/osr/ - Old School Renaissance

Hi all! I'm looking for random tables of events (non-combat) that can happen while in a jungle area. I checked out the pastebins, but I saw a lot of general hexmap creators, and not much on event tables.

I'm running TOA and I've gotten to the hexcrawl portion of the game. There are a lot of random encounters in the book, but much fewer in the way of obstacles that would occur while traveling.

From another thread:

>Twenty miles to the hex seems... small.
>All of Poland, from the border station in Frankfurt am Oder in Germany, across the entire country of Poland, to the border station of Terespol/Brest in Belarus, is only 20 hexes at 20 miles to the hex.

How large do you guys like your hexes? Does "Twenty hexes across Poland" sound right to you?

>DCC
>Rules Set: DCC RPG, an OGL system that cross-breeds Appendix N with a streamlined version of 3E.
>3E

That sounds ominous. Is there a description somewhere with more detail on how they've changed things?

that's because most American's have no fucking idea how big their own country is. Most STATES are the size of more than four European counties, and there are several that are the size of EUROPE.

It's in the trove, just read it.
It has literally everything you asked for.

Six miles/hex seems good for exploration by horse or on foot. 1 mile/hex means everything is crowded together, and you can zoom across the map in a day or two.

10+/hex starts to feel too blurry, like you're traveling across a vast wasteland to get anywhere (or there's so many features inside each hex that the hex map ceases to be a useful way of abstracting space).

Travelling overland is also much slower than many people think. If you don't have a well kept trail, you might spend a whole day to move a few miles through dense forest.

If there were airships or automobiles with good roads, I'd do a point crawl instead.

Also remember: the players never have to see the hex map. It's really a GM tool to help manage travel times and encounters.

This user knows what's up

Does anybody remember how some of the old TSR sets came with blank hex grid transparencies that you could overlay onto a regular non-hex map? Always seemed to me to be a great compromise. You only need one map, and it doesn't have to be incredibly detailed or feel contrived by being designed as broken up into hexes (just drawn to scale), but you still get all the benefits of using hex-based overland movement. You wouldn't even necessarily need to do a full overlay either, you could just have rows of hexes that you reorient in the direction of travel, avoiding the "I don't feel like I'm moving from place to place, just from hex to hex" problem.

why is she so perfect /osrg/?

>Does anybody remember how some of the old TSR sets came with blank hex grid transparencies that you could overlay onto a regular non-hex map?

Hah yes, I found some of those in early October when I was doing fall cleaning.

>Morgan Ironwolf
>not Aleena
>perfect

Married guy here. My advice is that you should find someone with similar values, not similar hobbies.

When I spend time in my dork room, she knows I need privacy and time to myself. When she's doing maths, I don't bug her. We convene when we're hungry or in the mood for cuddling.

You want DCC my dude.

It's B/X filtered through the core d20 mechanic of 3e. No skillpoints. No proficiencies, just a single dice "Mighty Deed" roll. Magic is more fun and bizarre. Literally has hexcrawls made for it.

Dammit. Players identified un-aging archmage with corps of female elf/drow bodyguards as me. How do I disguise my self-inserts better, /osrg/?

You can probably make your own by printing on one of those transparent plastic sheets. It's also probably a product you can buy.

What's the weather like today? (Winter version)

Yesterday's weather was...

Clear? (1-26)
1-2 Clear
3 Cloudy
4-5 Snowy
6 Blizzard
7-8 Windy
9 Sleet
10 Freezing Rain

Cloudy? (27-40)
1-3 Clear
4-5 Cloudy
6 Snowy
7 Blizzard
8 Windy
9 Sleet
10 Freezing Rain

Snowy? (41-55)
1-3 Clear
4 Cloudy
5-6 Snowy
7 Blizzard
8 Windy
9 Sleet
10 Freezing Rain

Blizzard? (56-66)
1-2 Clear
3 Cloudy
4-5 Snowy
6-7 Blizzard
8 Windy
9 Sleet
10 Freezing Rain

Windy? (67-80)
1-2 Clear
3-4 Cloudy
5 Snowy
6 Blizzard
7-8 Windy
9 Sleet
10 Freezing Rain

Sleet? (81-90)
1-3 Clear
4-5 Cloudy
6 Snowy
7 Blizzard
8 Windy
9 Sleet
10 Freezing Rain

Freezing Rain? (91-00)
1-4 Clear
5 Cloudy
6 Snowy
7 Blizzard
8 Windy
9 Sleet
10 Freezing Rain

Could have clear give 30% clear and 10% snowy if you wanted, but it only changes things by about 2%.

Miscellaneous jungle stuff I have bookmarked:
maziriansgarden.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-inverted-jungle-as-3-d-hex-crawl.html
maziriansgarden.blogspot.com/2017/04/rules-for-white-jungle-take-two.html
(both of which are about a slightly different jungle)
recedingrules.blogspot.com/2012/05/wilderness-travel-mini-games-iv.html

Dunno if any of that's stuff you want. I don't usually run games in jungles. Although these articles almost make me want to.

