Custom Encounter Tables

Gearing up for my campaign start later this weekend, I have been furiously banging out a few last-minute random encounter tables for areas in Ara that my PC's might just want to explore.  Since I am simply starting the PCs out in an Arandish town, Swampsedge, and baiting a few (widely varying) adventure hooks, I really have no idea which direction the party will leap, geographically or otherwise.  So I want to be ready, and for me, part of readiness is preparing my own custom wilderness encounter tables.

You see, as much as I love randomness and being surprised, as DM I like to have a say about the range of possibilities of what can randomly occur once game play starts.  I like to create a certain feel to the Arandish game world by customizing my own tables.  When taking parties into the Lands of Ara, there are certain monsters (goblins, giant lizards) I like to filter out, and others (owlbears, orcs) I like to see appear a bit more frequently.  Plus, as I've stated before, Ara is a human- and demi-human-centric world, where other types of monsters just aren't as common -- at least not out in the wilderness -- as standard D&D / Labyrinth Lord rules seem to assume.  So I stock my encounter tables with humans, NPCs, and the particular monsters I want to see pop up most in Ara, and I almost never use the stock wilderness encounter tables from any published rulebooks, except in a pinch.  Hell, even in a pinch I would probably prefer to modify one of my own tables than use the one from the book as-is. 

Allow me to state that dungeon encounter tables are a different matter, for I agree with Philotomy and others that the world of underground dungeons should be strange and uncanny and obey its own twisted "mythic underworld" type laws.  Thus I tend to stick to more standard random encounter tables in dungeon delving situations, where I think things should be more truly random.  I may use a custom table for a particular section of a given dungeon level, of course, but generally speaking, I am less picky about the parameters of my tables once the party goes underground.  Unlike on the surface of Ara, I like underground dungeon delving to be somewhat inexplicable, illogical, and weird.

But topside, I want the various regions of Ara to feel quite distinct from each other, with certain monsters prevalent in some areas and others in others.  Plus, there are some monsters I just personally don't like and/or find boring, so of course I don't want too many of those mucking up my charts.  Therefore, I am a big wilderness encounter table customizer. 

What do other DMs out there do?

A Few Words About What Kind of DM I Am

I just read a really terrific post on player vs. DM expectations over at B/X Blackrazor.  Given that I am swiftly approaching the beginning of a collaboration with a new set of players, JB's thoughts about the role of the DM really struck home; I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments he expresses in that post. 

Here is a key excerpt about the role of the DM:

The DM's role, sometimes forgotten, is one of facilitator. What the DM does is facilitate this world/story/reality creation. Adventures are designed, settings are written, NPCs and obstacles placed...and then there is acting as adjudicator and referee for the players as they explore the game world. This exploration, in collaboration with everyone at the table, is what CREATES the shared environment. NOT the DM alone.

When a DM "puts on airs" and thinks he or she is wholly responsible for world creation they are deluding themselves. Pure and simple. If you want to author a world, write a book, don't play an RPG. If your players abandon your game, all the background and backstory in the world means nothing.

AND (this is the important part) if you DO allow players free reign in your carefully designed game (in other words, if you're a good and competent DM that doesn't force your players down your own linear story arcs, etc.), they are going to muck it all up. They will go "off book." They will want to push the game and exploration into areas you haven't detailed or thought of. They will not "do what you want them to."

 

I hope that my blogging for the past four months about the Lands of Ara campaign setting (which will continue into the future) has not misled anyone into thinking I am one of those "deluded," hyper-narrativist DMs.  I am definitely NOT "authoring a world" on my own here; all the information I have posted on this blog about the Lands of Ara is completely open to change once Arandish Campaign 2010 game play starts in a week and a half.  Hell, even most of the stuff I know about Ara to this point was contributed by past players, was discovered over years of game play, and was NOT invented whole-cloth by any single person, myself or otherwise.  The Lands of Ara is a collective, collaborative, ongoing creation, and I cannot wait to see what these new players will bring to the table and the game world.  Via our collective efforts and, above all, shared fun, Ara is about to experience another growth spurt.

Thanks to JB for a provocative post.

Pre-Order Mania!

