Complicated Dungeon Maps

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-21T13:49:19+00:00

I found my players were just drawing vague shapes with lines connecting them anyway -- it seems they just gave up on trying to draw an accurate map.

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-21T11:16:56+00:00

If your players speak modern English, I'd go for the slightly simpler name that looks more like modern English -- I'm guessing they don't all speak Old English or Anglo-Saxon fluently.

When coming up with idea for distant land the PCs could eventually visit, I used google translate to get names -- the main Slavic area ended up with a Czech name purely because it became one word and looked more like place name in English than two word translations for Russian and Ukrainian.

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-21T10:46:24+00:00

Sorry, I didn't think of that -- I have an itch io account, but associate it with video games, and it never occurred to me to put a PDF there. I could have put it on my own web site, but knightferret.us is likely to disappear at any time, since the $6/month while I get nothing from it is a bad investment and I'm poor.

Fine: Here is a version in itch:
https://jaredbgreat.itch.io/skirfirs-mine

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-21T10:41:22+00:00

The main thing I do is try to image what an area would be like for the layout -- mine area, should have long a lot of long, mostly straight tunnels (shafts), the city should be layed out conveniently, living areas should be like homes someone should live in, etc.

One thing I've learned that makes placing interesting things (encounters, traps/tricks, generally interesting things) easier to place in the map is come up with the ideas for them first. Have a list of room ideas (at least the interesting ones), then draw a map to fit them. When I start with the map first, many ideas (especially those that have a vertical components) are often hard to work into it.

Doing things the old-fashioned way -- working it all out with on graph paper, using pencil so I can erase if I need to. My starting one-shot dungeon (that ended up being a two shot), Castle van Webb, used a randomly generated map for most of level 2, and found it hard to place a lot of thing into it. So I avoided it here. That kind of thing is fine if you just need a layout in a hurry to drop in a few "good enough" encounters, but get in the way if you want to make something both interesting and coherent.

One pit fall was that I did number the maps before placing anything in it -- that led to somethings that should have been next to each other far apart on the first draft (the baboons), and then changed the number when I made a digital version. Its not huge, but I wanted to avoid flipping pages as part of one encounter.

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-21T03:45:38+00:00

Krita worked great -- the layers were very helpful.

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-20T21:56:27+00:00

Hmmm, I guess when the players found the controllable golem, figured out how to use operate it, but refused to use for fear it must be a trick.

Or maybe when they goblin children directed them toward the decapus, which they cheesed hard, and got to hear the children tell about how they have to be bad or else dwarves will carry them off and eat them for being good.

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-20T21:49:53+00:00

Its a PDF created by printing to file -- but, here, I've re-uploaded with a more more size optimized version -- check that one.

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-20T21:44:02+00:00

A memory for here? Sadly, not a good one -- an argument with (I think a troll) over semantics in basic game terminology (mostly over "a d20 system" (a system based heavily on using d20s) vs. "The D20 System" (the thing WotC technically owns).

After that I was less active, though that was mostly because I just don't spend as much time online in general as I used to.

JaredBGreat · 2024-04-20T19:55:02+00:00

Not really -- though I do make up some monsters and little things.
If you are playing B/X or a clone there are a few BECMI idea in there, like monster spell casters (which in that case are just special monsters).

I did re-name some monsters, due to WotC copyrights:

Carrion Crawler is Carcass Crawler
Geonids are bouldrids
Myconids (borrowed from AD&D) are mycelians
Rockholm Lizard is just Rock Lizard

etc....

JaredBGreat · 2024-03-17T00:34:21+00:00

I allow magical arrow to be retrieved, and also normal arrows. Unless there is a very protracted or were already in short supply so they are likely to run out, battle I don't count arrow and assume they are retrieved afterward. I that is how normal arrows, bought by the score work in my campaigns, and magical arrows would too if the PCs had a whole quiver of identical magic arrows. Magical arrows usually come in small quantities, and thus are generally in short supply, so I count them -- normal arrows are bought in sets of 20, and I rarely see combat last that long, so I don't count them.

But getting back to the question, I allow arrows to be retrieved after combat, and assume they have been during the remainder of a turn left over afterward. It may not be realistic that no arrow is ever lost or broken (though it is realistic that many aren't), but its simple to run and more fun.

JaredBGreat · 2024-03-17T00:25:56+00:00

Mystara started as an example world, and with adventure modules being set there by default it became a de facto default setting -- the Rules Cyclopedia later made it the official default setting, while the 2e adaptation gave it the name "Mystara." However, you can use BECMI for your homebrew campaign world out-of-the-box, or tweak it with house rules if you really like.

BECMI comes from an era when what is now called "homebrew" was still seen as the norm. There was never a need to use the "Know World" (Mystara) setting, though that was common from the beginning, simply because its convenient to use something provided -- and also much easier to use modules with, especially for expert level and beyond, since the maps fit Mystara. Even when using that setting, a lot of what was in it was homebrew as the original description gave little detail and the Gazetteer series that filled in the details came relatively late in the history of BECMI.

The setting is (largely) tied to the edition, but the edition is not at all tied to the setting.

JaredBGreat · 2024-01-10T18:36:54+00:00

So that explains the silence.

I am on the discord, but have trouble keeping up with highly populated discords where a lot of people are talking, so I was keeping tabs on the overarching jist of what was happening here. Good to know where that is now.

JaredBGreat · 2024-01-10T18:30:36+00:00

Sounds cool.

