Glossary

I got into a bit of a debate with a touchy blogger primarily because he used a different term than I did and thus refused to see the point I was making so I thought I'd specially call out a few terms for clarity. For the first two I'll borrow the definition used by Bearded Devil as it very well written and matches my own.

Prepping - Providing a detailed, thought-through environment for players to explore and inhabit.
Planning - Aiming for a specific narrative arc or set of story beats.

The way I see it planning is the stuff of railroads, story games, and boxed text. Prepping is detailing the sandbox so the GM is ready no matter what madness the players come up with.

Judges Guild Approach - Another term I got from the Bearded Devil post linked above and it goes hand in hand with Prepping. This means providing as much detail as possible. Mapping as much of a city as possible (City State of the Invincible Emperor by Judges Guild mapped the whole city, thus the term) so the characters can go anywhere, do anything. This is the opposite of the Vornheim approach. From my own experience I'd have called this the Harn approach as back in the day the combination of the Harn regional module and Cities of Harn gave me latitude and confidence to let the characters run amok.

Vornheim Approach - Seat of your pants world creation at the table using imagination and tables. This approach is neither better or worse than the Judges Guild Approach. Different GMs will have a different preference of more likely they'll find middle-ground somewhere.

West Marches Campaign - Back in the day Gary Gygax seemed to let different adventure parties exploring Castle Greyhawk instead of having a set group of players and day to play. The different groups would clear out areas and steal treasure before another group explored a location. it was because of this initial style that he obsessed abit about time in the dungeon. Then Gygax went away from this style and moved towards tournament modules. The Knights Errant over at KnightsSemantic have redescovered this style of play and have had great success in the process. Its detailed in the post The West Marches: A Style of D&D Campaign for Large Groups. Even if you don't have a group so large that some are pushing for adventures in the middle of the weak the sandbox setup developed for the campaign sounds exactly like the kind of thing any GM should be aiming for.

Ars Ludi has more detail on the West Marches Campaign in Grand Experiments: West Marches.

Special Encounters: Some more Examples

Example 4.  Brother Steph le Joignur

A crop-haired, manly woman, pious Templar. She has taken on the identity or her brother and wishes to fight in the Holy Wars. So far a dozen of her brother Templars know her secret but won’t speak of it. So far the Grand Master has kept her in the city as an accountant.

• A fight in the street. Steph' le Joignur is nearly beaten to death. She was defending prostitutes from some thugs. She was not wearing any armor or weapons so it was pretty stupid to get involved but she did. (a) The ladies fled without helping, although one did manage to catch a glimpse of Steph’s bloody breast and knows her secret. Steph’ may need to silence the lady somehow but isn’t sure how.
• Prowling about, Steph’ le Joignur smells a Chaos coven and spends her days prowling around sniffing for it (literally) and harassing anyone having fun. A lot of citizens are trying to help her by reporting every odd thing they see.
• Fight! Steph’ le Joignur attacks the crew of a ship believing them to be Chaos Cultists. The Crew has a load of wine and local wine merchants lied to get Steph' le Joignur to attack them and remove competition The crew are actually Chaos Cultists in port looking to free a captive fellow.. 
• Fight! Steph’ le Joignur, raging drunk, beats up a dozen or so in a pub. She is shipping out to the Holy War soon, finally cleared by the Grandmaster, and is finally realizing what she’s signed up for and is terrified. Thugs she defeated previously caught her while she was drunk and attacked her. She kicked the snot out of them despite the booze.

Example 5. Cormac CamColum

A red-haired, slim & short, reckless thief with a flowery vocabulary and inflated sense of his own abilities (drinking, with the ladies, and burglary).

• Cormac CamColum is hiding behind some casks. He is following the cargo master of a ship as the man walks about town. Comarc is trying to determine the cargo of the ship on his gangs behalf. Ship is actually empty waiting passengers on a pilgrimage.
• Guards have made an arrest. Cormac CamColum has been captured trying to steel a sword from the Templar vaults. The sword belongs to Gerard Fitz Simons a lord who left his valuables with the Templars when he went to the Holy Wars. Cormac claims the sword was stolen from his own lord but the Templars don't believe him.
• The Thieves Guild is hiring muscle. They believe Cormac CamColum intends to rob the them of an expensive gem in revenge for their setting him up regarding Gerard Fitz Simons sword. The Guild doesn’t know but he stole the item a week previously and left his calling card (a large M carved in the wall) behind a picture in the chapter room. When discovered nobody will know how he did it.  Several thieves in the guild assisted him in an effort to undercut the Guild leadership.
• A group of mummers walk around on stilts entertaining a crowd. Cormac CamColum is in the crowd picking pockets among the audience. He could use help with a fake fight distraction.

