If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

I forgot a few details in combat again: Namely, how a GM runs a monster from a stat block, and how a ranged weapon hits an ally when attacking into melee rank.

A stat block consists: Number appearing, attacks/damage, save as, armour, hit dice, movement type, morale, treasure type, special notes on attacks and defences. So, what does a GM so with all this?

• Initiative is equal the highest facing on the damage dice.
• Roll hit dice to calculate HP.
• Move up movement.
• For each attack, threaten damage equal to a roll of a damage dice within range.
• Take damage first to armour and then to hit points.
• Roll a morale check when appropriate.

Cool. Rolls are supposed to be player-facing, so no saving throws at all, however HP work the same, so too-and-fro should continue. Let’s see in play how that works, or whether we need to incorporate saving throws into the GMs side of combat.

Now for ranged attacks. This is easy.

If attacking with a ranged weapon into melee rank, on a fail or missed success, randomly select an ally, and threaten damage against them instead.

Cool. Just filling in the gaps.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on further developments in combat.

Idle Cartulary

4th June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Factions are groups of people who share a similar goal and have collective power to shape the world around them. The community collectively considers them essential for making a world feel responsive and independent of the characters, but second edition has almost nothing to say about them.

I was hoping to run factions just like I ran NPCs, but it feels weak. Here’s what a A-DNA, A-VOW looks like for a faction:

The Garrulous Guild of Thieves have the map to the Jewel of Ichor, a jester’s hat tattoo, want access to the Vault of St Lemay, and want the ascension of St Lemay’s undead soul to godhood.

They pretend to be a thieves guild, but at high levels are a cult, and their leaders seek divine relics obsessively, but cannot allow the body of St Lemay to be disturbed before the ascension.

But if I instead base factions on apocalypse world fronts:

Factions are groups of people who share a similar goal and have collective power to shape the world around them. They might be a council, coalition, cabal, cartel, conspiracy or more. Give them one or more of:

A goal that will impact the PCs

An insignificant sign that they are impacting the world

A significant warning that they are close to achieving their goal

An action they can take to derail the PC’s plans

An action they can take to spur the PC’s to action

So, let’s try again:

The Garrulous Guild of Thieves

They access to the Vault of St Lemay so that St Lenays undead soul may ascend to godhood.

Thieves throughout the city bear their mark; a jesters hat.

When the Vault is claimed, the undead rise every night in the city in small but significant numbers, causing fear and unrest in the population.

They can send their thieves to set traps and thwart their gains.

They can frame the PCs for crimes they did not commit.

Which one is better? I honestly am not sure?

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on factions! What’s better? Is on on the right track?

Idle Cartulary

3rd June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Having separated out the advice for building a campaign and the advice for preparation. into their own sections, the advice for running a session is spread out throughout it the many books in sentences here and paragraphs there. As I read further in response to the impression the advice was absent, I realised it wasn’t, but rather wasn’t organised. Relying on a relationship with the legacy second edition inherited.

In terms of the GMs role, I summarised it earlier as:

The GMs job is to generously and truthfully say what every thing and every one in the world says and wants to do except the PCs, and to prepare for the campaign to the degree necessary to achieve this.

The GM’s job is also to make rulings where the rules are not clear or are unknown, and to maintain consistency in doing so.

This, plus the rules so far really govern what the GM does. So, this section is really an Apocalypse World style set of principles on how to do this. The work has been done for me, most effectively in my opinion Into the Odd and Mausritter.

Mausritter’s are principles are; make the world seem huge, create situations not plots, present the world honestly, make the world a consistent and understandable place, be an impartial arbiter of the rules of the game and the world, telegraph danger, don’t pull your punches and reward bravery. These are solid principles in keeping with the Principia Apocrypha.

Into the Odd’s aim differently: Give information , present choices and show impact. These principles focus on narration and improvisation focused rather than on preparation, which I like.

