Shadowdark & Gamma World

 

I ran the Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur and the Players made it through about 1/2 of the dungeon. 

It went well. 

I did lower HP for the ettercaps but I made a giant blunder by forgetting to limit what could be seen by torchlight. Yeah, it actually slipped my mind that it was total darkness beyond Near. I guess I was just in the DnD mindet. It really reduced the effectiveness of the bull statues.

However, there were some clever Player ideas and we had fun.

I hope I get to finish it but we have been able to play the Vecna game recently and are in Eberron, our DM's favorite setting.

I've been thinking a lot about Gamma World.

I've been reading GW 3E and really dig the chart. I don't know if if came before or after Marvel Super Heroes or Conan though.

A buddy of mine owned GW 4E and it holds some nostalgia for that reason. It reminds me of a sort of Pre-DnD 3E experiment but I don't know if the timing lines up right for that.

I think GW 7E is the best implementation of DnD 4E and I just love it.

However, I've been looking at using Dragonbane to run GW. I really think the d20 roll under mechanic is my overall favorite and it probably stems from Ability checks in ADnD 2E. I'm working on Skill list and Heroic Abilities for it. I'll see if I can post some of my ideas soon.

Shadowdark: The Citadel on the Borderlands

I hope to be running the Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur this Friday and I'll be using the Premium version that was released to Backers of the Western Reaches KS in late August. 

While I was reading over the adventure an idea struck me that I could use it as the legendary Keep on the Borderlands for ongoing adventures. Will the survivors care about the unknown that lies within the Borderlands? Maybe they take over the Citadel and turn it into a Bastion (from the Player's Guide to the Western Marches which has been released to KS backers too)? Maybe they just decide to explore the Reaches? At least I have options.

While my Friday group is currently playing through 5E's Vecna campaign (I'm a sucker for the Rod of 7 Parts) we have at least one session a month where we need a different option due to schedule conflicts or a week where that DM is just needs a break. I'd be glad to turn this into the second game option for us. I have a lot of interest in hex crawling the Western Reaches but that book isn't quite ready though it seems likely we will get it digitally by the end of September.

 

X marks the spot!

 

I've been thinking of where to place the Citadel and the most logical spot is on the Southeasterly edge of the map below Alkesh. The Citadel would be below that unlabeled village/town circled on the map. I'm thinking the Citadel would be a few days ride South and that town would be a place to rest up, carouse, train, and sell loot.

It appears the unnamed location will, in fact, have a name when the Game Master's Guide to the Western Reaches is sent out to Backers. Whether I homebrew the town or use the official version will end up being decided by what information is available to me when the PC's reach there.

Now all I have to do is run the adventure and keep developing my ideas. No pressure, right?

Shadowdark: House Rules for ArkhamDark

 

I had taken a break from Shadowdark but receiving the PDF of the Premium Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur adventure has brought back. I was looking through ArkhamDark because I'm always looking for resources to run Ravenloft's Masque of the Red Death setting and enjoyed it. 

There are a couple areas that have me thinking about homebrewing. First, the author adjusted Difficulty Classes for some reason and I'm pondering why. I really like the math in Shadowdark and have found it works brilliantly in play. Of the many lessons to learn as a Dungeon Master having clear and consistent DC's really lightens the cognitive load so I will probably stick with SD's DCs when I run AarkhamDark.

Second, Skill Aptitudes replace Background but don't grant Advantage like that latter and it occurs to me that the Fighter's Combat Mastery could be an easy mechanic to model.  Under my House Rule Skill Aptitude would grant a bonus of half your level (round down) + 1 and will definitely be testing it.

I want to reinforce that I recommend this product and it has some great ideas. The reason I love the OSR is its DIY nature and the rulings over rules. ArkhamQuest is a good product. If you want a taste of how it handles occupations there are free downloads for the Occultist and the Soldier. There is also a text version of the rules at a significant discount.