Quote from: BedrockBrendan;924437I haven't run the module since about 1993 I believe. But they were not mad because they thought it was railroady. I just remember them being mad over the lightning (but don' recall exactly how much damage it did and how frequently it fell). The adventure itself was pretty good. It also a really necessary module for me because to that point I had no idea how to run Bluetpsur.

Quick lookup. The PCs have 1d4 + 5 or 10 rounds to get to a cave. The lightning starts striking close, but harmless, on round 3. Rounds 4-6 are a save vs Wands or Get struck close enough to take 8d6 damage. (save for half). Each round after 7 the save vs being hit is at a cumulative -1 (-4 max).

What I didnt like about that segment was that the DM was told to roll for the NPC, but that the NPC would never be hit. Even if caught in collateral damage the NPC would be rendered unconcious, not killed. I understand that its necessary to keep the NPC alive to move the adventure along. And it IS Ravenloftland after all so weird coincidences may not be so coincidental. But it just felt like there should have been alternatives instead of shielding the NPC.

Otherwise all the little tricks and mind games in the module are well played overall.

Quote from: Baulderstone;923976D&D is actually a tricky game to build a wide open hexcrawl for. It has an enormous spread in character ability from high to low, and the monsters have a similar spread. It's one reason D&D tied monsters to specific levels in a dungeon. The deeper you got, the bigger the risks. You avoided going lower until you were ready. Hexcrawls are more chaotic and players can easily stumble into a TPK or a series of fights that are too easy and too light on treasure.

One thing I've personally done (and tried to promote) is the idea that hexes in a hex crawl should be leveled just like dungeons. That hexes nearby civilization would be similar to a first level dungeon and the further you go away from civilization, the more dangerous (i.e. higher level) the hexes become. This allows the party to, effectively, choose the danger/reward level of the area they wish to explore by how far deep into the wilderness they are willing to go.. I've gotten lots of push back for this idea.

One things I'd like to see from the OSR is a rethinking of how adventures are structured. Instead of making a giant map with lots of stuff in it, divide the dungeon into a stack of one-page dungeons that can be linked together as the DM sees fit. Allowing the DM to leave out any parts that he doesn't like and insert new dungeon sections seamlessly into a purchased map.

Quote from: hedgehobbit;924780One thing I've personally done (and tried to promote) is the idea that hexes in a hex crawl should be leveled just like dungeons. That hexes nearby civilization would be similar to a first level dungeon and the further you go away from civilization, the more dangerous (i.e. higher level) the hexes become. This allows the party to, effectively, choose the danger/reward level of the area they wish to explore by how far deep into the wilderness they are willing to go.. I've gotten lots of push back for this idea.

Huh. Seems like a good, and intuitive way for the players to gauge their risk.
One could do the same with terrain type, or named terrain. Swamps are more dangerous than plains, and the Swamp of Giant, Evil Alligator Men would be even more dangerous than a generic swamp.

Quote from: Teodrik;924302Not yet. But I was under the impression its more on the grimdark side than I had in mind, since I have heard many refer to it like Warhammer Fantasy in War of the Roses. But it is on my list for future of  purchases on drivetrhurpg.

It isn't really grimdark. It's like WFRP only in that it copies the real Europe (only much closer than WFRP does). It's more a humanocentric dark fantasy (mostly based on real perspectives and legends of the medieval era; even the demon-summoning system is inspired by the real methods used at the time).  Its general style is closer to Game of Thrones than Warhammer.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;924373In fairness it was in keeping with the domain's flavor, but Bluetspur was always a strange domain for the core.

What's it like? I have no prior knowledge of the place.

Quote from: hedgehobbit;924780One thing I've personally done (and tried to promote) is the idea that hexes in a hex crawl should be leveled just like dungeons. That hexes nearby civilization would be similar to a first level dungeon and the further you go away from civilization, the more dangerous (i.e. higher level) the hexes become. This allows the party to, effectively, choose the danger/reward level of the area they wish to explore by how far deep into the wilderness they are willing to go.. I've gotten lots of push back for this idea.

One things I'd like to see from the OSR is a rethinking of how adventures are structured. Instead of making a giant map with lots of stuff in it, divide the dungeon into a stack of one-page dungeons that can be linked together as the DM sees fit. Allowing the DM to leave out any parts that he doesn't like and insert new dungeon sections seamlessly into a purchased map.

I'm with rat man I like this idea, and frankly it rather makes sense in my mind.

Quote from: David Johansen;924379I'm also going to do a 3 dimensional nested hex map.  Weird, I know, but people are always complaining about the flat space aspect of Traveller.  