Throughout this project, especially once the benefit of introducing clocks became obvious, I’ve had to refrain from remarking how like Blades in the Dark the implied structure of second edition is. So, let’s go further afield to Blade’s principles, which are a bulky and cumbersome affair but insightful in my opinion.

In Blades the GM’s Goals are to play to find out what happens, convert the world honestly and bring the location to life. To achieve them, they use GM actions and are guided by GM principles. Actions are ask questions, provide opportunities and follow the player’s lead, cut to the action, telegraph trouble before it strikes, follow through, initiative action with an NPC, tell them the consequences and ask, tick a clock, offer a devil’s bargain, and think off-screen. Effectively, a GM takes an action when there’s a consequence as a result of a roll, or when a scene loses momentum. Note that there are a bunch of these in the other principles, but I like giving the GM concrete things to do, it’s one of my favourite tbh kings about Powered by the Apocalypse lineage games: The GM has a character sheet as well.

The GM principles are: Be a fan of the PCs, let everything flow from the fiction, describe evocatively, assess the characters and the players, consider the risk, and hold on lightly to your plans.

But then it has best practices (maintain the integrity of the fiction, be interesting, create an atmosphere of enquiry, help the players play the game to pursue their goals, sont block, keep the meta channel open, advocate for the interest and capabilities of the NPCs, play goal-forward, cut to the action, be aware of potential vs established function, zoom in and out of the action, being the game system to life on screen, put it on a card) and bad habits (don’t call for specific rolls, don’t make the PCs look incompetent, don’t overcomplicate consequences, don’t let planning get out of hand, don’t hold back on what they earn, don’t say no, don’t roll twice for the same thing, edit ahead and don’t get caught up in minutiae). All of these are good pieces of advice! But this is too much for me, so how could I include anything like this in the game?

My gut is to use the structure of goals and actions to simplify the most important of these principles into narrative-creation oriented actions and player-enjoyment oriented goals. The principles guide everyone’s actions, including the players. The actions indicate how you engage, and they differ between GM and players. Then, we have a clear list of things to do for the GM, which is the way I like it, and the major weakness for me in second edition, because there is no clear indication of what a GM does.

I think extending out the players principles and GM principles so that they mirror each other is a good idea. What are players equivalent to rulings? What is player prep? What is player improv? How do players bring fun to the table? These questions should be answered, mirrored, on one page, so that the players feel an equal part of the team. I’ll come back to this I think.

So, what are the GM and player goals?

Let the PC’s goals drive the story

Let the consequences of the PCs actions change the world

Hold lightly to your plans

Describe the world truthfully

Maintain the world’s integrity

Maintain the integrity of the rules and any rulings

Bring the rules to life on screen

These goals are for everybody, are general enough to apply to everybody, but are still key to driving the GMs preparation and how they direct their actions. Seven feels reasonable.

GM actions are always directed at a PC unless otherwise stated. When a session begins, when a scene loses momentum take an action, or when a consequence is the result of a roll, take an action. The actions are:

Ask an establishing or provocative question

Describe the fantastic

Differentiate options

Foreshadow danger

Threaten damage or something dear

Face temptation alone

Escalate the stakes

Offer an opportunity at a cost

Give what they earnt

Tell a secret

Show the impact of their actions

Follow their lead

Cut to the action

An NPC does something impactful

Something happens off-screen

That’s sixteen actions. That’s a lot. I’m not sure it’s too much. But it’s supposed to be o be inspirational. Ok, and finally, the the five don’ts (better name please help):

Don’t prepare plots, instead prepare powderkeg situations.

Don’t block the players; instead say yes, if they can first do this.

Don’t make the PCs look incompetent when they roll badly, instead make their foes look badass

Don’t overcomplicate consequences, instead choose the simplest logical consequence

Don’t roll twice for the same thing, instead hold the first result until the PCs are in a more desperate position

Ok, so this is still a lot, isn’t it? I feel like it’s digestible in a way that the Blades in the Dark ones isn’t, but practical in a way that Mausritter isn’t as well. They’re more supportive to acting during play than Into the Odds, which is something I think is a strenfrh. I think they’re comprehensive, too?

