Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Let's Read Sword World 2.5!
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 8793246" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p>The sample scenario in Rulebook I is exceedingly linear. So much so that much of what I say here wouldn't apply, and if I hadn't seen some other materials, I would have assumed that SW2.5 truly recommends extremely narrow and linear scenarios. But reading the first official replay, and seeing the 11(!) scenarios included in the Adventurers Guild Box Set has given me a very different understanding of the kind of scenarios SW2.5 promotes as a product line. At least as far as what they recommend to beginning players and GMs.</p><p></p><p>The first thing that sticks out is the maps. Every adventure is keyed to <strong>a</strong> map. These are not D&D-style maps: overhead landscapes with hexes or squares on them. These are more akin to overworld maps you might find in video games. Often, they are relatively simplistic and somewhat abstract. (In the replay, they are often drawn on a whiteboard by the GM.) They might be at a three-quarters or proscenium angle. What's important is that the players see where they can go, because this map is typically shown to players at the outset.</p><p></p><p>The Box Set explains that almost all maps are divided into boxes, and describes three styles: 1) latticework, where a map is split vertically and horizontally with boxes. These are larger scale boxes than the character-size squares of modern D&D, nor are they always uniform, or even square! 2) Room and Corridor boxes, similar to latticework boxes, only each box contains a corridor or a room. Generally, with a latticework map, one can enter and leave a box through any of its sides, but with Room and Corridor Boxes one can only leave through the sides that doors or passageways out of the box. Very akin to D&D-type dungeon crawling, typically the contents of a box in these are not shown to the players until they enter it. Finally, 3) Line-connected boxes (although in the included scenarios these are actually circles rather than boxes.) Essentially a network of encounter locations, some interconnected, while others in isolated branches. An encounter can only be reached from one that it is already connected to. Like this:</p><p><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWXu3aeU8AElctS?format=jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>What this does is essentially turn every scenario into a kind of dungeon. At its simplest, it can be a relatively linear "five-room dungeon." Here's the map from the first adventure in the Box Set, a highly simple latticework map.</p><p><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWXuvJgVcAE4iIq?format=jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Add a little more complexity, and it can look like this:</p><p><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErxfHurVEAQ6F5J?format=jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>This is a map of (a section of) Harves used in the second scenario described in the first official replay. The boxes with pictures in them are encounter areas, where the PCs can gather information. The blank boxes are nondescript parts of town they have to travel through, where they may be subject to random encounters. (In this particular scenario, time is of the essence, and moving through each box costs time. Players can walk and use up a full unit of time, run and use only a half unit of time--but they take damage--or, they can use the canal ferries, which are fast and avoid random encounters, but cost money.)</p><p></p><p>And when it becomes really complex, it can look like this:</p><p><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHKY4QjUwAE4jbU?format=jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>That's the full, A3-size scenario map of Harves provided in one of the Starter Sets. (The sets also includes various chits and markers to be placed on the map when certain locations are found or events happen.)</p><p></p><p>Within each location on a map there is either the opportunity to get information by investigation or by talking with an NPC, there could be a trap, there could be a puzzle, or there could be a fight. In the Box Set, most scenarios have 9 locations: the starting location, two traps, two NPC interactions, two exploration/investigation areas, and two combats: the climatic battle at the end, and another sometime before that. That's kind of the standard baseline. Scenarios with more than 9 locations usually add another combat somewhere.</p><p></p><p>Like in the example above, often there is a complicating aspect, often involving the passage of time, requiring the party to not only gather necessary items and information to defeat the boss bad guy, but to do it efficiently. Puzzles are generally player facing, not character facing.</p><p></p><p>Hopefully, this gives a better idea of Sword World scenarios, at least as the company see them!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 8793246, member: 6680772"] The sample scenario in Rulebook I is exceedingly linear. So much so that much of what I say here wouldn't apply, and if I hadn't seen some other materials, I would have assumed that SW2.5 truly recommends extremely narrow and linear scenarios. But reading the first official replay, and seeing the 11(!) scenarios included in the Adventurers Guild Box Set has given me a very different understanding of the kind of scenarios SW2.5 promotes as a product line. At least as far as what they recommend to beginning players and GMs. The first thing that sticks out is the maps. Every adventure is keyed to [B]a[/B] map. These are not D&D-style maps: overhead landscapes with hexes or squares on them. These are more akin to overworld maps you might find in video games. Often, they are relatively simplistic and somewhat abstract. (In the replay, they are often drawn on a whiteboard by the GM.) They might be at a three-quarters or proscenium angle. What's important is that the players see where they can go, because this map is typically shown to players at the outset. The Box Set explains that almost all maps are divided into boxes, and describes three styles: 1) latticework, where a map is split vertically and horizontally with boxes. These are larger scale boxes than the character-size squares of modern D&D, nor are they always uniform, or even square! 2) Room and Corridor boxes, similar to latticework boxes, only each box contains a corridor or a room. Generally, with a latticework map, one can enter and leave a box through any of its sides, but with Room and Corridor Boxes one can only leave through the sides that doors or passageways out of the box. Very akin to D&D-type dungeon crawling, typically the contents of a box in these are not shown to the players until they enter it. Finally, 3) Line-connected boxes (although in the included scenarios these are actually circles rather than boxes.) Essentially a network of encounter locations, some interconnected, while others in isolated branches. An encounter can only be reached from one that it is already connected to. Like this: [IMG]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWXu3aeU8AElctS?format=jpg[/IMG] What this does is essentially turn every scenario into a kind of dungeon. At its simplest, it can be a relatively linear "five-room dungeon." Here's the map from the first adventure in the Box Set, a highly simple latticework map. [IMG]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWXuvJgVcAE4iIq?format=jpg[/IMG] Add a little more complexity, and it can look like this: [IMG]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErxfHurVEAQ6F5J?format=jpg[/IMG] This is a map of (a section of) Harves used in the second scenario described in the first official replay. The boxes with pictures in them are encounter areas, where the PCs can gather information. The blank boxes are nondescript parts of town they have to travel through, where they may be subject to random encounters. (In this particular scenario, time is of the essence, and moving through each box costs time. Players can walk and use up a full unit of time, run and use only a half unit of time--but they take damage--or, they can use the canal ferries, which are fast and avoid random encounters, but cost money.) And when it becomes really complex, it can look like this: [IMG]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHKY4QjUwAE4jbU?format=jpg[/IMG] That's the full, A3-size scenario map of Harves provided in one of the Starter Sets. (The sets also includes various chits and markers to be placed on the map when certain locations are found or events happen.) Within each location on a map there is either the opportunity to get information by investigation or by talking with an NPC, there could be a trap, there could be a puzzle, or there could be a fight. In the Box Set, most scenarios have 9 locations: the starting location, two traps, two NPC interactions, two exploration/investigation areas, and two combats: the climatic battle at the end, and another sometime before that. That's kind of the standard baseline. Scenarios with more than 9 locations usually add another combat somewhere. Like in the example above, often there is a complicating aspect, often involving the passage of time, requiring the party to not only gather necessary items and information to defeat the boss bad guy, but to do it efficiently. Puzzles are generally player facing, not character facing. Hopefully, this gives a better idea of Sword World scenarios, at least as the company see them! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Let's Read Sword World 2.5!
Top