the table. It's also great for generating basically anything, from treasure to ship cargo to random encounters in the astral plane to quests and things a magic statue might do. Highly recommended.
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May 14, 2015 20:36
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Crossposting from the KS thread, I'm sure most of you already know this but Jeff Talanian is currently running a KS for some new adventures for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, his sword & sorcery themed retroclone. The adventures are already written, so no worries there. It's already funded, so it's currently in stretch goal mode. Just as a point of interest, the dinosaur cover is drawn by Val Semeiks, the co-creator of Howard the Duck. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1806106772/hyperborea-adventure-three-pack
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May 26, 2015 07:59
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Lightning Lord posted:Crossposting from the KS thread, I'm sure most of you already know this but Jeff Talanian is currently running a KS for some new adventures for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, his sword & sorcery themed retroclone. The adventures are already written, so no worries there. It's already funded, so it's currently in stretch goal mode. Just as a point of interest, the dinosaur cover is drawn by Val Semeiks, the co-creator of Howard the Duck. that is surprisingly tempting(normally I don't get too excited about adventures besides ones for DCC), also reminds me that I really need to get a physical copy of ASSH one of these days(the pics I've seen of it look amazing, although if anyone here would like to give a review of it to help me decide whether I should buy it soon, or if I can afford to push it back for a while would be very appreciated)
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May 26, 2015 08:07
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drrockso20 posted:that is surprisingly tempting(normally I don't get too excited about adventures besides ones for DCC), also reminds me that I really need to get a physical copy of ASSH one of these days(the pics I've seen of it look amazing, although if anyone here would like to give a review of it to help me decide whether I should buy it soon, or if I can afford to push it back for a while would be very appreciated) Talanian is talking about compiling the boxed set into a hardcover with additional material (an extra class or two, maybe a few extra monsters, etc) so you might want to hold out. I think he's got a couple of boxes left though.
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May 26, 2015 08:12
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Lightning Lord posted:Talanian is talking about compiling the boxed set into a hardcover with additional material (an extra class or two, maybe a few extra monsters, etc) so you might want to hold out. I think he's got a couple of boxes left though. has he said anything about when that might happen?(shame about him ditching the box format for this new edition, that was one of the more interesting and unique things about it on an aesthetic level, although considering that also means the new version might be a little cheaper that's also good)
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May 26, 2015 08:41
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drrockso20 posted:has he said anything about when that might happen?(shame about him ditching the box format for this new edition, that was one of the more interesting and unique things about it on an aesthetic level, although considering that also means the new version might be a little cheaper that's also good) Just that it's next on his list after these adventures are published. I think I heard he was having trouble getting new copies of the particular box he used to produce the AS&SH set, might be another factor in him deciding to go book.
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May 26, 2015 09:23
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Lightning Lord posted:Just that it's next on his list after these adventures are published. I think I heard he was having trouble getting new copies of the particular box he used to produce the AS&SH set, might be another factor in him deciding to go book. that makes sense, I've heard on other forums and blogs that difficulties in acquiring the right sort of boxes for this sort of thing(in both quantity and getting them for a good price so it doesn't jack up the price of the final product too much) is part of the reason why Box Sets for RPGs have become somewhat rare these days
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May 26, 2015 10:02
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In the UK, Value Added Tax (at 20%) is payable on boxsets, but not on books, so you can charge a lot less for the same product if you don't box it - to say nothing of the cost of the box itself.
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May 26, 2015 13:33
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Payndz posted:In the UK, Value Added Tax (at 20%) is payable on boxsets, but not on books, so you can charge a lot less for the same product if you don't box it - to say nothing of the cost of the box itself. Stormlord Publishing, a DCC third party publisher decided not to ship to the EU anymore because of VAT laws. http://stormlordpublishing.com/no-more-sales-to-eu-customers-vatmess/
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May 26, 2015 19:24
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Has anyone here used Stars Without Number, any pointers?
