REVIEW: Library Generation Table & Locks, Vaults and Hiding Places - and a blurb

Sorry I've been away. Work for my whole gaming crew picks up in the summer months, so we haven't been playing much and I've spent my free time on other things instead of gaming prep.

But commentary and controversy have bestirred themselves of late, and I tried to answer the call! I first heard rumblings on MeWe (I find it about as annoying as Facebook, so I'm not on it very often). Then this thread "The State of Post-OSR Content" on the tenfootpole.org forums [1]. Melan posted "Third Year's the Charm: The End of the OSR", and Anthony Huso wrote his own response. EOTB wrote a response too. Finally, noisms dished up "A Lot of RPG Books are Too Expensive." and the follow-up based on extensive commenting "The Price of the Hobby."

We can also backtrack to Huso's modern classic "I Will Not Relent," which is HIGHLY fucking relevant 100% of the time.

In response, I wrote, deleted, re-wrote and re-deleted a long and annoying manifesto/screed on the subject of: how to stay underground in a scene crammed with folks trying to make money on their RPG writing. I just couldn't get it to come out right! I feel passionately on this subject, but I started to seem like a dick even in my own eyes. It felt like lousy teenage angst and so many more eloquent folks have captured things far better than I could.

Instead of that garbage, here is a double-feature review of two little pdf supplements I found on Drivethru. As Samiam once sang, "life can be so dull." So I try to focus on the things that actually matter, like what to prep for my next game!

*****

Library Generation Table
pdf here for $1.00

Locks, Vaults and Hiding Places
pdf here for PWYW

by Larry Hamilton
Published by Follow Me, and Die! Entertainment
https://followmeanddie.com/

A ten- and a thirteen-page PDF including cover art and intros. These are a useful resource if you can get past the meandering writing, grammar errors and lousy formatting.

They remind me, in approach, of the classic Hack & Slash treasure document (PDF link - I still use this one religiously). Table after table attempts to exhaustively catalogue the subject matter. These two PDFs don't quite reach the transcendent heights of -C's classic though.

The LGT starts off strong, with tables for a book's shape, size, material, subject matter and age. Tables for the filing system a library uses. Tables for the experts' interpretation of a book. Anything and everything you could need to stock a library!

On the downside, it's plagued by formatting problems and really disorganized. There are sections or headings - it's just table after table after table mixed together, unrelated entries side-by-side. Sometimes a new magic item is thrown into the middle! If I want a specific table, like "lost in the library," there is no way to know that it's on page 3 between the table for "number of buildings in the library" and the description of "The Book of Worthless Facts and Useless Information." Of course the short length of the document itself means it can't ever take that long to find anything, but... didn't we learn from the 1e DMG?

Sometimes instead of a table, there is a list or a few suggestions on a given topic, like "Specialized Libraries: Medicine, Law, Religion, Magic." I feel as though these could have been cut, moved to their own section or expanded into full tables. They seem like afterthoughts, and probably should have been cut completely or expanded.

As for LVHP, it begins on the right foot with Hamilton recounting stories of assisting his father - a locksmith - in his work and offers food for thought on the field. It's nice to see someone drawing on their life experiences for a gaming supplement. I had high hopes for this one, because I find integrating traps, secret doors and such into my dungeons pretty tough.

Unfortunately, just like the LGT this one is riddled with errors, awkward wording and other symptoms of an overall "rush to press." The tables for locks and keys are pretty good, but the Hiding Places section is sorely lacking (do we really need a "what is hidden?" table with entries like "Good guys hide something from bad guys.")

Actually, I think the best parts of this supplement are not the tables. When Hamilton is laying out his thoughts about locks, or describing a thief's thought process in the Entrances & Exits section, I felt I was learning something useful and interesting. Still, these blurbs lose focus towards the end, and are in serious need of a cleanup. Also, despite the cover art there wasn't anything about traps in there at all!

Overall, these PDFs are rough around the edges but can be useful if you look past the formatting and other issues. For a buck the LGT is worth a look, but LV&HP is on the level of "long, rambling blog post" right now. If Hamilton did a real editing pass, trimmed the fat and expanded a few sections, added headings, etc, these could really be great resources. But they aren't there yet.


*****

PS: I think anyone who aspires to a kind of 'cataloguing' supplement like these or -C's treasure document, should probably read House of Leaves to start with.

Now I'm out, I bought a used copy of WG4 at my local game store and I'm eager to crack into it! In case you need more instruction, ya boy dishes it up. Try to see the parallels between the music and RPG bizzes:

[1] The discourse gets pretty heated in that thread, but don't judge everyone too harshly. Most of the time we all get along quite well.

E6: Variant Experience

So I was collecting some experience rules from around the internet, and came across this classic on Jeff's Gameblog!

Since Land's End is all about striking out alone (with your friends) into the wilderness, I've decided to adopt and expand upon this awesome eXPloration idea. My version gives out more experience but the benefits should slow down as the PCs gain levels. (It makes more difference to the whippersnappers when they spot cool new things.)


