Kickstarter | Carapace -&- In the Heart of Oz

>> Kickstarter LINK <<

This Kickstarter is for two (2) Hex Flower Game Engine based RPG adventures. 

Zines
The first, Carapace, offers the horrors of procedurally exploring a labyrinthine giant ant colony in search of the giant ant Queen. The second, In the Heart of the Oz is more of a gonzo sandbox setting, based in the Land of the Wizard of Oz.

Artists
The art in these match the setting material. Marcin s‘s dark fantasy style is a perfect match for Carapace, and Nate Treme‘s charming, almost whimsical style matches the Wizard of Oz setting.  

Why two zines? Well, both are great and by combining these we save you postage costs in sending these out separately.
I hope you can stop buy and take a look.

:O) 
#zinequest 
– – –

Me on DriveThruDriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Puzzle Design – is it possible to try to make a (semi) rigorous system?

TLDR – skip to the “Proforma Questions”

– – –

Kinds of Puzzles

I will start off by saying, I do not claim to be the best puzzle designer out there. I just like trying to make them.

I recently read this about puzzle dungeons in RPGs, and it made me wonder if having some structure (at least to start with) could help in making individual puzzles.

Before getting into this, I think it is important to recognise that ‘puzzles’ can be broken down into two main categories:

• Class 1 – Pure inspiration – for example I saw an Arrhenius screw and thought that would be a neat stair case; or noticing that cannon balls float in mercury, and realizing that perhaps a large vat of mercury could be used to make a liquid bridge over a dangerous surface. But, other than a mind looking for D&D connections, there is nothing you can do to harvest pure inspiration.

• Class 2 – Active designed – like this moon door puzzle, or secret chimney (pic below) or this rotating flooding corridor puzzle. These were constructed almost from the ground up. No raw inspiration. So, I began to think about my thought process in how I built these puzzles, and began to think – could I codify my thought process and would this be useful?

Secret Chimney Puzzle

My thought process for Class 2 Puzzle (for what it is worth):

For example, my main thought process when making the Sun/Moon door puzzle was along the lines of: (1) I want a door that is not easy to get through (2) I’ll make a puzzle that needs to be solved to open the door (3) things need to be put in the correct place on the door to solve the puzzle (4) I’ll make the puzzle be related to the position of the Sun and the phase of the Moon, so I can give visual hints related to these positions in the current sky. Hopefully this will not be too hard, too easy is way worse than too hard.

• So, in designing: Need an objective –> a ‘stopper’ that prevents getting to the objective easily –> a reasoned solution based on information –> hints that provide this information

I then went through a process of deciding if this puzzle was fun, dobale and not a game ending problem.

• So, in checking the puzzle: Is this an engaging problem? –> Is it logical enough and not arbitrary, not too hard or too easy? –> Is it putative to the overall game?

I will say none of this was done in a premeditative way, it just sort of rolled out, using more of less those steps, but probably in a bit of a mind jumble. This is just me trying to retro-derive my thought process.

– IF – we put aside raw inspiration (i.e. Class 1 Puzzles) as an untamable beast, is there a way of coming up with a semi-rigorous method of designing simple puzzles for RPGs?

Let’s try:

— Proforma Questions —

1.OBJECTIVE – What objective will the PCs want/need (it can be a simple one)
2. STOPPER – What stops/frustrates obtaining the objective in 1. easily
3. RESOLUTION – What do the PCs need to do to resolve/overcome the frustration in 2.
4. HINTS – (using the Alexandrian 3 clue rule probably makes sense here)
(a) what hint/clue is there in getting to a solution
(b) perhaps add a second hint/clue
(c) perhaps add a third hint/clue, perhaps make this more of a thematic clue

— Check/Validation Questions —

5.ENGAGING – Is the solution engaging/fun (or at least not a mechanical drudge) – if not change something in steps 1‑4, probably in steps 2 or 3, and work back through the steps
6. LOGIC – Does the solution require some basic logic or common-sense reasoning – if not, change something in 1-4, probably in steps 3 or 4, and work back through the steps
7. PUNITIVE – If failure to obtain the objective in 1. is overly punitive and/or prevents/ends the game from progressing in a meaningful way – then change something, probably the objective

— Worked Examples —

:: Let’s try it out – DOORWAY 1

1. OBJECTIVE – get through the doorway
2. STOPPER – the door is rusted shut
3. RESOLUTION – oil the hinges, the oil is in another room (if the players have no oil on them)
4. HINTS –
   (a) mention that the hinges are covered in rust
   (b) there are greasy spots below the hinges (i.e. hint: they have been oiled before)
   (c) PCs have passed through another door in the complex that could only just be opened on screeching hinges (i.e. hint: oil would have helped open the door)
5. ENGAGING – seems OK, perhaps it’s a bit on the mundane side …
6. LOGIC – seems OK, no massive leaps of logic needed
7. PUNITIVE – this door just leads to a non-essential part of the complex, so it’s OK if they fail to get past the door

Overall this puzzle seems OK, the main problem is that 5. is not especially interesting, so we could have another try or tweak things a bit.

So, we could make getting the oil more interesting, like perhaps the PCs should encounter a broken engine or robot/automitant and it is dripping oil, or they find a bowl where rusted metal items are soaking in oil etc.

