To Key Or Not To Key...

I've gone through the map of Moridis Halls and just added some 'greebling' as LEGO peeps would say - little details and noodling that make the whole thing look a little more lived-in. I also added a few doors and curtains and stairs for variety. In the process, I went back a step and worked with the version that had no key, and then I was going to layer the keyed level back over it... but...

I'm thinking of only keying the areas that I'm going to actually have an entry for. This would mean that only 30 or 40 areas would have a number, and the rest would be left blank, for GMs to fill in. I like this because it clearly shows the areas that you'd have to look up. The drawback to me is that, over time, it would be hard to keep track of what happened in what area. "You fought the skeletons in the room 3 rooms up and one over from area 17" is harder to keep track of on the GM side. However, keying only the areas I'll be 'officially' filling makes for a cleaner overall presentation and simpler use at first, so that's what I'm going for. 

 

More Thoughts on Megadungeon Design and Pandering

I almost went on a little bit of an old man get off my lawn rant about the re-envisioning of the classic red box warrior - she's been a woman the whole time! I was going to do a very snarky re-imagining of the image I've been using from the inside cover of the BX 81 red book that says the dwarf is really a girl... and everyone else has had gender re-assignment. But I decided it was not worth it. 

For the record, I teach middle school. I have a LOT of students struggling with their identity and gender, and this is a genuine thing that people do go through - it is real, and it is important. Furthermore, I have cast girls in boy parts because the text supported it - I think that the character of Mercutio is CLEARLY in love with Romeo, and Romeo doesn't get it. I think this is more powerful for an audience if a girl is in the role; it also makes Tybalt more villainous later on. It's aligned with Shakespeare's initial intention for the role; it honors the original work in a modern context. 

However, saying that the classic warrior of 40 years ago was really a girl THE WHOLE TIME is not being inclusive - it is pandering. There is NO way that Larry Elmore was thinking "I want to make this character just barely vague enough that it could be a girl". No. Mr. Elmore was envisioning a man, and crafted a man. There's nothing to interpretation here. It's just making a change to get some clicks and maybe some street credit with a specific community of gamers. It in no way honors the history of the game or the intention of its forebears. It makes me want to play games from Hasbro less, because it's not about the game anymore.

Okay. I guess I did my old man rant anyway.

***

I have been going through other games I've designed and been reviewing for ideas I can take and adapt to Hack'D. One of the things I came across was my introductory dungeon for Tales of the Splintered Realm. It is my 'best' dungeon design to this point; it has several keyed areas that are interesting encounters (along with 'how to' descriptions for the ways to use these things in play), along with suggestions for stocking the rest of the dungeon and the unexplored rooms. It's both a starter dungeon and a tutorial to running dungeons - but the way in which it is structured dramatically increases its replay value. It's suggested to be the starter level to a larger dungeon complex - you always start here, but can go a lot of other places.

I really, really liked reading through it, and I saw the many benefits that came from this design approach. It is not the approach I have taken with the Halls of Moridis; as I have played through, I've made sure that each room is fleshed out in some way, and I have left very few empty rooms along the way. I'm toying with the idea of going back and re-imagining this complex from that perspective. I haven't published anything yet, and it's all my notes, but I think as I conceptualize this dungeon going forward, I might scale back the number of keyed entries to fewer than half of the total areas, and let GMs have a go of what's everywhere else, giving a lot of suggestions for how to conceptualize things. This would also increase the replay value, since each area gets a lot more opportunity for 'resets' between delves.

Random Gameplay Thoughts and Strength in Numbers

I kept thinking this weekend that Hack'D & Slash'D doesn't really play the way I remember D+D playing... it plays the way I remember wanting D+D to play. That doesn't suggest for a second I think it is a better game... just that it's better from the perspective of 11-year-old me (my target audience).

I realized, in the midst of these realizations, that I don't actually know how D+D plays anymore. I have not actually, you know, played D+D since 3rd edition, about 20 years ago. Sure, I have fiddled a little with 5E, and I think I've been through an hour of gaming with it here or there, but I really couldn't tell you what the gameplay experience is like now.