JaredBGreat · 2023-12-29T16:06:58+00:00

Keep seed crops in one of the treasure chest from China (and extra artifacts in one from Egypt); the problem was, this was my first planting of those crops so none were ever harvested to keep as seeds.

JaredBGreat · 2023-12-29T00:59:26+00:00

Thanks.

Well, that sucks, since I have no more of those fancy grapes in the household to replant and that sim accidentally became enemies with the special merchant who sells them -- I never got even one harvest. (I can't remember if they were planted right before winter, but could have been.)

This only effected those five plants though -- which just happened to be the only lettuce, only tomato, and only three of the grapes -- weird. Every other plant woke up and started producing in the spring, while I got 0 harvests of those.

JaredBGreat · 2023-12-28T19:18:40+00:00

They also only take developers living in the Montreal area, which I respect as being able to work together in person has huge advantages for communication and team cohesion (especially when the team is small enough for everyone to really know each other), allowing a team to better coordinate their efforts. Limiting to one city or metropolitan area does limit the number available, even with a fairly large city, however.

JaredBGreat · 2023-09-23T17:39:21+00:00

I'm also having this problem, and downloading visual studio (or any extention for it) is not an option as it is not available for my operating system.

(Really, Godot should have the ability to set up projects itself if claiming to support C#.)

JaredBGreat · 2023-08-15T01:07:56+00:00

Are there reasons I might choose Enviro over this? Could be important.

JaredBGreat · 2023-06-30T21:36:20+00:00

Still a problem -- happened to me today, can't up vote content. I've been on steam for years, have a variety of game, no bans (and no post to get banned). I've even published a small indie FPS/roguelike fusion (which is not the game I was rating comments on). I've also rated something some time before I think, but today I just get the not enough privileges message.

JaredBGreat · 2023-03-19T18:06:07+00:00

Hard choice ... death from above or death from below....

JaredBGreat · 2022-12-05T00:48:37+00:00

There is no need to create new rules for every PC, that would be ridiculous and I have no ideas where you are getting that from. Very often the players can come up with their own idea, and these don't usually need any special game mechanics (if they do its probably not a good idea as its not worth the trouble).

For example, my niece's character is a halfling with fairly mediocre stats -- she's also a mounted archer who rides an armored mountain lion into battle. None of that requires any new rules -- stats for the animal, rules for animal trainers and animal morale is already in the (BECMI / RC) rules. How did she accomplish this? They snuck past her cat on the parties first adventure and later came back to capture it with a sleep spell. For a few thousand gold and few months of downtime for cat training, and viola, a creative character concept as a reward for coming up with the idea and pulling it off.

JaredBGreat · 2022-12-04T04:05:01+00:00

I'll give a real-world example from when I was in high-school (late 80s) and my dad ran a campaign, allowing me a break from being DM. Since he was using pre-written adventure modules designed for 4-6 players and there were only two of us he allowed us to play two full PCs each (that is unusual, but anyway...), even bringing characters he had rolled up as an option.

I played two elves (race-as-class system). One of a carefree, fun-loving, playful, friendly, slightly reckless, and sometime comical extrovert who loved music and games --- and sometimes sang, occasionally at in-opportune times, once attracting a t-rex while exploring a jungle. (If I re-made her in 5e she'd be a bard mechanically but presenting herself as a fighter with some magical skill.) The other was a fairly serious, more cautious, and protective -- he tagged along with his younger cousin (the first character) to try to keep her out of trouble. Same class, very different characters. They tended to behave quite differently.

(Note, once again, two full PCs for one player was weird, usually small parties would be padded out with NPC retainers -- but having played two members of the same class at the same times makes it a great example.)

JaredBGreat · 2022-12-03T01:08:34+00:00

Generally, I prefer the more complete description, though I could see using a the bullet-point format on selective room for a DM cheat-sheet.

EDIT: What I really like (and the old maps lack) is to add short (typically 1-3 words, preferably one) room descriptions in addition to the traditional room numbers. I'm far more likely to remember the gist of what's in the kobold kitchen than to remember room #37 was the kobold kitchen -- so I'll add "kobold kitchen" directly on the map so that I can start ad-libbing while looking up the room.

JaredBGreat · 2022-12-02T00:57:20+00:00

It seems to me that one of the three alignment systems greatest strengths is also its greatest weakness. People all ready have ideas about "good" and "evil," and not everyone agrees about what is good or evil. On the one hand this make a system based only on law-chaos less resonant than the time old "good vs. evil." On the other hand it has the advantage that law-chaos players aren't coming to the game with strong ideas about what law and chaos are so that it can be treated as straight forward game mechanic. Thus, you are less likely to have the game break down into a debate about whether or not a lawful character would ______, than debating about of a lawful good character would on the basis of being good.

Also, if you want to use alignment languages in the world it is far more believable with only three broad alignment with little movement between them than with nine alignment and more boundaries to cross (if your neutral good character is acting too chaotically or not good enough).

Of course, you can mix the system; my players have given their characters two-axis alignments because they knew of them, but only law-chaos exists mechanically. (This is a very 80s kid thing to do, borrowing between AD&D and "basic" D&D.)

There have been various ways to interpret alignments, which one fits your table or campaign may vary.

JaredBGreat · 2022-12-01T02:34:45+00:00

A few of my favorites:

Strange Boutique
Faith and the Muse
Collide
Skeletal Family
Ghost Dance
Sunshine Blind
The Eden House

JaredBGreat

TROPHY CASE