OR change something in 1 to 4 above to try to make it more engaging. OK, let’s try that:

:: Let’s tweak it – DOORWAY 2:

1. OBJECTIVE – get through the METAL doorway
2. STOPPER – it’s rusted shut
3. RESOLUTION – get a RUST MONSTER to eat the metal door
4. HINTS –
   (a) PCs can encounter a rust monster eating its way through a giant metal chain like a row of sausages. Perhaps change the door in 1. to a portcullis, and it is the operational chains that have rusted solid on the portcullis
   (b) there is an abandoned reel of chain left near the door, or the door is also chained shut (i.e. hint: trying to link the door, chains and rust monster together).
   (c) perhaps there are lots of chains left in this complex, and some show strange signs of being eaten by something.
5. ENGAGING – Perhaps a more interesting solution than above – the PCs can drag the metal chain to the door leading the Rust Monster to the door/portcullis, and then the PCs can come back when the Rust Monster has eaten the door?
6. LOGIC – think this is a pass
7. PUNITIVE – Again, the door just leads to a non-essential part of the complex, so OK

Of course, if the PCs come up with a better way of getting past the door, all well and good, as long as there is at least one way of doing this in your puzzle (but also see also PIT 2 example were there is no bespoke solution just an open problem)

:: For the fun of it, let’s make another – DOORWAY 3

1. OBJECTIVE – get through the doorway (sticking with a theme)
2. STOPPER – it requires a code/puzzle solution
3. RESOLUTION – align 7 pegs in the correct holes
4. HINTS –
   (a) perhaps the pegs are rainbow coloured and they have to be put in rainbow coloured order e.g.: ROYGBIV
   (b) there is a room with a giant rainbow mural with open doors at each end of the rainbow
   (c) the cult members in the complex all wear rainbow coloured robes (e.g. theming rainbows)
5. ENGAGING – think this is a pass
6. LOGIC – yes, hopefully not too obtuse. Added hint, maybe have a prism near the door, and when light is shown through the prism the split light shows the placement of the pegs in the holes on the door
7. PUNITIVE – again, this door just leads to a non-essential part of the complex

:: OR – DOORWAY 4

1. OBJECTIVE – get through the doorway
2. STOPPER – it requires a code/puzzle solution
3. RESOLUTION – align the 4 levers in the door in a(n): up, down or middle position
4. HINTS –
   (a) There is a room in the complex where the up, down or middle positions are indicated – maybe horizontal bars on a tapestry e.g. _ — _ ^— perhaps there is an open door printed above the bars.
   Or a painting of the door with 4 prominent markings on it, maybe knots in the wood, or physical holes showing the position of the levers; or carpet with a door with 4 branches growing out of it, each branch position equating to the position of the 4 levers
   (b) Maybe there are some wear marks (or greasy finger marks) on the door indicating the positions the lever should be in
   (c) Maybe the PCs can find a torn cloth that show a smudge drawing showing the level positions, but disguised as musical notes (maybe too obtuse); or they find a diagram on a dead thief, the diagram showing someone blowing dust on a door (the dust sticking to the greasy marks described above)
5. ENGAGING – seems OK, but maybe the players will get fixated on just guessing the positions; a 1 in 81 chance. To discourage simple mechanical guessing, perhaps once the levers are moved, and a failed result is obtained, the door makes a loud “gong” noise, to discourage too many random guesses. Or, stress that the levers are old and look like the will break if messed with too much
6. LOGIC – yes, think some is required
7. PUNITIVE – again, this door just leads to a non-essential part of the complex

:: Sticking with doors just to see – DOORWAY 5

1. OBJECTIVE – get through the doorway
2. STOPPER – protected by a magical barrier
3. RESOLUTION – walk backwards through the doorway
4. HINTS –
   (a) perhaps a close look at the dusty footprints shows a person appearing to pivot just before going throught the door i.e. weird broad semicircular heel marks
   (b) maybe there is some sort of riddle in the dungeon giving a hint e.g.: “To go back is to go forward, to go forward is the way back”
   (c) maybe there is a magical hoop in the complex where things can only pass through in one direction. Maybe the hoop is positioned to control the flow of water through a pipe? Perhaps the archway and the hoop share a copper frame.
5. ENGAGING – think this is a pass
6. LOGIC – think this is a pass
7. PUNITIVE – again, this door just leads to a non-essential part of the complex

:: Let’s try one more doorway – DOORWAY 6

1. OBJECTIVE – get through a tunnel archway
2. STOPPER – protected by circular chopping blades
3. RESOLUTION – turn the mechanism off
4. HINTS –
   (a) in the complex there is a switch, perhaps a large bowl of water on a pressure plate – solution empty or move the bowl.
   Hint, the bowl has level line markings in it which indicate which trap is operational when the water is between line X and Y. A picture of the circular chopping blades are shown between those X and Y lines. Between other lines on the bowl there are other traps that turn on, or portcullis that locks (again a hint of what happens is between the lines on the bowl, e.g. a portcullis symbol or picture of a lowered draw bridge etc.)
   (b) There is a jug near the bowl it is damp but empty – hint: it has been used recently. Perhaps someone has used the jug since the PC’s last visit?
   (c) If the PCs mess with the water level in the bowl they hear loud clanking and grinding noises somewhere in the complex. A more complex puzzle might require the PCs to find the bowl and place it on the pressure plate first, but perhaps the pressure plate needs a symbol of the needed bowl on it as a hint. Maybe the bowl has a unique identifying shape e.g. like a large clam or dolphin.
5. ENGAGING – think this is a pass
6. LOGIC – think this is a pass
7. PUNITIVE – again, this archway just leads to a non-essential part of the complex

