World Building - Quirks and Customs

 I just got The Fantasy Trip's Hexagram #8, and the article is about local color. Looking through that, I and also realized it was very similar to the Traveller Grand Census, which I have a copy of. And Spectacular Settlements. And half a dozen other world build magazines and PDFs I've collected over the years. And, what with the Organic Towns Kickstarter, probably even more. And of course, I start to wonder why I keep getting these. And hoping I'll start embracing JOMO (the Joy Of Missing Out) versus the FOMO that Kickstarter really promotes. And then I also realized, I did manage to NOT back the Reaper Bones VI KS despite thinking: hey, that fey expansion would work really well with all the fey books I've been getting. But of course, Dungeons & Lasers will be having an outdoor Kickstarter and that looks really interesting as well. 

But back to the world building and local color and quirks. How often has that actually been used? I think I had one Traveller world where the older you got, the more you dyed your hair various interesting colors. But honestly, I don't think I've managed to convey locations as being distinct and unique versus just another village, just another world, just another place. Another blog pointed out E.M. Forster's view of the future (which I also posted in COTI, and now wish I remembered which blog I read that I first saw this):

“Few travelled in these days, for, thanks to the advance of science, the earth was exactly alike all over. Rapid intercourse, from which the previous civilization had hoped so much, had ended by defeating itself. What was the good of going to Peking when it was just like Shrewsbury? Why return to Shrewsbury when it would all be like Peking? Men seldom moved their bodies; all unrest was concentrated in the soul.”
― E.M. Forster, The Machine Stops

If everything is the same, it is boring. And to quote one of my favorite movies, The Incredibles (which is probably a quote from someplace else): if everyone is special, then no one is. 

Anyway, while I've tried to make all my locations at least partially distinct (and they really are in my head), I always wonder just how much of that is recognized or seen at the table? Or, as we play now, over our voice channels? 

Regardless, I'll still expand out my little towns and locations, and while I have local copies of the documents, it is always easy to share via this blog. As I have even more books I should use (a variety of rumor books that have some neat ideas, a few cult books such as Remarkable Cults to flesh out the more nefarious people, and so many random tables that I really need a random table for the random tables!)

So, a quick Saturday post to go over the fantasy locations I've done. I'll probably have to poke through to find Traveller planet descriptions as I don't think I tagged them as well.

Ceawla, city of tents. A desert oasis town with an excellent wine selection. I did this one mostly without any rule books or guides. I had an idea, and I needed an oasis partway through the desert. 

Edge City, one of my college-created locations that was nothing more than a name. Finding the Ankh-Morpork Guide (with a wonderfully huge map!), Edge City is basically Terry Pratchert's city. The book I got was $5 new at Barnes & Noble: you never know what ends up on the discount table! 

Fort Covenant, a larger city east of Windemere on the Ocean Trade Route. Developing that for the OSE game. Not much really done other than that 1 write up and the work sheets. It is a more urban landscape as the Sunday group wanted to do more thieving and things. I did run a solo version of the heist I was going to have them run here, in some spot of the city as yet defined.

The Kalor Desert that stretches south of Edge City and north of Windmere, with it's Trail of Lost Hopes trade path.

Sunshi Troph, also known as the Elemental City of Athukthad. I did not do anything much with this city as we sort of bypassed that part of things. But I do like the name.

Tebou is really Corsair's default setting that we created partially as a group. I can see opening a portal there though from other games. I have more Corsairs books that help expand out the role-playing more. Maybe we'll get back to that some day.

Windmere, a trade town on the edge of the Kalor Desert. This was the first town I used the Spectacular Settlements as a guide to creating the town. I think. 

And of course, my last post on the Cowboy and Dinosaur game. I've gotten a couple things from some players so it is getting a bit fleshed out. And in talking with one, who is both an excellent GM & player, I realize I also need to take all those ideas I posted, and start to make a timeline. Sort of like the old Traveller Journal entries: there are things that are going on regardless of what the players are doing. I want to have the weekly paper show up with things that are going on. Things that the players may want to follow up on, or not. Just so that there is a "real" world outside their immediate game. While I am still in the nascent phase of figuring out the 1st adventure, the rest is a giant sandbox. I'll probably ask the players, as we get closer to the game, what sort of adventures do they want. 

