Let's say I want to use turns in my playtest

[Blackwarder]

How should I go about it?

I don't have my old 2e books with me any more (they got stollen a few years ago) so I don't have anything to reference to...

So can some of you old'uns help me build a quick ruleset for using turns for exploration?

Warder

 

[ComradeGnull]

Download the free version of the Labyrinth Lord core rules. It has rules on what you can search in a turn, how far you can move, how long torches last, all that sort of stuff.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Download the free version of the Labyrinth Lord core rules. It has rules on what you can search in a turn, how far you can move, how long torches last, all that sort of stuff.

This is exactly what I did in round 1 of the playtest, and it worked perfectly. Here's the crib sheet I made for myself, as well as a Caves of Chaos wandering monster table:


1 turn = 10 minutes


Things that can take a turn:

• Move at 2x tactical speed including mapping, 10x walking through familiar areas
• Search room (20’ square per party member) (have fun deciding whether this includes secret doors, traps, etc; OSRIC has them as three separate things)
• Rest

Combats generally take a negligible amount of time at this scale. If the party decides to rest, that takes up the whole turn.

every 2 turns: wandering monster check (1 in 6)

• Monsters start 2d6 x 10 feet away from the party (if that somehow becomes important)
• Usually, monsters are chosen ad hoc from nearby caves, but for an element of chaos:

[U]Wandering Monster(s)                                           2d6[/U]
Kobold survivors (3d4)                                          2
Goblin patrol (2d4)                                             3
Hobgoblin patrol (2d4)                                          4
Elite Kobold avengers (1d6+1)                                   5
Bugbear ambush (1d4)                                            6
Orc raiders (1d4+1) / outdoor: 1d6 orcs vs. 1d6 hobgoblins      7
Gnoll pack (2d4)                                                8
Undead (1d4 skeletons and 1d4 zombies)                          9
Stirges (1d4+2)                                                 10
Cultists (1d4 acolytes and 1 adept)                             11
Cave Troll (indoor) or owlbear (outdoor)                        12

 

[Blackwarder]

This is exactly what I did in round 1 of the playtest, and it worked perfectly. Here's the crib sheet I made for myself, as well as a Caves of Chaos wandering monster table:


1 turn = 10 minutes


Things that can take a turn:

• Move at 2x tactical speed including mapping, 10x when passing through familiar areas
• Listen for noise
• Open door
• Search room (20’ square per party member)
• Rest

Combats generally take a negligible amount of time at this scale. If the party decides to rest, that takes up the whole turn.

every 2 turns: wandering monster check (1 in 6)

• Monsters start 2d6 x 10 feet away from the party
• Usually, monsters are chosen ad hoc from nearby caves, but for an element of chaos:

[U]Wandering Monster(s)	                                       2d6[/U]
Kobold survivors (3d4)	                                        2
Goblin patrol (2d4)	                                        3
Hobgoblin patrol (2d4)	                                        4
Elite Kobold avengers (1d6+1)	                                5
Bugbear ambush (1d4)	                                        6
Orc raiders (1d4+1) / outdoor: 1d6 orcs vs. 1d6 hobgoblins	7
Gnoll pack (2d4)	                                        8
Undead (1d4 skeletons and 1d4 zombies)	                        9
Stirges (1d4+2)	                                                10
Cultists (1d4 acolytes and 1 adept)	                        11
Cave Troll (indoor) or owlbear (outdoor)	                12

Can't XP you mate.

But why did you decided that opening a door takes a whole turn?

Warder

 

[Steely_Dan]

But why did you decided that opening a door takes a whole turn?

Yeah, they explicitly mention it being part of another action.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Can't XP you mate.

But why did you decided that opening a door takes a whole turn?

Warder

I had misread what it said in OSRIC. It put "open a stuck or locked door" and "listen for noise" in the same list as the other things that take up a whole turn, but they actually only take 1 round per attempt. It also says that the party should generally spend 1 in 6 turns resting, but I thought that was too fiddly. You're on your own as to whether "search for secret doors" and "search for treasure" and "search for traps" take separate turns and/or separate skill checks (OSRIC has them as three separate things).

Oh, also, I made that table after the players had cleared the kobold cave, so that's why it refers to kobold "survivors" and "avengers."

 

[Libramarian]

I use graph paper squares to track turns. You can note events ahead on the timeline and shade them in fractionally.

I only use turns and half-turns unless I'm running The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, in which case I am willing to be budged into tracking smaller intervals.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I use graph paper squares to track turns. You can note events ahead on the timeline and shade them in fractionally.

Can you explain this in more detail? It seems like an interesting way to do it.

 

[ComradeGnull]

Can you explain this in more detail? It seems like an interesting way to do it.

I think he means that marking off a row of boxes on graph paper gives you a way to track turns (like boxes on a bowling score sheet). Then, you can mark in advance places where important time-dependent events happen.

E.g., you star with a blank piece of paper when the players enter a dungeon. Say you know that one hour after they enter the dungeon, a guard will check to see if the front door is open. So six boxes in, you make a note 'guard checks door'. After turn one, you make an 'X' in the first box. During turn two, the mage casts a spell that expires after ten turns, so you note on box 12 'Mage's Unseen Servant expires'. As the players perform actions or engage in combat, you cross off boxes. When you hit a box with an annotation, you know that an effect expires, an event is triggered, whatever.

 

[Libramarian]

Can you explain this in more detail? It seems like an interesting way to do it.

Just as ComradeGnull said. I also do the same thing for days, and rounds (although it looks like 5e is being designed to make round-tracking unnecessary). There's a little over 30 squares across your standard sheet of graph paper, so one month fits nicely onto one line.