I presume that one of the discoveries I made this weekend holds true for modern D+D as well: numbers are better. My team generally didn't struggle too hard with more powerful foes who were on their own, but when they were outnumbered (even by weaker foes), they suddenly had trouble. The more dice I am rolling each round, the more likely things are to go bad. While that seems reasonable, I would think that a battle with a level 3 spider would still be harder than a battle with 6 shadelings. The reality is that the shadelings have to be defeated one at a time, and they are getting a total of 12 attacks per round. When I roll a few 12s (which I did), those are suddenly dealing 3 hits a swipe, and the damage can pile on quickly. If the spider misses with its bite attack in round 2, it's going to have to withstand an onslaught from the whole fellowship before it gets to go again... if it lives that long.

The other 'benefit' of having larger numbers is that it changes the strategy. Twice, there were powerful spiders with a number of minion allies; Galavar (the caster) would start with sleep; he would neutralize as many of the minor threats as he could so that they couldn't start issuing death by a thousand paper cuts. It was an important strategic choice, and it was a meaningful choice he had to make in the moment; he could hit the boss with a big spell, or he could knock out a bunch of minions at once. 

And while I've always known that actual play matters more than theory, I have to say that ACTUAL PLAY MATTERS MORE THAN THEORY. I am finding all sorts of cool little nuances to the game that I didn't necessarily plan, but which are baked in anyway. I'm finding opportunities for new tags because things come up where I go 'it would be cool if right now I could do x'. 

When Unearthed Arcana came out, I could feel in the pages that Gary had actually played a lot of this at his table. It was an organic expansion of the core rules, even if it was a little esoteric in places. I mean, how often are you really engaging in mounted combat during the dungeon crawl? For me, the Hack'D & Slash'D companion is giving me the same vibes. I like that I'm in no hurry to get anything done... I can let the book grow organically, so that when it's done, it's all genuinely useful additions to the game, not filler I created to get to a page count.

And that, by the way, is one of the other thoughts I had. Hack'D is not really marketable, because it is designed to be exceedingly economical in terms of space. I really cannot justify expanding it to the 256 page full-color hardcover, because a spell takes two sentences and I can fit eight monster stat blocks on a 6x9 page. At standard book size, even with plentiful illustrations, I would be hard-pressed to get more than 48 pages of monsters... that would be several hundred monsters. 

But, selfishly, that is probably why I keep working on it. In the past, I sit down to expand a game I've worked on, and I find myself flipping through the book for fifteen minutes trying to make sure I've made all the numbers line up. With Hack'D, I can create a monster stat block in a minute or two, and I'm confident it is playable. It allows me to continue to make a minimal investment of time to get a significant return on that investment.

Fanatic Four: Report 4

First, some design notes:

I knew that they were crossing the bridge, and there had to be something on the other side that they didn't like, and which didn't like them. I thought that this would be a good place for spiders. Then I realized that I have four gates (areas 41, 43, 44, 46) that I haven't decided what to do with yet. I combined the two, and decided that those are four gates to four pocket realms. One of them (we'll say 43, since it's closest) is to a pocket realm of shadow. A bunch of spiders came through, the gate closed again (it opens and closes on the whims or Moridis - but the fellowship at some point may be able to get a key or password or spell to open it). The spiders came through, got stuck, set up a little fortress, and started scheming. Okay then. Their entire abode includes areas 26-31, with a trapped hallway they've set up at 23.

***

I added a door to 22, since I decided that the goblins have locked a gibbering mouther in this room to provide a barrier against the spiders (who still crawl in through other ways). The mouther had come in via the waterfall a while back, and they managed to fish it out of the pool and wrangle it into this hallway (after losing a few goblins in the exchange). The fellowship was not able to recover the key (no idea where the bugbear had hidden it), so they had to force the door open. Indar is immediately overcome by the wailing, but the others move on unimpaired. The whole group is badly injured in the battle, and they have to rest. 