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May 27, 2015 21:08
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Elderbean posted:Has anyone here used Stars Without Number, any pointers? Our GM used the planet tag system to populate a galaxy to good effect, but he didn't use any of the other stuff, so I can't vouch for it. It's hard to go wrong with Crawford's stuff though.
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May 27, 2015 21:21
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If you liked Into the Odd, Chris McDowell is working on a sci-fi version.
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May 27, 2015 21:38
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I've played it, and it works quite well. Fighting is dangerous and is to be avoided unless you have a big advantage; definitely make goals (that's where xp comes from) and make sure to have a ranged weapon skill. Even warriors can die in one hit from a firearm (though their class ability makes it a little more subtle). If running it, I'd definitely advise running it as written, as a sandbox, because that is honestly how it works best (not to mention the GM turn provides an amazing amount of material for the players to interact with, and is fun in its own right). There's also an random sector generator somewhere on the internet too; I forget the url, but it's only a google away.
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May 28, 2015 02:49
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Has anyone used just-in-time rolling for things like thief/rogue skill checks as per this Goblin Punch article? I've struggled with how to handle stuff like "hide in shadows" checks in my DCC game, toying around with letting either the player roll or rolling behind a screen and telling the player how confident they feel (with a high roll and a 1 both meaning very high confidence), but I also don't like having to constantly remind players "No, I roll this one." I'm interested in trying this model out, but I'm not sure if I'm missing some weird gotcha that would come from running it this way, especially as in the knowledge roll example.
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May 29, 2015 01:01
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Man Dancer posted:Has anyone used just-in-time rolling for things like thief/rogue skill checks as per this Goblin Punch article? I've struggled with how to handle stuff like "hide in shadows" checks in my DCC game, toying around with letting either the player roll or rolling behind a screen and telling the player how confident they feel (with a high roll and a 1 both meaning very high confidence), but I also don't like having to constantly remind players "No, I roll this one." I'm interested in trying this model out, but I'm not sure if I'm missing some weird gotcha that would come from running it this way, especially as in the knowledge roll example. Warning: Incoming  Yeah, above I posted that Into The Odd sort of runs like this by default. It works well IMO. I call the principle "Roll for Risk". But in order to avoid the issues in that last knowledge check example let's take a little closer look at what's going on. As I'm sure you aware, most D&Dlikes have a very strict treatment of fictional interpretation. (I'm not sure I phrased that very well, how about,) The GM is supposed to be the arbitrator of some fictional reality. This can cause some issues when the important parts of a dice decision are separated from each other. Now these parts are: Establish stakes Roll the dice Declare Results Now in some other games this isn't a problem because the dice are given the power to fully inform the fiction. Actually, this is what happened in that final example. Who decided whether fire was the monster weakness? It was the dice. (Even if you were okay with the dice informing the fiction it's still a bad example, because the players never consented to the stakes "You might mutate the monster.") In D&D combat, this isn't a problem because the stakes are described obviously and the results are immediate. However, D&D is rather bad at describing these steps for skill checks. Probably because skill checks didn't even exist in the earliest versions. When it was described the way it worked was immediately establish stakes, and then roll. Which results in the problem Goblin Punch described that the result was known but not declared until later. Establish stakes should be kept where it is when the skill begins being used, e.g. "Okay, if your going to sneak around that we'll check your skill whenever a monster might see you." Then the dice roll gets pushed back to the risk occurrence so that the result can be declared immediately. The problem with the last example is poorly established stakes. If the player consents to the stakes "I'll attack the monster with whatever I think is it's weakness is, let's roll to find out whether I was right about the weakness." then it opens up an additional option, you can tell the player the established fictional weakness if they succeed or a wrong one if they fail. Although I think that Goblin Punch's result is okay as long as everyone at the table is alright with the dice having that sort of power over the fiction. Just maybe not the best choice for an old school D&Dlike.
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May 29, 2015 03:38
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The two direct action examples were fine, but I think for Knowledge based checks I'd have a look at how Dungeon World does it; there's a Sprout Lore move - on a clear success, the GM tells you something interesting and how it could be useful. On a partial, the Gm tells you something interesting, but you have to make it useful, and on a Fail the suggestion for the GM response is to use the time the character spent thinking against them rather than feed them bad information, or activate the GM move "Reveal an unwelcome truth" - tell them something that they'd rather wasn't true.