Part of that came from the Old School Essentials time log, part of that from the Costumes game we just ran where we caught the news periodically. OSE has a very handy time tracking sheet. It has a bunch of free downloads here, including that tracker. I'm going to do something similar but for weekly intervals I think. I just need to get all that set up before we start. At a guess I have at least 3-4 weeks, perhaps longer. We've just started the Star Trek game. Perhaps I need to share my character next post!

Cowboys and Dinosaurs - Game Prep

 Working on the game preparation so that one of the players can finally get to play a dinosaur-riding cowboy. I've got a few weeks, but as you all know by now, I tend to over-prepare. Just because it is fun.

So, some basic ideas. We are using the Apex game rules as they have dinosaurs, and that was the original intent when I bought that book - Cowboys and Dinosaurs. The first game was straight out of its world milieu and did not make everyone happy, Next, taking place in Nebraska around 1885. Why Nebraska? One of the players wants to play an old Pawnee Indian, and they are in Nebraska in this time period. We are somewhere far north of the Platt River, maybe Hooker County or something like that. I've not positioned it in any specific spot for a number of reasons. First, we have dinosaurs still roaming the land, so history is already out the window. Next, Nebraska is a big state, and some plot points may dictate other locations, so I am leaving that wide open for the moment. And finally - I can get lost looking at maps and spend way too much time not actually accomplishing anything.

Dinosaurs have been around since, well, since dinosaurs roamed the earth. And yes, grabbing them from a variety of eras, so no dinosaur is considered to be off the table. We have dinosaurs for the pony express (in fact, one player is doing a pterodactyl flyer who was part of an attempt to get air mail in place way before planes take that job).

For me, not particularly familiar with the old west other than some vague memories of watching Bonanza and Little House on The Prairie, I need to get at least a bit familiar with the time period. So of course, I copy/paste a huge chunk of data from Wikipedia into my game bible (WIP embedded PDF somewhere below hopefully) 

I did get some buy-in from the players about creating NPCs and locations to get them XP, so that they can start at level 2 or perhaps even level 3 if I get enough world-building from them. We have a few NPCs and ideas, and in fact at least one of the NPCs will (perhaps!) become a part of the play directly. My initial game plan is based loosely on a Bonanza episode. Realizing that is really just 2-4 sessions, I need to plan a larger world where other things are happening, and I can bring that stuff in as needed. 

Of course, I created a map and plopped in some towns and features. We'll be starting in Aurora, a large town at the end of the railway and telegraph to the rest of the union. The pony express carries mail from here both north and west. We have a few Indian tribes, mostly Pawnee, about in various places. North there is a mining town in the Copper Peaks, mostly copper mines. Further north, nestled in some rough mountains next to a small lake is Harmony. Thinking possible religious commune or something, hence the name. To the west is Bliss Springs, another large town reached by the Express.

The basic idea is that Aurora is the end of easy civilization: trains, telegraphs, that sort of thing. Beyond that, communication is more limited (shades of Traveller!). Makes communication move at the speed of plot.

The first adventure is based on the pony express: a missing courier. That should introduce the region and some NPCs such as the sheriff. But I will need things around there for them to adventure to. I try for a sandbox style of play - the players mostly drive the story given some hints from me as to some of the possibilities. 

In that mindset, we have a number of old west tropes I can bring out to use:

• outlaws, both gangs and individuals. I was listening to the radio and so now have a Bad Company gang, led by Six Gun Sal. I always find it fun to take song lyrics and find an adventure in them. Inspiration can come from anywhere!
• the train company is working to continue the line to the west. All sorts of problems can come up with that:
• laborers are striking for some reason
• laborers are getting killed for another reason 
• missing trains or people who are supposed to be working
• guarding the train company employees as not everyone is on board with trains
• Indians. there are bound to be other tribes out there. 
• Raiding
• taking people hostage
• being abused by settlers/gangs
• Timmy falls down the well - various rescues and searches out in the west
• cattle! those cows are not going to herd themselves. And missing cattle - dinosaurs, poachers, Indians?
• stampeding dinosaur herds! though not sure what anyone can do other than get out of the way.

I do need to think more dinosaur type of ideas. Hoping that starting to put things down in various places will help. I'll also have to find some fun wanted posters and things for the sheriff's office. 

PDF in early draft form:

A Forest Glade

I was working on this for an adventure scene out of Windemere, which may or may not happen. Regardless, I thought I'd see if I could create a more polished type of things others may be able to use. I think a long-term idea is to get good enough to publish small adventures.  Maybe via Patreon or something simple. Long term - I am a long way from that (full of ideas, not full of good editing!). 