I’m not sure where to go with mirroring player and GM principles from here. I feel like there’s more to say to help players make choices. Consider how players of third through fifth editions look to their power list and proficiencies to choose how to a act. A similar action picklist to this so they know what to do instead of “I make a perception check”. I’ll have to come back to this, I think.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on GM principles and running a session. Have I developed this out too much? Too little? Mausritter, Into the Odd and Blades in the Dark expanded each of these. Should I expand them as well? I’m inclined to, but there are a lot of actions and principles here. This is one where I’d really appreciate input from the few people reading along, and I’d appreciate input about player actions mirroring these (albeit briefer).

Idle Cartulary

2nd June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Second edition does not describe play at all except through the examples of play. Those examples are good, in my opinion, and I’ve gleaned a lot of designers intent from them. But I like to be more clear about what the procedures of play are. I’ve spoken previously about how different locations in second edition are effectively different boards for the same game, upon which the same rules apply. Like board games, those boards should have common elements. For Advanced Fantasy Dungeons, this is the basic procedure, which isn’t a new thing, but most recently I liked Prismatic Wasteland’s and I’ve adapted that here in combination with second edition’s first chapter.

My gut is that this goes at the beginning of the book, because it’s setting up the books structure, both in terms of we have a basic procedure and we iterate on it, and in terms of these are the PC rules and now here are the GM rules that reflect them. I can’t see anyone playing Advanced Fantasy Dungeons, a strange paraclone of a middle-school role-playing game as their first game, but it’s important to me to clearly set expectations for the rules text, even as it should be tossed aside.

First, we need to define player and GM:

Most players pretend to be a person in the world, their player character (PC). One player, the Game Master (GM), pretends to be everything else in the world.

The players job is to say what their player characters (PCs) say and want to do, what they think and feel, and to answer questions about their background and surroundings.

They depend on the GM to understand their surroundings and what is happening, and when, and where, so that they can do this.

The GMs job therefore is to generously and truthfully say what every thing and every one in the world says and wants to do except the PCs. The GM’s job is also to make rulings where the rules are not clear or are unknown, and to maintain consistency in doing so.

Everyone’s job is to be ensure that everyone at the table is enjoying themselves.

Then, we clarify the general procedure.The general procedure is this:

The basic procedure of Advanced Fantasy Dungeons is:

1. The GM describes the situation and what the PCs see, hear, feel, smell and hear.

2. The players ask clarifying questions and the GM answers until the situation is clear to them.

3. If a clarifying question would require a PC to take action, the GM confirms that they want to take action and if they do, resolve such actions to provide an answer.

4. The players state the action they want to take in response to the situation.

5. PC actions are resolved, changing the situation, and starting the cycle again.

If the actions result in a change of procedure (to combat, social, dungeon, wilderness or town procedures) transition to those procedures as appropriate. The basic procedure always applies.

Then, so I know this works, we fold in the combat, dungeon, wilderness and town procedures so we know they fit around this procedure and where they fit:

Most actions taken in a dungeon – movement, lockpicking, searching, bandaging, spell casting – take a turn. A turn procedes as follows:

1. Roll the exploration die and follow the instructions.

2. Follow the basic procedure until each PC resolves their action, transitioning to other procedures as appropriate.

3. If you do not carry a light source, spend 1d6 HP.

Repeat the cycle as long as the PCs remain in the dungeon.

The exploration die is a 1d6, +1 per turn with no result , interpreted as follows:

1-4, Nothing happens; 5-6. Wandering monster; 7. The environment changes; 8. Light sources exhaust; 9. Spells expire; 10+. Rest or spend 1d6 HP

If you are stranded in the dungeon at the end of a session, each PC rolls to return to the surface. Roll fortune or an appropriate proficiency, against a target equal to the number of turns traveled to escape the dungeon. For every point you fail by, choose either to spend that amount in HP or ten times that amount in GP.