They move into 23, the fog-filled hallway. They've got a bad feeling about this (rightully so), but then remember the levitation properaties of the roots growing in area 16. The could levitate through the chamber - or even better, bypass it altogether by levitating across from 19... they could go to the bridge and into 25, or directly to the webs at 31 and cut their way in through the back door to the main chamber. This would be tricky... but it's the path they choose.

And things then went totally off the rails. The arachling heard them and set a trap, which they walked right into. They ended up sandwiched between the arachling and an addercap (that it had called to help), with 7 cellar spiders as well. A sleep spell helped, and Alari's use of a glimmering weapon on Firik's hammer offset the lost edge from darkness, which was huge. By the end of the battle, Firik was the only one standing with 3 hits remaining (all the others had dropped), and the addercap and three cellar spiders failed a morale check with a 1, so they fled. This gave Firik 5 minutes to figure it out. He grabbed the amulet from Indar and yelled an order across the water for the goblins to eat some of the root and come to their aid. A minute later, 13 goblins were gliding across the chasm and floated in to provide aid. Firik had pulled apart the nest to find 2 healing potions, the spider blade, and some coins. He had five minutes to rally the troops, and between the two healing potions and Alari's magic, the team was almost at full by the time the spiders returned.

They picked a corner of the room to defend, putting the archer and mage at the back, with a rank of goblins and the two fighters up front. They made short work of the 9 cellar spiders, 2 addercaps and 1 tomb spider that arrived, cutting through them in about three rounds with minimal damage.

They charged on through the level (since only 2 goblins had died, the goblins were very hyped), and arrived at 28, where they faced the vault spider and its 2 assistants, and they ripped right through it (in 2 rounds) without suffering any damage.

The eggs they find are given as a reward to the goblins, who begin eating heartily, and start gathering them for later. The fellowship searches to see if they find the secret door in 27. They all fail, but one of the goblins finds it as they are scouring the level, and points it out. That will be where they go next. They also use fire to burn the two swarms of spiders in the temple area (26), burn all webbing, and recover the silvered spider statue from the altar. All told, for this section they earned:

43 gold and 5 silver in wealth

2 potions of healing (already used)

Boots of spider climbing (going to Indar)

The enchanted longsword vs. spiders (going to Alari)

They found 2 healing potions in a silvered chest as well.

52 XP (so 13 each; but for Galazan this doubles to 26).

In the interim, I also realized I never used the number 20 on the key... so I still need to add that number somewhere. Oops. Probably will use it for the eastern bridge over 25.

***

Analysis of XP:

Okay, this feels like enough to have earned level 2, but they are still only one third of the way to level 2... this is one of the things I struggled with in building the game. Because it only has six levels, I want progression to be slow, because otherwise the game is over in a flash. Right now, I have progression at x3... but if I bump things back a tier, I would end up with going to level 2 @ 30 XP, level 3 @ 100, level 4 @ 300, level 5 @ 1,000.

They have gone through quite a bit of dungeon and had several experiences. They've learned a lot. They have been battle tested, and taken on a variety of foes. They have explored about 20% of the dungeon... so if this pace of xp was to continue, they would end the whole level having earned somewhere around 150 XP. The threats deeper in will be more significant, so it's not unreasonable to round this up to maybe 200. They should, without a doubt, finish this level well into level 3. The revised XP progression above puts them on that path.

I'm going to house rule that now, and revise the tiers for level progression. This means that all characters move to level 2, and are ready for greater challenges... which is good, because there's a dragon not too far away. 

Alari will take the point in Mind. She now has hits 14.

Indar will take the point in Reflex. He now has hits 14.

Galazan will take the point in Mind. He now has hits 10. 

Firik will take the point in Might. He now has hits 28 (!). He is going to be hard to take down.

Hack'D & Slash'D FAQ

Q: How does poison damage work? What does a resist indicate?