XP For Exploration

First time you enter a hex (50 xp)
Discover a 'major' hex location (100 xp * average challenge rating of the area)
Discover a 'minor' hex location (50 xp)

This is 'normal' experience, divided among the PCs just like treasure or monsters. In addition, I picked out a few major locations that are more significant. Reaching one of these gives EACH PC the stated xp bonus. I am considering awarding these once per player as well: your character discovers it for the first time when you do.

For most of these, you can assume the caveat "... and live to tell about it."

• Discover another human civilization (1000 xp)
• Enter the Tower of Brass (650 xp)
• Enter the pillar tombs (500 xp)
• Enter the palace of Izizktharad (500 xp)
• Reach the summit of Deathfrost Mountain (300 xp)
• See the Pit of Bones (200 xp)
• Enter the lizardmen's Pyramid of Silence (150 xp)
• See the lost city of the elves (100 xp)

XP For Treasure

This is easy. Using the silver standard, 1 sp = 1 xp.

SOME experience awarded for goods and treasure looted and sold off. Selling your old weapon after you buy a new one shouldn't net any experience. Beheading some orcs and selling off their chainmail should, I think. In general once you make use of it, you aren't getting any cash = xp out of it.

NO experience awarded for magic items. They are rare enough and should be their own reward. There isn't anybody around who will buy them from you anyway.

True bastard that I am, I am awarding loot & starting wealth based on a silver standard, but all items have the listed cost IN GOLD PIECES in the Pathfinder Core Rules - ie. PCs have 1/10th the buying power they should according to RAW. This way they can scoop up huge sacks of money but they're still broke and hungry for the first several levels.

XP For Monsters / Conclusion

Experience is awarded as normal for monsters, based on their Challenge Rating. You might think between exploration, treasure and monsters there is way too much experience flying around to have a reasonable game. Two techniques exist for dealing with this:

Firstly, Pathfinder gives three XP charts: fast, medium, and slow. Obviously I'll be using the slow advancement chart, so PCs need 3000 xp to reach 2nd level and a total of 35,000 to reach 6th, as opposed to the 'medium' 2,000 and 23,000 respectively. So this should make up for the multifarious ways a character can grow.

The other option I'm considering is some kind of attenuated XP reward for low-CR monsters. Gary describes this in the 1e DMG, although the wording is a bit obtuse.  I think for our purposes, he is suggesting I modify experience awards by a ratio of enemy Hit Dice (CR for Pathfinder purposes) to average party level. (eg: an equal number of orcs vs 1st-level PCs is a 1:1 ratio. The same group of orcs vs second-level PCs is a 1:2 ratio, and defeating them should net half the normal experience.)

This seems a bit harsh and there are other factors to consider - CR is calibrated for a 4-person party and I only have three players. CR is also calibrated for wealth and magic items by level: that's completely out of whack given my vicious economic system outlined above and a low-magic setting. I won't institute this change unless it looks like the PCs are rocketing up through levels with the current system.

*****

(I have more posts this year by September than any other year by far. How many can I do before the end of the year? Think I can make it to 100?)

Now play this when the PCs dig their greasy mitts into that next treasure-sack!!!

The Best D&D Film Ever Made

We need to have a serious conversation, folks. A conversation about one of the best movies ever, and why it's so fucking D&D it hurts. A movie crammed with forgotten tombs, lethal traps, untold riches, vicious monsters and magic items!! 

Of course I'm talking about:

The first 13 minutes of this film are supreme, but today I want to focus on the TRAPS. I think the record will show they are all supremely D&D-able, and we could all learn a few lessons here. Also, since some other people were discussing traps recently, it comes at a topical moment (completely by accident)!

Watch as I outline the traps, how Indy deals with them, what makes them cool, how I would run them in my game, etc.



***** CAST *****

Indiana Jones - archaeologist
Satipo - craven hireling


***** THE DUNGEON, um, I mean THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE *****

Nobody else has returned from the dungeon alive, but Indy has a few good reasons to get in there. He wants the idol and to know what happened to another treasure hunter who never made it back.

Observe him getting his stuff ready to go inside the dungeon. Torches, and... sand?

I'm sure there is a good reason for that. Indy is no novice adventurer, as we'll see shortly.


1 - THE SPIDERWEBS

Walk through a giant spiderweb, you might get some giant spiders on you.

This is good because although it's scary the characters aren't in any danger if they just stay calm and don't freak out. You can see Satipo trying not to shit himself. Imagine if they had flailed around like the other PCs in one of my groups, smashing out as much damage as possible as quick as they can? Might have killed each other before the spiders did.

Room description: These webs are home to dozens of fist-sized poisonous spiders [stats here]. They are sleepy and passive unless provoked by rapid movement or loud noises. They are hard to see when resting in their thick webs, especially in dim light. 

Clue: Giant fucking spiderwebs.


2 - SPIKE TRAP

One of my favourite traps. Indy is in pure D&D mode here. He knows something's up. Cautiously approaching, he waits to interact with it until he thinks he can test it safely and then springs it. The fate of the incautious is death, as we learn what happened to the last dude.