Don't be too sure on that - OD&D's ship-based travel is mostly identical to how you'd travel on foot or horse or flying carpet (hexes/day, basically), but once you get into naval combat it's literally a naval wargame.

Spell your name backwards.

>Make a winter-themed random table.
2d6
2 10d10 winter wolves
3-4 3d10 winter wolves
5-9 2d6 winter wolves
10-11 3d10 winter wolves
12 10d10 winter wolves

Sounds like you want BFRPG

It's 3e with more dice rolls and "whacky" crits

Make them gay/not gay as appropriate.

sounds excruciating

>>How do you guys come up with some of the weird & wonderful shit that you do?

You've gotten some good advice as to sources of inspiration (Haruki Murakami deserves mention here) and on the need to work a lot--to practice, practice, practice.

Following up on that second point, I recommend taking a look at your own process--identify the conditions that help you be your most productive.

Are you better in a quiet place or with music or background noise? First thing in the morning or in the evening with a drink or...? Pen and paper or keyboard and screen? Indoors or outdoors? Etc.

Figure out the things that best let you get into the zone and what you can do to make them happen. Often. I have found this to very, very useful.

>wants to change the magic system

I feel like we should see other people, OSR gf.

Are there any free hexcrawls out there? I'd like to see how to put one together.

Should race effect Thief skills, or just Ability mods and armor?

Why would being human affect your thief skills?

BFRPG or DCC

Or if you're not a shitfuck and don't care about having specifically three saving throws, Swords and Wizardry

>I just ordered the new LotFP book
get out

cuz humans are dumb n gay

Then don't pick Thief, Cleric, Magic User, or Fighting Man as a class, nerd.

How would this be anything like veins of the earth? How would it work?

How do the players get up there in the first place? How do any of the veins monsters or races work? How do they get food or warmth?

>on hill/mountain surrounded by fog/cloud
>step on fog/cloud that seems solid
>go up
>get detoured
>try to return
>wind has moved the fog/cloud to another spot

Has anyone read "PX1: Basic Psionics Handbook" from New Big Dragon Games? How is it? How does it compare to AD&D psionics?

It's okay, though NBDGU are pretty nasty with the takedowns (not quite as bad as the Zweihander guy, though, fuck that dickhead) so it's kinda hard to get a copy unless you know where to look.
As for the text, it's okay, I think Courtney Campbells' Psionics: A New Old-School Supplement is better. PX1 has a pretty strong Hindu theme going, so that may clash with your setting like it does mine.

And the rest?

Download The Wilderlands of High Fantasy or an issue of NOD from the trove.

Is canada the landmass europe pretends to be?

what's a canada

>Randomly generated dungeon hexcrawl
Good idea or bad idea?

>Randomly generated
bad

>Canada has less surface area than europe
Wow. Someone help me pick a new map.

BFRPG doesn't have FRW saves though. You're getting your memes mixed up. BFRPG's only real major change from B/X is that it technically has race-and-class

Supplements, amigo.

When converting AC from a Labyrinth Lord module to a BFRPG game, do I subtract from 20 or 19?

I've always been partial to the Waterman Butterfly or the Cahill ones, but the Peirce Quincuncial and Dymaxion are both okay.

>It's in the trove,

Jesus Christ how big is this thing?

Also look for sailors of the starless sea a lvl 0 adventure

and if you dont have the dice you can download the app "The Crawler"

Trove or DCC? Cause DCC isn't as crunchy as the page count would imply.

needs moar Morgan/Aleena R34

>Trove or DCC? Cause DCC isn't as crunchy as the page count would imply.

Both. The trove was 43 gigs, which in retrospect makes sense if there's a lot of scanned content, but even just the DCC folder came in at over a gig.

Is it always more elegant to have as few different mechanics for resolving things as possible, when it doesn't reduce granularity or some desired "feel" or "thematics"? Is there a theory for this called somebody's Razor?

Usually, at least some things are resolved by rolling high on a d20. In addition, some things may be resolved by rolling low on a d20, rolling low on a d6, or rolling low on a d100, to name a few.

A lot of attention is placed on the divisions of saves into different categories: the five effects, the six abilities, the three combined, the one save to rule them all. But why don't people obsess as much about this the mechanic of resolution, which is orthogonal to the categories? By that I mean a roll-low of one save category is easily converted to a roll-high just by inverting the target number: roll above 15, instead of roll below 6.