Thinking about this, it might be beneficial to reintroduce the ten minutes dungeon turn because actions can vary in length depending on the location you’re in. Wilderness travel is next, and I note that the procedure is neat, but not clear.

Most actions taken while journeying through the wilderness take one watch. Each day has three watches. A watch proceeds as follows:

1. Players choose whether they will travel or rest for the new watch.

2. For each watch, the GM rolls on the wilderness grid. Roll d100 for what encounter, and 1d8 for the type of encounter:

What encounter: 1. Very rare; 2-3. Rare; 4-6. Uncommon; 7-10. Common; 11-14. Common; 15-17. Uncommon; 18-19. Rare; 20. Very rare; 21-100. Nothing.

What type of encounter: 1-4. Nothing; 5. Monster Traces; 6. Monster Tracks; 7. Monster Encountered; 8. Monster Lair.

Random encounters prevent a watch of rest from being completed, but do not prevent a watch of travel from being completed.

3. Follow the basic procedure until each PC resolves their action, transitioning to other procedures as appropriate.

Repeat the cycle as long as the PCs are journeying in the wilderness.

If you travel for a watch, move forward one hex. You must spend 1d6 HP to travel for a second or and 2d6 HP to travel a third watch.To travel on difficult terrain, roll fortune or a relevant proficiency or spend 1d6 HP.

If you rest for a watch, perform a rest action such as heal, memorise spells, prayer, or repair. There is no formal lists of rest actions, but rather you can only perform one such action per watch (in addition to all of the other things you must do while travelling). You cannot travel and rest the same watch.

Using vehicles or mounts does not allow you to travel further, but horse-sized mounts provide 10 inventory slots and wagon-sized vehicles 20 inventory slots. Flying mounts do not provide inventory slots. Your mount or vehicle may not be able to travel on some difficult terrain (for example wagons in swamps, or horses on mountains). Some vehicles or mounts allow you to travel on terrain that is otherwise impassible (for example boats over lakes, wyverns through the sky).

If you are stranded in the wilderness at the end of a session, each PC rolls to return to the nearest settlement. Roll fortune or an appropriate proficiency, against a target equal to the number of days travel to the nearest settlement, plus the number of turns traveled to escape the dungeon. For every point you fail by, choose either to spend that amount in HP or ten times that amount in GP.

We also need to clarify combat, although it’s very straightforward:

Most actions taken while in combat take one round. A round proceeds as follows:

1. Combatants declare their weapons.

2. Combatants proceed in order of speed factor.

3. Follow the basic procedure until each PC resolves their action.

Repeat the cycle as long as the PCs are engaged in combat.

Each weapon has a speed factor equal to its highest face. Order of action is by speed factor. If more than one person has the same speed factor, choose randomly.

To make an attack, make a strength check for melee attacks, a dexterity check for ranged attacks, or a proficiency check if you have proficiency your weapon.

On a success, threaten injury. On a partial success, threaten injury and suffer a minor consequence. On a failure, suffer a major consequence.

Consequences are at GM discretion. Minor consequences might include you are threatened with injury, the opposing side goes next or your morale is shaken. Major consequence might be two of these, or something else.

When you threaten injury, roll your damage dice to find out how much HP your target must spend to avoid injury, or how much damage their armour suffers.

On an NPCs turn, the GM declares who is threatened with damage. The PC makes a saving throw, and spends HP and armour as they see fit.

When your morale is shaken, make a morale check against either your morale rating (if you are an NPC) or your wisdom (if you are a PC). The GM may grant you advantage or disadvantage depending on factors such as training, overwhelming opposition, ethos, and how your allies are faring.

On a full success, you rally and fight on. On a partial success, your first concern is calculated retreat. On a failure, your first concern is immediate escape.

The social procedure is, it is revealed, not a procedure, just a rule, triggered by the basic procedure. Downtime looks like this:

Downtime is measured in real-time weeks occurring between gaming sessions. Downtime actions are of different lengths, represented as a clock, the length of which is dictated by the action. When the clock is full, you have completed the downtime action. For each week:

1. Choose an available downtime action that the PC took during that week.

2. Follow the basic procedure until the PC resolves their action, transitioning to other procedures as appropriate. The GM must agree that the action makes sense, that the activities being described are within the power of the PC, and that they would indeed plausibly progress you towards your goal.