:: Something new – PIT 1

1. OBJECTIVE – get out of a deep pit or chasm
2. STOPPER – the chasm/deep pit is rapidly filling with water, and there is little or no time to remove heavy armor
3. RESOLUTION – float up on buoyant giant mushrooms that a growing in the base of the chasm
4. HINTS –
   (a) PCs encounter these giant mushrooms before in the complex – if they decide to mess with the mushrooms they will discover that they are very light and strong for their size. They are easy to knock over as they have shallow footings
   (b) perhaps the PCs will cross a stream where the mushrooms were strapped together to form an improvised but buoyant bridge
   (c) the giant mushroom caps are used as seats by some of the inhabitants of the complex, or perhaps some inhabitants use the mushroom caps as coracles (boats) to move about on an underground lake.
5. ENGAGING – think this is a pass
6. LOGIC – think this is a pass
7. PUNITIVE – a bit (but there are some pretty heavy hints above), but perhaps at worse the PCs might need to lose armor rather than drown.

:: Something new – PIT 2

1. OBJECTIVE – a golden crown hovers over a wide bottomless pit, the edge/circumference of the pit is mobile, it shifts and oscillates like a writhing snake biting its own tail
2. STOPPER – falling down the pit means death, and because the edge of the pit is always moving it is difficult to place a fixed structure like a plank across the pit.
   Hitting the crown knocks it down the pit. But, it will reappear again in the same position in about 10 minutes.
3. RESOLUTION – in this case, the solution can be up to the players. Anything reasonable will be acceptable. Perhaps they try to hook the crown with a grappling hook on a rope?
4. HINTS –
   (a) I think no hints are really needed here, as long as the crown is not vital to solving the mystery of the complex and reasonable solutions the players come up with should be allowed
   (b) perhaps there are some stones they can use to throw into the pit of no return
   (c) maybe they hear a rumor about the crown and pit in the tavern; or there is a
5. ENGAGING – think this is a pass
6. LOGIC – think this is a pass
7. PUNITIVE – getting the crown is just a bonus

:: Let’s try it again (maybe you are not happy with the “any solution will do” concept) – PIT 3

1. OBJECTIVE – a gold crown hovers over a wide bottomless pit, the edge/circumference of the pit is mobile, it shifts and oscillates like a writhing snake biting its own tail
2. STOPPER – falling down the pit means death, and because the edge of the pit is always moving it is difficult to place a fixed structure like a plank across the pit.
   Hitting the crown knocks it down the pit. But, it will reappear again in about 10 minutes.
3. RESOLUTION – the pit is in fact a living inter-dimensional creature/being and it is attracted and yet repulsed by the crown. It is doomed to circle the crown forever – spitting the crown out again if it falls into the belly of the pit. The pit is released if the crown is physically damaged or a portable hole is thrown into the pit
4. HINTS –
   (a) PCs can find a broken portable hole, it is interdimensional, but only holds about a gallon worth of stuff. Unusually the edge of the portable hole is mobile and moves exactly like the edge of the bottomless pit. Hopefully the PCs will see a link and decide the throw the near worthless portable hole into the big interdimensional pit. Perhaps, better, the hole and the pit are connected, and when near to each other, the PCs can see the crown in the hole and reach in and grab the crown
   (b) both the portable hole and the pit share some other property, e.g. both impossibly black, have arcing sparks around their edge, or look like they contain the night sky
   (c) PCs can find a partly destroyed book about these interdimensional beings and how they are unstable if they are in the vicinity of interdimensional spaces or other interdimensional beings.
5. ENGAGING – think this is a pass
6. LOGIC – think this is a pass
7. PUNITIVE – getting the crown is just a bonus

:: One more for luck – LAVA RIVER

1. OBJECTIVE – a long dead monarch sits on a throne in decaying raiments of their office
2. STOPPER – a river of lava bisects the chamber; the PCs are on the wrong side of the lava river. The heat is so fierce that it is nearly impossible to approach the lava river and any sort of normal bridge will be incinerated, or if metal, it will be white hot in seconds.
3. RESOLUTION – there is a safe magical conduit over the lava stream covered by an illusion, or it is invisible
4. HINTS –
   (a) Exploration of the cavern may reveal that there is one area in the cavern that seems less hot, following the somewhat cooler area allows them to approach the lava stream, and if bold simply walk over the lava
   (b) Maybe the air around the conduit is different, less heat haze, or perhaps some (heat resistant) dark purple moss shows a path to the conduit
   (c) Maybe there is a painting (or legend about the same) showing the great monarch walking over the lava, feet wrapped in purple moss, their sword held aloft (the sword is a red herring). Maybe they find a fireplace where the heat resistant dark purple moss grows, the moss being largely unaffected by the heat of a normal fire.
5. ENGAGING – think this is a pass
6. LOGIC – think this is a pass
7. PUNITIVE – not solving the puzzle only means they get less treasure

Final thoughts

So, these are just some ideas I came up with on the fly. Give it a try, maybe it will work for you (no promises).