So, while d6 skills are nice and simple and have a clear impact, there's no reason you couldn't spread it out to a d20. Say that instead of rolling a 1 on a d6, you need to roll a 3 or lower on a d20 (approximately the same odds), and instead of a skill point increasing the target by 1, it increases by 3. But you might just as easily invert that: roll an 18 or higher on a d20. In other words, your DC to succeed in a skill is 18, and that is reduced by 3 for each skill point - if you want to do it like roll-high saves - or you gain a bonus to the roll with a fixed DC of 18, if you want to do it like BAB attack rolls.

It's not really any different, because it changes the mechanical resolution, and some people will find some methods faster or more elegant, but it doesn't change the thematics or "feel" at all - unlike the save categories.

I don't know what the measure of crunchiness is. But the thing sure has a lot of random tables.

Doesn't the DCC folder also have the adventures and supplements though?

What do you guys think of my LotFP houserules?

I like it, everyone else in the thread will most likely hate it

>starting HP
Bad.

>natural healing
This is /osrg/, not /5eg/ or /pfg/ or whatever.

>initiative
Seems kind of pointless, but whatever.

>disadvantage
Again, this is /osrg/, not /5eg/.

>start with xp
Bad.

>carousing
Dumb, but everyone else seems to like them.

Also, you might want to invest in an English teacher. Preferably one who understands capital letters.

>HP
You should probably specify that you only use the roll on level up if it increases your HP. No one certainly wants to lose max HP when they gain a level. It's either a mistake in the document, or if it's intentional, just lame.

>Healing
I dunno, would have to see how it works in practice. Not sure what exactly tending entails (spending time? a successful medicine roll?)

>Initiative
whatever

>Retirement
Not sure what you're trying to achieve, encourage players to retire characters instead of riding them to the end I guess? If so, yeah, why not.

>Dismemberment
Should clarify whether results 2-5 also include getting knocked out. Personally I'm a fan of characters limping away.

>New Characters
Layout error: this should not be a sub-section

>Lifestyle
What if I want/have to spend 0 money?

>Access
So if it's not available, when can I try this again? After I go dungeoning and come back again? Or do I have to move towns if the capital has no item X?

>Barter
Personally I find this level of detail boring, just give them a list of prices and be done with it

>Trade Routes
This just sounds like DM tools, not something the players need to be aware of

>Destitute=10sp/week. Heal -1hp/day.
Under your rules, every town's homeless and poor farmhand population would die after just 3 days on average.
This is a really, really fucking stupid rule.

Ah yeah, that's a mistake in the document. The first time the players gain hp after level 1 with this system, they then just gain hp as RAW. The idea is that a 4th or 5th level character has the same hp as RAW but a 1st or 2nd level one has higher hp.
>tending
This is just if the players use medical supplies and pass an int or wis check.
>initiative
Is everyone here a phase system purist? LotFP is very unclear compared to LL or a 1e clone when it comes to how initiative works so I figured I'd just slap down an individual initiative rolled by round and be done with it.
>retirement
Retiring is for when characters are high level enough that a player worries about them dying or they get fucked up by dismemberment too many times to be useful.
>lifestyle
If you want to spend 0 money, you'll need to make some rolls to get food or use up your rations and equipment.
>access
The area doesn't have those items for sale if you fail enough rolls.
>trade routes
These are DM tools but I wanted to be transparent on how pricing is determined.
>start with xp
You can't power-level low level characters in lamentations the same way you can in other basic clones so I figured it'd work well.
>natural healing is 5e or pf
Do characters only gain hp from magic in your game? By RAW in any osr game I've been in, players gained some amount of hp on a nights rest.
That's in addition to natural healing from resting. What it means is that the homeless and poor require bed rest to heal from any sort of wounds.

>starting XP
I don't know what LotFP's experience tables are, but in at least the games I'm familiar with, the amount of experience needed to get a player up to speed is the same as the rest of the players need to level up. So if you have Lyssandra and Tomas, 7th level fighters, and Tomas dies, his replacement Gino will get to level 7 around the same time Lyssandra gets to level 8.

>natural healing
No, there's natural healing in most OSR games. Natural healing of 1HP/night. Full stop.

The problem would be surviving to that point though. Yes, he can just hide behind all of his cohorts until he gets some levels, but until then he's just a weight on the team, which isn't fun. I'm alright with losing a couple of levels and magic items, but just completely gimping the character seems shitty

>inb4 soyboys and sorcerors

ime, by mid-level it's going to be 6 or 8 sessions before that player reaches a level behind the rest of the party. Starting them at 2 levels behind makes it about half as many sessions.
It might be better just to move to individual experience gain rather than xp always being split evenly like in LotFP. I find that doing it that way means the higher level players can power level the low level guy by giving him all the treasure, but doing so lessens their rate of xp gain. It makes character death a bigger set back for the party as a whole imo.

>thinks rolling up new 1st-level characters is a "mean-spirited" mechanic
>plays LotFP
>actually got stung by me telling him to go play some Soyboys & Sorcery game
The absolute state of this user.
But seriously, it sounds like you don't want to actually play an OSR game.