3. If the downtime action is completed, resolve it and change the situation accordingly.

Repeat the cycle for each PC until you have

Downtime actions can have walls; walls are points at which you cannot process with any more ticks until you perform an in-world task. Downtime actions can have branches; branches are points where the clock ends prematurely, and you have the option to continue with one of a number of new clocks.

On a failure, tick one section of the downtime clock and there is a complication. On a partial success, tick two sections. On a full success, tick three sections. A complication is usually an unexpected wall, an unexpected branch, a relationship consequence, or a hook for further adventure.

A 1 step clock will result in a minor and temporary advantage. A 6 step clock a slight campaign goal or minor advantage. A 10 step clock a minor campaign goal or moderate advantage. 20 step clock moderate campaign goal or significant advantage. A 40 step clock is an epic or campaign-changing achievement.

War fits into the Downtime procedure, and social or appears to not be a procedure of its own, but merely a roll associated with the basic rules. Notes going forward: Revise timekeeping again to reintroduce rough time periods.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on basic procedure, the revised piar procedures, or if I’ve overlooked anything glaring!

Idle Cartulary

1st June 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Similar to monsters, I really want spells and magical items to be cross compatible between B/X and Second Edition.

What do those spell descriptions consist of? For B/X, it appears to be range, duration and spell description. For Second Edition, range, duration, area of effect, casting time, and saving throw. These seem all to be present in equivalent spells, it’s just more structured in Sexond Edition.

Translating range and area of effect will require I incorporate the optional positioning rules into spellcasting, and add a range band called “touch” that is closer than melee. Saving throws are already a direct translation, but I suspect they are best ignored as new saving throw names are easier for the GM to rule. Duration and casting times should be equivalent, but casting time has an option for it to be added to initiative, which needs a ruling.

Magical items have a much broader range of descriptions and are not easily adjudicated. A lot of the spell conversion advice applies, as does some of the previous monster advice. I think there will likely be a conversion page sitting in an appendix somewhere, to centralise all of this, but it’ll take playtesting I think to iron out the creases across so many magical items and monsters, although spells aren’t so much of a problem.

Spells and magical items from previous editions will need to be converted. Some rules of thumb apply and will make this process simple and able to be done during play. In outlying or unsatisfying cases, the details of the spell or magical item are at the GM’s discretion. Basic rules of thumb are:

Range is equivalent. In combat, ranges that require touch are closer than melee, and hence always provoke a consequence, ranges in feet are in the reach rank and ranges in yards are in the ranged rank.

Area of effect spells always affect a single battlefield or 1d6 people if not in combat.

Saving throw choice is at GMs discretion.

Duration is equivalent, remembering roughly ten rounds to a turn, and six turns to an hour. Random durations are kept in secret by the GM, but the spell ending should be forewarned in some way when the time comes.

Casting time is equivalent, remembering roughly ten rounds to a turn, and six turns to an hour. In combat, casting times of one round are always last in the order of actions, and for casting times with only a number, this represents their speed factor.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on spell and magical item conversions if you have any!

Idle Cartulary

31st May 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Thinking about a common question that will come up with my particular group who was born and bred on fifth edition: How do I make a perception check?

The obvious answer, and — I think — the boring one, is they don’t exist. A better answer is that every proficiency is a lena through which you perceive your surroundings.

“GM, I have proficiency in stonework. I’m going to examine the statue.”

While I’m not opposed to player skill and attention, I am opposed to wilfully withholding information. Information should be easy to find, and I don’t want it gatekept behind one specific roll, but this approach gives the GM an avenue through which they can hand out information, I think.

There is no perception proficiency. If you have a proficiency relevant to your situation, tell the GM. The GM will provide any insight your training might grant in the situation, although they may prompt you to clarify the extent of the insight (“Are you just looking, or do you touch? Smell?”).