Introduction

The adventurers are traveling along a mountain path through the forest, the scent of pine wafting through the air. Pine trees are interspersed with maple, ash and oak trees as the path climbs towards the mountain. Towards evening, close to time to camp, they come across a small creek with a pond below the path. The giggling sound of the creek splashing over rocks can be heard, almost in counterpoint to the sound of birds getting ready for night. In the distance, cows can be heard and there is the faint smell of a distant cow pasture. Shafts of dusty sunlight leave bright spots on the ground, interspersed with deep shade impossible to see into.

There is a small, slippery steppingstone in creek, just above a small waterfall that drops almost a foot into a 30' pond. The pond is a deeper blue than expected for such a small pond. The setting sun is casting shadows, making parts of the trail hard to see. Off to the right, there are a couple of grazing cows. To the left, an open clearing is collecting the last of the sunshine, a series of mushrooms seeming to glow from the sunset. To either side ahead, cliffs start to rise up, the trail weaving its way through the narrowing ravine. Passing the creek, a fallen tree is on the right, and a bit further on, a smaller trail leads to the left, and a small campsite is visible, the fire pit just old ash. 

Encounter Areas

Mushroom Circle

The mushroom circle is a Fey gateway in the full moon. Entering during that phase of the moon will keep you in the Fey wilds for the next month, assuming you can find your way back out. It may only be a moment or years for you, but a month to the rest of the world. During the full moon, flickering will-of-the-wisps will be swirling around. A DC 14 Wisdom roll to avoid following the wisps. The rest of the month, the wisps are still there, but may just want to lead the travelers astray. Same check, failure means you leave your campsite and follow for 1d4 hours, getting lost in the dark woods or even, depending on the wisps' mood, following off the edge of a cliff.

The mushrooms themselves are sought after by magic users and worth up to 100gp per mushroom. They are often used in portal magics, or for ways of capturing the fey. Taking the mushrooms has a 2 in 6 chance of alerting a pack of guardian fey penumbrian (1d4 + number of people stealing the mushrooms). These shape-shifting goblinoid creatures will mob a single character at a time, usually bestowing a curse (generally roll with disadvantage) before they attack. 

Creek and Pond

A Naiad, Verey Ambervale, lives in the pond and guards the waters. Should any trash or pollution be added to the creek or pond or crushing or picking the flowers around the pond will make her angry. If the adventurers are telling tales around the campfire, she will appear as a beautiful woman, and ask for tales of far-off lands. If asked where she is from, she will merely say she lives nearby. If tales are told, the travelers will find that their waterskins will stay full for the next 1d4+2 days. If they attack or anything, she will slip away back to the water and disappear into the pond without a ripple. And their waterskins will be empty for the next 1d4+2 days no matter how often they fill them.

Additionally, if the adventurers are hurt, and ask nicely, and there is a good reaction roll, soaking in her pond will restore up to 1d4 HP a day if they stay in the water at least an hour. If they clean off below the pond first, she will restore up to 2d4 HP a day.

The steppingstone is actually cursed by the penumbrians - they love to cause mischief. DC 12 dexterity check to see if the character slips and falls into Verey's pond, soaking all their equipment.

There is a 1 in 10 chance of seeing the Salmon of Knowledge in the stream above the pond.

Cow pasture

The cows belong to a local Glaistig, Petal Elmstrong, a female satyr. She is a beautiful woman who appears in a long skirt if you see her, a wide hat covering her horns. She may sing at night, a haunting melody that stirs the soul. Any bards listening may try to pen the words and song but will fail. She may be seen drinking the blood of her cows if you sneak around at night. She does not kill the animals she drinks from - she only takes a little from each, enough to feed her without hurting her herd. 

If hearing the song, she may enchant up to 4 people (save on DC 14 Wisdom throw or be charmed). While charmed, she is a trusted friend that needs to be protected. Attacking her cows will cause her to attack, otherwise she may just be a faint song in the wind at night.

Campsite

The campsite is nestled up against the start of a cliff, protected against the wind. Several trees have been chopped down, and there is plenty of downed trees for firewood. There is a 1 in 6 chance of something being left behind from previous campers. Roll 1d8 on the following chart.

