Representing the OSR

Next month, Scott, Rowan and Shane are hosting Busan Con 2026, a two-day (maybe three with the Buddha's birthday being a holiday on that Monday) event. Aside from volunteering to help out with whatever needs doing, I'll be running a Star Wars d6 game for sure (This is the May), and probably a Missions & Mayhem game if I can get something together in time. The deadline to sign up to run games in the 19th. 

A guy named Dave, who I've only interacted with online, wants to run a workshop for new GMs. He asked for any experienced GMs to volunteer to be on his panel. It seems like most folks in and around Busan these days run very story-centric games, whether they're using 5E, PF2E, Daggerheart, or any of a myriad of indie games. And most people who'd sign up to share their GMing wisdom would be in that school of gaming. I signed up to be the OSR guy on the panel. 

Unlike some die hard OSR folks, I don't mind the more story-focused gaming crowd. It's not exactly my thing, as I've blogged about before. But at the same time, I see lots of people having fun with a game that prioritizes the PCs' character growth and playing out a storyline. Honestly, my Star Wars game has been fairly story-oriented, although not so much about a PC living out their "story." Missions & Mayhem is also very mission based, obviously, so each session I'm pretty much dropping the players into an ongoing story. I'm not demanding any particular sort of ending for the missions, though. That's up to the players to determine. 

For the workshop, Dave and I chatted a bit yesterday. He said he'd like each GM on the panel to give a 7-8 minute presentation on their DMing style, then he'll have us field some questions from him, then open it up to the audience. And if there's time, maybe one of the GMs can run a quick impromptu game with the folks to show off their style. 

Being an OSR representative, I'll probably be focused on the notion that sandbox play doesn't need tons of prep like many people think. Random tables and stocking procedures can save you a lot of time. And making an open world with situations, rather than story lines. I'll probably also get in a bit about backstory getting in the way of action, and how Gygax is reputed to have said something like "The first three levels of your PC ARE your backstory." 

I should look up to see what Gygax's actual quote was, or if that's even something he said and not just internet apocrypha.  

It should be fun! 

Maybe this will work

I'm trying out an interesting arrangement for my wilderness encounter tables (mentioned in my previous post). I have a table for each terrain type: clear/grassland, forest, hills/badlands, mountains, desert/barren, swamp/marsh, jungle, river/lake, ocean, arctic, settled, city. For each table, there are five columns (six with numbering) and twelve rows. 

The columns are Animal, Human, Common Monster, Unusual Monster, Rare Monster. These are determined by a d12 roll: Animal 1-3, Human 4-5, Common 6-9, Unusual 10-11, Rare 12. A few terrain types get some adjustment to the number spread, but that's the basic. 

I haven't filled out the monsters in any of the tables yet, but I have 12 slots for each. If there aren't enough suitable creatures, I can double some up or adjust the rarity. It doesn't give quite as much variety as Mentzer's charts, but 60 creatures per terrain type should be enough for a general table. 

Oh, and these twelve tables only took up three columns of my 2-column layout, so I had room for tables for the Planes: Elemental, Ethereal/Astral, Upper, and Lower. These are arranged a bit differently, but I think it will be handy to have some random charts for planar adventures if I don't have anything worked up for a specific plane.

Wilderness Encounter Table arrangements

I'm revising wilderness encounter tables. I've recently consolidated my "regular" and "Eastern" monster lists for TSR. Treasure tables, too. And now I'm working on new wilderness encounter tables.

In the past, for Chanbara, I pretty much copied what Cook/Marsh and then Mentzer did, with a table by terrain type for monster classification, then tables for each classification broken down by terrain type. In Chanbara, I also included seasonal variation for some of them. I'm not planning to go down the seasonal variation route again, but I am considering different ways to lay this out. 

AD&D and the Creature Catalogue go the route of the big master list (d%) by terrain type. There's an advantage to this in that it allows wiggle room to set monsters as common or rare. But every monster is jammed onto one table, and they take up a lot of space. I'd like to be able to lay this out on two facing pages if possible, for convenience. 

I have a couple of other ideas for how I could do this. 

First would be to do something similar to BX/BECMI, except instead of the initial table, just break down each terrain type by monster type. So the Forest Table would have columns for Animal, Fey/Yokai, Humanoid/Giant/Oni, etc. But I'd either need to give everything equal probability of appearing, or have numbering for each column. This would probably be the most space efficient way to do it. Although I've got more categories than Cook/Marsh/Mentzer, so I'd probably want to consolidate classifications a bit more.