This is such an exciting time to be an active consumer of newly produced OSR products.  Not only am I one of the lucky folks who got in on the Brave Halfling S&W White Box pre-order special, and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of that "box of treasure," but guess what just showed up at my door yesterday?  My copy of The Dungeon Alphabet from Goodman Games.  To echo James Raggi, now that I have the tome in my hands, I can hardly believe what I got for the low low price of $9.99!  The DA indeed deserves to be singled out as an exemplary old-school product: technically system-free, it introduces the OSR "rules light" vibe to any gamer who might pick it up, and I assume that it would be a useful resource for almost any referee, regardless of system.  And very well produced with absolutely top-notch art.  Kick ass!

Suhl - Island Home of the Rodians

Suhl is the name of the island where the first rodians made landfall after the fateful voyage of the Tarandis.  Actually a small cluster of three separate islands, the rodian territory of Suhl lies at the southeastern end of the Bay of Noffel, hundreds of nautical miles south of the nearest Noffellian or Blintian ports.  The only mundane way to reach Suhl is via a seagoing ship, which typically means booking passage on a Noffellian or Suhlian vessel out of one of the southern Arandish ports on the Bay of Noffel.  

The Suhl island cluster consists of three heavily forested islands:

1.  Suhl, the largest and most populated island, also called the Big Island.   The Big Island is long and somewhat boomerang-shaped, 75 miles long and 20 miles wide.  Its capitol city, Suhl (a medium town, population 8,000), is also its largest and most commercial port.  The city of Suhl is also where the Lord Governor of Suhl resides.  While there are many non-rodian merchants and travellers who visit the city of Suhl, there are few non-rodian full-time residents; for the most part the town and its island are inhabited exclusively by rodians. Some judgmental Noffellians have been known to snidely refer to Suhl as "Buccaneers' Port," which causes some Suhlians to anger and others to grin with roguish pride.  Further inland on this same island is the small town of Awra's Gate, where stands the Rodian Invokers' Guild.

2.  Desolation, the northernmost Suhlian island, so named for its treacherous reefs.  Desolation Island is the second-largest Suhlian island but is nevertheless quite small: it is roughly circular and about 30 miles in diameter.  Desolation Island is a haven for local pirates -- including many non-rodians -- and is also called by many locals L’Stoog, after its current most famous illegal resident.

The Black Cloister

3.  Arkian [AR-kee-yan], home of the Suhlian Illusionists.  This tiny (20-mile diameter) island houses only one structure: the Black Cloister, the tower stronghold of the Suhlian Illusionists.  Some Suhlian Invokers and rodian merchants regularly deal with the denizens of the Cloister.   Most rodian commoners -- that is, non-adventuring residents of Suhl -- somewhat fear Arkian and its arcane denizens, and few rodians would come here uninvited except under dire circumstances.  Outsiders -- that is, non-rodians -- are discouraged from visiting Arkian at all.  The Illusionists of the Black Cloister prefer their seclusion.

As has been previously recounted, rodians first came to Ara many generations ago, establishing a few small (and now largely defunct) colonies and one large city, New Port, along the Arandish west coast.  Unfortunately, this is land that the elves of Aldoria also consider to be theirs, and a bloody conflict has raged between the elves and rodians there for some years now.  Despite this racially charged conflict, some seafaring rodians have established trade relations with the elves of Al-nurna, though most such traders are wary of their elven business associates and do not typically form lasting friendships with them.

The Suhlian rodians have also made contact by sea with the kingdoms of Noffel, Blint, and Kaladar, and a prosperous trade has grown between the Suhlians and these Arandish nations.

It is said that those wishing to explore the southern half of Rakar’s Peninsula would do well to first pass through Suhl, for there are many rodian seafarers who have knowledge of its coasts, and perhaps even a few of its inland secrets. . .

Or What About This?

As Geoffrey describes here, there exists a startlingly simple yet potentially quite elegant and fun solution to my recent self-debate on how to distribute experience in my Arandish campaign.  I quote at length from Geoffrey's comment:

My solution has been adopted from Korgoth. Here it is:

At the conclusion of each session, each player rolls 1d20 for his character. On an adjusted roll of 20, the character gains a level. The roll is modified by +1 for each previous failed leveling roll at this level only.

Thus a newly 3rd level fighter completes a session. He will gain a level again on a roll of 20. If he fails, the next time he completes a session he gains a level on a 19+, then 18+, etc.