1	A small bag full of 2d10x5 copper coins
2	A broken knife, an odd glyph on the blade is missing half
3	A discarded pack, with a missed healing potion
4	A bloody sword stabbed into the stump of a tree, dried blood on blade and stump
5	A magic ring which is actually cursed: -1 dexterity. You can’t take it off for 1d4 days
6	A single gold coin with an open eye on one side, and a closed eye on the other.
7	A whistle
8	A tin cup that can detect poisons

Downed Tree

Mushrooms dot the undergrowth and the fallen trunk. There is a bed of poison ivy at the base. Those with some sort of wilderness or survival skill will recognize this for what it is. Several of the mushrooms make for good soups or may have some healing or poisonous traits. There are also some dark green bushes with red berries growing nearby. These are daphne plants (see plants below).

Adventure Hooks

• Verey is upset: her pond is being polluted by something up the creek. Can the adventurers help?
• Gnomes live near the downed tree, and part of it has crushed the entrance to their home. Can you help? Gnomish rewards may be given.
• Will-of-the-wisps seem agitated. Following them could lead to a hurt fey or animal.
• Looking into the pond you see a beautiful face looking back at you.
• an ackee tree is growing next to the pond, and the dropped fruit is poisoning the pond. 

Notes

I used a few resources in this. The fey are from Professor Gilroy's Guide To Fey I've not read the Wondrous Expeditions: Forests book enough to have anything other than this is a temperate broadleaf/needle leaf forest. Also tossed in some things from a poisonous plants PDF I have which was really well done, though I wish I had a hard copy. There are also some possible ideas from Dangerous Destinations, but I've only skimmed the PDF. I really need a physical book (getting printed now) to use these. It comes with a bunch of maps, and now I see I can make them almost as well as those they have. Meaning I really need to not buy any more maps: I can at least compete competently with those that are professionally published, at least for the battle map level. I still need a lot of practice for the larger maps.

Fey

Basic stats are from Professor Gilroy's book, The Fantasy Trip I am just guessing at. Magic works a lot differently in TFT, so the whole Fey thing would really have to be done a bit different than standard rules I think. Playing the Fey really needs to not just be either/or in terms of attack or befriend: these are your old-school fey and have different ideas of good and bad. Being immortal does that to a person. To really play the fey, there is a lot of randomness, tricks and deals. Their views are a lot different than ours.

Glaistig

• AC 13 HP 8d8+8 40/30 swim STR 12 DEX 16 CON 13 INT 14 WIS 13 CHA 18
• TFT ST 12 DX 15 INT 13

Naiad

• AC 13 HP 8d8+8, 20/40 swim. STR 8 DEX 16 CON 14 WIS 14 CHA 18
• TFT ST 8 DX 15 IQ 14

Penumbrian

• AC 13, HP 5d4-5, 15/30 flying. STR 6 DEX 16 CON 8 INT 18 WIS 12 CHA 12
• TFT ST 6 DX 15 IQ 11 

Plants

From the Poisonous Plants book:

Ackee

The evergreen ackee grows up to thirty-feet tall and produces fruit throughout the year. The ripened fruit is safe to eat, but the unripe fruit contains deadly toxins.  

Ingestion. A creature that ingests unripe ackee fruit must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the saving throw failed by 5 or more, the creature takes another 10 (3d6) poison damage and falls unconscious for 1d6 hours.  

Industrial Uses. Ackee wood is used in foundations, oars, and casks. A fragrant perfume can be made from the flowers. 

Fish Poison. The ackee’s unripe fruit can be pounded into a mash and dumped into a lake, pond, or other body of still water. One dose poisons the water in a 10-footradius sphere for 10 minutes. Any aquatic creatures (including sahuagin and mer-folk) that enter the affected area or begin their turn there must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. They take 7 (2d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. 

Food. Characters proficient with cook’s utensils can automatically prepare meals of safe ackee fruit. Other characters must make a DC 8 Intelligence (Nature) check to avoid eating toxic ackee fruit.

Daphne 

This dark green bush produces small, bright red berries. Its oval leaves closely resemble those of a cherry tree. Both the berries and the leathery leaves are very poisonous. 

Ingestion. Creatures that ingest daphne must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (3d6) poison damage, 3 (1d6) psychic damage, and be pained for 24 hours. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and is poisoned for 12 hours. The creature must repeat the saving throw every 10 minutes, taking 3 (1d6) poison damage and 3 (1d6) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. After two failed saving throws, the poisoned creature also becomes confused for 6 hours. After three or more failed saving throws, the poisoned creature also falls unconscious for 3 hours. After three successful saving throws, the damage from this poison ends but any conditions remain for their duration. 