Example 6. Thomas de Oxonia

A straw-haired, wiry & tall, loyal, Merchant and worshiper of the cult of Law who returned from the Holy War with some serious issues. He is devout and prays often but it has not helped him with his demons so now he has turned to drinking and fighting.

• Thomas de Oxonia is looking for his tools which have been misplaced or stolen. He'll do a favor or pay well to have them recovered/replaced.
• Thomas de Oxonia contacts the characters. His Guild's heraldic symbol has been stolen and he suspects three different guilds of organizing the theft.
• Thomas de Oxonia contacts the characters. He would like to have something stolen from a rival guild. What he wants is a Painting of Guild fathers. He says he will give it back in time and don't want anyone killed in the process of the theft.
• Thomas de Oxonia tries to hire the characters as security for a wedding. The Merchant's guild was unable to make payments to the Thieves guild because some ships were late and now the they believe the Thieves Guild will disrupt the wedding. Just the presence of some toughs should discourage them.

Special Encounters; Some Examples

Example 1. Brother Jacke Fitzbloude

Brother Jacke is a massive older, killing machine. He's a middle aged Templar who spent a lot of time fighting Holy Wars and is chomping at the bit to return but so far denied by the Grandmaster for reasons he doesn't understand or accept or even want to talk about. Instantly recognizable for the scar that slices down the right side of his face barely missing his eye. 

• Fight in the street! Brother Jacke moved into a semi-fortified townhouse owned by a wealthy Dwarven clan of Jewelers. He took over the bedroom of a Dwarf killed during recent riots. He did it because he doesn't like Dwarves, and because he could. The small Dwarven clan tried to report the illegal squatter to the guard and Brother Jacke decided to beat them up.
• Small riot of anti-Dwarf townsmen (instigated by local Thieves Guild). Brother Jacke stands outside defending his new 'home' (and thus the Dwarves).
• Brother Jacke accompanying the Jeweler on his daily business. Roughians keep their distance.
• Barfight bursts out into the street. Brother Jacke is in the center of it all. Someone made an anti-Dwarf comment within hearing and he went berserk until another Templar calmed him down.

Example 2. Sir Richard Fontrouse

Pale, wirey elitist jerk, opportunist, and sadistic bully. Sir Richard is quick to beat any non-nobles he can as long as he thinks he can get away with it. When he can't get away with it he'll be sure to taunt and threaten.

• Sir Richard is beating a peasant and the Clerics that tried to help the peasant. The Clerics is taking the beating bravely which only angers Sir Richard even more.
• Sir Richard angrily chops his dagger into a wall in frustration. If asked he relate that the Bishop has applied pressure to the Royals and now he will have to publicly beg forgiveness. 
• Sir Richard marches down the street to the Bishop's temple. A crowd taunts him and throws mud and dung. He's wearing a sackcloth to show humility but swears and threatens the crowd as he goes. When he arrives at the Bishop's temple he prostrates himself and gets forgiveness for his sins.
• Sir Richard tears up a tavern known to be inhabited by townsmen. He does so during mass to make sure no Clerics are around at the time. Two dead, one badly injured. The three injured are believed to have thrown mud at Sir Richard.

Example 3. Alanus Wade

Brunette, wirey & short, deceitful thief with a lusty attitude. Considers himself the greatest thief in the city although nobody else in his gang agrees.