Thus it's totally outside the control of both the players and the Ref. So everyone can feel free to do what they like during play! (My one requirement is that the PC engages in actual adventure. Sitting around the entire session in the tavern doesn't count as adventure.) 

Thoughts?  I am sorely tempted by this because it seems to capture something of the old-school predilection toward randomness (I am reminded of Carl's recent discussion of Mutant Future character generation) and completely eliminates any need for me to do math, at least in this one area.  Would any of my players squawk if I opted to go this way???

REVISED Arandish Campaign House Rules

The start date for my Arandish Labyrinth Lord campaign is imminent, and as I was talking with my friend Carl last night about experience point distribution, it dawned on me that I need to revise / amend my campaign house rules slightly before we get underway.

For the most part, these house rules are unchanged from the previous house rules post; the only change I've made is to experience point distribution, where I have decided to default to the "traditional" 1e practice of awarding xp for treasure.  As a young lad, I rarely played in or refereed campaigns where that happened -- I was enculturated to think that xp should be awarded for killing / outwitting monsters and for successes in game play including the dreaded "good role-playing" reward.  But given that it looks like I will have a large group of players (7-8!), and given that I really want to get familiar with the old-school methods as they were originally intended, I think awarding xp for treasure (as delineated in LL p. 49) is going to work best.  So here are my Revised Arandish Campaign House Rules:

Generating Attributes
Attribute scores are generated by rolling 4d6 and discarding the lowest die roll. The player then orders them in any way s/he chooses. 

Alignment
The following list of the six available Arandish alignments is originally borrowed from here, and is also posted here.  (Please also note this succinct breakdown of the meaning of alignment terminology and a follow-up post for first-edition gamers by James Raggi.) 

Chaotic: Inimical to civilization and possibly reality itself – the alignment of demons, Faerie, and the insane.

Neutral: Apathetic and/or unconcerned with the battle between cosmic forces.

Neutral (Balance): The philosophical stance that a balance between Chaos and Law is necessary for the well-being of the cosmos.

Lawful (Good): The philosophical stance that civilization exists to foster the common good.

Lawful: The philosophical stance that civilization, regardless of how it is organized, is preferable to other alternatives.

Lawful (Evil): The philosophical stance that civilization exists to allow the strong to lord it over the weak.

The "Five Things the Character Knows" Rule
Horked from Ken at the Rusty Battle Axe, this great rule (or some modification thereof) will likely be deployed during character generation / our first session.

Critical Hits and Fumbles
Any time a player rolls a natural ‘20’ on a to hit roll, it is a critical hit. Damage is doubled.
Likewise, if a player rolls a natural ‘1’ on a to hit roll, it is considered a critical failure or fumble. Typically, this means the combatant hurts himself, drops his weapon, breaks his weapon, or just plain falls down – GM discretion.

Encumbrance   
The optional encumbrance system in the Labyrinth Lord rulebook (p. 44) will be ignored; if how much a character is carrying becomes an issue, it will be dealt with intuitively.

Initiative
Except in special circumstances, NO individual initiative is rolled (see LL p. 52), just initiative for each group, rolled on 1d20 (not 1d6) once per combat encounter, NOT once per round as per LL p. 50 – that is too much die rolling for me!

Item Saving Throws
YES, see LL p. 55.

Ability Checks
YES, see LL p. 55.

Morale
I prefer high-powered monsters with little fear, so I am leery of morale checks for any but the weakest or most disorganized Arandish monsters.  But since so many old-school RPGers I respect seem to favor morale checks in D&D combat, I may use this rule some in the early phases of my campaign to see how it goes, particularly if the combat circumstances warrant it (see LL p. 56). 

Multiple Chances to Detect Secret Doors
As James Raggi IV has recently written:

Apparently the Moldvay Basic and Labyrinth Lord state that a character gets only one try to find a secret door, and if that fails, pffft, tough shit! I have never played like that, and as I said was never aware that such a rule existed.

Doublechecking yesterday morning to make sure I haven't been playing wrong for a quarter of a century, I did confirm that OD&D, Holmes Basic, Mentzer Basic, AD&D, OSRIC, and Swords & Wizardry do not have this "one try only" language in the rules for secret doors.