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May 29, 2015 04:01
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I wonder what effect this has on player behavior. Would it make players more risk-averse if they know that they generally have to get much "deeper" into a fictional position before they know if the other shoe if going to drop? Does it increase anxiety or decrease it (do the DM and other players want anxiety decreased)? I don't know! I'm not sure to what extent I want to explicitly cross the streams into some of the DW/PbtA Discern Realities/Read a Situation, but some of the stuff I've already allowed in with the Bard's (Crawl! #6) Lore ability has already broken the seal on the "You can roll well enough to invent something I didn't expect" to an extent. That has felt like enough of an exception that proves the rule that I'm ok with it, but I'll have to ponder on opening that door further.
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May 29, 2015 04:16
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I've always thought knowledge checks would be more interesting if the player didn't know how well or poorly the roll went; the DM should know all there is to know about the creature or situation in question, and has the power to make whatever he wants to be true at the table true anyway, as long as it's consistent. There's no reason to be loyal to the notes he wrote before the session if something more entertaining can happen if the creature turns out to be weak against fire and the DM didn't note that before the encounter. So if the player wants to know if his character knows anything about a weird creature, let's say, it'd be a common opportunity for a knowledge check. As long as the player knows the consequences of rolling well or poor, and can make a decent guess at the probability for both, having the DM roll and tell the player what their character recalls about the creature seems fun to me, since it prevents the impossible to avoid metagaming that occurs when you roll a 5 on your knowledge check and either the DM says you don't know anything about the creature or tells you something you know isn't true. But if a player knows they have a roughly 10% chance of learning something false, a 60% chance of learning something useful, and a 30% chance of learning nothing, I think they have enough information to make character decisions based on what the DM tells them after he makes the roll. Obviously you could play with the %s, vary it by setting and character background or base it off of combined intelligence and wisdom or something. But I think the basic idea is sound and helps avoid metagaming.
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May 29, 2015 14:13
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Legend of the Wulin has a fun way of doing this stuff, although I'm not sure it'd work well with an old-school D&D-style game. Basically, you can make a perception/knowledge check against someone to 'notice' a fact about them, and if you succeed it makes the fact true and gives your target either a bonus when they act in accordance with the fact or a penalty when they act against it. Like, you're fighting someone and you yell "I see! The true reason you've sworn to kill me is because you're in love with me!" You can then give your evidence for this, and depending on how good a case you can make the DC either goes up or down. Then if you succeed your opponent starts getting a -5 to all their attacks against you until they admit their true feelings and can either justify still trying to kill you despite loving you, or just end the fight. I guess maybe I do kind of love the idea of a D&D game where there's this constant stream of "Of course! Only a loremaster of your quality could possibly have known that goblins are unable to refuse a gift of wine, but that it gives them horrible stomach cramps. What a clever way of bypassing those guards!"
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May 29, 2015 17:18
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Does anyone have any advice for a system (retroclone) that let's me do a sandbox Darkest Dungeon inspired game? Ideally I'm looking for something that also uses a sanity system but which also lets a player create a new character in under 2 minutes. Added bonus if it has occultist character options (class) or other Darkest Dungeon esque. characters. My players have been begging me to run something like this (grimdark and deadly) but I haven't a clue what to use. I've looked at Dungeon World but I don't know of any way to incorporate a sanity system.
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May 29, 2015 17:36
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Commissar Kip posted:I've looked at Dungeon World but I don't know of any way to incorporate a sanity system. I actually wrote a DW sanity system a while back; it was supposed to be part of a larger book but that apparently fell through ages ago. I should probably just clean it up and try to publish it myself or something at some point.
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May 29, 2015 17:47
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I've been resisting publishing anything like a retroclone for a while, but y'know what? If I'm resisting it, I can probably do it, and if I can do it then I probably should. The main question is, how important is it to most people who'd buy a retroclone that monster and adventures and so on be backwards compatible? Obviously that was the whole point of a retroclone in the first place, but the market has moved more into exploration of play style. Call it a straw poll.