I also want a GM facing rule here:

If a PC is using their proficiency to grant insight into the situation, take this as an opportunity to tell them secrets or foreshadow what is to come. Use clarifying prompts (touch, smell, listen, taste as well as sight) to provide them with more information if they agree to follow the prompt.

This is neat, I think. Is it necessary?

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on perception, particularly if this short rule is necessary at all!

Idle Cartulary

30th May 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Remembering that whatever weird design approaches I take, this is full intended to be a cross compatible D&D clone, there are two things to talk about on the topic of monsters: Compatibility in the context of changing combat systems and their role in the campaign itself.

In terms of compatibility second edition and B/X stat block looks awfully similar: Number appearing, attacks, THAC0, damage, armour class, hit dice, movement, morale, treasure, special notes in attacks and defences. The only differences are save as and intelligence. In second edition, all monsters save at their HD level of warrior, so Save As is unnecessary. I can’t speak for the importance of intelligence, though. For Advanced Fantasy Dungeons, we can eliminate the need for some of these, to remain compatible with both B/X and Second Edition. This minimum is:

A monster requires the following statistics:

Number appearing, attacks/damage, save as, armour, hit dice, movement type, morale, treasure type, special notes on attacks and defences.

All numbers are all compatible with the basic and second edition versions of the game, except for armour and morale.

It may be beneficial to in addition add information on frequency, organisation, intelligence, ethos, diet, sleep cycle, climate and habitat, society and ecology, or tactics, to assist the GM in running the monster.

Morale is equivalent to second edition, but B/X uses 2d6 roll. I want simplicity, so rather than directly translating probabilities we’ll use rough equivalents:

If using a monster in B/X, if their B/X morale score is <5, their morale rating is 5; if their B/X morale score is 6-9 their morale rating is 10; if their B/X morale score is >10, their morale rating is 15.

Armour is more complicated, because it’s more meaningful under the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons rules. Simplifying, I suspect, will result in weird edge cases in conversion, particularly for high level monsters, but nevertheless:

To convert an NPCs armour class in B/X or AD&D 2e to Advanced Fantasy Dungeons, consult the armour table and assign an equivalent armour type.

This makes me realise that I probably need a “natural armour” comment somewhere, but that should just amount to “natural armour as leather”, or instead perhaps I need to include examples like “Red dragonscale armour” to give an indication of the breadth of possibility in the armour system.

I mentioned earlier in “stat blocks” frequency, organisation, intelligence, ethos, diet, sleep cycle, climate and habitat, society and ecology, or tactics, which brings me to different types of monsters: There are two types of monsters, the mythic and the natural.

Second edition leans into the natural monster. Paraphrasing Dan D.: A natural monster isn’t evil; it is a symptom, merely the the immediate threat. When it is defeated another will come, because the conditions that created it will create another. Those conditions are complex and rooted in past events, and are the true challenge to overcome (or perhaps, impossible to overcome). The question in response to a natural monster is: “What is disrupting the world?” How do I codify this?

For a natural monster, consider first the immediate cause, then the distant cause which caused that. Finally, choose a sign that might point you to each of those causes. All natural monsters have IDS.

For example, there is an bear-owl rampaging through the farmland, killing the dairy cattle that keep the locals in coin. The bear-owl’s diet consisted easy to catch humming-bloods, but a local priest ordered them hunted down and their nests burnt to prevent further plague. That plague was being spread by the humming-bloods, but only because they’d been used by a young love-witch who used them to steal blood for love potions for the youth of the local town. Corpses of humming-bloods full the bear-owls den and it is pocked with scars from their proboscis, and there have been a run of marriage among the young of the town lately, against all the expectations of the village gossips.