• Alanus Wade asks the characters to come along as muscle. He wants to break his fellow John Pyk from stockade. John Pyk was arrested for not paying taxes which is nonsense. The Alderman is trying to push the Guild out of the ward. He doesn't want to kill any guards but he wants them to piss themselves in fear.
• Alanus Wade asks the characters to act as a distraction so that he can steal a chalice from the Bishop's temple before the Bishop arrives. Members of a splitter Cult have put him up to the crime and will pay him well for the chalice if he can get it.
• Alanus Wade asks the characters for help. His friend John Pyk from being hung by the Guards. Pyke is accused off throwing dung at a noble. The dung was thrown by a lass and John Pyk  took the fall because the guards recognized him and assumed hew was responsible. He needs muscle to kill a few guards but will settle for a distraction that will draw as many soldiers as far from the gallows as possible.
• Alunus Wade killed Sir Rad’ de Cestr, a knight, and is now a fugitive in the city.

Best of the Web - Just Use Goblins, Horrible Peasants, Drugs for Exp, and Smelly Encounters

d4caltrops has a post called Just Use Goblins in which the idea of reskinning simple goblin statblock for use on other beasts is discussed. Most GMs have been doing such for ages but its nice to see it written down.

Coins and Scrolls has a fun Horrible Peasants NPC generator. This one bit says it all "Peasants don't get last names because nobody really cares. They get smells instead. Peasants usually smell like unwashed people, but underneath the body odour there are other scents." 

He's also got a OSR: Horrible Burgher NPC Generator and a Horrible Baron NPC Generator. 

Sheep & Sorcery has  post titled THERE IS NO XP! TAKE MONSTER DRUGS INSTEAD!  the point of which is to replace normal level progression. It's a bit like Zak's progression except made awesome with some in game choices, different drugs and such that increase different abilities instead of being random. Definitely gotta chew that one over for awhile. 

Gundobad Games has a post with the title "What do you smell? Man-Flesh!" Scent, Wind Direction, and a Curious Gap in Encounter Procedures in which Gundobad details what an amazing sense of smell many natural animals have and postulates how this might effect random encounters. Personally I would say that any player with decent wilderness skill (GM option as this would depend upon the ruleset) automatically knows the wind direction at all times (they don't have to stop and think about it, the player doesn't have to ask, they are just noting it as habit) and thus their party does. 

If a party is aware of the wind direction everything plays as normal regarding surprise. If a party is unaware of the wind direction they will never gain surprise against an animal encounter. It's simple, separates the newbies from the more skilled, and encourages newbies to hire scouts when tramping around in the wild. Also I would determine if a Dungeon or sub-level does not have a natural airflow than surprise rules are normal for everybody as everything in the dungeon is sitting in a cloud of their own stench which would seriously reduce the use of scent. 

Special Encounters

In previous posts I listed random encounters for different environments. Most of these had a Special Encounters category so I thought I'd go into more detail here about what that means.

1. Special Encounters are primarily used as a placeholder for the GM to add adventure specific encounters to the tables. Roll a Special Encounter and that means you roll on the Random Encounters table created for that adventure.
2. In addition to that Special Encounters can be used to add specific NPC to the tables. If the characters spend a lot of time in one ward of a city they might come across some of the same people. Special Encounters allows this to happen without takin away from the odds of rolling the other encounters.

Reason 1 doesn't really require much explanation so I'll talk briefly about 2. Number 2 is designed to make the world a bit more realistic, by providing reoccurring NPC, ones the character may not even know. It's also one of the few places I believe an aspiring writer can do some work.

By that I mean each NPC added to the Special Encounters list should be given their own subtable of what they are doing when the encounter occurred but unlike the other subtables this one can simply be done off in order rather than rolled. The GM is encouraged to create mini-character arcs out of these results. This is similar to what an author does in a book with giving minor characters there own little background stories except in this case the story doesn't have to be completed and it certainly doesn't have to fit the main story thematically or in any way.

Encounters, An Alternate System

My previous posts on Encounters had an encounter table and a specific subtable for that what that encounter is doing at the time. This version has a few more variables but outputs a lot more variety to the encounters.

The basic format is that of a mad-libs type sentence. Different die are used to allow them all to be rolled at once. Note that some activities may not be what they seem, a priest preaching to themselves might be practicing a sermon or might be insane or possessed. The GM then needs to make sense of the results.

<1d8 Number of> <1d100 Encounter Table> <1d6 Verb> <1d12 Object>

Table 1 - Number Encountered

1d8	Light
01-02	One
03-04	Two
05-06	Three
07	Four
08	Five

Table 2 Encounter table
Use the appropriate encounter table for the area in question.