Room description: This trap is a vertical line of spikes that extend 6' from the wall, [some damage]. They are triggered by anything casting a shadow on the rocks. A dead adventurer is impaled on them right now. After a minute, they will reset back into the wall. 

Clue: A beam of light coming into the dark dungeon. (this one is a bit more obscure, but... pay attention to the details or perish!)

Next up is a well-loved classic:


3 - THE PIT

This is genius. I have used the 'already open pit trap' to tremendous effect in the past. Why bother with garbage like "this pit is based on a cantilever design, originally developed by Archimedes..." whatever. Fuck you.

Just make the pit already open! My players spent who knows how long trying to get down to the bottom and then up the other side, sweating bullets as they wait for me to dish up a random encounter where goblins can push rocks down on their heads.

Room description: come on man.

In this case Indy has his trusty whip, but this sets the stage for further difficulty. Leaving your adventuring gear behind for later use can be a smart move, but now you have a 'supply chain' of sorts behind you that you must protect.


4 - THE IDOL ROOM

Satipo, ever the clueless boob, almost gets the party killed here because he thinks it's safe to stroll forward. As usual, caution and information-gathering are the order of the day. Indy tests the waters:

Room description: The floor on the lower level [note that the idol's pedestal is on a slightly elevated area] is covered with pressure plates. Stepping on one of these will trigger a poison dart from one of the carved faces on the walls. They are worked into a pattern on the floor - the triggers are diamond-shaped stones [include picture of floor pattern here, or don't]. 

Clues: Carved 'spitting faces' on the walls, strange pattern of flagstones.

With the danger established he creeps up slowly, avoiding the pressure plates, until he's within reach of the prize:

What do?

He's made it past the poison darts, the pit, the spikes and the spiders. Indy knows this thing is trapped. He's thinking like an adventurer should! 

Room description: This trap is based on a weight sensor. If the idol is moved, lifted, etc. the dungeon begins to collapse! This also sets of the sliding stone door and the boulder trap by the entrance.

[Indy's DM will have to evaluate the chance of his improvised sandbag working. Is it 50/50? Does Indy make a DEX check? Roll for his Knowledge: weight of a lump of gold? All of these are possible. In Pathfinder he would roll Disable Device, and trying to avoid that shit is why I'm writing this article in the first place.] 

Clue: shiny golden idol on a pedestal totally untouched, weak-looking support pillars [knowledge roll or inspection to detect flaws], sliding multi-layered pedestal [seams covered by grasses, careful inspection required].

Indy has the right idea but doesn't execute it perfectly. It's comforting to know even he can't make every single roll.


5 - RUN AWAY!

Now we experience the whole dungeon in reverse, and you can see how the traps change not based on what Indy "rolls", but how he acts.

IDOL ROOM AGAIN: He sprints through the spike trap, dodging clouds of darts from left and right. Obviously he is making his saving throws because he's the hero and it's a movie, but any PC could meet a grim end right here.

PIT AGAIN, and SLIDING DOOR:

If I did this to my players they'd probably tar & feather me, but it doesn't get much more exciting!! 

A tough negotiation, a ticking clock, everything is against our hero. Interacting with this 'totally inert' open pit has become a complex problem. Your basic "zap" pit trap doesn't provide this. Of course this only works before your PCs have ready access to Fly, but when does that happen anyway? Stop giving them so many magic items.

The sliding door is just *one* of the ways Indy could get trapped here forever. In your dungeon you should probably leave some other way for the PCs to get out... right?

SPIKES AGAIN:

What an idiot! So focused on running away that he completely forgot the trap was there. This is what I'm talking about: Satipo was warned about this and he done fucked up.

I have in past days relied on the players remembering a warning I gave them half an hour before. A common viewpoint is this is unfair, although I don't know why. Since Satipo is a hireling he doesn't get a warning, but depending on the situation I might remind the players "hey guys, while you're sprinting away, who remembers those spikes?" Season to your own taste.


6 - THE BOULDER

Either he gets crushed, or he avoids the boulder and it gets stuck in the cave entrance, sealing him inside. It's a double-ended trap.

This would be great if your PCs dithered during the open-pit negotiation, or took their time coming back past the spikes because their idiot hireling hadn't set them off accidentally. 


CONCLUSION

It's easy to look at this dungeon in a certain light as a screw-job. Your players might blunder through it getting chopped into bits if they make some bad calls or don't pay close attention. However, if you look back, you'll see that every trap had some kind of clue or odd element to telegraph that something was up. Indy doesn't just walk down a featureless hallway, only to *zap*, fall down a pit. That would be cruel AND boring.

These are the kind of traps I like to use. They give you a chance to make decisions, and are interactive without resorting to 'I roll my Solve Problem skill.' YOU can be a treasure-hunting adventurer, whatever the numbers on your character sheet. All you need is a well-designed dungeon and your wits about you!


THE WILDERNESS AGAIN:

*****

Now check this out.