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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 8364813" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!For me, S&S "feels" like sand-caked blood a the corners of my mouth and the sting of an epic hangover. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Writing an S&S adventure should entail very little, if any, "humanoid monsters" (kobolds, goblins, ogres, etc). Those humanoid monsters get replaced with strange half-men (half-man, half-beast), savage cavemen, cannibal tribes worshipping strange gods, etc. The other 'monsters' are SIGNIFICANTLY more rare... manticore, giants, dragons, otyugh, basilisk, etc. Those creatures are only encountered in their "lair".The majority of 'monsters' encountered in the wilderness and ruined cities of ancient civilizations will be of the "giant animal" variety; giant apes, giant snakes, giant frogs, giant scorpions, giant spiders, giant turtles, etc.Ok. So now we have a feel for what "monsters" are there. What about non-monsters? Well, that would be humans. Other humans...cultures, genetics, religions, etc. There should be very little "mixing" of the human tribes/countries due primarily to the dangers of travel, but also due to distrust of "outsiders" (basically, most people in an S&S world would have various severities of xenophobia). Each country would have certain genetic dispositions (adjustments to stats, ht/wt, hair/eye colour, skin colour, etc). On top of that, each should also have a distinct look and feel to their fashion. Fashion is important in S&S....it starkly contrasts the "Haves" from the "Have Nots". Leading to...Haves and Have Nots. This is prevalent. So when writing an adventure, the PC's are almost always of the "Have Nots". This means they are seen as tools. Objects.  Any adventure involving someone "hiring" them to do something must keep this in mind. The PC's are not "equals" to their employer; they are expendable expenses. If they start to cost more than they are worth, they are fired (or killed, traded, sold, sacrificed, or who knows what). In the S&S world, there is no such thing as "Fair Dealing Laws". You take what you can get, hope for the best, expect the worst.Themes of the Adventure. Wild lands, ancient ruins and antediluvian caves, caverns and dungeons from other epoch's. Roads are rough and dilapidated at best, decrepit to non-existent at worst. Roads are beset by bandits, savages, and the hunting grounds for huge, fell beasts that strike from the shadows or the air. Roads are deadly. Roads are also much safer than traveling in the wilderness.Rewards. A S&S adventure should reward the PC's primarily with their lives. After that, scars as opposed to permanent losses of limbs or senses. After that, riches. An adventure should be considered a success if half the party manages to get back to civilization only mostly dead. It's a resounding success if they also have enough treasure to pay for healing and partying/celebrating. The more PC's that live, the more treasure, the more successful...but the standard D&D'ism's of "Going into the dungeon, killing monsters, taking their stuff" shouldn't really be expected. Like, at all.Death. Yup. Death. S&S is uncaring...no, it is outright hostile. It wants to see you dead. There should almost never be a "fair fight" in an S&S adventure; the PC's should be trying to avoid fights if at all possible, and when they must fight, they should be fighting tooth and nail....because at any second WHAM! Yer ded! Now, 5e is not set up for this sort of brutality. Personally, I'd probably get some rules fixed/created to help with this. For example, at 0 HP you immediately make ONE Death Save; pass or fail. The reason I say one roll is because it's easier than negative HP's to help portray the "left for dead" trope of S&S.And that's about it. Savage humans, xenophobic civilizations, giant creatures, deadly...everything.^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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