Second would be to divide terrain types by proximity to civilization. So each terrain type would get columns for Settled, Borderland, and Wilderness (to borrow from the Companion Set's domain management classifications). This would end up with a grab-bag of monsters on each list, but they would be more sorted into challenge levels for low, middle, and high level PCs. This one seems interesting, different, and useful, but would probably take up more space than I'm hoping for, unless each list is fairly short. 

I've got over 400 monsters in this thing. Nearly everything from BECM/RC (a few I NEVER use or just don't like removed), plus monsters and NPC types from Flying Swordsmen and Chanbara, and some extra monsters from modules, 1E, 2E, 3E, and homebrew monsters from my Beast of the Week series way back when (many of the sillier monsters -- but by no means all silly monsters -- removed, so no more Saurons running around in packs :D). Of course, many of these are "dungeon only" or planar creatures, but it still leaves me with a lot to work with, and not every monster will make the cut. 

I guess I should spend some time building prototypes of each system and see which one I like most.

Dungeon Crawl Procedural

Last night I ran my West Marches game, and my second son, 6yo, had a lot of fun before he had to go to bed. This morning, he asked to play D&D again today. Well, we had some other plans (we did get in a game of the Dungeon! board game this morning, but that didn't fully scratch the itch), but now dinner has been ordered and is on its way. 

 After dinner, I'm going to pull out the old Dragon Strike game boards and use those for maps (6 year olds do better with solid visuals), and have them explore it with their WM characters. My older's PC is level 6, my younger is level 3, so I plan to use the 3rd level wandering monster tables and the BX/BECMI random stocking method when they enter any rooms/areas, and randomly generate treasure on the fly. 

I'll use Google searches to provide visuals for monsters encountered, too.

We'll see how it goes. Should be fun!

Random Encounter Table Formats

Working on TSR-East (or maybe just TSR? No need to spam everyone with yet another pseudo-European clone of Ye Olde Game with mostly cosmetic changes, is there?) and I'm at the wilderness random encounter chart page.

Yes, I could skip it and return to it later. But I kinda enjoy the tedious and repetitive work of flipping through the monster section over and over, trying to find the best creatures for each terrain type!

Anyway, I started out copying the style of Cook/Marsh-Mentzer, with a general type of creature roll followed by rolling for the exact creature on a subtable. But I noticed something I hadn't before. Several of the terrain types have the exact same assortment of creature types, just in different order. Of course, several of the subtypes (men, humanoids, animals, and partially insects) each have different subtables by terrain type.

I also used this for Chanbara, adding in a few innovations (like seasonal animal encounters, and expanding the "settled" encounters for more variety of type of settlement.

But in the DMR2 Creature Catalog, there are big d% tables for each terrain/climate type, with just one roll per encounter needed to determine what it is. This is also kind of nice, and maybe less cluttered on the page, but harder to find the specific table you're looking for, perhaps.

I also checked the 1E DMG, but big sprawling tables with all monsters, and different percentages by terrain type isn't what I'm wanting here. Mentzer's version has them all on 1.5 pages (more or less), and in Chanbara I fit it all on a single page.

While I don't necessarily need to compact things as much as humanly possible for this game, I don't want to waste space, either. My character facing document is around 32 pages, the monster/treasure doc is around 60 with a few more things to add (sample artifacts, notes, a table of contents or index to find monsters easily). If I could keep the GM book to 32 (currently the wandering monster tables will start on p.13 so very possible) I'd be happy. Yes, the old printer's need to go in packets of 16 pages is no longer a concern with POD, but I kinda like the constraint. I think Chanbara is a better game because I limited what would go in it to what I could fit in 64 pages.

I'm leaning toward the BX/BECMI method of a subtype table for each terrain type, followed by more specific tables. Since I have every monster tagged with descriptors (for weapons +1, +3 vs X or certain spells/magic items), It won't be hard to fill in most subgroup categories.

But there are a few (like Shapeshifter) that don't really have that many entries. I could could leave them off, or lump them together. Mentzer (and I assume Cook/Marsh before him) includes an "Unusual" category. But do all of them belong in certain terrain types? Doing charts like in the Creature Catalog, where all the forest creatures for example are on one table, has its advantages. It also makes it easier to have charts for subtropical, temperate, and subarctic forests, or the deciduous/evergreen split. If I want to make many more charts, that is.