Mythic monsters on the other hand are without cause outside their own determination. Regardless of intent, a mythic monster is likely to be perceived as evil by those it imposes its will on. The dungeon hates you is the most prototypical version of this, but anything can be an incursive force. If your orcs are mythic, they are not born but bubble up from the ichor vomited out by their god Gruul when they died in range battling Ellicon the Bright. There might be only the five dragons, or better a singular Dragon. The Planetar of Elflander bringing their myopic vision of justice from above. Monsters are also often uncategorisable – perhaps a place, perhaps an animal, perhaps a spirit of vengeance? Most monsters in dungeons are mythic, and most monsters in the wilderness are natural. How do we codify the mythic monster?

For the mythic monster consider first the monsters alien purpose, secondly how it’s environment and its associated monsters, act in concert with its intent, and finally what it are it’s eyes to learn how to achieve them. Mythic monsters have PIE.

My biggest hesitation is that I’m not sure that this adds anything to the previously existing NPC framework. Should all monsters be NPCs? How do I choose when to IDS or PIE and when to A-DNA or A-VOW? This all feels a bit fucking much to me at this points. I’m going to rewrite them as a set of principles and not rules.

For a natural monster, always have an immediate cause in mind, then the distant cause which caused the immediate one. For the mythic monster, consider how the environment and any associated monsters will act in concert with it, and what it’s malign intent is.

That’s less concrete, but also less complex and clearer. The example for the natural monster is still useful, and I can write a similar example at a later date for the mythic monster.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on monsters, converting monsters, and how monsters fit into your campaign!

Idle Cartulary

29th May 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

The second edition DMG spends a lot of time on society alignment. It’s actually not too problematic on the topic:

• The alignment of the ruler determines the nature of many of the laws of the land.
• Where the ruler and the population are in harmony, the alignment tendency of the region is strong.
• Area alignment allows a quick assessment of the kind of treatment player characters can expect there.

So, to summarise the relevant parts of ethos from last post:

An ethos can be a belief or a stricture.

A belief is a folkway, philosophy or superstition, taking the form of: This action is always the correct action, eg. Mercy must be given to all beings.

A stricture is a ritual, act of service, or behaviour, taking the form of:This is true, therefore I must do that, eg. Gods are evil therefore priests must not be tolerated.

If an ethos is observed by an NPC it may provide a bonus or penalty to a reaction roll depending on their own ethos.

Or first should be clarified that to a degree societal and religious ethos already exist because priests and paladins all have (religious) ethos lists and heritages all have (societal) ethos. So this isn’t complicated.

Societies and religions have ethos or a number of ethos, just as individuals do. Their ethos are defined by their leaders and their heroes or gods. Their ethos define their laws, how those laws are enforced, and the kind of treatment people are expected to find in their area of influence.

Choose three ethos for a society or religion. These can be the same for each area of influence, or similar:

A law, what drives its enactment, and how you will show it enforced.

A small common ritual or phrase, what it means, and when you will show it enacted.

A common belief, who it effects, and how people will act in response to it.

Not all members of a population will follow the societal or religious ethos within that society or religion. Societal and religious ethos are best used, therefore, as a way to impress upon the PCs the overarching attitudes and atmosphere of an area and its people.

I like my rules and guidelines to be concrete, but also flexible. I like the these three things structure here, because obviously you can ignore that structure if you wish, and there is further guidance earlier in the book if you want to go rogue from this guideline.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on societal and religious ethos, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

28th May 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of this series, there’s an index here.

My first post on ethos, my elevation of a minor ruling to cover the failures of alignment as a concept, wasn’t very concreted in its approach, but working through the GM guidance section I realise ai need to revise ethos before I approach the topics of societies and religions in world-building.