Contact. Daphne sap is  poisonous to touch. Anyone touching this plant’s sap must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 2 (1d4) poison damage and develops a mild rash.

Anodyne. Characters proficient with herbalism kits and Medicine can make a DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check to craft a painkilling cream from daphne flowers. When applied to a wounded creature, this cream grants that creature 2d8 temporary hit points. However, these temporary hit points cannot increase the creature’s hit point total above its maximum. These temporary hit points fade after 4 hours. 

Cure Disease. Characters proficient with herbalism kits and Medicine can make a DC 20 Wisdom (Medicine) check to derive from this plant a decoction that fights infection and disease. A creature that ingests a dose of this substance gains advantage on saving throws against disease for 24 hours.   

OSE Battle At Bonesetter's Farm House

I decided to see how a battle may run out with a bunch of Goblins & Kobolds attacking a small farmstead. I have no idea yet why they were attacking, and why the Goblins grouped up with the Kobolds. Other than me having a bunch of those minis from the Reaper Bones V Kickstarter. And I am trying to keep away from Bones VI...

First, we have some views of the scene before anything starts up. We have half a dozen Goblins clumped together, and 24 (only 6 mostly painted) Kobolds on the other side preparing for a full-frontal assault of our farm. Our heroes, from the last test run-through and including a couple of the guards, stand ready to protect the farm. I should have added some civilians, but we're going with they were inside the house.

I was really interested in seeing how this combat would fair compare to the Fantasy Trip. I may re-run it using those rules depending on how much time I have next weekend. Of course, the major differences in the combat systems are two-fold: you move and attack in your turn, and armor makes it more difficult to get hit and is not a damage reduction. Depending on your AC and rolls, a highly protected fighter may avoid getting hit at all. Of course, this is all an abstraction which I am, after 40 some years, starting to actually appreciate more than I did when I was gaming back in college. It is not that you are harder to hit just because of the armor, but because you are a better fighter and can manage to avoid getting hit in the first place. 

The Kobolds actually have a shaman or wizard, so I gave him 1 missile spell and assumed he was a level 1. Most of the heroes are level 1, though the guards and the half-Orc were level 2.

One of my favorite game aids are battle maps I can write on. Between this and the initiative tracker, it makes running battles a lot simpler. I kept my notes on the map as I went along. Having the initiative tracker really helps keep things in the correct order. I have 2 more trackers that I need to get to a couple of my fellow GMs. 

Round 1, and with our adventurers generally having initiative, our 2 guards move and kill off 2 Kobolds, the thief actually moved behind a tree. There were a lot of Kobolds and yet the guards moved fast into the horde. The Goblins on wolves moved fast to attack the wizard, who they thought would be the biggest threat. Of course, a level 1 wizard is not really much of a threat, but I was going with they had no idea. As the wizard had the same initiative as the Goblins, it was an attack at the same time. The Goblins both missed, but the wizard whacked one of the Goblins with his staff, killing that Goblin. The half-Orc in full plate attacks and misses. The cleric moved up and manages to kill a Kobold as well with his mace. The Dwarf moves in, and also manages to miss. I have bad rolls no matter which side I play for. The Kobolds had swarmed the Orc, and one got a natural 20 which I allowed for double damage, which thankfully I still rolled low so 4 points of damage to our tank. And finally, the Kobold shaman lets loose his magic missile, killing our wizard. End of round 1 and a few Kobold are killed, and the wizard is now dead. Not a great start for our heroes!

Round 2, the thief moves in to backstab a Kobold and kills him. Both guards, engulfed with the vicious Kobolds, manage to miss in all the confusion of the snarling creatures.  The Goblin on the wolf turns on the Orc but misses, the rest of the Goblins wisely hanging back from the battle (they are a tad smarter than the Kobold). The cleric, still swinging his holy mace, kills another Kobold, as does our dwarf fighter. And of round 2, and a couple more Kobold are killed but our remaining adventurers were not hurt.

Round 3, our thief moves behind another Kobold but misses his mark. As do our two guards, and it turns out the Orc fighter and his Goblin and Kobold foes are all swinging and not managing to make anything other than glancing blows that do no damage. 