Overall, maybe having some initial structure is a good idea. The concept you get can then be iterated until you get something you like. Perhaps throw some random tables in to help spark more ideas especially when designing a solution e.g. how the heck is a ladle going to be used to open a secret alternative doorway to the dungeon.

Again, I’m not expert, just thinking about how I’ve done this in the past.

Further Reading:

I’ll try add to this as I go along (hopefully):

• https://directsungames.blogspot.com/2022/12/designing-osr-style-puzzles.html

• https://gnomestew.com/four-key-elements-of-a-good-rpg-puzzle/

• https://gnomestew.com/four-types-of-rpg-puzzle/

Face Folio | Deck of Cards

I recently tried an experiment, making poker cards with the Face Folio images, and I think it worked out well:

There a 50 cards, with a portrait on each side of the cards – so 100 images (plus 1 card with ‘Face Folio’ printed on both sides).

• Useful in TTRPG gaming
• NPCs, PC, rival PC parties etc.
• Compact – fits neatly into any gaming/convention bag.
• Makes a neat at-the-table tool – cut the card and find a NPC etc.

If you are interested in these, then here is a link (with some preview images to look at):

>> LINK <<

I’ll just add that these are printed in the USA, so postage outside the USA is expensive (I know, I ordered this proof set sent to the UK!).

:O)

– – –

Me on DriveThruDriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Functional Entries in Random Tables | more scope but comes with more user load

Recently I been thinking about functional entries in random tables.

In my ‘In the Heart of Oz’ (a system neutral) sandbox, based in the land of Oz, I wanted to add some random tables but wanted these to “work hard” for the limited space available.

So, I wondered about replacing single entry random tables with functional entry random tables. For example instead of ‘sword’ you use ‘bladed weapon’ and let the user decide if it is a sword or an axe or a ‘bec de corbin’. 

This is a pretty trite example but of course you can take this further (see below).

I’m sure this idea/concept has happened in the past, but when I have done this (at least), it’s been more an unconscious design choice rather than a conscious design choice. I’d like to hold this idea up as a conscious design choice for the DM’s toolbox.

Benefit – gives a much bigger spectrum of outcomes

Downside – require the user to bring more of themselves to the table (which might be the very thing they are trying to avoid by using random tables!). 

Some might like the idea, but might displease others … I’m not the RPG police so please feel free to ignore this idea. 

– – – 

To see something I’m tinkering with this idea – Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UjKpTc0yvn0A0LjBJiu4cRy-XuX_gqxp?usp=sharing

The idea is to do this on the fly (or pre-prepare some), but also source the table – throw this at players – Tell me what item you find based on these 3 constraints … etc

Below is an text only extract from the above linked PDF: 

Random Creature Builder

Roll once on each of the two tables below:

Base Creature

1                 Apex predator

2                 Large herbivore or domestic animal

3                 Monkey, ape or lemur

4                 Rodent or marsupial

5                 Amphibian or reptile

6                 Bird or dinosaur

7                 Insect or arachnid

8                 Crustacean or echinoderm

9                 Gastropod or cephalopod

10              Human(oid) – or you decide

Creatures are normally at least man-sized

Twist

1                 Roll on table above – hybrid of both e.g. a Human(oid)-crustacean

2                 Unusual locomotion: Fly, hover, burrow, crawl, creep, jump etc.

3                 Oversized/mutantous body part or extra parts – limbs, mouth, eyes etc.

4                 Unusual sized e.g. giant, long etc.

5                 Exotic colouring or display

6                 Made of artificial material

7                 Mushroom, vegetable creature, or made of natural material

8                 Roll on ‘Terrain descriptor’ table 

9                 Roll on this table twice – has both

10              Roll again on this and on the below table 

Special

1                 Offensive: looks, smell, charisma etc

2                 Insubstantial: ghostly, ethereal etc.

3                 Resembles man-made object, can mimic things, or is a doppelganger

4                 Spits fire, acid, ice, stones, spines, bile, eels, buttons, rainbows etc.

5                 Unusual strength or speed

6                 Contradictory property of a typical creature of the ‘Base’ creature class

7                 Teleport locally, or is transparent

8                 Ability to petrify – gaze, touch etc.

9                 Ability to cast magic or illusions

10              Roll on this table again – has both

– – – 

More info: 

In the Heart of (the Land of the Wizard of) Oz is a system-neutral procedural sandbox setting which draws inspiration from the books of L. Frank Baum and with artwork by the wonderful Nate Treme (Highland Paranormal Society)

In the Heart of Oz contains procedural Encounter, Terrain and Weather Engines for Wilderness Hex Crawling across the fairy-tale like land of Oz. There is also a procedural ‘dungeon’ to take on the Wicked Witch of the West in her Yellow Castle.

Preview image

Hex Flowers … what?
A Hex Flower is a bit like a random table, but with an inbuilt ‘memory’ (because the last turn affects the next outcome). Each time you enter a new HEX, you procedurally determine what is going on. 

Hex Flower procedural products you might be interested in
:: In the Heart of the Unknown –  procedural wilderness (Hex) exploration
:: In the Heart of the Sea – procedural High Seas exploration
:: In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous  – procedural ‘dungeon’ exploration
:: Carapace – adventure exploring a giant insect colony
:: Planar Compass 2 – procedurally explore the Astral Sea 

More on Hex Flower Theory
You can read more about Hex Flower Game Engines in my Hex Flower Cookbook

and on my Blog: https://goblinshenchman.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/2d6-hex-power-flower

Printing
This document can be conveniently printed using the ‘booklet’ option on printers that can print on both sides of the paper. Folding gives an A5 booklet.

