In which we tinker with magic ... again.

 Sitting at the table a couple sessions back.  In the heat of combat Kirkus exclaims ... well, something.  He's hard to understand when the arrows are flying.  Seems he WANTED to cast Hunter's Marck but as he's the closest thing to a healer in the party he knew he HAD to hold on to his goodberries (heh.)  Using that last spell slot is ALWAYS a tough call.  Our game is all about asset management - spells, slots, encumbrance, ammo, hit points, food - so this is the norm.  But what if we could "shift" the problem.

Which is when I fortuitously ran across THIS youtube.  The text version is available here.  We ARE using a similar "rest" rule, so this could easily work.  I sent a rough suggestion to the party and we discussed it at close of play last week.  Heading into 16 days of down time AND taking a week off so next session will be a good time to implement.  Here's the version we're gonna try:

Does NOT apply to cantrips or rituals.

No more slots.  Instead, casting a spell requires a successful spell casting check, one free hand (if needed), and your arcane focus. The level of spells you can cast is as per RAW.

spell casting check DC equals 10 + spell level (including upcast.) Roll 1d20 + proficiency + spell casting ability modifier. (Aerialayna would be +2, Kirkas +3, Dakora +5 and Terestan +6)

 

*additional add: finite number or recasts before the DC check incfreases. May cast up to Arcana check in a magic user, Nature check if Druid or Ranger, Religion if Cleric or Paladin, Performance if Bard ... and I'll make up the rest as needed. 

Failure means spell is lost until next long rest

Nat 20 lets you double EITHER damage dice, number of targets, range, area, or duration. Or recovery of a lost spell.

Nat 1 you either make a sacrifice (Clerics, Druids, Bards, Rangers, Rogues, Paladins) ranging from a 5 gp value at 1st level up to 500 gp at 9th OR suffer an arcane mishap (all other classes.) These result in exhaustion and damage done to all within range.

Sim Sala Bim: a caster who fails a roll MAY supplement their total by sacrificing .... something. Arcane spells cost sanity. No worries until you go over 10. Treatable via lengthy downtime. Primal spells cost exhaustion. Divine spells cost HP. AND the spell is then lost until you get a long rest. Cannot be used on any spell that raises creature above 0 HP.

In which we go up a level

So I bent the rules a tad last session.  Second session with 1st level characters.  Party is coming together.  God role playing going on.  Fun n stuff. But one of the "pre-packaged" adventures I've given the hook for suggests leveling up to 2nd after completing "Chapter 1."  Party was about 80% of the way there so I DID bump them up.  They'll still have to EARN that last 20% so it might take them a tad longer to get to 3rd.  We'll see.

There's a rough rule of thumb that indicates you "should" go up every four sessions or so.  I've been using the Three Pillar XP from the old UA from 2017.  Basically points based on your tier, the CR of your opponents and the tier level of locations, item, social interactions.  100 XP to advance.  So that means 25 xp per session to meet the 4 sessions per level approach.  And then we're talking 8-10 xp in each pillar.  

The Social pillar grants 10 xp for a successful interaction with an NPC in your tier, +10 for every tier above yours, +5 for a tier BELOW yours, and 0 if more than a tier below.  Pretty easy for an involved party to interact positively and sway  SOMEONE in town with some pull.  Local lord.  Captain of the guard.  Guild head.  This one's harder in the wilderness but lieutenants and bandit leaders might present opportunities.  This gets tougher in tier 2 but we're still a month or so away from that.

The Exploration Pillar can present issues as well.  I always give 1 xp when a 20-mile hex is entered for the first time.  Visiting plot hook sites can usually get your 10 points for this one.  Current party got points for the lost abbey and for the demon tree.  Not likely to pick up any next session.  Unless you're always on the move and wrapping up plot hooks rapidly this one will be the "slow" one.  Magic can be used to boost it if need be.  Finding a rare non-consumable magic item can do this at first tier, and I usually only give it to the party member who gets the item but it makes for a timely addition if the rest of the pillar is low.

