NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zustiur" data-source="post: 6041285" data-attributes="member: 1544">Yes, that is a bit board-gamey, but as a starting point, I don't see that as a problem.So, the nearest board-game equivalent that springs to mind is DND's own boardgame, where dungeon tiles are picked and laid out essentially at random, and then cards are drawn to determine what currently resides in those tiles.Hmm, I'm going to back up a step before continuing.I think we're looking at a very distinct play-style here. The following idea is not intended for everyone. Many, if not most, groups play with a 'pre-determined' story and map etc. They're welcome to continue doing so. What I'm currently thinking about is a minimum-prep survivalist style of DND, where the story comes from the characters and players, rather than being predestined by the DM.The term Hex Crawl keeps popping up, so let's run with that for now. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The party starts in the town hex. This is a frontier town, surrounded by wilderness on all directions (ala points of light, or the specific setting I happen to be working on right now...)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They spend the first day, (having magically teleported to this town at the start of the game) exploring the town, meeting NPCs, getting to know where shops are, buying provisions, securing lodging etc</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The 2nd day they look outside. The standing army/militia/whatever has already subdued the surrounding hexes - they're not safe, but they're a lot safer than wandering further.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">DM puts down randomly selected hex 'cards' on each side of the town.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Players ask NPC advice, and pick a likely looking hex to explore.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">DM rolls dice, draws cards whatever to get more detail about what is in the hex.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The party is faced with a challenge of crossing a river with no bridge if they want to explore that hex. There may be some tantalizing hint of what is on the other side.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Challenge happens</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The DM determines what's on the other side of the river that got the party's attention. It's a cave entrance</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Getting into the cave is difficult in some manner. Probably involves climbing down a steep slope or vertical hole. This is another challenge</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Once inside, the wilderness tiles are put aside and the cave system tiles are used instead. The first tile is the entrance tile which has several exits.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">By clearing the cave system, the party gathers some form of treasure, xp, and prestige for having helped the town</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They return to town and spend their new found wealth. Rest up etc. As money is a driving factor for adventuring, they quickly find themselves out of cash and in need of another adventure.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They leave the town again, and select a hex to explore. This may be the same hex as previously; each hex has more than one feature</li> </ul>And so on...I would seriously love to have a system that did all of that. Whether its a book, cards, dice tables, computer generated random events (essentially dice tables), I don't care. I just want a way that I can sit down each game session and pick up where we left off, with no need to spend hours between sessions designing the next part of the story. I believe this works with a gritty 'death lurks around every corner' play-style, rather than a 'PCs are protagonists and must save the world' play-style.I'm not the best DM in the world, there's no question of that. I can make up stories, but they usually fall flat in several key areas. All of these areas can be summed up as 'non combat challenges'. Give me a system for generating them for as long as it takes me to get a handle on doing that myself, and I'll be a very happy DM. I've suggested before that there should be a 'Tome of Traps' to go along-side the Monster Manual. Now I want a Challenge Compendium as well. Maybe an Exploration Encyclopedia, which contains both traps and challenges.</blockquote>

Verification