Collaboration: ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ (+) ‘When Sea Is Calling’

I’ve collaborated with ATELIER CLANDESTIN who are blasting out great random table supplements.

We’ve brought together my ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ Hex Flowers with their ‘When Sea Is Calling’ – so this gives my one page ItHotS more depth.

Read more about the collaboration here: https://atelierclandestin.wixsite.com/home/post/announcement-when-sea-is-calling-extended-version  

Direct link – please check it out: 
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/397826/When-Sea-Is-Calling 

Background of Hex Flowers – what’s a Hex Flower anywho? A Hex Flower (HF) is like a random table, but with a memory.

Hex Flower Cookbook – where I discuss Hex Flower Game Engines and some background and possible uses

– – –

Me on DriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

[FUNDED] Face Folio | for Zine Quest 4

After some thought, I decided to re-Kick Face Folio for Zine Quest 4, and which now has funded:

Kickstarter page:  

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/facefolio2/face-folio-for-zine-quest-4 

Face Folio layout: 

:O) 
#zinequest 
– – –

Me on DriveThruDriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Re-Kicking Face Folio | for Zine Quest 4

After some thought, I’ve decided to re-Kick Face Folio for Zine Quest 4:

Basically, I have 50 or so Zines left over from Zine Quest 2 and want to get these out to people. Then I noticed Zine Quest 4 pop up. 

This time, for the Kickstarter I’m 100% set and can start fulfilment as soon as the KS formalities are done.  

Pre-launch page:  

>> Sign up for the pre-launch page here <<: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/facefolio2/face-folio-for-zine-quest-4 

Face Folio layout: 

:O) 
#zinequest 
– – –

Me on DriveThruDriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Field Guide to Random Table Design in RPGs | Video walk through

Just a video walkthrough of my ‘Field Guide to Random Table Design in RPGs’ (which recently turned Copper Metal Best Seller on DriveThruRPG):

Background: 

I saw this post by the well-known blogger, podcaster and RPG great Judd Karlman.

It got me thinking about random table structures, and so I wrote this:

The idea here is to consider how to make/tweak random table structures to suit your RPG needs. It probably overeggs the pudding. However, if this might be of interest, please check it out.

Snap shot:

– – –

Me on DriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Field Guide to Random Table Design in RPGs

I saw this post by the well-known blogger, podcaster and RPG great Judd Karlman.

It got me thinking about random table structures, and so I wrote this:

The idea here is to consider how to make/tweak random table structures to suit your RPG needs. It probably overeggs the pudding. However, if this might be of interest, please check it out.

Snap shot:

– – –

Me on DriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Ramp, Flat Ramp, Hill & Lone Mountain Type Random Table Formats

I saw this post by the well-known blogger, podcaster and RPG great Judd Karlman.

It had a table type I had not seen (or at least noticed) before, a D6 (well D3 really) x 2D6 table (reproduced below with Judd’s permission – see link above to see more):

This table is like three 2D6 tables next to each other, so instead of being a peak (‘bell’) curve with a 2D6 probability structure, it sort of has a “ramp-like” probability structure:

1. Ramp Type; Dx × 2Dy (in this case D3 × 2D6)

This led me to think about related formats:

2. Flat-Topped Ramp Type; Dx × Dy+Dz (replacing the 2D6 with D4+D8 to flatten the ‘peak’ out):

3. Lonely-Mountain Type; 2Dx × 2Dy (in this case 2D6 on one axis and 2D6 on the other):

4. Rounded Hill Type; 3Dx × 3Dy (in this case 3D6 on one axis and 3D6 on the other):

Applications?
There are lots of ways these random table formats could be used, but of course it can be seen with the last two examples, even with just D6s the number of outcomes increase massively, and the edges will be very rare (in the Rounded Hill example a centre roll is 729 times more likely than a ‘corner’ roll and you have (theoretically) 256 possible options. But of course, you can band the results together a bit like Judd did with their example to reduce the outcomes. So, with reference to the heat map you could have 3 or so zones (red, white and blue etc.) equating to probable, rare and very rare outcomes etc.

Not got much more to say, just putting this out there as a possible tool, and I’m sure I’m not the first to think of these other examples, but I’ll post anyway!!

:O)

– – –

Me on DriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Quantum Ogre meet Schrödinger’s Troglodyte | Chekhov’s Gun – adventure design vs play

I recently read about Chekhov’s Gun. Here’s what the web had to say about it:

“Chekhov’s gun is a dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed. Elements should not appear to make “false promises” by never coming into play.”

It made me wonder: does Chekhov’s Gun have a place in RPG adventure design?

My answer is: Yes, but mainly no-ish (helpful!).

LT:DR ~ The key difference here is that a traditional story is fixed, whereas an RPG session is not.

Planned adventure

A planned adventure normally has a framework from where a story can collaboratively emerge. This framework should include things (dare I say ‘Chekhov’s Guns’) the DM hopes/expects the players to interact with. The ‘guns’ might be NPCs, monsters, magic item, weird stuff, traps etc.

However, an RPG session is not a fixed story (railroading, story arcs and Quantum Ogres aside). An RPG session is more like a sporting event, where nobody, not even the referee, knows the final result until the game is played.