Round 4 I realize I had not been rolling the attackers' moral rolls. I rolled this round and both groups, despite their losses, continue the fight. Our thief strikes and misses in the heat of battler, but the guards have finally rallied and each kill a Kobold. The Goblins all miss, firing arrows fruitlessly at the armored half-Orc. Somehow a couple of Kobolds manages to hit the Orc and delivers another 4 points of damage, bringing our mighty fighter down to a single HP left! One of the guards takes some damage this round, a small Kobold dagger stuck in her thigh. 

Round 5, and the Goblins, seeing where this is heading, lose moral and start to run away. The Kobolds continue to battle this round. The thief slides his dagger into another of the attacking creatures, while only one of the guards manages a killing blow. The half-Orc, missing most of the time, finally slays a Kobold at the same time the cleric sends another to the afterlife. I do not know if he said a prayer with the killing blow. The Kobolds are all disheartened by the number of their dead at this time, and they never land a single blow.

Round 6, and having lost morale, the Kobolds flee after the Goblins. Not in any condition to give chase, our remaining heroes will lick their wounds and heal up over the next few days, having saved the farm house. 

The wizard will be buried out back, a small stone to mark his untimely death. And the story will grow in the telling. From a small horde of Goblins and Kobolds, the Battle at Bonesetter's Farm grew into a legend of waves of vicious beasts attacking the farmstead, valiant heroes protecting the innocent against incalculable odds until after hours of mortal combat. the last of the creatures was killed or driven off. Bristlebeard Higgs, the wizard, despite casting firebolts that lit the sky, died a heroes death.

In reality, 5 effective rounds are less than a minute of actual battle. It took me maybe 45 minutes or so to run through things, and I still missed a few steps, I think. And of course, this would have been a lot more fun with other people to play with. I'll probably start thinking about adding some people to play with face to face. I've got a couple friends who may be able to play, just need to see if we can make that work.

And how would this have played out in the Fantasy Trip? I've a feeling the heroes would not have fared nearly so well. While I cannot seem to find much for Kobold stats, they are shorter than Goblins, actually prefer traps to frontal attacks. I'd go with a low strength/hit points, moderate to low dexterity (9, 10 maybe?) and IQ does not come into play. The difference is that their daggers would not be able to hurt the half-Orc in plate, and that plate would also mean that the Orc is unlikely to hit anything at a 32 or 34 point build. I think the statistics would be against the group, but perhaps I can re-run the assault and see how that plays out.

All in all, it was still fun to play as I iron out how to run combat in OSE. Just need to get the gang together to play with all the toys! Now I have a farm near one of my settings that has a name and a bit of history. I need to track all this somehow so that my fantasy world has some living aspects to it. One of the keys to a good campaign, I think: there are things that go on with or without the characters interacting with it. Traveller did this with the news they posted in the Journal. I am hoping that yet another Kickstarter I got, Organic Towns, can also help me with this. There are some notes in Spectacular Settlements that deals with what happened in the past to get the town to where it is now, but does not have any sort of process for what happens going forward. While I do have some rules for taverns I could use (and may for some of the taverns I've added). this other production is for all the things in the towns. 

And I do ask myself: why do I do this? It is not like any of this really gets used at the moment. COVID really screwed up my face to face gaming. And the last few games I've run have not been set in "my worlds" but rather the settings for whatever game I was running. But it comes down to entertainment. I enjoy world building. While I'd much prefer to be able to use the stuff I create in an actual game, it is still an enjoyable pastime in and of itself. I have an answer to my question, though in bleak moments I do wonder why I bother. 

And looks like the Cowboy & Dinosaur game will be starting up after the next game. We're doing a Star Trek game that takes place in the TOS time frame. I'll try & detail my character in the next post. But then expect several posts on world-building for an Old West with dinosaurs. With any luck, at least parts of that world will get used, and my friend will finally get to play a cowboy riding a dinosaur.

OSE Solo Test - Into the mansion

As a trial run, I had a party of 4 attempting to break into a rich merchant's house to steal back a book of mushrooms (Fungi Of The Far Realms, of which I actually have a copy of so can physically hand them the book when they find it). 

Using the turn tracker really helps as well it turns out. Each turn is 10 minutes, and they can explore an area or whatever in that time frame. Every other turn we check for random monsters, in this case a random guard or attack dogs. What the players did not know is that there is also a war dog along with the outside guard making the rounds inside the walled villa.

Game prep, with the "real" map/poster and the map given to them by their patron. A thief, a cleric, a wizard and a fighter walk into a house...