Finally comes the "Combat" pillar - although "Encounter" pillar is a better label.  Overcoming an obstacle using skills and ingenuity warrants these points as well as besting critters.  For our four-character party as currently constituted that would mean two encounters of CR 2-4 or one of over CR 4.  It could also mean over a dozen encounters under CR 1.  Last week's owlbear was helpful but they needed some nagging blights and wolves to hit the number.  

What I NEED to start doing is paying attention to where the party IS and what they're planning on doing, in order to make sure I have sufficient points on offer.  The coming session should allow for plenty of encounter points.  Unless they surprise me there won't be many opportunities for social points.  And I've already give the 20-mile point and the important point points.  So to hit that sweet spot I'll need to include plenty of CR appropriate encounters and at least one magic item. 

 

In which we set out more House Rules

 we started out with these nifty house rules.  And now as we've begun out 3rd campaign perhaps it's time to enumerate some more.

Backgrounds.  There are WAY too many and they give you WAY too much stuff.  So pick what you like but don't be surprised if you don't get EVERY benefit.  If you're unsure, ask during creation.

4 - 6  Class/race restrictions.  I MAY penalize a character 10% XP until certain minimums are met in certain stats.

9.  Only those trained on horseback riding may ride a horse.

Feats are optional (RAW.)  I DO incorporate a system of knowledge acquisition that mirrors many of them.  LOTS of choices for players.

I'll be editing in the coming weeks

In which we move Factions to the "front"

 They party has spoken.  No more sweeping 20-level story arcs.  More "bounty/treasure/monster hunter" arcs.  But I can't just sit back and throw 3rd party adventures at them.  I want the world to MOVE.  To change as they respond to it.  And as it responds to them.  I've made efforts to do this in the past and I keep improving but I ALSO like crunchy mechanics.  I don't trust my instincts so I prefer some bounded guidance.

So I'm incorporating a few things that I touched on last campaign but that I feel can be kicked up a notch in this one.  I'm stealing bits and pieces from several RPG's and stitching them together to form a Frankenstein's Monster of a crunchy system.  

First, I had good luck LAST campaign incorporating "Aftermath" from the good folks at Worldspinner.  Party indicated they might like a little more political intrigue so I'm overlaying and adapting "700 Lordly Houses."  We'll see how it goes.

Second, I did a little incorporating of Fronts from Dungeon World.  Tried a LITTLE of this last time but not full blown.  The structure of 700 LH really lends itself to this mechanic and it can REALLY make for a dynamic world. 

Third, Blades in the Dark is often credited with the innovative incorporation of countdown clocks.  Tie THOSE into the dooms and portents from your Fronts and you've automated the running of a lot of "behind the curtain" stuff.

Fourth,  Night's Black Agents (which I SERIOUSLY heard as Nice Black Asians!)  has a nice escalating response logarithm called the Vampyramid.  Active and re-active missions/operations provide some interesting guidelines and suggestions for fronts as well.

I've long used Sly Flourish's Lazy DM checklist and kept it on Notion but I'm leaning away from that for this campaign.  I've looked at World Anvil and Scabard.  Neither of them seems quite right but I COULD be swayed.  Looking for something better.  All the inputting seems to be a duplication of effort without enough savings.  "The view isn't worth the climb."

In which we look back ... and start again.

Ok, we all know what railroads are.  There's a LOT of argument about  sandboxes.  And some folks use the term "amusement park."  And they're all kind of mobile plot points on a graph and fine if you like that kinda thing.  I was HOPING to move beyond that but I keep missing the mark.  We started with the Masks of Destiny campaign and a bunch of little side trips that were fun, when needed, to bump the party up a level.  It was good.  We all had fun.  Until they all died.  

And then we started over.  I wanted it to be more of a "garden" type game, but I couldn't resist the urge to throw in a through-line with a campaign-closing BBG.  So I planted my garden and sowed a bunch of seeds of plotlines that were interconnected.  And they traipsed through the garden for a while.  Then wandered off for a while.  Then came back adn started making progress.  Then they all died.  