I like OSR, if my DM makes me play from first level so be it, I'm not saying it's the end of the world and that they're absolute assholes, it just doesn't really seem like it adds anything to the game.

The point is that death should have a consequence, and that's there, but making sure they can't play for a bit is the same as giving them a time out, which seems childish

It's not really that bad I know, after one adventure the character will be at least halfway back to their proper level, but still

>me telling him

How about
>Players can choose to give xp when it’s gained to another character if both contribute to the adventure.
So say, the party can choose to power level a lower level guy more easily like in LL?

>>Players can choose to give xp when it’s gained to another character if both contribute to the adventure.
That's called "give the Cleric the lion's share of the treasure so GP=XP boosts them into second level and gets you that sweet, sweet Cure Light Wounds".

Some later editions of Basic and whatnot tried to change things so that experience from treasure was distributed evenly across the party, but that's not how it used to work. Fuck, AD&D is clear that the DM has no particular say in how the players divide the treasure amongst themselves.
And that quote up there was an actual legit strategy back in the day, by the by.

That's why I'm workshopping a houserule since lamentations declares "All xp from treasure is split evenly" and it fucks low level characters hard ime.

How many sessions should it take for a group of 4 / 5 PC's to level up for 1 to 2? How long should the sessions be?

Most dungeons I've played, it takes about 2-3 levels for one character to hit level 2(if they're being power leveled) and then another 1 or 2 for the mages and elves to reach level 2.

>a time out
You keep saying this. I don't think you understand what those words mean.

You're talking about multiple anons here, I've only used it once. Please explain it to me anyways though

>no one points out that plate mail cost over 20 times what it does in normal lamentations
It's more like 40 if you find it in a village. The price of everything is crazy high with these rules. A fighter is level 5 by the time they can buy platemail.

Level one to two is probably, what, 2000xp on average? If you're feeling frisky, you can probably get that in a single session. If you're feeling a bit less willing to risk life and limb, you can probably get the Cleric to level two in a session and then have an easier time getting the rest up in the next ones.

Let's look at what the books say, though. I'll go with OD&D because that's my jam, but other editions may vary.

The average treasure from a room in dungeon level 1 is 737gp, although the median is closer to 70gp. 28% of rooms have treasure, so it's an average of 205gp/room in the dungeon (closer to 19gp for the median room).
Ten rooms will level a character up to level 2, in other words.

If you want to adventure on level 2 instead, the average treasure is 1609gp or 445gp/room. It'll take you five rooms to level a character up to level 2, but you're a bit more likely to die. (Then again, first level character.)

If you find a reusable magic item, you'll probably be catapulted to near-third level instantly.

How long it will take you to level up is entirely dependent on your risk assessment, in other words. If you feel like you can take a dozen rooms on the second level, that'll bring your Clerics up to snap fairly quickly. If you can sneak someone down to the sixth level and out again intact, a single hoard will level you up.
If you only go a single room per dive, though, you're unlikely to do much of any use.

How would I run a meanderthal

Would it be acceptable to level up the party after the first session?

>How would I run a meanderthal
They would probably just walk around aimlessly.

If they got enough experience for it, sure. Let the game run itself, I reckon.

If you just want to get them through the levels a bit faster regardless of experience, have you considered just starting them at level 3ish?

Assuming you meant your stereotypical caveman, I'd go full Flintstones.

Not a neanderthal, a meanderthal

>If you just want to get them through the levels a bit faster regardless of experience, have you considered just starting them at level 3ish?

But OSR people hate it when you start at higher levels

>But OSR people hate it when you start at higher levels

I don't. I don't do it myself because it cuts a big chunk of the game out, but I don't care if somebody else wants to.

What's your favorite OSR system, and what's the OSR system you always end up playing? I think my favorite is Blood and Treasure, but I always just end up playing Labyrinth Lord.

Swords & Wizardry white box

At least it would be, but my group never wants to play it or any OSR game :(

So I'm running OD&D and am looking at ways to spice up the Heavy Crossbow. No one's used them yet but I'd like them to be a tempting option.

I use Chainmail for stuff like firing rates, so Heavy Crossbows fire ever other turn. Chainmail's ruling is that they add "+1 to missile fire die rolls", which can mean a few things depending on choice of combat system. I still use ACS, so I'm mulling over ways to make their slow firing speed worthwhile and fun.

Currently, I'm considering making them emulate the popular "roll 2d6, drop low" for damage, but that doesn't feel like quite enough when they only fire once every two turns. Anyone have a preferred system? I'd prefer to avoid +1 to-hit/damage, but those seem like the simplest options.

Gary himself started people at level 3.

Not true, our god and savior Gary would never pull such a anti OSR move

Stop with the ironic shitposting already.

My group still play with the original red box set.