Table 3a - Noble Verb

1d6	Verb
01	Bullying
02	Eating or drinking with
03	Fighting with
04	Riding with
05	Standing around with
06	Talking to

Table 3b - Peasant/Townsman Verb

1d6	Verb
01	Eating or drinking with
02	Entertaining
03	Fighting with
04	Fleeing/Hiding from
05	Talking with
06	Trading with

Table 3c - Cleric/Priest Verb

1d6	Verb
01	Eating or drinking with
02	Guarding
03	Preaching to
04	Sacrificing
05	Singing to
06	Worshiping wtih

Table 3d - Wizard Verb

1d6	Verb
01	Bullying
02	Eating or drinking with
03	Fighting with
04	Riding with
05	Studying with
06	Talking with

Table 3e - Merchant/Crafter Verb

1d6	Verb
01	Eating or drinking wtih
02	Entertaining
03	Relaxing with
04	Riding with
05	Talking with
06	Trading with

Table 3f - Soldiers/Guard Verb

1d6	Verb
01	Capturing
02	Eating or drinking with
03	Fighting with
04	Riding with
05	Searching for
06	Talking with

Table 3g - Thief Verb

1d6	Verb
01	Bullying
02	Eating or drinking with
03	Fleeing from
04	Relaxing with
05	Stealing from
06	Trading with

Table 4 - Object

1d12	Object
01	Self
02	Foreigners/Pilgrims
03	Livestock
04	Peasants/Townsmen
05	Merchants
06	Clerics of Law
07	Priests of the Old Faith
08	Thieves/Bandits
09	Wild dogs/wolves
10	Chaos Cultists
11	Worshipers of Law
12	Worshipers of Old Faith

Best of the Web - Megadungeon and Sandbox Design

Ravencrowking has a series of old posts on megadungeon design that I suspect I'll want to find and re-read so I'm posting them.

• M is for Megadungeons (Part I) - An overview of why and some initial thoughts. My only quibble would be the idea that rats should ever be included on an encounter table. They should be everywhere in a dungeon as noisy distractions and not as encounters that one would ever fight/speak to. In fact it might even be fun to make Half-orcs not need any rations because of the ubiquitousness of rats in a dungeon environment.
•  M is for Megadungeons (Part II) - In which the blogger discusses an interesting Parliament of Cats idea (I like the idea for Ravens instead) and the intriguing idea of: "one of our “name” creatures could be something that was the most dangerous thing in the dungeon, once, but is now far past it’s prime." adventures often have young dragons to allow for character to fight something legendary but scaled to their abilities, but what about an old dragon? Fearsome reputation, shrewd mind, but can't cough up the fire the way it once did and living on reputation more than anything. That sort of thing is intriguing, especially if clues to the dragons true state are hinted at.

•  M is for Megadungeons (Part III) - In which Raven fleshes out some of the megadungeon regions a bit more.
•  M is for Megadungeons (Part IV) - The ruins above the megadungeon and how things inter-relate. I love the idea of a dungeon beneath ruins but I handle it slightly differently. I find the larger buildings and give them basements. A series of row houses might all have basements. Do the same for the towers on the city walls. Then connect the basements with tunnels so the populace could move around when the flock of stirges showed up in the spring or dragons attacked, or whatever. Add doors and portcullis to keep the riff-raff out of the basements of wealthy homes (doors and portcullises that might be ruined with age now that the city is in ruins). That's your first Dungeon level. Some of those basements connect to deeper levels...
• Megadungeons Inspirational links.

Ravencrowking also has a series of old posts on Sandbox design.

•  S is for Sandbox Part I: What is a Sandbox? - 

"In the context used here, a sandbox is a gaming environment in which the direction of play is driven by the choices of the players, rather than by a series of encounters/game actions that must occur to meet with the Game Master’s chosen “plot”.   A sandbox is an attempt at a “breathing world” that the players experience, and that allows them to follow their own interests within its context."