A: A character can only suffer 1 poison effect per round. A successful might check ends that poison effect entirely; you get a new might check every round. So, a poison that deals 3 damage per round for 3 rounds allows a resist in round 1, round 2, and round 3. If the check is made in round 2, no check is made in round 3 (since the poison has ended). Once the check is made in round 2, that character is able to be poisoned again.

Q: How hard are secret doors to find?

A: Secret doors should require a mind (sense) check at -1 edge to find. Concealed doors should require a standard mind (sense) check.

Q: Can you taunt foes to get them to pay attention to you?

A: I resolve this as a free action, requiring a mind check. As you are attacking, you yell at a monster to get its attention. If successful, you draw its focus. If not, I roll randomly to see who the monster goes after. You can try again every round to draw its attention from others. 

Fanatic Four: An Interlude

This isn't a proper session, since I just worked out the logistics of what transpired during their time in the Bazaar of Untold Lands, but here's the summary...

They did a major gear upgrade. They largely liquidated their starting gear and upgraded across the board in terms of weapons and armor. They should be a little more effective now.

They met Moridis! She approached them, and talked to them about being the newest visitors to her halls. Alari succeeded with a 10 on the mind check for influence. She encouraged them to each take a roll of the Dice of Fate. I decided that Alari would decline: she has faith, is much older (as an elf) and has a more direct purpose. The other three, being vagabonds that the world has already buffeted around, see the opportunity here and would take it. Moridis has a very positive reaction to this (she is impressed by Alari). She decides to bequeath upon her an object: the warlord's ring. It grants +1 edge to melee attacks. She wishes them well against her progeny, and departs.

This makes the team the talk of the Bazaar, and leads to dinner with the Vile Watcher Uthisar, who is trying to gather information on them. I decide it is possible he will send assassins to have them murdered, but he decides against it (the dice told me so), and decides to bide his time and wait. Maybe this group will somehow weaken Moridis, and he is willing to wait and see.

Time to roll... here are the results:

Galazan rolls [11,10]. That's a somewhat mixed result, with largely positive outcomes at a high level. The 11 is a minor setback: in this case, he loses all of his earned experience to this point (reset to the beginning of the current level). However, he will receive double XP from this point forward.

Firik rolls [12/2]. That's a very positive result. He gets a permananent +1 to hits, and he will regenerate 1 hit per round forever. Dang.

Indar rolls [12/12]. No. Frickin'. Way. Okay then. I had already decided that this would be a permanent +1 edge to all checks forevermore.

I seriously had a little personal trepidation about rolling this, because I'm committed to getting this team to at least the dragon's lair in 63 for the iconic cover image... and getting gimped right now would have made that process less fun. Galazan is going to zoom through levels (so he'll be full on Gandalf before long), and the other three all have made significant upgrades to their combat capabilities. 

I am going to update and re-print their character sheets so I have all this information correct, and then I guess I'll get back to delving!

Last thing... they track down the amulet of goblin rulership that Xixal really wanted. It's 100 gp, so they don't have that cash... Indar asks if he can dice for it (2 dice vs. 1), since he gets that permanent +1 edge (so this makes it a straight 2 dice vs. 2 dice roll, total score wins). He puts up the entire cash of the team and rolls. It's a tie at 17 all. They roll again and he wins (21 vs. 12). They have the amulet... now to decide what to do with it.

Indar kind of likes the idea of ruling over goblins... and taking out his competition for the job. Alari is not in favor of this deception, but is convinced that having this amulet in the possession of the 'good guys' is better than having it in the possession of an evil humanoid who could use it to raid nearby lands. She ultimately has to concede to his point.

I decide that this counts as a level 2 encounter, so each earns an additional 5 xp (so 10 for Gal). This puts Gal at 10 total, and each of the others at 19. 

Fanatic Four: Report 3

I warned you I was going to do a bit of gaming this weekend... my four characters have continued to explore, defeating the three ghouls in areas 17 A, B and C. They then crawled through the tunnels (making short work of the three rats) and into area 14. They attempted to drive back the ant swarm, which summoned the myrmidon ant and then the gnome shadow-touched ghoul. They managed to defeat all three with relative quickness. They could not figure out how to get through the narrow tunnel in the wall, so moved on to the south. Firik caused the mold of maddening to emit spores, which put him into a battle frenzy. Alari was able to draw his attention (and defend herself with her shield), while after a few tries Galazan was able to use a sleep spell on him. They burned the mold, explored area 12 (freaked out by the sounds from below) and then prepared to enter the Bazaar... which is where I'll pick up next time. 