So, instead of deciding on one and working on it this evening, I'm asking you instead. What do you prefer in a wilderness random encounter chart?

Needles in haystacks

Way back last year, Noisms of Monsters and Manuals blogged about the contents of wilderness hexes.  He showed through real world examples that even a 1-mile hex can have a lot of adventure opportunity.  And most RPG maps are at the 5 or 6 mile hex scale, or 24 mile scale.

So, imagine you've got one of those wilderness maps with all hexes numbered, and keys with something (or several things as Noisms suggests) interesting in each hex.

How do you determine when something is found?

Wandering monster rolls are of course one way.  If there's a random encounter while in that hex, instead of rolling a random monster, the encounter could be with whatever monster lairs there (although not necessarily in the lair). This is fairly simple and elegant, as the more times the PCs cross the hex or spend actively searching, the likelier they are to encounter what ever is keyed there.

The down side is that you then no longer have wandering or random encounters when in the wilderness.

Also, the probabilities for wandering monster encounters tend to increase with the more wild the terrain is, at least in Classic D&D.  It's been so long since I've looked at AD&D's wilderness encounter charts I don't remember, but I have a feeling it's the same.  Anyway, you're more likely to encounter some monster in a swamp or jungle than you are in open plains or the desert. 

If the keyed encounter is with a monster tribe or the like, well, that makes sense to keep it this way.  But what if the keyed encounter is a location like a ruined temple or some unusual (super)natural feature?  Wouldn't it be harder to find in a forest or the mountains that it would be in open fields?  Perhaps a new chart with inverted chances of encounters would be in order for such things. 

A lost oasis fortress might not be hard to find at all while traveling through a flat rocky desert.  The hidden Elven city of Gondollin would be next to impossible to find.  Should each encounter have its own chance to be randomly found listed? 

That's a lot of checking map keys and rolling dice for each hex that's passed through.  I'm sure a computer program could be created to handle all of that, but I sure don't have the time to make one (or the skill, at the moment, although I'd guess the coding for such wouldn't be too hard to learn).

The easiest way to handle things at the table, I guess, would be to treat it in a manner similar to searching for traps or secret doors.  If the players are passing some potential encounter, and they say something that would likely put them close, allow them to have the encounter.  If not, or they are simply "searching," give them a die roll (would Elves have a bonus to find lost temples or hidden orc cave-lairs?) of some sort.

Or the default method presented in modules, if they pass through the hex they have the encounter, and just don't put stuff in every hex. 

On a related note, I had an idea while thinking of all the above.  Would there be a desire for a "random wilderness stocking system" similar to the simple random dungeon stocking tables in the Basic Sets?  I've been using them with my Megadungeon project, and they're nice for spacing out encounter areas among the rooms, and force me to get creative when there are many traps or specials in certain areas.  Something similar for the wilderness might be handy.  Maybe I'll try to come up with something some day.

I never knew them in their prime

But I've gotten to know them in the past few years.

Here's my Megadungeon Level 3 NPC party, based on the stats given for the two Fighters in Moldvay Basic, then extrapolated for the party members mentioned in the examples of game play and combat later in the books.

Borg, Lawful Fighter 3
Str 17, Int 8, Wis 10, Dex 7, Con 15, Cha 6; AC 3/17, HP 18
Sword, 2 Daggers, Shortbow, Platemail, Shield, 20 arrows, 50' rope, backpack, 11 arrows +1, Potion of Clairvoyance
Personality: Plodding and rude

Morgan Ironwolf, Neutral Fighter 3
Str 16, Int 7, Wis 9, Dex 13, Con 14, Cha 8; AC 1/19, HP 26
Maul of Aias* (2-handed warhammer +1), Shortbow, 20 arrows, 6 silver arrows, 2 vials of holy water, Brynhild's Mail* (chainmail +3), Elven Boots
Personality: Seductive yet cutthroat

Silverleaf, Neutral Elf 3
Str 14, Int 14, Wis 11, Dex 9, Con 12, Cha 12; AC 2/18, HP 15
Spells: Sleep, Hold Portal, Mirror Image
Herculean Club* (club +2), Sling, 30 stones, 6 sling stones of dispelling, Platemail, Shield, Potion of Flying
Personality: Picky but courageous