So now we're starting over again.  No more over-arching BBG.  Yet.  Tried using a world balance mechanic last game.  Nice touch but surely better mechanics have been developed in the last 40+ years.  So THIS time around I'm trying (more) new things.  Players wanted a little more political intrigue and I have a "mechanic" to handle that.  AND I'm going to try using Dungeon World Fronts more.  After a session I'll review existing fronts, move them forward (or not) and review the session to see if perhaps there's a new front coming.  Party can address the front or not and we'll where that leads.  Already have one front in place.  Two more in development.  As the folks at DW say: 

"Fronts are built outside of active play. They’re the solo fun that you get to have between games—rubbing your hands and cackling evilly to yourself as you craft the foes with which to challenge your PCs. You may tweak or adjust your fronts during play (who knows when inspiration will strike?) but the meat of them comes from preparation between sessions."

Looking fwd to where next Tuesday takes us.

 

In which we kinda have a TPK

 or perhaps have a kinda TPK.  I'm delaying this post for a bit so the party can "move on" from these decisions.  

So .... The party was at the brink of a lost shrine seeking to retrieve a powerful artifact for the Cartographers Guild who would compensate them with some info they'd been seeking.  They enter the shrine, dispatch a few random encounters, move deeper into the complex, locate a hidden secret exit from the shrine. find the McGuffin, outwit the traps and obtain it. They're down to about 50% HP.  There's been a countdown die on the table.  It's gone from 10 to 1 while looking for the McGuffin.  Instead of leaving asap they opt to "explore the rest of the complex."  I keep the countdown die at 1 but their next encounter is with a modified Yuan-ti Night Talker who gives them a vision.  The Barbarian and the Champion see a panorama of the earth opening up, demons spewing across the earth as the party leads Yuan-ti, humans, elves and dwarves in an epic battle against the BBEG.  The Druid sees cultists pouring forth from this shrine, heading through the woods to locate the Druid's mentor in order to kill him.  And The Bard sees that this IS the McGuffin they've been sent to find but that it's also the 2nd part of the three-part weapon needed to slay the BBG.  A tough choice awaits.  

I figured seeing all this would result in them heading out to find the third part of the Dingus.  Nope.  "Let's explore more of the dungeon."  Turned the countdown clock to 0 and the resident BBG found them.  They coulda taken him at 75% but not at 50.  Rather than killing them blindly here I opted to capture them.  They found themselves stripped naked and tied together.  After freeing themselves they set about ... exploring the shrine - hoping to find weapons, clothing, equipment ... before setting out into the below freezing weather for the 5-8 day trek back to civilization.  And that's where we left it.

In the week off I reached out to each character and offered them safe passage to civilization IF they'd swear fealty to their dragon lich demon lord. leave the continent and never return.  None of them have accepted it .... yet.  We'll see what happens Tuesday night.  

In which we start over

 TPK last time out.  In the first hour of a three hour session.  But the last two hours were a fun session of character building for the NEXT campaign.  Players wanted a little more political intrigue, maybe a military invasion, in a traditional campaign setting.   That exists!  Northern hemisphere.  Bucolic forests and beautiful rivers, nestled between a stereotypical Celtic culture and the eastern edge of a bunch of wood elves.  

A ranger.  A warlock.  A wizard leaning toward Hexblade.  And a fighter leaning toward Battlemaster.  With a high level rogue waiting in the wings.  A little short on the healing arts but the players know how to work as a team.  

Ready to rework the econ system just a tad.  Modifying the spreadsheet to account for the presence or raw materials and manufacturers.  Might have a two month breaking hitting which will allow for those changes.  Also need to incorporate the political struggles of a bunch of lordly houses.  Know I have a book coming which will result in the addition of a crap-ton of resources.  And I need to look into that whole military campaign thing.  

The map was largely made.  Took me an hour to rough out the infrastructure.  I need to start dropping POI's.  Come up with a "system" - already incipient.   The last two campaigns were plotted out 20-step mega-campaigns.  This one?  One step at a time.  I'll put together 2-3 plot lines each week and see which hook they bite.  And where the story takes us.

Almost forgot - The Boy (part of my Kitchen Cabinet) pointed me to this youtube video.  I watched it a few years back but had forgotten.