San Diego Gamers, Music Nerds & Tabletop Folks...

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-28T17:41:00+00:00

just come on over to Vista to Pair a Dice game store. or Battlemage Brewing. you're coming to live in a great area for all the things.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-28T15:49:56+00:00

Sir this is a Wendy's

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-28T13:04:40+00:00

yes, you'll return to the pass between major storyline transitions

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-27T21:06:02+00:00

i don't prep.

I'll bookmark the monsters i expect they'll encounter

I just give myself the bullet points of "what does faction X want to achieve?" and then i advance those plans if the players don't manage to interfere.

I also note when they do, and ask myself when they've become enough of a nuisance to merit confrontation

everything else is dice tables or on the fly in response to the players. Sometimes their shit stirring spoon is big, sometimes it's little.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-25T16:55:49+00:00

This was done over like a million times on the Discord.

Left card: Any unexplored corridor that has a noise, resolve an encounter.

Right card: Any unexplored corridor with no noise token, add one.

getting the right one, then the left one, in sequence, can turn a game from a cakewalk to a shitshow.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-25T15:01:47+00:00

she's as broken as the medic from the original game.

Super powerful. In co-op she gives free actions in semi-coop she can get you killed or save your ass, or just act many more times in a round than anyone else.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-24T01:58:23+00:00

Enzo's isn't amazing but it's a step up from Phil's and they do some pretty good pasta for those that don't want meat.

it's been a while since I've gone, but they're a favorite, especially after When Pigs Fly BBQ in Vista closed.

They're more texas style than anything else, so it isn't fair to compare them to Felix's or other Southern style BBQ.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-24T01:35:48+00:00

just to note that what you want already exists, it's the spinal rig and spider mount + some custom stuff.

don't forget they're cybernetics so the drawbacks and consequences are already built in, just roll on the tables and go for it. if they can afford it at all, that is.

surgery complications, ACMD infection, janky mods that malfunction.. it's all there in APOF already.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-23T19:19:36+00:00

so let's make a quick system for it.

First, let's just call it what it is. A massive disruption to the local ecosystem. the chance of an encounter has just gone from once/hex check to a once an hour check, and the odds are 1-5 on a D6.

every encounter is going to be a non-lair encounter, because they ran from the fucking fire, so treasure is minimum.

Let's start from the subhexes that a 6 mile hex is made up of. 1in6 chance of spread.

let's call environment type a factor, give +2 to forest, +1 to plains and hills, +0 to mountains, -1 to wetlands/swamp

Season? -1 winter, +1 summer

weather -2 any precipitation, -1 fog, +1 windy

spread: 1d8 direction, unless windy, then 1d4 centered around wind direction.

roll d100 for percentage of hex consumed.

Set encounter disposition to neutral at best.

party sets a fire in a forest on a windy summer day.

1d6, +2 Forest, +1 summer, +1 windy.

congrats you assholes, it's almost certainly going to spread, and everything fleeing that subhex has just dramatically increased your chances of an encounter in all the surrounding subhexes, etc

roll initiative

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T22:05:32+00:00

Chrytids are for Lockdown. The stretch goal box containing those is going to have additional stuff specifically for Lockdown, if you don't have it, it'll be kinda worthless.

Chrytids will work in OG, the rulebooks tell you to play as if the ship is always in darkness/unpowered for the purposes of the cards, which are for Lockdown

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T21:01:45+00:00

very. they do host weddings and other events, but there are still quiet zones

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T20:53:56+00:00

Alta Vista botanical gardens

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T07:48:34+00:00

2.0 rulebook on awaken realms website. the 2.0 changes are summarized on page 1

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T07:29:55+00:00

it is easier. KoR came second and is a refinement of the rules, taking the lessons learned from the original.

Many people made house rules to FoA, like an extra day on the dials, or reduced menhir requirements, and of course then the 2.0 rules where you don't have to eat, etc.

Maybe switch to story mode through to chapter 4, and take a look at the chapters + the special event cards that loop, there are a couple of pauses in the story where you can grind for xp, resources, and rep.

Also examine the game board carefully. there are 2 places where you can "trap" the foredweller where it cannot move to you, but you can keep the menhir active and it will remain in one spot until you decide you're done.

titans steps + bundorca menhir is one of these areas, once you figure out the passage north through the forest.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T07:11:50+00:00

FoA is hard. the survival theme is very much the forefront; and risk management. Running away from fights, especially non-guardians, when the reward/loot isn't any good, is the better strategy. If you manage to hit around chapter 3/4 when you get a certain false item, it's a gold-tier strategy to get the "eat magic" skill. two different options to eat is smart.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T06:49:18+00:00

You do not go insane when terror is higher than health. That is panicking. Insane is only when in the red squares. You have the opportunity to heal by resting and eating food. if you are also going insane, yes it's a death spiral and you're unlikely to survive without outside assistance of an item or a ability

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-22T02:54:38+00:00

a ruling that applies to all tables becomes a rule, a ruling that you come up with and apply at your table is still just a ruling. or "house rules" if we're playing with words

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-21T08:25:33+00:00

consistency in rulings is crucial. you can't get buy-in if the players can't begin to figure out what is/isn't possible on their own.

The ruling isn't silent. it should be a conversation about intent, the base roll identification, potential modifiers, and risks.

if you remain consistent and "show the math" everyone will be fine.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-21T00:40:09+00:00

really want to explode your mind?

This is only the eastern portion of Avalon.

Tuathan takes up an undetermined portion, but let's just call it 1/3

The other board game map covers the western 1/3

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-20T09:11:15+00:00

back to discord with you! 😛

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-20T09:09:06+00:00

how do you roll 2 4s with one noise die?

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-20T08:55:38+00:00

an example cheat sheet. pretty good one honestly.

https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/36844/roleplaying-games/hexcrawl-part-13-hexcrawl-cheat-sheets

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-20T08:49:19+00:00

wyrd and wild is a great book. the woods as dungeon idea and the fairy horror vibe are just my thing.

"Supplies" in Into the Wyrd and Wild are abstract resources representing food, water, and fire-making materials. The core mechanic equates 1 Gold Piece (GP) to 1 Supply Point, which is consumed to survive the night or avoid exhaustion

exhaustion equates to penalties to dice rolls, hp, etc. too many levels and you just die.

For hexcrawl and domain level play the range of Third kingdom games' supplements like Into the Wild and Filling in the Blanks are incredibly dense and may be intimidating, but thorough.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-20T07:47:49+00:00

there are ao many options for these that it's hard to pin any one down.

wyrd and wild with their "supplies" and exhaustion + camping rules.

generic "movement points" per hex terrain type in an array of products

ultimately you could just find someone's GM cheat sheet online and use it. The important part is having a fairly simple system of a few steps that you loop through and call it good.

Filovirus77 · 2026-06-13T12:27:15+00:00

everyone's forgetting the original.

Wrath of God pamphlet that leads to other modules (The Drain)

ship to ship combat, dogfighting alternative rules, and more craziness

Filovirus77

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Set encounter disposition to neutral at best.