It is a well-known cliché that the players will miss/ignore ‘important’ NPCs or plot hooks and obsess over what appears to be a trivial detail (e.g. a captive goblin becomes an important and loved NPC rather than simply more dungeon XP fodder; and the DM did not plan for this). In the end, the DM might not expect or like the story the players ‘write’ within the DM’s framework, but nonetheless it is the emergent ‘story’. Similarly, another cliché is the DM stealing players’ table speculations and fears, making those speculations the new reality e.g. a player wonders if the sword contains the essence of the disgraced paladin? Yes, yes, it does now! 

So, the DM can plan ‘Chekhov’s Guns’ in their adventure, but it is only through play that these becomes real.

Erhm … the blog title said something about a Quantum Ogre vs Schrödinger’s Troglodyte. Here goes:

Schrödinger’s Troglodyte

Quantum Ogre (sort of) meets Schrödinger’s Troglodyte

In essence, the Schrödinger’s Cat experiment can be used to describe every (non-scripted) RPG session ever played.

As a recap, in the Schrödinger’s Cat experiment there is a cat in a box, the cat could be alive or it could be dead. It is only when we look in the box we discover if the cat is alive or dead. So, before we look in the box, the cat has the property of being both alive and dead.

A planned RPG adventure is just like the Schrödinger’s cat experiment, where the box is the adventure. Before the players interact with the adventure (the box) everything planned by the DM is not fixed.  It is only after the players interact with the adventure (the box) does anything become real and so fixed.

So, if the players explored 15 rooms of a 20-room dungeon, skipped the boss troglodyte room, leave and never return, then for now, only those 15 rooms are real. Dare I suggest that only the things the PCs interacted in those 15 rooms are the Chekhov’s Guns (from the story POV) and everything else including the boss troglodyte might as well not exits (from the story POV). At best those things the PCs missed exist in a Schrödinger’s Cat-like state of not quite existing.

The Quantum Ogre is the anthesis of the Schrödinger’s Troglodyte, because the ogre comes into existence regardless of the players’ interaction, and so deprives the players of the ‘game’. Not only is the Ogre in the box, it will also climb out and find you! Fixed story arcs and railroad adventures are no more than a Quantum Ogre in plot form. Fixed ‘Chekhov’s Guns’ are also no more than Quantum Ogres.  

So, in RPG adventure design nothing really exists in the RPG world until the players interact with it, in emergent play the players (predominately) decide what is important and hence what the ‘Chekhov’s Guns’ are. Other things in effect fade into obscurity (unless revived by the DM later in a later session) and so are not really ‘false promises’. In adventure design, perhaps the best policy is to create lots of interesting situations and let the players figure out what is important to them and roll with it; embrace the uncertain existence of Schrödinger’s Troglodyte and shun the (perhaps misnamed) Quantum (tunnelling?) Ogre.

Nothing is dogma – Quantum Ogres can have a place (but hopefully only exceptionally).

To conclude, I suspect I’ve told you nothing new, but that said, until you read this post you existed in a state of both knowing and not knowing that.

:O|

(PS don’t argue with me, I have PhD in particle physics <– not true)

– – –

Me on DriveThruRPG

DxDy dice mechanic | … e.g. D4D6

Math(s) warning: If you are a mathematician the words I use below may well be formally inaccurate, sorry!

Trad-game warning: I can imagine that rolling a die to see how many dice you roll will be an unwelcome idea in some circles – it’s OK, I’m not the D&D police, please feel free to ignore this idea.

I stumbled onto this recently (it may be well known to others) and hopefully I’m not just inadvertently regurgitating something I’ve read elsewhere.

If for example you roll D6D6s (i.e. you roll a D6 to see how many D6s you are going to roll and sum) you get a weird probability profile that has a weird leading spike:

For some strange reason it reminds me of a sleeping triceratops …

It certainly looks nothing like a standard 6D6 roll (flatter and pushed leftwards as well as having the leading spike):

The ‘at least’ number is almost linear for most of the graph as compared to 6D6:

Here’s the idea again, but where some other combinations have been done (again weird leading spike):

Here’s a mismatched pair  D4D10 and D10D4 (spike more pronounced when fewer dice are in the mix – perhaps not too unexpected):

Application in gaming?  I’ve got nothing! But …  perhaps one day it might find a place!

You’d need a probability structure that runs from 1 to the end number, has a leading spike, a flattish mid-section and then tails off as you approach the highest numbers.

OK – with that in mind and shooting from the hip here as I’m typing this up – a new way to roll stats (where we invert the thing to favour high not low numbers):

So compared to 4D6 drop the lowest, 19-D2D8 is more likely to give 17s and 18s.

Here it is again but vs 3D6:

Here’s also 19-D3D5 (no 3’s and the chance of a 14 to 18 is much higher than 4D6 drop the lowest):

I guess I’m not seriously advancing this as a replacement mechanic for rolling stats, but that said, statistically it’s not completely ludicrous (unless I’ve made a mistake) …

Perhaps you can think of a better use case?
No? OK, not to worry!

:O\

– – –

Me on DriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Two new Hex Flowers | Forest & Death Star attack

This is just a quick Hex Flower update.