They have thus far (in total) earned:

55 xp (so almost 14 xp each)

60 gp

23 sp

144 cp

A suit of enchanted studded leather armor

A cloak of befouling

A level 2 deeping spell scroll (from a silvered chest)

And they found a few days' worth of good food in a silvered chest

They are only 14% of the way to level 2, which feels like pretty slow progression. They haven't fought that much stuff yet, and they should start picking up the pace soon enough. They have a good amount of gold to upgrade their weapons and gear a little bit, so that will help, too.

I'm pretty sure that each is going to roll the dice of fate, and that might change the game dramatically. We'll see...

A Meditation: Encounter Designing

I am going through and fleshing out Moridis' Halls, building it one encounter at a time. However, what's happening is that it is logically and organically growing upwards and outwards as I go. Here's a snapshot of the process so far...

The initial entry area was a small temple complex that abuts to some natural caves. The temple was easy... and a straight line. Entry > preparation room > temple proper. The temple was populated by zombies worshipping an altar, the altar had a small magical thingy to it, and the entrance was being overrun by natural flora and fauna that were creeping in. Easy so far.

Then I decided on the middle cave - it is inhabited by some goblins. Fine. The next step was the game changer - how do they interact with the temple? Hmmm. Well, I decided this is a source of tension. The rank-and-file goblins worship there and want to give offerings, but their boss, who is a bit smarter and a bit cynical, resents having his money go sit in a bowl for zombies. Hmm. Then I asked that question for the next encounter after... how does he interact with the passage to the right? (A natural pool below a cliff facing). Again, similar answer - the goblins also worship what is there (a ghouled giant snake), and keep throwing his money over the side to appease this 'servant' of their god. Adventurers become an ideal way to maybe solve all of his problems. Now, he's more motivated to parlay with the fellowship rather than kill them, and just like that I have a complex dungeon crawl going. 

The final piece was to give him a long-term goal. He wants a magical amulet that is for sale in a strange place. This then lead to the creation of the Bazaar of Untold Lands (which is modeled on the flea market in Buffalo we used to visit on weekends when I was a teenager). This is set inside a tessaract, and it interacts with dozens of worlds, meaning that it truly is a Bazaar of strange and wondrous stuff. This can now be the centerpiece of the campaign, and the centerpiece of the dungeon. This is where you go to make deals, interact with powerful NPCs, and even meet Moridis herself. Everyone (except Moridis) is bound by a 'no violence, no magic, and no thievery' clause that results in instantaneous banishment. Now a 'beholder like' monster can be there, just chilling, and the heroes can encounter it at level 1. They can think about how to maybe lure it out of the bazaar some day to kill it, and maybe to invade its native realm by some other means, but for now, it's just there hanging out and they can talk to it. Moridis herself can stroll about. I can float out magical items that the heroes want, and set weird prices for it: Oh, you want the sword of the third army? Fine. It will cost you ten dragon eggs. Now... back to the dungeons to find some dragon eggs. The bazaar itself serves the same function as an inn (in many ways), but it's supernaturally transposed right into the dungeon. If somehow the heroes could get magic that allows access to the other realms it connects to, they become multiversal globetrotters with a specific entry and exit point being the Bazaar itself. 

I love it. And these few things then opened the door to the rest of the dungeon. Because Moridis sometimes travels about, she might also interact with the fellowship, even at level 1. Then I realized the purpose of level 1 - it is where she has cast off her 'failed' progeny. Three young dragons are here, all dealing with rejection by their mom in different ways. They are spread about the dungeon. Moridis is fine if the fellowship kills these dragons - she actually would like these 'weak' children of hers to be tested. Maybe they can prove worthy... or receive the death they probably deserve. No skin off her nose. The three dragons (and their lairs) become the centerpoints of the rest of the dungeon. So, I went to the map and popped in a rough outline of those three encounter areas. Now, I can organically build the dungeon around those areas in the same way. I've got some of the big-picture stuff worked out, and can add nuance and detail as I go.

