Road encounters
Here is another attempt, following the discussion at https://plus.google.com/+EricNieudan/posts/HEsho5m3Bvq
Instead of rolling the encounter risk die, and then on another table for local monsters, you just roll the dR. The words in bold are categories: you feel the rest of table according to your campaign and needs.
What do youse think? Useful, meh, a waste of space in the book?
Like it. Concise, good range of categories. I especially like the d3 section, adds tons of RP possibilities, rather than "oh and here's a thing, roll initiative".
ReplyDeleteInteresting but a lot of this encounter could be avoided or ignored. A hobo ogre on the side of the road singing ? Avoid him ! it's exactly like the giant skeleton walking on the side of the road on your last game : cool for the World's mood but will not change so much for our traveling experience. The danger / challenge / mysterie have to be there in our face and ignore it demand some dices rolling.
ReplyDeleteAt last maybe your table need a more mixed choice between creature encounter and Land challenge.
Gerald Rose Yeah, I find these make the encounters more interesting, and more surprising to me =)
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ReplyDeleteMathieu Mazzoni
"your table need a more mixed choice between creature encounter and Land challenge."
Again, it's a road, so I don't need terrain challenges in it. These are on the map already. It's not a map building tool, it's (primarily) a risk management mechanic, and (secondarily) a plot generator.
"The danger / challenge / mysterie have to be there in our face and ignore it demand some dices rolling. "
I think we're coming from different perspectives here. If every danger is in the characters' faces, there will be a TPK before the end of the journey. That is something you can do in 4E or Dungeon World, not in an old school game.
This campaign is about discovering the world, gathering information, and going into danger for specific rewards. As an old school referee, only in the rarest of circumstances will I ask you to roll a d20 outright -
a single failed check can seal a character's fate at low levels and a player should have to choose to roll, and know the stakes before they do so.
The giant you saw in the distance was too far to be a threat because your scout was flying. Had Sophie's character been on horseback, you'd have spotted it much closer! I wasn't going to force a dangerous situation on youse despite your thinking and planning.
Also, the giant might be part of something that will unfold later, or motivate a new expedition. Who knows? (And now you'll think that I just decided to write a whole backstory about this dude just to prove your wrong! But I won't... I'm a lazy ref ;)
ok, i see the differences.
ReplyDeleteI think it's worth having in the book.
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