I'm truly flabbergasted that a game that so features exploration as a primary activity would have such a limitation. To me, secret doors are time sinks, and if a party wants to take the time to make an extra check (or five) at the cost of a turn each, running down their light sources and risking wandering monsters, that's great!

I agree with Mr. Raggi and hereby waive the "one try only" rule as printed in LL.

Shields Shall Be Splintered! 
This brilliant set of concepts originates with Trollsmyth, but I like this nice encapsulation by David at The RPG Corner, from whom I horked many of the best of my own house rules.  Here's the rule:

Shields provide the usual +1 bonus to AC. However, they may also be used to "soak" damage from a single attack, thereby reducing damage to zero. Soaking damage destroys the shield.

Shields may also be used against any attack that allows a save for half damage, such as a fireball or dragon's breath. In that case, the shield is destroyed, as above, and the save is considered automatically successful, thereby guaranteeing half damage.

For magical shields, each +1 enchantment bonus gives a 10% chance of surviving a damage soak.

The D30 Rule
Once per session each player may opt to roll the referee’s d30 in lieu of whatever die or dice the situation normally calls for. The choice to roll the d30 must be made before any actual rolling has occurred. The d30 cannot be rolled for generating character statistics or hit points.

Awarding Experience Points
Experience points are gained from two sources, treasure and monsters. Characters only gain XP from treasure of a non-magical nature, at a rate of 1 XP per 1 gp value of the item.  As James Raggi has discussed, this only counts treasure/money gained during adventuring, NOT from opening a profitable inn or becoming a ruler and taxing one's subjects. All defeated monsters (either outsmarted or killed), grant XP based on how powerful they are (see LL p. 49).

The Lands of Ara - West Coast Cities

Particularly since I am starting my players off in the northwestern Noffellian town of Swampsedge, which offers swamp barge access to points further west into and beyond the Great Western Swamp, it feels high time to say a few words about the four major settlements that lie along Ara's west coast.

Note that those who set off via barge from Swampsedge will typically travel through Marsh Town before reaching the west coast.

Here are brief descriptions of the four Arandish West coast cities, proceeding from north to south:

Al-nurna
Al-nurna is a very large (pop. 16,000) elven city, ruled by an Aldorian prince.  Humans (except those few who serve on rodian crews) have never seen this port city, for the coastal Aldorians will not do business with humans nor do they welcome human visitors.  But seafaring Suhlian rodians have traded with the elves for some time, though most rodian captains are wary of their elven clients and do not typically form friendships with them.  I have never had an adventure party visit Al-nurna so I know little else about it.

New Port
New Port, today a large (pop. 12,500) and thriving trading port, originated as a rodian settlement and is still governed entirely by rodians.  In fact, New Port is called by some "New Suhl."  However, all are treated fairly by the rodian government and militia here, and inter-racial and inter-national trade is widely encouraged. Members of the various branches of the Karibekian family are (in some cases prominent) citizens here, and Captain Hokka is known to bring the Sea Scorpion to New Port with some regularity.  As previously mentioned, another rodian family, the Borasukians, have a respectable cargo transport operation in New Port. 

Bay Town
Bay Town is a medium sized (pop. 8,000) town founded and maintained by affluent human nobles from the inland Arandish kingdoms.  It is a popular trading port for those dealing in expensive or rare goods, for the specialty markets of Bay Town are legendary up and down the west coast and in all the major cities of Ara.  Bay Town's local ruling council retains a formidable militia (commanded by and largely made up of retired Noffellian soldiers) that successfully keeps piracy and black marketeering largely at bay, or at least out of the public eye.  Bay Town is undoubtedly the most cosmopolitan west coast city, and most small-scale and/or law-bending sea captains are loathe to put in here, due to strict inspection laws and exorbitant harbor fees.  

New Bay Town
New Bay Town is a small (pop. 3,500) yet seedy hive of scum and villainy, with lots of untrammeled coastal piracy nearby as well.  In fact, many locals call New Bay Town "Black Market City" because of the high volume of illegal materials that come through here from Marsh Town and elsewhere.  There is also a growing contingent of legitimate merchants and idealistic settlers who attempt to maintain law and order in New Bay Town despite the fact that they are always getting raped and robbed.  As you can see, this is a town ripe for adventure!