Fredrik, Lawful Dwarf 3
Str 15, Int 9, Wis 8, Dex 12, Con 12, Cha 10; AC 2/18, HP 15
Chain Whip* (flail +1), 3 Hand Axes, Potion of Giant Strength, Platemail, Shield, 1 sprig Wolvesbane, 4 flasks of oil
Personality: Efficient and remorseless

Sister Rebecca, Lawful Cleric 3
Str 13, Int 6, Wis 16, Dex 15, Con 15, Cha 14; AC 1/19, HP 16
Spells: Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Evil
Mace, Sling, 30 stones, Holy Symbol, Platemail, Shield, 2 vials of Holy Water, Potion of Growth, Scroll: Cure Light Wounds
Personality: Friendly and devout

Black Dougal, Chaotic Thief 3
Str 11, Int 11, Wis 10, Dex 14, Con 10, Cha 8; AC 6/14, HP 11
The Golden Bow* (Longbow +1, Translating), 40 arrows, Sword, Thieves' Tools, Leather Armor, Potion of Treasure Finding, Mirror
Personality: Brash and sly


*all magical weapons and armor are from my Unique Magic Items documents, downloadable over there on the right sidebar.

Yes, the Wilderness is dangerous, but not everywhere is wilderness

Alexis has got me thinking.  Probably not as deeply or as meaningfully as he'd like (he's got rather high standards, and I'm too busy with earning both incomes in my two income family to hold myself to such high standards in my leisure activities), but he did get me thinking.

So D&D (OD&D, Classic D&D, AD&D), as you all know, comes with both Dungeon and Wilderness Random Encounter tables.

Now, those Wilderness Encounter tables include chances to meet everything from a few wild deer to ancient red dragons as you wander from place to place.  And as Alexis points out, by using them as written, how could a merchant caravan ever get from one city to another without being pillaged by 6-60 orcs, a small troupe of frost giants, or a wing of griffons?

But let's take a look at what the charts really are.  They're tables for things you might meet in the wilderness, not just while taking a stroll through Farmer Maggot's cornfield.

In the Dominion system in Frank Mentzer's Companion Set, he divides up areas into Civilized, Borderland, and Wilderness.  I get a feeling (just a feeling, I've got nothing to back this up quote-wise) that he may have gotten this from Gary (Keep on the Borderland being the artifact that makes me think this).

If this was the intention of the game's creators, we can assume that any game setting should have areas on the world map that are 'wilderness' and areas that are not.

If we divide up any map into Civilized, Borderland, and Wilderness areas [mapping to the alignments of Law--Neutrality--Chaos, interestingly] we'd have Civilized areas where you're likely not going to run into anything besides human-types and normal animals.  Merchants, pilgrims, soldiers, wandering minstrels, peasants, etc.  Very similar to town/city encounter charts.

In Borderlands, things are getting a bit more wild.  There will be more monsters, demi-humans, and giant animals encountered, but still plenty of human-types.  And most likely there won't be many overpoweringly difficult monsters.

In the Wilderness--the true wilderness--anything goes.  Human-types will become scarce, and those that do appear will most likely be other adventuring types or 'monster' humans like bandits, brigands, pirates, etc.

But what about those merchants that need to travel through the Wilds to get from Port Gunthar to Oxcross?  Well, that's what roads are for.  Or charted rivers.  Or established sea lanes.  A well-patrolled and maintained road would count as at worst Borderland, and may be considered Civilized all along its length.

The benefits?  Well, first, you've got a bit of verisimilitude in that unlike early CRPGs, your characters aren't the only non-monsters outside of towns.  There's also both in-game and meta-game reasons why monsters aren't eating every commoner who tries to go on a little trip.

Second, it provides players with a way to judge their risk/reward, similar to dungeon levels.

Third, it makes decision points on the map.  Do we take the long King's Road to Oxcross, or try to save two day's travel by cutting through the Haunted Woods?

Fourth, it reinforces the feeling of Law vs. Chaos as trying to tame the wilderness/wreck civilization, rather than just pseudonyms for good and evil.

Some Old Friends (NPC Party)

My 2nd Level NPC party was an easy one to come up with, because Frank Mentzer did all the work.