:: In the Heart of the Eternal Forest  – procedurally explore an Eternal forest

:: Attack on the Death Star – Procedural attack on the Death Moon, Planet or Star – procedurally attack the Empire/s evil planet sized weapon 

 

Background – what’s a Hex Flower anywho? A Hex Flower (HF) is like a random table, but with a memory.

Hex Flower Cookbook – where I discuss Hex Flower Game Engines and some background and possible uses

– – –

Me on DriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Face Folio | Ukraine Appeal

We’ve decided to release Face Folio early as a PDF to raise money in support of Ukraine:

 

Links

• • $7 Regular Price (in case you want to give more)

  • $5 Fund Raiser Discount (offer ends 30 April)

All funds raised in at least April will go to supporting Ukraine in this time of need. 

Signal boost – If you are not able to support financially, then perhaps please consider giving this appeal a signal boost! 

KS Backer – If you are one of the KS backers and have not got your PDF, please follow this link: UPDATE

 #facefolio

– – –

Me on DriveThruDriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

Face Folio | PDF rollout to KS backers

Face Folio as a PDF is being distributed to the Kickstarter backers!

We’d like to thank them for their collective patients, and it’s now great that we can show them what @MARCINsRPGart  has done. #facefolio

– – –

Me on DriveThruDriveThru; at the moment I’m mainly pimping my procedural:
:: High Seas ‘Hex Crawl’ – In the Heart of the Sea,
:: Wilderness Hex Crawl – In the Heart of the Unknown,
:: Dungeon/network generator – In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous

In the Heart of Oz | Ukraine Code

I can’t do a lot to help Ukraine, but here’s a promo code for my ‘In the Heart of Oz’.
The code expires at the end of this month. 

Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=991b9d46b9

I will donate all money to help Ukrainian resist Putin.  
I’ll will also personally match the amount donated.

– – – 

More info: 

In the Heart of (the Land of the Wizard of) Oz is a system-neutral procedural sandbox setting which draws inspiration from the books of L. Frank Baum and with artwork by the wonderful Nate Treme (Highland Paranormal Society)

In the Heart of Oz contains procedural Encounter, Terrain and Weather Engines for Wilderness Hex Crawling across the fairy-tale like land of Oz. There is also a procedural ‘dungeon’ to take on the Wicked Witch of the West in her Yellow Castle.

Preview image

Hex Flowers … what?
A Hex Flower is a bit like a random table, but with an inbuilt ‘memory’ (because the last turn affects the next outcome). Each time you enter a new HEX, you procedurally determine what is going on. 

Hex Flower procedural products you might be interested in
:: In the Heart of the Unknown –  procedural wilderness (Hex) exploration
:: In the Heart of the Sea – procedural High Seas exploration
:: In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous  – procedural ‘dungeon’ exploration
:: Carapace – adventure exploring a giant insect colony
:: Planar Compass 2 – procedurally explore the Astral Sea 

More on Hex Flower Theory
You can read more about Hex Flower Game Engines in my Hex Flower Cookbook

and on my Blog: https://goblinshenchman.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/2d6-hex-power-flower

Printing
This document can be conveniently printed using the ‘booklet’ option on printers that can print on both sides of the paper. Folding gives an A5 booklet.

Wolfram’s 4 colour theorem | Relationship mapping?

I was listening to Ray Otus’s podcast (which I like). He was talking about Wolfram’s Four colour theorem, which states (perhaps paraphrased as):

“Any map in a plane can be colored using four-colors in such a way that regions sharing a common boundary (other than a single point) do not share the same color”

I wondered if this could be used to map out relationships where each colour represents a certain intensity in that relationship from high to low. The idea being to design a relationship map that is random, but with some “design” to it.

Let’s try it out …

Example 1 – D&D starting characters – using Wolfram’s Four colour theorem

Maybe this design concept could be applied to D&D stats, where certain stats tend to go together … :

Rules:

1. Populate a 7 hex Hex Flower with each stat and one for wealth, so STR, INT, WIS, DEX, CON, CHAR & wealth
2. Using up to 4 pencils colour/outline the Hexes using Wolfram’s Four colour theorem, starting from the middle
3. Randomly assign each colour a different value from 1 to 4 using a D4 where: 

1 = low (6-9),
2 = medium-low (9-12),
3= medium-high (12-15)
4 = high (15-18):

Let’s try two examples:

Step 0 – Blank Hex Flower

Step 1 – populate the Hex Flower with the 6 stats and wealth:

Step 2 – colour according to Wolfram’s Four colour theorem (in this case using all 4 colours)

Step 3 – randomly assign each colour a different value from 1 to 4:

Red                     2  (- ) e.g. 5 days’ living wage 
Orange              4 (++) i.e. 15-18
Green                1 (- -) i.e. 6-9
Blue                   3 (+) i.e. 12-15

So the result is:

So the new PC is strong and tough (15-18), quite wise and personable (12-15), clumsy and dumb (6-9) and has modest wealth. So perhaps an fighter then from a poor background.

Let’s try it again (using the same stat placement), but with fewer colours more of a-go-for-broke min-max arrangement) and re-rolling:

Red                     3 (+) e.g. 3 months’ living wage
Orange              1 (- -) i.e. 6-9
Blue                   4 (++) i.e. 15-19
(no green)

            

So the new PC is very smart, wise, personable (15-18), but very weak, fragile and clumsy (6-9). But quite wealthy. Hrmmm, perhaps a Magic-user then for an affluent family.  