Deciding to go in the back, our group of book-freeing associates look at the 8-foot wall in front of them. They are in a dark alley behind the villa, wisely deciding to avoid the front door. Also, the library is in the back, so they are hoping the book is in the library to minimize their chances of discovery. I did not make them do any rolls to get over the fence, and in rolling, there was no guard nor the unknown war dog that sniffs around inside the walls. The next turn, the thief actually rolled a 6, having a 15% chance of picking the lock. Level 1 thieves are not, let us say, very good yet. While the rules state a thief cannot retry that lock again until they level up, I'd let them try again per turn but reducing the chance by 5%, meaning they would have a 10% on the next turn, then 5% the final turn and then no chance. Plus checking for wandering guards. Had they not managed to get through the lock, I am not sure what the next approach would have been.

Breaking into the library, both the thief and the cleric noticed the flash trap, so they cautioned the group to avoid it. After a thorough search, the book was not found, nor was any treasure. Books and scrolls were not of any real interest: a Treaty on Trade Negotiations with Amazons did not seem to spark any interest. I'll have to come up with a few choice book titles for this merchant library! And that is where all my random table stuff may come in handy: not at the table, but in preparation for the table!

In the library. I think Colonel Mustard did it,

For turn 5, the thief listens at the door. As the GM I know he missed his roll, but he does not and hears nothing. Fortunately, there actually is nothing there. Deciding that they should rest to avoid combat modifiers, they take a few minutes more in the luxurious library, then start up the stairs for turn 7.

At the top of these stairs, there is a guard. I gave it a 50/50 chance the guard would be asleep. Unfortunately for our crew, she was awake, and she actually heard them creeping up the stairs. She got initiative and the first (and turns out only) battle of the game starts.

Wait, she is awake?!

Our battle goes like this by round (and only lasted 2 rounds):

1. Guard as the initiative so moves around to attack the thief (the easiest target). Our group is blocking the stairs so she cannot escape. She attacks and hits. Her dagger deals 3 points to our poor thief, who only has 4 hit points. Feeling his life blood leaving his body, our thief attacks with his sword. I actually rolled a 20, which is an automatic hit. I also decided to house-rule double damage for a nat 20 roll. Even so, he does not kill the guard who is a level 2 NPC. He does deal 6 points of damage. Her having 8 means she is reeling but still alive. The fighter, apparently taken by surprise by this fast combat, swings. A 1. While I am not doing critical fumbles (though I might if they want to), it means he misses entirely. 
2. Round 2 and the guard manages to hit again, killing off the thief with a stab of her dagger. Never under-estimate a dagger! The fighter rolls a 14, and with his +2, does finally hit the guard, killing her. The rest of the group makes it up the stairs to see the thief and guard, both dead with blood pooling on the stone floor.

Finding nothing of value here, our remaining group goes back down the stairs for turn 8. Into the study they go, only to find a hunting dog resting there! Oddly enough, I decided to roll for a reaction, and the hunting dog takes up with the cleric. The fighter was ready to kill the dog but the cleric intervened. They also find 500sp here in the study while searching. Still no book.

Turn 9 they move up the second staircase, and find two doors to two bedrooms. The first they search has no book, but they find 100sp in the bedside stand. Turn 10, they finally find the book in the small bookcase next to the bed, though nothing else of value in the room.

They creep back down the stairs, and the next two turns make it back out of the villa and over the back wall. No encounters were made for the 1 turn there was that 1/6 chance. 

In the end, they have a total 0f 20 (for the guard) + 50 + 10 XP to split. Having a character die I'll go with splitting the 80XP by 3, or 26XP each. Seeing how it is at least 1500XP for the cleric to level up, I may have to rethink the treasure found.

What did I discover about running this 1st test?