If you've got the Mentzer Basic Players Book, you've got these guys.  I just took the nameless Fighter from the tutorial and the pre-rolled characters from the center of the book (p. 34), and the names provided in the section on level titles for each class.  Because they're all using the 2nd level titles, I bumped the pre-gen stats up to level 2.  Voila.

Other than giving everyone an extra hit die, and spells for Clarion the Adept, Felonious the Seer, and Belrain the Warrior-Seer, it's all the same as what's in the book.  Also, unlike with the Level 1 roster, where I plan to just pick 4-6 of the guys on the list at any time, these seven would always be encountered together.

Clarion the Adept, Lawful Cleric 2
Str 9, Int 11, Wis 17, Dex 8, Con 14, Cha 16; AC 5/15, HP 13
Spells: Cure Light Wounds
Mace, Chainmail, Shield, Sling, 30 bullets, Holy Symbol
Personality: Steadfast and compassionate

Fleetwood the Warrior, Neutral Fighter 2
Str 17, Int 9, Wis 8, Dex 11, Con 16, Cha 14; AC 2/18, HP 18
Sword, Dagger, Platemail, Shield, 1 vial Holy Water, 1 Potion of Healing
Personality: Brave but naive

Felonious the Seer, Lawful Magic-User 2
Str 8, Int 17, Wis 11, Dex 16, Con 14, Cha 9; AC 7/13, HP 9
Spells: Shield, Sleep
Silver Dagger, Wand of Trap Detection (10 charges), Spellbook, 1 vial Holy Water
Personality: Instructive and humorous

Greegan the Footpad, Chaotic Thief 2
Str 16, Int 14, Wis 9, Dex 17, Con 11, Cha 8; AC 5/15, HP 8
Sword, Dagger, Leather Armor, Thieves Tools, Wolvesbane
Personality: Greedy but fair

Rolf the Dwarven Warrior, Lawful Dwarf 2
Str 16, Int 7, Wis 11, Dex 14, Con 9, Cha 9; AC 1/19, HP 14
Sword, Dagger, Platemail, Shield, Hammer, Spikes, Wolvesbane
Personality: Honest but foolish

Belrain the Warrior-Seer, Neutral Elf 2
Str 16, Int 9, Wis 7, Dex 14, Con 9, Cha 11; AC 3/17, HP 11
Spells: Charm Person, Hold Portal
Sword, Longbow, 20 arrows, Chainmail, Shield, Spellbook, Wolvesbane
Personality: Flamboyant but absent-minded

Touchberry the Halfling Warrior, Lawful Halfling 2
Str 16, Int 11, Wis 14, Dex 9, Con 9, Cha 7; AC 4/16 (2/18), HP 11
Short Sword, Short Bow, 20 arrows, 5 Silver Arrows
Personality: Cautious and moody

Have we met before? (NPC Party)

For my megadungeon project, I've already made a few rosters of NPC adventuring parties that could be encountered within.  This is the lowest level roster, made up of the 3E Iconic characters converted to Classic D&D (with my homebrew classes for a few of them*).  I kept the ability scores at the 'default array' for 3E D&D, 15-14-13-12-10-8 which means that in Classic D&D terms, none of them have any ability bonuses above a +1, but I like that.

Anyway, here they are:

Jozan, Lawful Cleric 1
Str 12, Int 10, Wis 15, Dex 8, Con 14, Cha 13; AC 4/16, HP 7
Mace, Banded Mail, Shield, Holy Symbol, 2 vials of Holy Water
Personality: Sanctimonious but kind

Tordek, Lawful Dwarf 1
Str 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Dex 12, Con 15, Cha 8; AC 3/17, HP9
Battle Axe, Plate Mail
Personality: Impatient and covetous

Mialee, Neutral Magic-User 1
Str 8, Int 15, Wis 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Cha 10; AC 8/12, HP 5
Spells: Sleep
Dagger, Scrolls (Charm Person, Ventriloquism)
Personality: Haughty and distant

Kerwyn, Neutral Thief 1
Str 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Dex 15, Con 13, Cha 10; AC 6/14, HP 5
Short Sword, Leather Armor, Thieves Tools
Personality: Outgoing and reckless

Regdar, Neutral Fighter 1
Str 15, Int 10, Wis 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Cha 8; AC 3/17, HP 9
Two-handed Sword, Banded Mail, Light Crossbow, 30 bolts
Personality: Brooding and quiet