You can follow the development of the dungeon in this living document, which I update as I adventure through the dungeon. I fugre that once it's done, I might publish the book as a supplement for the game.

In the same way, as I create monsters, magic, and rules in exploring the dungeon, I'm updated the Hack'D & Slash'D Companion, which would also see publication once it hits 48 pages or so.

Both projects have a ways to go, but it's fun working on them the way I am. 

Parenthetically, the iconic encounter from the inside of the BX rules will be happening in area 63. I'm really looking forward to that encounter :)

Fanatic Four: Report 2

Continuing their exploration of the Halls of Moridis, the fellowship was met at the entrance (after healing) by a goblin servant who spoke only one phrase in the trade tongue, "Xixal seeks parlay". They were escorted before Xixal (area 19) who they negotiated with (via Galazan). They learned of the temple (21), and of the ghoul snake Bitu (area 24). They agreed to destroy the snake and recover its treasures while Xixal took his goblins (and his loot) on a pilgrimage to the temple. The heroes made short work of the ghoul snake, getting several 12s. They also got very lucky in their checks to find its treasures, and recovered everything from its pool. They returned to Xixal, who was glad at their success, and asked them to travel to the Bazaar (area 8) on his behalf, and try to barter for the amulet of goblin leadership that he covets. They were 'allowed' to use the treasure they had recovered from Bitu's pool to negotiate. 

They set off and made it to area 12, where they were set upon by 7 shadelings. This should have been short work; it was not. The shadelings nearly killed both Alari and Firik, but thanks to Galazan's consistent damage from his cantrip, they were able to prevail. They had to retreat to area 16 to rest and recover before continuing onward, especially since Alari rolled a natural 1 when trying to heal herself, and has therefore lost magic access for the day. 

They have thus far (in total) earned:

28 xp (so 7 xp each)

20 gp

23 sp

144 cp

A suit of enchanted studded leather armor

A cloak of befouling

Fanatic Four: Report One

As I play, I am updating a few documents...

The Hack'D & Slash'D Companion is getting more game materials. I've added quite a bit since the last update. I used the Singing Spiders from this for area 16.

Moridis' Halls is a work in progress; some of the information in this document already needs revision, but I'm adding keyed areas as I explore them. In this session, I moved through areas 16, 18, and 21 (in that order). 

*** 

The heroes entered at 16, but realized the illusion of the spiders. After a brief battle, the heroes easily dispatched the spiders and recovered a little bit of gold from their lair.

They explored area 18, and Galazan was able to identify the magical cloak. He took it in case he wants to cause flowers to wilt or some good cakes to mold over. He's vindicative that way.

Moving into area 21, the poop hit the fan. They failed to sneak up on the zombies (there were six of them, so it's a tough enounter for a level 1 group as is). The zombies pretty quickly dropped Firik to -3 hits, and Alari failed her healing spell. Indar and Galazan were holding their own, but were overwhelmed. Galazan used his alchemist's oil, and luckily hit the four that remained at that point in the battle. The heroes fled (Alari made her might check to pick up Firik so they could run), and they made it back to the exit (south of 16) with burning zombies in pursuit. The zombies finished burning to a crisp in the entry as the heroes recovered outside. 

They have earned: 

16 xp (4 xp each)

14 gp

A cloak of befouling

Weekend Plans

I finished work for the week, came home, mowed the lawn, and took the dogs for a walk. Grace and Mary are out of town at a diving camp, so it's just me and a good chunk of time. Here's my weekend plan... going to go full pencil and paper RPG on my dining room table. I made character cards, found my big printout of the map of Moridis' Halls, and am going to start working my way through the map. I'll post as I go...