1. As expected, low level characters die easily. Unless you are a well-armored tank, best to avoid combat if possible.
2. I need to work on my trap stuff: still not sure the best way to handle this. I was reading about the "click" method: if they trigger a trap they hear a click. Then they tell me what they do and go from there.
3. rolling for the players (as in the case of listen at the door) should actually be more fun. The players will never know if they hear nothing whether or not that means they really heard nothing or failed the roll. The Fantasy Trip does the same thing, I've just been leery about rolling for the players. Now I am seeing how this can add excitement and the unknown to the game.
4. I really still like playing with minis. It also shows just how small some places are: that guard station really did not have room for everyone, so it matters as to who is first. While not quite the same tactical style as TFT, it is still a tactical game.
5. Resting every hour, as per the time tracking chart, may seem a bit heavy handed. But if you were in a very stressful situation, it will wear you down. Plus, it really showcases just how much time some things really take. I actually liked using that. Not so sure my (eventual) players will handle it, but hopefully we'll find out.
6. The referee's tome does have some good info on the front overleaf for running the game. I will still probably print up the pertinent things. Or wait and see what is on the screen that I am going to get with the OSE Kickstarter - depends on when we actually play. I do have those ref screens from the Planet Mercenary kickstarter (another game I've never played. I think it would be hard to get the "feel" correct even with the mayhem cards).
7. While I played side initiative, I think in an actual game I'd run individual initiatives. I do have those nice initiative trackers to use.
8. Treasure as XP is a simple mechanism. Though I may have to beef up some of the treasure found. However - we always do have to trade risk vs reward. But in having only 26XP for this scenario, it would take quite a few heists to level up. While I don't want them to level up too fast, months of playing at level one will not do. And treasure does give a better and less risky method for experience points. I'll probably add a number of potentially rewarding books in the library. Maybe some gold statuary in the study. That sort of thing. I'd like to see if I could get them out of level 1 after 1 or two sessions. 

I'll have to update the PDF for this game up a bit. Add some descriptions, place more treasure, maybe even have a turn-tracking chart in there as well. The group did not explore a large chunk of the mansion. There actually is a lower level, one that would be more dangerous. I'm going to add some clues that there are more levels, and if the thief had not been killed so soon, would have moved the book to someplace later so that they would explore more of the place. This would give them more chance at treasure and the resulting experience points. 

Painting Goblins

They are awfully small and hard to paint. Going with a traditional Goblin orange as that was a Reaper paint color from a monster skin paint set I got. But they are tiny and even with a magnifying glass, hard to do well. Not quite done - another bit of detailing then some shading and will probably be done enough.

And why am I painting the Goblins? Because they are a traditional low-level threat. And while I am not sure I'll be playing OSE anytime soon as I keep hoping, I do want to run through my initial game scenario to see how it may play out. I've got 5 of them, and then poking through the bags from the Reaper Bones 5 KS, I found another set. And I am trying hard not to look at Reaper Bones 6. I've boxes of unpainted minis, I am not playing face to face where that would be useful. So instead I make scenes...

Here the Goblins are attacking the stables. I got a 2nd cardboard "puzzle" that does fit 25mm figures well. My minis from the 80s were all 25mm. Most are now 28mm, so my original (and probably lead-filled!) minis look a bit tiny next to most of the stuff I get now. These puzzles are about $20, go together pretty well and actually have usable interiors as they open up. And just like all the minis - where do I store them?

I do plan on solo running my house infiltration this weekend. I forgot I did generate a thief for OSE using the basic rules. He may get added to the group. We'll see how that goes, and hopefully I'll actually follow through, maybe take some pictures and share my experience.

My Monday group is approaching the big bad. Sadly my character, Verner, has been mentally taken over and is joyfully going to meet his fate. He has bumped up quite a bit from his initial character sheet. He now has his own portable dimension where he stores his seemingly endless supply of cigarettes and Dr. Goodman's clothes for when that character transforms. He can also open portals to places he has been before, not just line of sight anymore. It worked well in our last battle as the armored guy trying to take Verner down ended up several blocks away from the fight. After getting dropped on his head, twice, and in the line of fire for a long-distance sniper. And Verner apparently likes dropping cars on his enemies - one guard was squished by a VW minivan, lime green if I recall. It crushed him as well as dropping through the floor. The portal ability is one we made up as it was not in the Costumes Microlite rules. And it can be a really powerful ability. I still need to figure out one more power-up as we leveled up last session as well. I am thinking something along the lines of time manipulation: he can "freeze" time. Those portals are potentially time and space, not just connecting two places but possibly time as well. A previous encounter he was told to think about alternate universes. And that actually fed into his expanding backstory. Verner really has no idea who he is, and with that comment from the GM, we riffed and I am thinking he is actually from another universe entirely, or at least something with the big bad we're now approaching. I really need to get with that GM and talk some more about this. We both like sharing world building, and I purposely left Verner's background a blank slate to evolve organically with the game. It is a lot of fun!

I also got Finn (my dog) a D20 treat ball. He will be playing games with me now that he has his own d20!

The city gate. With a flat horse and rider.