Lidda, Chaotic Halfling 1
Str 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Dex 15, Con 13, Cha 8; AC 3/17, HP 7
Short Sword, Chainmail, Shield
Personality: Brash yet soft-hearted

Krusk, Chaotic Ranger 1
Str 15, Int 10, Wis 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Cha 8; AC 6/14, HP 9
Polearm, Leather Armor, Long Bow, 20 arrows
Personality: Rude and slovenly

Devis, Neutral Bard 1
Str 10, Int 14, Wis 8, Dex 13, Con 12, Cha 15; AC 5/15, HP6
Spells: Charm Person
Spear, Leather Armor, Shield, 3 Javelins
Personality: Friendly and trustworthy

Vadania, Neutral Druid 1
Str 10, Int 12, Wis 15, Dex 14, Con 13, Cha 8; AC 5/15, HP 7
Spells: Cure Light Wounds
Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Sling, 30 stones
Personality: Aloof and suspicious

Soveliss, Lawful Elf 1
Str 14, Int 13, Wis 8, Dex 15, Con 12, Cha 10; AC 3/17, HP 6
Spells: Light
Sword, Chainmail, Shield, Short Bow, 20 arrows
Personality: Jocular but unforgiving

Alhandra, Lawful Cavalier 1
Str 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Dex 8, Con 12, Cha 15; AC 4/16, HP 8
Sword, Banded Mail, Shield, Holy Symbol
Personality: Uptight yet generous

Hennet, Chaotic Magic-User 1
Str 10, Int 15, Wis 8, Dex 14, Con 13, Cha 12; AC 8/12, HP 5
Spells: Magic Missile
Staff, Silver Dagger, Scroll (Protection from Evil)
Personality: Egotistical and lustful

*for those not using similar home brewed classes, Druid=Cleric, Ranger and Cavalier=Fighter, Bard=Elf

Megadungeon Random Encounters

I've just finished (well, I'll likely tweak it from time to time, especially once play begins to keep things from getting stale) a personalized modification of the Mentzer dungeon wandering monster charts for my own game.

It all fits on a single (A4, watch out Americans) page, has encounters for my above ground ruins (Outer Works and Keep), as well as Dungeon levels 1-10, and separate sub-tables for human types (to get more monsters on the tables), dragons, and oddities (random magical effects, traps, etc.). It's also got a little sub-table for motivations for creatures (hunting, slaving, returning to lair, etc.) and NPC party strength (how beat up are they, how many spells and magic items have they exhausted)

Download it here or from my sidebar.

We're not the first ones to come here...

Michael Curtis, of the Society of Torch, Pole and Rope, has a post about the random dungeon chart from the old TSR Indiana Jones game here.

I really like it. As Mr. Curtis himself says, it's good for making a dungeon with more thinking, less fighting.

It also utilizes something I was trying to do when constructing my megadungeon (before my players uniformly stated that a megadungeon was the last thing they wanted and I shelved the project), which is encounter areas that show signs that other adventurers have been through.

I had empty treasure chests (sometimes with calling cards of who looted it), corpses in various states of decay and having met various foul ends, notes and journals, marks on the walls, and one thing I thought was really important to get that immediate feel of others adventuring--spells with durations still in effect when the PCs get there (that one actually works well on a random encounter table, too).

Anyway, I copied that list, and plan to use it to good effect in the future. I suggest you do, too!

Random Encounter

Had a busy weekend, including a hiking trip/drinking session with my wife's uncle and his co-workers that took up the whole day yesterday, so I didn't get to post my next Oriental Accents piece like I wanted. Don't have the time today either, so here's a short little post to bide my time and waste yours. :)

Last Friday morning, I was going to the radio station to record for the Saturday show and then do my normal live show. I got off the subway and up onto the street, listening to my mp3 player. There's a homeless guy, 50-ish, who walks up and says to me in English, "Are you a foreigner?"

Well, I think to myself, "That's bloody obvious," and keep on walking. He runs up and kicks me. Not hard enough to bruise, but it did hurt. I turned around and knocked the asshole on his ass. Then I went about my way.

Now, what's this got to do with RPGs? It made me think about the rate of XP for encounters. Now, in D&D terms I'm just a Normal Man and so was the homeless guy, so by the book I'd get no XP for that. If I had been of a character class, I'd have gotten like 5xp from the bum (didn't take his stuff--if he had any, so only monster xp). At least if I were playing any old school games.