If this sort of min-max 3-colour-option option does not appeal, then you could get rid of the central hex (and get rid of wealth slot) and insist that all four colours are used.

Example 2 – Random NPC’s personality

Rules:

1. Populate a 7 hex Hex Flower with a personality trait, one from each group (you can make your own traits)
2. Using up to 4 pencils colour/outline the Hexes using Wolfram’s Four colour theorem, starting from the middle
3. Randomly assign each colour a different value from 1 to 4 using a D4 where:

1 = low (- -)
2 = medium-low (-)
3= medium-high (+)
4 = high (+ +)

7 NPC Traits:

1. wealth, resources, influence
2. status, reputation, level
3. cynical, duplicity, prejudice
4. Personable, warmth, empathic
5. wit, intelligent, charming
6. greed, selfish, evil
7. desperate, needs, desire

Let try two examples:

Step 0 – Blank Hex Flower

Step 1 – populate the Hex Flower with the 7 traits:

Step 2 – colour according to Wolfram’s Four colour theorem (in this case using all 4 colours)

Step 3 – randomly assign each colour a different value from 1 to 4:

Red                     4  (++)
Orange              3 (+)
Green                1 (- -)
Blue                   2 (-)

So the result is:

So, they really desire something from the PCs, they are quite wealthy and greedy, they are not especially smart or personable, they are of low social status but at least not very treacherous.  A quest giver, perhaps a merchant, who desperately wants something to (further) enrich themselves and is happy to pay the PCs to get it. 

What happens if we had coloured the hex’s differently, using just 3 colours e.g.:

 

Now they would have some desire to get something from the PCs, they would be smart, greedy and treacherous with no money, status and quite cold. Doesn’t sound like a nice chap. Perhaps a street thief full of animal cunning and wants the PCs’ coin. 

Again, three colours gives a more polarized outcome. 

Some initial conclusions – I think you can try and set this up so coloured pairs go together, perhaps wealth & status, greed & duplicity and wit & warmth.

That said, I wonder if we should scrap the middle hex and insist that 4 colours must be used to introduce less homogeneity. Perhaps.  

Is this useful (?)– not sure, just brainstorming here. Perhaps if you planning a session and want some inspiration about an NPC, or have a bunch of templates ready to pull out of a hat??

More
Clearly, these are not just the two ways this idea could be used. 

– – –

Me on DriveThruRPG

Analogue ‘Fog of War’ hack … | Jigsaw over map

Place an upside-down jigsaw over the map and remove the pieces as necessary to reveal the map:

That’s it

EDIT: Reddit feedback (i) number the backs of the jigsaw pieces for easy re-assembly;
(ii) don’t use this idea if you don’t like it

– – –

Me on DriveThruRPG

Grimbo Grotto | Christmas Farcical Horror Oneshot

T’was the night before a crisp mass snowfall and nothing was stirring,
except a drunken ‘potty-mouthed’ were-reindeer high on psychedelic mushrooms

PDF

Featuring:

‘Rude Olf’ – thanks to James V West  for letting me use this image – http://doomslakers.blogspot.com

   Were-reindeer cult

Neurotic gnomes running a clandestine psychedelic mushroom harvesting operation

  Candy Cane Golem

  Gift Wrapping Monster

  Mimic Presents

  Giant Putrid Gravy-Spewing Undead Turkey

  Tree Ent Christmas Tree hostage

 

Adventure Preview:

Some reviews:

 1 x Blog: https://diplomatist2.blogspot.com/2020/12/gaming-in-dec-2020.html…

 2 x DrivethruRPG: https://drivethrurpg.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=340232…

 Also Judges Choice winner for the Reddit OSR X-mas (Santa Panic) one page dungeon contest

PDF Download: 
A better more readable version of this can be downloaded from here (along with the original 4 page version of this adventure):   Grimbo Grotto

– – –

Me on DriveThruDriveThru

In the Heart of Oz | Hex Flower based system-neutral procedural sandbox setting

In the Heart of (the Land of the Wizard of) Oz is a system-neutral procedural sandbox setting which draws inspiration from the books of L. Frank Baum and with artwork by the wonderful Nate Treme (Highland Paranormal Society)

In the Heart of Oz contains procedural Encounter, Terrain and Weather Engines for Wilderness Hex Crawling across the fairy-tale like land of Oz. There is also a procedural ‘dungeon’ to take on the Wicked Witch of the West in her Yellow Castle.

Download PDF

Preview image

Hex Flowers … what?
A Hex Flower is a bit like a random table, but with an inbuilt ‘memory’ (because the last turn affects the next outcome). Each time you enter a new HEX, you procedurally determine what is going on. 

Hex Flower procedural products you might be interested in
:: In the Heart of the Unknown –  procedural wilderness (Hex) exploration
:: In the Heart of the Sea – procedural High Seas exploration
:: In the Heart of the Delve & Dangerous  – procedural ‘dungeon’ exploration
:: Carapace – adventure exploring a giant insect colony
:: Planar Compass 2 – procedurally explore the Astral Sea 

More on Hex Flower Theory
You can read more about Hex Flower Game Engines in my Hex Flower Cookbook

and on my Blog: https://goblinshenchman.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/2d6-hex-power-flower

Printing
This document can be conveniently printed using the ‘booklet’ option on printers that can print on both sides of the paper. Folding gives an A5 booklet.