Some examples of ethos in the broad second edition line include:

Protecting the wilderness, Maintain natural cycles, Maintain balance between good and evil, Keep the deeds of ancestors alive, Regard the undead as a mockery of true and noble death, Most individuals actions will not prove significant, Gods manipulate mortals for their own ends, and these games must be put to an end, prayer, rituals, proselytising, symbols/clothing, pilgrimage, healing the sick, deliberating children, caring for the sick, eliminating enemies of the faith, courtesy, honour, valour, generosity, fasting, cannot touch the dead, may not fight on holy days, Magic is suspicious and expected to have negative consequences, Lightning and violent weather changes signify the god’s displeasure, Nights when the stars are hidden precede days of ill fortune, Assign personalities and divine interventions to the phases of the moon, If a weapon breaks in battle, it is a bad omen, Stagnant water is an ill omen, The relationships between people and governments exists naturally, Laws should be made and followed, Strength comes through unity of action., There is no preordained order, Individual actions account for the progression of history. All individuals have freedom of choice and right to do what they want, Those in power are always in the right, The strong should always help the weak, Intentionally inflicting pain is wrong, Ignore the past; only the present is important, Knowledge is free and should never be withheld, Taking risks is foolish and wrong, Every individual should improve the lives of others at every available opportunity, Comforts and pleasures serve only to weaken, All individuals are responsible for their own well-being; reliance on others is wrong, Lying is always wrong, Mercy should be given to all beings, Gods are evil and priests should not be tolerated

Comparing the better ethos in this list, they’re largely following either a this is true, therefore I must do that structure, or a this action must be taken. With that we can write a rule.

All PCs have an ethos. Some classes and heritages will have a list of additional ethos you are required to choose from.

An ethos can be a belief or a stricture.

A belief is a folkway, philosophy or superstition, taking the form of: This action is always the correct action, eg. Mercy must be given to all beings.

A stricture is a ritual, act of service, or behaviour, taking the form of:This is true, therefore I must do that, eg. Gods are evil therefore priests must not be tolerated.

PCs gain experience for following their ethos, at the GM’s discretion. A guideline is if there is great cost, gain 500 XP, at a cost, gain 250XP, and gain no XP for no cost.

If an ethos is observed by an NPC it may provide a bonus or penalty to a reaction roll depending on their own ethos.

There is really only one remaining question with regards to ethos, which is can magical items change your ethos or have ethos? I think the answer to the latter is a solid yes, and the answer to the former is a solid magic can mind control you, if safety discussions have been had and accordingly mind control is allowed in your game.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on ethos, or anything of the sort.

Idle Cartulary

28th May 2022

If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

So, in my search for simplification, I realise that I want to amalgamate secrets and rumours. These only exist in passing in the text, so I have a lot of leeway. Secrets are just rumours PCs don’t know, so I think we can depart a little from my previous work on rumours here. As the connective tissue of a campaign; without secrets the PCs won’t have hooks into the world. What do we need from a rumour or secret?

• Single sentence
• Enticing
• Never trivial
• Abstract

So, a secret should be short, it should be enticing, it shouldn’t be pointless, and it should be abstract in the sense that anyone or anything might possess it. So, I modify the rumours work we did in the stocking section, and transfer it to secrets, which means we have to identify when a secret is revealed whether it is true, false, or misleading.

Secrets

Make a d6 or d8 (depending on size or population) list of secrets for each area. Secrets are not part of the world until a PC or NPC learns them or acts on them but they are all true once they are learnt or acted on.

Secrets should be a single sentence, enticing or interesting, are never trivial, and should make sense in the possession of most anything or anyone.

When a PC finds or seeks information, roll either fortune or a relevant ability check, where a failure indicates that the secret is false, but leads somewhere interesting, a partial success that is partly true, and leads to further secrets, and a full success that it is true.

Once a secret is part of the world, between sessions, when the PCs don’t follow up on a secret they’ve learnt, roll on the reaction table. Apply the reaction table’s adjective to modify the secret and change how the situation develops, recycling names and problems within the area.

Not-yet-real and real secrets co-exist on your secrets table, but play different roles in your game and your preparation.

So, what this does is give “quantum” secrets, simple enough to be tavern rumours, but flexible enough also journal entries or intel from a spy. One sentence can be expanded or flavoured, easily. Once it exists though, it starts to take on flavour and personality, it becomes less of a quantum fact and more of a changing, living part of the world.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on quantum and real secrets coexisting, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

26th May 2022