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May 29, 2015 17:51
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Rulebook Heavily posted:I've been resisting publishing anything like a retroclone for a while, but y'know what? If I'm resisting it, I can probably do it, and if I can do it then I probably should. I mean, a lot of one page dungeon stuff just mentions a type of thing and gives zero system-specific mechanics for it. People are good a converting stats when needed.
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May 29, 2015 18:08
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OPDs generally assume you're using whatever system you want to be using and just use names found in most D&Dlikes, like "Goblin." Which really just answers my question right there.
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May 29, 2015 18:19
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Commissar Kip posted:Does anyone have any advice for a system (retroclone) that let's me do a sandbox Darkest Dungeon inspired game? Ideally I'm looking for something that also uses a sanity system but which also lets a player create a new character in under 2 minutes. Added bonus if it has occultist character options (class) or other Darkest Dungeon esque. characters. My players have been begging me to run something like this (grimdark and deadly) but I haven't a clue what to use. Just running straight OSR D&D is going to be pretty drat grimdark considering how fragile characters are. Part of the draw behind 3d6-in-order really was the ability to throw up a new character in 2 mins, because it was also expected that you'd need to do that a bunch of times before really getting a higher-level character since lives were cheap. Crypts and Things has a Sanity system: * Sanity = WIS score * Whenever you encounter something that challenges your Sanity, make a saving throw * On a failed save, lose 1d6 Sanity * The actual effects of having less-than-max Sanity is up to the players but basically a Sanity of 3 means a character is "barely lucid, easily confuses reality with fantasy, and is on the border of lapsing into madness" * When Sanity goes to 0 or lower, any further loss of Sanity is subtracted directly from WIS instead. Also suggested that the character will faint. * Sanity will recover at the rate of 1 per complete day of rest, but WIS score can never recover * Anyone who hits 0 WIS becomes permanently insane and is effectively a non-player character from there on out The other aspect of it, but not directly related to your question, is that they condensed the Magic-User and Cleric classes into a single Magician class, reclassified all of the classic D&D spells into White, Grey and Black magic, and casting Black Magic spells will always trigger a Sanity saving throw
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May 29, 2015 18:25
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Silent Legions is an Old school style horror game made by the same dude who makes Stars Without Number / Scarlet Heroes / Other Dust. It has a call of cthulhu-esque 'madness' sanity system. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions
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May 29, 2015 19:13
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JonBolds posted:Silent Legions is an Old school style horror game made by the same dude who makes Stars Without Number / Scarlet Heroes / Other Dust. It has a call of cthulhu-esque 'madness' sanity system. I'd be seriously tempted to cross this with Spears of the Dawn (another game by the same guy; set in fantasy Africa).
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May 29, 2015 19:32
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Speaking of great things Kevin Crawford has done... The man's at it again.
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May 31, 2015 06:34
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LeSquide posted:Speaking of great things Kevin Crawford has done... quote:Walk Between the Rain quote:Fury of the Avalanche quote:The World Against You 
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May 31, 2015 07:28
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quote:Walk Between the Rain AlphaDog posted:"Hold the line". Once during a given fight, you can declare that you will not be moved. You have to do so loudly and obviously. You can't be pushed or pulled from your spot, knocked down, dragged away, or anything else until either the fight ends, you die, or you choose to move. Any ally adjacent to you is affected too. Seriously though more Exemplars and Eidolons pretty great, certainly worth running all its own.
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May 31, 2015 08:30
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yeah that reminds me that I should obtain a print copy of Exemplars & Eidolons, cause it's pretty drat amazing(personally I think it's the best OSR game Kevin Crawford has done, but I'll admit I'm saying that partially cause I haven't read Spears of The Dawn, or Scarlet Heroes yet, and personally think that Stars Without Number is mediocre at best, Silent Legions is overrated, and the Red Tide setting is a very poor fit for D&D style RPG systems)
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May 31, 2015 09:32
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