If I were playing 3 or 4E, that would have been a level appropriate challenge for me. Since I was alone when I was accosted, all of that XP would have come my way. I don't need 3-4 other guys to take down a bum. I don't know for sure the 4E XP scheme (10 appropriate encounters to level I think...), but for 3E it was 14 encounters. Since I did this alone, I'd be about 1/10 of the way there in 3E, maybe 1/8 of the way to a new level in 4E.

Seems like levels mean more to acchieve if they take more than knocking 10 homeless guys on their ass to earn them.

Ocean Encounters

If I'm gonna run an campaign set at sea, I'm gonna need better ocean/sea encounter tables than the list in the Expert Set. So I made my own. For encounters on islands or coasts, I'll use the normal terrain type tables from the book. But at sea, I need a bit more. So I made these.

Hopefully the formatting won't get too messed up when I copy/paste this:

Maritime Encounter Tables

Encounter Chances (d6)
Coastal 5-6 (5 on land, by terrain type only)
Deep Sea 6 (5 hexes away from any land)

Encounter Type (d8)
Coastal Deep Sea
1 Ship 1 Ship
2 Ship 2 Ship
3 Ship 3 Swimmer
4 Swimmer 4 Swimmer
5 Swimmer 5 Swimmer
6 Dragon 6 Dragon
7 Unusual 7 Unusual
8 Flier 8 Unusual

Ship Encounters (d12)
Coastal Deep Sea
1 Adventurers 1 Adventurers
2 Barbarians 2 Berserkers
3 Warship 3 Warship
4 Natives 4 Pirates
5 Pirates 5 Pirates
6 Pirates 6 Pirates
7 Traders 7 Traders
8 Traders 8 Traders
9 Humanoids 9 Traders
10 Humanoids 10 Humanoids
11 Ghost Ship 11 Ghost Ship
12 Personality 12 Personality

Swimmer Encounters (d12)
Coastal Deep Sea
1 Giant Octopus 1 Giant Squid
2 Giant Crab 2 Elemental, Water
3 Spiny Rockfish 3 Giant Sturgeon
4 Insect Swarm 4 Storm Giant
5 Giant Leech 5 Sea Hydra
6 Mermen 6 Mermen
7 Nixie 7 Plesiosaurus
8 Rats (shipboard) 8 Rats (shipboard)
9 Shark (any) 9 Sea Serpents
10 Sea Snake 10 Shark (any)
11 Water Termites 11 Water Termites
12 Whale (any) 12 Whale (any)

Dragon Encounters (d12)
1 Chimera
2 White Dragon
3 Black Dragon
4 Copper Dragon
5 Green Dragon
6 Blue Dragon
7 Silver Dragon
8 Red Dragon
9 Gold Dragon
10 Hydra (sea or flying)
11 Wyvern
12 nearest lair

Unusual Encounters (d12)
Coastal
1 Djinni
2 Efreeti
3 Imp
4 Devil
5 Demon
6 Gelatinous Cube
7 Gray Ooze
8 Ochre Jelly
9 Shadow
10 Event
11 Event
12 Event

Fliers (d12)
1 Cockatrice
2 Elemental (Air)
3 Fairy/Pixie/Sprite
4 Gargoyle
5 Griffon
6 Harpy
7 Hippogriff
8 Manticore
9 Pegasus
10 Robber Fly
11 Roc (any)
12 Stirges

Humanoids (Ship Crew) (d12)
1 Bugbears
2 Dwarves
3 Elves
4 Gnolls
5 Gnomes
6 Goblins
7 Hobgoblins
8 Halflings
9 Kobolds
10 Lycanthropes (any)
11 Orcs
12 Serpent Men

Ghost Ships (d10)
1 Derelict
2 Skeletons
3 Skeletons, Wight captain
4 Zombies
5 Zombies, Wraith captain
6 Ghouls
7 Ghouls, Spectre captian
8 Derelict, Vampire
9 Ghost crew
10 Ghost vessel

Personality Encounters (d12)
1 Captain Hook
2 Solomon Kane
3 Jack Sparrow
4 Flying Dutchman
5 Blackbeard
6 Long John Silver
8 Sindbad
9 Captain Ahab
10 Captain Nemo
11 Horatio Hornblower
12 Belit