Quote from: estar;924385It a pain in the ass and add little to nothing to gameplay.

This. Oh, so much of this.

Honestly, I've found through trial-and-error with gameplay that Classic Traveller and Mongoose Traveller 1e hits that sweet spot of complexity for players and most referees. While there are some very vocal members of the Traveller community like Constantine Thomas who want more science and accuracy in their game, they are a minority and tend to be only on the internet. The ones who engage in actual play and not just forum/blog rants aren't looking for any added complexity in a game they want to have fun with. I like complexity, but had to come to terms with the fact that while I'd love things like 3D space - it just tended to turn off most players as being needlessly complex.

Quote from: jeff37923;925393This. Oh, so much of this.

Honestly, I've found through trial-and-error with gameplay that Classic Traveller and Mongoose Traveller 1e hits that sweet spot of complexity for players and most referees. While there are some very vocal members of the Traveller community like Constantine Thomas who want more science and accuracy in their game, they are a minority and tend to be only on the internet. The ones who engage in actual play and not just forum/blog rants aren't looking for any added complexity in a game they want to have fun with. I like complexity, but had to come to terms with the fact that while I'd love things like 3D space - it just tended to turn off most players as being needlessly complex.

Thomas' maps are cool and I've always wanted to use the awesome Exoplanet app as a gaming aid/prop of sorts.

That being said, I see how it adds up to a ton of work for little return. Diaspora even goes one step further and collapses all starship movement (both travel and combat) to a single dimension — i.e. linear distances. Which sort of makes sense with both the FATE system and the implied setting.

Quote from: kosmos1214;925391What's it like? I have no prior knowledge of the place.

The surface is a wasteland and at night the lightning storms raze the whole zone pretty much. About everything is forced belowground in subterrene cities and tunnels. Befitting an illithid controlled domain. Bluetspur  is built on subtle psychological assault. Fear, paranoia, distrust, and madness. As well as body horror.

Quote from: jeff37923;925393This. Oh, so much of this.

Honestly, I've found through trial-and-error with gameplay that Classic Traveller and Mongoose Traveller 1e hits that sweet spot of complexity for players and most referees. While there are some very vocal members of the Traveller community like Constantine Thomas who want more science and accuracy in their game, they are a minority and tend to be only on the internet. The ones who engage in actual play and not just forum/blog rants aren't looking for any added complexity in a game they want to have fun with. I like complexity, but had to come to terms with the fact that while I'd love things like 3D space - it just tended to turn off most players as being needlessly complex.

I can't stress enough that when it all said and done what 3D mapping amounts to a bunch of links and branches tying together stars that have travel routes between. So you can be "realistic" in your star mapping there is just a more friendly way of presenting the information rather than as a bunch of dot with X, Y, Z coordinates.

Quote from: The Butcher;925395Thomas' maps are cool and I've always wanted to use the awesome Exoplanet app as a gaming aid/prop of sorts.

That being said, I see how it adds up to a ton of work for little return. Diaspora even goes one step further and collapses all starship movement (both travel and combat) to a single dimension — i.e. linear distances. Which sort of makes sense with both the FATE system and the implied setting.

I recommend Celestia .

Quote from: Omega;925397The surface is a wasteland and at night the lightning storms raze the whole zone pretty much. About everything is forced belowground in subterrene cities and tunnels. Befitting an illithid controlled domain. Bluetspur  is built on subtle psychological assault. Fear, paranoia, distrust, and madness. As well as body horror.

Thank you!

I think the next step will be increasingly unorthodox extremes of creativity within the boundaries of the Old-school landmarks. I look forward to what people try to do with it. Though as we get more unusual, there's bound to be more flops.

Re Traveller, I always just said Jump Space maps onto only two dimensions of travel. We're already positing an unknown FTL dimension. Ascribing that kind of characteristic to it isn't even a stretch, and as noted makes play much easier.

Has anyone done steampunk OSR yet?

Quote from: hedgehobbit;924780One thing I've personally done (and tried to promote) is the idea that hexes in a hex crawl should be leveled just like dungeons. That hexes nearby civilization would be similar to a first level dungeon and the further you go away from civilization, the more dangerous (i.e. higher level) the hexes become. This allows the party to, effectively, choose the danger/reward level of the area they wish to explore by how far deep into the wilderness they are willing to go.. I've gotten lots of push back for this idea.

Most GMs do this already, but some won't admit it.

I agree with the idea in concept. If really nasty monsters showed up around town, they would eat the town. Since the town is there, that must mean whatever meager militia exists has been enough (so far) to keep the town safe.

But there is a lot of online pushback for gaming purity that doesn't reflect real table gaming.