• S is for Sandbox, Part II: Why System Matters (1)
• S is for Sandbox, Part II: Why System Matters (2)
• S is for Sandbox, Part II: Why System Matters (3)
• S is for Sandbox Part III: Initial Set Up For Sandbox Games (1) - Getting down to the meat of setting up a sandbox campaign.
• S is for Sandbox Part III: Initial Set Up For Sandbox Games (2): Initial Base of Operations
• S is for Sandbox Part III: Initial Set Up For Sandbox Games (3): An interesting outdoors area to explore - 
• S is for Sandbox Part III: Initial Set Up For Sandbox Games (3): An Overview of the Region - 
• S is for Sandbox Part III: Initial Set Up For Sandbox Games (4): Initial Adventure Sites - Interconnecting the sites.
• S is for Sandbox Part IV: A Sample Minor Adventure Site (1) - Setting up minor adventuring sites.
• S is for Sandbox Part IV: A Sample Minor Adventure Site (2): The Great Outdoors

Best of the Web - Writing your Players Guide, Gatekeepers, and Encounters tables

Welsh Piper has an interesting post Writing your Players Guide, in which he talks about a setting primer. 

a written primer is exactly what you want to include in your gazetteer. You just need to make sure it includes the right content. Timelines and background are boring and usually irrelevant to new PCs. Allow me to let you in on an open secret: Players are notoriously uninterested in your brilliant ideas; when primers fail, it’s because they focus too much on the GM’s creativity, not the players’ needs. 

Your players’ guide needs to be all about the players. Every aspect should answer questions the players will ask when they’re rolling up characters. The goal here is engagement – players are interested in the setting when they’re interested in their characters – make the players’ guide about them, and they’ll be open to your everything else your setting has to offer.

This aligns with my own thinking, somewhat. The idea is to circumvent the more obvious questions before they are even asked. The primer should be a page, two pages max. It should include a short bit about the kingdom or realm, factions, and the gods. Maybe the history of the last decade or two to help the player visualize the world. 

Additional volumes can be created later if you want to add additional depth but certainly aren't necessary and if you fancy yourself a writer this is the place for the purple prose, not the actual adventures because you really don't want long stretches of boxed text to read and putting that sort of thing into a hand-out allows the players to study it during slower times.

Greyhawk Grognard has a post titled The OSR has no Gatekeepers. I always thought this idea was clear but lately not so much. The OSR is a movement like the renaissance. There are no leaders, just some folk with similar do it yourself attitudes some of whom get more notice than others. Some folks want to create an alternate version of the OSR with a new name because they don't like some of the members of the OSR and don't want to be lumped into the same box. That just seems silly to me. 

Scrap Princess at Monster Manual Sewn from Pants has some thoughts on Keystone Species Encounter Tables. The idea is that some beasts dominate their ecosystem and encounter tables can be created around that fact to make a unique environment. I really like the idea, except I'd add to Scrap Princess's example by including some large 'don't mess with me' herbivores. Not a Rhino, Elephant, or Triceratops but something that fits that same environmental niche. Something even the scariest predator probably wants to think twice before they engage.

Noisms at Monsters and Manuals has some ideas on Dynamic/Nested Encounter Tables that I can't stop thinking about. It's an old post but eye opening. I think if I ditch the idea might /replace some of my current subtables.

Best of the Web - Carousing

Somewhat old, but worth a read:

Jeff Rient's at Jeffs Gameblog started a mini-wave of creativity with his carousing rules in Party like it's 999. Basically you spend a bit of cash, take a little risk, and get more experience points that normal by drinking the night away. This seems to be what Conan often did and fits a Sword And Sorcery game nicely and also fits Gygax original idea of having to spend gold to get the experience points for it (if I remember correctly).

A Wizards Kiss adds love to carousing with Rules for Lusty Wenches.

Elfmaids & Octopi has a table for Carousing on Xor. It seems to be fun results with minimal mechanical effects.

Roles, Rules, and Rolls has Experience, Carousing. Inc in which he breaks carousing down into Philanthropy, Carousing, Research, Gourmandising with tables for each.

Goblinpunch has Downtime Activities + Carousing Table in which he breaks the idea down into Philanthropy, Relaxing, Prayer, Boasting, Skill Training, Skill Mastering, Spell Study, Spell Invention, Working, Carousing which pretty much covers nearly everything one might want to do between adventures.

Autarch has his own version of the idea in pdf form for ACKs.

Daayan Songs Translated has Carousing for Wizards.

Zack also had additional carousing results.