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Message: <blockquote data-quote="robertsconley" data-source="post: 9649593" data-attributes="member: 13383">Thanks for the review of Bandits & Brigands.This is an good opportunity to discuss how expectations and design context influence both how a resource is written and how it is meant to be used.The document wasn’t intended as a closed-loop faction simulator or an exhaustive procedural guide to rural criminal society. It’s a utility for referees of classic D&D campaigns, written for an audience already familiar with fantasy tropes, a layman’s grasp of medieval social structure, and familiar with the different variations of classic D&D campaigns. In that context, terseness isn’t a flaw; it’s a design goal. It’s about providing raw material and does not discuss outcomes.Take the lieutenant ratios, for example. These are not ironclad organizational laws. They are rough expectations meant to help with encounter prep. They help the referee generate a plausible brigand or bandit gang. Not about demographic distributions. Similarly, the lack of explicit bribe values or recruitment options isn’t an oversight, it is left open for the referee to fill with their preferred methods of handling those elements.It’s not trying to cover every detail. It’s giving you what you need to run with it. A document like this assumes the referee is already maintaining notes on local factions, reputations, conflicts, and opportunities for social exploration. It gives enough detail to support that kind of play without setting limits. That’s why I referenced it in a discussion about sandbox prep: not because it answers every question, but because it helps me ask the right ones and respond consistently to player actions.That said, if you prefer a more structured or casually mapped-out social model, this document can be used to your advantage. Use the entries as templates and then overlay your own logic or procedures on top. For example,<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">you could define your own promotion mechanics,</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">codify bribe values by role,</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">build a faction organization map seeded with the lieutenant/captain ratios as starting points.</li> </ul>The terse stat blocks and archetypes are a foundation for those kinds of extension. Rather than treating what not been said in the text as problems, treat them as opportunities for targeted customization, aligned with your preferred depth and rigor.Different games and documents make different assumptions about who’s responsible for filling in gaps. Recognizing who the intended reader is, how the material is meant to be used, and what assumptions it operates under can help us avoid talking past each other, and lead to more productive conversations about design.</blockquote>

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